There were a lot of things that young Sam didn’t like about older Sam. He seemed to be a dumb drunk with a hero complex. Considering everything Sam had done so far in his life he didn’t understand why in the ten years he lived at the mansion he suddenly wanted to be a hero. That being said he understood the motives of being a vigilante at least in his mind he did.

”Funny, I’m used to hearing no from women. When that happens I usually get the hint.” Sam said as he dropped down a fire escape into a back alley. When he landed he let out a small grunt making sure to remember to cover his body in ice if he jumped from that high again. ”Seemed so much cooler in my head.” he grumbled.

It was mere chance that he happened onto this situation, he had been reading some of the logs his older self left behind and vigilante work seemed to be pretty common for him. Vigilantes didn’t often work with the law and if he decided to go a little hard and play extra rough, he had a lot of anger issues to get out. ”Once again,” Sam limped forward ice covering his legs stopping the pain. ”Lady leave, dudes… you are in for a treat.” the woman ran past the three men and then Sam tears running down her face. ”You’re so ****ed.”

All three men laughed in response one was an obvious mutant with big horns and a lower torso like a bull. The other two just started insulting him. “Hey, I heard he got younger. How much credit you think we are gonna get for beating the tar out of Cold Steel.” The other two started to laugh, “More like snowball.” Sam frowned. He was getting it from all sides.

”Well, got a couple hundred in my wallet if that sweetens the deal.” Sam lied, ”Did I beat you guys up before?” Sam asked mockingly.

The bull dude took the bait, “No but you locked my brother up.” He charged Sam and slide on some recently formed ice and smacked into a dumpster head first. ”Well… if he is dumb as you I could see it.” Sam said kicking the bull man in the ribs.

"Somebody! Please help!" A woman scrambled out of the mouth of an alleyway, but was not pursued. Zero threw a tether to a building in the opposite direction of her initial flight which put her in zero G and stopped her momentum. With her cat suit in all it's neon glory, she was in full vigilante mode with her domino mask on and her hair in a high ponytail.

The stranger caught sight of Zero and waved at her running over toward where Raine waited mid-air.

"Please! It's a mutant, an x-man. He's gonna kill my Guild of Greats team!?"

Oh? An x-man on a rampage? They weren't so blameless now, were they? Raine let her two tethers go and landed in a crouch in front of little miss 'help me.' Oof, she'd misgaged the drop and it'd been further than was comfortable. But it did look cool.

"Which x-man?" Zero rolled her wrists as she stood.

"I don't know the names. The famous one. He was, like, a pirate for a while? He does ice."

Oh. That one. Zero was sure she'd seen him in a drunken stupor surrounded by pets and taking swings at his teammates. The fact that he might get sloppy and stupid was legitimately plausible.

"Okay. I can get your friends out." If she could handle the ice man? That was a very different question. But she was going to try. Zero told the girl what to expect and where to wait. Then she threw the invisible line that told her gravity which way to go and fell toward the alleyway in question.

She caught herself with zero g just before landing, and released everything until she was walking along the third floor, trying to find an opening to the fight. She grimaced for the bullman who got a swift kick in the ribs. Yay mutant rights?

Quietly, Zero threw a tether at one of the men guffawing at the situation and pointed his gravity up higher on her building.

He made a small sound as he was yanked off his feet, but she caught him and put his gravity on the side of the building, covering his mouth and pointing for him to walk his way out. He didn't seem to like that idea, or the heights.

Fudge. One of those, huh?

After the kick Sam looked back to the other two goon. Instead he found one followed by another who quickly went up a wall. Sam didn’t quite understand the situation until the Minotaur looking mutant grabbed Sam by the foot that kicked him and gave him a hard yank. Sam dropped with a loud thud. Ice forming on his head to soften the fall. ”Don’t want to stay down?” Sam asked as he tried to break free lying on the ground. He only managed to kick the hand that was holding his leg.

“Like I said, you put my brother away. Younger brother.” Sam kicked again this time breaking free. ”I probably did it for a good reason I’m sure.” he jumped up and back dodging another grab from the minotaur. ”But feel free to argue.” it was then Sam attention of the other guy who was now by himself. The younger and more inexperienced ice mutant shifted his eyes about then had to avert them to the big guy launching a trash can at him. Sam ducked as it went where his head was a second ago.

”Close one.” he taunted as he finally spotted the frame of a woman on the wall of a building. Sam’s mind instantly assumed there were four people cornering the woman he just freed. This one seemed to be helping her friends, in a bright attention grabbing costume. Wait was she a vigilante? Was this a team up? He had to stop thinking about it as another trash can full of trash pegged him hard into a dumpster. Both of which let out a loud thud. Again grateful for ice he let out a grunt, ”I didn’t hear no bell.” he pushed himself up from both trash and dumpster his body now coated in ice.

The minotaur didn't seem to need any help in tossing the iceman's around, and so it had become more interesting when his buddy went flying off his feet. Goon #2, as Zero dubbed him in her head, saw Zero throw a tether his way. He even tried to catch it, but since there wasn't really a "thing" to catch, once his gravity was redirected his whole body fell toward Zero and Goon #1.

She was rushing things a bit because #1 looked like he was going to be sick.

Zero wanted desperately to go help the Iceman, since it looked like he wasn't having the best day... But taking her hands off the first goon made his eyes bug. "Oh no. Oh gad. Please don't." She was busy catching #2 and securing him with her last tether so Thing 1 and Thing 2 could walk away hand in hand skipping off into the sunset ne'er to be seen again.

Goon 1 threw up.

The vomit first fell toward the side of the building, toward the gravity that Raine had assigned to the man. But once it was out of him it became disconnected from her influence. She was at her max gravity manipulation. There was nothing she could do but watch as the vomit fell about halfway toward the side of the building before regular gravity took hold instead and it fell straight down into the alleyway.

"Oh gross, man. I mean. Kinda cool, but still—"
"Shyaddap! You try-! Oh. Hey, Carl."

"Could you- uh... help him? Just walk toward the ground around the side of the building. Your friend is out there. I'll—" Zero glanced back at the minotaur and cringed on the iceman's behalf. "I'd like to see what I can do for those two..."

"Hey-" Goon 2 who goon 1 had called Carl, caught her hand. "Thank you and all, but we're not... stuck like this? right?"

"I'll let you go when you're on the ground." As for Zero, she only had one tether to work with until then. So she let it go and fell from the wall of the building with a small salute. Carl, the dear, made a grab after her, but she was already intent on the fight.

As soon as she was in line with the combatants, Zero threw her tether and changed direction. She went from falling straight toward the hard pavement to a moment of zero g followed by a direction change. Zero went feet first toward ColdSteel and the bullman, her hand skating along the ground as she seemed to zoom across it.

The ice didn’t help him from being thrown around like a rag doll. What the ice did help with was protecting his body from the numerous breaks he would have suffered if he didn’t have it. Clearly he was outmatched physically, if it wasn’t for his powers Sam would have tried to kill the Minotaur or at least maim him and flee. His ice however kept himself in the game and as long as he could resupport his ice armor Sam was enjoying himself.

Dodging a blow from the horns Sam now slid down the back of the Minotaur if it was dodging strike from the guy’s hands or horns he was alright, it seemed he threw a lot faster than he moved. Sam stepped back and slid into something other than ice. He caught himself and looked at some vomit. ”Oh… Gross!” he looked up to see the two men that were on the alleyway moments before. ”Hey, get back down here so I can give them some Justice!” he yelled as he felt arm get pulled.

When he was distracted it always seemed like the best time to get grabbed. He had to figure out a way to look one way and another. He grunted as he was whipped up and down into the pile he stepped in moments before. He lay on his back looking up at the two on the building over the Minotaur’s shoulder. ”Should have stayed an assassin.” he grunted to himself as he reached his legs up and put the Minotaur into an arm bar that quickly failed when he felt himself get lifted like he was nothing. Just once he wanted to do something the older version could do without killing anyone or getting kicked in the head.

Sam felt himself fall as someone landed a kick onto the big bull guys back. If Sam wasn’t being made fun of for being so young he was being shown up by a woman. Typical, being young sucked. ”Thank you angel.” Sam said with a drop and a roll as he looked to his floating savior. The bull man staged forward and dropped to a knee.

Zero thought she heard something about assassination as she came in hot from the side. She hit the bull full on with both feet in the back. He staggered forward, but not much else as Zero realized that he was strong and she didn't weigh nearly enough to be a bother. It was enough to dislodge an iceman from the other side, though. So... not a complete loss?

Zero stood parallel to the ground, perpendicular to the bull man with her feet firmly planted against his back. He turned this way and that, but Zero's gravity was sideways. He couldn't dislodge her.

> ”Thank you angel.”

ColdSteel must have hit his head. Zero gave a small 'heh' and waggled her fingers by way of a hello to the bull who she'd mostly just annoyed at this point.

He wasn't buying it, but she was quite difficult to reach dancing on that one particular hard-to-reach spot on his back. It helped that she could jump when his hands came close, and land right back where she came from.

It didn't really help her stop him, though.

Zero checked on the bull's friends who seemed to not yet be far enough along that she could safely drop their gravity. The distraction was enough for bullman to catch Zero's ankle and try to yoink her over his shoulder.

Sam raised an eyebrow as the woman was literally dancing on the bullman’s back, was it a two-step or a jig? He smirked and willed the air to get colder as he started to focus on his armor. The icemancer managed to bulk up just as the woman was grabbed around the ankle.

The ice-mancer was on his feet already moving towards the pair, his ice armors hand reached around the wrist that was holding his dancing partner. ”No, touching the dancers.” Sam said as the woman was released. Instead of falling towards the ground she fell towards the wall as if gravity was different for her. No longer worried about his angel he used the ice armors large fist and punched the bull-man in the ribs. ”You alright?” Sam called out to the girl. She might have just saved him from getting his face crushed in but he knew he would have been fine.

The Minotaur shrugged off his punch and then returned two in quick secession causing his armor around his ribs to crack. The second punch managed to graze his actual ribs. ”So strong.” Sam gasped as he staggered back his back to a wall.

Zero was bullhandled over the shoulder of the mutant who was fighting the vigilantes. She was thrown toward the wall with force. He clearly didn't know her power, though. She would have landed hard if she'd left her gravity there, but Zero dropped her tether and started a new one that she threw at his face.

Zero went flying toward the wall, slowed, stopped, and zipped right back with both her feet driving heel first at the man's stubborn chin. If ColdSteel had not just slammed the guy in the ribs, he no doubt could have defended against the annoyance of Zero. And truly, her kick hardly threw his balance off. Yet again, she proved to have too little mass and not enough tethers to work with to increase her output.

So, that's where training came in. As the bullman dug into wrecking ColdSteel (sorry, buddy!), Zero got a good leg lock around his neck for a choke. He pummeled ColdSteel, but backed off as soon as he realized his world was swimming.

Now came the rough part. He reached up, swinging up at Zero. But she knew that if she could just hold on, keep her lock tight and consistent, he would pass out imminently. Her legs, thighs, and butt were all in reach. Thankfully the angle did not allow him to even try for her face or ribs. But he was strong. She just had to hold on...

Not only did she kick the man in the face, but also she executed a leg lock around the bullman. Sam took another hit to the ribs this time more ice formed over said ribs so they wouldn’t break. Sam gasped for air again then quickly emptied his lungs so he could fill them quicker and not start struggling to breath. ”Marry me.” Sam said in reference to woman’s choke. Clearly she was well trained.

With the bull man staggering backwards Sam saw his opportunity and pushed himself off the wall. Hands already frozen Sam willed more cold into a beam of blue that engulfed the bullman’s legs, one then the other. The ice prevented him from moving any more, though as the ice reached his knees it looked like the bullman was starting to drop. Sam continued laying ice on until it was up to his arms.

Now in popsicle mode except for where the woman was attached to him the bullman’s eyes unfocused then shut as he blocked out. Sam started to laugh and wheeze as he iced over his own ribs where he was hit. ”Spectacular choke.” Sam said as he walked closer to the frozen and unconscious Minotaur and the woman still on top of him.

”I could have taken him….” Sam said trying to puff out his chest as he approached the pair. ”But thank you for the assist.” he reached up offering to give the woman a hand down. ”You are? Other than my hero.”

Marry him? Zero was focused so the joke didn't land at first. Once it did, she glanced up at ColdSteel who was not quite what she'd been expecting, and then went right back to executing her hold. Impact would have been proud, even if the set up was sloppy. It worked.

She removed her legs from around the bullman's neck and scrambled up on top of the mutant's shoulders, fearing that the ice might climb too high and trap her too. ColdSteel was fully in control of his power, it seemed, and the ice stopped before it bothered her one bit. Finally it seemed like the fight was over. Zero breathed a sigh, coming down from the adrenaline of the situation. From her vantage point, she could no longer see the bullman's friends walking along the building wall. She hoped they'd made it to the ground safely.

> ”Spectacular choke.”

"Spectacular... not getting dead." Her compliments could use work, but this was a tricky situation, considering the circumstances. He said he could have taken him, but... well he said thank you too. So that was probably okay. Zero even allowed him to help her hop down from where she stood on the shoulders of the giant mutant.

"Zero Gravity. Zero for short. You're... not as old as last time I saw you passed out drunk in an office at the Mansion." And, as puzzling as that was, they had to wrap this scuffle up first.

"I don't think this guy would have attacked just anybody. If it wasn't you who came out here tonight, he'd probably be playing video games at home by now." Zero jabbed ColdSteel's chest with her index finger. "You've clearly got too much history to play vigilante anymore, old... uhm... Cold Steel."

She felt her tethers pop back to her, an indication that the bull man's friends had abandoned him. Zero sighed and put a hand on the bullman's shoulder. "So what's it gonna be? Are you going to call the cops on him? His friends are already long gone." Or at least far enough away that she wasn't changing their gravity any more. She realllly, reaaaaaaallllly hoped they'd remembered to walk down toward the ground as she'd instructed then before that happened.

Her comeback was great he was glad she noticed his ability to stay alive and the fact that he wasn’t drunk. ”Thanks for noticing. “ he said waving her off like he was embarrassed. His ribs hurt. He needed to stop waving. ”Steel, Cold Steel.” he gave his alias even though it wasn’t really a secret identity. The only secret was how his older self could claim it was he hardly ever tried hiding his face.

He de-aged; he needed to start telling people that when he first met them. It was starting to become a problem. Sam looked down to the index finger that was now on his chest. Raising an eyebrow, ”Not enough apparently.” he commented as he watched her walk back to the bull man studying her as moved. She seemed familiar.

”Not sure yet.” Sam said finally as he walked over to the bullman. ”The woman who was cornered by these guys probably called the cops. If she did they should be here soon if not.” Sam tapped the guy on the other shoulder. ”He got his *** kicked but I got a feeling he will reconsider before doing something like that again. If not.” Sam shrugged, ”Apparently I put his brother away so I can ask him.” Sam said nodding his head as if he had thought everything out. He didn’t.

”You look really familiar zero.” the icemancer said as was studying her face more. Sam crouched down and leaned forward trying to get a better look still giving Zero her personal space. ”I deaged… I knew you before I got to New York. Ten to twelve years ago?” Sam asked trying to recall.

Oh. Like Bond, James Bond? That joke was a little tired since she obviously already knew him. Well, she knew of him. His reputation as a womanizing drunkard, yet stand up dude seemed only half on the money. Zero was relatively sure e was sober. Relatively.

"I doubt she called the cops. She flagged me over to talk you down. This is her friend... I think." And if she called the cops, it was likely Zero and Mr. Subzero who would get in trouble. Scratch that. Just Zero was here illegally. The x-men were all fingerprinted and deputized or something. Zero sighed. She should really go...

And then there was a crouching ColdSteel in her field of vision. Zero took a step back, ready to defend herself, but there was no need.

"De-aged? Like... got younger? Wait. Before?" Ten years ago Raine was on the other side of another universe. And 12. That was impossibility heaped on top of impossibility. Maybe ColdSteel wasn't drunk. Maybe he was high. "Are you okay? Did you, like, hit your head or something? Are you hurt?" She'd candy striped for years, so while she was no medical professional, she knew a thing or two about concussions. Zero reached up to his ice encrusted face to hold him still and get a good look at his eyes. "There's no way you knew me, ColdSteel."

Apparently he was mistaken. There was no way he could have known her. When she put her hand on his cheek Sam didn’t know what to expect. Normally he’d take this as a n opportunity to lean in for a kiss, he found her attractive so he assumed she was doing this for a reason. However, he used his better judgment and didn’t.

His eyes matched hers and then he reached his hand up and started to peel back her mask. If she pulled away he would have stopped but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew her now. Especially with how close they were. The ice dropped on his face and he stared at her.

”…Holy S*** cheerleader!?!” Sam gasped and took a step back. ”It’s Sam. You saved me when I was like ten or something.” Sam said laughing then pulling the woman into a big bear hug and lifted the woman off the ground. ”I’m so glad you are okay!” he said genuinely then set her down.

”When did this start?” he looked her up and down and then gestured to everything. ”Looking hot.” Sam nodded his head. Normally he would have felt bad about hitting on cheerleader but this was a new Sam one who purposely did things different than what he would have done.

He was confused, obviously. She searched his eyes and he searched hers. Did she know him? He could have been any number of kids she'd known growing up maybe…?

She felt his fingers at the edge of her mask, and instinctively started to pull back. But she stopped. He looked… lost, somehow. This could settle it. In fact, once the mask was off and she felt the kiss of cold air around her eyes, she saw the spark of recognition light for him. He whooped in joy, but…

"I… I don't remember you at all." She was reeling as he scooped her up. No. Wait. This was the other her if it happened here. The "bad" one? Saving people? Zero scooped her mask back into place before someone saw.

"Sam," she felt weird saying his name, his real name. But he wasn't really listening anyway. He took a step back and praised her suit with so much enthusiasm and so much nostalgia. It was tempting to let him believe, but that would only get awkward later.

"Uh. Thanks. But I'm not… from here. I'm not her. Not Lori, I mean." That was surprisingly difficult news to break where usually it wasn't a big deal at all. People weren't usually excited to see her face in this universe.

"I'm the other one. From the other side. Sorry?" Zero grimaced. She hadn't wanted to spell it out her identity so clearly but he obviously had emotions about the subject and she didn't want to get wrapped up in pretending to be someone she was not.

When his name was called he listened to her still excited he finally caught back up with cheerleader. He was never sure on her name, just that he remembered her as cheerleader and their interaction was a positive one in his long bleak run of interactions. What she was telling him however was starting to sound more like a downer.

The other side. He thought of a RHCP song and was tempted to hum it. He didn’t, his shoulders slumped a little when he reached the realization she was hinting at. The rift. The second most confusing thing to happen to him since he woke up a decade younger the first was Atlantis because Atlantis.

”Well, it’s not your fault.” Sam said finally trying to force a smile. Even if it wasn’t cheerleader, Lori. The woman looked familiar and it brought a happy memory of beating a scumbag together with her. Sam debated scooping Zero up in a hug again. It wouldn’t make sense now seeing as he didn’t know her.

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Sam looked up then back to Zero. ”Need a lift?” he said pointing up. ”Thanks for helping by the way. You fight way better than cheerleader did.” he said confidently.