Santa Pyre: The Burning Solaris

8. The Power Within

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2043. Williky Residence, West Flame City.

"Hey, what's that?"

There was pause as William observed what I pointed out

"Great Scott, that's... THAT'S!" William turned to us with an amazed shock. "Bill, Daina, I now know for sure what's going on." I became on edge. "There's no need to be afraid. What I'm about to tell you is part of the reason you're alive."

"Really?" asked Daina.

"Alright, let me lay it down for you. That atom there is the unstable third isotope of pyrium. It has the largest mass number of the three..."

"Unstable isotope!? But... won't it give us cancer or something?" asked a worried Daina.

"No. This isotope is special. It releases some kind of energy which can create or destroy atomic molecules. Um, your bodies should have produced a lot of pyrium-u by now, which means that your mutation is complete."

"Mutation!?" I remarked.

"Yes. You see, your bodies are now able to store and use all forms of pyrium just like carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. The energy travels throughout your entire being primarily in the form of electricity, which is why it is dubbed "plasma energy." The mutation is called Atomic Plasma Energy Heritage or APEH for short."

"Are you making this up? How do you know about all this?" asked Daina.

"We can't possibly be the only ones like this," I added.

"Right you are, Bill. Actually, the person who devised all of this knowledge is the second person to gain APEH!"

"Whoa!"

"You'll get to meet him sometime next week. However, he sent a little gift ahead of him. Here..." William brought us to another table, upon which sat two boxes. "APEH grants you an unparalleled healing ability."

"Wow, so that's why our burns healed..." I muttered.

"But, what about my throwing up of mercury?" asked Daina.

"Well, I think your body is producing the mercury in your stomach out of the food you eat... With practice, you two can actually learn to control your plasma energy and perform different types of abilities. It's like super powers, if you will. Daina, you could stop the mercury yourself. Please open the boxes now."

Daina and I exchanged glances before obeying. We were taking in everything with grains of salt. Inside of each box was a bracelet of some kind. They were clip on, with a strange red stone over the central hinge. As I held up the peculiar bracelet up to eye level, I could feel something. I just was not sure what. "William, what are these?"

"I'm glad you asked. Well, the "Researcher" calls them Pyra Bands. They're made out of pyrium-unstable, coated in thin sheets of lead, and finally coated in a thin sheet of iron. The gemstone in the bulge over the hinge is a new element called plasmarium. It's a larger element than pyrium and it produces two charges of plasma energy, negative and positive, so it is used as a balancing agent. These will help you to control your plasma energy!"

"Pyra Band, huh?" I placed the band onto my right arm, just above my wrist. As soon as I did this, the plasmarium gem glowed and I felt that same heat from the day I woke up in the hospital well up inside me for several seconds before dying, as if having been quenched for good. I felt different... I was different.

"Whoa... It does make..."

"...Quite a difference," finished Daina. "So, what's next? How do we learn control?"

"First, we need to know what kinds of elements you can use for your abilities. You'll find out more from the Researcher himself, but for now all you need to know is that at the time of mutation, only certain elements are configured for use, and it is different for everyone." William went back to the microscope and fired it up again. "I'll scan your sample again at 975 thousand times magnification to get a wider view. This should let us spot more elements."

Daina and I waited as William did his task. I grimaced when it hit me that he would need my sample next. We watched as he jotted down his findings in a notebook. After half an hour, he turned to us with an astonished face. "What is it?" asked Daina.

"Miss Daina... you have all of the non-radioactive metals in the periodic table!"

"Um... okay... so would that mean I potentially have many kinds of abilities?"

"It's a possibility..." William looked at me and I almost jumped. He laughed. "Are you really afraid of a little shot?"

"Let's just get it over with..." I mumbled with an embarrassed face. I held out my arm.

"Please excuse me." I winced as William extracted the sample before promptly getting to work with his super microscope.

After a few minutes, my elements were found to be hydrogen, copper, chromium, iron, tungsten as well as the new element itself, plasmarium.

"Now that we know what elements you can use, we can actually start figuring out what your abilities are. Come with me."

Daina and I followed William to the mysterious room from before. "This house and lab once belonged to the Researcher, but Julie and I bought it from him. Before you ask, he's my brother in law. Julie is his older sister."

"Wow...!! You're really tight, I'm guessing," I remarked.

"Sure, you can say that," William replied with a smile. "Anyway, this is what I call the training room." He opened the door and we stepped inside.

There were numerous wooden dummies, various weightlifting and exercise equipment. "Impressive," I commented.

"To gain control of plasma energy, you must train your body and soul, and most importantly, use your imagination."

"My imagination, huh?" I went over to the nearest dummy. I looked at my hands and the band. I thought about all that I learned. I listened and could hear the quiet zapping hum of the electricity flowing inside me like some kind of circuit. "Hmm..." I looked at the dummy and an idea hit me. "Here goes something." I made a fist and focused intensely. I imagined laying out a pathway of copper wiring. To my complete surprise, copper seeped out of my pores and coated my fist. The coating was not rigid, so I could actually clench and relax my hand.

"Whoa! Billy, how are you doing this!?" asked a bewildered Daina.

"Imagination..." I focused further and my fist began to glow with the sheer amount of current being channeled through the copper coating. "And willpower!" With a smile, I fired a punch at the dummy. There was the sound of thunder along with the release of small streaks of yellow static. The dummy was sent flying. It shattered to splinters against the wall.

"Great Scott!" exclaimed William.

"Wow!!" went Daina.

I breathed out and focused. The copper was reabsorbed back into my body. I looked at the broken dummy in shock before looking back to my hand, which was a little burnt but healing quickly. "Ow..." I turned to the two adults. "Sister Daina, we've got our work cut out for us..."

"Well then, I'd better get started, too." Daina went over to another dummy. She took up a stance and assumed a look of intense concentration.

"What are you doing? Copying me?" I mused.

"I'm using my imagination." Like me, her fist became coated in a metal. I could tell it was lead due to the brownish grey color. "Hiya!" Daina fired her punch and beheaded the dummy easily, causing me to cringe. "Um, maybe that was a bit overboard..."

"It was a good punch though. Let's call it the Lead Fist. Mine shall be the Thunder Fist, because of the sound it makes on impact."

"Clever," said William. "This is a good first step but let's get you some special outfits just for your training sessions. You might mess up your regular clothes." William went to what looked like a wardrobe and rummaged through it. He pulled out some dreary black articles: a shirt and pants, and a pair of boots to match. We exchanged glances before going to him and taking the articles. "I know they're far from stylish, but they'll guarantee your safety. They're made with Kevlar, so they can withstand bullets!"

"I'm not so sure bullets should even be on our worry list anymore," I commented as I began putting the articles over my civilian clothing. "There... Wow, it's snug and comfy. Did you have these tailored to us?" I glanced at Daina. Even she looked rather drab in the outfit.

"Yes. It was all part of my preparations. Sorry for all the secrecy, but I just already knew that you two would be like this. You would be dead otherwise. But here you are, alive and well. And now, before you can safely reintegrate into society, you must learn to control your abilities."

"We understand, Doctor," said Daina. "So, Billy, let's do this!"

"Yeah!" As I rose up my first, a bolt of static shot up into the ceiling and left a burn mark. "Oops..."

"Bill, was that lightning!?" asked a bewildered Daina.

"I don't think so," William shook his head. "The air has barely ionized. I don't smell any ozone."

Daina sniffed the air. "Hey, you're right."

"Um, shouldn't we be focusing on the problem at hand?" I held up my even-more-burnt-than-before hand for them to see. It was still steaming, too. "Owww..."

"Well, I suggest tempering your body with exercise. The more you train a vessel, the more it can handle."

"That makes sense, I guess," I answered. And so began Daina and my quest to gain control of our new found power.

For days, we lifted weights, ran on treadmills, did yoga, and ran races. We practiced martial arts on the dummies. William taught us the mental principles and discipline the "Researcher" used for his training. At night-time, Julie would arrive and we would have a supper. We never saw much of her during the day as she had to be cooped up in her office on the other side of the nation.

October 25th.

On Saturday, I learned to regulate both the current and voltage of the electricity. Using a lower current and a high voltage allowed me to destroy the dummies with my Thunder Fist without burning my hands. But more importantly, I learned two new techniques.

2:30 PM.

I stared at Daina and William, both of whom were wearing safety goggles. Daina released a mass of metal and formed it into a shield. This was her Item Creation ability, which she could use to make anything she could imagine.

I drew calm and focused, guiding copper and iron atoms to key areas throughout my being. "Light Boost!" I exclaimed. My muscles tensed. I fired off a few punches at crazy speed. I smiled before dropping to all fours in preparation to sprint. "Here I go!" I shot forward and did a few laps around the room, sprinting at a speed of 15 meters per second. In case you did not know, that was way faster than many athletes, even with a wind advantage.

Next, I weaved my way around haphazardly placed wooden dummies. My amazing new vision kept up with the speed, allowing me to avoid crashing, even when fooling around a bit. Finally, I ran towards Daina, who held up her shield. I halted in front of her as best as I could. Wind stirred up by the run blew past for a few seconds. "Wow, looks like you've got it down," she said, holding down the shield.

"Well, I've got a handle of level one. But now I need to try level two."

"Level...two?" asked William.

"Yes. I've divided the Light Boost technique into levels based on the amount of energy I can safely use at once. Level two is faster and it makes it easier for me to do my other new technique." I turned around and picked out a dummy. "Light Boost, Level Two!" I focused and my muscles tensed even more. I aimed my right hand at the targeted dummy and made a g*n shape with my first and middle finger. Next, Copper coated my hand. I channeled energy to my "g*n" and it began to zap and crackle with blue colored static.

"Are you trying to shoot lightning?" asked Daina.

"Just watch." I guided the static to concentrate on my fingers. A fuzzy, blue ball of plasma formed on my fingertips. "Lightning Bolt, ha!" A blue pillar of hydrogen plasma shot forward. There was the sound of thunder as the plasma beam struck the dummy, which exploded into flaming splinters. I brought my hand to my face check for any damage and blew on it before turning to William. I breathed to power down. "Phew, that took a lot out of me."

"Lightning Bolt, huh?" William sniffed the air. "Yes, this is much closer to real lightning than all those involuntary releases of static you've had lately. But tell me, what are the mechanics of this 'Light Boost' technique you invented?"

"I'm interested as well," said Daina.

"Well, I noticed that I have increased physical strength and stamina, and I can run slightly faster than before. By using copper to focus electricity to stimulate my muscles and iron to reinforce their defense, I can increase my strength and speed even further. I believe that as I become better and better at controlling my plasma energy, I could potentially advance up to insane proportions. I could probably beat a Bullet Train in speed one day!"

"Astounding; do you really think so?"

"Yes, but only time will tell," I replied matter-of-factly. "Now, I think I need a water break."

October 30th.

Today, Daina and I decided to test the results of our training with a sparring match.

"Are you ready, Sister?" I asked.

"I sure am, Brother!" Daina replied. "Let's make it a good, clean fight, OK?"

"OK!" I answered. I focused my energy, guiding the electricity to flow throughout my being. "Light Boost!" My muscles tensed.

"Form Coat: Iron Armor!" called Daina. She coated herself in a "second skin" of iron, to boost her defense.

"Here I come, Daina!" I sprinted towards her at an easy 9 meters per second. She fired a punch and I met it with my own. The recoil of the collision pushed her back a foot. I took the opportunity to fire off a storm of rapid punches.

Daina brought her arms to her chest and yelled, "Form Change: Iron Shield!" The iron coating her arms grew and turned into a shield. My punches barely budged it. I stopped and jumped back for a reset.

"Not bad!" I commented.

"Same to you! But, now it's my turn!" She dispelled the shield and launched at me, firing a punching flurry of her own. I had no trouble ducking and dodging around all of them.

I suddenly drew low and countered with a Thunder Fist to her gut. "Ha!"

CRASH!

"Whaa!" She slid back a meter. "What! Why you!"

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself!"

"Let's see how YOU like it!" My eyes widened in fear as she rushed at me before launching into the air by wrapping her legs with springs. In midair, she did a back-flip axe-kick. "Steel Earth-Splitter!"

"Yikes!" I threw myself to the side. "Oof!" The floor trembled as I heard a resounding CRASH! I got up and turned to see Daina standing in a crater, from which long cracks were spread out, the longest ones of which had even climbed the wall. "Daina! You trying to kill me or something!?"

"What about you? That punch you gave me really hurt, you know!"

William came running up to us. "How about we call it a draw? I don't think my house can take much more of this!" Almost to confirm this, a medium sized piece of the ceiling fell to the floor. Daina and I exchanged glances. We had really overdone things.

"Sorry," we said in unison.

"Don't worry about it. Let's go upstairs for a bite. Your battle must have made you hungry by now." My stomach instantly embarrassed me with an audible growl. "Let's go."

"Sure!" said Daina. We all left the room. Behind the door, the rest of the ceiling came down.

Friday, October 31st. 8:50 AM.

After training the entire Midterm Break straight, Daina and I decided to take today off. After our morning activities and Julie had left for work, we joined William in the main foyer. I heard a knock on the door.

"I wonder who could that be," I said out loud.

"The Researcher has arrived at last," said William with a smile as he went to answer the door.

"Good morning, Dr. Williky," greeted a surprisingly familiar voice.

"Hey... wait a minute. That voice... this wouldn't happen to be...!?" I thought. To Daina and my complete astonishment as William stepped aside, none other than Sir Arthur Midian entered into the house, the very founder of the ground upon which I stood. Not William's house in particular, mind you; but the country of Santa Pyre itself.

He looked just like in the pictures and on TV: English white hair and early forties Englishman features, with spry grey eyes and a small mustache. There was a cut scar on his left cheek from a sailing incident in the earlier part of his sailing career. He was wearing his favorite English Navy uniform, although he never was a part of the Navy. But that did not mean he was not a famous and respected man of the sea. Oh, no; he had been to ports all over the world and seen all the oceans. His favorite was the Pacific. The vastness of it reminded him of the hard work he has done to get where he is. He even had a Knighthood from the Queen of England, which is why everyone called him "Sir Midian" or "Sir Arthur."