COLIN WAGNER RUSHED towards the burning toy store. Even from a hundred metres away he could feel the heat of the fire.
It was late December, a little after five-thirty in the evening, the streets packed with rush-hour traffic, the pavements blocked with shoppers carrying bags.
Colin and Renata had been on the other side of town, just about to start their Christmas shopping, when Colin heard the screams. They'd run to a deserted alley and changed into their costumes; Colin was wearing his father's old Titan costume, which his mother had repaired and cut down to size. Renata was wearing black jeans, a black long-sleeved T-shirt under a short red leather jacket she'd bought for a fiver in the local charity shop, and a mask.
Now the two teenage superhumans pushed their way through the crowds. From far away, Colin could hear the sirens of half a dozen fire engines, all slowly trying to get through the dense Christmas traffic.
"Excuse me!" Colin said to a large man who - like hundreds of others - had stopped to watch the fire engulf the toy store.
The man glanced at Colin, then did a double-take when he saw his costume and mask. "You're Kid Titan! I saw you in the paper!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Colin saw that Renata was having better luck: she had leaped over the crowd and was now running across the roofs of the slow-moving cars, straight towards the burning building.
Colin ducked past the man, spotted a gap in the crowd and ran for it. He jumped on to the bonnet of a taxi, then on to the roof of a stalled Toyota. The Toyota driver beeped his horn in anger.
Ahead, Renata had reached the building. A frightened-looking, soot-covered woman in a scorched store uniform was talking to her. As he ran, Colin listened:
"We got everyone out of the ground floor, but there's still people trapped upstairs. Part of the ceiling collapsed! The stairs are burning and there's no way for them to get out!"
"OK. Get everyone back as far as possible. See if you can get someone to clear the way for the fire brigade."
The woman nodded and turned back to the crowd.
Colin reached Renata just as she kicked her way through the remains of the burning wooden doors. "What happened?"
"She didn't know. Said she was working in the storeroom at the back when the alarm went off. She got everyone out of the ground floor. But there's-"
"More upstairs. I heard that." Colin squinted around, trying to peer through the thick black smoke. "Stairs are over that way."
"That woman said the stairs are burning."
"We don't have a choice," Colin said. "Take a deep breath and run for it, OK? I'll go first."
"No, let me. I can always turn myself solid if the heat gets too much."
They ran through the blackness towards the stairway, tearing their way through the displays of burning teddy bears and melting model kits. Renata took the stairs three at a time, with Colin close behind her.
Ahead of them was a wall of flame; Colin could feel the heat beginning to singe his costume. Without hesitating, Renata plunged into the fire. Colin followed, and seconds later he crashed into something cold and hard.
Renata had turned herself solid.
Damn it! Colin thought. The heat was too much for her! They were still in the middle of the flames. Colin grabbed Renata's solid form around the waist and picked her up. He continued up the stairs, moving a little slower now.
He emerged from the flames at the top of the stairway and took a moment to breathe. Ahead was a locked fire-door, and he could hear something pounding on the other side of it. Knowing that time was crucial, Colin didn't waste any looking around for something to smash open the door. He muttered, "Sorry about this!" to Renata then ran straight for the door, using her solid form as a battering ram.
The door crashed open and Colin saw a scared red-faced man on the other side, holding on to a baseball bat. His name-badge read, "Hi, I'm Dave!"
Colin let Renata drop to the floor, and pushed the door closed. "You can't go that way! The fire's too hot!"
"What are we going to do?" the assistant screamed. "The sprinklers didn't come on! We used the extinguishers but they didn't make much difference."
Colin looked around. The room was thick with smoke, the only light coming from the fire at the far end of the room. A small bunch of people were huddled together in the middle of the room, coughing, keeping low to the floor where the air was a little more clear. "How many others up here?"
"Five, including me," the man said. "I tried to break the windows with this..." He waved the baseball bat. "They've got wire mesh in them."
On the ground beside them, Renata turned back to her human form, and got to her feet. Colin could see that her hands and arms were covered in large white blisters. "Sorry," she said. "I panicked."
"Punch out the windows," Colin said. "I'll try to find something I can use to lower everyone down." To the assistant, he said, " Dave, round up everyone. Get them over to the windows. Tell them to keep low."
All right, Colin said to himself as Renata ran towards the windows. What's on this floor? Dolls, action figures, books, puzzles... Nothing I can use.
There was a crashing sound as Renata punched and tore her way through the wire-mesh glass.
What can I do to get everyone out? Need a rope or something... He yelled out to the assistant, "Dave! Skipping ropes!"
"Downstairs, next to the register!" the man called back. "Actually, there's a special on this week... Sorry. Force of habit."
"Great," Colin muttered. He listened carefully: the fire engines were still a few minutes away. Then, from the floor below, he heard a series of small explosions. The paint for the model kits, he realised. It's flammable! "We have got to get out of here now!" he yelled to Renata.
"It's too far for them to jump!" She called back.
With a crack, the roof at the far end of the room collapsed, showering them with white-hot sparks.
"You jump!" Colin said to Renata, running over to her. "I'll drop everyone down to you!"
Renata nodded, then vaulted out of the window. As Colin lifted up the nearest woman, he caught a glimpse of Renata's skin and costume glistening as she turned solid. Seconds later, he heard her call, "I'm ready!"
The woman in Colin's arms began to panic as he lifted her over the window ledge. "No! It's too far!"
"Just close your eyes," Colin said.
"Can't you just fly us down? What the hell kind of superhero are you?"
"The kind who can't fly," Colin said, then dropped her. Below, Renata was waiting with her arms outstretched. She caught the woman and lowered her to the ground. The watching crowd clapped and cheered.
"Next!" Colin yelled.
A second section of the roof collapsed, sending the flames surging towards them. Colin turned back to see that Dave was lifting a teenage boy - not much older than Colin - in his arms. Dave dropped the boy down to Renata.
A coughing, wheezing elderly man was next. As carefully as he could - knowing that old people's bones could be very fragile - Colin lifted the man up. "Hold on to my hands, OK? Can you do that?"
Still coughing, the man nodded.
Colin lifted the old man out, and - gripping on to his hands - leaned out of the window and lowered him down as far as he could go.
"Do it!" Renata shouted. "I'm ready!"
Colin let go, but the old man twisted somehow at the last second, swung away. Renata made a grab for him... And missed.
There was a gasp of shock from the crowd when he hit the ground. The man's left leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Renata crouched beside him, but he waved her away. "No, help the others!"
A young woman was next. Renata caught her easily, helped by the teenage boy.
Colin looked around. "Who's next?"
"Me," Dave said. "I'm the last one." He was already climbing on to the ledge. "Kid Titan, isn't it?" He smiled. "We've been watching you on the news... Just this week we must have had thirty people coming in looking for action figures of you and Diamond!"
Before Colin could respond, there was a loud creak from the roof above them. He lashed out, pushing Dave out of the window just as the rest of the roof collapsed on top of him. At the same time, the floor gave way.
Colin coughed, and blinked rapidly. Blacked out for a second. He was flat on the floor, face-down, covered in burning toys and ceiling tiles. He could feel a heavy steel girder across the back of his legs.
Then he heard Renata rushing into the store. She pulled the girder off him, threw it to one side, then lifted him to his feet. "You all right?"
Colin groaned. "I'm never shopping here again. How's Dave?"
"The assistant? He's OK. I caught him." Renata suddenly jumped. "Your arm's on fire!"
Colin slapped the flames out, then looked down at his costume. It was covered in burns and rips, and his cape was in shreds. "My mother's going to kill me!"
"Come on, let's get out of here before the rest of the place caves in."
"Wait! Is my mask on straight?"
"It's fine."
They made their way out of the shop, and into a sudden flurry of camera flashes. The crowd was cheering wildly, shouting "Kid Titan! Kid Titan!" over and over. A few - mostly teenage boys - were trying to drown the others out by shouting, "Di-a-mond! Di-a-mond!"
"My fan club is here," Renata said.
"What, both of them?" Colin said, his white grin spreading across his soot-blackened face.
A TV reporter rushed up. Without asking their permission, he pushed his way between them, turned to face the camera, and began speaking. "Barney Macintosh here with the new heroes known as Diamond and Kid Titan, at the scene of a daring rescue. Diamond, if I can turn to you first... What were your thoughts as you selflessly entered the burning building?" He pushed his microphone up to her face.
Renata said, "No comment," then turned and walked away.
"Er... Kid Titan! Do you have anything you'd like to say?"
Colin nodded. "Yeah. My name is Titan, not Kid Titan!" He turned his back on the reporter and followed Renata.