Fire and Fury

"Run!" I scream, spinning around and sprinting for the chamber, where it was quiet and peaceful.

Jack races beside me, his breath ragged, his spit flying. A deafening blast erupts in front of us, sending us flying back.

We hit the ground. A man looms over me. He glances at me, then at someone else. "HA, you missed, AGAIN," he cackles. "Your aim really does suck, Blaze."

"Shut up, or I'll blow you up next time too," Blaze snarls, stepping into my view. "Are they awake?"

"This one seems awake, the other doesn't," the first man says, pointing at me. I can barely move.

"Move aside, or I'll take you away with him," Blaze says, his voice cold and proud.

He starts to walk away. With the last of my strength, I grab his leg, holding him back.

"Aww, that's cute," he says, kicking my hand. He breaks free and continues.

Blaze separates his index and middle finger. "What kind of explosions should I make, big? small? medium?" he says, changing the gap between his fingers. "I'll just do a small one; I don't want to attract attention."

He tries to make the perfect-sized explosion. An arrow whizzes through the air, hitting him in the leg. He grunts and looks at the source. "Who was that? Show yourself," he demands, aiming his hand at the direction of the arrow.

His friend dashes to his side, scanning for the archer. "Fuck that, just kill these guys and we'll deal with the others later."

"Good idea," Blaze says, turning his gaze and hand towards me.

I feel a fiery shockwave, tearing through my body. I burn, I ache, I fade. I see nothing but flames, then darkness. It's over in two seconds.

But it's not over. I blink. I breathe. I'm alive. How? Wasn't I just blown to bits? Is this some kind of twisted replay?

Another man appears in my vision, running towards Blaze.

"BLAZE, ON YOUR LEFT," his friend shouts, too late. The man kicks Blaze in the right leg and punches him in the stomach. Blaze falls. The man puts his foot on Blaze's head.

"Attack me, he dies," the man says, facing Blaze's friend.

"Ok, Ok, I give up," the friend says, raising his hands.

"Dumbass," the man says. Another arrow flies and hits Blaze's friend in the head, he drops dead. The man smashes Blaze's face with his foot, Blood spills out.

He strides towards me, his confident steps contrasting with my trembling hands. He extends his hand, "Hey there, sorry for being late."

"Who are you? Why are you here? Why did you help me? How did you help me?" I blurt out, my mind racing with questions.

"Name's Luca, I'm here because, well... You killed someone and I could track your location. I helped you because I'm looking for strong people to join my team." He says, answering my questions.

"But, how? I was blown to bits, but somehow, I'm alive?" I say, baffled by the situation.

"That's simple, I used my power, I can rewind time by 5 seconds, which was enough to save you, thankfully. Sorry for being so slow that you had to endure the pain." He says, his eyes reflecting sorrow. "So, would you and your friend like to join my team?"

"How can I refuse after you saved my life." I say, admiring his courage. "I don't know about Jack though, we have to wait until he wakes up."

"Don't worry about that, what we have to worry about is that there are people who can see our locations right now, so we have to hide, come with me." He says, waving at someone from the trees. A woman emerges, holding a bow and arrows. "Grab the arrows so you can reuse them, obsidian arrows are something we can't lose." Luca says to the girl.

We make our way to his base, the girl carrying Jack on her shoulders. We are fortunate to avoid any trouble on the road. We enter a cave, and walk through a dark tunnel, until we reach a spacious chamber, much larger than the one we had discovered.

"Here's the chamber I discovered, it has everything we need," he says, beaming with pride. "And they won't be able to find us here, the bracelet only shows them our location on the surface, not how deep we are. They'll think it's a glitch and give up."

The girl puts Jack on top of the bed, then sits on the couch next to me. "Hey! My name is Zoey, nice to meet you."

"Oh hey, name's Mehmet, nice to meet you too" I say looking at her with a smile. "So, you're the archer, those were nice shots there!"

"Thank you, I never miss!" she says, smiling back at me. "Like literally, my power is the ability to shoot anything I want with perfect precision."

"Wow, that's a really useful power, my is the power of burning anything I look at." I respond, she looks impressed but before she could say anything Lucca comes up. "Time to train" he says with both of his hands in his hips.

"What, training? why?" I look up to him, confused.

"I didn't choose to save you because you're strong, I saved you because I felt strong potential coming towards you, so we need to train to get that potential out." He explains, while pointing at me. "Firstly, do you know how evolution works?"

"Evolution? Sure, I know what that is. We used to be monkeys, and then we became humans." I say with confidence, even though I never paid much attention in biology class.

He rolls his eyes and sighs. "You're such an idiot. I'm not talking about that kind of evolution. I'm talking about the power." He says, frustrated "The serum we took altered our DNA with modified microbes. They react differently to each person's body, giving us unique abilities. But we're not using them to their full extent. Our power is limited by our physiological and psychological state. Things like heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and hormone levels can affect how much energy we can channel. The only way to unleash our true potential is to achieve a state of calmness, where nothing can distract or disturb us. That's the key to unlocking our evolution. But it's not easy to master. It takes a lot of practice and discipline."

I look at him with curiosity and ask, "How did you learn all this?"

He replies, "When I discovered this chamber, there was a book on the table that explained the serum. It had a lot of information, including evolution." He pauses and adds, "Also, when you're evolved, your power becomes stronger, you can use it in new ways, and you don't suffer from the usual side effects, as long as you stay in that state."

He relaxes his arms, closes his eyes and breathes deeply. I feel a strange sensation, as if I am stuck in place. The world becomes black and white, and everything is motionless. After five seconds, everything returns to normal. "Did you notice that? I entered the evolved state, where I can pause time for a brief period." he says proudly.

"What? That's incredible! I didn't know evolution could be so powerful. I wonder what mine would do. Please, teach me how to do it!" I say excited.

He tells me to lower my arms, close my eyes and breathe steadily. "Inhale… Exhale…"

"Next, you need to-" He is cut off by the door slamming open. Zoey rushes in, her face pale. "They're here, a trio of them. We have to defend ourselves or we're done for." She snatches the bow from the bed, her voice trembling.

We step out of the door and see them. Three men, standing in a triangle formation, blocking our way. They look normal, but I can sense something off about them.

"Who are you?" Luca asks, his voice calm.

"We're here to stop you," the man in the front says. He has blond hair and blue eyes, and he's wearing a leather jacket.

"You think you can pull that off?" Zoey says, her voice defiant.

"Do you think we can't?" the man on the left says. He has brown hair and green eyes, and he's wearing a denim shirt.

"Enough talk," the man on the right says. He has black hair and brown eyes, and he's wearing a suit. "Let's finish this."

He raises his hand, and the ground beneath us starts to shake. He controls earth, I realize. I see rocks and dirt flying towards us, and I react instinctively. I look at them, and I set them on fire.

The man on the right flinches and lowers his hand. The earth attack stops, but the other two are ready. The man on the left points his finger, and a jet of water shoots out of it. He controls water, I think. The water hits me in the chest, and I feel a cold shock. It's not just water, it's ice. It freezes me, and I can't move.

"Mehmet!" Zoey shouts, and she fires an arrow at the man on the left. The arrow flies straight and hits him in the shoulder. He screams and falls to the ground. The ice around me melts, and I can move again.

"Thanks," I say, and I get up. I see Luca facing the man in the front, who is crackling with electricity. He controls electricity, I guess. Luca dodges a bolt of lightning and runs towards him. He tries to punch him, but the man blocks it. He grabs Luca's arm and sends a surge of electricity through him. Luca spasms and drops to the ground.

"Luca!" I shout, and I look at the man in the front. I try to set him on fire, but nothing happens. He's wearing a rubber suit, I realize. He's insulated from my power.

He smiles, and says, "Nice try, but you're out of luck. You can't touch me, and I can fry you with a flick of my wrist. You lose."

He raises his hand, and I brace for the pain. But then, something strange happens. Everything goes back in time. I see Luca running towards the man in the front, dodging a bolt of lightning. I see Zoey firing an arrow at the man on the left, hitting him in the shoulder. I see the man on the right raising his hand, sending rocks and dirt flying towards us. I see myself looking at them, setting them on fire.

I realize what's happening. Luca used his power, to turn back time. He gave us a second chance, to change the outcome, but this was different, it was longer than 5 seconds.

I act quickly, and I change my strategy. I don't look at the man in the front, I look at the man on the right. I set him on fire, before he can launch his earth attack. He screams and drops to the ground.

Zoey does the same, and she changes her target. She doesn't fire at the man on the left, she fires at the man in the front. The arrow flies straight and hits him in the neck. He gasps and falls to the ground.

Luca does the same, and he changes his tactic. He doesn't run towards the man in the front, he runs towards the man on the left. He dodges the jet of water and kicks him in the face. He stumbles and falls to the ground.

We look at each other, and we smile. We're a team, and we're unstoppable.

A man walks towards us, cursing and kicking the body of the electric controller. "You're all worthless, fucking worthless," he spits. "How the hell did I ever rely on you three losers for anything?" He shoves the man forward, making him tumble on the ground. "I'll handle this myself."

I feel a jolt of pain as he zaps me with a lightning bolt, sending me flying into the door and smashing it.

He picks up a stone and hurls it at Zoey, hitting her right on the head and knocking her out cold.

Luca snatches one of the obsidian arrows and flings it at him, hitting him squarely on the head. He collapses on the ground, and we think he's dead, but then time reverses and his laughter fills the air. "You can't beat me, I'm the sum of all of you!" he taunts as he launches a huge rock at Luca.

We have to act fast, or we're doomed.