William dug deep. All the rage, all the [i]hate[/i], all the pain of what he’d been through. Being cast out from his [i]family[/i], chased down by his [b]brothers[/b], hurting those he [u]cared about[/u]. He had been betrayed, beaten and hunted. Everything he had ever known had been stripped away from him. Because some scientist had been doing an experiment that had gone wrong. Everything he had ever known, his entire way of life. His entire [i]reason[/i] for being alive, his entire [b]DRIVE[/b] and his [u]motivation[/u] all stripped away. All the while the heat, the rage, the fire inside him burned brighter than it ever had before. It built and it built and it built, as his mind was consumed by it all. A blinding red light burning through every fibre of his being.

Then he let it go. Taylor would hear a muffled explosion, the cell it turned out could take it. AS the raging inferno lashed out it merely burnt the walls slightly, however, William wouldn’t get to see if his plan worked. The exertion throwing him into a state of unconsciousness even before the countermeasure kicked in. As William fell to a ground an alarm blared, as the raging inferno was transferred from his cell right into the waiting cell of Taylor.

Taylor believed it understood William’s plan well-enough, though it did not share his freshly-captured optimism. It remembered what it was like to dream of escape, and of all its failures, but it was still willing to humor him. At the very least, if William’s efforts failed, then the attempt would still provide some sustenance to Taylor. 

What Taylor had not expected was the sheer intensity of William’s efforts. The explosion of heat and flame was enough to shake [i]Taylor’s[/i] cell, and when that energy was purged from his cell and flooded into Taylor’s, it could not have been more eager to consume. The flames burned hotter, brighter, and longer than any that Lorne had deigned to give it in the past. It had already been reasonably well-fed beforehand, so as Taylor’s form greedily absorbed every ounce of heat into its essence, it was filled with a surge of strength and power the likes of which it had never felt in its life. It grew in size to the point that it could hardly even stand upright in its cell. At first, it simply basked in the familiar satisfaction it felt from the act of its consumption, but then...there was something else. Something [i]new[/i]. It was a feeling that it thought had been lost from its life as a Human, a feeling that, all at once, gave a sudden purpose to the ravenous hunger that had consumed it for months. 

It felt [i]full[/i]. 

The energy that Taylor’s body attempted to contain swelled up within its essence. It was as if the intense heat lashed and struggled against its insides until Taylor had no choice but to release it. Suddenly, violently, and spectacularly, the blackness of Taylor’s energy erupted into pure flame. Its eyes glowed like shining beacons, and while its body did retain its shape, it was as if it became the embodiment of flame itself. This was new, and [i]indescribably[/i] marvelous.

While Taylor was not experienced with this new power, its most basic usage was simple enough. It needed only to will its energy outwards to send a persistent wave of intense heat and flame out into its cramped cell. William’s cell had certainly been designed specifically to be able to deal with such extremes of temperature, but Lorne had no knowledge that Taylor possessed this kind of ability. While both the walls and door of its cell had been reinforced to handle far more than the force that it had shown itself to be able to generate, intense, sustained heat had not been a part of its design considerations. 

The sheer heat inside the cell would have been enough to melt steel, though the titanium that primarily comprised it was still holding on. Regardless, in the cramped space, Taylor could continue to reabsorb any energy that was not directly heating the metal, and after another few moments, it began to slam its fists repeatedly into the door. Despite not melting outright, the metal clamps holding the door closed were weakened by the heat, and eventually gave way to Taylor’s powerful blows. 

The thick, titanium door of Taylor’s cell slammed against the floor with a thunderous crash, allowing it, for the first time in its new life, to step outside its cage. It was an almost overwhelming moment for Taylor, for a multitude of reasons, but right now, it had its focus. William had enabled its escape, and now, it had to return that favor in kind. There was no one else in the room, so Taylor could turn its attention quickly to William’s cell. It was not sure how to [i]properly[/i] unlock the door, but while William’s cell had been insulated against heat, its door did not have the same strength at Taylor’s. With a few, hefty blows, Taylor weakened the door’s hinges, then pried it off entirely. 

On the floor in the center of the cell was an unconscious William. He was lying motionless on his stomach, his clothing burned away and even his skin noticeably burned. For a moment, Taylor was concerned that it would not be able to help him at all. Taylor’s own body was engulfed in flame, and despite being able to produce heat himself, William did not seem to be [i]entirely[/i] immune to it. However, after placing a cautious hand on the man’s back, Taylor found that its own heat did not seem to be enough to burn him, so it could at least carry him until he awoke. [i]If[/i] he awoke. William did not look to be in great condition, and Taylor could not know what kind of damage he might have done to himself. Regardless, Taylor hefted him up onto its shoulder and set out to find their escape. 

[hider=Written by:][@Sep] and [@EliteCommander][/hider]