Chapter 13
June stood across the sparring cell from her opponent, Pop Starsicle. When the match started, neither competitor made a move. June took a defensive posture, confident she could counter any attack that Pop Starsicle levied against her. This turned out to be a mistake. Starsicle started singing quietly, and before June realized what was happening, the air went cold as ice and snow flurries started falling from the ceiling. June exhaled. The steamy residue of her breath hung in the air. Realizing she needed to close the distance and force Pop Starsicle to fight her up close and personal, June attempted to dash forward. Her movements were sluggish due to the extreme cold, and before she could close the distance to Pop Starsicle, she was frozen in a block of ice.
It took June a few beats to realize what had happened, and by the time she tried shifting into fireworks mode, it was too cold for her to ignite. She could see outside her little block of ice that Pop Starsicle was amassing a small army of snowmen. But they weren't made of snow. Instead, they were crafted from solid ice. Were those ice golems? June only recognized them from her brother’s nerdy role-playing games. She would have to give Jax a big thank you if she survived this and moved on to the main competition. She used to think her twin wasted his time on trivial entertainment rather than training, but it turned out that his annoying gaming addictions really helped her in these trials so far. She resolved to spend more time playing strategy games with Jax when this was all over. But right now, she had more important things to worry about. June was currently approaching minute three of being a frozen block of ice, and if the clock reached five minutes, the match would be over, and she would lose.
***
“Look June-Bug,” Summerset said to her twelve-year-old daughter. “There are some situations where you won’t be able to use your power. Sometimes your opponent won’t have a strong enough defense, and you could grievously hurt them; sometimes, your power may be neutralized by another meta; and sometimes, you may just be trying to keep your identity under wraps. You never know what life will throw at you.”
“Isn’t that why I’m taking those boxing classes after school?” June countered. “I want to show you what I’ve been practicing with Jax.” At that, June threw a punch at her sparring dummy, letting off a blast of fireworks upon contact. She looked at her mom, grinning proudly.
Her mother did not share her expression. In fact, her reaction bordered on anger. “This isn’t a joke, kiddo. I need you to focus. You want to use powers? Fine, come over here.” June’s shoulders drooped, and she stared at the floor and walked toward her mother. Summerset took out a couple pieces of rope and motioned for June to turn around. She then bound her daughter's wrists behind her back as well as her ankles. “If you want to use your powers, go ahead, come at me.”
June hopped back a step and then, at full speed, dipped her head and tried to rush at her mom.
Summerset stepped to the side and stuck out a foot to trip her daughter, sending her to the mats.
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After resetting, June tried a different technique, turning around and trying to shoot fireworks from her hands at her mother. The force of the ignition pushed June eight feet away from her mom and face-first into a wall.
Once June had recovered, Summerset untied the ropes and sat her down. “There will be times you won’t be able to brute force your way through certain challenges. This is going to take patience and practice, but if you put in the work, you will be able to think your way out of danger.”
June was already thinking of ways to escape the ropes. “Can we try again tomorrow?”
“Of course, love. After your boxing classes. Now go get your brother. Let's have a fun sparring session before dinner.”
***
Okay, if June couldn’t fully transform into fireworks to bust her way out of this ice, maybe she could just shift her arm and supercharge an uppercut to give her some literal breathing room. She closed her eyes and focused on feeling the little bit of heat left in her body coalesce into her right arm. She pulled every bit of energy she had and punched straight out. The whole right side of the iceberg shattered, and June quickly did the same thing, punching with her left arm. Once freed, she broke into a full sprint, focusing all of her energy into her legs. They didn’t transform fully into fireworks, but a small burst of pyrotechnic energy propelled her forward with each stride. She knew she couldn’t stop moving, or her body heat would drop, trapping her in the cold again. June heard singing as she sprinted around the room's perimeter, smashing through ice golems as she ran.
“You just gotta stop the show - and let it snow - Just own the cold - Like in the North Pole,” Pop Starsicle sang. “Oh, sorry honey, I’m still in performance mode.” She winked at June as she smiled widely and posed for the whirling micro-camera swarm. Had she conjured up an ice microphone?
“Are you posing for your fans? How about you forget about your little groupies and fight me? June huffed and puffed as she sprinted around the room. However, her momentary lack of focus was a costly one: She missed a crucial counter, and one of the golems clocked her right in the face. She caught herself, using her core to rebalance and avoid falling to the ground, but the slip-up allowed two of the ice creatures to grab each of her arms and restrain her.
“Work smarter, not harder, dear.” Pop Starsicle retorted as she approached her now subdued opponent.
June noticed her inner ember grow slightly when Pop stopped singing to sling that little barb. “OH! I get it,” she spat at Pop Starsicle. “Your singing is how you manipulate the snow!” June still felt like she was missing something critical, but this epiphany sparked a seed of an idea.
“Cause baby, you're an icey breeze - Come on show 'em how you freeze - Make 'em all go ‘brr, brr, brr’ - As the cold creeps in a blur blur blur,” Pop Starsicle increased the pace and volume of her performance. But the earlier pause in singing had given June the space and heat she needed. Sensing her heat reserves waning and not wanting to waste her small window of opportunity, June set off a firework in the dead center of the room. She used the explosive energy to link another, and another, and another, until above the heads of June, Pop, and an army of ice golems, was a full-on fireworks display of which even Fairytale Land would be envious. June smirked in Pop Starsicle’s direction and spat, “Hey, Crazy Perry! They don’t call me Skyrocket for nothing!” She broke free from her captors, pointed her hands down, and shot a stream of rockets at the ground. “Lift off!” June flew into the thickest area of ice golems and set off a barrage of sparkly missiles, chipping off ice arms and legs and heads. She landed dead center in the room, finally achieving the strategic position she desired. She surveyed the new landscape, taking in Pop Starsicle and her army of ice soldiers, and like The Grinch in a field of Christmas lights, she took them down fast and hard, making sure to completely shatter every single one.