Iron and Fire

Thrill Rider:

"How did Brian convince me to let him do this," I think as I help Brian climb down from the rusted fence. I try and think back to exactly what Brian said, but before I can really think about it, he's already wandering around.

"Hey," I say, grabbing Brian's shoulder and pulling him back. "Listen, I have no idea how you convince me to let you do something so insanely stupid."

"Said the guy who is doing the exact same thing," Brian adds.

"Okay," I say with a nod of my head. "You got me there, but still. Please careful. Don't just go wandering around. Remember, this building is condemned. It means the city shuts it down for a reason, and I don't think it was just because of rats and roaches."

With that, I look at a rat and a cockroach as they play a game of tag. The game only ends when the rat grabs the cockroach and disappears through a hole in a wall.

"Hey," I say, tapping Brian on his shoulder. "Just to be safe, go see a doctor after this. Okay?"

"Okay."

With that done and done, Brian and I journey into the abandoned building. I can't be sure what exactly I was expecting, but what I'm seeing is way, way worst. Walking through a broken door and into an almost pitch-black hallway, we soon find ourselves in what looks like the center of the building. There, in the center of it is an empty stone fountain. The fountain, exactly like everything else, is covered in graffiti and trash. As I step further toward the fountain, I look up and see nothing but broken windows.

"That's strange," I think as I keep looking around. "This building seems empty, and yet, there are police officers outside. Why?"

I only stop looking around I see Brian holding his cell phone sideways. It looks like he's taking pictures with his phone.

"Uhh, I wouldn't upload those if I were you," I say. "It's proof that you trespassed onto a restricted property."

"I'll be careful," Brian says after snapping another picture. As he snapped the picture, he slowly lowers his phone.

"Hey," he says, grabbing my attention. "I think I saw someone up there."

"What," I say, looking at where Brian is pointing. "Up there? No way."

Brian turns his phone right side up and starts to tap it. I stare at him as he plays with his phone for a bit. Finally, he waves his fingers, telling me to come over.

"Here," he says, showing me his screen. "Look at this. I think there is someone up there."

Brian shows me a picture of a broken window a few floors above us, the window seeming to be hanging by a nail. I edge closer to the picture, and with help from Brian's finger, I too can make out parts of a shadow.

"No way," I say, looking back up. "There's someone up there. Hey!"

I cup my mouth with my hands.

"Hey," I shout again, "Buddy, are you okay? Listen, you need to get out of here!"

At first, there is no reply, but then, about one minute later, we start to hear the sound of footsteps. The footsteps are followed by another sound and a trail of fire that lights up the room with the broken window.

"What in the world," Brian yells, falling down. I rush to help Brian up. As soon as he's back on his feet, we look back up to see a man standing in the room with the flaming broken window. The fire spreads fast, spreading to the other rooms, and before we know it, most of the building is already on fire. We keep on watching as the man pulls from thin air what looks like a machine gun.

"Watch out," I scream, grabbing and pulling Brian back. Throwing him behind the stone fountain and then jumping myself, we hold our heads down as bullets hit the empty fountain.

"Stay down," I yell as the man keeps his finger on the trigger. He keeps shooting until he runs out of bullets, his gun now clicking over and over. With this small opening, I pull Brian up.

"Get off of here," I yell, pushing Brian toward the hallway we came through. Meanwhile, I see some stairs and run toward them. Throwing myself through the door, I climb up the rotting, creaking stairs until I make it to the same floor as the shooter. The fire still blazing around me, I stop running and look around. It doesn't take me long to find the shooter.

There, standing at the other end of a burning hallway is a tall man in some sort of iron armor suit. It looks like he's wearing a welding mask, and he's armed, one hand holding a flame thrower and the other equipped with the machine gun.

"Who are you," I yell, bringing out my batons.

"I am Iron Fire," the man yells, raising his flame thrower and unleashing a large trial of fire. The fire doesn't come close to me but I cross my arms and back away. "The greatest arsonist Los Angeles will ever know."

"Well, Iron Fire," I scream with crossed arms. "Prepare to meet Thrill Rider, the, uh, the, uhh, greatest vigilante Los Angeles had! Ahh, no. I figure something out later."

I then charge toward Iron Fire. Running as fast as I can, I reach Iron Fire in a few seconds. For some reason, he didn't even bother to use either of his weapons. As soon as I can, I pull back my fist and punch Iron Fire in his chest.

"Ouch," I cry, pulling back my hand. Iron Fire didn't even move an inch. Instead, with a risen leg, he kicks me back but I manage to catch myself. Pulling myself back up, I shake my most likely broken hand. Giving my hand one last shake, I try again but this time, with my baton.

I try an obvious weak spot, Iron Fire's head, but with his welding helmet, all that shake is my hand and my baton.

"Not the smartest person," Iron Fire laughs, "Are you? I call myself Iron Fire for a reason."

While now shaking both my hands, I look up to see Iron Fire raise his right hand, the hand holding the flame thrower. Thinking fast, I wrap my arms around it and try to pull the flame thrower off but it's on there too tight. With a shake, Iron Fire knocks me off and away.

"Burn," he yells as a trail of fire shoots toward me. There isn't enough time for me to run. All I can do is jump to the side but in a narrow hallway, I brace myself as I jump through a door.

"Oh come on," I cry as I fall through a door, the door breaking as I land on top of it. "First the hands and now my shoulders. What's next? Don't answer that."

I pull myself up and turn back to see Iron Fire takes a step. He walks and turns toward the room.

"I don't need to move fast," he says, holding up his flame thrower once more. "The fire will move for me. It will burn this whole building, and bury you with it."

Iron Fire starts to spray the entrance with fire. It doesn't even take a full second before the whole doorway is on fire. Iron Fire steps back as the door collapses on itself, sealing me in.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," I say, rubbing the sides of my head. "What do I do? What do I do?"

I look around the room I'm in but don't see anything even remotely useful. The sink is rusted and dusty. Despite this, I try to turn it on but no water comes out. I look around for a bathroom, but just as I see it, the fire beats me to it. It blocks the bathroom and forces me back. The situation only gets worst when a few chairs and even a bookshelf left behind catch on fire, the fire growing bigger and bigger until my back is to a wall.