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“Glacius!” Jimmy yelled, losing his balance on the sudden expanse of ice that bloomed under his feet. Like Lizzie, he specialized in fighting in and with water, and their increasing encounters with Glacius were proving to be detrimental with how easily the man could rip away their main advantage.
Said man laughed brightly in the distance, a sound so friendly that it never failed to make Jimmy falter. Following the noise, Jimmy watched as a flash of blue ducked behind a rapidly growing glacier. Jimmy barely resisted the urge to snarl. Glacius was powerful, yes, but he was especially annoying when he decided to play around on Jimmy’s home turf.
“Dagon,” Lizzie called out behind him, “are you okay?”
With a huff, Jimmy turned his attention away from where Glacius had disappeared. “I’m fine, Thalassa,” he reassured her, “Glacius is just being a nuisance as usual.”
Jimmy just managed to pick up the muffled giggle from the object of his ire. At least someone was having fun in the sudden blizzard.
Lizzie, the traitor, smiled. “You know he does it because it gets in your nerves, right?”
“Yeah, Jim,” Joel suddenly cut in, making Jimmy flinch in surprise, “it is pretty fun how mad you get.”
“Code names, Meza!” Jimmy hissed, his cheeks flooding with color that he knew he wouldn’t be able to attribute to the cold.
That distant laugh sounded again, and Jimmy squawked as a spire of ice spit up from the ground between him and his two friends. He groaned aloud, stomping his feet and pointedly ignoring how more ice grew to cover the thin cracks his expression of frustration made in the cold sheet under him. Glacius was annoying, but Jimmy had never felt truly unsafe in his presence.
“Stop eavesdropping on us, Elsa!” Jimmy snapped, stepping forward to move towards where the laughter was coming from, only to stumble again and face plant into the ice.
Lizzie and Joel erupted into laughter right alongside Jimmy’s own personal tormentor, Jack Frost himself. The blond groaned on the ground, not even bothering to attempt to leverage himself back up. There was truly no point when Glacius was in this sort of mood. It was best to just let the sorry excuse of a villain run them in circles for a while until he got bored and left.
“You know, Glacius,” Lizzie said, mischief slight in her voice, “you don’t have to be all mysterious to annoy Dagon. Meza and I do it all the time whether we’re actually on patrol or not!”
Glacius stuck his head around his little ice structure, an intricately woven blue masquerade mask covering the top half of his face. “Thanks for the offer,” he spoke with an indulgent grin, “but that’s probably not such a good idea.”
“Ah,” Joel cut in, clicking his tongue, “because of Mr. Rulebook, yeah?”
Jimmy faltered at the flinch that jolted Glacius’ body.
The man cleared his throat, and his eyes seemed just a bit duller than before. “Yeah, you know Xor, always a stickler for the hero and villain dynamic.”
Xor was a sore spot in their weird little acquaintanceship. While Glacius was friendly, charming, and never malicious, Xor was the exact opposite. The man seemed to delight in causing pain for Jimmy and his friends, and there were many times that Jimmy truly feared for his life before Glacius always managed to cut his way into the situation and halt it in its tracks.
They’d had this conversation before: Lizzie and Joel desperately trying to persuade Glacius over to their side. They never got very far, and Glacius’ excuse never changed; he didn’t want to leave Xor.
Brothers, Lizzie had once theorized after a particularly intense encounter with a very pissed off Xor. It made sense. Glacius was fiercely loyal to the other villain, enough that even the tendrils of companionship he’d found in Jimmy, Lizzie, and Joel could be snapped in an instant if Xor willed it.
Thankfully, Xor had been blessedly absent in their recent encounters with Glacius. The presence of the other villain always resulted in Glacius’ quips sharpening into insults and his playful attacks becoming borderline deadly. Without Xor looking over his brother’s shoulder, Glacius was an endearingly annoying rival that Jimmy enjoyed interacting with as much as he did Lizzie and Joel.
“You sure you can’t just take the day off?” Lizzie tried, “you don’t have to get rid of the mask or anything.”
Glacius shook his head quickly, taking a step backward. The air warmed slightly, a sign that Glacius was looking for an opportunity to flee. “No, no, I can’t. I appreciate the offer, it’s very kind, but this is just how things are meant to be—“
“Please?” Joel drawled out, leaning forward with his best impression o puppy dog eyes. He wasn’t as good at them as Lizzie was.
Glacius faltered, his eyes darting between the three heroes in front of him.
For a moment, he looked speculative, something almost like eagerness painting his features as the cold air around them loosened its suffocating grasp.
“I—“ Glacius began, shooting a look behind him as if he were searching for something, “maybe just…”
“Glacius.”
Jimmy’s stomach dropped.
So much for a good day.
Glacius straightened up, his back suddenly ramrod straight. The cool air around them fractured into something blisteringly cold, the biting air nipping at Jimmy’s skin and sending dangerous shivers down his spine. All traces of humor and happiness had disappeared from
Glacius’ features. Once again, he was gone to them; another effort fallen to the wayside.
“Xor,” Glacius replied obediently, staring straight ahead with his hands held behind his back.
“Is there a reason you are standing here chatting with the enemy?” Xor snared, his form seeming so much larger than the others surrounding him.
Jimmy hated Xor for many reasons, but most of all, he hated how he made Glacius so small and scared and he hated how just his presence made Jimmy feel like a child again.
“N-no reason,” Glacius stuttered. For a man who could control ice like it was a part of his very essence, Glacius was very easy to make tremble in fear.
“Stalling for time?” Xor asked, stalking closer. “Gathering information? The least you can do is make up some bullshit excuse.”
Glacius swallowed and hunched his shoulders in. “I apologize,” he said brokenly, “I got carried away. I didn’t mean to fraternize.”
Xor hummed in response.
Jimmy wanted to move. He wanted it take Lizzie and Joel so far away that this monster of a man could not find them. He wanted to tear Glacius away from the toxic hold Xor had on him, and make sure the man knew what it felt like to be loved and warm and happy.
Glacius was silent.
“You continue to disappoint me, Glacius,” Xor muttered, sounding bored.
Glacius exhaled sharply, his shoulders bunching up towards his ears in shame. Jimmy felt sick to his stomach.
“I’m sorry, I—“
A flash of something snapped from the shadow of Glacius’ forgotten ice formation. The tendrils of darkness zipped towards Glacius and lashed out at the cowering man. With a gasp of pain, Glacius jerked away from Xor and the shadow that now danced over his outstretched palm.
Jimmy thought Glacius’ power was actually quite beautiful. He wielded the cold like a second skin, and Jimmy could imagine the wonders he would create with such impeccable control.
On the other hand, Xor’s power brought him nothing but dread. The man mimicked Glacius in his easy control of an entity, his being darkness rather than cold, but it was never playful. His power was malicious and angry. And Jimmy hated it.
Jimmy blinked, and his gaze narrowed in on the line of red that was struck across Glacius’ cheek. The scratched slowly darkened until blood slipped down his skin.
If it had been anyone else in any other situation, Jimmy might’ve thought it was fascinating the way the man’s blood froze before it even hit the ground.
Jimmy couldn’t move. He wanted to help so badly, but he found that his feet refused to budge even an inch.
Xor stared at Glacius with contempt, scoffing when Glacius refused to move to cover the new wound on his cheek from Xor’s power.
“Pathetic,” Xor growled, his fists clenching at his sides.
Without another word, Xor’s shadows rushed up to meet him, enveloping his body until he slipped away into the grasp of darkness. Glacius stood quietly, and Jimmy could see how the man was shaking. Glacius wasn’t affected by the cold, so everyone would have been able to know that he was quaking because of fear.
“Glacius…” Lizzie began, placatingly.
“No,” Glacius snapped, flinching, “Thank you for your kindness, it means a lot to be me. But…I can’t, okay? I just can’t.”
The man turned away, obviously prepared to run right back to Xor, but Jimmy had never been one for impulse control—
“Then we’ll take you,” Jimmy said suddenly.
Glacius paused and looked at Jimmy in bewilderment. “Excuse me?”
“You’re a villain, right?” Jimmy continued, almost frantic, “and we’re heroes. That means we’re supposed to take you in.”
Lizzie sighed. “Dagon, he’ll just be arrested if we bring him before the league.”
“I didn’t say anything about the league,” Jimmy continued, and Glacius looked shocked, “they don’t need to know. Fall that anyone needs to know is that Glacius suddenly disappeared.”
Joel blinked and thought for a moment. “I mean, we have room, Thalassa.”
Lizzie ran a hand down her face in exasperation. “If this blows up in our faces, I’m blaming both of you.”
“Wait, no!” Glacius interrupted, his hands waving in panic, “I can’t just go with you! Xor is expecting me back, and you’re heroes, you can’t—“
“Fuck Xor!” Jimmy yelled, and Glacius jolted back. “He’s hurting you! You know that, right? You could be so great, Glacius. Why are you letting him destroy you like this?”
Glacius was silent, tears brimming in his eyes. “He’s all I have left, Dagon.”
Jimmy shook his head. “No, he’s not. We’re here.”
“You guys are heroes I just so happen to be a little fond of,” Glacius laughed bitterly, “that doesn’t mean anything in the long run.”
“Then maybe we can try?” Lizzie added, looking hopeful.
Glacius seemed conflicted, the muscles in his body wound tight as he battled with himself.
“Just take the chance,” Jimmy whispered, “please?”
Glacius was quiet, shifting back and forth in his heels. There were snowflakes falling into his hair.
“Okay…” He muttered.
Jimmy felt his heart stop. He didn’t Mr dare get his hopes up, but the resigned look on Glacius’ face was enough to make that hopeful spark burn in his chest.
“I’ll go with you,” Glacius finished, looking both terrified and excited all at once.
Joel smiled widely, placing his hands on his hips. “Look at that! We’ll make a hero out of you yet!”
“No, no,” Glacius rambled, “that was not part of the deal!”
“Too late, Glacius,” Lizzie teased, “we’ve got ya now.”
Glacius paused, looking to the side before his exposure softened. “It’s Scott.”
Jimmy blinked in surprise. “Scott?”
“My name,” Glacius—Scott—confirmed.
Lizzie smiled softly, “I’m Lizzie, this is my husband Joel.”
“And I’m Jimmy,” he finished.
Scott snorted, “the great Dagon is named Jimmy.”
“Aye, shut up!” Jimmy hissed, puffing up like a particularly offended bird.
Lizzie burst into guffaws, Joel quickly following her as he bent over with the force of his chuckles.
Jimmy rolled his eyes. “You’re all so mean to me, I can’t believe this.”
The air around them had warmed up, and the ice under them was beginning to slowly melt into sleet. Even then, snowflakes still fell around Scott as he tried to reign in his laughter. Jimmy had never seen him look so relaxed.
This wouldn’t be easy. Xor wouldn’t be letting go of Scott so easily. But the man was smiling shyly as his eyes darted between the three heroes, and Jimmy thought that maybe that was enough incentive all on its own.