While the rest of the beach froze in fear and dismay at being betrayed, three of them moved into action. Erik strode forward to greet the incoming bombs, a grin spreading from ear to ear. Charles dashed forwards to meet him, probably to try to reason with him and to create a plan. Indiana's action was far less grand, as all he managed to do was clamber to his feet, still a good twenty metres away from the pair. Charles' mutants stood in a huddle holding each other up and giving comfort as their end drew near, whilst Azazel looked ready to flee alone. Indiana ignored them all and headed where he felt he was the most use, trying to create his own plan.
Erik held up a hand almost leisurely, like a policeman directing traffic. And every single missile halted at his will.
"Erik, you said yourself that we're the better men, this is the time to prove that," Charles said desperately. "There are thousands of innocent men on those ships, they're just following orders."
Indiana winced at that, knowing even without being able to read Erik's mind that that was the wrong thing to say.
"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders before. Never again," Erik snarled. And with that he flicked his hand and sent the missiles back towards their senders.
Both the telepaths exploded into action at that, Charles leapt on his friend whilst Indiana dashed the last few metres to join in the fray. He knew that Erik was much stronger and more versed in tough living, which included fighting. Charles probably had no experience of close combat and wouldn't likely last long. Indiana saw the younger telepath be blasted backwards as Erik repelled the metal on his suit. Indiana took over, slamming himself onto Erik in a half tackle, half falling.
"Get back!" Erik shouted angrily and tried to send him flying backwards.
However his attempt to make him fly backwards failed completely and Indiana remained where he was, using his mass to keep the other man pinned. Realising he couldn't release himself from Indiana's clumsy restraint Magneto desperately threw out a hand to regain control of the missiles once more. Although a number had collided and exploded, there were still easily one missile left for each warship facing them.
Knowing that there wasn't much left to try, Indiana also desperately mimicked Erik.
He almost dropped in shock, and pain, as he managed to halt the missiles. What followed was a battle of wills, Erik with his considerable skill and Indiana with blind desperation and determination to avoid a massacre.
"Erik, don't start a war you cannot win. You yourself are proof of how the little man can win against all odds. If you start this war then the humans will fight tooth and nail to eradicate us, and you will condemn all of us to persecution, slavery, and death," Indiana ground out as they both fought for the upper hand.
"They will never accept us!" Erik shouted in frustration, the missiles above them wavering dangerously.
"Some won't, but if you continue with this then every single human will see us as the enemy. Will you allow your hatred of a few lead to the extinction of an entire race? Are you going to become the next dictator, Herr Lensherr?" Indiana pushed.
"Don't you dare compare me to that monster," Erik snarled, his anger stoked to new heights he tried desperately to regain control of the missiles.
That was all that Indiana needed, with Erik focussing too much on unleashing his anger on the navies nearby he wasn't paying attention to Indiana. As quick as a flash he grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into the eyes of the younger mutant, before ripping the helmet from his head. The sudden movement caught Erik unawares and Indiana shouted in triumph as he was successful.
Erik froze as Charles took control of his mind, and the other telepath slumped in relief. In the distance, ignored by the three of them, missiles fell from the sky and either collided or fell into the ocean. The fight wasn't over though, so whilst Charles held Erik in place and forced him to listen the college lecturer played his final trump card. It was underhanded but he was pretty sure it would work.
"Erik, I may not have lived through your experiences but I have seen inside your mind. Your hatred is justified, but seeking revenge on anyone who wrongs you will bring chaos and destruction. Rise above man and show them that mutants are an evolved and enlightened race. You don't have to become a hero, saving every human that faces danger, just stop trying to kill them," Indiana begged. "Think of all the future mutants you could condemn to the same treatment you went through if you force the world against us. How many more eight year old Erik's will be forced to watch their family's be murdered to force their mutations to activate?"
Indiana rolled off the other mutant and slumped into the sand, spent and barely able to stay conscious. "It's your decision. The world will judge you for what you decide today."
He waved at Charles to release the other mutant. Erik immediately sat up, but he paid no mind to the waiting armies floating offshore. Instead he stared down at his hands, not paying attention to the tear that rolled from his eye. The other mutants hovered nervously, waiting to see what his final decision would be.
"And what if they still try and destroy us on this beach?" Erik asked.
"They won't," Indiana said tiredly.
"How can you be sure?" Erik pressed.
"Charles has been running interference for me, I lost control of my telepathy after waking up again and accidentally started broadcasting. He shielded me whilst we were fighting, but I bet that whilst he was holding you still he couldn't do both?" Indiana lazily turned his head to look at Charles, who shook his head negatively. "So I've probably been feeding this fight back to those on the boats. Hopefully they will feel merciful."
"Charles?" Mystique called warily.
As they waited for their fate to be decided the huddle of mutants got closer. Angel started to hover nearer to her friends that she had recently tried to kill, and Moira walked closer to Charles. The only one who did the opposite was Azazel, who took one look at the scene and the change of heart that the others had and promptly vanished.
"Well there goes our ride," Banshee groaned.
"They're deliberating," Charles returned his attention to the naval officers.
"Any way you two can swing their decision?" Havok asked.
"Not sure, we can at least go and listen," Charles looked at the other telepath to see his opinion.
"I can't take myself, but if you want to drag me along for the trip then feel free. I used to have some friends in the army, some of them may be in contact with those out there," Indiana shrugged as he heaved himself into a sitting position.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
There was chaos on the ships and for once the captains and admirals on board didn't try to control it, mostly because they were still reeling from the images too. They had watched in awe as a plane somehow dragged a hidden submarine from the depths, and then both had crashed when a freak tornado blew up on top of them. Whilst the beach exploded with people running from both submarine and jet they remained neutral for orders, when they had all started seeing things. There had been shouts of confusion as the they started to see a white room filling with water.
Captain Ironside had just managed to get his ship under control again when more images assaulted them. These stayed a lot longer, and even the captain felt a bizarre sense of dread as he saw the missiles heading towards them... although they weren't heading towards them. Whoever was broadcasting the images tried to stop the missiles the mutant sent the rockets back at them, despite the pain it was causing him. Something he said caused the mutant to stop trying to destroy their ships, and the captain breathed a sigh of relief at last.
With the threat over for now the captain debated standing his men down, but without orders they stayed on alert. They had relayed the events back to command, and were waiting for someone to make a decision on what to do next. Trying to destroy the mutants had obviously failed spectacularly and he wasn't willing to try again. If they kept pushing their luck then those mutants that had defended them may give up.
He bent his head to rub his eyes tiredly, not wanting to be in this position at all. To start with leading the fleet against the Russians had been a straight forward task one that was a noble effort. Then firing on Americans had sat less well on his conscious, and the waiting was now killing him. He raised his head to look around him and realised that everyone had somehow frozen around him, some midstep.
'Sorry we have kidnapped you slightly Captain Ironside, but we need to talk,' a voice sounded in his ear.
He looked around desperately but couldn't see anyone. Guessing it was one of the mutants on the beach he took a deep breath and spoke back. "Who are you? Where are you?"
'We are on the beach, My name is Charles and my friend is Henry. We represent the group of mutants who unveiled the true reason Russia and America were prepared for war. We feel that considering the fact we averted a nuclear war we should at least be allowed to speak to those who are deciding our fate. Will you give us that opportunity?' the reasonable voice asked.
"How would I do that?" he replied.
'Either we can come aboard, or I can continue this link as you contact your commanders and you can speak for us,' the voice said again.
"I'll speak for you, if you'd release me?" Ironside asked politely.
Almost immediately the world resumed, with his men walking along as if they hadn't even paused.
"Get me a line to Command," he snapped at the communications officer.
Without even waiting for the connection to be established he strode over and snatched the phone off the cradle, in order to immediately be able to start the bizarre three way conversation.
"Captain Ironside," Colonel Smith said as the phone was picked up. "I hope you have a good reason for interrupting our meeting."
"I do sir. It may seem hard to believe but the mutants on the beach have made contact and wish to talk to you," the captain said calmly.
"Put them on then," the colonel ordered with a sigh.
"I can't exactly, one can speak into my mind and is communicating that way," Ironside grimaced at the bad explanation he was giving.
"Right..." the man said shortly.
'Perhaps if you introduce us?' Charles suggested.
"They call themselves Charles and Henry," Ironside relayed.
'Charles Xavier and Henry Jones,' Charles elaborated.
'Hang on!' another, rougher voice broke through causing Ironside to wince.
'Quieter,' Charles said gently.
'Sorry,' the captain assumed the new voice was 'Henry'. 'Say Colonel Henry Jones, Junior. Someone might know me.'
"The two men are known as a Charles Xavier, and a Colonel Henry Jones Junior?" the captain said down the telephone. "They say that someone at Command may recognise their names."
It didn't take long for Ironside to hear a scuffle down the phone and another voice responded to his call. "Captain Ironside?"
"Yes sir?"
"General Ross, you said you had Henry Jones with you?" Ross asked excitedly.
"In a manner, they are communicating from the beach through me," Ironside explained again.
'Tell him this: Indy says that apparently surviving a blast in a fridge isn't such a good idea after all,' the second voice ordered quickly.
Feeling like a messenger pigeon he dutifully obeyed the ex-colonel's command.
"Ha!" Ross barked a laugh. "That's Indiana. What trouble has he gotten himself into now?"
"He says he's now able to read minds, been kidnapped in a submarine, and stopped an accidental war with Russia... And now he's stuck on a beach staring down both navies. He asks if you could perhaps help him out?" Ironside tried not to muddle the words that were sent to him.
"Tell him I'm on it, he'll be back on US soil soon," General Ross said before putting the phone down.
'Good old Bob!' the apparent ex-soldier crowed.
'Yes yes, good idea Indy,' the younger voice said. 'However, I feel we should probably leave Captain Ironside to his duties. Thank you sir, we're sorry to have inconvenienced you. We'll leave you alone now, and wait for a decision.'
The captain didn't feel them leaving, but after a few moments of waiting anxiously he started to relax as he guessed he truly was alone in his mind again. Although he barely knew the two men who had approached him, they had never done anything contrary to their words, so he believed that they were telling the truth again. He gained a few odd looks as he stared silently at the beach, his men silently questioning what had just transpired. But he ignored them, it wasn't their job to question him.
After an age the communications officer called him over, the phone held out for him. "It's Command, sir."
"Command?" he said as he held the phone to his ear.
"Yes sir, we will," he put it down again, not needing any clarification of his orders.