Snowchester was a cold district. It was always snowing, and the snow piled up in thick clumps that usually covered the streets. Any sane person was expected to wear a thick coat, gloves, and winter boots if they wanted to survive a short walk through the district, and anything longer than two hours outside was highly discouraged. It was for the safety of the people because the cold was one of the most unforgiving forces of nature.

Despite this common knowledge, the ocean surrounding Snowchester's docks had never frozen over. The air had never been so cold that people's breaths didn't even make mist. It had never been so cold that the wind had fallen completely still without any energy pushing it around. The temperatures were dropping into numbers that were not naturally possible. Even mother nature had a little bit of mercy when she froze the world over. Snowchester was suffering from extreme temperatures that could only be created in a laboratory by machinery worth billions of dollars.

That, or an already strong superhuman with an Eye of Ender boosting their power.

Vermillion stood at the edge of a rooftop, trying to keep his balance against the slippery tiles. He held both of upper arms in his hands, pulling his body in tight to preserve what little warmth his body naturally created. Passerine was practically hugging his legs as she leaned onto her knees, her wings wrapped tightly around herself and him. They were watching the sun shift across the sky, ignoring the way the snow was attempting to blind them and the ice across the ocean was glittering. Passerine was scrolling through her communicator. Her hands shook as she held the device, and her fingers were stiff as she looked through her feed.

"Thank you for waiting for us," A voice spoke from behind them. Passerine looked up from her communicator to peer over her shoulder. Vermillion didn't move a muscle, already knowing who was approaching him. He heard the mechanical whirring of Kamikaze's bee wings and the vwoop of Ender's teleportation. He could tell who they were by their footsteps. He could sense their presence no matter if he was looking in the opposite direction or blinded.

"Passerine wanted back-up," Vermillion said, his jaw burning as he forced it to move. The world was far too cold for most actions to be taken in confidence. They would definitely need Kamikaze's ability if they were going up against the Wretched Wraith. She would be in her prime, and the rest of them would be weakened by the temperature. She knew this fact, so she hadn't moved her base of operations. She remained in the warehouse, allowing her powers to spread out from her. For the moment, only Snowchester had been severely affected. The neighboring districts were experiencing chilly weather, but nothing they weren't used to. By nightfall, though, every district sharing a border with Snowchester would be struck with temperatures like the ones in Snowchester. They needed to defeat her today, so Vermillion agreed to the extra help to maximize their chances of winning.

"Course I fucking did. It's cold as fuck here," Passerine said, standing up. She was shivering violently, and her wings were puffing up around in the attempt to create warm air currents. She turned to look at Kamikaze and Ender. She gave them a once-over before she turned her entire body in their direction. "Nice to see you again."

"Good to see you, too. I'm glad to see you in the suit. Rosa told me that you seemed to like it," Kamikaze said with a smile brightening his face. Vermillion snarled from where he was standing. He was still extremely pissed that Rosa had connected Passerine and Kamikaze. He was even angrier that Kamikaze agreed to make Passerine a suit. If Kamikaze had never done that, she would have never come out to help Vermillion. She was a big help, but she was a liability. The only reason he truly kept her around was because she would be able to deal with him if he lost control over his powers.

"It's a good suit, man. I fucking love it. I wish it had a coat with it," Passerine said, mirroring his smile before grumbling about the weather once more. She was incredibly hung up on the cold. Vermillion hated it as well, but he wasn't ready to voice his complaints. He couldn't let himself become comfortable. Relaxation led to mistakes, and sometimes mistakes led to the truth.

"We need to head in before it's too late," Vermillion ordered everyone. He felt all their eyes peering at him cautiously. Passerine shrugged his order off like warm water. She jumped down from the roof, her wings extending to allow her to gracefully descend with the still air. Ender looked between Vermillion and Kamikaze. He must have seen something in either of their expressions because he teleported away, leaving nothing behind but purple particles where he had once stood.

Kamikaze walked towards Vermillion with his feet instead of floating in the air with his mechanical wings. He stood on the parapet next to Vermillion. The Red Angel looked towards the ground where Ender and Passerine were looking up at them with soft whispers fluttering from their lips. Kamikaze pulled something out of a small satchel tied to his waist. It was a pair of cuffs, silver with blue lines creating a cackling pattern across the surface. Vermillion recognized it as power dampeners. Vermillion turned away as Kamikaze began swinging the cuff around his finger. "You don't seem to have one of these. This makes me wonder what your plans were for capturing the Wretched Wraith."

"I wasn't planning on capturing her," Vermillion half-shrugged. He hadn't really given much thought about how he would defeat her. He knew that he needed to, and he knew that he would do anything to make sure she couldn't hurt anyone else. If he needed to kill her, he wouldn't hesitate. If he had time to think of a different way to defeat her, he would definitely try for a less lethal solution, but when push came to shove, he would do what it took.

"What happened to your no-killing rule?" Kamikaze asked. When Vermillion was still a new vigilante, when he hadn't even received the name 'Red Angel' yet, he had met Kamikaze, a mere apprentice of the Crowfather and sidekick to the Warden. Kamikaze tried taking on the vigilante, but neither of them were able to win the fight. They talked as they fought, though, to establish truths and facts. Vermillion refusing to kill anyone was one of the rules he told Kamikaze. Another rule was that he would only help Logstedshire, not any of the other districts. Those were his two big rules that he stuck by for as long as he had been able to.

"Things change," Vermillion whispered, wondering why that statement hurt his heart as much as it did. He knew that he was part of the things that changed. He knew that everyone he had ever loved or cared about were part of the things that changed. He knew that no matter how well they fit together a year ago, there was a chance that they would never be like that again.

"They do. But some things will always stay the same," Kamikaze said, tilting his head. In one smooth motion, he was wrapping his arms around Vermillion's shoulders. Unprepared for this, Vermillion's feet slid forward. His body fell back, and his arms went around Kamikaze's waist to drag the hero down with him. The air whirled around them as they crashed down from the tiles of the building to the soft snow below. Vermillion sank slowly into the snow. Kamikaze was right on top of him, and his elbow pressed painfully into his stomach.

"You fucking prick," Vermillion said, trying to muster up anger. All that came up was a warm bubbling in his throat that kept climbing upward until barking laughter spilled from his lips. He was laughing, bright and fiery and booming, the lightning and the thunder, echoing and blinding all those around him. He was laughing like he hadn't in a long time, laughing like those days hanging out with Kamikaze and Ender were last week instead of last year.

Kamikaze began laughing, too, and Vermillion could hear the choking giggles from Passerine and the stifled chuckles from Ender. For one minute, they were four teenagers enjoying the snowy night, playing around with each other and crashing into the snow like this was going to be the most reckless thing they do that night. They were friends united by the urge to cause chaos and to spend their youthful days in amusement and bliss. They were everything Vermillion had wished for himself when he was old enough to think, when he first put this mask on his face, when he first realized that his powers didn't necessarily make him a villain- his actions did.

But his actions had turned him into a villain a long time ago, and no matter how they acted now, Vermillion knew he couldn't continue doing things like this. This memory would be tucked away in his heart, saved for rainy and cold days that beat him down and colored his skin with blues and blacks and sickly yellows. He would hold tight to this memory so that he might relive it when the lonely nights and the burning days consumed him. He would like to remember this moment when he would finally rest.

"Come on, we have work to do," Vermillion said as his laughter pittered out, leaving him breathless and strangely energized. He pushed Kamikaze off of him. He struggled to pull himself out of the snow until Passerine offered him her hand. He took it, and she helped heave him out of the snow. It took a moment and a lot of straining, but he was finally out of the Vermillion-shaped hole in the snow. Vermillion looked at his figure in the clean white, trying hard to remember that the red was a reflection of his suit and not someone's dying body.

Vermillion shook his body, clumps of snow falling to the ground around him. He looked at the three people that chose to fight alongside him. He had no way of ensuring their lives. He just knew that he would do anything to keep these smiles on their faces and the happiness in their eyes from ever fading.

"She'll be expecting me and Passerine. We'll go in to distract her. We might even be able to wear her down a little. Kamikaze and Ender, you two should head around back. When you can teleport again, Ender, teleport above her with Kamikaze. Big K, come down, guns blazing. We're bringing her ass down," Vermillion told them. Ender nodded before Kamikaze could respond, grabbing the shorter hero's arm to teleport them away. Passerine was left behind. She made sure her helmet was on correctly and pulled two knives out of her belt. She looked at Vermillion with a determined look. Not for the first time, she was putting her trust in him. She knew the truth about what he was and what he could do, but she still had the strength to look at him like he would never harm a hair on her head.

Vermillion and Passerine walked to the warehouse. Unlike last time, there wasn't a barrier of snow and wind keeping the building secure. The world was far too cold for the wind to be moving with as much ferocity as it had been when the Wretched Wraith was trying to keep her warehouse protected. Passerine took a step to the side, pressing against the side of the door with her knives poised to strike. Vermillion stood a few feet from the door. He took in a controlled breath, hating the way it made his lungs shrivel up even more than they already were. As he released his breath, he shoved both of his hands forward. It took a moment to energize the wind, but air currents had never been able to say no to Vermillion before. The air around the warehouse began to pick up speed until a fast moving current shot around Vermillion body to strike the warehouse. The doors trembled beneath the strain before they snapped open, knocked right off their hinges. Vermillion cut off the wind as the doors slammed against the ground.

Passerine jumped into the room immediately. She threw her knives deep into the room, the wire trailing across her clothed fingers. She grabbed tight to the wire before the end of it could slip out of her grasp. She pulled tight on the wires, creating a sort of tension that allowed her to slingshot forward. She entered the main room of the warehouse feet first, the clawed talons going to strike the Wretched Wraith. A wall of fire expanded around the wraith, solidifying into ice as Passerine slowed down. Her talons clung to the ice, helping her hang sideways on the ice. Vermillion ran after her, ducking underneath Passerine to slam his foot into the wall of ice. It shattered upon impact, and he continued sliding beneath the crashing wall. Passerine twisted her body, pulling on one of the wires to help her fling her body to the side. Her talons cut into the Wretched Wraith's cheek, drawing blood the minute Passerine landed on the ground. The Wretched Wraith raised her hand to trail her fingers along the scratches with fire on her fingertips. Ice spread across the cut like a frosty bandaid.

"You have returned Tiberius. Clara warned me that you would. She generously describes you as strong-willed. Truthfully, I believe the correct term is 'stubborn' or even 'idiotic'," The Wretched Wraith said with a voice as high-pitched as the whistling of a stormy wind. Vermillion pulled out both of his daggers. He held them in front of him as he pushed one leg out, the other knees pressed against his chest. Passerine tugged on the wires, bringing her knives to her hand.

The Wretched Wraith threw her hand up. Icicles began to form above Vermillion's head, smoking a light gray gas as if they were on fire. They shot down to the ground, and Vermillion had to duck and weave out of the way to protect himself.

Passerine ran towards the Wretched Wraith, trying to take advantage of the distraction. She threw her knife forward, and the blade spun around the Wretched Wraith's arm. Passerine dropped the knife, pushing down on the hilt with her foot to plant it in the ground. The Wretched Wraith grabbed the wire with her fingers, and bright blue fire spread across the metal all the way down to the knife. As the blue fire dripped onto the ground, sheets of ice began to cover the cement floor. Passerine jumped away from the wire and the knife, pulling out another knife from her belt. This one did not have a wire attached to it, and Passerine threw it at the Wretched Wraith. Passerine had been aiming for her arm, but the Wretched Wraith was able to get away with a simple scratch that barely cut her skin.

Vermillion was given a second to catch his breath, and he slammed his hands forward. The wind began to pick up, pushing the icicles towards the Wretched Wraith. She levitates into the air, pulling back. The icicles shattered against the cement. Thousands of shards explode from the impact point, creating blinding fractals in the air. The smoke billowing from the icicles spreads across the ground like heavy fog. The ice sheet continues to build, covering almost the entire cement ground.

"What makes you believe either of you can win this? My powers are infinitely stronger than they were the last time we fought. I can clearly tell that your physical capabilities have been reduced by the temperature. You barely managed to escape last time. I do not understand why you believe you can win," The Wretched Wraith told them both as she lowered herself back onto the ground. Another wave of ice shot from her footprints. Vermillion slipped instantly, his body dropping with a loud crash. Passerine dug her talons into the new ice sheet. She threw both of her arms up, hoping to block off the ice shards that were beginning to shoot from the Wretched Wraith's outstretched hand.

A vwoop echoed in the room. The Wretched Wraith tried looking up, but Vermillion threw both of his daggers at her. The blades flew in the air. She easily waved them away with icy wind, but the Wretched Wraith missed the way Passerine threw her secondary knife with the wire into the air. The knife wrapped around Kamikaze's ankle. Passerine threw the wire at Vermillion as she jumped into the air. Vermillion grabbed hold of the wire, starting to slide forward across the ice, barely keeping himself upright. Kamikaze hit the ground with a massive explosion pouring from his open palm. The Wretched Wraith dodged out of the way of the initial explosion, but she missed the way Vermillion was counteracting Kamikaze's weight to swing the hero in a circle around the Wretch Wraith. Kamikaze kept his palms against the ground, a gold-red streak the same shade as bubbling lava creating a line everywhere his palm touched. Passerine grabbed onto Ender, lowering them both to the ground with her wings fluffed out to soften their fall. The Wretched Wraith tried attacking, but the lines in the ice began to explode all at once, trapping the Wretched Wraith in a vortex of heat and flames.

The Wretched Wraith threw her hands down. The red, orange, and golden yellow flames were swallowed up by purple and blue fire. A lot of ice began to crystallize around her, parts of it climbing up Vermillion and Kamikaze's body parts. She turned to them with a horribly angry expression, burn marks charing her pale white skin. She reached for the two of them, but Passerine jumped down to block the Wretched Wraith's next attack. Her talons dug into the ice sheet as a strong wind tried pushing her back, ice shards cutting into her skin.

Ender managed to teleport behind the Wretched Wraith. He grabbed both of her arms, dragging them behind her back as his feet slammed into her knees. She doubled forward, hitting her knees as her as the power dampening cuffs were affixed to her wrists. As if a lever had been switched, the coldness in the air began to dissipate. It was still freezing, but it was slowly returning to the natural temperatures Snowchester experiences. The ice remained in the warehouse, but Vermillion could hear the waves starting to snap the ice that held it down outside of the warehouse.

"Fuck yeah! We did it!" Passerine yelled with excitement buzzing in her voice. Vermillion smiled at her, leaning his head back against the outer wall of the warehouse. He could feel warm blood dripping from his various wounds, but he was sure that he was going to survive. He had not been severely injured, after all.

"You all will-" The Wretched Wraith began, but Ender placed a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed, and she suddenly fell limp against the ground. Passerine laughed at the sight of her enemy being struck unconscious, and Ender was blushing a bright purple in embarrassment as he tried to explain.

Kamikaze crawled forward. He ended up with his head in Vermillion's lap. Vermillion tensed, but his hands instinctively found their way into Kamikaze's hair. Vermillion stroked the brunette's hair, his eyes closing momentarily. Vermillion whispered, "We need to call the police to put her in prison."

"I know," Kamikaze replied, but he didn't try to move.

"I'll have to leave when we do," Vermillion continued to explain. There was no way he was going to let the police know he had been involved. The police did not like him. He was an unregistered crime fighter for the district they failed to protect. No matter how much the heroes and Logstedshire seemed to like him, the police never would.

"I know," Kamikaze mournfully agreed, something painful in his tone as if he had uttered the words 'goodbye' instead of 'I know'.

"I'm sorry for everything," Vermillion continued, tears pricking his eyes as he confessed the words that had been lodged in him since the moment he heard Kamikaze's tearful screams as Clara dragged his bloody body away from the warehouse where he had died.

"I know," Kamikaze said, a wet and breathy laugh leaving his mouth alongside the words. He curled in on himself, his hand somehow finding Vermillion's. The two of them held hands as the exhaustion weighed down on them, two years worth of memories and one year worth of absence making the both of them stumble through an emotional minefield like fools. But for this moment, the world was nothing but a distant dream. Kamikaze was here with him, and nothing could go wrong as long as his best friend was at his side.