Black Ice
Disclaimer: "I'll never forget it." – Hal Jordan on remembering the Green Lantern Oath, Green Lantern: Rebirth #6
Chapter 50: Sapphire Epilogue
Freedom Force HQ, Los Angeles
Bobby Drake leaned on the railing of the balcony of Freedom Force HQ, staring out at the sea. It had been a week since he came out of the recovery area of the Helicarrier, and the ice-maker took the time to do something he had found himself doing a lot of: thinking. Only this time, his thoughts were positive. His face had a small smile.
It's good to be back. Bobby mentally smiled. The sun, the sand, the sea…Ah, a nice change from the Helicarrier. Smelled like antiseptic, and it nearly made me go crazy again. He fingered the clear band around his neck. As for the collar…well, at least it's invisible on first glance. He then remembered how his powers were reduced by the collar. I still got my ice-making and my ability to sheath myself in ice. I still can create jets of water, but I can't change into my water form as long as I have this collar. He closed his eyes. But then again, I do deserve this. I just stay out of trouble, and someday…I can get it off me…But for now, I'll just worry about today. He heard a door close, and a voice let out a slightly cat-like "OWWWWWWWWWW yeah! Whoo!" Bobby chuckled. "Ace's home." He walked back inside the house. He noticed Ace walking inside the house, happily humming some old rock tune, carrying several bags. The feral grinned.
"Hey, Bobby! How you doin', man!" Ace greeted. He held up the bags. "I got eats for the game! After all, the other guys are out risking their butts, and as long as we're here, we might as well enjoy the game they got going this afternoon." Bobby chuckled.
"Yeah, we might as well." Bobby shrugged. "Better record it so the others can see it."
"Yeah, the cable box got that digital recording thingy." Ace nodded, sitting down. He then looked over at the ice-maker. "You know man, you could've come with me. You're not under house arrest or anything. You can go places."
"Yeah, I know." Bobby shrugged. "I just wasn't really into going out today, that's all."
"Yeah. I understand." Ace nodded. "Look man, I know it sucks that you really can't go out on missions in the way the rest of us can."
"Meh, I can deal." Bobby shrugged. "Thanks for staying behind with me to keep me company."
"I wanted to." Ace smiled. "It was just some boring investigative stuff in Europe. Whoopee. I would've died of boredom." Ace drawled. "That's not for me. I like to have adventures, I like excitement, and I like meeting chicks."
"Yeah, we all know about you and your reputation with the ladies." Bobby snickered, making Ace laugh.
"Hey, you're getting a sense of humor already!" Ace laughed happily. "Oh yeah, I think you'll be just fine!" Bobby smiled.
"Yeah, thanks Ace." Bobby chuckled. "What you got in those bags?"
"About time you asked, buddy!" Ace grinned. He started to rummage through the bags. "Let's see what we got in here for eats…" He started pulling items out. "We got nachos…we got ranch chips…we got ranch dip…we got pretzels…we got popcorn…we got cheese chips…we got French onion dip…we got salsa dip…"
"Got a lot of dip." Bobby blinked.
"You can never have too much dip." Ace told the ice-maker sagely. "Now what else did I get for the game…oh yes…I got root beer…I got Coke…I got some of that lemon-lime stuff you like on occasion…I got…"
"Don't you think you have enough to eat?" Bobby blinked. Ace scrunched his face as he thought about it.
"…Meh." He finally answered.
"You know, I never got a chance to ask you a question."
"Shoot." Ace continued rummaging.
"…What kind of name is 'Ace'?" Bobby raised an eyebrow. "No offense, but that is a weird name."
"A lot of people think Ace is a nickname." Ace shrugged. "People think that my 'real name' is something like Andrew or something." (1)
"How'd you end up with the name Ace?" Bobby wondered.
"…I was born in the back of a KISS tour bus." Ace explained. "Ace Frehley himself, the Space Ace, the Celestial, helped with the delivery. In an act of gratitude, my parents gave me the name of Ace."
"Didn't people ever make fun of you because of it?" Bobby blinked.
"Buddy, I live here in LA. I was an LA boy from the day I was born. My name is normal compared to some of the people in this town." Ace started laughing. "Man, I hear about what these celebs name their kids, and I can't help but feel sorry for them and wince at the thought of the butt-kickings that will befall and the therapy they will need." (2) Ace shook his head. "I tell you what, I hate Britney Spears. But I will give her credit for one thing, she named her kid Sean. All he'll have to deal with is being her kid." Bobby chuckled.
"You sure are a crazy one, Ace." Bobby chuckled.
"Blame my crazy life, brother." Ace grinned. "Growing up the son of a former rock roadie who managed to make it big in life will do that to you."
"How? Did he become a famous musician?" Bobby wondered.
"Nope." Ace chuckled. "He discovered he had a talent for playing the stock market."
"I'm sorry I asked." Bobby opened up the bag of pretzels. He turned on the TV, and the screen showed a music video. "Hey, Ace. What is this?"
"You never saw a music video before?" Ace blinked.
"No, it's just I never saw that video before." Bobby explained, shaking his head. Ace looked at the video.
"Oh, this is one of my favorite channels." Ace grinned. "They play classic rock videos."
"I see." Bobby nodded, changing the channel. "What channel is the game on?"
"Six." Ace remembered. Bobby changed the channel to the game. "Sweet, it's starting. We came in at just the right time." The feral jumped on the couch and grabbed a bag of chips.
"…Thanks, Ace." Bobby told the feral.
"For what?" Ace blinked.
"…For staying here and spending some time with me. It hasn't been easy for me since I came back." Bobby remembered.
"Ah, don't worry about it." Ace patted Bobby's shoulder. "I know that you've been having problems with some of the other guys. It's just going to take some time. I don't mind staying behind today. Shan told me the project Freedom Force was going to be doing today would bore me anyway." The fun-loving feral shrugged. "Besides, I like spending time with my friends." Bobby smiled. Sure, he was going to have some difficulties during his time with Freedom Force, but at least he'll have some good and loyal friends to help him through the rough patches.
Downtown Bayville
The former site of the Bayville Mall was now a literal junkpile. Quite a few SHIELD Agents were there, cleaning up the place.
"God…" Contessa Fontaine said to Nick Fury as the two supervised the cleanup. "I can't believe all this destruction. And I have seen a lot."
"What I can't believe was that kid Drake pulled it off." Fury told the Italian-born agent. "He managed to take out that lunatic Virus."
"When I think about Virus, I cannot help but wonder…" Fontaine thought out loud. "What happened to him to make him into such a monster?"
"Could've been anything." Fury shrugged. "Rough early life, mental illness, side effect of his mutant power…" He looked at the dark-haired woman. "…Anything."
"And to think, Freedom Force could've had one of them as one of their own." Fontaine shook her head.
"Drake ain't a monster, Fontaine. Not like Virus." Fury looked at the wreckage. "He was just a kid that had a lot of demons, not enough strength to fight 'em, and was too afraid of being hurt to ask for help."
"It's going to be hard for the kid, Fury." Fontaine told the war veteran. "He's going to have a long road ahead for him."
"Yeah…" Fury agreed. "But something tells me…he'll be able to handle it." Meanwhile, two SHIELD Agents were removing mechanical parts from a pile of rubble and putting them into boxes for examination. Unbeknownst to them…a nearby monitor flashed to life, and the image of two neon green eyes appeared on the screen. The neon green eyes narrowed at the agents.
Hey there, folks! L1701E here! I hope you enjoyed this story! And don't you worry, folks! There is a sequel, which will start about a year after the events of todd fan's "Gifts and Curses". I hope you enjoyed reading this story, because I enjoyed writing it. Thanks again!
(1) When I first created the character of Ace "Wildstar" Starr, I intended his first name of Ace to be a nickname, and his actual first name to be Andrew. However, as I started working on the character's backstory, I thought it'd be more appropriate for him to have Ace be his actual first name.
(2) This is what I think about celebrity kids. It's like those people don't care about what'll happen to their kids in the future because of their names. Nicholas Cage named his kid Kal-El for example! After Superman! What is so bad about naming the kid 'Bob' or 'Janet'?