The truck entered a small suburban area and pulled into the lot of a warehouse. Icy Falcon swung around several times, making notes of entrances and probably escape routes. Once he was satisfied, he dove straight for the garage area.

The minions in the area had but a moment to swing his way before icy spikes shattered on their skulls. They fell to the ground, though their armor kept them alive. A quick blast of snowy wind covered them, encasing them in ice before they could rise.

Icy Falcon strode into the still open garage door, freezing the wheels and engines of every vehicle he could find. He then turned to the door leading into the compound.

The outside of the building hardly warranted attention. The same bricks, wood, and metal most buildings in the area were constructed from. A rough and dirty exterior, graffiti on some of the walls. Dust coated the walls and the roof, the windows were fogged and dirty. The metal parts had started to grow red, what paint there was was cracked and peeling.

The inside could not be more different.

Spotless, sterile white tile floors. Bright, fluorescent lights. Pure white walls. More like the inside of a hospital than a warehouse.

Icy Falcon frowned and narrowed his eyes.

This was it.

At first he crept along the walls, freezing over any camera he saw and listening for the thud of boots.

But the facility was quiet and empty.

His eyes narrowed further and he started to run.

No alarms. No guards. No patrols. No defenses. That meant one of two things.

One, these were rank amateurs who had no idea what they were doing.

Or two, they already knew he was here and were halfway out the door if not gone already.

Faster and faster he moved until he was full on sprinting. He came to a large double door. Sparing but a moment to catch his breath, he pushed the doors open.

He found himself in a large, dark room. There were large vats, some empty, others filled with a bright green liquid. There were tables where he could make out the form of faintly shimmering Adranis bulbs, surrounded by machinery, tools, and scientific instruments he could not identify in the dark. In the corner were barrels of toxic waste.

And then he was blinded by light.

As he shielded his face he heard the voice of an old man. He looked around the room as the glare began to fade. There, up on an elevated platform and surrounded by recording equipment, was an old man in a lab coat. He was bald, his skull covered in some sort of scarring, and he was facing one of the cameras, speaking into it. He glanced behind at Icy Falcon, and then turned around with a big grin on his face.

“Icy Falcon! Welcome, welcome! I am humbled that one such as you would visit my humble abode! Come, come, take a look at the work of Professor Mutant!”

Icy Falcon gripped his fists.

“Your work ends today.”

“Science, Mr. Falcon, science never sleeps! Never dies! I am in the midst of the greatest breakthrough of our generation!”

Icy Falcon narrowed his eyes.

“And what is that?”

“I’m glad you asked! While that charlatan Schieffer plays around with a campfire, I have unlocked the fundamental truth of humanity! No longer shall we be at the whims of fate and evolution, no longer a random cosmic fluke in an uncaring universe! For I have mastered evolution itself! No longer chaotic and random, but beautiful and with purpose! Behold!”

Professor Mutant pressed a button on a remote. One of the vats ahead of Icy Falcon began to drain its liquid, revealing the form inside.

A hulking beast of a man, standing twice as tall as the Falcon. Rippling and bulging muscle with hands larger than his head. A coat of brown fur covering head to toe, revealing only his face and hands.

“So you’re the one responsible for the super drug after all.”

“Drug is such a paltry term for my work, Mr. Falcon! This is no mere narcotic, nothing more than a fleeting moment of juvenile pleasure. This, this is the cure! The solution! An end to weakness, to sickness, to the death of humanity at the hands of uncaring gods and an indifferent universe!”

He pressed another button. The vat began to hum and vibrate.

“I must thank you, Mr. Falcon, for volunteering today. Live combat tests with native supers are a major gap in my data.”

The man in the vat opened his eyes.

He snarled.

He let out a mighty roar, and then smashed straight through the glass.

Icy Falcon simply raised his hand and the beast was obscured in a mighty, cone-shaped blast of snowy wind.

“Testing finished.”

Icy Falcon took a step forward.

And then a furry fist slammed into his face.

Icy Falcon bounced once on the ground before grabbing the ground with one hand, a gust of wind slowing his speed. The beast was pounding towards him, winding up another punch. Icy Falcon quickly leapt to the side, the man’s fist crashing into an empty vat instead.

Professor Mutant chuckled.

“I think you’ll find my Feverish Nephilim to be quite the hurdle, Mr. Falcon. After all, he was specifically developed with you in mind! While I have no personal quarrel with you, in fact I find such emotional vendettas quite the inefficient allocation of effort, it was somewhat refreshing to have a specific goal in mind. I must admit, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you clash!”

Icy Falcon lifted his cape as he leapt to the side, shooting a barrage of ice spikes. But as the spikes approached Feverish Nephilim, the air around him shimmered. The spikes began to melt mid-flight, with barely a needle landing on target.

“Impressive, is it not? His sweat glands have been replaced with specialized vent glands that can heat his surroundings to quite the temperature. Combined with his dense fur and naturally armored skin, and I think you’ll find even your ice cannot leave a scratch on him, Mr. Falcon!”

“We’ll see about that.”

Icy Falcon drew his arms up and then dropped to the ground, slamming his hands on the floor in front of him. A thin layer of ice shot from his hands along the floor, forming a line along the floor between Icy Falcon and Feverish Nephilim. And when the ice reached within a few feet of the man..

CRACK!

With a loud crackle a glacier exploded into being, encasing Feverish Nephilim in several feet of ice all around. The man stood still, face locked into a vicious snarl. Icy Falcon let out a breath that condensed midair.

Crack.

A small crack formed on the edge of the glacier.

Crack crack.

Another one.

Crack crack crack!

The cracks joined together and spidered across the icy structure.

CRACK!

With a mighty crack and a thunderous roar Feverish Nephilim broke free from the glacier, leaping forward. The ground rumbled as he landed down, dropping his shoulders and breathing heavily. But never once taking his eyes off the Icy Falcon.

Icy Falcon grimaced and flapped his cape, launching into the air. He banked hard and swung towards Professor Mutant.

Feverish Nephilim took a deep breath and let out a roar towards Icy Falcon. The air shimmered along the path of the shout. When the shimmering met Icy Falcon he tumbled to the side and dropped from the air.

“Hehehe, you didn’t think I wouldn’t account for your mobility, would you Mr. Falcon? It is quite literally in your name after all.”

Icy Falcon winced as he slammed into the ground. He barely had time to roll out of the way as two fists slammed upon his landing position. He stumbled to his feet, leaning back as the fist swung by his face, fur brushing the tip of his nose. He leapt back, flapping his cape for a gust of wind, and then rolling along the ground when the shimmering air disrupted him once again. He stood up just in time to see a shoulder, tucked in and charging straight towards him. He barely leapt to the side as Feverish Nephilim slammed into a pillar of metal pipes, the metal bending and snapping with a crunch.

Professor Mutant’s tapped upon his tablet as he watched the battle unfold. Icy Falcon dove this way and that, time and time avoiding being flattened against a wall or pillar by the skin of his teeth. Icy Falcon launched a large spike, Feverish Nephilim grabbed it out of the air. Icy Falcon sent out a gust of cold air, Feverish Nephilim’s fur parted it like a rock in the waves. Icy Falcon froze the ground, Feverish Nephilim’s wide and rough feet gripped on it as easily as pavement.

Nothing Icy Falcon did had any effect.

And he was growing slower.

Professor Mutant’s face broke into a wide grin.

Constanza was lying in her bed, face buried into her pillow. Quiet sobs could be heard coming from the room.

She had only returned from the hospital a few hours ago. The doctors had praised her quick thinking, but there was more to it. No one had expected the wound to heal that quickly, not even her. She could still feel the cloud of cold hanging around the wound, her insides tickling as the cold donated its energy to her cells.

Physically she was fine.

Physically that is.

Beyond that she didn’t know what to think. She barely could think. A fog hung over her mind as a knot constricted her chest. Every thought, every memory, and the dam burst forth and filled her eyes with water.

Why?

Just, why?

She had just wanted to help. To do her part. She dreamed of standing beside her hero. Of helping him save Mexico. To make a difference. To change things.

And things had changed.

But not like she had ever imagined.

And it was all her fault.

If she had been more careful…

If she had paid more attention…

If she hadn’t gone…

If she had just listened…

She felt her stomach churn as she remembered the sights. The smells. She still couldn’t look at the color red.

And then she heard a knock on the door.

She ignored it. Her parents would get it.

The knock continued.

Right, her parents were out right now. But it didn’t matter. Whoever it was would go away once they realized her parents weren’t home. And if it were for her, well, anyone she wanted to see knew better than to come here now.

The knock continued.

She clenched her teeth and furrowed her brow. She screamed into the pillow.

But she stood up.

She slowly walked to the door. She let out a sigh and opened it up.

There was no one there.

She looked around. No one in the area. She felt a scream building in her chest.

And then she looked down.

A plain white envelope.

To Constanza

She picked it up. She gulped. Just, what?

She opened it up.

A letter and nothing else. A single line and an address.

Her heart dropped to her stomach, and began to pound in her chest.

Your friend is in danger

Just who? How did they? Why would they?

She blinked, her mind went blank.

Just, what did this mean? Who could’ve done this?

But…

She felt it. In the pit of her stomach, in the back of her mind.

It was true.

Her legs leapt into motion the moment that thought passed her mind. She barely remembered to grab her mask and a wad of cash before she flew out the door, screaming at the first taxi she saw.

She had to get there.

Nothing else mattered.

She couldn’t lose anything else tonight.