“I have to fight Frost alone?” I said incredulously, voice echoing loudly through the conference room. Chairs surrounded a large, round table that was draped in red silks. A golden emblem was emblazoned in the centre of the table. It was the symbol of the Heroes Unity League, or as we were more affectionately called, HUL. Currently the room was empty, but it could hold up to one hundred heroes and sidekicks, each with a place at the table.

Jade blinked at me, unimpressed by my outburst. She pursed her plump, red lips together, and reached over and planted one of her sharp claws in the middle of my forehead. She shoved forward, and using a single nail, sent me toppling backwards into one of the silk chairs.

Her jade coloured, skin-tight costume glistened and shimmered when the light caught it. It looked so different from my own green and brown costume. My official sidekick costume was much more sedate than hers.

I wore a light green bodysuit with a brown, leather tunic, and a brown cape and sandals. On my chest rested my emblem, a willow tree. The meaning behind my plant given name of Salix.

Jade prowled forward and planted two clawed hands on either side of me. Her nails dug into the chair’s upholstery, leaving sharp indents behind.

“You can, and you will, go fight Frost. Mars is currently in hot pursuit of West Witch, and all the other heroes and sidekicks are trying to curb the break-out of the other super-villains from High-Max that she caused. I need to stay here and offer technical and audio-visual support. You’re the only one.” Her tone brokered no-nonsense, her eyes hard. Yet, I could see the stress that was carefully concealed beneath her dark glare. She was worried we wouldn’t be able to return all the villains released from High-Max.

There was no point in arguing.

I was literally the only one available to fight Frost.

I gulped, and quickly slid under Jade’s arms and out of the chair. Prancing away from Jade, I whirled around to face her.

“I’ll do it.” I said resolutely, not taking my eyes off her claws. She scoffed.

“Of course you will. You have no choice.” She made a shooing motion at me and turned back to the large row of computers located at the back of the conference room.

I slowly turned around and walked out of the room, heart thudding with every step taken. My breath was loud in my ears, and I could barely gulp with my mouth so dry. No amount of training had prepared me for taking out a supervillain alone. Sidekicks were supplementary help to heroes. They did not fight alone. Ever.

I left the HUL building. It was in the downtown centre, right where Frost was reeking havoc on innocent citizens because all the heroes were busy. I could hear the sounds of screams, and as I continued forward in the desolate streets the air became chillier and chillier. The world around me had been transformed. Ice glistened, running down the sides of buildings and through the streets. Cold snow fell seemingly from nothing, and the air froze in my lungs before being exhaled as small clouds of condensation.

Whereas before there were cries for help, now there was nothing. It was eerily silent, sound dampened by snow and cloud cover. Frost was near.

An icicle whizzed by my face, slashing me across the cheek. A warning shot. Frost was nice like that. Alarmed, I twisted around to see where the icicle came from, but there was nothing. Only white and blue.

I shivered from the cold and could feel my powers weakening. I was intrinsically connected to the sun, to warmth, and it generated my ability to create plant forms. Without it, I was useless. And dead.

This was a suicide mission.

Another icicle shot forward, but this time I anticipated it. I threw myself to the side, and it nicked my shoulder. If I hadn’t moved, I would’ve gotten that icicle to the heart.

I shivered again, but this time it wasn’t from the cold.

“Show yourself Frost!” My voice carried through the frozen wasteland and was consumed by the snow as it evaporated into nothing but an empty call.

A laugh echoed around me. I whirled around, trying to see through the thick snowfall, but failing. All I could see was ice and snow.

“Now Salix… why on earth would I do that? Every second I remain hidden you grow weaker and weaker,” Frost laughed again, a deep rumble of an avalanche bent on destruction, before he continued, “In fact, I’m a little insulted they sent you to stop me. I’d reckon my power level deserved at least Jade, or even Leviathan. Not you. A mere sidekick.”

I could hear the anger in his voice, as though he had taken the other heroes being too busy to fight him as a personal affront. I couldn’t care less about his imaginary woes, because I was more concerned that my toes would soon get frostbitten in my sandals.

I had to end this now.

I gathered my energy, leaching warmth from underneath the packed snow. Vines shot from my fingers in every direction, packed tight and extending far. Even if I didn’t know where he was, at least something would hit him. I felt a dull thud on my right reverberate back to me through the vines. I turned in that direction and sent all my vines rushing at the impact zone.

Before I could connect him again, I could feel my vines becoming brittles and breaking apart. He was systematically freezing and then shattering them. I retracted the vines before the harm done to them affected my still declining energy levels.

As much as I loved my powers, it was frustrating because I was so intrinsically connected to nature, if any plant created by me was hurt, I would weaken as well.

I stood panting in his frozen wasteland and wondered how I would get myself out of this situation. Xander wasn’t going to be able to save me this time, not with all the other villains yet to be captured. But I knew that if I screamed loud enough he would come for me. And I was afraid of what he might do. 

I had to fight out of this one on my own.

“Frost, you know I can’t beat you like this. You’re too powerful. At least come out of hiding and kill me yourself! Or are you too much of a coward?” My breath came out in shudders, but not from fear. If Frost came face to face with me, he’d lose.

But he didn’t know that.

I heard footsteps crunching in the snow behind me. Slowly, I turned to meet Frost.

With his light blue skin and long white hair, he looked like an ethereal snow creature come to wrought impending doom on all life.

It was fitting that his mother named him Yukio after Yuki-Onna, his grandmother, the snow woman.

Draped in navy blue and a cascading cloak of snowflakes he could only be seen as one thing. Beautiful.

But he was not just beautiful. He was as dangerous as supervillains came.

He tilted his head to the side, and a smirk curled his lips.

“Do you know why my family immigrated here from Japan?” He asked, continuing his forward ascent. Every step he took closer, I took a step backwards.

“I don’t really care, Yukio.”

“You don’t get to call me that!” His voice boomed out around me, shattering icicles and pushing me back with the force of a blizzard. My feet skidded against the snow, and wind whipped my cheeks and stung my eyes. After a few moments, however, the world calmed and returned to its eerie stillness.

Yukio tucked a strand of white hair behind his ear and smoothed out his cape. “I’m sorry for yelling. But my name is Frost. Only my grandmother can call me Yukio.” He paused for a moment. Just enough time to create a wall of snow behind me that stopped my slow escape. I hit the wall, chunks of ice breaking off and creating a smattering of ice chips around me.

Yukio moved even closer to me, and placed his hands on either side of my head, effectively boxing me in. My breath was harsh now, and every exhalation was sharp and cool, like mint gum and a thousand needles puncturing my throat at once.

He seemed satisfied that he had me where he wanted. “You know, your brown skin really does complement the snow. Too bad in a few moments it’ll be your red blood staining my wonderland, and nothing else.” He smiled salaciously at me and I shivered in disgust. I didn’t want to think about what other bodily fluid of mine he wanted to paint his “wonderland” with. His blue hand moved to caress my cheek, and I flinched from the cold.

“Now, where was I?” His hand began to pet my black curls, and anger welled up inside me. I didn’t let anyone touch my hair, not even Xander. “Ah yes. Do you know why my family immigrated here from Japan?”

I shook my head, attempting to answer and dislodge his hand at the same time. Rather than letting go, he grabbed by curls tight in his hand and wrenched my head to the side. I muffled my whimper of pain. I would not give him the satisfaction.

He was so close I could feel his cool breath creating frost on my cheeks.

“Humor me,” he said, wrenching my hair even further and causing tears that quickly turned into icicles to well up in my eyes.

Through clenched teeth, I managed to respond. “You liked the weather here better?”

He barked out a laugh. “Ha! If only. Japanese mountains are some of the most beautiful snow-capped mountains in the world. No, we came because we were fleeing persecution.”

His hand had let up for the moment, and I was glad for the reprieve for my scalp and neck muscles.

“Persecution?”

“Yes, my dear. Persecution. The Japanese believed my family and me to be demons. They wanted to kill us. Granted, they had enough reason to want us dead what with the eternal snowfall and countless frozen corpses we left behind wherever we went. But still, it was quite cruel of them to drive us away from our home. Like we were monsters. Like they weren’t just the same.” Bitterness was threaded through his voice, an unwelcome break from his previous icy monotone.

“Maybe it’s because you were monsters that they wanted you gone.”

Yukio swiftly punched me in the stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs. I would’ve keeled over if it wasn’t for the icicle he shoved in my shoulder at the same time, pinning me to the wall of snow and ice. I screamed in agony as the icicle punctured my skin, immobilizing me and spreading icy fire coursing through my body.

I clamped my mouth shut immediately but it was too late.

I knew he heard me. And he was coming. My breath came in panicked gasps as I tried to escape from my confines and get away.

No, that was wrong. He wasn’t coming for me. He was coming for Yukio.

I looked at Yukio with wild eyes, “You need to get away!” Yukio recoiled back in surprise but quickly recovered. 

“What do you mean get away? I have you right where I want you.” He began to laugh, but I had to save him. He might be a villain, but he was going to get killed. Quickly I reached out to him. He looked at me, puzzled, as I grabbed his hand and pulled him close with the last bit of my fading strength. I didn’t know if I could do it. I had never tried it on a person before. But there was a first time for everything.

I closed my hand and searched deep inside Yukio until I found it buried deep beneath. Warmth. I pulled the warmth from him into me and could feel myself get rejuvenated. I opened my eyes to see Yukio staring at me in shock. He was almost frozen solid. The snow around us began the melt, including the icicle wedged in my shoulder. Once released I quickly formed vines to wrap around Yukio to hold him momentarily. My boost from his warmth was wearing off, and he was thawing. I needed to get the containment cuffs onto him.

I reached into the pouch on my brown cape to grab them, but I was too slow. The vines around Yukio turned to ice and shattered. I covered my face with my cape as the pieces exploded around me.

Yukio's hair whipped across his face, eyes hard and cold yet furious at the same time.

“So that’s why you wanted me to come to you. I suppose poor, weak, little Salix is not useless after all.” He formulated a large icicle in his hands and adjusted his stance, ready to stab me with it.

I backed up quickly, containment cuffs falling back into my pouch. I held out my hands acquiescently.

“No Frost! I just want to help you! Please!” I was desperate, the wound in my shoulder throbbed, and I was out of power, thoroughly drained by the cold enveloping me.

“Why do you want to help him?” A voice said from behind me, spoken softly, yet heard deeply. I shuddered as a hand fell on my uninjured shoulder, and I looked up into Xander’s blue eyes.

My breath caught in fear and awe. Of course, he always had a formidable presence, but it seemed to double when he was dressed as Mars. Hair tied into a tight bun, black, burgundy and gold clothes made Xander look like a soldier right out of the Roman Empire. No. It made him look like the Roman God of war, Mars. His namesake.

“I just wanted him to come quietly and reform in jail,” I said, voice shaken and weak. I felt like ash next to the magnificence of Xander. Xander smiled at me sadly. He gently caressed my face and replaced the ethereal cold with his warmth.

“You’re so kind Salix. But,” Xander’s eyes hardened as they looked at my bloody shoulder, “Jail is too good for Yukio. Scum who dare hurt you… deserve death.”

With that, my legs collapsed from under me as Xander gently pushed me to the ground. I weakly grabbed at Xander’s cape, but he removed my grasping fingers easily and with a parting pat walked towards Yukio with a flourish of red.

Red.

After this, would that be all that remained?

I laid back against the cold snow. I could feel my body trying to give up and lull me into unconsciousness as my wound continued to bleed sluggishly. I was afraid to close my eyes, but I was more afraid to keep them open. I didn’t want to see what was about to happen.

I could hear the clanging of icicles against Xander’s shield, but soon that too passed and the sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated through my ears. I could hear garbled screams, like someone was choking.

I shook my head. I was dissociating. Not just someone. That was Yukio. Choking on his own blood.

I screwed my eyes shut and tried to block my ears, but moving my arms caused pain to lance through my arm. I whimpered in pain, and could feel blood pooling and wetting the snow beneath me. Too late did I notice that the world was silent. I could hear ragged breathing and then, footsteps.

I kept my eyes closed tightly.

I didn’t want to see.

“Kamille, you can open your eyes. It’s over.” A hand touched my cheek. It was slick and wet, leaving behind a metallic smelling residue. I gagged and shook my head.

I heard Xander fall to the ground beside me and pull me into his lap. My head was on his chest, with his arms bands of fire across my torso. I snuggled in closer to the warm fabric.

“Kamille. Open your eyes.”

Slowly, I opened one eye, and then the other. Xander’s pale face was painted red, yet he smiled down at me. His smile was victorious and bloodthirsty. I couldn’t help but meet his eyes. What I saw there made me want to shut mine, and wish everything away.

But I couldn’t stop gazing into his eyes. While still bright blue, I could clearly see the unfathomable darkness in them.

And I had always been afraid of the dark.