- a burning memory -

~Cleoi, Oxzy's apartment~
The hero ran with the speed up light that he dropped the bag in his hand, jumping up into his window to the living room. He was greeted with hot flames hitting his skin, the pale flesh began to burn, bringing back the lost memories. Oxzy tried to shut them up, putting his energy into the ice that came from his fingertips.

The fire slowly began to come down. Smoke coming up, the black smoke got trapped from on top of the roof, hitting the walls in attempts to escape. Oxzy turned around, taking out all the fire in his line of sight.

When the fire seemed to finally be put out, the hero scanned his burnt apartment. His eyes looked at his littered and damaged things, everything was turned upside down. It was like a bomb went off in his home. Not just the living room and kitchen, Oxzy ran down the hall to his room.

The room was also torn apart. His belongings were burnt to a crisp, things thrown around with burnt bits falling off. The hero looked past the stuff, he kept his eyes open for only two things.

Cirilla May and Kamari. The two creatures had to be in there, the hero put so much hope into believing they were alright. With his hope and frantic looking around, his eyes caught a small moving rodent.

Kamari was running past his legs. The small furry creature looked fine besides some ashes on her brown fur. Oxzy knelt down to look at her, she made a squealing sound when he tried to pick her up. The hero watched her run off from his hand, running under a long wooden panel that came from the roof.

The hero picked up the wooden panel, looking for the small rodent but instead found a limp body of his cat.

Cirilla May laid limp on the ground. Black ashes were littered on her fur, blood was leaking from her nose. Her body looked crushed, no movements came in response to the hero's choked up realization.

The wooden panel fell from his hand, his whole body fell to the floor. His hands slowly wrapped themselves around the small creature's body. There was still no response, Oxzy held her up to his chest. Clutching onto her softly, he hoped deeply for some type of response.

There was none.

Cirilla laid dead in his arms. He clutched her tightly, everything came to him, realizing that the small creature in his hand was not gonna respond. She would never respond again.

He cried out loudly, his head came forward to himself. He curled up on her, the safety of his whole body protecting the cat was for nothing.

Oxzy sobbed into her fur, cries of desperation. He cried over and over again at her loss. The last thing that had ever kept him sane. Keeping himself grounded after Genna had passed was now in his arms with no life.

The small gentle creature didn't deserve this. Her limp body was filled with crushed bones, she had no lasting breath in her. She couldn't comfort the hero anymore, nothing to respond with.

Oxzy stayed on the ground in the burnt ruined apartment for minutes. Hot tears kept coming from his eyes, shut tightly to endure this horrible pain. They kept falling down along with choked sobs. He didn't even notice the entrance of the fire department.

Police sirens sounded from outside, flashing red and blue lights couldn't even pull him out of his loss. He lost Cirilla May, most likely had lost Kamari as well, the small rodent ran from outside of the burnt building. She found a safe place into the sewers, away from her broken master.

The firemen cleared up the rest of the fire, walking outside of the heroes room. The pounding of their heavy boots echoed along the whole apartment. The loud gruff voices came to the hero all at once.

"Was it only this apartment?"

"It was a target. One of the bystanders saw a group of gangsters do it."

The talk was off and on, they started to mention the police talking to the watchers on who caused the fire. It was clear who did it and why. When they realize it was the hero's home it would be clear to them.

Anyone from the grubs would do this. Any gang would seek revenge in a twisted state. The villain could have done this if anything. There was a reason Oxzy kept his home secret, to make sure no one knows his life. It got nowhere, he was found out with evidence of the burnt home. The police couldn't do anything. It would be up to the hero to deal with it by himself.

It was expected.

Oxzy stayed huddled up. He should leave, the men would find him in such a state would spark talking.

But the hero couldn't. He felt limp, it was like his own bones were crushed into pieces. His heart felt like it had stopped, he knew there was nothing left.

His home was gone.

His cat was gone.

His mother was gone…

~~~~

~Daylight, the elementary school(years ago)~
It all started with a fire at the elementary school. The cause of the fire was unknown, the station called for the hero to help aid them. Oxzy came quickly, rushing into the fire without a second thought.

He was burnt, hit around by falling bricks, but he kept going. He realized quickly that he was too late to save everyone. The fire spread way too quickly around the classrooms, children were stuck inside. Even so, Oxzy still pushed through.

He used his shoulder to push the doors open, ignoring the purple bruise that grew after every hit he got out of the window. They fled from the fire as the hero kept going.

Turning back around, he did that to every room. He had to run past burnt bodies, keeping his focus on this horrific pattern to save as many as he could.

The smoke filled his lungs, hitting him off the ground, he got back up to continue. Running down the halls to see if he missed anyone, he caught sight of a little boy who was stuck under a fallen door.

Oxzy rushed to him out, swiping his hands on the way, he shot the wood away. He turned back around in the direction of the exit.

With the little boy in his hands, he dashed back to the exit. He felt the fire running after him, loud popping sounds were coming from behind him. It sounded like an acceleration, something was building up.

The hero quickened, he tried to form more ice to help him speed up but nothing came from his drained body. So he kept running. His legs burned, body sweat from the heat all around him. He held the whimpering boy closer, the view of the open school doors coming into view.

The ceiling above him began to fall, that paired with the popping becoming louder, Oxzy knew he had to make this or else he would be dead. Using as much energy as he could, the floor from behind him tilted upward to block the incoming explosion.

"No!"

A tiny scream sounded from behind him. The hero took a look behind him, his eyes landed on a small girl, standing from a fallen door. She looked around frantically, calling out to someone.

The hero heard nothing but the explosion. He was right next to the door when it hit, he could barely put up the root barrier just in time. The rocks covered the two from the explosion. The hero landed outside of the building, taking the hit to protect the small boy in his arms.

Screams were coming all around him. His ears bled, a ringing was paired with the screams. Sirens, everything was coming to him when he ended on the cement floor.

The boy was taken from his hands, Oxzy turned to the main entrance. He searched frantically for the little girl, he knew she didn't make it. Guilt came crashing down at him, he looked back to the ground, a chocked sigh coming from his chapped lips.

A more apparent screaming was heard from in front of him. Oxzy looked up, being met with a crashing fist into his face. He fell back down, trying to register who the attacker was.

With fuzzy vision, Oxzy saw a weeping woman who tried to run into the building. She was being held back by the fire men. The hero noticed that it was a screaming man that hit him, he was also being held back from attacking the hero.

They were both screaming at him, yelling at him with despair.

The hero quickly realized why. The girl he saw as he dashed out was their daughter, they had to watch as Oxzy ran out with a root barrier that blocked the girl from freedom. She was burnt in front of their eyes, with no chance of escape or help from the hero.

Oxzy had failed in saving everyone. The weeping parents who hadn't been reunited with their children made it very clear that he had failed.


~Oakway, Genna's home~
The hero got home after his talk with the station. His body felt sore, his arms lay limp against his chest. He was hoping his mother was asleep, he didn't want the poor woman to see him like this. Even so, Oxzy entered the home and was faced with her anyways.

She watched as her son came in, drenched with sweat. Body hanging low, black ash was all over his body. Breathing deeply, he leaned against the wall before sliding through the door. The exhaustion finally hit him, he came to the floor, coughing and catching his breath.

He was relieving the day over and over again. The little girl was screaming, he looked back and saw her. But he didn't go back for her. The parents and their pleading sobs would haunt him.

The hero didn't even realize he started to cry. His head was held low, he tried to suck in his sobs. A warm embrace came at him, his mother wrapped her arms around him, pulling him up and into her embrace. Oxzy tucked his head in her neck, crying into her, saying how much he failed.

Genna gently rocked him, telling him it was okay. She didn't care about the ashes that fell on her from him, she rocked him back and forth until his tears stopped. Still, her hands found their way in his messy hair. She pulled him closer, a small, soothing voice as Oxzy relaxed in her arms.

Genna got him off the floor, hand in his as she walked him to the bathroom. Giving her son a soft kiss, she told him to wash up from dinner. Oxzy smiled after her, getting ready in a hot shower.

The next few days went by, the news of the fire and deaths went around wildly. Two days after the devastating fire, Oxzy had to run back out to a new fire that was happening in the grubs. The hero made it in time to see the villain on a rampage.

The man looked mad, killing and destroying everything in sight. When the hero came, he came full force at him. His eyes were red, nothing but rage was directed at Oxzy.

The villain and hero fought for hours, it was the longest and bloodiest battle ever. The hero came back battered with scars, cuts, and blood coming from every wound on him. Still, he powered through to his home. It was dark, but a flaming rising fire in the distance completely caught him off guard.

The hero stood by, watching smoke come from above and mixing into the clouds. A fire truck rushed past him, loud shouts as another fire was here. It was only a few days after the burning of the school, then the grubs caught on fire. Now a fire in Oakway?

Something bad happened, Oxzy realized as he started to run that it was in the direction of his home. His body felt crushed, but he kept moving. He didn't stop until he made it to his house.

House.

It was a burning pile of smoke.

In a split second, he was running forward. Again, he rushed inside a burning building. Fire hit him, ash fell from the roof, mixing with his black hair, Oxzy looked around frantically. He screamed his mothers name, desperation running off his tongue like a grenade ready to blow.

People watched as the hero dashed in, the fireman ran after him, only getting so far as the door before stopping. The hero had an upper hand, yet he was at a disadvantage. The fight with Pierce had drained him, the fire around made it hard to summon any ice. He tried to use the ground, the earth beneath him to help.

He had little energy left, but he kept his hope up. He had to find his mother. She was somewhere in the burning building. She had to be alive. She was smart, Oxzy tried to keep his belief up. She was alive, he just had to save her.

His head was full of worry, running up the stairs, he felt pressure from above him. The heat suddenly came at him from above him, his hands shot up just in time to catch a dropping panel that was on fire.

Still his feet got caught, tripping over himself, he fell from the stairs and onto the bottom floor. His knees hit the floor, grunting loudly, the fire from the burning panel sank into his skin. He looked around, smelling something foul.

It was like burnt food, it was close to his left. Oxzy was right from under the stairs, turning to his side to see what it was. He was met with a burnt pile of human ashes. It was in human form, skin was still there. Burnt clothing sticking to the melted black flesh.

The curly black hair of Genna Raith was what Oxzy saw first.

All of a sudden, his strength was gone. His eyes stood looking down at her burnt body. Ash fell into his eyes, tears falling from his bloodshot pupils that stayed un-moving on the body of his mother.

How was he supposed to react?

He didn't react. He saw it right in front of him, she was dead. She died a horrible death, burning alive as she fought for a way out. Nothing was there.

How could she die?

Someone must have killed her.

Oxzy's mother. An angel who raised a child all by herself, she was burnt alive in the safety of her own home.

The hero walked outside of his home. His eyes kept low, he didn't hear the shouting of fire men. The shouting of the police. He couldn't hear anything, all he could see was his mother.

It wasn't his mother. She couldn't be a pile of ash.

She was just waiting for him to wash up or dinner. He needed to clean all of the blood from his body from the fight, that's all.

No.

She couldn't be dead!

He was the hero. He was supposed to save her. He saved everyone in this town, he did it without problem with injuries, he could heal within minutes. He could save her.

But he was too late.

The hero stood outside of his burning home. The firemen watched him in a delirious state, running past him to put out the fire on their own. No one seemed to bother a glance at him. Most who lived around knew that the hero lived there.

Oxzy believed his mother was safe. That she would be safe, but he wanted to know who would-

A familiar shout came from his side. Oxzy finally looked up, his eyes met with an enraged woman. Her face had running tears falling from her eyes, her face was full of venom. She looked ready to kill.

An equally angry man was beside her. He was already in handcuffs with the police around him. The woman was restrained by an officer, yet she still tried to lunge at Oxzy.

The hero looked back in confusion, thoughts trying to register who they were.

When he realized it was the parents of the girl that day. His heart skipped up in beats. His eyes trained down, a bottle with what seems to be alcohol with a rag sticking out caught his eye.

He soon knew who had done it. What they had done.

Their voices hurt. They were mad at him for not saving their daughter, so they took it out on his mother. Coming over to his house, lighting a make-shift bomb before throwing it inside. They watched as his home burned, his mother screaming inside with alarm.

Fire coated the windows. She couldn't leave. She was trapped in her own home, surrounded by fire. It engulfed her.

She stood by the stairs. Eyes closed, she accepted the fate of her death.

The hero felt a burning rage come from inside him. Tears covered his vision, it was blurring the view of the couple in front of him.

Her words were filled with angry mockery. Hurt and pain from behind them.

They were hurt, they were mad.

But they had no right to do this. Oxzy kept his eyes forward, he wanted to burn them like they burned his mother.

He couldn't help but imagine them dying a horrible death. Oxzy could screw them in half with a tree. He could form an oak wood around them, to suffocate and crush the inside of their bodies until they become mush.

He could cut them in half with ice, spikes that could pierce right through their skin. Freeze their brains, their limbs before bashing them off in a pile of frozen blood. He could torture them in all types of ways.

But his mother wouldn't want that.

She was gone. But Oxzy remembered what she always told him. What she reminded him of his power.

The hero kept his true feelings behind a mask. He wanted to kill the couple. It didn't matter to him how much they were hurt. How angry they were at the loss. It means NOTHING to him.

He couldn't let anyone know that.

So he lied.

His body felt stiff, he didn't want to. He wanted to let his true thoughts out. But instead, the hero knelt on one knee. It felt bruised, blood was forming and inking through the fabric.

His hair hanging over his face, his truth hidden from view.

Oxzy stayed on one knee before his mothers killer. A small voice was all that was heard.

"I'm sorry."

~~~~

~Daylight, ruined old home-~
Oxzy stood above his mothers grave. He was back at daylight in the morning after the events of last night. He was in the place she last was. Her safest place, but also where she was killed.

Oxzy had reserved rights to where their old house was. It was now a blank zone. No houses or buildings for a few blocks. It was overgrown, trees hung around to block the space with their height. The ground was a mush of dirt and old ash.

Oxzy never used to visit much. It reminded him of the loss of his mother that hurt him too much. It infected his mind with outrageous things. Everytime he remembers what happened at this place, he feels like going into a frenzy.

Screaming out, killing, destroying anything and anyone close to him.

He had ended up tearing apart the environment. A few old broken trees were sprawled around his space that covered the empty area. The green surroundings were nothing but trash on the ground, the bark was broken apart and torn into two.

It was all Oxzy who caused the damage. He had a burst of power and emotions escaped him when he buried her. He tried to bury the memories along with her, they stayed with him, sticking to his skin like sap. No matter how much he tried to forget that day. Forget this place.

It always came back. No matter how much he tried to destroy it, tried to destroy it with all his power.

It was still there, sinking into him.

Now he stood above the stone that held her name. A small hole was buried next to it, Oxzy buried Cirilla right next to her, covering it with shaking hands he stood over the ones he lost.

What was he supposed to do next?

Staying over them was the only thing he wanted to do. But he knew if he stayed longer, he would never want to leave. All the memories, the thoughts of them would haunt him until the very end.

The truth of his loss sunk too deep. Oxzy wanted to kill someone. He wanted to avenge the innocent lives that were lost because of him.

Guilt could only last too long, now he just wanted to avenge her. He couldn't do it or his mother, he would do it for Cirilla May.

The hero looked up into the darkening sky. He stood in the same place above their grave for the whole day. It was already becoming dark, the night sky was warning him of his ticking time.

If he wanted to do it, he had to do it now.

The hero already knew about who had done it. It was a group from the grubs, and the gang was more accurate. The hero had to go there to search for the hideout. He didn't know for sure or the exact person, but it wouldn't be difficult to find out. All the hero had to do was threaten a few druggies in the grubs, and the truth would come out.

And that's exactly what the hero did.


~The Grubs, the streets~
The hero walked along the empty streets. He was on full alert, opening his senses higher to hear any type of life. He got a sign from the end of the road he was on, down a dark alley he caught an old couple making out on the wall with a few men watching.

Their light moans, undressed clothes gave nothing to the hero. He was about to turn away, hearing the gross and lewd remarks coming from the men's mouth made him sick.

"Yeah! Get it bro!" One hollered out.

"I can't believe the dudes would want to hang with Felix instead of seeing this."

The hero turned away in disgust, moving away from the alley when he heard a man suddenly let out a few words.

"That Felix got the hero before Pierce ever could huh?"

It was all that he needed, dropping the cool acts he rushed forward between the group. They shouted in surprise, most looking around and dashed away. Oxzy grabbed the man who mentioned a guy Felix before he could run away as well.

He gagged out in shock, clutching the hero's hand that held his throat. A cold, icy crust formed around the man's neck. He let out a shriek, his skin becoming red with frostbite.

"Who did it?" Was all that Oxzy said. He looked into the man's soul, ready to freeze him to death if he didn't tell him who.

"Wh- gah!" The man in his grasp let out a gasp. Oxzy squeezed harder, moving closer to ask more clearly. The man shook his head, trying to breathe with the growing ice on his neck, he gasped out a few words. "Fe-Felix! His-gah, gang!"

"Where are they?"

"The warehouse! The warehouse b-by the lake!" The man began to cry, begging tears falling from his bloodshot eyes.

Oxzy knew what he was talking about, he had seen the warehouse that the villain was headed to. Now he knew that the man who killed Crillia May was there. He felt a new pump of energy run along his skin.

Dropping the druggie in his hands, he turned in the direction of the end of the grubs.


~The Grubs, the warehouse~
The warehouse was littered with laughter. It grew louder the closer Oxzy got, he felt his blood boil, hearing a mockery of his misery from inside. He pushed the tall door open, stepping inside, all eyes landed on him.

The hero looked around, trying to find who the Felix guy was, his eyes stopped in the middle of the room. A small yellow light was above the young man, he looked childish, sitting down on the bare floor, his eyes met with Oxzy's.

The hero took in the look, stepping forward to the man. The men came closer, surrounding the hero. They were intending to scare him, the hero who showed no fear ended up irritating them. It was like the heroic man didn't even see that they existed.

Oxzy ignored them, his exit was blocked, but that wasn't on his mind. He was seeing nothing but a mocking grin on their faces. The hero wanted to kill him, skin his face alive with nothing but the earth's rough bark.

The man watched as the hero only looked at him. Oxzy showed no fear for being in an open room with hundreds of men who wanted to kill him. His eyes were only on him, bloodshot red, and a tense posture made Felix smile even brighter.

He had him. The hero was here, his plan was almost in action.

Seeing how silent the hero was, Felix stood up, dusting himself off as he faced the hero fully.

With a mocking and sly grin, he let out a voice of joy.

"We were waiting for you, Oxzy."