"Ah, you're a little more advanced at this than I thought," Jazz said as she flicked away the butt of her cigarette. "I figured you'd be reduced to dust in five seconds. Maybe you'll hold out for a few minutes. But all it's going to take is one stray thought to distract you, girl. Then your epidermis will peel away. Your hair will fall from disintegrating follicles. You'll be able to watch it all because your eyelids will be vapor. Panic will set in, and before you know it, poof, you'll be nothing but a pink cloud, drifting off in the breeze. Kind of a lovely image, if you think about it."
As if the warning of a distraction made it so, Jandra's attention was captured by a shrill squealing sound. It was the cry of an enraged pig. Poocher charged up behind Jazz, a furious one-hundred-pound torpedo of black and white fur. For half a second, Jandra's mind lingered on the sight. Instantly her skin began to crack and flake. Poocher plowed into Jazz, clipping her at the knees. The tiny hooks that tore at Jandra vanished as the goddess's feet flew into the air.
Jazz landed on her back, shouting out a string of obscenities.
Jandra took the brief second of respite to repair the skin that Jazz had torn away. Then, she summoned twin balls of Vengeance of the Ancestors around her fists.
Jazz sat up, rubbing the back of her head. "Ow," she said.
Jandra threw the fireballs. The raging plasma crackled toward the goddess. As the flaming orbs reached her they fell apart, transforming into a cloud of rose pedals that fluttered down onto Jazz's lap.
"Come on, Jandra," Jazz taunted. "The pig did better than that."
Poocher now stood next to Zeeky. Jazz glared at him.
"You know, I've been vegetarian for a thousand years. But I always did love the smell of bacon."
The petals in her lap rose in a small tornado, coalescing into a ball of red flame once more. Jazz gave the glowing orb a slap and it raced toward the pig. Poocher darted aside, but the orb seemed to suddenly possess intelligence. It turned, pursuing the pig. Poocher squealed and darted off into the underbrush.
Zeeky charged toward Jazz with her left fist clenched. She still cradled the crystal ball in her right hand. She shouted, "Don't you dare hurt Poocher!"
"He started it," Jazz said, kicking out, catching Zeeky straight in her gut. Zeeky flew backward from the force of the blow, landing breathless on the grass. She curled up in pain, yet never released the orb.
As Jazz climbed back to her feet, Jandra concentrated. She could sense the radio waves Jazz was emitting to command her nanites. They were the same sort of waves her own genie emitted. She couldn't understand the signals Jazz was transmitting, but a mental map formed in her mind pinpointing the origin of the radio waves. Unlike Jandra's genie, Jazz wasn't using an external device. Her genie was buried in her torso, below her rib cage, right where her heart should have been.
Jazz brushed back her hair and grinned. "Been a while since anything's got my adrenaline flowing like this," she said. "My combat skills are a little rusty, maybe. Now it's time to show you an attack that always works!"
Jandra braced herself for the next assault of nanites. Instead, Jazz sprinted across the ten-foot gap that separated them, drawing her arm back. She swung with a loud grunt, her fist hammering into Jandra's chin. Stars exploded in front of Jandra's eyes as she fell backwards. Her brain felt like it rattled in her skull as she hit the ground. Jazz landed on her, delivering another punch to Jandra's left brow. Jandra's vision doubled. She felt herself fading out of consciousness as Jazz ran her fingers behind Jandra's neck, feeling for the genie that clung to her skin there.
"Since you've locked this, there's no way to take this off your spine without ripping your clothes off," Jazz said, giggling. "Hope that doesn't offend your sense of modesty. I'm not normally this aggressive, but, girl, you were asking for it."
Jandra arched her back in pain as Jazz peeled the metal away from her skin. The genie resisted as if it had a mind of its own, stimulating Jandra with a mild shock that jolted her back into full consciousness. She remembered the important thing she'd learned just before Jazz had punched her. And, she remembered Zeeky's words: This is where your friend will be.
"Hex!" she shouted, grabbing Jazz's wrist. "It's inside her! Near her heart!"
Jazz looked up to see who Jandra was shouting at. Thirty feet away, the air exploded into a thousand shards of silver. Hex materialized from the center of his invisible hiding place, his open jaws shooting toward the goddess.
"Motherf-" Jazz said before Hex clamped his teeth down on her ribs and tore her away from Jandra's chest. He whipped Jazz back and forth in his jaws like a cat shaking a mouse.
Seconds later, Jazz's entire body erupted in flame. Hex spat her out, jerking back, his teeth smoking, black burn marks on the roof of his mouth. Jazz landed on the grass, on her hands and knees, shaking her head as if she was dizzy. The vegetation beneath her withered and charred; she radiated more heat than a furious bonfire.
"I can't figure out why y'all don't like me," Jazz said. She chuckled as she found her footing once more. "Most people think I'm pretty hot."
Jandra raised her hand to shield her face from the inferno. She scooted backwards, still on the ground. The goddess roared into an even brighter heat. Jandra's hair curled and singed. The soles of her boots were smoking. Her hand fell on Zeeky's ankle. Zeeky was still curled up from the blow she'd taken.
Hex growled as he shook off the pain of having his mouth catch fire. He lunged toward the goddess. She lifted a hand toward him without even looking, and suddenly Hex's head was once more enwreathed in flame. With a howl of agony Hex shot skyward as fast as his wings could carry him. An instant later, there was a loud splash. Apparently, they weren't far from the lake.
Jandra willed her nanites to fly around her. Heat was only another form of light; if she could form a shield of invisibility, she could form a shield to deflect heat. She rose to her feet, grabbing Zeeky as she stood, hugging her to her chest and backing away from the goddess. Her shield was working; she could breathe again without the air searing her lungs.
"You don't know what you're facing, girl," Jazz said, taking a step toward Jandra. Jazz grinned and Jandra jumped backward, wary of her next move. "You thought just because we use the same technology that you were my equal? You have all the artistry of a kindergartener with a box of crayons. I'm Michelangelo! I'm Da Vinci! You stand no-"
Suddenly, there was an arrow jutting from Jazz's left temple. The bright green leaves that fletched it curled and blackened as the wood burst into flame. Jazz looked annoyed as she reached up and plucked the burning stick free. She closed the hole into her brain with a touch of her fingers.
"That was unpleasant," she grumbled, looking in the direction from which the arrow had flown. Suddenly, a second arrow whizzed from the brush. Jazz raised her hand and it crumbled to ash in mid flight. A third arrow flew, then a fourth. Jazz turned her full attention to the missiles, crisping them before they reached her. Jandra noticed that, despite her powers, Jazz possessed at least one human weakness-she only focused on one thing at a time. If she could somehow distract Jazz… Jandra put Zeeky down, eying the fist-sized crystal globe still in her grasp.
"Can I use this?" she asked, placing her hand upon it.
Zeeky handed her the ball.
To have been made of energy, it was quite heavy. It easily weighed as much as if had been crafted of iron, at least thirty pounds. Jandra reared back and shouted, "Bitterwood! You have to hit her heart!"
Jazz looked toward the shout. Jandra flung the globe with all the strength her genie-tuned muscles could muster. Whatever the ball was made from, it proved immune to the flames and flew straight and true. It collided with Jazz's mouth in a lip-splitting smack.