Chapter 2

Troubles In

The Land

Down Under!

Part 2

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners.

As he quickly made his way to the Briefing Room, Lance wondered what was up and again tried not to imagine if Kitty was somehow involved. Especially since she practically shattered his heart a few days after Spyder came to join them through an email. One that told him while she cared a great deal for him, she just couldn't handle his issues as it was just too much for her at that point and asked that he respected her on that and not bother to contact her. Needless to say, this had and continued to leave Lance a bit on the depressed side. Which was another reason he was so damned glad he had things to distract him with. He also had privately suspected that someone at the Institute may have influenced her into making that email too but again, tried not to think about it much. "Sorry if I'm late!" He called out as he made his way into the Briefing Room.

"Not at all, son, not at all." General Hawk told him as he sat down next to Todd.

"Alright, now listen up people. According to some intelligence that Lady Jaye and Scarlett has acquired, an abandoned oil rig out in the Gulf of Mexico has been used several times in the past few years for weapons deals and according to their intelligence reports, another sale is said to be happening within the next 48 hours. So with that in mind, Shipwreck, Wet Suit, Leatherneck, Deep Six, Torpedo, and Wavedancer, I want you all to head out and look into this. Be discreet and act ONLY if its necessary. Wet Suit and Leatherneck, no fights between yourselves, understood?"

"Yes sir!" Shouted both, gaining a satisfied nod from the good General in return.

"In addition, Beach Head will be the commanding officer of your group until your mission is complete. And Shipwreck..."

"Behave myself, I know! No worries!" Waved off the father of six with a smile while Althea shook her head.

Knowing that probably wouldn't actually happen but hoping it would! "Toad, you're still attempting to conquer your fear of jumping from aircraft, correct?" Asked Hawk, figuring it would be a good idea to move on.

Todd nodded with a firmness about him, though one could see he was a bit nervous about the prospect of jumping from an aircraft! Of course it should be mentioned he has a small fear of being in aircraft as it is and that was another reason he was doing the whole thing. Both reasons being why he had reached out to Wild Bill and Ripcord about the whole thing with permission from Roadblock. That he had Althea and Roadblock's unwavering support in the whole thing meant a great deal to Todd as otherwise, he probably wouldn't even be trying it! "Yes sir, if I ever want to be a fully effective member of the team, I've gotta conquer this fear!"

Althea squeezed his hand in support as Lance smiled at his little friend, proud of him for wanting to do something like that. "That's my future son in law!"

Chuckles were had as Todd looked a little bashful. Hawk smiled at him before moving on. "Next up, we've been asked by the Winter Guard to help them out with a raid on three slave freighters the Bratva are preparing as we speak. Scarlet Witch, Cover Girl, Jinx, you three, along with 15 Greenshirts will be joining the Winter Guard on the operation." The Winter Guard being the team to inherit the responsibility of protecting Russia from the Oktober Guardsmen over two decades ago.

Grim looks flashed across the faces of all present as each person there briefly thought about the people the Bratva had on those damned freighters. "Now, Avalanche, you, Spirit, Skymate, Xi, and Low Light will be headed out to the Australian Outback as sightings of Dreadnok members Torch and Ripper have been seen and they aren't alone as this man is with them near a small town known as McKinlay."

A picture of the two Dreadnoks, along with a grey colored, leathery skinned looking man appeared on the screen behind Hawk. "Reeve Jerwin? He some kinda obsessed nutjob where Steve Irwin is concerned?" Asked Lance with a raised eyebrow as he figured that since Freddy wasn't here, that he was more than likely still at some conference thing with Psyche-Out. Arcade he figured was more than likely off with Airtight looking into some sort of means to find Mutants more easily without the need for a Telepath since he wasn't in the Briefing Room either.

Hawk snorted. "More like someone who hates the work Irwin does and thought the name would be a nice way to mock him. Jerwin's wanted in 8 countries for illegal hunting and a few other crimes so if we can finally get him and even those two Dreadnoks, he'll finally face justice for his crimes."

Nods were had at that as the screen flashed to a picture of another man. One had some age to him and was African American. "This is G.W. Bridge, he'll be your contact in the area that you'll be working with to bring Jerwin, Torch, and Ripper down and into custody."

"You can count on us to get the job done to the best of our ability, Sir!" Declared Skymate in his Australian accent.

"Hey! What about me!?" Pietro wondered curiously.

"As it stands, someone has to remain here to keep an eye on the kids. So that means you, Roadblock and Blind Master are on baby sittin' duty."

Pietro paled as Wanda began to snicker at his reaction. "You, you can't be serious!"

"Afraid so, Quicksilver. Besides, think of it this way, it'll make for a further learning experience for you that you can use for when you become a father one day." Hawk told him while trying not to show any amusement over the whole thing.

"I won't get the chance too with how the Triplets are! Oh God, I gotta go write my Will!"

And with that, Pietro was gone courtesy of his speed. "And justice for Sgt. Snuffles and the Mariachi Band incident last week has been served!" Called out Beach Head happily with a laugh.

His words causing everyone else to laugh as it felt so good to finally deliver on a promise of his to the Mutant Speedster! "Dismissed, people!" Hawk declared moments later and not needing to be told twice, the group did exactly that while yelling out 'YO JOE!' as they did so.

Author's Notes: Sounds like everyone's about to have some wild times!