=== PROLOGUE ===
A fur named Michael drags his feet through the rain, barely noticing the water evaporate the second it gets near him. He sits on a bench right outside of an alchohol store with a saddened grunt. His arms move slowly as he pulls his phone of out his pocket, disregarding the shattered screen as he checks his wallet app. It reads "Birthday Bonus! 10% off on participating stores. Current Funds: $0.00." Michael lets out a frustrated sigh before his phone's battery runs out. He ruminates on how he even got into this situation while he begrudgingly walks back to his apartment.

As soon as he could understand the world around him, he was facinated with the power his father wielded. His father, Micheal Earhart, had a fur that burnt with a radiant orange. His pyromancy was unmatched, enough to singe the trees of the darkest forest with only mild effort. He spent his childhood guarding his family farm from the darkness, scaring away even the strongest of monsters with the dazzling displays of fire he conjured. After moving to Paradise City on his 18th birthday, he met a wonderful woman named Emily Macintosh. At 20 he married the love of his life, and had a child with her at 24. His wife, who shared his sense of humor, agreed to name the baby "Michael," the correct spelling of "Micheal," if they were a boy, and "Ameila" if they were a girl. Micheal would train his son to use the same pyromancy as he did, and it gave him the love and discipline of the Earhart family. Micheal loved his life of taking care of his wife and son, but his fiery heart cried out to protect instead of just cowering in the city. He knew he had to sign up for the recently made Forest Exploration program and use his powers once more. Emily and Michael cheered him on, and he wrote letters to them every week. Unfortunately, tragedy struck a year in. The forest wiped out an entire military base in one night, severing the supply chain and delaying transfers just as they were needed. Many killed themselves out of fear and paranoia, and Micheal sacrificed himself to burn the forest before it could take anyone else. He failed to burn the entire forest, but he left his mark. The base he was stationed at was entirely destroyed, even the concrete and rebar turned to ash. A clearing, and a scorched hole, was the only thing left. The trees continued to burn, even leaving marks and shriveling leaves. Emily didn't allow herself to believe the news her husband sacrificed himself to burn the forest, and kept it from her son. Michael, being the clever teenager he was, started to figure it out. Only his father was that powerful, and to make a clearing using fire, it had to take all of him to do it. Consumed with grief over his deceased father, he couldn't control his power. The apartment building he lived in was covered in an unstoppable blaze. He could only scream and cry, unaware of the world around him. His mother was trapped in the apartment and unable to get out, making her the only casualty of his breakdown. He only discovered her charred skeleton when his own fire began to burn him. He was distraught, unable to move his body as it did it for him. His body calmly walked to the balcony and threw itself off the railing. He somehow survived out of willpower alone. His flaming body couldn't be helped or moved, causing the burnt road to be closed off until he stopped burning. The entire time he recovered on the melting asphalt he could only think of how his father felt. That grief, the pain of being burned, the power he wielded, he knew it had to be a thousand times worse for his dad. The molten asphalt covered his fur, effectively waxing it off his right side. The immense heat and grief of the fire stained his extremities a dark grey. While his fur would recover in time, his soul was still burnt. He hated everything that lead up to that moment. His grandparents for letting his father leave his hometown, the apartments for not having enough fire exits, the government for not being safer with their construction, but he couldn't allow himself to blame his mother for not telling him.

All that began to flash before his eyes in horrifying detail. Michael suddenly stopped in his tracks, falling to his knees. He couldn't bring himself to fight it anymore. For the first time since he was child, he felt the rain on his fur, and he began to cry. He felt relief for the first time in years as he let the rain and tears wash over him. The only person who saw Michael like this was the alcohol store employee closing for the night, and she couldn't bring herself to interrupt him. And as if Narra herself intervened, a poster for the Forest Exploration program flew onto his knees. He knew he had to do something, he knew he had to protect whatever he had left, and his father's honor was the only thing the Earhart family had left. He set off for the nearest military recruitment center, and his only thought was to make sure those trees kept burning.

It was like no time passed at all. He was already on an armored bus to Base-fRSK with one other recruit, a human girl funnily named Mary Sue. They became good friends on the bus ride, bonding over their strange and coincidental names. Once they got to the base, they were welcomed warmly by the older soldiers stationed there. Michael tried to enjoy the warmth, but he just couldn't feel it. It's as if his heart was finally put out. He felt jealous that Mary could so easily make friends, and he couldn't even speak up. That night, he lied in bed thinking. He was so outgoing as a kid, and now he can't say anything in front of multiple people. He lifted his finger into the air and tried to conjure a small flame, but he could only produce a little smoke. His heart seemingly really was put out that day, and he was determined to start training again.

=== CHAPTER 1: ASHMANCER ===
Michael steps outside of Base-fRSK and is suddenly frozen in place. The fall wind chilled him to his very core, the sheer cold being something he never experienced before. One of the more experienced privates also walks out the door and makes a remark about the shivering fur.

"Hey, forgot your coat? There should be one in your closet, y'know." the private laughs.

"Yeah,"  Michael glares as he speaks, "I just didn't expect it to be so cold."

Michael stumbles back into his room to put a jacket on. He's never felt that cold before, and he can't help but wonder if humans, with their lack of fur and magic, always feel that, or if it's just the shock of feeling it for the first time. He attempts to conjure a flame in his palm just to see, but it's still just smoke. He should really get to his duties.

"Hey," Mary speaks softly by the door, "are you alright?"

Michael temporarily debates with himself whether or not he should tell her. He decides on just saying "I'm fine."

Since the new recruits aren't given guns or important duties until they're well trained and used to them, Michael and Mary only really chop wood, cook food, and tend to the grounds. At the end of every day, everyone gets a break for a few hours before curfew. Michael spends that time behind a cleared hill at the edge of the grounds practicing his pyromancy. He can now produce a lighter's flame, but he feels like it's been forever with no progress, and he frustratedly screams. He spents hour after hour yelling at himself, ranting about his failures, about how it's unfair, completely not thinking about the time. He freezes in fear when the base's midnight siren comes on and the rune lamp pierces the dark sky. Even if he made it back to the base, they wouldn't let him in. The only thing somehow worse is that he hears chirping coming from behind the fence.

He snaps into action, leaping back and attempting to draw a flame sword. He tenses up when he realizes the only thing he can conjure en mass is a thick smoke. Smelling fresh blood, a monster easily crawls over the 12 foot tall wire fence. It seems to move slowly, and only focuses on Michael when he takes a step back in fear. Michael realizes he can't fight a monster that big, or even fight at all, but the smoke could help him. He grabs a rock on the ground and starts covering it in lingering pyromagic, making it produce smoke constantly. The monster begins to chirp and gallop towards him, but he throws the smokey rock and starts running away before it can get close. The smoke irritates the monster's eyes, forcing it to slowly walk around the pillars of smoke that Michael keeps throwing at it. As they run and chase, the monster eventually corners him in a valley. Michael feels greatly ashamed, his father sacrificed himself to burn the clearing he was standing in, but he can't even manage anything other than a few smokey rocks. He desperately creates more to make a wall of smoke between him and the monster, but it just walks through it. He couldn't do anything, he didn't even last a month. But that sorrow, that anger over his failure, he started to feel something again. He grabs a rock from the ground and stares down the monster, crushing it in his hands and lighting the chunks on fire. He throws the shrapnel as hard as he can, and to his surprise, it actually works. To his own detriment, however, as the monster screeches in pain as the fire burns its skin, and it starts charging at Michael. He quickly grabs another rock and tries to do it again, but he can't muster the fire. Luckily, some of the smokey fragments ends up in the monster's eyes, blinding it and making it fall to the ground. The screeching is still loud and horrible, so Michael grabs the biggest rock he can lift and throws it at the monster's throat. He can only admire his victory as the monster stops twitching as the fire covers its entire body.

=== CHAPTER 2: A MONSTER IN OUR MIDST ===
Michael stumbled back to Base-fRSK, laughing at his achievement. He managed to kill a monster, something even his own father never did. With just ash and smoke, and one spark of determination, he killed a grandiose beast. The fun didn't last. When he went up to the gate, the guards stationed there raised a gun at the smoldering fur. He didn't react very much, he expected to have guns pointed at him for not obeying curfew. He almost sighed, but then the guard spoke something strange.

"Nice try, asshole!" The guard cackled at him, "The real Michael is inside the base."

Michael shot the guard a confused look, "What the- But I've been outside this entire time?"

"Got any medical records to prove it?" the other guard laughed.

Clearly something was wrong. A monster must've disguised itself as Michael and snuck past while he was on the other side of the grounds. Michael searched for any possible way to get out of this situation, but he could only find one. He needed back inside to stop that monster from whatever it's trying to do, but knocking out the guards and barging in would only get him shot.

Michael sighed and drooped his head, barely being able to muster, "Sorry, guys."

The guards didn't have time to react as Michael grabbed handfuls of gravel from the ground, covered them in as much smoke as he could, and threw them into the air. The air was clouded was a thick smoke, the guards couldn't see a thing. While they were confused, Michael crawled up the fence and knocked out one of the guards. He quickly disrobed him and switched their clothes.

"Hey? Jeremy? You alright? Hello?" the other guard frightfully mumbled.

Michael shoved his finger down his own throat, coating some of his esophagus with ash. He started to harshly cough from his hand invading further than it should, but that was a part of his plan."

"Ye-" Micheal coughed. "-ah! This smoke's-" He coughed again. "-getting in my-" And again. "lungs...!"

Michael dived inside the base's fenced area, urging the other guard to jump as well as he was choking on ash. When he did, Michael kept coughing up ash, hoping the other guard would tell him to go see the doctor. Luckily, the other guard fell right into his trap, ensuring his harsher voice would be excused as having to cough his lungs out. All he needed to do was not reveal his arms, legs, or ears, and this disguise should work as long as it needed to.

"Guys, what the hell happened?!" another guard cried out while pulling the emergency alarm.

"Some monster tried to get in, and then it threw a smoke bomb!" the other guard called out over the loud siren.

Once Michael got back into base and was left alone, he immediately went to investigate his room instead of the doctor. The room looked like it wasn't used at all last night, but he immediately left as soon as he heard footsteps. He looked as natural as Jeremy himself, the somewhat weird kid he's impersonating, and searched the rooms for Jeremy's. He found it only a few doors over, so he decided to peek at who was coming up the stairs. It was Michael. They locked eyes, and Michael could only wonder if the monster knew who he was as well. As he fumbled with his room key, the monster walked over to him. Michael was totally expecting the monster to attack him, but he just spoke calmly instead.

"Hey, Jeremy? That's not your room, that's Jeremy R.'s, not Jeremy H.'s." the monster said suavely.

"Huh? Oh yeah, haha," Michael nervously spoke, "that smoke must've starved my brain for a bit too much oxygen."

Michael walked down the hall to the correct Jeremy's room, but he couldn't help but feel jealous over the monster. The way he spoke, he was so confident in himself. It was almost like he was flirting, even if all he said was helpful. That monster was more comfortable in his body than his own self. It just wasn't fair to him, that and the whole impersonation problem caused his heart to spark again. He spent a few minutes deciding on what to do, and trying to calm down. That monster clearly needed to learn the lessons he was forced to learn, but he knew he couldn't just do it in public. He had a feeling today was going to be a long day. He opened Jeremy's door and walked down to the task board, hoping the task he would have to fake would be easy. Studying the board for his fake name, his real name caught his attention first. It was chef training, a thing he loved doing. He nearly cheered, but he realized he was still faking a Jeremy H., and it just so happens that Jeremy H. was the one teaching the new recruits how to cook.

"Hey, Jeremy!" a familiar voice called out to him, "You were supposed to be teaching us how to cook like 5 minutes ago."

It was Mary. He could only feel that today was going to be horrible for his mental health.

"Yeah, sorry," Michael spoke while lightly coughing, "that smoke monster was just shook me a little."

Michael started going down the stairs to head for the kitchen, but Mary insisted on small talk. "So what was the monster like? Must've been bad to cause a lockdown!" she said.

"Yeah he was uh, it, well it looked like Michael, but then he started throwing smoke bombs and we had to get out of there before he snuck past us." Michael nervously tried to recount from the point of view of Jeremy.

"Oh, hi Jeremy!" the monster spoke as it peaked its head out from the mess hall door.

Already at the kitchen, so luckily no more small talk. Michael couldn't relax though, that monster still could attack either of them at any moment, and it was still talking like that! He just entered the mess hall and went to the kitchen, looking around for an instruction board of some kind.

The monster grabbed a clipboard with recipes and instructions while Michael was looking for it, and handed it to him. "Hey uh, Jeremy, it's here." it said.

Snatching the clipboard out of the monster's hands, Michael started to look over it.

"You're just so forgetful today, huh?" the monster gently laughed. "You should really go to the doctor if you got smoke bombed that hard." it said in a reassuring voice.

Michael's heart was set aflame. This monster had the audacity to flirt with the person it's impersonating. It even had the gall to "help" him in every way it could. Michael tried to control himself the best he could, but still lightly singed the paper.

"Alright, so regular pork chops and beans. That should be easy enough for you two, right?" Michael said as he tried to hide his contempt.

"Should be easy enough, but I'm sure you'll be a great teacher if it isn't." the monster said with a smirk.

"Y'know, you two look incredibly similar. I never noticed that." Mary thought out loud.

"They say furs with a strong rel-" the monster began to spoke, but was interrupted.

"FRIENDSHIP!" Michael yelled, "Sorry, something was stuck in my throat. Anyway, nearby furs can actually change their pattern and colors to match with each other."

"Woah!" Mary said with wonder in her eyes, "That's so cool! Is it like when women's periods start to sync?"

"Let's just get on with this." Michael sighed.

He followed the instructions closely, pretending to teach the new recruits how to cook. It was awful the whole time, the monster kept doing that annoying suave voice. It was completely out of character for him, and Mary didn't even notice! It just made him feel bad, but most importantly it made him feel angry. His heart's flame kept glowing brighter and hotter, but he didn't let his fury get to him. He remained calm and kept thinking of a plan, and it finally clicked.

"Yeah, today I was trying to enter my room, but it was the wrong Jeremy!" Michael laughed.

"Y'know," the monster giggled, "if you're so confused about which room to go in, why not come in mine?"

"Great idea!" Michael said with a wide grin, "Your name is much easier to remember than mine, after all."

The monster was clearly taken aback at Michael's sudden flirting. It was shocking, and with such a masterful flirt, it couldn't help but get a little flustered.

"U- uh, yeah," the monster giggled while trying to hide its fiery blush, "maybe we could, um, play cards?"

"Sounds like a date!" Michael excitedly said as he glared at the monster.

He knew he had already won. The rest of the cooking lessons went by fast with the monster clearly too stunned to talk. After the cooking lessons were done, the three of them walked back to the rooms.

"Have fun, you two!" Mary laughed as she closed her door.

"Thanks, we will!" Michael laughed back while waving.

Michael and the monster sat on his bed, both silent. Michael had a smug grin on his face, glaring at the flustered monster.

"I've uh," the monster nervously laughed, "never done this before."

Michael cackled at the monster. "Yes you have, Michael. You've fucked prostitutes before. Or, did you just forget?"

The monster was snapped out of its flustered trance, "What- what do you mean?" it said.

"Don't play coy, we both know who we are, monster." Michael said as he smirked and pulled out a standard issue knife. "I want my life back."

"M- Michael? You're alive?!" the Monster cried, pushing itself back and off the bed.

"Oh yes," Michael laughed, "I didn't die to that behemoth, and I won't die to a pathetic imposter like you."

His heart, flaming with rage and pride, instinctually lit the knife on fire. The flames dramatically lit his face from underneath, horrifying the monster even more. Michael grabbed the monster by its shirt cuff and rammed his snout into its terrified face.

"Please, no! I didn't want to harm anyone! I just wanted be a person!" the monster choked out while sobbing uncontrollably.

Michael jammed the flaming knife deep into the monster's gut, splashing its blood over Jeremy's jacket. He tried to laugh, but he felt a pain in his stomach. He let go of the wounded monster and fell back, clutching the new hole in his stomach.

"I'm sorry!" the monster cried out to him, "I didn't want that to happen!"

"You- you-" Michael furiously muttered, "you did this! Coward! You didn't even lift a finger!"

"I'm- I'm- I'm sorry! It's just what happens! I only impersonated you because I thought you were already dead!"

Mary slammed the door open, the two in the room suddenly looking up at her. She seemed horrified at the two bleeding furs and the flaming knife.

"Is this seriously how you two have sex? Skip the foreplay before you two kill each other! God damn!" Mary yelled at them before slamming the door shut again.

Michael and the monster stared at each other. It was either they ended this here, or they had to fake moan to keep this ruse up. The real Jeremy would probably wake up in a few hours, so they didn't have the time to pretend. Michael stood up, his gut still gushing blood. The monster cowered in the corner of the room, unable to talk. The monster tried to cry for him to stop, but Michael slowly walked to the corner and picked it up by its shirt cuff once more.

"Get out of my body." Michael said as he gritted his teeth. "Get out of my room." Michael growled as his grip tightened. "Get out of my base." Michael spit as he shoved his face into the monster's.

Michael pulled the monster along the hallways and out the base's main door, dragging him all the way to the gate. He took the monster by the ankles and spun it around, flinging it over the gate. He then climbed up to the guard post to check on Jeremy. He sighed in relief when he found him still alive, and swapped the clothing back. Michael yelled at Jeremy to wake up while he shook him.

"Huh? What? What happened? Michael?" Jeremy asked in panic.

"Don't worry about it, some crazy stuff happened today." Michael said calmly, trying to soothe him.

Michael picked him up off the ground and walked him back to base, telling him about how a monster inpersonated him and he had to flirt with the monster to be able to remove it without getting accused himself. They both laughed it off, and promised to not tell the management officer so they didn't have to do any paperwork. Later that night, Michael lied in his bed. He felt his heart beat with fire, a desire to be as confident with himself as that monster was confident in his own stolen body. Before going to bed, he suddenly remembered his gut wound, jolting up and pulling up his shirt to inspect it. It was already cauterized. He went to bed that night satisfied in own power, but with another burning desire for more.

=== CHAPTER 3: A LIGHT IN THE DARK ===
The base's siren blares louder than it ever has, forcing the crew to jolt awake. Michael peeks through his door to see several other people doing the same thing, clearly not knowing what the siren was for. The siren suddenly cuts out for a few seconds, leaving the base totally dark instead of bathed in red light. The frightened voice of the management officer comes over the PA system.

"H- hello everyone, uh," the manager chokes out, "if you look at your alarm clocks... It is currently 1 PM."

Michael looks over to his alarm clock, seeing the "1:01 PM" on the digital screen. He starts to wonder if the manager finally lost it, and whether it was from FNS or cabin fever.

"And, uh," the manager's voice quakes, "if you look out a window," the manager's heavy breathing can be heard over the speakers, "it's pitch black outside."

Michael exits his room and heads over to the heavily reinforced window in the hallway. Several other people follow his example and head out of their rooms as well, but are stopped as soon as they glance the window. It's pitch black outside, and it's as if the window was coated in hyper-dark paint. Michael is frozen in shock, he's never seen such darkness before. He's only snapped back into lucidity when he hears the slamming of doors of his terrified crewmates.

"Yeah, uh," the manager tries to speak again, "it also shows that, um," the manager audibly gasps to keep calm, "the rune lamp is offline."

Michael's hands start to shake, the rune lamp was the only reason he wasn't overrun by monsters when he stayed out too late. Without it watching over, the outside has to be swarming with monsters. He could barely grasp the consequences before the sound of banging started coming from the windows.

"If you didn't know," the manager tries to speak without hyperventilating, "the rune lamp is the only thing that stops the monsters from coming inside the grounds. Help can't come until we either all die, the rune lamp is fixed, or they build another one at the edge of the darkness. That could take years, so..."

The building remains silent for a few seconds as the manager starts crying.

"...write to your families." The manager chokes out before turning off the microphone.

Michael's legs start to shake. He nearly collapses onto the floor, but Mary is there to keep him steady. She's just as terrified as he is. Michael stands up with her help, but nearly starts to cry at the sight of his only friend fearful for her life. Suddenly, his heart beats with an overwhelming fire. His tears evaporate instantly and he feels his blood pump through his veins with intense force and heat. Mary notices his sudden steeling and steam coming out of his tear ducts, frightful of what he set himself on. He slams his fist against his door, catching it on fire. The fire quickly lines the hallway, setting the other doors alight as well. He gestures upward and all the doors slam open.

"Listen!" Michael shouts, "We are not going to die here!"

The rest of the crew go out into the hallway, some still visibly crying. They stare at Michael, his shoulders catching on fire and illuminating his face.

"I'm going to start the rune lamp again. Do not fear your death. My father..." Michael says, suddenly trailing off as he remembers his trauma.

"My father," Michael says, steeling himself again, "he made this clearing with only his fire. Even if I die, I promise, I will light this place back up."

The crew starts to feel hope again, their faces lit up by the pyromagic slowly going back into Michael's soul. His flaming silhouette burns brightly at the end of the hall. He walks down the stairs, each step burning the dust and mud into ash. The crew follow them as close as they can, cheering him on all the way to the main door. The crowd surrounds him as he lines himself up with door, wainting for it to be activated so he can charge into the darkness. He gives the sign, and the doors burst open. He immediately spews a dazzling fire through the doorway, the utter darkness outside only making his fire seem brighter. Hands begin to burst through the doorway, attempting to grab at anyone they can. Michael starts pushing against the darkness with his endless spew of fire, it only getting brighter and hotter as he strains himself more. Eventually the hands stop coming, and he charges through the doorway. It shuts behind him, barely closing in time for him to focus on the fire surrounding his body. He lights up like the sun, penetrating the darkness in a blazing display of his power. He starts walking to the rune lamp's tower in a confident stride; his blaze scaring any monster with thought and his heat driving even those away. A small monster foolish enough to try to attack him comes running straight at him. He reacts quickly, grabbing it from the air and burning it to dust in his hands.

Michael eventually arrives at the tower, its height dwarfing what his fire allows him to see. He grabs a stick from the ground, and enters the building. He quickly shuts the door and takes a sigh in relief. Keeping up that inferno was extremely stressful for his soul, and it almost sent him to the floor once he got inside. He picked up the stick to use a torch in case the lights didn't work, so he felt smart when he flicked the lightswitch and the light wasn't very bright. He entered the elevator at the base and waited for it to take him up. He only got halfway up before the elevator's cables snapped and he plummeted into the basement.

He woke up at the bottom of the elevator shaft, his torch burnt out. He picked himself up off the ground and started wandering around the basement using his hand to light up the area. The entire area was a mess, like a research station that had to be evacuated suddenly. He picked up one of the papers strewn across the floor and almost immediately dropped it. The paper was talking about his father like he was a monster, like his pyromancy was from the forest. He tightened his grip on the paper and read more carefully. It said clear as day that his father was more monster than human.

"No..." Michael muttered under his breath.

"Can't believe it?" a voice said from the darkness.

Michael quickly spun around and conjured a flame sword. The fire lit up the area, and revealed who was talking. It was his own father, Micheal.

"I couldn't believe it either," the father laughed as he stood up from the chair he was sitting on, "but I didn't die."

The son's face was frozen in shock. He didn't believe it, he couldn't believe it. He could only take a step back.

"I woke up surrounded by doctors. It turns out my fiery passion kept my heart beating even after my entire soul was spent." the father calmly explained to his son.

"Are you a-" the son muttered, "a zombie?!"

"Oh, no, haha," the father chuckled, "my soul was easily gathered back. The heart is like a powerful magnent for your soul, so I only needed to be wheeled around the clearing I made."

"No..." the son said once more, "I don't believe it. Prove you're my father!"

The father conjured a blindingly bright fire from the palm of his hand. The fire lit up the entire room, revealing every desk, wall, and random piece of paper. Michael was in debelief, but he knew only his father could wield that power. His posture loosened and his flame sword went out.

"But, dad, what are you doing here?" the son said.

"I've always been here, being studied, tested on, and growing my power." the father said with a smug smile. "The real question is what are you doing here, Michael?"

"After you died... I, I..." the son stuttered.

The son's mind raced. His eyes darted back and forth trying to visualize everything that happened to him after his father died. He was overwhelmed, but something caught his eye. His father's hand was a dark grey.

"Dad," the son said accusedly, "what happened to your hand?"

"What?" the father laughed in confusion, "It's exactly the same as it always was."

"No. No it's not!" the son yelled, "My father's fur had no patterns!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot," the father laughed again, "my fur was burnt into this color after the accident."

"Wait a minute," the son growled at himself, "you couldn't have been saved! That fire burned for months!"

"What are you talking about? Do you think I jus-" the father tried to say softly, be he was cut off.

The son threw a ball of fire at the father, lighting up the room into it's real state as it flew. The fire the father conjured was nothing but an illusion. The son's fire revealed the chewed bones and bloody corpses of the researchers that were in the basement. Once it hit the father, his fur and clothes burnt away to reveal a metallic body underneath.

"So, I guess you don't want to meet your father then?" the robot laughed.

Michael spewed fire at the robot. He hoped it would just burn, and he wouldn't have to think about this. Even if his father was still alive, would he even want to meet him? After his barrage of flames ended, the robot stood still. Its design was like a skinned human with a glass dome for a skull. The glass reveals the weird, ugly, monster piloting the robot. It looks like a naked hamster hooked up to computer, with wires connecting to its brain and tubes in random holes and arteries. Small LEDs light up when it speaks.

"You must've not read those papers very well, boy." the mech said.

The abombination cackled as it stomped into the skull of a corpse. The blood ran up its leg in thick tendons and reconstructed its facade to more accurately fit Michael's body. It began stomping towards him with a confident gait.

"Your father's charred corpse was my first meal." the monster spoke smugly. "And your blood will be the first fresh meal since!"

The monster lunged at Michael, but he fell to the ground before it could hit him. Fire didn't seem to do anything, and all it was doing was getting inside his head. This foe seemed unbeatable, especially in this cramped basement. The monster kept charging at him and swinging at him, but Michael didn't think it would ever slow down. He needed to melt the metal itself, and the basement was like an oven. Michael lit his hands alight and prepared to burn even brighter than he ever did before.

"Oh? Didn't I already teach you that burning me wouldn't work, boy?" the monster laughed.

"This fire isn't going to be directed at you, monster." Michael smirked.

Michael began spewing fire at the walls of the basement, setting papers alight and breaking monitors. He started to strain himself more and more, which made his fire hotter and hotter. The concrete walls began to drip, and the moisture in the air started steaming.

"Are you a moron?!" the monster screamed, "Even pyromancers can't breathe smoke!"

Michael only tightened up his grip on his soul, forcing his heart to beat with a more and more intense flame. His soul started to draw magic from the monster itself, weakening the monster and allowing his fire to grow in strength. The flames began to spread across the wall, encasing the entire room in fire.

"No, no, no, stop it!" the monster cried, "You're gonna kill yourself and your friends if you keep doing that!"

"So you're the one that turned off the rune lamp!?" Michael yelled, his anger only increasing the intensity of his fire.

"No, no, I meant-" the monster stuttered.

"Then you'll pay for it!" Michael screamed louder.

Michael pointed his hands towards the monster and channeled all the magic he could spare into one powerful stream. The monster tried to chuckle at Michael's attack, but the heat started to crack its glass. It leapt over to another corpse to stomp it's skull in, but it's food just collided with ash.

"What? No! You cremated my food!?" the monster yelled.

Michael stepped towards the monster. Its metal body was glowing a bright white and melting into slag. He rammed his fist through the monster's cracked glass skull and squeezed its real body into a charred pulp. Michael sighed in relief that it was finally dead. The papers on what it was, or why it had a robotic body, or how it knew his father were destroyed. Michael collapsed onto the floor as the fire raged on around him. When he awoke, he coughed out smoke and ash. He got up and climbed the elevator shaft all the way to the top. His body was sore, and he struggled to climb. Once he got to the top, he dialed Base-fRSK. The manager was elated to hear from him again.

"Michael!? You're alive?" the manager shouted.

"Heheh," Michael tiredly giggled, "not the first time I heard that today. Hahah."

"What? Whatever, do you know how to turn it back on?" the manager worriedly said.

"Press the big button that says 'On?'" Michael laughed.

"Erm, uh, yeah." the manager nervously laughed.

Michael slammed his hand onto the button, turning the rune lamp on again. He waited at the windows to watch the darkness fade away. It only took a few minutes to light up the entire grounds, but it was satisfying the entire time. Michael decided he should rest on the chair until morning, so he just felt asleep there.

=== STAY TUNED ===