Alyssa's Back Story: Part 3

I quickly ran back to the Fire Lord’s office and asked him whether we should help the Jedi Mitch defeat the praying mantis baby army or chuck him to the South Pole.

“Help them,” Fire Lord Dukart said. “You must save the world so there will be a world to conquer when the comet comes. That will make it easier. We’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, remember that time we saved you? Yeah, now we rule you!’ Besides, if the gods prophesied it, then you must go.”

“Okay, just one god and it was Aphrodite. I’m not sure she counts.”

There was no arguing with the Fire Lord. Much against my better judgment, I packed my things, put on my uniform and went to go meet the Jedi. The next morning, I followed Mitch out of the safety of the Pillars of Sanctity and into the cold world beyond.

It would have been a lot worse if I wasn’t a fire-bender. I managed to keep myself warm lighting the metal of my uniform on fire.

Slowly, thanks to some ton-tons Mitch had, we made our way to a small tavern somewhere in Colorado Springs (or what used to be Colorado Springs. The city had really gone downhill since Global-Cooling hit). Inside, funky jazz music was playing and I was tempted to whip out my saxophone to play along. Mitch went to a person sitting alone at a table in the far corner. Tentatively, I sat down on the other side.

“Is this it?” the person asked. She was around my age, though she had coldness in her eyes that matched the frost outside. “Is this what the Fire Nation sends for help?”

Ouch. I puffed up defensively. “Excuse me, but I am the greatest fire-bender in existence!”

“Can you shoot lightning out of the sky?”

“Well, no but–”

“I didn’t think so. Child of Zeus here – feel free to stick that in your juice box and suck it.” She sat back, crossed her arms, and looked smug.

I sat there in a daze for a moment, searching for something impressive and witty to say in rebuttal to that. “I did nearly conquer the world once,” I offered.

“Wait – that was you?” she asked. She eyed me, appraising my merits before reaching out a hand. “Hannah Crosby – child of Zeus.”

I shook her hand. “Alyssa Meier – fire-bending saxophone.”

“Mitch Ryan – Jedi!” Mitch said, adding his hand.

We performed the secret handshake, shouting “Praying mantis!” at the end.

“All right,” Mitch said. “Let’s get down to business.”

Hannah nodded her agreement. “Right. We need a plan.”

And that is how I - Alyssa the fire-bending saxophone player - joined the highly coveted Anti-Praying Mantis Baby Squad, or the APMBS for a cool acronym.