American Hero - George R. R. Martin Page 0,28
using a blast of freezing cold flame to stop several machines in their tracks. But by the end of the battle, he was visibly weak and drained by the exertion. Rustbelt found the perfect use for his powers and turned several of the remote-controlled devices to dust without being injured—and without any thanks from the rest of his team, who are still holding a grudge after last week’s controversy. Working together, Rosa Loteria and Cleopatra destroyed several of the machines—Cleopatra teleported Rosa outside the Candle’s barrier, where Rosa, wielding the powerful El Diablito card, which gave her a lightning-like shocking power, stunned several robots, including one of the Killer Bees, before her teammate teleported her back to safety. The team didn’t lose any of its aces, and even judge Digger Downs had to admire the teamwork.
The Diamonds did a respectable job, but it wasn’t enough for this beleaguered team to win the day. The indestructible Tiffani was immune to hits, but she wasn’t much use on the offensive. When Matryoshka split into multiples, he lost control of himself and only provided more targets for the enemy. The Amazing Bubbles and Jetman took up the slack. Jetman fell victim to a net launched by the Exterminator, which sent him tumbling and marked him as “dead.” Bubbles, however, was truly in her element: The more she was hit by paintballs and blasts of water, the more powerful she became and the harder she dished it out. That is, until a tear gas canister knocked her out of the competition. With its offense gone, the robots overwhelmed the team. Only Tiffani was left standing.
They might have gotten off to a rocky start at the start of the competition, but Team Hearts has really pulled it together over the last couple of challenges. In this challenge, Hardhat’s I-beams provided the perfect protective bunker for his teammates, and Hearts didn’t lose a single player. Even Wild Fox got some licks in by distracting the driver of the Exterminator with phantom Drummer Boys while the real Drummer Boy did serious damage to the machines, halting the Hatchet’s weapons with one set of arms while ripping it apart with another. The Exterminator’s brainpower was supposed to be its greatest advantage, but Wild Fox turned it into a weakness. Curveball was a powerhouse, raining destruction on the attackers with her missiles, and Earth Witch caused mayhem by knocking the floor out from under the invasion.
Like the Spades, the Hearts destroyed all the attackers, didn’t lose any team members—but they did it in half the time that the Spades took. Because of that the judges declared them—once again—the winners. This team is proving almost invincible. Will anything slow them down?
The other three teams made their Discard choices: Brave Hawk, Matryoshka, and—to no one’s surprise—Rustbelt, the controversial member of Team Spades.
After four challenges, Team Hearts has only lost two of its original members and stands clearly ahead. The Clubs and Spades, with one win each, are down to four contestants, while the hapless Diamonds, losers of every contest, have only three. Will they finally taste victory next week? Tune in and see.
Keep on the lookout for this week’s confessions:
the Amazing Bubbles, Drummer Boy, Cleopatra, and Brave Hawk!
Confessional: Michelle LaFleur aka the Amazing Bubbles
Yes, I’m ready. Let’s just get this over with, okay?
Unlike the past couple of challenges, this week was actually pretty exciting for me—at least until the end. Getting pummeled by, well, anything, not such a big deal for me. (Though getting all that damn paint off was no fun.) It just made me larger and gave me more firepower. I like having more firepower.
Yeah, I know, the tear gas messed things up at the end. But isn’t that what’s supposed to happen? I know Tiff would say “it’s good television” when we lose and have to vote someone off. But I don’t like it.
Why Matryoshka? [sighs] Oh, I guess because he didn’t do well in the challenge. Tiff always gives me these long, involved reasons why this person should get voted off when. Honestly, I don’t get it most of the time. I mean, she sounds reasonable, as long as I don’t think about what she’s saying too much.
And really, except for Jetman and myself, the team didn’t perform all that great. Matryoshka can be handy, except the more he divides the dumber he gets, and his copies were too stupid to get out of the way of the water blasts. It was like watching midget wrestling. Only