We've already established that NoFace blew up the Polar City League building with the hero known as Slayer inside. She didn't know Slayer was there. It wasn't intentional. No evil plot to hurt her friend. We all clear on that? Cool. So we can stop beating NoFace over the head with it? I'm glad we agree.
Because here's what happened *after* the building blew up.
The heat of the explosion set off a genetic trigger which activated an ability Slayer had always had but never been able to use. Her body encased itself in a calcium shell. The shell was found by recovery crews the next day.
After a three day hibernation, the hero formerly known as Slayer burst from the shell and shot up through the roof of the storage shed in a ball of fire that destroyed everything in a 100 ft radius but her.
She landed in a heat haze in the crater left by her rebirth with feathery hair waving in the escaping air, looked around at all the gawking people and politely asked if anyone had something she could wear. Preferably flame-resistant?
Her name was changed to Firebird and she remained in Polar City to witness the fall of all she had ever known to Murphy's Law. She was one of few who stayed to fight.
Times were hard for a while, and she looked everywhere for NoFace, either to hug her or kill her ... not quite sure which. Unfortunately, her old friend was nowhere to be found. All that turned up, in a sub-basement of an abandoned government storage facility, was Killjoy, NoFace's sword. He appeared to have gone into hibernation. Unsure what to do with him, she took him home and stored him in a closet, hoping he would wake up and tell her if he knew where NoFace had gone.
Sadly, he did not and nearly two years went by. Firebird honed her new abilities: control of fire, small pyrokinetic fireballs, and manipulation of heat. New teams were formed, small battles won, and sponsorship was attained. In the space of a few months, her old (and imagined) inadequacies had melted away and she was ready to blow stuff up, only hers would have better fire.
Then one night, she turned on the television and saw a sight she would recognize anywhere. A tall stout woman screaming, guns rotating, and a city in ruins. It had happened again. At first Firebird assumed it was Arryd City, where she had suspected NoFace had gone, but was surprised to find out that this was not Arryd City. It was not even in the United States. No. She had blown up Sweden. (What? Sweden? Yeah!) Reports were pouring out of Stockholm of a woman gone completely crazy. Thehellyousay.
After two long years, and one very destructive outburst from Killjoy (who had decided to wake up). Firebird and NoFace stood in the same room, NoFace in a bit of a spotlight, Firebird in the shadows. Firebird made a flame at the end of her finger and lit her cigarette.
"If you EVER blow me up again, I will kill you where you stand. If you so much as THINK about it!" A plume of smoke wafted lazily into the light.
"That's just it," NoFace said. "I didn't think. I didn't know you were in there. I didn't mean to."
"Nice, but I still got blown up. It hurt. No explanation you can give will ever make that go away. I can forgive you, but I will never forget." Firebird stepped into the light and smiled. "I think I'm going to like this 'sensitivity chip' thing. Come on. Bring the sword. We have a lot of ice cream to catch up on. Welcome back to Polar City."
