Chapter 4

Chelsea turns and steps to the side. As Gina flies past her, Chelsea lifts her hand and brings it down in a chop on Gina’s back, pushing the flying meta downward and making her fly against the ground before she pulls up and turns to glare at Chelsea, who chuckles.

“You flying strong types always try to charge in like that. You’ll have to be more creative against me. Don’t you know that I fought Ultra-Woman and the Paladin every day for a decade? And those two women were much strong that you.”

“Shut up!” Gina launches forward, but before she reaches Chelsea, she shoots straight up into the air.

Chelsea watches Gina. “Hmph. Better.”

Snap.

A fiery arrow launches away from Chelsea and Gina twists to avoid it, launching herself at Chelsea. As Gina throws a punch, Chelsea lowers herself and then raises her arm to deflect the attack, then smashes her fist into Gina’s chest.

Hovering, Gina watches Chelsea for a moment before she throws a roundhouse kick that Chelsea blocks with her arms, the force making her step back as Gina rushes in and grabs her hands. “No more of your annoying snaps!” Gina knees Chelsea in gut, making her gasp.

Chelsea raises an eyebrow before giggling, which makes Gina falter for a moment. “Oh, I suppose it is true that of the original 12 Paladins, I’m the one everyone knows the least about — and I like it that way — but to think that you didn’t even consider that I don’t need to snap my fingers to use my power. No,” Chelsea giggles again. “You’re very wrong.”

Gina yelps and jerks her hands away from Chelsea, shaking them as Chelsea flicks her wrist. A dozen spears of orange-hot flame spark into life around Gina, hanging the air as she looks around.

“Oh, look at that,” Chelsea says as she glances at the spears and then down at her hands. “You’re starting to get me heated all up. But you seem tough. I think I can let loose just a bit on you.” With another flick of her hand, the spears dissipate and then Chelsea lunges forward, slamming her fist into Gina and snapping her head to the side.

Grunting, Gina throws her own punch but Chelsea steps into her guard and blocks, sending a quick jab into Gina’s chin, making the other meta touch the ground as she goes on the defensive once Chelsea presses her attack with a barrage of punches and strikes.

Every time Chelsea connects, Gina lets out a yelp at the burn she leaves. Chelsea grins as Gina roars and presses back harder, the two of them exchanging blows at an inhuman speed. Gina flies back, putting distance between them.

She claps her hands together and a beam of energy shoots forward Chelsea, who rolls out of the way and gets back to her feet. “So that was what you were holding back,” she grins.

“Chelsea,” Brandi says through her earpiece. “I found them. This is the place. T-there’s…kids here.”

Chelsea’s grin melts away, replaced by a glare as she sets her sights on Gina. “You good?” She says with her hand to her earpiece.

“There’s a meta in here, and he’s keeping me busy while the others try to get their prisoners out. I already managed to cut off their escape, though, so now they’re holed up.”

“On my way.”

Chelsea glares at Gina, who shrinks under her gaze. “Normally, I’d acknowledge your potential and despite how you ended up in a life of crime, I’d offer you an opportunity out. But you’re trafficking people.”

Gina frowns, stopping her approach toward Chelsea. “Wha –”

Snap.

Chelsea’s arrow of flame sends Gina a few yards away where she slams into the ground. Then she turns toward the guards. Chelsea flicks her hand downward.

“Ah!” Multiple scream pierce the air as Chelsea burns through the legs of the guards, having her fire arrow constructs shoot out at them.

Chelsea ignores the guards falling to the ground as she throws her hands behind her and then lets loose a propulsive blast, sending herself flying toward the building and then with a snap of her fingers she blasts open the door before her and she lands inside.

She snaps her fingers and sends a yellow-colored fire arrow to her right that cuts off the shout of a guard as it explodes and sends the guard into the wall. Chelsea turns to her left and starts to move toward the closed door before her when the wall crumbles and a man flies into the room, slamming into the ground and rolling.

Moments later, earth flows through the hole and then hardens in the form of a slide. Brandi glides into the room on top of the earth and then it flows around her, raising in the air and shaping into rock-hard arrows that hang in the air around her.

Chelsea stops and watches as Brandi, panting slightly, turns to the man. “Give it up already.”

The man, battered, clothes torn, and bruised, pushes himself to his feet and growls at Brandi. Then his eyes flick to Chelsea. “Oh, yeah? Will you be saying that if I have that girlie over there?” the man lifts off the ground, flying right at Chelsea.

Not moving, Chelsea watches the man, raising her eyebrow.

As the man gets within a foot of Chelsea, extending his arm toward her, a shape slams into him, knocking him off course and pins him to the wall. Chelsea turns to the man, seeing a shackle of hardened earth pinning him to the wall by his arm. While she watches, more restraints fly to the man until all his limbs and his head are all pinned to the wall.

“Not that she couldn’t have dealt with you herself, but I’m your opponent, big guy.” Brandi sighs. “I hate the tough types. It’s too hard to hit them hard enough to keep them down without killing them, and if you try to restrain them, they’ll be able to break free just by pulling hard and long enough.” Brandi clears her throat and pulls at her collar. “Hey, sis, you’re getting a bit hot…Chelsea?”

Chelsea stares at the man pinned to the wall, her face blank. She lifts her right hand, and after a moment, a yellow-hot flame sparks into existence above her palm. As she glares at the man, the yellow flame turns to blue.

Flicking her hand, Chelsea throws the ball of blue-hot flames at the man, whose eyes widen and he lets out a shout as the ball of fire explodes inches from his face.

The fire twists and creates restraints constructed from the flames around the man. The flinches at the flames but Chelsea ignores him as she steps toward the closed door before her.

“Chelsea?” Brandi steps toward her sister.

Snap.

The door bursts open as Chelsea launches forward into the room. In an instant she’s standing the room, glaring at the armed guards in front of her, who stand before cowering young men, women, and children who are restrained.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Thrusting her left hand to the side, Chelsea snaps and creates a flame wall while throwing out her other hand and snapping two blue-hot fire arrows into existence.

Before any of the guards can react, two of them are blown into the walls behind them.

On the other side of her fire wall, gunshots ring out in the room but none pass the wall blazing between them and Chelsea as she turns, calling fire to her hand and creating another blue-hot shield in front of her as the rest of the guards recover and start to aim at her.

Bullets start to hit her shield as Chelsea rushes toward the nearest guard, grabbing the barrel of her rifle which starts to melt in her hand, and then she slams her other fist into the woman and then twists her and slams the guard into the ground.

Chelsea doesn’t stop. As soon as that guard is down, she moves on to the next, squeezing her hand on the barrel of his gun and melting into it as she grabs his face. The man screams as his skin burns and Chelsea slams him into the wall.

Moving on, Chelsea continues to rip into the guards, moving with near-blurred speed as she attacks them, leaving a trail of moaning bodies in her wake. Once the last guard is down, Chelsea turns to the blazing blue wall of fire.

Launching forward, Chelsea leaps into the fire wall, the flame parting and flowing around her as she reaches forward to grab the guns of the two nearest guards.

Yanking her right arm back, Chelsea slams her right foot into the guard, the force of her kick sending the woman into the wall behind her, while Chelsea turns into a roundhouse that flattens the other guard.

Without missing a beat, Chelsea kicks off the ground, closing the distance between her and the next guard in an instant. The man yelps as he fumbles with his gun, but it’s too late as Chelsea is there and with a few strikes the guard is down.

Chelsea’s arm jerks at a sharp impact a moment before a gunshot rings out in the room and a bullet clatters on the ground in front of her.

The last guard standing stares at Chelsea for a moment, her eyes wide. Chelsea launches forward, landing in front of the woman and then she slams a powerful punch into the guard’s face, sending the woman spinning into the wall.

Before Chelsea can do anything, the guard raises her gun and unloads the clip, each bullet slamming into Chelsea and making her stumble backward, only able to raises her arms to cover her head. Chelsea falls to her knee as the gun clicks empty and the last bullet falls to the floor.

Panting, Chelsea looks up and glares at the woman –

As Brandi knocks her out. Chelsea’s eyes flick to her sister, who walks toward her. “Cool down, sis.” Brandi sighs as she looks around at the fallen guards around them. “It looks like you didn’t char any of them this time, though,” she mutters.

Chelsea slowly stands but then groans. She takes a deep breath and then flexes her arms and hands. She extinguishes the wall of fire around them and then she turns to the group of people at the end of the room as the world dulls, her senses returning to normal.

Once the air around her has stopped shimmering with heat, Chelsea stands and swallows her spit, ignoring her growling stomach as she walks with Brandi over to the group. “It’s okay. We’re here to help. We’re going to get you out of here.”

Chelsea looks at the group of young men, women, and the children who are bound and gagged. Moving slowly as they watch, Chelsea kneels in front of the young woman in front of her, carefully pulling out her gag.

“You’re all metahumans, aren’t you?” Chelsea asks, glancing at the others as she frees the woman from her bindings.

The woman’s eyes flick between Chelsea and the guards strewn about the room, then she looks at Brandi. She nods.

Chelsea glances back at Brandi and then she turns back to free the next person, moving to a little girl and working to free her. “It’s all right now, okay? We’re going to get you –”

Suddenly, Chelsea’s head snaps up and then she gets to her feet.

Standing next to the wall is a masked figure, the person wearing a mask that conceals their face but shows their short black hair.

Chelsea thrusts out her hand, and then gasps as she sees spots in her eyes and her knees give out. Sucking in breaths, she watches as the person lifts their hand and the air shimmers, creating a portal that starts to move toward the metahumans who aren’t freed yet.

Gritting her teeth, Chelsea grabs the girl she’d just freed and jumps back with the girl in her arms. Gasping for breath as the portal rushes forward to swallow up the people in front of her, Chelsea thrusts out her arm and –

Snap.