Chapter 196: The Cold Realm
The plan had sounded simple when it had first been pitched. Royal used explosions, so Cinder should have fought him; Glacier used ice, so Phoenix would fight him. Finally, for Shift, he was going to fight Phantom. His powers and hers didn't really match all that well, but it was the best they had.
He really should have known better...
Of course, things wouldn't work out that way. He had hung around Hope long enough to know that, somehow, the perfect plan would always explode.
Things went horribly wrong right away.
They all came crashing down through the roof, following after Cinder. She had led the charge, using her insane strength to literally jump above the top of the castle and come down hard with a single powerful kick. Her leg shattered the roof and allowed them all to fall through the ice castle, which began to shatter and break apart. As soon as they appeared above the dining area, they all got ready to strike but were instantly thrown off as the music that had been playing cut off.
Pied screamed for help, and that caused the other three villains to snap out of their stupor. Glacier was the first to act, and without hesitation, he jumped toward Pied, attempting to grab at the boy's face. Before the villain could, though, Cinder managed to use the roof as leverage and jumped down with great speed.
Her arms wrapped around Pied, holding the boy tightly, but as soon as she grabbed him, Glacier's hand landed on her back. There was a bright white flash, and then, in an instant, Glacier, Cinder, and Pied were all gone.
Shift felt his eyes go wide, and he crashed through the shattered table and hit the ground hard. "W- Where the hell did they go?"
Phoenix let out a loud curse and grew a pair of wings, stopping his fall. "Shit! Glacier must have had a realm power or something!"
"Why weren't we warned about this before!"
"Because clearly, I didn't know! It's the first I've seen him do something like this!"