Nick and his three companions depart from the hotel into the open air singing with an unbearable heat. Their clothes, soaking with sweat, sticks to their skin on the spot. Black smoke billows in the atmosphere and obscures any view of the sun. The origins of the fire are unnoticable.
"There!" Danny shouts. He points at a wall of black in the direction of the beach.
Unable to pause to think, Nick and the others submerge in the thick clouds. The ash mixing in the air clogs Nick's throat. As the smoke fill his lungs, he chokes.
"Nick," a faint voice behind him mutters. "I...can't."
He recognizes the voice instantaneously. His little brother can't go on while the air is still clogged with the pollution.
"Jesse...need...to...go," he manages to say. Nick collapses on the ground as if his limbs were malfunctioning.
Jesse, who must've been only inches away from Nick's writhing body, clutches his hand. Nick can feel Jesse's arm twist, and following the motion Nick is swept in dark vortex, traveling at the speed of light to another location. The only sense of consciousness is Jesse's forearm.
The suffocation lifts, and Nick takes a gulp of partly fresh air before he slams on soft gravel. They are on the beach agian. Nick stands on his feet and sees the cause of the smoke.
A twenty-foot inferno slithers in and out of buildings that connect to the beach. Frantic beachgoers disperse from the wall of flames and dive into the cool ocean. Others chase the moving fire, determined to outrun the growing disaster and reach safety. To no avail, they are trapped in between the sea and the scorching line. And the four of them are amongst this chaos.
Thinking of the practice they've all been waiting for, Nick surpresses a smirk. "Okay," he begins confidently. "Go and rescue the victims. I will try to lower the fire."
They repel, covering the beach. Jesse, Danny, and AJ grab as many people as they could before taking them to safety. As the fire inch its way closer to the shore, Nick devises a plan. If he can summon enough saltwater, he can bring the entire thing down.
But telekinetically pulling the ocean closer? He couldn't even lift a small boulder until a few days ago. How could he move an ocean?
Nick decides not to interrogate his plans and go by his instincts. He faces the ocean, arms evenly spread out. He concentrates on the tides, and its capability of moving. Closing his eyes, he takes a steady breath. You can do this, he reassures himself.
Ever so fluently, he toggles his hands in liquid-like motion in order to tame it. His mind processed the ocean's energy, and began to manipulate it. The waves tumbled farther and farther until they reached his toes. He arched the water so it surged over his dry body. Drawing the current away from the people who chose to stay in the water until the disaster was over, the people gasped in awe. Nick was going to douse the flames!
The water climbs over the sand and shoots into the wall of fire. New smoke ruptures and the hissing tells Nick the plan is working. But why aren't the flames decreasing?
Instead of declining back to the ground, the flames skyrocket to incredible heights. The ocean water actually fed the flames. Those are not natural, Nick thinks.
A thought just occured to him.
In all of the confusion, Nick drops the water, showering over everyone on the beach. They gasp again, but not in awe.
Then that means...
Nick begins to run to the fire, but not directly to the enchanted flame, but to the originator who started this predicament. His soggy t-shirt and jeans slowed him down.
Nick's sprint suddenly sludgedsinto a jog, and then to a casual walk. The weight of his clothes increased dramatically to the point where he could not move. His muscles were shutting down, and a thick coat of a cold crystalline began to edge its way all over Nick's body. The water perspired on him solidified to ice. He was frozen in his place.
There was only two people who could control ice and fire at will.
Just as Nick's face was beginning to wrap in ice, he can see James, Tommy, and Lucas coming into view.
"We've warned you, Nicholas," says James. "But you and your team would not listen. Be a good boy, and don't be a hero. You'll live longer."
Nick takes one last glance for what might be his last time seeing the world, and shuts his eyes.
YOU ARE READING
The Asteroid Boys
Science FictionSpace junk hurtling towards the beach of Fort Lauderdale, Florida is the perfect topping for the Nill Family Reunion. Nicholas Nill is about to discover a change more influential than anything, a cosmic asteroid that alters not only him, but his fi...
