Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but I was so busy working on other parts of the story I kind of procrastinated on this one's initial posting... Anyway here we are in Chapter One of Terror Approaches; it should be a most thrilling ride. Please R&R folks; let me know how you like this first chapter...
Disclaimer: I make no claims to owning the characters of Marvel Comics X-Men or Hasbro's GIJoe and Cobra figures; I have simply borrowed them as all good fanfic writers tend to do for the sake of expressing their creativity. And so without further ado; I will say only this, close your eyes and picture the GIJoe logo as it flys around because you're about to read something not very common at the beginning of one of my stories, that's right... A THEME SONG! lol
Crashing through the sky; comes a fearful cry Cobra, Cobra! Cobra, Cobra! Armies of the night, evil taking flight Cobra, Cobra! Cobra, Cobra! Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide; panic spreading far and wide… Who can turn the tide?
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, Yo Joe! GIJoe will dare.
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, GIJoe is there. Fighting for Freedom wherever there's trouble, over land and sea and air. GIJoe is there!
Can the world oppose, deadliest of Foes? Cobra, Cobra! Cobra, Cobra! Joes will risk it all; to end the evil call of Cobra, Cobra! Cobra, Cobra! They never give up, they never say die; walking tall with banners high… They sound the battle cry. Yo Joe! Yo Joe!...
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, GIJoe will dare.
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, GIJoe is there. Fighting for Freedom wherever there's trouble, over land and sea and air. GIJoe is there!
GIJoe is the code name for America's daring, highly trained special mission force; it's purpose, to defend freedom against Cobra. A ruthless Terrorist organization; determined to rule the world.
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, GIJoe will dare.
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, GIJoe is there. Fighting for Freedom wherever there's trouble, over land and sea and air. GIJoe is there!
GIJoe! A Real American Hero, GIJoe is there. G I Joe!...
Prologue
General Flagg regarded his team knowingly; only Snake Eyes knew the extent of what they were about to do, in the sense that at least one member of this team knew the real story on Rutherford. Flagg sighed as he rubbed his brow; it had been a hassle just to get the warrant needed to pick this guy up, Fury said he'd had problems too apparently his friend decided to toy around with the political camp and the Jugglers had gotten far too interested in this party.
"He'll be arriving at Xavier's in an hour; I want him picked up and here an hour after that, understand?" The General demanded.
"Completely sir." Dusty returned with a nod, Roadblock saluted and Snake Eyes chose not to acknowledge with anything less then a slight bow.
"Choppers on standby, come on folks let's pick up a possible collaborator." Wild Bill stated his usual flair absent; if it was one thing the members of GIJoe detested it was collaborators of Cobra who made their job ten times harder. Together the four of them left the General's office; Flagg sighed and eyed the picture that started it all, just what was Cobra Commander's game in all this and why did he contact Rutherford just because of the Red Skull incident?
"You wished to see me." Cobra Commander stated eyeing his hated nemesis with unbridled fury; he probably would have gotten in trouble for that if he wasn't wearing his battle helmet rather then the hooded mask he often wore outside of skirmishes with GIJoe.
"Yes; I understand you recently sent a squadron of Vipers out accompanied by Firefly, where did you send them? Who have you targeted?" He demanded his voice rising with rage at having his own orders compromised due to the machinations of this loathsome toad, Cobra Commander smiled knowingly.
"I simply sent them to aid in the efforts of noble Destro at the Gabor oil platforms; he had been making it quite clear that they were undermanned and so thought I would offer assistance in the matter." The Commander returned lying through his teeth; the one seated in the throne glared upon him, but chose not to say anything.
"Leave my sight; I have a rebirth to plan." He commanded; Cobra Commander offered a bow and took his leave, he fully intended to make this come back quite limited indeed. Soon; soon he would have the one pawn capable of destroying his hated foe without anyone the wiser, how fortuitous that fate seemed to drop him into his lap in a way.
I climbed out of my seat and followed Rogue out of the Blackbird; it had been a long two weeks at Starlight Mansion, but it had been worth every minute of it. There were now so many questions I wanted to ask my friends there, but now was not the time to focus on such things; GIJoe no longer had any reason to delay their confrontation with me in fact as we'd approached the mansion I'd spotted a helicopter sitting out on the front lawn, talk about fast. Logan was clearly unimpressed as we neared the living room; waiting there was a burly bald headed African-American I knew by the code name Roadblock, a man covered in a full Ninjitsu styled Gi with full facial mask and a sword resting on his back, not to mention several smaller assorted weapons strapped to his personage.
A Caucasian man I couldn't quite recognize in his Civvies and seated next to Storm pleasantly chatting with her was the man code named Wild Bill; complete with sunglasses, cowboy hat and fiery red mustache.
"Allan Rutherford." Roadblock began upon seeing me; I wasn't even going to get the chance to stow my belongings away. "This is a warrant for your arrest; you will come with us so that you may be questioned regarding your ties to the Cobra terrorist organization." He ordered.
"What?" Rogue exclaimed; she knew of course about a few small inconsequential details, but I hadn't thought to tell her about my forthcoming unscheduled trip to the Pit, GIJoe HQ located in Utah.
"This is legit." Logan stated having perused the warrant and handing it over to the Professor.
"Mister Rutherford you will accompany us." Roadblock repeated approaching with a tiny wrist device of some kind.
"What the hell is that?" I asked nervously; being taken away in handcuffs wasn't something I would look forward to.
"A mutant inhibition collar; a far more humane one." The unknown Caucasian informed.
"So quit actin' like an ornery pole cat and let's get going, the sooner we get this questioning over with the better it will be fer all involved." Wild Bill spoke up from his position on the couch; I shook my head.
"That will not be needed." I stated rather loudly perhaps, but I had no idea what kind of tech was used in those things and I wasn't about to find out if they could shut down my nanoprobes, after all shutting them down like that would mean my death.
"Standard procedure in mutant cases." Roadblock informed apologetically; speaking most likely for the benefit of the other X-Men present.
"No; don't!" I exclaimed as Snake Eyes grabbed my wrist and held it so that the Caucasian could place it on me; as soon as it snapped shut a white hot fire speared through my very veins, I screamed loudly and shrilly and white energy seemed to explode from my mouth. The others stepped back in shock and fear; I trembled spazmatically and then collapsed my eyes rolling back in their sockets, I was unconscious locked up in stasis and saw or heard no more.
The old guy in the wheelchair regarded the fallen Rutherford with obvious concern and the auburn haired beauty looked like she wanted to pound Dusty for what he'd inadvertently done, Snake Eyes however was the first to move. Kneeling down he examined the young man's pulse; Wild Bill and the silent Storm stood up to see just what had happened, the X-Man fearing her friend was dead.
"He alive?" Roadblock asked a little worried; they hadn't been ordered to bring back a corpse after all, the silent assassin nodded affirmatively.
"What in thunder was that all about; I've seen some weird stuff in my time, but ain't nothin' like that before." Wild Bill remarked; Dusty shook his head.
"I haven't got a clue, maybe his mutation is… Hold on; I think he's comin' out of it." Dusty exclaimed taking a step back and aiming his gun at the man, but instead of waking up he simply thrashed about on the floor and began to speak in a strange alien tongue; further freaking out his friends and GIJoe captors.
"Professah?" Rogue asked fearfully; the elder man in the wheelchair shook his head.
"That isn't Al Rogue… Someone; something else, trying to communicate through him… I sense…" He trailed off unable to comprehend what he was reading from the young man; Snake Eyes took a cautionary step forward and tried to awaken the man to little avail.
"Decepticon… Stop… Infinity…Cybertron." The voice emanating from the young man spoke haltingly using English words for once; everyone eyed him uncertainly, but the thrashing had subsided and the presence seemed to have faded.
"That was somethin' I don't think even ol' Kilowatt knows is goin' on." Logan spoke up with a slight nod of his head affirming his own hypothesis with a grunt.
"I believe you're right Logan." Xavier agreed. "Perhaps it has something to do with the Energon cube he ingested." He elaborated; the members of GIJoe eyed Xavier in shock.
"This guy ate an Energon cube?" Roadblock demanded; Rogue knelt beside her love and cradled him slightly as she hefted him into her arms.
"Yes; it was rather sudden of him, his mutation is unnatural, not a result of the X-Gene." Xavier clarified. "He uses energy; like a battery and needs to replenish it." He elaborated further; Dusty placed a commanding hand on Rogue's shoulder as she turned to go up the stairs, she shot him a glare, but he did not release her.
"Look lady; ah, I mean ma'am, I'm sorry but our orders are quite clear. We don't leave without him." He stated firmly, though gently; Rogue trembled slightly with rage and then let out a very tired sigh.
"Ah'm comin' with him." She stated; The Professor made to say something, but Roadblock beat him to the punch.
"No way ma'am, civilians of any kind aren't allowed on base unless it's vital to national security." He exclaimed; Rogue did not react as expected, she eyed the man coldly and then in a very soft icy tone she repeated her previous statement.
"Ah'm comin' with him." She dared them to deny her this; Roadblock sighed heavily and reluctantly nodded, Dusty and Wild Bill shot him surprised looks.
"I know what this is about; can't you see it?" He asked them turning to his teammates with a somber expression; Wild Bill nodded, he'd picked up on it easily being a romantic himself, but Dusty wasn't so sharp.
"The General is going to hang us out to dry for this." He mumbled turning and leaving out the front door accompanied by Wild Bill, Roadblock turned back to the assembled X-Men.
"Get a few changes of clothes Ma'am, but I'll have to insist you give Rutherford to Snake Eyes for transport." He requested; Rogue nodded a few unshed tears building up in the corner of her eye and then she passed the unconscious man to the ninja, Snake Eyes made a whooshing sound as he realized just how heavy Rutherford was.
"You must assure me that my charges will not be harmed." Xavier demanded; he wasn't about to stop Rogue from leaving, but he also wasn't going to let them go without making sure they'd be safe from possible Cobra attacks.
"You have my word." Roadblock returned with a brief look of compassion; then he and Snake Eyes left to give Rogue time to talk with her friends by herself, they could easily pick up on the slight tension in the room.
"Ah know what yah're gonna say Logan, but forget it; Ah'm doin' this by mahself." She stated firmly before heading up the stairs; Logan nodded respectfully and turned aside from the others.
"Just watch yer back Rogue; those Cobra goons ain't above killin' a pretty lady to get what they want." He said; Rogue grabbed the banister for support as she was about to break down and then she hastily made her way up stairs, outside the sound of a Helicopter starting up could be heard and in it her lover lay about to fall into the worst kind of trouble, and he hadn't said one damn word about it to her. When he woke up they were going to have serious words; if he woke up…
Crisis on Earth 929
Terror Approaches
Wild Bill landed the Dragonfly onto the loading platform at the Pit; once it had settled the elevator kicked into life bringing the GIJoe helicopter down into the motor pool of the vast secret installation located in the heart of Utah's desert. Rogue had been sworn to secrecy; and had to wear a blindfold the last few miles of the trip, but she would agree to anything in order to stay with her new found love interest.
Roadblock and Snake Eyes took point as the group disembarked; waiting for them was Hawk, commanding officer of GIJoe below General Flagg, Duke, Lady Jaye and Scarlett. When they saw the state of their possible traitor and the civilian accompanying him they were decidedly concerned; as well as slightly upset with the retrieval team.
"Roadblock I want a sit-rep now!" Hawk barked marching up to the taller African-American; Roadblock nodded and smartly came to attention offering a quick salute.
"Sir, yes sir; when we placed the mutant inhibition collar on the perpetrators wrist sir he reacted negatively, currently he is in some kind of stasis lock." He reported. "As for the woman, well sir; she refused to be left behind." He added with a brief shrug as if to say you try to tell a woman deeply in love to leave her man's side; Rogue brushed past the GIJoe retrieval team and marched straight up to Hawk shooting a glare at him.
"If yah caused the death of mah boyfriend Ah'm gonna have a serious problem with how yah run things around here." She growled. "Now get out of our way so we can get him some medical attention; Ah don't think it'd help, but yah're doctors know more about that enhanced doodad then the Professah did." She added smartly brushing past the man as if she owned the place; Hawk sighed, the few brief moments he'd had locked in eye contact with the woman had revealed a deep fear for the young prisoner.
"Dusty, get him down to Mainframe and Doc; see if they can't help speed along his recovery, as for the rest of you… I expect a full debriefing as soon as I've finished my report to General Flagg." He ordered before turning on his heel and marching off after Rogue to help show her the way; Scarlett and Lady Jaye eyed the young man in curiosity, how could he have gotten someone like Rogue to be so protective of him? So in love with him?
"You three deaf, get moving!" Duke barked; Roadblock nodded and quickly made his way off to the debriefing room, which was a couple of levels down. Snake Eyes hung back while Dusty and Wild Bill took off, he eyed Duke through his mask knowingly; unfortunately he couldn't exactly say fully what was bothering him.
"What's wrong Snake?" The first sergeant asked picking up on the unease; Snake Eyes proceeded to sign something, Scarlett gasped at that.
"Cybertron?" She repeated. "Good God, what have we gotten ourselves involved with this time?" She wondered fearfully; Duke shook his head.
"Whatever it is, I have a feeling that our current guest knows far more about it then we'll ever." He returned; Lady Jaye brushed a hand through her hair and made her way after Hawk, there was going to be a lot of paper work to get through after this one she could almost guarantee it.
Rogue sat patiently to one side while the African-American called Doc and the Caucasian who'd introduced himself as Mainframe studied Al and a sample of his blood; Doc had a frown spread across his features as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a fourth look, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Microscopic nano-tech, but the blueprints for these never worked." Mainframe exclaimed excitedly; Doc shook his head and sighed.
"These are way more advanced then anything you were cooking up Mainframe." He countered. "They've got a sophistication level that goes beyond any man-made technology currently in use; I doubt even Cobra could effectively build such a thing." He added moving over to one of the computers with a look of deep thought, Mainframe joined him and punched up a three dimensional image of the man's internal organs.
"Fully enmeshed; he's a total cyborg, or something similar." He remarked. "What do you think? Conflicting energy command processes?" He wondered, Doc shook his head.
"The reaction was too severe for that." He countered. "If I was to make a guess I'd say our inhibitor nearly caused the collapse of his entire life support systems, if it hadn't been for the Energon overloading it he would have been killed." He stated certainly; Mainframe nodded a small smile playing across his lips.
"For a guy who specializes in the medical field, you know your microprocessors." He complimented wryly; Doc chuckled and retrieved his sunglasses, which he'd put to one side.
"With the way medical science is evolving I have to." He stated; sounding like a man in his sixties rather then early forties, Mainframe chuckled in turn and then eyed the unconscious form of the man on the table.
"Do we report everything?" He wondered; Doc nodded sagely.
"Have no choice, but there's no reason we have to file this report in any system." He added with a slight smile; Mainframe nodded, some people higher up might get the wrong idea if they discovered the existence of these nanoprobes.
"Is he alright?" Rogue asked finally finding the strength to speak up; Doc smiled and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"He'll be just fine Ma'am, although it'll most likely take a day or two for him to reboot or whatever he's doing." He informed; Rogue nodded and turned to Hawk, who had just come into the room.
"Yah have a place for mah rahte?" She asked sullenly; Hawk nodded.
"If you'll follow Lady Jaye she'll escort you to quarters." He returned; Rogue nodded and picked up her duffle bag, the brunette beside Hawk offered a friendly smile and proceeded to lead the X-Man out of the room, Hawk turned to the specialists.
"I want a guard posted on this door at all times; and assign Colonade to watch over him, along with some of the new recruits, give'em a chance to earn their keep around here." He began. "And about that report; you know best how to… Lose it." He added with a knowing smile; Doc nodded while Mainframe grinned ear to ear, keeping the Jugglers in the dark about this particular development was going to be a piece of cake.
The secret offices of the Jugglers were located in the Pentagon of all places; an undisclosed section to be exact, currently only three members were present, General Winters, General Hollingsworth and General Torrington. Despite the attempts of the GIJoe command staff to keep a tight lid on the newly discovered nanoprobes inhabiting Allan Rutherford's body; the Jugglers knew, they had installed hidden real time uplink devices in several key sections of the computer data base and so they knew.
"We have to get him to our lab for further study, this is huge." General Torrington exclaimed brushing his bushy black moustache with his left hand, General Winters shook his head.
"It will not be easy; however I think I can find a way." He returned smiling knowingly; General Hollingsworth shook his head, he wasn't as confident about the Jugglers' hidden agendas as he let on.
"I know what you plan to do if we can study this, but do you honestly think it's wise; we already have one rogue element out there, we don't need any more." He complained and cautioned all in the same tone; General Torrington curled his lips and tapped the desk with his right index finger.
"Our attempt at brainwashing Serpentor would have worked if Overlord hadn't double crossed us." He stated in kind; General Winters sighed and signaled for his personal transport copter.
"Forget this argument for the time being; I am going to the Pit to claim this gentleman, I believe I should be able to considering Hawk and Flagg in particular have not had any time to further the goals of keeping this to themselves, they won't be expecting it." He informed climbing to his feet. "When I return we can discuss old ploys." He added a hidden threat in his tone; General Winters was the oldest living member of the Jugglers', though he didn't look it thanks to the experimental drugs he insisted on testing.
"Understood General, but mark my words; Serpentor is going to become a thorn in our side again once he resurfaces. Unless we neutralize him first." Hollingsworth returned; Winters nodded absently as he left the office and Torrington fumed in silence, it had taken years to breach the high level of security of the Jugglers', he wasn't about to spoil plans of his Emperor just yet. However if need be he would silence Hollingsworth, Winters and anyone else in the know; Cobra would rule, of this he was certain.
Rogue didn't know what to do here; she was currently sitting on a cot in one of the quarters, as the blond haired man who might have been a General had called it, she didn't know everybody by name although she had heard Gambit mentioning Gung Ho on a few occasions, the two were friends through some danger they'd faced together before he joined the team. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do concerning Al, her heart told her that everything would be alright; the medics wouldn't lie to her about it. But part of her was so scared she was going to lose the only man she could ever love fully and openly, without the fear of draining him dry and killing him; she was just so uncertain.
While she was sitting there wondering every little thing the woman, Lady Jaye; returned a tray of hot food in hand. The GIJoe member offered a smile as she placed the tray down on the small desk; Rogue tried to smile back, but her heart wasn't in it.
"I thought you might prefer this rather then going to the Mess, there's an awful lot of us here on base at any given time." She explained taking a seat in the chair across from the bed. "Is everything ok?" She wondered concernedly; Lady Jaye knew what civilians felt like when they had to come here, the Pit had served as a secluded hide out for several prominent targets of Cobra over the years and she suspected that Rogue was feeling a little over whelmed.
"Ah just don't know what tah think." She admitted glancing up from her lap at the other woman. "Al and Ah haven't been close fer very long, but he loves mah with all his heart and Ah share that feelin'." She revealed. "Ah just can't believe he went and hid his contacts with Cobra from mah, Ah mean he and Ah clicked lahke that, yah know?" She wondered; Lady Jaye smiled, she had a good idea what Rogue was trying to say after all she was engaged to Flint.
"It's never easy when they act so secretive, they think they're trying to protect you, but all they're really doing is hurting you in the end." She observed with a sly smile; Rogue offered a half-hearted smile in return at the fundamental truth. "I don't even understand though; how can you still trust him, he's met the Cobra Commander in the flesh and without his mask on." She revealed with a shake of her head.
"Al isn't lahke that, he's different; he's not even from this reality." Rogue revealed averting her gaze slightly as she realized maybe she shouldn't be saying something like that. "He doesn't operate lahke we do, Ah suppose because he's got that computer brain of his; makes him get all logical at times." She added with a shake of her head; her boyfriend was a walking computer, she doubted she'd ever get used to that particular aspect of his life.
"That sounds frustrating." Lady Jaye returned uncertainly; she didn't even know the man, but she knew that a person using a hundred percent brain power must come off as all knowing and condescending at times. They'd had their fair share of dealings with extraterrestrials who claimed to be smarter then most; for instance when they had to team up with the Autobots to stop Cobra and the Decepticons from enacting their planned alliance.
"Not really, he's pretty good at keepin' the intelligence down; Ah don't think it's easy for him though." She returned with a chuckle; moving over to the desk she sat down and eyed the food. "Thank yah for the food, uh, Lady Jaye." She added; the brunette smiled and shook her head.
"Only officers and enlisted men call me that, you can call my Allyson." She returned in kind; Rogue smiled with genuine emotion this time and offered a quiet nod of understanding.
"Well; yah can just call mah Rogue, Ah'm not comfortable with givin' out mah real name, though Ah think Ah might tell Al when this is all over." She admitted a blush creeping up on her for an unknown reason, it wasn't like she knew this woman personally; Allyson smiled knowingly.
"That bad huh?" She quipped feeling at ease with the mutant woman despite the fact she knew she could probably throw her clear across the compound if she was so inclined, Rogue simply smiled meekly. Allyson took her leave and Rogue turned back to the food before it got cold, she was actually pretty hungry; having missed both lunch and dinner and considering that it was probably almost eleven thanks to the amount of time the tests on Al took. But part of her continued to dwell upon the situation at hand; and she grew depressed slightly once again, but she knew Al would be alright, because if he was in danger of being dead then that Q fellow would probably pop in and start giving GIJoe a piece of his mind.
As Al was in his coma like state; dreams assailed him, strange dreams of alien worlds imploding and dieing, a monster planet with a gapping maw and a ring surrounding it, a dull orange in color for the most part moving in and devouring countless planets. A grand host of Autobots and Decepticons racing towards one another above and below the burned out ruins of San Francisco; Trypticon and Metroplex smashing up the few remaining sky scrapers and another giant in shadows fully destroying the Golden Gate Bridge.
A three ringed purple crown sitting upon the brow of the deadliest and most ruthless of Decepticon leaders; his orange cannon screaming as it decimated civilization as he knew it. Heroes and Villains fighting side by side to stop the menace of the Decepticons only to fall, broken, brutalized and dead; decaying rapidly into bones and then dust. And through it all one image kept reappearing, that of a relatively small spherical device; the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, raised to the heavens in the hands of a young Autobot with flame decals on his body.
"Arise; Rodimus Prime." A deep unknown voice called out. "Light our Darkest Hour." It added; Al couldn't awake from these nightmares, and he could barely understand half the dialogue running through his head; most of it was Cybertronix or whatever the Autobot equivalent to the Maximal language was.
"Infinity Engine." The voice whispered inside his mind, over and over again each time an urgency growing as the name was repeated; and still Al was plagued by the visions of darkness for he could not wake up, his body was trapped in extreme stasis lock and there was no Synergy around to keep her God Primus at bay… If Al was any less of a man; this might have driven him insane, instead his computerized brain filed everything in separate storage areas labeled, Decepticon Victories, Massacres, Autobot Triumphs and Duel to the Death.
To Be Continued; Nothing much to say here, except... GIJoe Will Be Back after these Messages.