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Part 3.

"Good morning, cielo."

"Consuelo? Best hospital wake up call ever," Monty Richards was usually cranky to every and all nurses that walked in his room, but he always had a smile for his wife.

Consuelo giggled, "Tonto. Stop treating nurses badly, okay? They're just looking out for you."

"Yeah yeah. Speak to the doctor yet? Those young girls won't let me. I can go home soon right?"

"Not quite, Monty. But I have some good news, guess who is in town?"

"Please don't tell me it's Ozzy Osbourne or I'm definitely staying under covers."

"Charlotte is. Honey, she said she's going to pay you a visit soon."

"Really? But wasn't she busy with a job all the way out in China or something? I swear, that girl should've just stayed here and worked the family business."

Consuelo laughed heartily and handed her husband a mug with green tea. "Her job in south Korea ended months ago, querido. And I doubt mining is a job for a frail girl like her. I'm happy they had the sense to give her desk work, it's a lot less risky."

"Desk work? You mean she's a pencil pusher now?" Monty seemed especially flustered.

"Monty, we've talked about this before. You couldn't hold Charlotte down when she joined Interpol for those dangerous missions, I doubt you'll be able to hold her down now. So don't criticize her job when she comes to visit, entiendes?"

"Fine, fine, just don't make a federal case out of it. She'll probably have more papers to push that way, hah."

"She's Interpol, honey, not FBI."

"Whatever, all's the same. Now please tell me you snuck in some pancakes; I swear if this lung infection doesn't kill me, the hospital food will!"

"Hehe. I brought you some in a Tupperware, but no syrup, and diet butter. Eat them quick; I'm going to check up on your daughter, she said she'd come today."

Happy with his 'healthy' pancakes, Monty went through his little relief while his wife quietly exited his room, where she wasn't allowed to make calls. One in the hallway, she dialed Charlie's number.

"Mom?" yawned a drowsy voice through the speaker, "It's seven in the morning, and it's Saturday... Give me five more minutes?"

"Charlotte, you sound terrible. Did you spend the night outside?"

"Nope." Charlie had to lie about it; she actually had nowhere to stay in for the night, so she had to spend all the night at the roof of the hospital, under cover. "So how are you?"

"I'm fine. Your father woke up with a smile for a change," Consuelo giggled, "When are you coming, hija? I already told him you were coming."

"Y-you did, huh. Uh, mom, see, last night something happened and I can't..."

"Charlotte? Your voice's trembling. Oh my, you were out with your friends last night weren't you? You weren't involved in the..."

"Yes," Charlie interrupted, "But I'm okay. So are Sarah, Julia and Cassie. Seems like the police showed up at the right time. I actually was one of the first to get saved."

"Gracias a dios... I can't believe how dangerous the neighborhood has become. So many terrible criminals are loose, I wish the law would get to work! Hmm, are you sure you're okay, Charlotte?"

"Yeah, guess I've gotten sorta sloppy with my training."

"Nonsense. You're on your day off, they can't expect you to always give your all. Now how about paying a visit to your dear father? El pobrecito esta esperandote..."

"Lo se, yo tambien quiero verlo," Charlie responded slowly, though her Spanish was less articulate even with the simplest of phrases. "Mom, actually, there's something I..."

KRA-KOOOM! Suddenly, the entire building shook violently. "Dios santo!" Consuelo's voice resonated through the phone, Charlie almost lost her footing. "Mom?! Are you in..." her eyes went wide, she realized this was no coincidence. Whatever had just gone off, they were in the same building: Santa Esperanza Hospital. "...are you okay?!" she instantly yelped. "I heard an explosion from here!"

"There's smoke everywhere, hay dios, hay dios! Monty!"

"Mom! Talk to me, what's..." she stopped as she heard static, the phone must've been dropped. "Damnit!" Charlie jumped off her cover and ran around the hospital's roof access. She charged through the door, uncaring of the consequences.

---

"Hahahaha, AH-HAHAHA!" wicked laughter combined with the thick smoke coming from Rex's room. A silhouette inside was flailing its arms wildly as the fire spread further, eating away at every wall and surface it could reach. Rex was back up, and he seemed happy about it. "Oh, oh man, is this sweet or what?! I feel... I feel so good, so great, so damn strong!" he roared triumphantly as his hands tore through the thick smokescreen and revealed his entire form had caught on fire.

"D-Doctor, what do we do? This is unprecedented!" the nurse was hiding behind the surgeon in charge of Rex. The poor doctor wasn't in the mood to argue with the nurse this time.

"S-son, you have to stop this madness! You're going to set the entire building on fire at this rate!"

"Oh yes, I can do that if I want, can't I?" Rex grinned, fists clenching as he lifted his right arm. Looking up, he focused and suddenly projected flame directly at the ceiling, melting a hole clean through. "I can do whatever I want, and you, no, nobody can stop me!"

The firefighter department's siren began blaring, and in no time the firefighting team arrived with no less than a dozen professionals. The fire had been reported as unprecedented after all. "Did you call those chumps just for little old me? Good, I have to give these sweet powers a try!" Rex laughed, approaching his window before he blasted it right off with a concentrated burst of fire right before jumping off and landing with the falling concrete as a platform to cushion his descent. "You came to battle the fire, right guys?"

As Rex approached, the firefighting team aimed their hoses in defense at him. "Thompson, what the hell is this? Is that guy suffering or am I just seeing things, 'cause I swear he's smirking and taunting at us!"

"I don't care if he's a fired comedian or insane, put him out! We have a hospital to save!" Garret Thompson yelled, directing his team with loud and clear orders.

"You don't understand, do you?" Rex chuckled, then smirked again, then burst out into maniacal laughter, "Well that's fine. Let's see how you deal with things when the FIRE battles BACK!" he yelled, hurling a ball of fire at the hoses the two designated firefighters had been aiming at him. The nozzles melting almost instantly, they became clogged, and the pressure caused the hoses to explode, sending rain down over the parking lot. Rex smiled as the rain simply evaporated on his flaming body, lifting a thick cloud of steam.

"Look, it's putting him out! Did he just trounce himself?" one of the firefighters asked, but Thompson was a lot less optimistic.

"Duck!" Garret yelled as he tackled his partner to save him from another incoming fireball, which impacted a car and caused it to explode.

As the steam cleared, the human of flame walked forwards wearing his best arrogant smirk. "Water's so overrated, isn't it?"

Garret grit his teeth, "I hate Saturday mornings."

---

"Dad! Mom! Where are you?!" Charlie yelled through the smoke, running past swiftly as she thoroughly checked room after room, "C'mon, pick up, pick up! MOM!" she screamed at her cellphone, until eventually a weak voice came through.

"Ch-Charlotte... hija..." Consuelo was doing her best to speak, but was coughing.

"Mom, where are you? What room are you in?!" Charlie desperately barked at the phone, careful not to squeeze is into scrap metal.

"We're... we're in 3C..."

"Mom? Mom don't you go unconscious on me, MOM!" the scorpion yelled out loud as she kicked into a mad dash. Fortunately, most of the patients and staff had already made it out by now; most of the screams were coming from outside. Once she was down to the third floor, Charlie began to search every room; most of them had been buried under flaming rubble, and then she discovered why Consuelo had been talking from her dad's room instead of having evacuated with everybody else. The fourth floor had caved in after the fire had eaten at it, causing equipment to fall through and block the entrance, and in Consuelo and Monty's case, their only exit.

"Hang on! I'm coming in!" Charlie shouted, literally charging through the debris, which shattered apart thanks to her bestial strength. Fortunately, her armor coating was enough to hold back some of the infernal heat that was consuming it all inside the room. Eyes wide, Charlie stopped as she realized there was the family she hadn't seen for months, trapped in a fire.

Consuelo was kneeling by the bed with her head on Monty's chest, hands over his body as if she was protecting him with her own life. Thanks to Monty's weak lungs, the smoke had knocked him out first. Charlie couldn't help but let herself cry. "Why did this happen?!" she screamed, but fought her uncertainties and braved the hot flames to approach her unconscious parents. Once she was next to them, she grabbed both under her arms, which was no problem thanks to her scorpion strength.

Approaching the window, Charlie opted for a fast exit. "YAAAH!" she shouted, spinning and striking at the wall with her tail. Demolished, a hole opened to make her exit. After she was sure they both were safe under her arms, Charlie jumped out.

She landed without a hitch, then without even caring about her appearance anymore she rushed around the corner. The smoke was still thick, the heat was unbearable, her body ached from the minor burns along her body; it would've been a lot worse without her chitin exoskeleton. "Please help! These two have inhaled a lot of smoke!" she helplessly screamed at the coated men near the stretchers; she guessed the medics had to move out all the patients they could.

"Oh my lord, what manner of creature...?"

"It doesn't matter! Please help them! They're... they're really important to me!" Charlie whimpered helplessly. The doctor looked over her again, but then straightened himself.

"It's okay. I'm sorry, please come over here and put them on these stretchers, quick!"

Charlie nodded and hurried to the stretchers and gently, with the aid of the doctor and a frightened nurse, put Monty and Consuelo atop the makeshift beds for treatment. "Please, you have to save them doctor. My fa- this man has a condition! I don't know how breathing the smoke might've affected him!"

"Give me some room, you've already done your part!" the doctor said to the worried scorpion, "Now please, you're upsetting my colleagues. I promise we will do our best to save them!"

Saddened, but understanding the situation, Charlie nodded and jumped at the hospital wall, then began to crawl up to the second floor.

"What are you doing?! The building's about to collapse!"

"You said I've done my part, but that's not nearly enough," Charlie rebutted, "Something's keeping the firefighters; if we wait anymore, then there won't be anyone else to save, like them!" With that, she punched a window open and threw herself in.

"You're crazy!" the doctor yelled with worry.

"You have no idea," Charlie mumbled to herself as she began to scour the second floor for more helpless victims.

---

"Holy shit, you guys are pussies. Bravest men in Phoenix my ass, look at you run away like ants out of a burning anthill!" The living flame boomed with laughter as he hurled fireball after fireball, "Dance, dance, dance!" his hysterical laughter was proving to be more irritating than anything.

"Damnit!" Thompson rolled away from the blasts, "Enough!" he growled, patience gone. "You guys, go around us, you have to get inside the hospital no matter what! I'll take him!"

"Are you nuts? This isn't football Thomspon, you're gonna get burned, literally!"

"Just go! There's no time to argue!" Garret wasn't going to wait any longer. He got rid of his impermeable clothes and reached for a hose, before evading another incoming fireball. He pointed the hose at himself and began to douse his body in water.

"Really? I'm fighting wet pussies now?" Rex grinned, bouncing fireballs in his palms like toys.

"I'm going to make you eat your words about the Firemen Department, junior," Thompson narrowed his eyes, ready to attack. The final word seemed to have touched a sensitive spot for Rex, who growled and combined both fireballs into a bigger one.

"You're gonna regret sending off your groupies, homes."

---

"Everyone okay?!" The fireman leading the rest of the group asked the doctors, "How many more are still inside?"

"Glad you people showed up. We have at least five more people trapped inside! Also, a giant talking scorpion showed up and went inside!"

"A... what? Oh this day just keeps getting better and better. First that fire freak, and now a giant scorpion?"

"No, you don't understand, the scorpion is an ally. She's trying to help!"

"Well, I'm not going to say no to that. You heard the man!" the firefighter yelled to his team, "We go in, we're looking for at least five people! Go go go!"

"Man, what the hell caused a fire this big?!" Charlie groaned as she used her amazing strength to move piles of rubble and debris to check the patient rooms. Fortunately, the evacuation had been thorough and organized for the most part. "Second floor's clear... I'm sure. Better go down and... Huh?!"

Charlie blinked her eyes. She thought perhaps her mask hadn't allowed her to breathe through the smoke as well as she had always believed, but as she approached one of the windows peering out at the parking lot she noticed it. "That... that guy... that guy's fighting the fire. No, he's literally fighting it!" she gasped, "What the hell is going on here?!"

"Yeah, was going to ask you the same."

"AHH!" Charlie almost jumped out of her skin.

"So the doctor down there wasn't nuts. Brave thing you're doing here. You aren't going to eat us though, are you?" the fireman smiled.

Charlie shook her head, "I'm here to help. What's going on out there though?"

"Hell if I know. We were told one of the recent patient's room caught on fire and it spread to the rest of the building fast, almost too fast. Then we arrive and next thing we know, that guy's throwing fireballs at us like it was going out of style."

"That's... that's a person?!" Charlie's eyes widened.

"Yeah, and he doesn't like the firefighter department it seems; hard to believe eh?" the fireman allowed himself a small laugh; it was very hard to continue otherwise. "Our Captain's fighting 'em. Let us come here to help rescue the remaining patients and staff."

"You don't mind if I step out to help him, do you?"

"Was kinda hoping you did. Maybe he'll understand you, since you're two are well, ah..."

"Thanks," Charlie boldly interrupted without even making eye contact. "Good luck. And... you're the brave ones. Keep up the good work!" she waved and ran to the window, then braced herself as she burst out with a jump.

"We got them all, Smith! Was that the scorpion the doctor was talking about?"

"Hell, Jimmy. Never seen a scorpion working double Ds before. Let's just hope she's luckier than us against that freak!"

---

Thompson wasn't going to last much longer. He had been keeping a steady combo of dashes and leaps to evade the incoming projectiles, but his stamina wasn't going to hold for much longer. Rex seemed to be enjoying his little game though. "Oh man, glad I didn't burn your hose, c'mon! Douse yourself, have a drink, I got all day man!" he laughed.

"What's so funny, you freak?! Haven't got to be a genius to be able to tell you're the one that set that hospital on fire! What did they ever do to you?!" Thompson yelled, but took a bit of time to douse himself again, keeping himself moist and cold.

"It's not what they did to me. It's what they were going to do after they found out I had no money. Plus these buildings are insured, aren't they? Let's just say this is my way of saying... thank you for having me around," Rex grinned.

Thompson wasn't going to be able to take this much longer, "You're insane! A menace!"

"And explosive, and hot. Like a Firecracker... Hey, Fire Cracker? I like that."

"Hey, let me introduce you to my little friend!" a cry caught Fire Cracker's attention before he turned around. He widened his eyes as a blur rushed him faster than he was able to tell, and before he knew it the figure stopped in front of him, made a split, and punched his groin.

Thompson winced and averted his gaze as Charlie grinned under her mask and sweetly said: "The Nut Cracker."

Fire Cracker doubled over and winced, holding by his crotch in sheer pain. "Ahhh! Ohh fuck, you bitch!" he screamed. Satisfied, Charlie stood up and dusted her hands off.

"Teach you to set fire to a hospital, asshole," the scorpion groaned a bit, waving her singed hand a bit. "Oww, burn."

"Charlie?" Thompson slowly blinked his eyes open, his vision slightly blurry thanks to the dripping water and sweat from his forehead. The silhouette in front of the momentarily pacified Fire Cracker was very familiar.

Charlie's eyes widened in surprise, then she looked at the fireman captain and nearly froze. "Wh-wha, Garret?!" flustered, Charlie's cheeks began to flush full of color. "I mean uh- Nice saving you from danger, brave stranger I couldn't possibly know!" she said looking elsewhere while giving the captain a thumbs up.

"Is it over?" Thompson asked with a small wince as he was panting from the heat and exhaustion. "Look out!" Charlie blinked a bit and looked down, but then to her surprise, Fire Cracker made a sudden recovery and grabbed her by the ankles, singing her hardened skin.

"Ahh! Let go!" she shouted as the pain made her lose her balance, which Fire Cracker used to sweep her down to her butt before he jumped on top and tightly hugged his flaming body around her.

"You're the Stinger, aren't you?" Fire Cracker panted, still hurting but otherwise mobile. "Guess it's you I have to thank for these awesome powers. Let me to teach you how to cook Charred Scorpion!" he laughed, tightening his grip as Charlie moaned out from pain.

"HEY, FREAK!"

"Huh?" Fire Cracker looked back to meet face to face with a water nozzle. Thompson knew this wasn't going to be near enough, but he had to buy Stinger some time!

"Kitchen's got a leak here!" the brave firefighter shouted as he pulled on the nozzle and let out a highly pressurized torrent of water that literally smacked Fire Cracker across the face. Unfortunately, even the hose's output lost against his flaming body as the water evaporated too quick to hit with its intended strength. Fire Cracker growled, but then he stopped as he felt a prick followed by sharp pain.

"GAH!" the villain screamed out loudly, turning his head to be greeted by the tip of Charlie's tail, its stinger embedded on neck. He could feel liquid being pumped inside of him. His body quickly became numb, his skin returning to normal as the fire died out.

Charlie felt the release in his bear hug and gave one last groan before pushing him off her singed body. "That was... that was reckless of you, stranger," Charlie gasped as she looked up at a smiling Garret; he was so handsome.

The red-headed firefighter knelt down and offered Charlie a hand. "Hey, right back at you. Not even I am crazy enough to give a freak like this a ballbuster," he laughed a bit.

Charlie giggled back and stood up, dusting herself off as she looked directly into the Garret's eyes. "You know he was asking for it, right?"

"I wasn't complaining," Thompson looked down at the boy, then his eyes went wide as plates, "What the heck?!"

Charlie looked down at Fire Cracker, but her eyes grew wide for a different reason. This boy, the so called Fire Cracker. He was Rex, the kid she had brought in the night before! A lot of conflicting emotions suddenly swept Charlie away. Rage was one of them, what an ingrate! But how had he come to possess such power? The conclusion was that weird creature that had bit him, which had combusted, probably had had to do with it. If that was the case, then Charlie, in her carelessness, had been partly responsible for this! No, she was definitely responsible for what had happened. "The bite, the power, it's all my fault. He probably went nuts because of it, damnit!" she cursed herself, holding by the side of her head.

"Something's happening to him!" Thompson yelped again, then Charlie noticed something beside the recognizable face. Rex's body was red, crimson red. Not even a badly sunburnt bad was supposed to look like that. "What's...?" Thompson gently approached and knelt down to try to touch the boy, but his hands couldn't get near enough to touch that red skin that he hissed in pain. "It burned me!"

Charlie was helpless, and couldn't stop staring at Rex. The boy was starting to get back up on his feet. But that wasn't possible; the scorpion's neurotoxin had to keep him paralyzed for at least a few hours! Then she noticed his neck's wound had healed again and not just that, his neck was full of little flakes, hard little flakes. "He's... he's growing scales!"

As Rex stood up, he suddenly let out a painful roar as he arched over. His tailbone had begun to stretch and grow longer and longer, covered in thick flesh that was quickly growing the same red scales on his back. Sharp spikes began to protrude alongside the growing tail, running all the way up to his spine and finishing at the base of his neck.

"No, no, this can't be happening!" Charlie stood up and tried to reach over to Rex, but the heat he was emanating was like a barrier! It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

Rex was on similar grounds, feeling sensations alien to him. His tail twitched and swished about, knocking Thompson away, with Charlie going after him in concern. "Ugh! What the hell's happening to him, why did he grow a tail?"

"He's transforming, he was bitten by something, a huge iguana with fire powers. I think... I think he's turning into one himself!" Charlie said, horrified. This wasn't the first time she'd witnessed such a change in human beings, with herself having gone through a very similar scenario in the past, but she could never get used to it.

Meanwhile, Rex had finished growing his appendage and the rest of his back had completely grown scales, the skin now thick and armored. His muscles had begun to gain some definition, most noticeably in his triceps and lats, his shoulders broadening to support his bigger, stronger arms. Fingers curled and grew tougher, sharper nails that took on claw-like appearance. His toes went through the same changes as his legs lengthened, allowing him greater height. Once a runt under 6 feet, Rex quickly amounted inch after inch until he stood two full inches taller than Charlie herself!

He held by his head as he leaned forwards, his muscles growing some more as he swelled thicker and fitter, with a swimmer's build bordering on lean body-builder. Rex's face was next; bone was stretching, his skull was reshaping. It hurt at first, but his brain quickly absorbed the pain, spreading the very same tingling sensation that allowed him to feel the rush of power from earlier. Rex let out a moan of satisfaction as his face lengthened and his teeth became sharp fangs that decorated his new muzzle, his human vestiges all but gone, replaced by a red salamander's muzzle. His ears had become internal, his eyes' pupils had become intense, black slits, and his nose had melted down, leaving only a couple of round crevices on his snout. With his transformation complete, the rush finally came to a stop.

Rex was left trembling on his spot, holding his new claws in disbelief, staring at their new shapes in fear. "What...? What happened? What happened to me?!" he smashed the ground with his new tail, cracking the hard concrete. His fists clenched, burning with renewed fire. Rex's body didn't catch on fire this time, but his control over the element had not dwindled at all.

Charlie quickly stood in front of Thompson to protect him, which alerted the salamander. He turned around, revealing his muscled front. His chest and abdominal section, as well as his underbelly were a bright yellow instead of red. Set on the scorpion female, the villain's eyes narrowed, "YOU!"

Like a madman, or rather, a mad lizard, Rex stomped forwards, holding his claws out at her, "You did this to me!" he yelled, making Charlie wince and narrow her eyes. "You changed me into this, this monster...! You undo it right now! What are you doing, undo it! Make me like before, god-damnit!" he roared.

Charlie, for once, was left speechless. Rex continued to approach, but then he stopped as the firefighter captain stood in front of Charlie, surprising both. Thompson glared at Rex, "You don't get to make demands, kid. Get off your fucking high horse."

"What?!"

"I don't know what story you two have, but she's the one that came to stop you while you were burning down a hospital," Garret grit his teeth and pointed at the fire reptile, "In my book, that makes you the bad guy. Far as I'm concerned, you did this to yourself!"

"Shut up! I'm going to burn you down to a crisp!" Rex growled, "I'm going to burn everyone, everyone's gonna burn, y'hear me?! EVERYONE!"

"No." Charlie stood beside Garret; she was glaring right at Rex as well now. "You're not going to burn anybody anymore. You want a cure for that? You got to stop. Turn yourself in, we can get you help!"

"Help? You don't want to get me help; you want to put me away. You think I'm stupid or somethin'?!" Fire Cracker snarled. Charlie prepared herself.

"You know the answer to that one," the scorpion hissed, "If you don't stop, then I swear to you, Rex, I'm going to stop you."

"You? Stop ME? You can't stop me! Your tricks don't work on me, bug!" Fire Cracker laughed hysterically.

"Maybe, but I'm sure as hell I'm gonna try."

"Grrr... BURN IN HELL!" With a scream, the super-villain hurled a fast fireball at Charlie, who pushed Thompson off before she jumped off to the lot's fence.

"Right here, buster! Don't tell me I got a small target on me, 'cause I'm not gonna believe you!" the scorpion teased, shaking her buns at him provokingly.

"You're gonna regret making me mad. Nobody angers Fire Cracker and lives to tell the tale!"

"Bo-oring! Hey, did that name occur to you because of girls?" Charlie jumped off towards a building to avoid an incoming fireball and quickly crawled up to its roof. She took in a generous gulp of air and slid her mask off before she yelled: "Because a firecracker's only a few seconds of fun, didja know?!"

Blushing, the reptile had had enough. "I'm going to eviscerate you!!" he shouted, rushing through the fence, the flimsy metal melting as he blasted it. Approaching the building, he quickly began to scale it using his powerful claws. Sure of her strategy, Charlie dashed off while Fire Cracker gave chase.

"STOP RUNNING SO I CAN KILL YOU!"

"What? And interrupt this excellent cardio? C'mon, you could stand to lose a few pounds, right?"

"SHUT UP AND STAND STILL!"

"Damn, he's fast, maybe as fast as I am!" Charlie thought as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding all the fireballs that fortunately dissipated in the air after they flew for too long. "At least he's far away from causing anymore harm to innocents. But now... how DO I stop him?!"

Enraged, the salamander continued his assault by launching volley after volley of piping hot flames at his opponent. He went at it for so long that he didn't notice his attacks were starting to lose potency and speed, and that he was starting to slow down himself.

"What's this? He CAN get tired!" Charlie deduced almost instantly after she noticed the break she was getting. "Alright, now I just need a way to stop him for good, while he's weak... Water doesn't seem to work. But he's a lizard now, lizards don't like cold! That's it!"

"Stop... ahh... stop running!" Fire Cracker panted, hurling tiny sparks of fire by now. "You... ahh... I'll burn you...!"

Charlie skidded to a halt and turned around. She had to hide the fact the long runs and jumps had drained some of her stamina, "C'mon handsome, it's a few more minutes. Don't tell me you're already SPENT?"

"RAWR!" Fire Cracker let out a dangerous roar and pounced forwards, then kicked himself towards Charlie, tackling her over the edge.

"Okay, maybe I should quit it with the innuendos...!" gasping, the heroine tried to get the reptilian off herself, but then they crashed past a skylight and into a deserted building. As they impacted, Charlie managed to kick the salamander off of herself. Fortunately, her scorpion strength and chitin armor had cushioned most of the landing, but in her weak state, it had done some damage to her. Holding by her mid-section, she panted and looked at Fire Cracker with a growl. "So, you still got some fight in you, huh...?"

As he got up, Fire Cracker smirked, "That's my line. You're getting sloppy, Stinger."

"Don't be so sure, we're exactly where I want you," Charlie thought, narrowing her eyes. She wasn't sure if he had noticed, but the building they had crashed into was the same where the creature had bit Rex earlier. If they had stashed such a dangerous creature in the building, there was sure to be a counter-measure for it somewhere! "Let's dance," she adopted a battle stance and let her pincers out, which she used to beckon.

"You're stupid, really stupid. You got the advantage outside when I'm chasing you, but you got nowhere to run inside here! You're toast!"

"Toast? Why can't I be cereal? Or wait, can I be a graham cracker instead? I really like s'mores. Do you like s'mores?" Charlie jumped over Fire Cracker, and after a spinning somersault kicked his back, sending him flying into a wall. "No biting by the way."

"Nngh! Where the hell do you get so much strength from? You're smaller than me!"

"I'm a scorpion, did you pay attention to your biology lessons? I've got the proportional strength to, I dunno, lift a couple of trailers above my head?" she grinned.

"Shut up! You're nothing more than a bug and I'm going to squash you like one!" Fire Cracker groaned, getting up to his feet before attempting to tackle Charlie again; this time, she jumped and stuck to the ceiling.

"Wrong, I'm an arachnid. Guess that answers my question. You're not very smart, are you? Did you flunk a grade, or two?"

"RRRRAAAAAH!" the villain's anger was reaching its limits. He was flailing his arms, trying to get them to catch on fire, while his tail smacked the chairs and tables around him. Meanwhile, Charlie looked around for anything she could use, until she was able to notice a canister of specialized cooler. That's what she needed.

"Soft spot? Aww, poor widdle lizawd. Want me to be your study partner? I'm kinda good at maths. One!" she jumped off her perch and landed a good kick across Fire Cracker's face, sending him spinning onto a table. She quickly followed that up with a swift one two to his kidneys, "Two!" then she spun around and hit him square with a round-house kick, "Three!"

As she sent the powerful villain flying into a wall, she rushed over to the box she had noticed earlier and quickly extracted a canister of the spray-type coolant she needed. "Lesson's over," she said, using her pincer to gash the container before she threw it at Fire Cracker.

Jumping away before he tried to set her on fire, the canister exposed to the immense heat emanating from Fire Cracker caused a big explosion.

When the gas cleared, Charlie poked her head out from under a table and looked at the result of her plan. "Reptiles are cold-blooded, and they go to hibernation if their body temperature decreases," she resumed in her head, reminding her early biology lessons, "Guess I'm a boring teacher. Don't blame ya, kiddo."

Unable to fight his natural weakness, Rex had fallen into a deep slumber, his body too cold to keep his energies up, much less produce the necessary fire to heat up.

---

I had to call Jim immediately. These were the cases we worked for in tag with Interpol after all. He isn't a normal reptile, I don't know how long this state will hold up, but I told Jim to get this guy to a special holding cell. If there's anything I learned today about this, is that guys can get really sensitive about their bits if you speak bad about them.

Had to contact his parents. It was a phone talk, but I had to at least let them know what had gone on. It had to be me, too, because I wouldn't have anyone else take responsibility for what had happened to Redd Phillips. His mother was out, so I spoke to his alleged step-father; it was a short chat. He was drunk, and he used so many insults, and so few of them had to do with Redd being a super-powered criminal now that I hung up in five minutes.

On the parent thing for my side, well... Mom and dad were both tended to immediately. Fortunately, I had gotten them both out in time before any serious damage to their lungs was done. Dad will have to spend some more weeks in the hospital for rehab, but mom will come out sooner. I'm not sure I'm ready to tell them they nearly got killed in a fire caused by a giant salamander I helped create. Or that I've a six foot long tail.

One thing is for sure... my superiors aren't going to be happy about this. They'd done a good job hiding the existence of metamorphs so far. It's all going to get a lot more complicated from now on. There's just one thing I keep thinking to myself.

Where did that salamander that bit Redd come from...?

---

Los Angeles, California. S.M.S.P. (Specialized Maximum Security Prison)

"Roll him in quietly. Better if he doesn't wake up," a guard instructed as they rolled in Fire Cracker within a fully oxygenated chamber constantly kept at a low temperature. "Whatever this kid went through, I'm sure it didn't warrant him going psycho and burning down that hospital."

"Sick though. Fire powers? Sign me up."

"Looking like a lizard? You kiddin' me?"

"Heh, yeah, but would be awesome to control fire anyways, right?"

"Keep to your comic books, pal. Now roll him in."

As they passed by the chambers, a pair of sensitive ears picked up the conversation in great detail. Harmless as this ability was, it provided no end of satisfaction to the prisoner within the ultra-sonics rigged holding cell. Blonde and nine feet tall, her graceful beauty incomparable; a silver bat metamorph known as Omega. "Firre Crracker? Dah, he will do."

The End.