Sharon sprinted after Snow Queen, the sound of their feet echoing off the tightly-packed buildings. While Snow Queen was fast, it was clear she was reaching the limits of her endurance.

“Shoot this!” Shouted the Snow Queen as she pointed to a door. One of the robots raised its arm and shot the door’s lock off. Snow Queen then yanked the door open and ran inside of the old warehouse. “Guard me!” She added as she turned back to look at the robots.

All but one of the robots started to turn. However, before they could fully rotate they started to explode, massive holes appearing in their torsos.

“What?!” Screamed Snow Queen as she started to sprint towards the stairs.

Mesmera screamed as the explosion knocked her backward. She covered her face in an attempt to protect her eyes from the bright light that filled the street. When she uncovered her face, she saw that Alicia was in front of her.

“Won’t get used to that,” groaned Alicia as she hopped off the Sky Skimmer.

“Nice move!” Grinned Sharon.

“Won’t be nice when I throw up,” replied Alicia. “Let’s go get her.”

“Right,” nodded Sharon as she ran towards the warehouse door. “She only has one of the robots left.”

“Awesome! Where does she keep getting these things?” Groaned Alicia as she walked behind her mother.

“Has them stashed around the city. Likely as backups.” Replied Sharon as she stepped into the building. “Or at least I presume so, I doubt she could rebuild this quickly.”

“You think I can’t?” Screamed Snow Queen as she leaned over a second-floor balcony. “I can do anything I want! I am winter! I am the cold on your skin! The cold freeze of reality itself!”

“Drama queen more like,” quipped Alicia. “But you’re about to reach your third act! Prepare for your curtain call!”

Suddenly a shot rang out as a bullet zipped past Alicia and dug into the floor. Concrete dust flew up into the air as Alicia turned to see where the bullet had come from. As she did this the last of the humanoid robots stepped out from the shadows.

“Another of you?” Chuckled Alicia. “Bring it!”

Suddenly the sound of rotors filled the air. “Air support!” Shouted Sharon as she grabbed Alicia’s shoulder and dragged her behind some old crates.

A massive part of the ceiling collapsed as a group of drones descended into the warehouse. There were at least fifty of them and they were coming down faster than any of the previous drones.

As they continued to fall, it became obvious that these drones were crashing, not dropping. The sight of a silver foot made the reason obvious as Kitty crashed down on top of the drones.

As she made contact with the floor, Kitty did a little twirl and smiled. “Missed me?” She giggled. “I’ve had my eye on you!” She added as the large robot tried to fire at her.

However, before the bullet could hit her, Kitty vanished and appeared on the other side of the room. “Too slow!” She giggled.

Snow Queen stood with wide eyes, mindlessly hammering the button on her belt. After a few seconds, she half-heartedly fired a ball of ice towards Kitty before running up the stairs that led to the roof.

“She’s getting away!” Shouted Alicia.

“No way she is getting off the roof,” replied Sharon. “Too far to jump unless you’re a bio.”

“Then let’s finish this bot and get to her!” Shouted Alicia as she dashed around the edge of the room, hoping to attack the robot from the side.

Kitty continued to flit around the room, easily dodging the robot’s bullets. Its quick movements made it clear that this robot was slightly more advanced than the others.

As Kitty dodged another bullet, Alicia prepared to strike. However, before she could, a cough echoed through the warehouse. Alicia quickly turned to see who was coughing, presuming that the Snow Queen had somehow flanked them.

Alicia spotted a woman stood at the door of the warehouse. She was clad in a tight business suit and was being followed by a similarly dressed girl who was holding a clipboard.

“Interesting.” Smiled the woman. “A different form. But I would know that energy anywhere.”

The robot slowly turned and aimed at the woman. But she didn’t seem phased. “Abigail,” said the woman as she snapped her fingers and held out her hand.

“Yes Ma’am,” nodded Abigail as she put the clipboard down and jumped into the air. As she jumped, Abigail’s body seemed to twist and morph, almost like she was made out of clay.

“What?” Blinked Alicia as she watched in shock.

Within seconds, Abigail had turned into a large silver revolver that flew forward and landed in the woman’s hand. The woman then aimed the revolver at the robot.

“The Divex union sends its regards. Please, relay them to your masters.” She said firmly as the barrel of the gun started to glow. It was almost like it was sucking all of the light from the room.

Suddenly, the gun fired a red beam that made the whole warehouse shake. The robot’s chest exploded as the beam ripped it open. The heat from the beam was unbearable, Alicia thought she was going to burst into flames just from being near it.

After a few seconds, the beam vanished, revealing that the robot had been reduced to dust. The woman looked at the robot and sighed. “No strands. Not our target.” She said firmly as the gun leaped out of her hand and quickly returned to its human form.

“I’m sorry Miss Vix,” replied Abigail as she picked up her clipboard.

“It’s fine,” sighed the woman as she started to walk to the back of the warehouse.

“Wait!” Shouted Alicia. However, the pair didn’t acknowledge her. They quickly walked out of a back door that Alicia had somehow missed when looking around the warehouse.

“Let’s go!” Shouted Sharon as she waved at Alicia.

“But,” mumbled Alicia.

“We’ll work it out later!” Shouted Sharon. “If they’re not shooting at us or trying to blow someone up they’re not a priority!”

Alicia shrugged and followed her Mom. While she was utterly confused by those two women she realized that her Mom was right. They were not the biggest issue at that moment in time.

Alicia and Sharon ran up the stairs towards the roof. However, as they walked out, a ball of ice narrowly missed them.

“Stand back!” Screamed Snow Queen.

“Nowhere to run!” Shouted Sharon. “Come on. Let’s not make this messy.”

“I will make you cold!” Laughed the Snow Queen as she fired another ball of ice towards the girls.

Sharon and Alicia rolled out of the way of the ball as they glared at the Snow Queen. “You’re out of robots,” replied Sharon firmly. “It is over!”

“They were not even yours!” Echoed Mara’s voice as she walked out onto the roof. “You were given them by someone!”

“How,” blinked Snow Queen as she backed up towards the edge of the roof.

“I recognize her tech. What did she tell you? Did she tell you that she liked you? That she was your friend?”

“She saw promise in me! Saw I had been wronged.” Screamed Snow Queen.

“She is a liar!” Replied Ulla.

“She only looks out for herself,” nodded Hitomi as she and Ulla followed Mara out onto the roof. “She saw you as a tool. Nothing more.”

“How dare you!” Shouted the Snow Queen. “How dare you!”

“You’re outnumbered, outgunned.” Nodded Ulla.

“I have some left!” Screamed Snow Queen. “Suffer for your arrogance! Suffer for doubting me!” She screamed as she yanked a control box out of her suit and pushed the button.

“It is useless,” replied Mara. “I had a look at some of your robots. I’ve blocked your transmitter.”

“You couldn’t! It’s impossible!” shouted the Snow Queen, obviously growing increasingly desperate.

“She can levitate with magnets,” said Mara as she pointed to the still-hovering Ulla. “She can hypnotize people with a glance,” she continued as she pointed to Sharon. “She can teleport,” she added as she pointed towards Kitty. “And Syner-Bee can do that and more.”

The Snow Queen glared, obviously not understanding what Mara was trying to say. After a few seconds of silence, Mara let out a sigh and shrugged.

“My point is. If they can do that, I can block the signal of your remote control toys. Their voice controls are stolen from home assistants. They’re trivial to block!”

“My technology is infinite!” Shouted Snow Queen.

“No, you hastily glued things to Momo’s faulty tech until it worked!” Shouted Mara. However, the Snow Queen didn’t listen. She charged her gauntlet and fired a shot towards the girls.

“I can do this!” Continued the Snow Queen. “I still have something left! My arctic blast!” She continued as she ripped a box off of her suit. “Remote detonator!” She cackled as she threw the box off of the roof. “Let’s see just how wide your signal scrambler is!”

“That’s it,” shouted Alicia. “Ulla, Emergency, Kitty, deal with that! This lady is mine!”

“Right!” Shouted the girls in unison. Ulla wrapped her arms around Mara carried her down to the street level before all three set about finding the detonator.

Alicia clenched her fists and ran towards the Snow Queen, dodging the blasts of ice the woman fired towards her. When she got close, Alicia dived forward and grabbed the woman by the waist, effortlessly throwing her away from the edge of the building.

The Snow Queen rolled along the roof of the warehouse, narrowly missing the hole Kitty made. Once she came to a stop, she started to laugh uncontrollably. “You fell for it!” She shouted as she slammed her gauntlet into the roof.

A cracking noise echoed around the area as the roof started to freeze. As the metal dropped in temperature it warped and bent, knocking Alicia and Sharon to the ground.

Drones started to fill the sky as Alicia looked around in panic. The Snow Queen pushed herself up off the ground and smiled. “I’ve had my factories working constantly! You might block my detonator, but once you’re gone nothing can stand in my way!” She screamed.

The drones descended from the sky and started to strafe the street with balls of ice. Alicia slipped and slid, trying to dodge the ice. However,after a few seconds of dodging, one of the ice balls hit her in the back, sending her face-first into the metal.

She could only watch as an ice ball hit her mother in the chest. The impact sent Sharon flying.It knocked her down the stairs and back into the warehouse. Alicia tried to get up and help, but before she could another ice ball hit her in the back.

The force of the impact caused Alicia to slide towards the edge of the roof. As she felt her legs slip off the roof her body instinctively grabbed onto the edge.

Alicia looked down and saw Ulla and Hitomi swatting away hundreds of drones while Mara fiddled with the box, obviously trying to turn it off. While the robots were weak, the numbers advantage was starting to get the better of Ulla and Hitomi.

Snow Queen’s gauntlet started to glow as she cackled. “You’re doomed! You will be the first to fall to my eternal winter. Then people will take me seriously!” She said as she started to walk towards the downed Mesmera. “And you will all be frozen monuments to your failures.”

Alicia’s muscles started to burn as she continued to cling on. She was losing hope and her vision was starting to blur. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get out of this situation.

Suddenly, Ulla stopped what she was doing. She looked around before nodding and pushing Hitomi away. She quickly opened and closed her system as her suit started to glow.

“Maglev finish!” She bellowed before jumping into the air. As she rose into the air, she flipped, her feet letting off a series of blue waves as they aligned with the swarm of robots. All of the drones started to shake and shudder as they got dragged towards Ulla’s boots.

“Magnets!” Shouted Mara as Ulla continued to rise into the air, forcing the robots to form a big ball around her feet. As this happened, Alicia heard a strange noise.

It sounded like something burning. However, it seemed to be getting closer. At first, Alicia panicked, presuming it was another set of drones. However, when she looked up at the night sky she saw Kitty flying towards the robots, her feet burning due to her velocity.

Seconds before impact, Kitty split into eight copies of herself, all of which drove their burning foot into the ball of drones. Ulla and Kitty started to move towards each other, crushing the robots as they did.

As their feet met, the drones exploded violently. The light from explosions illuminated the street as if it was day. Kitty and Ulla looped around in the air, twirling and twisting until they landed on the floor.

“No! You’ll all pay for this!” Screamed the Snow Queen. She let out a growl and started to move towards Mesmera.

The sight of Ulla and Kitty flying through the air filled Alicia’s heart with renewed hope. She was going to do this, even if it was the last thing she did.

She let out a grunt as she started to pull herself back onto the roof. Her muscles were burning with pain, but the fires of her rage were stronger. She dragged her body up onto the icy roof and glared at the Snow Queen.

“Bee! Catch!” Shouted Mara. She motioned to Kitty who pulled a small wrapped Christmas present from thin air. Mara grabbed the box and threw it up onto the roof. The box hit the icy floor and rolled a little bit as Alicia looked down with confusion.

“What?” She shouted.

“Open it!” Shouted Mara. Alicia didn’t need to be asked twice. She slipped around on the ice and grabbed the box, quickly tearing the wrapping off.

Under the wrapping was a small plastic box that contained a pair of odd gloves. Alicia looked at them with confusion as she tried to work out what they were. As she pulled the box open the gloves flew towards her. They quickly wrapped around her hands and attached themselves to her bracelets.

Two projections appeared in front of Alicia. “Genetic Fusor, ready for use,” chimed a computerized voice, exactly like the one on the Sky Skimmer.

A series of images flicked up in front of Alicia. It was people she knew, or at least things that represented them. Alicia was unsure exactly how this device worked but had a good idea of what this thing was meant to do.

“Now, let’s finish this,” smirked the Snow Queen as she aimed an icicle at Mesmera’s head.

“Hey! Knock-off, I’ve got your finish right here!” Screamed Alicia as she waved her hands across two of the images.

“Eagle! Dragon! Fusion Complete!” Chirped the voice as both images appeared over Alicia’s wrists. Snow Queen turned and fired the icicle at Alicia. Alicia acted on instinct and swung her fist at the approaching spike.

The second the ice made contact with Alicia’s fist it shattered. The Snow Queen’s eyes went wide as she stared at Alicia, obviously at a loss for what to do.

“You want a fight? Because I’m twice as good!” Screamed Alicia as she charged forward towards the Snow Queen. Every step caused the ice to crack around her, making her sound like a one-woman stampede.

Alicia’s heart was pounding, this power felt so familiar to her. It was like climbing into a familiar pair of jeans. Ivanna and Dragón’s powers were flowing through her veins as if she had just touched them.

The Snow Queen ran forward, firing ice towards Alicia. The shots were wide of the mark, showing how nervous the Snow Queen was. Alicia continued her charge, not stopping for anything.

Snow Queen’s eyes went wide as Alicia bull-rushed her. She tried to turn, but she was too slow. Alicia grabbed her and spun around, slamming the Snow Queen into the floor.

“Freeze,” groaned Snow Queen as she lifted her arm to try and fire an icicle. However, Alicia grabbed the gauntlet and twisted it. With a loud creak, the metal started to spark and bend, crushing its inner-workings.

“Sorry, I’m hot blooded,” grinned Alicia as she ripped the gauntlet off of the woman’s wrist and threw it off the roof. Alicia rose up off the ground, lifting the Snow Queen with ease. “Now to take you in,” she said firmly.

The Snow Queen kicked and struggled as she tried to escape from Alicia’s grip. As Alicia looked into the woman’s eyes she remembered the incident at Bluebird park. “Untold aggression, delusions of grandeur. Hyper-Fixation. She did a number on you, didn’t she?”

“Let me go!” Screamed the Ice Queen. “I will rule the world! You will all submit to my eternal winter!”

“Dressing up like something from a fairytale as well. This has her fingerprints all over it. It also explains why you can’t adapt to us, just the same plan over and over. This is all pre-programmed.” Continued Alicia with a sigh. “She didn’t just give you her robots. She gave you her worldview as well.”

Alicia debated what she should do with this woman. It was obvious that she wasn’t in her right mind, but reasoning with her wouldn’t work. If Alicia put her down she would likely run off and create more robots.

“If only I had,” stated Alicia.

“Silver! Unnamed Sample! Fusion complete!” Interrupted the computer as Alicia felt her body changing. Her eyes started to tingle and her vision started to blur.

It didn’t take Alicia very long to realize what had happened. “Look here,” she smiled as she grabbed Snow Queen’s hair. “Look me right in the eyes,” she added as a silver glow filled her eyes. “You’ve had a long night, why not rest?” She cooed.

Snow Queen groaned as she looked up at Alicia. It was clear she wanted to look away, but something about Alicia’s silver gaze held her attention and prevented her from doing so. She kicked her legs helplessly as she let out another soft whimper.

“Tired? I know,” nodded Alicia. “You need to rest. You need to sleep.”

“I,” mumbled Snow Queen.

“No, you’re going to bed young lady,” replied Alicia firmly. “You’re going to sleep because you’re tired. This isn’t optional.” She continued, doing her best to emulate Sharon’s motherly tone.

“But,” gurgled the Snow Queen, her voice nothing but a faint whisper.

“No,” interjected Alicia firmly. “Sleep time. Time for you to sleep. To rest. To dream. Go to sleep now,” she continued to purr as she used her free hand to rub the Snow Queen’s hair. “Rest, everything will be here for you in the morning.”

Snow Queen’s eyes fluttered and rolled up into her head as she went limp in Alicia’s arms. She continued to squirm a bit, but Alicia couldn’t tell if it was an attempt at resistance or just the effects of gravity.

“Sleep. Sleep, deep asleep.” Continued Alicia as she slowly lowered the Snow Queen to the ground.

“Very good,” chuckled Sharon. Alicia turned and saw her Mom being supported by Ulla and Mara.

“I learned from the best!” Grinned Alicia as she ran up and hugged her Mom. “How are you doing?”

“Sore, but I’ll live.” Nodded Sharon.

Kitty then appeared next to Alicia. She was holding a load of random components in her arms. “Done!” She smiled.

“Thank you!” Nodded Mara.

“More robots?” Shouted Alicia as she started to look around.

“No, I sent Kitty off to deal with her last few stashes.” Replied Mara. “That last wave gave me enough data to triangulate all of the places her signal could reach.”

“So, we’re done?” Asked Alicia.

“I think so. I’ll call MIST to come to pick her up,” nodded Ulla.

“Presents?” Asked Kitty gently.

“Oh right,” Gasped Ulla. “We’ve got to do the presents! We have under a quarter of the night left!”

“We can still do it!” Shouted Alicia. “If we all split up!”

“Right!” Nodded Sharon.

“Ulla and Hitomi can drive one van while Mesmera and Emergency drive the other. And Kitty and I can use the Sky Skimmer!”

“Doesn’t that make you feel horribly sick?” Asked Sharon.

“I can cope! I’ll eat some ginger or something!” Grinned Alicia. “It won’t make me explode or anything right?” She added as she looked towards Kitty.

“No! I can make it follow my suit!” Giggled Kitty as she bounced excitedly.

“Then Kitty! Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?” Smiled Alicia as she ran back into the warehouse and down the stairs.

“Yes!” Cheered Kitty as she quickly dived off of the warehouse roof.

“Girl has energy,” chuckled Mara as she waved for the others to follow her.