Kingdom of Heroes by Jay Phillips

she wasn’t wearing a bra since, well, let’s just say that a woman who can freeze anything she wants is probably always cold. Ice’s trademark snow white hair was in an up-do (whatever in the hell that means, I had to ask one of the female staffers how to describe her hair), which made her look more prepared for an awards show than a sit-down interview at my place.
    The atmosphere around them remained quite relaxed throughout the night, and the two super heroes, and might I add the two most beautiful women I have ever been this close to before, let me ask pretty much whatever I wanted. What a night.
    Axiom Magazine: So you two seem to be a very tight duo. Have you always been this close or is this something recent?
    Ice: Definitely recently. Before our powers came in, I couldn’t stand her. She was such a goody-goody.
    Fire (to Ice): I liked you.
    Ice: We were just two extremely different people when we met.
    Axiom Magazine: And where did the two of you meet?
    Fire: High school. But once our powers came in, I discovered that I could control fire---
    Ice: And I could control ice.
    Fire: So it just kind of made sense for the two of us to team up.
    Axiom Magazine: Wait, high school? If you don’t mind my asking, exactly how old are the two of you?
    Fire: I’m nineteen, and Ice is eighteen.
    Ice: Don’t worry, we’re both more than legal.
    Axiom Magazine: I think you just reassured 99% of our readers, and me. So what made the two of you take to the streets as costumed crime fighters?
    Fire: I really thought we could make a difference, change the world, fix the problems plaguing this generation and the next.
    Ice: I thought we could be become famous and then rich.
    Axiom Magazine: Lofty aspirations.
    Ice: Thank you.
    Axiom Magazine: So in high school, the two of you hit the streets and stopped crime throughout Southern California. What kind of crimes did you encounter?
    Fire: We ran into everything from bank robbers and carjackers to kidnappers and rapists.
    Ice: But we really didn’t get to encounter the big stuff until we joined The Seven.
    Axiom Magazine: That was my next question. How has life in The Seven been different from the old days of crime fighting as a twosome?
    Fire: Now we don’t just handle the little crimes, but we also deal with things happening to the whole country, and sometimes, to the whole world.
    Axiom Magazine: So is the leader of The Seven, Agent America, as much of a hard-ass as we all think he is?
    Ice: The Agent is a brilliant leader, and I think I can speak for both of us here when I say that I trust that man without a doubt. I would follow him into the mouth of Hell itself and back if that’s what he asked me to do.
    Fire: Same here.
    Axiom Magazine: So a personal question, have the two of you ever double teamed a guy?
    Fire: We double team people all the time. There was this one guy. Ice froze him to the ground, and I burnt the gun out of his hand. It was great.
    Ice: I don’t believe that’s exactly what he meant, Fire.
    Axiom Magazine: Not exactly.
    Fire: Oh, that.
    Ice: Truthfully, I’ve been trying to get her to do that with me for years, but she’s just too much of a prude. I’ll convince her one of these days.
    Continued on page 169
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    “Well shit,” The Detective said as he walked into The Ice Queen’s spacious penthouse apartment. The living area, which seemed empty despite several sofas scattered about, featured a cathedral style ceiling stretching to at least twenty feet tall. A huge fireplace sat inside of one wall, and the far wall was nothing but a giant window, displaying the entire city skyline. The only thing missing was a bear skin rug. “Nice place, was the Taj Mahal not rent controlled? Or I guess the commute would have just been too much.”
    “Have I told you to go to Hell lately?” she asked as she threw her keys onto a coffee table which sat in the middle of three leather couches and a very large