"YES, YOU ARE!" IGI YELLED FROM THE SKY.
Hefting a lasso, she caught Iris in it and hoisted him up into the sky. As he was lifted up, he looked up to see a hot-air balloon. The craft was very expensive to use, as the amount of fuel… oh, sorry. They had fire powers here. His bad. Landing on the even bamboo floor of the craft, Iris grimaced in pain.
"And that's why you're so interesting!" Igi squealed, before lifting him up and hugging him very painfully.
Iris tried his best not to black out, clutching onto the file firmly.
"Now," She said, letting him go, before sharply swerving the balloon in a different direction, "To a medic!"
Iris couldn't argue with that.
"So," She said after a brief silence, "Your goal - it's training."
No shi- Iris nodded in the positive.
"So you do not want to leave here? Even though we all, myself included, hate your kind?"
Another nod.
"You're interesting. Scarily."
Enough with that vocabulary. He wasn't a lab experiment. Peering over the frame, Iris took in the sight; rooftops of different sizes and shades of red, lined by the amber setting sun.
"Well, here we are." Igi said, before hopping out without a warning.
How did she expect him to get down? In his condition? After a few minutes, though, the hot air balloon began to descend, until it softly touched down. Wait… this wasn't a hospital. This was a market! That little multicolor-eyed-
"Hey!" Igi said from behind, catching Iris unaware, "I got an EasyFire Revival Kit!"
"What's that for?" Iris questioned.
Igi's expression turned sour.
"Why, to heal you of course!" She said before promptly stabbing him in the back.
Iris instinctively yelled, but it wasn't even painful. Instead, warmth spread around his body. He stretched his arm and back to feel the wound- wait, his arm was mobile now.
"What… did you do?" He managed, amazed at how quickly all his pain vanished, and even more so how he became so full of energy. Maybe she wasn't such a crazy, annoying, lethal, tricky, haywire witch after all.
"Don't be so smiley." She said, looking oddly displeased. "Your… differences, have caused complications."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed.
"Check your bullet wound." She said.
As he unraveled the bandages, instead of a neatly sealed scar, courtesy of the EasyFire, he saw a fresh but bloodless wound.
"What's this?" Iris gasped.
"Fire creation has many uses. The creator of EasyFire mimicked his extremely precise control over his flames with machines, and converted it to energy, which could heal, destroy, and do a lot of other stuff. EasyFire factories were made and since then, they have practically integrated with our everyday lives here."
"What's that parable got to do with me?"
"It's not a parable!" She said, flinging the empty EasyFire kit away in annoyance. "My point is, you're different. Your control over external flames extends to flames that have been converted to energy. You probably just absorbed the EasyFire the second it touched you, so it barely closed your wound."
Wow.
"So you're saying," Iris said, "Modern medication doesn't work on me?"
"Yes."
"Oh- Okay." Iris said promptly, before reinstalling his bandages.
"Don't you care?" Igi asked, bemused.
"Nah." Iris wrapped up, then sat down. "I'll just wait for it to heal, like a normal guy."
Igi froze on the normal.
"What. Missus?" No response. Then she turned around.
"It seems we really are from two different worlds." She said before mantling the frame. "Let's go."
"Where?"
"To sign you up for the Ember Corps."
Yes! Progress!
"But first, you need a new set of clothes." Igi said, smiling.
Yes! Clothing!
+ + + + + +
No! Girl clothing! Iris gaped in horror at Igi's kaleidoscopic boutique, with dresses, shirts and -obviously- trousers of different shapes, sizes and colors stuffed in wardrobes, cabinets of closets of different shapes, sizes and colors. Looking at it alone made him nauseous. Hold on…
"What about the building?" Iris asked.
"What building?" She replied innocently.
"Don't play dumb with me. The building you set on fire!"
"Oh, that. Eh, someone will fix it. Now, let's get you a nice outfi-"
"Shut up."
"What?"
"I said shut the hell up."
Iris seethed with rage. This spoiled brat, probably no older than fourteen, didn't give a rat's ass about putting shops out of business, lighting apartment buildings on fire, hell, she said "fix it" like all they needed was a lug wrench!
"I'm going back there. To stop that fire."
"And why, please?" She said, smiling sweetly.
"I'll… I'll kill you."
A lie.
Igi began to chuckle.
Iris was pissed.
His whole body visibly steamed with badly sealed anger. His vision reddened… No, he couldn't be this mentally fragile. His whole life had been full of hardships. One more brat couldn't be any worse. Breathing heavily in an attempt to calm down, he focused all his body heat into his palm, a hazy ball of heat forming. Wait, was that sparks? The ball burst into flames, dancing around in his palm, before dissipating in his shock.
"What the-"
"Kill me." Igi said finally. "Haha. Hahaha. Very funny."
She raised a foot, and Iris saw a flash of orange in her hand before she lunged at him.