Quicksilver had to take a moment to bite his tongue and keep the torrent of insults from slipping out as he listened and watched his teammates almost lose the Blackbird. Seriously did no one think to put the thing into stealth mode? It didn't help he listen to Jean Gray use 'harlet' and Beast quote some old book. As much as the current stream of numb skulls in the Brotherhood irritated Quicksilver, his new teammates were nothing impressive either. A bunch of scholars who don't know what a fight looks or feels like. If any of them were back in Sokovia in any one of the guerrila missions Quicksilver ran they would've been captured or killed easily. Still Quicksilver had to accept they were better than the alternatives in front of them, especially Blob.

“No the British aren't coming because you ate them you stupid fat fuck!” Quicksilver snarled back at the big brute who didn't seem too phased by the baseball bat to the skull. “Language Pietro!” Storm snipped back at him, who he didn't say anything too because truthfully she was someone he had respect for. As Avalanche suddenly though launched an earthquake Quicksilver was able to focus. Using his speed to dance against the rumbling, cracked Earth as it came at him. Quickly he started grabbing hold of the men Lorelei had under her control before the X-Men had arrived. Moving them far enough away that they would no longer be under her power as the rest of the team got to work on the Brotherhood.

"I have to hand it to you America, you really know how to show a guy a good time."

America Chavez's eyes shot daggers at the telepathic mutant from across the abandoned warehouse, before slowly moving her middle finger towards him and into the upright position. Ignoring the smirking gaze that came as the boy’s reply, America turned her attention back to the warehouse. It looked relatively the same from when she had been here the day before. Empty. Desolate. America hated it.

Agitated at the fact that she had yet to make any headway, the super powered heroine made her way back towards her temporary partner.

“You getting anything, Chico?”

“Let me just take a gander, chica.” Quentin Quire jeered in response before bring his hands up in front of him. After a failed attempt at cracking his knuckles to show that he was ready to tackle the challenge, Quentin coughed awkwardly before slamming his eye sockets shut. America watched in awe as the young mutant seemed to scrunch up his face in agony. She could only imagine what was going on that head of his. Even America Chavez had to admit that telepaths were interesting. It was a shame then that Quire here was a massive asshole.

As if on cue, the mutant slowly opened his mouth. “I’m hearing…I’m hearing the letter B. Does anyone in the room know of someone starting with a B?”

“Piss off Quire, this is serious.” America groaned, rolling her eyes. “Quit your stupid medium impression and get the hell back to Staten Island.”

Angrily, America turned on her heal and began to head towards the warehouse door. This had been a mistake asking Quire. Telepathy wasn’t the answer to this. She would have to find her guy some other way. Somehow…

“Wait…” Quentin called nervously, running slightly to catch up. “I’m sorry, I was just messing around! Please, wait!”

America continued walking, striding out through the warehouse door and out into the Manhattan street. She was about to take off into the sky, when a hand pulled her back down.

“I found something.” Quire explained quickly, before letting go, fearing that America might strike.

“You know who’s behind this?”

“Not exactly…” America turned to leave. “No, wait. I don’t know who it is, but whoever came through this warehouse from your… dimension, was thinking about one person.”

America turned to face the scrawny teenager, a mix of confusion and accomplishment on her face. “Who?”

“Mr Bishop.”

“Oh dios! Who the hell is Mr Bishop.”

Quentin shot a smile, before indicating for America to turn around with a nod of his head. Turning, America eyes scanned the street, before finally landing them on a brightly coloured billboard. Despite the mass of graffiti, America could just make out the writing; Bishop Packaging. To the right of the company name sat a huge image of a middle-aged man in a suit, whom America could only assume was Mr Bishop himself. A smile spread across America’s face. They were finally getting somewhere.

“Hey, maybe he has a hot daughter.” Quire joked from behind.

America shot him a look of both anger and intrigue.

“Sorry Princess, your psychic defences aren’t that great!”

Arissa approached the coercing figures whom stood mechanically before the open aircraft, the three of them each identical and equally intimidating. One of them spoke as she came to a halt with Baron before them. The armed guards formed a horseshoe originating a few paces behind them, their machine guns nestled nervously underneath their arms.

"You have no need of guards here. No weapons will be fired in my presence." The one on the far left hand side spoke out - when clearly the assembled envoys of the Sokovian Government and the Shadow Conquerors, as well as a few mismatched members of other rebel groups and royal officials, had expected the Doom in the middle to be the one to represent them. Either way, the man - or whatever it was - spoke in a harsh and disdainful tone. On the other hand, he showed remarkable control in his dialect, allowing him to immediately take control of the situation. All of the figures were heavy set, towering, and embellished to a further degree by the glinting silver armour that protruded from beneath their delicate green cloaks. Arissa narrowed her eyes at the face masks, but she could not make out any sign of humanity. An efficient form in which to appear, thought Wanda as she examined the Dooms while one spoke, expelling any resemblance of emotion to fully instill fear in the opposition.
She glanced at Baron to note his dim-witted eyes, clearly challenged and offended by the Latverian monarch. Doom finished his speech, that was ostentatiously littered with commands, and then cut the Government man short while turning to face Arissa and Baron.
Wanda's mood was dark, and she knew Arissa's fists would be subconsciously clenched. The proximity between the Conquerors and the Government without conflict was unprecedented, and she did not take it well that this man, or myth as he appeared, could so easily gather them all to discuss their complex and long running war.

"I think you'll find," Wanda exclaimed, putting some effort into restraining her anger, "that your mere statement declaring it was Government men that accosted your borders discerns the perpetrator, Lord Doom."

As everyone turned to face the Doom that had been speaking, his voice began to emit from another forcing everyone to turn their heads to face the new one. The easiest way to win, is to keep your opponent off balance. The longer he did that, the lest restless they would become and the less likely things were to devolve into fighting. While he could handle a fight he was here to discern the truth so he could act accordingly while it would be no harder to face the rebels and the Government it was an unfavourable outcome.

"While you have a point, M'Lady, I shall ask you to open your mind a bit more. While uniforms of the Government were worn that does not mean the men beneath were of the same mind. You shall learn one day that not everything is as it seems-" Choosing his words carefully, he purposefully laid in a hint of a threat that he knew she wasn't quite as she appeared to be. "-One of you could be trying to play me against the other and rest assured it will not work. I require as much evidence as possible in order for you to convince me that you are innocent and that you are fighting the, pardon the Western expression - good fight."

All of the Dooms looked at the female speaker. "Never simply-" The voice moved to a new host. "-Believe your eyes."

"While that is all very dramatic of you," Drawled Wanda through her conduit, "You may have overlooked some pivotal factors. Tell me, Lord, have you observed the rulers of Sokovia over the past decades? Have you seen the withered husks of the oppressed populace? This Government is not fit to govern a farm, never mind a country. You mentioned men attacking your borders? It seems a fit action for the desperate state in which the President and his lackeys must find themselves. Do you not concur?"

The Dooms nodded. "I always watch my neighbours my dear, however it is also possible that your organisation has been watching me. Seen the power I wield and tried to play me against your foes." He signalled to the government representatives.

"I believe it is time we heard the counter argument."

The government representative, a burly and brooding man Wanda knew as Aleksei Systevich stepped up from the small crowd of Government officials who were clumped around advising him. He leered at Wanda and Baron as he stepped up before the three Dooms. The man was wearing a strangely large overcoat that obscured his body up to his feet. Systevich's face suddenly twisted in shock, and he put on a bumbling gesture with his huge hands.

"Oh, uhm, excuse me, Latverian." Aleksei spun and began striding briskly back towards his group. Wanda could have been wrong but... Is the ground... shaking?
Systevich bent down, and his motley crew of advisors began to back off towards the large airport building behind them all. The muzzles of the Sokovian army's guns were still aimed at the Latverian metalmen, and with a crippling realisation, Wanda knew their weapons would not move to subdue the rapidly assembling creature that Systevich was becoming.
What did they use to call him before he became the President's lapdog? Why is he here? He's certainly not an efficacious diplomat...

"Aaaaaaaaaaaggggrrrrrrrhhhhhhh!" Shrieked Aleksei, now adorned in a full and menacing bodysuit. Ah, thought Wanda, the Rhino.

The pterodactyl didn't seem too keen on the idea of leaving. Hyperion glanced over at Captain America as he hovered out of a hole in the wall on falcons' wings. It would seem the Captain had finished with his opposition quickly and efficiently; what a good little soldier. Perhaps I'll keep him. He'd make a decent enforcer when I take over the earth. Zhib-Ran thought. In that brief moment, when Hyperion let his mind wander, he left himself open to attack. Sauron charged forward with unexpected speed and slammed into Hyperion's midsection. The two supers went crashing into the nearby jungle, knocking down trees and scattering foliage as Sauron blitzed his attacker with all he had. "You're stronger than you look." Zhib-Ran commented non-nonchalantly as the two came tumbling to a halt. Hyperion and Sauron both took to the air, floating away from each other. A smug look crossed Zhib's face, while Sauron continued to glare on in silence. "You want a fight, then, reptile?" He asked. "I'll give you a fight. You can even have the first punch." Zhib taunted and tilted his face in such a way that his cheek was left wide open.

"I can practically taste the power oozing out of you." Sauron spoke. The creature's voice was dark and gravelly. This caused Agent Milton to raise an eyebrow. "You can speak?" But Sauron didn't care enough to answer Hyperion, and carried on talking. "Solar power. Yes. It's as plain as the beak on my face." Sauron's eyes began to glow, and Hyperion's instinct was to look away; he believed the flying extinct beast was trying to hypnotize him. Then Zhib began to falter. He fell out of the air and onto the dirt and mud below. His arms shook as he pushed himself to his feet. "What's happening to me?" Zhib-Ran questioned, a feeling of panic briefly rising up in his throat before Milton forced it back down. "I'm feeding off your energy." Sauron said simply. Zhib-Ran took one last look at Sauron before turning on his heel and sprinting towards the nearest source of sunlight. He wasn't used to feeling this slow. This weak. Zhib-Ran was Hyperion, champion of the gods! A deity among mortals!

Sauron soared over Milton's head, flying in front of Zhib-Ran to block off his path towards the clearing. Hyperion didn't skip a beat as he charged towards the meta-powered dinosaur. Sauron reared his head back to unleash another torrent of flame. Luckily, Milton was still pretty quick on his feet - he managed to reach Sauron before he blasted him, and slid between his scale-covered legs. A quick glance at the creature's talons told Zhib-Ran that he was still in danger, and needed to get moving. Now. The SHIELD agent tucked and rolled forward, bouncing up to his feet and using his previous momentum to continue sprinting forward. By now, Sauron had turned around and was flying head first towards Hyperion's back. He was more than likely planning to bite Zhib's head off in one go. Milton could feet Sauron's talons sink into his shoulders, and he reached his fingers towards the light in one last, desperate attempt at freeing himself. The tip of Zhib-Ran's middle finger bathed in the light of Earth's star for less than a second. But that was all Hyperion needed to catch Sauron off guard. Hyperion slammed the back of his head into the pterodactyl's snout, causing Sauron to reel backwards and release his prey from his grip.

Hyperion leaped forward into the clearing, letting his body absorb the rays of the sun.

"NO!" Sauron cried in a fit of rage. The pre-historic beast took to the air once more, blasting a stream of fire into Hyperion's chest in an attempt to kill the powerful alien. Hyperion was sent flying by the strength of the attack, landing with a thump on the other side of the clearing. Zhib-Ran floated off his back and into the air. He tore his burnt shirt off, tossing it into a nearby bush. His tie had already been eviscerated in the previous fighting. Hyperion and Sauron's eyes met once last time, before they both flew head on at the other. Beams of heat and waves of napalm covered the jungle as the two powerhouses poured on the heat. Flames spread over the trees and bushes, consuming any organic material in their path. Hyperion used his physical might to keep Sauron knocked off balance. He used his speed to stay away from the flying reptile's sight, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. Milton wouldn't give the creature a chance to drain him again. The battle was taken back into the darkness of the jungle as Hyperion slammed Sauron around like a pinball machine.

"Enough, you stupid brute!" Sauron spun around mere moments before Hyperion hit him again, and used his talons to slice Hyperion's face. The Adamantium-like sharpness of the claws was enough to cut Zhib-Ran into ribbons if he wasn't careful. Three long slash marks formed across Hyperion's face, blood leaking out of the wounds. It was then that Hyperion realized he was not yet at full strength. He couldn't have suffered such a grievous wound from any mere mortal at his full power. Hyperion brought a hand up to his face, wiping the blood out of his eyes. "Cant...See.." He muttered. Sauron racked his talons across Hyperion's chest thrice more, before firing off another steady wave of burning napalm into Hyperion's face. The enraged alien backhanded Sauron's face with the full force of his strength, sending his enemy flying. Trees snapped and broke as Sauron's body smashed through the jungle. Hyperion gave chase, though his flight speed was staggered due to the blood in his eyes. Zhib-Ran landed, slamming his boot into Sauron's windpipe. He should kill this...thing. It would be easy. Just fire off his lasers into the thing's eyes, and melt its brain. "P-Please." Sauron sputtered. "Don't." Sauron could tell what Milton was thinking. There was rage in the agent's eyes. "Take me prisoner. Take me back to SHIELD."

A smile crossed Hyperion's face. He knew what to do with Sauron. "I am no mere agent of SHIELD," Hyperion began, a look of pure madness growing on his face. "I am called Zhib-Ran, Hyperion of Tok and displaced king of my crime empire. I plan to conquer this planet, and make myself it's king. Your world is the perfect place to launch my new empire. I will conquer this galaxy, and there is no one who can stop me." Hyperion took his boot off of Sauron's throat. The doctor began to crawl backwards, desperate to escape the insanity standing before him. Hyperion grabbed the back of Sauron's head and tossed him back into the dirt. "There will come a time when I call for aid in my conquest. If you answer that call, I will reward you handsomely. Perhaps your own city. Or maybe you want to direct AIM. Whatever you wish, I can fulfill it. But only if you join my regime when the time comes. If you don't, though?" Hyperion leaned down to Sauron, grabbing his beak. "I'll tear you in half." Zhib-Ran let go of the Pterosaur. He turned around and took to the air, looking towards the AIM base. "Leave. And do not return." Sauron took to the sky, and didn't look back.

With that done, Hyperion flew off to find Captain America. Perhaps the good captain needed his assistance destroying this facility.

---



Kestrel sat up in the pilot's seat, a look of worry on his face. The helicarrier was no longer on their radar. The modified Boeing C-17 was much too fast for the helicarrier to catch and the stealth technology on board would mask them from any sort of electronic tracking. However, that wasn't the problem. The problem was a fume leak in one of the engines. The engineers hadn't seen it before they left the compound, and Kestrel hadn't bothered looking over the engines on his own before they took off. Team X had been in a hurry to get to the Hulk before he moved again. He pressed the intercom button, deciding that he should inform Logan of the issue. Fume trails could be tracked, especially if someone was looking for them. And if Kestrel knew anything about SHIELD, he knew that they were thorough. He didn't doubt that they would find the trail with their advanced instruments. The real question was if they would find the trail before it dissipated. If it dissipated before they looked into that particular method of tracking, SHIELD wouldn't be able to follow for very long. "Hey, Wolverine. Get up here. I need you in the cockpit."

Meanwhile, in the back of the plane, Wolverine sat next to a sedated Bruce Banner. The doctor had been placed inside a special containment unit, built from some of the strongest materials available. The containment unit was a large metal box attached to the center of the cargo area, with large panes of (very durable) glass in place for observation purposes. Bruce himself had a pair of magnetized cuffs attached to his hands. The cuffs were made in such a way that they could alter their size to fit either form of Banner, and contained traces of Wakandian Vibranium so as to keep the Hulk from escaping using sheer brute force. Whenever Bruce needed to be contained, the cuffs would activate and the powerful magnets within the cuffs would pull the Hulk to the largest piece of metal nearby. The cuffs could even be put in an 'overdrive' mode that would pull the Hulk towards the Earth's core. The cuffs were worth billions of dollars. But money was no object to Romulus and his organization. "D-Don't do this." Wolverine immediately stood to his feet, his claws extended. "He's wakin' up!" He warned. Maverick pressed a combination into a number pad located on the side of the containment unit, and the IV attached to Bruce's arm flooded him with extra sedative. "You c-can't c-control the Hulk... It's t-too much p-power..." Wolverine looked the doctor in the eye, melancholy beneath his mask. "I know, Bub. I know." It was then that Kestrel called Wolverine to the cockpit and he turned away from Bruce and made his way to the front of the plane.

"What's goin' on?" Logan asked. He pulled his mask down, ruffling his own hair. "We're leaking fumes." Kestrel responded. "Anybody on radar?" Wolverine had a buddy in the air force during Vietnam. He knew a bit about planes. "No, but that doesn't mean we aren't being followed. If SHIELD picked up the trail less than twenty minutes ago, then they could follow us out of range of radar. Or maybe their craft is using some kind of experimental stealth technology we haven't run into before. Something like ours." Logan thought about it for a moment. "How far are we from Weapon X?" Kestrel double-checked at his instruments before responding. "We've been in the air for about six hours. 'Bout half way there, if I kick it into high gear." Logan did a double take at that. "Planes aren't that fast." Kestrel smiled at that. "Most planes. But we modified this baby ourselves with the best stuff available. No government in the world could compete; well, 'cept the U.S. But the Blackbird don't count. Cruise speed is Mach 2.5, but if we wanted we could go up to 4.0. Cruise altitude goes up to 45,000 feet without activating our anti-gravity engines-" Logan interrupted Kestrel. "Wait, we have anti-gravity engines?" Kestrel nodded. "Yup. We also have an energy shield that protects the plane from the increased drag of flying at above the speed of sound, and our own source of oxygen to burn when we fly above 80,000 feet. There are two photon lasers mounted to the bottom of the plane, and we have 21 plasma missiles in case we really need to bring on the heat. We have enough fuel to fly around the world three times without needing to stop, and the most state of the art stealth technology in the possession of humans." Wolverine blinked a few times before he could respond. "Don't sound like much of a plane 'ta me. Sounds more like a UFO." Kestrel shrugged. "That's because we got the tech from aliens. I've been trying to get Doctor Cornelius to modify my baby's appearance, but he won't budge. The C-17 look is less suspicious than a design of our own."

"What do you call her?"

"Azrael. The Angel of Death."

"Heh." Wolverine chuckled. "What?" Kestrel asked, a bit insulted. "Oh, nothin' 'bout your baby. She's a fine craft. Just reminded me o' that clown I killed back at Ypres. Called himself the Angel of Death too; carried some blade called the Muramasa. Stung like a bitch when he stabbed me with it." Logan reminisced, involuntarily moving his hand down to his chest. "Took months to heal those cuts."

"Weird." Kestrel responded. Something was off about him. Wolverine could hear his heart rate climbing. Why was he nervous? John was never nervous around Logan. "You okay, bub?" Wolverine asked. John Wraith only nodded. "But yeah. I'm worried SHIELD might be following us." It was Wolverine's turn to nod. "Kick us into high gear. Use them fancy Anti-gravity engines o' yours. When we get back, we'll put the guards on high alert."

“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on or why shape shifters would be trying to break into my building, but get me out of here…” Williams shouted in a surprised and mortified expression.

“Do you have a private elevator out of here or anything?” the 3D Man asked looking around.

“I don’t know a billionaire that doesn’t. Come on it’s this way…” Williams said in response heading towards a bookcase in his office that moved after Simon pulled a specific book out of the shelf.

“When I get a secret headquarters I’m soooo gonna have one of those…” 3D Man joked as they exited the premises through the hidden escape.

Later…

Derek was with his older brother at the HQ of the military unit tasked with finding and identifying Skrulls. It was a lounge like waiting room, just more cold, made of steel, and underground in upstate NY. Derek looked a bit depressed over how the whole situation worked out with Atlas. His brother, Donald, was going over some documents and going on about something to do with keeping the Skrulls contained better. He finally got the littlest bit annoyed and asked…

“What’s wrong little brother?” Donald asked calmly putting his papers down on a coffee table.

“That ungrateful Willaims guy. He acted like he didn’t take me seriously as a superhero because my costume includes a t-shirt. I mean, what does it matter what I’m wearing if I save your life?” Derek asked, sitting deep in a lounge chair with a little bit of padding on it.

“I might have something for you then…” the older [38] brother told his sibling with a hint of a smile.

___________________________________________________________



After a long and boring shareholder's meeting, Warren Worthington III flipped through some monthly reports from their pharmaceutical division. A lab in New Jersey seemed to be spending quite a bit of money on materials and equipment. Nearly everything was signed by a Doctor Johnathan Sweet.

"I'm going to look into this a bit later, right now I need to get out and stretch my wings..." he thought walking over to his private elevator.

Walking back into his office from the elevator in the corner of the large room he took off the coat and all but ripped through the shirt, as if the wings themselves wanted to be freed from captivity. If anybody ever wondered how Warren put his Angel costume on, they’d know the back opening for his wings buttoned around two openings around the base of them and buttoned shut closer to his rip cage. It wasn’t anything specially designed by that Tony Stark kid, or that super genius Reed Richards, but it did the trick. Maybe one day he’d try an get in good with one of those two, maybe to get a new suit or a piece of tech developed for some of the battles where weapons are needed more than wings. Sure he could fly, and was an Olympic level athlete. Only 2.8% body fat and that included the extra ninety or so pounds worth of wings muscle popping out of his back. Ready to fly, he opened a large window/skylight above his office that in itself had at least a thirteen foot high ceiling. After launch, a button in his white glove closed it.

“Ooooooooh my God! Once you breathe air this high in the clouds there’s nothing like it…” he thought with a big smile on his face.

~KL~

The Last of the Nova's remained outside the ship and stayed afloat on her own power, cautious in case the people who approached her were not allies but enemies. The Russian dog from Earth who could telepathically communicate with any sentient being, including the ship's Machine Man, floated out of the loading dock in his older model Russian space suit with a little tech in case the air of the demolished planet was too toxic to breath.

“Cosmo? How are you-” She shook her head, this was weird. A strange looking ship, someone dressed up in fur AND Cosmo? Just HOURS after this happened? “You can’t be Cosmo. We never got the authorization to get you out of the Collector's hands! I should know I was the one working that case trying to get him released?!” She moved forward, landing on the ship standing to her full (Yet diminutive, compared to Trolls) height.

“You also come to help? What is there to help?” She sounded understandably pissed off, yet tears still began to stream down her cheeks. Her voice cracking and breaking slightly. “Look around you! Xandar is in ash, everyone but me is gone. Breath in the air, it’s burning. It’s toxic. Whoever you are, the only way you can help is to end my life and finish the job the Kree started or to tell me who did this.”

Her hands glowed with the blue aura of the nova energy. “Because I will find him and make sure he pays for what he’s done here. He’ll pay for every life he took.” She gave Cosmo a menacing look. “Because I’m not Mexxa anymore. I’m the only one that’s left-” Her entire body began to glow with blue energy. “-I am Nova.”

Cosmo’s eyes widened inside his domed helmet as he watched the armoured woman in front of him erupt in what appeared to be a mass of blue energy. Honestly he hadn’t expected this initially, although thinking, he began to understand what was going through Mexxa’s head, or Nova as she now seemed to be calling herself. Her entire planet had been removed of all its life. All her loved ones were gone. She was sadly right about being the only one that’s left.

Cosmo wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the sight of the blue energy that surrounded the Nova. Troll wriggled in both rage and intrigue as she continued to float back towards the Shockwave Rider under Cosmo’s telekinetic control, with the young fur wearing Asgardian waving her axe Jarnbjorn madly in the air once more.

"The ship and Cosmo have somewhat of a lock on the course of destruction. We've been following it's trail now through a few space sectors..." X-51 mentioned flying out of the cockpit now looking at the Nova first hand rather than through a glass window.

Cosmo shook his head slightly at the sight of Troll, disappointingly, before turning back towards Nova. It would seem that her axe waving was going to become a regular occurrence. Gunna’s house training would have to wait however, as for now the furry Guardian needed to defuse the Nova shaped bomb in front of him.

Mexxa.. Nova I meanink. It’s really me. Knowhere was attacked. Cosmo was freed. It was the Kree. I read one of them and they told me that they were comink here…

Mexxa moved, landing on the top of the ship. The aura fading, her head lowered. "I'm sorry Cosmo. I should have realized you'd be the only one to talk telepathically in that stupid terran accent." She smirked slightly, though she didn't look up. She kept her head lowered. "If you have truly been on the trail of the Kree who did this you can help me find him." She looked up, dedication and revenge in her eyes.

"Tell me what you know, you need not go further. This is my fi- my duty. I am sorry to hear about Knowhere and would help if I was able but whoever did this to my world-" She raised her arms indicating the planet. "And all Xandars colonies cannot be allowed to remain in control of this power. So please, tell me what you know."

Cosmo smiled as the powerful looking energy that had be festering around the Nova in front of him began to dim and fade. He was happy to see that his friend recognised him, evident by the fact that his tail was now wagging. All seemed to be fine, however there was one part of her comment that bugged him slightly.

Da, I will be tellink you everythink i know in good time friend. But you must know, that we are coming with you. Cosmo say no arguink!

It was during Cosmo's short telepathic speech that Troll finally found herself landing gently back onto the platform. Giving a brief second to adjust to being back onto her feet, she gazed up through her furs towards Cosmo and the flying woman. She seemed powerful. Scary even. She didn't scare Troll. Nothing scares Troll. However now wasn't the time to be lopping off limbs. Gunna moved forward as Cosmo "spoke", listening intently to the conversation. Her fluffy friend was right. They were going to help!

Proudly, she stepped forward, standing by Cosmo's side. With her free hand, the Asgardian warrior firmly patted her chest before stating loudly; "Guardians."

Cosmo tail wagged once more at the word. It was good to see that young Gunna was on the same page; the girl had come so far since he had met her all those weeks ago within the Collector's Museum. So much had changed in that time, and fortunately Gunna was changing for the better. Cosmo could only hope that Mexxa would let them assist so that he could further that change. Yes, that would be nice.

Cosmo walked up towards Cosmo and the, fur covered woman. Seriously, what was with that? She was wearing some kind of weird fur, it was like it had literally been skinned off a living animal. Not that she wanted to think extensively into what had happened. "I fear that good time may not be good enough Cosmo. This power is great indeed and if whoever has it continues to do so... most of the galaxy is in jeapordy. While I do blame the Kree for it was a Kree ship that assaulted Xandar even their empire is at threat."

She sighed, thinking over what she was about to say carefully. This was big, bigger than anything she had worked on before. Bigger than anything any single Nova had worked on. Though she looked at the band of misfits and saw somehting that sparked a glimmer of hope. Yes they were misfits, but the Nova Corps had been the same merely with a uniform. Maybe this was her path.

"Though I can't say I feel happy about you guys risking your lives over this, if you know the stakes and are willing to come along I won't stop you. Though it won't be easy, so feel free to get off this joy ride wherever you want."

Da, no need to be worryink Nova. We goink to get you justice for everythink the Kree do here and to Knowhere.

As if in agreement, Troll spoke up once more repeating the word that she had stated earlier.

"We the Guardians!"

Indeed my friend. Now let us be gettink to work.

A shirtless Johnny couldn't knock with his hands as he carried a blindfolded Susan in his arms as she couldn't see where she was going. So he kicks at the door. “Lemme in!” He yelled. Reed and Ben glanced over tired but Ben quickly got out of bed regardless and open the door. Johnny carried his sister in and put her down on the bed Reed was laying on to rest. She held her head in pain, moaning. “Reed? Is Reed here, is he okay?” She kept asking for him but couldn't see anyone.

“Hey guys, I'm not sure what's wrong with her. Any word on Harvey yet?” Johnny asks Ben if he'd heard anything. “Shhh its okay Sue I'm right here...” Reed's face paled seeing Susan's eyes wrapped in what he realized was Johnny's t-shirt. He cuddled up close to her putting a hand onto her cheek for comfort. At this point Johnny normally would say or do something about someone getting close to his sister. But it was a panicked situation, plus clearly Susan wanted Reed there. Hell, Johnny only had himself to blame since this WAS the point of operation whatever he called it.

“Your dad's said he'll be in tomorrow so we're just going to try and rest up. We still don't know where Harvey is though.” Ben noted also watching Reed comforting Susan in bed. Silently trying to figure out how Johnny is taking the sight he's spent so long fighting in Reed getting with his sister.

Susan smiled. “Thanks, Reed. I'm glad you're okay too.” She held her head in pain. “I really need to sleep this off.” She says as she settles down into her bed and gets comfy. “Let's find Harvey tomorrow when we're on full form.” Johnny noted as he had to strip to his underwear he was that hot. He slept on top of the covers that night.

---

The next morning, Susan awoke to a bright and sunny day. She takes off her blind fold and she could look at the light without any pain or discomfort. Johnny was still snoring away. Sue noticed Reed had slept by her bedside all night. She wanted to give him a kiss awake when the doorbell rang and stopped her. She gruffed and went to the door.

Dr Storm barged in. “Sue, Johnny, I'm glad you're both okay.” He hugged his daughter and dragged his son from the bed. “Reed, Ben. I've got some news about Harvey. He's in the hospital, stable but fine.” Sue sighed with relief. “Thank God.”

Johnny yawns in his underwear. “Yeah right on, the Harvemeister is back on the scene.”

“Here's some money.” He handed out some new debit cards. “I suggest you get cleaned up and wait for Harvey to wake up.”

Flying through the hole shots run out after him, he merely tapped a button on his wrist and an explosive detached and clipped onto the hole. Five, four, free, two - boom. The anti-air battery, jamming antenna and the wall in which he had just flew through all collapsed. His radio immediately erupted in static. A voice coming through. "Wilson, Wilson are you there." He had to make note to tell Fury not to shout into a microphone, and make sure Fury had something better to do than watch his every move. "Yes sir. Moving to assist agent Milton now. I recommend you level the facility. Nothing can be salvaged, seems to be A.I.M related sir. Though they don't have permission to be here so they're unlikely to call out on their facility being destroyed."

He could already hear the Quinjets approaching, so he endeavored to get as close to Milton as possible. Just in time to see him throwing the half dinosaur half man away into the jungle. The chances of following and finding him slim. Though what surprised him most was the apparent wound on the extraterrestrial beings face. He had went up against Milton in training and could literally threw everything he had at him and barely leave a mark. This hypnotic dinocreature had actually cut his skin.

"Milton." He signaled for him to land. He began taking a med-kit off his belt. "You alright? That was a hell of a hit you took. I mean if it could cut you it probably would have ripped me in half."

Hyperion hovered over towards Captain America as he came jogging out of the AIM facility. SHIELD-tech Quinjets were already approaching the site; it would seem the good captain had dismantled AIM's operations on his own while Agent Milton was busy dealing with that 'Sauron' fellow. "Milton." Wilson signaled towards Hyperion to get the alien's attention. "Captain." Hyperion greeted the SHIELD agent. "You alright? That was a hell of a hit you took. I mean if it could cut you it probably would have ripped me in half." Zhib-Ran nodded to Sam before responding verbally. "I am fine. He caught me by surprise; that was all." He gave a reassuring smirk to the human before continuing. "Sauron may have escaped, but based on the beating I gave him I'd wager that he won't be causing us trouble again any time soon." Captain America pulled a med-kit from his belt and set to work wiping the blood from Milton's face and cleaning the wound. While the soldier played doctor, Hyperion decided to carry on with what passed for small-talk among SHIELD agents. "It would seem you were successful in defeating AIM's forces. Congratulations. Success appears to be a common occurrence when you're on duty. It is as they say: When Captain America throws his mighty shield..." Zhib-Ran chuckled, remembering the old cartoons. He'd read up on Steve Rogers when he initially joined SHIELD; the previous Captain America was every bit the man Sam Wilson was. Or seemed to be. Converting him to Milton's cause would be difficult, but Hyperion had faith that the captain would see the merits in Zhib-Ran's new empire and would join him in his conquest.

When Sam finished patching up the alien god's wounds, Hyperion set about demolishing the AIM facility alongside the other SHIELD agents. He used his X-ray vision to locate the various load-bearing walls and pillars before knocking them down with his super strength. Zhib-Ran turned computer servers, file cabinets and shelves of research into slag and ash with his flash vision. The entire building went down in a matter of minutes thanks to the combined efforts of the demolitions team and Hyperion. "Good work." Milton commented to a pair of young and impressionable agents who had been apart of the demolitions squad. "I know it may seem as if your job is unimportant, but rest assured that your contribution to SHIELD is just as critical as my own. Without people like you doing work like this, Advanced Idea Mechanics would just return and this operation would have been a waste of precious time and resources. Thank you." The two men shook hands, a giddy look on their faces as Milton walked away. It wasn't every day you met a real life superhero.

Hyperion met with the captain once more. "Where to next, Captain?" He asked simply before looking down at his tattered clothes. "Perhaps a change of attire is in order." He commented with a smile.

---



Snow battered against the side of the Azrael as she descended upon the landing pad. Bright red lights guided Kestrel and his crew to safety as the massive plane slammed down onto the tarmac unceremoniously. While a normal C-17 required a landing strip, the anti-gravity technology mounted to the Azrael allowed her the same kind of maneuverability associated with a hummingbird. The cargo hold's ramp located at the back of the plane slowly opened and lowered itself to the ground. Team X gathered around Bruce Banner's cage, pushing the holding cell down the ramp and onto the frost-covered surface of the landing pad. "Pick 'em up, Mastodon." Wolverine grunted as he stepped out into the cold Canadian air. The elephant man did as he was told, taking the huge metal box into both arms and lifting it up before carrying it out of the C-17. "Brace yourselves," Deadpool began. "Winter is coming." X-23 smacked Wade in the back of his crimson-covered head before continuing past him and out of the plane herself. "Winter is already here, moron." She corrected. "Don't you watch Game of Thrones?" Deadpool asked with a gasp. "Everyone watches Game of Thrones!" Lady Deathstrike followed Laura out of the plan, adding to the conversation as well. "I watch Game of Thrones. Did you see what they did to J-" She started before being cut off. "Cease your spoilage, woman!" Mastodon yelled out in despair. "I'm not caught up yet."

"You're always a season behind." Kestrel appeared in a wisp of air. The doors to the base opened up as Wolverine entered his passcode and led the rest of Team X inside the building. "Mastodon, Maverick. You two take the green giant over to Professor Thorton's lab and make sure he stays sedated." James ordered. "The rest of you are free to do as you please until the next mission comes up." So the team splintered off to go do what they wanted: Deadpool went off to make himself a batch of chimichangas before sitting down to watch Pulp Fiction. Lady Deathstrike found Carol Hines and had her arms repaired and refitted. Kestrel, Wolverine and X-23 decided to head to the lounge and play a couple of rounds of pool. All was as it normally was there at the Weapon X Facility. Some may be surprised to hear that a clandestine organization of mutant assassins are still, in fact, human. That they could lead some semblance of a normal life. Behind the fur and the claws mutants were still people. People with dreams, aspirations and hopes. People who loved, partied and laughed. People who feared, cried and hated.

They were people, just going about their lives in an effort to survive.

Professor Thorton had Maverick remove Bruce Banner's unconscious body from the holding device and place him on a medical table in the center of the room. Maverick and Mastodon left the lab, standing outside in the hall and watching Banner in order to keep him contained. Professor Thorton stood in an observation room above the laboratory itself. He manipulated a dozen robotic arms located around the table and set up for the preliminary scans of Bruce Banner's internal mechanisms. Blood pressure, body heat, fat percentage, ect. This was the easy part; only a couple of pokes and prods from those same Adamantium needles that had been used to inject Hulk with the sedatives earlier. Later they would get into the nasty stuff, like opening up Banner's insides and looking at his organs. Finding out just what makes him turn into the Hulk and testing various chemicals on him in to see how the creature reacts. Sooner or later Thorton would need to take a deep tissue and bone marrow samples; but for now, he'd need to rely on a few vials of the Hulk's blood instead. He theorized that such painful and instrusize operations like a marrow sample would cause Bruce's fight or flight system to kick in. And when that kicked in, so did the Hulk; no amount of sedatives would stop him then. That's what Maverick and Mastodon were for.

It seemed as if the Brotherhood were now in a precarious position. All of their hostages had been rescued, Pyro was out for the count, and Lorelei’s powers have been rendered practically useless only because of the common household item called the earplugs. However, they were lucky that the X-Men nor Ms. Marvel had picked up on the Blob’s slip of the tongue about how many Brotherhood members there were present at that time.

“Vanisher! Start the emergency evacuation now! Mastermind, Unus, help us distract these X-Men while we make our escape!”

Suddenly, the Mastermind’s illusion dropped, revealing that these three individuals had been present during the entire battle. Vanisher immediately disappeared into thin air, beginning their escape by grabbing Pyro and pulling him out from the nearby pond that Ms. Marvel had dropped Pyro in. Meanwhile, Mastermind unleashed his illusionary powers upon Storm, seeing in her mind her greatest fears.

“You are in a tight, tiny room, Storm. And the walls are collapsing upon themselves and the ceiling is beginning to slide down towards the floor. You cannot breathe, Strom, cannot move. You are trapped!” After Mastermind produced this illusion, which would take advantage of Storm’s claustrophobia, Storm began to have a panic attack. Not only did this cause Storm to fall from the sky, but, once she had crashed down to earth, it also caused her to produce lightning strikes that would haphazardly descend from the sky and smash down onto the ground.

“Mastermind, I told you to help distract them, not fry us!” Lorelei screamed at the trench coat wearing mutant.

“How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?” Mastermind countered. While the two evil mutants argued momentarily, Ms. Marvel had returned from drenching Pyro. She darted down from the sky toward the two arguing mutants, who were at the moment distracted by their quarrel, holding out clenched fists in front of her. However, fortunately for Mastermind and Lorelei, they were covered by Unus the Untouchable.

“Interesting. It seems that there are two different minds occupying that woman’s single body. Since I’m sure that this would count as a variation to the ‘two heads are better than one’ proverb, it might be beneficial to change that.”

Using his mental gifts, Unus merged together the two conflicting minds that were occupying Ms. Marvel’s body, intentionally bringing out the mind that had been dormant under the mind that had been in control a few moments ago. While Ms. Marvel’s psyche was trying to recover from this, she momentarily lost focus and as a result nose-dived into the ground below her. Once Carol had regained her consciousness, she stared around what seemed like a warzone to her, bewildered at what she saw. The last thing she could remember was working on her homework in the living room. How did she go from there to here?

Nearby, the Blob struggled with the Beast. However, the supersized mutant grabbed hold of the blue, furry man and tossed him towards Jean Grey, despite the fact that the telepath could safely stop the Beast from colliding with her. Once he had rid himself of the hairy X-Man, the Blob saw that Ms. Marvel was only steps away from him.

“Well, look who it is! It doesn’t seem like you got your share of dirt. Maybe you should take another mouthful, Milk Duds!” The Blob took a handful of Carol’s hair and slammed her face into the ground. Despite how hard she hit the ground, Carol was amazed that she had somehow survived that impact with the ground. Even as her body ached, she tried to pull herself off the ground. Peering up at her assailant, Carol waited a second or two before she threw a punch straight into his gut. However, she was not anticipating that it would be that literal.

“What that?” Carol muttered under her breath when she saw that her arm sunk into the body fat that composed the Blob’s belly. “That’s so disgusting!”

“Was that supposed to hurt? That actually tickled a little bit!” The Blob laughed as Ms. Marvel struggled to pull her arm out of his stomach. “Let me help you with that, Ms. Sparkle-fists!” The Blob therefore swung his belly to the side, tossing Carol off her feet and then reversed direction, flinging Ms. Marvel into the air. Once she was airborne, Carol’s momentum sent her soaring in the opposite direction and caused her to slam directly into a nearby tree, splintering the arboreal plant on impact.

Indeed my friend. Now let us be gettink to work.

She had no doubt that as soon as they caught the Kree responsible for this, or caught up to him rather, she would likely leave the Guardians behind. So many had died, she did not want to be responsible for the death of this group of misfits. Though she couldn't help but feel naught but respect for Cosmo. He finally had his freedom, after who knew how many years and he was deciding to spend it saving people.

She smiled a sad smile as she entered the strange vessel, had she known this at another time perhaps he himself could have become a member of the Nova Corps and would no doubt have been great at it. Though that time had passed. She looked around the inside of the ship as she entered, the window sealed where the trollish woman had jumped out. "So, what've you got?"

"Do you mind informink her, Mister Machine Man?" Cosmo asked, as he climbed back into his seat, before frowning slightly at the sight of the sealed hatch that had once been the front window. Turning, he gave a disaproving look at Troll, who had also just slumped into the room, dragging her axe, Jarnbjorn, behind her. In return, the Asgardian girl shrugged her shoulders, before falling down onto her back, not even flinching when her body hit the metal floor of the ship.

---

Wilson waved his hand and a quinjet headed towards them, yes technically they both could fly but sometimes it was nice just to take a ride. He wasn't sure if the alien felt the same way but... he was in charge. Somehow. "Next, Fury had an idea and I'm actually going to hand it to our fearless Director it wasn't half bad." He led the way into the back of the jet, putting his shield down on one of the seats as he gave the pilot a pat on the shoulder indicating that he was ready to go. He took a seat in the main cabin, pulling his helmet back off his head, it hung loosely on the fabric that joined the unit to his head. He would have preferred if it wasn't connected to the rest of the uniform. Sadly there were certain design elements that went into being Captain America, apparently.

"We're going to put together a team. You saw what happened today, and the bad guys are starting to punch harder. I mean there's that Hulk thing and they're saying he's the strongest there is, no offense Milton." He shrugged. He pulled a screen round confront of it and loaded people up, pulling up a dossier and image as he did so. "Henry Pym Jr, alias: Ant-Man. Can change his size, control ants. Bit of a science geek, his dad did some spy work back in the day. Fury wants him as a consultant only." He pushed the file to the side, bringing another one up. "You'll have seen this one on the news: Agent Victoria Parrington, Valkyrie. She's one of our own."

He pushed the file to the side. "Agent Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Another one of ours but Fury has other plans for him, he really just wants to see if he can cope in our environment. I'm not entirely sure if he'll be game for it but we can but ask." He pushed that file to the side again bringing up another, smaller file. "Miss America. We took her into custody with another, she's not from around here. From an alternate unvierse much like yourself. She may be young, but she's got power and experience. I'll have her for as long as she's planning on sticking around on this Earth. The other she came in with, Thor she calls herself is currently on the watch list. She's been... roughing the place up a bit." He pulled another dossier up, it was really just a name and a blurry image.

"Loki however, while she claims he is a villain seems to have been doing some good. I'd be interested in seeing what he's all about. Mark him down as a possible." He groaned as he brought the final report up. "This one, is one Fury won't let me back out off I'm afraid." He brought up the image. "Tony Stark, A.K.A Iron Man, A.K.A the most arrogant bratish kid in the history of arrogant bratish kids. I want him only as a consultant, I don't care what his suit can do he's not set for this line of work. I'd sooner take a man the size of an insect into a fight rather than him."

He leaned back, stretching his legs. It was nice to just relax for a bit. "Now I remember you said something about having your own team before, and this certainly isn't that team. Though you think we can cut it?"

---

"HULK!" There was nothing but void, he could faintly feel himself being moved and worked on. This wasn't going to go well, for anybody. If they got their hands on whatever in his blood created the Hulk... or even managed to somehow take the Hulk from him and put him into one of the mutants... he shuddered to think what they could and no doubt would do. There'd be destruction, chaos and death. This was exactly the opposite of what he wanted in his life. Gamma energy was the path to free sustainable energy, it was the way to go. Though naturally the only way into the field was military contracts, what was the harm in making a bomb that would only ever be used as a threat anyway?

Of course he had become the bomb, he had become the threat. "Hulk! I need to speak to you." Green punctured the void, in an attempt to punch him. He stretched out his hand in a gesture to stop, the gargantuan fist stopping just before it made contact. "Hulk, we can't keep doing this." He could see the Hulk thinking about it, weighing his options. Or maybe he hadn't fully understood the question, while the Hulk was strong he wasn't exactly smart. "Hulk don't know what Puny Banner speaking about." Banner just sighed and lowered his hand, and head. "You can feel what they're doing can't you?"

"Yes."

"We can stop this Hulk, we need to stop this." Hulk just turned away from him, with what really sounded like a sigh. If a sigh could sound threatening and like it could knock the wind out of you anyway. "Hulk don't care." Banner just shook his head, that wasn't entirely true. He remembered flashes of what the Hulk did, and the media helped. "You do care, you don't like people being hurt. You don't like being seen as a monster." Hulk turned and growled at that, moving towards Banner at a fast walk, every twitch of muscle threatening.

"Hulk not monster. Banner monster." Well, there was truth in that. Hulk was just the creation of his environment, what kind of environment did he live in? One where everyone feared him, saw him a monster. Tried to hunt him, to kill him. Just as Banner had been trying to do since the day the accident changed him. Perhaps Hulk was right, perhaps he was the monster. He was the one who tried to make the gamma bomb anyway. "Hulk, we need to get out of here. Though we can't do it alone." Hulk just snorted at that, the closest the goliath had ever gotten to laughter. "Hulk strongest one there is!" Banner just smiled at that.

"Yes, yes he is. Though you forget one very important thing Hulk. Something that can help us get out of here." Hulk just looked at him, puzzlement clear on his face as he was trying to work it out. "Hulks strongest one there is, Banners one of the smartest people there is." Banner pointed between them. "Together, we can escape."

To his surprise, Hulk nodded.

"Together."

"But then Banner let Hulk free."

America gazed upwards at the towering skyscraper before her. Bishop Packaging. The place sure looked fancy. Much fancier than America would have expected it to be considering it was a packaging and delivery company, although she shouldn’t really complain. Actually yes she should. If things got difficult here, there would a hell of a lot of collateral damage. America had expected to be throwing out punches in some old run down delivery depot, not a civilian filled office. She sighed slightly, rubbing her temple. Steadying herself, she recovered herself, standing tall once more.

“Let’s do this.”

“And how exactly are we going to do this, Lil’ Miss Patriot?”

America groaned. As helpful as Quentin Quire was, his sarcastic comments were getting annoying. Sarcasm was normally her thing.

“Well it’s your lucky day, Quentin.” She replied coolly, heading towards the revolving door at the foot of the building. “You’re going to be putting those mutant powers to good use!”

“Sweetness.”

A cool burst of air conditioning shot into the two hero’s faces as they calmly entered the foyer. This place literally smelled of money. Looking around at the fancy furniture and technology around the room, America knew for sure that something wasn’t right about this place. No way could a petty delivery company be kitted out like this. Judging by the judgmental look on Quentin’s face, he was thinking the same. After giving each other a short nod, they continued onwards towards the central elevator that stood towards the back of the lobby.

Their journey was soon blocked however by the appearance of two incredibly butch security guards, who place themselves in their way.

Not fazed by their sudden interference, Quentin scoffed quickly before continuing walking. “Move aside gentlemen, Mr Bishop is expecting us.” His hand rose to his head as he spoke, evident that the young teenage was using his telepathic abilities on the two.

They however didn’t seemed to be affected by Quentin’s “persuasion”. The guards didn’t move, which obviously came as a great surprise to Quentin, who kept walking, knocking into them. Stumbling backwards, Quire swore loudly in a bewildered fashion.

“I said stand back!” Quentin said, angrily now, as his fingers shot up to rest on the sides of his head.

The first guard laughed slightly before giving a sly smile to his partner.

“Those jedi mind trick won’t work on us, y’ twerp!” The second guard’s New Jersey accent caused America to fill her head with countless more questions. Psychic defences? Who has psychic defences? Other than her that it. What on earth was going on here? America Chavez furrowed her brow. Questions would have to wait. It was time for plan B.

Charging forward, America flung her fist out in front of her, punching the first guard in the jaw. The blow was strong enough to cause him to reel back in pain, giving the teenager the time to catch the arms of the second guard, whom had tried to grab her. Twisting him around, America pulled him down before kneeing him sharply in the stomach.

Unfortunately, these weren’t the only two guards in the room. Obviously, the commotion caught the attention of everyone else in the foyer. Receptions and simple office interns screamed and ran for cover, while numerous additional security guards readied themselves, approaching the brawl.

Spotting a number of the guards reaching for their weapons, America knew that they were in trouble. Grabbing hold of the first guard, who was currently stumbling about in pain, America span slightly before throwing the man across the room, right into the nearest approaching security guard. America herself followed, taking to the air, with the young hero propelling herself towards her attackers. Slamming one of the men to the ground, she whipped her arm up, knocking a bullet fired at her away with her unbreakable skin. This was easy.

Remembering Quire, she gave the telepath a quick wave from across the room.

“Get in the elevator!” She called, punching yet another oncoming security guard down to the floor. “I’ll meet you up there!”

“Ye..yes miss!” Quentin stammered, before sprinting off towards the elevator.

At Team X HQ.

As the team enjoyed their recreational time playing pool and the banter. Suddenly, the ceiling caves in as an Angelic winged hero descended at godly speed through it and landed on top of the rubble. “Knock knock!” The Valkyrie grins with narrowed eyes.

It has taken much effort to follow the dissipating fuel leak from the C-17's flight path. SHIELD had many instruments, gadgets and science officers capable of deciphering any form of concealed signal.

Valkyrie was at the ready to pounce on any who dared attack, her wings full sprout at the back of her. Her sword Dragonfang held horizontally in front of her. Her heater shield held upright to block anything from the front or side.

The Asgardian warrior had come to help rescue The Hulk or at least, carve a way out for him. She used her increased agility to quickly scan the room. She had no desire to kill anyone in her way. She had her mission and she would stick to it.

“Doctor Banner!” She yells out, watching all of the Team X's members carefully. She hoped Banner was at least conscious. If he was, then all the better to help fight their way past these mutant nabbing cowards.

Tak!

Wolverine knocked a trio of balls into the corner hole in a single shot. He shot Laura a smirk before moving around the table and setting up for his next shot.

Tak!

Another ball rolled across the pool table and into the center hole. "Ha!" Wolverine gloated. "I'm on a roll." Logan lined up a third hit, aiming for a grouping of solid and stripped balls. Kestrel coughed as Logan shot his stick forward. The abruptness of the sound caused the mutant's usually steady hands to slip. Laura watched with a smile on her face as the white ball rolled harmlessly into the corner hole without touching any of Wolverine's strips. Wolverine growled in Kestrel's direction; John merely pretended not to know what Logan was on about and went back to his cigar. "Stinkin' cowboy." He muttered as X-23 bent down to examine the status of the table. "How long do ya think we'll be keeping big green down stairs?" John Wraith asked his two partners. Wolverine shrugged as he crossed over to the bar and picked up a bottle before tipping his head backwards and gulping down the contents of the beer. "Just long enough to collect samples for Ross. Then we're slitting his throat and moving on with our lives." The girl fired off a shot. The white ball flew across the table and smacked a pair of solid pool balls into a nearby hole. "The guy's not a mutant. He shouldn't be our problem." Wolverine complained. "With the money the general's paying us we'll be able to expand our sphere of influence and bring on more staff." X-23 reminded her sort-of father. She was closer to a clone than a relative, but thinking of herself as nothing more than a part of Logan was unproductive. "Not to mention the gear he promised us. Finally gonna get to upgrade Azrael with some real armor." Kestrel pondered what type of plating he should ask Thunderbolt for as X-23 missed her follow up shot. Wolverine crossed over to the pool table and set his beer down, taking the stick from his clone as he did.

Then the ceiling exploded.

Kestrel reacted first. He teleported out of the room to avoid being crushed by flying debris and get the rest of Team X. X-23 ducked behind the pool table moments before a chunk of concrete flew past her head. Wolverine smacked away a lead pipe that fell from the air as an angelic figure descended from the newly-created hole and landed on a pile of rubble in front of them. “Knock knock!” The Valkyrie grins with narrowed eyes. "You're not the pizza delivery guy." Deadpool quipped sadly as he came running into the room, sword and pistol drawn. "John said there was a party going down in this hizz-house- Oooooooo. Pretty lady. Can I keep her?" X-23 and Wolverine popped their claws. X-23 jumped over the pool table and gracefully landed on the other side as she charged the Valkyrie and attempted to cut her sword arm off. Wolverine saw his partner going in and followed her lead, running around to the other side of the invader and slicing at her shield. Probably not the most effective means of attack but it kept the woman on her toes and tested the durability of her equipment. If it were anything less than godlike gear, Wolverine's Adamantium claws wouldn't have trouble piercing it. "Bangbangbangbang! I wanna chitty-chitty-bang-bang you!" Deadpool yelled as he unloaded on Valkyrie with his pistol and went in to close combat with his sword. "Will you shut up Wilson?!" X-23 grumbled in frustration as she and the sword-wielding woman crossed blades. "Attack pattern Omega!" Logan ordered harshly. "Take this bitch down before she kills anyone!" Logan had read Valkyries file. She was strong, fast and knew how to fight. If they let up for even a second she'd blitz them all down and free the Hulk. He wasn't gonna let that happen; not if he was still standing. Wolverine and X-23 went with a figure-eight pattern of attack, always keeping the angel guessing who she'd be fighting. They'd dip in, slash at her and dip out; at which point the next person would come in and they'd rinse and repeat. Sometimes one of them would leave the pattern and slice at her back before moving into position again.

Kestrel appeared in the doorway with a squad of two dozen armed soldiers wearing all black armor and no government markings on their uniforms. The guards took up positions around the lounge and started to open fire; they didn't seem to care if they hit their fellow mutants. All three of them pretty much ignored the hail of bullets, healing past any wounds caused by poor aim. John himself removed a sawed-off shotgun from a sheathe on his leg and opened fire on the angel as she called out for Banner's help.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Maverick and Mastodon shifted uncomfortably. They could hear the fighting going on upstairs. The Hulk was still sedated, but he seemed to be stirring. Perhaps Banner was dreaming? Whatever the case, Professor Thorton decided to speed up his sample collection. He feared that whoever was attacking would wake the Hulk and he would escape before the Weapon X team managed to obtain any vital information on his genetic makeup.

Valkyrie blocked X-23's claws with Dragonfang. Bestowed by the Gods, it easily countered the Adamantium claws. Her shield however, got sliced in half by Wolverine. But no matter, she conjured up her spear in her shield hand. She used her heightened agility to spin both her sword and spear in a spiral to deflect Deadpool's bullet array. “No-one's banging me today.” Valkyrie growled at the red and black masked

With each slash of the claws by Wolverine and X-23's figure of eight attack pattern, some she blocked except for her back . Which was slashed with each slice, drawing blood. But luckily for her, she had healing powers. Each scratch she gained instantly regenerated over. And luckily for them, she did not cross her Dragonfang blade with her blood or else they would have definitely lived to regret that mistake.

As the legion of two dozen armed soldiers entered the fray, Valkyrie leaps upward into the air. She dive bombs them all, knocking the ones in the centre down with her own body, her full wing span knocking down the rest. And finally lands on John's chest with one foot at his neck. She could have easily stabbed him through. But she refrained. She abhorred taking a life without meaning. She had to get in and get out, fast.

Instead she heard a crash from downstairs and bolts straight down the hallway where Kestrel had come from. Hoping it would lead her straight to Banner. “Bruce! Where are you?!” She yells across the building.

There

It can be only surmised why the sedative worked in the first place, perhaps it was the fact the substance it was new or perhaps it was because Hulk and Banner were that busy fighting each other so couldn't devote the willpower to fight the sedative. That was no longer the case, enzymes coursed through the body of Banner. Though they didn't belong to him, they belonged too the Hulk. His entire body shook as the sedative began to be purged from his body. A crack could be heard, one of Banners bones popping out of its socket. Then another, then another.

Popping and cracking, the metal strained on his restraints the leather straps tugging and groaning in protest.

Ping

Something popped loose, Banners eyes opened a pained angry green. He shouted out, though whether it was a scream roar or a cry wasn't really clear, within a couple of seconds he stood. Now over eight foot tall. His head low looking at the floor, nobody moved nor dared to take a breath. He looked around the room, bringing a gargantuan fist down upon a table that looked to have all the research materials upon it. He gave what on anyone else would have looked like a cheeky playful grin to the man who had been operating on him.

Then he noticed Elephant man and roared. The entire gesture screamed. Here I am, come get me. If you dare.

"What if I said pretty please?" Deadpool asked as his bullets were deflected back at him by Valkyrie's spear. He cried out in surprise as his own rounds pierced his skin before he regenerated and continued to fire, knowing full-well that she'd just smack them right back at him. "Maybe if I keep doing the same thing over and over, I'll finally hit her. DEADPOOL, MASTER OF LOGIC!" The psychopath laughed and reloaded his pistol before firing off the entire magazine again. Wolverine and X-23 continued to push the attack until Valkyrie seemed to grow bored of prolonged combat and decided to advance. Logan watched as she leaped over head and used her massive wingspan to create a vortex of wind that knocked back the security team and momentarily stopped their onslaught of fire. "Holy shi-" Kestrel screamed before Valkyrie interrupted his cry with a kick to the throat. The sheer force of the movement sent the teleporter flying into the hallway, his shotgun clattering against the floor nearby. "She's gotta healing factor!" Wolverine informed the rest of the room. "Somebody get Maverick up 'ere!" The mutants watched on as Valkyrie went running through the halls, yelling out Bruce's name. Kestrel vanished in a bright flash of navy blue light before appearing down stairs next to the startled Maverick and Mastodon. "We have incoming. She's strong, fast and has a killer healing factor. As long as the big guy doesn't show up you two should be able to-" Mastodon took in a gulp of air, causing John to stop talking and turn around.

Banner was changing.

His body was shifting and growing. Contorting and bulging as muscles sizes changed and became unnaturally large. Banner's skin turned a sickly green moments before he tore apart the binds holding himself in place. Bruce Banner was now gone; there was only the Hulk. The Hulk roared as he rose to his feet from the table and smashed the nearby samples taken from his blood stream. "I-Is he...smiling?" Maverick whispered. Mastodon ground his teeth together as the Hulk bade him charge by releasing a mighty roar of dominance. A taunt. A childish challenge. Something that Mastodon, the intellectual that he was, should have refused. He should have waited for backup.

But he didn't.

"If it is combat that you seek, monster, than you have come to the right place: for it is here that you shall receive war in spades!" Mastodon lowered his tusks and rammed his way through the walls between the hall and the laboratory. The windows exploded and glass was sent flying in all directions as the elephant man tucked his tusk in and held his head low to avoid cutting himself as he charged the jade giant. He planned to impale the Hulk and shove the giant into the nearby sedative gas chamber where they were planning to do experiments on the Hulk himself. Professor Thorton stood by, ready to close the doors and gas both the elephant and the rioting prisoner. "Idiot." Kestrel mumbled. Maverick took a few steps forward before John Wraith grabbed his arm and stopped him. "You need to take down Valkyrie. Let Mastodon handle this brick." Maverick nodded, and turned towards the hallway. He could hear the angel's shouts grow louder as she approached. His hands glowed a deep orange. He closed his eyes, preparing to unleash a storm of energy blasts on the first thing that walked through that door. Kestrel disappeared once more; likely to inform the rest of Team X what was going on.

A flash of light momentarily blinded X-23, Wolverine and Deadpool and forced them to stop running lest they trip over each other. "What is is, John?" Logan asked impatiently. "Hulk's awake. Mastodon is trying to hold him off as best he can, but you saw what happened last time. We need a plan." Lady Deathstrike rounded the corner behind the gathering, flanked by the guards from earlier. "I have a plan." She stated. "Wolverine, Laura and I help Mastodon slow down Hulk while Kestrel, Maverick and Deadpool stop Valkyrie. We'll split the guards and send half of each team to assist in both fights. Thorton is no doubt evacuating the building already." The rest of the team nodded their understanding. They split off into their respective groups and raced down the hallway.

A dozen of the unmarked soldiers took up firing positions behind Valkyrie and opened fire on her back. Deadpool and Kestrel pulled out their own firearms and joined in. Maverick, hearing the gunfire, ran forward and joined in on attacking Valkyrie; now she was receiving fire from both flanks. The long range barrage would hopefully distract Valkyrie long enough for Alpha team to sneak past and help Mastodon fight the Hulk.

Hulk braced his feet, spreading them out his left slightly on front. Ready to take the blow then at the last second in a show of intelligence he sidestepped pulling his left foot back and parallel to his right so that the elephant man would miss. Then in the turn he swung his massive fist round slamming it into Elephants mans back intending for him to go tumbling into the chamber that a small voice in the back of his head insisted had been for him. Not that him or the small voice knew that the chamber was essentially useless anyway now. Then he looked at the Doctor that was still in the room, roaring in his direction before following it through by throwing a table.

He was a scientist like Puny Banner who wanted to tear him apart to try and make more like him, but nobody was like Hulk. If there was more, they'd never leave him alone. He'd be blamed and they'd want to make even more try and make them like him. They'd break and destroy things and Hulk didn't want that anymore than Banner did. He didn't care if Elephant man was down for the count or if he'd get back up and come after him. He walked to a nearby wall and punched through it, stepping through as rubble fell atop his head. He was leaving, he didn't care about any of this or anyone here.

Jean does indeed kinetically catch The Beast in mid air and moves him gently to the floor. Not without much time to waste she immediately probes Storm's mind.

“Storm, its Jean. What are you experiencing right now, its not real. Do you hear me Storm? Its NOT real! It's all in your mind.”

Storm looked around as the walls closed in all around her. “Jean? Is that you?”

Jean appears before her mentally. “You trust me don't you?” She leans down and offers a hand down for Storm to take. Storm reaches out for her friend and grabs her hand. Jean then pulls Storm out of her trapped mental state. She was back outside with the Brotherhood.

The Beast shakes off the toss and goes to charge Blob again. Jean helps to reinforce the Beast's charge as she uses her telekinesis to lift Blob's feet off the floor at the exact moment of Beast's impact. Hoping it would at least down him. Their main objective was to scare them off Senator Kelly but she feared that he would not thank them for it in the slightest.

Storm ensues to electrocute the remainder of the Brotherhood who had not yet retreated, sending bolts at their feet to push them farther back.


“Not today, masked crusader!” She quips valiantly at Deadpool as she took fire from both in front and behind. She shielded what she could with her spear and sword at either side of her body as she stood sideways to cover both fronts. When she'd had enough, she had to make a choice to move forward. Especially upon hearing more crashes further down the hall in the laboratory.

Valkyrie pushes up off the floor and uses her enhanced speed to fly in a spiral, making another vortex to blow them down and she had the chance to fly straight past Maverick. There she flew into the room just in time to see Hulk down Mastodon.

But Deadpool and Kestrel would soon be in pursuit. And she had 3 clawed mutants at the ready to hold Hulk back. She had to think fast or the six of them could overpower him again. And her mission would be a total failure.

“Hulk watch out!” She yelled after him where she knew Wolverine, X-23 and Lady Deathstrike would go for him from the rear as he was walking through the demolished wall. She hoped her warning would be made in time.

Private Plane - Over the Pacfic - 14:30 - 2012/8

---

After a lengthy discussion between Baymax and Hiro about the dangers of illegal gambeling and dealings with Yakuza, the team finally began their journey to the United States. The flight proved to be just as long and tedious as Hiro imagined it would be, a tin can like object barreling through the sky at several thousand miles an hour stuffed to the brim with teenagers and one seeming pissed off robot was not Hiro's prefered method of travel although he was glad it was these bunch of rowdy teenagers.

In the distance he could hear Fred and GoGo arguing about something with Honey trying desperatly to stop an impending fight before it started. Wasabi was somewhere doing whatever samurai/chiefs do when confined to a small space while Hiro himself sat quietly looking over stock projections for Stark Technologies. For the longest time now he had been keeping tabs on Tony Stark and his new budding empire taking a great interest in the fact that a kid only a year older then him could take a weapons developer and turn it into one of the largest tech company in the US. Plus having staked a great deal of money into the company himself Hiro couldn't help but be a little interested.

"You should spend less time on that silly device and more time with your friends, because I am honestly getting tired of hearing theri bickering about the existence of mythological entities."

"C'mon Baymax...their not debating on their existance just trying to decide who is cooler. Honestly my money is on the lady with a big hammer, she's pretty hot."

A long exasperated sigh escaped Baymax as he simply rubbed the bridge of his nose with his two fingers. Hiro knew good and well what he was talking about but he couldn't help but push his buttons every now and then, it made his life more fun that way. After shutting down his phone Hiro made his way to the back of the plane where his friends were gathered and joined in the conversation.

"Dude, without a doubt Thor is the obvious choice. She's got that hammer thing that no one else can use. I mean c'mon dude even you gotta admit that she's better."

"No way barf-brain, that Valkyire chick is way better. She's way better than Thor, besides I hear she's not even the real Thor.

"Now c'mon you guys there's no need to argue over something so trivial. Besides your both wrong Loki's got one up on both of them.

Before either Fred or GoGo could respond a beeping sound could be heard throughout the plane. Almost simultaniously all five teens gave an dissapointed sigh knowing that Tadashi was on the other side of the call with some new information reguarding their trip. For weeks prior they had been listening to presentation after boring presentation about how to best fit it with American society, as if they really needed help with that. Most if not all the teens were more in touch than the government was about American society than the Giri although the information about S.H.I.E.L.D. was a bit useful.

Begrudgingly Hiro answered the call and as thought Tadashi was instantly on the other side of the line.

"Afternoon team, I have some bad news..."

"What you still can't get a date Mr. Secret Agent Man?"

"That's cute coming from kid that still sleeps with his stuffed teddy bear..."

Hiro instantly turned the brightest shade of red imaginable turning to see the rest of the team trying their hardest to restrain the near uncontrollable laughter. Flustered Hiro turned back to Tadashi, who Hiro could tell was giving him the smuggest of grins.

"What do you want ass-bag...were already on our way to the theme park?"

"That's why I called. Apparently the base has some sort of security issues and as such the Giri are redirecting your flight, now while they have their own ideas about your destination but I told them I would run by you guys. So where do you guys wanna go?"

Before the rest of the team could even open their mouths Hiro blurted their destination,

"NEW YORK!! I mean..um....we should go to New York."