Etherburn

Etherburn hovers silently, the fury of her fire dancing through her veins in anticapation. An aura of heat waveres around her body.

She watches intently as Templar leaps gracefully for his size and mass towards the Captain. The fire flares happily within her as Templar swiftly, deftly dismemebers the Councilman. Etherburn smiles the fire's joy as the Captain's life force spills across the catwalk.

She reaches up and slides her blast googles down as the aura of heat intensifies around her. She forms a ball of flame in her hand and hurls it with deadly accuracy at the group.

A flash of light illuminates the area breifly before the crackle of explosive fire is heard. Etherburn smiles smugly as the deadly flames dance and lick at the soilders with red-hot intensity. They yelp and squirm as the fire devours their clothing and melts all objects on them, especially thier radios.

Shock paints the Council's faces as they feebly try to pat out the flames.

Etherburn laughs softly at the soilder's pathetic crys as she summons more fire into her hands. She flings the fire out towards the group. A rain of fire covers the area. The air virtually hisses as the raining fire cuts through it, pouring more burning pain onto the soliders.

" Don't worry boys. It's only gonna get hot under the collar for the Council," she assures Templar and Bladewolf with a good-humored smile.

Etherburn watches silently as the two men jump through the open skylight. Without a thought she began to hover, her hair dancing around her head due to the essence that allows her flight. She coasts gracefully to the skylight and slips silently through it.

She hovers above Bladewolf as he scans for Council. She turns her attention to the vigilant Templar, admiring the gleaming, deadly beauty of his sword.

She concentrates on Templar, summoning the other fire within. A divine warmth crawls through her, caressing with a heavenly touch. A clam serenity fills her as the healing fire waits for her command. She reaches a gloved hand out towards Templar, a look of utter peace and benefiction on her face. A wave of golden fire washes over Templar, coating his armor with a soft golden fire as it molds to his shape, forging a fiery silouette. Etherburn smiles gently, serenely as the strange, divine fire strengthens Templar.

Her healing flames always felt different then the other fire that ran through her viens. One was a wild, white-hot, destructive force blazing through her with a thrilling rush. The other was a comforting warmth, gentle and loving, with a divine serenity to it. The healing flames always left her awed somehow and breathless. The other fire always made her sassy and sharp-tongued. She could never figure out why her power seemingly was a double aspect.

She gracefully guides her hand to Bladewolf and encases him with the divine warmth of her fire. Still smiling softly, Etherburn warps a sheild of barely noticed plasma around each man, adding to their natural armor.

She hovers barely a tip-toe off of the catwalk, glancing ahead towards the computer console, face turning serious as the healing fire dissapates from her.

" We should see what they see. Those comps might let us know what they've got going on," she replies almost breathlessly, voice barely above a whisper.

She concentrates for a moment, tropical ocean colored eyes going distant for a moment.

She blinks and shakes her head, before staring at Templar and Bladewolf.

"We need to hurry to the computers. There's alot of commotion going on. Time may be against us," she whispers softly, nodding towards the console.

Etherburn silently followed the young hero and the armored mammoth. She stepped gracefully over the fallen Council solider, ignoring him. She stood staring at Bladewolf as he examines the air conditioning unit. She tilts her head to one side as she listens to the racket beneath their feet.

She hears the perfectly trained march of three men walking the steel catwalk. Each step rings in her ears. She moves to the skylight and crouches next to the lock. She flips her long hair over one shoulder before placing an ear against the glass. She closes her eyes in concentration as a world of sound forms in her mind.

Etherburn could never figure out why she was given hyper-acute hearing but chalked it up to her mutated genes.

She could hear every breath, every heartbeat. Each tiny sound formed a symphony in her mind. She slides a gloved hand down the glass to the padlock. She traces her fingers along the edge of the window casement to the corner, eyes still closed as she focuses on the electrical hum of the security wires.

" Not as stupid as I thought. Someone down there is fairly intelligent," she barely whispers.

She focuses on the alarm wires, laying a single finger along the window seam. Etherburn relinquishes herself to her powers. A chill runs up and down her spine, making her shiver ever so slightly as her pores opened up and released the 'wind' from within. A warmth crawled up from the center of her body, burning it's way to her finger. With barely a thought, her fire seeps out, white-hot, into a paper-thin lance. Etherburn listens carefully as she directs the fire mentally through the seal and fuses the wires together. She releases an relaxing breath, eyes opening with a smile as she disables the alarm.

Etherburn sits back on her heels, grasping the padlock with one hand. She smiles smugly up at Bladewolf as the lock melts instantanously in her hand, drops of molten lead hissing against the concrete roof. She stands gracefully, stepping away from the skylight, rolling the molten metal between her hands, heat vapors wavering in the air around her hands.

Cutting off her powers, she opens her hands to show a glowing lead sphere, perfectly formed.

" Alarm's cleared. Time to go to work, boys. Those soilders should be back through in ten minutes at most. We need to move fast on the catwalk. The walks usually lead to an office, so we can start there and work our way down. The Templar should go first since he's heavily armored. He'll also provide cover for the rest of us. Bladewolf you can go second. I think you being stuck between two more experienced...warriors might prove benefical for everybody," she smiles easily," Which leaves me last. Since I'm a ranged fighter, this will stop me from hampering you two and from making myself a bigger target."

She starts to absently toss the ball between her hands. She really missed her team. They were so well trained that they never needed to plan. They could go in and know who was doing what and going where. It was wonderful.

Etherburn glanced between the two men, a corner of her mouth frowning slightly. She hoped they would listen to her. She was use to being the leader. Her tactics and assualt manuevers always provided sucessfully. She hoped they could aid this group.

" Don't worry about me keeping up, but don't leave my sights or I can't heal you," she replies, looking pointedly at Bladewolf.

" Ok. You guys ready to ruin the Center's night?" she smiles playfully.

Effortlessly, Etherburn pushed off of the roof's edge and put her trust in her ability to fly. When she first learned that she could defy the restrainants of gravity, she and the scientists at the Compound questioned how she could fly, but no one could explain it. She can just fly. It's in her genes.

Silently and swiftly, Etherburn coasts to the other rooftop. Hovering near the edge, She clears her throat softly to get the men's attention and to announce her pressence. The layers of her vibrantly red auburn hair floated around her as she hovered. Her unique sea-green eyes stare cautiously at the two men.

" Never ask a warrior to remove his armor with an ensuing battle on the horizen. The time it would take to re-equip him could be costly. Besides, ventilation shafts are so cliche'," she replies landing lightly on the ledge of the rooftop, keeping distance between herself and the heroes.

" The skylights would be your best bet. There's always catwalks that can be reached," she smiles slyly, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.

" If you've seen one warehouse, you've seen a million. The designs are no different," she shrugs non-chaluantly.

She stares at Bladewolf, a corner of her lips tilting upwards slightly.

" The Council's far too stupid to put alarms on the skylights. No body ever bothers put alarms up there. People seem to forget that heroes can fly, jump, climb, and what not."

She steps gracefully off the ledge and moves a little closer to the men.

"The name's Etherburn and I think you boys need my helpin' hands. I can get you in through the skylight without much trouble," she glances wickedly at Templar as she raises a hand," objects and men alike melt at my tender caress."

She smiles wickedly as her hand bursts into flame, blazing white-hot in the center.

Squatting in the deep shadow of the air conditioning unit, Etherburn sighed ever so softly. She pushed her blast googles up over her forehead to keep the stray locks of her bright auburn hair out of her face. Annoyance made her grind her teeth.

The plans were simple. Stake out the warehouse. Do recon on the Council inside. Sneak in and take out the peons. Innterogate the Archon on what the Center is doing. Report to base.

Obviously no one expected heroes. How could they not? 'Heroes' and 'Villians' alike are a plague upon this city. They're everywhere...like cockroachs.

Etherburn sat silent, shrouded in darkness as she listened to the events below. Her hyper-acute hearing could be a blessing in the field.

She should have, stress the should have, flown down and helped the Spiders. She was being temporarily 'employed' by Arachnos. Not that she had a choice in the matter. Enslavement would be a more acutrate term.

As she listened to the mammoth, armored man engage in the deadly blade dance, Etherburn thought about the events that brought her here.

She never asked to be kidnapped with her kindergarten class. She never wanted to be taken to a different dimenson through the portals. She had no choice. Being told for twelve years that your friends and yourself were being trained for a special meta-human task force that could save the world, how could you argue? Who wouldn't want to save the world?

How could they know that they were puppets, pawns to someone Etherburn had heard mentioned once, the Countess?

Her classmates and herself were rasied, trained, and fought together for years. They had watched some of their classmates perish, unable to survive the experiments and tests. The scientists wanted the best. Only the fastest, strongest, meanest, baddest survived. They began at a class of twenty five year olds and ended with only seven eighteen year olds.

She shivered as she recalled several missions into the wilderness of their world, hunting down and terminating the 'Ferals' that escaped or were released purposely for in-field tests. These 'Ferals' were failed experiments. They were once her friends but they didn't take to the genetic experimentations done to improve them. They were the ones who were too animalistic and no longer posessed human sensebility. Her task force had hunted down and destroyed beings who once six years ago sat next to her in class at the Compound.

Etherburn watched silently, body still as the man calling himself a Templar leapt gracefully onto a rooftop and meet the man calling himself Bladewolf. She listened disinterested as the two men did their heroic banter and plan an attack on the Council's hideout.

Maybe I should let them just clear it out for me. But if they arrest the Archon, I won't get to talk to him. Hhhmmm... Etherburn pondered quietly.

She could return to whatever loser Spider leader she was assigned to and give a false report. She tried and got nothing from the Archon. Heroes came in and she left the Archon to him. She had no alligance to Archnos. She could care less about this whole hero verses villian thing. She just wanted to find her friends, her team, and just...be. She hadn't quite planned the rest out. Finding the rest of her team proved very difficult.

She watched and then listened as Bladewolf and Templar headed into the building.

If circumstances had been different, Etherburn could be currently employed by the Council.

The heroes came one day to her world. They had recieved some report about a military training base through the portals. They raided her home. How were they suppose to know that these heroes were actually a rescue from the corrupt experiment they had been forced into? The heroes attacked their base and her team fought back. They were just defending their home. After a greuling battle and a few casualities...mostly on their side, her team was subdued and arrested. Without any questions, her team was tranqed, labeled villians, and split up to different incarceration sites. Etherburn landed in the Zig.

An explosion made her muscles jump at the sudden noise and made her ears ring. She gritted her teeth, waiting for the pain to subside.

It almost reminded her of the explosion at the Zig. Barely two days after she was brought to this world, her real home world, an attack took place on the Zig. A Spider broke into her special holding cell and set her free. He rushed her to an extraction point and away she went. Villian and escaped convict. It was a strange recruitment tactic.

Etherburn slide further back into her shadowed hiding place as a medic came to help the fledgling hero Bladewolf who took the brunt of the grenades. She smirked slightly.

Arachnos promised to help her find her teammates in return for services rendered, also in payment for her extraction. It's been fairly expensive, but she has no other choice. Who else will help her?

Which leaves her here, slinking around a warehouse, watching bumbling heroes botch her mission, getting a cramp in her calf from squating in the shadows. She heaves a deep sigh.

Listening to the two man plan their entrance point, she stands and steps towards the ledge of her buliding. The moonlight barely illuminates the small, golden accents of her black Justice styled uniform. She places her matching boot against the ledge preparing to fly to the next rooftop and engage the heroes.

Two extra sets of hands can't hurt. At least I won't burn myself out so fast then., she reassures herself.

They can't tell what I am just by looking at me. It's not like I have Villian tattooed across my forehead, besides I never asked to be labeled that. They decided it for me.

2011- Paragon City, Atlas Park

The tram rocked swiftly on it's track as it costed towards it's destination. Giants of steel, glass, and concrete loomed on the horizen. Tiny feet kicked lazily against the steel seat, keeping rhythm with the clacking of the tram. Eyes the color of tropical oceans stare intently out the window, watching in amazement as brightly colored figures leap and fly from the City Hall.

"Does it hurt to fly? Flapping their wings for so long must hurt," a tiny bell-like voice pipes up, face tilting to look at the figure beside her.

A soft chuckle answers.

"No, little one, flying doesn't hurt. Heroes don't fly like birds. They don't use wings...at least most of them don't," the older woman replies, smiling down at the little figure next to her.

"Oh," the child exclaims, eyes thoughful.

A tiny finger twirls a strand of bright auburn hair in thought.

"So then one day I can fly without wings?"

Ice blue eyes smile warmly into the inquizzitive turquoise ones.

" You never know. The future can hold many surprises."

The little girls smiles happily. " Daddy says I can do anything if I try."

" Your daddy is a very smart man," the woman replies warmly.

" Do you love him cuz he's smart?"

"One of the many reasons, yes."

"Do you love me cuz I'm smart?"

Another soft chuckle.

"One of many reasons, yes."

The woman leans her head down to kiss the little girl's forehead. The little girl giggles as a strand of her mother's copper-colored hair tickles her neck. The little girl wraps tiny arms around the woman's neck to hug her.

"I love you too, mommy. Always."

"I'm glad to hear that," the woman replies, returning the hug.

The trains starts to squeal as it coasts into the station.

"This is us, little one. Don't forget your backpack," the woman reminds her daughter.

The little girl quickly grabs her pink bag, slipping it on as her mother grabs a black briefcase. They exit the tram hand in hand and begin to walk down the sidewalk.

The little girl chatters excitidedly, questioning and rambling as the two stroll down the street, both figures smiling and laughing.

The two redheaded females come to a stop infront of a small, inviting-looking building with a short fence encircling it. The laughter and chatter of children drift from the open windows. Her mother opens the gate and leads her through. They head up the stone steps and into the small building. A rainbow of bookbags and light jackets hang from tiny golden hooks lining walls that are papered with hand-drawn pictures.

The little girl practically skips towards one of the rooms, dragging her mother.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Taylor. Hello, Kegen," a short woman with dark hair smiles at the pair.

" Hi, Mrs. Pierce," the little girls waves before stripping off her bag and coat.

" Good Morning, Mrs. Pierce," the woman replies, before kneeling infront of her daughter.

She hugs the girl and kisses her forhead.

"Behave, my firey one. Daddy and I love you. Learn lots!" she exclaims before letting the girl go.

"I love you and daddy too. Bye," she waves excitiedly before skipping into the room with her classmates.

" Have a good day, Mrs. Taylor. We'll see you later today," the teacher replies warmly, seeing the mother off.

Kegen happily makes her way to the Arts and Craft area where two of her friends, Mia and Aria, have started to fingerpaint.

The class day goes by, full of learning and play, before snack time rolls around. All the kids gather to the table to eat veggies and dip, fruit snacks, and drink their juice. The teacher happily hands out the snacks. The kids devour their snacks before racing off to continue their play.

Kegen happily races off to the dress-up area with her friends. As she gets halfway there, her head starts to feel funny. Her vision gets blurry and she looks to Mia who is rubbing at her eyes. Everything starts to feel it's trapped in slow-motion. Her arms feel heavy and she can't speak. She groggily turns towards her teacher, who smiles wickedly as some of the children fall to the ground. Kegen tries to call out for help as Aria falls to the ground before her. She tries to run but finds her body is starting to shut down. Darkness creeps into the corners of her sight.

MOMMY!! she cries out mentally before surcomming to the darkness.

As Kegen starts to collapse to the ground, she hears manically laughter.

"This was too easy."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A soft, lilting voice hums an old lullaby that I know very well. As the singer continues to hum, I hear a gentle, loving voice whisper in my mind.

Go to sleep, go to sleep, my little one. The world shall wait for you.

It was almost hypnotizing. I let myself fall into the rhythm of the melodic humming and the gentle voice in my mind. It was comforting and it felt like...home.

WWWRRRAAANNNNNTTTTT!!!!!! WWWWRRRRAAAAANNNNNTTTTTT!!!!

The blaring alarm ripped through the comfort of my sinking, deep sleep. The alarm was agonizing to my hyperacute hearing. I crack open a sleep caked eye. I groggily focus on the blood-red numbers in the darkness, the mechanical screech of the alarm fueling my sleepy anger. I lazily lift my hand and flick a finger at the colon between the four and the thirty. A bright flare of light leaps from my finger and engulfs the clock, slamming it against the wall. It's screech becomes gargled and lost under the crackle of flame. I smile in triumph and snuggle back down into my pillow. Before I can close my eyes, I feel a weigh land upon my back. A wet nose touchs my ear before a low meow echos in my ear. I wince and buck off the creature.

" I know...I'm up," I reply sleepily.

I throw off the comforter, hearing a muffled and irritated mreow, as I swing my bare feet to the cold steel floor. I strech my whole body, hearing my vertebre snap and pop, wiggling my toes and fingers at the sensation.

Meanadering my way to the bathroom in the darkness, I contemplate my reaccuring dream. Blinking at the floreusent blaze of the bathroom lights, I begin my morning ritual.

After a hot, refreshing shower, I head to the closet. Venus winds her long sleek, spotted body around my bare legs. I drop a hand down to stroke her head before grabbing my uniform. I slide on the thermal, gossamer pants and top, making sure to tuck the silver locket into the top. Sitting on the bed, I slide on the matching boots, then gloves. Standing, I stare into the closet mirror as I slide on my black, butterfly cut mask. Combing my long hair out from the mask, I strap on my dark gold blast googles, sliding them up to keep my hair out of my eyes.

Staring at my reflection, I sigh as I wonder what today will bring.

Every line of my uniform meet cleanly. The black and gold of my Justice styled costume made the natural red of my hair stand out. My ocean blue eyes practically glowed in contrast to the black mask. I smirked at the wings that laid over my chest.

I'm definately not an angel.

Saddness washed over me. Something was in pain deep inside of me. Sometimes, I feel a rift within my soul and it is agonizing. I closed my eyes and beat down that pain, that emptiness, swallowing it up before it could swallow me.

I released a deep breath and readied myself for today's trails.

I gave Venus a can of food before heading for the door of my small room. A soft green beam scanned my eye.

" Agent Etherburn, Clearance Level 3, scheduled for Polar Core Training, 6:30 am to 12:30 pm. Medical Observation 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Team Training Session 3:30pm to 6:30pm. Endurance Training 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Report to Dining Hall for morning meal and have a productive day," a mechanical voice relays my daily schedule before the door opens to release me from my cage.

I stare into the low-lit steel hallway of The Compound. I sigh softly before stepping out of my doorway. My door closes with a mechanical whoosh. I square my shoulders as I read y to head to the dining hall. Then I swear softly.

I hate Polar Core Training.