This again.
The tackle is brutal enough to force the air from his lungs. He’s catapulted across the street, barely managing to skid to a stop before crashing into a parked car. It might seem odd to worry about property damage when fighting a damned pyrokinetic, but North Star is known for being careful. Why fight for a city if you only destroy it along the way?
He glimpses a flash of his opponent’s black-red suit; he takes flight and quite literally swoops Inferno off their feet, slamming his knee into their stomach. They groan in response and retaliate by trying to burn him; but he’s flying higher, faster, and the fire just can’t catch. (Altitude has always been North Star’s best friend.) The two supers grapple in the air, until it becomes harder for the other to breathe - and when their flickering embers aren’t even that anymore, North Star lands a heavy punch against the side of their head, knocking them out cold with one swing.
Time to get back on the ground.
Later:
After a fight, it’s usually a veritable frenzy with the media, this channel and that paper all trying to snag the latest story; but the early hours combined with his swift work means word hasn’t yet travelled to most news outlets. Inferno sits unconscious and restrained in an armoured police vehicle while he offers a statement to the officers, smile bright and dazzling, bordering on cocky. But that’s what the people love about him, isn’t it? That confident, golden boy charm. (If only he felt half of what he projected.) He’s finishing up by the time he hears approaching steps and the telltale click of a pen - someone from the press. He turns with a flourish, but his words catch in his throat.
Emma? He has to stop himself from actually voicing that thought. He’s North Star right now, not Julian - he’s not supposed to recognise her. (But he does. Oh, he does; recognises her even in the years that have past, recognises her in that fire behind her eyes and the way she carries herself. It’s been ages since high school, but all of a sudden he’s a boy with a crush again, trying too hard to play it cool in front of the girl.) “Morning,” he goes for, putting on his best media-appropriate smile. “You’re first on the scene. I was startin’ to worry I was old news.” He flashes her a wink through his mask, “What can I do for you?” // @tongshui
