GI Joe/Marvel universe crossover.
I don't own Marvel or Hasbro.
A shorter chapter, but here you all go, a quick update. Enjoy!
Silence
Chapter 11: Problems
Time: 06:10 Zulu, Friday
Location: Cobra Headquarters
"Isn't it glorious, Destro?" Cobra Commander crowed, waving his hands to the people milling below them. Both men were looking over a set of railing, down into one of the cargo bays. Men and women, most of them mutants, waited to be processed by the Cobra agents sitting at several sets of tables.
"Glorious, Commander," Destro replied half-heartedly. Inwardly, he felt as if a dead weight were sitting on his chest. While James McCullen Destro XXIV was not himself a mutant, his son and wife were. The Commander knew of the Baroness's mutation, however Destro had taken great pains to ensure that Alexander's was a secret. At least, if it was still a secret.
Destro flicked his eyes over to where his adult son stood. The young woman known as Mistress Armada was smiling and leaning into him. Alexander wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze.
James sighed. He didn't trust Armada. She was manipulative and had most likely already told Cobra Commander about Alexander. Destro could clearly see that she was using his son for her own purposes. Unfortunately, Alexander was too much in love with her to notice. Unlike his father, the young man was the type of person who wore his heart on his sleeve and despite the ruse he'd pulled when his father lay on his deathbed, underhanded tactics didn't come naturally to Alexander McCullen Destro.
He was going to have a hard time convincing his son to separate himself from the woman. All subtle attempts so far had either been ignored, or more likely, not even noticed.
"Something wrong Destro?" Cobra Commander asked. Destro hid a growl.
"Nothing that need concern you," he answered with as much neutrality as he could muster. "Family matters."
"Destro, Destro," the Cobra leader said smoothly. "How long have we worked together? I like to think of Cobra as one big family," he waved his arms wide, as if to demonstrate. He turned to look at the taller man.
"And I like to think, as colleagues and 'family,' that we would share information with each other," the Cobra leader added dangerously. Destro narrowed his eyes beneath his mask.
"Such as?" he asked, a hint of warning in his own voice. The Scotsman could tell that his 'colleague' was smirking beneath the dark blue, cloth mask. He had learned to recognize such things over the years.
"The fact that your son is a mutant," Cobra Commander plainly said. So Armada had told him. Either that or she had manipulated Alexander into telling the Commander himself. "I'm specifically offering a haven to mutants and you withhold such information from me?" he hissed. Destro restrained his sudden desire to reach out and strangle the man.
"Family affairs," he answered coolly. "Besides, his powers are hardly effective for combat anyway."
"But potentially useful, nonetheless," Cobra Commander added. Destro didn't say anything, but rather waited for the other man to continue.
"Several of our new 'family members' have come to my attention," Cobra Commander finally said, brushing away the small dispute. "They are former members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and may be useful. I'm sure you've heard of Mystique and Sabretooth?"
The feeling of dread inside Destro's chest deepened.
"I have," he answered evenly. "I'd be suspicious of their motives, if I were you. I hardly doubt that the infamous Victor Creed is joining out of any sense of loyalty to your cause."
Cobra Commander laughed long and deeply at that. The sound of it churned Destro's stomach.
"I know," he finally said between peals of laughter.
"I fail to see what is so amusing," Destro stated. The Commander slowly regained control, save for the occasional chuckle.
"I know," Cobra Commander repeated. "That's why he's perfect. He's not in it for the money or the cause; he just wants an excuse to kill. He'll be a good replacement for Storm Shadow."
There was a pause.
"So you have given up on recovering him?" the Scotsman dared to ask. He saw the other man smirk underneath his mask again.
"Given up?" the Commander asked. "How ludicrous! Give up on a weapon like Storm Shadow?"
"Of course, how insulting of me to suggest that," Destro said. Inwardly, he prayed that the Arashikage ninja wouldn't come back. The weapons dealer may have made a deal with the devil in working with Cobra, but he'd made that choice. Storm Shadow wouldn't have any choice at all.
Where ever you are Mr. Arashikage, Destro thought, stay far away from here. Don't come back unless you can take my son away with you.
………………………………………..
Time: 06:25 Zulu, Friday; 10:25 local time, Friday
Location: Manhattan Mall, New York City
The mall. Of all places for Storm Shadow to find himself, he was at the mall. Or more specifically, he was being dragged through the mall by an overexcited eighteen year old, a Weather Goddess, and an Errol Flynn cult worshipping German.
For Thomas Arashikage, this was probably as close as he'd get to society's standards of 'normal.'
"Abercrombie and Fitch?" Storm Shadow asked, looking at a sign. "Do I have to go in there?"
'No,' two other adults said. 'Yes,' one lone teenager said. The vote was in his favor.
Jubilee sulked as she followed the three adults, looking back at the store. Tommy felt his lips twitch into a smile as he watched her.
"Something tells me you just wanted to go in and look at the pictures of all the shirtless men," Tommy said slyly. The young woman's face blushed.
"That's not true!" she denied. Tommy and Kurt both laughed.
"Ah…an ulterior motive," the German mutant said. "We learn the truth."
"Sneaky," Storm Shadow added. "She must be a ninja."
"Ororo! They're making fun of me!" she complained. Ororo Munroe raised an amused eyebrow while Tommy schooled his face into the picture of perfect innocence. Storm's lips twitched up into a smile at that.
"Ignore them, young one," she smiled. "They are rather nice pictures though, aren't they?"
"Storm!" she yelled, scandalized. The older woman's eyes twinkled with hidden humor. The eighteen year old huffed, crossed her arms, and stormed on ahead of them. Tommy looked worriedly after her.
"She'll be fine," Ororo Munroe said, looking at him. "She's just at that age. Jubilee knows we're just teasing her. All will be forgiven in a few minutes." Tommy felt himself relax. He eyed his companions out of the corner of his eyes.
Storm Shadow and Nightcrawler were both wearing tiny devices called image inducers, which projected a holographic image to cover their normal features. Kurt had explained that Tony Stark had made them for those mutants who couldn't pass as regular humans. Today, however, the X-Men weren't taking any chances that Cobra might spot Storm Shadow. For that reason, Tommy was wearing one as well.
It was probably the only time in his life that Storm Shadow could 'pass' for a natural red head.
"Hey guys!" Jubilee yelled at them, waving her hands. "There's a sale!"
"Lead the way!" Kurt called cheerfully back. Tommy wondered how he could be in such a good mood, when he had to disguise himself to do simple things like shopping. To do otherwise would elicit an anti-mutant mob. That thought depressed him, as he rather liked the German mutant.
"She really loves shopping, doesn't she?" Tommy asked. Kurt grinned at him.
"That's why we call her the 'mall rat,'" he said. "Just let her be, mein freund. She feels like she's helping out."
"I'm grateful," Tommy said honestly. "I've just forgotten what it's like to be that young. Everything's an adventure."
"Everything still is an adventure," Kurt grinned, unable to hide his inner swashbuckler. "If you don't think so, then you've gotten old."
Tommy thought about that for awhile. It was hard for him to get excited for an 'adventure.' All he wanted was to have peace and quiet. Maybe his time with Cobra had made him into an old man. He certainly felt like one at times. The two mutants with him seemed to sense that.
"Sometimes things happen that make us feel older than we are," Storm said quietly. "The best we can do is to heal and remember we are not alone." The other mutant nodded in agreement.
"There's a reason you're getting a vacation," Kurt said. They'd all agreed to not speak of the trip to Canada aloud, unless as the generic 'vacation.'
"I suppose so," Tommy replied.
The rest of the shopping trip went smoothly. Canada wasn't too cold this time of year, but Logan hadn't said where precisely they were going. Storm had suggested that the ninja borrow cold weather gear from the X-Men, so as to not alert any possible spies of the possible location of his destination. Anything else he needed could be bought up there.
If there was anything Tommy had learned as a ninja and a soldier, it was to pack light. He was fairly certain, especially based on what the other two mutants had told him, that Logan was the same way. Most of the clothing he was buying now would probably be left at the mansion until he returned.
With Jubilee's help, the ninja came away with a couple pair of shorts, two pairs of jeans, some slacks, various shirts, and of course, underwear. All on sale, of course. As they prepared to leave, Jubilee pointed to a nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore.
"We can't leave yet," she said. "Hank said we've got to buy a book for 'Jason.'." Jason, of course, being the fake name Tommy had been stuck with on the outing. He figured that if anyone asked for a full name, he'd pretend to be a member of the O'Hara brood.
"Well, we can't let Hank down," Kurt shrugged.
Unfortunately, they never made it there. The group had walked about three hundred feet when Tommy realized they were being followed.
…………………………………………….
Time: 06:25 Zulu, Friday; 10:25 local time, Friday
Location: The GI Joe Pit
Lifeline and Psyche Out sat quietly as they studied the scans from Major Bludd's brain. Something had to be blocking telepathic scans, the question was what. Neither man knew what to look for. Fortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. had given them what information they had on the subject.
"How'd training go this morning?" Kenneth Rich asked.
"Fine, I suppose," Lifeline answered. Hawk had given him and Beach Head permission to go to a secluded area off base to train their powers. Or more specifically, for Lifeline to train his. The ranger had practiced telekinetically disassembling and reassembling one of his handguns until he was able to get to the point of not dropping anything. He'd also apparently shaved about a minute and a half off of his time.
While Beach Head had focused on that, the medic had found himself doing pushups. Thousands of them, with a boulder on his back. Beach Head had figured that was the best they could do with what they had, short of parking a Boeing C-17 on his back. He'd also run a couple of laps around the planet. Lifeline had been rather shocked that he'd been able to do that, never having tested what the limits of his powers might be. Beach Head had made him run a third lap and the medic had found himself finally feeling more than a bit winded after that.
Snake Eyes had suggested asking Tony Stark when he arrived if he could put them into contact with the Avengers. He seemed rather keen on borrowing Thor or the Hulk as a sparring partner for the pacifist. Edwin wasn't too thrilled with that prospect, himself. Beach Head, on the other hand, had gotten a maniacal light in his eyes when the ninja had suggested it.
"Hawk said he talked to Charles Xavier this morning," Lifeline said. "He wants to meet the two of us."
"When?" Psyche Out asked. Lifeline shrugged.
"Hawk said something about giving us a weekend pass soon. He also mentioned trying to get us a couple of weeks of leave when possible, so we could go train there," the medic answered. The psychiatrist eyed him carefully.
"Do you want to go?" he asked. "Or are you going because they want you to?" Lifeline looked at him in surprise.
"I do want to go. I've never met any other mutants besides Beach Head."
"But?" the other man questioned. Lifeline sighed.
"I don't want to fight, but…I feel like I'm not pulling my weight," he confessed. "Wayne's working as hard as he can to train and it's all we can do to find things to challenge me. I'm probably not even giving fifty percent, let alone a hundred," Edwin finished glumly.
"If that's the problem, then going to the X-Men will be good for you," Kenneth said. The medic still looked a little depressed and he sighed.
"Look, Beach knows it's not your fault," Kenneth pointed out. "You'd be giving him one hundred and ten percent in PT if you could. The problem is…you can't without revealing to everyone that you're a mutant."
"Maybe we should," Lifeline muttered. Psyche-Out raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked. The doctor sighed again.
"I'm tired of hiding Kenneth!" he suddenly exclaimed, throwing up his hands in frustration. "I feel like I live in a world made of paper and everything's in slow motion! I hear everything that goes on in the Pit! Everything! You know what that's like? But if I say anything, most people will either hate me or want to use me!"
"You don't know that," Kenneth said after a moment. "Hawk, Flint, Duke, Spirit, Snakes and now the other two ninjas…we all know and it's not a problem." Lifeline frowned at him.
"Duke supports registration, or did you forget? Besides, you saw how some people reacted at the meeting when Hawk told everyone about Storm Shadow and the X-Men," he said. "Ace wanted to know if Storm Shadow was safe with them! As if they weren't any better than Cobra!"
Lifeline was upset. Unfortunately, Psyche Out didn't know what to say that would make him feel better. He watched the news. He'd heard what Ace had said. People were scared of mutants and pretending otherwise wouldn't make it go away.
"Not everyone reacted like Ace," he finally pointed out. "Most people were curious or a little surprised. I think a few people were reassured that mutants can be good people too."
That seemed to calm the other man down a bit. Kenneth knew that his friend was still frustrated and upset, but like usual, he bottled it back up inside. As a psychiatrist, that rather worried him. He knew that Lifeline's pacifism was in part a reaction against, and a rejection of, the domestic violence he had gone through as a child. Coupled with the stress he was under just for being a mutant, and a powerful one at that, Psyche Out worried that the man might just plain snap some day.
He hoped he was wrong. Lifeline was one of the most level headed and peaceful individuals he had ever met.
"Hello," he suddenly said, noticing something on the chart he was examining. "What's this?"
"Find something?" Lifeline asked.
"I do believe so."
………………………
Time: 07:58 Zulu, Friday; 11:58 local time, Friday
Location: Manhattan Mall, New York City
Storm Shadow pulled Jubilee out of the way just in time to avoid the bullets. He shoved the girl behind one of the mall fountains and slipped a few shuriken into his hands. Nightcrawler was already on the move, teleporting throughout the mall until he found the perpetrators. Storm immediately took command of the situation as disguised Cobra agents fired at them.
The mutant formed a wall of ice around Storm Shadow and Jubilee. Tommy gritted his teeth in irritation. Strategically, he understood as he himself was the military objective. It still didn't mean he couldn't contribute to the fight.
"Stay here," he ordered Jubilee.
"Wait!" she yelled. "Storm wants you to stay…"
Tommy ignored her as he leaped nimbly up onto the wall of ice. Shuriken flew out of his hands, striking several Cobra agents. The ninja swiftly moved among the attackers, incapacitating each one.
"Tommy…!"
Kurt's yell came too late. Something foul, slimy, and sticky hit him in the back. Storm Shadow staggered forward a step. He tried to move, but the strange substance was hardening and had effectively frozen him. Thomas Arashikage was a sitting duck.
"Well well," an all too familiar voice said. "What do we have here, brother? It looks like…"
"…Our lost ninja has been a naughty boy," the other voice finished.
The Crimson twins. Just what he needed.
Storm Shadow struggled against the strange substance, whatever the hell it was. Tomax sauntered in front of him, leering triumphantly. Tommy spit in his face. The Corsican backhanded him.
"Now now…" Tomax said.
"No need to be impolite," Xamot finished.
"When we came all this way to find you," both twins said. Storm Shadow gritted his teeth. He heard shop windows smash and felt the ground shake. Whoever Storm and Nightcrawler were fighting at the moment, they weren't the run of the mill Cobra troops.
"Go to hell," Tommy growled. "I'm not coming back." One of the twins smirked and reached into his pocket. The ninja bit back a scream as his body writhed in pain.
"Do you really think that Cobra Commander didn't have any other safeguards…"
"To prevent your escape?" they asked. Storm Shadow was unable to answer, his body still convulsing from agony. He dimly heard something shatter nearby. Something warm and bright blasted the two Crimson twins away. Tommy gave a gasp of relief when the pain immediately stopped.
"You two Dweebs leave him alone!"
Tommy blinked his eyes to clear his vision. Jubilee was now standing in front of him, with both arms outstretched towards the two Guardsmen. What could only be described as fireworks poured out of her hands, which exploded like miniature bombs.
The sudden stench of brimstone alerted him to Nightcrawler's presence.
"Keep them busy Jubilee," the mutant ordered. Mall customers ran screaming in all directions as the teenager continued to throw energy blasts at the two twins. The two men vaulted off of a bench and somersaulted into the air, avoiding her attacks. Kurt grabbed a hold of one of Storm Shadow's arms.
"Hold on," the German mutant said. "I'm going to teleport you out of there." Within seconds, Tommy was free.
"What hit me?" he asked, his body still aching from the pain.
"A mutant," Kurt answered. "Don't worry, I took him out for you." Tommy nodded, then with a gasp, collapsed in pain again. The German mutant held him up and wrapped his tail around one of Storm Shadow's legs to keep him from falling down.
"The Twins," Tommy gasped. It felt as if his veins were on fire. "Xamot….the one…with the scar…something in his pocket…" Stars swam in his eyes. Breathing became painful.
"Storm!" Kurt yelled, still holding the ninja.
Snow and ice blanketed the inside of the mall. Fierce, freezing winds blew and knocked the two Twins over. One of them had managed to get close enough to stun Jubilee, who was now lying unconscious on the floor. Through his pain, Tommy saw Storm descend upon the two Crimson Guardmen like an angry Goddess. Lightning flew from her eyes as a blizzard raged around her.
Tommy felt the pain suddenly stop and he gave a sigh of relief. A pair of yellow eyes looked down at him, checking him for injuries. Nightcrawler's image inducer had apparently been smashed early in the fight. The mutant very carefully laid the ninja down on the ground.
"I'll be right back, mein freund," he promised. He quickly vanished, leaving behind his trademark stench. Storm Shadow passed out a few moments later.
When Tommy next opened his eyes, he was lying in the X-Men's infirmary. Logan sat next him, looking pensive and staring at the far wall. Kurt sat on the other side of him, equally worried.
"What happened?" he asked, trying to sit up. A strong, hairy arm shot out and pushed him back down.
"Stay down, Kid," Logan ordered. "Hank's not done examining you." Tommy obeyed, not really having a choice. Every section of his body ached, including his head.
"What happened?" he repeated. He vaguely remembered Jubilee lying on the ground. "Where's Jubilee?"
"She's fine," Kurt reassured him. "She's in her room, resting. The Twins didn't hurt her that badly."
Tommy closed his eyes, thankful for that. Tomax and Xamot wouldn't have hesitated to kill a teenaged girl. He quietly listened as Kurt related the rest of the story. After Kurt had put him down, he'd teleported over to the two men…and then proceeded to teleport their clothing off. Storm had then attempted to encase both men in a casing of ice.
Unfortunately, however, one of the Twins had turned out to be a mutant, which Tommy hadn't known. Tomax apparently had the ability to blend into shadows. He had grabbed his brother and disappeared into a shadow, leaving behind their Guardsmen uniforms. Storm had found a tiny controller inside Xamot's clothing.
"What was it?" Tommy asked when Kurt was finished. "What'd they do to me?"
"We're still trying to find that out," another voice said. The ninja looked over to see that a concerned Scott Summers was standing on the other side of the room, watching them. "Hank thinks that Cobra put some kind of nanomachines inside you, which allowed them to track you and to torture you."
"Shouldn't they have been destroyed when Kitty phased through him?" Logan asked. "That's how she destroyed the telepathic blocker in his ear." Cyclops shrugged.
"He brought that up. He's not sure why either," the X-Man answered. "Hank's pretty sure though that the controller was short range only. Cobra probably has to be close in order to use the pain mechanisms in the nanos."
Wolverine growled softly underneath his breath. Tommy closed his eyes. Of course he wasn't totally free yet. Things were never that easy for him. As long as he had the nanomachines inside of him, Cobra could track him any where…and then torture him when they found him.
"Don't worry Tommy," Cyclops promised. "We'll figure this out."
……………………………………….
Time: 10:24 Zulu, Friday; 16:24 local time, Friday
Location: The Xavier Institute of Higher Learning
Henry McCoy sighed as he reran the tests. He'd run tests on Storm Shadow when he'd first arrived, but they hadn't been deep enough to detect the tiny machines in the man's bloodstream. Hank had never seen nanotech like this before. They were almost…semi-organic. If he was to destroy, or at least disable, the nanomachines in Storm Shadow's body…he needed another perspective on this.
The Beast rolled his chair over to a large computer and typed in a few commands. Within moments, a tired looking woman with blonde hair answered on the computer monitor.
"Susan," Beast apologized. "I'm sorry for calling, but is your husband there? It's a bit of an emergency." The woman left, only to be replaced with the man known as Mr. Fantastic.
"Reed," Hank McCoy said. "I've got something here I want you to look at. When can you come over?"
"I'll be there in half an hour," Reed Richards answered.
…………………………………..
Time: 13:00 Zulu, Friday; 17:00 local time, Friday
Location: The GI Joe Pit
It was precisely 17:00 when Anthony 'Tony' Stark arrived. His friend James Rhodes and personal secretary, Pepper Potts stepped out of the fancy sports car. The man known as Iron Man was wearing an expensive Armani suit and carrying a briefcase.
The job of greeting them had fallen to Conrad Hauser, better known as Duke. He and Flint had played a game of 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' to determine who would greet the group. Duke had obviously lost. The second in command of GI Joe hid a sigh and debated whether or not to plaster a fake smile on his face. He decided to go against it and instead opted for a somewhat friendly grin.
"Hello, I'm Duke," he said, extending his hand to Tony Stark. "Nice to meet you. I don't suppose I need to tell you that everything you see here is Top Secret and can't be shared outside of these walls."
Tony Stark gave him a lopsided grin and a half salute. James Rhodes, being the Marine that he was, stood at sharp attention and gave a smart salute. Pepper Potts rolled her eyes at Stark before nodding her head. Duke hid another sigh.
"Welcome to the Pit, please watch your step."