Not All Heroes Wear Capes (The Pack Fanfiction)

Chapter Five: Pyrobolt (Part Two)

Preston blinked, his eyes wide as he looked at his arms.

There were bright flames covering his arms, from his shoulders to the tips of his fingers.

But it didn't hurt. It was like the warmth coming from the asteroid in his chest had flared up, becoming more intense. But strangely, Preston actually found that it felt strangely soothing.

Preston frowned in confusion, turning his arms over and staring at the flames licking his skin, which wasn't reacting to the flames at all. His hoodie wasn't so fortunate, however, and was smoldering a bit under the flames.

Why doesn't this hurt me? Preston thought, his eyebrows furrowing as he got up onto his feet, not taking his eyes off of his arms. This should definitely be burning me, but it's not.

"P-Preston!" Landon yelled from behind him, snapping Preston out of his thoughts as he turned to his cousin. "Are you okay?! Your arms are on fire!"

"I see that my arms are on fire, dude!" Preston yelled back, flailing his arms around as he added, "You think I don't see this?!"

"Stop flailing your arms around before you set something on fire!"

"What do you mean 'set something on fire'?!?! I'm the one that's already on fire!"

Landon, with a panicked look on his face, ran into the kitchen. Preston sighed, continuing to try and put out the flames covering his arms. But it just seemed that the more Preston tried, the flames only became more intense, flaring up as panic seized Preston's mind, his eyes widening. Realizing this, Preston closed his eyes and took a few deep, shaky breaths. It took a moment, but he finally calmed himself down enough to open his eyes again, and upon looking at his arms again, he was pleased to see that the flames seemed to have died down a bit, the feeling of heat burning in his body dimming a bit as well.

Smiled, he said, "Hey Landon, I think it's okay-"

Preston was interrupted by someone splashing water all over him, and Preston gasped in surprise as the water touched his skin, the flames completely going out on his arms as he felt a stinging pain where the fire had gone out. Shuddering, he whipped around to face the source of the splash, to find that Landon was once again behind him, holding a cup in his shaking hands.

There was a relived smile on Landon's face when the flames died out, but it quickly changed to a surprised frown when he had heard Preston's reaction to it, as if he was hurt. "Preston?" He asked in a slightly wavering voice, "Did... Did the fire hurt you?"

Preston shook his head, rubbing his arm where the stinging still ebbed. "No, but that water definitely did. What the heck Landon?!"

Landon's expression turned to one of confusion, and he said, "What?! How was I supposed to react to that?! Because last time I checked, randomly bursting into flames after having a spasm is not normal!"

Preston bit the bottom of his lip. That was a good question. How did that happen? Preston thought back to how the flames had amped up the strange warmth that he had been feeling since the asteroid had hit him, making him wince as he remembered the pain he had felt when he had died. Could it have something to do with the asteroid hitting me? Preston thought to himself. Now that he thought about it, the asteroid had been on fire when it had hit him, hadn't it? If the asteroid had been able to heal him and bring him back from the dead, could the fire that was around the asteroid before it hit him have affected him as well?

Ignoring Landon's curious stare from next to him, Preston closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He focused on the warmth, the fire, coursing through him, and a few moments, he felt it become hotter and hotter, blossoming in his chest. He heard a surprised yelp from Landon, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw his arms were once again in flames. He didn't panic this time, instead lifting up his arms and moving them around, looking at them with a look of excited wonder in his eyes.