The Watchwomen

Chapter 3 (Act I): Cryokinetic Karma

We last read Chapter 2, in which we checked on The Crawler, Dr. Duncan Drevis, and Carla Rosenblood a.k.a. Nightclaw following the Paragons' second outing and the Battle of Cairo. The Crawler has gotten into playing Fortnite in his free time—while not working with Duncan at Lifeline Industries—while Duncan himself attempts to hold a BDSM session with Nightclaw in his apartment complex's basement.....a session which ultimately goes off the rails. The werewolf anti-heroine ends the "date" early and harshly admonishes Duncan for what she sees as him "siding with the government" regarding their prosecution of the Paragons for the collateral damage incurred by the heroes during the Battle of Cairo. Duncan insists that he loves and cares for the Paragons, but Nightclaw isn't buying it. She and the doctor then get into an argument, at which point Nightclaw—after turning back into Carla Rosenblood, her human form—storms off.

This time, we take a break from them and see how Cassie a.k.a. Coldsnap—the Harbinger of Ice—has been holding up ever since the Paragons' temporary ban from crime-fighting.....

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-Whitecap Tundra, Elemental Realms-

The Whitecap Tundra was one of the five regions of the Elemental Realms; an alternate dimension inhabited by powerful practitioners of elemental magic known as the Mage Aspects. The collective outfit was split into four factions, though all of them worked together.

The laid-back, levelheaded Earth Sect was headed by Sledge, his son Geode, and the Boulder Brothers.

The compassionate and supportive Water Sect was led by Coldsnap's girlfriend Keena, a water mage who had secretly murdered her predecessor Hydraxus in an ambitious bid for his power.

The hotheaded and impulsive Fire Sect was led by Firebird, who took command of the mages following her mentor Morton Flamestar's demise.

And the cool and collected Ice Sect was helmed by none other than Coldsnap, the Harbinger of Ice. She had overthrown Frost King Alpin—the previous leader of the Ice Sect—after exposing him for the misogynist monster that he was, and ever since she took the throne, she made it clear that she was a leader to be respected and feared.

The fifth region, the Grand Terminus, was a city-like hub for all four factions; a place where they could meet up outside of normal training hours and socialize like normal people.

Coldsnap was a Mage Aspect who was "born" in the year 2003, when The Ascendant—the "god" of the Mage Aspects—conceived her. For 15 years, she grew up under Frost King Alpin's wing, looking up to him and admiring him while constantly honing her cryokinetic powers as an ice mage. However, Frost King Alpin, with the help of former Fire Sect Leader Morton Flamestar, tricked Coldsnap and banished her to Earth for two years; Alpin was paranoid that Coldsnap would try to usurp him, and ultimately, his nightmares became a reality. Upon realizing what Alpin had done, though, Coldsnap teamed up with her friends and allies—as well as her adoptive family from Earth—to bring down the Frost King; she also foiled Morton Flamestar and the Seared Hand's scheme to invade Earth in the process. In the aftermath, Coldsnap became the new Ice Sect Leader, her best friend Firebird became the new Fire Sect Leader, and her girlfriend Keena became the new Water Sect Leader, with Sledge being the only original Sect Leader from the old guard left.

Not even a year later, in 2020, Coldsnap was one of the six heroes who were initially called upon by Giorgio Carlisle to join the Paragons. Together, they foiled Malcorchus's plot to assimilate Earth into his own dimension—the Shimmering Plane—and formed incredibly close bonds with the other heroes in the process, in essence coming to consider them as a second family. Of note, she had a particular connection to Duncan since he had provided her with an eye implant known as the Opti-Vis to cure her nearsightedness.