The Trick to Falling in Style

Light

Snowchester was a cold district. It was always snowing, and the snow piled up in thick clumps that usually covered the streets. Any sane person was expected to wear a thick coat, gloves, and winter boots if they wanted to survive a short walk through the district, and anything longer than two hours outside was highly discouraged. It was for the safety of the people because the cold was one of the most unforgiving forces of nature.

Despite this common knowledge, the ocean surrounding Snowchester's docks had never frozen over. The air had never been so cold that people's breaths didn't even make mist. It had never been so cold that the wind had fallen completely still without any energy pushing it around. The temperatures were dropping into numbers that were not naturally possible. Even mother nature had a little bit of mercy when she froze the world over. Snowchester was suffering from extreme temperatures that could only be created in a laboratory by machinery worth billions of dollars.

That, or an already strong superhuman with an Eye of Ender boosting their power.

Vermillion stood at the edge of a rooftop, trying to keep his balance against the slippery tiles. He held both of upper arms in his hands, pulling his body in tight to preserve what little warmth his body naturally created. Passerine was practically hugging his legs as she leaned onto her knees, her wings wrapped tightly around herself and him. They were watching the sun shift across the sky, ignoring the way the snow was attempting to blind them and the ice across the ocean was glittering. Passerine was scrolling through her communicator. Her hands shook as she held the device, and her fingers were stiff as she looked through her feed.

"Thank you for waiting for us," A voice spoke from behind them. Passerine looked up from her communicator to peer over her shoulder. Vermillion didn't move a muscle, already knowing who was approaching him. He heard the mechanical whirring of Kamikaze's bee wings and the vwoop of Ender's teleportation. He could tell who they were by their footsteps. He could sense their presence no matter if he was looking in the opposite direction or blinded.

"Passerine wanted back-up," Vermillion said, his jaw burning as he forced it to move. The world was far too cold for most actions to be taken in confidence. They would definitely need Kamikaze's ability if they were going up against the Wretched Wraith. She would be in her prime, and the rest of them would be weakened by the temperature. She knew this fact, so she hadn't moved her base of operations. She remained in the warehouse, allowing her powers to spread out from her. For the moment, only Snowchester had been severely affected. The neighboring districts were experiencing chilly weather, but nothing they weren't used to. By nightfall, though, every district sharing a border with Snowchester would be struck with temperatures like the ones in Snowchester. They needed to defeat her today, so Vermillion agreed to the extra help to maximize their chances of winning.

"Course I fucking did. It's cold as fuck here," Passerine said, standing up. She was shivering violently, and her wings were puffing up around in the attempt to create warm air currents. She turned to look at Kamikaze and Ender. She gave them a once-over before she turned her entire body in their direction. "Nice to see you again."

"Good to see you, too. I'm glad to see you in the suit. Rosa told me that you seemed to like it," Kamikaze said with a smile brightening his face. Vermillion snarled from where he was standing. He was still extremely pissed that Rosa had connected Passerine and Kamikaze. He was even angrier that Kamikaze agreed to make Passerine a suit. If Kamikaze had never done that, she would have never come out to help Vermillion. She was a big help, but she was a liability. The only reason he truly kept her around was because she would be able to deal with him if he lost control over his powers.

"It's a good suit, man. I fucking love it. I wish it had a coat with it," Passerine said, mirroring his smile before grumbling about the weather once more. She was incredibly hung up on the cold. Vermillion hated it as well, but he wasn't ready to voice his complaints. He couldn't let himself become comfortable. Relaxation led to mistakes, and sometimes mistakes led to the truth.