A/N - Okay, here's the new chapter at long last. This one turned out to be even more difficult than the previous chapter if you can believe it - and you should because it's true. As you'll see it covers a lot of ground. I won't say much more though except that there's one piece of good news I can give you. The next chapter is already written so you'll only have to wait a week for it as per my preferred posting schedule.

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.

23) GODZILLA ARRIVES

"Normal Speech"

"Telepathy"

One of the benefits of being Captain America was that regardless of what year it was he always had a direct line to the president and the military higher-ups. Today he made good use of those connections. As soon as Dr. Strange returned from seeing whomever he needed to see about getting Godzilla past the George Washington Bridge the captain drafted the Sorcerer Supreme to help him with his upcoming conversations as he could explain exactly what was happening better than probably anyone else.

Speaking to politicians and important public figures was not something that Dr. Strange liked to do very often. He much preferred keeping a low profile and doing what he had to do to protect the Earth without receiving huge amounts of adulation for it. There were times, however, where it simply couldn't be avoided. Today was one of those times. Captain America had made an appointment to see the president himself along with the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was able to do it because of who he was and because of the current state of the country and the world. Washington D.C. was still free of Sentinels but it was one of the few U.S. cities that was.

Dr. Strange made a portal which he and the captain used to take them to the meeting. Once they were there and the introductions had been made the captain and the doctor went straight to the point. They told their listeners about the kaiju and that Godzilla was on his way to New York and would most likely arrive in New York Harbor the next morning. It turned out the president and the Joint Chiefs had heard about the kaiju protecting Japan and they also knew about Godzilla's rampage across Asia.

"Let me get this straight" said President Clinton "this monster's really on our side?"

"Yes" said Dr. Strange, "the kaiju are the ancient protectors of the world. If we do not interfere with him Godzilla will not harm anyone. He may knock down a few buildings if they're in his way but he won't deliberately kill anyone as long as he is not attacked."

"It's our hope" said Captain America, "that when he arrives we'll be able to direct Godzilla to use the Hudson River as his route inland. That way he won't enter the city itself."

"What about the George Washington Bridge" asked one of the military leaders.

"I have a plan for that" said Dr. Strange, "I've been in contact with the I.C.W. and they're going to help me implement it."

"I see" said the president, "so if you don't want the military to attack Godzilla what do you need it for?"

"Crowd control" said Captain America, "we'll need help to keep the city calm while Godzilla passes by. Can you imagine the panic that will grip both New York and New Jersey if people wake up tomorrow morning to the sight of a giant monster rising up out of New York harbor? We need to stop that from happening as much as possible. If the military is in the city it can help keep everyone calm."

"There are Sentinels in the city" pointed out one of the other chiefs.

"That is the thing" said Dr. Strange, "when Godzilla appears I strongly suspect the Sentinels will move out of the city and try to attack him. If our soldiers are in New York by then you'll be able to move in and keep the population calm."

The president conferred with the Joint Chiefs for a short time before agreeing to the proposal.

"If Godzilla really is on our side" said President Clinton, "then we need to help it however we can. I must say, however, that if we get through this with no one dying it'll be a miracle."

"We'll do our best" said the captain, "it's all any of us can do."

At Xavier's school the newer students were all waiting to hear something, anything, from the professor or the team. It had been some hours since the X-Men had left and there had been no word as of yet. Evening was now falling and Dobby made dinner for the students which they all ate it in a rather distracted manner.

Ever since the professor had left with the X-Men the remaining students had been debating whether or not they should have tried to go with the team or follow them in case they needed help. Sam, and Rogue had both wanted to go but Kitty and Rahne had pointed out that they didn't have the training or experience to help the team and would probably be more of a hindrance than a help. Peter and Kurt mostly kept their thoughts to themselves although Kurt privately thought it would have made for a fine adventure. Peter, on the other hand, recognized that he wasn't ready for a mission like that but resolved to try to step up his training so he would eventually be ready in the future.

It was while they were finishing dessert that the front doorbell rang taking them all by surprise.

"Who could that be?" asked Kitty.

"Not the professor or the team" said Rogue, "they wouldn't need to ring the bell."

"Let's go see" said Sam getting up from the table and heading into the hall. The others followed him.

When they reached the front door Dobby popped into view in front.

"It's Dobby's job to answer door" said the house elf, "Dobby will do."

"What if it's a normal person?" asked Sam.

"Statute of Secrecy blown to pieces" said Dobby, "not matter if mundane sees Dobby."

"I still think you should let one of us answer the door" said Peter, "you never know." Dobby thought about this for a moment before stepping aside.

"Dobby will" said the house elf, "but Dobby stay nearby in case needed." The others agreed with this and Sam, who was closest to the door stepped toward, turned the doorknob and pulled the door open.

In the Himalayas at the Temple of the Ancient One Dr. Doom, Princess Shuri, and Mr. Fantastic had been working non-stop under the watchful eye of King T'Challa who was there mainly to make sure that Dr. Doom and Mr. Fantastic didn't start fighting with each other. Fortunately that hadn't been necessary so far. The biggest reason for that was because both men and Princess Shuri were scientists above all else and they were able to put their egos aside to work on their common project – admittedly with difficulty but they did it. Shuri's enthusiasm for the project also had something to do with that as it had infected both of her colleagues.

"You have a program that shuts down Sentinel brains" said Shuri to Doom, "I have a force field that can be projected to cover large areas at a time. If we can combine both elements we can bring down many Sentinels at once all over the world."

"But will that be enough?" asked Doom, "if we can make the force field cover the whole world at once we can eliminate all of the Sentinels."

"That might not be necessary" said Mr. Fantastic, "ever since the Sentinels appeared there have been references to something called the Master Mold. Dr. Trask mentioned it as far back as the debate he had with Professor Xavier. If I'm right that Master Mold probably controls the Sentinels themselves. If the Master Mold can be taken out that will deal a crippling blow against the Sentinels."

"But where is the Master Mold?" asked King T'Challa.

"Most likely at the main Sentinel Base" said Dr. Doom, "where the X-Men are headed. If they can take it out it would make things easier."

"And if they can't?" asked the king.

"That's why we have to make our program as strong as it can possibly be as quickly as possible" said Doom.

"We can do it" said Princess Shuri, "I know we can."

"May your optimism be prophetic" said Mr. Fantastic as the three scientists continued with their work.

When Padfoot woke up he was lying in the field outside the Sentinel fortress. He got to his feet and stood unsteadily for a moment before looking around. He could tell at once that he had been unconscious for a long time. It was dark out. Yet when he looked toward the east he could see that the sky was starting to get light. Somehow he'd spent almost the entire night lying in the open air outside where the Sentinel fortress was. The fortress itself had retracted back into the ground and if Padfoot didn't know where he was he might have thought that the field was nothing more than it appeared to be.

Padfoot pondered what he should do for a moment before deciding he needed to find the professor as quickly as he could. As things currently stood it was obvious that he couldn't get back into the fortress on his own and he was cut off from his teammates. Rejoining Professor X was the only thing he could think of to do right now.

The dog animagus ran back to the last place that he remembered seeing the professor and cast about for his scent. He found that easily enough but was surprised to find that there was another scent there as well. The two scents moved off together and Padfoot followed them down the hill and away from the fortress until he reached a van that he knew hadn't been there before. The scents ended at the back doors of the van. Clearly the professor was inside along with someone else who hopefully was a friend. Padfoot returned to human form and began knocking loudly on the door. After a moment he had to step back to avoid being hit as the door swung open. He took another step back in surprise when he came face to face with Juggernaut. Whomever he'd been expecting to be with the professor his step brother hadn't been anywhere on that list.

"Good morning Mage" said Juggernaut in a friendly tone which surprised the wizard even more but before he could respond he heard the professor's voice calling to him from behind Juggernaut.

"It's all right" said the professor, "he's not our enemy anymore and he's here to help."

"Oh" said Mage not sure what to say to that.

"Come in" said Juggernaut stepping aside so Mage could enter the van. Once he was inside he looked around and saw the professor in his chair sitting next to a large mattress on the floor of the back of the van.

"I've been sleeping in my van since I left home" said Juggernaut seeing where Mage was looking, "it's not luxury but it works."

"When did you get here?" asked Mage.

"He turned up after the team entered the fortress" said the professor who filled Mage in on what had occurred between the two brothers, "what about you? Why are you alone? And where is the rest of the team?"

Mage quickly told the other two about what happened to him and the others.

"I woke up a short time ago in the field, still in my dog form" he said, "I don't know where the rest of the team is or if they're even alive."

"They're alive" said the professor, although he didn't sound entirely sure, "I'm certain I would know if they weren't."

"From your mouth to Merlin's ear" said Mage, "what do we do now?"

"We have to get back into the fortress" said the professor.

"Leave that to me" said Juggernaut, "I don't care how strong their defenses are or even if they're underground. They can't keep me out."

"I'll be right behind you" said Mage.

Before anyone could say anything else the professor raised his hand.

"I'm being contacted" he said and the other two fell silent.

"Charles" the voice of Dr. Strange sounded in Xavier's head, "are you there?"

"Yes Stephen" said the professor, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong" was the reply, "but I need your help."

It was early that next morning when Godzilla arrived in New York Harbor. It was during the rush hour but it wasn't a normal, business-as-usual rush hour on this day. The president had sent the military to infiltrate the city while avoiding the Sentinels. The president filled in the mayor of the city on exactly what was happening and the two of them contacted the Port Authority and had the George Washington Bridge closed for the day as well as the Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel just in case there was risk of Godzilla stepping on the areas where those tunnels were. No one knew if they were strong enough to withstand the kaiju's weight. Then, just to be safe, all other bridges and tunnels into and out of Manhattan were also closed down. That day no one would be entering or leaving Manhattan until after the crisis was over.

As soon as Godzilla stood up in New York Harbor an alarm went out to the Sentinels who were occupying the city and the near parts of the New Jersey.

"WARNING!" went the call, "UNKNOWN MUTANT PRESENT IN NEW YORK HARBOR! ALL SENTINELS IN THE AREA ARE ORDERED TO FIND AND NEUTRALIZE IMMEDIATELY!"

From all five boroughs of the city and from New Jersey across the Hudson River Sentinels began rushing to the harbor to deal with the newest threat. From every direction Sentinels flew up into the air to begin an aerial attack on the giant kaiju. None of them entered the water of the harbor itself as they all knew it would slow them down and speed was important for this attack.

Unfortunately for the Sentinels Godzilla was ready for them. As the large robots flew towards him looking like an enormous swarm intent on attack he summoned up his atomic breath and began blasting the Sentinels with it. Every Sentinel hit by Godzilla's breath was destroyed then and there. Godzilla turned in a full circle so as to catch every part of the swarm. Soon the remains of many, many Sentinels were falling into the harbor.

"This mutant is too powerful" one of the surviving Sentinels said, "we must retreat before we are all destroyed."

"Agreed" said a second Sentinel. There weren't all that many of them left by now but many of those who were still functional split away from the rapidly thinning swarm and tried to return to where they'd come from. However, their troubles weren't over. The ones who were heading back toward Manhattan and Brooklyn were intercepted by the Avengers and the three other members of the Fantastic Four. In the battle that followed both the Thing and the Hulk were able to clobber and smash Sentinels to their hearts' content while Thor smote a lot of Sentinels with Mjolnir. The rest of the heroes present for the battle weren't idle either and it didn't take long to finish off this group of Sentinels.

By now the population of the city was fully awake and people were rushing out of their homes to see what was going on. Spider-Man and Daredevil, assisted by the military, took over crowd control so as to keep innocent civilians out of trouble. That was a big job and the two heroes were very grateful to have help from the soldiers. They were able to direct people toward safe places where they might see what was happening without putting themselves in danger. A lot of people went up to rooftops or along the water's edge to watch what was happening. The sight of Godzilla struck everyone who saw him speechless with amazement and awe. There was some fear too but it was tempered by the fact that the giant monster was destroying the Sentinels and not otherwise attacking the city. Some people of Japanese descent recognized who and what Godzilla was from the old histories that were handed down in Japan and that they'd brought over with them to the U.S. Before very long cries of "GODZILLA!" were being yelled by these people as they saw the old stories coming to life right in front of them.

The Sentinels who tried to return to New Jersey fared no better than the ones who tried to return to New York as Godzilla pursued them and destroyed every single one of them in short order. As soon as he had no more enemies to fight the giant kaiju stood up as straight as he could and roared his victory to the sky. As he finished his roar he became aware of a new sound that he could vaguely hear that was coming from almost all directions. He didn't know what it was although it wasn't unpleasant. It sounded like a lot of things were hitting each other at once.

Godzilla turned around and focused on where a lot of the sound seemed to be coming from. The southern tip of Manhattan was in front of him and he could see that the edge of the island was jammed with people. As he got a better look at them he realized they were looking at him and cheering while clapping their hands. They were cheering for him! This was unexpected. He'd never experienced that kind of adulation before and it wasn't unpleasant. He dipped his head to acknowledge the crowd and that made them cheer even more loudly.

Even though all of the Sentinels here had been destroyed Godzilla knew the fight wasn't over yet. The place where the human he'd communicated with had told him to go was still some distance away. He could feel it was north of where he was. But how should he best get there? The city was in his way.

As he pondered this problem he felt the same presence enter his mind that had communicated with him some days ago back in Japan. The telepathic human was back and he was urging Godzilla to stay in the water. He'd be able to get where he needed to go if he traveled up the river on his left. It would take him very close to his destination. Giving a mental growl to signal that he understood what the human communicated. Godzilla turned and began walking north up the Hudson River with Manhattan Island on his right and New Jersey on his left.

"Godzilla's on his way up the river" said Professor Xavier to Dr. Strange.

"I can see him" replied Dr. Strange, "we're ready for him. Thank you Charles."

"You're welcome Stephen" said Xavier before breaking the connection.

Dr. Strange turned to his companions. Close to 30 wizards stood with him on the shore of Manhattan just south of the George Washington Bridge. They were a team of wizards that Albus Dumbledore had assembled through the I.C.W. at Strange's request specifically to help with getting Godzilla past the bridge without the bridge having to be destroyed. Dumbledore himself was one of the wizards present and he was standing next to Dr. Strange as they all prepared to cast the agreed upon spell.

"Are we ready?" Dr. Strange asked the assembled wizards.

"We are" said Dumbledore who raised his wand, along with the other I.C.W. wizards. Dr. Strange opened the Eye of Agamotto and bathed the group of wizards with its light thereby giving all of them extra strength to do what they were about to do.

"Begin" said Dr. Strange once he was done strengthening the wizards. All of the wizards made the motion for the same spell and cast it together on the George Washington Bridge's center section.

"Extende sursum maxima" (stretch upward maximum) all of the wizards said at the same time as white beams flew out of their wands and hit the middle part of the bridge.

To the amazement of everyone who saw it the central section of the George Washington Bridge began to stretch up, up, up forming a giant archway which was easily big enough for Godzilla to pass underneath without any trouble. It was a tremendous feat of magic and photographs of it would be seen all over the world during the next few days. No one wizard (not even Dumbledore) could have done it alone but with all of them pooling their power and working together they pulled it off.

As Godzilla traveled up the Hudson River it wasn't long before he reached the bridge. He gave the elongated bridge a look as if sizing it up but soon decided it wasn't a threat and passed underneath it with plenty of space to spare.

Once the kaiju was some distance past the George Washington Bridge the wizards all combined their magic again to undo what they had done. The arch formed by the central section of the bridge began to contract back down toward the river and eventually it straightened out again as the bridge was fully restored to its former shape.

"Did it take any damage from the spell?" asked one of the other wizards, "that was a sizable amount of magic that was worked on it."

"Good question" said Dr. Strange, "it looks fine but an inspection would be good."

Dumbledore nodded. He and a couple of the other wizards sent diagnostic spells at the bridge.

"There's some damage from the stresses it underwent" said Dumbledore, "but we can easily fix that." The spells were soon cast and the bridge was pronounced to be as good as new.

"That's good" said Dr. Strange, "this is the busiest bridge in the world. New York and New Jersey would both suffer if it was put out of commission for any length of time."

Dr. Strange thanked the visiting wizards who all began to leave. Soon only Dumbledore was left with him.

"Hopefully this will end soon" said Dumbledore, "I'd like to return to Hogwarts and get the school running again."

"I agree" said Dr. Strange.

"How far does Godzilla have to go?" asked Dumbledore, "are there any other bridges in his way?"

"There are other bridges further north up the river" was the reply, "but I don't think he'll reach the next one. I sense that he's going to have to leave the river and move across land once he's not far beyond the city. If he does encounter another bridge we'll just have to get it repaired after this is over. The GWB is a special case because it's so busy. Just be thankful he didn't go up the East River instead."

Dumbledore quietly agreed with Dr. Strange as he thought over how many bridges crossed the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens. The two friends looked up at the GWB in appreciation thankful that it was the only bridge that they had to deal with. As they did they saw Thor go flying overhead. He was headed in the same direction as Godzilla.

"It looks like the Thunder God is following the kaiju" said Dr. Strange, "I'd better let Charles know to expect an extra guest."

Back at Juggernaut's van the professor received Dr. Strange's latest message and told the news to both Mage and Juggernaut.

"We're going to have some guests very soon" said Professor Xavier, "when Godzilla gets here I must be available to contact him again so he doesn't destroy the Sentinel base too soon."

"We'd better get inside it and get the team and any prisoners out of there" said Mage, "maybe Thor can help us with that."

"Let's get back to the hilltop" said the professor, "we'll be able to see everything up there."

The three men left the van and soon were back on top of the hill that overlooked where the Sentinel fortress was.

"How to do we get it to come back up so we can get inside?" asked Mage.

"Watch and learn" said Juggernaut who strode down the hill and over to where the fortress was. Once there he began striking the ground with as much power as he could. His blows were so powerful they made the ground visibly ripple as if he was hitting water. Before too long the fortress did reappear as the ground over it rose upward again, bringing the fortress back into view. Juggernaut looked back at the professor and Mage with a smug expression on his face.

"Let's go" he said and began walking toward the fortress. The fortress guns began firing at him but even when they hit him dead on they couldn't stop him. When he reached the guns he calmly destroyed the ones within his reach before stepping into the fortress.

Mage looked at Juggernaut's display in amazement as he was reminded of just how powerful Cain Marko really was. As Juggernaut entered the fortress Mage snapped out of his revery.

"Will you be okay professor?" Mage asked Xavier.

"I'll be fine" was the reply.

"Good" said Mage, "I can't let Juggernaut have all of the fun. I wouldn't be a true Marauder if I did that. Besides I owe those Sentinels for last time, and my godson had better be okay!" Mage turned back into Padfoot and ran down the hillside to the fortress which he quickly entered again where Juggernaut had cleared the way.

Left alone again the professor sighed.

"It won't be long now, one way or the other" he said to himself as he waited for Godzilla and Thor to arrive.

(To Be Continued)

A/N - And that's that. I know I could have expanded a bit on the end of the fight where the Avengers and FF members took out the last Sentinels but I don't think it would have added anything except to pad the chapter. The focus was supposed to be on Godzilla for that scene anyway.

Next time is the chapter you've all been waiting for: Harry finally meets Logan. 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.