Bring The Heat

3. VS Rebound!

Blood streamed down Wren's face. Her nose stung like a bitch. She was breathing heavily now, but had too much adrenaline flowing through her to feel the aches in her limbs. She was cradling one of her arms, searing hot, like she had dipped it in a boiling pot of water. Backed up against a rocky outcrop, she heard footfall coming up to her quickly. She drew in a deep breath... and turned out of cover.

-(30 MINUTES AGO)-

Wren looked around. She was in a large, cold, metal building, a lot like an aircraft hangar. She was quite far from the city now; BM had driven her out. There were a lot of weird contraptions and technology scattered around, on the floor or big metal tables. It looked like someone was dismantling them... or putting them together?

Wren and BM waded through the scrap. She noticed someone in a welding mask, operating some dangerous-looking tool on a large, sophisticated... satellite, it looked like?

"Didn't I ask you to try and stay organized?" BM said, disapprovingly.

"Sorry boss!" the welder said, lifting her mask, revealing a confident, peppy face underneath. "What's the deal with the kid?" she continued, gesturing broadly at Wren, but still taken up with her work.

"She's, uh, one of us!"

Wren realized that it probably would've been easier for everyone if she had let BM explain in the car. She insisted on having the radio on. She missed music, not that she remembered any.

"Not really what I meant." the welder said sarcastically.

"Yeah, sorry, this is Wren. Wren, this is Space Girl."

"Ugh. 'Space Girl.' I'm Cece, or Mrs. Kennedy if I'm mad at you!"

Cece reached out for a handshake. Wren gave her a high five. Cece smiled.

"I like your style, new kid." she said.

Wren decided that she thought Cece was really cool. I mean, she welded. That's a cool thing. She was really pretty, too; she seemed young, only slightly older than Wren. She had shoulder-length, wavy brown hair, and seemed to always have a self-assured but friendly look on her face. Wren felt drawn to her, in a strange way. She didn't really get the whole 'Space Girl' or 'Best Man' thing though.

"So. Let's take her for a spin, eh?" Cece said to BM, bouncing up and down with excitement. Wren thought she was talking about her, but didn't really get how she could get 'taken for a spin'.

"Yeah. I should probably, uh, explain it to her first..." BM replied, guiltily.

"YOU DIDN'T- ?!"

Cece grabbed Wren by the shoulders. She looked seriously concerned.

"Hey, Wren? Don't get in cars with strangers. Especially if they won't tell you what they're gonna do with you, ok?" when she said that last part, she shot a glare at BM. Wren didn't feel a need to explain, she just nodded. When Cece grabbed her, she felt entirely inclined to do everything she said. Cece let her go, and sighed.

"So who's gonna tell her?"

"That's my job." BM said, turning to Wren. "Look, Wren, some ordinary people recently have become, well, extraordinary. They can do strange things, like telekinetically control the movement of thrown objects, or create zero gravity vacuums down here on Earth." When he said the part about zero gravity vacuums, Cece smiled widely and gave a small wave. "For example, I'm, well, the physically strongest and smartest man alive." BM tried to say this with humility, but that was always gonna be pretty difficult. Cece rolled her eyes. "And you," he continued, with a twinkle in his eyes as he smiled at Wren, "can create powerful eruptions from the ground. I'll have to observe you closer, but I think they get stronger the worse you're injured, or the more stressed you are."

"Yeah, he can smell the power on you." Cece mocked, waving her fingers spookily.

"Ignore her. I mean... she is right. But not in a helpful way." BM returned passive-aggressively.

Cece and BM stared at Wren expectantly.

"Yeah. Y'know, I believe you guys and all. But, eruptions from the ground? I can't really say I've done that before... I just don't think that's me."

-(PRESENT TIME)-

Turning from cover, Wren fired off a powerful blast from her hand. But... she hit nothing. She felt two small rocks bounce past her feet, in the perfect synchrony to mirror the sound of footsteps approaching. As the smoke cleared, she saw her opponent still perched smugly on the overpass far away and high above her. She heard a rubbery bounce to her left. She didn't even have time to react before a bouncy ball smashed into the side of her head, then bounced up the walls all the way back to her opponent's hand.

She got back up slowly. Tears and more blood were flowing down her face. Her hand hurt like hell, burnt skin peeling off of her fingers, which she might have dislocated. BM buzzed over the intercom.

"Remember to channel the blasts through the ground, Wren! That'll take the stress off of your han-"

"QUIT TOYING WITH HER, ASSHOLE! GO EASY ON HER!" Cece yelled furiously to Wren's opponent, stealing the intercom mic.

Wren clutched her hand, almost limp. She screwed her eyes shut... but refused to seem weak in her first test! She looked up at the guy on the bridge, with no more tears in her eyes, and screamed;

"DON'T YOU DARE GO EASY ON ME!"

-(20 MINUTES AGO)-

Wren held her hand spread out on the ground. She crouched there, silently. They had taken her out to an empty field near the hangar.

"Yeah, nothing's happening, guys." she said blankly, looking back at BM and Cece.

"Think about the ground breaking open. Picture that, and clear your mind of everything else. Then channel your concentration into your hand!" BM said, focused and anticipating. Wren looked to Cece for approval. She had the same serious look on her face, and gave Wren a nod. Wren turned back to the ground in front of her. She closed her eyes and did as BM said... and nothing happened.

She was just about ready to give up when she was violently pulled into a series of images that flashed in front of her mind. Her body went numb.

She saw a crying family, then a vase, broken on the ground, then the silhouette of a child watching a house burn down in the woods. She suddenly felt a huge surge of energy shoot down her arm, feeling like it was going to burst. Then she heard a deafening BOOM, and felt a large gush of warm air blast her face. Wren opened her eyes to see a trail of small craters leading up to a huge one in front of her, smoke still rising from each of them.

"HOLY SHIT" Cece exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement. "THAT WAS SO COOL!"

She ran up and hugged Wren tightly, still jumping up and down. Yeah, Wren felt cool. She started jumping too, her body weak from adrenaline. BM just stood there, smirking proudly.

"What the hell was that? Cece, are you making bombs again!?" a new voice yelled.

Everybody turned to look at the newcomer. He was a tall guy, with sunglasses, thick and messy brown hair, and a leather jacket.

"Nope! All her!" Cece said, presenting Wren to the newcomer like a prize.

"Huh. Good stuff, new kid. I'm Rebound, this little asshole's brother..." he said, shooting a glare at Cece and extending his hand for a handshake. Wren decided to actually shake his hand this time.

She also wondered what was up with all these names. Well, it was undeniable that all these guys were eccentric people, to put it lightly.

"I'm Wren" she replied. "I can make things blow up."

"Sounds cool. When can we fight?" Rebound asked, turning to BM.

"Well... that's the plan, actually."