Let It Go: An Elsa TF

"Let It Go" An Elsa TF by Emily Rees

Rebecca G. Eneric, a fifth year Gender and Minorities Studies student, found herself in a very unlikely location for a social justice warrior such as herself. She stood in front of an apartment door with a sign that had the phrase 'fuck off' written in a dozen languages. "This must be where Emily Rees lives..." Despite a population of over eight million, Emily's reputation had certainly become something that many had come to fear over time. Some alleged that she was a witch while others argued that her existence signified a government black op gone awry. Regardless, Rebecca knew the risk in attempting a confrontation with Ms. Rees, yet she couldn't resist the temptation of power her abilities offered. The right act may be enough to convince Emily to make her dream come true. "Here goes nothing..." Rebecca cued up a few tears on command to add authenticity to the story she would weave once Emily answered the door.

The sound of a door opening down the hallway could be heard moments later. Rebecca turned her head to spy a woman with the pink hair and glasses that matched the 'composite' for Emily. She made her way down the hallway without noticing Rebecca until almost bumping into her. "Excuse me?" Emily asked as she set down her grocery bag. "Why are you standing outside of my apartment?"

Now it was time for the performance of Rebecca's life. "Are you the one and only Emily Rees?" Tears traveled down her face like a tropical rainfall. "I've heard that you grant wishes and I desperately need one... If you have it in your heart..."

Emily cut off Rebecca's act with a disinterested sigh. "Really? You go to all of this effort and don't even have a believable story?" She picked up her bag, brushed Rebecca aside and opened her apartment door. "If you're from an acting school, then you really need to refine your work." The door slammed with a raging thud. Emily didn't have time for another special snowflake who was likely going to wish for ascension into an even higher plane of hipsterdom. The influx of hipsters had driven Emily to become quite jaded about who and how she transformed someone. The era of just turning horny teenage males into video game characters was seemingly a thing of the past. Now everyone wanted to be some flavor of the month character from either a movie or TV show because why not? They were fleeting fantasies at best and absolutely not worth Emily's time and effort.

"Did she seriously just do that?" Rebecca steamed in an almost juvenile rage. "I will not be denied!" She screamed. "You are going to grant my wish!" Emily cranked up her sound system to drown out the rant. "Don't ignore me! This only means I'm right! We deserve our dreams as well, bitch! CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE!" The music stopped; the door slammed open to reveal Emily in her pajamas. Rebecca felt confident that she was winning. "That's better. Now, let's talk about my wish."

"Let me get all of this straight." Emily retorted. "You came to my apartment, effectively demand a miracle and, somehow, I'm the asshole?"

"That is correct, Ms. Rees. Someone needs to stand up to you and force you to share your gift. You are the 1%." Rebecca's posture asserted a bizarre confidence that you generally only see in children during Halloween. Emily tried her best to resist a laugh when the social justice warrior subconsciously did the 'hands on waist' pose.

"Christ, are you entirely made of buzzwords? I'm amazed that, in this deluge of arrogance, you haven't said your name once. How can I transform you if all I see you as is a burned-out actor who is the personification of Reddit?"

"Don't you recognize the face of contemporary 'fictive feminism and narrative justice'? I'm none other than the legendary Rebecca G. Eneric! I've killed countless trolls in the past with mere mentions of their privilege! I want to be able to lead my people..." Emily cut off Rebecca again with yet another door slam.

Emily ran over to her desktop to run a quick search on the activities of her unwanted house guest. In a matter of moments Emily had everything she needed to know about Rebecca. She was apparently 'headmates' with several flavor of the month characters in addition to half of the cast from Gilligan's Island. The most recent blog mentioned her intentions to ask Emily for the power to transform others. "Not on your life.." Emily muttered to herself during the process of researching her target. A viable alternative quickly materialized in the form of Rebecca's recent post about how she is 'Elsa' trapped in the real world. "A special and unique snowflake claims to be a snow queen? How fitting." Emily opened the door again to find Rebecca still ranting. "If I turn you into Elsa, will you shut up?"

"Could you actually give me the ability to shift between Elsa, *insert Game of Thrones character here* and my fan troll?"

"No, you only get one and it is permanent."

"Fine. I get to keep my memories and skills, though. Don't think you can just mind-wipe me into your servant. Elsa and I are both tortured souls that are destined to lead the oppressed to salvation in a world that celebrates complete diversity. Every snowflake will be preserved and appreciated once I'm in my true body!"

"How long have you felt this way?"

"Frozen woke up the part of my soul that was long repressed in the evil and corrupt education system. There was one time when I was five that I held a juice box and it became cold. I must have cyrokinesis!"

"Any preferences on how the transformation happens beyond the obvious?"

"Yes! I want it to happen just like Elsa's transformation in the movie! I want it to be fierce and fabulous!"

"What the fuck do those words even mean in this context? Does she turn into a giant ice spider or something like that? I haven't seen the film."

Rebecca gasped at the prospect of someone not having seen Frozen yet. "YOU HAVEN'T HEARD LET IT GO? Have you been living under a rock for five months? It is only the biggest and most important song ever made since forever. You have to hear it!" She fidgeted with her iPhone for a few minutes for the right version of the song in a playlist of hundreds of variants. She finally decided on the all African singers version because she had to check her privilege. The song sounded incredibly tinny coming from the iPhone's frankly awful speakers. Emily caught a glance of the phone to discover it had several dozen botched cracks that attempted to replicate snowflakes. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Um.. Sure. You do know that my TV's sound bar would be far more effective if you want your transformation set to a song, right? It has a USB port for a reason."

"No! It must be through my iFrozen! Oooh! Maybe you can turn my phone into Olaf!"

"Let's address character accuracy when that time comes. We will certainly need to relocate if you truly want your transformation to be 'fabufierce' or whatever you called it. How about we meet at the City Hall Park fountain in about an hour? I need to run a bit of prep."

"Yes! That would be the way to broadcast my crowning to the world! The fountain will give me enough water to make my ice castle!" Rebecca ran off before Emily could continue talking. She simply had to invite all of her followers and friends to the transformation ceremony. Delusions flooded Rebecca's head like people into Wal-Mart on Black Friday. The whole world would be watching if her plan worked out.

Emily's bluff about the need for preparation had worked out perfectly. Social media was ablaze at the thought that she was going to perform a public transformation. National broadcasters were even sending news teams to the location in case anything actually did happen. Emily's thoughts of skipping the event gave way to the reality that Rebecca would likely post her address publicly out of spite. "I guess that my public is waiting for me to finally come out of the shadows." Emily left her apartment after a quick shower and a change into more subtle clothing. She could get dinner on her way to the fountain because, for whatever reason, Rebecca claimed that the ceremony would start at 9:00 PM. There was definitely time to kill.

"It's 8:57 PM... Where is she?" Rebecca paced impatiently in front of the fountain. She had obviously taken the time to change her outfit in preparation for the transformation. What she wore now looked like an 'Etsy original' version of the dress Elsa wore in most of the promotional material for the movie. Her hair was the awful shade of yellow that hipsters tend to favor for ironic highlights. The crowd was rather restless and some of the onlookers were already turning to leave. "She's coming, I swear!" Rebecca screamed in the direction of the camera crew from NBC. "I order you all to stay!" Just then, she could see a rustling in the crowd. "Is that her? Crowds! Push forth the entertainer for the evening!" Much to Rebecca's delight, Emily had finally arrived at the ceremony. "Ms. Rees! I'm so glad you could join us!" The sound of snapping camera phones was incessant. "Everyone! Tonight you will witness the spectacle of my transformation into your proper queen!" The crowd cheered. "It's time for us to let go of the awful forms we were born into. Transformation will be the great equalizer that will allow us to all become special!" The cheers intensified. Rebecca climbed to the top of the fountain on the backs of several beta male volunteers. "Now let us all sing my song! Emily may begin when she feels it most appropriate." The crowd began to sing "Let It Go" on cue.

The large crowd made Emily nervous for a multitude of reasons. Most people who are transformed experience a surge of power that can prompt them to act beyond their mortal limits. Shape shifting is as much about knowing one's limits as it is about pretending to be someone else. Rebecca had been pretty adamant about the 'ice castle', so it was very likely that she would act on that immediately. "Sure, I just need a bit of space to work. You do want your castle, right, 'Elsa'?"

"Of course! However, this will be a castle made for the people! They must pay witness and participate in its creation!"

"Dammit." Emily thought before sighing. "I'm ready." The four nozzles on the fountain moved on their own to allow for the arcs of their trajectories to concentrate on Rebecca in the center. The water froze almost immediately to create a seemingly impossible stream of ice that began to cover Rebecca from head to toe. Emily's job was quite easy since it was just a refinement and basic 'power assignment' instead of a full-fledged transformation. Rebecca's skin paled to a shade even lighter than the average WoW player, her hair became naturally blonde and her features became distinctly regal looking. Her body shrank to the proportions that most teenage girls dream of in their wildest dreams. Even the dress transformed from an imitation into the genuine article. Rebecca coughed several times as her voice changed to an exact duplicate of Idina Menzel's vocal cords. The final touch manifested in a chilling sensation that seemed to overtake her body. Rebecca, at least as she once was, no longer existed. The crowd's singing stopped once Elsa made her grand descent from the fountain on an ice staircase.

"Your queen has arrived!" Elsa boasted much to the delight of the crowd. There were screams for her to demonstrate her power. "What's that? You want to see the full extent of my cyrokinesis? LET IT GO!" Elsa froze the fountain behind her into a tall ice spire. "We will build a permanent monument to my ascension in due time, my people." Elsa's attention shifted back to Emily. "However, we first must punish the being that selfishly kept this power to herself the whole time." "Emily tried to move back into the crowd at the command, but found herself incapable of moving from the spot. Her feet were locked in place by a thick layer of solid ice. "How do you plead in the case of The People V. Ms. Rees, Emily?"

"Do you recall what I said earlier, Elsa? Oh, that's right! I was going to do this for you if it would shut you up." Emily's tone was a mixture of despondency and annoyance. "Do you really think ice shoes will hold me down?"

"Of course not, Emily." Elsa mocked. "Tell you what, I'm so grateful that you made me my 'true self' that I'll let you live. How would you feel about becoming my sister as penance? You just let me handle distributing your power to all of these unique snowflakes. Then we'll build a snowman together. How does that sound, Anna?" Elsa pulled off Emily's glasses and snapped them in two. "A stupid girl like you has no need with such stressors as freewill and thought."

"How about you melt in hell instead? I'd sooner die than bow to you."

"So be it, Emily. It's a shame that your talent must go to waste. Alas, this is your choice." Elsa conjured a large ice block above Emily. "I will manage without anyone else sharing my gift." The ice block crashed with a magnitude that made the surrounding earth quake.

"Did she just murder the shape shifter?" Someone in the crowd screamed. "THE WORLD IS WATCHING!" Another person in the same crowd screamed. "Call the police! There's a psychopath on the loose!" "MURDERER!" The crowd dispersed in a mixture of panic and fear at the sight of Elsa's act. She frantically ran around attempting to freeze people in place. The panic only became worse every time Elsa tried to make another person stay. "MONSTER!"

Elsa was too occupied to notice that her ice constructs were already falling apart due to her negligence. In fact, her burst of 'skill' was nothing more than transformation energy manifest before the burn off. Emily's ice prison shattered after a few minutes to reveal that Emily was still alive, albeit suffering from physical trauma.

"YOU!" Elsa screamed at Emily once she realized what had happened. "This was your plan the whole time!" She ran over to the injured shape shifter. "You huge bitch! This is all your fault!" Elsa began to kick Emily in the stomach. "I'll kill you for this! That will show them! If I can't control them through love and devotion, then it will be through fear and control!" Elsa crafted a spear from ice to shove directly into Emily's heart.

Emily started to speak weakly. "You're right... About me, I mean." Elsa stepped back for a moment to allow for the humiliating final confession. "I knew something was... off. I felt that I could just walk away and live a normal life. However, here I am talking with a glorified terrorist that wants me dead. I told myself that this was about making people's dreams come true and protecting the innocent. But I was wrong."

"So, you admit it?"

"I learned young that killing one's enemies made you feel good. Really good. My friends and family.. They helped me forget the devil inside. However, who am I kidding?" Emily slammed her fists to the ground. "I was born to kill! That whole code of honor and retirement stuff? I guess those were my attempts to keep 'her' in check when I had the power to alter lives. You... You really provided a wakeup call about what I really believe... What I really am..."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying... The Mistress is back." Several bolts of lightning hit Emily simultaneously. Elsa looked away in horror thinking that Emily's attempt at final revenge had backfired. What she saw instead was even more horrifying: Emily standing and walking towards her. "Did you really think that someone with my power would fall to a parasite like you?" The electricity coursing through Emily's body accelerating the healing process for the physical damage from the trauma. "Shape shifting is an art, Elsa." Emily's body seamlessly shifted into a form that was certainly more imposing than her usual normal self. "I used to hate it when people called me 'Lightning'." Emily's clothing shifted into an exact duplicate of a Cocoon Guardian Corp outfit. "They saw it as their quirky way of understanding me and placing me into a category." Her face changed to reflect the appearance of the character in question. "I saw it as a weakness, an insult." The vocal shift was instantaneous. "Lightning only destroys and I'll be damned if that isn't my greatest strength." A street light post that had broken in the stampede shifted into a gunblade that magnetically leapt to Lightning's right hand. "This is my normal now. My true nature."

"You've lost your mind." Elsa frantically pelted ice at Lightning in a vain attempt to stop the psychopath. "I misjudged you. I thought you could be rational, but I was wrong. You're a monster... just like me."

"Now you're just being nasty! It's time for you to ride the lightning." Elsa's sophomoric blizzard was nothing compared to the fury of the valkyrie she now faced. Lightning's punches struck Elsa's abdomen with the ferocity of a semi truck slamming into a wall. Several ribs were broken and merely breathing caused Elsa a great deal of pain. "Did that hurt?" Lightning mocked. "Let me give you a hug." True to her word, she wrapped her arms around Elsa in a cruel mockery of affection. "Time to zap to the extreme." Hundreds of volts mercilessly coursed through Elsa's body. Everything that had made her beautiful was in shambles now. The electricity scorched her hair into an abomination, her skin partially burned as well and her beloved ice dress had melted into a superconductor. Elsa could feel herself starting to die in the moments that felt like an eternity. The nerves in her body just couldn't take this continuous assault.

"Stop... Please stop..." Elsa weakly cried. "I don't want to die..."

Lightning ended the assault briefly. "Elsa, you seem to forget that you didn't even give me a chance to beg for my life. You said that we're both monsters, no? Then consider this an act of justice."

"Please... I'll do anything... You have a sister, right? I can be her... I can make you happy... I could love you..."

"I have the power to make as many friends as I want to, Elsa. The difference is that I don't need to use slaves to create them."

"I could be your slave, Lightning... I could treat you like the goddess you are... Just let me live.. I've been punished for my hubris. Please..." Elsa could barely keep her eyes open. "Stop hurting me..."

"What is it that you see in your micro-dreams, Elsa? You can tell me."

"I see a Blizzard and my castle... The raging snow means you can't hurt me. I'm safe there."

"You consider the cold to be your ally; a foolish mistake. The numbness makes you feel safe and secure in the prison of your own design. However, you don't notice that the numb feeling is your life slowly drifting away from you. Close your eyes, Elsa.. Yes. The cold you always wanted was the embrace of death."

"Don't kill me...  I'm afraid."

Lightning set Elsa down on the ground in an uncharacteristically fashion given the injuries. Lightning had one last lesson to teach the miserable girl before letting her go. "I want to teach you about the circle of life, Elsa." Lightning placed her hands on Elsa's chest as if she were about to perform CPR. "People like you cling to the snowflake as though it is the pinnacle of beauty without any vision of the larger picture. The snowflakes fall to form the snow that proceeds to provide the water for civilization to develop and thrive. What do you think happens if the snow never forms?" Enough voltage to simulate a defibrillation ran into Elsa's heart. "Civilization can't live without water." Another jolt. "Don't you see that it is all a cycle? Everyone contributes something so that the cycle can continue!" Lightning jolts Elsa again. "People like you are truly the most selfish person out there. You just want society to pander to you because of your 'originality' and unique personality. Real injustices are ignored and issues sidelined so that you can have a temper tantrum."

"What are you?" Elsa whimpered.

"Go to sleep, Elsa." Lightning placed her hands on the poor girl's head. "I'm going to make you happy in your last moments." Elsa found herself transported to the castle in her dreams with all of her friends and family. She was beautiful again and everyone loved her. There was a celebration for her return. Lightning cranked up the voltage to a mortal level when she saw Elsa smile. She died happy. The NYPD was nowhere in sight and chances were high that the residual effects from Lightning's transformation had acted as an impromptu EMP for all of the surrounding surveillance systems. Lightning stumbled upon a bag that she had dropped when she was trying to find her way through the crowd. She opened up the bag to reveal a Toblerone bar.