The ships were loud as they steamed into the harbor. Booming horns blared, screaming their entrance. The cargo ships were hulking metal creatures fed by fire.

Michael fidgeted, pulling at his shirt and then running a hand through his hair. Rene was pissed. He could see it in the way her eyes glinted and she kept clenching and unclenching her hands. Here he had been thinking, he couldn't have fallen deeper into the shit hole with her after the incident with him 'spying' on her, just goes to show you can't always been right.

He opened his mouth, unable to stop with that look on her face. Just a little smile was all he wanted.

"So Firecracker, ten bucks says I can make a bigger boom than you with those ships."

Her green eyes bore into his, anger tinting them with a darker forest shade than normal. He smiled, unwavering under the glare, all the while his heart curled in on itself. It wasn't like it was all fake, the smiles and laughter. He believed in looking at the brighter side of things and being able to laugh at the darkness. It was how he kept moving forward. Still, he wondered how it had come to this, how one girl could so easily fuel and extinguish his fire. My would Leon be cracking up at him now.

Danny leaned around her. "Make it fifty and you are so on."

"Sure Pianoman, how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"You forget Michael, my good friend, I am a certified genius."

"I will believe that when I see the proper accredited papers."

"I can't deal with this right now, will you two please take it elsewhere." Rene muttered, scanning over the incoming ships.

"You are getting less fun everyday Firecracker."

Rene ignored him, striding ahead of the group. He sighed, following behind his flames crackling and popping within him, anxious. Declan went up next to Rene, whispering strategies to her as he pointed out things about the ships. He was definitely more experienced with these types of things and had even gone to school for mechanical engineering before...well, before they all faked their own deaths and ran from the whack-a-doodles running the Asylum. Normal problems of growing up and adulting. The harbor wind was pretty strong. Michael breathed heavily, allowing for smoke to escape his lungs. The puff floated up and was whisked away. If only he had eaten and slept more, then he could provide some cover for them. His flames weren't being tended well enough recently from being on the run.

"Shall we Stick?" Michael walked up, slinging his arm around Declan. Declan, who reminded him so much of Leon that he could see him out of the corner of his eye when Declan spoke.

The air stilled with their approach. They had split off into groups, spreading out to hide easier among the barrels and buildings of the shipyard. Declan and Danny were taking the left, him the middle, and Rene and Cassie the right. There were only two ships coming into dock. Still, the task before them held a level of risk that both thrilled and nerved Michael. The group began closing the distance. They had become varying levels of good at stealth over the past month with, surprisingly, Cassie coming to excel at it in part due to her small stature. Declan and he had worked and trained them all hard in various aspects of being well...whatever they were. Dead fugitive heroes had a good roll. Here comes the dead fugitive heroes that kicked ass while looking devilishly handsome. Rene wouldn't like that name. It would also be kinda long to fit on a lunch box.

In and out of the line of sight from the boats, Michael shifted, bee-lining for the water's edge. He was hoping to beat everyone else there. There were no sounds of alarm, despite the boats not being greeted. Suppose when you were doing shady business that wasn't exactly a good idea anyway so maybe they didn't suspect anything amiss, not realizing that he and the others had knocked them all out. That would work in their favor. Michael leaned against the wall of the building, having reached the outer rim of the warehouses. It was a pretty far sketch between the buildings and the dock, maybe 25 feet of open area where they could be spotted. Well, better him than them. Besides, he had this.

Fires crackled and spat to life with a flick of his wrists. Michael had always imagined it like a lighter, the movement the striking of a flint. He calmly walked forward, his head held high and flames leaping higher in response. He could hear Rene hissing at him to wait. He shot her a smirk over his shoulder, making her face twitch in annoyance. Michael laughed, and brought his hands forward, a wave of heat and destruction pushing out.

Michael watched his fire consume the dock, a raging dragon...not that he could ever let Kai or Karo hear that comparison. He was pretty sure they'd be offended and say something about his weak mere mortal flames. Taking a deep breath, he let the air get sucked into his lungs, tasting the mixture of smokey flavor.

"Hey fire bug, how are we supposed to get through now?" Rene frowned, running her hand along her skin, an unconscious habit she picked up after leaving the Asylum, as though to check she was in one piece.

Declan stormed over with Danny hurrying to keep up with the taller young man. "You blew our cover!"

"Wait, I thought we agreed we were the welcoming committee? What's a welcome without fire?"

"Never plan me a party." Danny muttered, shaking his head.

"You guys coming or not?"

The group's heads whipped up to see Cassie, crawling along a crane that hung over the water.

Rene's mouth dropped open, horror creeping over her face. "No no no no no. Cass, that's dangerous! You need to wait."

Everyone else jumped in, trying dissuade the small teal head, but to no avail. Cassie kept going until she reached the end. With a grin of determination, she wrapped herself around the capable and slid down. The friction must have burned her hands and exposed legs in her shorts. She never cried out though, and swung the connector until it was making wild arches over the water. One second she was there, and the next she was gone, flying through the air towards the ship. Rene screamed.

The human femur required about a mean force of 1700 pounds per square inch of pressure to break. It took far less than that for smaller bones...and less dense bones. They were all holding their breath, squinting through the flickering flames. A teal bob popped up over the edge, waving at them. Rene sighed, her shoulders slumping in relief.

Rene stomped her foot, kicking to flip her axe off, the giant six foot tall staff imposing to any enemies.

"Ooh can I pick my own this time?" Danny strode towards her, circling to examine the visible tattoos.

"You get a pistol."

"Come on, I wanted one of the ice swords."

He moved to poke at her shoulder where they were hidden beneath her clothing. Rene side-stepped him though, causing him to reel a moment off balance. Danny stood up haughtily back in control, flipping her off. Rene turned the bird with two of her own, a slight smile hinting on her face as it always did at the exchange. It was like their own secret handshake or something.

"You know, I'd let you choose if I was the living weapon."

The smile dropped any teasing disappearing from her face. Danny winced, catching what he had said too late. Rene turned away from him, withdrawing the pistol and tossing it at his feet. Michael sighed, picking it up and handing it to Danny. Oh, Rene. She wasn't taking this at all as well as she liked to play at.

"Shall we or are we waiting for the giant snakes?" Rene glared at him. "I'm sorry giant lizards." Michael grinned, patting Danny on the shoulder before joining her at the edge of his flaming wall.

"They can hear you."

He chuckled. "I know but Kai already ate me, what worse could they do?"

"They could puncture holes in that head of yours to let out some hot air." She slapped her face to charade horror. "Then wherever would your ego reside?"

"Can't touch this Sparky." He winked, dancing backwards into the fire which welcomed him like an old friend, licking at his skin with pleasant warmth.

"Get back here Pyro!"

They'd find a way through or around, but until then he could deal with the worst of it as he saw fit without them observing. Plus if he was lucky he'd find Cassie cause hell hath no fury like someone who hurt Rene's friend. Michael pulled and strung the fire into a thin stream, which he then lashed at the closest boat. Steam rose up in puffs from the water as melting metal off the boat fell into it. He walked up the fire, his shoes burning away. Dang, those were brand new and pretty fancy ones too. Stepping onto the hull, Michael looked around pretty sure this was the one Cassie had ended up on. All around him people were staring, dumbstruck by the boy who had walked across fire like he was going for a leisurely Sunday stroll.

"Afternoon gents." He paused, scratching at his head in thought. "Sorry, that probably sounded sexist. There may be female sailors on here for all I know. I got it! Afternoon people or creatures or whatever it is you prefer. Don't worry, no judgement here."

A shot was fired. The bullet spinning and deadly as it approached him. Michael waved a hand, a current of fire trailing it. The projectile melted into a lump, falling to the boat.

"Well that was rude. Don't you know how to treat guests? Where is my offer of a hot beverage?" Michael breathed in. "Here let me show you, some tips in hospitality. Let's start with the scent, all places should have one."

Releasing his air, smoke billowed out of his throat. It moved in unnatural ways, raising and lowering to dive into peoples' mouths and noses to starve them of oxygen. They started falling left and right, nothing but thumping weights onto the ship.

"Remember, no smoking in the rooms please."

"Michael?"

He turned to see Cassie creeping around a corner, upon confirming it was him, she launched forward hugging him.

"You found me!"

Michael ruffled her hair. "Wouldn't have had to if you didn't pull the daredevil back there."

"Ooh is that my nickname?" She stepped back, bouncing on her feet.

"Nah, daredevil is already taken plus it's too commonplace for you."

Cassie puffed out her cheeks, trailing behind him as he began working his way through the bodies. He paused to check a pulse on a random one, faint but there. He relaxed a bit.

"Everyone else has a nickname. Danny is Pianoman. Declan is Stick." She ticked them off on her bright pink painted fingers. "Rene even has like five of them. Sparky, Firecracker, Ice Princess, Sparkles..."

He cut her off. "Hey, we agreed to never speak of that last one again. I don't need her to be threatening me more than she already does."

Cassie giggled. "No I suppose not." She looked around. "So this was really all you?"

A curt nod was her only answer. Michael stepped over a younger woman, her face so still it was like a doll. He reached down, putting one hand on her pulse and the other above her mouth. It took time, but a small brush of exhaling air and light beat under his fingers reassured him. He had spent years learning to control his smoke and memorizing facts upon facts about what the human body could take. He didn't want to be ignorant when he killed someone. He would hold himself responsible and that meant knowing the humans limits. Even with all that though, he had his moments of doubts.

"Cassie, where have you been this whole time?"

Cassie grinned, her face innocent and sweet face. "Care to see what Rene taught me?"

Deeper and deeper the two traveled into the ship. Cassie sure was fast slipping through it. Michael hung back, checking to make sure they weren't followed but Cassie seemed confident in her path. It was kinda odd how quickly the girl had taken to the shadows for someone so sunny. She stopped outside a large steel door labeled boiler room.

"You didn't." He deadpanned, sweat forming on his face from nerves and the external heat source.

"Just a little."

Michael grabbed her hand, dragging her down the hall. He raced like hell was on his heels and perhaps it was if Cassie had done what he thought she did. The ship began shaking and shouts of those not knocked out could be heard. Ah, shit.

Diving out the final door into the sun, Michael scanned for a life boat or something. Most were being filled though, people rushing to leave seeking their own safety over that of their unconscious comrades. Those, those were the people hired by the good doctor. Ones thrown into the mix of the regular crew and could care less about what happened to them so long as they got paid and lived to spend it.

A loud piercing whistle shrieked through the air, repeating its warning over and over. The ship was gonna blow. All the people he had smoked would drown. He teetered, unsure. It wasn't that he had never killed people; it was if these particular ones he wanted on his conscious. Cassie was yelling at him and pointing to the edge of the boat. She wanted to jump and leave them, but then no one would help them. These weren't bad people, probably just some cargo workers. Michael looked to the sky, upset when he saw no waiting shadow. He needed to make a decision.

Steel melts around 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. Michael rushed back towards the people, flicking back to life his hands, forcing his flames to climb higher and hotter up his arms.

"Cass get off the boat!"

He sliced with the flames, melting through the hull. A teal streak flew past him, beginning to drag people to a pile. Her small body struggled under the weight, often pulling them by their hands and ankles while wheezing. A powerful blast rocked the ship. Michael gasped fearful, pausing long enough to look back towards the boiler room. No gaping hole, it was still intact. Turning to the water, he could see a chemical fueled fire rising into the air, more explosions going off. The water bobbed their doomed vessel as its twin went down.

Michael grunted, picking up speed with his attacks. Each flame on his arm honed into a five foot long spike. He brought them together and with a final yell, plunged it into the boat. The flames grew and danced under his will, melting though the ship until they were extinguished by the water below. A creak and groan sounded. Okay, they were separate. Now, he just needed to force them away from each other. Michael reached into himself, only to find a quivering ember. He really hadn't been taking care of himself.

A shout caught his attention, grabbing him away from his shameful state. He imagined this was what it felt like when one couldn't perform. His eyes found Cassie, who was waving her hands frantically. The boat shifted and they began sinking. They were going down slower though than the heavier piece they had separated from. If it would sink first, they might have a better chance of surviving all this, depending on the size of the blast. Michael ran calculations in his head. Things didn't seem to be in their favor. The other end pitched forward, sucking in water causing the drop to the depths to increase. However, it also created a suction power that slowly but surely dragged at them.

Flicking at his hands, Michael managed to heat them up, even if no flames appeared. He began punching and pulling at the metal, forging the now malleable steel into a makeshift wall. Just in time too, the ship tilted. Cassie shrieked. She was tripped and pulled into a sea of bodies sliding down toward him. Michael groaned as person after person's dead weight slammed him into the steel. Looking over the edge, the water was encroaching faster. Rene was so going to kill him if Cassie died for a bunch of people that technically would have played a part in her kidnapping.

Praying to God, he struggled to pull himself out from under the people. Cassie scrambled out from underneath the few on top of her. She grabbed his hand and began tugging to get him out. It was just too much weight though and she wasn't near strong enough.

"Cassie get out of here. There's nothing you can do now. This is my fault. I'll take care of it."

"Shut up and put some effort into it. I thought you were supposed to be some super cool I-can-do-anything guy, now prove it you bastard!"

Michael froze, shocked at Cassie's words. Then he couldn't help it, he started laughing.

"I can see you are definitely not the one Rene's gets her weird habit of replacing swear words from."

The flame in his chest flickered, searching for fuel. Michael ignored it though, slapping his chest hard instead to refocus the pain. He wriggled and wormed, trying to inch his way to freedom.

A shadow blocked the sun and his heart stopped, hope igniting the dying ember. A roar shattered through the air, seeming to break apart the very existence of the world. Crap, someone was not happy about the lizard comment.

Black shimmered through the air, a ribbon spiraling down towards them. Karo's wings were tucked in close to allow him to missile forward, they unfurled at near the last second. A fear ploy to make Michael think he was going to sink him. It worked. His heart was slamming against his rib cage, threatening to crack them. It only took about 3,300 Newtons of force to for a twenty-five percent chance of it occurring. That was actually technically for a punch, but he figured it was correlated.

The fire blazed from the terror, seeking to fight. Well that was one to re-start. Good thing Cassie was on here or he had a sneaking suspicion the dragon would have done it.

"Hey buddy. Little help?" Michael waved.

The dragon sneered, washing a wave of hot air over him. "I dislike you mortal."

"Well that hurts my feels, we are practically fire besties."

Too far.

Karo snapped at his face, grazing a humongous tooth down it. Michael could feel the blood trickling. He wiped it off with his thumb, flicking it away.

"Fine don't help me, but help them."

"Why should he?" Rene hoped off Karo, trailing her hand over his obsidian scales as she approached.

"They don't deserve to die Sparky."

"They were going to help kidnap me!"

"They were just doing their job. They probably didn't even know there was a girl in a barrel mixed among the usual cargo."

"You don't know that."

Cassie stepped between them, holding up her hands, a firm serious face. "We don't have time for this."

The boat pitched in agreement, bubbles churning beneath them.

"Pick it up." Rene growled.

Karo's wings snapped back, hovering him so he could bury his massive talons into the hull. The boat was lifted using little effort from the embodiment of Chaos. They were dropped unceremoniously onto the solid ground past the warehouses. People rolled off, catching Michael among them. He groaned buried beneath them. His hand shot out, waving for help. After a bit, someone grabbed it, hauling him out.

"Thanks Stick." He brushed himself off, looking around in relief.

Declan nodded, though his eyes drifted to the green eyes flashing blonde. "She's pissed though."

Oh Rene.