EARLY MAY 2002 - #34

Things Get Cold by Paul Hahn

"My name is Mister Freeze."

It's winter . . . but things are downright chilly. Central Park, along with much of the greater New York area had suddenly and unexpectedly been covered in ice. And in the park, in large, bold ice letters, the name Impulse was written. The man responsible was Mister Freeze. He had a gun which could produce mass amounts of ice. He currently stood on an ice pedestal, looking over those who had just arrived on the scene.

Cissie King-Jones, Arrowette: A master bow-woman; Linda Danvers, Firebird: Telekinesis, fire-wings, strength; Hallie Takahama, Jolt: Enhanced speed and reflexes, capable of producing electric shock 'jolt' punches; The Spoiler, armed with an array of weapons and tricks; Rebel, a mysterious girl whose hand-to-hand combat skills are astounding.

Together, they are the female members of the young super-hero group Young Justice. The boys were home, recovering from injuries suffered recently. Impulse, the name written in ice, was one of those boys. However, as he was injured, the girls decided it best to deal with this threat themselves.

"Who are you?" Freeze asked the five girls.

"We're Young Justice," Arrowette replied. She had taken the roll of leader on for this mission.

"I've heard of you . . . vaguely," he said absently.

"Well, that's nice," Jolt smirked. "We haven't heard of you."

"I have no quarrel with you," he said coldly, ignoring her comment. "I only wish to meet Impulse."

"Oh yeah?" Firebird asked. "Meet him . . . then what?"

"It is not your concern."

"Oh, I'd say it was our concern," Arrowette continued. "Impulse is one of our teammates . . . one of our friends. He couldn't come at the moment, so we stepped in for him."

Freeze's expression didn't change. It was motionless as always, with his eyes completely concealed between the large, red goggles.

"You've made a fairly big mess of ice," Jolt said. "Mind telling us what's all the excitement about?"

"You will contact your teammate and tell him to come here now," Freeze said.

"Or what?" Arrowette asked, pushing the envelope.

"Or this," he replied. With a quick shot of his gun, a blast of ice smashed into Jolt. It formed a thick, large ring around her arms, chest and back. The force of the hit knocked her to the icy ground. The cold was intense. "That was a warning shot."

"Some warning . . . " Spoiler muttered.

"Do as I say, or I shall force him to come by hurting you all."

"You can try," Arrowette said, pulling a pair of flame arrows. "But, women though we be, we're far from the weaker sex!"

She released both flame arrows with uncanny speed, both hitting the ice pedestal on which Freeze stood, causing it to melt and break, knocking the man to the cold ground.

Firebird's fire-wings burst out from her back and she took to the sky, getting a better vantage point. Spoiler pulled out a bo-staff and made a break for Freeze. She got in close and slammed it across Freeze's clear face-mask.

"Hey, bubble-head," she said. "How'd ya like that one?"

Freeze didn't speak. He merely grabbed one of the Spoiler's arms and threw her into Arrowette.

Rebel got in close and began a furious attack. However, his suit was strong. Her hands were hurt by punching it, and extremely cold. When she winced from the hurt, she received a punch from Freeze, knocking her back as well.

"This guy is strong," Firebird said. She hit him with a telekinetic burst, knocking him into the ground.

Jolt let loose with an extreme burst of energy, shattering the ice that imprisoned her body. "H-h-holy-y-y cr-crap that's c-c-c-cold . . . "

"Press the attack, Jolt!" Firebird yelled. "Don't let him get up!"

"Too late," Freeze said. He cut loose with an ice blast at Firebird. She dodged the first few, but several more began to connect. Her wings began to get encased in ice. "What . . . he . . . my wings . . . they're . . . they're shattering! What's happening to me . . . ?"

As her wings shattered under the intense ice assault, Firebird fell from the sky and smashed into the hard ice ground.

Jolt leapt in for an attack, but met a punch in the face.

"This isn't going well," Arrowette said as she pulled another arrow.

"Maybe we're lacking in leadership," Spoiler said.

"Shut it," Arrowette continued. "Close your eyes . . . this is a flash arrow . . . it should blind him. Move in and hit him."

Before Spoiler could say a thing, Arrowette fired. The arrow exploded before him with a flash of light. The light also reflected off the icy surfaces all around, creating more light. Freeze yelled out, in either pain or surprise.

Spoiler got in another few hits before Freeze regained his composure and knocked her down. One shot from his ice gun, and Arrowette was trapped.

"I need Impulse . . . " Freeze said in the same tone. "Now . . . "

"That did not go well," said Superboy as he watched the news.

"No kidding," Nightwing frowned.

Kon-El and Chuck Barnes were two founding members of the team, along with Bart Allen, Impulse. The three of them had taken the most damage from their battle with the Marauders in the Morlock Tunnels. But they could see they were needed.

"Any idea who this guy is, Bart?" Chuck asked.

"Not a clue," Bart replied, a shake in his voice. He wasn't afraid or cold, but he couldn't help the shaking. Since an injury suffered during the battle, he couldn't stop from vibrating his molecules at an intense speed. He was intangible at all times, like a ghost.

"I shall go help," the Red Tornado said. He was the team's mentor, a robot capable of generating intense winds.

"Not alone," Chuck said.

"You are all still recovering," the Tornado continued. "You're in no shape to battle someone who just defeated five of your teammates."

"Four on one is still better than one on one, Reddy," Superboy said. "We can help just fine."

"Besides, Bart's gotta come," Chuck said. "He's our ace in the whole. He's who this Freeze guy is after . . . if we bring him with, maybe we can try to talk to the guy, reason with him . . . find out what he's doing."

"Worth a shot," Superboy shrugged.

"Up for it?" Chuck asked.

"You kidding?" Bart replied. "I've been itchin' to get outta this place for waaaaay too long . . . even if I am gonna keep vibrating . . . I'm almost getting used to it."

"Then come quickly," the Tornado said. "We can't leave them at his mercy for long."

Freeze still stood in the park. He had "tied" the girls up by encasing them in bands of ice. A few times the police tried to get near him. A few blasts from his ice gun easily drove them away.

"You called?" Impulse asked as he appeared on the scene. Nightwing, Superboy and the Tornado were hanging back, out of sight, monitoring the situation. Chuck was going to feed lines into Impulse's communicator ear piece, getting him to say the right things.

"You have taken far longer than I would expect of someone with your speed," he frowned.

"Do I know you?" Bart asked.

"Once," Freeze nodded. "I worked with your step-father, Barry. My name was Victor Freeze."

"Victor?" Bart exclaimed. "I remember you! What happened . . . ?"

"You did this to me . . . you . . . Barry . . . Wally," Freeze continued, a hint of anger growing in his voice. "I cannot live outside this containment suit . . . or I will die of burns. I live in an environment as near zero degrees as is possible in order to live."

"What did I have t'do with it?" Bart asked.

"Really, it was more Barry," he frowned. "Barry, who froze my wife . . . killing her. Barry, whose obsession with the 'Speed Force' gave you and Wally powers, while damning me to this. That's why I killed him."

"You . . . y-you were the one . . . who killed Barry?" Bart's eyes went wide.

"Yes," Victor replied. He fired his ice gun, knocking Impulse to the ground.

Bart was surprised that the ice connected to his intangible body and actually trapped him.

"I killed Barry," Victor continued, "as he had killed my wife. Wally defeated me . . . tried to put me in jail. But to balance the scales, I shall need you."

"Wally hurt you . . . so you're gonna hurt me?"

"Not exactly. I believe that, by studying your powers I can harness the speed force . . . discover a way to bring my wife back from the icey-death sleep she is in . . . even cure myself. Your life is a small price to pay to get back my beloved Nora . . . "

"You're messed up," Impulse said.

"No," he replied. He fired another shot at Bart, capturing his legs. Again, Bart was shocked that it stuck.

"That's it," Chuck said. "Reddy, remember what I said to you? A way of curing Impulse?"

"One of the Flash's villains," the Tornado nodded. "We have found one. But it seems to be risky."

"It's the only thing I can come up with," Chuck said. "Here's the plan. Tornado and I will engage--"

"Tornado and I'll engage him," Superboy said. "I can take a lot more damage than you, Boy Wonder."

Chuck was about to argue, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Fine . . . while you two do that, I'll free the girls. We can take this guy down . . . "

Superboy nodded. "Let's do it to it . . . "

"Yo, Popsicle!" Superboy called. "Leave 'im alone!"

Freeze barely looked up, and fired a few ice blasts at the two. They both dodged.

"That the best ya got?" Superboy asked as he flew in and smashed a fist into Freeze's chest. Freeze stumbled back a few feet. I felt that . . . my powers really are getting weaker. This isn't good . . . means I'll have to end this fight pretty soon . . . With a flick of the wrist, he activated his photonic 'S' Shield for added protection.

Reddy swooped in low, the intense winds keeping Freeze from being able to fire a decent shot. He, too, planted a blow against the villain, knocking him back more.

"My quarrel is not with you," Freeze said. "All I need is Impulse . . . "

"Well, that's too bad," Nightwing said.

Freeze turned around to the voice. If he was surprised, it didn't show. But Nightwing stood with the five other members of the team, now free.

"I think we're entitled to a little payback," Jolt said.

"No," Freeze replied simply. He fired his ice gun, quickly forming a make-shift igloo around himself and Impulse. "I have what I need." He fired more blast of ice at Bart, encasing his body with ice.

Suddenly, Bart vibrated out of the ice. As he got clear, he stopped vibrating. "Whoa . . . it worked! I'm solid again!"

Freeze re-aimed his ice gun, but before he could fire, Bart had ran at him. Turning them both intangible, they exited the igloo and made it back to the others. Bart had lifted him into the air, and proceeded to drop him hard.

"Take him!" Nightwing yelled.

The battle was not an easy one. Despite early blows against him, Mister Freeze more than held his own. His suit was heavily armored and left him well protected against most attacks.

"The direct approach isn't working against him," Nightwing said. "We need something different . . . "

"Any ideas?" Arrowette asked as she fired another arrow that had no effect on Freeze.

"One," he shrugged. "Young Justice, scatter and fall back!"

The team was surprised, but accustomed to following Chuck's orders. They did as he said.

"Stand ready," he continued, "but stop your attack. Freeze . . . this has no reason to continue."

Victor Freeze looked at the hero curiously.

"You're angry," he continued. "You're lashing out in pain. You want to bring your wife back somehow . . . anyhow. But it can't happen. I . . . I know what it's like to lose someone. Both of my parents were killed. I wanted nothing more than to hurt those responsible . . . I, too, even lashed out at those who didn't deserve it. And I so desperately wanted my parents to just . . . come back. But they couldn't. There was no way. They're dead. I figured I was alone.

"But I wasn't alone. I had friends . . . people to support me, to help me. You don't have to go on like this. There are people who can help you . . . help you get through the loss of your life . . . help you reverse whatever happened to yourself . . . lashing out and hurting people isn't the answer. It won't make you feel better."

"Feel?" Freeze asked. "I don't feel anything anymore . . . "

"For that, I am sorry," Chuck continued. "But don't fight us. Don't hurt people. Let us help you . . . together, we can make it better."

"Nice words . . . " Freeze said. "But that is all they are. Words. None of you can understand . . . and I have no desire to make you understand. There will come a day when I will have my revenge . . . where I will find Nora's cure . . . "

"It doesn't have to be that way," Chuck continued.

"You're wrong," Freeze said. "It does."

He fired his gun suddenly, but at the ground. It built up, and created a dome of ice around him, much like a snow globe. The icy ground beneath Freeze broke away, and the man went underground.

"Should we go after him?" Jolt asked.

"No," Nightwing shook his head. "We've got to hope that what I said will get to him. And besides that . . . I'm not sure we could take him."

"On the plus side . . . I'm cured!" Bart exclaimed.

"Good," Chuck nodded. "Now let's get out of here before the city asks us to help melt the ice or the press connects us to this in some bad way . . . we'll lick our wounds and come back for another day."