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PRIME HQ – Ember Valley | 11:03 PM
Savage had only just finished shaking their hands when he made up his mind.
“Francis. Get Heaven’s Hammer on the line,” he barked. “Thunder’s out. These two will be his stand-ins. What were your names again?”
“I’m Bruce,” Bruce replies. “He’s Bradley.”
Savage chuckles. “I got that part. Your hero names?”
“Oh…” Bradley mutters. “Fire Guy?”
Bruce palms his face. “Bro…Fire Guy? You couldn’t think of anything better?”
“What’s wrong with Fire Guy? It’s temporary unless it sticks.”
Bruce shakes his head.
“Call me Swift,” he says.
Savage rubs his chin. “Okay then. I’m going to have you train with Heaven’s Hammer. They’re the ones going in and out of the war zones to rescue civilians from the Rebels.”
He begins walking. Bradley and Bruce follow soon after.
“Now, I don’t expect you both to be as good as the others so quickly. You both are very young. However, I will need you both to listen, focus, and take care of each other. The Rebels have come together rather quickly. There are too many of them and not too many of you.”
The brothers exchange looks.
“So make sure you come back home. Whatever it takes.” Savage says.
Savage walks out of the complex to the dry heat of the valley sun. Savage shields his eyes and slips on his sunglasses—the sun in Ember Valley never showed mercy.
In the distance, a convoy of trucks is approaching the base.
Savage smirks. “Right on time.”
The trucks pull up, and all of the Heaven’s Hammer units empty out. Ace walks over and salutes Savage.
“Good afternoon, sir.” He says.
Savage returns the gesture. “How was it out there?”
Ace removes his helmet and runs his hand through his wavy, dirty blonde hair.
“Well, sir. It wasn’t easy. I’ll tell you that much. We’re barely gaining any traction in stopping these assholes. My team is beat.”
Savage glances past Ace to observe the status of the rest of the team. Even though they’re standing upright in a dominant stance, he can see past the guise to see just how fatigued they all are. Their uniforms are tattered with mud and blood all over them. Savage sucks his teeth.
“Alright, give ‘em a break. However, you and your squad are going back out there for another run. But this time, I have help. Meet Swift and Fire Guy.” He says.
Ace looks at Bruce and Bradley, and he begins to chuckle.
“These two? They look like they just got out of gym class.” Ace replies.
“They’re like Valor, plus Thunder’s down. So they’re up next. And that wasn’t a request. It was a demand.” Savage invokes.
“Sir, yes, sir,” Ace says bleakly. “Alright, boys, we roll out in five. Speak to Mav. She’ll get you both prepped before we leave. Tell her I said Ironclad and Sly are joining up. Got a few more convoys to get.”
Swift raises his hand.
“Are you kidding me? What is this—Orientation Week?” Ace says.
“Sorry, shit. I don’t know who Mav is…” Swift replies.
Ace palms his face, then slowly wipes his hand down, dragging his expression into a look of pure embarrassment.
“I said ‘she’ll,’ right? Indicating she, which means I’m talking about a woman. Go find the only woman there.” Ace exhales. “Idiot.”
Fire Guy steps within inches of Ace, staring eye to eye. “Don’t talk down on my brother ever again. Show some damn respect. We here to help. So you should be grateful.”
Ace chuckles, then sizes Bradley up. “Son, do you know who you’re talking to?”
“No. And honestly, I don’t give a damn.”
In a low growl, Ace responds: “Son…you better start caring real fast.”
Fire Guy’s eyes light up, he balls his fists, and his hands start to glow red.
“Not if you keep talking to my brother like he’s beneath you.”
Ace smirks. He backs away. He respects Bradley’s attitude. “I apologize. We’re leaving in three now.”
Bradley let out a dismissive tsk under his breath as he walked off. No words, just fire smoldering in his wake as he follows Bruce to meet with Maverick.
“What the hell did you set us up with?” Ace asks.
“Trust me. I got a good feeling about those two. They have heart. That’s why I’m leaving the task of training them to you. It would’ve been much better than the alternative.”
“I guess so. We’ll be back. Take care of my crew, will ya?”
“Sure thing.” Savage pats Ace on the back, and he walks back into the base.
All of Heaven’s Hammer, besides Ace’s main team, head in to rest. They all gather into one truck and drive off.
Convoys were moving. The war hadn’t slowed. And for the first time, Bruce and Bradley weren’t just witnesses to it. They were walking straight into it.
***
Viperial City — 42nd St. and Prudence Blvd. | 3:14 PM
After two successful convoy escorts, Bruce and Bradley were starting to get a feel for what it meant to show up for people. The innocent looked at them with hope. That was new. But hope was easy when nothing was on fire.
They hadn’t been tested yet. Not really. No fists. No powers. No life-or-death decisions.
That was about to change.
An emergency broadcast comes through their radio.
“This is Captain Ish Harlow of the Ares Division, 52nd Brigade! We need immediate backup. Rebels have proceeded with an attack on Crystal Palms, and we’re cornered! They’re thinning out my squadron. Any unit available, PLEASE HELP US!”
Sly slams the brakes—tires screaming as the truck fishtails before spinning into a hard turn.
No hesitation. They are going in.
Bruce looks up. Bradley’s already staring at him, jaw clenched.
Without a word, he extends his fist.
Bruce bumps it.
It’s go time.
***
Crystal Palms | 3:29 PM
Outrage.
Heaven’s Hammer finally arrives. The Ares team is in a gunfight with the Rebels.
“Oh shit! Sly, get us there! Swift, Fire Guy, I hope you two are ready!” Ace yells.
Maverick looks at them, and he can tell that they’re both nervous now.
She places her hand on Fire Guy’s back.
“Hey!” She snaps. “Get a grip. Both of you. Everything will be fine. But the Rebels have to be stopped.”
“We’re not soldiers…” Bruce interrupts.
“Not now. But you’re either going to be on two sides of this.” She explains. “The Rebel side, or the Human side. You have to pick one.”
Suddenly, a Rebel crashes on top of their truck, smashing their windshield. Sly slams on the brakes, fishtailing the car to a complete stop. Ace hops out of the passenger door—rifle trained on the Rebel.
“Get the fuck on the ground, NOW!” Ace yells.
The Rebel blasts Ace with an energy burst, sending him flying into another car. The Rebel rolls off the hood of the truck and rips the passenger door off of the truck. He prepares to throw it, but Sly comes around and fires three shots into the Rebel’s torso, dropping him.
Everyone else jumps out of the back. Maverick rushes to check on Ace.
“You alright?!” She asks.
“Yeah…I’m good.” Ace groans, wiping glass off of his face. “Swift, Fire Guy, go check on the Ares team up the street. We’ll catch up!”
“Got it. Come on, bro. We got this!” Fire Guy says.
They pound each other’s fists, and Swift races off. Fire Guy chases after him.
Blurring past ruined streets, Swift dashes at Mach speed until he reaches the Ares station. He sees the Rebels fighting against the Ares soldiers.
He charges into a Rebel, launching him into a building. Swift scans the battlefield and races around to find another Rebel. He spots one kicking an Ares soldier in the head, and he dashes over to him. Before Swift can reach him, a shield comes flying in—crashing into the attacker’s skull and ricocheting toward Swift.
Swift spins out of the way and slides to a halt.
Who the hell threw that?
He tracks the shield, and a figure catches it mid-stride—calm, precise, brutal. He drives the edge into a Rebel’s chest without breaking motion.
It is Valor.
Valor heaves his shield toward another Rebel, and Swift charges in, falling into rhythm with Valor—like they’ve trained together for years.
Fire Guy finally arrives. He sees his brother fighting against a brute, and he runs in to help.
Swift punches the brute in the torso three times, and Fire Guy leaps over Swift, kneeing the brute in the face. The brute crashes onto the ground, and two more Rebels stand behind him.
“Come on!” Fire Guy yells.
Valor comes from behind both of the Rebels and smashes the edge of his shield into one’s temple while kicking the other in the back. He flies toward Fire Guy, who then wallops the Rebel with a fiery front kick.
The Rebel flies far back and crashes into a building. That was the last of the Rebels, for now.
Valor sees the power Fire Guy unleashes and smiles.
“Damn, you’re strong. And you’re fast.” Valor places his shield on his back. “I’m Valor. What are your names?”
He extends his hand to greet them.
“Swift,” Swift replies and shakes his hand.
“Fire Guy. Nice to meet ya. You with PRIME, too?” Fire Guy asks.
Valor nods, “Negative.”
Heaven’s Hammer finally runs in to see the action has ended. Ace spots them and runs over.
“Hey, what happened?” Ace asks.
Swift extends his arms, motioning to the wreckage, and beat up Rebels.
“You tell me. We took out the Rebels. Valor here did most of the work,” Swift says.
Ace looks at Valor.
“What happened to Captain Quick’s team?” Ace asks.
Valor stays silent. He grits his teeth and points.
Ace turns around to see the wounded Ares soldiers huddled together behind a wall.
He sprints over to assist.
“Maverick, call for a convoy. We have to get these men outta here!” Ace yells.
Maverick calls in for an Iris convoy. Ace checks on Captain Quick.
“Quick, it’s Ace, man. How are you holding up? You hit?” Ace asks.
“No…the Rebels beat us up pretty bad. I think I got broken ribs. The guy with the shield—he saved us.” Captain Quick groans. He pushes himself onto a wall, clutching his ribs. “We were nearly wiped out. There’s a fort up the way—Rebels. You need to take 'em out,”
“Copy. Don’t worry about it. We’re going to get you guys out of this first. I’ll have them handle it.”
Ace stands up and runs back to the trio.
“I need you guys to clear out that Rebel base. There could be possible hostages. A convoy is coming to pick up the wounded. We’ll have to go with them.” Ace orders.
Valor dismisses Ace and begins walking away.
“Hey! Where are you going?! Get back here!” Ace yells.
Ace yanks at Valor’s arm to stop him. Valor turns around, and Ace gets right in his face.
“You should watch it. I don’t work for you or PRIME, so don’t do that stupid shit again.” Valor says.
Maverick sees the potential danger of this.
“Woah, woah, fellas. Easy. Ace, stand down,” Maverick eases.
Ace steps back and folds his arm, keeping his posture. Maverick steps in between them and smiles at Valor.
“Hey, Valor. Listen, I just wanted to say that your fight against the Rebels has truly inspired us. Seriously. You don’t have to work for PRIME, but do you think you can help these two complete their first mission? They need proper training, and who better to ask than the first vigilante to oppose the Rebels?”
Valor sighs deeply and looks at the two brothers.
“You two—on me,” Valor says.
Maverick smiles and turns back to Ace. Shortly after, the Iris convoy arrives, and Heaven’s Hammer helps the wounded Ares soldiers onto the convoy.
Once they load them up, Heaven’s Hammer gets into an Ares truck.
“Good luck, Warriors!” Maverick yells out.
The Iris convoy takes off, and Heaven’s Hammer follows, leaving the three heroes alone.
“So this is the first day both of you guys have used your powers?” Valor asks.
“Well, no. But, this is the first time we’ve been outside—doing this.” Bruce says.
“Yeah, they had us in containment. Apparently, I was a relentless fireball until my brother woke me up.” Fire Guy says.
“Hmm. Well, that’s interesting. So you’re fast, and you have fire powers?” Valor asks.
“Exactly.”
“I see. Okay. Do you know how to control your powers?”
Swift and Fire Guy exchange a glance.
“Kinda? I know I have to run hard to move super fast. Stopping is a bit difficult, but I think I’ll catch on soon.” Bruce says.
“Got it. And you, you said relentless fireball? Can you cover yourself on fire?” Valor asks.
Fire Guy shrugs his shoulders. “I was told I did. But I don’t remember that, and I haven’t been able to do it voluntarily.”
“Hmm. If your powers work like how mine does, think of it like a form of breathing.”
Valor extends his hand. He focuses, and his hand glows gold, generating his Hardened Aura.
“I can sense an energy source in my body.” He explains. “And I just push it out. Then the energy projects itself.”
“Hmmm, that’s pretty cool. What is that, though?” Bruce asks.
“I don’t know. It appears to be a kinetic energy barrier. I call it Hardened Aura. It acts like a second skin, and it’s highly durable. I’ve survived gunfire, burning buildings, and all types of attacks without it breaking.”
“But it breaks?” Fire Guy asks.
“Yeah. It only happened once, though. It cracks when I’ve taken a lot of damage. It talks to me—somehow. I can sense when it’s about to break. At breaking point, I let out a shockwave. It’s really destructive.”
Fire Guy nods, and he starts taking deep breaths. He focuses and begins to heat his body. His skin starts to glow red and smoke. He raises his hand, and fire ignites from it.
Suddenly—VWOOOOSHHHH.
Finally, the fire spreads around his entire body, engulfing him in flames. Valor steps back, covering his face from the intense heat Fire Guy gives off.
“WOOOOOOOHOOOHOOOOO! I’m on muhfuckin’ FIRE!” Fire Guy yells.
Bruce daps his brother. “That is so cool, bruh!”
Valor sees the fire didn’t burn Swift.
“Wait, how didn’t you just get burnt?” He asks.
“That’s my brother! He couldn’t hurt me even if he tried!” Swift replies nonchalantly.
Valor scratches his head. “…okay? Fire guy, can you make a fireball now? Or a flamethrower?”
“Tsk. Watch this!” Fire Guy says.
Fire Guy turns around and spots a destroyed car. He unleashes a gigantic flamethrower on it, and it begins burning again. He hurls a fireball into a second wreck, grinning as it explodes.
“Oh, this is so damn cool!” Fire Guy yells.
Swift begins clapping, and Valor interrupts. “Now, now, let’s focus up. Now that you know how to use your powers. It’s time to take the Rebels down.”
“We got this!” Swift cheers.
Fire Guy and Swift high-five each other and walk with Valor.
It is time for them to show everyone what they’re really made of.
***
Ready for what comes next in The Surge: Aftermath? Chapter 4: Baptism by Fire! is waiting.