Josh woke up three days later in a medical facility he didn't recognize. The room was white and sterile, with machines beeping softly around him. His body felt like it had been put through a blender—every muscle ached, his head pounded, and his throat was so dry it hurt to swallow.
"Hey," a familiar voice said. Kyla was sitting in a chair beside his bed, looking exhausted. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Did I die?" Josh croaked.
"Almost. You've been unconscious for seventy-two hours. Dr. Walsh said your body was completely drained—zero energy reserves. You shouldn't have been able to wake up for at least a week." Kyla handed him a cup of water with a straw. "Drink slowly."
The water tasted like heaven. Josh drank greedily until Kyla pulled it away. "Easy. Too much too fast and you'll throw up."
"What happened? After I passed out?" Josh tried to sit up but immediately regretted it. Everything spun.
"Azazel retreated. You wounded him—actually hurt him enough that he had to pull back all his forces and run." Kyla smiled slightly. "Josh, you made the King of the Frozen Realm flee. That's never happened before."
Fragmented memories came back—the levitation, the dual aura, the massive fireball. "Fire Magic. I yelled something about Fire Magic."
"Yeah, that was weird and cool at the same time. Very anime protagonist of you." Kyla's smile faded. "But Josh, Dr. Walsh has been running tests while you were unconscious. The dimensional energy inside you—it's completely different now. You're not just carrying ice powers anymore."
"I felt it. When you went down, when I thought Azazel was going to kill you, something inside me just... broke open. Like there was a door I didn't know existed, and it shattered." Josh looked at his hands. They looked normal, but he could feel the energy humming beneath his skin. Not just cold anymore, but heat too. "I can feel both now. Ice and fire. They shouldn't be able to exist together, but they do."
"Dr. Walsh thinks you accessed something buried in the Shard's power. Some memory or essence of the person Azazel used to be—before the ice consumed all his warmth." Kyla took his hand carefully. "You're changing, Josh. Evolving into something that's never existed before. And nobody knows what that means."
Before Josh could respond, Dr. Walsh entered with Admiral Russo. Both looked serious.
"Reeves, glad to see you awake," Russo said. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a truck made of other trucks."
"That's fairly accurate, given what you did." Walsh pulled up a chair, tablet in hand. "Josh, I need to run some tests. But first, I need you to try something for me. Can you manifest your powers? Just a small amount?"
Josh concentrated, reaching for that cold inside him. It came easily, frost forming on his fingertips. Then he reached for the other thing—the heat. Fire sparked to life in his other hand, small and controlled.
Both at once. Ice and fire, existing in the same person.
"Remarkable," Walsh breathed, taking readings. "Your cellular structure is maintaining two completely opposite energy states simultaneously. This should be impossible. The heat should cancel the cold, or vice versa. But instead, they're balancing each other."
"So what does that make me?" Josh asked. "Some kind of hybrid?"
"More like a bridge. You're connected to the Frozen Realm through the ice, but you've also tapped into something else—thermal dimensional energy, maybe? Or perhaps the original warmth that existed before Azazel became the King." Walsh showed him charts that meant nothing to Josh. "The point is, you're unique. One of a kind. And that makes you incredibly valuable."
"Also incredibly dangerous," Russo added. "The fact that you can hurt Azazel—actually wound him enough to force a retreat—means he'll be coming for you specifically now. Either to recruit you or eliminate you before you become a bigger threat."
"Great. So I've got a dimensional king with a grudge." Josh dismissed his powers, the ice and fire fading. "What's the global situation? How bad is Tokyo?"
"Could be worse. Forty-two casualties, hundreds wounded. But compared to what could have happened if Azazel had stayed..." Russo shook her head. "You saved thousands of lives, Reeves. Maybe more."
"Doesn't feel like it when forty-two people died."
"Welcome to command. You learn to live with the numbers." Russo's expression softened slightly. "But for what it's worth, you did good work. Both of you. The President wants to meet with you when you're recovered. Probably more medals."
"I'd rather have a cheeseburger and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep," Josh said.
"That can be arranged too." Russo stood. "Rest up, Reeves. We're giving you and Martinez a week of mandatory leave. No missions, no training, just recovery time. You've earned it."
After Russo left, Dr. Walsh stayed to run more tests. She had Josh manifest different levels of power, testing his control and limits. The fire was harder to control than the ice—it wanted to burn wild, while the ice was precise and focused.
"It's like they have different personalities," Josh explained. "The cold is calculating, patient. The fire is aggressive, emotional. And I have to balance both or they fight each other."
"That's actually a good description. You're managing two opposing forces that both want dominance." Walsh made notes. "You'll need training. Lots of it. Learning to use these powers safely, especially the fire magic you manifested in Tokyo."
"About that—why did I say 'Fire Magic: First Form'? Where did that come from?"
Walsh shrugged. "Instinct? Dimensional knowledge downloaded through the Shard? Your subconscious mind creating a framework to channel new powers? Pick your explanation. The important thing is it worked."
"So there might be other forms? Other techniques?"
"Possibly. The dimensional energy inside you seems to have... memories. Knowledge from whatever created the Shard, or from Azazel himself, or from something else entirely. You might be able to access more as you learn to control your powers better."
After Walsh finally let him rest, Josh and Kyla were left alone. She climbed onto the bed beside him, careful not to jostle any of the medical equipment.
"You scared me," she said quietly. "When you fell from the sky, when you wouldn't wake up. I thought I'd lost you."
"Same when Azazel threw you. That's what triggered it—seeing you hurt, thinking you were going to die. I just... couldn't accept it. And something inside me refused to let it happen."
"So I'm your trigger for new powers?" Kyla smiled slightly. "That's weirdly romantic."
"Everything about us is weirdly romantic. We had our first kiss while fighting ice monsters, our dates keep getting interrupted by dimensional invasions, and now I've got superpowers that activate when you're in danger." Josh pulled her closer. "We're a disaster."
"The best kind of disaster." Kyla kissed him gently. "But seriously, Josh—what you did in Tokyo, it was incredible. And terrifying. You were glowing like a star, levitating, throwing car-sized fireballs. You looked like a god."
"I felt like I was dying. Using that much power all at once, it was like every cell in my body was burning and freezing simultaneously." Josh shuddered at the memory. "I don't know if I can do it again. Or if I should."
"Dr. Walsh will help you train. Learn to control it better, use less energy. You've got time."
"Do we though? Azazel said he'd come back stronger. And now he knows I can hurt him, he'll be prepared next time. We might not get another chance to catch him off guard."
They lay together in comfortable silence for a while, just existing in each other's presence. Finally, Kyla said, "Stevens wants to visit. He's been bugging me for three days about when you'd wake up. Something about needing to tell you terrible jokes."
"Of course he does." Josh smiled despite himself. "Let him in. I could use some terrible jokes right now."
Kyla texted Stevens, and within five minutes he appeared in the doorway with a ridiculous grin and a bag of snacks.
"The hero awakens!" Stevens announced dramatically. "I brought chips, cookies, and an extensive collection of puns about fire and ice. Prepare yourself."
"Oh no," Josh groaned.
"Oh yes. First question—what's the difference between you and a freezer?"
"Please don't—"
"A freezer doesn't throw fireballs!" Stevens laughed at his own joke. "Get it? Because you do both? It's comedy gold!"
"That's the worst joke I've ever heard," Kyla said, but she was smiling.
"I've got more. What did the ice cube say to the match?"
Josh and Kyla looked at each other, then back at Stevens. "What?"
"We should team up—we'd make a great pair!" Stevens threw his arms wide. "Just like you, Josh! Fire and ice, working together! It's perfect!"
"It's terrible," Josh corrected, but he was laughing too. "Please stop."
"Never. Okay, one more. Why did the fire go to therapy?"
"Why?" Kyla asked, already regretting it.
"Because it had burning issues to work through!" Stevens collapsed into a chair, looking pleased with himself. "See? Therapy jokes. I'm branching out."
They spent the next hour like that—Stevens telling terrible jokes, Kyla groaning, Josh laughing despite the pain. It felt normal, like they were regular people instead of dimensional defenders. Like they could just be friends hanging out, instead of soldiers in an impossible war.
Eventually, Stevens had to leave for a briefing. After he left, Delgado stopped by briefly to check on Josh, her arm still in a sling from the Tokyo battle. Then Rodriguez visited, looking much better despite the shoulder wound. Even some of the Japanese Self-Defense Force members came by to thank Josh personally for saving their city.
By evening, Josh was exhausted from all the visitors but feeling better. More human. Less like a weapon and more like a person.
"You're popular," Kyla observed after the last visitor left.
"I nearly died throwing a fireball at a dimensional king. Apparently that makes people want to say thank you." Josh shifted in the bed, trying to find a comfortable position. "Kyla, can I ask you something?"
"Always."
"If I keep changing—if the powers keep growing and I become more like Azazel—promise me you'll stop me. Before I become something I'm not."
Kyla's expression turned serious. "Josh, you're not going to become like him."
"But what if I do? What if the Shard inside me takes over, or the fire consumes me, or I just... lose myself in the power? You saw what happened to Azazel. Trauma and power turned him into a monster. What if the same thing happens to me?"
"It won't. You want to know why?" Kyla took both his hands. "Because Azazel was alone. He had nobody to pull him back, nobody to remind him what he was fighting for. But you have me. You have Stevens, the team, your family. You have people who love you and will drag you back from the edge if you start to fall."
"You really believe that?"
"I know that. You're not alone, Josh. And as long as you remember that, you'll never become what Azazel became."
Josh wanted to believe her. But he could feel the power inside him, vast and terrible and growing. The ice whispered promises of strength. The fire burned with rage waiting to be unleashed. And somewhere in the middle, he was just Josh—a twenty-three-year-old cop who'd gotten in way over his head.
That night, he slept without dreams. No visits from Azazel, no visions of the Frozen Realm. Just darkness and rest.
But when he woke the next morning, Dr. Walsh was waiting with concerning news.
"We've detected unusual dimensional energy signatures," she said, pulling up satellite data. "They're not weak points exactly. More like... echoes. Afterimages of Azazel's presence. They're appearing in random locations around the world."
"What does that mean?" Kyla asked.
"We don't know. But they're growing stronger. And they're all pointing toward one location—Egypt. Specifically, an archaeological site in the desert that was just uncovered two weeks ago."
"Egypt?" Josh sat up, ignoring the protest from his sore muscles. "Why Egypt?"
"That's what we need to find out. Admiral Russo is assembling a team to investigate. She wants you two on it, but given your condition, Josh, I recommended waiting until you're fully recovered."
"How long until the team deploys?"
"Five days. Enough time for you to regain your strength and complete basic physical therapy."
Josh looked at Kyla, who nodded. They were thinking the same thing. If Azazel's energy was pointing toward Egypt, there was something there he wanted. Or feared. Either way, they needed to get there first.
"We're going," Josh said. "Whatever's in Egypt, we need to find it before Azazel does."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Walsh said with a slight smile. "Because I have a feeling whatever's buried in that desert is going to answer a lot of questions about where the Shard came from. And maybe how to stop it for good."
As Walsh left to make arrangements, Josh and Kyla looked at each other with a mixture of excitement and dread.
Egypt. Ancient ruins. Dimensional energy signatures. This was either going to give them the answers they desperately needed, or lead them into a trap.
Probably both.
But at least they'd face it together.
Like everything else.
End of Chapter 30