“The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
The pounding of electronic drums was swaying the peoples’ hearts, and the synthesized horns were booming throughout the soul of Spark City. The band, Soul Wild, was leaving their hearts on the main street for the Liberty Festival. The city was lively. The architecture was long, round, and boringly a-symmetrical, but made new. Buildings were painted with many vibrant shades. The fashion was polychromic, everyday clothing being modernized tunics and pants. The streets were filled with sizzling food, alluring bargains, and amazing performers.
On the holidays, Burner was on guard duty. He was a glimmering yellow-haired youth only wearing designer shorts with his yellow comm-bracelet. The young, vibrant, red-eyed superhero flew on his yellow surfboard covered in graffiti tags with aero thrusters attached. As his body emitted heat waves, his foot settled tightly at the base of the board into a slot where he expelled his flames into the exhaust pipe, taking off into the sky like a red comet.
During the summer was when Burner became fully charged and combustible at will. He had the power of fire under his control, only to fly around with no enemy in sight. Burner was enhanced to fight the tyrannical empire of the former years, but the boy ran. However, he still assisted much in the war against Sovereign A.I. and the robotic army. Years ago there were countless attacks by the machines. Now he hoped their inactivity was a sign of victory.
Burner’s bracelets beeped, and projecting the words, “Rebirth.” He then notified the lookout that he was leaving. It was about time the most fantastic concert started. The Rebirth, a party of the new era, and the heart-pounding jazz he was overhearing was the pre-show.
Burner fire-surfed above the skies, overlooking the thousands outside the Golden Emerald Arena. The structure lived up to its name with its shape, shine, and awe. The holiday still felt new, and this was the first time he would speak at the engagement. He would make himself new like Spark City. Burner, for a long time, shined with his power but finally, he will become a light to the people.
As he came down, he could not hold it back. Burner held his board over his head, placing his palm into the slot and spinning it around. As he hung in the air like a helicopter, he released spirals of fire into the atmosphere. He was high enough that no one would get hurt, yet low enough that everyone would see the waves of flowing flame coloring the sky. The audience rallied at the display. He unleashed one big blast, launching it into space like a grand shooting star. After the bang, he floated down. He heard boos loud and clear under the screams of excitement. There were still people who remembered his crime and would never forgive him for it. Overall, the crowd’s energy was infectious enough to ignore the past, so Burner shouted with them as he entered.
The manager met up with Burner, trying to lecture him on how dangerous the firework show could have been. He just nodded. He was mostly distracted by the thousands of people standing in unison in front of a gentle purple-haired singer. It was as if her voice invited the soul of a calming sunset on the beach. Her melody was soft and the sound was comfortable. It felt like a charming dream. Burner wanted to stay but, they walked him to the backstage.
The manager showed Burner the entrance to the stage and insisted that he not fly on stage or he would burn the stage down. He pointed to the prompter screen and gave him the speech to practice.
“No thanks. I don’t need this.” Burner said.
“I read the speech myself,” the manager replied. “It’s great! It’s going to make you look real good. No worries kid.”
“I’m not a kid.” Burner challenged.
“You could’ve fooled me.” the manager retorted
“Look, when It is the summer, my power is fully charged but the energy makes me younger in the process. So in actuality, I’m in my twenties.” Burner countered
“That’s still young. I’m mean, come on! You’re making this difficult! Smile and recite the speech.Easy.”
The manager walked away as if Burner concede but he didn’t. Burner decided when it was time for him to speak, every word will be from his own heart.
The thunder of an explosion blew away the backstage. Burner couldn’t move, as curtains, lights, and other props piled on top of him. He incinerated the objects within his personal space, being careful not to burn anyone close to him. The stadium was full of panic and destruction as new models of enemy machines were in the middle of the chaos. They had round bodies and sterile-white. Their arms were lanky and sharp, lasers equipped on their steel talons. They each had one eye, it was a blue-lit jewel with an upside-down omega sign.
Of all the days, they were smart enough to attack the city when Burner was not at the gate. He was terrified by how deep the enemy was in their home, Burner counted four in the stadium and took flight. The titans were shooting at everybody. He jetted around the arena. Burner intercepted the barrage of lasers by swiftly flying through the beams, protecting a myriad of civilians. He busted an opening near the door with a crash of his of his fireboard, creating a massive exit. Burner floated in between the Titans and the survivors, allowing time for them to escape.
The titans shot at Burner. Surprisingly, their aiming was off by little, making it easy for Burner to dodge the incoming beams. He flew straight at them, whipping in a circular motion, unleashing an inferno wave. One of the deadly machines took flight with its blue energy jetpack, hovering over the blaze. The others weren’t as lucky, as they liquified from the heat before exploding. Burner flipped on his board, switching appendages in the slot, from foot to hand. He charged ahead like he was jousting with a rocket attached to a yellow lance. He pierced through the body of the flying titan and it crashed to the ground.
Burner was about to see if more enemies were outside, but he smelled blood. The aroma was thick. A crimson fluid was splattered all over his board. He felt the blood on his body as if it was a boiling, red stream. Burner had the worst kind of thoughts in his head as he ran to the fallen Titan. He saw not a person, but the bloody, scattered remains of flesh. It wasn’t a machine, but a big robotic suit, that compressed in the backpack. Real live breathing people snuck in and attack their own.
Burner couldn’t have killed anyone. He would have rather gone AWOL, but today he casually plowed through a human soul, because of ignorance. Ignorance is a blissful giant, unaware that every step was crushing lives into dust.
Hologram words projected from the eye of the broken Titans. The message read, “There is no freedom in peace, and Sovereign is the only peace for us.” People always find a reason to kill each other. He could look down on them, but now he was eye to eye.
Burner couldn’t stay there anymore. He flew through the roof to ditch the scene. The streets were empty and void of any other attacks. Burner, the boy-murderer, flew towards the sky with blood vapors trailing around him. He almost fled Spark City, but after realizing how many he saved, he returned to his post. Burner’s glow became dimmer. He felt the season change. It was no longer summer.
Peculiar Parables 