Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners.
Author's Notes:
I didn't think I'd write a Thanksgiving special this month but inspiration struck. It's short but I hope I added enough intrigue for people to get into.
So either way, hope you enjoy!
The Palace of the Golden Winged Snakes Car
It was supposed to be a team building exercise. Grace and the rest of the children has disbanded the Apex. There was no new group name. They just wanted to grow and change. No matter what, they wanted to figure themselves out.
That was until they went into a particular car.
There were canyons as far as the eye could see. Grace felt the calm scenery could help them. But as they journey across the desert, they noticed a peculiar sight; a large golden palace. Tall as the tallest skyscraper in New York. It was a castle that seemed like a cross between medieval and modern. Except with a snake theme as the top of the pillars had Cobra heads and surrounding each side and corner of the castle were snake gargoyle heads and even winged cobras around the structure.
Grace was in disbelief at what she was seeing. As were the children who accompanied her as they all stared at the structure as they jaws dropped.
That was, until they were ambushed. Masked soldiers of various ages, adults, children and teenagers who were all human, with weapons such as guns managed to hold them all down to the ground whilst placing bags over their heads and forcibly drag them to parts unknown.
But before Grace was blindfolded by a bag, she noticed a man in a long coat and iron mask standing over her.
"Take her to the Commander." The man in the iron mask said.
A short time later, the bag was removed from Grace's head.
"Welcome to my palace." She heard the voice of a man with a raspy yet deep voice.
Grace looked up to see a man, sitting on a golden snake themed throne. A man in blue with a cape with red underneath and a metal face mask and helmet.
She could not tell the expression beneath the mask but as he sat, she could tell he was staring at her intently through it.
And the two people who stood left and right in between him with their arms crossed, Grace recognized the man in the iron mask on the left. But on the right, was an older Caucasian woman with long black hair and glasses and an black bodysuit.
And she saw behind her were the same masked soldiers who lined up in two in between her.
"So, I see we have intruders in my kingdom." He said with a sneer.
"Who are you?" Demanded Grace.
"Perhaps introductions are indeed in order." He said, unfazed by her tone. "In due time, you'll call me Commander. Cobra Commander."
"Or is the fact I have a literal snake theme surrounding me too subtle for you?" He then added with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
"What is it you want with me?" Grace asked. "What have you done with the others?"
"Guards, leave us." Cobra Commander ordered his legion of guards and soldiers.
The soldiers and the guards, who were either snake people or humans, immediately left the throne room.
After making sure the guards had left, he directed his attention back to Grace.
"I know you and the brats are not from here." Cobra Commander said. "You're not the first and far from the last."
"What are you talking about?" Grace asked in confusion.
"This world. This...train car as you know it," Began the Cobra leader. "It has been my kingdom for quite some time. The Golden Winged Snakes car was nothing until I arrived. Ever since that mysterious white wave destroyed my universe and consequently, where myself and my colleagues ended up on this train."
His colleagues, Destro and the Baroness, rolled their eyes at their leader's ego.
"But you see," He continued. "I've managed to conquer this car with an iron fist. Every inhabitant who found themselves here, became a loyal subject of mine thanks to my leadership."
"You mean your gaslighting and propaganda." Grace retorted.
"Be careful how you speak to me, woman." Said Cobra Commander as he growled lowly. "I've worked too hard to keep every passenger and denizen submitted under my rule."
He then added all the while he began to raise his voice, "This castle, my kingdom, all I ordered my subjects to build for me and forbidding them all from venturing outside this car and obey me and only me. I have captured those who have entered. And I will not lose it all!"
He then calmly said after exhaling, "But I will grant you a choice. You and the children become my slaves. Or be executed."
"The answer is no!" Grace exclaimed.
"I figured you'd disagree." Cobra Commander said calmly.
He clapped his hands and the Cobra ninja Storm Shadow dragged a little girl with an eyepatch from behind his throne. "I thought had you defy me, a little persuasion will be in order."
"Lucy!!!" Grace cried out in horror as Lucy struggled to break free of the rope tied around her.
Storm Shadow promptly dropped her as Cobra Commander then grabbed Lucy quickly and held his sword close to her throat much to the horror of both girls.
"Persuasion while preying on emotion is a powerful tool." Cobra Commander said as the blade inced closer to Lucy's throat. "I'm not above threatening children to get what I want."
He then added, "I'll give you a choice should you continue to defy me. She can die by me shooting her. Or I cut off her head."
"You're bluffing!" Grace said.
"I never bluff." Cobra Commander said simply. "Do you see that cooler next to you?"
Grace turned to see a small cooler that sat next to her.
"What about it?" Grace scoffed.
"Why don't you look inside to find out?" Cobra Commander said. "To put it one way, the last time an outsider intruded on my kingdom crossed me, let's just say it was the child's first and last mistake."
"Do you want to risk it?" He then asked.
Grace's blood then ran cold as she looked at the cooler again and then stared at Cobra Commander again with an expression that was a mixture of defiance and distress. Unsure of what to do.
Unsatisfied, Cobra Commander threw Lucy to the floor, next to Grace as the two embraced in a tight hug.
"You have twenty four hours to submit to my rule or it'll be death by execution squad." Cobra Commander warned the girls.
"Storm Shadow, Firefly." He called his two subordinates as the latter appeared behind Grace and Lucy. "Take them to the dungeon with the rest of the brats."
The two Cobra subordinates forcibly drag the two out of the throne room.
"In case you ask," The Baroness began. "The old woman is still taunting you."
"She'll break soon enough." Cobra Commander said as he remembered holding Amelia hostage currently in the dungeon. "Every prisoner has when they resisted me."
"Except the rebels." Destro pointed out.
"DON'T YOU EVER REMIND ME OF THOSE BRATS!" Screamed Cobra Commander in furious anger.
"They have been a thorn on my side for too long." He then calmly said whilst still annoyed. "I need to know where they have gone. They could not possibly be far from me."
"They must be found." Cobra Commander then said as he clinched his fist. "And I will kill them to set an example."
"Do you have an update for my new battle suit?" He then asked Destro.
"There has been progress." Destro replied. "All done to your specifications to reflect this world and of your kingdom."
Destro provided a hologram of the suit via a holographic device that showed a golden face mask, wings on the back, golden armor, a Cobra head piece as a crown and a scepter.
"Excellent." Cobra Commander said in satisfaction. "Soon, the rebels will be crushed."
The Thanksgiving Car
Three young girls sat at the longest table that seemed infinite. As well as its endless Thanksgiving dishes from turkey to pumpkin pie. From mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce to cornbread and biscuits. Every Thanksgiving dish imaginable was on the infinite long table.
But the setting surrounding it was of a forest during the fall season. As such, the leaves were brown and falling one by one.
The only other denizen of the car was a black cat munching on the food.
"So it's just three of us now, huh?" Said a Chinese American teen girl as she took a bite out of a turkey on her plate.
Jubilee - Real name: Jubilation Lee - Origin universe: Earth-030165 - Affiliation: X-Men (formerly) - Physiology: Mutant - Powers and Abilities: Pyrotechnic energy plasmoids generation and manipulation
"Aye!" A Blonde, muscular teen girl in silver and black armor with a red cape replied as she held up a turkey leg like a club. "T'was a good thing too for I was starting to get bored!"
Thor Girl - Real name: Brigid Thorsdottir - Origin universe: Earth-030165 - Affiliation: Asgard, Champions (formerly), Young Avengers (Formerly) - Physiology: Asgardian - Powers and Abilities: Super strength, stamina. With Mjolnir II, flight, immortality, electrical manipulation
"Tell me about it, because you won't believe what I went through before I met you." A dark brown skinned girl in pink and black armor with dashes of red said to the teen Chinese American girl as she took a bite out of her macaroni and cheese.
Ironheart - Real name: Riri Williams - Origin universe: Earth-030165 - Affiliation: Champions (formerly), Young Avengers (formerly) - Physiology: Human - Powers and Abilities: Skilled inventor and engineer, Super genius intellect, powered armor suit with flight, energy repulsors, etc.
"It doesn't look like anyone but us are here." Said Jubilee, lamenting she could not see anyone of the X-Men.
Jubilee recalled she had been transported into another universe after hers had been destroyed by the Anti Matter wave.
She had landed in a place called Townsville. That was until she stumbled upon a mysterious train that transported her into what seemed like yet another universe.
Jubilee recalled that upon going into what turned out to be the Golden Winged Snakes train car, it was ruled by Cobra Commander who managed to assure her it was a peaceful utopia.
Of course, that was when she thought it was another universe. Until she ventured far on one of her walks that she stumbled onto a mysterious door that led to the outside. Jubilee was shocked to discover it was part of a train for some reason.
It was even there she had discovered on her right hand, she had a random number:
1989.
Naively however, when Jubilee reported to Cobra Commander of her discovery, he turned violent. The benevolent ruler persona dropped as he demanded she be silenced.
It was there Jubilee realized not only Cobra Commander's true colors but his actual way of running his kingdom, which turned out to be more of a dictatorship. And even learned he had not been ruler of the Golden Winged Snakes car for that long. Only just conquered it for four months.
Jubilee realized she and so many other passengers were gaslit into thinking Cobra Commander had ruled the train car forever.
In response, Jubilee not only managed to fight her way through, but also escaped through the same door.
Cobra Commander was none too pleased to the point of sending Storm Shadow to go after her, dead or alive.
"Not helped that we're being hunted down by a genocidal maniac with a snake theme." Riri said.
Jubilee had managed to find another refugee from her destroyed universe in the skateboarding car. Jubilee had managed to tell Riri what she knew and all about Cobra Commander. Not helped by Storm Shadow had tracked her down but with the help of Riri via her Ironheart suit, managed to defeat him.
"I've yet to meet this Cobra Commander you thoust speak much about." Said Brigid. "But I doubt he's a match for my father's hammer Mjolnir!"
Jubilee and Riri had met Brigid on the Thanksgiving Car just recently. They were shocked to discover Thor had a daughter and found her munching on Thanksgiving food.
At first, both girls questioned the existence of such a train car but realized they had not eaten for a couple of days. In addition, they could not resist the pleasant smell of the food as it was alluring to them and their stomachs needed food so badly.
"We're gonna need all the help we can get." Jubilee said. "That guy has a lot of armies working for him."
"Barely escaped that one." Riri concurred as she recalled the dozens of robot soldiers called BATS that Destro had created; the Battle Android Troopers.
"At least you got that sword." She added, referring to when Jubilee received the sword Excalibur from the Arthurian themed car after she had escaped Cobra Commander's rule.
Jubilee recalled King Arthur had granted her permission to use Excalibur after she saved him and Guinevere from Storm Shadow. He gave the young girl the sword Excalibur until the day she will defeat Cobra Commander once and for all.
"Yeah, I do." Jubilee said with a small smile.
"Rebellions are built on hope and perseverance." Brigid said. "My father, Thor Odinson, when Aunt Loki murdered him, said his last words to me before he succumbed to his fatal wounds."
She then added as she quoted her father, "'Never give up fighting the good fight. Defend those who can't fight back and help those who can to increase their strength. Bigotry and hatred have no place in the world. Tyranny should always crumble. Be the loud voice that destroys a dictatorship.'"
Jubilee had a warm smile on her face, feeling a bit encouraged by her new friend's words.
As she took off one of her gloves, she noticed on her right hand the glowing green numbers, 1989, had now changed to 1984.
"You know what?" Jubilee said as she put her glove back on. "I'm not gonna give up fighting."
"We're not only getting out of this train," She then added. "We're gonna hit Cobra Commander with everything we've got!"
"That's the spirit, Jubilation!" Brigid exclaimed happily as she held her large mug of ale.
"We're gonna get a lot of people to join us." Jubilee said as she stood up and placed her right foot on the table. "We're gonna need all the help we can get."
"You're a bold kid, Jubes." Riri said as she gave a soft smile.
"Well, let's just finish our Thanksgiving dinner first." Jubilee said as she sat back down. "But that being said, when we win this, we'll celebrate back here. The biggest Thanksgiving for everyone!"
"I'll drink to that." Riri said as she poured another round of ginger ale.
"As will I!" Said Brigid as she poured more ale into her mug.
"To rebellion!" Jubilee said as she held her glass of cola.
"To rebellion!" All three girl chorused as their glasses touched each other.
As the girls chugged down their beverages, Riri noticed on her right hand that her number 2016 had dwindled down to 2013.
"About time!" Riri smiled.
Whereas Brigid saw her number on her right hand dwindle down from 2020 to 2017.
"Huzzah!" Brigid exclaimed triumphantly.
Later on, the three girls made their way outside of the car and stood on top; gathering themselves and feeling ready to venture into the Golden Winged Snakes car.
"You ready, girls?" Jubilee asked her friends.
"Ready!" Riri and Brigid replied in unison as they nodded.
"Get ready, Cobra Commander." Jubilee said. "We're coming for you!"
With that, Jubilee leapt into action as she started her journey; first to gather as many passengers to help with the rebellion as possible and then, launch an all out assault against the forces of Cobra. As did Riri and Brigid following suit as they were now truly committed to fighting alongside her.
The rebellion had now truly begun.
Author's Notes:
- This takes place after season 3 of Infinity Train where Grace disbanded the Apex and such. So her story of becoming a better person continued here.
- The version of Cobra Commander I'm using as are the other Cobra members are from G.I. Joe Resolute. Hence, why this version of Cobra Commander is more violent. His earth is Earth-041709. And yes, that got destroyed by the Anti Matter wave.
- Now originally, I was going to have the G.I. Joe Resolute Cobra Commander conquer the train for himself, effectively becoming the new conductor and turn him into a David Zaslav analog as meta commentary as to how he controls the train.
Two things happened however; one, Ben2Dartmouth suggested he conquer at least one train car since they're their own worlds already, so he'd conquer one for himself and under a fascist rule by him.
And the election happened. I'm not happy Trump got elected again and I'll leave it at that. But in turn, a combination of my rage against that and thinking it over, Ben2Dartmouth had the better idea, hell, he specifically suggested Golden Winged Snakes word for word, that I opted instead go for a good old fashioned fight and overthrow fascism story. Especially given who I picked as the heroes.
- Storm Shadow being alive. I know in subsequent reissues of G.I. Joe Resolute, he died but in the first airing, there was a stinger where they flat out imply he's alive. So I'm sticking with that.
- The cooler thing, bit of a shout out to the infamous What's in the Box ending from the movie Se7en given what that moment implied.
- The battle suit was inspired by what Ben2Dartmouth suggested that Cobra Commander have a new outfit that reflected the train car he was in. I decided to turn it into a battle suit as my way of taking up on that offer but still retain his trademark outfit and metal face mask.
- For the record, there will be more Cobra Commander variants. Admittedly most lean toward the Sunbow 80s cartoon but there are some that either take after or combined with say, Energon Universe Cobra Commander from the recent comics. And there is one upcoming one I'm writing with SC8. It's a surprise.
- So ultimately I picked more refugees from the destroyed Earth-030165. Why Jubilee for instance? I purposefully wanted a non white female character to be the leading hero and considering I like Jubilee, I picked her.
- And regarding her having Excalibur. I wanted at least, while I love her powers but she'd end Cobra Commander in seconds and when I finally get to that confrontation, I need something that gets them in an even field. So not only I thought sword fights would do but Jubilee, being a Chinese American girl using the sword Excalibur I saw as a powerful image that somebody not white and not a man is worthy of using that sword.
- Ironheart I simply also like, so that's why she's part of the rebellion.
- Brigid Thorsdottir is the daughter of Thor from the Kelly Thompson run of Captain Marvel where Carol time traveled far into the future. So, this one is a variant of her and I took liberties as for one, she has her father's abilities and a Mjolnir of her own. I'll get to that later.
Second, that comic never said who was her mother. So in Earth-030165, it's Sif.
Third, why her specifically? Well I wanted an Asgardian given I love the Thor side of Marvel in both the comics and the movies. So, in she goes with the group.
- And I feel that would make for an interesting dynamic of a trio team with a girl who was born with powers, a girl with high intellect and battle tech suits and a girl who's the daughter of a Norse God, powers and all.
And I also was influenced a bit by the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy. So the trio is meant to be influenced by Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. Brigid of course for example being the Gimli of the trio. Minus the short jokes because, well, she's not a dwarf from a Fantasy story.
- Mjolnir II. Given the original Ultimate Universe had multiple Mjolnir hammers, Earth-030165 I decided should have one but as a family thing. To drop some lore, Mjolnir II is something created just for Brigid and has the abilities of her father's hammer.
- Expanded on Thor's role in Earth-030165 a bit. At least before the Anti Matter wave and this was something I thought of from time to time and the Sylvie/Loki variant I always had in mind she was going to be in denial as to whatever she had done to Thor.
- Rebellions are built on hope is taken from Rogue One.
- The number 1989 is a reference to the publication year date when Jubilee made her first appearance.
- Riri's number 2016 being her publication year.
- Brigid's number 2020 being her publication year.
That's all I got. Hope you enjoyed it and keep an eye out for the next Infinity Crisis. See you soon!