The Band of Misfits

Chapter 14

Sarah

I woke up, my muscles sore.

It was only me and Monica still passed out on the black leather coach. I stood up, a little unsteadily.

"Morning," Joe said, throwing me a granola bar.

It hit me in the face. I was really horrible at catching things. I groaned, and everybody laughed, even Monica, who must've just waken up.

"Come on," Iris said,"we have work to do.

So Monica and I somewhat ran up the stairs. She almost tripped, and giggled. We rushed, brushing our teeth, fixing our hair the best we could, and ran back downstairs where everybody was already waiting.

Iris had her backpack on with the red bowl still in it. I wondered who would battle today. I even thought about volunteering last night. Maybe I would.

Jason and Joe were wearing solid orange shirts, and jeans, with their regular school shoes on. Iris must've taken those from the store too. She wore a solid purple shirt, jeans, and converse, her hair pulled back tightly. Monica and I were wearing the same thing. It was kind of like a uniform.

"Finally," Jason said.

I glared at him.

"You wanna try being a girl?", I asked accusingly.

He stayed silent, his hands raised.

We all grabbed hands, used to the routine, and Iris whipped us into the battlefield.

"It's kinda cold," I said, my teeth clattering.

"How about a little battle to warm things up?", Iris suggested.

Everybody stood up a little straighter.

"I'll go," I said, almost immediately.

Everybody looked at me, grinning, their competitive spirit shining through.

I walked confidently to the center of the battleground, and everyone else followed. Iris pulled the bowl out and smiled. I reached in, shuffling my hand around, picked one, and pulled it out. I already knew who I wanted. I unfolded the paper.

'Monica' it read in neat handwriting.

"Monica," I said.

I turned around, but she had already started walking to the far side of the clearing. She must've been ready to fight. With that, I started walking to the challengers side. Where I stepped, small flowers bloomed. Once I got to the edge, I spun on my heel, creating a ring of flowers that surrounded me. I smiled. Joe walked to the center this time.

"You know the rules?", he asked, looking at the both of us.

We nodded.

"Go!", he announced.

Immediately, I used my ability to raise and tilt the battleground. Slowly, it shifted, my stomach tightening as I concentrated. The earth beneath my feet rumbled as it rose, then shifted and tilted, giving me the high ground advantage. Now Monica had no secrets. She'd have to run uphill to get to me.

I congratulated myself on my strategy, but continued to work. I raised boulders from the ground beneath me, winked at Monica who was still struggling to catch her footing, and sent the boulders rolling downhill. All I had to do was sit and watch. She sidestepped one, rolled to avoid another, and froze the third. Then it came hurling at me. Suprised, I screamed and jumped out of the way.

Agitated, I got back up, and made the battleground tilt and wobble. Once again, she struggled to stand, and eventually fell to her knees. I smiled, and put my final act in action. I willed the grass around her to wrap around her arms and legs, pulling her to the ground. She struggled against it with no result.

'Time to finish this'

The temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees. From where Monica lay, the ground frosted over, and it was spreading quickly, silently making its way uphill. Then, pure ice came, maybe two inches thick, traveling slowly. Monica had broke free from my prison and was concentrating, the ice an extension of herself.

I tried to stop it, but the grass from the battleground was entombed in ice. I ran uphill, trying to flee from her ability, but there was no use. It finally caught up to me, silent and smooth. I slipped, and started sliding downhill. She was using my strategy against me now. I clawed, trying to slow my descent, but it didn't work. I concentrated, seeing if there were any weak spots in the ice, but she had used her ability well.

I was only a few feet away now. The ice had made me numb. How would she finish this?

With precise movements, she rose her hands and moved them towards her. The ice beneath me shifted up, and I was propelled into my feet, right before her. She roundhouse kicked. I threw my arms up in defense, taking some of the blow, but she got a good part of my ribcage. I yelped and went sliding sideways.

"Done!", Joe called from below.

Monica's ice receded back towards her, revealing the damp green grass below. I had trouble breathing. I summoned the grass to me, and it wrapped around my side. In no time, I was breathing normally. Monica walked over and helped me up.

"Nice," I said, "I thought I had the battle in the bag."

"Thanks," she said, grinning sheepishly.

I leveled and lowered the battleground, where the other three were waiting.

"If we stood on our tiptoes, we could actually see what was going on," Joe said.

"Sorry about that," I said, smiling.

"That was a good one," Iris said.

"Next," Jason said, pulling out the red plastic bowl.