I take a deep breath, count to three, and hope that I've got everything I need. I realize at this point that the door appears to have been frozen from the outside as well. I look back to the mass of people that have huddled at the other side of the room. "Whose apartment is this?" I ask. One guy raises his hand. I get a good look so that it might help me remember later. "Remind me tomorrow that I owe you a door." Then I turn back around and kick the door open with all the force I can muster.

I storm out surrounded by great balls of fire, which is totally the awesomest thing I've ever done and I hope somebody is taping this with their cell phone so I can look like a real life action hero. That'd be good publicity to shut Richards up.

I melt the icy ground in front of me into slush so I can walk out and get a look at my adversary. She's staying still, being patient, just like I would do if our spots were switched. I step out in front of her, about fifteen or twenty paces away, the apartment to our left, with several flaming rings still surrounding me. I casually flick my wrist to send one fireball to my right and pray that she doesn't think anything of it.

"So here we are," she smiles. I can tell that if I wasn't surrounded by fire, I'd be feeling the air get colder again. "The Ice Queen, and some fire-breathing slut."

"It's almost like we were made for each other," I say...I guess looking like an action star is now making me talk like one. Only maybe my voice wavered, just a little.

Ice Queen, which I guess is her codename, is unfazed. "Nah, 'cause I can create ice, but you can't create fire without your little flamethrower, can you little girl?" She throws an icicle at me and it's reflex alone that saves me, as I throw a fireball in front so that it's just a stream of water that hits me in the chest, right over the heart.

She laughs, wickedly, like a witch from a children's story only convincing. She tosses a couple more shots in my direction, with similar results, but she's right: I'll run out of fireballs before she runs out of ice. I think I see an opening, where she suddenly stumbles and fires a couple wild shots nowhere near me(I hope nobody else is getting hit by those), but that window closes and when she finally stops, it's because I'm the one out of ammo. At this point she freezes both my legs to the ground and holy shit is that one of the worst things I've ever felt! I go numb from the knees down while the rest of my body starts shivering violently and involuntarily. I can't do a thing as she approaches, except start to slightly tip over backwards. Apparently she sees this 'cause then she freezes me around my neck, creating a sort of ice collar that she then grabs hold of to keep me upright. I'll admit it--this is kinda scary.

But for once, I've got an ace up my sleeve.

She looks down into my eyes, predator over her prey. Her breathing's quickened as she prepares for the kill. "So, girly, got any last words?" So fucking cliché. And so fucking perfect.

I can only talk in short bursts, but it's enough. "You need...to learn...to multitask...bitch." As I spit out this last word, Ice Queen gets knocked out cold(ooh, bad pun) from one punch by my partner. He's kinda scowling, but I can tell that was as satisfying for him as it was for me.

Will helps me break away the ice from around my neck and legs, as I steady my breathing a little. I'm feeling almost giddy. "Holy shit, Will," I say, starting to smile and barely suppressing a giggle. "We actually did it! And according to plan for once, with such a basic trick, 2-on-1 Diversionary Tactics 101!"

"I didn't plan to get frozen," he says. "But I did finally get to punch someone. So that was nice."

At this point, the crowd has regathered and become quite enthusiastic. I wave a little to them and their cheers get much louder. I can't help but smile. "How about that, Will? This ended up being a great welcoming party for us after all!"

Will's giving me a funny, almost pained look. "Um, Alfhild, I don't think that's why they're cheering," he says as he's wincing.

I follow his line of vision--to my chest. Apparently all that ice that I melted into water during the scuffle that landed on me made my T-shirt extremely wet, and it's clinging to me in a way that's accenting my, uh...femininity. I cross my arms over my chest, grit my teeth, but I feel my face start to turn flush anyways. Sure enough, the cheering starts to subside immediately.