Black Ice

To todd fan: Hey there, todd fan! Nice to hear from you again! I'm very glad you liked the last chapter! I read the new chapter of "Slugs and Snails" and I loved it! Evil Jamie thinking he's William Wallace, and a streaking Wanda. Man, they must be going crazy from the heat! Yeah, the madness is really starting to sink in for poor Bobby. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Slugs and Snails", "Random Tales of the Magic Roundabout", and "Gifts and Curses"!

To Red Witch: Hey there, Red Witch! Nice to hear from you again! I'm very glad you liked the last chapter! Oh yeah, you can bet that it's not good. Bobby's losing it more and more all the time. Here's more for you! Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Evolution XMJ"!

To RogueFanKC: Hey there, Rogue Fan! Nice to hear from you again! I'm very glad you liked the last chapter! I'm agree with you. It's very sad to see Bobby take it this far. But, you have to look at it from Bobby's point of view. He's holding in all this anger and bitterness, and it's affecting his judgment. He doesn't want to make friends with Ace because he thinks Ace will betray him like he thinks Sam and Liz did. He's constantly trying to improve and strengthen his powers because he feels his powers are all he has. His powers like never betrayed him. As far as Bobby is concerned, as long as he has power, he has no need for friends or family. As for Lila's being techno-savvy, according to Lila, she's spent a lot of her life in space. It's understandable that she may have been exposed to a lot of alien technology, and she grew to understand it, and adapt to Earth tech. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Apokolips Deferred"!

Disclaimer: "NOOOOOOOO! WHY GOD WHY?" - Eric Cartman, SouthPark

Chapter 24: New Recruit!

Freedom Force HQ

Several weeks had passed since Virus had stolen the Nanite Generator. Despite Lila's best attempts, the crazed English mutant could not be found. The members of Freedom Force occupied themselves as best they could. They did have some minor missions to keep them occupied. But the young mutants grew bored.

"Man, where is Ace, Terrell, Shiro, and John?" Rictor asked as he walked into the living room. Lila was sitting on an armchair, typing away on her laptop.

"They're on a mission. Fontaine didn't need the whole team." Lila told the young Hispanic sonic-generating mutant. "Besides, she wanted me to stay behind and work on finding Virus." A bleep came from Lila's laptop. "Aw, man! I still can't find that little bag of puke! I tell you, whatever Virus is using to conceal himself, it's something I've never seen before.

"Man, the Thunderbolt would kill for a rematch against that pencil-neck geek Virus!" Kyle muttered as he walked into the room from the kitchen, holding a small dish that had a sandwich, and a drink. He leapt over the back of the couch, and landed on his side, not spilling one drop of his drink, and not dropping his sandwich.

"How do you do that, Kyle?" Rictor's jaw dropped. The Boston-born electrokinetic smirked at the Hispanic sonic generator.

"Wildfire Family Secret, jabroni. You want to know, marry into the Thunderbolt's family." Kyle picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

"The California Wrestling Federation is proud to present Wednesday War-Bash!" The announcer on the TV yelled. Kyle grinned widely.

"Alright!" Kyle grinned. "The main event tonight is a 4-Way Steel Cage match! Captain Bonecrusher vs. Crazy Carl vs. Major Mayhem vs. the Executioner! This is gonna rock!" Karma walked into the room.

"Has anyone seen Bobby?" The Vietnamese girl asked.

"He stomped out of here, muttering about getting some air." Kyle shrugged. "That jabroni really needs a woman."

"I'm going out to look for him." Karma said as she put on a coat. "He might be in trouble. Walking around acting like he does…"

"It shouldn't be too hard to find him. Who else around here wears a black trenchcoat and has a 'you-will-die' look on his face all the time?"

Downtown Los Angeles

Bobby Drake, dressed in jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a black trenchcoat, walked down a back alley. His head was down, and his ice blue eyes were covered by blue-tinted sunglasses. He was walking around for some fresh air. He heard a scream. The ice-maker raced to the source. He saw a thief playing tug-of-war with a woman.

"Gimme your purse, lady!" The thief snapped.

"Help me!" The woman screamed. The two heard whistling. "Huh?" Before she knew it, she saw what appeared to be an icicle flying towards her and the thief.

"Wha-? AIE!" The thief moved his head back as the icicle grazed his face. "That…th-th-that was meant to hit me!"

"The next one will if you don't back off!" Bobby Drake snarled as he walked out of the shadows in his icy form. The woman screamed, tugged away her purse, and ran off. The thief stammered as a snarling Bobby edged closer to him.

"Uhhhhuhuh! Yipe!" The thief tried to run off, but Bobby stopped him by throwing an icicle in front of him. The thief stopped and fell backwards. He screamed as an icy Bobby grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. "No! Please! I surrender!" The ice-covered teenager punched him hard in the gut several times. "AWWWWWW!" The rage-filled teen then socked the hapless thief across the mouth, and finally pitched him hard into another wall. "Please! No! Y-y-you're crazy!" Bobby snarled as he picked up a garbage can.

"You have no idea." Bobby growled. He took one mighty swipe and smashed the thief upside the head with the can, knocking him cold. Bobby dropped the can and breathed heavily. "Punk." Bobby walked out of the alley, going back into his human form. Bobby continued walking as the sounds of sirens could be heard behind him. He walked down the street some more, until he came to a park. The ice-maker saw a young couple sitting a park bench, staring at the stars together. He stopped when he was right across from them and stared forlornly. The couple noticed him.

"Is something wrong?" The man asked. Bobby sighed.

"No. I just want something." Bobby sighed. "I want the two of you to answer a couple questions." The ice-maker's face contorted into an expression of intense rage. With a roar, he grabbed the woman and threw her hard into the grass behind him. Before the man could react, Bobby socked him in the gut and the jaw, and threw him onto the ground on top of the woman. With another roar, the ice-maker blasted the couple with an ice beam, encasing them up to their heads in ice. "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?" Bobby roared at the frightened couple. "NO ONE EVER CARED ABOUT ME! NO ONE EVER LOVED ME! EVERYONE BETRAYED ME, AND YOU PARADE YOUR HAPPINESS IN MY FACE!" Tears flowed down Bobby's eyes. "WHY NOT ME? WHY CAN'T I BE HAPPY FOR ONCE?" The teary-eyed ice-maker put his hands in front of his face as he stepped back. He then yelled out into th sky and left on an ice slide.

A Cliffside

Bobby Drake sat on a cliff, staring at the city.

"It's not fair…" Bobby mumbled to himself sadly. "It's not fair…It's not fair…It's just not fair…"

"Bobby?" Bobby turned his head and saw Karma walk up to him. "Bobby, I've been looking all over for you. What happened to you? Are you alright?" Bobby's face turned back into its hard demeanor.

"I'm fine." Bobby grumbled. "I just…did some soul-searching.

Freedom Force HQ

Karma and Iceman returned to the house that served as the government-trained team. Bobby had disappeared into his room right then and there. A few minutes later, there was a knock. The Vietnamese mind-controller answered the door. She found Contessa Fontaine at the door. With her was a young girl with long black hair, no older than thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a solid green costume. She looked like she didn't want to be seen.

"We have a new recruit." Fontaine said simply. Kyle noticed the girl as he passed by. The electrokinetic's jaw dropped.

Whoa…Kyle gaped.

Next: More adventure with Freedom Force!