All things considered, I probably won't be updating again until I come back from my vacation. Which is the 28th. But, I will try to pre-write while I'm gone. I won't be able to post anything, but when I get back I should have several chapters lined up. Anyway, enjoy:

"Well what?" Icicle snapped impatiently as I stood there with my mouth open.

"Well…er…" I suddenly felt very awkward. I didn't know at all what I was doing. "I…um…well…what sort of deal would you be willing to agree with?" I bite my tongue. Why was I acting so dumb?

"What do you think I'd be willing to agree with?" Icicle asks, playing with me. Her eyes glance over to Clay. "You…cowboy, you look familiar." She gets up and strides over to him. "What's your name?"

"Clay?" He seems nervous, confused with her question.

"Not your fist name!" She yells and I can see her struggle to hold in an insult. "Your surname." She instructs, a little more calmly.

"Bailey." He answers, looking confused. "Why?"

"Bailey…Bailey, Bailey, Bailey…where have I heard that name before…" She starts to pace.

"Um, it's a fairly common name, Miss." The small girl from before squeaks. "Maybe we robbed someone with that last name."

"No, that's not it, you imbecile, it's someone else. Someone more important than that. Hmm… Bailey…Bailey…Ah!" She shouts excitedly. "Of course! Clay Bailey, from Texas, older brother of Jessica Bailey, leader of the Black Vipers. Yes. I know who you are. I've met your sister. We worked together once." Icicle sighed. "Silly girl, said she went all good when I asked her to partner once more a few months ago. Well, at least that's what she said. 'Good'. As if, implying, I am BAD?" She shouted, annoyed. I was starting to think that even with the whole solitary confinement thing, Icicle might be the crazy(ier) one.

"Well," She was back to calm again. Angry. Calm. Angry. Calm. I hoped she wasn't always like this. "You two look very similar." She stepped closer to Clay. "Of course, she didn't have your charming looks."

Charming looks?

WHAT?

WHOA!

Back up!

Did Icicle, frost-princess, or whatever she calls herself, just flirt with Clay? WHAT?

"You know," Icicle said sweetly. "I'm from Texas, originally, too." EW! I glanced to Clay. He looked disgusted. Good for him. He's too good for her. I mean, forget the fact that it's good-old-Clay, why would ANYBODY want to be with a wanted criminal?

…

Wait a minute…

"Hey, are we here for business or what?" I say to Icicle.

"Right, right, that. What do you have to offer me?" Icicle asks climbing back up the stairs.

"I…I don't know. You think of something. I just want Ember saved." I felt minutes away from breaking down again, but I refused to let Icicle see me cry.

"If you really wanted her saved, you would think of something." Icicle smirks. She was really starting to annoy me with her attitude… "I want payment of some sort."

"Payment! Payment, payment, payment!" I scream. "Why does everything have to be about money? Are you that greedy?" I know I'm taking a risk insulting her, but I'm frustrated and I need to express my anger somehow.

"Because everything is about money, Raimundo. Money is the motivation for everything in this world. And that's the truth, whether you believe it or not." I refuse to let her be right.

"That's not true, I'm not saving Ember for money." I argue.

"Oh? Are you willing to prove that statement? Are you willing to test that theory?"

"Yes…"

"Then what are you saving Ember for?" She asks icily.

"I'm saving her because I love her." I say defiantly.

Icicle laughs. Her laugh sounds like a barking dog. "Ha! False! By saving Ember, you put her in debt to you, and you claim that you love each other, so, whether conscious or not, you think that maybe one day she'll…marry you or something like that, and since she's too stupid to get a pre-nup', through marriage you instantly become a billionaire. See? Money. Everything is about money." Icicle says it like I'm too stupid to understand anything. I want to argue back, but I decide it's better to let her think she's right.

But, I can't hold back my anger any more. "Look! Either you help us or I'll-" I take a few furious steps forward feeling the wind rage through my body. But right as I reach the steps to the throne all of the "ice dancers" have surrounded me and, in the blink of an eye, all of them are holding, in both hands, long, silver, serrated knives ready to strike. Instinctively the four of us back up slightly.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Icicle says menacingly, slowly descending down the steps once more. Her gloves are off, revealing pale hands, and I know she's ready to lash out with ice if necessary. "Do you think this is wise? Four children against…what is it? Thirty five workers today? Yes, I do believe that is right." She smirks once more. I hate that smirk. I also don't like how she calls us children when we're all the same age as her, and, I assume, her henchmen too.

"Where did those knives come from?" Omi asks, sounding like he's still in awe over the ice cavern.

Icicle pulls one of the guards over and yanks up one of her sleeves. Intricately strapped to her arm is black, nylon-like material with a thick, padded, little mechanisms on the inside of the elbow. The knife is attached to the top of the strips of fabric by a small wire track.

"I built this. I consider myself and inventor of sorts." Icicle begins. She slides the knife up so that the handle is at the girls elbow. The girl doesn't seem to mind standing still for the demonstration. "The pressure pad is very sensitive, and certain muscle movements," Icicle pulls on the girls forearm so that her arm is completely vertical and the knife instantly slides down and fall to the floor, "trigger it to release, or retract. All of my dancers wear them." I was starting to wonder why they were called Ice Dancers. The ice part made sense, but I hadn't seen any of them dance. I made a mental note to ask Ember about it if I ever got to see her again.

"And all of us have to go through a training course to learn how to catch the knife precisely." The girl says through her masks.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Icicle seethes. The girl shakes her head and slumps back to her old position. If she were a dog her tail would be tucked between her legs.

"Well, this is getting rather boring, rather fast, I must say." Icicle says, turning to us. "I already know what I want. I thought of it almost the moment you announced who you were." She can't help but brag. "I just didn't say anything because, well, because I just didn't feel like it."

"So…what do you want?" Kimiko asks. Icicle pushes her way through us to Kimiko.

"You feel like fire…" She looks disgusted with Kim. She turns to Omi. "And you…you feel somewhat ice-ish."

"Well…I am the dragon of water…" Omi says shyly.

"Which is one of the many forms of water.." Icicle says. I wonder if she can really 'feel' our elements, or she was already informed by Ember and is just pretending to sense them to show off.

"You were saying something about a deal?" I remind her.

"Yes, yes. We will save Ember, tonight, and bring her back here. In return, while we wait for the buzz to die down, you five will live here." She smiles. "And you will do everything I say." I knew there was a catch. I turn to my friends. We talked about the deal quietly for a minute. None of us like it, but it's our only choice. And besides, we could always try to weasel out of it if she asked us to do anything to extreme, couldn't we?

"All right, fine. We'll do it." I agree to her terms.

"Good. Now…how will we get to China in time…" Icicle thinks out loud. I turn to Clay.

"Dojo? Feel up for a challenge?"

We explain to Icicle about Dojo. She seems doubtful of his powers, but we insist that he's the best form of transportation. She agrees to take him. Dojo worries that they'll mistreat him but we remind him that he is a dragon, what could they do to him?

"I'll come with you." I say to Icicle as she prepares to leave.

"No you won't. You will just slow us down. You're not coming." She says firmly and then turns around. "BETHANY!" She shouts loudly and a girl quickly runs up to her.

"Yes?" Bethany has a note-pad, and to my surprise, isn't wearing a ski mask. She has green eyes and short red hair. She's wearing a button that says "Personal Assistance to the Queen" on it.

"Find rooms for our new guests, gather my finest dancers, pack enough clothes for a few days, and cancel the Holograssi heist. We're leaving tonight." Icicle instructs as Bethany scribbles furiously on her note pad.

"But Ma'am, we've been planning the Holograssie heist for months! They're coming back tomorrow morning, if we don't do it now, they'll-" Bethany starts to say frantically, but Icicle cuts her off.

"They'll what? Are you questioning my authority as leader?" Icicle asks fiercely.

"N-n-no, Miss, I am just w-worried that this is our only chance."

"They are rich snobs, for Pete's sake, they'll go on another vacation. We'll have other chances. We will reschedule the heist. Now, gather my Ice Dancers." She says through gritted teeth.

"Now, if this…dragon, is as fast as you say he is then we'll probably be back tomorrow with dear old Ember." Icicle says to us, then smiles. "Oh, How rude of me; I never introduced myself. She takes my hand. Her hands are a little coldish. I'm surprised; I am expecting them to be very icy. I ask her about it.

"I can control the temperature of my body, for the most part. I be just a little chilly, or," she painfully tightens her grip. "Very Icy." My hand feels numb. I inward sigh in relief as she lets go.

I guess I always knew that answer. There were times when Ember would practically burn me to death when she touched me, but other times she was just warmer than most people.

I rub my hand trying to warm it back up as Icicle introduces herself to the others. Lastly she comes back to me to finish our interrupted introduction.

"I doubt you will give me the respect as my workers do, so you don't have to call me Ice Queen, Icicle will do." She locks her unnatural eyes with me and shakes my hand. "Hello, My name is Eve Smith…and if you ever call me that, I will kill you."

Sorry, I kind of rushed on this chapter, so it came out a bit jumbled…oh well, tell me what you think!