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'm glad I impressed you. I wanted to make sure it was worthy of being a Chronicle. Oh yeah, Bobby has a lot of hatred issues with a lot of people. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "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! I'm glad you liked the fight scene. I never thought I was that good with those kinds of scenes. Enjoy the new chapter, and I can hardly wait for new chapters of "Evolution XMJ"!
To Aaron: Hey there, Aaron! Nice to hear from you again! I'm very glad you like the last chapter! Uh-huh. Bobby's rage and desire to get his hands on Lucas and Elizabeth was the only thing that would keep him going. He's been wanting to make them pay for their imagined slights against him for so long, it's consumed him. He's finally got his hands on them, and he's not going to let anyone take that away from him. This event changes a lot of people. Enjoy the new chapter!
Disclaimer: "BART, NO!" - Marge Simpson, the Simpsons
Chapter 38: Sapphire Twilight Part 9: Ruin
The Xavier Institute, sometime earlier
Contessa Fontaine watched a group of SHIELD agents run around the wrecked Institute, helping and tending to the wounded mutants that comprised the X-Men. Most of them were unconscious. She leaned down next to the unconscious Jamie Madrox. She ran a hand through the young mutant's brown hair.
So young… She thought. He's no older than Thunderbolt. She noticed that Nick Fury himself was at the scene. And he was talking to an old friend, a certain feral X-Man whose healing factor allowed him to recover quickly.
"Well Nick…" Logan looked at his old friend. "Looks like the X-Men, Brotherhood, Nightshift, and Acolytes aren't the only mutants running around anymore."
"Yeah." Nick nodded. "You can probably guess why they wanted Freedom Force."
"Let me guess, PR?" Logan nodded.
"You got it." Nick nodded. "They believe that people will accept the mutant community better if they meet mutants sponsored by the government."
"Ah yes, mutants that work for the government will be less likely to follow their X-Genes and try to kill everyone." Logan muttered. Nick grunted.
"Believe me, Logan. I think it's kind of crazy, too. Luckily, we got a good bunch of kids."
"Except Popsicle." Logan growled. "How could you have let him into the ranks…without telling me."
"He didn't want the X-Men to know, Logan." Fury answered. "What do you do to him?" His voice contained plenty of mirth. Fury knew Logan was good man. "The way he spoke about you in particular…well, let's just say the language he used would make you blush." Logan blinked.
"What happened to him?" Logan wondered. Nick sighed and shook his head.
"I should've seen it coming." The eyepatch-wearing spy muttered. "God, I should've seen the kid's snapping coming."
"Obviously." Logan snorted. "I guess Freedom Force wasn't ready for the Popsicle."
"He hated being called that." Nick Fury remembered. "I don't blame him. Ice Demon is more appropriate for him." Logan noticed Karma helping Sunfire thaw out a frozen Jean. "Nice to see the kid's doing alright." Fury let out a small smile at her.
"Yeah. Shan's a tough girl. Tried to break through to the Iceman. She wasn't able to though. Kid was so intent on shutting himself away…" He sighed. "I should've seen it coming, Logan."
"You never were that good with kids." Logan smirked. Meanwhile, in the woods, Gina Tolensky was sitting with her back to a tree. She didn't want the X-Men to see her. She didn't want Jamie to see her, not the way she was.
"Hey." The Italian-American girl looked up at the source of the voice. She noticed Kyle standing there.
"Uh…h-hey." Gina blinked. Kyle looked in the direction of the Institute.
"Something, huh? Who would've thought ol' Vader could have all that power?"
"It's horrible." Gina said. "To have all that power."
"I don't think so." Kyle disagreed. "It's not the power, it's the person who has it." Gina looked up at the Bostonian eletrokinetic.
"How?" She asked sadly. "How could Bobby use his power to do all that destruction?"
"Weren't you planning to do that too?" Kyle remembered.
"It's different in my case." Gina groused.
"No, it ain't." Kyle shook his head.
"Yes, it is." Gina countered. "The X-Men didn't do anything to Bobby, and he tried to kill them out of revenge. The Hellfire Club made me a mindless zombie, and their deaths will be deserved." Kyle snorted.
"The Thunderbolt's heard of the Hellfire Club." Kyle crossed his arms. "You're right about one thing, babe: They're scumbag jabronis." The Bostonian snorted. "But it would still be wrong."
"You don't understand…" Gina sighed.
"Oh, the Thunderbolt does understand." Kyle snorted. "They're scum. They're bottom of the barrel. You do this whole revenge kick, you'll be no better than them. Do you really want to be scum like them?" Gina thought about it.
"But they…" She protested weakly.
"Of course they did!" Kyle groaned. "They're scum! It's what they do! They do it because they cannot do any freakin' better! Do you wanna be like them? Look what Vader just did! The Thunderbolt highly doubts all those X-Men did things to hurt him, but he tried to kill them all." Kyle sighed and sat down next to the plant manipulator. "Look, the Hellfire Club, they'll get what's coming to them. They got a lot more enemies, you know, like that psycho killer with the skull on his chest. They'll get theirs one day." Kyle reassured. "Don't worry about it. The best way to stick it to 'em is to turn your life around."
Bayville Mall, present time
"I knew it." Bobby snarled. "I knew it was only a matter of time." Bobby Drake, the insane young mutant known as Iceman, scowled at his former Freedom Force teammates. They were standing in positions that were indicating they were willing to fight, but they did not wish to.
"Bobby!" Karma called. "We don't want to have to fight you."
"Really?" Bobby snarled. "I don't believe you."
"Let 'em go, Bobby." John warned with a scowl.
"No." The ice-maker drawled angrily. "You will not deny me of my rightful wrath! None of you will!" Kyle's body started to crackle with electricity.
"Hey Vader!" Kyle called up at the mad Bobby. "You know water conducts electricity, right? Don't make the Thunderbolt have to use it on you." Bobby laughed.
"You think I'm afraid of a little sparkplug like you?" Bobby cackled madly. "I don't think so. I don't fear ANYTHING!"
"I say we take him down!" John growled.
"No!" Lila snapped. She turned to Bobby. "Bobby, stop this."
"No." Bobby shook his head. "I'm not going to let you lie to me! I'm not going to be betrayed again! Never!" He screamed in rage. "NEVER!" The blizzard around him kicked up with his anger, spreading the screaming Freedom Force everywhere.
"BOBBY!" Lila screamed as she hung on to a roof support. "STOP! PLEASE!"
"I'm not gonna let you use me again!" Bobby snarled up at Lila. "That was your plan, wasn't it?" He pointed around at the recovering mutant team. "That was all your plan, wasn't it? All of you. None of you cared about me. You all were planning to use me, to lead me on, and then turn on me and betray me and throw me away, right? Is that it? Huh?" He turned to a still struggling Lucas and Liz. He froze their watery bonds into tough thick ice. "I'll deal with you all later."
"No…" Naturally, because of his healing factor, Ace was the first to his feet. Bobby quickly turned and saw the feral.
"Well, Ace…" Bobby scowled. "I want the truth."
"What truth?" Ace growled.
"What do you think?" Bobby growled. "You never wanted to befriend me, did you? You never intended to befriend me, did you? You only pretended to be my friend."
"What're you talking about?" Ace blinked. "Hey man, I don't turn my back on those that I care about. I figured you needed a friend, Bobby. Look, you can believe me or not. But let me tell you something, Bobby. Ace Starr never betrays his friends. And I consider you a friend." Bobby shook his head.
"Oh, Ace, that is so sweet." Bobby laughed. "Unfortunately, I've been burned by a lot of people in my life, so you can forgive me if I don't take your word for it." With a yell, he quickly turned into his ice form and fired an ice beam at Ace, which the feral barely managed to dodge in time. "You think I'd ever trust you? I TRUST NO ONE! EVERYONE BETRAYS ME! I'M NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!" Just before Bobby could whip up something devastating, John took a shot at him. With an Apache war cry, the powerful Native American mutant codenamed Thunderbird wailed into the crazed mutant. He nailed Bobby across the jaw, sending the screaming young insane ice-maker flying toward a wall. He hit the wall, changing into his watery state. He lunged towards John in the form of a waterspout, but a tornado appeared out of nowhere, catching the water and spinning it around. The seed was increased by Terrell zipping around and around at the bottom of the tornado.
"Didn't want to have to do this, man!" Terrell exclaimed as he zipped under the tornado. He then commanded the wind to slam him into the ground. With a THOOM, the tornado Terrell created with a combination of his super speed and wind-controlling powers lifted the blob of water that was Bobby and slammed him into the ground. The blizzard faded.
"That was easy." John blinked. The members of Freedom Force gathered around the crater that was created. They looked down. The smoke cleared, revealing the water reforming into a knocked-out Bobby.
"Is he dead?" Rictor wondered. Lila put her hands in front of her mouth. Gina stared sadly at the fallen former X-Man.
God, is this worth it? Is this all revenge brings? Gina looked at Shiro. His mask didn't reveal much of his face, but his bowing head indicated some form of sadness. Bobby suddenly opened his eyes, revealing their blue glow, and his face quickly showed that he was royally ticked off. With a scream, the blizzard kicked up, throwing the shocked Freedom Force back a bit.
"YOU THINK YOU ALL CAN STOP ME?" Bobby roared angrily, floating out of the crater on a waterspout.
"Bobby!" Lila called to the ice-maker. "Please! Don't do this!"
"WHY SHOULDN'T I?" Bobby howled. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, LILA! YOU DON'T KNOW! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE NO ONE CARE ABOUT YOU! TO HAVE EVERYONE YOU EVER LOVE JUST SIMPLY TURN THEIR BACKS ON YOU!"
"I do, Bobby." Lila sighed sadly. "I know what that's like. I know what it's like to be that angry and that lonely. I really do."
"You lie…" Bobby snarled. "I'm not falling for it! How stupid do you think I am? Everyone thinks I'm stupid!"
…I don't. Lila sighed mentally.
"Bobby, listen to her!" Shiro piped up. "She's trying to help you!"
"Shut up!" Bobby snapped. "I will not be lied to or used ever again! I'm tired of it! My name is Robert Francis Drake. I am a man who has been SCREWED by EVERYONE! I WILL NOT BE TREATED LIKE A CLOWN AGAIN!" Sonic waves erupted behind Bobby, causing the mad ice-maker to scream and cover his ears.
"I'm sorry, man." Rictor apologized as he fired his sonic waves at Bobby. Gina and Kyle activated their powers, causing vines to erupt from the ground and electricity to flow from Kyle's fingers. The electricity formed restraints around Bobby, and the vines helped hold him in place.
"You'll thank the Thunderbolt for this later, jabroni. Trust him." Kyle grunted. Gina only sighed. Bobby screamed and struggled.
"I'm sorry, Bobby. I didn't want to have to do this…" Karma sighed. She looked into Bobby's eyes, and her eyes glowed.
Next: Sapphire Twilight Part 10: Shattered Ice Freedom Force get into the fight of their lives with the insane Iceman.