Chapter Text
Trails of fire
You always knew
They would carry me home
They’d lead me to you
Trails of fire
You always knew
They would carry me home
They’d lead me to you
Promepolis. A beacon to society after the Great World Blaze. Skyscrapers filled the area. Fire hydrants lined the streets. Everything was built with squares and rectangles, giving off a sense of order. In fact, there was so much order that the lens flares themselves were squares. Everything was peaceful.
Suddenly, a set of buildings burst into flames. Not too far away, alarms blared out. Red lights flashed as a set of people looked up from what they were doing.
“Fire in High-Rise Building. Area B-25, Promepolis New Town Center. Dispatch Request for Burning Rescue.”
Within moments, everybody leaped from their task and prepared themselves. Each person opened in their locker and retrieved what they needed in a way that perfectly characterized them and included so much detail that the author could spend a whole paragraph describing it. A picture (or a movie frame in this case) tells a thousand words, but unfortunately, this isn’t a picture book. Plus, the author hopes that the reader has seen the movie, and highly recommends watching it if possible.
With a shout and a team fistbump, the whole team set off. A muscle car that had no apparent fire fighting abilities led the Rescuemobile, a behemoth of a machine with cannons, supplies, and bulldozing blades, for some reason. As the two ground vehicles drove off, a red cargo jet with propellers in each wing dove in from the roof before pulling up. Burning Rescue was away.
The buildings set ablaze were Foresight Pharmaceutical buildings. The preinstalled firefighting safety measures finally activated, spraying the sides of the building with water. Before they could do any help, a snake-like tendril of pink and green fire lashed out, smashing the pipes. Fire hydrants on the ground were blown to pieces as fire struck the surrounding areas. Civilians who were much closer than they had any business being cried out.
“Burning Rescue!”
“Where’s Burning Rescue?!”
“We can’t handle this!”
“We’re doomed!”
“Yeah, yeah,” said a small, slender girl with blonde twin puns with pink highlights as she rapidly calibrated and coordinated the Rescuemobile equipment. “We’re almost there!” she finished with flair.
LUCIA FEX
A rescue drone she deployed was already on the scene, feeding back all the information they needed.
“Large number of people on the 58th floor,” she said, looking through the special sensors. “It looks like the center of the Burnish blaze...and a rather big one at that!”
“I’ve already called for District W to help us,” said the older man driving the muscle car, eyes focused on the road behind his sunglasses. “Varys! Remi! Emergency deployment with anti-Burnish combat equipment!”
“Roger!” said a big, dark-skinned man, giving Lucia a fist bump before the mechanical arm lifted him and his pod from the inside of the vehicle.
“Roger,” said a blue-haired glasses-wearing man, also giving Lucia a fistbump.
The arm carried the man into a long rectangular chamber, which one would assume to be a ladder until it unfolded and extended into something more akin to an artillery barrel.
“Lucia! Launch while in motion as soon as we get in range. We’ll be the first ones on the scene,” said Ignis.
The Rescuemobile maintained an impressive speed despite the long barrel being fully extended. The sensors held the aim steady, then clicked.
“Go!” shouted Lucia, slamming the button. A long trail of electricity flowed throughout the machine, traveling until it hit the firing pin. Then, with a shout, the man was launched. Two squares connected by a cable flew out of the Rescuemobile. Plating broke away to reveal an orange mech suit and a set of yellow power equipment. The wire pulled together until the two met, connecting and transforming in midair in a way that made the author smile so hard in the movie theatre and signaled that they were really going to enjoy this movie.
Fully transformed, the man began to shout and charge his attack as a Burnish flare shot out to meet him. With a mighty punch, he struck it, causing it to freeze instantly before shattering as he tore through it and the window of the building. With a few quick maneuvers, he stopped in the middle of the blaze.
“On the scene!”
VARYS TRUSS
“It’s full of Burnish Flares here,” he said, beginning to defend himself by punching, crushing, and stomping them. “Quick, Remi!”
Within moments, another fully equipped rescue mech smashed through the windows. Without even stopping, it slid on its feet and released a barrage of ice bullets with pinpoint accuracy. Despite initially being surrounded, all of the Flares around Varys were now frozen without any hint of friendly fire. The sharpshooter smirked.
REMI PUGUNA
With just a few nods, Varys began running towards the survivors. Remi deployed his heavy weapon, the ice turbines on his back charging before unleashing an even heavier hail of ice bullets. Any Flares even approaching the non-stop Varys were quickly frozen, forming a peaceful ice cavern in the once burning area. With the assistance of the power claws and his strength, Varys pried open the doors to hopeful eyes.
“Survivors located,” he said, backing up so they could come out.
“You’re safe now,” said Remi, taking a defensive position around them. “Please keep calm.”
Suddenly, the ceiling began to give away. Tiles and dust began to fall from the weakening structure, causing people to panic.
“The ceiling!” said Remi, beginning to move.
“I got it!” said Varys, quickly bringing up the mech’s arms and deploying the supports. Quickly disconnecting from the equipment, he activated the hidden container on the base mech’s back.
“Let’s get out while we can!” he shouted as Remi also followed his example. “Everyone into the containers!”
The two smashed yet another window and began their descent, carefully maneuvering out of the way from the fire.
“Varys! Remi! Above you!” shouted Lucia.
The two looked up to see a massive amount of Burnish Flares falling towards them. There was no time to dodge without risking the people they were rescuing.
“Hold on!” shouted Varys as he prepared to jump.
Then, seemingly out of total silence, another equipped mech slammed into the Flares, freezing them instantly. Any resulting ice debris was quickly either shattered further or pulled inside the building. The mech had the same equipment as Varys, and the big pink-haired pilot looked out and waved.
JASMINKA ANTONENKO
Nearby Flares were quickly shot and frozen as well. Another mech with Ice-Machinegun equipment flew towards them, firing at all the targets in mid-air before landing in the building.
“Burning Rescue Team W, on the scene!” said the petite, ginger-haired girl.
LOTTE YANSON
“Get those people to the ground,” said Jasminka. “We’ll start putting out the fires.
“Thanks for the help!” said Remi, continuing to climb down. The two men were glad for the extra assistance. The fires they encountered were much stronger than usual, and Remi began to have his suspicions that something else was going on. Still, the civilians had priority first. Once they were out of harm’s way, they could go all-out.
Below, two Rescuemobiles pulled up, lights flashing everywhere.
“Rescuemobile on the scene,” said the older man, his short blonde hair and mustache remaining unfazed in the blazing heat.
IGNIS EX
He looked over to the other Rescuemobile, one with a custom 4-pointed golden star painted on it. A blue-haired woman dressed head-to-toe in protective fire gear climbed out and surveyed the situation before her eyes fell to Ignis.
“Good to be working with you again, Ursula,” said Ignis over the comm.
“Likewise, Ignis. Glad to be of help,” she said with a kind smile.
URSULA CALLISTIS
“How are the supports holding?”
“I’m already on it,” said a robotic voice. A large number of walking drones deployed from the Rescuemobile, smashing through even more windows on the bottom floor. The drones, holding special tools, quickly moved and reinforced any of the weakening supports. Others spread out and began putting out fires. It was all a very complex operation, all headed by one blue-haired mechanic with sunglasses-like goggles.
CONSTANZE AMALIE VON BRAUNSCHBANK-ALBRECHTSBERGER
Right before a group of drones were about to get destroyed by a particularly large burnish flare, a glass flask with ice-blue liquid flew before smashing against it, freezing the fire instantly.
“Honestly, you think with how much you love those drones that you’d be more careful,” droned on a pink-haired girl in a lab coat and a belt full of vials.
“That’s what we have you for,” said one of the drones.
“Oh, and Constanze and Lotte want to thank you for those new freezing compounds! They have increased the efficiency of our bullets by 15%!”
The scientist tsked. “Not enough.”
SUCY MANBAVARAN
Ursula gave Ignis a thumbs up, letting him know they had the ground floor taken care of.
“Aina,” said Ignis, looking up the 108-floor building. “What’s the situation up there?”
Higher in the sky, the red jet floated and observed.
“58th-floor rescue complete and in transit,” she said before tuning her sensors to combat the clouds of black smoke. Brightly lit shapes quickly began to fill her screen, and her eyes widened.
“There are people on the roof!”
Suddenly, a swarm of Burnish Flares flew after her. Seeing this, she quickly dodged and maneuvered out of the way. Before she could counterattack, however, another voice spoke on the radio.
“Let me take care of those!”
Ice missiles and bullets darted past Aina before striking the Flares. In another instant, a much sleeker, faster red ship with similar propellers flew past her. It was of similar design, but very clearly aimed toward fire fighting and not rescue.
“Sorry for the delay, but I got you covered now!” said the fiery redhead pilot.
AMANDA O’NEILL
“Thanks, Amanda!” said Aina as her fellow pilot continued to hover and draw fire from the Burnish Flares. Before she could get any closer, however, lighting struck out, nearly hitting both her and Amanda.
“Burnish Lighting!” she exclaimed, quickly recalibrating her equipment before it all failed. “I can’t get any closer. Launch Galo!”
AINA ARDEBIT
The Rescuemobile suddenly turned its wheels and spun, angling the machine to the ideal position. As the mechanical arm began to lift the final pod from the truck, rainbow lights seemed to emanate from it. Taiko drums mysteriously played in the background, adding to this entrance. Orange, puffy firefighting pants. Blue, outrageously spiky hair. A discolored left arm. Well-chiseled muscles everywhere. Finally, a weird white device that looked like an oversized spear.
“Woah! It’s burning hard!” said the shirtless man (yet he was wearing gloves) as he comically looked at the fire. Giant block letters floated behind him as gasps and murmurs of excitement filled the air. “Well worth extinguishing.”
He looked straight at the camera and smiled.
“It sets my firefighter’s soul on fire!” he shouted, throwing his hand in front of himself and posing.
GALO THYMOS
Stabilizers from the Rescuemobile deployed as the crowd cheered.
“Sorry for the wait!” he said, still posing with his gear as the cannon extended and pointed straight up. “Burning Rescue’s here! Breath easy, folks! The amazing Galo is on the scene!”
“Quit messing around, Galo,” said Ignis while he continued to gesture and send kisses to the crowd. “We’re about to launch you to the 108th floor.”
“I’m not messing around,” said Galo, quickly hopping into place and slapping the cannon to let Lucia know he was ready. “I’m just jazzing up the place.”
“Stop talking nonsense. You’ll bite your tongue,” finished Ignis as Lucia slammed the button.
“Never fear, Galo is-”
Before he could finish, Galo was launched from the cannon at a ridiculously high speed. He grunted and gritted his teeth as the sirens of his gear went off, creating a strange light show as he shot up past Remi and Varys, who were still climbing down. Higher and higher he flew, past the Burnish lighting and smoke...and even higher.
“Look! Rescue’s here!” said one of the scientists on top of the roof.
The group began to murmur excitedly before it quickly died down.
“Wait, where’s he going?”
The flashing lights continued to rise before stopping and falling back down. Aina and Amanda’s eyes followed them with mild curiosity. The two pods violently crashed into the roof, alternating their impacts before finally stopping in front of the scientists, to their horror.
“...Is he dead?”
“Definitely dead.”
Suddenly, the pods flashed with light. The protective plating shot off, revealing a standard rescue mech. It quickly flipped onto its feet and reeled in the cable, extending the rest of its gear until it stood tall, proud, and posed.
“I’m alive!” shouted Galo before turning on the weights and twirling his gear. “Everyone gather up! This way!”
“Galo!” said Aina. “Hurry up and clear the smoke already!”
With a single click, fan blades extended and began spinning. The wind he generated blew the smoke away, creating a perfect zone for Aina to swoop in and land. Suddenly, Amanda got a ping.
“Amanda! Explosion about one kilometer away from here,” said Ursula.
“I’ll go check it out,” she said, quickly changing directions and blasting off. “You good here, Aina?”
“Yeah, we should be,” she replied as she opened the doors of her jet.
As Galo began to wave the civilians into the ship, Lucia flew the drone even higher. However, one of the spots on the roof looked strange to her. The zone was hotter, much hotter than anywhere they’d seen before. Smoke simultaneously flowed into and out of it in rivers.
“Sucy?”
“I see it too,” said her fellow scientist. “Keep looking. I’m going to prepare our idiot.”
Lucia switched sensor modes on the drone, and grit her teeth at the sight of red against the black and blue.
“Galo! Behind you!” she said, pointing in the correct direction somehow despite being a video square on Galo’s HUD. “Strong Burnish signals coming from behind the smoke. They’re growing stronger!”
Sensing something, Galo quickly turned the fan into overdrive, sending a tornado of wind to push away the smoke. What he uncovered caused him to breathe in shock. There was a structure of white fire that seemed almost solid. It burned bright from the sudden exposure. Then, the light slowly dimmed, revealing not a white structure of spikes, but a green one. Three heavily armored and spiked figures stood in a line, one red, one blue, and one green.
“Do...Do I hear music?” asked Remi, who just finished unloading the civilians out of his mech.
The blue figure drew blue fire towards himself, quickly manifesting into a flaming motorcycle. The red figure did something similar, but created an ATV instead, despite the fact that he seemed too big for it. The green figure in the middle drew the most fire toward himself, all of it gathering behind him before flashing into a chair...no, a throne. He sat in it right as it formed so hard that it could not have been comfortable, but it created a satisfying impact sound. Then, as if to show his power, he set his elbow on one of the arms and leaned his head against his hand.
MAD BURNISH
Everyone gasped as the image of Mad Burnish, fancy background with bold caption letters and all, appeared on their screen. Yes, their entrance was so badass that the block words actually managed to stay in existence longer than an instant.
“Captain,” said Remi, furrowing his brow at the image. “It’s Mad Burnish!”
“The flame terrorists?”
“Yes. Most of them have been arrested, but their leader and a good number of their top brass have been on the run.”
Ignis grimaced before looking back up. “Galo, listen. Mankind’s been after him for 30 years. He’s the instigator of Burnish Crimes, Mad Burnish’s leader. Your rescue gear will do no good. Wait for help.”
Galo had not taken his eyes off the Mad Burnish. His determined yet focused face showed no indication of fear or hesitation. He narrowed his gaze.
“So that’s the boss.”
“Galo!” shouted Aina.
“Aina, civilians have the highest priority. Go quick,” he said, gently pushing her jet off of the ground.
“It’s not that,” she said as she took off. “There are three more identical figures on the roof next to us. You can’t take all six of them alone!”
True to her word, Galo saw 3 more figures watching from the distance. They had the exact same color palette as the others, and Galo couldn’t blame them. Red, Blue, and Green was a pretty cool color combination that he would use multiple times if he created many fictional properties.
“Good thing he’s not alone!”
Another set of lights and pods quickly flew down from the sky before also comedically slamming through the roof with a loud thud. Galo blinked a couple of times to make sure he didn’t imagine it and that the hole wasn’t always there. Then, from the hole came a glow.
“The fire rages on and so do I!” shouted the voice as a fully equipped robot rose with its arms crossed. In the robot was a young woman with long, brown hair tied into a ponytail. Her spiky bangs swept right above her red, passionate eyes. Her black sports bra, orange puffy pants, and gloves exposed her toned muscles and scarred skin. “No matter the danger or the heat, my believing heart burns with magic!”
AKKO KAGARI
Galo’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Hey Akko!”
The girl smiled back. “Hey Galo!”
“What took you so long?”
“Had to extinguish some of the lower floors while Sucy prepped my equipment.”
He grinned. “Well, glad you’re here. I like these odds much better.”
“Just because there’s two of you now, don’t do anything crazy!” said Aina.
“Like they’re going to listen,” said Varys, smiling.
“You’re damn right!” said Galo, pointing his gear toward the Mad Burnish, who had been politely sitting there this whole time. “A little burn never scared a firefighter!”
“You’ll find us dead long before letting these Burnish loose!” said Akko, striking a similar pose as Galo.
“Gueira, Meis,” said the green figure. The two others nodded.
Before the two could say anything else, the red and blue figures shot forward, laughing. Akko and Galo quickly reacted, firing ice bullets. The Burnish met their attack with streaks of fire, intercepting the projectiles and causing a screen of steam to form. The explosion knocked the gear out of Galo’s hands, yet Akko managed to keep her grip on hers.
Then, out of the screen, the two figures appeared again in midair. Galo quickly lifted the shielding and fired his pistol, managing to freeze one of the wheels of Gueira’s ATV. Akko held her gear up like a staff, managing to shove it into Meis’ wheel. The two Burnish, however, anticipated this. Gueira quickly recovered and flipped over before slashing one of Galo’s arms off. Meis kicked his bike downwards, throwing Akko forward and leaving her defenseless as he slashed one of her arms. Before the two firefighters could react, the two circled again and slashed off their remaining arms. In an instant, Galo and Akko were seemingly defeated. The green figures seemed to smirk as Gueira and Meis circled the duo.
“Is that all?” shouted Gueira. “You’re all talk, aren’t you?”
“Little Fireboy and Firegirl,” mocked Meis, laughing along with his friend.
“Rescue gear is too heavy to deal with those bikes,” said Ignis, observing the situation from the Rescuemobile’s command center.
“Their speed is too fast,” said Lucia, seemingly disinterested in the situation.
“Or our people are too slow,” said Sucy over the comms.
“Then pull that thing out, Lucia,” said Galo.
“Us too, Sucy,” said Akko.
Both scientists grinned with their sharp teeth and glints formed in their eyes.
“Righto,” said Lucia, flexing her fingers.
Galo and Akko nodded to each other before kicking their respective gears into the air in a spin.
“Tuned and ready,” said Sucy. “Ready to load at any time.”
The gears both stopped turning at the same time, perfectly aligned with the access spot.
“Let’s go!” shouted Galo and Akko, folding their arms. “Tech on!”
Sirens blared out from their machines before unleashing a wave of steam, shielding them from any attack. Mysteriously, the steam began to twirl, forming a vortex that pushed everything away yet left what was in the middle unharmed. Then, music began to play out of nowhere yet again.
The rest of the top armor of their base mechs ejected, leaving only the pilot and a metal exoskeleton. Galo’s white triangular gear quickly split apart, revealing a complex array of armor and moving parts. They quickly lowered themselves, connecting in all the right places to form new leg armor and new arms. It left him with a blue visor, white armor with red stripes, and four green fringes out of the back. Akko’s gear did something similar, but the legs and hip area had more of a blue color. The headpiece also had the same 4-pointed star crest surrounded by a red oval. Finally, a red synthetic cape materialized on her back.
“Though the fire is gone, the heart is tempered,” said Galo, voice remaining steady despite the many moving parts surrounding him.
“A fiery passion tamed to forge an iron will,” said Akko.
“On-the-scene-docking MATOI TECH!”
The two finished their transformation with a pose, wielding special gun-staff hybrids (Akko’s looked like a broom, for some reason).
“I’ll put you out with my burning soul!”
“I’ll put you out with my believing heart!”
The vortex exploded outwards, extinguishing some of the nearby flames.
“Click,” said Lucia, clicking a button that turned on the projector of one of the drones.
“Behold!” said Galo, gesturing to the projected Japanese styled painting of a firefighter dressed in a thick, blue coat, a special, protective hat and some sort of staff with many different pieces of cloth on it. “Matoi embodies the Heritage of a Far East Island’s firefighter. It symbolizes the spirit of the men who fought fire with their bare hands!”
The green figure sitting in his chair just kept sitting there staring at the unfolding scene.
“We won’t let you do what you want forever, firebug bastards!” shouted Galo.
“Are they stupid?” asked Gueira.
“They are stupid,” said Meis.
Thinking nothing of the transformation sequence, Gueira shot out a torrent of flames to eliminate the fighters once and for all. Then, the wheel-treads on their feet kicked into gear. Galo quickly dodged out of the way, weaving back and forth. Any attack missed. Grimacing, Gueira began to drive forward, sending out walls of fire that nobody could possibly dodge.
So Galo didn’t dodge.
Instead, he slashed his way through the firewall. Surprised, Gueira shot one last attack. Galo used the solid fire and jumped over him.
“What the hell?”
In a sudden slash and blast of ice, Gueira cried out before his entire form was frozen in solid ice. Galo spun out from the resulting explosion and split the cube in half, revealing his unarmored form. Three quick shots and Gueira was incapacitated on the floor.
“That’s one!” said Galo.
“Gueira!” shouted Meis before quickly speeding to attack Galo. Akko, however, was right behind him. She began firing her own shots, forcing Meis to dodge and switch his attention to her. Both moved toward each other at high speeds. Fire met ice as projectiles collided in mid-air, and Meis formed a set of spikes to impale Akko with. At the last second, however, she dove low. She struck her Matoi staff into his wheel, causing him to flip up into the air. A quick barrage of ice bullets and an incapacitated Meis joined Gueira.
“And that’s two!” said Akko, posing next to Galo. Then, she looked at the other three figures from across the building.
“Hey, Galo?”
“Mm?”
“You know both of these groups look the same?”
The two firefighters looked towards the three Mad Burnish figures who hadn’t moved this whole time.
“Yeah?”
“What if...this team is a decoy, and the real leaders are over there?”
Galo furrowed his brow, deep in thought. Then, he lit up and hit his palm with a fist.
“Ah! That would explain why these two guys were so easy to take down!”
A pretending-to-be-incapacitated Meis kicked Gueira before he could ruin their plan.
“Either way though, this guy looks strong,” said Galo.
“I’ll chase green number two if they try to run. You deal with this guy, okay?” said Akko.
“Sounds good to me,” said Galo, turning his gaze up. “Come down, big boss!”
He pointed his Matoi toward the seated Burnish. “Get off your high horse and fight me!” he shouted with a pose as lights and sirens flashed and blared. “One-on-one!”
While Galo was talking, the green figure stood up as the fire carried him down. The flames seemed to roar as they began to shift and reform around him, slowly forming a Harley Motorcycle. With a mighty rev, the Burnish accelerated and slammed into Galo, causing him to scream as he was tossed aside. Akko, who wasn’t preoccupied, managed to dodge safely. Galo quickly stuck his Matoi into the ground and hooked himself on the ledge before he got knocked off the building.
“Shit,” he muttered as he pulled himself back up. “Coward! Attacking me when I was striking a pose!”
“Only an idiot poses while firefighting!” said Ignis. “Lucia! What the hell is that toy?”
“From an idea I had, sorry,” she said, not meaning any of it.
“I helped. She doesn’t deserve all the credit,” said Sucy.
“We...need to have a talk about that as well,” said Ursula.
Across the building, the other three Burnish figures were finally moving. Fire manifested around them until they formed what appeared to be mechanical brooms. They even had fancy handles and seats.
“Sucy!” said Akko, putting her Matoi broom between her legs.
“Already on it,” she said, hitting the button and causing the gear to somehow extend in size until four engines were created. “That fuel I made you should work, but don’t waste it!”
Meanwhile, the other green burnish began to make circles and rev his motorcycle.
“Galo, don’t get excited. Stay calm,” said Lucia.
“I’m always calm,” said Galo right before the Burnish pointed his finger at Galo and curled it toward himself.
“Hey! Are you messing with me?!” shouted Galo before he quickly fired off a burst of ice bullets. The Burnish quickly shielded himself with the motorcycle wheels before accelerating toward Galo. At the same time, the other Burnish figures began to run toward the edge of their building.
“Here they go again,” said both Lucia and Sucy.
The Burnish Boss rammed Galo off of the building as Akko leaped off and fired her thrusters, giving chase to the three Burnish who seemed to be fleeing. Someone also appeared to be singing her lungs out in the background. Nobody really knew why, but what they did know was that she was doing a damn good job. Galo quickly pushed himself off of Lio and dug his Matoi staff into the building, slowing his descent. The green Burnish was getting away, so his eyes darted to try to find something he could use to catch up (He should beg, I mean, ask Sucy if she could provide the same gear for him).
Then, he spotted it. He propelled himself off of the burning building and landed on an adjacent one, causing even more collateral damage. Defying the laws of physics, because the author is fairly certain Lucia didn’t install magnet feet and even if she did, Galo is running on glass windows without breaking them, he ran across the windows before grabbing onto a building water tube. Right as he tore off the cap, he sat at the end of the tube. The pressure built up until he was launched through the air. The Green Burnish, who was still flying away, only had a second to look back before Galo slammed into him.
At the same time, Akko pursued the other three Burnish. She didn’t like the odds, but if she wanted to be a true firefighter like her idol, she had to stop all fires, including the future ones. She hit the accelerator on her Matoi broom, just barely keeping up with the others. Ahead, she saw the green Burnish hold up her hand before waving it backward. The other two nodded before pulling away. Akko desperately tried to look for them while keeping her eyes on the leader. Then, she quickly banked to the side, avoiding a fire projectile from behind her. The other two had maneuvered around her, and now, she was sandwiched. All three Burnish began firing at her, so she put all of her effort into defense. She ducked, weaved, and even jumped to avoid all the shots. Then, even after dodging a flash of green fire from above, it somehow danced around before striking her from behind. Despite her armor, she felt the heat burn her back.
“I got you, Akko!”
From above, Amanda’s jet unleashed a torrent of ice bullets and missiles, almost hitting the two Burnish chasing her. Akko heard her teammate curse for missing her shots, but she quickly pulled around to do another attack. Then, the green Burnish waved her hand again, and the other two Burnish turned their eyes from Akko to Amanda. The pilot, who smirked at her accomplished goal, pulled away, leaving just Akko and the leader.
“Amanda? What about-”
“Freeze Force has got it! Whatever it was, it was too strong for me. These two, however, I can handle!”
Without any more distractions, Akko grinned and accelerated.
Before she could get close enough, the Burnish turned around, formed a bow, and fired a swarm of homing arrows at her. Akko, noticing the civilians on the ground, pulled up, taking the missiles toward the empty sky and away from buildings.
“Catch me if you can!” she yelled before blasting forward. She activated her ice gun on one of her arms before firing backward, taking out the projectiles. More arrows appeared at her sides. Instead of dodging, she banked to the right before the arrows could react. She unleashed a special water and ice blade and cut the projectiles into harmless pieces before doing the same with the other side. All the while, the Burnish fired more arrows. Akko nearly dodged or destroyed every single one of them, but a few managed to scratch her armor. The firefighter smirked. She could do this all day, especially after how hard she worked to get to this point.
What she did not expect was the Burnish leader to zoom at her with its sword. Akko nearly avoided a deadly strike, causing her to ride her broom upside down. The Burnish leader remained at her side with its sword drawn.
“Why do you guys start fires so much?” she yelled over the rushing air as she righted herself back up. “It’s not safe for anybody!”
“If you’re so concerned about safety, why don’t you look around?” said a feminine voice. The green Burnish was definitely a woman. “Our fire was contained in one spot. You, on the other hand, are causing more danger by chasing me.”
The two began to trade blows, maneuvering between buildings and changing their altitudes.
“Only to stop you from starting more fires! It’s necessary!”
“We must also burn to live. It’s necessary for us.”
“At the cost of how many lives?”
“And what about our safety? Do Burnish lives not concern you?” she asked coldly.
“Of course not!” shouted Akko instantly. “My hero was both a firefighter and a Burnish: The famous Blazing Chariot!”
“And what happened to her after her secret was revealed?” shouted the Burnish, managing to finally stab Akko in her shoulder armor. “She was ousted! Disgraced! How can you support a society that could do such a thing to someone like her?” Akko managed to quickly strike her in the face before she began to speak.
Before Akko could answer, both women realized they were about to crash into a building. Without thinking, Akko grabbed both her and the Burnish’s broom and steered up. In the process of doing so, however, she felt her hand on her own. Once they were clear, she looked down and saw that the Burnish had done the same thing. Her head armor had also shattered away in the ensuing maneuver, revealing a pale-skinned girl with piercing blue eyes and long, wavy green-blonde hair. Pulling apart, Akko looked her dead in the eye.
“That’s why I’ll change their hearts, minds, and souls with my believing heart!” she declared, pointing straight at the Burnish. “I’ll create a world where everyone can smile no matter who they are. Until then, my heart will always continue to blaze!”
The Green Burnish looked at her. While her face remained hardened, Akko swore she saw conflict in her eyes. Hidden anguish and hope surrounded by years of experience. Then, as quickly as it came, it vanished.
“How naive,” she spoke before charging again.
Meanwhile, Galo and Lio managed to blast themselves back toward the initial building where the fight started. The two crashed and spun until both were standing on a thin piece of roof. Fire was on one side, a small drop on the other. It was a perfect dueling spot.
Galo’s left shoulder began to feel very hot, and when he looked, he saw a piece of the Matoi armor Lucia made for him fall off. When he looked at the other Burnish, he saw that a few shoulder armor pieces looked thinner than before. The green Burnish held his hand out in front of him, and the fire turned into a solid, pointed object. Breaking it off, he swung it around his sides, front, back, and more before finishing with a swing to his right. The rock-like fire dissipated, revealing a patterned blade.
“Interesting. One-on-one,” said Galo, pulling back a lever on his Matoi staff. A torrent of water and ice surrounded the entire staff side like a chainsaw. They both stood with their weapons drawn, slowly walking towards one another. “What’s so fun about burning down people’s houses?
“It’s not our choice,” said the Burnish, stepping forward with utmost precision. “The flames are a part of us.”
The two continued to step forward, slowly raising their weapons. Then, in a flash, they traded a series of strong blows before managing to lock their swords and eyes.
“We must burn in order to live. That’s the way we Burnish are.”
“Only your soul should burn,” said Galo with conviction before pushing even harder. “Your flames are a nuisance. I’ll put ‘em out with my burning soul. That’s my style.”
“Your talking nonsense,” said the Burnish as the two began to trade rapid blows, the echoes of their swords being overshadowed by Lord Sawano.
“Shut up!”
Galo let out one strong swing, forcing the burnish back. He, in turn, slammed down a wave of fire, which Galo barely managed to block and hold. In another flash, the pillar of fire turned into a bow. Arrows fired rapidly at the firefighter, but he managed to slash down all of them before running forward. Before his sword could make contact, the Burnish swung his arm and summoned another wave of fire from the wall, knocking Galo down to the edge of the building. He winced from the impact but opened his eyes just in time to see the Burnish charging down. Gritting his teeth, he swung himself off the building and into the bottom floor.
“Heave-ho!” he said, kicking the wheels on his feet into gear as he sped forward. He quickly turned around, pointed his gun toward the ceiling, and fired. On the top floor, structures of ice popped out which surely would’ve impaled anyone still up there. The Burnish, however, jumped, flipped, and dodged every single one. Suffering no damage at all, he effortlessly leaped into the air before summoning five fire snakes and smashing the floor.
Galo couldn’t see where the snakes were, but he could hear them. As they crushed the ceiling, he weaved between them, trying to find out where the Burnish would be. Feeling it in his gut, he fired one long stream, piercing the ceiling. The shot would have hit the Burnish directly had he not simply overwhelmed it with fire. The result was a massive ice structure of spikes that quickly exploded into smoke and steam.
The Burnish walked towards the hole, swinging his sword along the way. Sirens and flights flared from it, and he quickly readied his sword only to be met with the sight of a tiny drone.
“Baaaaaaaaaaaaka,” it said.
Galo suddenly burst through the wall, landing a clean hit on his head. He quickly followed up with rapid shots from his pistol, each hitting their mark until the mask finally broke away. The Burnish flipped one last time, hitting Galo’s pistol out of his hand before his face was revealed. His short, round greenish hair flowed in the wind. His purple eyes looked at Galo with a bit of anger but mostly full of focus. Despite his cooler attitude, there was a similar level of conviction in his eyes like Galo. He scowled at the damage the firefighter managed to do.
“You’re just a kid!” said Galo. Then, he heard a roar from his armor. Confused, he looked up to see a small flame burst into an inferno that tore off his mech arm. There was another boom, and he lost the other, leaving him defenseless.
At the same time, Akko hurtled into the roof, her armor and mech parts scattering as she tumbled into a defeated heap. The other female green Burnish, who was much more beat up than the man, landed, wincing as she did so.
“Look who’s talking,” said the male green Burnish after looking at the other in minor concern. He continued to slash at Galo, slowly stripping him from the rest of his armor. “Get out of my way or die. We Burnish don’t kill without reason.”
Galo and Akko found themselves side by side and under the swords of the two Green Burnish.
“You have nothing to protect yourself,” said the woman, directing her gaze at Akko.
“You’re naked,” said the man, directing his gaze at Galo.
“Don’t act big, firebug bastards,” said Galo, smirking at the two. Despite his injuries, he looked confident as ever. Akko looked concerned for a little bit, then her expression suddenly changed into a bright smile.
“That’s right,” she said. “We’re all…
“A rescue team."
Diana quickly moved behind Lio and deflected an ice projectile. Remi and Lotte rushed forward, unleashing hails of ice bullets towards the two. While Diana reflected, Lio quickly summoned his bow and prepared to fire. The sound of heavy moving machinery alerted the two, and they dodged a swipe from Varys just in time. Before they could land on the ground, however, Jasminka burst from the ground and grabbed onto Diana’s leg. Lio, who was still in the air, prepared to launch an attack, but before he could, Aina appeared out of the smoke. Swinging her ship, she smacked the Burnish leader back onto the roof where he conveniently stepped on Galo’s Matoi. It flipped up and locked onto his shoulder before glowing blue.
“Lucia!” shouted Galo.
“You got it!” she said, dramatically pressing the lockdown button.
Magnetic forces quickly pulled the shattered pieces of armor back together around the Burnish. The mech, he realized, was meant to break apart and wasn’t just easy to destroy. Despite trying to knock the pieces out of the way, there were too many, and he quickly found himself encapsulated before a massive burst of cooling hit him.
Right as the other Burnish was about to break out of Jasminka’s grasp, precise shots flew through the air as the roar of a jet hit everyone’s ears. These shots froze her limbs and knocked her weapon out of her hand. Akko ran and grabbed her discarded staff.
“Sucy!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Seams appeared in a few places as the staff quickly arced itself into a decorative-looking bow. A synthetic string manifested itself right as Akko pulled back and released a projectile. It split into two pieces connected by some sort of ice-water field. It wrapped around the Burnish like a bola gun over and over until the two pieces met and released a wave of cold energy, quickly cooling down the Burnish.
Through the steam, both Galo and Akko walked towards the two Burnish with their guns drawn.
“How do you like it?” said Galo, keeping his focus on the Burnish while still smirking. “Matoi Tech Rapid Cooling.”
Galo kicked the shell into two before firing and freezing the Burnish’s limbs together. Akko would’ve done the same if she hadn’t already bound her target. The steam cleared and the sun shined through. Akko and Galo stood side-by-side in the middle, posing as the wind wildly blew their hair around. Remi and Lotte stood at the left with their weapons drawn while Varys and Jasminka stood on the right, fists ready. Above, Aina and Amanda hovered, casting a shadow over the two hot-headed firefighters.
“This is Special Mobile Firefighter Rescue Unit Burning Rescue’s teamwork!” said Galo.
BURNING RESCUE
“Are you in awe now?” asked Galo, getting right up into the man’s face and looking down. “I didn’t get naked for fun.
His purple eyes narrowed. “...It didn’t cross my mind.”
“We’re always protected by each other, no matter how defenseless we look,” said Akko, getting closer to the woman and looking up directly into her eyes,
“...You’re smarter than I took you for,” she said.
“I am a firefighter with a burning soul. The name is Galo Thymos!” said Galo, a wild grin on his face. “‘Balls to the Wall,’ is the phrase I live by, Mad Burnish. Make note of it.”
“...Lio. Lio Fotia,” said the man, his calm eyes narrowing towards Galo’s wild ones.
LIO FOTIA
“I’m Akko Kagari, a firefighter whose believing heart burns with magic!” said Akko, smirking at the woman. “No matter how much the world tries to shake me off, I’ll hold on til the very end!”
The woman looked at her with a neutral expression. However, when Akko looked carefully, she could see the slightest touch of amusement on her face.
“My name is Diana Cavendish. It’s been a displeasure to meet you, Akko Kagari.”
DIANA CAVENDISH
Galo and Akko stood face to face with Lio and Diana, bold letters standing tall behind them. There was anger, amusement, conviction, and rivalry between all of their eyes. Despite everyone’s height differences, their power seemed to be on equal footing in terms of sheer willpower. In their minds, they felt as if this battle was only the beginning.