The Dance of Lightning
"You're so damn persistent."
"Haa..." A faint spark flickered in the breath escaping my lips. With every movement, the blue electricity surging through me threatened to slip past my control. I glared at the opponent standing before me.
Power overflowed from my entire body. An intoxicating sense of omnipotence, as if I could do absolutely anything. A deep satisfaction filled me from head to toe. I was in peak condition.
"What... what is this...?" The pyrokinesist took a step back, his face pale with panic.
Ignoring him, I scanned our surroundings. The vast web of lightning crackling across the sky acted as my eyes, feeding me information about the battlefield. My gaze drifted through the air, eventually locking onto a spot where brilliant white flashes erupted.
Amy.
I murmured her name, but the deafening static drowned out my voice. She was struggling. Though I couldn't hear anything over the din, I could feel the movements of everyone in the area.
Whoosh!
Red flames flared up right in front of my face. My body reacted to the searing heat before my mind could. My vision flashed white. The shoes I was wearing tore apart, scattering in pieces.
Crack!
Moving at a speed that outran sound itself, my body launched through the air, hurtling toward the opponent radiating pure hostility. The blue current wrapping my entire body erupted like a bomb.
Crash!
The moment I collided with him, my ankle snapped. Before the pain could even register, I threw a punch. My fist, cloaked in blue electricity, unleashed a massive lightning dragon.
"Kgh!"
A muffled scream. Black smoke billowed, accompanied by the faint, acrid smell of burning flesh.
Rumble!
The lightning dragon birthed from my fist let out a thunderous roar as it soared into the sky. It had missed. The moment it made contact with his body, a strange sensation pushed my power aside. Deflected, the lightning dragon shot up into the clouds and vanished.
Through my white-tinted vision, I saw the man's face as he twisted his body to evade the strike. His expression was contorted in sheer shock. A bizarre sensation rippled through my own body.
But the lightning dragon that had soared into the sky was still under my control. I pointed a finger toward the heavens. Sparks of electricity burst in every direction.
Cr-cr-crack!
The dragon's roar swallowed all sound. Having ascended to the heavens, the lightning dragon devoured the dark storm clouds, swelling to an even more monstrous size. Suspended in midair, the man's face twisted. In this slow-motion world, his expression turned to one of sheer desperation. His eyes locked onto the sky.
I, too, looked up at the sky. It won't miss this time, I stared at the colossal lightning dragon and thought.
The dragon began to move. Its massive body writhed as it opened its gaping maw. The blue light erupting from its jaws painted the heavens, the entire sky swallowed by the dragon's form.
Lightning Dance
The colossal lightning dragon writhing in the heavens descended like a dancer, plunging straight into the earth. I couldn't help but think I'd done a pretty good job naming it this time. Surely even Amy wouldn't find this one weird.
Kaboom!
A deafening explosion. Swallowing the suspended man whole, the lightning dragon unleashed an even more blinding radiance. The ground shook violently as dirt and debris blasted in all directions. The spot where the man had stood began to glow cherry-red, melting away.
I frowned. The attack hadn't landed cleanly. A bizarre barrier was deployed over the man's body as he lay cratered in the ground. A support item. It was undoubtedly a tool designed to assist ability users.
Annoying.
I clenched my fist. All the electricity blanketing the area began to condense into a single point.
Rumble!
A bolt of blue lightning fell from the heavens, stretching out until it settled firmly in my grasp as a spear. My opponent couldn't get up. Within the falling body of the lightning dragon, I was the only one who moved with absolute freedom. As the man writhed in agony, I drove the spear of lightning straight down into him.
An explosion of pure light. In a moment where even sound was obliterated, the barrier protecting him shattered. With a satisfying sensation, the spear in my hand pierced through his body and discharged deep into the earth.
Boom!
An explosion rumbled from deep underground. The earth beneath my feet erupted outward. Rocks and dirt that had been blasted into the sky rained back down, mixing with the downpour and splattering across the ruined road.
There was no smell of blood. Only a charred, blackened lump of flesh sending up wisps of dark smoke. Staring blankly at my feet, I slowly raised my head.
"Jeff!" Shine shouted from a safe distance, holding Rain tightly in her arms.
"Shine." I waved back at her. Seeing that Rain's pain-contorted face had relaxed, she seemed to be doing alright.
"Jeff!" Shine's voice was frantic, her face completely different from its usual calm. Why?
Before I could even open my mouth to ask, I realized the reason for her panic.
Whoosh!
Fire. Sparks. Flames. The fire blooming right before my eyes began to warp and expand.
Ah. The moment I perceived the flames, time began to slow down once more. Once again, the lightning dwelling within me stirred. My blood pumped furiously, and my heart hammered as if it were about to burst. My hair, which had begun to settle, floated back up toward the sky. I spun around.
I caught the twitching movement of the man at my feet. Though his entire body was charred black, he was still alive.
Thump. Thump.
A faint heartbeat echoed in my ears. Beyond my white-tinted vision, I could see his heart. Or rather, the faint electrical current it was emitting. The electrical signals originating from the human brain were sending commands to the rest of the body. And right now, I could read the flow of those signals perfectly.
I spread both arms wide. Wrapped in blue electricity, my body could move at a speed that transcended sound. Just like back then. The application wasn't all that different. Now, I just needed to adjust the flow I was about to sever with a bit more precision.
Clap!
Pulling my outstretched arms back with all my might, I brought my hands together in a sharp slap. The blue current wrapped around my hands transformed into a wave of my own design, spreading outward.
Thump.
The heartbeat beneath my feet abruptly cut off. With my palms still pressed together, I looked down at him in silence.
Crackle!
A vivid spark flared before my eyes. Blue electricity enveloped his entire body. I could no longer hear his heartbeat.
Whoosh.
The flames that had been hovering in the air right next to my face flickered out. Without a word, I spread my arms wide once more. Heartbeats flooded my mind. The faint sparks drifting from all directions mapped out the rhythm of every heart in the vicinity.
"Haa..." I exhaled once more. As the blue current mixed with my breath dispersed into the air, I clapped my hands together with force.
Clap!
The sound of the clap reverberated far and wide. A faint electromagnetic field began to ripple outward, cutting through the falling rain. The dark storm clouds blanketing the area pushed my control to its absolute limit. Fast and wide, it swallowed everything around me. It slipped into the tiny electrical signals traveling from the brain to the heart, disrupting the flow. The severed command chain forced their bodies to a grinding halt.
One by one, people began to collapse. The enemies rushing toward Amy fell flat on their faces, unable to stop their momentum. And they did not get back up. Even without looking, I could see. The surrounding landscape painted itself clearly in my mind, making me feel as if I were standing in multiple places at once.
"Jeff!"
Leaving Shine's panicked scream behind, a wave of profound exhaustion washed over me, and I collapsed to the ground. Only now did my red, swollen ankle begin to scream in pain.
Whoosh...
The blue electricity that had filled the area vanished. As if filling the void, the crackling of lightning in my ears faded, replaced by the clear, steady patter of rain. Lying flat on my back, I smiled in the direction of where Amy was.
Jeff Sparise Version 2
I let out a dry chuckle at my own naming sense. My entire body felt completely discharged, refusing to budge an inch. I heard Shine and Rain's footsteps in the distance. Turning my head, I could hear Shine's tearful voice drawing closer.
"Jeff!" Drenched in rain and tears, Shine ran toward me, pulling Rain along. She practically threw herself onto my lying form, hugging me with all her might.
"Shine."
"Jeff!"
"I can't breathe," I whispered with a weak smile. Startled, Shine quickly let go of me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
I silently looked down at my ankle. The skin was flushed red, and the foot was so swollen it looked completely unusable. It wasn't an injury inflicted by the enemy. It was simply that my fragile ankle couldn't withstand the sheer speed of my own movement.
Leaning against Shine's shoulder, Rain looked at me with half-lidded eyes and smiled weakly.
"I knew it... You definitely belong in the Raincoats."
I just smiled in response.
The situation was quickly brought under control. Amy, limping as she approached, burst into tears the moment she saw Rain and me. Seeing the always-unshakable Amy crying was something I had never imagined, and it felt strangely novel.
As we sat huddled together on the wet ground, dozens of helicopters began to descend from the sky. People quickly rappelled down, dispersing in all directions to wrap us in warm blankets. Though Rain's ability had cleared the moisture from our bodies, it couldn't restore our lost body heat.
"You look like a total mess."
A familiar voice drifted down from above as I buried my face in the blanket.
"Jin?" I peeked out from the blanket to identify the speaker. The man Amy called Jin was standing there. Amy glared at Jin and spoke.
"I thought you were on vacation?"
"I came back immediately."
"Don't dump your work on me ever again. Do you have any idea how hard this was?"
"Everyone needs a little escape now and then."
Amy fell silent at Jin's response, clearly having no desire to continue the conversation.
"This is what happens when you bring out kids who aren't even registered on the wanted list."
"...I just wanted to show them the outside world."
Jin silently pulled out a cigarette at Amy's reply and lit it.
"Who did all of this?" Jin asked, looking around at the devastation.
"Rain brought the storm, and..."
Jin muttered softly, flicking his lighter. A red flame flared, and white smoke began to drift from his cigarette.
"Which of the two...?" Jin looked back and forth between Shine and me, his eyes gleaming with intense curiosity.
I didn't answer, pulling the blanket all the way over my head.