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Patricia 'Pepper' Potts' POV
"Armor integrity down ten percent," Robbie said in her digitized version of Missus Rhodes' voice.
"Yeah… I kinda got that," she said even as she pushed herself out of the impression in the side of building that the Super Skrull had knocked her into with a Thing-sized right hook.
It'd been a few minutes since the fighting had begun and so far the most she had managed to do along with Xander was keep the alien's attention off the Young Avengers. She personally considered this something of an achievement since the baddie had a rep for throwing down with A list superheroes and holding his own. The downside, though, was that every once in a while one of the Young Avengers tried to contribute as well, only to mess up the tempo she and Xander had with their hits. She knew what it was like trying to help out in a super fight but all they were doing was tripping over each other and giving the Super Skrull openings to exploit. So far it hadn't cost much more than her recent impact into the side of a building and a face full of flame for Xander but that could change. Her mind had already come up with a half dozen ways to use the powers of the FF in icky and deadly ways that she'd rather not experience firsthand.
Think, think, think! she thought as she watched Xander fly about the Skrull, looking for an opening. He either blocks or dodges repulsor blasts, trying to punch him just now gets me flattened. What's left?
"Might I suggest using the sonic emitters for a focused attack?" Robbie said through the helmet's internal speakers. "If sufficiently disoriented, the Super Skrull may become vulnerable enough for Xander to land a telling blow. Besides that I doubt those ears are for show."
She couldn't help but smile at the predicted outcomes her mind was coming up with so as she took to the air once more she brought both fists up and primed the sonic emitters. The moment her teammate got knocked away she let the attack rip focusing the painful sound waves on the Super Skrull's head for maximum effect. It was SSOOO satisfying seeing the creep drop to one knee in pain even as he clutched his head and, just like clockwork, Xander delivered a double uppercut that sent the green skinned foe skyward.
Firing up her boot jets she shot into the sky, quickly overtaking the alien, and once she had enough lead time she popped the hood on her armor revealing the air-to-air mini-missiles.
LOTS of them!
"Target locked," Robbie declared even as crimson crosshairs appeared on the Super Skrull's body.
"Time to bring the BOOM!" she said before firing half the mini-missiles at the baddie.
Fire and smoke clouded her sight a bit as they impacted on the desired target but to her that just meant that the Super Skrull was officially having a bad day. Diving down, since she figured that gravity had pulled the elf wannabe down toward solid ground, she was caught off guard when no sooner did she clear the smoke cloud she'd created than something slammed into her enough to actually HURT.
"Armor integrity down twenty-five percent," Robbie said even as warning symbols appeared on the helmet's H.U.D. "Initiating auto stabilization protocols."
Just as her mind cleared the armor's artificial intelligence used the flight mechanisms to pull her out of the spin the attack had sent her into, allowing her to ask the usual question.
"What hit me?" she asked even as she let her eyes lazily take in the environment before her.
"Based on available information I believe the Super Skrull struck you with one of his invisible force fields," Robbie replied even as a sensor lock appeared on a descending form heading towards the streets below, leaving a trail of flame behind it.
"Any way you can let me see them?" she asked before taking off in pursuit of the descending form.
"Possibly. The force fields are made of cosmic energy and as such do not retain heat like objects made of matter," Robbie replied even as filters were applied to the H.U.D., altering how the world worked until something akin to a picture negative became fixed in place. "By using that as a foundation I can adjust the optical data into something you can see."
"Here's hoping it works," she said as the streets gained definition allowing her to see the battle that was still ongoing.
Xander looked like he was managing but, since he hadn't left the Tower wearing his Kid Namor costume, his street clothes were taking serious damage.
Not that she minded since it showed off his toned body.
Maybe I should… hang back a little. You know, wait for the right opportunity, she thought with temptation singing in her head. It'd be awfully embarrassing after all if we had a case of friendly fire here.
Seeing the last of Xander's shirt get burned off, exposing everything above the waist, she felt justified by her choice to hold back.
Too bad that was when everything went to shit.
"Warning! Alien craft decloaking!" Robbie declared with great alarm even as an indicator popped up on her H.U.D., including how far away she was from it on a second to second basis. "Scanning. Ship identified as Skrull scout vessel."
"Reinforcements? How many?" she asked even as energy blasts from the ship headed her way.
"Based on life sign readings… at least fifty sentient beings," Robbie replied, sounding remarkably worried about her findings. "None of them have the same readings as the Super Skrull but I would imagine that most of them are armed with highly advanced weaponry."
GREAT! she thought as she reoriented her armor to get a look at the new threat. Super villain smack down becomes a battle for New York City!
Seeing the ship that looked like one of those trays you got breakfast in bed on AND the clichéd jetpack-wearing Skrulls flying down from on high with futuristic assault rifles in their hands, she then only had second before they began shooting at her.
"Roberta! Open a line to Avengers Tower! Priority ALPHA!" she yelled even as she began to evade their fire while returning with some of her own. "We need backup!"
"Attempting to form communication connection… processing… attempt failed," Robbie said even as images she figured represented radio frequencies popped up. "The scout ship is emitting a jamming field that is blocking my attempts to contact the tower. We would need to terminate the source of the field in order to reach the Avengers."
"Sounds doable," she said, trying to sound optimistic about her chances. "Where's this jamming field generator?"
"It is not in fact a single device but several arrayed along the hull of the ship," Robbie replied before targeting crosshairs began to pop up all over the Skrull ship. "Eighteen devices."
"THAT could take a while," she said, realizing how long it would take her to shoot them all out while at the same time evading enemy fire. "Don't suppose you have an Avengers distress flare we could fire off?"
"Not as such… however I believe I may be able to improvise something similar," Robbie replied, sounding contemplative. "Continue evading enemy fire for the next two point five minutes. It will be ready by then."
As much as she'd liked to have complained about being forced to continue her deadly game of dodge ball, she trusted the A.I. and so worked her hardest to keep the evil aliens busy. It was stressful and she'd definitely be needing a shower after this was over with, but as the final seconds of Robbie's time limit ticked away it all turned out to be worth it.
"Readying firing solution. Detonation timers set," Robbie said as her mini-missile bays opened up. "Firing."
With that most of her remaining payload of mini-missiles fired off but surprisingly, once they reached the desired altitude, they fired off to form a large cloud remarkably in the shape of the Avengers symbol. It didn't last long and they'd probably need specialized detonation dust in order for it to hang around for a minute, but hopefully it'd catch the right amount of attention. With that done she decided that she'd last longer if she got down to street level and regrouped with the Young Avengers, since she had no interest in getting dog piled by aliens while mid-air.
Turning on the speed it didn't take long to reach asphalt but when she got there it was more than a bit puzzling to find a ton of property damage but no Young Avengers, no Super Skrull and no Xander.
Well, this isn't how I pictured the date ending, she thought with a mental growl at her best chance to take the romantic lead cut short.
Xander's POV
"Kate… not to sound ungrateful, but I don't think your school uniform jacket's doing the job," he said even as they waited for the subway to reach their stop.
"Well, we had to have you wear something or they never would've let you onto the train," Kate said even as she noticed the stares being sent their way. "Besides, with Teddy's clothes all torn up, he's getting plenty of stares too."
Point.
"You sure it was such a hot idea to get on a subway train with the Super Skrull and his band of minions after us?" Cassie asked, wearing her gym clothes on over her Stature outfit. "Aren't we just making it easier for them to fry us?"
"No. With air superiority staying topside would've let them overwhelm us," Kate replied in hushed tones. "Down here it's a classic bottleneck situation, forcing them to stay on foot. With only so much space in these tunnels they'll get in each other's way and only be able to come at as at numbers we can handle. Assuming they don't just try to follow us from above ground somehow."
"They're aliens. They probably have scanners and sensors galore," he said as the train curved around a turn. "No telling when they'll catch up to us."
"Here's hoping it's long enough for us to come up with a plan or get some backup," Teddy said from his subway seat.
"If I can use the phone at Billy's place, I'll be able to call in Thena and the others no problem," he said as he waited impatiently for the train to reach their desired stop.
"I think we're going to need a little more than them," Cassie said, sounding concerned about the odds. "Like maybe all the Avengers and maybe the Fantastic Four."
"I'd like to think that's overkill but shuttles tend to have mother ships and those have a lot more soldiers on them," he said picturing a giant Skrull warship descending on New York City. "'Til the last of them are down for the count, we all gotta stay on our toes."
"Don't think that'll be a problem," Billy said, sounding like he was still a little wonky from Super Skrull's hypno-mojo.
That'd been one of the reasons why they'd bugged out instead of continuing the fight up on the street.
The powers of the FF had been trouble enough and the descending Skrulls armed to the teeth worse, but having to worry about fighting one of their own that'd been hypnotized into fighting against them was not acceptable. Depending on how many people Super Skrull could control at any one time, he could've found himself in a world of hurt real fast. So once he successfully knocked the alien into a building they'd all scrambled into the nearest subway access point and hopped on a ride to Billy's place.
Well, almost everyone.
Eli had bailed just as the subway train's doors shut before pulling out of the station.
He was still pulling the 'woe is me because I lied and cheated' card even though his friends were in trouble and could use all the help they could get. Assuming he was in any shape to do so later, he'd definitely be having a firm sit down with the idiot. So he'd cheated and gotten juiced up on MGH. BIG DEAL! He hadn't done anything all that irreparable while doped up aside from cop a major attitude, but that could pretty much be written off as the usual teenage 'tude. Still, if Eli was anything like his friends from back in Sunnydale, it'd take something pretty nasty to get him over his mental angst and into something a lot more productive.
It took about ten minutes to get to their stop but he was glad to get out of the confined train and onto the streets where he wouldn't be the center of attention anymore.
A short walk later and they were in front of a pretty swanky looking apartment building, implying that Billy's parents were pretty well off in the money department.
"I hope my mom's alright," Teddy said as they walked through the front doors of the apartment building.
"You think the Super Skrull would go after your mom?" Billy asked as they approached the elevator.
"If he thinks I'm a Skrull-" Teddy replied letting the rest of them figure out the rest.
"Can I ask a terrible question?" Kate asked, sounding hesitant yet at the same time resolute.
"'How do I know my mom's not a Skrull'?" Teddy asked, knowing the question was coming just like the rest of them had.
"That's the one," Kate replied, sounding like she wouldn't push if it was too touchy of a subject.
"Because she's my mom. She sells REAL ESTATE," Teddy said, immovable when it came to the commonness of his mother. "She does PILATES. She's not a Skrull."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said, not trying to sound too confrontational. "I thought my dad was the town drunk and my mom the sole provider of the family. Then I get a newsflash from Kang that my real dad is Namor. You might not know your mom as well as you think you do."
"Even if it's not your mom that's the key to all this, what about your dad?" Kate asked, taking things down another track.
"He died before I was born. Cancer," Teddy replied, sounding like hundreds of other kids who never got to meet one of their parental units.
"I'm sorry," Kate said, realizing how sad the topic must've been to Hulkling.
"But my mom said he was a good guy," Teddy said before a thought came to him. "I should go home and see if she's okay."
"Home is the first place Super Skrull's going to look for you," Billy said as they exited the elevator and walked up to his apartment door.
"Right, but if my mom is there, he'll—" Teddy said as his imagination no doubt was beginning to spin possibilities for him.
"Teddy, we're out of our league here. Even with Xander and Pepper helping out, we were barely able to keep ourselves from getting floored," Kate pointed out, reminding everyone about their less than victorious battle. "Toss in all those Skrull soldiers and our only hope is to call in the cavalry. Once they're clued in we can come up with a plan and THEN go find your—"
"Mom?!" Teddy exclaimed as the door opened to reveal a blonde haired woman in a green-blue casual woman's business suit.
"Missus Altman!" Billy said a second later, mirroring the shocked look on his friend's face.
"Oh, thank God, you're all right," Missus Altman said as she got up off the couch to do the usual parental pat down to make sure Teddy was okay.
"Mom, what's going on?" Billy asked his mother as she came in with a tray decorated with a kettle and numerous cups.
"Teddy's mom called looking for him. She sounded upset so I—" Billly's mom replied before Teddy interrupted.
"What are you doing here?" Teddy asked once his mother's pat down was done.
"I've got a better question: What happened to your clothes?" Missus Altman asked, looking at the rips and tears scattered about her son's clothes.
"Long story," Teddy replied, neatly avoiding the truth. "You okay?"
"Honey, there's something I have to tell you…" Missus Altman said but, before she could finish, the window and everything around it was blown in, trashing the room and disorienting everyone.
When the dust cleared standing on the edge was none other than the Super Skrull with one of his arms wrapped Mister Fantastic style around a helpless Eli.
"No more hiding, lad," Super Skrull said in a serious tone. "Come with me and we will restore the Skrull Empire to its former glory… or your friend will DIE."
"Don't listen to him, Teddy," Eli said, doing the heroic thing by refusing to cost his friend his freedom.
He could hear Billy trying to keep his mother from freaking out but he was fairly certain it was a case of keeping her from freaking out even more than she already was rather than freaking out at all. He'd heard from Buffy how Missus S had freaked seeing her first vampire, then seeing it dusted before her very eyes by Spike. If Billy's mom reacted at all the same, it'd take a stiff drink, a long explanation and some reassurances before she'd be okay again.
"Let Eli go, and I'll come with you," Teddy said, proving he was just as much a hero as Eli by refusing to let a friend be harmed.
"Teddy, NO!" Missus Altman exclaimed, clearly not wanting her son to put himself in harm's way.
"It's okay, mom. Once he sees I'm not a Skrull—" Teddy said, sounding like he still believed that to be the case.
In his opinion, though, the Super Skrull and a ton of Skrull soldiers didn't expend this kind of effort unless they were pretty positive they had the right guy.
"But you are, hatchling," Super Skrull said as he tossed forth a silver orb with a crimson eye on one side. "I will prove it... by reverting you to your original form."
"Mom! Stand back!" Teddy yelled even as a crimson scanning beam hit him.
"Teddy!" Billy exclaimed out of concern.
"NO!" Missus Altman screamed even as she brought a hand up to block the bright light of the scan.
When nothing happened to Teddy that he could see, he began to wonder if his earlier estimation of the Super Skrull's competency might have been in error. However exclamations of surprise caused him to adjust his gaze a little more to the right to see something that added a little more weight to Kate's earlier inquiries. Instead of a blonde human female, he now saw a green skinned, pickle chinned, pointy eared version of Missus Altman and, judging by the look on Teddy's face, this was the first time he'd seen her like this.
"Teddy, I can explain," Missus Altman said, sounding quite sorry for having kept the truth from her son.
"Mom…?" Teddy gasped, sounding like his brain had stalled trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what he was seeing.
He'd definitely have to learn some mental flexibility if he wanted to continue the hero thing.
"This female is NOT your MOTHER," Super Skrull said with anger in his tone. "She is a TRAITOR to her race."
"The empress ordered me to protect him…" Missus Altman said as she reached into her purse to take out some kind of gun, "…even from the likes of YOU."
With a quickness and precision born of practice the blonde managed to get off a shot at the Super Skrull, nailing him in the shoulder, causing the villain to let go of Eli even as he staggered back in pain.
"Consider your orders…" Super Skrull said after recovering as he raised his left hand.
He didn't need to be psychic to realize what was happening next so he did the only thing he could think of, regardless of how not-smart it was. He threw himself in front of the woman and hugged her tight to his body in order to shield her as much as he could. It was a good thing he did so then because a second later a torrent of fire washed over him, incinerating Kate's jacket but thankfully his inherited durability would keep him from getting too badly hurt.
So long as the Super Skrull didn't keep things going too long.
He hoped.
As it turned out his prayers were quickly answered as the flames stopped but, while he'd like to be able to join what was almost certainly a pitched battle… he… wasn't… oh boy… feeling… too…
Guess… being… part fish… has its downsides, he thought as he vaguely felt the acute symptoms of dehydration sweep over him.
The Skies of New York City
Lyra's POV
"You are certain that Xander is this way?" she asked even as she looked up at Patricia Potts as she was carried through the air.
"Yep. Robbie skimmed the airwaves and ours was the only large scale fight in town," Pepper said with a digitized voice thanks to her helmet. "There's smoke drifting up into the sky and image enlargement shows a hole in the side of an apartment building. I'm pretty much adding two plus two and getting Xander here."
While she was only passingly familiar with the phrase, she easily grasped the message.
While New York City was infested with villainous Overmen, she trusted Pepper's mechanical partner at least half as much as she trusted Boudicca. If there were no other explanations for the plume of smoke rising into the sky, then it was as good a lead as any to where they could find Xander. It had only been a short while ago that Janet had seen a series of miniature explosions form the Avengers symbol and, given that Vision had told them to be ready for a signal, they had all departed forthwith. The manservant Jarvis had attempted to delay them but she had easily shoved him aside, clearing the way for them to leave the tower. Once they arrived at the spot where the symbol had been created it didn't take long to find Pepper and be told the relevant facts.
While dubious about the news that Xander had received a prophetic vision of the future, the rest of the tale was born out by the evidence surrounding them. A fierce battle had taken place involving beings of great strength and the power to create fire but, aside from the civilians and the authorities, there was no sign of Xander. According to Pepper, aliens identified as 'Skrulls' were responsible for much of the devastation and their goal had apparently been to kidnap the Young Avenger known as Hulkling. Pepper had been dislodged from the core of the battle and kept away by the arrival of the Skrull scout ship filled with Skrull soldiers. By the time she returned to the battlefield proper all had left and so the armor wearer had chosen to wait for them to arrive.
Now they sought their teammate and the enemy with only a plume of smoke as a clue.
It was a few minutes later that they arrived at the hole and with a single fling she was thrown through the hole. Rolling with her landing she came up prepared for a fight only to find Xander and a blonde haired female alien laid out on the floor, with burns of various severity and all but one of the Young Avengers present.
This concerned her.
While she would never believe that any man could be her equal, she had seen enough of Xander during battle to know that no lit candle or simple flaming torch would be enough to damage his skin. Add to that the fact that hitting the son of Namor would not have been easy and it made her wonder what had happened.
"What happened?" Pepper asked, coming in next after popping up the faceplate of her armour.
"The Super Skrull happened," Kate replied, sounding like she was deep in thought.
She had seen such an expression from many of her sisters who'd gone on to either become great leaders or worked themselves near to death to overcome their self-perceived weaknesses.
"Tried to kill Teddy's mom but Xander used his body to shield her from the worst of it," Wiccan said, continuing the tale. "Must've been hard on him because he dropped unconscious a couple seconds after I got the Super Skrull's attention. We tried to get both them and Teddy's mom out of the line of fire but we got slammed by something we couldn't see and, by the time we got our heads on straight, Teddy was gone."
So the Skrulls had succeeded in acquiring their target.
It would be hard to find them for, if this Super Skrull was a warrior worthy of respect, he would almost certainly go to ground until he could safely leave the planet. It meant that they had time but there was no way to know for certain how much time.
"Then we gotta find them!" Pepper said, triggering her faceplate to snap back down and lock into place. "Robbie scan for clues! Anything that can help us find them."
"And just how do you plan on finding them?" Patriot asked, sounding skeptical of any results being achieved.
"The Super Skrull didn't just drop to the ground to get out of here," Pepper said as she walked over to the hole in the wall. "He must've used the Human Torch's powers and that means fire. Focus on looking for heat, Robbie. Flying through the sky like a living comet must've left a trail a mile wide to follow."
"Scanning," Roberta said as the lights coming from her armor's eye slits changed color. "Latent thermal signature detected. Displaying trail on H.U.D."
"Then let us be off," she said, eager to find battle so that she could prove to herself that she was still a warrior. "The longer we delay, the greater the possibility that Hulkling will come to harm."
"She's right," Xander said, showing his resiliency as he forced himself into a sitting position. "Let's get going."
"YOU are not going anywhere," Janet said as she grew to human size, forcing Xander back to the floor. "You are going to lay down. Billy's mom is going to make sure you get plenty of salt water and MAYBE if you heal up as quick as you think you can, THEN you can join in to kick some Skrull butt. Understand?"
"Yes, dear," Xander said with mock affection like she'd seen between… what was it they called it on the television? A married couple?
"Wiseass!" Janet said before turning to face Pepper. "Let's go!"
"Mind if we make a stop first?" Eli asked in a tone that was ominous.
"What for?" Pepper asked sounding impatient.
"If we're going to go looking for a fight then we need to look the part," Patriot said, sounding like he'd found some strength that hadn't been there before.
An Out of the Way House
Outside New York City
Kl'rt the Super Skrull's POV
"Why do we remain on this primitive world? We have a ship and we have the Emperor's heir. We should leave immediately and restore our empire to its proper state."
"Fool. All we have is a short-range scout ship that is lightly armed and defended," he said even as he attempted to reconfigure his communications equipment. "By now Earth's defenders have been alerted to our presence and watch for any sign of us. While we might have fared well against untrained youths, you would do well to be wary of facing the Avengers."
Indeed, for while he had no fear of them himself, since he had faced them and held his own in the past, conventional Skrull soldiers would be at a disadvantage. While from a primitive world, the champions of Earth had proven themselves quite formidable and had bested threats many had thought beyond them. While the others, who'd never been to Earth before, no doubt believed there were none who could challenge them on this planet, he would not chance the failure of this important mission. Until a proper opportunity for escape presented itself, their best chance at successfully leaving Earth was to remain hidden from all manner of detection. The scout ship was hidden in a cave close by and was completely powered down save for what energy was needed for the cloaking field. As long as he and his comrades remained within the human domicile he'd outfitted, not even the sensors of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers would be able to detect their life signs.
All they needed to do was wait for the search for the hatchling to be abandoned and then quietly leave the system with the one who'd reunify the Skrull people.
Reunify them AND seize control back of the wayward brothers and sisters from that foul zealot with delusions of grandeur.
"As if some pathetic backwater fixed forms could ever prove dangerous to battle hardened Skrull warriors," one of his subordinates said with unfounded confidence.
Deciding the fool needed a lesson he used the power copied from the Invisible Woman to seal the Skrull in a spherical force field, making it tight enough to prevent any air from getting in.
"If the Invisible Woman were here she could do this to you, causing you to suffocate within minutes and no weapon you had would prove enough to free yourself," he pointed out even as the moron tried in vain to use his shape shifting power to break free. "Not without killing yourself in the process, that is."
Just as it looked like the idiot was about to lose consciousness he dispersed the force field and turned back to convincing the son of Princess Anelle of his heritage.
"Now… where were we, young Skrull?" he said, turning to the restrained half-breed.
"Um… you were talking nonsense about me being a Skrull," Dorrek the Eighth replied, sounding still as defiant as ever.
"It is not nonsense, my liege," he said as he took a few steps closer. "The year you were born, I abducted the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and the Kree Captain Mar-vell in the hopes of winning the Emperor's favor, not to mention the hand of his daughter Princess Anelle. Sadly your grandfather became convinced that it was all a scheme intended to usurp him and so he had me imprisoned.
"It wasn't until months later that I heard some interesting rumors, rumors that Anelle, though unmarried, had given birth to a male hatchling," he explained, remembering the past quite well. "And that when the emperor discovered the identity of the hatchling's father, he condemned the infant to death. But before the death sentence could be carried out the prince's nurse ferried the child off-world to reunite him with his father."
"Who was my father?" Dorrek asked, sounding more receptive than moments ago.
"You do believe me…" he said, testing the waters before accepting it as truth.
"No, I… I don't know what to believe anymore," Dorrek said, sounding quite uncertain and thus vulnerable.
"Be assured, I will not rest until you have reclaimed your throne and reunified the Skrull member-worlds," he said, hoping to convince the young heir of his resolve.
"But even if what you say is true, I can't leave Earth," Dorrek said, showing strong loyalty to his adoptive home.
"Forgive me, your highness, but I insist," he said even as he tapped into his power of hypnosis in order to bring the hatchling around to his way of thinking.
Sadly, before he could begin properly molding the heir, the far wall of his temporary base of operations exploded inwards, capturing his full attention. It was too SOON! He had considered the possibility that one of the heroes native to Earth's New York City would somehow locate them but by his estimations it should have been at least another twelve hours. Who was it? WHO?
"Sorry about that," came a decidedly digitized female voice. "Hope I didn't knock too hard."
As the dust settled he found himself reassured and somewhat annoyed.
Instead of the Iron Man, the source of the voice turned out to be the young armored female that had attempted to defend Dorrek the Eighth during his first acquisition attempt. This normally would not be a concern but surrounding her were a total of six other costumed heroes, all of them clearly interested in a fight.
"You've got two choices, Super Skrull: Either you free Hulking and surrender or we take Hulkling back and make you WISH you'd surrendered," the bow mistress his research had identified as Hawkeye said as she took aim with her weapon.
"You underestimate us, human," one of his Skrull subordinates said, bringing his plasma rifle to bear and causing the others to do the same. "Allow us to educate you on how unwise that is."
As much as he didn't like it when one of his subordinates overstepped his authority, in this case he agreed with the course of action. Surrendering and letting Dorrek the Eighth slip through his grasp was unacceptable. Too much of the future of Skrull-kind rested on the Hatchling's shoulders! So without further delay he let loose a torrent of flame at the unwelcome guests, only to have it blocked by the armored female using some sort force field. It didn't last, though, when the other soldiers added their firepower to his, but the human hatchlings had presence of mind to seek new cover when the energy barrier fell.
Charging forth in order to end the battle swiftly, he elongated his right arm in order to strike at the female that bore a resemblance to the Hulk with a fist containing Thing level strength.
To say he was surprised when the female proved to be just as strong was something of an understatement but thankfully, since he was a true warrior, he adapted quickly. Using the power of the Invisible Woman he struck her with a rectangle shaped force field construct while her left arm was occupied. However what his mind wanted to perceive as luck was the fact that the female had actually managed to roll with the blow, decreasing its effectiveness somewhat. Given the invisible nature of the constructs, it should have been impossible to perceive them without specialized technology that the green skinned woman clearly did not possess.
Something to ponder AFTER the intruders had been dealt with.
Using the elasticity of Mister Fantastic's power, he weaved in and out of the enemy ranks, switching between the Thing's superhuman strength and the Human Torch's pyrokinesis. While not as swift in coming as he'd hoped, he could tell within the first minute of conflict that these human heroes, while powerful, did not possess the experience needed to best him and his men. All they achieved with their efforts was delaying their defeat rather than obliterating it outright.
At least this will be instructive for my subordinates, he thought even as he slammed the female Iron Man into the concrete wall. If youths such as these could challenge them this much, fighting their elders would prove near impossible to overcome without discipline and training.
It would be a costly victory though given that the battle was not entirely one sided.
Despite their inexperience in combat, their power proved to be great enough to compensate allowing them to fell a few of his subordinates.
It would not help them.
"Die Skrull scum!" came a familiar battle cry that he had hoped not to hear on this mission.
Looking up, he had the displeasure of seeing six armed Kree soldiers consisting of six lieutenants and one captain. This complicated matters since, unlike the heroes in training, they would be fighting with the intent of killing every Skrull in the room with no hesitation. Given what he suspected about the hatchling's father, it was also possible that they intended to dispose of human youths as well should they prove… troublesome.
"Two of you! Go to the ship and prep for launch!" he ordered, knowing that against the Earth heroes and the Kree they couldn't win. "The rest of you, SUPPRESIVE FIRE!"
He would NOT fail in his mission.
Earth-1610's Janet Van Dyne POV
This is getting out of hand! she thought even as she weaved her way through both friendly and unfriendly fire. At the rate superheated plasma's being tossed around it's only a matter of time before an Earth native gets hit.
They needed to get Hulking and get out NOW.
Really could use Thena right about now, she thought even as she blasted a Skrull in the face. If she was here then she could teleport the whole lot of us back to Avengers Tower in the blink of an eye. Or at least someplace that's Skrull and Kree lacking.
Unfortunately, when Pepper's call for help went off, the daughter of Thor and Sif was absent, likely still trying to hone her teleportation abilities. Considering how electricity could fry most tech AND had a wide area of effect, it would've been really helping dealing with such large numbers but she guessed that they'd just have to adapt and overcome.
"Rescue! Blast us a uni-path out of here!" she ordered even as her stings continued knock the aliens off balance. "Lyra, Wiccan, Hawkeye, Patriot! Help me carve a path to Teddy! Stature? Bring the house down!"
The Young Avengers hesitated for a moment but then deferred to her superior experience, springing into action to see to their assigned tasks. With two to each side of her they began to punch, blast and shoot their way through the ranks of both Skrulls and Kree alike, and they were fortunate in that the centuries long war between the two races made them prioritize each other for termination. That meant that whenever one alien group got the idea to attack the interfering humans, the other group took advantage of the opening to attack with lethal force. Thanks to that they were able to make it to Teddy and free him before the familiar whine of a uni-beam heralded the obliteration of the wall to their right to reveal open sky. Then, with a female grunt of exertion, Statures rapidly growing form broke through the ceiling, causing debris to rain down.
Hope self-preservation'll be enough to keep them busy until we're a safe distance away, she thought as she helped a somewhat weakened Hulkling through the hole. Otherwise this is just going to be a tactical blunder.
Looking to the sky, she could see the Kree's ship hovering overhead and, while it wasn't mothership size, she'd lay good odds that there was at least one or two soldiers still aboard.
She seriously hoped that the Kree's desire to get Hulkling would be enough to keep them from opening fire, otherwise scattering was about the only defense they'd have that might work.
"Okay, we saved Hulkling," Pepper said as she settled into pace above the rest of the group. "What the heck was step two?"
"Get clear of any jamming tech and send out an S.O.S. on all Avengers frequencies," she replied, looking over her shoulder to see if they had any ground pursuit.
"Can't we just have Wiccan teleport us home?" Hawkeye asked, sounding much more in favor of that idea.
"No offence intended, Wiccan, but I'd rather trust technology to get us from point A to point B instead of magic," she said, trying to put her objection as politely as possible.
"Then it looks like we're in luck!" Pepper declared, pointing up at the sky ahead of them.
Looking in the direction pointed, she thought she'd be seeing an Avengers Quinjet heading their way but instead she found a blue hover-car of unknown design coming towards them FAST. When she saw weapons begin to pop out of various hidden compartments she began to worry that it was yet another enemy but, when the missiles and energy blasts went past them, she was just confused. Looking to see where the firepower was landing she was surprised to see that it'd effectively dealt with Skrull pursuit in a big way.
When it got to a little over fifty yards away she was able to see into the driver's seat and was surprised to see Xander at the wheel, but thankful that they now had a quicker way to get to safety.
"Looking for a ride?" Xander asked after landing in front of them and remotely opening the doors.
"As a matter of fact, yes," she said before turning to the others. "Everyone who can't fly get in!"
Firing sting blasts back at the aliens who were recovering from the start of their escape operation, she focused on keeping them from getting a bead on them with their long-range weaponry. She was lucky that, between the interior fights and the collapsing house, the number of alien enemies had been reduced to the point where she wasn't overwhelmed with suppression duty. When she heard the sound of the final car door slamming shut she broke off her efforts in order to fly in her shrunken size through the open window before landing on Xander's knee.
With everyone on board Xander didn't need any verbal cues to take to the air and burn some metaphorical rubber. Soon the house where Hulkling had been kept was just a speck in the rearview mirror, along with the Kree ship hovering over it.
Looks like they want Teddy alive more than they want us stopped, she thought allowing herself to relax a little bit. Hope it lasts.
"So… where to now?" Teddy asked from the backseat of the vehicle.
"I'm heading for Avengers Tower," Xander said from behind the wheel. "You might not like them for shutting you down but we need help if we're going to send the bad guys packing."
"How do you know they're even going to be there?" Billy asked, sounding somewhat resistant. "They could be off on a mission?"
"They were when we left to help Pepper," Lyra said, voicing her pessimism.
"If they are then we better hope the other heroes that call NYC home are willing to pitch in and help," Xander said, never taking his eyes off the horizon.
"Shouldn't we be following the hero rule book and keeping away from civilian populated places?" Stature asked, sounding unsure about bringing a three way fight to the Big Apple.
"As much as I'd like to follow that rule, we can't handle this by ourselves," Xander replied, sounding a bit annoyed at that fact. "We just don't have the hardware or the resources to fight off armed alien spaceships and who knows how many aliens. For all we know both sides have a small fleet waiting in the wings. We need to bulk up our side before we try to take the fight to them."
"I hope you know what you're doing," Stature said, sounding skeptical but unwilling to argue further.
I'm sure everyone else is thinking the same thing, she thought from her shrunken seat on Xander's right shoulder. But Xander's gotten pretty good at learning how to be a hero. I'm willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. There is one thing I do want to know though.
"How did you heal up so fast?" she asked, causing him to look down at her. "For that matter, how'd you find us?"
"Turns out a good dunking in saltwater does wonders for human-Atlantean hybrids. A few minutes submerged and the burns I got healed up enough for me to follow you guys," Xander replied with a smile. "As for how I found you guys and caught up… well, turns out my souped up convertible has some interesting extras. Managed to get a lock on Lyra and once you guys trashed whatever was hiding Hulkling I managed to get a lock on him, too. From there it was just catchup."
"Well here's hoping that the Avengers can catch up with us before we get pasted," Hawkeye said, sounding as though she was not happy about winning the fight on her own.
"Have faith in yourself and your team, sister," Lyra said reassuringly from her place in the front seat. "You may be hindered by weak men but you are a true warrior. Come what may you will face it with honor."
Aside from the 'weak men' part, that was pretty inspiring, she thought with a grin. Here's hoping the effects last.
The Skies Over New York City
Xander's POV
Well we made it back, he thought, looking at the buildings passing by below. Which means that Murphy should be clocking in right… about…
KAABOOOM!
"Warning! Moderate damage to rear thrusters," the interactive program of his car said even as an overhead image of it appeared on the dashboard with some parts flashing red. "Probability of continued sustained flight sixty-five percent and dropping. Recommend immediate landing!"
"No shit!" he said as he fought to keep control of the car. "I'm gonna try to put her down in Central Park. Better brace yourselves for a rough landing."
He might not have much experience driving a flying car but fortunately the controls weren't all that different from either a car or the few plane simulator arcade games he'd played. Pull back to go up, push forward to go down turn the wheel to the right to go right and turn the wheel left to go left; pretty simple. Whatever damage had been done to the car was making it difficult to make it do what he wanted it to but nevertheless, inch by inch, he was managing to direct the vehicle towards the park. It was a near thing and for a moment he thought that they'd wind up running over some trees but the old Harris luck must've run out, 'cause the plants were cleared safely. Just as they were about to land he hit the button he'd noticed when his car went from street side to sky side. When he felt tires come into contact with the ground rather than the underside of the car he knew it'd worked like he'd hoped it would. It was still rough but when they came to a stop with no one the worse for wear, he decided to put a check mark in the win column.
Too bad that's about all he had the time for since less than thirty seconds later firepower started raining down from sky.
He tried to see if the car could still at least drive around so they could evade enemy fire but the second he heard the sounds of grinding parts and sparking something, he stopped. With him being pretty much clueless about the internal workings of the vehicle, he didn't want to risk irreparably damaging it. No matter how smart Stark and his fellow big brain heroes were, he didn't want to risk them not being able to fix the damage to tech that was centuries ahead of anything they had.
"Everybody out! Scatter!" he yelled before turning to the dashboard of his car. "I don't know how well you can understand me but if you've got any sort of lock down mode or something to protect yourself with, I suggest you use it."
"Acknowledged," the digitized voice of the car stated before the dashboard indicated a program was booting up.
Getting out of the car he immediately took to the air since he figured it'd let him go faster than his own two legs could and, right now, speed was life. Looking over his shoulder for a few seconds, he was impressed to see some kind of energy dome appear over the car, making him wonder where that was when they'd needed it in the air. Only reason he could come up with why the car's programming didn't activate it was that the nature of the dome required the vehicle be stationary to work.
Mental note: spend a couple of afternoons chatting with car's program to find out what it can and can't do, he thought as he focused on the important task of staying alive.
As it was now that all the good guys were out of the car, he had the chance to see who was shooting at them and, surprise surprise, it was the Skrulls. Already they were pouring out of their ship on jet packs, with the Super Skrull leading the way.
"How many of these guys are there?" Pepper complained as she fired off a few repulsor blasts at the enemy. "We must've taken out, like, twenty of them back at that house!"
"Eight, actually," Kate Bishop said before firing off one of her trick arrows, "but if they've got a mothership or something up in space, we could wind up fighting hundreds."
"I don't think so," he said, really wishing that he had some kind of long range attack option. "Even if they do have a mother ship up in space, it has to be cloaked or it'd set off every nation's panic alarms. If they try to sneak more shuttles down, people'll start asking questions and eventually put two and two together. Nah, I think that until they get really desperate we'll just have the ones that're already here to deal with."
"And still not knowing how many that is!" Kate snapped, sounding displeased at not having all the facts.
"Just take 'em one at a time and hope that the noise attracts some backup sooner rather than later!" he said before the Skrulls finally got close enough for him to go on the offensive.
While his normal instinct was to go for the kill with anything that didn't look human, he knew that'd only get him trouble. This was his first real fight that wasn't a hero versus hero and it was a big one involving more numbers than he'd like. Add to that the fact that fights like this were prime rib for the news helicopters and he was pretty sure that murdering aliens in front of the cameras would be a bad way to be introduced to the public. So instead he settled for disarming every Skrull he encountered before hitting them hopefully hard enough to knock them out so they could be tossed into whatever alien jail Earth had.
Easier said than done since he had to not only subdue them but also evade fire from both sides while watching out for his allies.
To say his plate was rather full would be an understatement.
At the same time he knew that, if the good guys wanted to last long enough for reinforcements to arrive, they needed to get organized.
Good thing the remnants of his soldier possession and the tips he'd picked up from his teammates had helped hone his strategic mind.
"Everyone partner up! Teams of three!" he yelled as he flew over the largest concentration of friends. "Short, mid and long range. Stick to your zones but help out the others if you can. Don't try to go for checkmate. Stick to a stalemate!"
He'd been hoping that they'd follow his orders but had suspiciously thought that they might question his right to tell them to do anything. Imagine his surprise, when without any hesitation, they began to go into groups of three, following the format he'd laid out for them. Lyra, Stature and Hawkeye formed team one. Pepper, Wiccan and Hulkling formed team two. That left him to team up with Janet and Patriot. Once the teams assembled they fell into their assigned roles nicely and the results were quickly proved their effectiveness against Kree and Skrull alike. Where before the battle had essentially been a free for all, now it more closely resembled an actual battle, with shifts in the tide between the three forces happening every dozen or so seconds. They were lucky that the Kree and the Skrull were such longtime enemies because it meant that they chose to shoot at each other more than they chose to shoot at the heroes. Between that and their quickly meshing teamwork, the fight was becoming less one of desperation and more like a strain-filled conflict that came with pain penalties for every slip up.
Fortunately it never happened more than one person of one team at a time, allowing the other two members of the team to protect the dazed one long enough to recover.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" came a yell that slightly disrupted his battle tempo and, when he looked to the source, he saw something that spelled trouble.
Hulkling had broken formation with Pepper and Wiccan, looking like he was trying to get the attention of both the Kree and the Skrull.
"I AM THE SON OF SKRULL PRINCESS ANELLE!" Teddy yelled so that all could hear him. "AND I URGE BOTH SIDES TO CEASE FIRE SO WE CAN SETTLE THIS WITHOUT BLOODSHED."
Apparently Hulkling was a pacifist of sorts and wanted to take a shot at ending things with talking rather than fighting. Personally, while he applauded the sentiment, he questioned the Young Avenger's grip on the facts. Shots had already been exchanged, aliens on both sides had been killed and he was pretty sure that Hulkling had KOed a few of either species before this point in time. The odds that either the Kree or the Skrulls would stop shooting at each other much less listen to what some punk kid had to say… having a foursome with Lyra, Spider-Woman AND Miss Marvel would happen first.
Thus, when all the Skrulls and Kree suddenly stopped shooting at each other, he was completely at a loss for words and perhaps a little bit excited about what his future could very well hold.
"Wow… it worked," Teddy said as he looked about to make sure that all alien combatants had indeed stood down. "I can't believe it. I guess it just goes to show you what can happen if you reach out and—"
"Um… Ted?" Wiccan asked floating to his friend's side.
"It's all right, kids," came a new voice that drastically improved his mood. "We'll take it from here."
Turning towards the source he saw a sight that had him thinking that the tide had definitely turned in Earth's favor.
Sentry, Iron Man and a teenage Spider-Woman all looking like they were ready to kick some alien asses.
A Kodak moment if there ever was one.
Patricia 'Pepper' Potts' POV
"The son of Mar-vell?" Captain America asked even as the assembled heroes did what they could to keep the two alien races from resuming their fighting with each other.
"And therefore a conscripted soldier in the Kree army-" the Commander of the Kree forces declared before being cut off by one of the Skrulls.
"The hatchling is the heir to the Skrull Emperors Dorrek and R'Kill!" the Skrull objected, making it clear he would fight to see his purpose fulfilled.
"Make no mistake, if the boy is not immediately released into Kree custody, we will be forced to take military action against this planet," the Kree commander said with no room to be reasoned with.
"All EIGHT of you?" Wolverine asked sounding like he liked those odds.
"Even now a Kree battle cruiser is entering the Earth's atmosphere and will strike at my command!" the Kree commander warned to show just how strong a hand he was holding.
"As is the Skull armada!" the Skrull fired off as a countermove.
"I smell bluffing," Wolverine stated after a few experimental sniffs.
"Give us the boy or find out," the Kree Commander said with one helluva poker face.
Honestly she didn't want to find out because, if either of the two alien races were telling the truth, then firepower meant to be used against things that dwarfed cruise ships would be sent their way. She was be a big fan of her new armor and everything but even she knew that a direct hit from a ship-mounted weapon would reduce her to ash in a hurry. From what she'd been able to make out of the tech, even if she burned through her entire energy supply, she'd barely do enough damage to leave some scarring on the hull, never mind take the battle cruiser down. Add to that a Skrull Armada and they were outclassed unless someone pulled weapons of a similar power level out of their colorful tights and shot first.
Not seeing that happening anytime soon, she thought even as she looked around just in case someone could prove her wrong.
"It's your move, Hulkling," Cap said, letting the person the situation concerned the most make the call.
"He's not going ANYWHERE," Wiccan exclaimed, making it clear he'd fight any action that led in that direction.
"Cap, please…" Hulkling said, clearly feeling conflicted on the inside. "…don't make me go with them."
"Any thoughts?" Cap asked, opening the floor to the rest of the assembled heroes.
"Only that if we don't hand him over, we could have another Kree-Skrull war on our hands," Iron Man stated, pointing out the fact that both alien races looked like they were ready to fight over Hulkling.
"They're going to fight over Hulkling anyways," Xander said, not sounding happy with the situation. "The only thing handing him over will do is get Earth out of the crosshairs and that's assuming they actually bother to hold their fire until both sides are in orbit. Personally I'd prefer to have some say in a fight instead of getting hit by a stray shot."
"What is your decision, Captain?" the Kree commander asked, clearly reaching the end of his patience.
"Cap, PLEASE… Teddy doesn't belong with them," Patriot pleaded, not wanting to lose a friend due to intergalactic politics. "He belongs here. With his mother. With US."
"I've made my decision, Eli…" Cap said and for two seconds it looked like things would end poorly but then a resolved look imposed itself on the Avenger's face. "Hulkling stays here. Under the protection of the Avengers."
She couldn't help but smile at this development if only because it saw a hero making the right call rather than the easy one.
"Then it is you who need protection," the Kree commander said, raising his weapon to take aim at Captain America.
On reflex more than anything else she raised the hand her only functional palm repulsor was on, intent on destroying the alien's weapon before it could fire. But even moving as fast as she could, charging the blast as she took aim, she could see that she wouldn't be fast enough. At best she might be able to make sure the commander didn't get off a second shot but that'd be poor consolation for having failed to save Captain America.
In the end she didn't have to worry.
With one move a hero showed the meaning of the word bravery and potentially self-sacrifice.
"Cap! Look OUT!"
VZZZZZT
"Eli! NO!" Cap cried out even as he caught the Bucky wannabe in his arms, smoking gut shot injury and all.
With that the die was cast and any hope of talking things out vanished as things devolved into a free-for-all, with everyone attacking whatever target presented itself from moment to moment. She did the best she could and thankfully Robbie the A.I. didn't need to be told to provide support as weapons popped out of compartments all over her armor to fire on Kree and Skrull alike. With only half formed thoughts she moved to get closer to Cap and Patriot, hoping that if anyone came for them her suit would still be able to erect a barrier to protect them.
"Cap…" Patriot gasped out, amazingly still conscious after taking a Kree gun blast to the gut.
"Hold on, Eli," Cap said, full of resolve towards getting the teen hero to a hospital. "We'll get you out of here. I PROMISE."
"I'm sorry." Patriot said, after taking in another breath of air.
"It's okay. It's gonna be okay," Cap said, though whether it was to reassure himself or the young man in his arms was up for debate.
"You're not gonna yell at me?" Patriot asked with weak surprise.
"Not THIS time, son," Cap replied, letting it be known that this was a one-time freebie.
"Then I must REALLY be in bad shape," Patriot said with a tone of understanding.
"I'll take him, Cap," came a voice to her right, causing her to turn and see Sentry touching down a few feet away.
"The Sentry will get you fixed up," Cap said, gently passing the wounded hero over to the blue and yellow powerhouse. "I'll radio Jessica Jones and ask her to meet you at the hospital. We'll follow as soon as we can."
"Don't let them take, Teddy," Patriot said even as Sentry began to rise into the air.
"Don't worry, Eli," Cap declared before girding himself for the fight ahead. "Nobody's going anywhere!"
"Cap! Behind you!" Hulking exclaimed, arm raised towards the oncoming attack.
With her arm already raised to fire repulsor blasts, she was quicker this time and managed to erect a barrier to protect the Avenger's back from multiple energy blasts. With moves that made it clear why he led the Avengers, Captain America quickly dealt with the majority of the ones responsible by slinging his shield and causing it to strike them before returning to his outstretched hand. Honestly she didn't know how he could do that but she was glad he could since it made covering this side of the battlefield that much easier.
"Power rerouted. Both your repulsors are online," Robbie said even as a bit of red vanished from her HUD. "However I would not recommend pushing them too hard. This battle is beginning to take its toll on your armor and there's only so much I can do to keep it online."
"Don't worry!" she said as she took in the battlefield both with her eyes as well as her armor's sensors. "Looks like things are starting to turn our way!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Robbie said in a tone that set off warning bells in her mind. "Look up."
Doing as requested she felt her jaw drop as two ships passed through the clouds and neither of them were small. One looked like a simple cup with both rectangular as well as circular green windows on it while the other was shaped like a mechanical whale with a big front viewing window. It didn't take her mind too long to figure out that one had to be from the Skrull space navy while the other came from the Kree.
Guess they weren't bluffing, she thought in an almost detached manner.
Lucky them.
With that the fight almost immediately began to turn against the heroes, even with the two alien races taking potshots at one another to keep their hated foes from getting Hulkling. Still, as inexperienced as the Young Avengers were, they were managing to pair up with the Avengers quite well, doing just enough to keep the more experienced heroes from getting overwhelmed. Through glances and little more she could also see both Lyra and Janet working well together, with the latter using her stings to distract or divert enemies long enough for the jade woman to take them down. Individually she couldn't see any Skrull or Kree managing to get the better of the daughter of the Hulk and Thundra but numbers were definitely becoming an issue. There was only so much room for them to maneuver and none of the heroes wanted to risk the fight spilling outside of the park so they couldn't stray too far from the center.
It was when she saw Hulkling grow wings and take to the sky, though that she had to wonder if the kid had taken one too many hits to the head. The best place to be in a fight like this was in the middle of a crowd where the possibility of friendly fire would keep the bad guys from being careless with their shots. Taking to the sky just meant that there'd be nothing and no one to hide behind making for an easy target to be shot down. If what happened last time the green skinned blonde acted on his own was any hint then it was possible that he was once more trying to talk some sense into the airborne Kree and Skrull.
Idiot doesn't realize that we're way past the talking stage right now! she thought even as a trio of precisely aimed missiles disarmed some Kree.
Didn't he see that there was no way that neither side would listen to an unknown even if he had important blood running through his veins?
"Warning! Detecting a sharp increase in atmospheric ionization!" Robbie declared before a number value popped up on her HUD.
Knowing that that was a bad thing she immediately began to look for a source and, four seconds later, she got her first hint in the form of an ominous rumbling noise from above. Using her sense of hearing and the armor's sensors she found the source to be dark grey clouds that were giving rise to even more storm clouds until they began to blot out the sun. It was as she spotted crackles of lightning popping out of then back into the grey clouds that her mind caught onto what was most likely happening.
"You guys are SO screwed NOW!" she declared even as she braced for what was coming.
KRA-KOOM!
With such violence that both air as well as the ground beneath her feet vibrated with its strength, two bolts of lightning dropped from the dark clouds to strike the Kree and Skrull ships. It didn't take them down in a single shot but, based on how flashily their energy shields flared up, they got more than just a light tap on the shoulder. When another barrage was let loose half a minute later she could definitely see signs of mini-explosions dotting the outside of the hulls, likely meaning that systems were shorting out all over.
"I'm thinking Thena's, back," Xander said, landing at her side and looking a little banged up. "Think she knows what she's doing?"
"More like she wanted to take on the biggest threat on the battlefield," she replied, knowing that the girl's warrior instincts would demand it of her. "I just hopes she knows not to take out their engines or the ships'll drop into the city, crushing a lot people or blowing them up."
KRA-KOOM!
Seeing as how the Kree ship's energy shield failed half a second later, only to take a hit dangerously close to a primary engine, she'd take the answer of 'no' when it came to her hope.
Definitely needs to know the meaning of the word 'restraint', she thought before Xander shot into the sky, no doubt to find Thena and get her to tone down the lightning storm.
For a moment she wanted to be the one to go but then the realized that lightning plus high tech armor did not a fun combo make.
Nuts.