Helios Flare
'Flim-flam could feel the Helios surging through him. The other six who had taken the drug had flared out immediately in the first day. Supposedly one drifted away in a whisp of ash. One turned into a god-damn tree. Some of the others were worse, he tried not to think about it.
But he had it under control, he was better than the rest. When he burst through the bank doors, he summoned all the energy into one burst:
"Everybody freeze! This is a robbery!"
The effect was dramatic, one woman remained hunched over writing on a deposit slip. Another was half turned to a friend, whose face was locked in what must have been a disparaging microexpression. She was probably going to pull out into a smile and make it seem like the she thought the joke was funny. Flam knew the drill, he had conned enough people to read those. He often had to surpress than same expression, so many fools so little time.
But this power gave him a new game to play. He slid over the bank counter dramatically, knocking the teller down. It was like his favorite robbery movies, but with none of the tension. None of the crowd control or violence. He focused on the task at hand, emptying every drawer and envelope he could and stuffing them into a duffle bag. He probably could have just done an armored car, but this was more fun. He'd get to the big stuff later.
As the headed for the exit, he flipped off the camera. Then he noticed the bodies. People had been dropping around him, turning blue, their eyes bulged out. They had stopped breathing when he froze them. It had been minutes. He had been too enthralled by his task to notice.
"Everyone unfreeze! I said move again! Breath!"
But it was too late.'
Causes
As with most things about the Metaforce, the exact mechanism behind flaring is unknown. What is known is that everyone who is injected Helios exhibits it at some level.
Symptoms
Helios Flares express as sudden outbursts of Meta-ability power, which are usually overwhelmingly powerful and completely out of control of the user. The individual symptoms are specific to the power that the user inherits from the drug. If the user is already powered, the drug simply amplifies them to extraordinary levels.
Treatment
There is no known treatment for Flares, other than the death of the user. Some of the more skilled users can get by through regular release of power.
Affected Groups
The most common users of Helios were The Trust, who sought to empower their Terror Squads and step up their game against the superheroes who hounded them. The Trusts was ruthless enough to accept the cost, and their soliders were greedy enough to take on the risk.
Type
Chemical Compound
Origin
Engineered
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired
Rarity
Extremely Rare
Affected Species
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