CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - ETHAN

The warehouse reeked of smoke and scorched metal, the heat pressing against Ethan like a living thing, oppressive and suffocating, each breath burning as if he were inhaling straight from an oven. Flames danced wildly, licking at the twisted support beam he crouched behind, casting jagged shadows that flickered and warped like ghosts.

He wiped a smear of soot from his visor, scanning the warehouse as Burnscar’s voice drifted through the smoke, light and detached, as if she were talking to old friends. 

“This is your fault. You came here. You made me do this.”

Assault rolled his eyes but kept his voice steady. “Right, because we totally forced you to set the place on fire. Classic hero move.” He motioned silently to Crusader, whose ghostly knights flanked him. Alabaster stood nearby, his blank expression betraying no fear.

“Is it guilt, Madcap?” Burnscar’s voice teased, disembodied, shifting locations as though it came from the fire itself. “Is that why you wear the mask? Why you crack jokes? You can laugh all you want, but I see it. You know what you are.”

Assault’s jaw tightened. The name—his name—dropped from her lips like a curse. It wasn’t the first time a villain had dredged up his past. Hell, it was practically their specialty. Assault didn’t flinch, though. He couldn’t.

Instead, he forced a grin, even though Burnscar couldn’t see it. “Oh, absolutely. I’m a delight. Now why don’t you come out and we’ll discuss it over coffee?”

Her laugh was brittle, like glass breaking. “Cute. But I’d rather burn.”

“Burnscar!” he called out, trying to keep the usual lightness in his tone, but it was a struggle. “I get it—fire metaphors, spooky disembodied voices, psychological games. You’re really leaning into the whole ‘horror movie villain’ vibe. But could we skip to the part where you go down? I’ve got plans tonight.”

Another laugh crackled through the air, indistinguishable from the roar of the flames. “You’ll die here, you know. All of you will. But don’t worry—I’ll make it beautiful.”

Assault’s gaze darted to his allies. Alabaster stood unnervingly calm, his reset ability a quiet assurance that he’d survive no matter what. Crusader, on the other hand, looked tense, his ghostly projections flickering in and out of existence around him like nervous fireflies. They weren’t a team, not really. They had been thrown together and told to deal with Burnscar, a patchwork solution to an escalating crisis. But they had to be enough. 

A burst of fire roared down from the rafters, forcing the trio to scatter. Assault’s power kicked in instinctively, letting him rebound off a crumbling support beam and land safely a dozen feet away. The ground under him cracked from the force of his landing, but he barely felt it. The energy soaked into his body like water into a sponge, ready to be redirected at the next opportunity.

Which came immediately as he darted to the side, narrowly avoiding another fiery blast as Burnscar’s figure emerged from the inferno. She wore a red dress, her pale skin glowing in the firelight, her green eyes blazing with manic intensity.

“Got you,” she said, raising a hand wreathed in fire.

Assault didn’t hesitate. He hurled himself forward, letting her flames lick harmlessly at his armor as he drove his baton toward her midsection. She twisted, the strike grazing her ribs, and retaliated with a burst of concussive fire that sent him flying into a pile of debris.

“She’s back in the rafters!” Crusader yelled, his voice tight as he unleashed his spectral knights into the shadows above. They swept upward, their translucent forms cutting through the smoke.

Assault saw her then—a flash of movement amid the fire. Burnscar leaped from one flaming beam to another, her hair a wild, fiery mane, and leaving burning footprints that widened into a trail of fire. She hurled a fireball at Crusader, who barely dodged in time, his projections moving to shield him.

“Crusader, keep her busy!” Assault shouted, springing into motion. He bounded forward, each step faster than the last, the kinetic energy building in his legs, and launched himself upward, the force of his leap carrying him high into the air. He aimed for the beam Burnscar was perched on, her back to him as she lobbed another fireball at Crusader. For a moment, he thought he had her.

Then she turned.

The fireball came out of nowhere, a searing mass of heat and light. Ethan twisted mid-air, letting his power absorb the brunt of the impact as it knocked him off course. He hit the ground hard, tumbling to a stop near a collapsed section of the warehouse. His head throbbed, his visor cracked, but he was alive.

“Alabaster, find an opening!” he croaked.

Alabaster didn’t respond—he never did—but he took his chance, darting through the smoke with a knife aimed for her back. She turned at the last second, flames curling protectively around her body. The blade plunged into her shoulder, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she smiled, her eyes glowing orange.

“You really think that’s going to stop me?” she whispered. With a flick of her wrist, the fire surrounding her erupted outward, knocking Alabaster off his feet.

Assault groaned as he pulled himself from the wreckage, glancing at Alabaster, who was already regenerating, his injuries fading like they were never there.

“Team effort, guys!” Assault called out, forcing another grin. “She’s good, but we’re better.”

“You’re predictable,” Burnscar spat, her tone losing its detached air. The fire around her pulsed, growing brighter, hotter. Her hair whipped around her face like flames caught in a storm. “That’s why you’ll lose. You and your little friends.”

Assault felt the shift immediately. She was losing control, and that made her even more dangerous.

“We need to put her down before she burns the whole place,” Crusader said, his voice tight. His ghostly projections circled her, trying to contain her without success.

Assault nodded, pushing himself to his feet, his baton sparking faintly as he activated its built-in taser. “Predictable, huh? I think you’ll find I’m full of surprises.”

Burnscar tilted her head. “Prove it.”

She launched forward, fire trailing her like a comet. Assault met her charge head-on, letting her momentum feed into his power. Her fist connected with his chest, and for a split second, he felt the heat sear through his armor. Then he redirected it, sending the kinetic energy outward in a shockwave that knocked her off balance.

“Now!” Assault shouted.

Alabaster was already moving, his knife flashing as he lunged for her again. This time, he aimed for her leg, the blade cutting deep. She stumbled, her control over the flames faltering.

“Crusader!” 

The ghostly projections descended in unison, their ghostly weapons striking her from all sides. She screamed, a feral sound that made the fire around her flare wildly.

Assault didn’t hesitate. He surged forward, his baton crackling as he swung it at her midsection. The impact sent her flying into a pile of debris, the fire around her sputtering out.

For a moment, there was silence, save for the crackling of the flames.

“Did we get her?” Crusader asked, his voice shaky.

Assault’s eyes scanned the wreckage, his instincts screaming that it wasn’t over. Then, from beneath the rubble, a hand emerged, wreathed in fire.

Burnscar pulled herself free, her smile a cruel, broken thing. “You can’t stop me.”

His stomach sank. They weren’t done yet.