//------------------------------// // Island Inferno // Story: Through the Fire and Flames, Part 2 // by JimmyHook19 //------------------------------// Daybreaker screamed maniacally and bellowed in triumph as she took to the air over this twisted, tainted land. The islands of North Carolina had long seen magical phenomena, including a rather nasty attack last Halloween orchestrated by a rather crazy flying thing dressed in purple and wearing rather too few garments for my taste, but Manteo and indeed Roanoke Island had no idea of the danger it was in. "Well then, let us turn this land into a blazing hellscape!" Daybreaker boomed. Flames materialized in the air, and she fired them at the ground. Instantly, the landscape burst into flames, and fire and fury raged across buildings as they burned. The tarmac began to heat up as the flames spread, eventually turning into a soft, sticky liquid that caused emergency vehicles to get stuck. As the heat intensified, the water in the fire engine's tanks evaporated, as did the fuel and lubricating oil inside them, causing them and neighboring vehicles to explode, metallic debris and absolute mountains of parts being hurled everywhere. Soon, flames roared across the island, intensified when the forests caught fire and simply fed more fuel to the blaze. "Scramble all available aircraft! Take that thing down!" As Daybreaker saw several wings of US Air Force fighter aircraft bearing down on her, she laughed. "Those pathetic tin cans think they can best a God? I... AM... FAUST!" As piercing beams blazed from her horn and blew the fighters out of the sky, it would never have occurred to anybody watching the massacre unfold that the day had, rather than being telegrammed for this fate in the great programmed of providence, been altogether rather normal when it started. 30 minutes earlier... It was a day that had started fairly normally for Jimmy Hook, Manteo's most notable internet resident. He had taken a shower, as was his custom, and he had then gone and had his breakfast, once again having to triumph over slippery cheese in a manner that required the phrase 'slip and slide' (a rather odd choice of words in my opinion, but oh well). Jimmy had finished eating his morning meal and was of the realization that he needs to by more groceries before he ran out. For God's sake, can we fix the tense swapper please? The story changed tense three times in the last paragraph. And the typo, whilst we're at it. Jimmy had finished eating his morning meal and was of the realization that he needed to buy more groceries before he ran out. He had also noticed that the sun was unusually bright today. Whilst he was no stranger to the sun being bright (as indeed Sunshine Smiles can attest, if she were here which she is not so we can't), today it seemed brighter than usual, and that, coupled with the humidity, meant that his air conditioning unit was struggling to cope with the intense temperature. He headed outside, with the intention of giving the air vents some help when running to draw air in and pump hot air out. This soon proved to be a mistake. The moment he stepped outside, he immediately burst into flames. He was, quite literally, a man on fire. Jimmy's screams could be heard for several miles, such was the volume of his voice, as the fire washed over him, burning away his clothes and leaving the fire as the only thing covering him as his hair and beard were burnt off. Then the flames set about moving and shifting (not shaking), as it began to reshape his form. The intense heat remolded his legs into horse's hind legs as he was forced into all fours (as you are). This also melted his feet into hooves. Flames continued to rework his very form giving him an equine barrel. Suffice to say, he wasn't a male for much longer. The first jet of flame reformed into a tail like construct at the back, as wings exploded from his sides, white but held up by bronze armor plating that connected into a complex chestplate that connected to it, ran over the backs of her shoulders, and then linked up at the back. Her arms were now melted into forelegs complete with all the joints that entailed, and her hands into hooves. All four hooves and legs gained bronze armor, and the chestplate an emblem of the sun. This same symbol, only in orange, appeared on her flanks as a horn erupted from her forehead. Her mouth and nose were mashed together into a muzzle as the flames moved once more and formed into a bizarre parody of a mane. With an extensive crestplate and helmet attached into place atop her head with a red gem set into the top, Jimmy was no more. The present day... Daybreaker screamed maniacally and bellowed in triumph as she took to the air over this twisted, tainted land. The islands of North Carolina had long seen magical phenomena, including a rather nasty attack last Halloween orchestrated by a rather crazy flying thing dressed in purple and wearing rather too few garments for my taste, but Manteo and indeed Roanoke Island had no idea of the danger it was in. "Well then, let us turn this land into a blazing hellscape!" Daybreaker boomed. Flames materialized in the air, and she fired them at the ground. Instantly, the landscape burst into flames, and fire and fury raged across buildings as they burned. The tarmac began to heat up as the flames spread, eventually turning into a soft, sticky liquid that caused emergency vehicles to get stuck. As the heat intensified, the water in the fire engine's tanks evaporated, as did the fuel and lubricating oil inside them, causing them and neighboring vehicles to explode, metallic debris and absolute mountains of parts being hurled everywhere. Soon, flames roared across the island, intensified when the forests caught fire and simply fed more fuel to the blaze. "Scramble all available aircraft! Take that thing down!" As Daybreaker saw several wings of US Air Force fighter aircraft bearing down on her, she laughed. "Those pathetic tin cans think they can best a God? I... AM... FAUST!" The aircraft crashed into the ground, triggering more fires as they landed and themselves caught fire. One crashed into a local restaurant, completely destroying it and killing most of the patrons inside. Another fell towards the home of the creature that had once been Jimmy, but for some reason bounced off it and crashed into another house. All the while the flames continued to spread. They had gone so far that the bridge connecting the Islands to the mainland was becoming drivable. Motorists watched in disbelief as Roanoke Island burned. The flames eventually reached so far south they got to Bodie Island. The National Park Service employees scrambled to try and contain the blaze, but they were forced to pull back due to the thick smoke and intense heat. The flames washed over the oil storage buildings and tanks, and the intense heat caused them to explode. Burning oil was thrown high into the air and badly scalded the few remaining park service employees who hadn't retreated. It got worse. Burning oil was forced into the long defunct fuelling pipe that connected the storage tank to the lighthouse, and with nowhere to go, it entered the structure. The resulting carnage was visible for miles. Bricks, white paint, metal, and shattered glass flew for miles, along with the remains of a Fresnel lens, as the Bodie Island Lighthouse was torn apart in a series of massive explosions. In total, the damage ran into the trillions of dollars, and the fires took several days to completely put out. What the survivors did know, however, was that life on Roanoke Island would never be the same again. It was time to start the rebuilding effort. Many of the buildings could be repaired and replaced, but the lives and history that had been lost could not.