text: The Fiery Phoenix was in chains tied to the walls of Frostbite’s icy prison. “You broke my heart and refused my proposal! I loved you! I was ready to spend my life with you, but you said no!” Frostbite said with an icy cold glare. “I wasn’t ready! Can you blame me? I was young and didn’t want to leave my family yet. I am sorry that I hurt you! I loved you as well!” The Fiery Phoenix said with passion. “Clearly you didn’t love me enough, but it really is too bad I don’t love you anymore!” Frostbite said as he aimed his hands at her to freeze her. 1 year earlier... Jake Jenkins and Ember Delaney sat on a picnic blanket watching the sunset. They had been dating for three years. “I love you Ember, and I wanted to ask you...” He got onto one knee, “Will you marry me?” He asked with a huge smile on his face. “Jake! I don’t know what to say!” Ember said excited but also nervous. “It’s easy, you just say yes,” he said now concerned. “I don’t think I am ready yet... I mean I am not even 19 yet,” Ember said since she was 18 years old. “I am 20, and I promise I will take care of you more than I take care of myself!” Jake said passionately. “Sorry Jake, not yet... I don’t want to rush. Next year I will be ready, but not yet” Ember replied feeling awkward. “It’s ok, I will wait for you... always,” Jake replied forcing a smile to hide the pain inside. “See you tomorrow, Jake,” Ember said smiling since she thought everything was ok. Jake left to go to his workplace. He worked at a lab that was working on ways to enhance humans. He helped invent a lot of the things there. There was one specific invention that had always held his attention, and it was the ice enhancer. It was designed to help humans have ice powers and to be stronger. So far, the tests on animal subjects had not been entirely successful; some had, but some had also gone terribly wrong. “Jake! Good to see my favorite inventor!” Jake’s boss Calvin said as he came over. “What do you want, Calvin?” Jake asked, since Calvin had never been one to give compliments. “I need a human subject to do the ice test,” Calvin said to him. “It is very inconsistent though! Half the subjects increased in power but others became overcome with rage!” Jake replied upset. “True, but you are such a good boy, I know it will work on you. Plus, that girl of yours is not interested in you so why not try it? You’ve got nothing to lose!” Calvin said. “That is not true! Ember loves me, she is just not ready yet, and I respect that,” Jake said defending her. “Not ready now means not ready ever... If she loved you, she would have said yes! You have nobody!” Calvin exclaimed. “You’re right...” Jake began dejected, “I will do it, I have nothing to lose,” he said boldly. “Perfect Jake! You will be the world’s first experimentally enhanced human!” Calvin said as he led Jake to the chair in the ice chamber. Jake sat in the chair as Calvin secured the strap tight around Jake’s arms and legs. “You have got this Jake! Tomorrow morning you’ll be a hero!” Calvin exclaimed excitedly. “I will be a hero! Then Ember will love me,” Jake thought to himself as he shut his eyes nervously. The chamber’s doors shut tight. Jake listened to the clinking noise of it locking as he awaited his fate. The room started to become super cold as the chamber began the freezing process. The straps on Jake’s arms and legs inserted a serum that was supposed to help him to be able to survive the cold and harness its’ abilities. “Ahhhh!” He shouted in pain as the serum was injected. Jake sat there shivering as he was completely encased in ice. The night passed and the morning came. Calvin came into the lab to check and see Jake’s progress. He pressed the button on the chamber and watched the doors unlock hearing the clinking noise. He saw Jake completely incased in ice and frozen. “Oh, my goodness!!! Jake!! Oh no!” Calvin exclaimed as he ran over to Jake and undid the straps. He took Jake off the chair and put him on a warm heated bed with extra blankets and a fireplace next to it. Jake’s hair had turned from Blond to a really white color, just like the snow. The ice had melted off him by now, and he lay there shivering. “D-d-did it w-w-work?” He stuttered through the shivers. “Only time will tell,” Calvin replied nervously. After time Jake finally felt fully warm as he sat by the fire drinking a cup of hot chocolate. “How are you feeling now?” Calvin asked. “A bit better, definitely warmer, just something doesn’t feel normal,” Jake replied as he looked at his hot chocolate cup which was now frozen solid. “You froze it! My invention is a success!! At last!!” Calvin exclaimed. “Wow! It worked! I have... powers!” Jake exclaimed excited as the fire went out. “We have to run some tests now!” Calvin said excited. “Not now... I feel tired... I am going to head home and rest,” Jake replied suddenly feeling sluggish. “Sure! Rest up, but be back tomorrow!” Calvin replied. Jake went home where he rested. As he slept, he got cold, and his chest began to pain and he woke up startled. He sat up holding his chest and decided to go for a drive. However, when he sat in the car his chest pained even more and he passed out. Ice crystals began to form in his hair as the ice spread to his heart. Ember had heard about what Jake had done, since Calvin had called her. She rushed over to his house and found him unconscious in his truck. She pried the door open and looked at him. She noticed the ice crystals in his hair, and the color blue took over his normal brown eyes. She shook him till he got up. “Ember?! What are you doing here?” Jake asked confused and angry. “Jake, I am here because I heard about your experiment. Are you ok?” Ember asked him. “You rejected me, so why do you care about me now!” He exclaimed his hair turning icier. “Of course I care about you! I love you!” Ember exclaimed. “No, you don’t! Now get out of here! I am done with you!” Jake exclaimed angrily as his face turned a much paler color. “Fine! I don’t want to see you either then!” Ember said as she stomped away. She went to visit her friend Avery who worked at a different lab, to ask her for advice. “Avery! Something is up with Jake and I don’t know what it is! Yesterday he proposed and today he dumped me! He-he was part of an experiment and doesn’t seem like his normal self at all,” She sobbed as she sat down on a lab chair. “It’s ok, everything will work out. That is odd though. I would like to see him so I can run some tests,” Avery said. “That would be- so,” Ember began as the lab exploded. Somebody’s experiment had gone wrong! Some of the beakers fell spilling their contents all over her. She lay there in shock under the rubble. When the police came and searched the place, they only found one person alive. Ember was believed to be the lone survivor. Nobody knew exactly how she had survived, but one thing was clear, she would never be the same again. The next time she looked in the mirror she would realize that her hair was now orange. Eleven months passed as Ember figured out, she had fire powers and learned how to use them. She became a Hero named the Fiery Phoenix. During that time Jake had become more and more icy hearted. He had learned to control his powers mostly, (Since they partially controlled him) and became a villain named Frostbite, although he preferred the term thief initially. The colder he got the worse he became. A winter had set in on the whole town in the middle of summer, things were crazy! “I have to find Jake before things get much colder here! Summer is not supposed to be cold!” Ember thought to herself as she shivered walking through the snow. She searched for him everywhere. She went towards the woods, and when she entered the woods, she hiked for a bit. She came upon a mansion made completely of ice. “Wow! Jake must have built this!” Ember said under her breath. Jake sat in his mansion and began to feel the heat entering. “Jake... are you here?” Ember asked as her voice echoed in the mansion. Jake began getting nearer to where Ember was, but stayed out of her sight. He built a cage out of ice around her using his powers, and chained her to it. “Jake what are you doing?” Ember asked. “Call me Frostbite, not Jake!” He shouted at her. “Fine Frostbite, you can call me the Fiery Phoenix then,” Ember said playfully. “It is not a joke!” He shouted at her. “Why am I in this prison?” She asked. CONTINUED: “You broke my heart and refused my proposal! I loved you! I was ready to spend my life with you, but you said no!” Frostbite said with an icy cold glare. “I wasn’t ready! Can you blame me? I was young and didn’t want to leave my family yet. I am sorry that I hurt you! I loved you as well!” The Fiery Phoenix said with passion. “Clearly you didn’t love me enough, but it really is too bad I don’t love you anymore!” Frostbite said as he aimed his hands at her to freeze her. “Wait!” She exclaimed. “For what?” He asked confused, part of him was softening due to the heat. Just then Ember used her fire powers to melt the chain and cage. “You don’t want to hurt me,” she said looking into his eyes confidently, standing in front of him. “Jake, I know some part of you is still good, and that is the part I am trying to reach right now,” Ember said. “You are wrong!” He said as he shot ice out of his hands at her. “FINE THEN I am leaving!” Ember exclaimed after she dodged it. From that moment on, whenever Frostbite tried to steal anything, the Fiery Phoenix was there to stop him. They had many battles and arguments after that, but everything changed when a new villain came to town. The villain’s name was the Night Prowler. She could take the hero’s powers with just a touch and mimic them. The Fiery Phoenix had already attempted to fight her several times, but the last time the Night Prowler had managed to grab a hold of her fire powers. Ember had realized that fire against fire would only cause more and more destruction, so the only way to defeat her would be with the help of a certain icy cold villain, the only question was how to get him to help. Ember began walking to Frostbite’s mansion as some thoughts and feelings nagged at her mind. “He probably won’t even help... He rejected me... I don’t want to see him... I miss the old him before he changed... before I changed... can fire and ice even work together in the first place?” She stopped at the icy doors of the mansion and stared, wondering if she should knock or leave. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. Right then a loud banging noise from inside interrupted her thoughts. She opened the door, peeking inside, and saw a broken chair that was made of ice. Frostbite was standing on the second floor with an icy rage in his eyes. “What’s going on?” Ember asked him. “Nothing that concerns you! I told you never to come back!” He shouted. Ember noticed that a ripped photo of her and Jake was lying on the floor there too. “You lied,” she began, “You told me you don’t care about me anymore!” “I don’t care about you anymore, that is why I ripped the photo,” He replied. “Then what happened to the chair?” She asked him. “I threw it,” He replied as if it was common sense. “Duh!! I know you threw it, but why?!” Ember asked. “Because I wanted to...” He replied not wanting to elaborate, “Why are you here?” He asked. “I need your help,” Ember said. “You need MY help,” he chuckled sarcastically, “and here I thought you said you would never come back here.” “I don’t want your help, but I need it,” she replied harshly. “Well, you aren’t going to get it,” he replied as he began to leave the room. Ember grabbed his wrist, “Please I need you Jake,” she said as she gazed in his eyes. As she did this, she saw the brown return into those icy blue eyes. Jake felt heat going through his body, and his heart softened towards her. “Fine, what do you need my help with?” He asked. She then explained the whole situation with Night Prowler. “Because you are ice and I am fire, if she imitates one of our powers the other can help stop her, she can only imitate one power at a time so we can defeat her; we just have to work together,” Ember said while realizing she was still holding his wrist. “Sounds like a plan, the old team is back together, huh...” He replied as he softened even more, losing the icy edge that changed him, as he held her hand in his. The two of them went together into the bustling town. Ember had realized that she was the reason he was softening, and made sure to stay close to him. The two of them had stopped holding hands at this point and were walking towards the place where Ember believed Night Prowler was at. “Ember, I owe you an apology, I hope you know that I really do love you and always will. Honestly, I was really hurt when you turned down my proposal. I should have just been understanding and given you the time you asked for, I hope we can get over our differences and work things out,” he said smiling at her. “I forgive you! I should apologize too, when I realized you weren’t yourself, I should have tried to help you,” Ember replied. Jake stepped towards Ember and the two of them kissed. Jake’s hair lost all the ice in it, but stayed white, and the normal tan color returned to his skin. The two of them walked to the eerie building where the Night Prowler lived. When they entered the dark building they heard shuffling noises, and the creaking of the wooden boards. They split up to cover more ground. Ember heard something behind her and turned around, but as she did this Night Crawler knocked her on the head with a baseball bat! Jake heard a noise, and realized that Ember’s footsteps had stopped. He heard shuffling noises approaching, and realized that he was becoming cold again. His skin returned to pale, and the ice was in his hair. His eyes remained brown, but he knew he was in trouble without having Ember around. Night Prowler jumped out and kept using the fire to try to stop Jake, little did she know that her flames were the reason that he was still good. Night Prowler managed to touch Jake; this was not good... Ember regained consciousness in a little jail cell, and realized that that meant that Jake was alone and possibly turning bad. She pulled a hairpin out of her hair and used it to pick the lock. She ran out of the cell and found Jake lying on the floor, completely frozen. She knew that this was not good and she had to help him. Night Prowler had gone to check on the prison, so Ember had enough time to partially melt the ice, but not enough to turn Jake good. “Frostbite, I know we are not on the best of terms, but we have to work together to defeat Night Prowler!” Fiery Phoenix (Ember) said. “Your enemy’s enemy is your friend, right? This once we can work together, but never again!” Frostbite replied. The two of them worked together to fight Night Prowler exchanging ice and heat blows at her. At the end they managed to freeze her mask, forcing her to take it off, and it was Avery! “Avery?! I thought you died!” Fiery Phoenix exclaimed. “Yes Ember, it is me, I did not die clearly. When the lab exploded, I got powers too. I realized that since equipment was expensive and I got these powers I could get everything I need by mimicking hero’s powers to steal them,” Avery replied. “Stealing isn’t right Avery, please stop this,” Ember replied. “Never!” Avery exclaimed. Frostbite blowed at her which turned her into ice. “What did you do?!” Ember exclaimed. “She is our enemy, and totally deserved that,” Frostbite replied. “Can you fix her?” Ember asked. “Sure, but that defeats the point,” Frostbite replied. Just then Ember stepped forward and kissed Frostbite which turned him back warm and into regular Jake. Once they got Avery in a prison cell Jake turned her back to normal. Jake and Ember ended up getting back together and eventually got married, and fought crime together. So, to answer Ember’s question from the beginning, can fire and ice work together; definitely!