SUPPOSED TO BE A TEAM?

“It’s probably a good idea that you don’t trust Christopher. Or me for that matter.” Bitter said, looking at me through his peripheral.

“You I’m not worried about.” I responded with confidence.

“We go way back, Sonus. I think you know when I’m telling the truth.” Bitter inhaled and breathed an icy prison on one of the city’s mutant rats in the alley behind the Pips Theatre.

Yoo Street was one of Bitter’s favorite hang out spot, particularly because he had an unproven hold on most of the business owners. Tonight was one of those rare occasions when I turned down a meal. But even with me standing their, they refused to ask for help – or hint that Bitter is strong-arming them.

“Don’t get me wrong, B. I’m not blinded by your eagerness to help. I already know what’s in it for you. I just don’t know what’s in it for Christopher.”

“Sometimes, you just need to be patient and pay attention. But even Christopher knows you aren’t too good at either.” Bitter said as he marveled at the frozen dead he’d just brought on the rat.

I wanted to grab him by the neck and slam his face into the brick wall, but my cell phone buzzed. Terra sent a text message – she’d caught some of those Egyptian dudes in Georgetown. “Let’s go, B.”

I grabbed Bitter and we flew toward Georgetown. When I finally saw Terra, she was doing the tentacle thing, flailing the bad guys around.

“Looks like Elemental has them occupied. We can surprise them and try to get the upper hand over all of this.”

“Indeed.” Bitter responded. Seconds later, his body temperature dropped and my hands were too numb from the cold. I dropped him.

I darted down to try and catch him. Fortunately, he used his powers to break his fall. It’s not often that I see Bitter do anything flashy with his powers. His usual action is to freeze his victims in a block of ice and leave them there until they’re dead.

“You ok?” I asked. For some reason I was slightly concerned. “Why the hell did you freeze my damn hands?” Though I was concerned, I was still mad.

Bitter hunched his shoulders, as though he didn’t mean it. “Panic, perhaps.”

I walked around the corner to see Terra on the ground. The bad guys were gone and it seemed that Torrid had Terra pinned down. I turned back to Bitter and asked why it looked like his guy was attacking.

“I thought we were working to…” I suddenly felt cold all over. I forgot what I was saying, what I was thinking. I think I blacked out.