The sterile hum of medical drones filled the air, their mechanical wings fluttering as they moved over Blaze's limp body. A faint orange flicker pulsed beneath his skin, the remnant of the Aura Flame, unstable and wild, as though ready to burn through the fragile container of his body at any second.

"Vitals stabilizing," one of the drones reported. "However… the energy core readings are inconsistent."

Jason stood at the edge of the glass chamber, fists clenched behind his back. The lines of fatigue carved deep into his features. "Damn it, Blaze…" he muttered. "You pushed past your limit again."

Behind him stood Anastasia, her hands gripping her jacket so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her usually composed silver eyes were trembling, locked on the boy lying beneath the scanner.

She had watched him fall. Watched the light in his eyes flicker as he collapsed mid-match after saving the team once again.

Aya sat silently on the bench, her legs crossed, data pad in hand. Lionel, leaning against the wall, looked restless arms folded, his cybernetic knee clicking softly with each shift of weight.

Even Scarlett, normally loud and unapologetically confident, said nothing. The silence in the med bay was heavy.

The captain of the New Era team, Blaze's old club had left the field that day unscathed, but the match had taken something intangible from everyone else. The players of Titan's Reach were no longer simply fighting for victory. They were fighting to survive the cost of Blaze's evolution.

Jason exhaled slowly. "He awakened a third ability," he said finally, voice low, grave.

Aya's head snapped up. "You're sure?"

"Positive. The data from his aura surge shows an entirely new signature. His system's energy output spiked beyond Elemental Speed or Cosmic Telepathy. The Aura Flame… it's alive."

Lionel frowned. "Alive? As in, sentient?"

Jason nodded. "Not sentient. Responsive. It reacts to emotion, synchronizes with willpower. That's why it's so dangerous. When Blaze lost focus, when his grief hit him, it almost consumed him." and it might not be the last time.

Anastasia's voice was barely above a whisper. "So he could've died…"

Jason turned his eyes to her, his tone gentler. "He didn't. Because someone stabilized him. You were the one who caught him before he hit the ground, weren't you?"

She blinked, startled. "I… just did what anyone would."

Jason smiled faintly. "You channeled your aura into his pulse line. That was instinct, not luck. You might've just saved the only player in the galaxy capable of holding three active cores."

Her lips parted slightly, her heart pounding in confusion. She didn't know how to answer that. All she knew was that when Blaze fell, she moved faster than she'd ever done in her life. Faster than reason.

Hours later, the med bay lights dimmed. The rest of the team left for training, but Anastasia remained, sitting beside Blaze's bed as rain pattered softly against the dome roof.

She watched his chest rise and fall, faint ember lights glowing beneath his skin each time he exhaled.

The room smelled faintly of ozone and metal. The monitors hummed in rhythm to his heartbeat, slow, steady, alive.

Her mind was a storm, a lot was going through it, she has a lot she wanted to say.

You idiot… you promised not to push yourself again.

She reached out and brushed his hand lightly. His skin was warmer than normal, like a living furnace. The Aura Flame whispered beneath the surface, restless.

And then his fingers twitched.

Anastasia's eyes widened as his head shifted slightly. A low groan escaped his throat, followed by a faint whisper. "...Anastasia?"

She gasped. "Blaze, you're awake!"

He blinked weakly, golden irises dim but still fierce. "What… happened?"

"You collapsed. Your Aura went out of control after the final strike. You scared everyone half to death," she said, forcing a shaky laugh. "You've been out for almost a full day."

Blaze groaned softly, sitting up despite the medical field's resistance. "A day… huh? Guess I lost the match then."

Her jaw dropped. "That's what you're thinking about?"

He smiled faintly, though his body trembled with the effort. "A Titan doesn't rest easy knowing he left a game unfinished."

Her irritation melted into something else, admiration and fear, woven into one.

"Jason said you've awakened a new ability," she said carefully. "The Aura Flame." Your third new ability become a pain in all of our ass.

Blaze's expression darkened. He flexed his right hand, and a faint trail of orange energy sparked across his veins. The air trembled, his hair rising with static heat.

"It's… loud," he murmured. "Like it's alive. Every time I breathe, it whispers, wanting to fight, to burn. I can feel it watching my thoughts."

Anastasia placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then you'll just have to make it listen. Like you did with your other powers."

He chuckled softly. "You make it sound simple."

"Nothing about you has ever been simple," she replied, meeting his gaze, you are always pushing more than you should and tell us not to worry, almost like you don't care about yourself.

For a long moment, neither spoke. The rain outside grew heavier, thunder rumbling through the sky. Blaze's mind drifted back to the moments before he blacked out, the roar of the crowd, the shimmer of lights, and the echo of his mother's voice reminding him to keep moving forward.

Two days later, Blaze stood on the training field again.

Jason had allowed it, reluctantly. The others gathered around as Blaze focused on a floating sphere of compressed aura in front of him.

"Remember," Jason instructed, "you have to balance your Elemental Speed with Cosmic Telepathy before invoking the Aura Flame. Otherwise, your body won't survive the internal pressure."

Lionel whistled. "That's like juggling three plasma grenades midair."

Aya smirked. "Yeah, except if he fails, we all get vaporized."

"Focus, both of you," Anastasia snapped. But her eyes were fixed on Blaze, her chest tightening as she saw the sheer determination etched into his face, just take it easy, you have to move slower than you usually do, you have to let your body adjust.

Blaze inhaled, his aura rippling outward. The field around him distorted. The Elemental Speed surged first, his outline blurred, feet igniting faint blue streaks. Then came the Cosmic Telepathy, the faint hum of connected minds, his teammates' thoughts brushing faintly against his consciousness.

Finally, the Aura Flame awakened.

A burst of crimson fire erupted from his body, swirling around him like a serpent of heat and emotion. His hair shimmered in the light, and the sigil on his wrist glowed, the same one he'd inherited from his father.

Jason's voice was steady but firm. "Now, merge them."

The world slowed to a crawl.

Blaze closed his eyes, breathing deeply, centering the storm. His flame pulsed once — twice — and then gradually folded inward, compressing into a controlled glow. The energy stopped crackling. The field stopped shaking.

He had done it, no one really had any doubt, it was just a matter of when, and what it would take to achieve his aim.

The triple fusion stabilized.

Jason exhaled slowly. "You did it, kid."

Blaze opened his eyes, and they burned like molten gold. "No… not yet. I've only learned to hold it back. Using it in a match, that's another battlefield entirely."

That night, the team gathered in the cafeteria. For the first time in weeks, laughter filled the air. Aya and Scarlett argued over energy drink flavors, Lionel teased Anastasia about staying too close to Blaze's side, and Jason quietly watched them with a proud but cautious smile, for once they seem like a gang again and other troubles were in the past.

Blaze felt something unfamiliar, peace. But deep within, the Aura Flame still burned.

Later, as the lights dimmed and the others left, Blaze remained outside, standing under the faint glow of the training dome. Anastasia joined him, her hair catching the moonlight.

"Still can't sleep?" she asked softly.

He shrugged. "Hard to rest when the fire inside won't stay still."

She stepped closer, arms crossed. "You know, for someone who nearly died, you recover disturbingly fast."

He grinned. "That's because someone kept watching over me."

Her cheeks warmed slightly. "Don't make me regret saving you."

He laughed quietly, but then turned serious, gaze distant. "Anastasia… when the Aura Flame first appeared, I thought it was a curse. But now… I think it's something else. Like a reminder that pain doesn't have to destroy you, it can forge you." I will become stronger.

She nodded slowly. "Then make sure it forges you into something unbreakable, Blaze."

He met her eyes, the fire within them gentle now not destructive, but alive. "I will. For my team… and for her."

The rain began again, soft and steady. They stood side by side beneath the silver glow, two warriors bound by flame, duty, and something deeper neither dared name, and it was magical.

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