The agency was quieter today when I was called in. People were off on bigger missions that were further away. More than just the New England area needed heroes, so they sometimes heeded the call all over. I sat in the break room with Pyre when my coms went off.

“Blink, Pyre, you are needed in Ontario Canada. Sending the information now,” said the Agent on the line. “Your mission is to subdue the superhuman target and bring them back to base. Police and emergency services are already on their way. They will assist in handling the injured. Your job is only the superhuman.”

I started calculating a route as soon as I had the destination while gathering my things. Pyre also swiftly had his things together. After a few missions, he had gotten used to my teleportation. I grabbed hold of him and started jumping.

We traveled quickly. I didn’t have anywhere in the city but was able to get my first jump close. The next jumps were easy with little obstruction. Getting closer to our destination I realized that the location was a high school. People were flooding out to the parking lot. Police had started to form a perimeter with ambulances nearby.

As I got closer, I saw the superhuman’s powers. Ice spread outward shattering the windows. I got the attention of the nearest cop.

“We are going in and will bring who we can out. What did the students and teachers say happened to get this started?” I asked the cop.

“The ice is spreading from the cafeteria where half the kids were. They aren’t sure who is at the center of the growing ice stuff, but it has to be one of the kids,” he answered nervously.

I turned to Pyre. “Let's start breaking and melting through this ice then and see if this can be dealt with less violently.”

Pyre nodded. “I recognize it as well. Poor kid. We need to hurry though before worsening hypothermia or ice burns set in.”

We entered through the front doors of the school and hurried toward the cafeteria.

The air inside the school was frigid, each breath visible as a puff of mist. The ice had spread rapidly, covering the walls and floor in a thick, crystalline layer. Pyre's flames flickered in the dim light, casting eerie shadows on the frozen surfaces. We moved quickly, our footsteps echoing in the silent hallways.

As we approached the cafeteria, the temperature dropped even further. The ice here was different—more jagged, more aggressive. It seemed to pulse with a life of its own, growing and shifting as if it were alive. Pyre stepped forward, his hands glowing with intense heat. He pressed his palms against the ice, and it began to melt away, steam rising in thick clouds.

“Keep an eye out,” I said. “This stuff is likely being controlled even if indirectly.”

He nodded, my eyes scanning the room. The cafeteria was a mess of overturned tables and chairs, with ice spikes jutting out at odd angles. In the center of the room, a group of students and a teacher were huddled together, trapped by the encroaching ice. Their faces were pale, their breaths shallow.

"Hang on!" I called out, raising my gun. I aimed at the largest chunks of ice blocking their path and fired. The bullets shattered the ice, sending shards flying in all directions. The students flinched, but I kept firing, clearing a path for Pyre to move closer. The student’s feet and legs were encased in parts of the ice unable to move. Jagged spikes of ice cut into parts of their skin and clothes.

Pyre's flames intensified, melting the ice faster now. He reached the group and extended a hand to the teacher, who took it gratefully. "We need to get you all out of here," Pyre said, his voice calm and reassuring. "Stay close to me."

The teacher nodded, her eyes wide with fear. "Thank you," she whispered. "We didn't know what to do. The ice just kept growing."

I moved to the other side of the group, keeping my gun trained on the ice. "Let's go," I said, motioning for them to follow. "Stay between us and move quickly." I pulled them closer as the ice spread outward trying to encase them in the cold again. We stepped back toward the exit. I couldn’t see the source of the ice. Buried within the ice structures were bodies frozen in fear. They looked shocked and surprised it had occurred. I hoped that Pyre would be able to safely get them out.

We hurried the four students and teacher to the exit before heading back in. Pyre drew his hands around the ice. His fire sunk into the ice melting its way toward the nearest person stuck. I helped by slowly breaking off chunks with shots from my gun. I wasn’t the best at it but helped. I considered running back to the armory to get a flamethrower, but we were running out of time to help the people dying of hypothermia and freezing to death.

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"Blink, we need to find the source," Pyre shouted over the noise of cracking ice as we worked. "This isn't going to stop until we do."

I nodded, my mind racing. The cop had said the ice was spreading from the cafeteria, but we hadn't seen anyone who could be the source. I scanned the room again, looking for any sign of the superhuman causing this chaos.

Then I saw it. A figure huddled in the corner, almost completely encased in ice. It was a young boy, his face contorted in fear and pain. The ice seemed to be emanating from him, growing more intense with each passing second.

"There!" I shouted, pointing to the boy. "That's our target!"

Pyre's eyes followed my gaze, and he nodded. "I'll handle the ice. You get to the kid."

The ice felt cold to the touch as we broke apart pieces. In the way of the kid was another teacher frozen in place. Pyre melted away parts of the ice and I pulled the teacher out of the pieces. Their body was cold, and their breath was faint. They didn’t move as I pulled them from the ice. I hurriedly teleported them out to the ambulance.

The ice shuddered after releasing one of its captives. Pyre was busy burrowing deeper into the ice creating a cave.

“Something feels off,” I remarked. “We need to move faster to get to the kid.”

“I’m doing my best, but fire and ice are opposites. You could always help by shooting the ice,” Pyre suggested. He kept his focus on his fire. He pulled it from a fuel tank attached to his suit. It swirled around him momentarily before bombarding the wall. “Solid ice is no joke. We are lucky that they don’t seem to be fighting back against us get closer.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.”

I took a deep breath, steadying my aim. The ice was relentless, growing back almost as quickly as Pyre could melt it. I fired at the thickest parts, trying to create a path for us. The bullets shattered the ice, but it was slow going. Pyre's flames flickered and danced, casting eerie shadows on the frozen walls.

"We're getting closer," Pyre said, his voice strained. "I can feel the heat starting to penetrate."

I nodded; my eyes locked on the boy. He was shivering violently, his eyes wide with terror. The ice around him pulsed and shifted, reacting to his fear. We had to reach him before he lost control completely.

"Hang on, kid," I muttered under my breath. "We're coming."

Pyre's flames intensified, and I could see the ice starting to thin. I fired another round, and the ice shattered, revealing a narrow path. I glanced at Pyre, who nodded. It was now or never.

"Cover me," I said, holstering my gun. "I'm going in."

Pyre's flames flared, creating a barrier between us and the encroaching ice. I took a deep breath and teleported closer to the boy. The cold was intense, biting into my skin and making it hard to breathe. I reached out, my hand trembling, and grabbed the boy's arm.

“Hey," I said softly, trying to keep my voice calm. "It's okay. We're here to help."

The boy's eyes flickered to mine, and for a moment, I saw a glimmer of hope. But then the ice surged, and I felt a sharp pain in my side. I gasped, my vision blurring. The ice was growing more aggressive, reacting to the boy's fear.

"Blink!" Pyre shouted, his voice distant. "Get out of there!"

I gritted my teeth, focusing on the boy. "Hold on tight," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "We're getting out of here."

With a final burst of energy, I teleported us out of the building. The world blurred around us, and then we were outside, the cold replaced by the warmth of the sun. I collapsed to the ground, the boy still in my arms. The ice around him began to melt, the danger dissipating.

Medics rushed over, taking the boy from my arms, and sedating him. I tried to stand, but my legs gave out. I felt a wave of dizziness, the world spinning around me. The cold had seeped into my bones, leaving me weak and shivering.

"Blink!" Pyre's voice was filled with concern as he knelt beside me. "Hang on, help is coming."

I tried to smile, but my vision was fading. "We did it," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "We saved him."

The last thing I felt was Pyre's hand on my shoulder, then everything went black.

0-0-0-0-0

My head throbbed as I rolled my body into consciousness. I realized quickly where I was, back in an agency building. Things must have been worse than I thought since I had to be transferred here. I still felt a little chill, but it had mostly faded. As I turned my body around in the faux hospital bed, I saw a nurse stand up and walk closer.

“How are you feeling?” she asked. “Do you need anything?”

I took a moment to assess my condition. My body ached, and my head throbbed, but I was alive. "I'm okay, I think," I replied, my voice hoarse. "Maybe some food, but I’m in no rush. How's the kid? The one with the ice powers?"

The nurse's expression softened with a hint of sadness. "He's stable. We had to sedate him and separate him until he could get his powers under control."

I felt a pang of guilt and concern. "What will happen to him?"

The nurse sighed, pulling up a chair and sitting beside my bed. "It's complicated. Unfortunately, the incident resulted in the deaths of three people and injuries to several others. He's being charged with multiple crimes and is now under the jurisdiction of the Superhuman Agency."

I closed my eyes, the weight of the situation pressing down on me. "So, what does that mean for him?"

"He'll be registered with the agency," the nurse explained. "Given the severity of his actions, he'll likely have to work off his sentence for the next few years. Hopefully, during that time, he can save a thousand times more people than he has harmed."

I nodded slowly, understanding the gravity of the situation. "I hope he gets the help he needs. He's just a kid, after all."

The nurse gave me a reassuring smile. "The agency will do everything they can to help him control his powers and rehabilitate him. It's not going to be easy, but there's always hope."

I took a deep breath, trying to shake off the lingering chill and the heavy thoughts. "Thank you for the update. I just... I needed to know."

"Of course," she said, standing up. "If you need anything else, just let me know. For now, try to rest and recover."