A/N - Hello and welcome to the latest chapter of Lightning, Part 3. These current chapters are proving very difficult and slow to write. Oddly enough I have a few later chapters written but the hard part will be getting to them. Well, we'll get there eventually (I hope).

Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own Godzilla. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.

21) PREPARATIONS

Quotes taken from X-Men #14

Once Lightning was back at the X-Mansion he went to the professor's office where he found the professor and the rest of the team waiting for him.

"Did you have a good visit with your friends?" asked the Professor.

"Yes, even though it was too short" said Lightning, "but something else happened before they arrived. I had a one on one talk with Dr. Doom."

"Did you now?" said the professor with interest, "what did you think of him? And what did you talk about?"

"Oddly enough it was a pretty typical Magical World conversation" said Lightning, "we mostly talked about school and Quidditch."

There was a silence around the room at Lightning's statement.

"Let me get this straight" said Iceman, "you talked to Dr. Doom about school?"

"Uh, yes?" said Lightning before holding out a placating hand, "oh not our school. I asked him about Durmstrang and he told a few things about the place and gave me a few things to think about. But the most surprising thing was that he didn't seem like a villain, I mean not like, say, Magneto for example."

"But he's our enemy" said Cyclops, "Dr. Doom isn't."

"He said that too" said Lightning, "but the Thing really hated him and the other members of FF weren't too fond of him either."

"He is to them what Magneto was to us" said Professor Xavier, "we're just luckier than the FF since Magneto is gone."

"I wonder if the FF would say the same thing about Magneto that you've just said about Dr. Doom?" said Angel.

"Maybe" said Xavier, "if they've never met him. It's really all about perspective, isn't it?"

"Well, I don't want to become enemies with Dr. Doom" said Lightning, "because he's a fascinating person and he said that we might talk again at some point. I just hope never to be caught in the middle of fight between him and the FF."

"Hear hear" said Mage.

"Hopefully that will never be the case" said the professor, "right now we need to get to work as we don't have much time. We have a job to do and we have to begin doing it."

"Where is the Sentinel base?" asked Cyclops, "do you know?"

"I do" said Xavier, "ever since Trask introduced his Sentinels at our debate and made it clear just what his objectives were I've kept a close eye on him. I managed to pull the location of his main base from his mind without him being aware of it. It's not all that far from here being upstate of us in an area beyond the suburbs where hardly anyone lives."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Mage, "let's get started."

"Not so fast" said the professor holding up a hand, "it's still the morning and before we go I want to make sure we're all fully rested. I want everyone to rest for the next few hours before we head out. We're going to need all of the energy we can get for this."

No one could really dispute what the professor said so the X-Men all went back to their rooms and sacked out for a while. Xavier said he would wake everyone up when it was time. Meanwhile he called for the newer students to meet with him. Soon all six members of the new class were gathered in his office where the professor took the time to explain to them exactly what was going on.

"When the X-Men and I leave on our mission" the professor said, "I want you all to stay here until we get back. Don't leave the estate and don't let anyone in unless you know them."

"Sir, are you expecting something to happen?" asked Sam.

"No" said the professor, "but one can never be sure of anything. I want to keep you all as safe as possible. The Sentinels haven't found us here. I'm glad of that but it's best not to take chances. Stay here until we return. Dobby will also be here to help look after you."

"Professor" asked Kitty, "what happens if you don't return?"

"Don't think like that" said Peter, "they'll come back. They have to."

"It's a valid question" said the professor, "there's always the possibility that something will go wrong, that some or all of us might not make it back. Every time the X-Men have gone on a mission I've worried about them but we can't let that stop us. If we do, we lose. Even if we don't come back we'll do our level best to make sure that it isn't in vain. However I certainly intend to come back and I intend for the team to come back too, no matter what it takes."

"I wish we could come with you" said Rogue.

"Me too" said Kurt while Rahne nodded.

"I know" said the professor, "if you all keep up with your training it may happen someday. But this mission is much too dangerous for that. Now that's all I have to say on the subject. Stay here and be safe."

"Yes professor" said all of the students together after which the professor dismissed them.

The professor woke up the members of the X-Men just after 1 PM and ordered them all to have lunch before assembling in his office so they could get started on their mission. After a last briefing on what they were going to do the professor ushered the team to his Rolls Royce and began driving to where he knew the Sentinel base was located.

Juggernaut had broken several speed records and speed limits as he raced east from Colorado during the preceding few days. Oddly enough there were very few people on the road. According to the news the Sentinels were trying to impose limits on travel and it seemed to be working for the moment. Juggernaut had encountered very little traffic as he drove from Colorado, straddled the border between Kansas and Nebraska before crossing Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and was now preparing to cross the border between Pennsylvania and New York.

Now and then along the way he ran into more Sentinels. Whenever he did he stopped his van, got out of it, and proceeded to pound as many of them into dust as he could before returning to his van and driving further east. There tended to be more of them whenever he got near a larger town or city. This was particularly true when he passed near Kansas City, Indianapolis, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. It would also have been true of Chicago but his path didn't bring him close enough to that city.

Now, however, there were no more large cities in his way. He wouldn't be coming to New York City as his path was taking him north of there. Oddly enough he was heading to a part of the state that wasn't far from his step-brother's school. On a whim he decided to go there first. He had seen the debate between his brother and Dr. Trask along with the initial reveal of the Sentinels. He figured that his brother might have information for him. He turned his van toward Salem, New York and was soon approaching the same school that he had invaded earlier that year. He wondered how he would be received this time.

He wouldn't find out just yet as, when he approached the front gate of the school it opened and a vehicle that Juggernaut recognized as the professor's Rolls Royce drove out of the school grounds and headed off down the street away from where Juggernaut's van was. Realizing that his brother was probably driving that car Juggernaut decided to follow it. He wondered where they were going. He was positive that the professor and his X-Men were already mixed up with fighting the Sentinels so if he, Juggernaut, could follow his brother and the team they might just take him to where he wanted to go. He didn't want to attract his brother's attention right now, though, so he stayed as far behind his brother's car as he could so while still keeping it in sight. He'd wait to see just what they were up to before deciding whether or not to reveal himself.

The remaining non-X-Men superheroes from the War Council, i.e. the Avengers, three members of the FF, Spider-Man, and Daredevil had been discussing the best way to secure New York City for some time when they were joined by Dr. Strange who arrived via portal after sending Lightning home.

"We need to move quickly" the Sorcerer Supreme said, "Godzilla is traveling faster than before. It seems he can move more quickly through water than on land. He will be here sooner than we thought."

"What shall we do?" asked Daredevil who seemed to have fallen naturally into the role of asking the important questions to keep things moving along in the direction they should go. This wasn't really surprising because he was an accomplished lawyer in his civilian life (not that the others knew that) and was very good at directing conversations how he wanted them to go. This was a skill he was using to keep his colleagues from getting sidetracked and Dr. Strange, for one, appreciated it.

"If we are to keep Godzilla's arrival from turning into a major disaster" the Sorcerer Supreme said, "we need to make sure the path he takes is as empty as it can be. People need to be off of the streets and no one should try to stop him as he goes."

"Then we should take out as many Sentinels as possible" said Iron Man, "to give the kaiju even less reason to dawdle in the city."

"I'll smash as many as I can" said the Hulk.

"Hulk, you're talking my language" said the Thing, "we should have a clobbering competition. Whoever destroys the most Sentinels wins."

"You're on" said the Hulk.

"Actually" said Giant Man who had been thinking for the last few minutes, "if Godzilla is heading here by swimming across the Atlantic he'll probably arrive in New York Harbor before going on land. Instead of him walking through the city itself would it be possible to somehow direct him to move into the Hudson River? He'd be able to travel through the area that way without risk of knocking down buildings or stepping on people and the river would take him upstate fairly quickly as it goes almost due north."

"Thy idea has merit" said Thor, "but can yon giant creature be directed to go that way?"

"Perhaps" said Dr. Strange, "remember though that he won't be able to stay completely submerged once he enters the river. It's just not deep enough. But it would allow him to move more quickly than if he had to go through the city itself and it would be less risky than to have him travel on land up city streets. That would definitely lower the risk of collateral damage and except for anyone who might be out on the river in a boat most people would naturally be out of his way."

"Great idea genius" snarked the Thing, "that might save the buildings and people on land but how are you going to get him past the George Washington Bridge without destroying it when he gets there?"

"That" said Dr. Strange after a silence, "is a very good question." He thought things over for few moments before snapping his fingers.

"I have it" he said, "I need to contact certain people right away. I'll be back soon." With that he made another portal and left.

Bolivar Trask was not in a happy mood as he reviewed the video footage that had come in from Asia. He had prepared his Sentinels for many things. He knew there would be some things out there that he couldn't prepare them for – at least not yet – but he had been confident that they could overcome most things that the world might throw at them. Whatever they couldn't handle right now he would prepare the next wave of Sentinels to be able to face. That was one reason that every Sentinel had a video recorder installed in it to feed information back to the Master Mold for analysis. It would notify him of anything important.

He hadn't been all that worried to learn of his Sentinels' failures to invade either Latveria or Wakanda. He thought that with all of the data he'd gotten back from those two countries during the attacks that he would eventually be able to find ways to get past their defenses. No, what disturbed him the most were the videos he been shown of the giant monsters that had destroyed all of his Sentinels in Japan. He didn't know creatures like the kaiju existed in the world and now it seemed that one of them might be on its way here! He wasn't sure about that but the news had said that one of the beasts had rampaged all across Asia from east to west before plunging into the Mediterranean sea and submerging below the surface. He didn't know what the monster did after that. Was it possible it could cross the ocean and come to America? Trask thought it was very possible.

"How can we beat those giant monsters?" Trask asked himself. He was in the central chamber with the Master Mold and hadn't actually addressed the question to the top Sentinel but it answered him all the same.

"Unknown" said the Master Mold, "insufficient information on said monsters has been gathered for a satisfactory answer." Trask opened his mouth to respond when the two of them were interrupted by other Sentinels entering the chamber.

"Someone approaches" said one of the Sentinels as it activated a view screen so they could all see the outside area around the compound, "it is a human-occupied vehicle! It enters the target area!"

"The driver and passengers are very foolish to come here" said the Master Mold, "prepare to welcome them properly."

Professor Xavier stopped his car and gestured for everyone to get out.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Cyclops as everyone looked around. They seemed to be completely out in the country in front of a very gentle hill that was covered in grass with a few bushes here and there and the occasional tree in the distance.

"Oh yes" said the professor, "according to the mental emanations I received from [Trask] this is where his headquarters will be found."

"Strange" said Angel, "there isn't a building in sight." It was true. The entire area seemed to be completely natural, as if no man had ever been there.

"Remember one of the first lessons I drilled into all of you" said the professor in a stern voice, "always suspect things that appear too innocent looking."

"Everyone learns that lesson in the magical world" said Mage thinking of all of the ways magic could hide itself from muggles.

"You got that right" said Lightning, "along with what Mr. Weasley once said, 'never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.'"

"The professor has never been wrong before" said Marvel Girl as she stared at the innocent looking hill after getting the professor's wheelchair out of the care and helping him into it, "and he seems so sure of himself now. But where can the Sentinels be?"

As if something, or someone, had been waiting for that very question to be asked a loud rumbling sound began and before the startled eyes of all of the X-Men the entire hill began rising upward as if being moved by a giant lift. Underneath was revealed something that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a giant metallic fortress.

"The entire terrain was a false cover for the fortified structure below" exclaimed the professor as large guns appeared in the outer wall of the fortress and turned toward the team, "look out! They're firing at us!"

The professor was right. They'd found Trask's headquarters. Now, as large guns began firing at them and they all dodged the blasts, they just had to survive the discovery.

(To Be Continued)

A/N - That's all for now. I just realized it took ten chapters to get through X-Men #14 which was started back in chapter 13. Of course the issue was only quoted in three of the ten chapters in question but even so. That will probably not happen again but one can never tell.

See you in the next chapter when it's finished. Meanwhile please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. Stay safe and well everyone.