Thanks for reviewing: kag. san. in. love. 4eva, Nadine, Monichanz, JPElles (for ch 23 & 24), Supernena25, ToastedMarshmellow08, xtreme12, NZgleek91, Devin Jaste, lemon-rind, djsmith10186, fireman12468, cressey, Nightlancer600, thetamarine, Guest. Bigbangfan91, Fdlans, PraiseFortheFallen, Guest, You-Know-Who-I-Is, faberryloving, SoFlaComet and wkgreen.
Posted: 20/1/12
To War
This wasn't quite what Rachel had expected, not what was flying out of the rip in the sky, not what had attacked New York City? The report implied they'd been wiped out when Stark played hero and nuked them, with a nuclear missile ordered to be fired on the island by the superiors above S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Rachel" someone calling her name managed to wake her from the living nightmare "Rachel what do we do?" she heard Quinn ask for direction. She looked back up to the sky as the creature with the rows of sharp, narrow exterior teeth changed direction and started to fly horizontal. It didn't seem physically possible for such a creature of such mass and shape to be able to fly. It moved effortlessly like a whale through water
"Berry!" Santana yelled more forcefully, startling her into action
She swiftly spun back to her group "You five" she pointed to the mutants "Head back to the base, get your uniforms, and Britt you'll need your weapons"
Students in the car park started screaming and running to their cars, at least they had the right idea, to get out of there
"What about you?" Puck asked, Rachel couldn't do anything without her suit "And Quinn, none of us can lift your hammer" he wasn't even going to attempt
"Don't worry about us, I've got an idea" she assured them "Now go" she pushed them towards the car.
"But, Rachel, my suit" Tina tried to hang back, Rachel just took her arm and persuaded her down the steps to the car, well Santana's car as it seemed easier for them to all go together
"I know Tina, I'm sorry we didn't get to test it, I finished it last night" Rachel told her. She saw Tina's eyes light up in surprise "There's also a change of clothes to wear underneath" she added a little worried about how that sounded. She opened the back car door for Tina to get in, just as Santana was putting her seatbelt on "Santana, don't take too long, I'm not sure how long we can hold them off without you guys"
The Latina just nodded in understanding, she looked anxious, not that you could blame her. Rachel shut the door so Santana could leave. She reversed out of the parking space quickly then headed for the exit, tearing out of their like a bat out of hell. She doubted that police would pay attention to reckless driving when there was a 30ft worm flying above the town.
Rachel then started back to the school, passing Quinn on the top step outside the front entrance. She stopped and looked back to the sky when she heard another noise, a high pitched whirring, that's when she saw more things coming from the hole, smaller creatures on vehicles. She looked back to Quinn, trying to not look scared "come on" she encouraged
"Rachel, where are you going?" Quinn called after her as she ran after her back into the school "I can't do anything without Mjölnira" students round them seemed oblivious to what was going on outside, then again they couldn't hear the screaming outside
"Don't worry, you're going to call for it?" Rachel told her "We're heading to the roof"
She pulled Rachel back, revealing wide hazel eyes when Rachel was turned back to her "I've only ever been able to get it to come to me when there's only a few feet between us"
"It's yours Quinn, I know you can do it" she took Quinn's hand this time "Now come on" she started off again, up the nearest stair case
"Wait what about you?" she yanked her hand back getting Rachel to stop.
The brunette turned on the stair one higher than her girlfriend so she was only the tiniest bit taller than Quinn "Don't worry, I've been working on something" she bit her lip to keep the secret. Yes, even in a crisis like this Rachel was a show-woman wanting to surprise and impress any who'd watch or listen. Her face then turned more serious "we need to move"
As they started again up the stairs they passed an open window overlooking a courtyard with the outdoor eating area, they heard screams, meaning the people down there had spotted the monsters above them.
Rachel ran down the corridor with Quinn on her heels, heading toward the stair access to the roof. Rachel knew it was on the opposite corner of the building.
"Oh Rachel there you are" she was stopped in her tracks by the two diva's she's just had a short argument with "told you she wouldn't actually leave school" the boy commented lowly to his fellow glee club enthusiast
Rachel ignored his comments "Whatever Kurt, now if you and Mercedes could please move" she tried to shove between them only for them to close the gap even tighter, refusing Rachel passage "Get out the way" she shoved passed them harsher, making them move "You two should go home" she yelled "Now!" as she kept going down the corridor. Quinn ignored the divas as she passed and followed her team leader and girlfriend
The next obstacle was Finn, he stepped away from his locker to try to speak to Rachel "Rach-"
"Not now Finn!" she yelled, shoving him back. She may have been smaller than him but she'd worked on her strength since the accident so he was easy to shove out of the way with the momentum she'd already gained. He was shocked when he was slammed against the locker from Rachel's one handed push "Go home" he was still human, she still cared on some level
Finally, they made it to the roof access door, pushing the bar on the door down set of the fire alarm behind them. Maybe that was a bad idea getting everyone inside the building to leave and go outside, but maybe then they'd see the swarm gathering above the school and get the hell out of there.
From a distance and without the space whale it could have been mistaken for a flock of birds, but from where Rachel and Quinn were standing they could see more clearly. They were creatures, humanoid almost, as in they had arms legs and heads, only their skin was grey, and they wore weird armour with face masks.
"Do it now Quinn, call Mjölnira" Rachel said as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket
"What are you going to do?" Quinn was still staring at the sky
"The same thing" she waved her phone at Quinn before half dialling a number.
Quinn looked so unsure of herself, the exact opposite of earlier when she pushed Rachel up against her locker "Rachel I don't think I can-"
"Quinn, I think this is it, I mean it has to be" she pointed up to the sky "they're here for you, and I'm not going to let them take you, but I need your help. The other guys are getting their suits, I need you to get ready too. And sorry to sound like Sylvester but can't isn't an option right now"
"That was softer than something Coach would say" Quinn told her with a shaky laugh
"Well yeah, you're my girlfriend. But I need you to try, I believe in you, you can do this Quinn" she had to kiss Quinn now, just to try and convey just how much she cared with that simple action "You can do this" she whispered when she pulled away. When Quinn nodded, Rachel muttered her apology as she returned to her phone. She finally finished dialling and bought the phone up to her ear as was tapped straight into the computer "Fairchild, its time, send the suit"
"Are you sure Miss? The modifications you added only last night-"
"Sorry Fairchild, but we don't have a choice, send the suit" she dropped her bag to the floor as she clamped the phone between her ear and shoulder so her hands were free. Now she could find what she needed in her bag "I also need you to release the teams suits, they'll be there soon to get changed"
"Yes Miss" as Fairchild replied Rachel heard loud destructive crashing noises over the phone.
"Fairchild, what was that noise, is it the suit, did it malfunction?" Rachel asked panicked
"No miss, I believe that to be Miss Quinn's weapon, it has just crashed through the ceiling from your and Miss Quinn's bedroom, and through the roof of the base"
Rachel looked over to her left to See Quinn facing away from her, toward the base, as if she just knew which direction the base was in relation to the school. Her hand was held out reaching for what she knew was there. Rachel wanted to jump for joy and hug Quinn for her success but she couldn't distract her. Instead Rachel looked to the horizon.
"The Iron Girl Suit has started its solo flight to the beacon location, miss" Fairchild confirmed from the phone that Rachel still held to her ear.
"Good Fairchild, I'll be talking to you again in a moment" she disconnected the call and abandoned the cell phone, dropping it on the roof she was standing on. She held something in her left hand, a small device the size of a flash drive, with a blinking red light on it. She placed that on the ground next to her and stepped away before looking back to the horizon Quinn was looking at.
She saw two items heading their way and smiled to herself.
Mjölnira was closer and was moving faster. There was a tail of vapour behind it as it cut through the air at the high speed, heading straight for Quinn. Rachel thought it would be best to step away from her as well, just in case.
As soon as the handle hit Quinn's hand lighting struck it, channelling through Quinn, while the thunder rumbled overhead. The clap of thunder was like a starting gun for the swarm ahead, they finally spotted their target. Rachel looked to the sky in time to see the space speeders turn and head straight for them. She looked back to her suit that she could see travelling towards her, it was getting closer, she just hoped it would get her and she could get in before the speeders did.
She looked to Quinn as the strange leather and metal armour layered itself over the young goddess's body. It was still a mystery what happened to her clothes.
Now Rachel could hear the thrusters of her suit as he stopped above her and lowered itself onto the beacon that Rachel had dropped on to the roof top. Rachel removed her sweater revealing a thin t-shirt underneath with a whole in the centre, allowing the suit access to its main power supply. As she jogged toward the robotic armour, the front side of each section opened up so Rachel could get inside "Come on" she muttered to herself as she saw the speeders com in low and armour clad Quinn stalk confidently to the edge of the building, ready to welcome them as she spun Mjölnira in preparation.
Just before the face panel could close over and complete securing Rachel inside she saw the first of these creatures dive straight for Quinn only for the hammer swinging blonde to strike it square in the head, knocking it back in the direction it came from into another speeder. The speeder it had been on crashed into a flaming wreck across the roof while the one it hit spun away over the parking lot bellow to crash into the road next to the school.
"The mutants have arrived at the base Miss"
"Thanks for the update Fairchild" she said as she activated the thrusters and took off from the roof, to start her own fight up in the sky.
She halted, using the thrusters to keep her in place as she shot a speeder down with her palm repulsors. She then took a moment to look at the swarm swirling around her, and that giant creature- wait where was it? She looked down to see it had flown down, it was heading for Quinn. She set off, pushing the speed of the thrusters and using Gravity to aid her decent. The flying space whale passed a fierce and fighting Quinn on the roof top, and it was almost unbelievable, but things, more creatures flew out from the insides of the monster. It wasn't just a living thing it was a vehicle too.
She slowed the thrusters as she came up to the side of it, passing Quinn too who was still fighting as if she couldn't see past the things attacking her. Rachel stopped her hand thrusters to use the palm repulsors as weapons instead. She blasted the creatures side only for the metal skin to absorb the power
"I'm afraid we will run out of power before we break through the shell, Miss"
"Damn" she muttered to herself, she changed trajectory so she could fly away from the whale to head back towards Quinn. The blonde was still fighting strong but Rachel feared she would get overwhelmed.
She saw Quinn dive forward, off the roof, with her hammer raised allowing her to knock out another speeder. Rachel flew over the lip of the roof in time to see Quinn land Mjölnira down first onto an alien that looked like it had been trying to attack some fleeing students.
Rachel landed next to Quinn, her back to the blonde, protecting that side as they performed a synchronised dance of destruction and defence.
An alien leapt at Quinn only for her to turn in time to smack it in the chest with her weapon, throwing it round her and unfortunately toward the school, the body crashed through the outer wall and into the school to where students still ran in panic. Quinn didn't have time to think, time to regret or worry, she was already swinging Mjölnira, axe blade first, into it's next victim.
.
Inside the building the students were running in all directions, most likely to which ever entrance to the building was closest to whatever school parking lot they'd left their car in. for the ones who didn't have cars they would just have to run
Coach Sylvester was in her office, looking through papers with her reading glasses poised in the end of her nose, when she heard the screaming and chaos. She took her glasses off, slammed her hand on the desk as she put them down and got up. She marched out of her office to enter the disorientation of students rushing in both direction through the halls
"No running in the halls!" she yelled furiously
The students looked at the cheerleading coach like she was crazy... well crazier than usual, hadn't she seen what was going on outside?
"I said No running" she turned to look up in the opposite direction up the hall only to see a grey body flying towards her. She had no time to react and move out of the way. The last thing she felt was herself flying backwards before coming to a sudden stop.
.
A strong breeze rushed past Quinn, knocking an alien down before the blur came to a halt. "Quinn" it was Mike "here" he passed her an ear piece, one of the ones Rachel had made so they could keep in contact.
They both saw an alien get shot down by Rachel's palm repulsor before it could attack either of them.
"Thanks" she took the ear piece quickly and slotted it into her ear "Where are the others?"
"They're on their way" he started to explain
"Duck!" Quinn told him, he did so quickly so she could cut the alien down with the axe side of her weapon
He stood back up again when it was clear "But it was faster for me to run back, so I did" he managed to finish his explanation
"Mike" Rachel's slightly metallic voice cut them off "Start evacuating people from the school, send them out the other entrances. We'll keep the fight here until the others get here"
He nodded quickly and started jogging (effortlessly) towards the school. He bent down to pick up one of the aliens staffs, as a weapon of his own before continuing inside.
Quinn and Rachel didn't have to wait long for Santana to get back with the others, she almost toppled the car on the last bend as she turned sharply back into the parking lot.
"Oh good you guys made it then" Quinn said sarcastically knowing they were in range to hear her now.
"Hey Q" Santana said back, as she climbed out of the car and ran over to help where the heart of the fight was taking place "Nice tiara" she noted with a smirk that they could hear in her voice if they couldn't see it like Quinn could.
"Enough you guys" their team leader spoke "Puck and Tina can you two get inside and help evacuate with Mike"
"Sure"
"We're on it" both answered before heading inside
Then Rachel remembered something "Tina how's the suit?" she asked just as Tina disappeared inside
Tina simply smiled to herself with confidence "Perfect"
"I'm heading up" Rachel told the group, leaving Quinn Santana and Brittany on the ground to defend from there.
After Santana flamed another speeder to the ground the sky grew dark above them. She looked up to see hat whale that was still flying around pass overhead, with Iron Girl flying right in front of its mouth!
"Rachel, watch out it's on your tail!" she yelled over the communications device
"What the hell are you talking about, I'm on it's tail!" the team leader sighed back
"Wait, San" Brittany looked up too in time to see Rachel flying at the tail of the space worm, she then turned to look at the front and saw something else "that suit at the front isn't silver... it's red"
"What's going on?" Rachel asked confused, all she could see was the back end of the monster
That's when Quinn said the few words that would explain everything "Um, Rach... your dad's here"
Loud obnoxious music, maybe something by Black Sabbath started playing in their ears
"Am I too late to join the party?" the new voice asked, with such confidence and such self worth
Rachel felt sudden nerves and a sickness in the bottom of her stomach. Did this man know he was her father, did he know she hadn't intentionally copied the suit, and did he have any clue what was actually going on here. The music faded away so they could actually think straight again
"No sir, Mr Stark" she replied over the communication waves "Not too late at all"
"Tony is Fine... Rachel" it was as if his voice almost faltered, but he kept his confidence and strength anyway. He turned sharply, escaping the whale's attention while it kept circling the school
"What's going on?" Pucks voice came in
"Iron mans here" Santana answered. The Latina then tried to be smart; she created a fireball and sent it spiralling through the air to the space whale. But just like Rachel's palm repulsor blast the metal shell just absorbed it, the giant alien didn't even notice the attack
"That's not going to work, that Chitauri aren't as easy to destroy as the rest" they heard Tony explain. At least they had a name for their alien visitors
"Well, how'd you defeat them last time?" Rachel asked, she changed direction and flew above it, keeping above its back so she could track it directly and see what it could see.
"Last time we had a Demi-God and a guy with anger management issues to knock these guys out" he didn't want to think about what he'd done to bring one down, it hadn't ended pretty "Jarvis, scan for a soft spot"
At the same time as he requested that of his computer companion, Rachel requested: "Fairchild, scan for a point of weakness"
"Fairchild? What sort of name is that for a computer?" she heard Tony ask as he came up next to her to fly along side with her in his more advanced red and yellow suit.
"What sort of name is Jarvis, sounds like a place to get coffee" Rachel kept it playful but was still defensive "Anyway she chose it"
Tony furrowed her brow "How did she choose it?"
Rachel would have shrugged but now wasn't the time so she just explained... because there was always time for that "I programmed her with a slight personality, just some variables, making her capable of decision and opinion making on the smaller things" after a pause she asked "You didn't?"
"No I did, just not that much, I focused it more on Jarvis being able to calculate tactfully"
"Okay daddy daughter chatty reunion time is over, get the worm already!" Santana snapped as she turned another Chitauri soldier to ash
"I thought they looked more like whales" Rachel mused as she still tried to think of a plan and see f Fairchild found any weaknesses.
"Me too" Tony agreed. Rachel smiled to herself, already liking the similarities she was finding between her and her biological father.
Santana was getting anxious, obviously. "Now!"
"If it matters sir, I do like my name" the original computer companion told his creator
"Thank you Jarvis" they could hear Tony smile, almost smirk, as he said that
Rachel sighed to herself "Don't say it Fairchild" not wanting a story from when they first met coming up right now.
"I wasn't going to miss" Fairchild assured her "as for the Chitauri no obvious weakness found"
"Obvious? What the not so obvious weakness then?" Rachel asked. Tony wondered if they were getting the same idea he once did
"Well there is one clear opening, Miss. But I feel the palm repulsors do not have enough energy to cause maximum damage, at least not enough for an easy escape"
It quickly dawned on her what she needed to do "Ah gotcha', excuse me" she left the whale for a moment so she could look around for a solution "I'm going to need more power" she thought out loud
"May I suggest finding an electrical power source" Fairchild hinted.
"Quinn" she whispered to herself "Quinn!" she then yelled louder, though it wasn't necessary, Quinn could hear her anyway.
The sudden outburst had the young goddess worried though "What is it, what's wrong?" she didn't falter in her steps though as she swung round
"I'm fine, hang on I'm coming to you. I'm going to need you to charge my suit"
"What" another Chitauri met its end, this time: death by hammer head, rather than a slice from the axe side "how the hell am I going to do that?" Brittany behind her cut another enemy soldier's chest open with her sword
"Strike me with a lightning bolt" Rachel told her as she landed dead in front of her
"Rachel, you're crazy" it was hard to talk to her in the suit, it was like she was talking to someone else, not Rachel.
"Just do it, please"
Quinn sighed before giving in. she summoned the static in the air and channelled it through the hammer and sending the bolt to the silver suit in front of her. Rachel tensed... in case her planned back fired. Only it didn't, everything appeared brighter inside her suit, and her heart may have jolted into life and picked up pace a little more than necessary but she could handle it.
"Power up 400%" Fairchild informed Rachel of what she could already see on the screen inside the helmet.
"Well what do you know" she muttered to herself, it worked. Tony had a strange sense of déjà vu when he heard her say that.
"Thank you Quinn" Rachel chimed like a happy child before she set off again after the Chitauri beast.
The 3 other mutants came out of the building just in time to see Rachel take off again. They ran out so they could see what was happening. Tina did as mike had done and picked up one of the Chitauri's lost staffs from the ground to defend herself.
Rachel flew up the spine of the alien and beyond the head before turning round sharply and heading straight for it. It saw her and opened up its massive jaws just in time to snatch Rachel up. Tony stopped; he backed off so he wasn't too close to the thing when it blew.
Time seemed to slow around them; it was as if the Chitauri didn't attack because everyone was focused on what was happening with the flying whale. Quinn's heart was in her throat, she heard thrusters behind her and she knew that was Stark landing as he too watched.
There was nothing... then the whale began to convulse, it's insides started to move like it was full of eels, and just when Santana was willing to bet it was about to throw Rachel up, its middle exploded. It let out an alien yet animalistic cry as it was torn apart, into two.
The metal clad girl flew from the destruction spinning through the air and crashing to the ground not far from her team and biological dad who had just watched the entire thing unfold in front of them.
"Wow, she really is my daughter" Tony muttered to himself when his communication lines weren't open so no one else could hear him.
Quinn ran over to help her up "Are you okay?" she asked the silver suited girl
"I'm fine" she didn't hesitate to take Quinn's hand so she could stand up quickly. She wouldn't tell her girlfriend about the blood she could feel trickling from her forehead.
.
Finn was in his car pulling out of the lot when he heard an earth shaking explosion and the sunlight faded from above him. The last thing her heard was the crunching of glass as his truck was squished and his own panicked scream. The last thing he saw was grey gooey flesh enveloping over his car.
.
"Guys we need to separate, Quinn and I will head back to the roof, get a view of the damage" Rachel told them while Fairchild checked the systems. Everything amazingly seemed fine. "Um, Tony, you ah... you do what you want" it felt weird ordering him about when she knew who he was. Rachel went to grab Quinn only the blonde stopped her
"I've got this" she ran forward toward the school and leapt, yes leapt onto the roof
"You can leap" Rachel said pointing out the obvious. While Tony made a mental note that he was sure Thor could fly... and if the way this blonde girl was dressed and her weapon were any clue this girl, Quinn, was Thora... Rachel's girlfriend. He shook his head to dismiss the thoughts for now and followed his long lost daughter onto the roof.
The three on the roof looked out over the rest of the surrounding area, the Chitauri were preying on the still escaping students. So much for sending Puck, Tina, and Mike to get everyone out to safety, now they were just there to be attacked "We're going to defend on this side" Rachel said letting everyone hear her
"Okay, we got this one covered" Santana assured her from the ground
Santana made sure to keep many of the Chitauri's attention with her fire, luring them in, using it like a flare before it was just a weapon again. Hidden behind the flame was Brittany and her blades with her memorised moves and Puck ready to pack a punch. Mike and Tina were there too, with their adopted alien weapons. The 5 made sure to spread out a little to cover more ground.
"Mike" Tina yelped when she saw the speeder heading straight for him, she dropped the staff and leapt in front of him willing to sacrifice herself and take the hit for him. She clenched her eyes shut as held her hands out in a feeble attempt to halt the space machine.
But the hit never came, instead of the inevitable crash and pain and death, they just heard an echo of a thump. The pair opened her eyes to see a pale blue telekinetic shield in front of them.
"Whoa" It was when Mike spoke that one word that Tina lost her concentration and the shield disappeared and she realised it was she who'd created the force field. They looked at each other wide eyed with shock and relief "Tina how did you do that?"
"I-I don't know" she stuttered as she looked back down at her hands
"Well you better be ready to do it again" they heard Santana over their ear pieces as there was too much noise around them for them to hear her actual voice "We got more coming in"
Santana was right, as they looked to the sky they saw more speeders and a couple more space whales come through the worm hole. They all noticed one particular speeder that came through, someone who looked more like a human than a Chitauri sped out and down until he was close to the ground. He then began circling the school, laid back in his speeder as a Chitauri piloted it
"Oh great" Tony muttered dryly "Antler guy is here" his battle headdress made him stand out easily from a crowd.
"What?" Rachel spun around finally noticing what everyone else had already seen.
Tony then said clearer "Thora, your uncle's here"
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