Fan the Flames- Chapter 3

The boy smiled as he listened to the fleeing mob trample one another in their haste to escape. He'd deal with them when he finished with the S.W.A.T. leader. But as he prepared for the final blow, he heard a loud whirring sound from behind him. Rather than turn around and see what it was, he decided to leave it, writing it off as another news helicopter crew too add to the pile. His assumption was what is commonly known as a big mistake.

The next thing he knew, he felt an intense stinging feeling run through his body as a long, gray piece of steel pierced his shoulder. He howled in pain as blood gushed from the wound, soaking the woman in front of him. Barely hanging onto reality, the boy turned to face his new foe.

The boy looked at the large, dark object before him: a ten-foot-tall robot, all decked out in thick, black armor. In the center of its body, protected by glass windshields, stood a single pilot, also dressed in pilot smiled through his helmet, a smile of triumph.

"Nice little game you got going on here." The pilot said. "Mind if I join in?"

The boy said nothing, shooting daggers at the the pilot with his eyes.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"

If looks could kill, that pilot would be dead as the boy continued to glare hatefully.

"Don't tell me you're still mad. I could've just killed you instead of giving you a chance to surrender."

At this the boy laughed.

"What's so funny?" The pilot asked, surprised that the boy still had the energy to laugh.

"You are. You think you can actually kill me with that suit of yours. But really you're just a coward." To the surprise of all that were around him, the boy pulled the rod out of his shoulder.

"Think I can't?"

"Think you have the guts to even try?"

A plethora of cannons emerged from the machine's body. They charged up with blue energy at the tips. Then they rained a storm of energy on the boy. Surprisingly, the beams missed, exploding harmlessly where he had stood a few seconds ago. Not wasting time, the pilot let loose with the gatling gun on his arm, tearing apart anything that got in the way. Just when it started to look like the pilot would never hit the relentlessly-moving boy's back, one of the beams found its mark, catching the boy in the stomach.

The boy let out a groan as he clutched his stomach; he could do nothing to defend himself as he was grabbed by an enormous steel hand and lifted up to the pilot's smiling face. Beside him the robot's other arm moved to keep the gatling gun locked onto the boy's head. He couldn't fight back anymore.

Once the pilot stopped laughing over the fate of the boy he said, "This is your punishment for killing all those innocent people. You brought it upon yourself. And the world will happily watch me deal it out. Then we'll see who the coward really is, freak."

The boy was about to ask what he meant, when the pressure upon his body increased. He felt his bones start to crunch and creak as the metal hand slowly closed tighter. Glancing at the cockpit, he saw the pilot staring at him with absolute insanity; The pilot's eyes were visibly bloodshot to the point where even his irises had turned red. He no longer wanted to play games. He wanted to kill the boy. Sickening amounts of blood poured to the ground as the boy started to feel cold and go into shock.

Hearing someone crying, the boy glanced to the ground where the S.W.A.T. leader was getting to her feet. The woman appeared to be saying something, but he couldn't make out the words. The boy watched as the woman was ripped to shreds by the gatling gun. Then, everything went black.

The anger on the pilot's face had faded slightly and there was more of a sense of victory as he listened to the boy's agonizing screams of pain. It was like a sweet symphony played just for him, and he enjoyed every second of it. That is until the alarms began to blare.

Annoyed, the pilot opened his eyes and looked at the flashing message on his helmet visor. Temperature rising? Looking outside, he saw eight small fires burning around the closed fist, as smoke twisted its way out between the fingers. He heard a distinct boom as he watched the robot's hand explode before him. As he continued to look on in awe, a figure made entirely of white fire emerged from the debris. It looked straight at him, floating level with the cockpit. It opened its mouth, revealing a nothingness darker than space, a nothingness that wanted to consume everyone. For the first time in his career, the pilot was afraid.

Fully clothed, I watched the early light arise over the quiet neighborhood, something I had become accustomed to doing ever since I started having these dreams-dreams of pain and death.

I listened to the sounds of the morning, relishing in the calm before everyone else awoke. It was times like this when I would imagine that I had been born a normal boy, with a normal family that loved him, instead of a monster created for destruction. Free from responsibility and pain, I imagined I was just another idiot on the road through life, though I knew that could never be true. Mom had tried to teach me about being in a family and look where that got her: Dead. She had been burnt beyond recognition, according to the investigators. A fiery death; that's what awaits anyone who tries to get close to me.

"Hey kid!" A voice called, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up. In the street a slightly overweight green gorilla wearing a FedEx worker's outfit waved enthusiastically. Jumping down from the roof, I ran over to see what he wanted.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yeah, uh, is this the Watterson residence?" He asked, looking at a clipboard.

"Sure is." I answered.

"Okay, great. And, um, are you by chance a Ms. Anais Watterson?"

I almost broke the guy's nose. "Do I look like a Ms?"

"How should I know? You cat's all look the same to me." He shrugged. "So are you or not?"

I facepalmed. Was this guy blind? How could he mistake me for a girl?

"You know what, forget it. I am Anais."

"Great! I have a package for you. If you'll just sign here." The gorilla beamed, handing me a clipboard. "Pleasure doing buisness with you."

"Likewise." I watched him drive off in his white FedEx truck, glad that the whole ordeal was over.

Undoubtedly, he was new to the job and had been nervous. Probably still lived with his mother. In her basement. Shaking my head I lifted the large cardboard box over my shoulder and walked toward the house.

"Carson! Where the hell have you been?" Nicole asked as I entered the house. She was dressed in blue high heels and a light blue formal blouse that greatly outlined her figure. Behind her, Richard was wearing a black suit.

"I, uh, went out for a walk." I lied, shrugging as I put down the box.

Nicole shook her head. "Right. Well, me and Richard have got to go to a meeting at the office. I just wanted to wish you good luck on your first day. And remind you to behave yourself or I'll be forced to punish you."

Punished by Nicole? No thank you!

"I understand." I said.

"Good." She handed me a tan piece of paper. "That's you schedule. Don't lose it and don't be late."

I nodded putting it in my back pocket.

Richard glanced at his watch, motioning to Nicole. She nodded. "Alright. So that's everything I wanted to tell you. If you need anything Anais can probably help. Just try to have a good day."

I watched as they rushed outside and got into Richard's pickup. Then after a long moment of standing stupidly in the hallway, I walked toward the kitchen. And immediately ran into Anais. She was sitting at the table having breakfast with Gumball and Darwin. I watched the girl who had seen me naked last night eat her waffles without saying a word. I nodded at her and began to grab myself a plate. I sat down across from her, Gumball on one side, Darwin on the other.

As I was eating she got up and came across the table to sit next to me. I glanced at her. She was dressed in a pink hoodie, a purple tank top, shorts, and pink flip flops. She also seemed to be wearing perfume. It smelled good. As I watched, Anais reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper which she handed to me.

It said simply:

WE NEED TO TALK. ALONE. AFTER SCHOOL. SOUTH PARKING LOT.

I looked back at Anais, but she had already gotten up to leave. Grabbing her bag, she went and stood by the doorway, tapping Gumball on the shoulder as she went by.

"What?" Gumball asked, continuing to devour his waffles.

"Time to go."

"But I'm not finished eating-"

She glared at him.

"Fine. Darwin. Carson. Let's go."

Darwin nodded and grabbed his stuff. Reluctantly, I did the same. On the way out the door, our eyes met and he gave a look that said, what can you do?

I shrugged. "Some people actually like going to school. They must sneak something in the cafeteria food."

He nodded, giving a grin.

"What the hell is taking you two so long!" Anais demanded, from the front seat of Gumball's car.