"Did you not hear me?" Maya growled. "My daughter is not broken."

The man was really pushing it. All she could see was white-hot rage, at the audacity, and the lack of any remorse or regret. She picked up the knife she had twisted out of the man's hand.

"And she's not a contagion."

She leaned forward, holding the knife so the mystic could see it.

"How is this for leverage?"

”And I agree. She is not broken. Thanks. To. Me.” Sam did her best to match the growl from Maya, which was a little difficult when taking a full breath was a challenge.

It was then that Sam realized he may have pushed his luck a little too far. Maya had picked up the knife that Sam had been holding and held it where Sam could see it. Sam bit off a retort and looked at the blade.

”That… Is good leverage.” Sam kept her eye on the blade and tried to think through her options. She needed to either get away fast. Before anyone else showed up to help Maya. That, or she needed to negotiate. Sam felt she still had a good position as she was the only one who knew how to undo the spell on the child. ”So what happens to me after I break the ch- the spell?”

>>”And I agree. She is not broken. Thanks. To. Me.”

"Watch it." Maya snarled. She did not have patience left, and she was not sure how far the man could push her before she buried that knife in something vital.

>>”That… Is good leverage. So what happens to me after I break the ch- the spell?”

"What the hell do you think?" Maya waited. She wondered what he imagined his fate would be. "You get arrested for assaulting a child. And you get a very, very public trial." She smirked. "I'm sure we can rustle up some other charges along the way. And my wife will inform the Veil. They probably have a few things to say to you as well." She scoffed. "That is... if you don't pull any more sh*t right now."

Arrested, going to trial. Bad reputation with the Veil.

”No.” Sam said firmly. ”I don’t like that deal. I help you and I go to jail? If I’m getting arrested Iris stays as she is.” Sam did her best to appear disinterested in Maya. It was difficult as the woman was planted on top of Sam. She just lay her head on the ground and closed her eyes for a moment.

”Oh! I know.” Sam opened her eyes and looked back at Maya. ”I get to walk out of here. Uninjured, of my own power, and not with a police escort and I mail you the instructions to undo the spell. Everybody wins.” Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

The hallway was empty. Perfect. Sam tensed up as he lifted his arm and tried to work out a knot he was still dealing with since the seizure which was dumb because it had a month. He was too proud to talk to Doc about it. He didn't’ need another lecture about he was rushing to an early grave.

’Crack’

”Oh thank god.” he grunted feeling the pain lessen. It was something that was a long time coming. After a moment he recovered. Another long day. The mansion was still being repaired in some spots and Sam was busy making sure security was back up and better before. Sigils included and wards included. He didn’t know exactly what they meant but he knew he trusted Becca and the other mystics that helped them all survive.

>>>Mimi has a guest and she said a bad word


”What now? Mimi has a guest and she said a bad word?” the icemancer said melting when Iris ran into and up to him. He still felt responsible, for letting the piece of garbage get away.

”Oooooo maybe we should go see why they are in a bad mood? Maybe we can cheer them up?” Sam asked pulling a small pair of mittens out of his back pocket. Something he had on him often in case Iris wanted to play with some ice sculptures. ”Here ya go kiddo.” he said scooping her and placing her on his shoulders.

“I want to throw a snow ball!” Iris said sitting atop Sam’s shoulders. ”Do you now? Well it’s a good thing I’m good at making them!” a ball of snow formed in his hand and he handed it up to the gloved hand.

“Can you do Elsa?”

”..... Just don’t tell anyone about it.” he said as ice transformed the hallway around them.

----

It didn’t take long, Iris knew the way and the chill in the air announced their arrival along with giant snow flakes cascading the walls reflecting the lights in hues of dark blue and light blue. It was the best he could do on short notice but Sam slowed and stopped singing the song when the figures came into his thermal range.

>>> “instructions to undo the spell. Everybody wins.”

When he approached he looked at his friend and their wife. The voice however seemed off for both of them. ”Not in that position.” there was a knife. ”I’m sure couples counseling could help. Is this about Afoie? She asking about me again?” Sam asked trying to figure the situation out.

The air got colder. Wondering if he had to split them up which he hoped he didn’t. They were his favorite mansion couple.

"Oh, hell no" Maya was not going to let this guy walk. If he couldn't be reasoned with to undo the spell... she'd find another way. The man didn't have the leverage he thought he did.

The air chilled around them. Sam had arrived. Maya looked up, hearing Iris giggle in the hallway.

>>”Not in that position. I’m sure couples counseling could help. Is this about Afoie? She asking about me again?”

"Don't let Iris see this!" Maya snapped. Luckily, the girl was distracted by making a snowman outside. Once the door was closed she sighed. "It's not Becca, asshole is just wearing her face. It's Travis. The guy who attacked Iris." She frowned. "Come back to finish the job."

Maya did not like Sam’s suggestion. That was fine. Negotiation took a little time and both parties had to give a little.

Unless the air temperature suddenly drops.

Shit.

Cold Steel, the mutant Sam had wanted to avoid running into, had made an appearance. It seemed he thought Sam was Becca but that would last only until Maya immediately told him that Sam was not Becca once the door was shut.

”I did not attack Iris. She is perfectly healthy and uninjured, and I came to make sure she has remained unharmed.” Sam said, to her it was truth. Just leaving out the part about wanting to reset the spell as she had seen it weakening. Now that Cold Steel was there, Sam would need to be a little more careful with what she said. Sam was certain the brute wouldn’t kill her, as they would need her to unlock the spell.

It took the icemancer far longer to realize what was going on. Maybe he was getting old? Or the fact that that one of the snow balls he just made smacked the top of his head with a loud squeal of joy. “Again!” Iris cheered as Sam turned on his foot to make sure the wall was in between them and Maya and not Becca. Iris was the main concern followed by Maya and then Bec-Travis.

Travis could change his face as well? Sam really hated magic. That's something Svetlana didn’t tell him. Did she know? …. no she would have told him especially after the guy dropped the X-man. A snowman formed pulling itself from the ice that covered the walls and reached up to Iris. It looked like Olaf, minus the carrot nose. This one had an icicle. “Play?” it asked hopping up and down getting Iris hyped up. She practically threw herself off Sam. He caught her mid dive and set her down next to the snowman. “Play?” it asked again.

Iris clapped a few times and screamed, “Yes!” and grabbed it’s frozen hand with her mittened one and the snowman guided her down the hallway.

Once she was safe Sam stepped back into the room coated in ice. He closed the door after he entered. ”if that is him, good. Saves me the trouble of having to track him back down... can’t believe someone is that dumb... or that cocky.”

While Sam took care of Iris, Maya patted down the fake Becca. She found two more knives, which she tossed aside, and two keys. Keys. She held those up.

"Sergeyeva told me you use these to change. So change. Take off my wife's face and then we can talk."

Cold Steel checked on the child before shutting the door and talking about Sam like she wasn[‘t laying there on the floor. Meanwhile Maya patted Sam down and produced what Sam had on herself. The knives were tossed away, the keys were held up and Maya demanded that Sam take off her wife’s face.

The last thing Sam wanted to do was put on her real face. If this completely worked out of Sam’s favor, she wanted to have something to use for the slightest bit of reasonable doubt.

”Fine.” Sam said and carefully took one of the keys in hand. She brought it close to her skin and then was able to slide it in as if there was a keyhole there. She twisted the key and then heer body started to change. She turned her face to the ground then twisted the key again.

The place where the key was flashed, in a way that seemed to indicate it was doing the magical equivalent of not properly having the clutch disengaging when changing gears. It did not like that Sam was not allowing it to fully return them to their normal self according to the genetic blueprint on it. Veins of red light radiated out through Sam’s body, causing a burning pain as they traveled. The changes to Sam’s body followed along with the veins, rippling from Becca to Sam’s normal body for a mere instant before settling on the final form.

The form Sam took matched two criteria. First, it was not Sam’s normal form and in no way looked like it. Second, it matched the clothing Sam was wearing so there wasn’t a problem of it falling off or biting into Sam’s body.

”There. Are you happy now.” Sam said through heavy breathing. She palmed the key and looked up to Maya with a new face. She had chosen a shorter form of a massively popular blonde singer.

The cold aura grew to encompass the rest of the room. Snowflakes appeared on the windowpane and cascaded outwards until the natural light took on a dimmer blue hue. The pair’s body heat lit up the area he could see better now. Less likely for Travis to pull a fast one on them.

Maya removed two more knives and threw them aside. Two blast of blue erupted from his hand pinning them both to the floor where they lay as an added precaution. He wasn’t getting away this time. Sam was still pissed but he was more worried about what Maya was going to do. His attention was on them as much as Travis.

The keys were next. Two of them. Sam knew about as much as Maya and Sveta however when the face changed to one of the X-man's celebrity crushes he almost gasped. There was no way Travis was the same person as... no. ”No. No, I am not. Change it again Travis.” it wasn’t a request. He wasn’t about to let this guy ruin her or her upbeat music. Something the he didn’t advertise listening to.

Sam took a few steps forward after clearing his throat. Ice already started to coat the hinges and doorknob making them shut in with no easy exits, other than mirror walking.

”Put on your normal face Travis. We know who you are and you aren’t escaping. Maya... you good?” knowing there was never an easy answer to that question.

"You are really trying my damn patience" Maya snapped as Travis took on a celebrity's face. Was this a game for him? Was he just playing for the heck of it? The thought made her grit her teeth, and from the way the room chilled, Sam was none too happy either. "Change back. Quit f*** around."

Maya stood, shaking her head, tense. She was ready to leap if the man tried anything. "I'll be better once he changes Iris back."

The literal last thing Sam was about to do was become herself in the middle of the mansion while trespassing and clearly having sought out the child they are accused of assaulting. So when Sam’s attempt to be someone who wasn’t Becca failed, she sighed.

”I am amused you assume you even know the real me. You misconstrued my motivations, you fail to see the danger you put everyone around you in as you casually use power you clearly barely control… “ Sam shook her head and once again used the key. Wincing as a shot of pain went through her.

Veins of red again radiated out across Sam’s body, a burning sensation flowing through them. Sam’s features warped as the veins traveled. A bried moment of Sam’s normal body rippled across to be replaced by a brunette woman an inch taller. The eyes were mismatched and there was a streak of white hair that fell on one side of the center part in the hair.

Sam dropped the key, panting. The key was red hot and a small keyhole burn was left where Sam had used it. The key was being drained too fast and pushed too hard. Wild magic was flowing through the spell. ”The spell is breaking down. This is the best you will get.”

>”I am amused you assume you even know the real me. You misconstrued my motivations, you fail to see the danger you put everyone around you in as you casually use power you clearly barely control… “

”I know enough. I know you built a life as Travis and now it is being destroyed. You ran into a friend of mine. He found your hideout and your notes. While I don’t understand it you bet when Becca and the other magic users we know get a hold of the notes they will have a way of getting Iris back to normal.” it was something Sam hadn’t discussed with Maya yet. Mainly because he didn’t want to give them false hope. Now however he was using it against Travis.

A bit of ice encircled Travis on the ground below him. Or them... he didn’t know who he was before Travis, just that Travis was the one who broke into the school and de-powered Iris. Meaning whatever face they put on or history they had before the attack didn’t matter. The person was on the icemancers **** list for life and that was already a pretty long list.

It wasn’t the change he wanted, but it was a better look than forever ruining the celebrity they looked like seconds ago. The red veins were troublesome. It reminded Sam of the mystic who destroyed the mansion. What they say it was... the result of wild magic? Stressing the body too far or not being able to control it?

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone sending a text to the head of security. ‘Find Iris, call Becca.’ he also gave the location they were at to lock down the hallway and rooms. Just in case the magic decided to do some damage before killing Travis.

The heat from the key was snuffed out as soon as it started to burn a hole where it landed. Another beam of blue erupted from Sam’s direction. ”It will do for now. Don’t do anything stupid now.” Sam said reluctantly before looking back to Maya who looked ready to snap at a moments notice. It was... understandable.

>>"I am amused you assume you even know the real me. You misconstrued my motivations, you fail to see the danger you put everyone around you in as you casually use power you clearly barely control… “

Maya glared at the mystic, hands balled into fists. It took every ounce of self-control not to clock them again. The key was used once more and... it didn't look like it was doing a good job. They finally got a face, a different face... and something that reminded her of the battle for the Mansion.

>>”The spell is breaking down. This is the best you will get.”

"So what was that about using powers you barely control?" Maya tilted her head, voice dripping with sarcasm.

>>”I know enough. I know you built a life as Travis and now it is being destroyed. You ran into a friend of mine. He found your hideout and your notes. While I don’t understand it you bet when Becca and the other magic users we know get a hold of the notes they will have a way of getting Iris back to normal.”

Maya glanced at Sam. Was he bluffing, or was that really the case? Magic was a whole lot more complicated than mutant powers. She didn't like the diea of experimenting with it. Especially on Iris. She turned back to Travis.

"I didn't misunderstand your motivations. You are not special. You are just another one in a long line of jerks who think they can rid the world of mutants, whether you admit it or not. It's nothing we have not seen before. Except, you are also sloppy. So. Last time I am asking. Can you undo your own spell, or are we calling in the Veil now?"