• "There's nowhere to run, little girl. Time to be a woman and face your fate."

    Dawn shouted curses as she dove behind a public mailbox, barely avoiding a lightning bolt directed at her head. Her forearms hit the concrete first, scraping against the rough surface while protecting her head in the process.

    “This is really not my f***ing day,” the fourteen year old muttered, getting upon her knees. So far she’d failed a math test for the third time in a row, lost a race to some scrawny geek boy in gym, lost her keys and now decided to take on the psycho killer queen from hell, also known as Sascha, who was currently at full strength, barely any scratches on her flawless tanned skin while she herself was bleeding, has rips in her brand new jeans and was missing the part of some of her hair. Ooooo….That whore was going to pay.

    “Come come now, Dawn. You can’t win. Stop trying.” The older woman’s voice was gentle as though talking to a child. Following that statement was another bolt of energy, completely dashing any thought of the woman having a kind, gentle bone in her body.

    Grabbing the amulet around her neck, Dawn stood up, a determined glint in her eyes. She had flung minor fireballs that had caused little damage, but it wasn’t over yet. She still had one trick left up her sleeve and she was confident it would work.

    “Finally give in?”

    A cocky little smirk came to her face. “Why would I? I’m just getting warmed up.” Her hands came to either side of the pendant. She scrunched her eyes shut and concentrated. Words flowed through her mind, softly at first, but they grew louder with every passing second until the words were alive, spilling from her lips. “Fire, ever bright and burning, that which destroys and purifies, lend me your strength! Fire Storm!”

    Her eyes flew open. Flying from the ruby gem towards the older woman was a beautiful pillar of flames, dancing and twisting, bathing the area in reds and oranges and….fading not even halfway between herself and Sascha.

    “What the hell? Why didn’t it work!?” This wasn’t the first time she’d used the attack, or even the second and it usually sent her opponent running. So why wasn’t it working when she needed it most? Why?

    A laugh bubbled from Sascha’s lips as she walked towards Dawn, hips swaying in what most people would call a provocative manner. Her black heels clicked against the tar of the road as she took slow predatory steps. “You ran out of gas, girlie. You spent so much time flinging your little steam balls at me that you didn’t pay attention to your energy.”

    Great…Now Dawn was stuck with a flaming mail box which had been her protection, no energy for spells, and a crazy woman coming at her from the middle of the street, now having a clear shot. Taking all of this inter consideration, the best option, she surmised, was to run like hell and hope for the best.

    She turned and made a break for it, running from the side walk into the park grass. Unlike a normal park which brimmed with life and sound, this one was empty, the only sound coming from the old tennis shoes hitting the ground and her rushed breaths. Oh, and that annoying cackle of charging electricity that meant she better hightail it or find shelter soon because Sascha was ready to strike.

    Her foot came across a raised tree root, sending the flame haired girl sprawling to the ground. As quickly as she could, she twisted her body around to see how much distance there was between herself and the enemy, spitting some carrot hair in the meantime. To her horror, the bolt was in the process of coming at her. If she’d been on her feet then she could duck, but considering she was already on the ground, that idea was promptly scrapped. She tried to move, but couldn’t. For the first time since she started playing this stupid game, she felt fear, true paralyzing fear. For the first time, she was on the brink of death. Every other time she’d been able to overcome enemies with pure strength and energy.

    As the cackle grew louder, she started to curl up in the fetal position, ready though unwilling to meet her death.

    But it never came.

    Instead there was a rumble and a quick sharp shake of the earth. When she opened her eyes, she was stunned beyond all belief. A giant wall of dirt shielded her from the blast and she could see where some grass had been singed off. After noticing the wall, she noticed the person in front of her. Well, to be specific, her savior’s butt which was encased in a pair of tight denim jeans with a small hole in the pocket. Her eyes traveled up to the beautiful black leather coat with a giant green and yellow frog saying “Rain forest Café.” From behind, it was an angel.

    “Who dares interfere? Come out!” Sascha’s voice reach an almost screech, making Dawn cover her ears in pain.

    “Jeez, someone needs to give her a chill pill or something,” she murmured, uncovering her ears. “Think the people in Africa heard her?”

    Her black haired hero glanced over his shoulder and she caught notice of the arm of glasses. “Oh good. You’re still alive.” His voice made her melt into a puddle of goo. “Can you stand?”

    “Oh. Yeah. I think so.” Slowly, she pushed herself into a sitting position before raking a hand through her fiery tresses. After a moment she stood up fully, quite aware of the picture she made with her dirty face, torn up clothes and open wounds. “See? Told ya,” she replied, nearly grinning.

    “All right. Now get out of here.” His voice, rich and smooth like the chocolate she so adored, turned harsh and cold and he faced forward, raising the earth wall.

    She just stared in disbelief. “And let that girl out into the real world? Are you out of your mind?! She’ll go back to trying to destroy crap and I’ll be forced to bring her back!”

    Growling, he gestured to a tree. “Then get back there and stay out of my way!”

    “No! Like hell I will!” He was losing his charm in her eyes and losing it quickly. Who was he to boss her around?

    “Get! You’re useless at the moment and are just a liability!”

    “Having a lover’s spat, are we? I hope you don’t mind if I interrupt, but I really have places to be.” Sascha’s silky siren voice came from above, causing both teens to look up and see her sitting on the wall, an amused smile on her lips as a shoe dangled from her toes.

    It was then that Dawn decided to listen to the boy’s advice and hide behind a tree. On the other hand, he just lowered his arms and the wall rapidly descended, much to the dark haired woman’s surprise, making her scream as she fell to the earth, landing flat on her butt.

    “Boy,” she hissed, getting up. “I believe you just ruined my dress.”

    Dawn heard him chuckle and it actually brought a smile to her face. “That’s what you get for wearing an evening gown to a battle. You should know better,” he replied.

    The woman continued to growl, transforming from an elegant and sexy woman to a scowling she-demon. “Think you’re so clever, don’t you? Well,” she brought her gloved hands to her pendant in a motion quite similar to Dawn’s earlier one. “This time you won’t walk out of here.” The charm flashed purple and electricity gathered between her hands.

    Dawn held her breath and glanced at the boy. She swore that she knew him, but she wasn’t sure how. And she hoped to hell that boy had the god given sense to run, otherwise she’d never find out.

    Luckily she didn’t need to wait long for the boy to move, running at a speed that Dawn doubted she could match. Her gaze traveled back to the raven haired woman whose mouth was moving, but that seemed to be it. The cackle of the energy seemed to overpower Sascha as it grew louder and louder-

    And it stopped altogether. Instead of the horrifying blast, the energy just fizzed out harmlessly, leaving the woman to stare in surprise.

    A smile came to Dawn’s mouth as she stepped from behind her hiding spot. “Looks like you ran out of juice. Maybe you’re not as careful as you believe.” This was it! They pretty much won!

    Sascha snarled. “I have not, brat. I still have more than enough power to kill you.” Her dark brown eyes looked red in the pale light and she appeared more and more bestial as time progressed. Her hands started to close as she yet again tried to form a killer ball of lightning that failed to fire.

    “Time to finish this off.” The boy’s voice came from behind Dawn, surprising both females. Dawn turned to look at him. It was HIM! HIM of all people. She was not given time to react when the ground shook beneath her feet, knocking her over. She was able to look over and see a giant mound of earth come crashing towards Sascha, but it never hit as she disappeared.

    “Damn. She got away,” he cursed, stepping to the carrot top and holding out his hand to her which she took. Standing up, she dusted her jeans off.

    “Think that blast would’ve been overkill much? I mean, damn, that would’ve taken out ten or twelve buildings.” She leaned against him and adjusted everything back into place, uncaring that it was her “rival” she was leaning against. She glanced up at his face. “So, you’ve got the power too? Would never have guessed. How?”

    He looked at her stiffly before gesturing to his shirt and pulling away. “You’re lucky to be alive. What were you thinking?” He shook his dark head of hair. “Never mind. It’s obvious. You weren’t. You acted on instinct.”

    Dawn scowled at him. “Hey! You know jack s**t! I was just doing what any normal person would do when seeing a psycho b***h destroying s**t!”

    “No.” He pulled his glasses off and gave her a look which happened to send chills down her spin as those sharp green eyes stared at her. He glanced down, wiping his lenses on his shirt. “A normal person would have merely called the cops and left it at that.” He looked back up at her, slipping them back on. “What made you think you could take Sascha on by yourself?”

    She looked away. He unnerved her, this ice prince of school. “I’ve beaten all other challengers. Why should it be any different now?”

    “Maybe because you took on their second in command.” He grabbed her arm tightly and dragged her off, to her anger.

    She pulled away. “What are you doing? And what do you mean ‘they’? Who are ‘they’?” The fourteen year old placed her hands on her slim hips. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. “Sascha’s in an organization?”

    “I’ve said too much.” He glanced at her. “Next time, I won’t save you.” He turned and walked towards the abandoned jungle gym. Once there, he disappeared.

    She glared. “I don’t need saving from you, Alex Laramore. I can take care of myself.“ She blew some hair out of her face. “a**.” Slipping a hand into her pocket, she continued to glare at the spot where her classmate was. “And I’ll beat you next week too.” She clasped her pendant with her free hand and closed her eyes. A warm feeling came over her for a moment before a cool breeze blew by and the sounds of birds and children playing slammed into her ears. Opening her eyes, she quickly glanced at the vibrant world before shoving her other hand into her pocket and walking to the sidewalk, whistling a little tune as she did so.