The Paragons

Chapter 22: Winter Is Coming

Soon, the full team of six heroes had finally arrived at Coldsnap's house. While she landed her ice dragon on the ground and dismissed it, allowing it to fly away, Duncan directed his aircraft to remain hovering stationary some distance above the ground, then threw down its rope ladder once more. 

"So.....do all of us want to go with her, or.....? If too many heroes show up at once, her family is sure to faint from all the excitement. And then we wouldn't get anywhere," he joked. 

Powerhouse snapped his fingers. "Actually, wait.....Coldsnap claimed that you were the one who cured her nearsightedness, correct? Seems to me like this 'Lifeline Industries' of yours really is working wonders.....if you ask me, you should definitely be one of the ones to go." 

"I'll go too," The Viper said. "I can give them some reassurance, in case they still have any doubts that you've turned good." 

"I'm more interested in her powers and her backstory than her family," Nightclaw added. "She sounds like she would make a great future guest on my podcast. But....no thanks. I'll hang back." 

"Think I'll stay here too, boss," The Crawler chimed in hastily, reclining back in his seat. 

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no.....you're coming with us," Duncan insisted. 

"What?" 

"Look, I know you're scared of being around her, but I have no doubts that you'll warm up to her with time.....no pun intended. I'll stay near you, so you won't have anything to worry about." 

The Crawler groaned and reluctantly pulled himself off the chair, following his employer's lead. 

"Alright....that's that, I guess. Nightclaw, Powerhouse, we'll be back in a few minutes," the doctor told them. "This kind of makes sense, in a way; you two didn't really have any connection with her prior to this, while The Crawler and I designed her biotic eye implant. As for The Viper.....if she hadn't shown me the error of my ways all those years ago, I don't think I would've gotten around to starting Lifeline Industries in the first place." 

The Viper smiled. "Hey.....don't mention it. Trust me.....you're much better off using your gifts for good." 

"Sounds good, man!" Powerhouse responded. "Gang's almost all here.....let's bring it on home!" 

The trio then departed the plane via the rope ladder to join up with Coldsnap, leaving Nightclaw and Powerhouse behind. 

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Coldsnap took out a pair of keys from the utility belt on her costume and used it to unlock the front door, then threw it open and ushered them inside. "Welcome to my house!" she said cheerfully. As she led them to the living room in the back, The Viper, Duncan, and The Crawler were met with two additional figures; a full-grown adult man who appeared to have brown hair---although he was balding at the top of his head---wore glasses, and an untucked gray polo shirt, denim jeans, and white socks, and a young woman with similar-looking glasses, long, straight brown hair, and fair skin, who was sitting in a couch at the other end wearing a Legend of Zelda Tri-Force t-shirt and black shorts with white lining. 

"Dad.....Alexis.....you'll never guess who I met tonight during my patrol around the city!" Coldsnap exclaimed excitedly. 

The grown man was the first one to notice them, and he gasped, his eyes widened in excitement. Surprisingly, though, he managed to keep himself relatively calm. 

"No way.....you're The Viper!" he said as he walked up to the heroine and requested to shake her hand, which she gladly reciprocated. "I'm Mike, Coldsnap's father, and the girl over there is her older sister, Alexis. Thank you so much for your service, ma'am!"