Have you ever stood in the center of a raging inferno, the air thick with smoke and the heat touching every inch of skin you possess? But this time, the flames don't hurt as they lick my skin. In fact, that sensation feels nice, feels like home to me. So with every breath I pull that feeling into me, and let the flames churn in my chest, pushing me higher, further beyond, even as the cheap turnout gear given to me burns away. I feel more alive, constantly replenished by the influx of warmth, able to continue this as long as necessary throughout the night.

When I finally found the culprit, it wasn't some terrible beast, or a mischievous devil, but a small island creature, carried away from its home and put into the house of a rich man, and in a fit of stress, accidentally burned a forest. I looked at this creature, and saw only myself in its eyes. Cut from the same cloth, displaced creatures embodying massive and destructive force. I picked him up, and held him safe away from the creatures that were attacking him, and he sat comfortably in my arms. I proceeded from there to clean up the mess over the next several hours, then walked to the station.

On my way home, I was escorted by police, fire fighters and reporters alike, though I insisted that they refrain from using thier flash, because it was stressing out the little drakon. At the fire station i managed to keep it contained in a grill full of sand, which it seems to enjoy the quiet of immensely.

I was in Hawaii, having only stepped off my boat for a moment before I heard the news. Hurricane and nuclear disaster in Taiwan. What had potential to be a peaceful research mission was soon a direct oceanic route half an ocean away, which wasn't even the worst part. The area is full of radiation, and after an units inspection that ended with me almost becoming frog food, I began to clean up the island and make it safe for the people who life there to survive. Then comes in DeLeon, the shapeshifting Spanish man of the spirits. He helped my public image, gathering funds for my excursions and making me deal brands that I accepted begrudgingly. He also helped me set up my own non profit so I can channel donated funds into where I need them to be. And eventually we re-embraced the depths, De'Leon being my man in the chair, guiding me through the process of avoiding the monsters and obtaining the disk that was keeping the multidimensional portal closed. As I write this, I have it repaired, and we are preparing to go on a second one to ensure it is permanently closed. The monsters that keep getting out are dangerous, they seem to constantly mutate and refuse to age, and time moves at such a rapid rate in their dimension they come back with new terrifying mutations. I hope this works, because if not, the world is screwed. Final notes, they can only exist in irradiated areas, so sapping it is a good way to drive them off.