Super Hero Rhapsody: 1975

Blaze kicks the loading bay door wider, red chains hissing in his fists. His gaze goes straight to the floor mat, and the hidden hardcase beneath it.

Devlan crouches behind the sedan door, pistol up. The bay is tight, concrete, and echoing, with Blaze cutting off the exit and the signal in the case stuttering like a heartbeat.

The hardcase gives another weak chirp. Whatever is inside is not just cargo, it is a relay point, a thread back into the Department's pipeline.

Blaze lunges for the sedan, chains swinging low. Sally has only a split second to strike, flee, or crack the case open and follow the signal upstream.

Sally slips through the sedan door in a blur, the metal never slowing her. She comes out low on Blaze’s flank and drives a hard strike into his ribs before he can reach the case.

Blaze jerks sideways, his chains whipping wide and sparking off the bay wall. The blow breaks his line to the floor mat, and Devlan shifts the pistol toward the opening Sally creates.

The hardcase under the mat gives a thin red pulse, weaker now, but still alive. Blaze steadies himself, glaring at Sally as the loading bay fills with rain-sour smoke and the rattle of his heated chains.

He squares up again, one step inside the bay, chains lifted between Sally and the case. The bystander near the crate freezes under the awning light, watching for the next move.

Sally raises both hands and fires. A clean red beam lashes out from her palms and smashes into Blaze’s chest, hurling him backward into the bay wall.

The chains fly loose from his grip and slap sparks across the concrete. One curls away from the hardcase, leaving the floor mat exposed.

A second pulse flashes from the case, brighter now, and the lid pops a finger-width from the impact shock.

Through the gap, a glimpse of metal and wiring shows beneath the rain and smoke. Blaze stares at Sally, stunned, while the bystander near the crate bolts deeper under the awning.

Blaze spits blood onto the concrete and forces himself upright, his muscles bulging as he reaches for the discarded chains. The heat radiating from his skin begins to warp the air around him, signaling that he is far from defeated.

Sally snaps her boot into the hardcase, driving it across the concrete toward Devlan. The lid jolts wider as it skids, flashing the weapon rig inside before Devlan catches it against his coat and hauls it back from Blaze’s reach.

She shrugs off her jacket in one sharp motion, letting it fall between her and Blaze like a dare. The red glow around her hands deepens, ready for another blast.

Devlan ducks behind the case and spots a seal mark stamped into the inner lining, half-hidden under the wiring. Blaze steps over his dropped chains, heat rippling off him as he starts forward again.

The bystander flinches deeper beside the crate while Devlan braces the case against his thigh. Blaze squares up in the open bay, the damaged wall hissing behind him, and the next swing is about to land.

Sally lunges in low and fast, her fist arcing up with enough force to crack the air. Her knuckles slam across Blaze’s face and snap his head sideways, throwing him off his line before he can swing back.

Blaze staggers hard, boots scraping for balance as heat warps off his skin. His chains clatter uselessly at his feet, and his mouth opens in a sharp, stunned curse.

Devlan flinches back with the case hugged tight to his chest, then looks up fast, reading the opening Sally has made. The weapon rig inside the hardcase rattles once against the broken lid.

The bystander recoils deeper beside the crate, eyes wide at the blow. Smoke from the damaged wall curls between Blaze and the rest of the bay, thinning the sightline.

He plants one hand on the concrete and hauls himself upright, but he no longer has the clean path to the case. Devlan shifts the hardcase behind his leg, keeping it out of Blaze’s reach.

For a beat, the fight changes shape. Blaze is still standing, but Sally has put him off the objective, and the bay goes tense around the exposed evidence.