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Description
Boom, boom, boom! Rebecca heard the steps of the one that went by 'Titan' approaching. Really loud steps, at that. She was familiar with that sort of difference from when she heard Ethan walking in Golem form.

But this was louder. Whoever this Titan guy was, he was really heavy.

She was at a safe three block distance from him. That way she could pay attention to any strange sounds while also being able to keep track of her opponent's movements and not be found. She knew very little about markets in that area, so Titan would help her enormously, actually.

The night was getting darker and the lamps had started to burn. It was not a promising sign. At that rate none of them would win the competition.

It was, however, her only choice. Finding this was already a godsend opportunity. She... no, they both were forced to keep walking, trying to find anything.

Just when she started hoping that Ethan was doing better than her, a miracle happened: she heard a slight, subtle sound, but it was certainly there: something was burning. Rebecca had in internal cheer and started running towards the sound. There was no way for Titan to find it before she could. The perfect chance.

As she advanced, the sound was becoming stronger and the direction clearer: Something was definitively burning: It looked like the drunken Italian was right after all and her objective could 'breed' fire.

It wasn't long until Rebecca knew exactly what was going on: in front of a grocery store, a huge pile of fruits and vegetables burned, as a tall and muscular man went in and out of the doors and threw more and more food towards the pile. It was, without a doubt, the man that grocer was talking about: a noticeable goatee, red and blond (and all the colors in between) hair going up, probably meant to look like fire. A rather distinctive look, really.

Rebecca began to quietly approach the man, who seemed too busy and hurried to notice. Over and over he went in and out of the grocery with boxes of fruit, at one point spitting flames towards the pile of fruits and vegetables. It seemed like even he knew how ridiculous this activity looked.

Rebecca kept approaching the store front. There was a really simple way to do this, as a matter of fact: she could rush in just after the man towards the business and attack him from behind. One good punch to the face could probably take him on.

The man with the goatee entered. Rebecca went just after him. She hurried into the door as the man left the box next to several others, empty and full.

The man looked back just as Rebecca punched him in the jaw.

"Fuck!" he yelled loudly, much to Rebecca's displeasure. The girl, however, kept throwing punches. She got another good hit, this time to the nose, that got the man with fire hair to bleed.

However, the third punch, a left hook, did not land. The man blocked her arm, just to forcefully slap Rebecca, making her land in the floor.

It was a mistake, the Patron candidate thought, I shouldn't have come in without a weapon.

"You slut!" the man yelled, wiping the blood in his nose out and grabbing Rebecca by the neck with the other arm, strangling her. He was strong, far stronger than Rebecca, and his hand was tremendously hot.

"I know who you are, quiff," the man said, lifting the girl and heading out of the grocery. Rebecca grabbed the man's arm, attempting to stop the pain at her neck. "You are a Patron candidate. I saw you in that idiotic poster with those pointy ears. So you are going to stop me, huh?" Confidently asked the man. She thought about kicking him in the groin, but her feet couldn't reach him. He got Rebecca close to the flaming pile of food and the girl felt the tremendous heat on her back. To top, her neck was hurting like crazy.

"How are you going to do it?" The man of the goatee asked, smiling.

Rebecca had an idea. But she had to do something first...

She stopped grabbing the man with her left hand and used her nails to scratch the hand that was lifting her. She knew that it wouldn't really hurt him, but it would surprise him and make him loosen the grip.

Rebecca made a loud, high pitched yell. 3500 Hertz, to be exact. The most annoying frequency in the whole spectrum of sound. The fire-headed man, not expecting it, covered both of his ears, releasing Rebecca in the process. The girl didn't want to find herself with no cover against this particular man, so she headed towards the grocery again, punching him in the stomach while she did so.

She knew the battle was far from over, though. He would soon recover and he was still far stronger than her, so she opened the back door of the grocery but hid behind the counter. Perhaps that would fool the man into following her in that direction.

"So that is your power, huh? To annoy the fuck out of me? Well guess what, doll, it will only work once, so you'd better have something better." The big man was right. As annoying as the sound was to regular people, he could surely ignore it in a battle situation, and it was obvious that he was done fooling around.

Rebecca remained quiet. She knew that she was over with if she made any sound. The man was going around the store, she could feel his steps.

"You know what, honey? I'd actually rather not burn the place to the ground. It would make me suspicious," he said as he circled around the store, "but if you force me to do it, I will be happy to. I have been arrested for pyromania in the past, but it was worth it. You know what pyromania is? It is knowing that nothing is more pure, more beautiful than the burning flames consuming what society has built. The more damage it does, the better it feels."

Rebecca was afraid. She was genuinely fearing what the man could do to her... It all may have been a mistake. She probably wouldn't be able to defeat him.

Boom! Boom! Boom! She realized that the footsteps of Titan had been becoming louder. He was heading there. He had surely heard her yell.

"Dust we are, but you will return as ashes," the man continued in his barely logical rambling.

The girl hoped that Titan could make it in time.

---------------------

Ethan turned 180 degrees and started walking to the other side. He had been patrolling for hours now and still no news of the fire breathing super.

The woman with the 14 shirt was still there, though... Crouching and hiding (he had spotted her at one point, after hours of going back and forth, though), staring at the grocery store and not moving a centimeter. It was getting quite boring, actually.

...He should just go with Rebecca. He had been pondering that idea for a while now, but he knew that if he did that and in the end this grocery was robbed she would get pretty angry about it.

It had been like that for a while, just waiting, wondering about what to do, wondering if it was too late for the robber to go now...

Suddenly and in the span of a second, an arm twisted around Ethan's neck, followed by a leg that clung to his torso and a kick towards his own right calf. Ethan fell forwards and a hand over his forehead prevented his head from hitting the ground, but didn't prevent his glasses from falling. Just after that, the leg that had kicked him captured his right arm, making it impossible for him to stand up.

"You have been around here for hours now. Identify yourself." It was a female voice. Surely from the woman with the tank top.

"I am not the grocery robber! I am here waiting for him, just like you!" Ethan answered.

"Fair enough," the woman said, tightening the grip on his torso and grabbing his free arm with her own as she stopped holding the forehead, "why are you waiting for him and how did you find out about what I'm doing here, then? Also you still haven't identified yourself."

Ethan had screwed up. Now he had to reveal that Rebecca had been eavesdropping. He had to fight the woman.

As soon as Ethan started transforming into Golem form, the woman let him go and kicked him, to avoid having her leg trapped under his weight. Ethan regretted his action: If she hadn't done that her leg would probably be crushed, and he didn't want that to happen. Ethan stood up and saw the woman approaching. He threw a punch (trying to make it weak as to not do serious damage) but the woman grabbed his arm, went under it and threw a punch towards his stomach. It wasn't tremendously strong, but then again, few things were for his Golem form. The woman jumped back.

"So you want to fight, uh?" She said, smiling. "I have dealt with far tougher. Bring it on, kid."

Golem Ethan ran at her and threw another punch. It was evident, though, that the woman was far more agile than him, since she just used his arm to climb towards his shoulders and then, more suddenly than he could realize, cling to his back again. She punched him in the face and this time it did hurt a bit. Ethan realized that the woman was wearing metal caps in her knuckles.

The juggernaut reached to his back with his arms, but was unable to reach the woman, who was now holding just one shoulder and punching his back with three rapid hits. Ethan was durable enough to deal with it, but he was worried about the fact that he hadn't been able to land even a single hit yet.

The woman used him as a platform to jump back. Ethan looked towards her direction. She was six feet away, standing in a fighting guard.

"I suggest retreating, kid. You are not a fighter, and you obviously have no idea of who you are dealing with," the woman said. It seemed to be true, but Ethan couldn't stop now. He couldn't let Rebecca down.

The fight continued for a while, but it didn't go much differently. The woman did a lot of grappling and quick punches. Only once did Ethan hit her, but she didn't seem to mind all that much. It was becoming rather painful, so when it was obvious that he had no chance, Ethan reverted towards his regular form.

"Oh, God!" the woman said, when Ethan reverted. "Your face! I... I didn't think that it would hurt you all that much, I am sorry, I didn't really need to use nearly as much strength, I am really sorry..."

Ethan was certainly bruised. He went to pick up his glasses.

"Don't be, I went to attack you first..." Ethan answered, "and about the thing before... My friend Rebecca is a Patron candidate and she heard what you were talking about with the grocer, so she thought it would be a good opportunity. I stayed here and she went to the Town Center, just like the young man that was with you. I shouldn't tell you this, but you seem like a good person."

"All that I needed to know. Thank you for the sparring and sorry again!" The woman hurriedly started running away, towards the Town Center. She surely thought that the robber would be there already if he was actually to rob that grocery.

Ethan went running, following the woman at a much slower pace.

---------------------

It was not a common thing for James to run. His idea was that bad distribution of weight could cause everything to collapse under him.

As evidenced by the noticeable cracks in the asphalt that appeared as he ran, he was at least partially right. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have even tested it, but he heard a yell, and he was certain of where it came from: One of the groceries in the outsides of the Town Center.

As he approached it became more and more obvious that this was what he was looking for: He could smell something burning, and to top it off, he was certain that the had heard someone laughing.

It was there: A big pile of food up in flames. James slowly approached the place. There was no sign of movement.

That changed, though, when a small girl came running out of the place, followed by a huge ball of fire that just barely missed her. She started running towards him, and James was quick to recognize the Patron candidate in the meeting that didn't like the sound of the engine. Perhaps she had found this criminal before him?

James thought about asking that, but his priority changed very quickly as a man with red and blond hair and a goatee was leaving the grocery store that, in a second look, James noticed had caught fire.

"Oh," said the man with a big smile, "I recognize you as well! You are another of the candidates."

James looked back. The girl was still there, but it was obvious that she didn't want to be in the front lines of a battle against the fire breathing man.

"It doesn't matter, though," the man continued before James got the chance to answer, "you will only become another sacrifice to my flames of purification." It was obvious that the man was not in his best mental faculties.

James went forward, aiming to punch the man, but he quickly evaded, doing a little jump backwards. The teen threw another punch but it also missed, with the man jumping backwards again. It doesn't matter if I miss a couple of times, he told himself, he can't hurt me with fire.

As if testing the theory, the criminal spat a big ball of fire towards James' direction. Only his shirt burned though, since his skin was way too resistant for something like that to hurt him. It sounded like the man was going to laugh, but he stopped himself when he realized that the candidate for Patron was unharmed.

The man quickly jumped back and spat another, smaller ball of fire to James' head. As a reply, James only advanced towards him and threw another punch, which the man, again, avoided with great agility.

"It looks like you are not worthy of burning with my holy flame," the man said, clearly disappointed. "Not to be worried, though. There are so many ways in which I can still destroy you..." The crazy man chuckled.

James put out the fire from his shirt and went forwards again, trying to ram the man with his shoulder, this time. But as an answer, he just evaded him again, at one point grabbing his arm. James was surprised to feel a bit of heat where the man had touched him, but avoided making it seem that way.

"And you, bitch! Is that how you are going to defeat me, after all? Letting this loser fight in your stead?" the man with the hair of fire told the small girl. She did not answer.

James tried to reach him again. It was becoming a quite frustrating process, though, as that man was incredibly agile. In return, the fire breathing man threw a powerful flame towards his head, this time continuous. James could only see flames, and the man was not visible anymore. He threw a couple of punches in the air, to no effect.

Suddenly, he tried to breathe but wasn't able to. Titan went backwards, trying his hardest to avoid the flames.

"Fucking bitch!" James suddenly heard the man say. The flames disappeared, and he saw the other candidate had gotten closer. "Four times you punched me already! One would have thought that you already knew the consequences!"

James ran forward, trying to protect the girl. Before he could do anything, though, the villain breathed a flame to his face that didn't let him see. By the time the flames dissipated, the man was already far away from James.

It is useless, Titan despaired, he is just too fast, I can't catch him.

He looked at the girl next to him. She had been able to land a punch... Well, four, apparently. Perhaps with her help James would be able to defeat that man...

---------------------

Stephanie had not stopped running since she left the stone kid behind. She was getting a strong scent of burnt fructose, and she knew that she had to catch the criminal as soon as possible before he moved on.

However, by the time S14 was able to see the burning pile of food, she could also see other, more unexpected things.

James was already there, fighting a tall, muscular man with dyed hair and a goatee together with a small girl that moved all around the place, surely that Patron candidate Rebecca that the other kid mentioned. She took a second to consider the situation of the fight: First off, her son was trying his best to call the man's attention by throwing several sloppy punches, and the man, in turn, did not take an eye off James. He had probably figured out that Titan was far tougher than he looked like, besides having tried to burn him already, judging by the almost nonexistent shirt of her son.

On the other hand, Rebecca did her best to fill empty spaces in the fight, avoiding the fire breathing man at every second, while looking for chances to get him by surprise. That man was almost uniquely throwing fire at her direction, with an occasional flame towards James' eyes

They actually made a good fighting team, in a very amateurish way, but the man with the goatee was clearly far more trained, not only in fighting but also in the useage of his powers.

Stephanie had to come in. Otherwise it was a matter of time until James lost the battle and, especially, until Rebecca turned into embers.

S14 quickly approached the fight from behind the unknown girl. The man was focused on evading James, even as he was flanked, so that gave her a space to quickly get close, grab the man's shoulders, jump and grapple his neck with her legs, making him fall back in the process.

"What! Who is there?" The man on the floor asked. At the same time, he pressed one of his hands against Stephanie's right leg. The hand was tremendously hot, like a burning iron. More because of the surprise than the pain, Stephanie let the grapple go. James, meanwhile, hadn't had the opportunity to react to the sudden apparition of his mother.

"You, bitch. That hurt," the man said as he stood up, "it doesn't matter, though. You will only join them in my fires of unending fury!"

Stephanie saw a barrage of flames coming towards her head. She could easily have avoided that attack, but doing so could make the focus of the fire-breather change towards the girl. Stephanie could take that attack in her stead. She had dealt with worse.

Fourteen, the fire test is about to start. Be prepared.

As the flames engulfed S14's face, she advanced forward, putting her arm in front of her to attempt to see anything. Eventually it became useless, with her retinas too damaged to see in the first place. Her nose, in flames, was barely able to sense the smell of her own burning flesh. The man was obviously retreating at the same rate of her advancing. The legs of the heroine felt weak and she fell on her knees.

Fourteen, stand up. Lying there will only hinder your own results.

As she tried to stand, S14 tried to let out a scream, but her vocal cords did not obey. What was the matter? It was hot, but she knew that she was better than-

Fourteen, attempt to ignore the pain. You learned to do that a long time ago now.

...No, not that again. Stephanie fell on the floor, and each of her tears were evaporated before they could get out of her eyes.

"Stop crying, fourteen. The test is already over. Three hours, thirty seven minutes and sixteen seconds. That is most disappointing," the doctor said. Indeed, the last burns had already disappeared.

S14 forced herself to stop crying and stood up with her naked body facing the leader of the Project.

"Your former record is three hours, seven minutes and twenty three seconds. We both know that the results that I get are useless when you don't improve. We will have to start over until you manage to do it again," the doctor finished. It was the response that S14 most expected and feared.

"Can't... can't we do it another day?" The child asked. "I don't think I can continue today..."

"Correction:" the doctor replied, "not only can you continue today, but you are one of the few subjects that could continue for as long as they wanted. The only thing that keeps you from outperforming yourself is your own mental state."

"...But I don't think I can!" the ten year old said, "I am tired and it was too much!" She started sobbing again.

"Calm down, Fourteen," the subject, however, could not calm herself. She had had too much already, "Fourteen... Where are you right now?"

"In... In the Fire Testing Chamber 5?" S14 answered, a bit ashamed of her own temper tantrum.

"Exactly. Do you know what a privilege it is to be tested in a level 5 chamber?" The doctor continued, "A grand total of five subjects are allowed in level 5 chambers. And most importantly: You are one of two that gets to be tested in all of the level 5 chambers."

"Really?" S14 said, shocked. Was she really that good? Who could the other person be?

"Really. And save for this, the asphyxiation test and the pressure test, you also have all of the best times! You should be a proud little girl, Fourteen!" The director of the Project happily answered. The subject could certainly feel a lot of pride for that. "And it is because of that that I ask so much of you. It would mean very much for me and the other investigators if you could be the best in all of the tests..." It was true. She had to help the other members of the Project. That was why she was brought there...

"I... I think I can do it again," Stephanie said.

"That's a good girl!" The doctor said, smiling. "...I really don't feel like we could surpass that record today, it's one hour, twenty five minutes and two seconds after all, but if we can deal with your problem with fire today it would be excellent... Let's do this: If you can surpass yourself this time, you will get to share the room with the other person that gets tested in all of the best chambers! She is also the one that has the record here. I think you could learn a lot from each other."

"Really?" S14 couldn't believe that. She never knew that it was possible to share the rooms. She had to keep herself from screaming of joy.

"Yes, Fourteen. Lying to the subjects diminishes the morale and affects their performance negatively. I would never lie to you."

"Start the test!" S14 almost ordered. It wouldn't be easy, but one day she would have all of the records!

STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID!

---------------------

James put his own body between the fire breather and his mother. She was lying on the floor. He couldn't have ever expected her to stop the charge, but it had happened.

The fire stopped. In front of the teenager, the bastard was laughing.

"Boy, are you seriously expecting anything out of defending that charcoal head right there?" The man said, meaning Stephanie. James knelt and pressed a hand on the ground. When normal people were hit by asphalt in the head, did it kill them?

"Anyway, you are boring. Let's burn the other bitch." The girl that was fighting with James had retreated a few steps. The man looked at her.

…Who cared if it killed him. The Patron competition was meaningless at that point. Titan just wanted to give the crazy bastard a lot of pain.

He grabbed a chunk of asphalt of the size of his hand and swiftly threw it towards the criminal, who caught it full in the face before he had a chance to breathe fire at James' fellow candidate. The man fell flat on the floor and James hurried towards him, grabbing his neck while he was down.

"Stop! Stop! I am down, I give up!" The man claimed. His face was a bloody mess. James did not care.

"Go ahead," the teen said, "call my mother a bitch one more time. I dare you."

The man said nothing and, after a moment, passed out. James realized that he had been choking him.

"Good arrest, son," James heard his mother say from behind him. He looked back, she was regenerating the last burns from her face, still on the ground. She was holding her tanktop with her left arm, since the right shoulder had burned, "Rebecca, thanks a lot for the help but we will be taking this one, sorry. Your friend should be here soon."

"...Thanks," Rebecca said, "it- it's been a pleasure."

James effortlessly picked up the madman and started walking away along with his mother.

"If I win this round you will have to get a new tank top," he told his mother.

"I have dozens of 14 tops, don't worry about it." The mother said, "You, on the other hand could work on your tendency to get your shirts burned, you don't own that many."

---------------------

"I... I'm sorry, Rebecca," Ethan said. For a while now the friends had been reunited and were watching the burning pile of food, "I really shouldn't have told her that you were here. You lost because of me. We still have like seven hours, though! If we are lucky we could-"

"Don't worry, Ethan," the girl answered, "that woman actually helped both of us to defeat the bad guy, so in a way you saved my life, I'd say. I entered the contest unintentionally, and really had nothing to do here. Didn't consider that it would actually be so dangerous for me, so no, let's have a good sleep now. That kid Titan deserves to go ahead."

Rebecca was sad in a way, though. This had been an interesting experience, and it could have lasted longer...

---------------------

To the Patron Candidate Titan:

Congratulations! You are one of the eight participants to win the first round of the contest for Patron of Diesel City. We are aware that the competition was tight now, but the fact that you were up for the challenge is a testament to your skills and courage. Expect things to get harder, though! This tournament is just starting after all.

You will get your next instructions in around two weeks. It will be a pleasure to have such a quality hero during following rounds.

Council of Diesel City

James smiled as he looked at the letter. He didn't have a lot of hope for the round. Food burning was maybe not so important... But then again the man did burn down at least one house, that was probably why it was amongst the eight chosen candidates...

"Good news, I am guessing?" Stephanie asked, looking at her son's smile.

"Yes! I am going to the next round!" the son said enthusiastically.

"Told you so." The mother said, then doing a small pause, "If you ask me you should tell that girl Rebecca to come along with you. She was surprisingly coordinated with you, and also kinda cute I believe. How hard to find could she be, really?"

"Mom can you even attempt to be subtle if you are going to try to set me up with someone?" James asked, frustrated.

"No, I can't. I am an excellent manipulator, and if I tried to be subtle, right now Rebecca would be all over you celebrating this letter with a victory kiss," S14 answered, "and that's just cheating."

"Sure," James sighed, "I bet that my selling point here would be that I have to use metal boxes when I try to sit." The son was forced to half believe her, though. S14 certainly was a force to be reckoned in every way.

"Nope." Stephanie answered with a smile. "Your selling point here would be that you, against your usual, passive nature, threw a rock at an opponent vastly superior to yourself before he could set her on fire. Some things are far, far more important to people than your physical attributes, no matter how unique. Besides that, I actually do think that you fought relatively well together."

"I don't know," James asked, blushing, "what is her power anyway?"

"She snuck up on me, so I'd say either mind reading or enhanced senses, either of them being outstanding backup skills," Stephanie continued in her argument. Her son did believe that only with powers could that Rebecca girl sneak up on his mother.

"I... I will consider it," negotiated the Patron candidate.

Description
Boom, boom, boom! Rebecca heard the steps of the one that went by 'Titan' approaching. Really loud steps, at that. She was familiar with that sort of difference from when she heard Ethan walking in Golem form.

But this was louder. Whoever this Titan guy was, he was really heavy.

She was at a safe three block distance from him. That way she could pay attention to any strange sounds while also being able to keep track of her opponent's movements and not be found. She knew very little about markets in that area, so Titan would help her enormously, actually.

The night was getting darker and the lamps had started to burn. It was not a promising sign. At that rate none of them would win the competition.

It was, however, her only choice. Finding this was already a godsend opportunity. She... no, they both were forced to keep walking, trying to find anything.

Just when she started hoping that Ethan was doing better than her, a miracle happened: she heard a slight, subtle sound, but it was certainly there: something was burning. Rebecca had in internal cheer and started running towards the sound. There was no way for Titan to find it before she could. The perfect chance.

As she advanced, the sound was becoming stronger and the direction clearer: Something was definitively burning: It looked like the drunken Italian was right after all and her objective could 'breed' fire.

It wasn't long until Rebecca knew exactly what was going on: in front of a grocery store, a huge pile of fruits and vegetables burned, as a tall and muscular man went in and out of the doors and threw more and more food towards the pile. It was, without a doubt, the man that grocer was talking about: a noticeable goatee, red and blond (and all the colors in between) hair going up, probably meant to look like fire. A rather distinctive look, really.

Rebecca began to quietly approach the man, who seemed too busy and hurried to notice. Over and over he went in and out of the grocery with boxes of fruit, at one point spitting flames towards the pile of fruits and vegetables. It seemed like even he knew how ridiculous this activity looked.

Rebecca kept approaching the store front. There was a really simple way to do this, as a matter of fact: she could rush in just after the man towards the business and attack him from behind. One good punch to the face could probably take him on.

The man with the goatee entered. Rebecca went just after him. She hurried into the door as the man left the box next to several others, empty and full.

The man looked back just as Rebecca punched him in the jaw.

"Fuck!" he yelled loudly, much to Rebecca's displeasure. The girl, however, kept throwing punches. She got another good hit, this time to the nose, that got the man with fire hair to bleed.

However, the third punch, a left hook, did not land. The man blocked her arm, just to forcefully slap Rebecca, making her land in the floor.

It was a mistake, the Patron candidate thought, I shouldn't have come in without a weapon.

"You slut!" the man yelled, wiping the blood in his nose out and grabbing Rebecca by the neck with the other arm, strangling her. He was strong, far stronger than Rebecca, and his hand was tremendously hot.

"I know who you are, quiff," the man said, lifting the girl and heading out of the grocery. Rebecca grabbed the man's arm, attempting to stop the pain at her neck. "You are a Patron candidate. I saw you in that idiotic poster with those pointy ears. So you are going to stop me, huh?" Confidently asked the man. She thought about kicking him in the groin, but her feet couldn't reach him. He got Rebecca close to the flaming pile of food and the girl felt the tremendous heat on her back. To top, her neck was hurting like crazy.

"How are you going to do it?" The man of the goatee asked, smiling.

Rebecca had an idea. But she had to do something first...

She stopped grabbing the man with her left hand and used her nails to scratch the hand that was lifting her. She knew that it wouldn't really hurt him, but it would surprise him and make him loosen the grip.

Rebecca made a loud, high pitched yell. 3500 Hertz, to be exact. The most annoying frequency in the whole spectrum of sound. The fire-headed man, not expecting it, covered both of his ears, releasing Rebecca in the process. The girl didn't want to find herself with no cover against this particular man, so she headed towards the grocery again, punching him in the stomach while she did so.

She knew the battle was far from over, though. He would soon recover and he was still far stronger than her, so she opened the back door of the grocery but hid behind the counter. Perhaps that would fool the man into following her in that direction.

"So that is your power, huh? To annoy the fuck out of me? Well guess what, doll, it will only work once, so you'd better have something better." The big man was right. As annoying as the sound was to regular people, he could surely ignore it in a battle situation, and it was obvious that he was done fooling around.

Rebecca remained quiet. She knew that she was over with if she made any sound. The man was going around the store, she could feel his steps.

"You know what, honey? I'd actually rather not burn the place to the ground. It would make me suspicious," he said as he circled around the store, "but if you force me to do it, I will be happy to. I have been arrested for pyromania in the past, but it was worth it. You know what pyromania is? It is knowing that nothing is more pure, more beautiful than the burning flames consuming what society has built. The more damage it does, the better it feels."

Rebecca was afraid. She was genuinely fearing what the man could do to her... It all may have been a mistake. She probably wouldn't be able to defeat him.

Boom! Boom! Boom! She realized that the footsteps of Titan had been becoming louder. He was heading there. He had surely heard her yell.

"Dust we are, but you will return as ashes," the man continued in his barely logical rambling.

The girl hoped that Titan could make it in time.

---------------------

Ethan turned 180 degrees and started walking to the other side. He had been patrolling for hours now and still no news of the fire breathing super.

The woman with the 14 shirt was still there, though... Crouching and hiding (he had spotted her at one point, after hours of going back and forth, though), staring at the grocery store and not moving a centimeter. It was getting quite boring, actually.

...He should just go with Rebecca. He had been pondering that idea for a while now, but he knew that if he did that and in the end this grocery was robbed she would get pretty angry about it.

It had been like that for a while, just waiting, wondering about what to do, wondering if it was too late for the robber to go now...

Suddenly and in the span of a second, an arm twisted around Ethan's neck, followed by a leg that clung to his torso and a kick towards his own right calf. Ethan fell forwards and a hand over his forehead prevented his head from hitting the ground, but didn't prevent his glasses from falling. Just after that, the leg that had kicked him captured his right arm, making it impossible for him to stand up.

"You have been around here for hours now. Identify yourself." It was a female voice. Surely from the woman with the tank top.

"I am not the grocery robber! I am here waiting for him, just like you!" Ethan answered.

"Fair enough," the woman said, tightening the grip on his torso and grabbing his free arm with her own as she stopped holding the forehead, "why are you waiting for him and how did you find out about what I'm doing here, then? Also you still haven't identified yourself."

Ethan had screwed up. Now he had to reveal that Rebecca had been eavesdropping. He had to fight the woman.

As soon as Ethan started transforming into Golem form, the woman let him go and kicked him, to avoid having her leg trapped under his weight. Ethan regretted his action: If she hadn't done that her leg would probably be crushed, and he didn't want that to happen. Ethan stood up and saw the woman approaching. He threw a punch (trying to make it weak as to not do serious damage) but the woman grabbed his arm, went under it and threw a punch towards his stomach. It wasn't tremendously strong, but then again, few things were for his Golem form. The woman jumped back.

"So you want to fight, uh?" She said, smiling. "I have dealt with far tougher. Bring it on, kid."

Golem Ethan ran at her and threw another punch. It was evident, though, that the woman was far more agile than him, since she just used his arm to climb towards his shoulders and then, more suddenly than he could realize, cling to his back again. She punched him in the face and this time it did hurt a bit. Ethan realized that the woman was wearing metal caps in her knuckles.

The juggernaut reached to his back with his arms, but was unable to reach the woman, who was now holding just one shoulder and punching his back with three rapid hits. Ethan was durable enough to deal with it, but he was worried about the fact that he hadn't been able to land even a single hit yet.

The woman used him as a platform to jump back. Ethan looked towards her direction. She was six feet away, standing in a fighting guard.

"I suggest retreating, kid. You are not a fighter, and you obviously have no idea of who you are dealing with," the woman said. It seemed to be true, but Ethan couldn't stop now. He couldn't let Rebecca down.

The fight continued for a while, but it didn't go much differently. The woman did a lot of grappling and quick punches. Only once did Ethan hit her, but she didn't seem to mind all that much. It was becoming rather painful, so when it was obvious that he had no chance, Ethan reverted towards his regular form.

"Oh, God!" the woman said, when Ethan reverted. "Your face! I... I didn't think that it would hurt you all that much, I am sorry, I didn't really need to use nearly as much strength, I am really sorry..."

Ethan was certainly bruised. He went to pick up his glasses.

"Don't be, I went to attack you first..." Ethan answered, "and about the thing before... My friend Rebecca is a Patron candidate and she heard what you were talking about with the grocer, so she thought it would be a good opportunity. I stayed here and she went to the Town Center, just like the young man that was with you. I shouldn't tell you this, but you seem like a good person."

"All that I needed to know. Thank you for the sparring and sorry again!" The woman hurriedly started running away, towards the Town Center. She surely thought that the robber would be there already if he was actually to rob that grocery.

Ethan went running, following the woman at a much slower pace.

---------------------

It was not a common thing for James to run. His idea was that bad distribution of weight could cause everything to collapse under him.

As evidenced by the noticeable cracks in the asphalt that appeared as he ran, he was at least partially right. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have even tested it, but he heard a yell, and he was certain of where it came from: One of the groceries in the outsides of the Town Center.

As he approached it became more and more obvious that this was what he was looking for: He could smell something burning, and to top it off, he was certain that the had heard someone laughing.

It was there: A big pile of food up in flames. James slowly approached the place. There was no sign of movement.

That changed, though, when a small girl came running out of the place, followed by a huge ball of fire that just barely missed her. She started running towards him, and James was quick to recognize the Patron candidate in the meeting that didn't like the sound of the engine. Perhaps she had found this criminal before him?

James thought about asking that, but his priority changed very quickly as a man with red and blond hair and a goatee was leaving the grocery store that, in a second look, James noticed had caught fire.

"Oh," said the man with a big smile, "I recognize you as well! You are another of the candidates."

James looked back. The girl was still there, but it was obvious that she didn't want to be in the front lines of a battle against the fire breathing man.

"It doesn't matter, though," the man continued before James got the chance to answer, "you will only become another sacrifice to my flames of purification." It was obvious that the man was not in his best mental faculties.

James went forward, aiming to punch the man, but he quickly evaded, doing a little jump backwards. The teen threw another punch but it also missed, with the man jumping backwards again. It doesn't matter if I miss a couple of times, he told himself, he can't hurt me with fire.

As if testing the theory, the criminal spat a big ball of fire towards James' direction. Only his shirt burned though, since his skin was way too resistant for something like that to hurt him. It sounded like the man was going to laugh, but he stopped himself when he realized that the candidate for Patron was unharmed.

The man quickly jumped back and spat another, smaller ball of fire to James' head. As a reply, James only advanced towards him and threw another punch, which the man, again, avoided with great agility.

"It looks like you are not worthy of burning with my holy flame," the man said, clearly disappointed. "Not to be worried, though. There are so many ways in which I can still destroy you..." The crazy man chuckled.

James put out the fire from his shirt and went forwards again, trying to ram the man with his shoulder, this time. But as an answer, he just evaded him again, at one point grabbing his arm. James was surprised to feel a bit of heat where the man had touched him, but avoided making it seem that way.

"And you, bitch! Is that how you are going to defeat me, after all? Letting this loser fight in your stead?" the man with the hair of fire told the small girl. She did not answer.

James tried to reach him again. It was becoming a quite frustrating process, though, as that man was incredibly agile. In return, the fire breathing man threw a powerful flame towards his head, this time continuous. James could only see flames, and the man was not visible anymore. He threw a couple of punches in the air, to no effect.

Suddenly, he tried to breathe but wasn't able to. Titan went backwards, trying his hardest to avoid the flames.

"Fucking bitch!" James suddenly heard the man say. The flames disappeared, and he saw the other candidate had gotten closer. "Four times you punched me already! One would have thought that you already knew the consequences!"

James ran forward, trying to protect the girl. Before he could do anything, though, the villain breathed a flame to his face that didn't let him see. By the time the flames dissipated, the man was already far away from James.

It is useless, Titan despaired, he is just too fast, I can't catch him.

He looked at the girl next to him. She had been able to land a punch... Well, four, apparently. Perhaps with her help James would be able to defeat that man...

---------------------

Stephanie had not stopped running since she left the stone kid behind. She was getting a strong scent of burnt fructose, and she knew that she had to catch the criminal as soon as possible before he moved on.

However, by the time S14 was able to see the burning pile of food, she could also see other, more unexpected things.

James was already there, fighting a tall, muscular man with dyed hair and a goatee together with a small girl that moved all around the place, surely that Patron candidate Rebecca that the other kid mentioned. She took a second to consider the situation of the fight: First off, her son was trying his best to call the man's attention by throwing several sloppy punches, and the man, in turn, did not take an eye off James. He had probably figured out that Titan was far tougher than he looked like, besides having tried to burn him already, judging by the almost nonexistent shirt of her son.

On the other hand, Rebecca did her best to fill empty spaces in the fight, avoiding the fire breathing man at every second, while looking for chances to get him by surprise. That man was almost uniquely throwing fire at her direction, with an occasional flame towards James' eyes

They actually made a good fighting team, in a very amateurish way, but the man with the goatee was clearly far more trained, not only in fighting but also in the useage of his powers.

Stephanie had to come in. Otherwise it was a matter of time until James lost the battle and, especially, until Rebecca turned into embers.

S14 quickly approached the fight from behind the unknown girl. The man was focused on evading James, even as he was flanked, so that gave her a space to quickly get close, grab the man's shoulders, jump and grapple his neck with her legs, making him fall back in the process.

"What! Who is there?" The man on the floor asked. At the same time, he pressed one of his hands against Stephanie's right leg. The hand was tremendously hot, like a burning iron. More because of the surprise than the pain, Stephanie let the grapple go. James, meanwhile, hadn't had the opportunity to react to the sudden apparition of his mother.

"You, bitch. That hurt," the man said as he stood up, "it doesn't matter, though. You will only join them in my fires of unending fury!"

Stephanie saw a barrage of flames coming towards her head. She could easily have avoided that attack, but doing so could make the focus of the fire-breather change towards the girl. Stephanie could take that attack in her stead. She had dealt with worse.

Fourteen, the fire test is about to start. Be prepared.

As the flames engulfed S14's face, she advanced forward, putting her arm in front of her to attempt to see anything. Eventually it became useless, with her retinas too damaged to see in the first place. Her nose, in flames, was barely able to sense the smell of her own burning flesh. The man was obviously retreating at the same rate of her advancing. The legs of the heroine felt weak and she fell on her knees.

Fourteen, stand up. Lying there will only hinder your own results.

As she tried to stand, S14 tried to let out a scream, but her vocal cords did not obey. What was the matter? It was hot, but she knew that she was better than-

Fourteen, attempt to ignore the pain. You learned to do that a long time ago now.

...No, not that again. Stephanie fell on the floor, and each of her tears were evaporated before they could get out of her eyes.

"Stop crying, fourteen. The test is already over. Three hours, thirty seven minutes and sixteen seconds. That is most disappointing," the doctor said. Indeed, the last burns had already disappeared.

S14 forced herself to stop crying and stood up with her naked body facing the leader of the Project.

"Your former record is three hours, seven minutes and twenty three seconds. We both know that the results that I get are useless when you don't improve. We will have to start over until you manage to do it again," the doctor finished. It was the response that S14 most expected and feared.

"Can't... can't we do it another day?" The child asked. "I don't think I can continue today..."

"Correction:" the doctor replied, "not only can you continue today, but you are one of the few subjects that could continue for as long as they wanted. The only thing that keeps you from outperforming yourself is your own mental state."

"...But I don't think I can!" the ten year old said, "I am tired and it was too much!" She started sobbing again.

"Calm down, Fourteen," the subject, however, could not calm herself. She had had too much already, "Fourteen... Where are you right now?"

"In... In the Fire Testing Chamber 5?" S14 answered, a bit ashamed of her own temper tantrum.

"Exactly. Do you know what a privilege it is to be tested in a level 5 chamber?" The doctor continued, "A grand total of five subjects are allowed in level 5 chambers. And most importantly: You are one of two that gets to be tested in all of the level 5 chambers."

"Really?" S14 said, shocked. Was she really that good? Who could the other person be?

"Really. And save for this, the asphyxiation test and the pressure test, you also have all of the best times! You should be a proud little girl, Fourteen!" The director of the Project happily answered. The subject could certainly feel a lot of pride for that. "And it is because of that that I ask so much of you. It would mean very much for me and the other investigators if you could be the best in all of the tests..." It was true. She had to help the other members of the Project. That was why she was brought there...

"I... I think I can do it again," Stephanie said.

"That's a good girl!" The doctor said, smiling. "...I really don't feel like we could surpass that record today, it's one hour, twenty five minutes and two seconds after all, but if we can deal with your problem with fire today it would be excellent... Let's do this: If you can surpass yourself this time, you will get to share the room with the other person that gets tested in all of the best chambers! She is also the one that has the record here. I think you could learn a lot from each other."

"Really?" S14 couldn't believe that. She never knew that it was possible to share the rooms. She had to keep herself from screaming of joy.

"Yes, Fourteen. Lying to the subjects diminishes the morale and affects their performance negatively. I would never lie to you."

"Start the test!" S14 almost ordered. It wouldn't be easy, but one day she would have all of the records!

STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID!

---------------------

James put his own body between the fire breather and his mother. She was lying on the floor. He couldn't have ever expected her to stop the charge, but it had happened.

The fire stopped. In front of the teenager, the bastard was laughing.

"Boy, are you seriously expecting anything out of defending that charcoal head right there?" The man said, meaning Stephanie. James knelt and pressed a hand on the ground. When normal people were hit by asphalt in the head, did it kill them?

"Anyway, you are boring. Let's burn the other bitch." The girl that was fighting with James had retreated a few steps. The man looked at her.

…Who cared if it killed him. The Patron competition was meaningless at that point. Titan just wanted to give the crazy bastard a lot of pain.

He grabbed a chunk of asphalt of the size of his hand and swiftly threw it towards the criminal, who caught it full in the face before he had a chance to breathe fire at James' fellow candidate. The man fell flat on the floor and James hurried towards him, grabbing his neck while he was down.

"Stop! Stop! I am down, I give up!" The man claimed. His face was a bloody mess. James did not care.

"Go ahead," the teen said, "call my mother a bitch one more time. I dare you."

The man said nothing and, after a moment, passed out. James realized that he had been choking him.

"Good arrest, son," James heard his mother say from behind him. He looked back, she was regenerating the last burns from her face, still on the ground. She was holding her tanktop with her left arm, since the right shoulder had burned, "Rebecca, thanks a lot for the help but we will be taking this one, sorry. Your friend should be here soon."

"...Thanks," Rebecca said, "it- it's been a pleasure."

James effortlessly picked up the madman and started walking away along with his mother.

"If I win this round you will have to get a new tank top," he told his mother.

"I have dozens of 14 tops, don't worry about it." The mother said, "You, on the other hand could work on your tendency to get your shirts burned, you don't own that many."

---------------------

"I... I'm sorry, Rebecca," Ethan said. For a while now the friends had been reunited and were watching the burning pile of food, "I really shouldn't have told her that you were here. You lost because of me. We still have like seven hours, though! If we are lucky we could-"

"Don't worry, Ethan," the girl answered, "that woman actually helped both of us to defeat the bad guy, so in a way you saved my life, I'd say. I entered the contest unintentionally, and really had nothing to do here. Didn't consider that it would actually be so dangerous for me, so no, let's have a good sleep now. That kid Titan deserves to go ahead."

Rebecca was sad in a way, though. This had been an interesting experience, and it could have lasted longer...

---------------------

To the Patron Candidate Titan:

Congratulations! You are one of the eight participants to win the first round of the contest for Patron of Diesel City. We are aware that the competition was tight now, but the fact that you were up for the challenge is a testament to your skills and courage. Expect things to get harder, though! This tournament is just starting after all.

You will get your next instructions in around two weeks. It will be a pleasure to have such a quality hero during following rounds.

Council of Diesel City

James smiled as he looked at the letter. He didn't have a lot of hope for the round. Food burning was maybe not so important... But then again the man did burn down at least one house, that was probably why it was amongst the eight chosen candidates...

"Good news, I am guessing?" Stephanie asked, looking at her son's smile.

"Yes! I am going to the next round!" the son said enthusiastically.

"Told you so." The mother said, then doing a small pause, "If you ask me you should tell that girl Rebecca to come along with you. She was surprisingly coordinated with you, and also kinda cute I believe. How hard to find could she be, really?"

"Mom can you even attempt to be subtle if you are going to try to set me up with someone?" James asked, frustrated.

"No, I can't. I am an excellent manipulator, and if I tried to be subtle, right now Rebecca would be all over you celebrating this letter with a victory kiss," S14 answered, "and that's just cheating."

"Sure," James sighed, "I bet that my selling point here would be that I have to use metal boxes when I try to sit." The son was forced to half believe her, though. S14 certainly was a force to be reckoned in every way.

"Nope." Stephanie answered with a smile. "Your selling point here would be that you, against your usual, passive nature, threw a rock at an opponent vastly superior to yourself before he could set her on fire. Some things are far, far more important to people than your physical attributes, no matter how unique. Besides that, I actually do think that you fought relatively well together."

"I don't know," James asked, blushing, "what is her power anyway?"

"She snuck up on me, so I'd say either mind reading or enhanced senses, either of them being outstanding backup skills," Stephanie continued in her argument. Her son did believe that only with powers could that Rebecca girl sneak up on his mother.

"I... I will consider it," negotiated the Patron candidate.