Mainstream took a different route home every day, always ducking underground to complete the final leg in secret. Chicago's web of abandoned freight tunnels served as his cover, and he'd carved out a route that wound through these tunnels and into old storm drains, forming a discreet, shadowed path that led him most of the way back.

At last he reached the final rusty hatch - a clever piece of work Sam had created for him. The handle was a dummy, frozen in place, rusty and welded solid from the inside, but when Ty hit the concealed trigger the entire frame swung outward, revealing a narrow, dim chute beyond. He slipped inside, the hatch clanging shut behind him. Pausing in the cramped, quiet darkness, he brushed his hand along the smooth walls. There was no ladder - a final obstacle for non-fliers - and he simply hovered, floating slowly upward until he reached the wooden hatchway. With a push, he flipped it open and stepped up into his sanctum sanctorum - which happened to be the basement of his nice, suburban home.

The familiar silence greeted him as he scanned the security console - no red lights, no alerts, all camera feeds quiet. With a small sigh of relief, he pulled back his cowl and unzipped his suit, feeling the night's tension ease just slightly as he shrugged his shoulders free. As he reached for his rumpled shirt in the locker, his eyes caught on an old newspaper clipping pinned to the door: a photo of himself and Angela - Mainstream and Radiance, standing side by side as they received a commendation from the mayor.

He felt the tug of memory - a good memory, for once. That hostage rescue had been one of their first collaborations, a happy accident that brought them together and changed everything - for a while. They'd been unstoppable back then, working together like two halves of a whole. Ty stared at the photo a moment longer, the flicker of nostalgia almost enough to dull the pain of his current loneliness.

With a quick shake of his head, he changed his clothes and shut the locker. That was the past, behind him now. Meeting Ray had shaken him up more than he liked to admit, coming at him out of the blue like that. It was easy to forget how silently she moved - she always managed to catch him off-guard.

He remembered the amulet in his utility pouch. He opened the locker and retrieved the belt, frowning as he opened the pouch to look inside. The amber gem was glowing faintly. It wasn't doing that before, was it? It was hard to say, since he was surrounded by fire at the time.

A floorboard creaked, and a low, unfamiliar voice cut through the silence. "What <I>is</I> this place?"

He spun around, heart hammering, mind scrambling for answers. An intruder - here? But how?

It was the woman from the warehouse, looking even more formidable under the basement's stark lighting, her form towering and muscular. Instinct took over and he dropped the belt and lashed out, his hand darting to seize her wrist in a firm grip. Immobilise first, questions later - whoever she was, she couldn't be allowed to roam freely in his lair.

As his hand closed around her wrist, she didn't flinch. Instead a flicker of curiosity crossed her face, as though this was a totally new experience for her.

= = =

This <I>was</I> a totally new experience for her. The man touched her, his skin cold and hard. There was a sudden pressure that sent a jolt up her arm. She glanced down, watching the way his fingers wrapped around something that, for once, wasn't just an imaginary concept of shape and mass. <I>Solid.</I> The unfamiliar word rolled through her mind with a strange thrill and hint of disbelief.

The grip was firm but not irresistible. Maybe this was a greeting? She mimicked his movement, reaching out to clasp his wrist in return. She felt a peculiar surge of raw, physical power as her finger wrapped around the outside of his forearm, touching but not merging. Her body responded with almost instinctual confidence. The sensation of being solid, having weight and strength, ignited a thrill deep within her.

He didn't give her time to bask in it. The man twisted away, using some complex movement to break her hold. She tried to adjust, shifting her weight, but he was quick and agile, while she was still learning what it meant to have weight. He pulled her off-balance, easily, and the scuffle turned dynamic as he pivoted and used his grip to spin her around, pulling her closer like a partner in a dance she'd never learned.

She felt the rush of movement - the way he flowed from one motion to another with practised ease. She found herself struggling to keep up, trying to counter his actions, but his strength was tempered with skill while her own body was an unfamiliar instrument. He tossed her aside, and she stumbled back, surprised at how easily he manoeuvred her larger frame. There was more to this than strength, there was a trick to it, a technique - he had it, and she didn't.

As she regained her footing, a rush of admiration mixed with frustration welled up inside her. This was some kind of contest that she didn't understand, and was failing somehow. Losing.

"Is this how you fight?" Zar asked, her voice low but carrying a sharp edge of excitement. There was something thrilling about the struggle, though it felt? restrained. "It feels? limited."

The man stared at her, visibly thrown off-balance. "What?" he replied, his expression a mix of confusion and wariness. "Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you get in here? How did you find me?"

Questions spilled from him, too many for her to focus on at once. They circled in her mind, but only fragments stood out. "I am? I am Zar Kael," she said, as if tasting the name. It felt right, though she couldn't explain why. "I? I am here. You are here. I did not? find you."

She nodded, satisfied with her answer. She'd answered his questions, and now he should answer hers. But instead, he just stared at her, his eyes still full of questions. Perhaps he'd forgotten? She repeated herself, her voice firm. "What is this place?"

"My? home," he answered, but the word carried little meaning for her.

She frowned, sensing he wasn't fully understanding. She pressed on. "Why did you bring me here?"

His face twisted, eyebrows knitting together. "Why did I - huhn? I didn't bring you here! I don't even know who you are!"

She studied him carefully, noting the confusion etched in his features. He looked strong, yet vulnerable in his bewilderment. But surely he knew her; she'd said her name. "But you do! I am Zar Kael. Your champion." His baffled expression persisted, and frustration started to well up within her. She needed him to understand. "I am the avatar of fire," she insisted, hoping to spark recognition. "This place? it is strange to me."

"It's just a basement," he said slowly, his tone caught between disbelief and caution.

"No, this? place." Words felt clumsy, inadequate for what she wanted to convey. She swept a hand through the air, trying to express the dissonance she felt. "This. All of it. The solid. The? not-solid. You." Her frustration leaked out in a sigh. Nothing felt right here; she was wrapped in layers of separation and foreign sensation. "Why am I here?"

= = =

Ty wasn't an idiot; he pieced together what had happened almost immediately. Whatever the cultists had been trying to summon with their giant fireball ritual - it was some kind of portal. The ritual was violently disrupted by the collapsing roof, which should have shut things down, but it looked like something had slipped through after all.

"Are you? a monster?" he wondered aloud, sizing her up. "Or maybe some kind of elemental spirit? When I first saw you, your grey skin, I thought you were made of stone."

Her brow furrowed. "Stone is? solid?"

"Uh, yeah," he confirmed.

She nodded, as it that settled it. "Then yes, I am stone."

Ty blinked, thrown for a moment. "No? you're not. You're flesh and blood, like me. Soft." To demonstrate, he squeezed his forearm, watching for some glimmer of understanding. She looked at him blankly before pinching her own forearm with the same quizzical expression. "Solid," she concluded.

He sighed. "Okay, sure. Close enough." He needed backup - and he needed to keep her busy while he made the call. Maybe he could start simple. "Hungry? You want something to eat?"

She stared, wide-eyed and puzzled. Ty groaned. "You know? food? Fuel?" He mimed eating, hoping it would spark some recognition. She tilted her head, watching his gesture intently.

"Fuel is? good?" she ventured.

"Yeah," he said, nodding with a hint of relief. "Let's go with that."

= = =

Lucian paced in the dimly lit alley, his sharp features hard in the moonlight as he muttered furiously. Damn it all, they'd been so close. He cursed Mainstream, cursed the hero's timing - if he'd waited even a few seconds longer before smashing through the roof, things would have gone very differently. They would have had their champion, their mighty weapon.

At long last, a shadow moved at the edge of his vision, resolving into the familiar shape of Serena. She approached, her steps quick and silent.

"Sister Scorch," he greeted her, his voice a strained whisper. "You're alone? Where are the others?"

"It's gone badly for us, Master." She'd abandoned her robes in the scramble to escape, her hair dishevelled, her face tense. "The police have the others in custody - the entire cult, I fear. They're likely already talking."

"Then let them talk," Lucian snapped, though his fists clenched. "They know nothing of importance. Brother Ember still thought we were trying to summon a bloody hellhound."

"They know enough to lead the police back to us." Serena took a steadying breath, suppressing her fury. "It's a good thing we never used our real names."

Lucian nodded; his name wasn't really Lucian Nightshade, and he'd been careful never to speak Serena's name in any company. "We're safe enough from detection, for now." He ran a hand over his face, his shoulders sagging momentarily. "We can rebuild, regroup, attempt to refine the ritual, maybe find a better site, perhaps a location underground."

"You want to try again?" she cut in, her voice sharpening. "What's left to regroup? The ritual was a disaster. Again." Her gaze hardened. "You didn't see it, did you? The summoning didn't just fail, Lucian, not completely - it went wrong. Something did come through the portal, it helped get our people out of the building, carried them to safety."

Lucian's eyes sparked with something like hope. "It helped?" he repeated, his voice low and eager. "You mean? it protected our own? It defended us?"

Serena''s expression hardened. "It protected people, aye," she said, her words clipped. "But it helped <I>Mainstream</I>, Lucian. That creature - we have no hold on it. It's nothing like we expected."

Lucian blinked, reeling from the revelation, yet a gleam of stubborn hope lingered. "Then we adjust," he said, his voice fierce. "We successfully tapped into the plane of fire and summoned a true champion. Whatever it looks like, it must be immensely powerful."

She glared at him, unwilling to let him twist this disaster into something resembling hope. "Powerful, aye, but uncontrollable, and missing. We have no idea where it is, or why it helped our enemies."

"We were supposed to be there to shape it, to guide it on arrival. It was probably just copying Mainstream's movements. It's an elemental force, Serena, with no understanding of this world." Lucian's eyes narrowed. "We still have a chance to bring it to our side. We need the amulet. The police probably have it by now." He paused, his tone softening, though a dark intensity gleamed in his eyes. "Don't you see? The ritual worked. It's only a failure if we walk away. Our champion is here, Serena - we just need to find it and claim it for our cause."

Serena's scowl softened, a flicker of intrigue crossing her face. "So we go to ground, gather the resources we need, and find that creature before anybody else does?"

Lucian's thin smile returned, colder and more determined than ever. "Exactly. Then we bend it to our will? and unleash our champion on an unsuspecting world."

= = =

Ty guided Zar to the guest bedroom, eyeing her warily. "Alright, this is where you'll wait," he said, trying to keep his tone firm but feeling a bit foolish - she looked more like a lost tourist than an interdimensional fire hazard. "And? please, try not to set fire to anything."

She stood in the doorway, glancing around the compact room with an almost bewildered expression, like she couldn't make sense of it, or that it was simply too small to contain her. Her fiery tail flickered in the dim light, casting long shadows on the walls.

"Is that real fire?" he asked, nodding toward the flaming length of her swishing tail.

She blinked, frowning slightly. "Can fire? <I>not</I> be real?"

He sighed. Of course that's what she'd ask. "Just? keep it away from anything that burns. Alright? Please."

With a final, concerned glance, he backed out of the room, shut the door, and clicked the latch firmly into place. Then he took a deep breath, turned on his heel, and strode toward the kitchen, his mind spinning.

There was a fire elemental in his house. She'd come from a portal, somehow summoned here by magic, and had absolutely no concept of the physical world. If he left her unsupervised for too long, he could end up with his home reduced to ashes.

He rummaged through the fridge, snatched a few slices of bread, and slapped together a basic fairly sandwich - mild cheddar, a few slices of ham. This was her first encounter with food, apparently, so he didn't want it too exotic, or too boring. He tossed on some chips, added a bottle of water, and hurried back toward the guest room.

No smoke was curling from under the door, which was a good sign, but when he opened it, he was greeted by? nothing. The room was empty.

He froze, scanning the small room in disbelief. He checked the window and found it locked tight. He dashed downstairs to check the security footage, but his hallway camera feed showed nothing. It looked like she'd never left the room.

"Magic?" he muttered, a chill running down his spine. She'd come and gone in the same untraceable way.

With a frustrated groan, he bit into the sandwich.

Chapters...