It was the kind of winter evening that made even the most well-behaved New Englanders pull their collars tight against the biting cold. The town of Fabled Snowman Heights was buried under a thick, fresh layer of snow, transforming its quaint streets into a postcard-perfect winter wonderland. Lights twinkled in windows, children made snow angels, and outside the local coffee shop, teenagers huddled, trying to look cool while avoiding frostbite.

Enter Robot.

"Behold, peasants!" Robot screeched as he kicked through a perfectly formed snowman, sending its head rolling into the street like a gruesome decapitation. "I am your leader, and I have arrived!"

Zombie, shambling behind, mumbled incoherently, his chains clinking against the icy ground. He absentmindedly tried to gnaw on a branch that had snapped off a nearby tree, but quickly abandoned it, muttering “Branch… branch…” in his usual way.

The town’s teenagers—Cathy, Vanessa, Cindy, Todd Burkin, and the ever-insufferable Ben Corbin—watched from the coffee shop’s windows. The usual blend of amusement, horror, and disdain spread across their faces.

"Ugh, can you believe these two are still around?" Cathy said, rolling her eyes.

Ben Corbin, whose puffy jacket and preppy scarf screamed, "My parents are rich, and I don’t care who knows it," scoffed. "They’re just... like, so lame. Why doesn’t anyone get rid of them already?"

Vanessa smirked. "I dunno. Robot’s pretty funny sometimes. And, like, Zombie’s kind of cute in a gross way."

"I’ve seen roadkill cuter than Zombie," Cindy shot back, but her eyes betrayed her interest in the undead sidekick.

Back outside, Robot strutted toward the coffee shop, hands in his ripped jean pockets, head held high. His beanie was askew, and his flannel flapped dramatically in the wind.

"Hey, you losers in there!" he barked through the window. "I’m starting a revolution against winter! That’s right, I’m overthrowing snow. It’s tyranny, and you’re all too weak to do anything about it. I, on the other hand, will destroy winter itself. Watch me work!"

Without waiting for a response, Robot started furiously stomping on snowdrifts as if to single-handedly melt the snow with his sheer rage. Zombie, ever the follower, slowly trailed behind, trying to eat the chunks of snow Robot kicked up.

"Robot, dude," Vanessa called through the cracked window, "how exactly do you plan on, you know, ‘destroying winter?’"

Robot stopped mid-stomp and crossed his arms, pretending to think deeply. "First," he began, with great bravado, "I’ll unleash a weather machine that I have been working on—top secret—since... forever. It’ll cause... a heatwave! Yeah, a heatwave so hot that all of Fabled Snowman Heights will be nothing but a puddle of gooey melted mess. I’ll be hailed as a hero. There will be statues of me in every mall!"

Ben laughed and clapped sarcastically. "Oh yeah, sure, and then you’ll probably make everyone wear death metal shirts, too, right? Like anyone wants to be like you."

Robot puffed out his chest. "First off, death metal is an elite musical genre. Second, shut up, Ben. You're just jealous because my shirt says ‘Obituary’ and yours says... I dunno, ‘I have no taste.’"

"You want to go, freak?" Ben retorted, taking a step toward the door.

But before a face-off could happen, Zombie—moving more out of instinct than anything—grabbed a piece of the snowman Robot had destroyed and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then immediately gagged and spat it out.

"Snowman… gross…"

Robot pointed dramatically. "See? Even Zombie agrees! Winter sucks! Time to bring out the big guns."

At that, Robot pulled a remote control from his pocket, covered in stickers and wires. It looked suspiciously like it had been stolen from a broken TV set.

"Behold! The remote that will activate my heatwave generator, causing a chain reaction of melting across this entire town. Say goodbye to your snow forts and your pathetic little snowmen!"

"Do it!" Todd Burkin yelled from inside, hoping for something chaotic. He hadn’t insulted Zombie in a while, and he was getting bored.

With a press of the button, absolutely nothing happened. The townspeople stared. The teenagers stared. Even Zombie blinked, which was rare.

Robot stared at the remote in confusion, shaking it violently. "Uh, hang on. This is all part of the plan."

Cathy, ever the sarcastic one, sighed loudly. "Yeah, Robot. You sure got us now."

Just as Cathy finished her sentence, a nearby snowbank erupted in a massive explosion, sending snow, branches, and a dismembered snowman arm flying into the air. The teens gasped and ducked.

Robot immediately took credit. "HA! Did you see that?! The revolution has begun! That’s what happens when you mess with a genius! I told you all winter was doomed!"

Zombie ambled over to inspect the wreckage. "Snow... explode…?" he muttered, poking the smoking hole in the ground.

Ben, wide-eyed, scrambled to his feet. "That wasn’t you, Robot. That was… something else!"

Suddenly, from the newly formed crater emerged something that made even Robot stop mid-gloat. A towering, hulking snowman, its eyes glowing with an unnatural light and its smile crooked in a sinister way, stood up. The snowman roared, shaking its tree-branch arms in fury.

Cindy shrieked. "What in the world is that?!"

Robot’s bravado evaporated instantly. "Uh… right. I… uh… gotta go. Zombie, handle this for me!"

And just like that, Robot sprinted off, ducking behind a nearby mailbox, leaving Zombie alone to face the snow-behemoth. Zombie, as usual, seemed unfazed, merely walking up to the creature and trying to bite its head. This proved ineffective, as snow, it turns out, is not particularly appetizing to zombies.

"Snowman… cold…" Zombie mumbled as the snowman swatted him away like a rag doll.

The teenagers scrambled out of the coffee shop, some to escape, others (like Todd Burkin) to watch the impending carnage. Cathy, Vanessa, and Cindy, however, were strangely fascinated by Zombie’s calm demeanor in the face of the monstrous snowman.

"Maybe he’s braver than we thought?" Vanessa mused.

"Or just dumber," Cathy replied.

Meanwhile, behind the mailbox, Robot peeked out, his usual bravado nowhere to be found. "You got this, Z!" he whispered loudly. "Just… I dunno, eat its brain or something!"

Zombie, lying in the snow, gave Robot a slow thumbs-up, though it was unclear if he understood what was happening.