Starfire meets Firestar

Kori landed on the ground and took a good look around. It was almost completely white. There was no sign of anyone on the street -- Kori hoped that meant that the people in the area had successfully escaped the blizzard.

She saw something in the middle of the street. At first glance, she couldn't tell what it was. She walked over and saw the figure was a woman lying face down. Kori rolled the figure over, and her eyes widened.

The woman was a gorgeous, red-haired girl, dressed in a yellow outfit and a red mask covering her eyes. Clearly another costumed superhero, this had to be Gwen's friend. She was barely conscious, but her body temperature seemed normal. *Odd, considering the freezing weather surrounding them,* Kori thought

"Hello? Are you OK?" Kori said, shaking the woman gently.

"Unnnhhhh..." the woman grunted, opening her eyes. "Who... who are you?"

"Call me Starfire. I'm a friend of Ghost-Spider's," Kori answered, helping the woman to her feet.

"Starfire, huh? Hahaha... that's really funny," the woman chuckled, "My name's Firestar."

"Firestar? What an odd coincidence," Kori smirked. "I can only assume that our powers are similar?"

"If you can fly and shoot burning heat from your hands, then yeah," Firestar replied, getting her footing. "I can create and manipulate microwave energy," she explained, as her hands began glowing brightly.

"That explains why you're in the middle of this blizzard," Kori realized. "Are you hurt? I can take over from here..."

"I appreciate the offer, Starfire, but I'm OK, really," Firestar assured her. "Besides, we're probably better off if we work together."

"If you're certain," Kori nodded, her eyes scanning the snowstorm for any clues. "What happened to you, anyway? Do you know who is responsible for this?"

"Somebody calling himself Captain Cold. I thought he was just some rent-a-thug with a freeze gun. Apparently I was mistaken," Firestar answered. "Guess I underestimated him. Or his freeze gun. My bad, I guess."

Kori gave Firestar a reassuring smile. "We all make mistakes. What's important now is that we find this Captain Cold and stop him before this blizzard gets any bigger."

"Yeah... yeah, you're right," Firestar agreed. "Still, I'm kinda embarrassed I let this guy get the drop on me. Don't tell Gwen -- she'll never let me hear the end of it."

"Your secret is safe with me," Kori promised, still keeping her eye out for their foe. She and Firestar slowly flew down the street, keeping alert for Captain Cold -- the blizzard, however, made it difficult to see anything.

"Shit, look out!" Firestar pointed. There was a flash of light, followed by an enormous ice shard suddenly coming out of the blizzard and heading straight for the two women. Kori nailed the shard with a starbolt, vaporizing it.

"Thanks for the heads-up," Kori said, glancing at Firestar, who just smiled and shrugged.

Captain Cold emerged from the blizzard, surfing on an ice bridge he was generating. "I thought I'd cleared out this block." he said, sounding surprised. He looked at Firestar and said to her, "And I hit you pretty hard. I'm surprised you got back up..."

"What can I say? I don't feel the cold much," Firestar retorted, as she and Kori stood their ground. "Anyway, I'm back for round two... and, as you can see, I brought a friend."

"I can see that," Captain Cold acknowledged. "I'll give you one last chance to get outta here, ladies. I've gotten a few upgrades, and I've been dying to test 'em out -- I'm not about to let you two stop me."

"That explains the massive blizzard... It doesn't matter, though. Keep this up and we gotta take you out," Firestar informed him. "Best that you walk away now, Coldy. I'd really rather not have to kick your ass."

Captain Cold shook his head and sighed, disappointed. "Fine. Your funeral," he said, pointing his fist at the pair and firing a stream of ice at them. Firestar countered with a microwave blast, vaporizing the ice stream.

"Not so easy when you're not hitting me from behind, is it?" Firestar mocked, firing another microwave beam. Cold raised an ice wall to block the attack, and Kori used the distraction to fly over the wall and punch him in the face.

"Damnit!" Cold growled, stumbling back. "You're fast, I'll give you that much. Still, it's gonna take more than that to make me tap out..."

"Challenge accepted!" Firestar shouted, launching a stream of microwave energy that seemed to stagger Cold, and Kori started firing heat blasts of her own. Eventually, they overpowered the villain, and he collapsed to the ground, ****. The blizzard quickly cleared, revealing a clear blue sky and the streets littered with snow.

"Yeah! Whoooo!" Firestar cheered, flying up to Kori and giving her a high-five. "You kicked some serious ass out there!"

"As did you," Kori grinned. "We make an excellent team."

"Hell yeah, we do. Team Starfirestar! No, team Firestarfire! ...Gonna have to workshop that one..."

Kori chuckled in amusement. "Perhaps we can call ourselves the Burning Beauties," she suggested.

"Oooh, I like it! It definitely suits you," Firestar giggled.

Suddenly, they heard a voice from above. "Angel! Glad to see you're OK. Nice work, Kori," Gwen said, landing in front of them. "So this is the guy who caused that massive blizzard, huh? Must've been a pretty tough fight."

"For others, perhaps. But it was a cakewalk for the Burning Beauties," Kori smirked, sharing a fist bump with Firestar.

"You two came up with a team name already? Nice!" Gwen remarked. "Sorry I couldn't be of more use out there."

"It's fine, Gwen. Starfire was an awesome substitute," Firestar insisted. "You two know each other, I take it?"

"Indeed, Gwen and I are very close," Kori confirmed. "And you may call me Kori."

"Awesome meeting you Kori. I'm Angelica -- Angel to my friends."

"A pleasure, Angelica."

"It's Angel to you," Firestar insisted, playfully elbowing her.

"Oh? You consider me a friend already?" Kori asked, smiling.

"What can I say? I like you. You're freakin' cool. And a badass," Firestar nodded.

"Yeah, Kori's awesome. She's definitely got the Gwen seal of approval," Gwen added.

"I like you too, Angel," Kori replied sincerely. "You have a fun energy about you."

"Isn't this adorable, you two hitting it off... now kiss!" Gwen joked.

"That is a tempting proposition," Kori said, giving Gwen a mischievous grin. "Jokes aside, though, what do we do with our icy foe?"

"Already left a tip for the cops," Gwen replied. "They should be here any minute. I'll make sure Cold doesn't go anywhere."

"Then perhaps we should continue this discussion elsewhere?" Kori suggested, turning to Angel. "If we're going to be teammates, I would like to know more about you."

"Why not? I've got nothing else to do today," Angel shrugged. "Wanna grab a coffee?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Kori nodded. "Are you coming, Gwen?"

"Nah, you guys go have fun. I promised Cass I'd meet her when I was done here," Gwen replied. "We've got a big, sappy, romantic date planned."

"That is adorable," Kori cooed. "You two are such a cute couple."

"We learned from the best," Gwen smirked. "I'll see you guys later. And thanks again for helping me out, Kori. You're the best."

"Of course, Gwen. Happy to help," Kori smiled. She and Angel waved goodbye to Gwen as they flew off.