Living With the Enemy

Chapter 4: The Ice Queen Cometh

When I came to, I was lying on an ice-cold table in a small grey room with no windows. My wrists, ankles, and waist were bound to the table.

"Oh, great. I'm going to become a science experiment. Just what I wanted to be when I grew up." I said.

Then, a girl came into the room. She was wearing a dress in various shades of white, grey, and light blue, with what seemed to be icicles lining the bottom and sleeves. She also had a crown that looked to be made of real ice atop her head, and skin-tight white boots.She wore a mask that was like mine, indicating that she must be a supervillain. Her bright red hair framed the mask.

I instinctively nicknamed her "The Ice Queen".

Then, she spoke. Her voice was as icy as her dress.

"Good morning/evening/afternoon, my little pyromaniac. Enjoying yourself?"

"I'm not little. And no, I wouldn't enjoy myself here even if there were others to talk to besides you."

"I want to ask you some questions, Empyrean." she said, almost purring. "For starters, who are you? Under the mask, I mean."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, or I'd have to kill you." I said.

"Too bad. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Majesty, or as I am more commonly known, Julienne Cole."

I had to restrain myself from saying, "Julie?", because I knew Julienne. She went to school with me for fourth and fifth grade. I wondered if she remembered me.

She took off her mask. She hadn't changed much. She was pretty, but in a scary type of way. Her eyes were especially intense, as if they could see right through you.

"Now, let's get a peek under that mask of yours." she said, gently touching my face and sending a chill through me.

"Over my dead body." I said.

"That can be arranged."

 We stared at each other for a long time, each waiting for the other to make the next move.

 Then, I spoke.

"What do you want with me, anyway?"

"Why, Emmy dear, we only want your power. We want you to use it in a way that is the most...self-fulfilling. Like, we saw what you did at that burning building. Very big. Very powerful. But it was only for the good of others. We could help you change that. Of course, if we help you, you have to help us."

"And how do you suppose you're going to make me do that?" I asked. I wouldn't help her if she were the last person on earth, so if she got me to help her somehow, it would be a real miracle.

"By taking control of your mind, of course. We have an accomplished hypnotist on our team. I'd just give the command, and you'd be unable to do anything we wouldn't want you to do. You would be nothing but a puppet."

That shut me up. I could actually imagine her doing that, too.

"Wait." I said. "You keep talking about 'we'. Who's 'we'? Or do you just have a split personality?"

"By 'we', I'm referring to my team. You already know some of them. Blazon. Malefactor. Obdurate. Saturnine. Toxemia. There are others, of course. You'll meet them soon."

"And another thing." I said. "If I'm fire and you're ice, we're supposed to be enemies. So why are you trying to get me to join you?"

"I'm only trying to get you to stop your pointless attempts at being heroic. Because, as a wise man once said, 'The only thing people love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying.'"

"That man must have been insane." I said.

She shot me a death glare and continued.

"Being a superhero is a dead-end job, my dear. You have limitations. You can only do what your friends think is 'moral' or 'right'. Especially with your power." She said 'moral' and 'right' like they were curses. Then, she continued.

"But when you're like me, you can do anything that feels right to you. You're not limited. You're allowed to do things that you can't do as a hero. Why not join me? You and me, we're exceptional. Together, we could conquer the world."

She seemed very satisfied with herself. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Think about it." She said, then, as if the word sounded dirty in her mouth, she spat out, "Hero."

I pretended to think about it for a minute. Then, I said,

"I've thought about it. And there is no way in the darkest pits of Tartarus that you are ever going to control me."

"Really? Try me." she said.

Was this some sort of a joke? I was freezing cold. I couldn't use my power. I couldn't even move. So I just decided to make fun of her.

"Well, for starters, you're probably going to catch a cold from the ice inside your soul." I said.

She made a sheet of ice cover me.

"Wow, way to give me the cold shoulder, literally. And a cold chest, cold arms, a cold a-"

"Enough!" she yelled. She froze my entire body, making me a block of ice on the table, utterly helpless.

I was fully prepared to die.

Until...