"While my cryophobia started my obsession with fire, my love and appreciation only grew when I became HeatWave. Fire may not have versatility of other elements, but where it is immutable, the raw destructive force of fire is unmatched. Simply stated, Fire Burns Everything."- Mick Rory.
HeatBlast
My vocal cords were no longer flesh, but a mix of plasma and volcanic rock. My entire being became denser, hotter, making my voice deeper and rougher. So when I spoke it was not with the voice of an eighteen-year-old, but my voice was the birth of embers, and just my breathing was enough to cause fires to form and the room temperature to increase.
I stood up from my chair, knocking it back, as I stretched my arms behind my back. Even though my body wasn't made of flesh anymore, so I couldn't get sore, being forced to sit for several hours made the motion almost instinctive. As I looked down to my hands, no longer skin and bone, but superheated plasma, I marveled at the changes to my body.
Ever since I had seen the first episode of Ben 10, Heatblast had been one of my favorite aliens, and turning into him after all these years was even more surreal than seeing Batman in real life. Even though I had doubts that I was truly in the DCU or a universe that had DC characters, my transformation put those doubts to rest as there was no faking what power I could feel now.
And what power that was. Heat bloomed within me, urging to escape and cause destruction, and I somehow gained the knowledge of the alien I was- a Pryonite- I knew somehow, but I also felt how to use my powers. I knew that a flick of my hands would cause fires to spark into existence, ravenously burning everything in their path, a snap of my fingers causing those same to explode. I knew that my body did not just allow me to shape and mold fire, but made me stronger, faster, because why would plasma and rock be constrained with muscle strength as a human would? I stared at my hands, becoming more entranced by the flow of heat swirling within them when a voice behind me snapped me out of the stupor.
"What the fuck is going on with you. You literally were just a regular guy and know you're a fucking man made out of fire, that is some BS. I know for a fact that when I get stabbed, I do not transform into some kind of lava person," Robin complained.
I look behind me to see Robin, who was actually wearing a skin-tight green and red costume. There was even the stylized R on his chest as well, though his gloves seemed to be lightly smoking.
"I'm not made of fire, it's plasma technically, have you never seen a Pryonite before?" I was talking to Robin. The Robin. The sidekick to Batman. Unfortunately for him, having to carefully talk to the Penguin, and being kidnapped, made attitude come into my tone. "You really have to be more open to other people's culture, and for the record, I did not know the Boy Wonder was allowed to use such foul language like that."
Robin stares at me, then slowly lifts up the Batarang, now partially melted, and whips it at my head. While as a human, being thrown hot metal at my face would not be good for any part of my face, I barely flinch as the spinning boomerang hits the side of my head. I barely even feel anything as the Batarang glances against the rock that makes up my head and doesn't leave a scratch. Robin glares at my blank expression- to be fair it is hard to show emotion when you are a plasma person- and shakes his head.
"Man-Alien guy, whatever, look. I had to rescue your dumb ass, cause you got captured by the Penguin." I can almost hear the tiredness in his voice, and I want to empathize and be thankful to the person who helped save my life-but the attitude in his voice just puts me in a bad mood. I start to respond, only to realize that he is still talking.
"I-unlike you- am smart enough to not get kidnapped by a supervillain," He throws another Batarang at my head, doing no damage again. " And since I am a hero, even if I did get kidnapped, I would easily just escape. So listen to what I fucking say, and just leave, so I can go kick some goon ass."
When people get angry, sometimes they "see red," which I always thought was a metaphor. But after talking to Robin, I am no longer sure that's the case. Knowing that trying to fight Batman's sidekick, would be a very bad idea, especially with Batman in the room. So, instead of throwing fire at his smug head, I go to the tried and true tactic every teenager respects. One-upping someone, at the thing they're best at. Sure, I have no training to fight bad guys, but I have the Omnitrix, there's no way Robin could keep up with a being made of super-heated plasma. I find a suitable goon, one just starting to stand up and start to stare at Robin and begin forming fire in my right hand.
"Hey, uhh, Boy Wonder" I make hand quotes with my hand that's not forming fire, for the extra insult, which works judging by the hatred that sparks in his eyes. "I am a Hero, and unlike you, I have superpowers, which makes me a... Oh yeah, a Super Hero." I launch the fireball I created at the goon, watching it race through the air, and explode directly in his chest kicking him back down for the second time.
Robin frowns then smiles, picking up two Batarangs from his belt and launching them towards two goons, turning to smirk at me when both of them curve through the air to hit directly on their heads. Both goons immediately slump down, hopefully, knocked unconscious.
He opens his mouth to say something, when three crescents of flame, all white-hot, form above my hands. I pick out three guards, all starting to aim guns, and thrust my arms out, propelling the crescents. One by one, the three guns the goons were holding, each split into two pieces and I wink at Robin. Our back and forth might have continued for a while, but when across the warehouse, two doors open and a tide of goons, all wearing black two-piece suits coming pouring out. We both glance at each other, and we almost smile when we both speak the same thing, at the same time.
"Bet I'll beat more than you."
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
----
I had never fought anyone before, but fighting an endless tide of goons while being one of Ben 10's most iconic aliens was certainly exhilarating. After being weakened by not having food or water, numerous head trauma, and being stabbed, being in a totally new body that had none of those ailments, as well as just being stronger, faster, and more agile was certainly a rush. Again- I was a Ben 10 alien, an experience I wanted to happen since I was a child.
And the feeling was incredible. I launched myself at a pair of goons and punched one in the chest, and almost laughed when he flew back a dozen feet. Turning to the second goon I kicked the back of his leg and had to stifle a smile when he almost did a whole backflip, just from the force of my one kick. I saw a group of goons, bunched up, and only had to launch one fireball to send them tumbling to the ground. There was a reason that Heatblast was so commonly seen in the show, and that was because he was just limitlessly powerful. Even though I felt the heat inside of me dim a little, with every conjuration of fire, or the exhortation of superhuman speed or strength, it was comparable to spitting on an active volcano and expecting it to go out. However, the limiting factor was my inexperience both as Heatblast, and fighting in general, and only glancing at Robin made the difference clear.
Robin's style was graceful, using fluid movements that seemed faster than humanly possible, but I knew that was just his own hard work and experience. He would jump at a whole group of goons, armed with nothing but two Batarangs, and where ever he went, gang members toppled. Robin would jump onto a person, take that half-second to throw Batarangs, grapple that person to the ground, then use a series of kicks to incapacitate the goon he had grappled to the ground, or start attacking the goons next to the one he had just attacked.
I knew that as a Pyronite I was stronger than a human was, I was faster and had quicker reflexes, along with a host of pyrokinetic abilities, but the difference between me and Robin was beginning to become clear to me. Even though I could launch a fireball or crescent of flame at a goon, and certainly knock them out of the fight, I had to carefully aim that fire, while it seemed the Robin was just a continuous series of kicks, grapples, and thrown Batarangs. The disparity between experiences was just too wide for my infantile ability as a hero.
I tried to put those thoughts out of my mind as focused more on my pyrokinetic abilities, the one thing that no one could match me in. I launched wave after wave of fire, using my arm as a firehose, trying to push back the spread of gang members. I summoned dozens of small orbs of fire, then exploded them with a snap of my fingers all taking out at least one gang member. Furthermore, whenever I punched or kicked, I enveloped that limb with a sheen of fire, then willed that fire to go faster, making the intensity of my strikes increase.
Quickly, the floor of the warehouse is covered in goons. Even though my inexperience fighting was significant, so was the difference between a human and a Pyronite , and that doesn't consider the fact that I was working with Robin, who was trained by one of the best martial artists in this universe. Compared with the low-level goons that are typical for villains to employ, having to face Heatblast and Robin is almost impossible for them. However, I know for a fact that some of the goons happened to hit me with objects ranging from a baseball bat to a lead pipe, my increased durability is the only thing keeping me safe from the attacks I couldn't dodge. Moreover, a glance at Robin shows him panting pretty heavily, and leaning on a staff, catching his breath.
I walk over to him, careful not to get too close to him, and decide to try to be the bigger man.
"You're real good at beating the shit out of people aren't you," I say trying to establish some sort of common ground. While I don't personally care if Robin likes me or not, the fact that I have no legal documents and do not belong in this universe makes me hesitant from fully getting on the bad side of someone who works with the Justice League.
"You aren't too bad yourself" I can see Robin having to almost force the words out, and have to try and hide a smirk. "But how the fuck would you get kidnapped if you're a Pyranite, or whatever."
"One it's Pyronite, and it's because.." I trail of unsure of how much information I want to reveal to Robin. Due to the Penguin's confusion of the Omnitrix, and the fact that Robin could recognize a Ben 10 alien, if he ever saw one on TV, makes me think that Ben 10 doesn't exist in the DC universe. I decide on responding vaguely and try to instill the mysterious archetype.
"Let's just say I'm not always this powerful," I say, trying to speak with bravery in my voice, but judging from the snort that came from Robin, I was not that successful with my endeavor. Shit.
Seeing that Robin plopped to the ground, and started to stretch, I do the same, being careful to keep a sizable distance from us, to reduce the chances of accidentally harming my new ally, however reluctant we both were at the prospect. Looking around to make sure all the low-level goons were incapacitated, I found the last member still standing, The Penguin. And going head to head with the Penguin was the Dark Knight himself.
I thought that the Boy Wonder was a good fighter, but he was nothing compared to his mentor. , I watched as Batman fought the Penguin, as the Bat constantly blended in with his surroundings, making it hard to see him. Silently, each punch and kick measured, the Penguin was forced to give ground, slowly but surely running out of tricks. A bomb in the shape of a penguin would fly out, causing a small explosion, or his umbrella would shoot like a gun, but then randomly produce flashes, almost blinding me, even though I was dozens of feet away. Facing that tide of mayhem, an impractical array of bombs, guns, and knives, was a single man, who only used small measured steps, and quick punches or kicks. The Penguin would fire or stab at the place the Batman was, and the Dark Knight would just not be there, only utilizing the small steps and angling his body.
As the Penguin was almost trapped in front of a wall, he pulled out a giant snowglobe, shook it, and then slammed it down on the ground in front of him with a maniacal laugh. Instantly a plume of smoke erupted concealing both him and Batman from my sight, as both me and Robin warily stood up. Blitzing straight at us, limp disappeared, the Penguin ran faster than I thought possible directly in front of me and Robin, still laughing maniacally. As I began to create fire, fireballs in each of my hands, and crescents of flame above my head, I saw a red flashing light in the corner of my vision. My heart sank as I saw the tell-tale red light flashing from the center of my chest; I was timing out.
Right before I could launch my flames at the Penguin. The red flash peaked, transforming me back into my human self. The strength that filled me as I transformed left as quickly as it arrived. I immediately stumbled as the leg I was putting weight on regained its wound, and as the headache and tiredness started to wash over me, and blackness started to invade the corners of my vision, I began to fall backward. I saw Robin look between catching me, or engaging the Penguin, and realized he could only choose between one, and my stomach dropped when I realized who he was going to get.
As two arms caught me before I hit the ground, I saw the Penguin escape into Gotham, and the last thing I saw was the worried face of Robin, and above his worried face, I could see Batman's looking down at me. Then for the second time that day, I passed out, letting darkness overwhelm me.