Narrator's POV

  Let's rewind five minutes before the arrival of Kujira and Riley, and before Kibishi's boots were stuck in the ice.

  Csh! Csh!

  Taoreta, David, and Akuma were fighting against the monster in the cloud of smoke as best as they could.

  With bdes cshing against cws, every step the supernaturals took wore down the warmth inside their bodies.

  For you see, a normal human being could not handle the type of cold that the supernatural was experiencing.

  Since the temperature was dropping below zero, a human being without gear would have died the moment they set foot in the igloo.

  Even with gear on, it could only do so much.

  The Super Codes that the Supernaturals were wearing could protect them from temperatures below zero, thanks to the technology and magic that provided the support for the Super Codes.

  However.

  Even they had limits if they kept being pushed.

  The weather in the igloo was around -40 degrees or lower. Despite that, the temperature was dropping. And the Supernaturals were feeling the effect of it, too.

  From their frostbitten fingers to their skin changing colors, it was safe to say that the weather in the igloo was extremely dangerous.

  Supernaturals could handle the temperature if they willed power through it.

  Yet.

  This did not mean they were safe.

  Your spirit could be as high as you wanted it to be. But your body did have limits.

  But.

  That also meant that you could break those limits as well.

  It all depended on who could outst whom.

  Csh!

  Taoreta swung her sword upwards at the monster, but her bde phased through.

  Csh!

  Taoreta blocked a cw attack by parrying it back toward the monster inside its cloud of smoke.

  Due to the weather, her fingers inside her white gloves had started to develop frostbite. Despite that, Taoreta continued to hold on to her bde.

  Ssh!

  David swung downwards at the monster, but his stone sword got phased through like it was nothing.

  Ssh!

  Akuma thrust her sword into the monster. But the monster simply dodged it and counterattacked.

  A cw thrust and aimed for Akuma's head.

  Duck!

  Akuma dodged it by ducking underneath and gaining some distance from the monster.

  Rinse and repeat.

  Rinse and repeat.

  Taoreta, David, and Akuma were doing the same move over and over again.

  One had to think: "Why are they doing this if it makes no progress?"

  There were two major reasons.

  For one, the Supernaturals were reaching their limits. While they could still move and could dodge upcoming deadly attacks from the monster, there was only so much they could do for themselves...

  The second reason was the weather.

  While Supernaturals could st longer than an average human being with a lot of things, such as weather and other activities, they had limits in the end. The cold of the weather was draining every st bit of their strength by the second.

  Csh! Csh!

  Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

  The Supernaturals knew that doing this wasn't going to solve anything. They even knew that if they kept doing this, then their energy would eventually run out.

  And since they were repeating their attacks and not trying anything new, the monster ended up getting the advantage against them.

  Dash!

  "What?!" Kibishi shouted as he saw the intense speed with which it was going toward three of his friends.

  In the blink of an eye, it appeared near them.

  The speed and power from that monster were unbelievable. One must think: "If this is what the FIRST yer monster is like, then the others have to be on a divine type of level."

  Indeed. If a low-level monster was giving even the supernatural trouble, then all hope was lost for mankind...

  "Tch!" David lifted his weapon to counter the monster.

  Ssh!

  But he ended up getting sshed across the front of his body. Five cw marks appeared as his blood started to bleed from the wounds.

  "David!" Kibishi shouted from a distance.

  What was worse than seeing his friends getting beaten was staying behind while being helpless.

  Nothing was worse than standing around while those you care about are being harmed by a being that can out-speed you. Not to mention, overcome you with intense strength.

  "Damn it!" Akuma leapt on top of the monster's back and spun her sword, holding it above the monster's head. She aimed her bde at it, readying to thrust through.

  The monster's eyes suddenly glowed inside its cloud and left a trail of light when it fixed its sight on Akuma. Akuma realized and leapt back to gain some distance-

  Thrust!

  Gush!

  But unfortunately, Akuma ended up getting stabbed through her right shoulder. The same right side that had her hand that was holding her sword; she dropped it as Akuma's eyes lowered with a shocked expression.

  Spreee!!!!!

  Gush!

  A sight to behold. Someone who was a veteran ended up in this sticky situation. If it hadn't been for the weather, then her reaction time would have been a whole lot better...

  Before Akuma could even catch herself, the monster decided to stab through her stomach and pull out its cw, leaving her insides spilling out.

  "AKUMA!!!" Kibishi cried out to his friend.

  From then on, Kibishi tried his very best to break the ice from underneath his foot. But to no avail; his knife wasn't sharp enough to break the ice...

  Csh! Ssh! Gush!

  It was a sad sight to behold. As Kibishi did his best to break the ice with his knife, every stab was accompanied by a scream from his friend.

  The sound of them getting attacked while being helpless inside the thin ice had been getting to him. And who could bme him? The sound alone would drive someone mad...

  Gush!

  Blood spttered everywhere. The snow was getting painted red.

  Taoreta.

  David.

  Akuma.

  They were at the mercy of the monster. Nothing could save them from their deadly fate.

  Sm!

  Akuma was on one knee, holding her stomach. With a hole that was not too deep being there as the cold was getting more intense, all she could do was wait and try again when there was an opening. But can one have such an opening?

  Akuma knows that she just needs ONE opening. Just one and she can turn this around and have David and Taoreta counterattack without any problems. It won't solve the coldness of their bodies slowing down, but it can at least give enough time.

  Akuma doesn't care if it is a simple distraction. As long as it is something, then she could manage to do something.

  Boom!

  Taoreta and David crashed-nded next to Akuma.

  It seemed like they were down for the count. Their bodies weren't able to move. Not one bit.

  The cloud smoke monster slowly walked toward the trio with no sign of slowing down. It all seemed hopeless. Nothing could stop the monster now. Or so they thought.

  From a distance, a female figure slowly entered the igloo, a brown coat on, with her yellow hair blowing.

  She gasped and saw everyone she knew being ganged up on by one monster.

  The girl in the brown coat was conflicted about what to do.

  Can she help her friends? Or stand there and let them die?

  The girl with yellow hair looked and saw Kibishi crying his eyes out as his bloody hand slipped and fell, then gripped the knife and tried to release himself from his ice prison.

  "... Kibishi..." The girl's mouth formed an upside-down "U" shape and she deeply inhaled.

  "...Go to hell.... Founder!" The girl with yellow hair cursed under her breath.

  One has to ask: "If she's friends with the supernaturals, then why is she letting them die out there?"

  Well, that's a story for another time.

  "This way, Riley!" A familiar voice was heard from within the hallway of the igloo center.

  The yellow-haired girl gasped and swiftly aimed her palms at Akuma, Taoreta, and David.

  "Reverse!" The yellow-haired girl whispered as her palms glowed yellow.

  Step! Step! Step!

  The yellow-haired girl lowered her hands and disappeared into thin air.

  Step! Step! Step!

  The footsteps were getting louder and louder. Soon, Kujira and Riley appeared in front of the entrance of the hallway. They had made it to the area where their friends were.

  Kujira looked at Akuma's group and saw Taoreta and David slowly getting up while being confused. This also made Akuma look at her stomach and stare daggers at the cloud smoke monster.

  "Seems like we made it on time!" Kujira tapped inside of her Super Code, and it transformed into a new one.

  For reference:

  Csh! Csh!

  Taoreta and David went back and attacked the monster as if nothing had happened.

  "Seems like we can still turn things around!" Riley says with a determined expression.

  "Right-"

  "Ahh!!!" Kibishi screams as he is using his bloody knife to stab like crazy.

  This made Riley widen her eyes in fear.

  She recognized that look.

  Indeed.

  That same look from all the way back then. David did the same thing when she was in danger back at prison. Not to mention, Kibishi had that same look when he took the dagger and headed toward that thing that harmed Taoreta back at prison.

  This made Riley tense up and swallow hard. She then slowly smiled and turned to Kujira.

  "Welp, time to head to Kibishi and help him out!" Riley says cheerfully.

  "Hmm... I think we should help Akuma and the others first. Sounds like the smarter move." Kujira raises her brows and folds her arms.

  "Come on, come on! They can handle it! Plus, Kibishi is by himself and it seems like he will do anything to break free, haha!" Riley ughed, but her fingers are gripping her staff very strongly.

  "But..."

  "Come on, come on! What's the harm! Right?!" Riley closes her eyes as the grip tightens some more around her staff.

  "..." Kujira stares at Riley's expression. She then looked at the staff.

  It said it all. No words were needed.

  Kujira took a moment and deeply sighed at her decision-making. What she said was right, but what Riley said must have a deeper meaning.

  "... I get it. Let's go help Kibishi." Kujira slowly smiled at Riley.

  Riley's eyes beamed as her grip loosened a bit. She then nodded and smiled so widely that the previous one seemed small and "weak" in comparison.

  Riley grabbed a hold of Kujira's hands and leapt a good few feet off the ground.

  From the entrance to where Kibishi was wasn't too far away, but running on foot would have taken a while to reach him. In the blink of an eye, Kujira and Riley made it near Kibishi's side, who was crying even more, his hands way too bloody.

  "DAMN IT ALL! THIS FUCKING SNOW WON'T COME OFF OF MEEEE!!!!" I shout from the top of my lungs.

  Riley slowly took a step and watched Kibishi crying his eyes out. The sight of him like this wasn't comfortable at all. She was so used to the guy who always smiles at his friends no matter what. Sure, he got his ways and sometimes does stuff that no normal human should do. But overall, he's a nice guy. Also, she understands where he comes from due to them being in prison together for many years. And for someone such as him to die out here in the cold... that would actually break her heart.

  Kujira raised her hand to try to comfort Kibishi, but she retracted it and pced it by her side.

  It seemed like Riley wasn't the only one who felt that way about Kibishi.

  "Calm down, Kibishi. You'll make David and Tao worried if you keep up this act." Riley says calmly to Kibishi.

  "Huh?" Kibishi widened his eyes as more tears fell on his face.

  "Good grief! This is why I told you to stick with me, damn it!" Kujira scolds Kibishi, who didn't listen to her in the first pce. The same goes for Taoreta, who followed Kibishi to this cold pce without any pns.

  Kibishi slowly looked at his friends, who had arrived by his side.

  And from there, the three of them finally met once more and could help each other and their team in this dark situation.

  How would they do that, you may ask?

  Well, that's a good question, isn't it?

  How WILL they find a way to save their friends?

  And frankly, how will all of them get out of this pce alive and well?

  So many questions, indeed. But they will be answered...