Just For One Day

18

     We looked up at the stadium seats, now filled to bursting with colorful characters. I recognized a lot of them. Robbin' Hood, the Mathlete, the Society of Impropriety...There was no way that was a good sign.

     "Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary or otherwise undefined individuals!" Ranvier's voice crackled to life over the loudspeaker. Down here in the pit, it sounded ten times louder than it had up on the ledge. "That was a pretty great fight, am I right? What a sudden one-eighty in performance by our own Cloud King! I hope you're all as excited as I am for the rest of the night, because I have a fantastic line up for you! We have some more returning fighters, as I'm sure you're well aware; fan favorites like Smashcannon, Tripwire, Floobzorg From Planet X, and Greg the Invincible! But that's not all, folks," his voice became low and intense. "We've got a couple of new combatants in the arena tonight, and they're eager to prove themselves. At least, they'd better be...their lives depend on it!"

     The crowd emitted a deafening roar. I could see little souvenir flags being waved, and foam fingers being pointed up and down. This was totally surreal.

     "And speaking of newcomers, we've got a couple right here! This is the moment you've all been waiting for: the title fight!"

     The crowd roared again, chanting Ranvier's name.

     "I know, I know," said Ranvier. "You've waited a long time for another super powered beatdown, huh? Eight years, to be exact, but it's been worth it. So without further ado, let me introduce our fighters! Please direct your attention to this portion of the arena!"

     An intensely bright spotlight snapped onto Teravolt and me. We threw our hands up to block the blinding light and squinted in order to see anything at all.

     "First up, the blonde with anger issues and two differently colored eyes like some sort of freak," Ranvier said, "A recently turned traitor to the supervillain flock, the newcomer Teravolt!"

     A jeer rose up from the crowd. Ranvier really had a knack for riling them up.

     "Wearing black, gray, and blue: he's super fast, super annoying, and an all around goody-two-shoes; you know him, you hate him, he's the sidekick to the infamous Meteor, it's Quickdraw!"

     The crowd collectively began to boo and throw things at us. We were pelted with sodas, potato chips, and bags of popcorn, and we did our best to avoid being hit while still blinded by the spotlights.

     "Okay," said Teravolt, dodging a soft pretzel. "Now is the time to slip through those weights."

     "Great idea," I said. "How?"

     She looked at me. "Can't you vibrate your wrists through the cuffs?"

     "What?"

     "Yeah, like...vibrate your molecules through the metal of the cuffs."

     I paused for a moment to consider it. "...I don't think that's possible."

     "Of course it is," Teravolt said. "Try it."

     What the hell. It couldn't hurt. I made tiny back-and-forth motions with my wrists, and instantly regretted it when the weights began to smack into my wristbones hard enough that I knew there were going to be bruises later. Also, I was wrong about it not hurting.

     I clenched my fists to deal with the pain. "Where did you hear about this?"

     "I read it in a comic book," Teravolt said.