BRRRRZZZZZZTTTTT
Rachel groaned as she threw her pillow. The sound of her alarm clock humming in her head as she yawned and then crawled out of bed. The smell of burnt plastic and carpet lingered in the air. She noticed burn marks on a pair of jeans and shoes near the dresser Sarah was pillaging through.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Sarah said as she frowned as she held a dingy old t-shirt.
"What are you doing?" Rachel grumbled as she rubbed her eyes, then stared at Sarah with a raised eyebrow.
"Doing something you should have done a long time ago," Sarah replied as she lit a flame in her hand, then scorched the bottom of the t-shirt she held in her other hand. "You seriously wore this? Rache, you're full of surprises."
"That was one of my favorite shirts!" Rachel screamed as she jolted off the bed and yanked the shirt from Sarah.
"It's ugly and old, Rache! This isn't even good enough to send to charity," Sarah replied as she tilted her head.
"I know that...but I have a lot of memories tied to that specific shirt," Rachel frowned as she glanced at the burnt fabric at the bottom of the shirt.
Sarah shrugged. "Big deal, now you can make memories in your superhero suit. Where do you keep the suit, by the way?"
Rachel Mulberry's eyes blinked slowly.
Sarah threw her hands up and shook her head in frustration. "Your suit...everybody who has superpowers has a suit. Where is your fucking cool-ass superhero suit?"
"There's no suit," Rachel replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Unbelievable," Sarah groaned as dancing wisps of flames lit up her eyes. "Hollywood has been lying to us."
"Well, yeah, that's fiction. What do you expect?" Rachel shrugged as she put the burnt shirt back into the dresser.
"The P.I.A. is all we get?"
Rachel shrugged. "They pay well."
Sarah snapped her fingers as her eyes lit up. "That reminds me!"
Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"I called the ether hotline and let the P.I.A. know about our Emily situation."
"You what?"
Sarah smiled. "Yeah, if anyone can help us, it would be the P.I.A.," she explained and clapped her hands. "We can get recruited, make some money, and save the world in one swoop."
Rachel rubbed her face and hung her head in despair. "You idiot," she mumbled as she shook her head.
Sarah shrugged. "What?"
"Just forget it. I am going to find Emily. Do not follow me, ok?"
"You think I am weak, do you?" Sarah asked as she looked Rachel in the eye. "I literally can control freaking fire. That's like a top-tier superpower in the comic books."
Rachel chuckled and then sighed.
"Girls ' breakfast is ready!" Rachel's mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
Rachel rubbed her hair and then took a deep breath. "Do not do anything in front of my parents," she ordered with a stern expression; her eyes glowed as a warning.
Sarah nodded, then followed Rachel downstairs. Syrup, cooking oil, and the aroma of coffee lingered in the air as they entered the kitchen. Rachel glanced back towards the television in the living room. She bit her nails when her mom switched to the local news channel. Her eyes darted towards Sarah as she gestured to distract her mom.
"This looks delicious, Mrs. Harper," Sarah smiled as she used her body to block Rachel's mom's view. "I like to cook too. Do you have any barbecue recipes?"
Rachel hurried towards the television and then manually switched the channel over to a cartoon channel. Her head turned towards the window as police sirens wailed in her eardrums as they blitzed down past her home. She rushed over towards the window, gazing at the multiple black Mustangs roaring down the road.
She shivered as a sharp, bitter wind made contact with her skin as she opened the door. Flurries floated from a gray and blue morning sky, speckling trees and grass with a light coating of snow. Rachel watched as the vehicles turned down an intersection before vanishing out of sight.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sarah asked as she rushed towards Rachel, who was walking towards her Miata.
"Fixing your mess," Rachel replied as she opened the door. She rolled her eyes as Sarah ran and opened the passenger side door.
"I am coming," Sarah insisted as she sat in the passenger seat. "The P.I.A. will put that little arrogant little bitch in her place."
Rachel shook her head as she focused on the strings attached to Sarah. "Fine, have it your way. Don't say I didn't warn you," she replied as she turned on her car and pulled out of the driveway.
The Miata hummed as Rachel drove well beyond the speed limit. She turned down the same intersection as the patrol cars, then slammed her foot on the pedal. Sarah smiled, eyes lit up with adrenaline as she turned on the radio. A bass-heavy, cyberpunk tune with pop-inspired mechanical undertones played on the radio.
Rachel raised an eyebrow towards Sarah, who was nodding her head to the beat, grinning ear to ear in excitement. She shook her head, eyes fixated on the road as she pushed one hundred miles an hour down the country road. She drifted slightly as she slowed down just in time to not smash into a van at a stoplight. She spun the driver's wheel, maintaining speed as she slammed the pedal and drifted into downtown Corwood. Her heart raced as she slammed on the brakes, her tires losing traction as the snow began to collect on the road.
Sarah's eyes widened as they turned down into a strip mall filled with parked Mustangs. "The cavalry is here," she laughed as they pulled into the parking lot. "This is perfect. I can land a sweet job, get some fame, and get out of this dump of a town in one swoop."
Rachel turned off the car and then glanced at Sarah as she stepped out of the vehicle. Patrol sirens blared as they approached, as P.I.A. agents and police officers kneeled behind car doors with weapons drawn. She jumped back as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She turned around to see a male police officer shaking his head at her.
"What are you two doing here? It's not safe," he said.
"Maybe not for you, but we got powers," Sarah replied with a smile.
"Powers?"
Rachel grabbed Sarah and smiled. "She is fresh P.I.A. talent. Don't mind her," she said as she dragged Sarah away.
Shrapnel and shattered glass cut Rachel and Sarah's skin as a patrol car exploded nearby, followed by another. Bullets echoed on the asphalt as police officers shot towards the strip mall. Sarah's body quivered, her eyes widening as she saw a car get launched into the air. Rachel grabbed her hand and rushed towards the strip mall.
"What the fuck!" Sarah screamed as a rocket zipped past them, blasting a hole into the strip mall. Her chest reverberated as a minigun chipped pieces of concrete from its foundation as a military Jeep pulled up.
Rachel glanced around at the carnage, and then her eyes glowed. Bullets lingered in the air, visible to her eye alone as they crawled through the air like a snail. She stooped up and weaved and bobbed around bullets, rockets, and floating cars. Her body shivered as she got closer to the entrance of the strip mall.
A pair of glowing mulberry eyes reflected off the pavement as she crept behind a parked car. Her eyes widened as she saw Emily, with a frown, standing in front of the strip mall. Her eyes lowered as she turned her head quickly towards Rachel's hiding spot. Rachel's heart quickened as she instinctively rewound time.
"What the fuck!" Sarah screamed as a rocket zipped past them, blasting a hole into the strip mall. Her chest reverberated as a minigun chipped pieces of concrete from its foundation as a military Jeep pulled up.
Rachel blinked heavily as she bit her nail. "We gotta go now!" She ordered as she grabbed Sarah by the hand.
"What, no, they need our help!?" Sarah shouted as she ducked her head as a grenade was chucked over her head.
"Do you have a death wish?" Rachel asked with wide eyes as she tried to pull Sarah back to her Miata.
Sarah's legs shook, and her eyes narrowed as they lit up with fire. "I got this. I am the Phoenix!"
Rachel let go of Sarah as her skin began to tingle. Fire swirled around Sarah as she psyched herself up. Her aura manifested as a bird of flames that reached towards the sky. She then screamed and walked towards the front of the strip mall. Officers stopped firing as they quickly attempted to escape the firestorm.
Rachel bit her lip and shook her head as she saw Sarah approach Emily. Her legs were trembling as Emily's mulberry eyes locked onto her. Rachel's eyes widened as Sarah blasted a wave of fire directly into Emily's face. Sarah screamed as she lifted her hands into the air, and a firestorm formed underneath Emily, swelling several feet in every direction.
The chaos stopped as Sarah breathed deeply while Emily was still in the firestorm. "There….problem solved," she declared as she smiled at the officers who gazed at her in awe.
Sarah was so distracted by the cheers that she didn't notice Emily's mulberry eyes staring at the back of her head, unamused and unscathed as the firestorm dissipated.