Black Ice

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Chapter 43: Sapphire Fallout Part 4: Breakthrough

Bayville Mall

"Heh heh…" Vincent James, the psychotic English mutant codenamed Virus, snickered evilly to himself as he placed a device on the ground. He had snuck into the wrecked mall, and decided that it was the perfect spot to start his campaign to remake the world. The device looked like a combination of the organic steel generator and the nanite generator. "Let the end of the organic world begin…" He turned on the device. "Yes…" Virus smirked as the silver liquid that was the nanites left the device. "Yes…Remake, me soldiers. Remake the world. And I shall punish those who dare try to stop our divine mission." Virus rolled up the sleeve of his trenchcoat. He watched the skin on his arm transform from pale flesh into shiny metal a la Colossus. "Especially now since I am stronger than ever…" His steel hand morphed into some odd launcher device. He pointed it up into the air, and fired what appeared to be a swarm of metallic insects. "Go." He told the swarm. "Go infect every machine in town. Give the organics the ultimate distraction." He watched the swarm fly away.

Freedom Force HQ, Los Angeles

Ace Starr, the leonine feral mutant codenamed Wildstar, sat on the roof of Freedom Force's headquarters. Uncharacteristically of the fun-loving musician, Ace was rather down. He sat on the roof, plucking one of his guitars, a blue acoustic guitar with his name printed on the neck in fancy silver lettering. He was playing a sad-sounding tune, occasionally looking up at the night sky, staring up at the stars.

"Hey, Wildstar." A Boston-accented voice greeted. Ace turned his head to the side and he saw Kyle Wildfire, the Bostonian electrokinetic codenamed Thunderbolt, hovering next to the roof, his body covered in a yellow electrical aura. "Mind if the Thunderbolt takes a seat?"

"Yeah, sure." Ace shrugged. With a thankful nod, Kyle flew over the roof and landed in a sitting position next to Ace. The feral mutant went back to plucking his guitar. Kyle watched him for a few minutes.

"Blues, huh?"

"Just something I'm making up." Ace shrugged. "Ever since I was four, I played guitar whenever I felt down or stressed."

"…Looks like the meeting with Bobby didn't go well." Kyle deduced. "What happened?"

"Well…" Ace sighed. "Bobby wouldn't talk to me. He kept telling me I would betray and that I never intended to be his friend." Kyle blinked.

"Talk about paranoid." The Bostonian shook his head.

"Yeah." Ace shook his head sadly. "I don't get it. I was hoping Bobby would confide in me. You know, I could see that he was a lot like me at some point. You know, I could tell. He was at some point a good kid. I hoped that maybe if I could give him an ear, he could open up, and let go of what was bothering him." Kyle nodded.

"Well, the Thunderbolt's Grandpa Wildfire had a saying." Kyle remembered. "You can open a door for someone, but it's up to that someone to walk through it." He looked at Ace. "I'm sure Bobby did want you as a friend, but his anger and his bitterness probably kept telling him not to trust. And since that anger was all he had for a long time, it became his guide."

"Yeah, I guess." Ace shrugged. He looked at Kyle. "You know, I'm not mad at Bobby. I can understand him being pushed to the edge, and beyond it. You can only be so bitter and so vengeful and so angry for so long before they snap."

"A wise man once said that anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering." Kyle quoted in agreement.

"Yoda said that, didn't he?" Ace blinked. Kyle smiled.

"Wise one, Yoda is." Kyle nodded. "The Thunderbolt has to go check on Gina."

"You so dig her." Ace teased. "By the way, where's Lila?"

"Stokes." Kyle remembered as he flew down. "She's going to try and talk to him. Although, if you ask the Thunderbolt, she's doing it for a lot more than sympathy."

Stokes Maximum Security Facility

"Drake!" A guard called into the ice-maker's cell. "You got a visitor!"

"Lucky me." Bobby muttered. He looked up at the door. "You…"

"Hi, Bobby." Lila Cheney, the interstellar teleporter codenamed Starway waved.

"What do you want?" Bobby scowled.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. If you were alright." Lila answered.

"Do you like this?" Bobby growled. "Do you like seeing me like this? Huh?" He started panting heavily. "I got locked away like some animal!"

"No." Lila admitted, shaking her head. "I don't. I've been shackled before." Bobby snorted.

"Oh, I'm sure." Bobby snorted disbelievingly. "I'm sure that you do. You have no idea, Cheney." Bobby scowled. "You don't have any idea what it's like. To feel like no one cares about you. To feel like everyone turned their backs on you for no reason! I made a mistake, and I got treated like a criminal!"

"You think I don't?" Lila told the ice-maker determinedly. "You'd be surprised, Bobby."

"Oh, I'm sure." Bobby scowled.

"You don't really know me, Drake." Lila crossed her arms. "You're not the only one in the world who's ever felt alone and betrayed. Believe me, I've been betrayed. In ways that you cannot even imagine."

"I was used, Lila. I was used, and thrown away."

"So was I." Lila sat down on the floor, turning her head towards the door. "I got my back turned on by people who were supposed to love me, too."

"Yeah, right." Bobby snorted. "I don't believe you. You never were betrayed. You got your friends…your family." Lila snorted back.

"Tch. My family." Lila snorted. "I hate my family. I never want to see them ever again. You see…" Lila let out a sigh. This was going to be rough. "I never really had it easy as a child. I grew up in a tough family. The less said about them, the better. Anyway, a few years back, I first discovered my powers. Scariest day of my life. My parents…" She looked down sadly. "They looked at me like I had turned into a monster right in front of them. Not long after, a ship tracked me to Earth. The alien occupant, Spyder, offered money for me." A tear came down her face. "They sold me. They just sold me to him. Just to get rid of me. My old man looked at me with such hatred as I got dragged into the ship."

"You got sold to an alien?" Bobby's face showed disbelief. "And they say I'm insane!" Lila's face contorted in anger. She opened her mouth to snap at Bobby, but then she remembered that her story was rather unbelievable, and her temper cooled.

"…Yeah, I don't blame you." Lila nodded. "It is rather unbelievable. I can hardly believe it myself sometimes, and I lived it. I became one of Spyder's space slaves. I suffered a lot of torture and abuse thanks to him. To make a long story short, I managed to escape. However, not without a cost." Lila sighed. "I ended up a lot like you, Bobby. Hardened, bitter, untrustworthy…the only thing that kept me going was the hope I could get my revenge on my family." Lila looked up at the sky. "Soon, my hatred spread to the entire Earth. Believe it or not, when I first met Nick Fury, I was an enemy."

"What?" Bobby blinked.

"I battled SHIELD when I tried to steal electronic components to build a stargate." Lila remembered. She smirked. "I gave them quite a fight."

"What was this stargate thing for?" Bobby wondered.

"To send Earth itself to another place. I was planning to sell off all the inhabitants, just like my family did to me." Lila sighed. Bobby was thinking while Lila spoke.

This is all garbage. Bobby thought. Sold to an alien slave driver? Please. This sounds like something from an 80s comic book. He looked at Lila's face. And yet…yet…it may be all true, based on how she is acting.

"Anyway, to make another long story short, I captured Nick Fury, and he made me realize I was doing the wrong thing. In the end, I shut off the gate, and I turned myself in. I found my solace in music in the joint." Lila smiled. "In fact, I wrote quite a few songs in jail. I was allowed my freedom when Fury first formed Freedom Force, and the rest is history." Lila looked at Bobby. "So, you see? I know. I know what it's like. I understand those feelings. You heard my story…now let me hear yours." Bobby looked at Lila.

"No." Bobby answered.

"Why?" Lila asked.

"Your story is insane, and you wouldn't listen to me." Bobby grunted.

"I don't blame you for not believing my story." Lila sighed. "But I want you to understand. I have felt all those feelings you feel now. I would like to listen. Just give me a chance."

"How do I know you will?"

"You just have to trust me." Lila responded.

"No." Bobby shook his head. "I can't."

"Why?" Lila asked.

"You wouldn't listen to me, Lila! No one would!" Bobby exclaimed.

"Bobby, what makes you so sure I wouldn't listen?" Lila argued. "I can tell! You want to tell! What're you afraid of?"

"Just leave me alone!" Bobby turned his back.

"Fine!" Lila grunted, getting up. "It's obvious. You want to be a miserable jerk the rest of your life? Fine!" She started to leave.

"…Wait." Bobby called. "…Lila…Don't…don't leave." She turned around. "I'm so alone in here." Lila walked back to the cell. Bobby turned to look at her. "…You really want to know my story?" Lila nodded.

"Believe me, Bobby. I'll listen." Lila reassured. Bobby sighed.

"…Alright." Bobby sat up. Well, he sat up the best he could, being in a straitjacket and all. "As you know, before I joined Freedom Force…I used to be an X-Man." The ice-maker sighed. "I was never the most graceful X-Man, nor was I the smartest X-Man. I never was the best academically."

"Books bored you, huh?" Lila smiled. "Same here." Bobby nodded.

"Yeah." Bobby agreed. "Anyway, there was one talent where I shined. Pranks."

"Pranks?" Lila raised an eyebrow. "I never imagined you to be a prankster."

"You didn't meet me back then." Bobby nodded. "Anyway, I gained a bit of a reputation as…well…a goofball." Bobby sighed. "I was the class clown. The one who made the jokes. It was how I dealt with my problems. I for a long time was mad at my parents for dumping me in the Institute because of my powers, but I got over that." Bobby looked up. "I liked being in the X-Men. I had some good friends, although my pranks got me into trouble a lot." Bobby smiled.

"I thought you hated them." Lila blinked.

"Not really." Bobby admitted with a frown. "I, to be honest, enjoyed the X-Men…until…" He frowned darkly. "Elizabeth Guthrie joined. I had the biggest crush on her."

"She didn't feel the same way?" Lila deduced.

"I never told her." Bobby sighed. "You ever saw Elizabeth? She has the whole Hell's Angels look. The whole talk-to-me-and-I-gut-you-like-a-fish deal."

"You were scared of her." Lila deduced.

"Considering she wanted to kill her brother, Mr. Nice Guy Redneck Sam Guthrie, yeah." Bobby nodded. "Anyway, to make a long story short, she met Lucas Xavier."

"Legion."

"Yup." Bobby nodded. "Anyway, she and him found a connection, and she left the X-Men to join Nightshift." Bobby sighed. "I next met her during Nightshift's confrontation with the Hellfire Club. (2) That was when I discovered she…" He sobbed. "It wasn't fair. I loved her. What did she see in Lucas? I lost it." Tears came down Bobby's eyes. "I lost my temper. I lashed out. I froze the ground under Elizabeth, and it…it…it caused her to fall off the cliff. She made it miraculously, but…" Bobby put his knees to his sobbing face. "I had no idea. I had no clue. No clue…" He whimpered.

"No idea what?" Lila asked gently.

"She…" Bobby whimpered regretfully. "She was…she was pregnant. With Lucas's child. The fall caused her to miscarry. I murdered her child. It was my fault. My fault…"

"It wasn't your fault." Lila reassured. "You didn't know."

"When she was recovering at the Institute, her brother, my best friend…" Bobby sobbed. "He threatened to practically kill me. And Lucas nearly tried to kill me. He wouldn't listen to my side of the story. None of them would…" Bobby sniffled. "I snapped. All I could think about was…I hated them. How dare they? After all that…it wasn't my fault…what right did they have…what right…" Bobby started crying. "Lila, what have I done?" Bobby started crying, releasing tears he had held back for a very long time. Lila looked at Bobby sadly. Tears in her eyes, she put her hand on the cell door.

Next: Alliances When Virus attacks Bayville, Freedom Force is forced to make an alliance with a certain team of teenagers led by a certain telepath with a multiple-personality disorder.