Esper

Esper Chapter 19: Calm Before...

Part 1

"OK." With zero hesitation, Amala Singh replied!

"S-stop!" Vergil Trask dashed out from under the tree and got in between the two! "T-there's no way you can b-be serious!" He threw up his hands, hoping to convince Vernon Marino! On the other side of the clearing the eager man smiled brightly, unyielding in his instructions for Amala to attack him with her pyrokinesis! "You're just going along with th-is, Amala?!"

"I am. If Vernon wants me to do this, there's a reason. I'm not against it, so it's fine." No hint of trepidation in her body language, Amala leisurely stretched, preparing for whatever her superior had planned.

"W-what if s-something goes wrong? Y-you might slip up or something!"

"I assume that we're testing that. Am I correct, Vernon?" An enthusiastic thumbs-up given in response! "It'll be fine." With his concern discarded like rubbish, the dejected young man was left to sulk silently back under the tree. Katie Vang, however, was thrilled at the prospect! She snuck over to her concealed phone. The angle was perfect, catching both in frame, and still recording! "Ok, here I go!" Amala unleashed her haze, tightened her fist, and ignited it into flames! "Ready?"

"Yup." Vernon confused everyone. Hands planted firmly in his pockets, and not exuding a molecule of haze, he confidently waited with his defenses totally down!

"...I'm pretty sure my fire is real fire, you get that, right? It will burn you!" Having unleashed the blaze which engulfed the theater house just the day before, Amala knew that for sure!

"I'm aware. Go ahead and fire away!"

"..." With crackling flame just centimeters from her fist, the pyrokinetic was halted, sparing a glance to the other baffled participants. All silently awaited the outcome. "...Fine!" No more consideration, the fire shot forth like a hose! The stream was intense, but meager compared to the one that swallowed up Joffe's penthouse.

Aghast, the flames swallowed Vernon whole! Everyone expected a cry of pain, but the man remained unaffected! The stream of fire looked to have made contact, however upon closer inspection by Harper Wolf, it was obvious Vernon's telekinesis was actively blocking the assault! "Wow! Vernon, you're able to control your telekinesis without using your hands now?!" He was amazed!

"No, I'm not." Vernon replied. Amala withdrew her hand, allowing the orange flames to subside. "It's like when I dropped Nick'O before, or when Amala first discovered she could fly. To some level, our powers work automatically, or subconsciously, I guess. Let me try something." Vernon exuded his own haze, comparing it with Amala's. The burgundy mist, as opposed to her magenta mist, wasn't warm, and when he tightened his fist, it simply shrunk the radius before him. "...Hmm." He pondered.

"It's p-pyrokinesis, I think." Vergil Trask chimed in. Being a fiction lover, he'd surmised it as soon as the flames burst forth.

"Yeah, I already know that. I looked it up too!" Amala smiled at Vergil, making him shy away, face lit ablaze with a blush. (...I was just saying you were right.) Growing discouraged, the socially inept woman wondered if she was failing at making a new friend.

"Bah! This really is confusing! Amala, you can still fly and lift things, right?" She nodded. "Then what happened before when you blew that officer up?" Silence. It took a moment for Vernon to catch onto the awkwardness of the conversation. "Oh...right, sensitive subject, sorry. Forget-"

"I think it's because I crossed my arms like this." Without missing a beat, Amala answered. Only Harper, knowing her true nature, comprehended how callus to death the woman was. "Let me see." She unleashed more haze, then tightened her fist again, igniting the flames, and when crossing both of her arms, the flame spread about! Embers danced about, catching onto the ground!