Conflicted

She could feel power radiating through her body. They'd told her she was limitless. They'd told her she was one of a kind. She was the only Operator offspring they'd heard of where she came from. She could flood an entire city with a wave of her hand. She could send a tornado ripping through the countryside. She could set the world on fire if she wanted to.

As she stalked through the street like a lion through its territory, silently threatening its prey, Rain wondered what she was in the mood for. She could feel the lives of passersby, and just like that she could draw life from them without batting an eyelid if she wanted to. No one would know she'd done it. Her choices of activity were innumerable.

For a while she just walked aimlessly, enjoying the anonymity. She hadn't considered making friends; she considered everyone else beneath her. Everyone, of course, except for Cease. She admired Cease. She looked up to him. How he'd managed to sever his ties to Surge and still survive, it was a miracle. She wished she knew where he was so she could ask him how he'd done it. What wouldn't she give to do the same?

Suddenly a thought struck her. Why shouldn't she join him? Why couldn't she help him overthrow Surge? She could contact him. She had all the power Surge had to offer at her disposal; there had to be some way she could draw Cease's attention. And she knew just what.

Chaos.

She stopped walking, pushing over a stray human who'd almost walked into her and ignoring his cries of outrage. She was in the middle of a busy cluster of shops; the perfect place to start.

Rain looked across the road, at a row of shops, and held her hand out at eye level, her finger pointing at the shop on the far left. Slowly, she moved her hand so she was writing out a letter in the air, and as her hand moved, flames began to appear on the building across the street.

A few metres away, a woman screamed, and Rain hesitated, looking over at the horrified expression on the woman's face. The woman was pointing at the flames, which spelled out a neat 'C' on the top floor of the building, and more people were beginning to notice by the second. Suddenly the shop's fire alarm began to blare.

Rain continued onto the adjoining building, slowly carving out an 'E', and another alarm joined the chorus of chaos. She smirked maliciously, the incredible burst of power emanating from her fingertips fuelling her spectacular mood.

People began pouring out of the burning shops, screaming and panicking as Rain began on the next adjacent building, drawing an 'A'. Cars stopped in the road and people got out, staring in horror at the flames that seemed to be appearing out of nowhere.

Black smoke filled the air as Rain wrote an 'S'.

"Hey!" someone called, his voice almost completely drowned out by the screams and alarms.

Rain ignored the voice, too busy admiring her work. She looked to the final building, slowly pointing her finger and beginning on the last letter, 'E', when she felt a hand tap her shoulder, and before she knew it she was on the ground, her cheek stinging and her teeth digging into the inside of her cheek. Her mass of blonde hair fell over her face as she landed, and she glared through it at the offender.

He stood over her, the sun behind him silhouetting him black, but she could see his clenched fists well enough. She couldn't believe he'd dared to hit her. She clambered to her feet, her heels scraping against the pavement, combing her hair out of her face with her fingers, glaring ferociously. Just like that she could kill him. She could sever his link to Surge with a wave of her hand. But she wanted him to suffer. No one had ever hit her before.

"What do you think you're doing?" he snapped, prodding her in the shoulder.

She batted his hand away, glowering, rage rushing through her in a tidal wave of adrenaline. She reached out and seized the boy's throat, lifting him off his feet and digging her sharp orange nails into his flesh. He kicked and flailed frantically, but it was futile. She was too strong. People were watching by now, but she didn't care.

She held him up to the light and examined his face. He had a sharp jaw, smooth skin and dark blue eyes. His hair was short and brown, flicking to the side in soft points, as if a wind was constatly blowing it out of his face. He looked to be about eighteen, and she couldn't deny he was beautiful.

Rain hesitated at the sight of him, his skin glowing in the orange light of the fire. She appreciated beauty in all forms, and it was always such a shame to destroy it. Maybe she could turn him to stone and use him as an ornament.

People were staring, horror struck, unsure of what to do. No one wanted to stand up to the girl with enough power to lift a person much bigger than her. No one but him had seen her start the fires, but they were all confused and terrified, and no one seemed to know what to do. Rain felt the familiar feeling of power and authority, and she smirked.

Before she could decide what to do with the boy, sirens wailed in the distance. Reluctantly, she dropped him, letting him crumple to the ground, gasping for air. And when she blinked, everyone seemed to forget she was there, their eyes flashing bronze for a split second before returning their gazes to the burning buildings across the road. She turned away from the scene she'd created, disappointed she couldn't kill the boy.

She could easily take the police in a fight, but it was too many memories to erase. She couldn't be bothered. She'd set out to capture Cease's attention, and hopefully this had done it.

Rain began walking away, her heels tapping rhythmically against the concrete pavement, wondering what she'd do next. She wasn't in the mood to go home yet.

"Hey!" yelled a familiar voice, and for a second Rain worried she hadn't succeeded in erasing everyone's memories.

She turned to face the boy, bracing herself for defense. But he looked confused, dazed, and she knew he couldn't remember her. So what did he want? Then he held out a necklace. The chain connected to two joined circles, one bigger than the other; the symbol of the Operators.

"Did you drop this?" he asked, and for a second she just glared at him, considering hitting him back.

Then she eyed the necklace, distaste filling her mouth and making her swallow a lump in her throat. She hated that necklace, but until now she'd never thought to throw it away. But she wasn't an Operator anymore. In attempting to contact Cease, she considered herself officially Rogue.

"Keep it," she grunted, glancing behind him, where the fire engines had just arrived to extinguish the flames.

She eyed him once more before stalking away, glowering. Being hit by some stupid little pest had annoyed her. She wanted to hurt someone, but something had made her walk away from the very person who'd caused her anger. And something was making her keep walking.

She'd never been spotted before. Well, people had stopped her to ask directions before, but no one had caught her setting buildings on fire before. She wondered what had been so different this time. How could he have known it had been her? She'd been nowhere near the buildings, and no one believed in magic anymore. How had he known?

Not in the mood to have any more fun just yet, she wandered back to her loft, letting the air carry her up the stairs because she just wasn't in the mood for effort. She stormed into her tiny little room and slammed the door behind her before falling onto the bed, her hair fanning out beneath her.

Blaze appeared from the bathroom, and Rain rolled her eyes, irritated. She'd almost forgotten about her new pet. She was already getting bored of her. She'd probably put her down soon.

But still, it was a little less lonely with Blaze. Maybe Rain could recruit little minions to keep her entertained when she was bored. She could even compel people to be her friends. But in the end what would be the point? She was going to help Cease overthrow Surge and then she could create friends, friends who wouldn't annoy her.

"You said you'd be back late," said Blaze, and Rain sat up to look at her.

"I got bored," she drawled.

"That was quick."

Rain continued to look at Blaze, considering talking to her, properly talking to her like friends did at sleepovers in films. She could order Blaze not to judge her and just listen, and then wipe her memories afterwards. But what clever things could a silly little human offer to the conversations Rain wanted to have?

The human seemed to read something in Rain's expression. Blaze cautiously approached her and sat on the bed, her hand resting on Rain's thigh in what was supposed to feel comforting.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and Rain just continued to look at her. "You can tell me."

Rain sighed and flopped back onto the bed, glaring up at the ceiling, finally giving in. "I was trying to contact someone, that's all."

"Did you not manage to?"

Rain shrugged. "It's too early to tell yet, but that's not the point."

"Who were you trying to contact?" Blaze asked as Rain flicked her wrist lazily and the TV screen across the room flickered to life.

"His name is Cease," muttered Rain, watching the screen absentmindedly and waiting patiently for the news to star. "He's like me."

"An angel type thingy?"

Rain glanced at the human. "No. Not anymore."

"So... What is he?"

Rain rolled onto her stomach and chewed over the question. Cease wasn't anything. He was really one of a kind. He was his own energy source, completely separate from Surge. He was self sustaining. He was like...

"I guess you could say he's like a god," explained Rain with a shrug. "Not a very nice one, though."

"Then why would you want to talk to him?"

Rain glared. "You have a lot of questions."

"Do you want me to stop?"

She considered for a moment. "No. I like talking about myself." She sighed. "I want him to teach me how to separate my soul from the Earth's ties. I want to be a god too."

"Oh."

They were quiet for a while, but then the news title sequence started up and Rain turned the TV volume up, leaning in close. She could feel Blaze's fingers making soft trails down her back, making her feel sleepy. She slapped the human's hands away, in no mood for distractions just yet.

And then it appeared on the TV: the fires from earlier. The news reporter announced that they hadn't caught anyone yet, but they were taking the highest measures possible. Rain scoffed at that and rolled her eyes. But the image behind the reporter's head told her what she wanted to know. It was the row of shops, and they weren't on fire but still smouldering. And burned into the brick was the name, big and bold: 'CEASE'.

Rain nodded, satisfied, and turned over the channel, settling on the heavy rock channel. Out of all human things, Rain liked music the most. Somehow she seemed to emotionally connect to some of their songs, and although it annoyed her that humans could understand her so well annoyed her it was also kind of comforting.

She shrugged off her jacket and threw it to the ground before pulling her hair in front of her shoulders, leaving her back exposed. Blaze seemed to take the message and took up rubbing Rain's tense back again.

"Was that you?" whispered Blaze, nodding towards the TV, and Rain could hear the fear in her voice.

"It's not easy to get his attention," snapped Rain. "Up a bit."

Blaze moved her hands obediently, and Rain let out a soft sigh. She felt her body relax into Blaze's touch, and her breathing slowed.

"Some guy saw me," she said dreamily, her eyes fluttering in her sleepy trance. "He saw me setting fire to those buildings, and that's never happened before. It was... Unsettling."

Blaze exhaled through her nose, quietly amused. "Maybe he noticed you because he thought you were cute," she suggested. "Obviously, like, before he realised you were potentially killing a whole bunch of people."

Rain shrugged vaguely. "Doesn't matter. They're all going to die anyway. Him too. Him first."

"What do you mean?"

Rain rolled onto her back and sat up to look Blaze in her vacant bronze eyes. She looked terrified, as if she knew what was coming.

"I'm going to kill them," said Rain simply.

"Who?"

"Everyone. Think natural disaster apocalypse."

"...Me, too?"

Tears filled the human's eyes, and it occurred to Rain how fragile human life really was. They really didn't have very long. Rain had lived almost four human lives, so before she knew it Blaze would be a distant memory. They all would.

Rain pulled Blaze to her, tenderly kissing the human's plush pink lips and wiping a stray tear away with her thumb. Like magic, the tear disappeared at Rain's touch. They sat there for a while, tangled together, shaking with Blaze's frightened sobs. Rain almost felt guilty. Almost.

"I don't know," said Rain finally, stroking her sweet human's head.

In all her three hundred and twelve years, Rain had never been so close to a human. She'd always hated them for binding her to a fate she didn't want, but now she had one of her own she realised she could like them. One of them, at least. Blaze was the closest thing she'd ever had to a friend.

But that didn't change the plan. It was more important than a silly little friendship with a human.

"Maybe I'll find a way to keep you," whispered Rain, and Blaze smiled through her tears.

But probably not, she thought dully.