On Fire

Officer Jonathan Peterson:

I sigh as I open the door to my police car and sink into my seat.

"It didn't go well," Officer Ben asks from the passenger's seat.

"No," I answer, pushing myself up and starting the car. "This is Orr's last known address alright. The building's super remembers Orr as the guy who always stinks of smoke."

"I guess that's not so surprising," Ben says with a nudge of his head.

"Anyway, when I asked about Orr, he told me he hadn't been here in over five years. Not since Orr set fire to his car."

"Ouch."

I sigh again as I pull out my notebook. Flipping it open, I slide my finger down the list of places Orr could be.

"This is the last place Orr had any ties to," I say, closing my notebook. "According to our records, Orr had this friend from when he was a teenager. The friend's name is Todd Kenneth. He's single, 47 years old, worked in construction, and lived--"

Before I could finish reading, the radio comes on.

"Attention all nearby cars," Dispatch starts. "Attention all nearby cars. Report of suspicious activity on Keller Road. Any cars nearby."

"Attention dispatch," I say, grabbing and answering the radio. "Officer John Peterson and Officer Ben here. What's the suspicious activity?"

"Hard to say," Dispatch answers. "Got a call that there's going to be a fire in an abandoned house. The person reported his name as John Doe."

"A fire," I repeat. I turn my head to look at Ben. Ben looks back at me and we nod our heads. "Dispatch. We're going to check it out. Copy."

"Copy that," Dispatch says. "Over and out."

"Over and out."

Thrill Rider:

"Over and out," my dad says before the transmission ends.

"A fire," I repeat. Right away, I think about Iron Fire. "It's time to put out this fire."

I twist the dial on top and turn off the police radio.

"I still feel bad about taking this," I say to myself as I pocket the radio. "Still, I have to do this. Note to self, until I can afford to buy another radio and figure out how to piggyback off the police's radio frequency, I will just keep this. But one day, one day, I will return it. Hopefully."

I cross my fingers as I kick my feet off the street and ride toward this abandoned house on Keller Road.

"I have to get there before my dad does. There's no way Dad can take down Iron Fire. That being said, I still have no idea how to take down Iron Fire myself. Oh boy. Micheal, plan. Plan! Plan! How am I supposed to take down a guy with a flamethrower and a full iron suit?"

I flashback to our previous fight, the one in the apartment building, not the one in the factory. I remember punching and even hitting Iron Fire with my batons but all that happened was my hands shaking and bruising.

"Plan," I repeat to myself. "Plan. Plan. Come on, think of a plan! Any plan! Anything at all! Hello? Is anyone up there?"

I don't even hear the sound of crickets chirping.

"Oh boy," I say again as I slowly pull up what I believe is the abandoned house. The place is made entirely out of rotting woods. "Nothing better for a fire."

I take a deep breath before getting off my motorcycle. Looking around for a bit, I see an opening in the rusted fence.

"Odd," I think as I walk up the literal hole in the fence. "This was recent."

I examine the cut in the fence. Despite being covered in rust, there's a clear cut at the end of each wire. While examining the cut, I hear a footstep from behind me. I pull out my batons and turn it around. Raising my batons, I stop when I see Brian holding up his hands.

"Hey, hey, hey," Brain says, holding up his hands. "It's me! Brian! Brian Wane!"

"Brian," I repeat. "Oh my god! Brian, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help," Brian answers.

"Help," I repeat.

"Yeah," Brian says. "Help. I'm here to help. I mean, I was the one that find Iron Fire here and called him in."

"I'm sorry. What?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Brian was the one that found Iron Fire? He looked for him? Why!"

I shake my head and clear my throat. I then try to talk in my most calming and collective voice.

"Why, oh why, were you looking for Iron Fire?"

As I speak, I feel an intense amount of pressure rushing to my head.

"So you could stop him."

"Oh yaa," I say.

"Hey," Brian says, rubbing his chin. "Why does your voice sound different from before?"

"Different," I repeat. Exactly like a lightbulb, my mind snaps and I realize what Brian is talking about. I'm not disguising my voice. I'm speaking with my normal, every day, Micheal Peterson's voice. If Brian wasn't in front of me right now, I would slap myself in the face.

"Different," I say again, pulling back my head to make my voice deeper. "No. No. You're just hearing things. Listen, stay here. I'm going in. Not you. Got it?"

Brian nods his head. Meanwhile, I spin my batons before crawling through the fence and walking into the house.

"Aww, come on," I say. Barely five feet past the rotting back door, one of my feet falls through the floor. I shake my head as I pull my foot out.

"I really hope this doesn't mean I'll have to get a tetanus shot. Or is that only for metal?"

I don't have much time to wander. Almost as soon as I stand back up, I hear footsteps, only much heavier. Less than a second later, I see Iron Fire walking around the corner.

"Oh Thrill Rider," Iron Fire says, chuckling behind his mask. "I'm surprised to see you here so early. I guess it's time then!"

With that, Iron Fire aims his hand down at the floor. He unleashes a stream of fire that somehow spread in seconds. Even before I blink an eye, the whole house is on fire!

"Let's see how you'll escape this time," Iron Fire says as he walks toward me, holding out both his flamethrower and machine gun.