Chapter 2
“FIGHT!” Iceberg yelled from the corner couch, his voice booming over the speakers and scurrying to sit down while cowering beside the woman. Miho looked on intently as Myer’s arms glowed with blue gear-like tattoos. With his palms facing up, volleyballs appeared. They were made from water with ripples from the air. He tossed both up and jumped to spike them one at a time. They hurled as fast as sound, but Apollo stood his ground.
A flaming basketball was extinguished as both volleyballs made impact to create steam in front of Apollo.
“Water is supposed to beat fire, huh? If your attacks are that weak, then it’s going to be easy-”
“You talk too much.” Myers appeared by Apollo and grabbed him by the head. He threw Apollo to the ground with enough force that the thick glass shattered. Apollo bounced up on his feet, but Myers was on top of him and delivered a haymaker, knocking Apollo back to where they started. Apollo looked at Yao with a desperate look. Yao responded with a shrug.
Apollo crawled toward Yao, but Myers grabbed him by the shorts and yanked him up. Myers moved quicker than Apollo anticipated, kicking him in the stomach with force and immediately grabbing him in a headlock.
“I don’t hear you talking shit, now shades. Your fireball may have evaporated my volleyballs, but I’m still stronger and faster than you.”
Myers whips Apollo towards the crowd, who prepare to catch him, but a water-based volleyball net appears instead. The net stretched as Apollo fell into it and, at its highest point of tension, snapped Apollo back towards Myers, who clubbed him with a wild overhand blow to the back of the head.
Apollo spilled toward the opposite corner of the floor, reaching out for help as he tried to keep away from Myers. He bit his lip as he clutched the corner of the floor. Again, Myers grabbed Apollo by the pants, hoisting him up long enough to deliver a knee to Apollo’s back. Apollo screamed in agony as he doubled over with Myers smiling as he towered over his prey.
“What did I get myself into?” Apollo thought as he felt Myers grabbing his hair to pull him up. “I can’t even react fast enough. I can’t be that out of shape. It’s only been a year or so.”
“FIGHT BACK!” Myers roared, smashing his knee into Apollo’s face. Blood trailed as Apollo fell backwards, with pieces of his shades snapping apart. The warmth of panic clouded Apollo’s thought. He looked around and saw Miho narrowing her eyes and licking her lips. Dazed, Apollo turned over onto his stomach and raised himself onto his knees to catch his breath.
Myers picked him up and hurled Apollo to another volleyball net. Apollo felt fatigue set in as he rested on the net. Quickly, Myers pulled the net with both hands, forcing Apollo to fling backwards through the air.
“Get it together, you DON’T lose. Not in front of all these people.” Apollo gathered himself as he looked back to see Myers posing and then stalking him. Apollo crawled on the ground away from Myers. Four volleyball nets, along with their posts, appear, turning the ring into a boxing ring. Apollo used the post to pull himself up, but Myers grabbed him by the neck.
“Looks like you’re washed up after all, Shades. Nothing but talk. No wonder Tishan picked me.”
Myers slammed Apollo’s head into the post, and Apollo, on the recoil, tried to land a wild, swinging hook, but his punch went over Myers’s head.
“I’m getting rocked. He’s not giving me a chance to gather my thoughts.” Apollo turned back towards Myers and was met with a punch with a volleyball-like glove. For a brief second, Apollo drowned in the glove before the impact knocked him to the ground. Coughing up water, spit, and blood, he reached out to the net, grabbing it to pull himself up.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Yao screamed. “Aren’t you supposed to be the best!”
The crowd was relentless in cheering. They didn’t know the kind of boy Myers was, Apollo thought. He managed to pull himself up and move away from Myers. Myers chased him around the ring, his talisman glowing on his arms. Then, Apollo saw Tishan. She was 15, with dark chocolate skin. Her curly brown hair reached her shoulders and was highlighted in a light brown. She was skinny, with no other outstanding features. Her yellow spaghetti-strap dress looked pretty, and she had matching heels. She smiled up at the ring, and Apollo’s talisman glowed.
Laughing at me? Apollo turned to face Myers. Myers’s smile hinted that he knew Apollo had seen Tishan laughing at him.
“Oh, is fire Jordan going to cry?”
Apollo laughed. “That’s pretty clever, instead of Air Jordan, Fire Jordan. Who knew you had a brain?”
“Who needs a brain when you have muscles?”
“You’re right, Maybe I should just give up.”
“Your call–” A flaming basketball cut off Myers’s taunt, the heat bringing sweat and burn marks.
Apollo ran forward and jump-kicked Myers in the face. I have to keep moving fast. Don’t let him see what I have set up.
“My FACE” Myers frantically kept feeling his face, wincing in pain from the already swelling marks. “You’re so dead, Shades.”
“My name is Apollo, and you’re about to be smoked.” Apollo threw two flaming basketballs. One of which Myers punched away, wincing in pain—the other lands behind him. Here we go, Apollo thought as he released flames from the bottom of his shoes, launching himself like a rocket towards Myers. He stomped on Myers’s head, who was a little too slow to block, and landed in front of him. Spinning, Apollo landed a roundhouse kick with an enlarged fire-based sneaker that set Myer’s clothes on fire and knocked him back. Myers lost focus, and the nets disappeared as he tripped over the basketball from earlier. Which also burned his legs. In pain, he fell near the corner, but without his nets, he landed outside the ring. Hitting with a thud that made the crowd back up. A collected sigh could be heard as Iceberg jumped up.
“YOUR WINNER BY RING OUT….APOLLO!”
