Black Ice
To Aaron: Hey there, Aaron! Nice to hear from you again! I'm very glad you liked the last chapter! Who knows what is going on in Bobby's head right now? I think that as far as he's concerned, the Brotherhood is a practice run. He's going after one of his real targets now! Yeah. I don't see Elizabeth as someone who is as truly heartless as she acts. She joined Nightshift so she wouldn't be in the shadow of Cannonball. Her tough-girl front is a front. She's tough, but she also has a heart. She's a Guthrie. Yeah, Bobby's actions here impact for a long time. It plays a big part in the "Sidney-verse". Ramifications are still felt in "Gifts and Curses": Bobby's haunted by it, Lucas hates his guts, and some of the X-Men still hold it against him. Enjoy the new chapter!
To todd fan: Hey there, todd fan! Nice to hear from you again! I'm very glad you liked the last chapter! Oh yeah, Nightshift didn't expect Bobby to pull something like this. And you'll see why Lucas hates his guts here. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Mutants Make Good Cowboys", 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, it's going to get extremely wild. Enjoy the new chapter! 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 read the last chapter of "Truth, Justice, and the Last Cup of BA's Coffee", and I loved it! Looks like our heroes are in major dire straits. I had to mention Rosemary. She's in the B-Hood, and she's Fred's girl in the Sidney-verse. Well, Bobby's sanity is kaput right now. I think as far as he's concerned, everyone betrayed him. No one is innocent in his eyes. Oh yeah, Bobby's found Lucas and Lizzie, and he's going to battle Nightshift. It's going to be brutal. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Truth, Justice, and the Last Cup of BA's Coffee"!
Disclaimer: "The loss you feel, the pain you're holding on to, they're dangerous things. They can ruin you…if you don't let them go." - Jessica Jordan to her son Hal, Green Lantern #48
Chapter 36: Sapphire Twilight Part 7: Rescue
The Xavier Institute
Sam Guthrie moaned as he came to. He saw an unfamiliar face. A face of what appeared to be a girl of Asian descent.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked concernedly.
"Who…who are you?" Sam muttered.
"I am called Karma. I'm from Freedom Force." The girl explained.
"Who?" Sam mumbled.
"We're friends." Karma explained. While Karma was tending to the wounded Southerner, the rest of Freedom Force were trying to break the ice that covered the Institute.
"We have to hurry!" Lila yelled as she blasted the ice with her laser crossbow. "Who knows how long they have!"
"Yeah, yeah!" John grunted and groused as he punched away at the wall. "Geez, how thick is this ice?"
"Thick enough!" Kyle exclaimed. He had used his powers to create several drills from electrical power. The drills were boring into the ice. "The Thunderbolt's not normally pessimistic, but the Thunderbolt seriously doubts that we can get these X-People out before they drown!" Meanwhile, Terrell, armed with a pair of brass knuckles, was hitting the ice with super speed, in an effort to power his way through. Sunfire was using his solar flame to try and blast his way through. Ace was using his claw lasers to try and cut a hole in the ice, and Rictor was using sonic waves to try and shatter the ice. Standing off to the side was a very pale-faced, and horrified Gina.
Mio Dio…Gina thought, horrified. What has Bobby done? All this, because he was hurt. All of this. Did he have to do this? Gina looked on as the other members of Freedom Force used their powers to try and free Bobby.
"Wait!" Fontaine yelled. "All of you! Concentrate your powers on one spot!" Fontaine ordered.
The Bayville Mall
The outside of the mall was encased in a very thick layer of ice, with only a few small holes on the top. The people inside were terrified.
"NO ONE ESCAPES!" Bobby roared angrily. He was in his ice form, standing stop a mound of ice. A blizzard had erupted inside the mall. Civilians trapped inside screamed and desperately tried to find places to hide and keep warm. "I WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL I MAKE EVERYONE PAY FOR BETRAYING ME!" A certain teenage Irish redhead flew by.
"Hey, maybe this'll shut ye up!" Theresa Rourke, the Nightshift member called Siryn, let loose with her sonic scream. Bobby screamed in pain, covering his ears. Kyle Dibney, the feral Nightshift member called Wild Child, leapt on the ice-maker, slashing at the psychotic mutant's icy body. Bobby roared in rage. He grabbed Wild Child, and tossed the Canadian feral into Siryn, causing them to fall to the ground. Bobby turned around, and faced Lucas Xavier himself. Elizabeth was behind him, holding on to Sammy Pare protectively.
"YOU!" Bobby snarled angrily. Lucas scowled.
"Ye want me, ye bloody ice cube?" Lucas scowled. "Come and get me!" Lucas's face formed a smirk. A wall of fire formed in front of Bobby. "What's the matter, ice cube? Afraid of a little flame?"
"Fire." Bobby snorted. "You make me laugh, Lucas." Much to Lucas's shock and horror, Bobby turned into his water form. He stepped through the flame. Hissing noises could be heard where his watery body touched the flame, accompanied by steam. "Fire doesn't scare me anymore, Lucas. Fire is nothing to me! You can't hurt me anymore!" Bobby roared. He blasted Lucas with a jet of supercooled water, which sent the telepath into the far wall of the clothing store, freezing him to the wall. Bobby snarled at Elizabeth, madness and rage in his watery eyes. "NOW IT'S YOUR TURN, YOU TRAMP!" Bobby stretched his watery arm, clocking Liz in the face with an ice-hard fist, knocking her off her feet.
"LIZZIE!" Sammy screamed. Lizzie coughed as she got up.
"Sammy! Run! Get out of here!" Lizzie ordered. Sammy immediately did what the blonde girl ordered.
"Why?" Bobby asked Elizabeth, tears in his eyes. Those tears became more evident as he transformed back into his human form. "Why did you do it to me? Why'd you lead me on?"
"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember?" Bobby exclaimed back indignantly. "When you were living at the Institute. When I first saw you…" A tear fell down Bobby's cheek. "I loved you. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen." Lizzie's jaw dropped.
"Oh, mah God." Lizzie mumbled.
"I was too afraid to tell you." Bobby admitted, the blizzard calming slightly. "You had that whole 'tough-girl' thing. And when I saw that you were with Lucas during that whole battle with the Hellfire Club…" Bobby struggled not to start bursting out into a crying fit right there. "…I…I lost it." Lizzie remembered that well. Bobby had frozen the ground she stood on, causing her to slip to a cliff. It crumbled under her, causing her to fall down a Cliffside. Tragically, it caused her to miscarry a child she had no idea she was carrying. The tragedy hurt her deeply.
"Ah remember that." Lizzie nodded. "Ah lost mah first child thanks to you."
"It wasn't my fault!" Bobby objected. "I didn't mean to! I didn't know!"
"Ah know." Lizzie answered quietly.
"Why'd you do it?" Bobby snarled.
"Why'd Ah do what?" Lizzie blinked.
"WHY'D YOU LIE TO ME?" Bobby screamed. "I LOVED YOU! YOU LED ME ON, THEN TURNED ON ME FOR LUCAS! WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY" The blizzard kicked up some more. Lizzie looked at the ice-maker.
Oh, mah God. Lizzie couldn't believe the transformation Bobby underwent. What happened to him? How could he have changed so much. He's talking crazy! "Bobby…what happened to you?"
"You ruined my life!" Bobby yelled. "Thanks to you, your brother turned on me! He wouldn't listen to me! No one would!" The blizzard started to get stronger. "I'm gonna make you PAY! WITH YOUR LIFE!"
"Bobby…" Lizzie begged as she struggled to stand in the blizzard. Ah can't use mah powers here! If Ah do, Ah could end up hurting somebody! "Don't do this…Please…"
"Why shouldn't I?" Bobby snarled demonically, ice blue eyes gleaming with malice and an evil glow. "You did this to me, you harlot! You took my heart, and you stepped on it! You never cared about anyone but yourself!" Elizabeth was agape. She couldn't believe it. Here was a man whose heart she had unintentionally broken, and it had driven him to madness.
"Bobby…" Lizzie stammered. "Ah…Ah…Ah never intended to lead you on." She tried to calm the insane enraged ice-maker. "If Ah did, Ah'm sorry. Ah know why you're doing this. Ah understand." She looked up at him. At his eyes. The ice blue eyes that showed intense anger, but also hid away a great amount of pain. "Ah just want you to know, Ah''m not mad at you. Ah know you didn't intend to hurt anyone. Ah am not angry at you for causing my miscarriage. If Ah didn't know, then you couldn't have. Please, Bobby. Just stop this. Stop before someone gets killed. Killing Lucas won't make me love you. And it won't heal your pain, either. It'll just make it worse." Lizzie begged. "Ah don't hate you, Bobby. Ah just want to help you." Bobby laughed at that.
"Help me?" Bobby laughed. "HELP ME? You took my dignity, and you want to help me! You made me look heartless! You made me look like a murderous fool, and you want to HELP ME? I lost my friends because of you! I lost a family because of you!" Tears started to come down Bobby's eyes. "You don't care in the least! You really make me sick! I'M THE VICTIM HERE!" The blizzard grew in intensity with Bobby's rage. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR PRECIOUS LUCAS DID TO ME? HE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Lizzie's face betrayed confusion. "Don't look at me like you don't know! While you were recovering in the Institute! You had your precious boyfriend ATTACK ME! He nearly crushed me like an egg! He called me a murderer!" Lizzie's eyes widened, and she gaped in shock.
He may be talkin' crazy, but Ah don't think he was lying about that last part. Lizzie realized. If it's true…Oh mah God…What'd Ah do? Ah was so intent on distancing mahself from the rest of mah family that…Oh God, What'd Ah do? This is mah fault! A couple tears started coming down her eyes. "Bobby…is that true?"
"Yeah. It is." Bobby scowled. "You sent him out to attack me for revenge. It didn't work. I'm still here. I've played that memory in my head over and over non-stop. Every minute of every day, for months, I've relived that pain. And it was all because of you." Bobby pointed a glowing hand at Elizabeth, making the blonde shudder.
"No…"
"You want to help me? YOU CAN HELP ME BY GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE, YOU HEARTLESS, SELFISH TEMPTRESS! YOU CAN HELP ME BY DYING!" Bobby sent several sharp icicles speeding towards a frightened Lizzie. Before they can reach her, they got vaporized by bursts of plasma.
"Leave her alone!" Alex Summers, the blond Hawaiian plasma blaster called Havok, yelled out. With him, floating in the air surrounded by metal deck chairs, was Lorna Dane, aka the green-haired magnetism-manipulating mutant called Polaris. Bobby snarled and turned his head.
"HAVE A DRINK!" Bobby yelled out, firing two huge jets of water from his hands at the two mutants.
Next: Sapphire Twilight 8: Clash Bobby vs. Lucas at last! One wants to protect his little family, the other wants to destroy them. When these two mutants of titanic powers finally clash, who will be the victor?