Flare’s panting gradually settled and the heat radiating from her body weakened as she stood tall over the unconscious body of her opponent. The bronze man was sprawled on the floor, eyes rolled into the back of his head. Small indents littered his body, each looking like a fist-shaped stamp.
It turns out that skin made of bronze can protect you from fire, but once it has been heated enough, the metal becomes easier to bend. Still, it was quite a tough battle. It wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle, but it certainly was beyond most of the dangers she had faced so far.
The words halted on her tongue as the exit to the hexagonal room opened once more. She was just about to go check on it, see if she could break her way out. The exit opening on its own meant one thing, and as if to confirm her suspicion, four heavily armed gunmen entered, two moving along the wall on the left while the other two moved right. A few steps in, they put an even space between them and aimed their weapon.
"Please step away from the unconscious man." One of them said.
Flare didn’t respond, her eyes moving from one gunman to the other. She glanced at the unconscious bronze man at her feet, and after a moment of thought, she took a few steps back.
Though her training regimen included practice with rubber bullets, and though she had faced many opponents armed with rifles, Flare was hesitant to challenge those four. Something about the way they moved told her they weren’t the average gun-wielding criminals.
Soon after she backed away, two more men entered the brightly lit room. They carried in a stretcher, placed the bronze man on it, then quickly moved him out. Soon after, someone else came in pushing a cart with a few items on it, and following behind him was a strange person wrapped in a cloak, their face hidden behind a featureless mask.
"Greetings, Ms. Eisenberg, or should I call you Flare?"
The voice sounded female, but Flare knew enough to not make that judgment. In this day and age, there is more than one way to create a convincing fake.
"What is this place?" She asked, fixing the cloaked person with a glare. "Who are you?"
"This is the hexagonal cage." They replied, sounding amused. "We like to call it the hex cage."
Somehow, Flare doubted the validity of that last statement.
"As for who I am, people refer to me as Delta."
Flare questioned the validity of this statement as well.
"Delta, huh? I will ask you again, what is this place?"
The cloaked woman? Tilted her head.
"I believe I already answered that question? Oh! Did you mean to ask where this place is? As in your current location?"
"I can find out for myself on my way out." Flare replied. "Will you step aside and let me pass?"
"I’m afraid that won’t be possible, sweetheart. You are far too valuable for us to just let you go. First, we need you to fight a few of our associates. Don’t worry, they have strict orders not to threaten your life."
The cloaked woman held a hand up, shutting her down. She turned away and remained still for a few seconds, giving the impression of staring at empty air. Heaving a sigh, she turned in Flare’s direction once again.
"Once we are done," Though she spoke as if nothing had happened, the change in her tone was noticeable. "We will start negotiations with your family. They have a few resources we desperately need, you see."
It was to be expected. She was the daughter of one of the richest people in the world, so the next logical step would be to demand a ransom for her return.
"We have brought you some food and refreshments. Please enjoy your little break before the next fight."
Flare turned her eyes toward the cart. Seeing the small water bottles stacked on it, she suddenly became aware of how dry her throat was.
"No need to worry. If we had any intention of killing you, poison would have been the last of our options."
Delta turned around and stepped toward the exit, drawing Flare’s attention back to her. The hero made the mistake of taking a step forward, showing her intent to follow after the cloaked woman. Before she could take another step, a bullet pierced the spot right at the tip of her boot, causing her to stagger back.
"Don’t make any rash decisions," Delta said. "You might be of more use to us alive than dead, but your corpse is still worth its weight in gold."
The exit closed after the gunmen, who retreated with their weapons still pointed at the red-haired hero. Left alone, Flare stood still for a good two minutes. Eventually, she made her way to the cart and took one of the water bottles, ripped the cap off, then emptied the contents into her mouth.
She did the same with a second bottle, then a third. Soon after the last drop slid down her throat, steam erupted from all around her body, encasing her in a thin cloud of vapor.
A side effect of her heat based abilities was that she tended to run out of fluids much quicker than a normal person. It wasn’t a big problem in her previous missions as her assistants from the DEO were always there to provide her with what she needed, but no one was here, forcing her to take the risk of drinking something offered by her captors.
Having satiated her thirst, her eyes were naturally drawn to the tray of food on the cart. It had some sandwiches, a plate of what she recognized as chicken nuggets, and a rather colorful bowl of fruit salad. Right beside them were a number of cans she only ever saw in commercials.
A quiet rumble from her stomach served as a reminder that she hadn’t eaten anything since the previous day, which immediately brought back the memory of that red haired boy offering her one of the sandwiches he bought from the convenience store.
"I... I should have asked if..."
The worst possible scenario came to her mind right away. Her status made her a valuable hostage to have, but what about him?
"I... I need to get out of here..."
Stealing her resolve, Flare reached for a sandwich.