Spitfire.

Chapter 10

I stumbled a few steps into the ring, immediately whipping around and hissing at Tattoo. She giggled behind her jeweled fingers and waved. The lights flashed off her rings, making me raise a hand to shield my eyes. The music and lights seemed more intense in the abandoned circle and my head began to pound.

I felt the foot in my kidney before I even heard someone enter the ring with me. My body curved to the right to lessen the damage and I quickly spun around again.

I'm like a god damned ballerina.

My cloak fluttered around me, scraping the floor as I turned. My eyes flicked in every direction, trying to spot my opponent. My frustration peeked when I found no one. The crowd was laughing at me, slapping each other's shoulders, and holding their alcohol filled guts. My own gut boiled as I took in a deep breath, ready to torch the entire crowd in my humiliation. Smoke curled from between my lips, but my oxygen was suddenly cut off as my cloak clenched around my neck. I was jerked backwards, stumbling again. I felt my wings flare a few inches as I instinctually tried to gain balance.

I looked down at my cloak, finding it pinned to the ground by an unseen force. My eyes narrowed in confusion as I quickly tried to loosen it with my foot; the invisible weight didn't move. I leaned down, prepared to rip off the corner which seemed to be fastened to the ground. Afterwards, I'll admit, this was probably a stupid move.

I heard a rush of air and tried to avoid it, but the cloak tightened around my throat again. Another foot connected with my chest and the cloak ripped away from me. With the pressure released, a large jet of fire escaped from my throat. The crowed jostled and whispered but I was preoccupied.

Okay. Now Pyro is really gonna kill me.

I was rubbing my sore, chaffed throat when I heard a small scream and saw a puff of my fire floating in the air. A woman flickered in and out of existence, the fire engulfing her tank top. I would have smacked myself in the forehead if I had time.

Invisibility.

I moved quickly, taking my opening as she flailed desperately at her flaming top. My foot connected brutally with her stomach, my claws scrapping her stomach and cutting of the burning, tattered bottom of her shirt. She flew back, skidding to a stop at the shins of the crowd. Her hands clutched her stomach as she winced. The crowd quickly engulfed her, leaving me standing awkwardly in the ring. I quickly removed the gloves from my hands, stretching my wings and fingers simultaneously. I glared at the crowd, daring someone to make a move or say something against me. A man stepped from the masses, a dark hoodie covering his face.

And here comes Pyro to finish me off.

But as soon as I saw the flashing, yellow eyes and the matching pointed teeth, I tensed. A sharp, pointed tongue ran against his top teeth and green fire encased his fingers. The crowd shifted nervously and became silent. Round two had begun, but this was very different than the first. My eyes locked on my opponent as he shifted on his feet. His movements were jerky and his fingers twitched every few seconds. The people closest took a few steps back and held their breaths.

"Why is he here? Who let him in? I thought he finally left town," Hushed voices emitted from every direction, making me tense. I briefly saw Tattoo and Juke in the crowd, Tattoo holding a knuckle in between her teeth and Juke's heel tapping on the floor. Both their eyes stared anxiously at the man across from me.

"Come on pretty snakey. Make the first move," He barely spoke in a whisper, but his taunting command oozed and wriggled in my ears. I flinched, flexed my fingers, and bared my teeth. Poison gathered in the roof of my mouth and embers glowed in my belly. I didn't bother trying to fake him out, I barreled straight towards him. A high pitched laugh released from his mouth, reminding me of tires squealing as a car's breaks slammed. By the time we were close enough to touch noses, he still hadn't moved or blinked. He never blinked, I noticed.

I twirled around, trying to get behind him. My claws scraping on the floor as I lifted my leg to land a foot at the base of his spine. His arm shot out behind him, twisting at an angle only a contortionist could manage and grabbed my ankle. His neck twisted to look at me, resembling a demonic owl. A manic smile stretched across his face as his tongue licked his chapped lips. The green flames scorched the skin around my scales and the pointed ends of the flames were solid, cutting into my leg like daggers. I winced and tried to pull my ankle out of his grasp, but his hold was like steel.

I planted a hand on the ground and twisted my body to aim my other leg at his neck. My eyes widened as his other hand grabbed my leg. The burning, stabbing sensation came again and I started to panic. He laughed at my shocked face between his crossed arms. The noise scraped against my eardrums as I wiggled to get away. My tail smacked at his wrists as I tried to jerk my legs free, but my efforts were wasted. I felt his grip tighten momentarily before he lobbed me over his head. I landed on my shoulder a few feet away, groaning in pain.

When I had regained my breath and look up at the crowd in front of me, who was it that was glaring down at me? Pyro, of course. He was flicking his lighter incessantly and he looked absolutely furious. His eyes flared at me under his hood, screaming one silent command.

Get up.

I huffed and staggered to my feet, wings flared out behind me for balance. My ankles and shoulder throbbed and I could feel tender bruises growing in several spots. I growled when I realized that my opponent hadn't moved an inch from where he began. Poison began to seep on my tongue and I quickly spit a wad of it at his feet. He calmly lifted his foot to avoid the steaming venom and set his left ankle above his right knee. He stood upright and looked like he could fall at any second, but he never wavered or seemed unbalanced.

Finally fed up with his obvious game, I sucked in a large gulp of air. I charged him again, releasing the fire as I went. He twisted out of the way of the reaching flames, like a deranged ballerina. I roared, following after him and shooting out white, blue fire. The crowded ducked away from the raging flames before a purple force field was thrown up around the arena. I stopped momentarily, automatically feeling claustrophobic. My feelings didn't last long because my opponent suddenly appeared in front of me. His yellow eyes twinkled and his rancid breath blew in my face. His pain inducing fingers wrapped around my neck and squeezed.

My eyes flashed and suddenly my brain clicked, I was done being his play toy. My wings flared behind me and my tail came from behind me to wrap around his ankle as tightly as I could. I saw confusion flash in his expression as he looked down. A smirk grew on my face as I stroked the roof of my mouth, generating a large wad of venom. My wings tightened around us, wrapping around his back as if we were hugging. I held onto his wrists, my claws digging into his skin. His eyes widened and I could see the panic clouding the corners of his eyes. He wriggled and quickly glanced at each imprisoned body part to find a weak point. When he looked down at his ankle, I swiftly took the opening.

My canines punctured his arm, right below where I had a hold of his wrist. My venom entered his blood system and his body seized up. The green flames extinguished from his hands and his body slackened. I removed his hands from my neck, my skin sizzling and bleeding. I unwrapped myself from around him and pushed him over lightly. His body made as loud thud as it connect with the concrete, completely rigid. His hood fell and a shaved head with two small, green horns appeared with swirling tattoos surrounding them.

Whispers broke out and the sea of body began to move again. The music seemed to regain volume and my body finally relaxed. From the corner of my eye, I watched someone push themselves out of the crowd. I tensed before realized it was Tattoo who was shouting at people to move out of her way. She came up to me, Juke following closely behind.

"You alright there, kid?" Tattoo questioned, wincing as she examined my neck wound.

"Is there a round 3?" I asked, placing gentle fingers at the still lightly, sizzling skin. I followed the wound in the shapes of fingers and tried to assess the damage.

"T'ere wasn't even suppose ta be a round 2," Juke answered, look behind me at the still body on the ground, "'e dead?"

"Paralyzed. It'll wear off in a few hours," I replied stepping gingerly on my injured ankles and wanting ever so badly to get out of the arena.

Tattoo parted the crowd as we made our way to the makeshift bar. I plopped down into a stool and cross my ankle over my knee to examine it. I placed a small wad of venom in my hand and slathered it on the wound, a cool numbing sensation spreading over the area.

"What are you doing?" Tattoo asked, her eyes showing concern.

"My venom can paralyze others if inserted into the blood stream, but for me it works as a numbing and pain reliever agent. It doesn't help me heal, but it'll do until I get home," I said as I carefully applied venom to my other ankle and neck.

"We got healers here," Juke offered.

"I've got a healers and supplies at home. All I want right now is a strong drink and whatever money I made on those fights," I demanded. I turned my chair around and leaned my elbows on the counter. My wings pressed into the counter awkwardly but I ignored it. I watched as a few grunts drug my opponent from the circle and carried him up the stairs. Soon after, another fight started going, as if nothing had happened.

Tattoo appeared with three drinks in her fingers, before I even realized she disappeared.

"Drink up, kid. You sure as hell earned it," Tattoo declared as we clinked our plastic cups together. I grinned and took a large swig. I coughed as the intense burn seared my throat like the demon mutants hands. Tattoo and Juke didn't try to hide their laughing as they chugged down their drinks. I glared as I covered my mouth and sputtered.