The morning had been going well. Rex had spent most of it making rounds in a poorer section of the city, spending his enforced hiatus trying to help others. He was starting to get to know some of the residents of the area and was slowly winning their trust. In return, he was able to sometimes provide ways that could make their lives easier.

Today, he’d been passing out some food from his church’s pantry to a few places and people he knew needed a bit of assistance to make it through the rest of their month. It was something his therapist approved of - it was catharsis.

Then everything changed when the Berserker Boys attacked.

Who knows what set them off? They were a small gang, if three people counted as a gang. Street trash, all of them, always looking for a quick buck or cheap thrill without putting in an honest work effort. They also had powers, enough that nobody really ever stood up to them.

Rex had heard about them of course. They were well known. Folks tried to avoid them or appease them, but never fight them. They took offense easily and were apparently fond of Norse beliefs, or at least their leader was, who went by the name Fenrear (to the hidden amusement of anyone who actually knew how Norse names were pronounced). He had some kind of delayed healing power. He could take damage but wouldn’t bleed or stop moving, even if bones were broken. But the next time you saw him everything was great. It was horrifying to watch.

His cohorts were equally abhorrent. Kodiak wore a jacket made from the pelt of a Kodiak bear he was rumored to have killed with his bare hands. Considering just how huge and tough those hands (and the rest of his body) got when he worked himself up into a battle frenzy, nobody doubted it.

The third member of the trio was Razorback. He turned into a giant, bloodthirsty boar the size of a minivan.

And now they were busting up a street, destroying everything in sight and brutally stomping down anyone who tried to get in their way.

Sam wasn’t a beat cop and he didn’t go out on patrol, but that didn’t mean he didn’t find himself walking around through poorer sections of the city in his official capacity as an officer. He didn’t wear an NYPD uniform, but he likely still stood out. Plaid button down and tie with blue jeans wasn’t exactly the norm in that particular part of the city. As a detective, and one who frequently worked undercover, Sam worked with a lot of latitude with respect to his attire.

Often Sam would find reasons to be in high crime areas while not needing to be there. Places where police response was often a little longer. This provided two benefits; the first was the locals received a more immediate police presence, the second was that he could handle mutants before other officers arrived. This provided him the chance to test his latest iteration on his spell to restrain a mutant’s power.

Sam was leaning against a building eating some chinese from one of their very distinctive takeout boxes when a small hell broke loose.

The Berserker Boys. Sam had heard about them and even seen their photos down at One Police Plaza. They weren’t FBI’s most wanted nor were they going to find their faces on the DIA’s playing cards. They were a NYC home grown nuisance. Rap sheet including assault, terroristic threats, criminal mischief, destruction of public property, grand larceny, and jaywalking. They were mutants who used their powers to hurt people. There was nothing redeeming about them.

Clearly the asphalt and sidewalk had offended the three men. They were doing their damndest to trash it. They were breaking it, spilling trash cans on it, and throwing everything at and into it. That… or the tall man in the business suit that kept running from them had offended them. He was ducking, dodging, and weaving like he was an athlete in his youth. Razorback was big and could move fast, but he couldn’t corner well.

”Freeze, NYPD!” Sam ran toward the chase. One hand was fishing out his badge that hung from his neck, the other was pulling his shirt out of his pants in the front and drawing his duty pistol.

Bringing in the Berserker Boys would look good on his record. They were also three prime targets for his spells.

“...and don’t come out until you hear quiet!” Rex managed to shout and whisper at the same time as he shut Mrs. Robinson’s door with a slam. The steel bars on it and the windows should keep her and her grandkids safe enough. He’d left them with all the extra food he’d had, figuring he’d come back for it later. Right now he needed to assess the situation. There were other people on the street, maybe more in danger. At the very least there might be wounded.

There was a lot of screaming. Kodiak had flipped a car, grabbed it by its frame, and hurled it halfway down the street where it crashed through a storefront not too far from Rex. The glass spray nearly struck him.

A sharp shriek from instead dictated Rex’s next move. Without thinking, he zipped over to the store, his boots grinding the glass into smithereens as he leaped over the window frame, kicked off the car, and landed inside.

It was a mom and pop grocery store, now partially demolished. Inside was about a half dozen people hiding behind aisle shelves. The cocking of a gun drew Rex’s attention and he turned to see a balding man in an apron with a name tag “Manager” aiming a rifle at him.

“Woah, hold up, sir,” Rex, raising his hands. “I’m here to help. Is anyone injured?” The car was leaking fluids and the acrid smell was mixing unpleasantly with the dust in the air.

“Don’t think so,” the man said, lowering the rifle. It seemed Rex’s habit of spending time in the neighborhood was paying off. The manager, Mr. Cho, seemed to recognize him. THey both looked around at some of the heads peeping out of hiding.

“Okay, Mr. Cho, you need to lead these people out of here. The Berserker boys are going, well, berserk. This car is a hazard. It’s possible it could explode. Is there a back door to this place?” Rex said calmly and in a no-nonsense fashion. Mr. Cho took a few seconds to process Rex’s words.

“Yes, yes there is. I can lead them away,” he said nodding quickly.

“Good,” Rex said. In emergencies people often got confused and didn’t think straight. Assigning people specific and singular tasks was often all it took to get them working and acting right. “I’m going back out to see who else I can help.”

“You’re a good man, Rex,” Mr. Cho said, as the people started to draw toward him.

Rex didn’t respond. He’d jumped back through the hole where the display window used to be.

Three mutants terrorizing the city, three test subjects for his spells. Sam did a tactical reload to swap out the magazine in his service pistol with one that led with a pair of magical bullets. He worked the action. A nonmagical round was ejected as one of the magical anti-mutation cartridges was loaded into the chamber.

First order of business was Razorback. The boar was doing hellacious damage and was slowly catching up to his target. Sam stopped and fired a round at Razorback. It was a miss. Sam fired again, this time a hit.

Razorback stumbled when he was hit by the bullet, the spell taking effect. It wasn’t a full nullification but the mutation was reverting back. Razorback stumbled and rolled across the ground as he turned back into a mostly human lump of auto-trampled garbage.

”And stay down!” Sam said as he went for another reload. He had two more magazines with the first pair of bullets being ensorcelled. Hopefully he could hit the other two with only one.”Alright, who’s next?”

Rex ducked immediately as a gunshot cracked through the air. He crouched beside a car and froze for a moment, straining to hear other shots. It hadn’t sounded like he was a target and he didn’t hear and new shrieks, at least none associated with a gun. There were people yelling and screaming all up and down the street though, amongst other sounds of carnage.

The firefighter peeked over the hood of the car and that’s when he saw the writhing form of Razorback vanish into the damaged form of an unconscious man. His eyes widened. How did a single gunshot do that to something that was so big? Didn’t elephant hunters have to use special armor piercing rounds or something?

But this was good. There was help on scene.

A bellowing roar blasted down the streets and Rex could feel it in his bones. He snapped his attention toward the source and he saw Kodiak charging down the street, another car suspended over his head. With another roar he hurled the car down the street in the direction Razorback had seemingly been heading. “Die!” the man shouted in a rage-garbled roar. “Die, die, die!” He looked even bulkier and more musclebound than he had just minutes before.

Well that accounted for two of the Berserker Boys. Where was the third?

Shattering glass and malicious chortling dragged Rex’s attention back down the street and he saw Fenrear throwing a bottle with a flaming rag through the window of a house. The one beside it already had the tell-tale sight of orange lights from it. The whoosh of sudden flames could just be heard by Rex. “Sangre de Dios!” Rex said.

No more thinking, only time for action. He jumped up and started sprinting toward the houses.

Ready with two more anti-mutation rounds, Sam moved. He quickly got away from the path the now flying car was taking. Kodiak had launched a car down the street in the direction Razorback had been heading. There were two targets left, but Kodiak was the clear net target. From what he remembered, Fenrear just healed. Sure he could still be dangerous, but no more so than any human.

The problem was that Fenrear was moving quickly and weaponizing cars. This kept them between Sam and Fenrear, making a clear shot almost impossible. Saw scanned the area quickly. He didn’t want to move to get a better angle on Kodiak and find Fenrear ready with some more mundane but no less deadly weapon.

Fire.

One of the houses had the orange glow of a fire. ”Not good.” Sam said with a curse. He saw someone but before he could yell at the man to call 911 for the fire, the man took off running toward the building. That was some bravery.

”This might suck.” Sam said to himself as he decided on his course of action. Distance was the enemy. He needed to get closer to Kodiak. Get in close and behind him. Sam didn’t want to kill Kodiak so reducing his power while the man was holding a car over his head was the last resort.

”Hey, Ursa minor! Yeah, you. Tantrum time’s over!” Sam yelled at Kodiak trying to draw his attention before he threw another car at someone. ”If you can’t play nice with your mutation, I’ll just have to take it away.” Sam slid feet first under a tossed car and fired at Kodiak from a few yards away.

Fenrear cackled, a harsh, raspy sound as he stood back and watched his handiwork. He didn’t have any more Molotov cocktails, but he was happy with how’d he’d used these two.

He was so caught up in his arson that he didn’t hear the rapid bootsteps dash across the asphalt.

Rex lowered his shoulder just before contact and slammed Fenrear to the side, shoving the thug a yard or two away and sending him crashing to said asphalt. Rex didn’t stop. He powered over the sidewalk and to the nearest house’s front door, which he began banging his fists on.
“FIRE! FIRE! GET OUT NOW! FIRE!” he roared, years of training coming through. He hammered on the door again and then stabbed the doorbell repeatedly.

Then Rex heard a scream.

His head snapped to the right and he saw the door to the first house open and a little girl come running out, even as black smoke started to pour out with her. “Aiiiii!” she shrieked as she scampered over to the road.

Rex leaped off the porch he was at and he ran into the neighbor’s yard.
“Is there anyone else inside?” he asked, trying to not yell at the girl.
“Did they make it out?” Little kids wouldn’t be alone, right?

“Muh-muh-muh-my mommy is upstairs,” she stammered. Then tears started pouring. “The fire is on the stairs already.” She started sobbing.

“I will get her out!” Rex said forcibly, briefly touching the girl’s shoulder. “Now go across the street where it’s safer!” He gave her a gentle shove and then inhaled deeply before sprinting into the house.

Sam shot to his feet and pointed his pistol at Kodiak who was noticeably smaller. ”On the ground, hands behind your head!”

Kodiak didn’t get the memo that the fight was over. Even with reduced strength he thought he could take Sam. He threw a punch at Sam. Sam dodged it.

”On the ground!” Sam yelled as he dodged another hit from Kodiak.

After abiding a couple more strikes, Sam decided it wasn’t worth fighting while he had his pistol out. Using his support hand he drew out a knife and slashed it across Kodiak’s pelt. Immediately it began flailing on Kodiak. The movement forced him to the ground and kept his arms moving as he no longer had the strength to resist the fur controlling his movement.

Sam returned the knife to its scabbard and turned to look for Fenrear. ”One to go.” He didn’t see Fenrear but the fire in the building was growing. Black smoke was billowing out of the open door of one.

It took Sam only a moment to decide. The two most destructive members of the Berserker Boys have been managed. The risk to civilians was now from the fire. Sam pulled out his cell phone and called for fire services as he ran toward the burning buildings.

Once inside, Rex started hearing a woman shouting for help. “I’m coming!” he yelled before immediately coughing. He pulled his shirt up and over his nose and oriented himself. He was standing in a living room that was half-consumed by fire. On the side he was on, there was a tiled hallway leading to a kitchen, it seemed. The other side, the side with the broken window, had a stairway that led up. As Rex watched, flames started licking their way up the first several steps.

“Help!” the woman shouted again. Rex didn’t respond. He needed to conserve his breath. Already black smoke was forming a haze in the living room and it was only going to get worse. They probably didn’t even have five minutes - Molotovs were highly efficient at spreading fire, especially in a carpeted room.

“Father, protect me,”Rex said swiftly before shutting his eyes and calling up a verse. “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way,” he spoke. His words stirred something inside of him, something that started burning like the flames snaking up the steps and across the living room and one of its walls. “And by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light.” He focused on the heat and the words and what they meant to him. “To go by day and night.”

Fire rushed out from Rex and immediately began swirling around him in a tight, whirling cylinder. He took another deep breath and then sprinted into the fire.

Wherever he walked, the small wind caused by his pillar sucked at the surrounding flames, pulling them toward him, draining them. Fires vanished beneath his feet even as his own flames licked at the ceiling. “No…” he whispered. He switched over to Spanish, repeating the same verse. “Y Jehová iba delante de ellos de día en una columna de nube para guiarlos por el camino…”

The pillar shrank back from the ceiling and Rex made it through to the steps, bounding up them. He stopped speaking and he stopped focusing on the fire. His fire whirl dissipated in seconds and a single glance back saw a four foot wide path burned across the carpet. He turned back and ran up the steps. “Where are you!” he shouted. THe smoke wasn’t as bad up there, not yet, but Rex still hunched over.

“Here!” came the woman’s voice and Rex saw a figure burst out from a room in what looked like pajamas. “What’s happening? Where’s Mandy? Oh God, tell me she’s okay!”

Rex stepped forward and grabbed the woman’s arm. “Your daughter is fine, ma’am, she got out! Now we just need to get you out. Is there anyone else in here?”

“N-no, just me and Mandy,” the woman said, eyes wide with panic.

“Then trust me and hang on!” Rex said. Then he smoothly bent and scooped the woman up in a fireman’s carry and plunged back down the steps, back through the charred carpet and floor that was just now being reclaimed by flames (flames which his boots handled just fine) and he burst through the door again, into the fresh air.

Sam arrived at the first burning building he had seen and saw a little girl crying. The door was open. Sam took a few deep breaths to prepare himself to run in if he needed to. He had a duty to help people when he could, but he had no magic that could help him here.

The girl was crying and talking about her mom. Sam looked from her to the building and took hold of a key. He committed to going in but as soon as he took a step toward the doorway a man about his height stepped out with a woman.

“Mommy!” the child cried.

Sam quickly looked over the woman. She looked a little worse for wear, but not so bad she needed him to use his key. She was fine. There was a fire at the other building. Sam turned to look at it. No one was outside.

”Anyone left that building?” Sam asked and indicated the other building where a fire was growing.

Rex coughed twice as he made his way to the street. Only then did he set the woman down. Immediately a child’s voice called out to the woman. “Mandy!” the woman cried and raced across the street in her pajamas to scoop her daughter up. Rex coughed again, though nowhere near as violently as the first time.

A man standing addressed him. Rex took in the man’s tone and noted the businesslike briskness. “Not sure. Didn’t hear anyone. Door is locked. Knocked, yelled, rang the doorbell. Heard the kid scream so came over here,” Rex reported swiftly, nodding at Mandy and her mother. Everything in him wanted to charge into the other house and make sure nobodoy was there, but he wasn’t equipped for it. Even what he had already done had been very dangerous, even with that...spell. If he hadn’t seen the fire start and had an idea of exactly where it was, he wouldn’t have risked that either. “Nothing else to do but pray.”

Even with this power he had, he still couldn’t do much of anything. It was just a stone around his neck.

He pulled out his phone to report the fire, but as it was dialing, a thought occurred to him. “Wait, where’s Fenrear?”

The man who had left the first burning building had done his due diligence on the second burning building already. If there was no indication that someone was inside, there was no sense in risking either of their lives to go into the burning home. As the man had said, all they could do was pray.

”Hope the big guy is listening.” It wasn’t said as a challenge, rather a genuine hope that if the big man upstairs was there he would hear and no one would be in the building.

With two of the berserker boys managed and at least one person spared from a fire, Sam pulled out his phone to begin on site coordination with the incoming emergency services. Beyond the fires, there were the two downed mutants and a horrific amount of damage with an unknown number of injured civilians.

The other man asked where Fenrear was.

Sam turned the microphone of his phone away from his face, ”Lost sight of him when I was apprehending Kodiak. He… Might try to help his brothers out.” Sam cast his eyes toward where he had dealt with Razorback and Kodiak. Sam spoke into his phone again asking for ESU and to block off a few blocks to prevent Fenrear from evading capture.

”I’m Detective Sam Travis. Good job saving that woman.”

“He is always listening,” Rex said simply. Then his phone connected and he was on the line with a dispatcher. He quickly and succinctly outlined the situation and the location and once all the details were sorted out, he hung up.

He glanced back at the other man, the professional of some kind, who seemed to be the only other person out on the street not panicked and frightened. A quick scan of the surroundings showed some people peeking out of their homes or stores or other refuges. News traveled fast in places like this, where people were used to getting inside on a moment’s notice to avoid getting caught up in one brouhaha or another. He nearly sighed in relief when a family came stomping out of the house next to the one he’d rescued the mother from, their arms full of presumable valuables and sentimental treasures.

As it was, his face softened ever so slightly, from concrete to soft marble. With people from the neighboring houses warned (another reason to yell), there wasn’t much else he could do. Not without equipment. His magic was only good for making more fires, not stopping them. His jaw clenched as he watched the smoke thicken and flames grow inside the houses. Not a single thing he could do.

Rex grunted as the man-- the detective-- congratulated him. The title explained much. “Lieutenant Rex Vidales. It’s my job,” is all he said. He could’ve done more if he’d had more time. Maybe have been able to verify nobody was in the first house. Something. He just stared at the growing flames.

“Keep an eye out for Fenrear - he had two Molotov cocktails,” Rex said without looking away from the fires. “That’s how these fires started. Who knows what else he’s up to. Berserker Boys aren’t usually this...berserk.” One again, a mutant had been the cause for another blaze.

”Good to know..” Sam said. He wasn’t particularly religious, especially since he now worked with magic and the Abrahamic religions that dominated America tended to have a problem with that.

When Rex identified himself,his running into the burning building made sense to Sam. Firefighter. As much as police ragged on firefighters for having cookouts and sleepovers all the time, they would risk everything by running into a blaze. While it wasn’t running toward gunfire, it was a close second. ”Lucky you were here, Rex.”

According to Rex, Fenrear had started the fires with Molotov cocktails. Classy. ”He might be slightly off his game. Both his brothers are down for the count. Looks like their mutations went on the fritz.”

Sam looked between where he had left Razorback and Kodiak. ”If he’s smart he’ll try to pick up his brothers and get out of dodge.” then looking back to Rex he added, "I called in after I managed Kodiak. We should have red and blue backup here soon."

Rex grunted. He wasn’t sure luck had anything to do with him being on the scene. Maybe bad luck. That was more his life. Being lucky would’ve meant he wouldn’t be watching two houses burning down before his very eyes. He stared at Sam expressionlessly for a long moment and then turned back to the flames.

The other man spoke and Rex frowned. Mutations on the fritz? What did that mean? He turned his frown toward the man and this time shifted his stance to somewhat face the detective and the houses at the same time. “Now that’s lucky,” he said, very little inflection to his voice. Was that the cop’s way of saying he’d killed Razorback and Kodiak? No minor feat to accomplish, but still.

Rex looked over to where he’d shoved Fenrear out of his way. The spot was bereft of people. He got an itching on the back of his neck. People like that didn’t stay down. Firestarters like that had missions or manias - neither was satisfied with a single act. “He’ll be back.” Mark Rex’s (few) words. He nodded once.

The firefighter snorted. “Doubt it,” he said, crossing his arms as the heat from the flames started making its way across the street. He could just barely discern it. “Police don’t come quick to this neighborhood.” It was a bad section of town. Nobody lived here if they could avoid it or unless they could make a profit, usually at the expense of those less fortunate. Which begged a question. “What brought you here?” They rarely saw cops there, even ones out of uniform.