Purple Phoenix

Chapter Thirty-Two

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"Who thought it would be a good idea to send me, a super with the power of fire, to fight Poseidon, a super with the power of water? Like who thought that?" I grumbled under my breath as another wave dowsed me, claiming all fire I had tried to create. I didn't know why I even decided to use my fire. It obviously would be useless here. In this environment, I was forced to solely depend on flight.

I moved my attention back to the woman. I was trying to get to the woman who had somehow gotten to the top of the lamp pole, away from the waves that had climbed up the promenade, and was holding on for dear life. Every time I got near her, though, Poseidon decided to throw a wave at me, despite being currently occupied with a Soroya who was now in whale form and springing at him out of the water.

I flew up a bit more, trying to get away from the raging waters beneath me. This time, I was much closer to her than before. I was able to reach out a hand and nearly touch her but before I could a quick wave shot me down back to the floor.

I spit out some of the water that got into my mouth. "Yippee-skippee. I oh so love getting dowsed by water!"

The woman, who had heard me over the sound of crashing waves, shot me a weird look and then resumed her screaming.

"My words are dripping with sarcasm. Very strong sarcasm," I explained, murmuring and knowing fully well that she couldn't hear me.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Lidia piped up in my earpiece that had somehow survived despite being dunked in the water who knows how many times. I rolled my eyes and held back my response, instead lifting my body up again higher and higher until I was above the woman. I already knew what would happen once I went down again, so, this time, I needed to do something else.

Looking down at the red suit, I spoke, "Iris: Activate Camouflage."

"Camouflage activated," Iris's voice was a familiar comfort in this dreary situation. My suit faded away, and I dipped down to grab the woman and whisk her out of here. It had worked. Poseidon didn't throw another wave at me as I wrapped my arms around the woman and pulled away with her. She, however, decided that she liked the lamp post, above the raging, dangerous water, more than me, who was planning to bring her to safety. She struggled against me and even managed to kick me with her flailing limbs.

"I'm invisible and I'm here to help you," I explained, thinking that because she couldn't see me she was freaking out.

"I saw you become invisible but that doesn't mean I want to be taken. Leave me alone!" She ordered, starting to kick me again but keeping her grip around the pole.

"Girl, I'm trying to get you out of here! Work with me, please!" I begged, wanting to help Soraya with Poseidon, where the real fight was at. I had already cleared up other areas, bringing humans to safety and saving a dog who was about to drown in the water. The dog was the most grateful than the whole bunch, giving me tons of licks during the flight. Of course, I didn't expect humans to lick me, that's gross. A thank you, however, would be appreciated. Maybe a dollar or two for a tip as I was taking the time out of my own life to save the rest of theirs. Instead, most decided to sprint away from me, shrieking like they had seen the ugliest spider in the world. I mean, yes, I'm a villain, but for goodness' sake, I just helped you, so chill down a bit.

She yelled back, shrieking at the top of her lungs, "No way! You're a villain, meaning you lie. Everyone knows not to trust villains!" Here we go again with unwilling humans. This is exactly why being a hero was annoying. You had to deal with difficult people and who wanted to do that? Not me, I can tell you that.

I dragged a hand down my face. "I will pay you money. Please, just let me help." That was a lie, but she didn't need to know that.

"You'll pay me?" I could practically see her ears perk up at the sound of money.

"Yep, I'll give you a hundred dollars," I said smoothly and waited for her to consider the pretend offer.

She bit her lip and ignored the drops of water that went down her face due to Poseidon's wrath. She looked down and saw that the water had risen. Soon, it would take over the lamp post. She countered, "Two hundred dollars."

"Okay. It's a deal." I wrapped my arms around her again and this time when I pulled she let go of the pole. She was heavier than I thought, but I still managed to pull through, flying with her in my arms and waiting to drop her off in a place that I was sure she would be safe at. During the flight, I deactivated camouflage because I could see me being invisible made her uncomfortable and that she couldn't wait to get away from me.

Landing carefully, I let her go, watching her stumble out of my arms. Does that mean the job here is done? She gagged and started puking on the side of the road. I think I could go now, but I  didn't really know how to do any of this hero stuff. I walked backward a couple of steps, ready to leave. She would probably be fine on her own.

"Wait," She croaked out, turning back to me. I paused, waiting for her to continue. She wiped her mouth with her hand and said, "Where's my money?" There it is again. No 'thank you for saving my life'. A nod would even do the job. But nope, they got to be greedy like that.

"Oh, that was a lie."

Her eyelid twitched. "A lie! But-but you promised that... but we had a deal!"

I shrugged. "You were the one who said that villains lie, not me." Without waiting for another second, I jumped into the air and flew back to where Poseidon and Animalia were battling.

During the time I was gone, the water had crept up the shore and overcame to the promenade. It was inching now towards the city grounds, every wave sending it a bit more forward. Luckily, Poseidon did not have any control of the weather, so the sky was clear and sunny, contrasting with the dark blue colors below. Quite a weird sight. Farther back, Soraya and Jax were twirling in the air with Jax, eyes glowing purple, throwing water after water at Soraya, and Soraya, who had now switched from a whale to an eagle form, dodging and avoiding the water.

"What are you waiting for?" Lidia asked, obviously watching me out of the camera she placed on the suit.

"I'm prepping myself mentally for the water dowsing. It's going to be gross and cold and why am I fighting water if I'm fire? How does that make any sense?" I asked, exasperated.

"You have flight to help you," She advised, "Work together with Soraya if you can. You make a great team. Remember, the goal is to bring him in." Restrain him, not kill him. Which was great because Mr. Poseidon was more than willing to kill us, even attempting to drown me while I was helping a child. But we, however, had to be careful not to damage him too much. Yes, it was understandable. He was truly the good guy and didn't know what he was doing but that would put us in a grave disadvantage.

Maim, not kill, I reminded myself. Stop him from flooding the city while you're at it. Easy-peasy.

"Okay, I got this," I said, not feeling an ounce of confidence.

"That's the spirit!" Lidia said, obviously fooled by my fake optimism.

Before I thought too much about it, I pushed myself into the battlefield.