The Paragons

Chapter 23: A Mind At Ease

On their way to the U.S. branch of the Global Defense Council's headquarters, Coldsnap got up from her seat and sat next to The Crawler, much to his alarm. Internally, he began panicking, but he attempted to remain calm and civil, at least on the outside.

"So.....you're really that girl whom Duncan helped with the Opti-Vis, hmmm?" he asked. "The doctor's pretty smart; I had no doubt that it would work. What I wasn't expecting was for you to be a superhero as well."

Coldsnap beamed. "Yep, I sure am." She then paused before getting right to the point. "Look.....I can tell you're scared of me."

"Yeah? W-Was it that obvious?"

"Why, though? I'm one of you guys now, aren't I? One of the heroes? Why would I harm one of my own teammates?"

"Sorry, it's just that.....being a lizard comes with a natural opposition against cold temperatures," The Crawler explained.

"Ahhh, so that's it. My older sister was effectively forced to learn about your kind in her life science class back in high school, and.....I've picked up a few things from her."

"Yeah?"

"Low temperatures can cause reptiles like you to become stunned. If the conditions continue to persist, they may suffer some kind of.....'shock' or something. Some kind of loss of function. I don't know.....I'm not exactly clear on all that."

The Crawler looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I thought you said you 'picked up a few things' from your sibling?"

"Maybe I misspoke.....I tried to pick up some things from her. During my time with her, my older sister was clearly always the more intelligent of the two of us. She always got constant A's on everything---homework, quizzes, tests, projects, you name it---without even trying, whereas I was academically unremarkable at best," Coldsnap revealed, opening up to the lizard in an attempt to connect with him. "I always felt like I was inferior.....the 'unskilled' or 'unfavorite', if you will. I did bond with her immensely, but the self-esteem issues were still there, lurking beneath. It's a big part of the reason why I feel blessed to be a Mage Aspect, with unparalleled cryokinesis. I feel like.....having superpowers compensates for my other shortcomings, you know?"

This was enough to cause The Crawler to fall deep into thought. All throughout his years with Duncan, although he had served the doctor as a loyal assistant, he too had left all of the "intelligent" topics to Duncan, only helping him out with other tasks such as getting his food, showing guests around Lifeline Industries, and acting as security, among other things.

Minus Coldsnap's ice powers, the two of them weren't all that different. They both had a strong connection to Duncan in some way, were both involved with Lifeline Industries, and suffered from some kind of eye difficulty which Duncan ultimately cured; when The Viper took out The Crawler's eye at the mountain lair two years ago, the doctor replaced it with a cybernetic one, and when Coldsnap suffered from nearsightedness, Duncan invented the Opti-Vis to help her.

And now, they were both on the same superhero team, now having the chance to fight alongside the doctor who had helped them so long ago.

".....I've never felt like the 'smart one' next to Duncan, either," The Crawler admitted. "I've always just seen myself as his enforcer, assistant, servant.....don't get me wrong, I don't regret choosing this life; I likely would've still been a normal, random lizard in the alleys of Mercury Heights right now if it weren't for him. So of course I'd feel indebted to him. Still.....I wish there was a way I could help him further."