Stardust: The First Champion

Ready 3

"What's the matter? What are you sensing?" Her lips moved as she spoke in a low tone. Only Darren could hear her with his super-hearing.

"I feel hot. Some sort of release of energy."

"What does it feel like to you? Does it feel familiar in any way?"

"It feels like…" he tried to sense more. It was warm, continuous, and spreading. "Like a fire."

"Okay. That means you're sensing a strong wave of infrared. Now I want you to follow the wave back to the source. Where is it coming from? Where is it the strongest?"

Darren closed his eyes, feeling the radiation like a rush of air that was settling into his body. "It's about a kilometer east."

"Alright." Darren opened his eyes when he felt Alesia's hand on his. "Listen carefully to what I'm going to say." She leaned over the table, her brown eyes locked on his baby blues. "If there's a building on fire, people may be trapped in there."

Darren's eyes widened as he almost stood up abruptly. He needed to leave, to help. But Alesia held him back. Darren turned back to look at her. "Listen to me. Don't be afraid of your powers. Don't overthink things. Just trust your instincts, and you'll be fine." She released his hand and sat back in the chair. "Now, go! Run!"

Darren ran out of the booth, leaving behind a gust of wind and the sound of the bell when he went through the door without anyone noticing. Alesia put her sunglasses on before she went to the register to pay.

Darren took Alesia's advice to heart as he ran, following the infrared radiation's flow to the most significant source. He stopped at a building near a university. He remained on the perimeter, behind the crowd that stood on the sidewalk and the fire trucks. He tilted his head, drowning out the voices and the chaos around him to the inside of the building. He visualized entering the building, moving through the hallways and up the stairs.

Voices. Darren heard the voices of people inside the building. Some people were confined behind doors in their offices and classrooms. The fire's source was the second floor. Many people remained trapped on the stairs as the flames crawled to the upper floors.

Follow his instincts and not overthink. He took a deep breath before he took off again. As he moved faster than the speed of sound, his surroundings seemed to slow down. He entered the building, going to one classroom where he heard the most voices on the third floor while crowds of people on the first two floors evacuated the building.

He prioritized the rooms he heard voices from. When he entered the classroom, he saw eight students. He took two people, one on each arm, carrying them back out to the street. He repeated the trips until everyone was out of the classroom. He continued up the floors using the same strategy, evacuating all twenty persons from the building in seconds. There was no more noise in the building, but Darren decided to do a final sweep to ensure he had not missed anyone. He went from the first floor through every door and room in the five-story building.

On the fifth floor, in the last room, Darren found an unconscious woman. He picked her up gently, cradling her head in his shoulder. As he turned around toward the door, he found that the fire had already devoured the wood. The flames encroached from all sides. Darren had yet to know the full extent of his abilities. He could pass through the fire, but what about the woman? He could not put her in danger.

Darren searched the room, but there were no other doors he could pass through. He turned around to face the window. Perhaps he could jump. The window was the only way out of the flaming room.

Darren kicked the window, shattering the glass. As Darren looked down at the street, he saw the firemen and the bystanders below. The asphalt was also five stories below him. Darren turned around to see the flames devouring the room.

The firefighters on the ladder would not reach them in time. He had to jump. Darren inhaled deeply as the road seemed a greater distance than it was. His anxiety almost created an illusion of the ground sinking deeper and deeper, farther, and further away. He shook his head as he steeled himself. He swallowed the saliva that pooled in his mouth.

He held the woman's head like a baby's so it would not jostle from the jump or the landing. With both feet, Darren jumped with his eyes closed.

The street cracked under Darren's feet when he landed on the road with the woman in his arms.

Darren opened his eyes and released his breath.

The woman coughed as she was starting to wake.

"Help! Paramedics…" Darren rushed the woman to the firefighters and EMTs and placed her on a stretcher. The paramedics quickly rushed the woman into the ambulance and put an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth.

Darren was the last person to exit the building. The firefighters continued to smother the fire with the hose connected to the fire hydrant.

Darren breathed a sigh of relief, his hand on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. His breath trembled, and his hands shook as sweat began to form on his forehead. He felt utterly drained as if he had used all the power in his cells. His lungs burned as he began to hyperventilate.

"Sir, are you alright?" a paramedic asked. "Do you need help? Let me take a look at you."

Darren raised his hand up as he stood straight. He caught his breath. "No. I'm okay. Please, help the people who were in the fire." Darren looked at his surroundings, still in shock from the occurring events. He turned to look back at the building, at the window. He jumped five stories without injury. It was like his body had moved on its own.

The people on the sidewalk were looking at him, taking pictures and videos with their phones as they pointed. They commented on how he brought everyone out of the building.

The flash from a camera snapped him out of his daze as he realized that most of his clothes had burned off. As quickly as he came, he left in a gust of wind as if he was never there. As he ran back toward the restaurant, a sound reached his ears. He heard someone say his name. "Darren, I'm waiting for you at the foot of the mountain."

Alesia? He picked up the sound of her voice like the wind carried his name to him. He changed directions to the west, toward the mountains instead of the restaurant.

He dug his feet in the dirt and tripped but caught himself before falling on his face as he did in the speed lab earlier.

"You're learning."

He turned around to find Alesia gliding along, her feet on fire propelling her toward him. She came to a stop in front of him before she handed him a bag. "You should probably change into these."

Darren raised an eyebrow but followed Alesia's eyes down to find that most of his clothes had burned off, and his privates were almost in full view. He smiled sheepishly before taking the bag, throwing the clothes on in a second.

The flames that kept Alesia airborne extinguished, and she landed on the ground on her feet. She handed Darren his sunglasses before putting hers on. "Shall we head back?"

As she passed him, Darren grabbed Alesia's hand, causing her to stop to turn back to him.

"Can we take a break? I feel a bit jittery."

Alesia looked at him. His body trembled as he fell to the ground, unable to remain standing on his feet. His hands shook, and his lips quivered with every breath. Alesia rested beside him on a rock, letting him hold her as he caught his breath. She patted the back of his hands soothingly. "You did good." She repeated, "You did very well."

Darren gathered himself before he stood up. He raised his head and looked into Alesia's eyes. He said, "I'm ready."

Determination and resolve were the things Alesia saw in Darren's eyes. She smiled and squeezed his hand to reassure him. "Good, because I'm here."