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The Cameron Dorm building stood quietly in the cold and dark October night. At Rondville University they were known as the most run down of the dorms. The dorm renovation program had started with the older buildings on campus. So with the Cameron Dorms being built in the early nineties meant the renovations hadn't come for them yet. It was certainly showing its age and there was some concern that the contractors may have cut a few corners when constructing it thirty odd years ago. Whatever plans the university administration had for the Cameron Dorms, someone else had come for the dorm building with his own plans for it.

It was dark and well past midnight as a man in dark clothes approached the Cameron Dorms with a pair of battered red gas cans in his hands. He glanced around, looking for any security patrols. Not seeing any sign of Campus Safety, he dashed across the empty parking lot and around the back of the building. He knew that the lock on one of the ground floor windows was busted, because it had been his room until about a week ago when he was kicked out after getting caught smoking out of his window.

He tossed the cans inside first before pulling himself inside. The room had been stripped bare, just the crappy college bed and desk remained along with an overhead light. The hooded man pulled out a couple of road flares from his pocket and tossed them on the mattress.

“I'll show you smoking in the dorm." He smirked at his own joke before twisting open the cap on the gas can.

***

Up on the third floor of the Cameron Dorms Harmony Sarif was sleeping soundly. It was the long Thanksgiving weekend and most of the campus had gone home for it. Harmony had elected to stay on campus and enjoy the peace and quiet. Her mother wasn't too happy about that, but her father wished he could skip the family gathering himself. Harmony didn't know how many students were in the dorm besides herself, but she knew she was the only one currently on the third floor.

Even though it was October, Harmony slept with just a sheet on her bed. She always tended to feel warm, which is a boon for the cold Canadian winters. Harmony was wearing an old white t-shirt decorated with paw prints she had had since grade eleven and a pair of light pink sleep pants. Harmony had refused to sleep with socks since she was a baby, kicking and pulling them off until she could finally tell her parents they made her feel too hot.

After a day full of studying and frozen pizza, Harmony had passed out in her bed for a long deep sleep. Her vacation was exactly what she needed, time mostly alone to study and long restful nights. In Harmony's current dream, she was flying through the blue sky, laughing as the wind rushed past her. She often dreamed of flying, ever since she was a child. Harmony's pleasant dream, however, was interrupted by a loud screeching alarm. She pushed herself up off her pillow, groaning and blinking.

“What the hell?" Harmony spoke aloud as she tried to figure out what was going on.

She realized it was the fire alarm in her room going off, and she could hear in the background the fire bell ringing in the hallway. At first Harmony was pissed, thinking one of the remaining students had pulled the alarm in the early hours of the morning. This was quickly dispelled when she saw the smoke seeping into her dorm room.

“Shit!" she cried out as she stumbled out of her bed in her pajamas.

Panicked, she didn't even think to put on her slippers and rushed out of her room. There had been a fire drill at the beginning of the semester, but that was it. Harmony frantically tried to remember what the RA had told them, but she hadn't really paid attention at the time, just followed the other students out into the parking lot for the drill. Now there was smoke and fire filling the hallways of the third floor and she was panicking. Harmony coughed and covered her mouth with her arm.

Fuck! Where do I go? Not the elevator, I know that much! Which way are the stairs?

She took a moment to orient herself before running down the hallway. Strangely as she hurried towards the stairs, the smoke seemed to bother her less, eventually becoming nothing more than just an odor to her nose. She felt a jolt of energy that she wrote off as the adrenaline rush. In her panic she didn't even notice the orange-red downy feathers starting to sprout on her exposed arms. Her nose was also starting to change, not that she noticed. It was becoming yellow and firm, the tip curling down in a slight point.

Harmony made it to the second floor, but the stairwell down to the first floor was engulfed in flames. She ran into the hallway of the second floor, trying to make her way to the set of stairs on the other side of the dorm. The flames were now burning along the walls as the heavy wooden doors of the dorm rooms flamed like a series of bonfires. The flames were, of course, hot, but her skin didn't burn or even go pink from the intense heat. Instead, more and more of the orange-red feathers grew along her arms and under her t-shirt and sleep pants. It was as if they were responding to the heat. A new appendage was starting to force its way out of the base of her spine, and was starting to tear her sleep pants as it grew.

Harmony felt pain in her feet, but she struggled to run. She stumbled and nearly fell as they felt wrong somehow. She looked down and gasped. They were changing color, now looking charcoal gray and scally. She didn't have time to contemplate it as the fire continued to spread through the Cameron Dorms. The pain in her feet seemed to ebb, even as her feet continued to change with each stride she took. She was far more worried about the flames than her feet at that point. At least until she tripped over some fallen debris and fell forward onto her chest.

The impact on the hard floor hurt and stunned Harmony. As she tried to get up she noticed fully the changes that were happening to her. Her arms were now completely covered in downy feathers. Harmony blinked and shook her head.

This can't be…what the hell is happening to me? Her mind raced.

The heat of the fires somehow just felt warm to her now, almost comforting like a hot shower. The greater heat was what was welling up inside of her transforming body. A spark had been lit inside of her body and long dormant powers were beginning to manifest.

Harmony looked at her hands. They were now covered in ashen scales. Where once she had had unpainted and closely trimmed nails, her fingers now ended in shining black talons. Her feat no longer looked to even be human, instead three toed bird-like feet with long black talons had replaced them. Even as she wiggled her toes she still didn't believe they were really her own feet. Along her arms larger stiffer feathers were starting to grow. They started blue at the base, fading to orange to red at the tips, almost resembling a flame.

Harmony's eyes were pulled away from the feathers as she noticed what was growing out of her face. Her nose had grown to encompass her upper lip and then out into a small beak. Harmony gingerly touched her face, and noticed her lower lip had also changed. She had a beak now, there was no other word for it. Harmony was shocked, but the growing heat inside her body canceled out her fear. Whatever was happening to her felt good, very good.

She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh from her beak. Harmony's long feathered serpentine tail twitched behind her as her flame colored tail feathers started to sprout from the tip. Her body was pulling in the flames all around her, turning the tattered remains of her pajamas to ash in the process. Yet she didn't feel exposed as her entire body was now covered in the soft orange-red feathers. Harmony ran her hands over her chest and her beak almost smiled.

'I'm beautiful…" Her whisper was lost in the roar of the fire.

As her hands explored lower they brushed over her sex and she felt a tingle shoot through her spine down to the tip of her long tail. The fire outside her body was ignored as the heat inside grew hotter. Being mindful of her talons she began to play with herself. Each touch was electric and before she knew it she was spread out on the burning hot floor, her finger delving into her far hotter sex.

Harmony's beak opened wide as she half moaned half cried like a raptor as she got herself off. The feathers of her arms filled in and grew long, making them just as much wings as arms. Her plain brown hair was replaced with a crest of orange red feathers. The flames surrounding her were consumed to nothing and the pocket of air grew noticeably cooler as her transformation reached its conclusion.

That wasn't all that reached its end. A loud echoing screech overpowered the roar of the flames as she hit her climax, followed by a puff of flames from her beak. She opened her intensely blue eyes and smiled. Fire was no enemy of hers any more. She giggled to herself as she sat up, and admired her wings.

Can I actually fly with these? She wondered. I always dreamed of flying…

Her pleasant thoughts were interrupted when a loud sound up above grabbed her attention. Her large blue eyes went wide as she saw the ceiling above her crack and start to fall. In her current state she had no time to react, only watch as the heavy burning ceiling collapsed onto her. The pain of her body being crushed was excruciating, but it only lasted a moment as her back and neck were broken. She cried out under the rubble weekly before the darkness started to take her.

I…wanted…to…fly… Was Harmony's final thought as everything stopped.

***

Lieutenant Charlie Segal of the Rondville Fire Department made his way through the burnt-out husk of what used to be the Cameron Dorms. He had a grim task ahead of him. Thankfully, the dorms were mostly empty due to the Thanksgiving holiday. However, of the remaining students in the dorm when the fire broke out, one was unaccounted for. Segal along with several other firefighters now had the responsibility of finding the body of Harmony Sarif. His radio crackled to life as he received a call.

“Hey Chuck!" it had to be Simmons, no one else on the force called him chuck.

Segal hit the transmit button. “What is it, Simmons"

“The firebug has been apprehended, get this, by Damselfly!"

“Holy shit! I thought she retired."

“Looks like she's back. I just wanted to let you know."

“Roger that, keep me updated on the bastard who did this if you hear anything."

“You got it, stay safe!"

The radio went quiet again.

Too little, too late for Ms. Sarif, but at least her killer will face justice sooner rather than later.

Taking what little cold comfort he could from the news, Lieutenant Segal continued to search through the rubble. He came across a pile of concrete and support beams in what used to be a hallway. Using a long pry bar and brute strength Segal turned over the largest hunk of concrete and shined his flashlight inside. All he saw was a large pile of ashes. Whatever it had been, it couldn't have been a human. There would still be bones left behind even after the blaze. A fact Segal wished he didn't know first hand.

Segal switched off his light and was about to continue his search, when suddenly the pile of ash started to smolder and smoke. He quickly reached for the fire extinguisher he was carrying on his belt for any hot spots. It was already red hot by the time he aimed the nozzle of the extinguisher when suddenly it erupted into a bonfire like blaze of flame and heat.

Segal fell backwards onto his rear and fumbled for the button on his transceiver when suddenly out of the blaze a figure shot out and into the air. The flame vanished in an instant, as a bright orange-red figure flew up out of the collapsed roof of the burned-out building. Then a triumphant cry like that of an eagle or hawk echoed through the air.

The cool October morning air buffeted Harmony's feathers as she took to the sky. Flying as she always had wanted to in her dreams. She felt such an immeasurable joy as her wings carried her. The reality of what happened, however, was still there in her mind.

I…I died when the ceiling fell on me. My entire body was broken, but it feels like I just woke from a good night's sleep.

Looking down at the scene below she saw the fire department, police and media staring up at her as she looped and circled in the air.

I probably should go down and explain what happened to me. Not that I really understand any of it.

She circled down into the grassy field by the Cameron Dorms. Unfortunately, landing was less intuitive than flying for Harmony. She stumbled on her feet and face-planted onto the grass. Her pride was hurt more than her body at least. By the time she pushed herself up, a throng of people were rushing over to her. Out of instinct she at first covered her body with her wings, but Harmony soon realized her feathers did a good enough job of maintaining her modesty. So instead, she dusted the grass and dirt off her body as best she could.

“Ma'am?" a police officer called out, taking the lead and approaching her. “Who are you and what are you doing here?"

“My name is Harmony Sarif. I live here in the dorms, well, I used to." The crest of feathers on her head drooped slightly as she said that.

“Sarif?" The officer wasn't the only shocked face in the crowd. “Nobody told us you were a metahuman!"

“I'm not, er, I wasn't until the fire" she shrugged shyly.

“We thought you died in the fire."

“I, ah," Harmony scratched the back of her head, “sort of did."

***

“Chuck! You're not going to believe what just happened!"

“You'd be surprised, what's happening out there?" Lieutenant Segal replied as he did his best to exit the ruins as quickly as he could without endangering himself.

“There's this…bird-person claiming to be the missing girl Sarif!"

“Yeah, I think I do believe you, I'm on my way out."

Once he exited the building Segal could easily see the commotion on the field. He hurried over, making his way to the front of the crowd. When Segal saw her he came to a hard stop. Slowly he removed his helmet.

Dear God in Heaven! She's an actual phoenix!

“Lieutenant Segal!" Officer Philips called over to him, “You're not going to believe this…"

“I wouldn't, if i didn't watch her rise out of the ashes first hand."

Harmony's crest rose again as she heard his words. She quickly rushed over to the firefighter, not noticing the existential crisis in his expression.

“You freed me from the rubble then?" she said excitedly.

“I, ah, suppose I did. I was looking for the body of Harmony Sarif, and then you just…"

Harmony hugged the firefighter, enfolding him in her wings. “That's me! I, ah, looked a lot different before the fire."

Segal shook his head. “There was just a pile of ash under the rubble."

Harmony nodded. “I couldn't have been reborn in such a tight place, I think. So, you still saved me."

“I've resuscitated people before, but you were…"

“I know. I can't explain it, any of it. I thought I was just a normal girl but in the middle of the fire…" Harmony released the Lieutenant from her hug. “You still saved me, that's what matters, right?"

Segal took a long shaky breath. “You're right, that is what matters. And I'm relieved that I have good news to tell your parents."

“Oh god! My parents!" she shook her head back and forth, “What, how do I tell them?"

“You're not the only one with a tough explanation." Officer Philips chuckled, “I got to explain all this to the chief. Like, does this mean the arsonist still gets charged with murder or not?"

“Can someone get Ms. Sarif a phone so she can call her parents before they see this on the news?" Segal said as he noticed all the media attention on the situation.

***

Harmony was sitting in the back of an ambulance as the paramedics tried to ascertain if she was alright or not. They were having difficulty even trying to get her vitals, not that they had any idea what her baseline would even be. After speaking to the press and his chief, Segal went over to see how she was doing.

“How did the call home go?" Segal asked as the medics tried to take her blood pressure at her thigh.

“You know, it's hard to use a phone without an external ear, my feathers kept messing with the screen. And my nails, er, talons don't help either. I ended up having to use the speakerphone." Harmony sighed, “As for the call itself, they were ecstatic that I'm alive. A Thanksgiving miracle if you think about it. But as far as the rest of my situation, I think it's going to take some time for everyone to adjust."

He nodded. “I take it there's no family history of this?"

She shook her head. “Not as far as my parent's know, no. But they are planning to ask around the family."

“Lieutenant," one of the medics interrupted, “We're going to have to take her to the metahuman hospital, they will have better luck checking her out, we hope."

“Before we go," Harmony said quickly, “is it true that Damselfly caught the guy that started the fire?"

“Yes, it's true. He's currently in police custody, though I haven't heard much in the way of details. I've been a bit distracted with your, ah, rescue."

“I didn't know she was still around." Harmony shrugged, “I guess life is full of surprises."

“Yeah, like when a pile of ash bursts into a phoenix in front of you." He chuckled.

Harmony smiled. “You'll know to expect it next time."

“I'd prefer if you didn't make it a habit of dying, Ms. Sarif."

***

As far as any of the specialists at St. Michael's, the metahuman hospital, could tell Harmony was in perfect health. They had her in the power onset ward and she was bored out of her mind. Harmony was being kept under the province mandated twenty-four hour observation period for individuals that developed unexpected powers and abilities. This left her bored laying in a hospital bed with nothing to entertain her but home renovation shows on the TV. Harmony was dressed in a gown with the sleeves cut off to accommodate her wings. She had argued against needing clothing at all, but a rather firm nurse insisted on enforcing the dress code.

Normally during the observation period for safety visitors are not admitted, but exceptions can be made for certain individuals. Harmony's head snapped to the heavy steel door of her room when she heard a soft knocking. It was a good thing she was laying down because she wasn't expecting who would walk through the door.

“Damselfly!" She uttered in a surprised whisper.

“In the exoskeleton, as it were." The modulated voice replied with obvious humor. “I hope I'm not bothering you."

“Bothering me? No! Of course not!" Harmony nearly leaped out of the bed and rushed to shake hands. “I can't believe I got to meet you! I thought you had retired."

“It's a long story. Really though, I'm here about you."

Harmony blinked. “What do you mean?"

“I was on patrol last night when I saw the fire. I flew over to investigate but the fire department was already there. I was about to fly down to help, but I spotted someone running away from the blaze. I chased him down instead. Then I heard later on the police scanner that there was a student unaccounted for."

“O-oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, then Harmony sat down on the bed and patted the space next to her. Damselfly hesitated, but eventually sat next to her.

“The fire sparked, no pun intended, something inside of me. My body somehow fed off the flames as I transformed into this." Harmony patted her chest, “And I don't regret that. I was a rather plain looking boring woman before. But now? I'm beautiful. And sure, dying did hurt-"

“Wait!" Damselfly stiffened. “You did die?"

Even in her armor, Harmony could see that Damselfly was hyperventilating.

The phoenix placed her hands over the armored heroine's hands. “Calm down, I got better. It comes with being a phoenix. Dying and rising from the ashes, you know?"

Damselfly slowly shook her head. “Part of me wants to ask what it was like, but part of me is too scared to know."

“For me it was like falling asleep, and this morning once my ashes were free from the rubble it was like springing awake after a good long rest. Of course flying for the first time could have been part of it. It was literally a dream come true for me."

“Yeah, flying is pretty cool." Damselfly rubbed the back of her head.

“Most likely you couldn't have saved me from the rubble. But, you did catch the bastard that burned the building down. I'm alive, and frankly better than ever, so don't feel guilty about it, alright?"

The armored hero sighed softly. “You know, this business can get really weird sometimes, just in case you're now planning to join it."

“Me? A hero?" Harmony shook her head, “I never even thought about it. Although, maybe I could help the fire department. Being immune to fire and able to consume flames could probably be a big help. And if the ceiling falls on me again, I'll be alright after an ash-nap."

Harmony could see Damselfly shiver in her armor. “I think that's a little too creepy of a thing to say out loud."

Harmony scratched under her beak. “I'll try to think up a better euphemism while I'm stuck in here for the next twenty hours."

After a pause both young women started to laugh.

“Seriously though, if you do decide to be a hero in any capacity, I'd be happy to help, even if I'm still learning the…" Damselfly trailed off, realizing she said too much.

Harmon blinked and stared at Damselfly with her deep blue eyes. “Wait, you've been a hero for years, right?"

“Ummm, well…" Harmony could hear the embarrassment clearly even with the voice modulation. “It's sort of a passing the torch situation for me, but don't tell anyone ok? I'm already going to be in trouble when I get back to the lair as it is."

“Is she your mom?" Harmony held up her hands. “Oh, never mind, forget I asked. I'll keep it to myself."

“Thank you." Damselfly slowly got back on her feet. “I have to get going, I have a paper due in two days that I still need to finish."

“I wasn't even thinking about school." Harmony got up as well and shook her head. “You think I can get an extension for my next paper?"

“I'd say dying is a pretty good excuse for one."

“It better be!" Harmony laughed.

_________________________________________

Characters are property of Gryphus1

Written by Syntaxerror37

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