Alright, breathe. That’s important. Best to get as much air as I can out here, because once I go in there, there’s gonna be fire, and smoke, all of it surrounding me-

    Breathe, just breathe. I was trained for this. These past four months were used to make sure I was ready for this. I can’t be scared. Not now. Not after everything that’s happened. I need to be strong.

   “You okay, Kid?” said a familiar voice. Opening my eyes, I saw my trainer, Jazz, staring at me worriedly. I couldn’t fault her for it. Four months ago, I had been a small, scared kid who couldn’t stand up for himself, let alone go against one of Nature’s fiercest elements. 

    I was still scared, but I wasn’t weak anymore. Today was-is-supposed to be my debut, the day I come into the light. The chief’s already said that I’m going to be the face of the Fire Department. So many people’s careers are riding on this. Just for that alone, I can’t back out now.

    Jazz voiced out my thoughts. “You scared? You shouldn’t be. You’re the most qualified person to handle this. You spent hours training yourself to the bone, going farther and harder than anyone who’s ever gone through the program.”

  “I know that,” I replied, running my hand through my hair. “I just...what if something goes wrong? What if I mess up? I’ve never dealt with a fire this big. I’ve memorized the drills, what I’m supposed to do, what I’m supposed to say and to whom, but I still I just think that it might be too soon.”

    Jazz raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Really? Is this the same kid who knocked his training partner to the ground when he found out he was going to deal with the California Fire?”

  I gave her a weak smile. “It’s different when it’s staring at me in the face.”

   I wasn’t kidding. Before we had even gotten close to California, I could see the black cloud of smoke rising towards the sky, the orange blaze of the fire right underneath. When we landed at the airport, I could feel the fire’s heat, despite being thousands of miles away. Now, in the limo, the fire was all around us, hungry and waiting to devour. 

    When I was a kid, before I even understood what I was, I had always feared the campfire that my siblings and I gathered around every summer. Not because I was scared of getting burnt, but because I saw faces in the fire, taunting me, teasing me, giving me a warning every time we met. 

     Challenge me, and I will devour you. Fight me, and I will engulf you. Defy me, and I will end you. To me, you are nothing!

   It’s one thing to fight your exact counter. But when your opponent is powerful, ancient and without fear of you, the only one who can stop it…

    It’s humbling, to say the least.

  “Kid, you know my story, right?” said Jazz, shaking me from my thoughts. I nodded in confirmation.

  “Jasmine King, the youngest person to join the U.S Military in a hundred years, at the age of fourteen. After two years of training and several trainers, you took to the battlefield at age sixteen, going against terrorists, suicide bombers and assassins both older and younger than you. You earned the name ‘Fearless’, due to your ability, Armour, which allowed you to turn your skin into a diamond-hard substance.

    “For the next five years, you were the shield and sword of the U.S. Army. You took the most dangerous assignments, the worst operations, missions meant for failure, until-”

     “-Until we found out my Armour wasn’t as durable as we thought,” she finished dryly. “It turned out that it was like actual armor-it could get nicked, scratched, even dented. Normal armor can get replaced. Mine couldn’t. So, one day, we walked into a terrorist den, straight into a hailstorm of gunfire and fire. As usual, I was ‘Fearless’, walking right towards them, letting the bullets bounce right off. We captured all of them, zero casualties, my squad members joking and messing around...until the guy behind me blew us all to shreds. I still had my Armour on, and it allowed me to take the full brunt of the damage. But five years of damage is a lot, especially when it’s in a concentrated area. That day, my Armour broke, and for the first time in my life, I felt pain. Horrible, crippling pain.”

   “The scar on your back-”

  She nodded. “Same place. It was small, about the same size as a baseball, but deep enough that you could see my spine. The doctors did well, and it scarred nicely, but the mental scars were still there. I was too scared to go back into battle. My Armour never reformed properly over that place again. I was scared that I would get hurt again, and it was something that controlled me for a long time.

   “Fortunately, the Army didn’t need me. A month later, we won the war, and the U.S. won. Everyone was safe. That knowledge helped me recover faster. But you know something I realized?”

   “What?”

“I realized that the feeling that had made me strong, ready to put my Armour on at a moment’s notice, the feeling that helped me survive my military career, wasn’t bravery. It was fear. Undiluted, overwhelming fear.”

   My jaw must’ve dropped, because Jazz burst into laughter, pointing at my face.

   “You look so silly right now!”

  I didn’t care though. “What do you mean, it was fear? You walked onto battlefields with almost zero gear! You disobeyed orders and took unnecessary risks! Hell, I’ve seen you set yourself on fire during my training!”

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   “You learned how to dodge, didn’t you?”

“Not the point! You do all that crazy stuff without a care in the world, and you’re scared?”

  Still giggling, she nodded. “I did do all that stuff. Most of it was funny too. But not because I was ‘Fearless’. I did it because I kept trying to prove to myself that I shouldn’t be scared, that nothing could hurt me, that my Armour was unstoppable. Truth is, every training session, every battle, every fight, I forced myself to do it, to rely on my power, because inside my head, a part of me always doubted my Armour’s strength. I never believed in my ability, and even today, I still don’t have full faith in it.

   “As superhumans, we fear the things that can harm us despite our natural abilities. Because of my Armour, I feared pain to an insane level. People who can fly or have wings have a fear of falling. Your fear of fire is as natural as your control over the cold. When superhumans first came, so many of us disbelieved in our powers that we just ignored them, allowing them to fade away.

   “The ones who history remembers are those who embraced their abilities and brought them into the light. You and those of your age are the next generations of superhumans, those who inherited their powers at birth, rather than gain them in an accident or because of puberty. Your ability is like an arm or a leg. It’s a part of who you are. I always saw mine like a coat, something I wore if I needed it, but not longer than necessary.

   “This fear of fire is going to live and die with you. It will never leave you. But you can choose whether it will break you, or strengthen you. You understand?”

   I nodded because, in a way, I did understand. I couldn’t get rid of my fear. To do that would have to result in me losing a part of me that was special.

    I was still scared...but now it was helping me, not hurting me.

    “We’re here,” announced the driver. Jazz smiled at me, thanked the man for the drive, then opened the door.

     It was hell.

  Fire and smoke surrounded us, turning everything to ash. Flames had engulfed the houses and the trees, the tarmac melting beneath our feet. I didn’t feel the heat like a normal person, and Jazz’s Armour prevented her from getting scorched, but the fact that random stuff kept setting on fire around us was a good indicator of how bad it was.

    So why were there people here?

“Damnit,” Jazz cursed quietly. “The media is here.”

  “Those are reporters? Here? Now?

“You do realize that a story on a superhuman is a guaranteed promotion, right? Despite us being around for the last decade or so, we’re a very secretive bunch.”

    “But... there are so many people here-”

  “And they’re not going to change anything. Good or bad, today is your day. No one can take that from you. Now hurry up and get this over with! I’m starting to get a tan!”

    “But you’re-”

  “Just hurry up!”

Right. I could do this. Despite the overwhelming heat, there was a lot of moisture in the surrounding area. There was water underground, in the trees, even in the pipes of the burning houses. I just needed to breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. In, out.

        In.

      Out.

     Just. Breathe.

   So, even after all the warnings I gave you, you still choose to stand in front of me. Did you think I was merely jesting when I said I would devour you? Come then, little mortal, and watch as I burn you to ashes.

   My heart stopped as the flames roared all around me, and for a minute, I was the scared five-year-old who sat in front of the campfire, the only one who could see the devilish faces that hid in the flame.

       I will consume you, and destroy everything you love if you defy me. This is your last chance to back out, mortal.

      And that was when I felt Jazz’s hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t let your fear win control,” she whispered. “Make it serve you.”

  She was right. All I had to do was just-

       Breathe.

  “Freeze.”

   The sound of shattering glass filled the area as frost began to cover the ground, cooling the tarmac as it spread rapidly. A series of explosions were heard as the pipes underground burst and brought freezing water up to the surface. Spiky crystals of ice jutted from the ground, and the world was silent for a minute as winter made a guest appearance on a stage that didn’t quite favor her.

    Soon, however, the ice melted, and the frost evaporated as the inferno around us reminded us of its existence. The ice was gone, but so was the fire.

   Jazz whistled in awe beside him. “That’s about a two-mile radius, you’re best one yet, I’d say. Wanna see if you can do better?”

    Despite everything that had just happened, I felt a grin on my lips. “Sure, why not?”

  And that was when the media decided to make their voices heard.

    “Excuse me, Ice Boy, over here please!”

  “Mr. Ice, would you please answer a few questions?”

“Freeze-Man! Over here, Freeze-Man, just need a few pictures-!”

  I felt my cheeks burn as Jazz laughed at the onslaught of ice-related names.

   “Seriously? Mr.Ice? Freeze-Man? Please tell me they’re joking.”

   “They’re the media. They name the heroes, not us. But on another note, you ready to do this?”

     I nodded as I felt frost start to creep onto my arms. I had only taken out a small portion of the wild-fire, and I had a whole city to take care of. This was gonna be a long, hard day.

    I couldn’t wait to start.

 “Just so you know, I’m calling you Mr. Ice from now on.”

    “I hate you Jazz.”

                       **************************