Super Hero Rhapsody: 1975

Heat slams into the tunnel like an opened oven. Ahead, Blaze plants himself before the blast door, chains hanging from both wrists, glowing red-white and shedding wavering heat.

The metal walls tremble with the blast door's lock, but Blaze's fire keeps the mechanism warped and stubbornly shut. Behind Sally, Devlan and Doctor Aris Thorne crowd the narrowing space, with The Contact pinned near the wall.

Blaze snaps one chain outward. The hot metal carves a fiery arc across the air, forcing everyone back from the door and buying him a breath of control.

Sally now has a clear choice, break Blaze’s line, burn through the block, or push him off the door long enough for the group to reach the surface.

Sally blurs forward, a hard red streak through the heat shimmer, and drives straight through Blaze's guard before he can whip the chain back into line.

The impact slams him sideways off the blast door, metal screaming under his boots as the warped seal bucks under the blow.

Devlan snaps his pistol toward the opening, keeping the flank honest while Doctor Aris Thorne recoils from the flash of heat.

The Contact jerks back from the radiance, and the blast door gives a grinding inch, no longer fully pinned by Blaze's grip.

Smoke curls along the red walls as Sally lands between Blaze and the exit, forcing the route open for a heartbeat.

Sally thrusts one hand toward the opening, and a bright blast cracks into Blaze’s chest as the others bolt for the gap.

The shot hammers him back off balance, blackening the chain-wrapped front of his coat and snapping his head aside. The blast door gap widens under the impact.

Devlan shoves Thorne and The Contact through the smoking seam, then follows, pistol still up. The air behind them bursts hot enough to sting Sally’s face.

Sally’s firing hand shakes with the recoil, a raw burn blooming across her palm, but Blaze is left behind the opening as the group clears the threshold.