Chapter 17 – Sunfire vs. El Desastre
The city trembled beneath the fractured skyline, smoke pillars spiraling into the dusk as Aiden—now known publicly as Sunfire—hovered midair amidst the chaos.
Below him, the battle between the AMCU and the Mexican Mafia raged with destructive intensity. Bullets ricocheted off concrete, metahuman abilities cracked the ground, and terrified civilians scrambled for shelter.
The towering figure of the mafia boss stepped forward through the haze. His presence was like a shifting storm front, the ground warping beneath his feet.
The cartel members called him El Desastre—The Disaster—a name spoken in fear for the wake of destruction that always followed him.
Unlike El Martillo from earlier appearances, this man was different—larger, scarred from previous battles, his body radiating raw kinetic force. Tendrils of compressed air coiled around him like invisible chains.
Aiden landed hard, expression tightening.
"You're causing this chaos… lives are at risk. Stand down," he commanded.
El Desastre smiled darkly, his voice a low rumble.
"Stand down? I am the storm, little sun. The world bends to men like me. Tonight, power decides law."
He stomped forward, the shockwave blasting police cars aside like toys. Aiden raised his hands, solar energy flickering across his suit as he deflected the force.
Elsewhere –
From the Japanese-owned bar rooftop, Kael watched the distant flashes of battle. His knuckles tightened. He'd just seen Aiden fighting on-screen. Without hesitation, he turned to his boss.
"I need leave—right now," he said. The older man stared but silently nodded.
On the way out, Kael nearly collided with Lara, who was coordinating medical evacuation through comms. He froze briefly, surprised.
"You're not just healing," he muttered. "You actually fight."
She gave a quick nod without looking at him. "No time. People are dying. Get moving."
Kael tapped into the team comms.
Kael: "Aiden, I'm on my way. ETA six minutes."
Aiden: "Negative. Prioritize evacuation of civilians. I repeat—stay clear."
Kael clenched his fist but complied, joining ground rescue efforts.
Aiden dodged a crushing blow from El Desastre, the concrete beneath him shattered. He countered with a blinding beam of solar energy. It struck the boss square in the torso—only for El Desastre to grin and stand taller, stronger.
Aiden's eyes widened. "You absorbed it?"
El Desastre's laughter echoed across the street. "Energy feeds me, Sunfire. You only fuel the tempest!"
Aiden's heart raced. Civilians screamed nearby—trapped behind debris as stray attacks rained down. He pushed harder, his suit flaring dangerously bright.
Meanwhile –
High on a vantage ledge, Commander Cyborg, leader of the AMCU strike unit, observed through tactical scanners. His neural HUD flickered with data, tracking every movement of Aiden and El Desastre.
"He's accelerating beyond predicted capacity…" the cyborg muttered. "But his vitals—too much output. He's burning up."
His assistant spoke over the neural channel.
"Should we intervene?"
"Not yet," the cyborg responded. "If Sunfire survives this, we'll know what tier he belongs to. If he doesn't… we know his limits."
El Desastre charged with the force of a freight train. Aiden braced, gathering energy, every instinct screaming.
He didn't know if he could beat him.
But he knew he could protect them.
He pushed the energy discharge downward instead of forward, launching himself like a meteor into the sky—dragging El Desastre with him to redirect the battlefield away from civilians.
As they rose through smoke and flame—
Kael looked up
Lara held her breath
The commander adjusted his scan feed
And the city watched its first true superhuman clash unfold.