I sat outside the stage, thinking of what I would say. I could feel the sweat coming off my skin like hail. I don’t know why I wanted this.
The speakers boomed, “Everybody give it up for Susan Sweet and her guest, the Blazing Guardian of angel city, the one and only Flare!”
I walked out on stage and the crowd was silent. A year ago the crowd would have been chanting my name, but right now it’s all silent. I sat down next to Susan. I could feel the eyes on me.
Susan said, “So Flare, it has been exactly thirteen months since your fight with Raijin. How are you recovering?”
“Well,” I tried to say. “Well I- I-”
“Are you alright?” Susan asked
The lights, the cameras, the eyes, everything was on me. I tried to talk but I could say anything. I was frozen.
The lights were on me. The crowd was cheering my name.
I let myself fall out of the chopper. As I started to ignite, and my flames got so bright that I was like a second sun in the middle of the sky.
I joked, “GOOD MORNING ANGEL CITY!”
“How are we doing tonight?” I yelled. “What am I saying, you guys are great.”
The crowd was screaming. I shot fireballs into the sky and they exploded like fireworks. I flew over the crowd. People reached their hands toward me, feeling the heat from my flames. I loved it all, the fame, the glory, the love.
“You know,” I said to the microphone, “today it’s been three years since I started defending this wonderful city. I have to say it has been an honor-”
I noticed that in the entire crowd, there was someone important who wasn’t there. There was an empty seat on the other side of the block. The empty seat read “Thomas Cinder”. He wasn’t there. The one person I wanted to see this wasn’t there to see anything. He was the one who set this up, but he couldn’t even be there to see it.
I landed on the ground. My flames were gone. I felt frozen. The crowd was starring. I could leave them hanging. I forced my flames and faked my smile.
“Sorry about that,” I shouted, “the flames were eating up my air. Who here wants to see-”
There was a giant boom, like thunder crashing down. I tried to ignore it, but everyone was looking behind me. I flew up and made some more fireworks go up behind me. The fireballs went off, and I saw a gigantic shadow on the ground.
I turned to see someone else floating in the sky. He was just floating in the air, looking down at me and the crowd. All eyes were on him. I got fed up and flew close to the new guy, getting in his face.
“Can I help you?” I asked. “You’re kind of crashing my party.”
The big guy leaned in and asked, “Are you the hero Flare?”
I laughed and replied, “Yeah, what are you here for an autograph or something?”
The weirdo smiled and punched me in the face, sending me right to the ground. He descended from the sky with a smile on his face. The crowd stared at me in shock, like they just watched an angel lose their wings.
While the cameras were on the new guy he said, “I am Raijin. I have come for a worthy opponent. Tell me Flare, are you worthy?”
“I’m gonna make you eat that stupid grin!” I shouted.
I instantly flew at him and punched him in the face, knocking him all the way to the bay. I turned and the crowd was cheering again. I raised my arms and shot more fireworks.
“That’s right!” I shouted. “As long as I’m here, Angel city will be invincible.”
Thunder boomed again. I turned to see the same guy right there. He charged forward and slammed me into the ground with his hand covering my mouth.
“That was barely a scratch!” he yelled in anger. “I thought you were a hero!”
I managed to break his grip and free myself.
“Okay you stoney freak,” I exhaled, “you want strong, I’ll give you strong.”
I ignited and threw a punch that would hit with the force of a rocket. He caught my hand and put out my flames. My most powerful move was just nothing to him. He gave me a sour look and pushed me into the wall.
I was on my knees. The cameras were all on me. The crowd was staring with horror. I tried to get up, I tried to keep fighting, but I was frozen.
Raijin punched me in the face and kept punching until I couldn’t see. Each hit felt like a hammer in the face.
Raijin leaned in and whispered to me, “You’re not good enough.”
Raijin flew off. I was left on the ground, beaten, broken, and humiliated.
The crowd was starring. My veins felt like ice. I never should have agreed to come on the show. I regretted everything leading up to that moment. I wanted to leave, to just fly away and never let them see me again.
I then noticed something. At the very back of the audience was a familiar face. Thomas Cinder. My father came to watch me.
The crowd starred. I forced myself to my feet and faked a smile. I even managed to ignite my shoulders.
“It took ten minutes for me to be beaten by some random villain of the week,” I laughed. “I’m telling ya, that was a good wake up call. I thought I was the strongest guy in the world before that, but it barely took him anything to beat me. I wanna say thank you, Raijin. Thank you for waking me up. I also want you to know that I’m getting better. After you humiliated me I’m feeling ambitious. I’m gonna get stronger and faster than you ever were, and then you’ll feel what it’s like to not be good enough. You’d better beware, stone face, cause I’m coming for you.”
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