Title: Power Behind the Throne Part 15
Author: Ethiercn
Rating: MA
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I am making no profit.
Firestar's microwaves collided with a flock of ice arrows. Steam filled the air as hot and cold crashed together.
"You can just walk away, child" Frost offered, trying to encircle Firestar with an ice slide.
Firestar didn't reply, just burned her way thorough the slide, and used her power to force Frost back.
"What did Shaw promise you?" Frost called as she tried once last time to freeze Firestar's blood, but her charge's power protected her. "Your friends' safety? Your father's safety?" Frost sent a barrage of ice darts and ice balls in Firestar's direction. As Firestar dove under them, Frost continued, "He lied, child! Your father is dead! Dead, Angelica! Who do you think did it? Tell me, that you still believe in Shaw's word!" Frost began to lower the surrounding temperature.
Firestar appeared behind Frost. "How do you know?" she demanded. Her microwaves ripped though the ice slide. The air warmed.
Frost twisted as she fell, quickly creating an ice pole which she rode to the ground. "It wasn't an accident, Angelica. Shaw lied to you! Join me!"
"She knows," Shaw said quietly, watching his enraged daughter stare at Frost. "Because she killed him." Both women turned to look at him. "Your adopted father would be no use to me dead. He had just left the Professor Xavier when he died."
Frost began to raise a protective wall, "It was an unfortunate . . ."
The wall burst apart as Firestar closed in.
Trapped under water, Justice felt his lungs burning. He pushed out frantically with his power. Water poured out of the pool. The pressure on Justice's chest eased, and he telekinetically pushed himself out of the pool.
And into a herd of guardsmen. He could see Firestar and Frost facing off. He could see Thomas closing in on Shaw. Where in hell were the others, he thought. He raised a shield to block the bullets heading his way, and then he pushed outward, sending the guardsmen flying away.
He needed to get to Firestar.
Firestar let the power build and flow out of her. All she saw was Frost. All she wanted to see was Frost dead. None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for Frost.
She felt the air around cool for a second, but she upped the heat. She burned her way though the ice slide, the ice wall, and the countless barrages that Frost sent her way, gaining ground each second while making sure Frost would not be able to reach the pool. Her blasts came out harder each time, putting Frost on the defensive, making it close for impossible for the telepath to use her mental powers. The ice spikes on Iceman's back melted as Frost was forced to a solely defensive position.
Shaw watched as his daughter destroyed everything that Frost threw at her and felt an unexpected flush of pride. He could see water start to roll down Iceman's form, and then evaporate as it met the heat his daughter poured from her body. He smiled. Soon Emma would be dead.
"Sir," Thomas called as he ran up. The guardsman's eyes took in the fight above him.
"Get ready and shoot Iceman when there is an opening," Shaw commanded.
Thomas pulled out his gun and pointed it at Shaw's head. "I don't take my orders from you."
"Why?" Shaw asked, his mind trying to find a way out.
"Why not?" Thomas countered. "Angelica, back away, or Shaw dies and then your friends!"
Firestar paused in her assault on Frost and looked down.
Thomas smiled.
A smile that turned into a frown as the gun fell apart in his head.
"Nita's got the teams!" Justice shouted up at Firestar who turned in time to destroy an ice spear headed her way. Justice blasted Thomas off of his feet and held the weaker telekinetic to the ground the he reached out and grabbed hold of Shaw. "Neither one of you is going anywhere."
Steam surrounded the patio. Inside Iceman, Frost felt the mutant's power falter in the confrontation with her daughter. She needed a new host. She constructed a thick ice cocoon to buy time. She tried for Firestar, but the microwaves interfered. Distracted she didn't notice her student circling, but Frost felt the huge blast that destroyed the cocoon and sent her crashing helplessly to the patio.
"Kill her," Shaw hissed, ignoring Justice's glare.
Firestar looked down at Frost. Streams of water poured down Iceman's body as his ice form began to melt. She had let Frost go once and for that the bitch had killed her father.
Iceman shimmered and shifted back to human form as the heat overcame his ice.
Nana, Firestar thought as the power built up inside her again, wouldn't want her to kill an innocent. Her father wouldn't want her to kill, but Frost had killed him
"Angelica," Justice said softly.
Firestar heard the well loved voice. She raised her hands and with a scream of rage, blasted the portion of patio feet away from Frost to ash.
As steam rose from the resulting carter, Frost stirred in Iceman's body. Weakling, she sneered. If not Angelica, than someone Angelica would not, could not bring herself, to harm. Frost sent herself into Justice. She felt him struggle against her, letting go of first Shaw and then Thomas. Still, it wasn't enough to stop her.
She needed to get away, Frost thought as she settled into her new host. She could sense the approach of another telepath, that damned Jean Grey. Frost lashed out with Justice telekinesis. She pushed Shaw away and slammed Firestar to the ground.
"Go," she commanded to Thomas, who nodded and backed away.
"Justice?" Firestar moaned as she pushed herself up.
"It's not Justice," Shaw coughed making a mental note to track down and kill the fleeing Thomas. "It's Emma."
Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, Firestar rose into the air, blasting at the area around Justice, trying to keep him penned in, trying to stop from Frost from using him to leave.
Frost constructed shields. Cursing, she felt Firestar shift her power slightly as the young woman tried to disrupt Frost's telepathic power enough for Justice to regain control. Frost turned Justice's body, preparing to let go with a massive blast. Whether it was due to Firestar's power or something else entirely, she felt the young mutant fight back once more. Frost could feel his deep rooted fear of hurting Angel. She struggled for control, against a man who would gladly use his power against his own body, if it meant Firestar would not be harmed.
Firestar paused. It looked like an internal battle was happening. She hovered, pulsating, hoping that her power was weakening Frost's telepathy, hoping that Justice would be okay.
Shaw looked around. His daughter and her friend were engaged. He gestured to two approaching guardsmen and made his way to a car. He got in. Much to his surprise, his daughter had saved his life, apparently even when she hadn't needed to. Puzzling, he thought. He did not like being beholden to someone, but at least Frost's defeat would ensure his return to power in the Hellfire Club. He leaned back as Felix drove the car way the mansion, and smiled.
With a loud whoosh, Nova flew overhead and quickly deposited Thrash, Cyclops, and Jean Grey on the grounds. Thrash and Cyclops moved to deal quickly with the few remaining guardsmen. As Beast moved to Iceman, Jean Grey hurried over to the struggling Justice.
Frost wrenched control back from Justice. "Oh, no you don't," a voice said clearly. Frost felt her essence yanked away from Justice by the power of three telepaths working together, and shoved back into Iceman's exhausted body. "I don't like these things," Beast grumbled as he tagged Iceman with a power inhibiting bracelet, "But in this case, I will live with it."
"Vance!" Firestar shouted as she flew over.
Nova reached him first and helped his friend to his feet. "He's okay, Red," the Human Rocket said.
Firestar ignored him and helped support Justice, wincing slightly as his weight rested on her injured shoulder.
"I'm fine, Ang," Justice repeated. "It's over." He finished looking at Beast tending to Iceman. He moved away from Nova and held Angel. "It's over," he repeated softly.
Angel shook her head, "Frost, what are they going to do with her? She killed my father."
Jean Grey turned to them, "We're going to put her back where she belongs, after Psylocke has fried her brain. She'll be collared. She'll go to trial."
"Come on Red. Let's get you home," Nova offered.
Firestar murmured something that only Justice heard, "What home?"