Hello again. I decided to bail on Rictor's story. I'm not all that sure on everything I'd need to know about his family. Thanks to those who supplied info for me.- sorry. Oh well, his story wasn't important, unlike Warpath's. Disclaimer:I've done this everytime and nothings changed. In case you missed any part you can easily find them on the web at: www.geocities.com/SoHo/6329 www.spydernet.com/lori/index www.ici.net/cust_pages/darqstar/ffindex Recap: The set up for war in Genosha. Iceman's father is in the hospital due to Creed's croonies. More babbling parts This entire story takes place immediately after Creed's death. Part XV (for real) Bobby Drake sat beside his father, clutching the warm hand beneath the bedsheets. During the past two days, his father had been slipping in and out of consciousness randomly. His condition looked much better than it had two evenings age but the drugs he was on made any prognosis hard to tell. The elder gentleman who had been in the other bed had passed away last night and Bobby was not allowed to visit while his children mourned. He prayed that the same fate would not befall his father. The news was muted on the television above the bed but nothing of interest had caused him to raise the volume. Something about killings in New York and a railroad strike. The same depressing dribble the news related too often now. Visiting hours were almost over but Bobby had been given special permission to stay at his father's bedside since he was the only patient in the room. All this waiting was driving him stir crazy. The crossword puzzle book lying on the table top had failed to hold his interest he had just returned from his twelfth boring walk around the ward. His eyes were slowly becoming heavy from the lack of sleep and boredom. He stretched and tried to stifle a yawn. Not having any desire to go for another walk to stay awake, Bobby closed his weary eyelids and was asleep in seconds. He had no idea how long he'd been sleeping or why he suddenly bolted upright in his chair. Instincts honed from years of being a member of the X-Men detected the slightest out of place noise. The handle to the room's door was slowly being opened, as if the person was trying to sneak in. If it had been the nurse, she would knocked first then entered. There weren't too many places to hide in the room and he really wasn't in the mood to hide anyway. Silently, he shuffled to the side of the door so he wouldn't be seen when it opened. A large man's head peeked through the ajar door. His hair was black and slicked back with gobs of hair gel. From the angle he was at, Bobby couldn't make out any distinguishing facial features other then the man's head was oversized. "I thought you said he would be here," the man said, stepping through the doorway. "Sandy said he was not less then five minutes ago," the second man said while entering the room. Bobby couldn't believe that they hadn't noticed him, standing just behind them. Damn they are huge, he thought. "All right who the hell are you," he demanded, slamming the door shut. Both men spun to face him with closed fists. "Are you Robert Drake," Lance challenged. As an X-Man, Bobby wasn't threatened by either of them. In the past several months, he had learned to hone his powers with deadly efficiency, much in thanks to Emma Frost. In these close quarters, especially with his father still lying unconscious on the bed, he would not be able to utilize the full extent of his ice making abilities. Unless of course they were government agents that we're not posing a threat. In which case he was over-reacting. "Yeah. That's me." That was all the response the second man need to attack. His massive weight dove straight for Bobby's midsection and could have crushed his ribcage if he hadn't managed to dive roll to the side. As he came up, his form was already hardening into ice was considering his first option to strike back. Lestor's shoulder dented the wall and he shrugged off the blow as if the wall was meerly paper. The sleeve of his tailor-made suit tore at the seem. "Damn mutie. I'm going to take this out on your hide." "Riiight," Iceman laughed and created an ice block around his arms. The added weight momentarily threw Lestor's body off balance and Iceman compensated by enlarging the ice block so that it connected Lestor's arms to his feet. "Why did you even bother," he asked the bent over, immobile man. Not wanting to hear a response, he morphed a mouthpiece over the lower half of his face. "Okay smart ass. Release my brother or I snap your fathers neck like a toothpick," Lance demanded, twisting his fathers head to the side to emphasize the threat. Bobby's eyes narrowed with hatred. There wasn't enough moisture in the air to completely freeze the man where he stood. "You win. Just step away from my father first." "I don't think so. The second I do, you will try attacking me and I'm not in the mood to deal." "Fine," Bobby answered, reverting to his normal state. The ice that had composed his body dissipated into the air, providing a weapon if necessary. "What do you want from me?" "Nothing short of your death. We know you were a mutant he discovered and wanted revenge for your father. Putting these together I deduced you had something to do with Graydon's assassination and that means it's payback time." "We will leave my father out of this quarrel, right? Your brother's life depends on your actions as well." Lance had not counted on the power this mutie possessed. He would have came better prepared or by himself. The Xavier freaks were known not employ lethal force, regardless of their situation, but something inside was telling him to be overly cautious. "Well it looks as if we have run into a stalemate. The question is, are you willing to fall back on your claim?" As a response, Bobby morphed an icicle from the block of ice encasing Lester's arms and legs, whose sharp point was a mere inch from his throat. "You do realize I could kill you where you stand and not have to move from this spot?" "Personally I don't think you have it in you, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. How about we go on a little road trip and settle this outside of the hospital? We'll bring your father along as insurance." "A deal? You come in here and threaten the lives of my father and myself and you want me to go with you and bring my father along where who know what will happen to his condition. This ends now. I'm sick of this shit." Without making any bodily motions, Bobby concentrated absorbed all the heat out the large intruders arm surrounding his father's neck. The knife blade changed from a steel blue to a drab grey and shattered. The sleeves of his suit crumbled into crystal shards. An inhuman cry of agony escaped Lance's mouth as the pain became intolerable. Before Bobby could paralyze the rest of his body, he fell to the ground, dragging the old man to the floor with him. "Dad," Bobby cried, diving across the bed to reach out for his father before he could hit the ground. His hand only brushed the frozen mans suit jacket uselessly. Lestor's arm cracked at the elbow when he landed and at the same time managed to twist his captive's head to the right. Even with frozen chips of flesh bouncing across the floor, Bobby heard a faint crack of bones. "Noooo," he cried, falling over the bed to lay beside his father. The other man was beside him violently shaking with convulsions. He could see the bone marrow and muscle tissue at the joint where the arm had broken off. His stomach flipped upside down and churned inside his abdomen. In the center of the man's broken arm, his humerus stared at him like a gross parody of an eye. Unable to contain himself, Bobby leaned over and vomited his diner on his jeans. Frantically, Bobby searched for a pulse from his father's neck but didn't even feel a trickle of blood. Tears welled and his body shook from shock. Just when he believed their relationship could begin anew, it was horrible torn from him. He wanted, desperately wanted, to lash out at everyone near him. He turned and stared at his screaming assailant desiring nothing less then his death. Xavier's words of peaceful coexistence permeated his thoughts and slowly the rage inside died down, but did not disappear entirely. Bobby stood and opened the room's window. The nurses would be in the room any second. The last thing he needed was to suspect him of murder. Leaving wasn't the best idea either but made the most sense. He could exit through the window and return in five minutes, pretending to be oblivious to the disaster. Shimmering into his ice form, Bobby hefted the screaming man and tossed the much larger man out the window. For a split second he debated about not forming an ice slide the four stories down. The only way he was going to find out any information from these men is if they were alive. The second man was heavier than the first. With help from strengthened form was he able to carry the man to the window and drop him rudely onto the slide. "I'm sorry," he said, facing his father's prone form. He slipped out the door and vaporized the ice behind him. Now what do I do with these guys, he asked himself. His car was parked clear on the other side of the hospital. Sighing he formed a makeshift snow plow and pushed the two barely struggling men along into a small crop of trees a hundred yards away. The parking lots were devoid of people so thankfully nobody had seen him. Quickly he jogged to his car and fumbled with the keys before managing to open the door. It was only until he sat behind the wheel and started the ignition that Bobby realized he had left evidence of the crime behind. The frozen arm of one of the attackers. End part XV Next: WAR! (Hopefully by the 25th of the month- see you then)