You all get your wish, a brand new update. The next ones won't be so quick, though I'll try to do once a week if possible. I've been slacking a bit as of late in working on my master's thesis.
GI Joe/Marvel universe crossover.
I don't own Marvel or Hasbro.
Silence
Chapter 13: A Long Night in Manhattan, Part II
Time: 21:19 Zulu, Friday; 01:19 local time, Saturday
Location: Somewhere over Brooklyn, New York City
Beach Head swore as Lifeline veered to avoid more energy blasts. With the three Joes in tow, the medic wasn't able to move as quickly as he normally would. They'd tried to outrun the machines, but it was proving rather impossible. It was appearing more and more as though their only choice was to fight.
"Tell Lifeline to put us down," Snake Eyes finally said. "We can't fight like this." Beach Head relayed the information and the medic turned left, heading towards the New York Harbor. The ranger realized that he was trying to get as far as he could from the populated civilian sector.
In order to buy time, Beach Head telekinetically ripped several grenades off of his vest and launched them towards the robots, pulling the pins just before they reached. The ranger was thankful for Xavier partially removing the mental blocks, as well as the training he'd been doing with the handguns.
The grenades didn't seem to have any effect on the two Sentinels. With the way things were going, Wayne wondered if it may have been better for the professor to completely remove the blocks.
"We're going to have to cut loose," Snake Eyes said. "If we stop, we're dead."
"They're just after us," Beach Head pointed out. "You and Jinx head back to the Pit." The ranger felt rather than saw the deadly glare the ninja sent his way. Snake Eyes would die before he abandoned any of his fellow Joes.
"Tell Lifeline we're cutting loose in thirty seconds," the ninja said. "Jinx and I aren't abandoning you two."
The medic swooped low and slowed down as much as he dared with stopping. They were about eight hundred yards from the harbor when a third Sentinel landed in their path. Snake Eyes and Jinx slashed through their harnesses and dropped about three stories. Beach Head swore as he telekinetically snapped his own harness and fell like a rock. This is gonna hurt… When he was about one and a half stories from the ground, Lifeline flew down and grabbed him by the arm, slowing him down to avoid injury before dropping him from about ten feet.
The metallic movements of the three Sentinels hunting them touched a section of fear in Wayne's mind, which he immediately shoved aside.
There was an earth shattering boom and the ground shook violently. Beach Head looked over to see that Lifeline had punched one of the machines and knocked it to the ground. Pieces flew everywhere and a giant head crashed and rolled to a stop about two hundred yards from him.
Son of a bitch…
Maybe they had a fighting chance after all. Beach Head couldn't even see the medic as he zoomed around. Suddenly though, a red blur flew back and crashed through a nearby building. The other two Sentinels appeared barely damaged as they walked towards Lifeline, the ground quaking at their feet.
"Beach…!"
Snake Eyes tackled the ranger and pushed him out of the way, knocking the breath out of him. The ground exploded just where Beach Head had previously been standing. Heat from the energy blast singed the back of his neck.
"The third Sentinel…" Snake Eyes explained. The ranger looked over to see that the eyes of the decapitated Sentinel head were glowing. The ground shook as the body of the third machine, now completely reassembled and repaired, bent down and picked up its head.
"They can fix themselves?" Beach Head asked, horrified. How the damn hell were they supposed to destroy them?
A nimble shadow leapt on to the Sentinel staring down at him. She jumped up and slashed both eyes of the robot with her sword before leaping off. It stood still, moving its head from left to right before completely rotating. Two ninjas and a ranger ran in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance as possible between them. Jinx slipped behind a crane while Snakes Eyes and Beach Head threw themselves around the corner of a small warehouse.
Moments later, they heard the machine walking towards them.
"MUTANT. SURRENDER," it ordered.
"How does it know where we are?" Snake Eyes asked him. "Did it hear us?" The ranger started to shake his head before he remembered what he'd learned from Charles Xavier's mind.
"They can detect mutants," Wayne answered. "They're equipped with special sensors that scan any life forms they find. Apparently we have different brain waves than you guys do."
"How much do you know about them?" the ninja asked.
"Only what I learned from the prof…"
The wall exploded in front of them and the two men rolled out of the way. Beach Head looked up to see a towering figure glaring down at him. A long, metal cable flew out of the Sentinels hand. Wayne jumped forward, but the cable wrapped itself around his left leg and retracted, pulling the mutant up into the air.
Shit…!
Wayne reached up and tried to physically remove the cable. He gripped and pulled, but the metal wouldn't budge. He heard automatic fire strike metal as Snake Eyes fired his weapon on the robot. When the ninja realized it was pointless, he stopped to avoid hitting his friend.
The cable completely retracted and a cold, metal hand closed tightly around the ranger. Wayne pushed down a rising sense of panic and forced himself to think. He stared at the hand holding him, imagining it breaking off. The ranger willed with all his might and finally, with a snap, the hand broke off and fell to the ground.
Still wrapped in the metal, the ranger hit the ground hard. For a moment, he was too stunned to do anything. Snake Eyes was at his side seconds later, trying to pry the metal fingers open.
"Wayne! Dammit Wayne!" the ninja yelled. Beach Head shook off the pain and examined the hand still imprisoning him. He probably had seconds before the robot repaired itself. Jinx turned on the crane she was hiding by and swung the end towards the Sentinel to distract it. With agonizing slowness, Wayne pealed back the fingers with his telekinesis just enough for Snake Eyes to pull him out.
The ranger hissed as his left ankle gave out on him, apparently having been sprained when the cable had grabbed it. His companion noticed and helped him towards the harbor. Beach Head heard a large, metallic crunch as the machine demolished Jinx's crane. He motioned for Snake Eyes to stop and he looked back at the Sentinel.
The ranger concentrated hard on one of its feet. He was already exhausted from the continued use of his powers, but it was the only weapon he had that was of any use. After a great deal of mental pushing, the Sentinel lost its balance and toppled over.
Meanwhile, a sonic boom to their right lifted up the water of the harbor into a giant tidal wave. Beach Head and the two ninjas covered their heads as the water slammed down over them. Lifeline smashed another Sentinel before an energy discharge from the second sent him flying. He tumbled in the opposite direction towards Brooklyn, his body plowing through a parked semi truck and a long line of buildings.
As the destroyed Sentinel repaired itself, the one that had shot the medic flew after him. The third that Beach Head had knocked down stood up and held a metal hand out towards him. An unmistakable hiss of gas blew out of the hand.
Tear gas. Gawd dammit.
Beach Head's eyes watered as Snake Eyes dragged him away. He blinked through the cloud of gas as the towering machine bent down towards them. The ranger held his breath and tried to blow the gas away. After a couple of false attempts, the greenish-mist dissipated after a sudden burst of telekinesis.
He and Snake Eyes rolled out of the way as a giant hand grabbed at them. The ranger detached the rest of his grenades and launched them at the Sentinels face, detonating them. The ranger figured he'd bought them at least a few seconds.
"HUMANS, REMOVE YOURSELVES FROM THE AREA," the Sentinel called, addressing the two ninjas. It then ignored Snake Eyes as it turned to look down at him. Beach Head struggled to stand on his injured ankle as the ninja jumped up onto the robot. Snake Eyes threw something small into the machine's eyes which exploded and covered it with what looked like paint. The paint vaporized seconds later.
Another cable shot out of the Sentinel's hands and Beach Head barely managed to deflect it with his mind. He hobbled in the other direction, trying not to wince from the pain. The ranger was beginning to suspect that some of the bones had been fractured.
There a loud boom as Lifeline flew by and knocked the Sentinel away from him. The medic flew off with the other two machines in hot pursuit.
Wayne blinked as another memory he'd gleaned from Charles Xavier's mind surfaced. These Sentinels were not only capable of repairing damage to themselves, but also of analyzing and adapting to whatever was being used to fight them. They could additionally transmit information to other Sentinels. The chances of him, Lifeline, and two ninja taking them down was growing slimmer, especially if they called more of the machines for back up.
"Xavier!" he shouted in his mind, not sure if his weak telepathy would reach the X-Men's leader. "Xavier!" he tried again. "Sentinels!"
Jinx leaped over a stack of crates as she made her way towards the machine. For once, Beach wasn't sure what good a couple of ninjas were going to do. The ranger telekinetically lifted the pile of crates and threw them at the Sentinel, knowing it wouldn't do much good.
"Wayne," Charles Xavier suddenly said in his mind. "I'm sending help."
Time: 21:46 Zulu, Friday; 01:46 local time, Saturday
Location: the GI Joe Pit
Scarlett tapped her foot in irritation as she glared down one of the Pit's many corridors. Snake Eyes was no where to be found. She had no idea what he was up to at this time of night, but he seemed to be avoiding her. Shana had tried tracking down the other two ninjas, but found that Jinx was missing as well. Irritated, the intelligence specialist had finally woken up a sleeping Kamakura to ask about her fiancée. The young man was equally puzzled as well.
That stupid, son of…
"You're up late."
Scarlett whirled around to see that Duke was eyeing her curiously. She glared at him for a moment before crossing her arms angrily.
"I can't find Snake Eyes or Jinx anywhere," she complained. Her CO raised an eyebrow.
"No where?" he asked. Scarlett shook her head.
"I tracked down Kamakura…" she said.
"You cornered Kamakura," Duke corrected, knowing her too well. Shana sent him another glare, not in the mood. The blonde man wisely shut up.
"I asked, but he doesn't know either," she told him. A curious look crossed his face.
"Maybe he's training somewhere," he replied.
"Maybe," she replied doubtfully, though it came out more as a snarl. Duke was silently glad that she wasn't angry at him. If he were Snake Eyes, he might be hiding at the moment as well.
"I'll keep an eye and ear open for him," Duke promised. He doubted that he'd hear or see a ninja, but he had to say something. Besides, if they were missing, then it bore checking in to.
"If you don't find them, let me know," he said. "I'm on duty all night, so I'll be up. We can always track them with the computer chips in their dog tags."
Time: 21:50 Zulu, Friday; 01:50 local time, Saturday
Location: the Fantastic Four headquarters
Unaware of the battle raging several miles away, Storm Shadow found himself in the laboratory of the famous Mr. Fantastic. He pushed down a twinge of panic as the scientist told him to lie down on a narrow bed. It moved into a strange, hollow scanner, until he was lying inside of it. It vaguely reminded him of a MRI machine, though it was slightly different in appearance.
He pushed down another sharp arrow of fear. Somewhere along the line he had picked up a fear of doctors and laboratories, which probably shouldn't be a surprise, considering what Dr. Mindbender had done to him. He tilted his head forward when a blonde head peered into the tube he was laying in.
"Hey, Reed says this'll take awhile," the Human Torch said. "Want us to put a movie on or you planning to sleep?" Tommy had planned on trying to meditate, but was so nervous that he decided to take the man up on the offer.
"Got any Errol Flynn?" he asked, not knowing what else to say. Jonathan Storm looked at him in surprise before grinning.
"You've been hanging around Nightcrawler, haven't you?" he asked. Tommy nodded.
"If you don't have any…" he started to say, but the Human Torch brushed him off.
"Ben's a big movie buff," the other man said, referring to the Thing. "I know we've got one or two lying around." Then he was gone, leaving the ninja to face his fears alone.
Time: 21:50 Zulu, Friday; 01:50 local time, Saturday
Location: Brooklyn, New York City
Lifeline landed on his back in the middle of a street in Chinatown. Huge chunks of rock pushed up from the force of the impact and the medic found himself lying in the bottom of a newly made hole. Cars screeched and people ran screaming. One of the Sentinels landed next to his hole while the other walked through a row of small buildings towards him.
Lifeline scowled to himself. He was a pacifist, a noncombatant! Unfortunately, by being a mutant he was automatically a combatant whether he liked it or not.
Edwin had no problem fighting machines if it meant staying alive. He figured by definition it didn't contradict his pacifism since they weren't living beings. However, the civilians around him were being caught in the crossfire. For the pacifist, that was unacceptable. Perhaps he should just give up. If he did, innocent people wouldn't be hurt.
"No," the voice of Charles Xavier said in his mind. "Giving up is unacceptable."
"But professor," he replied, flying between the legs of the closest Sentinel. "People will get hurt or killed because of me."
"I understand that," Professor Xavier replied sharply. "But if you give up, you put your friends at risk. Dying or sitting in an internment camp won't do you or anyone else any good. Besides, if you destroy these Sentinels, then it's three less that's hunting other mutants."
Lifeline grabbed one of the Sentinel's arms and flew up and away from the civilians, dragging it behind him. He whirled around and used the momentum to help toss the machine far out into the ocean. Another energy beam hit him in the back and scorched what remained of his jacket and shirt. He hissed in pain as he rolled over in midair and took off towards the harbor. The other Sentinel followed close behind him.
Professor Xavier was correct. Giving up wouldn't do any good. The two Sentinels after him would go after the other three Joes. Lifeline had seen them fighting and knew that his friends were struggling with one of the machines. It was better for him to keep two of the Sentinels after him and away from Beach Head, Jinx, and Snake Eyes.
The medic raced towards the harbor. He was fast, but so were the machines. They seemed to be capable reaching at least the speed of sound when in full flight. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, as the Sentinels had been designed to fight mutants.
Strength and speed seemed to be having little effect on the machines chasing him. In fact, they seemed to be adapting to his powers. Hitting them and causing damage was proving more and more difficult.
After a microsecond of thought, Lifeline decided to try using Aikido tactics. He zipped around and between the two Sentinels, flying as fast as possible. Edwin winced as he felt his clothing crumble from the high speeds. He was going to be naked if he kept this up.
When one of the robots reached out to grab him, the doctor used its momentum to push it towards the other Sentinel. The two machines crashed into and flattened a boat. Edwin flew down, picked up a tugboat and chucked it at the mutant hunters.
Normally he'd be against thousands of dollars of property damage, but Edwin figured it was an equal trade to save four lives as well as any possible civilians. He knew that the machines weren't after the two ninjas, but they had chosen to stay and try to fight as well.
Police sirens sounded in the distance, though they were loud to his ears. Lifeline swore to himself and wondered if they'd even be able to sneak quietly back into the Pit. The GI Joe base was agonizingly near. About a klick and a half from him lay the narrow channel known as the 'Narrows,' across which lay Staten Island. Fort Wadsworth was half a klick into the island. The GI Joe Pit lay secretly under the ground level military base.
"Shit," he muttered as the machines stood back up. Every time he damaged the damn things, they just repaired themselves. Why couldn't they have gotten something simple like Cobra's BATS?
A metal cable whipped out from a large, metal hand. The doctor dodged and grabbed it, pulling as hard as he could. The cable snapped off and he threw as far as he could into the harbor. As Lifeline swooped down to pick up a fishing boat, a black jet swooped low and fired on the two Sentinels. Its doors opened and several figures jumped out. One of them blasted the two machines with a shattering display of wind and lightning. Another one landed next to him.
A young woman dressed in a jacket and a tight green and yellow uniform eyed him. Her long brown hair was marred by a streak of white hair. She grinned and placed her hands on her hips.
"The cavalry's here, Sugah," she winked. "Professor Xavier sent us….Yew gonna hold that boat all day?" Edwin suddenly remembered that that he was still holding the fishing boat and tossed it at the two machines, which had now turned to fight a white haired woman and a blue mutant with angelic wings. Nearby, a tall man shot a powerful blast of energy from his eyes and punched a hole through one of the robots.
"Superstrength, huh?" she asked, eyeing him up and down. "You're about to lose your clothes there." Edwin looked down and blushed. Barely anything remained of his red uniform, save a tiny bit over his underwear and oddly, half a sock. Even his boots had disintegrated from the stress of the battle.
"Uh…" he stuttered. The strange woman pointed back towards the flying jet with her thumb.
"There should be an extra set of uniforms lyin' around up in the Blackbird," she said. "Go get yerself one." Edwin nodded. Before he took off, the woman grinned slyly at him and playfully swatted his rear end.
"By the way, the name's Rogue," she grinned.
"Uh…Lifeline…" he stammered. She winked again before flying off to pound on one of the Sentinels. Edwin gaped after her before flying towards the X-Men's jet. Another young woman in the jet handed him a spare uniform, which he quickly changed into.
Edwin looked down at the blue and yellow spandex he was now wearing. It felt odd to wear.
"Great," he muttered. "Beach Head will be laughing his head off."
With that, the medic jumped out of the Blackbird to rejoin the fight.
Time: 22:21 Zulu, Friday; 02:21 local time, Saturday
Location: the GI Joe Pit
"Sir…we've got a situation less than two klicks west of here, just across the Narrows."
Duke looked over at Breaker, who was monitoring something at the control station. The soldier had patched into the New York City police communications systems. Law enforcement and the fire department were being called out. The city's National Guard unit had also been put on alert.
"What's happened?" he asked. The man in the chair popped the piece of bubble gum in his mouth before answering.
"No one's quite sure," he answered. "Reports say that at least three large robots have been spotted down by the harbor, as well as some mutants. Eyewitnesses say that one of the mutants crashed into Chinatown and destroyed part of it.
"Any casualties?" Duke asked.
"Don't know," Breaker answered. "But the damage stretches from there to New York Harbor." Conrad Hauser swore at that.
"Robots?" he asked. "Is it Cobra?"
"Sentinels," a voice behind him answered. Duke turned around to see Tony Stark and James Rhodes dressed in their armored suits.
"Got a call from the Avengers," Tony Stark continued. "Those Sentinels attacked those mutants. They're not intentionally trying to cause trouble."
"You're going out?" Duke asked, eyeing the Iron Man suit. Stark nodded.
"The Avengers and the X-Men will take care of it," he answered. Tony Stark hesitated, wondering if he should tell the other man the rest of what he'd heard. After a moment, he motioned for Duke to come closer. When he did, Tony leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"Four of your people are out there," he whispered. "They were the ones that were attacked." Duke gave him a strange look before visibly calming himself. He had a suspicion on who 'they' might be. Sentinels only attacked mutants, meaning Beach Head and Lifeline were two suspects. Scarlett reporting that two ninjas were missing as well made him even more suspicious.
"Who?" he whispered back, fearing the answer. Stark confirmed his suspicions on which Joes they were. After Iron Man left, Duke found himself alternating between anger and worry as he paced the control room. He finally kicked an empty chair.
"What the damn hell are they doing out there in the first place!"
Time: 22:36 Zulu, Friday; 02:36 local time, Saturday
Location: New York City Harbor
Snake Eyes breathed a sigh of relief when several X-Men appeared. His own weapons weren't any good against the Sentinel, as his sword couldn't slice through the metal. The eyes appeared to be the only vulnerable spot. The robot had figured that out and was taking care to protect them.
He'd also been focused on keeping Beach Head alive. The man's sprained ankle was keeping him from running and Snake Eyes had finally lifted the protesting ranger across his back to carry him.
"Is he injured?" a voice asked. The ninja looked over and recognized the blue mutant that was friends with Storm Shadow. Snake Eyes nodded and pointed at the ranger's ankle.
"Ah kin still fight," Beach Head protested.
"I'll take him up to the Blackbird," the mutant said, ignoring the ranger. Snake Eyes handed him over and as soon as Kurt Wagner touched him, the two men vanished. The ninja sniffed and nearly gagged at the sudden stench.
Snake Eyes turned his attention back to the battle. To his right, several mutants were battling two of the Sentinels. He didn't spot the familiar red uniform of Lifeline, which worried him. Near him, two mutants were taking on the Sentinel that had been after Beach Head. One looked as if he were made of ice. Ice poured out of his hands as he encased the machine.
The other mutant threw glowing cards at it, which detonated on impact. He turned around to look at Snake Eyes and Jinx.
"You two alright?" he asked. "Where's de other one dat was with you?"
Red eyes. A Cajun accent. A trench coat. So this was the man that Spirit had seen with Beach Head in his vision.
Snake Eyes pointed up towards the black jet circling above. He assumed that's what Nightcrawler had meant when he said 'Blackbird.' The Cajun mutant nodded once before turning his attention back to the Sentinel, which had reassembled its blown up parts.
"Dis could get dicey," the mutant grumbled. "You guys picked up de really nasty kind."
The ninja pulled the man out of the way as the Sentinel fired on them. They ran around the left side of the machine while the other mutant continued to shoot ice at it. A red haired woman appeared, the one who had been introduced to him as 'Jean Grey.' Snake Eyes watched as the Sentinel broke apart into tiny pieces and was scattered over the next several miles.
"Dat's one way to do it," the Cajun grinned. "Merci Jean!"
Snake Eyes had a feeling that wasn't the end of the Sentinel.
Time: 22:48 Zulu, Friday; 02:48 local time, Saturday
Location: the GI Joe Pit
General Hawk, Flint, and Duke sat in Hawk's office while Breaker continued to monitor the situation. Hawk reluctantly explained how he'd let the four go in order to see Storm Shadow and the X-Men. The expectation had been that they would have returned without anyone being the wiser.
None of them had expected that Sentinels would show up to chase Lifeline and Beach Head. That factor had put Brooklyn and Staten Island into an uproar. Xavier had contacted him to let him know that the X-Men were trying to contain the battle to one area. Tony Stark and James Rhodes had also left to assist them.
"This is bad," Flint said. "I have no idea how we're going to hide those two after tonight. Eyewitnesses report seeing a mutant dressed in red. He was apparently able to fly and had superstrength. That has to have been Lifeline."
"I know," Hawk sighed, feeling more and more responsible. He shouldn't have let them go at all.
"This isn't your fault," Duke told him. "You had no way of knowing any of this would happen."
"I should have," the general said stubbornly. "I knew about the Sentinels." He should have at least planned for this possibility. Now it was too late. It was more than a possibility that at least Lifeline had been caught on camera, if not Beach Head as well. Questions were going to be asked about who was responsible for the mess across the Narrows.
"The question is, what do we do about it?" Flint asked. "What if the X-Men and the Avengers can't stop them?"
"He's right," Duke pointed out. "Didn't Xavier tell you that these Sentinels can repair themselves?
"He did," Hawk answered. "He also told me that the X-Men had completely destroyed this model. They'd managed to trick the last ones into flying into the sun. Their blueprints disappeared after that. Apparently the government got a hold of them…"
"Wait…our government got the blueprints?" Duke asked, stunned. Hawk nodded.
"They tried building their own Sentinels, but the plans they had were incomplete and they weren't as deadly as the originals. Somehow, somewhere, someone has access to the full blueprints and rebuilt this model."
There was a long silence at that. Duke seemed stunned that the American government had actually built Sentinels to track and hunt down mutants.
"So who built these ones?" Flint finally asked. "Our government? Or someone else?"
"We don't know," Hawk told him. "Xavier is puzzled as well."
"We can figure that out later," Duke pointed out. "The problem now is making sure our people make it back alive. How do we destroy them?"
"I think that's why Stark went," Hawk said. "He's the weapons expert. If the X-Men can't destroy them, maybe he'll figure out a way."
"Let's hope so," Flint said. "Beach Head's a pain in the ass, but I might actually miss that jerk if something happens to him."
Time: 23:15 Zulu, Friday; 03:15 local time, Saturday
Location: the X-Men Blackbird; New York City Harbor
Beach Head was proving to be a most reluctant patient. He waited impatiently as a raven haired, teenaged girl bandaged up his injured ankle. She scowled at him when the ranger attempted to make his way towards the door.
"You're injured!" she yelled. "You can't go back out there!"
"Ah ain't stayin' out of the fight," Beach Head barked. "Ah kin still help." The girl held up a hand and fireworks shot out of it. The ranger jumped back in surprise and stumbled due to his ankle. He fell painfully onto his back.
"See?" she asked. "You can't even move that fast." Beach Head glared at her.
"What's your name Kid?" he asked. She had guts, he'd give her that. Most Joes cringed when he got this angry at them.
"Jubilee," she answered. "I swear, you're as bad as Logan." Jubilee…oh yeah. He remembered hearing that in Professor Xavier's mind. Wayne had received so much information from the telepathic transfer that he hadn't yet had time to process all of it.
"And just as grumpy," the woman at the cockpit added. Beach Head knew her to be Kitty Pryde from the professor's memories. Wayne leaned against a seat as the Blackbird swerved to avoid a blast of energy.
"Ah'll be as danged grumpy as Ah wanna be," he growled. The two women should have been afraid of him. Greenshirts froze when he used that tone. However, they actually had the nerve to laugh at him.
"Southern too," the pilot smirked. "Rogue and Gambit should be happy."
"Where're mah friends?" Beach Head asked instead, temporarily switching topic. He was worried about them. "Where's Lifeline?"
"Last time I checked he was fine," Kitty Pryde answered, pulling up on the controls. "He came in here earlier to grab one of our uniforms. His clothes had been almost completely destroyed.
Imagine that. All of this and the danged medic somehow managed to lose his damned clothes. Wayne closed his eyes and searched for their minds. Snake Eyes and Jinx had joined Lifeline and the others in fighting two of the Sentinels. The ranger wasn't sure where the third Sentinel was. All three still appeared to be okay, though growing tired and slightly frustrated. None of them appeared to have any major injuries.
"Put me down," Beach Head demanded again. He was a GI Joe. There was no way he was staying out of a fight like this, not with just a measly sprained ankle.
"I think you should stay on the Blackbird," Charles Xavier told him. Wayne nearly jumped at the sudden voice in his head. "At your current level, your telekinesis isn't enough to do much damage."
"You said you didn't remove all the mental blocks, can you remove the rest?" Beach Head asked impatiently.
"I don't think that's wise," the professor replied. "Beside, removing them requires a deep scan, which I can't do from this distance."
"What about Cerebro?" Wayne asked, having learned of the device from Xavier's mind. "Could you do it if you used Cerebro?" He felt the professor sigh in his mind. However, he didn't say no right away, which Wayne took to mean that he was at least considering it.
"If the battle continues to be a stalemate, then I will completely remove them," Professor Xavier finally relented. "If it proves too much for you, then I or Jean will immediately put them back into place."
"Good enough for me," Beach Head answered. He sat down in a seat, figuring he might as well catch his breath while Xavier waited. Wayne suddenly realized how hungry and thirsty he'd gotten.
"Ah don't suppose you have any MREs on here, do you?" he asked.
"MREs?" Jubilee asked.
"There's emergency rations next to the first aid kit," Kitty Pryde answered. "And water. Help yourself." Wayne craned his neck and saw several packets in a small locker. He levitated them over to himself and ripped them open to find some energy bars.
"Not bad," he muttered, practically inhaling them. Wayne suddenly sat up when an idea occurred to him. Maybe Xavier would take the blocks out now if he threw himself back into battle. He'd have no choice since the ranger would have to defend himself.
"No," the man in question replied. When Wayne pondered ignoring it and rushing towards the door, he found out just why Charles Xavier was the most powerful and most skilled telepath on the planet.
Wayne Sneeden moaned as he received the worst migraine of his life. The other mutant additionally went into his mind and prevented the ranger from being able to move any of his muscles. The ranger had no choice but to comply.
"Should have listened to the professor," Jubilee smirked.
"Shut up, just shut up," Beach Head managed to groan. Xavier was downright evil when he was pissed. If the ranger weren't equally pissed as well, he'd have admired that.
Time: 23:35 Zulu, Friday; 03:35 local time, Saturday
Location: the GI Joe Pit
Breaker silently listened to the radio traffic as he monitored the strange fight in New York Harbor. Police communications had confirmed sightings of several mutants, as well as two figures in black, carrying swords. Law enforcement was unable to get near the battle zone. The radio also confirmed that Iron Man and War Machine had just appeared in the distance.
The Joe spit out his now tasteless bubblegum and fished for a new one. He was slightly more interested in what was going on behind him. From what little he'd overheard, Breaker had a feeling that a few Joes had snuck out of the Pit and were somehow involved with the fight. Duke, Hawk, and Flint were being very careful to talk quietly with each other, with further peaked his interest.
The computer console beeped to indicate an incoming transmission and Breaker immediately accepted it. Moments later, the voice of Tony Stark came on the line.
"This is Iron Man, where's Duke?"
"He's nearby by, I'll call him over here," Breaker told him. He paged the CO, who immediately entered into the control room.
"What is it?" Duke asked him. He could hear the sounds of the fight raging in the background.
"Thought you might want the X-Men's frequency," the Avenger said. "That way you could at least listen and know what's going on."
"Alright," Duke said. He bit back a curse when he heard Lifeline yelling something about a bridge in the background. Breaker looked up at him with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Everything you may hear tonight Breaker…doesn't leave this room," Duke ordered grimly. The night just got worse and worse. The other Joe nodded his head and patched them into the X-Men's communication system.
"…the hell happened?" a woman yelled.
"The whole damn bridge is collapsing! Someone go…"
"Lifeline and Rogue are on it," a male voice answered. "Jean said Spiderman's on his way over there as well."
Breaker wisely said nothing as he and Duke listened silently to the exchange. Somehow, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island had been damaged and the others were doing what they could to keep it from falling. The bridge was just barely over half a klick from the Pit, which was too close for Duke's comfort.
"Put everyone on alert," he finally told Breaker. "I don't want to deploy anyone if we don't have to, but I want them ready just in case."
"Yes Sir," Breaker answered.
Time: 23:57 Zulu, Friday; 03:57 local time, Saturday
Location: the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge; the Narrows
Lifeline swore violently as he tried to prevent blocks of concrete and steel from tumbling into the water below. A stray shot from one of the Sentinels had hit the bridge and blown a hole through it. As the medic strained to hold the crumbling bits together, the X-Man known as Rogue flew around and caught people and cars as they tumbled off the bridge.
Something sticky latched on to a large section of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge before it tumbled down in the strait. A large web temporarily glued the pieces together.
"Need a hand?"
The medic looked up to see Spiderman peering underneath the bridge at him. Webs shot out of the man's hand and the crime fighter jumped hundreds of feet into the air and pulled the slabs of concrete from Edwin's hand.
"I'll handle the bridge," the webslinger told him.
"Thanks!" Lifeline called out. He and Rogue flew back towards the group of Sentinels. The one that Jean Grey had destroyed had managed to reassemble itself and had returned. One of the X-Men threw sheets of ice at the Sentinels, but they vibrated and shattered the frozen water.
Iron Man and War Machine circled between two of the machines. Edwin watched as Tony Stark flew in front of the winged mutant and absorbed an energy blast. The Avenger redirected the blast back at the machine and blew it up. Meanwhile, James Rhodes shot missiles at one of the other Sentinels.
Edwin spotted Snake Eyes and Jinx running along the ground. Both ninjas expertly avoided a spray of debris from the Sentinel that Iron Man had destroyed. He swooped down and grabbed the two ninja and flew towards the X-Men Blackbird.
"You'd better stay up here," Lifeline told them. Jinx glared at him, but the medic ignored it as jumped back out of the jet and closed the door. He'd face the wrath of the two ninjas later. For now, they were at least out of the mess below.
Time: 00:11 Zulu, Friday; 04:11 local time, Saturday
Location: the X-Men Blackbird
Beach Head groaned as he checked his watch. Now was normally the time he woke up in the morning. His head pounded from the night's activities, as well as from the telepathic blast he'd received from Xavier when he'd tried to leave the jet. He looked over as the jet's door suddenly opened and Lifeline deposited two surprised and irritated ninjas inside. The medic nodded briefly at him before slamming the door shut and taking off.
"Glad you could join us," the ranger drawled. The two ninjas looked at each other and then leaped for a pair of seats when the Blackbird took a nose dive.
"How's the ankle?" Snake Eyes asked, strapping himself into a seat. Wayne grunted as he examined it.
"Better than how my head feels," he answered. He threw an unopened package of rations to the ninjas.
"Hawk, Duke, and Flint know," Beach Head told them. He could just barely feel the worry and frustration boiling in the Pit. Xavier had also told him they'd been informed of the situation.
"Great," Jinx muttered. "So much for sneaking back quietly."
"Hey!" the pilot up front suddenly yelled. "You in the ski mask…"
"It's called a balaclava!" Beach Head corrected sharply.
"Whatever," the woman said. "You're a telepath, right?" she asked. Beach Head looked up in interest.
"Yeah, why?" he asked.
"I'm going to join the others, you fly the plane," she told him. The ranger gaped at her.
"Ah don't know how the hell to fly this danged thing!" he snapped.
"Well if you read my mind, you'll learn how," she snarled back. Beach Head grinned in spite of himself. The woman certainly didn't take any lip. Wayne unstrapped himself and hobbled to the front of the plane and placed a hand on her head. He concentrated on finding the parts of her mind that he needed.
Beach Head strapped himself into the pilot's chair as Kitty Pryde phased through the bottom of the jet. The ranger fired a couple of missiles at the Sentinels before turning the jet into a barrel roll to avoid a blast of plasma energy.
"We're going to die," he felt Snake Eyes groan.
"Shut it Snakes!" he barked. The ranger expertly turned the jet around and climbed a few hundred feet away from the battle. He swung the Blackbird around and fired down at two of the Sentinels.
The pain in his head pounded even harder.
Time: 00:29 Zulu, Friday; 04:29 local time, Saturday
Location: New York Harbor
Tony Stark grimaced as a concussion blast threw him into the New York Harbor. He blasted out of the waters back up to the fight. The whole section of the harbor looked as if a fifty megaton bomb had been dropped on it. A hammer flew past him and knocked an arm off of one of the Sentinels.
"Take that fiend," Thor cried. The Norse god had joined the fight nearly twenty minutes ago. Iron Man frowned as he tried to analyze the situation. There had to be some kind of control mechanism that allowed the machines to rebuild themselves. The question was where. The heads seemed too obvious.
For now, the only solution he saw was to destroy the Sentinels so completely that only the atoms were left. A nuclear strike, however, was out of the question.
"There's a controlling mechanism somewhere," Tony yelled. "If we can find it, we can stop them from repairing themselves."
"Great Tony, where?" Rhodey's voice said through the speakers.
"Don't know, I'll try scanning them," Iron Man answered. "Blackbird, I need you to help me look for the control section."
"What the hell am Ah lookin' for?" a voice barked. Tony blinked, not recognizing the Southern accent.
"Who de hell's flyin' de Blackbird?" he heard Gambit yell. The Cajun was now out of cards and had resorted to charging and throwing pieces of debris.
"Just use your sensors to scan the Sentinels and transfer the information to me," Tony told the man. The Blackbird swooped low over the Sentinels and Tony backed off from the battle. His eyes moved back and forth as he quickly studied the information being transmitted directly into his helmet.
"There's some kinda shield," the Southerner yelled. "The sensors can't penetrate the central core." Great, Tony thought. They were going to have to do this the hard way. At least they'd managed to narrow down where the control piece was.
"What about the sun?" he asked. "That's how you guys destroyed them last time. If we can't find the control piece, then we're going to have to fry them down to the molecular level."
Tony Stark would prefer to be able to salvage some pieces to study. Whether or not that would be possible, the man had no idea.
Time: 00:41 Zulu, Friday; 04:41 local time, Saturday
Location: New York Harbor
"Molecular level, huh?" Gambit muttered. He looked up at the three towering Sentinels. Well, it wasn't as if he'd ever expected to live to old age anyway.
"Hey Chère!" the Cajun yelled. "Gambit needs a ride!" Rogue swooped down and scooped up the red eyed mutant. Gambit pointed towards the nearest robot and explained his plan. The lovely woman holding him gritted her teeth, but accepted it. Before she flew towards the Sentinel, however, she zoomed towards one of the new mutants.
"Hey Sugah," Rogue said, flying next to Lifeline. "Want to tag team?"
"What do you want me to do?" the other mutant asked. Rogue explained as they made their way to the Sentinel. The medic swore under his breath as he allowed the other two mutants to go first.
Gambit reached out a hand and touched the head of the Sentinel and sent a charge through it. As he and Rogue zoomed away, the other mutant grabbed the robot and flung it as far away as he could. The force of the explosion sent them all tumbling into the harbor waters.
"Tink dat did it?" Remy asked, surfacing. He spit out a mouthful of saltwater as Rogue and the other mutant came up.
"We'll find out," Lifeline muttered.
Time: 00:45 Zulu, Friday; 04:45 local time, Saturday
Location: the X-Men Blackbird
Beach Head gritted his teeth as an explosion rent the sky. He pulled back on the handles and the jet veered left to avoid it. The ranger wracked his brain as he searched through the information he'd learned from Charles Xavier and Kitty Pryde's minds.
The sun, Stark had said. The X-Men's jet was capable of space flight, thanks to Shi'ar technology. The ranger pointed the nose of the Blackbird down and fired several grappling cables at one of the Sentinels. They latched on securely and he pulled the jet up and punched the thrusters.
A heavy weight hit him in the chest as the G-forces built. The jet shook slightly as he climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere. The weight of the Sentinel strained the small aircraft.
"Warning," the computer told him. "Blackbird has exceeded maximum weight capacity."
"Shut up!" Beach Head snapped at it. He set the shields at full power in case the Sentinel decided to fire on them.
"Beach Head…what are you doing?" Snake Eyes asked warily. The ranger ignored him as the jet hit Mach 4.2. The Blackbird shook as it rose through the earth's atmosphere, dragging the Sentinel behind it.
"Need some help Wayne?" a female voice asked. Beach Head felt Jean Grey's presence as she suddenly appeared outside next to the jet.
"Yeah…kinda…" he answered back telepathically. The ranger felt a jolt as the Phoenix telekinetically ripped the Sentinel away from the Blackbird and headed towards the sun. Wayne watched her fly away as the jet broke through the atmosphere.
"Holy shit…" he heard Jinx swear. "We're in space!"
"Yeah…imagine that," Beach Head muttered. He stared down at the Earth a long moment before he suddenly started laughing. Who would have imagined that Sergeant Major Wayne Sneeden would have just piloted a god damned jet into space?
"I really really need some sleep," Wayne thought as he pointed the jet back towards the earth. The jet shuddered as they reentered the atmosphere and headed back towards Manhattan.
Time: 00:50 Zulu, Friday; 04:50 local time, Saturday
Location: New York Harbor
Lifeline watched as the Blackbird took off with one of the Sentinels in tow. A fiery light enveloped Jean Grey and for a moment, Edwin thought he saw the shape of a bird. The woman took off after Beach Head and they disappeared into the sky. The medic turned his attention to the last Sentinel. The one he had helped Rogue and the Cajun destroy hadn't put itself back together. Edwin hoped it stayed that way.
"What's the game plan for this one?" Bobby Drake asked. Lifeline had since learned the ice mutant's name.
"Hit it hard," Cyclops ordered. "And hit it fast."
"That will hardly be necessary," a new voice said.
Edwin winced as the high pitched crunch of metal hurt his ears. The last Sentinel contorted and twisted into a tiny ball before it was ripped apart in dust sized fragments. The medic looked up to see a man floating in the air, dressed in dark purple. A helmet covered his head. Lifeline instantly recognized him from the news.
"I've come to speak to Charles," Magneto said. The leader of the Genoshan mutants floated down next to Scott Summers. Lifeline ignored the conversation as he looked up at the sky and searched for any sign of his friends. After a few moments, he faintly heard the Blackbird as it began its descent back to the planet.
Dr. Edwin Steen sighed and sat tiredly on the ground. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt so exhausted. His stomach rumbled from hunger and the medic looked at his watch.
It was almost five o'clock in the morning.
"Next time a ninja wants you to sneak off somewhere," Lifeline muttered to himself. "Just say no."
Time: 02:01 Zulu, Friday; 06:01 local time, Saturday
Location: the GI Joe Pit
Startled eyes looked up as a ragtag group stumbled into the mess hall. Four GI Joes and two Avengers headed towards a far table and collapsed into the chairs. Tony Stark put two feet on the table and leaned back against the wall and shut his eyes. Unbeknownst to the gaping soldiers, the rich Avenger had just spent the last hour trying to gather up the tiny remains of a very large and very dangerous robot. Tony Stark soon drifted off to sleep, his mouth hanging open slightly. Meanwhile, two ninjas sat quietly for a few minutes before standing up to head to the breakfast line with James Rhodes.
At the table, one very exhausted army ranger was sound asleep. He had laid his head down on the table with the intention of briefly resting his eyes. Moments later however, he was peacefully unconscious and snoring softly. The GI Joe medic next to him copied Tony Stark and put one of his feet on the table and leaned back. The soldiers in the mess hall stared at the strange blue and yellow spandex uniform he wore. Various rips and tears dotted the uniform, as well as dried blood.
Lifeline, too exhausted to remember what he was wearing, hadn't bothered to change. His equally exhausted comrades hadn't thought to point out that he was still wearing an X-Men uniform. Like Beach Head and Iron Man, the medic was soon sound asleep at the table.
Snake Eyes, Jinx, and War Machine came back armed with food and lots of coffee. Their three companions barely stirred as they dug into their breakfast. Scarlett charged into the room and stared at the sight, not sure what she should do.
General Hawk and Flint watched silently from across the room.
"Well…you did tell them to be back by breakfast," Flint finally said.
"I wish they would have come to me first," Hawk groaned. "I don't know how we're going to explain this." Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he heard Charles Xavier say 'We do the best that we can.'
"I think…someone's going to have to take Beach Head's place as PT leader today," Flint smirked.
"Have Stalker or Leatherneck do it," Hawk ordered.
He made his way over the group. Snake Eyes and Jinx froze as the general pulled up a chair and sat at the table. The general silently studied the group as he took a sip of his own coffee. He was fairly sure that a nuclear attack wouldn't wake up the three sleeping men. Hawk chuckled lightly when he saw a tiny trail of drool dripping out of Tony Stark's mouth.
"Long night, huh?" he asked them dryly.
Author's notes: These Sentinels are based off of the Mk II version. You can look them up on Wikipedia if you want. I'm not actually sure if the Blackbird is capable of spaceflight or not, but it is equipped with alien technology, so I don't see why it wouldn't be.