Ryan managed to withstand the kick and yelled at Spider-man.
" What the heck are you doing? I have not even started talking."
Spider-man stood back as the heat emitted from Ryan was getting hotter.
" Look. I am not a fool. You are a fire monster and there is fire around us. And… you killed the child. I am not going to forget you for that." Spider-man crouched, taking on a fighting stance.
Ryan shook his head. " I know the situation I am in is not good. But believe me. I didn't start the fire."
Spider-man frowned. He had been eyeing this building because he got a trace about a certain drug distributing gang. But as soon as he turned around to catch some robbers, this building caught on fire.
Someone is tailing me. Or there must be a mastermind. Spider-man entered in a deep thought.
Ryan on the other hand was thinking about escaping this building. He realized Heatblast might draw more attention.
I need to leave. Ryan busted out two fireballs from his hands and threw them at Spider-man.
" Sorry. I don't have time for chitchat." Ryan said in monotone.
Spider-man dodged the two fireballs with great precision. He then shot out a web string. It melted before reaching toward Ryan.
Ryan ignored Spider-man and focused all his attention onto bringing the concert tile beneath his feats. He spun and lifted up the concert tile. He floated in the air and busted through from the window.
Spider-man stared at the fire monster. He was ill matched by it.
Ryan flew in the air until he realized that he was far away from the building.
The time is going to run out.
Ryan instantly knew about his situation. The feeling came to him naturally like a part of him. Ryan burned the concert tile into ash and jumped down to the dark alleyway. He instantly transformed back to human.
Thankfully, the alleyway he chose was dry. Ryan looked around, checking his surroundings.
Good, he doesn't follow me.
Ryan took out his phone and checked his location. He was a block away from his home.
" I need to study the city's map thoroughly." Ryan muttered.
He then kicked at the nearby trash bin with full force. " Dammit. Dammit."
He repeatedly punched at the bin until his hand bled. Even still he didn't have any pain. Inside his head were the repeating the same scene of the child melting.
He kneeled down and tried to calm down.
After a moment, Ryan collected himself. Although he still had not finished processing the encounter, he threw his feelings behind the heart. That is what he is good at.
He looked down at his hands all bloody up. He could see white bone sticking out from the flesh. He smirked.
He walked out from the alleyway. He had memorized the routes toward his house. Just this one route.
Ryan arrived at his house. By this time, the sun had already gone down. The sky was dark and it was blocked by the clouds.
He looked up and sighed. He opened the door hoping to meet the empty greeting. His mother died during labor. His father didn't remarry and stayed loyal to the marriage. He managed to raise Ryan's alone.
Ryan saw the light coming from the living room. The light was weak and flicking. He slowly walked to the living room and saw his father sleeping on the chair while the TV was still on.
Ryan smiled and knocked at the wall.
His father woke up from the noise and saw Ryan's smiling. At first he was angry because he got a call from the school about the fight but after seeing the unusual sight of his son, he frowned.
" Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He got up from the chair.
Ryan shook his head and said. " I am fine. Just tired."
His father stared at him and tilted his head toward the dining room. " Follow me. I prepare the food for us. We will talk while eating."
" Right."
Ryan walked to the sink and cleaned the blood from hands. He shrugged as the pain snapped.
His father noticed his reaction and looked at the hands. He then took out a medical kit from the storage closet.
Ryan wiped out the water from the hands.
" Sit down." His father spoke.
Ryan followed his father's words and sat in front of him.
" Show me."
Ryan showed his wounds. His father checked the wounds and frowned.
" It is bad. I can clean the wounds clean but we will have to go to the hospital."
" I will go tomorrow."
" You can go to the clinic across the street." His father said and started dressing the wounds with precision.
Ryan went silent as he studied his father's first aid skill.
" You know, I learned this skill because you are a troubled kid."
" Really? I thought you joined the class for the teacher." Ryan joked.
" Well, Miss Rosy was certainly an attractive lady. Too bad she had a bad mouth."
The silence echoed again.
" So anything you wanna say." His father spoke. He looked at Ryan.
" Today is a shitty day for me." Ryan said. " I saw you having shitty days many times. Tell me how you deal with it. I don't think I can handle it."
His father sighed. " I don't."
Ryan frowned.
His father continued.
" I just move on. But that doesn't mean I ignored that day or moment. I stored the feelings inside my heart and tried to channel them into something new." His father thought of at the day of Ryan's mom's death. During those times were his darkest days.
But he struggled. He struggled with his son. He shut down the negative emotion and tried to focus on raising a son.
" The point is to store away your feelings and come back later. Remember the last part. That is how I deal with shitty days."
Ryan nodded. He started playing today from start to finish.
The fight with Flash. Conversation with Ned. The burning building. The dead child. Spider-man.
It is strange. I don't think that is how the friendly neighborhood spider would react. Just kicking? It is strange. Venom? It is possible but I don't see anything resembling the black glue. And we are near the fire.
If venom is here he should come out from Peter. So something must be pressing Spider-man. That means the fire didn't start accidently.
That should be right. But what could that be? Who would set a fire on that building and if so Why. Why? Why?
Question popped out and Ryan was processing. After some time, he came to a conclusion.
I need to ask Spider-man. I will find the answer behind the fire. I will not let the child die in vain. I will find justice for you.
Ryan closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
Rest well.