Anna impacted into the worn, metal rooftop plating of a high-rise, buckling it with a hollow bang. Flakes of paint flying off as she dislodged her knee from the crater. She rose amidst rippling air, the suit struggling to vent surplus heat. Her chest heaved under heavy breaths as she turned to gaze back at the cityscape she so easily traversed, eyes wide in disbelief.

Three blocks in two jumps. Holy hell.

She laughed. With the rush overtaking her, she pumped her fist into the air. "Oh! Yes! That was awesome!" Ten minutes in the suit and she had already become a superhero. A full-fledged superhero that caught crooks and saved old ladies. Arguably, she'd only done one of those things, but fifty percent's a passing grade.

A couple of jittery steps and giggles brought her to the brow of the slanting roof. A fair distance away, the Arendelle Ice Spire glittered against the night sky. Tallest building in the north.

Way back when she was still a little kid, her parents had brought her to the Eiffel Tower. She'd stubbornly insisted on climbing to the top via the staircase from the middle platform instead of taking the elevator with the others. Not even halfway up, her little legs had given up and her father was forced to carry her the rest of the way.

A grin spread across Anna's face.

Red lights pulsed along the edges of the suit. The low hum from the thermal dumps quickly transitioned into high-pitched whistle before going ultrasonic. Anna flexed, and the world around her exploded into a blur of light and whistling wind. The only thing that remained the same was the shining white spire fixed in her sight. She crashed into something crunchy for a short moment before she once again flew through the air.

Her memory of those times were hazy. Just a few bits and pieces floated around in a jumbled static. The most important pieces, probably. Up at the top of the tower, she remember the sprawling capital. A sea of white and pink in the light of a setting sun, crisscrossed by swathes of warm lights that marked the boulevards and black rooftops peppered with white window dots, stretching into the horizon. She remembered feeling like the queen of the world. And giggling too, but not sure how it fit with the picture.

The jump brought her to a rooftop a few streets from the Spire. Pausing for only a moment, she huffed, then let loose. Another flash of red and splintering tiling followed.

Anna roared at the sky.

The edge between building and night, flanked by blinking red dots, was fast approaching. Though not fast enough. Anna reached the apex of her arc just a little more than an arm's length from the ledge. If she could just reach a little further.

Just a little more…

Oh shi–

She slammed into the glass, causing it to wobble. Fingers scrambled for a hold against the featureless surface as she began to slide. Anna turned her back against the Spire, desperate for a way to stop her mad descent. The small protrusion came as a complete surprise and sent her into a rolling tumble.

Anna screamed. Amidst the spinning chaos, she managed to catch a glance at the ledge that visited her field of vision, each time closer than before, each time more dangerous. A jungle of sharp corners and ventilation blades awaited, and she wouldn't be long. Adrenaline and survival instincts triumphed over fear for a moment as she clutched her head as hard and braced for impact.

Something poked at her side and back. Anna could hear the crumpling sound of sheet metal as it scraped along the length of her while she smashed through it all and landed in a tangle of limbs against the parapet.

She heard a click, followed by blast of air and the return of the low hum from the suit. Flopping an arm away from her face, she turned to take in the utter destruction she had wreaked on the poor, defenseless ventilation points. Anna let out a long breath, turned back towards the night sky and said weakly, to no one in particular, "Well… Almost."

No-one-in-particular huffed. "If by 'almost' you mean 'almost completely destroying my suit', then you're spot-on."

Anna jerked up, straining her neck to get a good look around from her supine position. "Who– who's there?"

"You got some nerve, forgetting me like that," the voice said with a snort.

"… Kristoff?" Anna propped herself up on her elbows. "Where are you?"

"I'm in a coffee shop about a block away from the college," came the smug reply. "And that's doctor Bjorgman to you."

"Wait, what?"

He sighed. "I'm patching into the comm-unit in the suit. Now, how about you explain to me why my sensors are all flashing 'system-wide damage' and 'thermal levels critical'?"

Anna slumped a bit, and said, "Oh. Ah– I– I kind of fell off the top of the Ice Spire."

She could hear a sputtering on the other side of the comms. "You WHAT? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. But it's a long story," Anna said meekly. "It all began with–"

Kristoff coughed hard and interrupted, "Spare me, please. Just– just come by the college tomorrow, okay? And bring the suit." A short burst of static followed, ending with a beep.

Anna waited for a moment. "Kristoff? Kristoff!" she called out. No answer.

Laying down slowly, she mumbled, "Oh boy…" and stretched out. Her hand brushed against something small, making a distinct rustling noise. Feeling around, she found a flat and neatly wrapped object.

A bar of chocolate. Nice.


The office was small. The towers of papers and books made it smaller still.

Anna sat as neatly as she could in a small chair, shifting slightly in her tight, jet-black suit. Without the added parts there were just a handful of red trims decorating it, accenting curves and marking sockets. With each movement, light from a small window danced against the matte, textured surface.

Kristoff sat facing her in a swivel chair, hunched over with his head in his hands. He rubbed his temples with slow, deliberate motions. "Miss Aren," he began.

"You can call me Anna."

He glared at her, still hunched, and then looked back at his knees. "Anna," he said with a sigh, "when I told you to bring the suit… I didn't mean for you to stroll across campus in it!"

"Oh come on! Nobody knows it's a–" Anna stopped just short of the word. Lowering her voice, she finished, "… nobody knows it's a super-suit." Then, with confidence and a hint of pride, she said, "Besides, if anyone looked, I'm sure it was because they admired just how good I looked in this biker gear."

It was true that without the armor and motivator units, the suit was just a fancy sport label short of being the spitting image of some high-end protective motorbike outfit. Albeit with some odd connector ports dotting the surface.

Glancing up, Kristoff said, "It's not a 'super-suit'. It's a flexible, powered dermal– you know what? Nevermind." He stretched out a hand. "You were supposed to bring it back from the conference and now you have. Please, give it back."

Anna bit her lip. An unexpected set of circumstances had bumped her up from conference volunteer to demonstration assistant a week back at the CNGTDC. The man in front of her was the grumpiest and smartest engineer she'd ever met. Technically, she'd only met one real engineer so far, but it didn't make it any less brilliant or less of a social outcast. During the few first days, they'd bonded a little over their home in the north.

His show and tell of the suit didn't go well. Demonstrating in front of a small, select audience of industry top dogs or military whatevers, his idea had been shot down before even getting to the good parts. She didn't understand the jargon they were throwing around, but she couldn't help noticing how hard it hit Kristoff.

Then he'd gotten that call and rushed back to Arendelle, telling her to bring the prototype back to him when she could. Anna was totally going to, except she didn't expect liking the suit so much.

"What's going to happen to it?" she asked.

Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck, and replied, "I don't know. I'll probably scrap it and salvage what I can. They were right at the conference, it a piece of j–"

"Noooooo!" Anna wailed, hugging the suit. "Why would do that? The suit is great! Please don't destroy it!" She looked at him pleadingly.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Look, it worked just as it should last night. I– I decked that guy with a single punch and I could jump over whole blocks at a time!" Leaning forward, she continued. "I almost made it to the top of the Spire in a single leap, you know?"

Kristoff's hand stopped rubbing and she caught that gleam in his eye. The same gleam she'd seen when they talked about the suit back before the demo. He opened his mouth as to speak, but closed it again. A frown spread across his features. "Wait. You punched someone?"

Anna drew herself up, proud. "Yeah!"

"With the suit on?" he asked, eyes widening. "You could have killed him!"

Anna signed exasperatedly. "What? No! I– I mean I had the suit on, but it wasn't ON when I punched him. I'm not stupid."

"No, you just assaulted someone."

It was Anna's turn to frown. "Come on. He was a bad guy! He even had another superhero after him!"

Kristoff sat back, face in hands again. "Another? Anna, you're not a superhero."

"I could be," she said in a small voice. "And you could work out those kinks in the suit and–"

"Punching people doesn't make you a hero," he cut in. "It just makes you another thug. A hero– it's more than– When you're a hero, it's not about yourself."

Anna looked at him, confused. "Since when did you know so much about heroes?"

"Where are the other parts of the suit?" he asked firmly, ignoring her question.

"… They're in my bike panniers," she said, rising from her seat. "Kristoff, I know it sounds stupid, but I really think I can do this. I can do good with this." Anna placed a hand on her belly. "I can feel it right here."

Kristoff's shoulders sank a bit when he spoke. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's… not everyone can be a hero when it comes down to it."

Anna fixed him with a look. "Do you trust me?"

"I– I guess?"

"Then give me a chance. Please."

Kristoff sighed and smiled. "I'll have to think about it."

"I'm taking that as a 'yes'," Anna teased, beaming. She turned to leave. "Stay here! I'll go get the other parts."

"No. Wait," he interrupted. "Hold on to them for a little while. I have some work to do and a meeting to catch later. I'll give you a call when I have the time, alright?"

"Alright," she smiled.


Anna practically skipped across the King's College campus. "A superhero," she giggled to herself. "I have to think of a name!" Her mind boggled at the prospects and potentials of hero work. It was going to cut into her studies, but it was hero work!

Her red motorcycle waited on the other side of the street. A name… A name. I wonder what that other one was called?

She didn't see the wall of metal, only catching the sounding of its horn.

Everything went black.


A/N: As always, comments and critiques are appreciated and encouraged.