Re: Cold As Ice

[DC-Lover]

Mary walked into work, drinking the coffee she had bought on her way into the building, she wondered why the hell she was still working here? She walked past the security guard who was snacking on doughnuts and reading a sleazy magazine. Sighing in a disappointed manner she got into the elevator and pressed the fifth floor button. She hated the music on the elevator, it was always something cheery and upbeat, as a result she always felt like breaking the speakers. She remembered there was an incident once where someone had killed themselves at work, the next day while everyone was grieving they played some of the happiest music Mary had ever heard. Granted it wasn’t the companies or elevators fault, it was just one of those small things in life that annoyed people. It was normal. Mary was not normal though. She was a lesbian working as a relationship writer for a magazine called Flamingo. She wasn’t allowed to reveal she was gay to her co-workers as their bigot boss would find some reason to fire her. She was greeted by the usual bunch, Pam from accounting with another story about her damn cat, Stan with another embarrassing attempt at asking her out and her assistant Chloe. William was one of the few men that she enjoyed the company of, not because she liked him or anything but because he and she had tons in common. William was in fact the only one at the office beside Chloe that she could tolerate; he was kind and funny and didn’t talk down to her because of her position. Her job was to respond to letters addressed to her other alter ego “Mrs. Hawkins”, an old fashioned but wise woman. She would have to write in a tone that sounded like an old woman who was knowledgeable of current relationships and how to fix problems. So not only was she not allowed to express her sexuality she had to write solutions to idiotic problems, while sounding like an old woman. She couldn’t complain though, at least she had a job. She sat at her desk and began reading some of the letters and thinking about last night. Between responding to letters as Mrs. Hawkins and fighting crime as Ice, there was hardly ever any time for her to be Mary. There were other heroes in the city, two others to be precise, she had only met one and heard of the other. She read a letter from some girl named Sandy from Spiral city, she was thinking that her boyfriend was involved in some sort of gang or worse and what should she do? What Mary wanted to say was:
“Kick his ass to the curb and don’t look back if he’s in a gang, in fact go ahead and call the cops. If he’s not stop being paranoid.”
She had to; of course write something a little nicer and comforting.
An hour of reading letters complaining about subjects that varied from cheating lovers, to sex tips, to erectile dysfunction cures had Marys patience and sanity on thin ice. She stepped out of her office for a drink of water or something stronger. As she walked across the office William came up to her. Crossing her arms she smiled as William stopped. He pointed his finger to the window and shouted.
“THE RAVEN!!”
Mary turned around and saw him flying there. The Raven was one of the other heroes in the city. A Real Nerd too. He was inspired by both a murder and the poem by Poe. He trained in combat and made some toys to fight crime with. His tech was quite ingenuous actually. His wings were connected to a device that was connected to his spine allowing him to control them through mental thought. He also had an anti-gravity device attached to them to enable flight. His weapon of choice were his hands which he wore talon looking cloves, maybe to intimidate maybe cuz he thinks it matches his outfit, Mary didn’t know. What really got on Marys nerves was whenever he caught a criminal he would say ‘Never More’, she thought that was just stupid. All her irritation towards him aside he was a good hero and saves lots of people. But why come here? Looking at the office he flew away.
When she got home, she sat down with a glass of wine and looked at her choices for the night. She had laid out her costume and the chemicals to change her hair, and on the other side her morphine and vodka. Was she going to patrol the streets or relax for the night? She took out a syringe and filled it with morphine, the thick liquid pushing up from the needle and filling the syringe. She did this so she could relax from the world and forget all her responsibilities to this city or its people. The pinch of the needle stung but the drug began to take effect and her body felt limp. The last thing she saw was the morphing having just enough for a second douse for when she woke up.
It was dark when some irritating noise from the window woke her up. She staggered to her feet and tried to get a hold of her surroundings. Outside the window the super bird was floating in the air, The Raven had come to visit her. She quickly hid the chemicals and suit while in the darkness. Walking over to the window she let him in.
“What do you want?” Mary said hoping her voice wouldn’t give her away if he didn’t know who she was already.
“You are Mary Crane Correct? You work for Flamingo Magazine?” He said landing on her carpet.
“Yes I am and you’re the Magpie right?” Mary said looking at the Raven
“I am the Raven and you know it Ms. Crane. Very lavish apartment for someone who works at a magazine, mind telling me how you afford it? Now I need you to come with me.” The Raven said.
“Have I done something wrong?” Mary asked looking at the winged idiot.
“I am not at liberty to say Ms Crane but if you come with me I am sure the law will handle it and give you a fair trial.” The Raven said.
“I’d prefer we do this the hard way” Mary said as she got into a dizzy fighting stance.
The Raven stepped over to her and she threw a punch. She missed and fell over. She couldn’t lose, but it was hard to collect herself in this situation. Picking her up, the Raven punched her in the face and she landed on the sofa.
“I don’t like hitting women, but this can end if you just come quietly.” He said walking over to her.
She saw the needle with the remaining morphing in it and quickly stuck it in his leg. The morphine staggered him but he resisted enough to kick her across the room. He staggered around trying to get a hold of himself.
“It s hard to concentrate yourself isn’t it?” Mary said as she smashed a jug over his head and knocked him out.
“I’m never able to relax in this Damn city, can I!!?” Mary said as she opened up the chemicals case and grabbed the dyeing chemicals and her costume.
Looking at herself in the mirror she put on her mask and took off her clothes so she could get into her costume. She watched in the mirror and Mary Crane turned into Ice. Still under the effects of the drugs she sat down and waited for Crow boy to wake up. She started thinking of an alibi for where Mary Crane is and what had happened? She then thought of all the things that made her who she was. She was born to a drug addict mother and a farther that was close to death. Being orphaned was hard enough for her, but the Nun’s were worse than any of the bullies she would experience in later life. They didn’t like that she was an atheist and when she started showing interest in women instead of men that was when they really made her pay. She went to college and studied journalism as well as gymnastics on the side, but during her degree she became addicted to certain narcotics. She was out one night a few years ago and was offered some kind of experimental treatment with a new narcotic. Being adventurous and needing money she decided she would take it. She took several needles and survived without any visible consequences, but a few months later when she got a job at a newspaper she began feeling strange. She then moved to this city a year ago as her body got colder to touch and she got more nervous about what was happening to her. She discovered she had the power to freeze things and control her body temperature. She then decided it was time to be a protector and not someone who was found dead with cold hands. She saw him move and it was show time.
“The hell are you doing Birdie?” Ice said as she stared at the Raven
“What happened? Where’s Ms. Crane? Ice, where is she?!How did you find me? ” The Raven said as he looked around.
“A big black bird isn’t hard to find, let alone follow, especially when he breaks into someone who I have shown interest in.” Ice said as he stood up.
“Why have you shown interest in her? Are you involved in the murder Last night too?” The Raven said in suspicion
“Murder? What murder she wasn’t here last night?” Ice said curious about what the hell he was talking about.
“Mary Crane apparently murdered someone last night. The cops couldn’t interrogate her because she was at work but I know it was her.Now where is she?” The Raven said.
“I sent her to my secret lair where she can be safe from morons like you.” Ice said as she got more curious.
“So where did you hear about this?” She said as she helped Bird boy up.