Chapter 56: Hot Palate

Romaine's POV

Upon seeing the tornadoes dissipate, a sigh of relief escaped my lungs as the rest of the team celebrated in their own ways.

This seemingly long day of constant problems and obstacles was finally over. Now we could all rest. Slowly lowering my body to the ground, I thought back to how hectic the last two days have been. The pain my body was experienced was slowly nullified by the atmosphere of relief around me.

-"Did you guys doubt me for a second?"- I heard Dondre say over the comms

~~~~~~~

At some point Dondre and Shante had made their way back to the lab, and I'd found myself by Donte's bedside.

Blankly staring at his heart monitor, with the beeps playing in the background, I was left to do nothing but contemplate my behavior towards him recently; how I treated him when I found out he was doing Zero's bidding, I didn't even stop to consider his situation.

"Still worried, huh." Kyle commented, walking in

"Well I mean yeah; we have no idea what's gonna come of his condition." I reasoned

"Mhm, I don't blame you. I'd feel the same if I were in your shoes, but I know for a fact that he'll wake up; one way or another."

"Hm, yeah, I guess so."

"Well isn't it interesting finding you two boys in here." Cassandra walked in

"It's just as interesting finding you in here Cas, what's up?" I questioned

"What do you think Romaine?" She rebutted, adjusting some of the tubes, "I'm his doctor; I have to constantly check his vitals and monitor his condition."

"Oh right."

"I don't see why you're worrying so much; it's written all over you. He'll be fine, I'm sure of it." She reassured

"Hm, if you guys say so.."

~~~~~~~

Exiting the front door, Shante, Kyle and I waved goodbye to the others.

"Bye." Shante went

"See you all tomorrow." said the Prince

"Yeah, see ya." Kyle responded

"Hey hold on." Dondre stopped us, "Shante, where are you going to stay?"

"Oh, I'm taking her over to my house to crash for the night." I told him, "I can just tell my mom it was an emergency or something, hopefully she doesn't try calling her mother to confirm."

"Well, we're off. Later." Kyle closed

Walking home under the starry night sky, things were very casual.

You could hear crickets in the background, feel that cool night breeze in your face, and see all the city's lights as we strolled down the streets. The sense of comfort brought some good memories to mind, but glancing up at the sky, insecurities started settling in, bringing up some bad memories as well; memories involving Black Zero.

Luckily for us, my mother was too forgone into her sleep to wake up when we entered the house. Shante slept the night there and it was just a simple explanation in the morning.

~~~~~~~

Marching up the street to Cassandra's house, cup of tea in hand, it felt pretty much like a normal day; but little did I know that this day would be far from ordinary.

"I have a feeling we're gonna make a breakthrough today." I stated

"Uhh," Shante went from beside me, "Hasn't it been like, I don't know, a week since you guys started studying those two sisters?"

"Well- Only 6 days, but yeah. It takes time alright."

"If you say so. I just hope something fun happens today and not just the usual of me sitting and watching all of you talk science stuff. Boring."

"We did offer multiple times for you to go train in the speed lab."

"Yeah, but I'd be down there alone. I don't like being alone."

Stimulated by the vibration in my pocket, I pulled out my phone to reveal the cause:

"Cas is calling me?" I questioned myself, "She never calls..."

"Maybe she wants a date." Shante teased

"Haha very funny."

Answering the phone and putting it to my ear, my confusion was met by her irritation.

"Uhh, hi?"

-"Romaine. Could you possibly get here any later?"- She questioned

"What are you talking about," I responded, checking the time, "It's barely past 7, we're early."

-"Could you just hurry up and get here please. Ugh, so arrogant."-

She immediately hung up on me.

"Looks like it's some sort of emergency." I informed Shante, "Let's go."

Taking haste, but still with caution, we ran the rest of the way to the lab, but without the use of our super speed.

Bursting in as the elevator doors opened, our sense of haste was met with a room of mixed emotions.

"What took you so long..." Cas questioned

"I'd like to see you run uphill like your life depends on it." I panted

The group's attention was mainly affixed on the monitors, which were displaying footage of a man dressed in a suit cackling and people around him that were screaming and behaving like they were in hellfire.

"Mind explaining this, anyone?" I requested

"We're not sure ourselves what's going on." Kyle admitted

"They look like they're under a bloody plague." The Prince added

"We can figure that out soon, but now, you have to go save those people." Cas instructed

"Hey hold on, why isn't Dondre already out there?" I questioned

"Romaine, do you see what's happening to those people?" Dondre responded, "No thanks. I don't need that kind of experience right now."

"Seriously.."

"Sometimes self-preservation is the best decision. You'll see one day."

"Mk. Shante, suit up. It's useless arguing with him when he's like this."

"Ok Romaine."

"Be careful out there." The Prince advised

~~~~~~~

Racing onto the scene, I was actually thriving with adrenaline; it's been almost a whole week since there was any action.

Shante went over to one of the victims and tried helping her up, but on contact with the woman's body she immediately flinched, quickly letting go of her.

"Ouch." She went

"You ok?" I inquired

"Yeah, it's just.. I felt some kind of, burn."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"She means, she got burned by my ability." Answered the assailant

Turing my glance to him, the motif of his suit gave sort of a hint as to what his ability was.

The suit covered his whole body, similar to Toxica and Twister's, and had jagged lines separating the different sections. A majority was burnt orange, with his torso being yellow. Finishing off with a fiery red letter 'I' in the center of his chest.

"Shante," I calmly called, adjusting my stance, "you think you can save the people while I take care of this guy?"

"Sure." She answered, speeding off immediately

"Good. Now it's just you and me."

"Ah yes, now the real fun begins." He cackled

Opening his left palm, he seemed quite confident in what he was doing; though unlike usual, nothing happened. The only thing different was the subtle smell of a familiar odor

Not too long after, I felt my eye twitch, followed by a burning sensation. I reactively grabbed for my eye, which ended up making it a lot worse when I realized that my arm was burning as well.

The mad lad cackled as he stared at me.

"Yes, feel the power of the Infernomancer!"

The burning in my arm mostly subsided after a few seconds, but the one in my eye kept stinging.

"What is this.." I mumbled

"You seem to have a decent spice tolerance. Let me turn up the heat then."

"I knew there was something about that smell; it's pepper."

"Not just any pepper, Jalapeño Pepper."

"But how would any of that relate to some sort of ability?"

"Now now, it's no fun if I spell it out for you."

He lead my glance over to Shante, who was currently on the ground suffering from his invisible fire.

I rushed over to help her, but upon contact my fingers were set ablaze; but with the absence of any physical fire.

"What's happening.." I questioned myself

Pressing on my earpiece, I communicated with those back at the lab.

"Cas, Kyle, anything?"

-"We have no idea what's happening, I suggest you retreat for now."-

"Got it." I affirmed

"Habenero." I heard the villain utter

Almost immediately my back was under great affliction, as if someone tore off it's skin.

I uncontrollably toppled onto the ground, constantly reaching for my back as the burning sensation went on.

"Interesting." he commented, "A lot of people actually can't handle the Habenero pepper."

I slowly stood up, attempting to work through the pain.

"Capsaicin." I stated

"Huh?" He questioned

"Your ability, it's to produce and manipulate different levels of capsaicin."

"Why yes, how'd you figure it out? Most don't even know of it's existence."

"I did a bit of research on it back in the day; I happen to be a lover of spicy foods."

"I see. Then in that case, I have no reason to hold back on you."

-"Romaine, even if you think you know the basis of his ability, you still don't know how exactly it works, or even how to counter it. Get Shante and retreat to the lab now."- Cas instructed

"Actually, I do know how to counter capsaicin." I stated, "Oils."

-"I swear if you get yourself killed I'll find a way to revive you and kill you again."- She said

"Moruga Scorpion!" the Infernomancer shouted, firing a barrage of fire balls at me

Though they were traveling at high speeds, I was still barely able to dodge them with my injured body; however one of them manage to graze my shoulder, putting it in much greater pain than what my back was feeling.

He clearly wasn't going to give me any time to catch my breath, so I triggered my fail safe.

-Mental Process-

Ok, now I finally have a minute to breathe and think. So he's able to somehow create and manipulate the chemical capsaicin. Capsaicin's known to be colorless, so that'd explain why before this I couldn't see any of his attacks. That leaves out an explanation for those fireballs though.

It seems as if the capsaicin he creates is able to stimulate even your skin's nerve endings through very little contact; hence why it burns me through my suit. It wouldn't exactly be much of a stretch to think that his capsaicin's been modified by his X-Gene in some way.

I can't see most of his attacks, so how'd I be able to counter them? I can use chemical oils to dissolve the capsaicin itself, yes, but where'd I get those in the middle of the city?

I'll have to find a way around that... Hold on, my electric energy supercharges my muscles and body, and I can't overstimulate them with it because they're naturally protected from it; but if I were to be able to use it to destimulate them, then I should be free of all feeling.

Sounds crazy enough to work. I'll give it a shot.

-End of Mental Process-

Stumbling from the sudden influx of pain, I was confident in my plan.

"I'm genuinely sorry to say," he said, "but this may just be the end of you."

He barely gave me any time to stand back to my feet before pulling out his onslaught of fire.

"Carolina Reaper!" he ecstacized, firing a humungous skull-shaped flame towards me

My reaction time dwindled and I was hit dead on.

Thrown backwards in immense pain, every part of me now felt as if they were melting. I barely managed to get a handle of myself shortly after, but could barely even muster the strength to crawl.

-"Romaine, are you alright?"- Cas questioned

"Yeah." I muttered, "But I don't think I can survive another one of those Reapers."

-"Well I did tell you to retreat didn't I?"-

"Just hold on a second." I answered, slowly struggling to get up, "I've got a plan in mind."

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" questioned the Infernomancer

I merely closed my eyes as he got ready for his next attack.

Surging my electricity throughout my body, I focused it primarily on my surface-level skin, and the pain I was feeling.

Soon it all grew numb; I was now standing almost completely pain free. I don't want to get ahead of myself but, I'm a genius. Though I quickly saw the error in my plan when I attempted to move forward: my body itself was also numb. Which means I succeeded in not only nullifying my pain nerves, but all my nerves in general, though I still had little control over my body's movement.

"Well that's just great.." I mumbled

"Carolina Reaper!" he belted once again, repeating his last move

In this state I really had no ability to dodge him, but when it hit I barely felt anything. Just a sting, really.

"Now this is perfect." I reiterated

"Huh?" He questioned, "How could you possibly still be standing after a second Carolina Reaper?"

"Simple." I stated, standing slightly more upright as more adrenaline flowed, "I turned off my pain receptors."

"Is that even possible?"

Clenching my fist tightly, I mustered all available energy into running over to him and slugging him in the face.

I surely wasn't as forceful as desired, and wouldn't even come anywhere close compared to the force of a speed punch, but it got the job done.

"Anything's possible." I stated, glaring down at him

He went out cold soon thereafter, followed by me myself passing out as well.

~~~~~~~

Waking up in the lab, I was surrounded by everyone.

"Hey," I muttered, "what's the gathering for?"

"Oh my gosh Rommie what you did out there was so cool!" Shante cheered

Ugh, I hate when people call me that..

"Hey uhh, can you not, use that name?" I requested, "Thanks."

"One of these days Romaine," Cas started, "You're gonna get yourself hurt because of your ill decisions and I won't be around to help you."

"And when that day comes Cas, I'm sure I'll think of something."

"Splendid work out there lad." the Prince commended, "But I'm curious as to how you were able to decipher and counter his abilities like that."

"I used to study spicy foods and stuff back in the day."

"Yeah," Dondre added, "He was such a foodie."

"Can you not remind me."

"He's right. You'd have done anything for fast food." Kyle continued

"You too, Kyle?"

"If you're all done gibbering," Cas interrupted, "I ran an ID check on the man from earlier, and figured out how his ability worked, if you're interested."

"Oh yes, please go on." The Prince incited

Pulling out her tablet, Cassandra read:

"Jacob Livingston, former executive chef at the 5-Star restaurant, 'Grade A'."

A former chef, hm. That'd explain his knowledge of the chemical.

"I've devised that his ability allows him to produce the natural chemical capsaicin, which is what gives things their spicy attribute. He's able to infuse the capsaicin into the air, and if the concentration levels are high enough, the capsaicin ignites, creating a fire that would only affect living things."

"And despite all of that, you were able to single-handedly take him down." said Kyle

"Well we all know that was only possible because I wasn't there to steal the spotlight," Dondre said, "but sure, I'll let you have the credit for this one."

"And by the way," the Prince started, "How were you able to withstand the flames like that?"

"I found a way to nullify my pain receptors, but it also nullified my other nerves as well." I explained

"Well you've definitely gotta teach me how to do that sometime." said Dondre

"Sure, I guess."

"Great. Now, what do you say we all go out for some spicy food?"

"After that whole fiasco, I think I'll avoid spicy foods for now, thanks." I politely refused

"I'd much rather not indulge in such." the Prince stated

"I don't like spicy food." Shante confessed

"You sure won't catch me eating any spicy foods either." added Kyle

"Well, Cas, looks like it'll just be the two of us. We can make it a date if you want?" Dondre offered

"I'm sure you don't need me to verbally say it, but my response is a 'no', Dondre."

"Oh well, your loss. More for me then."