Chapter 6 – Powers
Thor sailed through the sky, his large hammer out in front of him and the frozen kits at his side. Slowly and gently, he came low to the ground, moving his armored feet below him to land softly on the ground. He knelt down, setting his hammer down, laying it next to him as he placed the four kits out in front of him. "Hold still!" was all he said as he picked up his hammer again to point it at them. "WAIT!" Crash cried out in alarm, "Free Crystal first! She still can't breathe!" Thor looked to the worry of the kit, and then to his still contained sister, still curled in a ball made from the indestructible crystal. He quickly made his decision, moving his hammer towards the ice covered little kit, and let a large bolt of electricity flow from it, shattering the ice around her. At first she stayed the way she was, but quickly flopped to one side and uncurled, her eyes shut and her mouth limp as her tongue flopped out, breathlessly and still. "OH NO!" Crash called out, and flexed his muscles as much as he could. The ice quickly cracked, and then shattered, allowing him to stumble out clumsily. "Crystal?" he whined as he made his way towards her.
Thor quickly turned his hammer towards the other two, letting the electricity carve the ice around them, until they could stand on their own. Chase shivered as he slowly began to walk, "Iiiii nnnneed ttto get going! Bring mmmy bbbbody ttttemmmmperature back upppppp." he said, and started to run, slowly gaining speed as he tried to get his blood to move through his body.
Peach, on the other hand, began her shivering walk towards her downed sister and shivering brother, dragging one leg behind her as she walked. Thor watched in a curious awe as she finally reached her siblings, and touched them both. Her fur quickly began to glow a pale green hew, the light somehow soothing the shivers from the two twins, and bringing the breath back to Crystal as she softly began to breathe again. Crystal opened her eyes, glancing at her brother as the cold melted from both of their bodies. She moved her eyes to Peach, and the twins stood back up, both with grateful eyes. Peach smiled at them both, but then the smile fell, and so did she as she shut her eyes. Her shivers worsened, becoming nearly violent as her body continued to fight for heat. Thor quickly removed his cape, and scooped her up in it, wrapping her up as much as he could to keep her warm, "We must make for shelter!" he said as he touched her forehead, "She is as cold as the giants themselves!"
"But where do we go?" Crystal asked in a near panic. The three of them soon heard the once familiar sound of a sonic boom, followed closely by the tingling feeling of static running across their fur and skin just before Chase raced up to them, coming to a long stop as he slid across the ground. "I found a place to warm up!" he said, and finally looked at the new situation, "And it's not far either! This way!" His words brought a small bit of calmness to the others as they followed as closely as they could to him. Chase ran at a tolerable pace, slowing down only when he gathered too much speed.
Thor pushed himself up the hill, carrying the wrapped and shivering Peach in his massive hand as he gazed at the sight over the top, a large stone brick building with a straw roof and a smoke billowing out of a massive furnace chimney. "A dwarf forge?" Thor asked as he eyed the place, "I had no knowledge of one still existing!" He quickly made his way towards the door of the forge, pounding on it with his free hand. When it opened, he found several dwarfs standing there, and one of them looked down, "Ach!" he said with a thick accent, "There be the little lad! Come in and warm yer toes!" Thor looked down, seeing Chase as he entered in, "It's my sister!" he cried, "She's as cold as ice, and I don't think she's warming up!" The dwarfs all nodded, turning around and the one at the door reached out, taking the shivering bundle from the blond man.
Later that day as Peach was warming by the fire of the massive forge, Thor turned to the twins, "Curiosity compels me to ask; why was it that she removed the frost from your bodies but not her own? he asked. Crash turned to his sister, who had turned to him, "She can't!" he said. Thor lifted one of his eyebrows in confusion, "But surely she has healed each of you of your ailments!" he argued. Crystal turned back to the human god, "She uses her own strength to heal others, she can't heal herself. That's how her powers work."
"I see!" Thor said intrigued, "And your powers?"
"Well, Chase has to build up speed. The longer he runs, the faster he gets! But in order to protect itself from impact and rushing air, his body developed a power to project a static shield that gets stronger as he gathers speed. The shield takes the damage if he crashes instead of him." the little female kit explained. "But if I break the sound barrier, it explodes into an EMP burst that will fry every electronic device within fifty miles." Chase said as he rounded the corner, "She's stabilizing! The heat from the furnace is overpowering the frost giant's freezing touch." Crash, Crystal and Thor all exhaled, calm finally overtaking them. The human god turned back to the twins, "I still know nothing about your powers!" he said, keeping the old conversation going. Crash gulped, a fear coming over him as he explained, "I'm what you call a juggernought, once I get moving there are only two things that can stop me, myself…" he sadly turned to his sister, "…and a wall made of Diaqurotioux Crystal." He turned back to Thor, the sorrow disappearing from his eyes. "Yes I know of it." Thor said confidently. "Crystal here can become that wall if she buries her claws into something solid. Her powers let her morph her fur and skin into that crystal, though she can still move freely for some reason." he said and turned to his sister again, the same look in his eyes. She could see it, every time he looked to her now, something was bothering her brother. Was it regret? But regret for what?
"Peach can also manipulate and create all kinds of barriers." she said, hopping that the change in subject would ease her brother's mind. "My apologies but I may need more of an explanation." Thor said. Crystal took a breath through her nose, "Again, she has to use her own strength to make a barrier out of whatever she can. Air, wood, grass, even light if she's desperate enough." she said, "She can also shape those barriers into any fashion or shape she wants; we used a sled made from air to get you home."
"And for that I am thankful! However if she uses her own power, how is it she can do so much?" Thor asked. "She's the toughest of us all!" Chase said with pride, and a bit of humiliation, "Plus using air as a barrier is easy for her!" Thor simply nodded, standing up and moving himself to the forge. The little peach colored kit lay there, his cape still wrapped around her as the heat of the forge kept her comfortable. She smiled brightly as the dwarfs worked, dreaming of something only she could see behind her closed eyelids. "Ay lad!" he heard one of the dwarfs say, "The frost in her veins will melt soon, she'll be right as rain by the marrow!"
"How long?" was all Thor asked. "Give er an hour or so, that'll keep er from freezen again!" the dwarf said as he lifted a large glowing cog in a pair of tongs, and dipped it in a barrel of water that had to be as big around as Thor was tall. "That should give you some time!" he heard Chase say from behind him. "Pardon?" Thor asked as he turned around to see the three kits. "What exactly is this place? Why do each of you remind me of some sort of mythology?" the speedy kit asked. Thor smiled, kind of an embarrassed smile, "I do not know what it is you speak of." he said, and was quickly elbowed in the kidney by a passing dwarf, "Oi, lad! Ye asked them of their powers! I's only fair you return the favor by answerin their question honestly!" the working man said. Thor slumped his shoulders, defeat crawling on his soul, "I do suppose ye are correct!" he said, "What is it you wish to ask?"
End Chapter 6
