Freeze Chapter Three

Chapter Three
Ice Station Zero

Grossman's Ice Rink had been a place of joy in its heyday, the late fifties and early sixties. Bundled angels danced on its smooth ice. Every Christmas, Ira Grossman erected a giant tree in the center of the rink. The locals would bring presents for needy children. It was a place of joy, and magic.
Ira Grossman died in 1976, leaving no heirs and no will. It stood empty, save for the occasional squater, until 1985 when an ambitious entrpeneur named Jahnathan Cox attempted to convert the massive building into a nightclub. Mr. Cox mysteriously disappeared shortly after renovations started. Again the giant sat silently, untilwhen, in 1991, a group of Gotham University students "discovered" the building. They immediately realized the potential and organized a huge Rave party.
The Raves were hugely successful. Every Halloween the students, and eventually, locals, would congregate in the Rink and party until sunrise or until the police broke it up, which only happened once.
It was at one of these Halloween Raves that a tall thin man called Ratface realized the true nature of the Rink's mass appeal. He left and quickly returned with two friends, a stark horror of a girl called Morticia and a young man simply called Boy. The party was reaching a fever pitch, and the three could feel the Magickal energies barely being surpressed by the thin Guantlet of rationality.
Without a second thought the three clasped hands and began to chant nonsense words and spin around on the thin wood covering the Rink floor. They spun faster, grunting loudly, catching the attention of the other ravers. Soon the three had a huge group of Revelers, spinning and screaming. As they did, Ratface, a Mage of the Hollow Ones, freed the spirit of the place in which they stood. The unbridled passion of the Ravers shattered the thin layer between this world and the world of pure spirit. Raw Magickal energies flooded the hall. The passions intensified to the point where the Rave devolved into an orgy of epic proportions. That night is still whispered of in the halls of Gotham University.
Soon after, Ratface, happened upon the needed funds to buy the Ice Rink. He promised to hold the Annual Halloween Rave every year. The rest of the year he spent turning the Rink into a Chantry for the Hollow Ones. He also allowed the students to throw the occasional smaller Rave.
It was a week before classes started up for the Fall semester, and the returning students decided to start the year off right. The festivities finally died off about three AM, pathetically early for a Rink Rave, but still, not bad. Ratface was cleaning up the rink when Boy ran in, gibbering maniacly.
"Tin Man! Tin Man!"
Ratface dropped his pushbroom and ran across the Rink floor, grabbing Boy by the shoulders. He shook Boy violently.
"Calm down!" He shouted, "What are you talking about?"
"I believe he means me."
Ratface spun when he heard the sterile, toneless voice. Mr. Freeze stood in the seating section of the Rink. He was encased in a metal suit, topped with a large glass dome, which showed his narrow, bald head. Cradled in his large metal gauntlets was a chrome rifle with a hose snaking into the back of his suit. He slowly walked onto the Rink floor. The boards creaked under him as he walked.
Ratface's arms went limp at the sight, releasing Boy, who ran off into the back of the building. Mr. Freeze stood before Ratface, Raifle pointed to the floor. Rat face tried to regain his composure.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Ratface sputtered.
"The direct approach. Commendable. This should proceed smoothly. I am Mr. Freeze, and you are...?"
"Uh..., Ratface."
"Charmed, I'm sure." Freeze sneered, glancing around the Rink, sizing up the space, "I have come to discuss rental options."
Ratface stared blankly at Freeze. He then looked around the Rink to see if Freeze had come alone or with friends. All he saw was Morticia staring out from the back rooms. he nodded at her and turned back to Freeze.
"What he fuck are you talking about?" Ratface said with a slight swagger.
"I wish to establish a Laboratory on your property." Freeze said, stiffly. Ratface shook his head.
"A what?"
"A Laboratory! A place to work my Science. Your particular locale has the raw resources I require for my experimentation."
Ratface held his hands up in front of him.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You're saying that you want to build a Chantry her in the Rink? Get the fuck out of here!" Ratface screamed. Freeze shook his head.
"I'm afraid I've miscommunicated by intent."
"Then what the hell are we talking about here?"
"What we are talking about," Freeze said, pointing the rifle at Ratface, "is that I AM going to build my Laboratory on this site. I am kindly offering you a peace offering on your way out. What would you require to leave peacablly."
Ratface backed up several paces.
"I'll have your head on a plate!" He barked.
"Unacceptable." Freeze said, bringing his rifle up to his shoulder.
Ratface began to move his hands in strange patterns. He mummbled arcane words. His face pulled tight in intense concentration. He began to pull Magick out from the air itself to power his spell. Light began to dance around him, coalesing in his hands, which shone brightly.
Freeze sneered and pulled the trigger. A beam of blue light shot from the barrel, engulfing Ratface. Thick ice formed around him, locking his body into position. Freeze held the beam on him for a full three seconds. When he cut the beam, Ratface was buried in two feet of ice.
"Your Foci are slow and outdated." Freeze said to the block of ice, "Magick, like all things, must evolve. Were you worthy, I would teach you, but you are not."
Freeze began to cross the Rink floor to find the girl he had spied earlier. There was a burst of static and the ancient speakers came to life.
"You should be careful in that heavy suit, Tin Man." Morticia said, sharply, "The Rink covering is old and brittle."
Freeze spun towards the speaker booth, positioned above the seating area. There he saw Mortia, Moving her arms about her body.
"Clever girl." Freeze said, swinging his rifle towards her. There was a loud crack and Freeze felt the floor give waybeneath him. He fired the rifle as he fell, hitting the overhead lights. The lights shattered, plunging the Rink into darkness.
Morticia cackled over the loud speakers. She got him, she knew she got him. She grabbed a flashlight from under the consul and ran down the stairs. She rushed onto the Rink floor towards the spot where Freeze had been standing. Apparently she had done it. The wooden floor covering the ice makers had eroded into dust. She shinned her light onto it, seeing Freeze's rifle, now with a bent barrel.
"Hah!" She shouted in the dark, "What are you gonna do without your gun, Tin Man?" She stood ready for an answer in the form of an attack. She was met with silence. She began to shine her light on the floor around her.
"Maybe I did get him?"
There was aburst of static and the speakers came to life.
"Hello, my dear," Freeze said cordially, "I must commend you on your ingenuity. Very clever. I too, am clever. While you have been down there celebrating my early demise, I have rewired the ice maker controls. I believe you find the effect quite..., accelerated."
Morticia pointed her light down and saw that she was standing on the bare metal of the ice maker. She screamed, dropped the light, and began running across the Rink floor.
Upstairs, Mr. Freeze threw the switch controlling the ice makers. There was a flurry of sparks and the sound of heavy machinery coming to life under the Rink. The panel continues to spark, then smoke began to pour from it. Mr. Freeze reached over and switched the controls off. When the smoke cleared, Freeze turned on the emergency lights and looked down on the Rink.
A field of ice covered the rink, the seats and the Walls, five feet up. From the booth he could see the block of ice that held Ratface. There was also an ice statuette that looked vaguely like Morticia. A smile crept across Mr. Freezes face as he left the booth, headed for the stairs.
he searched the building, finding a small sleeping area, a fully stocked bar, a strange collection of small toys and a meager arcane library. Mr. Freeze did not find the young man who had first spotted him. The boy had simply disappeared. Freeze wasn't sure how to feel about that. The boy had not looked much older than his own son, Kyle. Freeze contented himself with the fact that, at least for now, he had the place to himself.

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