Black Ice

To Haretrigger: Hey there, Hare! Nice to hear from you! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I thought Ace sleep-talking would be good for some laughs. I don't like Britney Spears. I don't think she contributes anything original to music. Bobby is a dangerous human being, I'll give him that. He's not a nice kid anymore. Terrell eating a French dish? I like that idea! Thanks a lot! I'll see what I can do with that! Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Thesis of a Black-Winged Angel"!

To Aaron: Hey there, Aaron! Nice to hear from you again! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Will disaster occur with Lila, Rictor, and Kyle following Terrell and Ali? Maybe. Yeah, Ace is a born rocker. Rock stardom is his big dream. Yeah, Bobby will snap sometime down the line. You just have to wait and see to find out when. Enjoy the new chapter!

To Raliena: Hey there, Rae! Nice to hear from you again! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Here's what's next! Enjoy the new chapter!

To Red Witch: Hey there, Red Witch! Nice to hear from you again! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I read the new chapter of "Evolution XMJ" and I loved it! Leech is back, and why do I get the feeling we just met two members of X-Factor? Anyway, yeah, the date is going really great so far. Bobby is losing it a little more every day. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Evolution XMJ" and "Cry Havok!"

To todd fan: Hey there, todd fan! Nice to hear from you again! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Yeah, I thought Ace spitting out that line would be funny. To be honest, I just made up the line off the top of my head. A lot of my stories are very spontaneous. I'm not a very good planner. Oh yes, tf. Foreshadowing is fun. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Slugs and Snails" and "Random Tales of the Magic Roundabout"!

Disclaimer: "Oh, that's not right. That's just not right…" - Me

Chapter 17: The Date Continues!

Freedom Force HQ

"Bobby?" Shan Coy, the Freedom Force leader known as Karma, walked around the HQ, looking around for Bobby. "Bobby? Where are you? Are you alright?" She looked at Bobby's room door. She knocked on it. "Bobby?" The door opened, and Bobby walked out.

"What?" The ice-maker growled.

"We're going to go out and get pizza." Shan said. "Want to join us?" Bobby narrowed his eyes.

"No." Bobby moved to close his door, but Shan stopped him.

"Wait a minute, Bobby." Shan said. "Look, you can't stay in your room all the time. It's not healthy for you."

"I know." Bobby said darkly.

"Look, Bobby. I'm worried about you." Shan said. "I think going out for pizza would be fun. You still like pizza, right?" Bobby stared at the mind-controller, no expression on his face.

"Yes."

"Well, I think it would do you some good to get out and have some pizza with us." Shan smiled. "You might want to look like you're sane." Bobby growled. "I was kidding! Relax!"

"We can't find Lila, Rictor, Kyle, or Ace." Shiro said simply. "They disappeared." Shan groaned.

"Alright, I'll call Lila up." Shan pulled out her cell-phone. "Maybe I can reach Lila on her cell phone."

The French Restaurant

Terrell Mason, the mutant speedster and air-controller codenamed Velocity, snacked down on a French dish. Ali blinked at the speedster.

"My, my. You must really like that particular dish."

"You bet! It's great!" Terrell grinned. Meanwhile, Lila, Rictor, and Kyle were continuing to watch the date. The three young mutants were snickering.

"The Thunderbolt's no expert on French food, but the Thunderbolt can't help but wonder if ol' Velocity has a clue of what he's eating." Kyle snickered. A ringing was heard.

"Oh, man!" Lila grumbled, pulling out her cell phone from her back pocket. "Yeah?"

"Lila? That you?" Shan's voice said on the other end.

Uh oh! Lila's eyes widened. The interstellar teleporter quickly tried to make up something.

"Who is it?" Kyle whispered, but he got quickly shushed by Lila.

"Uh…Hi, Shan. What's up?" Lila grinned.

"Hey there Lila. Where are you and the boys?" Shan asked. Lila gulped.

"Uh, us? Well, we're just…hanging out by the pizza place." Lila grinned, trying to hide her nervousness. Yeah, that's it. Meanwhile, Terrell and Alison were enjoying their food.

"This stuff is so yummy!" Terrell grinned. "What's it called?"

"Frog's legs." Ali replied. "You've been eating frog's legs." Terrell suddenly stopped eating.

"Frog's legs?" Terrell blinked. "You mean, frog's legs, as in…the legs of a frog?"

"Mm-hmm." Ali nodded. "They're a big delicacy in France."

"GAH!" Terrell quickly spit out his food, waved his hands, and guzzled down his whole glass of water. "Oh God! Yech! What're these Frenchies thinking, and what's so funny?" Ali laughed.

"You're a regular Eddie Murphy." Ali grinned.

"Quiet!" Lila snapped at a snickering Kyle and Rictor.

"What a stupid jabroni." Kyle snickered.

"I think that Terrell is one of those people who will enjoy a food just as long as no one tells him what it is." Rictor snickered.

"We'll see you guys there." Lila said on her phone. She then quickly closed it. "Boys, we gotta go."

"But the show's getting good." Rictor whined.

"I know, but Shan and the others are going out for pizza, and they expect us to be there waiting for them." Lila explained. "And if they find out what we're doing here, we're going to be in big trouble! Come on!"

The parking lot

"Zzzzzzz…hee hee hee hee…" Ace snoozed happily. "Zzzzz…Taste my metal-loving claws, you non-melodic freaks…" Ace snickered. "Zzzzzz…" With speed rivaling that of Quicksilver, Lila, Rictor and Kyle leapt into Ace's car, jolting the leonine feral awake. "What huh?"

"Ace, get us down to that pizza parlor we like!"

"What, why?" Ace blinked.

"The rest of Freedom Force is going to have pizza while Terrell is out on his date! They think we're down there, waiting for them!" Lila exclaimed.

"What?" Ace blinked, still trying to process what was going on.

"Just get us down to the pizza place, and quick!" Lila groaned.

"Man, and I was having such a nice dream…" Ace moaned as he started his car.

"If you weren't so paranoid about people driving your car, then you wouldn't be here, Ace." Lila sighed.

"Hey, I'm a guy." Ace snickered as he started his car. "Guys love their cars. Guys and cars go together like peanut butter and jelly."

The pizza place, sometime later

"Well, this is most enjoyable." Contessa Fontaine smiled. She was having a salad, while the young mutants of Freedom Force were taking advantage of the buffet.

"How can you eat that, Sushi?" Kyle grimaced at Shiro's pizza. It had anchovies, tiny fish. "Anchovies are terrible!"

"Seafood is a big part of the Japanese diet." Shiro explained simply. "I enjoy fish." Lila noticed something. Bobby was sitting by himself in a corner table, eating his pizza.

"Is something wrong, Lila?" Fontaine asked.

"Yeah, Contessa." Lila nodded. "Bobby's sitting by himself. He shouldn't be sitting alone. It's boring."

"Well, why don't you sit with him then? He looks like he could use someone to talk to." Fontaine smiled. Lila nodded. She grabbed her plate and went over to Bobby's table. The ice-maker looked up at her.

"What do you want?" He grumbled.

"Is this seat taken?" Lila asked. Bobby grunted.

"Yes."

"Thanks." Lila sat down across from him. Bobby narrowed his eyes.

"I said this seat was taken." Bobby growled.

"I thought you would like someone to sit with you, that's all. You're always by yourself."

"I like being by myself." Bobby tore into his pizza. "We all have things we like."

"Yeah, but it's not good being alone all the time. We all need some human contact." Lila responded.

"What do you want?" Bobby asked suspiciously.

"I just want to talk to you."

"About my bad attitude?" Bobby sneered.

"No." Lila shook her head. "I just want to know why you're so…dark."

"Didn't you try this at the club?" Bobby remembered.

"I just thought you'd like someone to get to know you, that's all." Lila said. "And Shiro's not a conversational type. I think it's kind of sad that you don't like to hang around and have fun with the others."

"The last time I was on a team, I was considered a joke." Bobby replied. "So you can understand why I am not a fan of interacting with teammates."

"If you don't like being part of team so much, why did you join Freedom Force, then?" Lila asked.

"That's none of your business." Bobby said.

"Oh, come on." Lila wasn't going to give up now. "I'm curious. Why did you join Freedom Force?"

"You really want to know?" Bobby asked. Lila nodded. "I guess there's no harm in telling you. I joined because I figured as long as Shiro, Kyle, and John rescued me, I'll stick around. Besides, after four months of wandering in Canada, it becomes monotonous."

"You stuck around because you felt indebted to the boys?" Lila blinked. Bobby scoffed.

"No." Bobby scoffed. "I could care less."

"That's kind of ungrateful of you, isn't it?" Lila said.

"I don't care." Bobby told the teleporter.

"But the Wendigo could've have killed you." Lila told the ice-maker.

"I doubt it." Bobby smirked. The Wendigo killing me? That's a laugh!

Next: Movie Night!