Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

Chapter 51: Two Worlds, One Family

At the same time that Keena attended the party at the Tidal Throne and put her plans into motion, Coldsnap returned to Jacksonville, Florida from Mercury Heights, New York. She landed her ice dragon outside her house, dismissed it, then walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Mike and Alexis had invited Coldsnap's four friends over for a visit once again, and they were all sitting around the living room—having drinks and chatting—when they heard her.

Alexis headed over to the front door and opened it for her younger sibling, just as she had done back when Coldsnap was first exiled to Earth. "Well, well, well, check you out!" she remarked as she saw the heroine's new costume. "You really look a legit superhero now.....I take it that's why you were gone for most of today?"

"Hey!" Coldsnap greeted. "And yeah....that's part of it, anyway." She looked behind Alexis, examining the inside of the house carefully. "Are my friends here right now?"

"Yep! We've all been waiting for you. I just know they're going to freak when they see you in that. Come on in; you can tell us all about how your day's been!"

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She led Coldsnap into the living room, where she was immediately met with wide-eyed stares, dropped jaws, and surprised gasps.

"Wow, Coldsnap, you look amazing!" Kat commented.

"Totally! I'm getting chills just looking at you!" Rosie added.

"......Nice. I could use some ice cubes for my drink....." Michael requested, holding out his cup of Dr. Pepper. Coldsnap, of course, obliged with a chuckle; it took a lot to actually get emotion out of him, what with everything he had seen before.

"Come on....." Coldsnap said with a slight smile, positioning herself beside his seat and squatting next to him. "'Nice'? Is that really all you have to say?" She extended her arm towards him. "Here. Take my hand."

As he did so, a cold flash quickly overcame him, and he shivered with satisfaction. "Ahhh......that feels good.....it was getting kind of hot in here....." Then, he took a deep breath and gave in. "Okay, fine, I'll say it.....your costume is absolutely sensational."

The heroine grinned and stood back up, keeping her eyes on him for a little longer. "That's more like it."

"You know.....two years ago, when Alexis initially told me she had a vision of an interdimensional mage speaking to her in a dream, ordering both her and I to raise Coldsnap as our own in preparation for this moment.....I dismissed her as crazy. But now.....I'm pleasantly surprised; I didn't think it would turn out this well," Mike admitted.

"Yes, yes, yes, she's breathtaking; now, did you take care of Alpin?!" Alexa asked impulsively, ushering the conversation onward to the next topic.

"Oh, don't worry, he got what was coming to him," Coldsnap replied, looking over at everyone. "We are never going to see him again; no one will."

".....So wait, he's dead.....?" Michael asked, with an utterly baffled tone.

"Precisely. Double-tapped him to oblivion with a shotgun."

"Serves that turd right....." Alexa muttered. "No one crosses you and gets away with it."

"Not even that. Hate-filled misogynists like him are the scum of the Earth, I swear....." Coldsnap grumbled. "Like....I'd get not wanting to give power to someone not ready for it, but withholding it just because I'm a girl? Like, are you for real?" She sighed. "But you know what? That's all in the past now, and we can finally begin to forget about it."