Chapter 15: Frost Bitten, Twice Shy
NRPD Department
Detective Cash returned to her desk with two cups of coffee, handing one cup to the purple-haired teen trying to fix her laptop. "Are you sure your mom's cool with you drinking coffee?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah." Boris nodded, taking a sip. "I'm a full-time high school honor student with a part-time job at a library. My blood type is practically thirty-five percent caffeine."
"'Kay, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that…" Cash muttered, sipping her own coffee. "Ahem, so can you get my laptop to stop freezing?"
"Well, I hate to tell you this, detective, but the problem's not software, it's hardware." Boris explained. "This laptop's old. Outdated. It's a fossil. But if you want, I can help you find a new one that's affordable and manageable."
"Aw, thanks, sport. That'd be great."
Suddenly, the building's alarm went off and Commissioner Maroon rushed out of her office. "Cash, get a squad and head down to Ironwood Asylum!" She was about to head to her own cruiser when she spotted her son. "Boris! I said no coffee!"
Cash glared at the teenager who nervously smiled at her before downing the rest of the bitter liquid and running off.
Jane just sighed. "What am I going to do with that boy?"
"Something tells me that we should worry about that later," Ayisha called out.
"Fair point," Jane said with a shrug. "Let's get going."
Meanwhile Boris watched as the two adults left the area before taking out and looking at his com system with a worried expression. "I hope Krasnaya fills me in on what happened at some point."
Ironwood Asylum, Five Minutes Ago.
The guards of Ironwood Asylum dutifully patrolled the halls; after the Trickster's last escape, Commissioner Maroon had doubled the facility's security. However, none of them were prepared for what happened on this fateful night. A large robot marched out of the bay and slowly made its way up the beach. Once it got to the wall, it raised one arm and fired a laser that blasted it to pieces.
"We need backup!" one of the guards called out into his radio as the robot approached the Asylum's court. "I don't know what we're dealing with here, but we definitely cannot take it out without backup!"
The robot's laser blast was so powerful, it shook the base of the asylum. In one cell in particular, a tin soldier toppled off of the nightstand next to the bed, earning the attention of one Dr. Victoria Glacier. Victoria had been using an icicle she'd chipped off of the ceiling of her cryogenically cooled prison cell to write out equations and formulas to keep her mind occupied; but she kept coming back to trying to formulate a cure for her late husband's disease out of guilt. Once she heard the tin soldier fall to the floor, she was brought out of her thoughts and went to pick it up.
After standing up, she paused upon noticing the giant robot outside her cell's window. "Interesting." She murmured under her frosty breath.
Her fascination soon turned to panic, however, upon noticing that the robot was approaching her cell, causing her to run to an intercom that - due to her being a model prisoner thus far - had been placed near her cell door so as to alert the staff of things like the temperature in her cell being too warm or…well, what was happening now. "Guards! Guards! Someone, come quick!"
Unfortunately, if anyone had heard her cries, it would be far too late, as the robot burst through the cell door and stuffed her into a containment unit, her tin soldier shattering on the ground as this happened. Victoria screamed and pounded against the metal door in a vain attempt to escape. But the chilled air that flooded her confined space also happened to be laced with some kind of sleeping gas, and she soon found herself slipping into unconsciousness.
By the time the police arrived, it was far too late. Detective Cash and Commissioner Maroon set up a crime scene and began taking witness statements from the staff and security. Unknown to them, the Crimson Crusader snuck into the asylum and stealthily made her way to the security room to download a copy of the footage. She was just about to make her leave when she heard a gun cock behind her.
"Freeze! Put your hands where I can see them!" The officer shouted. Krasnaya slowly lifted her hands into the air with both fists clenched. "Now, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain-"
Suddenly, Krasnaya threw down her hand, dropping a smoke bomb on the floor to cover her escape. Once the officer stopped coughing, he fired off a single shot, drawing the attention of his fellow officers.
"What the hell is going on?!" Maroon shouted.
"C-c-c-commissioner Maroon!" The officer fumbled with his gun and awkwardly held out his hand. "I-I-I am so sorry, ma'am! This is not how I wanted us to meet!"
"Who are you?"
"Uh, Commissioner Maroon, this is Detective Sam Neon." Cash introduced. "He accepted the transfer request Rojos posted after Charr went AWOL."
"Ugh, she requested someone transfer right after she fired him?" Maroon groaned.
"Is that her strike three?" Cash smiled. "Oh, please, tell me that's her strike three."
Maroon sighed. "Well, we do need another detective, so… no, she made a good call."
"Damn." Cash sighed.
"Strike three?" Sam couldn't help but ask.
"It's…a long story," Jane said with a tired sigh.
"...I'd be willing to hear it over coffee at some point, if you'd like." Sam offered.
"Let me get back to you on that. For now, I need you to check with the rest of the staff to see if anyone else has broken out in the chaos." Jane replied.
"Yes, ma'am."
Jane smiled as Sam ran off to follow her orders…only to lose said smile upon noticing the smirk on Aiysha's face. "What?"
"Nothing." Cash teasingly declared.
Meanwhile, Krasnaya returned to her cave to review the security footage.
"Not going to lie, that has to be the most unique attempt at a prison escape I've ever seen. Bonus points for how successful it was," Mikhail called out as he too looked over the footage.
"Exactly how many attempts at escaping prison have you seen?" Krasnaya couldn't help but ask. "Genuinely asking, as I still don't know everything that happened with you while we were apart."
"Let me answer that question with a question; under what circumstances do you think Celena taught me how to pick locks?"
Krasnaya chuckled and playfully patted her husband's rear as he walked off. She turned her attention back to the screen just as the computer finished downloading the footage. She rewound the video several times, studying the design of the robot and Glacier's body language. Just then, her teenage ward made her way down to the cave, suited up and ready for action.
"I don't understand." Azure remarked as she stretched. "Dr. Dust is supposed to be a medicine and ice doctor, right? How does she know how to make a robot that can break her out of prison?"
"I don't think Dr. Dust was responsible for this, Azure." Krasnaya answered. Typing a few more keys on her computer, she enhanced the image and zoomed in on the prisoner's face. "Look at her expression of fear. That's not easy to fake. Especially for someone who claims to be dead inside."
"So if she didn't make the robot, who did?"
Krasnaya rubbed her chin before an idea came to her. She took out her scroll and dialed a number. "Dr. Oobleck? It's me. Reschedule tomorrow's meeting and call Cyan's school and tell them she won't be in tomorrow. She and I are going to visit an old friend."
Atlas, the next day.
Svetlana helped Cyan adjust her scarf as they stepped off of the plane. "I told you it was way colder in Atlas." She chuckled.
Cyan was currently wearing five layers of clothing, and still shivering and rubbing her arms to warm herself. "H-h-h-h-how d-d-d-did y-y-y-you n-n-not k-k-k-k-kill y-y-your-s-s-s-self e-every-y-y-y d-day?"
Svetlana rolled her eyes. "Relax, your feathers will help regulate your body heat."
"M-m-m-my f-f-f-fea-thers are o-on m-my head!" Cyan snapped back as her foster mother hailed a cab.
Thankfully, every taxi in Atlas was equipped with powerful heating systems, keeping both women nice and toasty all the way to their destination. Eventually they had arrived at a laboratory in Mantle that doubled as a pharmacy and apartment for the owner of the establishment, Cyan raised an eyebrow from inside the cab. "You sure we're at the right place."
"I'm sure: the man we're looking for finds the facilities in Atlas proper to be rather stuffy, and besides, this way he's able to help people more directly," Svetlana declared before they got out and knocked on the door of the apartment section of the laboratory. Eventually, the door swung open and the duo looked down to see a two-foot tall robot that resembled a familiar red-headed Summer Maiden. "Salutations, Svetlana!" The mini-Penny greeted, eagerly. "Please, come inside! I was just about to prepare some healthy snacks!"
Svetlana watched in awe as the diminutive Penny scampered into the kitchen and she and her ward entered the apartment. They found the Atlesian scientist tinkering with a grandfather clock just as the tiny robot carried in a tray of orange slices. Pietro smiled as he plucked a slice off of the platter, then he acknowledged his guests. "Ah, Svetlana Crimsonoff-Kashtonovy. Nice to finally meet you. My daughter often spoke highly of you." He smiled. "And this must be Cyan Robyn."
"Um, Dr. Polendina…" Svetlana pointed at the little robot who set the tray down on the coffee table. "Is… is that-?"
"Sadly, no." Pietro sighed. He picked up the mini-Penny and sat her down on his lap, lovingly brushing her hair. "Don't let her programming fool you, my dear; there is no trace of the original Penny or any of her fragments in Poppy. She's really nothing more than a friendly little toy I made to keep me company."
Svetlana sadly smiled as she and Cyan sat down on the couch. She had only ever met Dr. Polendina once while she was a member of Team CPPR, but it was clear to her how much Penny meant to the old man. They all loved Penny, but no one missed her more than her own father. Except, perhaps, Ruby Rose.
"So, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Pietro asked.
"Um… well, Ironwood Asylum was attacked by a mysterious automaton." Svetlana took the picture out of her coat pocket and handed it out to the scientist. "It abducted one of the inmates, and I was hoping you could shed some light on its origins."
Pietro graciously accepted the photograph and adjusted his glasses to study it. "Well, well, well." He chuckled, stroking his beard. "If it isn't the old Model AJ-152."
"Did you help build it?" Cyan asked.
"No. Not really." Pietro shrugged. "I just gave a few suggestions about its design. It was supposed to be a dock-loading worker to help with heavier loads. But the design was ultimately scrapped when the Atlas military wanted to commandeer the blueprints to build war-bots."
"Who was the designer?" Svetlana asked.
"A bright young scientist." Pietro explained. "Said her name was Dr. Cobalt Frost. She showed promise, but she refused to work around others in the lab. She was a bit of a hypochondriac."
"Daddy, do you want me to get you or your guests some warm drinks while you're talking?"
Pietro felt his heart stop for a moment upon hearing Poppy's request before smiling and shaking his head in amusement. "Go ahead, darling."
"Okay, I'll be right back."
Svetlana gave Pietro a teasing grin as Poppy exited the room. "What was that you were saying about her being 'nothing more than a friendly little toy' you made?"
Pietro simply gave a sheepish shrug. "Hey, don't look at me: I didn't program her to say that. I was just as surprised as anyone to see how…human she ended up being."
"Well if Penny were here, I'm sure she'd be happy to see that you got a second chance to be a father, albeit in an unconventional way."
Pietro just snorted. "Please, you of all people should know that Penny was far from a conventional girl."
Svetlena just shrugged in reply. "Touche. In any case, what else can you tell us about Dr. Frost?"
"Not much, I'm afraid: we weren't all that close, but I have heard rumors of her having a secret lab somewhere in Atlas."
"She's also reportedly an associate of Rush Corp prior to that fiasco with Dr. Glacier," Poppy called out as she came back into the room carrying some hot apple cider for Cyan and some coffee for Svetlana and Pietro. "Something about her being a fan of Victoria's work or something like that."
"Well that's interesting," Svetlana said with a nod even as she and Cyan took a few sips from their respective drinks. "I'll have to look into that at some point, what with how I've had dealings with Rush Corp in the past…not to mention that this way I can try and see if Victoria is in any danger here: that woman has suffered enough."
"That she has," Pietro agreed.
"That does leave one question though," Cyan declared. "What exactly does this Doctor Frost character want with Dr. Glacier in the first place? I mean, what exactly is happening with her?"
Undisclosed Location; Atlas
When Dr. Victoria Glacier woke up, she found herself in a different freezing chamber, dressed in the same cryogenic suit she had designed to exact her revenge on Sasha Boil. Not only that, but as she stretched her arms and studied her surroundings, she noticed that she was also holding her ice-dust gun. Once her helmet indicated that her vitals were stable and her core temperature was below zero, she exited the chamber in hopes of shedding some light on her newfound freedom.
She was in a magnificent laboratory full of the latest and greatest equipment Remnant had to offer. Outside a nearby window, she saw a dock with a single oil rig tied off. A mechanized voice echoed from the intercom to announce that the facility's decontamination process was about to start. The room was flooded with some kind of cleansing gas before being ventilated. Once the air was clear, she saw a smartly-dressed woman in a lab coat standing before her.
"Hello, Dr. Glacier. I've been looking forward to meeting you."
["So, you're the one responsible for my being here."]
"I apologize for any discomfort my actions might have caused you, but it was imperative that I meet with you as soon as possible…oh, but where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Cobalt Frost, and I'm something of a fan of yours, Dr. Glacier."
["Even as I am now?"]
"Especially as you are now. In fact, I've studied the incident that resulted in your present state multiple times, Dr. Glacier." Frost smiled as she circled around her guest. "Did you know that despite being restricted to that suit, you were also given something else? In your current condition, your blood is so cold that no virus can survive long enough to affect your physiology. Not only that, but you also age ten times slower than the average human! You, my friend, are practically immortal!"
["Yes. I am bitterly aware of my pitiful condition."] Dr. Dust sneered, impatiently. ["Cursed to an eternity in this frozen purgatory."]
"Oh, a purgatory to you, but a godsend to me!" Frost went on. "You see, doctor, I do not believe in the naive notion of an afterlife. I'm a woman of science, after all. I've used my mind and skills to benefit my kingdom, proudly, but there is still so much more to do! I want you to try to replicate and perfect the accident that caused your transformation. And I am willing to reward you handsomely for it."
Dr. Dust had heard enough. She gripped the scientist by the coat collar and hoisted her into the air. ["So you're telling me you want to spend the rest of your life trapped in a world that you can see but never touch? All because you're too afraid of a few germs? I should kill you for suggesting such an absurd idea."] Dr. Dust threw Frost aside and headed towards the building's exit. ["But for what it's worth, I'd gladly trade every second of my eternal existence for your worst day."]
Despite having her life threatened, Dr. Frost pushed herself back onto her feet and made her way to her console. "Actually, I had a better trade in mind." She smiled and pressed a button.
A satin curtain opened up before Dr. Dust could open the door. She turned to see a familiar cryogenic chamber with a man frozen inside. Despite the man's sickly appearance, the computer's vital reports showed that he had a healthy and stable heartbeat and even some brainwave activity. Dr. Dust gasped, dropped her ice-dust gun and hurried towards the chamber. She placed both gloved palms against the glass to get a better look at the man's face.
["Norman…"] She whispered, softly.
Dr. Frost slowly approached from behind. "I was one of the major investors in Rush Corp. While Sasha Boil was tripping over herself to cover up the details of your 'death,' I had my men salvage what they could before it was too late. I take it, you know the young man?"
["... my husband…"] Dr. Dust dropped to her knees, crying from the sensation of relief washing over her. For so long, she had feared that her husband was lost, and yet, here he was; still safely frozen in suspended animation, waiting for her to cure him. Yet one detail remained. ["So you were the one who had him taken."]
Dr. Frost nodded. "Yes, and I apologize for the trouble that I caused you and the NRPD in the wake of Sasha's Boil's arrest, as I know how much he means to you."
["So what do you want?"]
"It's simple really: I have the resources you need to continue your research." Dr. Frost offered. "Do as I have requested, and they're all yours."
["... very well…"] Victoria reluctantly said with a nod. ["But bear in mind that if you cross me, you will find that there are fates worse than death."]
"Believe me, Doctor," Dr. Frost replied with a small grin. "I'd never think of double-crossing you…especially not when you're about to give me everything that I've ever wanted."
Dr. Dust merely snarled as she powered up her freeze blaster and pointed it in Cobalt's face, causing her to yelp in response. ["Funny: Sasha Boil said something very similar before stonewalling my attempts to cure my husband: what guarantee do I have that you won't do something similar?"]
Cobalt took a deep breath before looking her companion in the eyes. "I understand that trust isn't something that comes easy to you, but understand that unlike your previous boss, I'm not about to alter the deal before the job is even done. In fact, as a gesture of good faith, and sense you no doubt are still recovering from your experience, I'll go ahead and let you take a look at the equipment I have to see if they were up to your standards: use the rest of the day to test them out before we begin with my transformation."
Dr. Dust stared at Cobalt for a while before powering down her weapon. ["Very well, but for your sake, you better not be lying."]
A couple hours later, Svetlana and her ward had split up to change into their respective costumes. Cyan grumbled and muttered to herself as she felt the biting wind chill in between changing. By the time she got her mask on, she stumbled backwards in fear as Krasnaya suddenly appeared in front of her.
"H-h-how'd y-y-you f-f-find m-me?" Azure shivered between chattering teeth. "Y-y-you p-p-put a tr-tracker in m-my s-suit?"
"Azure, I'm your guardian. I put everything in your suit." Krasnaya drew her sickle, converted it into its remote function, and pressed a few keys. "Including these interwoven micro-heaters."
Suddenly, the snow that had fallen onto Azure's costume evaporated into steam as the seams dimly glowed. "Oh!" The robin Faunus yelped, pleasantly. "Oh! Ooooh, that feels good!"
"Figured you'd enjoy that feature," Krasnaya teasingly declared.
"Okay…" After blowing into her palms one last time, Azure stood ready for action. "So… how are we supposed to find Dr. Dust?"
Krasnaya explained as she continued to type into her remote. "Whoever kidnapped Dr. Glacier must have known that she couldn't survive outside of sub-zero temperatures. So all we have to do is find the coldest place in Atlas, and we'll find our kidnapped doctor."
Azure arched an eyebrow and surveyed the surrounding area. "That sounds like a challenge." She huffed. "Especially since it's the middle of winter, right now."
Krasnaya tapped her remote on her cowl, then tapped it again on Azure's mask before converting it back into a sickle. Such an action caused the lenses in their masks to deploy red thermo-lenses. This allowed the dynamic duo to constantly "see" the temperature of where they were standing and in which locations the temperature drastically dropped. Krasnaya and Azure headed out into the night, towards Frost Labs.
At that very moment, Dr. Dust was hard at work trying to carry out her assigned task. Much to her surprise, granting Frost her wish proved much easier to calculate than she had expected. She converted the laboratory to her specifications while Frost changed into a blue unitard to undergo the operation. Dr. Dust laid Frost down on the table, strapped her arms and legs down, injected her with penicillin, then attached four tubes to Frost's suit.
["If my calculations are correct, this procedure will affect your semblance so that your physiology naturally emulates my condition. You will not require a cryogenic suit to survive, but you will need to periodically absorb heat."]
Dr. Frost just smirked. "Sounds more like an upgrade to me, personally."
["Very well: I just wanted to inform you ahead of time."] Dr. Dust declared with a shrug. ["Are you ready to begin?"]
"I've been ready for quite some time now."
["Very well, though I should warn you that the process will not be a pleasant one."]
"Please, I can take a little pain." Dr. Frost declared before entering the machine.
["If you say so,"] Dr. Dust declared with a shrug before activating the machine. The machine hummed to life, a shower of sparks erupted from the generator, and the dust began to pump into Cobalt Frost's veins. While feeling merely chilled at first, she soon started screaming from the immense pain of the radical treatment.
Dr. Dust merely scoffed as Dr. Frost continued to yell out in agony as the procedure continued. ["I tried to warn you."]
After a few more minutes of excruciating agony, Dr. Dust shut off the machine to end the procedure. She went about removing the needles from Frost's arms, noticing that her skin and hair were now just as pure white as the ice dust flowing through her veins. Frost opened her eyes and quickly stood up from the berth she had been laying on, shivering violently. She stumbled towards her chemistry table and turned on a bunsen burner at full blast. Holding her hand over the open flame, she absorbed the flames into her body until the gas ran out and the soft copper pipes froze over in an instant. Frost looked down at her hands in astonishment.
"Extraordinary!" Frost exclaimed, happily. "I don't think I've ever felt this powerful before!"
["The procedure indeed appears to be successful."] Dr. Dust declared as she made her way towards the Aura Augmentation Device. ["But now that you are dependant on heat for survival, you'll need to move somewhere outside of Atlas."]
"Oh, don't worry about that. I have a plan to solve the issue of the side effects that come with my new condition." Frost declared as she donned her lab coat once more and made her way towards the exit. "Won't you come with me, Victoria?"
["I've done what you've asked."] Dr. Dust placed a hand on the glass of Norman's chamber. ["Now, leave me with my husband."]
"Suit yourself," Dr. Frost said with a shrug before beginning to take her leave.
"Dr. Frost," called out one of her workers as he entered the area. "I apologize for the interruption, but I feel like you should know that Krasnaya and Azure have been spotted on some of the hidden cameras in the facility."
["No doubt they are here to try and 'rescue' me,"] Dr. Dust declared with something resembling a look of respect on her face. ["I know from experience that the Crimson Crusader will do anything to help someone she perceives as in need of help."]
"And no doubt that the way that I acquired your assistance left much to be desired in keeping people calm," Dr. Frost remarked before giving a nod. "Very well: if Krasnaya wants to see what I'm up to here, then I suppose I ought to show her: I'd be a poor host to do anything less then show that her fears for your safety are unfounded."
Dr. Dust ignored the dubious implications of Dr. Frost's claim and focused on her own research. Frost allowed her worker to guide her towards the command center. However, the further they walked, the weaker Frost felt. Falling to her knees, Frost's vision suddenly shifted to infrared. Her employee knelt down to help her, unaware of the impending danger. As she looked up, the altered scientist could see the other person's body heat. In desperation, Frost grabbed the assistant by the neck, absorbing his body heat until he was frozen to the bone. Frost pulled herself back up to her feet while the frozen corpse shattered to pieces.
"Well, shoot: I'm going to have to get someone to clean that up for me," Dr. Frost declared, albeit just the slightest bit unnerved by what just happened.
She made her way into the main hall of her facility where she addressed the rest of her staff. Once they spotted her, the crowd erupted into applause; the procedure was an obvious success. Frost bowed to her workers before making her way down the spiral staircase towards the main computer console. "Thank you! Thank you! But we still have some work to do."
"Whatever you need, Dr. Frost." One worker dutifully nodded. "What fantastic scientific endeavor are we setting out on?"
Dr. Frost typed on the keyboard until the blueprints of Atlas' dust reservoirs. "Ah! Are we going to improve the city's reservoirs?" Another worker asked.
"No, but we will after what comes next." Frost smirked. "According to Dr. Glacier, my new condition requires me to periodically absorb heat in order to survive. We will cause a detonation within the facility's fire dust tanks."
"Y-you… you're gonna blow up Atlas?" One worker trembled.
"What sort of unsophisticated fool do you take me for, my friend?" Frost smirked as she looked out over the kingdom she'd served for so long. "No… I'm simply going to blow up part of Atlas. Just enough to produce enough perpetual heat to keep me alive for the next few centuries."
"But…but won't that be killing off a good portion of the city?" another of the workers couldn't help but ask.
Frost just shrugged. "Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."
Meanwhile, Krasnaya and Azure had finally located the coldest part of Atlas and made their way into the lab, with Azure giving a low whistle as they trudged forward. "Got to give whoever built this place credit: they really know how to design a villain layer."
"Indeed: I'm sure they'll do just fine during the arts and crafts portion of free time in prison," Krasnaya replied with a look that showed that she was only being half-serious when she said that.
As they made their way inside through the air duct, the dynamic duo felt the air temperature slowly decrease even further, cementing the evidence that Victoria Glacier was nearby. Along the way, they overheard Frost's plan to destroy half of Atlas in order to sustain her new condition. Krasnaya silently signaled to her side-kick that they would deal with her after they found Glacier. At last, they found the correct vent and made their way down to the laboratory floor.
"Dr. Glacier, we're here to rescue you!" Azure called out.
"And I appreciate the effort, but it's no longer necessary."
Azure couldn't help but blink upon hearing that. "Was I imagining things here, or did she sound okay?"
"You weren't imagining things." Krasnaya declared with a slight frown as she looked at her thermal readings with a frown. "Sub-zero temperatures. It's possible that whoever we're dealing with isn't keeping her prisoner…at least not in the traditional sense."
"Indeed." Victoria removed her reading glasses and made her way towards the cryogenic freezing chamber containing her frozen husband. "Behold, Krasnaya, my beloved Norman. Depending on me to save him. A feat which I cannot accomplish within prison."
"That is not up for debate, Victoria." Krasnaya replied, evenly. "You committed a crime."
"What I did, I did for love." Victoria reasoned, bitterly.
"Cool motive. Still a crime." Azure quipped, half-heartedly trying to lighten the mood.
Regardless, Krasnaya drew her sickle and loaded it with fire dust, prepared for a fight. In response, Dr. Dust moved away from the chamber and headed towards the lab table where her helmet was, slipping her red-lensed goggles over her eyes as she did.
"You are not in control here, Krasnaya…" Dr. Glacier's icy voice pierced the air like a frozen needle as she donned her glass helmet and drew her ice-gun. ["You will leave me to save Norman. Or you… will… die."]
Krasnaya tackled Azure out of the way just in time. "You're only making things worse for yourself by resisting, Vicky: if you give up now, I might be able to arrange something for your husband."
["A tempting offer, but one that relies too much on the police listening to you, and we both know that isn't a likely scenario."]
"I hate that she's not entirely wrong," Azure called out with a moan, her mind instantly thinking of how Rojos would likely shoot down that offer just because it came from them.
Unable to reach a peaceful compromise, Krasnaya sliced another blast of ice in half with her super-heated sickle before grappling back up to the rafters in an attempt to sneak behind her opponent. She dropped down and stabbed the tip of the sickle into the canister of ice dust fueling Victoria's gun. However, that did not stop Victoria from backhanding the vigilante with her armored fist. Krasnaya was flung backwards from the blow, but managed to convert her sickle into a pistol and fire a shot directly at Dr. Dust's weapon, knocking it out of her hand.
Azure took that as her chance to draw her own weapon; a pair of escrima sticks that doubled as grappling hooks designed especially for her by Dr. Oobleck. The girl wonder fired one of the hooks at Dr. Dust's right arm and connected it to the other one while it fired another hook into the wall. Krasnaya in turn fired the hook of her sickle into Dust's left arm and pulled on the line while digging her boots into the floor. She and Azure pulled as hard as they could to keep the villain subdued, and for a moment, it seemed as if they would emerge victorious.
Unexpectedly, two more streams of ice entrapped the dynamic duo, giving Dust a chance to snap both of their lines and rub her arms in discomfort.
"Well done, Dr. Dust!" Frost praised. "Well done! Now, Krasnaya and Azure will be unable to interfere with my plans. Feel free to do with them as you please, I'm off to change the world."
"You really think that blowing up Atlas will get people to follow you?" Krasnaya couldn't help but ask. "All that will do will get people to fear you."
"Exactly my point." Cobalt declared with a smug grin. "If I am to create a world without war, I must first strike fear into anyone who would dare oppose me by making the world's largest military power bend to my will…and who else has more military power at their fingertips then the Kingdom of Atlas itself?"
"Y-y-y-y-you w-w-w-won't g-g-g-get aw-w-w-w-way w-with th-th-this!" Azure shivered.
"I already have." Cobalt smirked and left the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have half a city to destroy."
Once Frost was gone, Krasnaya turned her attention towards Dr. Dust. Victoria made her way back towards her husband's chamber. Despite her crimes, Krasnaya understood that Dr. Glacier was not a criminal at heart. Everything she did was to help Norman. But she couldn't let Frost have her way.
"You know that this will result in people getting hurt, Victoria."
["What do you expect me to do, Crimson Crusader?"] Dr. Dust growled out. ["This is my only chance to save my husband."]
"I know, but ask yourself this: is this really what Norman would have wanted?"
["Silence."]
"How do you think he'll react when he learns what you've done in his absence?" Krasnaya went on. "If you thought you were lonely now, wait until you see how disgusted he is at what you've become."
["I said SILENCE!"] Dr. Dust bellowed, angrily, as she fired another blast of ice dust at her captives.
As she turned away from her captives, however, she paused as she looked upon the frozen body of Norman, who almost seemed to be frowning at her as he floated inside the cryotank. Between that and Krasnaya's words from earlier, as much as she wanted to, she couldn't deny that she wasn't entirely comfortable with her choice here.
Victoria bowed her head in shame, her eyes tearing up a bit as she looked upon her frozen husband. ["Forgive me."]
Dr. Dust made her way over to the dynamic duo and took out a heated ice-pick to free them from their frozen prison. Once they were free, she removed a computer chip from the arm-mounted console on her suit and handed it to Krasnaya. "What's this?" She asked.
["It's an emergency override chip."] Dr. Dust explained. ["When integrated with my suit, it emits a unique electromagnetic frequency that dissipates any ice dust fired upon me. I developed it as a safeguard in the event that my equipment was ever used against me."]
Krasnaya smiled as she caught on. "So if I were to integrate the programming with our suits, it should give us a fighting chance against Frost."
["You are a clever woman, Krasnaya."] Dr. Dust nodded as she made her way to the computer console. ["Now, I'll do what I can to reduce the blast and evacuate the faculty, but you must stop Frost before she can escape. Now, go."]
Without hesitation, Krasnaya inserted the chip into her sickle and downloaded the programing before uploading it into the computers built into her and Azure's suits. While Dr. Dust went about sabotaging Frost's plans, the Dynamic Duo rushed off to confront the mad doctor, personally. The cryogenic scientist had just consumed another vile of fire dust when she noticed the two vigilantes. Krasnaya threw down a smoke bomb before Dr. Frost had a chance to fire a stream of ice from her palm.
"What's the matter?" Dr. Frost taunted her opponents. "Don't tell me that you're afraid of a little Frostbite."
"Not even close," Krasnaya called out. She loaded a vile of lightning dust into her hammer and charged at Frost. Thankfully, Dr. Dust's word proved true, as she tanked a blast of ice deflecting from her suit and struck her opponent in the chest.
"Wha…what was that?!" Dr. Frost couldn't help but ask, a touch of fear in her voice upon noticing that none of her icy attacks were hitting her foes.
"In layman's terms, we've evened the playing field." Krasnaya declared.
Dr. Frost merely snarled in response to this. "How dare you oppose me?!"
"With the greatest of ease," Azure teasingly called back.
Dr. Frost roared in fury as she continued firing stream after stream of ice at the vigilantes. "Why are you doing this?! Can't you see that this is the only way to stop conflicts like the Menagerie Civil War!? I'm bringing an end to war itself!"
"And then what?!" Kransaya growled out. "Once you're Queen of Remnant, what's stopping someone else from trying to take power away from you? What's stopping another civil war cropping up between your 'loyal' subjects? You yourself admitted that you were trying to make people fear you, so what exactly is your plan for stopping that fear from becoming anger and later hatred? How long do you really think you can last before someone else tries to make you afraid?"
"As long as I have to," Dr. Frost snarled out all while desperately trying to ignore everything else that Krasnaya had said to her.
Rolling her eyes, Krasnaya loaded a cartridge of fire dust into her hammer while Azure did the same with her escrima sticks and they proceeded to attack Dr. Frost, dodging her blasts of ice as they did so. However, Dr. Frost eventually managed to absorb the heat from their weapons, fueling her own power until the fight became nothing more than a stalemate. Krasnaya wrapped her cape around herself and Azure as two strong streams of ice bombarded them, until they suddenly stopped. Dr. Frost had been frozen in a block of ice by none other than Dr. Dust, herself.
["The workers have been evacuated and the facility will soon be destroyed. I suggest you take your leave of this place."]
"Not without you." Krasnaya remarked, firing her grappling line towards Dr. Dust. But the doctor reflexively drew her ice-dust gun and froze the hook in midair, much to the shock of the dynamic duo.
"Wait, what?!"
Dr. Dust almost chuckled in response to Azure's outburst. ["You didn't honestly believe I'd give you that chip unless I had thought of a way to deal with the possibility of said frequency being used against me, did you?"]
"It doesn't matter: you're still coming with us." Krasnaya insisted.
Dr. Dust aimed her ice dust gun directly at Azure and pulled the trigger. In an instant, the robin Faunus' leg was frozen. ["I gave you this choice when we first met, Krasnaya. Now, I give it to you again; either chase the villain, or save your child. You cannot do both."]
Krasnaya growled as Victoria nonchalantly holstered her weapon and calmly walked away. At the last moment, however, she heard Krasnaya call out to her. "Svetlana Crimsonoff-Kashtonovy."
Victoria blinked and looked back at the Crimson Crusader. ["Pardon?"]
"If you ever decide that you're tired of running from your past, I have it on good authority that the woman I just mentioned was willing to try and help you and your husband find cures for your individual conditions."
Victoria pondered this for a moment before nodding. ["I shall keep that in mind, but for now, I must take my leave."]
"You think she'll consider what you said?" Azure couldn't help but ask even as Krasnaya helped free her leg.
"I'd like to think she already is," Krasnaya replied. Due to her ward's leg still being numb from the ice, she hoisted Azure into her arms and hurried out of the laboratory just as the countdown reached the ten second mark. By the time the building exploded, they had tied up Frostbite and left her for the police.
Speaking of which, Commissioner Jane Maroon, her lieutenant Chief Alex Rojos, her best detective Ayisha Cash and a few other officers from Rushland arrived on the scene to arrest Dr. Dust after receiving another anonymous tip.
"Remind me what we're doing out here?" Cash couldn't help but ask.
"Called in a favor with the local authorities," Jane declared. "They allowed us to take part in the investigation and/or any possible arrests due to the nature of the case."
"Right, even if she never intended to escape, Dr. Dust hasn't finished her sentence yet, so she'll need to be taken back in." Rojos said with a nod.
"Well in any case, Aiysha, you secure the perimeter: make sure that none of the hired guns get too far. Alex, you're with me," Maroon ordered.
"Yes ma'am," both of her subordinates declared.
Just then, "Commissioner! I found one of the workers!"
The commissioner and chief made their way towards the shivering worker. "Sh-she's insane. She - sh-sh-she's c-completely lost it!"
"Who?" Jane asked.
"Dr. Frost! She's turned herself into a monster! She said she was going to blow up Atlas! She needs to be stopped! Ask the others! They'll testify!"
"Alright, alright, take it easy, buddy." Rojos said, calmly. "Stay here and leave a statement. We'll take care of Dr. Frost."
The police didn't find any hired guns - nor the frosty scientist they were eager to bring back into custody - but instead found what appeared to be a copy-cat criminal tied up on the ground with a red card attached to the ropes.
While Maroon allowed a small smirk, Rojos couldn't help but growl upon taking note of how Dr. Frost was seen sitting on the ground before them with a familiar calling card. "Great: Krasnaya got to her before us."
"And it looks like she caught Frost for us." Jane added, much to the surprise of Rojos and Cash.
"Commissioner… you're not… condoning the actions of a vigilante, are you?" Rojos asked.
"I'm saying we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, chief." Jane replied, evenly. "Get her out of my sight."
"Yes, ma'am," Rojos called out, for once not complaining (further) about Krasnaya not being caught due to realizing that Jane was already in a bad enough mood. "But if you don't mind my asking, what about Dr. Dust?"
"Something tells me that Victoria Glacier is a bit out of our jurisdiction at the moment."
"As is Dr. Frost." A voice called out. The commissioner and her lieutenant turned to see Atlesean General Ciel Seioli and two guards standing behind them. With a snap of her fingers, Ciel wordlessly commanded one guard to hand a clipboard of paperwork to Rojos. "You two are a bit far from New Rushland."
"Well when one of the criminals we had locked up gets taken captive, we tend to take notice," Jane replied.
"Be that as it may, Dr. Frost will be taken into our custody." Ciel declared in a voice that brokered no arguments.
Rojos looked over the paperwork before glancing back at Maroon. The police commissioner shook her head in defeat, prompting the lieutenant to hand Frost over to the Atlesean guards. With that, Maroon and Rojos left for the airport.
"So… what now?" Frost asked, nervously.
"Now?" Ciel smirked. "I own your ass."
Meanwhile, in the Mantle Sea, Dr. Dust carefully maneuvered the massive oil tanker away from Atlas towards colder waters. Amidst the confusion, the brilliant doctor had hastily rushed back to the laboratory where her husband was being kept. She quickly transported him onto the oil rig she had spotted earlier, then went back to collect as much equipment as she could before the entire facility exploded. By the time Frost's building was destroyed, the oil rig had detached from Atlas' dock and drifted out to sea. Victoria checked to ensure that the current outside temperature was still below zero before removing her helmet. Setting the controls to autopilot, she made her way over to her husband's chamber and planted a longing kiss on the glass.
"I will cure you, Norman…" She promised.
To Be Continued!
Epilogue:
Boris yawned as he returned home from a shift at the library, throwing his backpack down on the coffee table. "Hey, mom, I'm home!" He called. "I picked up some Thai food on the way!"
The teenager paused in confusion at what he saw in the living room. His mother was sitting on the couch with a man roughly around her age, sharing a bottle of wine.
"What, uh, what's all this?"
Jane cleared her throat. "Ahem, Boris, this is Sam Neon. He's the new detective for our precinct. We were just discussing the details of his transfer."
"... with wine?" Boris crossed his arms and smiled, coyly.
"Boris Velvet Maroon, you wipe that smirk off your lips!" Jane scolded, lightly. "Sam and I are coworkers, that is all."
"Sure." Boris nodded, making his way towards his bedroom. "Sure, sure. Sure."
Jane shook her head and turned back towards Sam to continue their discussion. However, the lights suddenly dimmed and the surround-sound speakers started playing "Take My Breath Away." Jane and Sam both turned just in time to see Boris duck away from the lightswitch.
"BORIS!" Jane shouted.
Sam meanwhile gave a chuckle here. "Well, he's certainly a spirited young man."
"You have no idea." Jane groaned out.
