The nights in the ruins grow longer.Ronak — Ignis — sits within the hollowed hall of the Old Hero Academy, his eyes closed, flames dancing faintly across his palms. The young Sparks sleep nearby, their training done, their dreams unscarred.
But his mind burns restlessly.Every time he closes his eyes, the past flickers — jagged, incomplete, like broken glass reflecting a thousand suns.
Echoes of the Final Battle
He sees it again — the sky rupturing, plasma storms swirling like gods in fury.Vexar's laughter echoing through the void.The city below screaming.And then — light. Infinite, golden, consuming.
In that blinding instant before the end, he remembers a presence — something vast, ancient, whispering from beyond existence.
"Balance must be restored."
It wasn't Urja.It wasn't human.It was something older than fire itself.
Ronak gasps awake, flames bursting from his fingertips, carving glowing veins across the stone. The others rush to him, but he raises a hand.
"I saw it again… the voice. It wasn't mine."
The words tremble in the silence that follows.
Fragments of the Beyond
That night, guided by both fear and need, Ronak enters deep meditation.His energy field expands, golden light spiraling into the dark air like threads seeking connection. And then — the world around him bends.
He finds himself in a place beyond form.A dimension of fractured memories — shards of his consciousness floating in weightless space. Flames of every color burn there — each one containing a memory, a moment, a truth he isn't ready to face.
He steps toward one — a memory of the final sacrifice.He sees himself burning, smiling, as the plasma storm collapses inward.But this time, the memory doesn't end there.
From within the explosion, a shadow of light emerges — a silhouette reaching toward him, composed of gold and black intertwined.
"You are not the only one who rose that day," it says."Two flames became one."
The memory shatters.
The Voice in the Fire
Ronak jolts awake, the room glowing with unstable light. His flame pulses between gold and black, light and shadow — each color fighting for dominance.
Arsenic's words from his training echo through his thoughts:
"Energy never dies… it evolves."
He begins to understand.When he sacrificed himself, his essence didn't simply vanish into the storm — it merged with something else. The plasma energy. The corrupted force of Vexar. Perhaps even the core of the storm itself.
His return wasn't resurrection.It was reconstruction.
A fusion of Ignis and something alien — something elemental, intelligent, and ancient.An entity of balance and chaos.
He whispers to himself:
"What am I now?"
The Memory of Urja
Desperate for guidance, Ronak reactivates Urja's AI hologram — the remnant of his mentor encoded in light. The image flickers before him, half-glitched, its tone distant.
"Ronak," the hologram says softly, "when I built the plasma chamber, I never meant for it to open the veil. You crossed into the Ecliptic Layer — the realm where elemental consciousness exists. You didn't just absorb the flame… you became its vessel."
Ronak's eyes widen.
"Then… the voice?""The voice wasn't calling to you," Urja's projection says. "It was through you."
The hologram crackles, static breaking its form.
"Ronak… something came back with you. A flame older than stars. It's trying to merge — to find equilibrium. But if you lose control…"
The message cuts off — leaving only silence and the sound of his own pulse, echoing like distant thunder.
The Mirror of Flame
In the reflective glass of the academy, he sees it — his reflection splitting.One side glowing in radiant gold — hope, life, compassion.The other black as plasma — rage, entropy, void.
Both move independently for a heartbeat — and then align, staring back at him as one.
"You are both," the reflection says, its lips forming his own words."Light and shadow. Creator and destroyer. Ignis… and something more."
A surge of power bursts from his chest, lighting up the ruins like dawn.For a moment, every sensor in Future Pride detects an "energy anomaly."Helios Core takes notice.
Helios Response
Inside the silver towers of Helios Core, Director Lyra Vorn stands before a massive monitor, watching Ronak's energy pattern flare on the map.
"The Ignis anomaly has resurfaced," says an analyst."Power readings exceed all known plasma signatures."
Lyra smiles faintly.
"Activate Project Eclipse. It's time to reclaim what's ours."
And far beneath the city, deep within a sealed chamber, a pulse of golden-black light answers — beating in rhythm with Ronak's heart.
Closing Scene
Back in the ruins, Ignis opens his eyes, breathing heavily, sweat and flame dripping down his arms. The young Sparks rush to him, fear in their faces.
"Are you okay?" Nira asks.
He looks up, fire burning in his eyes — one golden, one dark.
"No… but I'm starting to remember why I came back."
The horizon trembles with light as dawn breaks over Future Pride — a city unaware that its savior is no longer just a man…but the beginning of something greater — and far more dangerous.