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There was a several reflections of light as Sam slowed his next punch. Shards. No... No... No! No!”NO!” his punch slowed as it was encased by his friend. Someone who didn’t understand the situation. Someone who right now was getting in the way. ”NO!” the shards danced around the icemancer quickly forming a cage around him. ”Shin! SHIN! STOP! I’M NOT DONE YET!” Sam would have stopped eventually, after he beat Travis an inch away from death. He earned that much at least.

Ice surrounding his fist was pierced by the shards. They were sharp, unexpected and dug into his skin as he tried to power through the constructs from his teammate. That was when he felt weightless, ”SHIIIIIN!!!!” he flew away from Travis. His vision obscured by the light catching the shards at different angles. He tried to look past them, command his clone to finish the beating but he was too slow, and the construct didn't’ have a humanlike shape anymore meaning when he was pulled out of range it remained motionless.

Parts of his body felt warm. He was bleeding. It didn’t matter where from. It happened fast and Sam was trying to focus on making sure the lesson he was teaching Travis was finished. It wasn’t. It might be one of Sam’s greatest regrets later in life. He was flying upwards as his body shifted in the armor, more cuts. More blood filled the inside of his ice armor that was being cut from every angle. His powers tried to resolidify the ice but for every inch it healed it was also cut in another location.

”SHIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!!!!!” roared Sam as his anger and frustration had no decent outlet.

Nothing else mattered. He needed to make an example of Travis. They’d be the example why not to mess with the X-men anymore. Why they should never set foot on the mansion grounds. Why never to experiment with magic on a mutant. The icemancer didn’t care what happened to him. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Either he dealt with this, or Mirror would have.

Sam didn’t have a family like Maya did. Eve would be okay, the others he took under his wing were already grown off to school as constructive members of society. Cora on the other hand... she might understand. She might not. Either way Sam was going to go through with it.

Travis fell, looked forward then looked back. There wasn’t panic on thier face. Shame. All this ice and snow Sam figured he’d put some fear into them. No matter. Once he started he’d get the reaction he was looking for.

The clone was the first to arrive, sending a kick right to the gut trying to get them to double over. The slide slowed as Sam arrived touching down. He walked casually over as the clone continued to assult the downed mystic.

>>>”Sam! STOP THIS! It’s a bad idea.”

It was Shin, a good friend. The icemancer didn’t have a ton of time to do what needed to be done. Shin could stop him with his powers when he arrived. There were few who could counter his power right away. Jorge and Mirror being the fastest with their abilities Shin couldn’t stop his aura effect just the immediate one without injuring the icemancer.

He ignored his friends command. It was a bad idea but it didn't’ matter. A lesson had to be taught. The mansion and all it’s residents were off limits. The clone grabbed one of Travis’s hands and dragged the mystic up only to be smacked down by an icy fist from the icemancer. The clone kicked again.

>>>”It’s not,” Necessary. Hey. What is going on?!”

This time Sam responded, lifting Travis up by the collar as the clone grabbed both arms and held the mystic upright. ”A LESSON!!!!” Sam shouted. Not aware that the camera crew was already scrambling to film the whole thing. ”Isn’t that right Travis. You are going to be the first example that is long overdue. You know how many times I had to rebuild my home from zealots like you!?!??”

The icemancer didn't’ wait for an answer. It was too many. He threw an uppercut into his stomach, hard. He didn’t hold back. There was too much rage pent up, years of it. Years of suppressing what he was trained to do. Years of suppressing the monster that Travis believed him to be. He was right. Sam was a monster. He had just been trying to hide it for all these years. Pretending to be something he wasn’t. Someone who could redeem their previous deeds.

He was loud, he didn’t care. Sam was pissed. The camera crew were set up now. ”YOU WILL REMEBER THIS! EVERYONE HERE IS UNDER MY PROTECTION! YOU EVER THINK OF TESTING YOUR MAGIC ON ONE OF US EVER AGAIN, REMEMBER THIS!” Right hook to Travis’s face followed by an uppercut from he left.

Ice climbed up Travis’s feet pinning him in place as the ice clone started to change shape to wrap around the torso of the mystic pinning him further but pulling his arms back so Sam had clear targets unhindered by the body’s natural reaction to guard itself. Another punch to the face and Sam continued to shout, ”She was a child and you used her as a Guinea pig! She’s human! More than I can say about you!” Another punch to the face, as the clone bent one of the arms in an unnatural angle until it broke.

”YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH MY FAMILY AGIAN!!!!” another punch to the gut. Sam felt a rib snap under his fist and he pulled back. His lone eye had tunnel vision. His thermal sense however detected others around but paid them little mind. Shin was there, he knew that but everyone else? It didn’t matter. No one was going to stop him from making an example. It was clear, everyone thought the X-men were too weak. The mansion was too weak.

The unbroken arm became the next focus as Sam eyed it then leaned in towards the beaten mystic and whispered, ”I wonder, can you cast with all the fingers in your hands broken. What about frostbite?” the com in his ear would have picked the threat, meaning Shin and whoever else on the X-men were listening in could hear.

”I don’t know. Magic is new to us and we are just figuring this stuff out. Becca lost her powers when she drank something that gave her access to magic. So it isn’t to hard to believe it is related that way.” his tone took on a more cold one as he explained. This was a subject he had been investing so much time recently.

”Iris?” Sam asked, ”She’s fine, she's young. She still doesn’t know why things are different now but she knows something is.” his hands indented the cardboard cup even more as he continued, ”She gets sad when I pick her up and don’t turn pink or sprout a tail. Depending on the day of the week.”

Her hand touched his and he stopped crushing the cup. He looked down at her hand on his for a second and listened to her words. ”Doesn’t feel that way. Opposite actually. The amount of times they pulled me out of the gutter saved me. I couldn’t even catch the guy that did this.” he sighed loudly pulled his hand away from hers and scratched the back of his head.

”I’m doing everything to make sure they don’t get a chance to do anything to him. I’m going to be the one to do it.” he said truthfully.

>>>”Thanks Sam. I appreciate it,”

The icemancer smiled in response. It was a sheepish smile but while he could lie to a lot of people, Lee made it difficult. Sam didn’t say anything at first but then nodded his head into a cup of coffee. Wondering what he should say next. Should he just leave?

>>>”Things have really been that bad since the last time we talked?”

”I used to be good at lying.” he said finally. ”Long life.” he finally answered. ”It’s been worse before but it could be better.” he was struggling with his own coping mechanisms for his anger and frustrations. He hadn’t been as bad with the drinking as the past but his need to exhaust himself instead of dealing with the real problems were as bad as ever.

”I’ll spare you the details but I’m alright. Really. I will be at least. It’s everyone else I’m worried about.” he said looking to his sooted knuckles. One of them looked like there was a speck of blood ot it. He ignored it and took another sip of his drink.

”Maybe I should get going...” he said finally looking to the door. She requested no drama. He thought he could do that for her. She deserved it. Especially what she had been through with Tarin.

Nodding and fully understanding he agreed. No one should have to deal with bigoted parents. It was also more reason in Sam’s opinion to have Kevin do the screening for the X-gene, but he wasn’t going to continue suggesting it. Lee had her reasons.

He almost choked on his next sip of coffee at the groan. Was it that far out of the question? He knew Lee always had strong opinions about his team and the work they did but a groan? Her gaze was what solidified his thoughts. Grabbing his chest and coughing a few times. ”ooof. Yeah, I get it. For you, though if he asks anyone else running the teams you might have to talk to them about it.”

”Though it might be easier to convince the other team leaders if you came around a bit more.” he held up his hands to frame Lee’s face from afar. ”Maybe with a rookie status. You could pull off the suit. Heck you might even lead his team.” he was teasing now and knew it was a long shot but he still liked to surrounded himself with people he trusted. They were hard to come by as of late.

”Sounds like he is a handful now. Must get that from you. Energy to spare. Interesting.” he mused as he stroked his chin. Surprised the hairs on his face didn’t burn off during the recent altercation. Did he need a shave?

”I’m looking forward to seeing Kevin again. Sure he’s a cool kid.” realizing he was pulling the conversation to the team again he took a moment to sip his coffee and stare at the soot on a few of his knuckles.

Looking back up to Lee, ”How’s everything else? Feel like it’s been a bit since I saw you last.”

”Don’t I know it.” he said smirking and already shying away from the swat before it landed. He was teasing of course but also knew what Lee was capable of if she wanted to land something more than a playful swat. His lone eye shifted from the tables and chairs being so close together. There be a lot of collateral damage. Good thing he wasn’t worried about that.

”He still doesn’t know what his mom is capable of?” Sam asked chuckling, ”You want to throw some gloves on and go a few rounds to show him off what you can do? Doubt he’d want me to teach him after that.” how much did Kevin know about Lee? What she can do. Sam figured the energy leeching was obvious but then again, Kevin could be immune to it.

”I’ll share some stories with him next time I see him. Might put you in a whole knew light.” Sam said jokingly.

”Doc can run a scan on him. They stopped doing the blood tests a while ago. Found out too many kids don’t like needles. Doesn’t help if they burst into flames while doing it.” or when he was a child freeze the doctor who performed the blood draw. He didn’t say the last part. Lee didn’t need to know all the details.

Sam took a sip of his coffee and then cleared his throat,”Might sound like I’m lecturing, I’m not. Just an observation. Can’t keep him in a bubble. Kids get into fights, be better to know what he is capable of then to have his powers trigger unexpectedly. At least he’s telling you he wants to join a fight club. Bring him by to check out the campus at some point. We just remodeled. He can see the danger room. Kids love that place.” the mansion was destroyed recently hence the ‘remodel’ though he was pretty sure Lee would have hear about it at some point. Even if she was trying to avoid the news.