The Adventures of Ice Woman

Part 3 - Time to fulfill promises.

The press were quite confused the following day. A single statement had been released from the council, that the Pound Dogs Act was to be axed. There had been no explanation although the idea had been a popular one. Only a handful of people found pleasure in this news when it featured on the morning news programs. Elisabetta was one of them.

A large bouquet of daisies were left on Thomas St. Jones's writing desk as a thank you gift and peace offering from Ice Woman, on her way to school that day.

As she was turning out of the road she'd detoured into, Zev walked by. She stopped abruptly, hiding her mask (as always) into her towering hair and slipping on her school shoes. She hid there for a few minutes till Zev was out of view, then continued on her way to school.

When she arrived there, as per custom, Bradley joined her to beg her to "grab a coffee" with him, which she politely declined, and all the girls sat in their tight groups, uninvitingly watching her pass, causing Elisabetta to retreat into the library. There she occupied the reading room and immersed herself in a book. It had been true what she'd told Zev, that she was coveted by many boys, although she had been exaggerating slightly to tease him. Unfortunately, this was also the main cause for her lack of popularity amongst the girls, none of whom even attempted to befriend her. They constantly made fun of her, humiliating her in public. Thankfully, her self esteem was strong enough to withstand these attacks and turn them back on her tormentors.

As Elisabetta sat reading, she noticed a shadow creep across her page, and a figure blocking the light. She looked up.

The room in which our hero was sitting was a rather small and empty room. All four walls were almost completely covered in books, with a tiny door squashed in one corner. No one ever went into this room except to quickly choose a book and leave, and that itself was rare. This was one of the main reasons Elisabetta particularly liked this part of her school.

Today, however, she was regretting her choice.

"Eliza-beth?" a man in a clichéd black suit and sunglasses asked her.

"It is Elisabetta, thank you very much, and who exactly is asking?" she shot back, looking him over with with distaste. She was always infuriated by those who confused her name with Elizabeth.

"The government, Elisabetta. Seems you've been up to some mischief. Threatening politicians into changing laws? You should have stuck to playing with Barbies, little girl."

Elisabetta went into Ice Woman mode. She reached into her hair, and in a millisecond, she had donned her mask and was barefoot. In a few moments, she had the government representative face-down on the floor, in child's pose, his arms pinned to his sides, with her sitting on him.

"Hmm, maybe I'm a bit rough for Barbies?" she said in mock thoughtfulness. Her navy blue school skirt was tickling the man's face as Ice Woman leaned forward putting her mouth close to his right ear.

"Now I'm going to give you to the count of three to - " she began, hissing quietly when she heard the soft padding of shoes upon carpet coming closer to the room.

" - get out. Now. And tell your boss that if anyone else comes after me, I will not spare them. Here's a souvenir." She grabbed one of his hands and crushed it as she got off his back. The man staggered to his feet as the door to the reading room opened.

"Why are there - " but Zev never got to finish his question.

Ice Woman's eyes widened in surprise. The suited man took this opportunity to deal her a blow from the back, knocking out her breath, and pulled off her mask, letting it scratch her face in the process.

"My 'boss' don't like it when the job isn't done, Eliza," he spat in her face. Zev was frozen in the doorway, confused by what he was witnessing. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny crossbow. It shot a special dart at Zev that made him unconscious as soon as it pierced his skin.

Ice Woman's squeal of indignation was muffled by the man's hand. He was carrying her from behind with one arm wrapped around her waist so she was almost doubled. She bit into his hand (this was the same one she'd injured) causing him to yelp in pain and release her. She ran to the door, grabbing Zev as she escaped, but no -

Two men from either side of her caught her arms and dragged her back into the reading room. The original suited man stabbed her jugular with one of his special darts and she blacked out.