Kolin: Glacial Heart Striker by Jade Gretz

https://www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai/art/Kolin-Glacial-Heart-Striker-1264033017

Kolin: Glacial Heart Striker ANIMATION

The Breath of the Hollow Cold

Kolin had always known the cold to be her most loyal companion—sharp, perfect, obedient. It whispered along the edges of her will, eager to sculpt the world into stillness. But tonight, as she entered the abandoned research facility buried beneath Metro City’s industrial ruins, the cold whispered back with another voice entirely.

A voice that did not belong to her.

The air was thick with humidity, clinging to her skin in soft trembling droplets. The walls glistened like they sweated under some invisible fever, and each step echoed as though the corridor itself was hollowed out and hungry.

She tightened her gloved hands and exhaled slowly. “He’s here,” she murmured.

A brittle crackle spread along the ceiling—an unnatural condensation that formed frost instantly, then shattered like thin glass.

He knows you’re here too, the cold seemed to say.

Kolin pressed onward.

I. The Humidity Thief

The first chamber she entered had once been a climatology testing hub. Now, machines were overturned like carcasses. Frost bloomed across the floor in spirals, as if something had danced through while freezing everything in its wake.

Something, not someone.

Kolin bent down, tracing one spiral with the tip of her finger. The frost recoiled from her touch—as if recognizing another master of winter.

“That’s flattering,” a voice said from the dark. A voice sinuous, smooth, almost amused. “But you and I create such different art.”

Kolin rose without turning. “Viktor Hale,” she said. “The Humidity Thief. Manipulator of vapor. Fugitive scientist of the International Climate Corps. And very poor at cleaning up after himself.”

“That’s me,” he answered cheerfully. “Though I prefer ‘artisan.’”

He stepped into the dim emergency light.

Tall, gaunt but graceful, Hale carried a strange elegance in his long, wet strides. His coat dripped as though he’d walked through a storm cloud that had decided to follow him. Vapor curled around his hands, trembling as if eager to be shaped.

Kolin offered a thin smile. “You’ve gone too far this time. You’re destabilizing the city’s climate grid.”

“Destabilizing?” Hale chuckled. “I’m liberating. Do you know what humidity becomes when commanded?”

He raised his hand.

The moisture in the room trembled, gathered, and snapped into a ring of ice blades that hovered around him like a halo gone wrong.

“It becomes whatever I desire.”

“Deadly instant frost,” Kolin said quietly. “An impressive party trick. But you’re outmatched.”

“Am I?” Hale’s smile widened. “After all, you had to come alone. And we both know why.”

Kolin stiffened. “Careful.”

“You could have brought allies,” he said. “But you didn’t. You prefer to dance in shadows, Kolin. You savor danger. And…” His gaze trailed over her like a cold draft. “Perhaps you savor being admired by a worthy adversary.”

Kolin stepped forward, her breath a mist. “You mistake patience for desire.”

“Oh,” Hale murmured, “I don’t.”

II. The Seduction of Temperature

The next instant, the chamber exploded with vapor—white, thick, suffocating. It obscured everything but Hale’s silhouette.

Kolin glided back, hands weaving through practiced arcs, focusing her power. Ice erupted beneath her feet and raced outward.

But the frost dissolved into water vapor the moment it neared him.

He laughed. “You see? Your ice wants to be mine.”

The humidity surged, forming sudden frost along the ceiling—then dropping like stalactites of sharpened ice.

Kolin vaulted aside, twisting gracefully.

One shard grazed her cheek, burning cold like liquid nitrogen.

“You’re toying with me,” she said, voice low.

“Of course,” Hale answered. “A masterpiece should be savored.”

She lunged.

Their powers crashed between them—cold against cold, but different in nature. Her frost was structured, deliberate; his was explosive, instant.

Humidity spiraled around them like a living cyclone, responding to Hale’s every gesture.

“You’re predictable,” Kolin said as she slid low across the ice she summoned. “You rely on the air. On presence of moisture. Remove the variable—”
...(more at https://www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai).
For more supergirl, chun li, batgirl, tifa, lara croft, wonder woman, rogue and much more, please visit my page at www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai - Thanks for your support :)