The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

42

I waited in that crate for hours, passing the time by rocking the crate to freak out the builders and scraping stick figures into the floor. There was a really funny thirty minutes when the building blacked out and everyone scrambled around looking for a light and screaming. Then the lights came back on and everyone went back to work.

Finally, the crate was unsealed.

I stepped out and was overwhelmed by the huge arena that had been built around me. It was huge and oval shaped, with sand covering the arena space. Stadium stands towered to the ceiling, filled with mutants that booed and cheered. A cube-shaped digital scoreboard hung from the center of the ceiling, showing my face a thousand times larger. At first glance you would have thought this was any regular sports game. If you hadn't noticed the electrified glass protecting the masses and the two guards that were supposed to spring me loose from the giant crate.

I shooed them off and they skittered to a gate on the other side of the oval. Above it was Dr. Davis in a golden couch. He reclined comfortably on his right elbow and was being fed grapes that were growing from, (joy of joys,) the arm of the mutant named Plant. Scarily enough, Dr. Davis wore nothing but an ill-fitting toga and a wreath of oak leaves around his head. "Hello Jezebel."

I crossed my arms and nodded in greeting. If I had tried to speak, I would have lost my composure quickly.

"It seems that the rumors are true. You are truly a superhero," Dr. Davis chuckled. "After all, no chains can hold you."

"Cut the crap and tell me what I'm supposed to do," I growled.

Dr. Davis shook his head. "What a naughty girl. Hold your temper dear. Anger looks dreadful on you."

"Did you even look in the mirror when you put that thing on?"

Dr. Davis rolled his eyes and snapped at Plant, who was trying not to laugh. "Fine. Let the games begin."

A roar went up from the crowd and Larry Loudmouth stepped forward. "The rules are simple. Jezebel Firetongue will participate in three fights. One-on-one. Anything goes. Jezebel may be killed at any time, but she may not kill her opponent without permission from the doctor. Now, without further a due, I'd like to introduce Jezebel's first opponent-" The gate went up and my wings burst through the recently slashed holes in my jacket. "Oliver Waterman!"

My face fell as the guard who controlled water walked in through the gate doors. It was really disappointing. I was hoping for someone better. Oh well. There are three fights. One of them has to be good, I thought to myself.

"Begin!"

I shot up in a heartbeat before Oliver could react. He was obviously chosen to drench my flames before I could fight back. Not in this lifetime. I hit the ceiling and rolled a fireball around on my tongue. Oliver became a living fountain and sprayed water jets as high as he could. Water droplets speckled my shirt, but the water did not reach high enough to drench me. When my fireball was the size of a golf ball, I spat it out and watched it drop towards Oliver-

-and explode on the arena floor, leaving a crater where Oliver stood only moments before. Now he stood on the edge of the arena, watching me carefully. Of course, I thought to myself. Dr. Davis would only throw in a mutant as weak as Oliver if he'd been subjected to SFS serum.

I dropped from the ceiling and swooped towards Oliver. With a grin, Oliver sped towards the other side of the arena. Anticipating this, I hit the floor and rolled before standing up and speeding right at Oliver with all of my might, tackling him and spitting fire onto his shirt. Then I winked and flew back up again, spitting a fiery circle around him. Oliver was extinguishing the fire as fast as he could and I spun up, spitting marble-sized fireballs into the cracks between my fingers.