Cold stood at the front gates of Last Stand in her gambeson and arming cap, her team surrounding her. She was leaning against Sally, the larger woman standing solid and sturdy, but a small smile was on her lips. Still, the two had to pay attention, Allison was talking about their upcoming mission.

  “…and so to summarize, we’re going to an iron mining village that got taken over some time ago. Expect moderate numbers of Infected; we’re not here to haul the goods out this time, just to clear out the Infected so another team can loot the place more easily. And next time, Cold, try to pay attention.”

  Cold had the presence of mind to look bashful, at least.

  As the gates opened, Anders’s power began to whirl around them, and the group began to walk forward through the ever-twisting mire of motion. Cold was starting to get used to it by now, and it wasn’t so nausea-inducing as it was at first… though it still wasn’t pleasant. Still, Cold marched on, determined to do her part.

  As the group neared their destination, Anders’ power suddenly cut out, leaving Cold stumbling a little on a rock that wasn’t there before. “Sorry about that,” he said, his face a little grim, “I had to cut our trip short so we don’t get spotted immediately.”

  Cold peered outwards; just beyond the tree line was a town- it didn’t look very inhabited, with just a few Infected sitting on the outskirts and none to be seen further in. Still, that wasn’t a good sign that there were Infected keeping watch, and they were all wearing armor and wielding weapons.

  “Okay, we need to be careful here and take them out all at the same time before they can raise the alarm,” said Allison, gesturing the rest to follow her as she peered around a tree. “Anders, can you get everyone to sneak up behind them?”

  Anders gave a thumbs up as he used his magic again, and Cold found herself shifting two feet counterclockwise before the world started making sense again. Once the blurring stopped, she found herself, Sally, and Anders positioned behind the three Infected on guard; all three looked at one another, nodded, and struck.

  Sally lashed out with her warhammer, the Infected’s skull caving in with a sickening squelch. Anders struck with a long dagger or short sword, stabbing the second Infected through the gut. And Cold simply grabbed the third with her hand, stabbing a spike of ice out from her hand and into its brain, draining it of its energy- she couldn’t just consume it with a touch, not without a power boost, and it seemed Allison was wary of doing that again. Cold didn’t blame her.

  The three Infected dealt with, the group reconvened and marched on, slowly sneaking their way into the town. It was mostly deserted, but the Infected could be seen milling about here and there; some of them were at work, listlessly hammering crude iron weapons and armor, while others were simply sitting or laying down and not doing much. Much like with the guards, they took them out quietly and without a fuss, ducking behind buildings and inside alleyways to stay out of sight.

  Until they heard a shriek coming from the building they had stashed the bodies in. The Infected began to swarm towards it, about a dozen left now; Allison let out a small ‘damn’, and the group began to move out. The Infected remaining began to move out too, their actions guided by one in heavier armor.

  “Shit…” Allison whispered to the group, “there’s a Leader. It’s why they’re more organized, why some are working and keeping guard. We need to take this group out, now.”

  The group prepared their weapons and charged out of the alley, surprise-attacking the Infected. Cold formed a glaive out of ice and swung it, slashing her way through her enemies as Sally bullrushed a cluster of them, Anders popped back and forth to get in quick strikes with his shortsword, and Allison charged with her sword and shield, Jack holding back to protect against back attacks and to heal anyone if need be.

  The first Infected blocked Cold’s overhead swing on a metal bracer with a loud screech, and Cold shattered her weapon into razor-sharp fragments to shred her enemy into pieces. She then charged forwards, Heat joining her in her Phoenix form to spit flames at the Infected; Cold formed a pair of frozen gauntlets that stretched up to her elbows and icy knee-high boots, then launched herself into a flying kick to break the arm of an Infected that was advancing towards Jack, then landing a spinning kick that caved in its chest. Another Infected jumped up behind her, but Sally took it out with a mighty swing of her hammer, crushing it. Cold ran towards the next Infected, frozen spikes forming on her knuckles as she hammered it with a series of quick punches, then finished it off with a snap kick, more spikes forming on her boots to shred its torso.

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  With a start, Cold noticed that she was surrounded- her last foe had lured her into an alley, and now there were three Infected staring her down right ahead. Heat swapped in, a strong gust of wind pushing back the Infected before she entered a form, her well-practiced moves blasting out flames and fireballs with each punch and kick, setting the Infected’s clothes and hair on fire. They began to shriek, charging at her as best they could, but Heat coated her body in flames and charged in turn, landing a wicked uppercut on one Infected and a side-kick on another, her flames spreading from the site of each blow she struck like a creeping mold even as she dodged their clumsy strikes. The third swung its metal-banded club at Heat in a side strike, but Heat bent away from it, causing it to strike one of the other Infected and topple them to the floor; they didn’t get back up. Heat flared her aura, the outer flames starting to lick the final Infected, then lashed out with a snap-kick to its leg, smashing its kneecap and toppling it to the floor. With a hammer-kick, Heat cracked the third Infected’s head against the floor, the remaining Infected dead from the flames spreading across its body.

  Satisfied, Cold swapped back in and rushed out of the alley, finding the Leader Infected battling Sally; her intense strength was impressive, and her focus on countering its blows meant it couldn’t get a strike in or stop her from smashing its head in with a well-timed counter. However, it didn’t seem to notice its armor denting or its head caving in, and it began to flail wildly in Sally’s direction, its attacks random and chaotic. Cold rushed in from behind and landed a flying kick to its armored back, denting the crude iron but bouncing off, the Infected barely moving. It turned around and lashed out at Cold with its iron sword, more a machete than a proper blade, and Cold blocked it with a gauntlet, ice chipping off from the force of the blow.

  With a twin yell from the two sisters, Heat joined in the fight, her phoenix form wrapping around their body’s limbs to spread over the gauntlets, fire and ice conjoined. Sally struck the Leader Infected from behind, its helmet cracking in half from the damage, and it began to sway a little, its weapon swinging back towards Sally. Cold lashed out with a jab, catching its arm on the elbow and breaking it, forcing it to drop its weapon; the Infected tried to lash out and grab its weapon with the other hand, but Sally slammed her warhammer into its other arm, breaking the lower half off entirely. Cold let out a loud yell as she whirled around, jumping up to land a spinning jump kick to the Infected’s torso as Sally slammed her hammer into its head one more time, its neck snapping. The Infected Leader fell to the ground, dead.

  “Well done!” yelled Cold, causing Sally to blush slightly. “I think that’s all of them.”

  Allison shook her head. “We should check all the buildings just to make sure, but that’s at least most of them. With luck, we should be able to have plenty of iron to forge new weapons and tools over the winter.”

  Anders let out a whoop before the team began to separate once more, checking each and every building. It was saddening to see the state of the town- there was garbage everywhere, rotting food and debris strewn about, and Cold shuddered to think where the rotting meat came from. She suddenly heard a small shriek and Heat immediately swapped over and began darting towards it, barging into another house… to find a very embarrassed Sally.

  “Are you alright?” Heat asked, her hands wandering over Sally’s armor to find any injuries.

  Sally just nodded, and practically whispered, “There was a mouse. It startled me,” hiding her face behind her palms. Heat couldn’t help but giggle, wrapping Sally in a hug.

  “Please stop laughing, it’s embarrassing…” the larger woman muttered. Heat let out a short sigh, patted Sally’s arm, and stood on her tiptoes to give her a peck on the cheek. Sally grabbed Heat’s hand and knelt down, then gave her a longer, deeper kiss on the lips. The two stayed like that for a while, their lips locked and their hands intertwined, simply enjoying the moment.

  “Wait, um… before we go any further, there’s something I- we- need to tell you,” said Heat, her face a little flushed. Sally simply nodded.

  “We’re transgender,” said Heat. “We were born as a boy, but chose to become a girl through medical treatment. We talked with our doctor Michael about it the other day, he modified our body to continue the process by itself, but…”

  “You’re a girl now?” asked Sally, her face impassive.

  “I always was, and before I was this, I always knew I was,” said Heat.

  “Then you’re still the girl I love,” Sally replied, pulling Heat into another kiss.

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