CHAPTER NINE: BEHIND ENEMY LINES, PART TWO

Genosha, October 25, 2008

Her communicator in hand, Power Girl’s voice held an unmistakable tremble. “P-Power Girl to Superman; please, respond…” she pleaded…but nothing.

It had been the longest few minutes of her life.

“He…He’s got to be okay.” Shadowcat said, her tone wavering. “That blast probably just knocked him further out, and it’s taking him this long to get back…”

“Yeah,” Aquaman added, after he and Leviathan had rejoined them, with the F.O.H. naval units disabled, “that’s gotta be it.”

“Sure, Kit.” Avalanche agreed, looping an arm around her shoulders. “That has to be it; Big Blue’s definitely okay…”

“Like hell.” Pyro snapped. “Face it, mates; yer powerhouse got blown to bits…”

“Speak that way again, whelp, and you will regret it.” Thor thundered, as Krypto started to growl at Pyro.

The now-normal-sized Giant Man looked grim. “I really hate to suggest it, guys,” he began, “but it doesn’t look good…”

“He’ll pull through.” Hawkgirl countered flatly.

“He always does.” Green Lantern agreed.

“Yeah, you just keep thinking that.” Quicksilver sneered, before looking to Alison. “So, if anyone needs a shoulder to cry on…”

“Don’t even suggest it, Pietro!!” Scarlet Witch exploded, making her brother jump almost ten feet into the air. “If you ever say something like that ever again..!!”

“Why not?! You’re all thinking it!!” Pietro shot back. “Fine; Super-Dork’s a tough mother, I admit it, but that was a nuke! Nothing could have survived..!”

“No. Cape-Man okay.” Hulk boomed firmly. “Cape-Man strong, like Hulk; big bomb not strong enough to hurt Hulk, so not strong enough to hurt Cape-Man.”

“One can only hope, Hulk.” Magneto whispered.

“Why the dour expression, Lensherr?” Wonder Woman accused. “Is this not what you ultimately wanted?”

Magneto returned her glare. “No, Amazon; contrary to what you believe, I never wanted this.”

“Okay, we’ve got to quit talking like this! He’s fine!” Flash said, his eyes narrowing. “He’s come through way worse!”

Power Girl remained numb to the entire conversation, as she softly hailed her tausha again; he had to be okay…he just had to be…

…because if he wasn’t..!

“P-Power G-Girl to S-Superman,” she whispered, struggling to keep the tears out of her voice, “p-please answer me…” ‘Oh, God, baby, please speak to me…’

“…Su…he…Po…”

Power Girl’s eyes went wide as an echo came in over the static. “P-Please repeat!!”

The echo came in again, still warbled…but the voice was unmistakable. “Superman…here…”

As his voice broke the silence, the others all let out a sigh of utter relief. Quickly, Batman raised him on his own communicator. “It took you long enough.” he said flatly.

“Didn’t know…cared…”

Wonder Woman laughed. “You are, without a doubt,” she teased, “a complete and utter fool, Kal-El!”

Flash just grinned, before glancing to Power Girl. “Sorry, Ali; looks like Boy Scout’s gonna hang onto his title – standing next to an exploding nuke pretty much tops everything!”

Power Girl just smiled, her eyes starting to mist over. “You…You’re okay?” she murmured.

“Yes, taushi, I’m fine; the blast’s EMP caused a little interference.” Superman answered, as the static cleared. “Other than my ears ringing like a church-bell, I’m okay.”

Power Girl smiled…before her eyes narrowed angrily. “Are you brain-damaged?!”

The shift in her tone clearly had thrown him. “What..?”

“Detonating a nuclear warhead?!” Power Girl exploded. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! You could have been killed!!”

“I didn’t exactly detonate it, Ali…”

“Well, you sure didn’t dump it when it was about to blow!!”

“There wasn’t time; I had to get it far enough away from the Watchtower, or the blast could have knocked it into a decaying orbit and made it crash into the Earth…”

That point of logic may have satiated the logical part of her brain, but it did nothing to calm the ‘freaked-out-girlfriend’ part that was currently running the show upstairs. “Well, that’s just great!” she shouted, her eyes watering. “You actually had a reason for scaring me half to death!!”

“Ali’s right, Kal.” Cyclops said gently, hoping to ease some of the growing tension. “You really gave us all a scare.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” Superman answered. “There just wasn’t any other way.”

Phoenix smiled gently. “Well, just warn us, the next time you have to defuse nukes.” she said. “Right now, just get down here.”

Power Girl weakly smiled. “Yeah, so I can yell at you some more, you big blue bonehead.” she teased.

“Sorry, taushi; no can do.” Superman chuckled. “I got sprayed with the fallout when that nuke went off; if I drop in, I’ll set off every Geiger-counter in Europe.”

Siryn’s eyes went wide. “Are you alright??”

“Oh, I’m fine; my energy-transfer system will digest this radiation in no time. Give me an hour or two, and I’ll be good.”

“Fine with us; we should have the situation under control, by then.” Aquaman said. “You get back when you can.”

“Understood. Superman out.”

As the transmission ended, Quicksilver scowled. “Un-be-freaking-lievable.”

“Blimey, what’s it bloody take to off the wanker??” Pyro cried.

Iron Man just chuckled. “At this point, I don’t think anything about that kid could surprise us, now.”

As she switched off her communicator, Storm looked relieved. “Iceman just reported that they’ve captured Hodge; it’s over.”

“Not quite.” Magneto said. “There will undoubtedly be pockets of F.O.H. soldiers still in action; Genosha is not safe until they are taken care of.”

“Well, General Fury did say that reinforcements were on the way.” Shadowcat answered.

Nightcrawler chuckled. “Vhy should ve vait for zhem?”

“Elf’s right; the sooner we take those guys out, the better.” Wolverine said.

“Well, then, we’d better get moving.” Cyclops said. “Let’s go, guys!” With that, they headed off to rendezvous with the others, and coordinate a new plan to deal with the remaining F.O.H. forces.

XXXXXXXX

U.S. Congress

Turmoil had engulfed the meeting-room of the U.S. Senate as the emergency Congress meeting began; the recent attack had every Senator speaking at once. “Please, gentlemen; this is getting us nowhere!” Senator Martin called out, his voice calling them back to sanity. “Do we know for certain that this attack was directed at us?”

“There’s no other explanation!” another Senator cried. “A thermonuclear detonation at the North Pole would have flooded over half the continent!”

Senator Martin frowned. “That seems like a roundabout way to attack.” he mused. “General Fury’s report indicates that another five missiles were launched into orbit; what was their target?”

“The missiles were aimed at the Justice League’s headquarters.” a second Senator answered. “The report suggests that the detonation would have knocked it into a decaying orbit…causing it to land in the middle of North America – namely, right on top of us.”

Senator Martin nodded. “We should be thankful that the League, the X-Men, and the Avengers stopped them in time.” he said. “Do we know who fired them..?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Senator Martin frowned as Senator Kelly spoke again. “The missiles were tracked from a Genoshan base; the mutants didn’t bother to cover their tracks very well.”

Isaac arched an eyebrow. “You’re saying that the Genoshans did this?” he asked. “In the middle of an invasion? I think that’s a bit of a stretch, Robert.”

“Then I suggest you look at the facts, Isaac; the base that the launch came from was well out of the way of the invasion-force – the F.O.H. hadn’t reached it, yet.” Senator Kelly countered.

Isaac frowned. “But if that’s true, then they also attacked the Justice League.” he said. “Furthermore, the people of Genosha have no reason to attack us; it doesn’t make sense…”

“Doesn’t it?”

As he heard that voice, Senator Martin turned to face its owner, Senator Dell Rusk; Dell, in his thirties, tall, and strongly built, with dark green eyes, and short blond hair, clad in a dark blue business suit, with a red tie, was a relative newcomer to the Senate, and Isaac didn’t know much about him…but he gave him the creeps, at times. “I think it makes perfect sense.” Dell continued. “We know that the F.O.H. originated on our soil, and so do the Genoshans; by hitting us, they’re showing everyone that they’re going to fight just as dirty.”

“Senator Rusk, that still doesn’t add up!” one Senator protested. “The Justice League are heroes to the people of Genosha; they have no reason to attack them..!”

“You’re mostly right, Senator,” Dell agreed, “but you may not have been aware that a fair number of Genoshans – including members of the Mutant Liberation Front – view Superman and the League as traitors. By attacking their Watchtower, they’re letting the League know exactly what they think of them.”

Robert nodded. “It all adds up to one thing: we’re obviously facing an MLF cell operating out of Genosha…one equipped with nuclear weapons.”

That statement sent soft gasps rippling through the rest of the Senate. “We can’t conclude that, just yet.” Isaac countered. “If that’s the case, why haven’t we heard their demands? Most terrorists launch their attacks to gain something, but we haven’t heard anything from this so-called cell…”

“Terrorists ultimately only want one thing, Isaac: to destroy us.” Dell said. “The fact that we haven’t heard from them can easily mean that another attack may very well be imminent.”

That was the final nail in that coffin. “What should we do about this?” one Senator asked.

“We only have one course of action: we sniff these terrorists out.” Robert said. “The Avengers are already deployed in Genosha; with a few reinforcements, it should be a simple matter to locate them.”

Isaac was starting to see what Robert was up to. “Senator Kelly, that kind of search…”

“…will require an extended military presence in Genosha, that’s true.” Dell interrupted. “But under the circumstances, we don’t have much choice.”

Isaac’s eyes widened. “Gentlemen…”

“I propose that we put this to a vote.” Robert said. “All in favour?”

Isaac refused…but the majority didn’t.

“Very well.” Robert said. “Given the severity of this issue, I’m sure that we can have the President’s stamp on this within the hour.”

The rest of the Senate seemed satisfied with that…but Isaac could not escape the horrible unease that had gripped him.

This was a mistake…and he just knew that it was only going to get worse…

XXXXXXXX

Genosha

It had taken Superman’s metabolism about an hour and a half to finally work off the radiation from the nuke, leaving him radiation-free…albeit with a sensation akin to nausea, spread over his entire body. ‘No more nukes for me.’ he thought, as he flew back into Earth orbit, descending to Genosha and shrugging off the heat from re-entry with ease, while he listened to the Genoshan military channels. ‘Well, at least the others have things under control…’

As he touched down in front of the base that the others were being debriefed in, Superman saw Flash and Power Girl there, waiting for him. “About time, Boy Scout.” Flash quipped. “We were starting to think you weren’t coming.”

Superman half-smiled. “Better late than never.”

Power Girl’s expression shifted between angry and worried, before settling on a mixture of the two. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, taushi, I’m fine.” Superman answered…before grimacing. “Aside from a mild case of energy-indigestion, that is.”

“Good; it serves you right for doing something so dumb.” Power Girl answered in a mild huff.

Superman sighed. “Ali…”

“The debriefing starts in five minutes; you’d better be there.” Power Girl cut him off, before she turned and walked back into the base.

Superman just sighed to himself as he and Flash started to follow her. “Man, Ali is really steamed at you.” Flash said.

“Can you blame her?”

Turning, Superman saw Black Widow walk up alongside them. “That little stunt of yours might have worked, but from down here, it was scary as hell, Superman.” she gently chided. “Some of us thought we’d lost you, to say nothing of how Alison was feeling.”

Superman lightly frowned. “I’ve taken hits from Hulk and Juggernaut before, Widow; surviving the impact of a nuclear detonation shouldn’t have been an issue.” he defended. “As for the radiation, my Kryptonian physiology can metabolize gamma radiation just as easily as solar energy; how else could I survive standing inside a nuclear reactor-core or two?”

Widow’s smile turned wry. “Maybe,” she said, “but put yourself in her shoes; how would you feel if Alison had gotten hurt doing a stunt like that, or worse..?”

Superman’s eyes went wide; if his taushi had gotten hurt doing something he’d asked her to do, he would never have forgiven himself…the thought of losing her..!

Realization crashed into him harder than the nuke had. “I’m an ass.”

Black Widow just chuckled. “No, you just needed a little reminder of how us humans feel.” she corrected. “A thermonuclear detonation may not be a big deal to Krypton’s Last Son, but to us Homo sapiens, it is.” Her expression saddened. “In our line of work, losing people is a near-certainty.”

Superman nodded. “I’ve got to make this up to her.”

“You can do that later, Romeo.” Flash said. “We’ve got work to do.”

By then, they had reached the briefing room, where all the others – save Magneto and his Acolytes – had gathered; the very instant he’d walked in, Krypto let out an ecstatic bark, before running towards his master and half-tackling into him, licking his face repeatedly. “Okay, okay, boy! I’m fine!” Superman laughed, easing his dog off of him and standing up, before giving Krypto a scratch behind the ears. “You goofy mutt…” he lightly teased.

“As opposed to his goofy owner.” Scarlet Witch quipped.

“Way to give us all heart-attacks, Big Blue.” Iceman added.

Superman chuckled. “Well, after some of the dumb stuff you guys have pulled, I guess you’ve all rubbed off on me.”

Phoenix smiled. “We’re just glad you’re okay, Kal.”

Superman’s expression turned grave. “Where’s Magneto?”

“Lensherr and his Acolytes are out taking care of the last bit of F.O.H. resistance.” Cap said. “After that, chances are they’ll pull out; with Genosha secure, there won’t be any reason for them to risk a fight…”

“Don’t be so sure, Captain.”

Turning, Superman saw Nick Fury walk into the briefing room, his expression grave. “General?”

Fury’s expression only hardened. “I’m sure that all of you,” he said, his gaze momentarily fixing Superman with a pointed glare, “are aware by now that ten multimeg nuclear missiles were fired less than two hours ago – an attack that our experts indicate was ultimately aimed at our country.”

Green Lantern nodded. “Do we know why the F.O.H. tried this?”

The General’s expression turned truly grim. “Actually,” he said, “the evidence we found…indicates that it was the Genoshans who opened fire on us.”

That silenced everyone in the room. “What?!” Superman shouted.

“That’s insane!” Leap cried.

“General, we came here with the intent to render aid to the Genoshans!” Wonder Woman exclaimed. “What reason could they have to..?”

“It’s no small secret that there are some Genoshans that aren’t too fond of the League, Wonder Woman.” Ms. Marvel countered. “We still aren’t sure as to why they targeted the Pole, beyond attacking the outpost, but by attacking your Watchtower, they’re both getting back at both you and us for allowing the F.O.H. to form; two birds, one stone.”

Cyclops frowned. “You can’t believe that the people of Genosha went along with this..!”

“We don’t.” Fury replied. “The working theory is that an MLF cell was operating out of that base under orders from Lensherr; Magneto saw an opportunity when we went after the F.O.H., and he took it. Why else do you think he was in such a hurry to get here?”

“So an MLF cell just happens to fire nuclear missiles at us during an invasion?” Iceman asked. “I don’t buy it.”

“Whether you believe it or not is immaterial.” Fury said. “We’ve just received orders from the President to initiate a full sweep of Genosha to flush these terrorists out.”

“And once Lensherr hears about this, he’ll be back.” Iron Man muttered.

“And he won’t be happy to see us.” Dr. Banner added.

“General, you can’t believe this…” Superman implored.

“Can’t I?” Fury answered, arching an eyebrow. “Our country was just targeted by terrorists, kid; we can’t afford to take chances.”

“In any case, this is now a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission; all of you aren’t needed, anymore.” Ms. Marvel said. “You’re free to go.”

Superman turned to Captain America. “Cap, you don’t actually believe…”

Cap looked grim. “I’m afraid our orders are clear, Superman.” he answered. “We can handle things from here. If Lensherr’s people are operating from Genosha, then it’s probably for the best that we stay here…”

Superman’s eyes widened in utter incredulity…before he frowned. “Cap,” he said, “you don’t believe that any more than I do.” To the others, he added, “Let’s go, guys.” With that, the rest of the League, the X-Men, X-Force, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Mystique, Colossus, and Krypto headed out.

As they emerged from the base, walking towards their vehicles, Superman shook his head, still shaken by the words of his childhood hero. “How can Cap believe that the MLF did this in spite of everything..?”

“The Captain is a soldier, Kal.” Wonder Woman said. “Following orders is just as much a part of him as doing good.”

Flash frowned. “Orders or not, something stinks, around here.”

“I concur.” Android agreed. “The firing of the nuclear missiles is too coincidental.”

Cyclops frowned worriedly. “I hate to say it, guys, but I’m not too convinced that it wasn’t Magneto.”

Power Girl nodded. “This is a guy who once tried to drop meteors on the planet.”

“I certainly wouldn’t put it past him.” Mystique agreed.

“It doesn’t fit.”

Batman’s voice interrupted anything else they were going to say. “It’s an effective enough way to attack the States, but it isn’t Lensherr’s way.” he continued. “Dropping the Watchtower and melting the Pole would cause just as many mutant deaths as human deaths, as well as irreparably alter the environment, to say nothing of the nuclear fallout; for someone dedicated to replacing humanity, it’s too inefficient a tactic.”

Superman nodded. “There are just too many inconsistencies for us to blame Magneto.” he agreed. “We need to get all the facts.”

“Well, from where?” Angel asked. “The only one who knows anything about what the F.O.H. were really up to is Cam, and he won’t talk.”

Batman’s eyes narrowed. “He’ll talk to me.”

“Dat may be true,” Gambit said, “but ‘odge be in Fury’s custody; Gambit don’ t’ink dat de Gen’ral gon’ let y’ ‘ave a chat wit’ ‘im on a ‘unch.”

J’onn lightly chuckled. “Leave that to me.”

Siryn looked concerned. “As much as both I and my father enjoy making Fury look foolish,” she said, “you do realize that the good General could take this little endeavour personally.”

“I don’t think we have a choice.” Superman replied. “If there is a possibility that Fury’s intel is wrong, then the Avengers will be enforcing martial law for nothing; tension between humans and mutants will grow because of this, and U.S. military forces will be taxed even further by occupying Genosha…”

“…leaving it less able to respond to another attack.” Batman finished.

Aquaman frowned. “Sounds more and more like these HYDRA guys, every minute.”

Cyclops’ expression turned thoughtful. “What should we do?”

“For now, the rest of us should prepare to depart, so as not to arouse suspicion, while Batman and J’onn sneak in and interrogate Hodge.” Superman answered.

“That sounds like a plan.” Beast said.

“Good.” Superman replied…before he paused, as his hearing picked up a familiar sound. “You guys go on ahead; there’s a little something I need to take care of.”

Power Girl’s expression became a bit worried. “Nothing major, right?”

Superman chuckled. “No, taushi; no nukes involved.” he answered. “I’ll be back soon. Good luck.” With that, he darted off, while the others continued on towards their vehicles, moving beyond the base’s line of sight…where Batman and J’onn stealthily broke away from them, doubling back towards the base…

XXXXXXXX

As a silver-coloured streak sped away from the base, Quicksilver scowled to himself after what he’d found out. Once he, his father, and the rest of the Acolytes had the F.O.H. remnants on the run, Father had instructed him to take a look around the base where the Loser League and the X-Dorks were meeting, and find out what they were up to.

And it was a good thing that he had; he should have known that One-Eye Fury would try to pin this on them. As soon as he’d heard that, Pietro had sped out of the base at top speed, racing back to his father as fast as he could; Father had to be informed..!

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar sonic boom shook the air, seconds before a blue-and-crimson blur shot ahead of him, before Superman came to a perfect stop directly in his path, forcing Quicksilver to skid to a stop in front of him. “In a bit of a hurry, are we?”

Pietro’s scowl grew; he’d nearly hurled when he’d heard Super-Dork’s voice over the radio. “Well, somebody’s got to warn the people of Genosha that the U.S.’s stooges are gonna take over our country.”

Superman frowned, his arms folding. “You heard.”

“Damn straight, I heard!!” Quicksilver snarled. “If you think for one second we’re just gonna let you..!”

“It won’t be us, Pietro.”

That statement threw Pietro. “Why? Aren’t you so big on human ‘justice’?” he sneered. “I thought you’d be foaming at the mouth to go after him!”

“Magneto has a lot to answer for Pietro,” Superman answered, “but we’re honestly not sure if he is behind this.” He arched an eyebrow. “Unless of course he is..?”

Pietro scowled.

“I didn’t think so.”

Quicksilver’s scowl grew. “So, what, then?” he demanded. “If you don’t think Father did it, why are you here?”

“We’re going to try to get to the bottom of this, Pietro,” Superman answered, “but we’re also going to make sure nobody does anything stupid.”

Pietro’s fists clenched. “You mean like how your pal Fury is gonna invade our country?” he snapped. “You call my father a terrorist, but you’re just gonna let Fury’s stooges march right in and take over! Face it, Super-Dork, this whole situation is your God-damn fault!!”

Superman’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not interested in pointing fingers, Pietro; all I care about is resolving this crisis before anyone gets hurt. I suggest you tell your old man to clear out and let us handle this; if he is innocent, then he’s got nothing to worry about.” he retorted. “If all you’re going to do is blame me for your problems, I don’t have time for you.” With that, he turned to go.

Quicksilver saw red. “Oh, so it’s my fault that my father wanted you as our leader instead of his own son?! It’s my fault that he doesn’t respect me?!” he exploded. “It’s my fault that you took away the only sister I’ll ever..?!”

“Pietro, I can’t take your sister from you.” Superman answered, cutting his tirade off. “The only person who can drive her away from you is you.”

Pietro momentarily flinched. “She…She was too hung up on getting back at Father; she wouldn’t listen!!” he shouted. “And then you came in and..!”

“All I did,” Superman countered, “was show Wanda that her pain wouldn’t end by taking revenge. I let her see for herself why she couldn’t go down that path, and I trusted her to make the right decision.” He lightly smiled. “She just needed someone to be there for her, to help her see it.”

Pietro’s fists clenched. “I could have.” he spat. “It should’ve been me; that’s another thing you took from me..!”

“Quiet.”

Superman’s voice held more control than anything Quicksilver had ever heard before. “I just told you, Maximoff.” he said, his voice growing slightly angered, looming like a thunderstorm in the distance. “I can’t take your sister from you. The two of you share the same blood; you’re a part of each other – that’s something that no-one can take from you.”

“But blood alone doesn’t make family.” Superman continued. “Just look at the Institute, Pietro; you want to know why you guys could never beat us? It’s because we’re a family. I know for a fact that each and every one of the X-Men would lay down their lives to help me, and they know I’d do the same for them in a second. That’s what it means to be a family. If you want to Wanda to be your sister again…start by being her brother.”

“As for your issues with Magneto,” Superman finished, “judging from how he treated Wanda, it sounds like he’s the one with the problem; a good father wouldn’t make his son try to jump through hoops to earn something he should have had from the beginning. Remember that.”

Quicksilver blinked…and then frowned. “Real touching, Super-Dork,” he sneered, “but I don’t need any lecture-crap from you.”

“It wasn’t a lecture; it was the truth.” Superman replied. “What you do with it is your own business.” His tone grew stern. “Regardless, what I said still applies; if you guys are innocent in this, I suggest you stay back and let us prove it.” And with that, he turned, and darted off at super-speed.

Alone again, Pietro scowled to himself. ‘Stupid boy-scout loser…who the hell does he think he is…’

He already knew he hadn’t been the ideal twin brother; he knew Wanda hadn’t really forgiven him for letting their father send her to the asylum. But it hadn’t been his fault; he couldn’t have done anything..!

His fists clenched as he recalled that evening, years ago: the orderlies dragging Wanda away; Wanda crying for them to help her; their father just standing there, his expression impassive…while he’d cowered behind Father’s leg, watching his sister go…

So he hadn’t been the best twin brother; that didn’t mean he needed a lecture from Super-Dork.

Shaking his head, Pietro brought his thoughts back to the present; he still had to inform Father. With that, he took off at top speeds, to deliver the news…to be the good son his father had wanted…

…while a tiny voice in the back of his head – one he hadn’t noticed before – began to tell him he was wrong…

XXXXXXXX

Alone in his interrogation cell, Cameron Hodge couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Things had not gone as planned; their missiles were supposed to have hit their targets – they were supposed to have neutralized the alien outpost and taken out that orbiting satellite, both humiliating the alien’s team and enraging the States, with only the muties to take the blame…

…but that plan had certainly gone down the crapper. Not only had the League – along with the Institute freaks and the Avengers – completely routed their forces – also making use of that same alien technology, only adding to their fears of the technological advantage the alien gave the muties – but they had intercepted their missiles, not only wrecking the entire operation, but making those God-damn freaks look like heroes!

And, even more frightening still, the alien had taken a near-point-blank nuclear detonation…and survived. Cameron wasn’t sure if they could stop him, now..!

‘Snap out of it, Hodge. Quit thinking like that.’ Cameron thought to himself. Even though the missiles had been stopped, the end result would be the same: the freak-state would be implicated, forcing S.H.I.E.L.D. to launch a full probe, stirring resentment among the muties, while the humans back home grew more distrustful of the freaks. As for him, all he had to do was keep his mouth shut about everything, and wait until his comrades broke him out.

And even if his captors started to crack him, he had a little fail-safe in his left-hand molar…

Suddenly, the lights in his cell abruptly went out, as the light-bulbs exploded, blanketing him in darkness, bringing back his earlier panic…which exploded into utter terror as he heard the voice.

“Cameron Hodge.”

He hadn’t heard the door open. He hadn’t even heard any footsteps.

“You know something about what went on here.”

Cameron’s hands started to shake; if he cried out to the guards outside…

‘They won’t be of any help to you.’

Cameron suppressed a gasp as he heard a second voice in his head…before the first one spoke again: “You’re going to tell us what went on here. Now.”

Cameron gathered what little courage he had. “Go to hell!!”

“After you.”

At that, agony exploded across Cameron’s jaw, sending him spinning into the ground. Coughing, Cameron got back up…and then he saw.

Two white, narrowed, lidless, soulless eyes, glaring angrily at him, peering right into his soul!!

“One more time, Hodge; you know something about the nuclear attempt.”

“The muties did it!!” Cameron shouted.

‘Liar.’

The first voice agreed with the second. “Wrong answer.”

Cameron doubled over as an invisible fist drove itself into his gut, before he was lifted up by his collar. “We don’t have time to waste with you, Hodge. We know you and your Nazis had something to do with this…but if you’re not willing to cooperate…there are other ways.”

It was then that Cameron felt it: an unknown force starting to tear at his mind, digging into his thoughts, looking for something…it was going after..!

Cameron didn’t hesitate; he opened his mouth and bit down, cracking the false tooth he’d had placed in his jaw; as soon as he had, he felt a bitter taste fill his mouth, flowing down his throat…seconds before his world started to get hazy…and then…

…oblivion.

XXXXXXXX

As she strode through the hallways of the base, Ms. Marvel kept her anger under control, maintaining her usual neutral expression…while her psyche was anything but calm. She’d headed to the brig as soon as she’d gotten the alert.

How the hell could this have happened?!

By the time she’d reached the brig, the rest of the Avengers were already there…in time to see the S.H.I.E.L.D. medics take Hodge out of his cell on a crash-cart. Her eyes narrowed, Carol turned to the nearest medic. “What happened?”

The medic looked grim. “Initial reaction indicates poison, and we found traces of king cobra venom on him.” was the reply.

Black Widow’s eyes widened. “Someone poisoned him?”

The medic shook his head. “When we got him on the respirator, we noticed a shattered tooth.”

“A false tooth.” Cap said. “Hodge gave himself a suicide pill.”

Thor frowned. “A coward’s tactic.”

“Maybe, but it’s an effective one.” Ms. Marvel muttered. “Dammit, tell me we didn’t just lose our only lead..!”

The medic shook his head. “We found traces of a wide-range anti-venin in his system; it should slow the poison long enough for us to save him.” he replied.

Giant Man arched an eyebrow. “Strange way to kill yourself.”

Wasp’s eyes widened. “Someone must have tried to save him!” she exclaimed. “But who..?”

“I know who.” Carol said, her eyes narrowing. “They must have tried to interrogate Hodge to prove their little theory, and they screwed up.”

Cap’s eyes narrowed. “With respect, Lieutenant, I’m still not entirely sold on the idea that it was the MLF who did this.”

“Nor I.” Thor added.

Bruce nodded. “Occam’s Razor, Lt. Danvers; in order for the General’s theory to be true, Magneto would have had to have known about the attack beforehand, and I don’t really see him risking Genosha over something like this…”

“Your opinions are your own, Doctor,” Carol said, “but right now, we have our orders.” She turned to the medic. “How long until Hodge wakes up?”

The medic sighed. “Hard to say. It could be a few hours…or a few days.”

Carol scowled; once again, the League’s hot-dogging had endangered their operation. “Until we get an interrogator’s signed report stating that Hodge and his people planned this, our orders stand.” she said. “For now, we wait for reinforcements…and deal with this little intrusion.”

Cap nodded. “I’ll talk to the kid, Lieutenant…”

“No, Captain; we need you to look over the area readouts and identify potential hiding places…and scout out what could likely be our next battlefield, if Lensherr comes back.” Ms. Marvel said. “I’ll handle this. Dismissed.”

And with that, she turned and strode off, her anger quickly returning.

It was high time she had a talk with ‘the Man of Tomorrow.’

XXXXXXXX

By the time Superman had caught up with the others near the Javelin and the Argo, Batman and the Martian Manhunter had returned from their little ‘errand.’ “Did Hodge know anything?” he inquired.

Batman nodded. “We were right; the F.O.H. staged the whole thing – before this attack ever began, their operatives infiltrated the entire Genoshan military, with one sqaud having been ordered to maintain silence until their main force was under attack before launching the nukes.”

“Then they knew we would intervene…” Hawkgirl murmured, her eyes widening.

“…which means that S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers and even Magneto are playing right into the F.O.H. and HYDRA’s hands.” Cyclops finished.

“Should we tell the General?” Multiple asked.

Wolverine shook his head, frowning. “Waste of time, Junior; old Iron-Pants won’t move on this without hard evidence.”

“And all we have is the semi-lucid telepathic testimonial of a suicidal racist.” Mystique muttered.

“Not necessarily.” J’onn replied. “The anti-venin we gave Hodge kept him lucid just long enough for me to gleam the location of one of their facilities from his mind.”

Beast’s eyes widened as he caught on. “If we can get conclusive proof from that outpost..!”

“…we can convince Fury to call this whole thing off!” Flash exclaimed.

“Sounds promising in theory,” Siryn thought aloud, “but I highly doubt that the good General will wait for us to prove him wrong…and neither will Lensherr.”

Cyclops nodded. “Iceman, you and the rest of X-Force should take the Javelin into the capital; help with the reconstruction effort…but keep an eye out for trouble.”

Iceman nodded. “Got it.”

“I will also stay.” Colossus said. Lightly chuckling, he added, “When my mutation came, I was strong back for family farm; I am good for hard labour.”

“I’ll stick around, too.” Wolverine said. “Suppose I could keep Steve from making an ass of himself…plus I never got to say hi to ‘Tooth.”

Superman nodded. “Lantern, Hawkgirl, think you two can back them up?”

Green Lantern chuckled. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I suppose we can keep an eye on all of you.” Hawkgirl lightly teased.

“Good to hear.” Berzerker quipped back.

“The rest of us will take the Argo to the facility, and blow this case wide open.” Superman finished.

“Sounds lahke a plan.” Rigue agreed.

Nightcrawler nodded. “Ve’d better get moving; ve probably don’t have much time.” With that, they turned towards their respective vehicles.

“Stop right there.”

Turning, Superman saw Ms. Marvel touch down in front of them, her expression angry. “Uh-oh.” Gambit murmured. “Gambit don’ like de looks o’ dis…”

“I have an active emergency transponder clipped to my belt; I set it off and every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in this entire Hemisphere will be on top of us in minutes.” Carol said coldly. “Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t arrest all of you?”

Avalanche scoffed. “So much for gratitude.”

“On what charge?” Phoenix asked, remaining calm.

“Drop the act.” Carol snapped. “You may have assisted in this matter, but that does not give you the authority to interrogate one of our prisoners…especially not when it leaves said prisoner in a coma!!”

Superman remained calm. “Guys?” he asked. “Why don’t you all go on ahead; I’ll catch up later.”

Power Girl looked worried. “Are you sure..?”

“I’m sure; Lt. Danvers likely has some valid concerns, and it shouldn’t take more than one person to address them.” Superman answered. “Assuming, of course, that’s okay with you, Lieutenant.”

Ms. Marvel’s expression didn’t change. “That’s just fine with me.”

Wonder Woman smiled wearily. “Good luck.”

“You, too.” Superman answered. With that, the others headed into their respective vehicles, and took off, leaving him with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s irate second-in-command.

“You had to do it, didn’t you?” Carol accused. “You just couldn’t leave it alone; are you trying to make us look like idiots?!”

“No, Lieutenant,” Superman countered, “we’re trying to keep you from looking like idiots.”

“Oh, so you’re still clinging to that little theory!” Carol snapped. “Well, we usually need a little something called evidence..!”

“…which you’ll have as soon as Hodge comes out of his coma.” Superman answered. “I guarantee, he’ll have a few interesting things to tell you, once you crack him, now.”

“Assuming he does come out of it!” Ms. Marvel shouted. “And even if he does, your League’s little screw-up could have very well made his testimony inadmissible!!”

“Lieutenant, Hodge could have used that suicide pill, anyway.” Superman answered. “Now that his attempt has failed, you have a chance to get the truth out of him.”

Her eyes narrowed in utter fury, Carol let out a strangled yell of rage, before she clenched her fist and unleashed a lightning-fast punch at him…which Superman easily caught in his hand.

Superman frowned at the enraged S.H.I.E.L.D. officer. “Believe it or not, Lieutenant, I’m just as sick of us butting heads as you likely are, so we’re going to resolve this. Right now.” he said firmly. “If you have a problem with either myself or the League…you spit it out.”

Carol was practically quivering with rage. “The only problem I have is with the fact that Fury didn’t order you into a uniform the second he met you!!” she exploded. “You say you want to help – you say you want to make a difference – but if you really cared about your country, you’d have enlisted the second you learned what you are!!”

“Our country is at war, Kryptonian,” Carol continued, not slowing down for even a second, “and we need every resource we have to win it…and like it or not, you’re an American citizen! Your power and your technology are needed, buster! If you’d done your duty, the war would be over! If you’d done your duty, half the problems we face would be gone!”

Her eyes glistened with tears of rage and grief. “If you’d done your duty, my husband would still be ALIVE!!”

Superman’s eyes widened at that. “What?”

Carol’s eyes started to mist. “It was the first year we’d gone into Afghanistan.” she snapped. “My husband – Jeremy – was a drill sergeant instructing a new squad of Marines; he hadn’t even seen any fighting. He was due back home in a week; his tour was nearly up.” She suppressed a sniffle. “On the way to the airfield, his jeep hit a car-bomb; Jeremy was killed instantly…just because those bastards were too cowardly to fight us face-to-face!!” She glared at Superman. “Jeremy was just one of the dozens we’ve lost, Kryptonian; if you actually cared about that, you God-damn draft-dodger, you’d have joined up the second the Towers were hit!” She pointed to the inactive Gauntlet on his arm. “One blast from that gizmo there – just one – could have scared those cowardly towel-headed camel-jockeys so badly, they’d have gift-wrapped bin Laden and mailed him to the White House!!”

A single tear fell down her cheek. “You could have saved Jeremy…but you didn’t.”

Superman was silent at that…before he simply let go of Carol’s fist. “I’m sorry to hear about your husband, Lieutenant; I truly am.” he said softly. “And I do care about our country.” His expression turned sad. “That’s exactly why I can’t do what you want.”

Carol’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you try and double-talk your way out of this, you self-righteous little punk; who the hell are you to say we’re not entitled to..?!”

“It isn’t me, Danvers.” Superman said. “This isn’t my decision, but the ruling of Krypton’s ruling body, the Council of Twelve; our policy of non-interference has stood for thousands of years.”

“Then I was wrong.” Carol said bitterly. “It’s not about one draft-dodger; it’s about an entire race of heartless bastards..!”

“Be quiet, Danvers!!” Superman thundered, his voice carrying more command than Fury could have ever mustered, silencing Carol completely. “You can think whatever you like about me,” he said firmly, “but do not speak of something you know nothing about.”

His tone turned grave. “We call it the Law of Riona Prime.” he said softly. “It is our very highest law; it expressly forbids any Kryptonian to directly interfere in the natural development of another race, for any reason…for we had long since learned what could happen if we did.”

“Many millennia ago, a meteor struck the sole inhabited planet in the Riona System, Riona Prime.” Superman continued. “A Kryptonian task-force was in the system during the impact, and reported back to the Council; the Rionians’ resources and infrastructure were utterly decimated. Millions had died, and millions more would likely perish during the rebuilding…in fact, it was doubtful that they even could rebuild; our experts predicted that incident could very well mean the Rionians’ extinction.” His tone grew sadder. “The Rionians were a good people, a decent people, a lot like what Earth is like, today, give or take a decade or two. The decision was made to render aid to them; the Rionians were given a modified Entropic Power Module – with minimal maintenance, it could have provided more than enough energy to rebuild, and to keep their support systems running long enough for that to happen.”

Carol had been silent until then. “Sounds well and good.” she said softly. “So what happened?”

Superman’s expression turned haunted. “A week later, the task-force returned, to check in on them.” he whispered. “It had been destroyed.”

Carol blinked. “The device?”

“No.” Superman said. “The planet. Riona Prime had been utterly devastated, worse than the meteor had ever been…with no survivors.” His eyes closed. “Data records taken from the planet told us that the different factions of Riona had begun fighting over our gift…until they just…destroyed themselves.”

Carol’s eyes went wide. “You…You think that could happen with us.” she said. “You can’t know that; you don’t know for sure that it will…”

“…and you don’t know that it won’t, Carol; that’s the point.” Superman answered. “Interfering with another race had consequences that we could never have foreseen.” His eyes narrowed firmly. “Riona Prime taught us something: no matter how advanced we are, no matter how powerful we are, no matter how much knowledge or technology we have…we have no business playing God.”

“This isn’t just an arbitrary decision, Danvers; this Law exists for a reason, and a damn good one, at that.” Superman finished. “I will use my people’s knowledge to inspire humanity…but I will not give you knowledge and technology that you lack the ethical maturity to use wisely.”

Carol was silent for a moment; when she spoke again, her anger was gone, and replaced by determination. “What if we were willing to take the risk?”

“Even if America was willing, Carol, you can’t say the same of the rest of the world.” Superman answered. “The people of Earth are not ready to know what Krypton knew; you’re living proof that America certainly isn’t.”

Carol frowned, a fraction of her anger returning. “Our country was the first nation of freedom in history.” she snapped. “Here, all men are created equal; I can think of over a dozen countries where..!”

“So can I, Carol, and that much is good.” Superman agreed. “But with that freedom comes responsibility…which a lot of Americans have been shirking, lately.”

Ms. Marvel blinked. “What are you saying?”

“Carol…you and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. used the technology and knowledge of that Kree ship, without a single thought to what could have happened as a result of that – your powers are the proof of it.”

Carol’s expression turned grim. “We…We needed to be ready for any potential threat…”

Superman frowned sadly. “Carol,” he said gently, “where do you think the Inhumans came from? The Kree experimented on innocent humans for years, until the first Inhumans rebelled and drove them away.” He gestured to her. “Those powers you have now were paid for by Black Bolt and his ancestors…in blood.” His tone grew sadder. “I hope you enjoy them; I don’t think I could.”

Ms. Marvel was silent at that, as she slowly looked down at her hands, her eyes slowly widening in understanding…

“Right now, Lieutenant, the others and I have work to do.” Superman said. “You go do your duty; we’ll do ours.” With that, he turned, and flew off after the others, leaving Carol with her thoughts.

XXXXXXXX

Undisclosed location

After returning to the F.O.H.’s secret outpost, Sinister had promptly returned to his lab and gotten to work on loading the data from the samples he’d collected into the main computer, quickly reviewing them as he did. ‘Yes, of course.’ Essex thought with a smile, as he began making the necessary changes to his project’s baseline RNA. ‘This should suffice…’

“Essex.” came the voice of Madame Hydra behind him, as his cloaked commander walked into view. “I trust you were able to get what you needed?”

“Naturally.” Sinister replied. “I acquired enough DNA samples to reverse-transcribe the proper sequences into Legacy’s genome.” He sighed. “Effective as these Fools of Humanity are as shock troops, their…fervor to destroy mutants is a bit counter-productive.”

Madame Hydra just chuckled. “True, but that fervor will make them eager to test our new augmentation virus, won’t it?” Her tone turned grave. “You’re sure that Legacy is non-contagious?”

“I’ve made sure to remove the protein tags that enable the virus to survive in the air.” Sinister replied. “I’ve also cut the incubation period to a fraction of the influenza template, and inserted a stop-sequence – after about several rounds of replication, Legacy will go lysogenic and stay that way, leaving our troops with the augmented genome. With a few more adjustments, Legacy should be able to provide us with a virtually inexhaustible supply of super-soldiers.”

“Excellent.” Madame Hydra said. “Begin selections for testing immediately; I still don’t trust Hodge to stay quiet.” She smiled. “Still, if tensions on Genosha rise as we planned, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be too busy to bother with us for quite some time.”

“Understood.” Sinister agreed, as he began entering the commands to start loading the virus into injection guns, while Madame Hydra walked away, leaving him to his work.

Alone, Sinister smiled to himself. Though Legacy’s efficacy was likely better than he’d expected, his augmentation-virus still had yet to reach its true potential…which was why he fervently hoped that the X-Men had found out about this facility.

If they were so willing to become his test-subjects…who was he to say no?

XXXXXXXX

Minutes after leaving Genosha behind, Superman had located the Argo on his communicator, and had quickly followed it to its landing-site; the Argo had touched down in eastern Europe, in a clearing surrounded by trees, a few meters from a cliff overlooking a base hidden in the forest.

Spying the others on the cliff, a few meters from where the Argo rested, Superman silently descended, touching down next to them. “What’s the situation?” he asked.

“The facility was right where Hodge’s thoughts indicated,” J’onn answered, his eyes narrowed, “and if the thought-patterns of its occupants are any indication, it is crawling with F.O.H. operatives.” At that, Krypto growled down at the base, as if in agreement with their Martian comrade.

“Terrific.” Spyke muttered. “And you don’t have to be telepathic to know they’re up to no good.”

Power Girl looked worried. “It could be worse than we think.” she said softly. “That guy from the base – Sinister…I think he…he knew I was part Kryptonian.”

Phoenix’s eyes went wide. “But…how..?”

“Trask.” Cyclops said. “Before Fury arrested him, he must have found out about you, Ali, and leaked it to the F.O.H.”

“How nice of him.” Flash muttered.

“Regardless, our best course of action should be to get in, obtain the proof we need, and get out without being seen.” Beast thought aloud.

Power Girl nodded. “The Argo managed to get a good scan of the facility before we touched down.” she reported. “We got a fix on the main security center; taking that out should neutralize most of the security systems.”

Superman nodded in agreement, before he activated his Gauntlet. “I should be able to reconfigure the Nanite Spreader to disable their system.”

“I’ll go with you.” Batman said.

“Me, too.” Flash added.

“We also detected two main research labs several levels below the security station.” Mystique said. “One of them should contain the proof we need.”

Cyclops nodded. “Phoenix, Spyke, Beast, Siryn, Shadowcat and I will head to one lab.”

“I will accompany you.” Wonder Woman said.

“Me, too.” Aquaman agreed.

J’onn nodded. “And the rest of us will proceed to the second laboratory.” he finished. “There is a loading bay on the same level as the labs; that should make a good rendezvous point.”

“The Argo’s teleporter should have no problem dropping us off and picking us up.” Superman agreed. His expression turned grave. “Everyone be careful; we’ll be heading right into their territory…”

Avalanche chuckled. “So what else is new, Big Blue?”

Superman smiled lightly. “Good point.” he agreed. “Let’s move!” With that, they all headed back to the Argo, to carry out their mission.

XXXXXXXX

Genosha

From a cliff overlooking Genosha’s capital, Magneto and his three Acolytes stood, looking down at their people’s home, a severe expression on the Master of Magnetism’s face.

His heart was still sick over what Pietro had told him; that, after he and his Acolytes had aided Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had been so ready to blame him for the nuclear attack. ‘I suppose I should have expected it from a Homo sapien.’ he thought. ‘One learns.’

Pyro looked grim. “‘ey, Boss,” he said, “not that I’m complainin’ – I’m good either way – but…ain’t we a bit shorthanded to take on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s lapdogs?”

Quicksilver nodded. “Yeah, Father; it’s only the four of us against the Avengers…and if the Loser-League steps in…”

Magneto chuckled. “You forget, son,” he gently chided, “this island is our home; these are our people, who came here to escape persecution. We need only remind them of that, and the tide will turn.”

Sabretooth grinned savagely. “Lensherr, I like the way you think!” he laughed. “I doubt the runt and his flunkies will be so eager to take on civilians; finally, a fair fight!”

Magneto frowned disapprovingly. “With any luck, Creed, our people’s response to this will be sufficient to convince Captain Rogers and his team to withdraw.” he said. “Enough of our people’s blood has been shed, today.”

Pyro snorted. “Why screw around? Let’s just off the blighters and be done with it…”

“We are not the butchers, Pyro." Magneto said, his voice carrying a warning tone. “We will defend our home; nothing more.”

Sabretooth frowned. “What’s the big deal? Half of ‘em are just a bunch of scrawny humans, including the Boy Scout…”

“Do not make the mistake of thinking Captain Rogers like the humans we are familiar with, Creed.” Magneto said. “Rogers is…an echo; a memory of what, perhaps, humanity might have been – he and his fellows fight for the mistaken belief that there is something in humanity worth saving.”

His tone darkened. “For that, they are to be pitied, if anything.”

Regaining his usual neutral tone, Magneto finished, “It is time.” With that, he gestured, summoning the semi-conductive metal globes that they used for transportation; once his Acolytes had boarded, Magneto levitated them and himself into the air, before flying towards the capital…to drive the newest invaders from his people’s home.

XXXXXXXX

Genosha City

The restoration effort of the battered Genosha City was progressing gradually, but with the help that the Genoshans had just received, it was progressing.

As he chilled a section of setting cement, causing it to harden faster, Iceman wiped the sweat from his brow. “Brother, this is thirsty work.”

“No kidding.” Berzerker agreed, as he energized a generator that a powered-up Sunspot and numerous Multiples had just lifted into place, with the help of Polaris’ magnetic field, allowing several Genoshan technicians to plug in their power-tools and get to work.

A few feet away, Colossus and Wolverine were lugging several iron girders into another construction yard. “Well, this is the one part of Flyboy’s job we never hear about.”

Overhead, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Angel flew down. “You didn’t think our job only entailed laying down the law, did you?” Green Lantern quipped, as he grasped one girder with his force-field, before flying up to move it into place on a nearby damaged building.

Hawkgirl nodded, as she and Angel flew up after him, acting as his spotters. “With some of the crises we’ve handled these days, half of our time is involved with rebuilding.” she agreed, as she waved her teammate forward. Once the girder was in position, Hawkgirl gestured to the flame-form Magma down below, who promptly fired her flame-blasts, welding it into place.

Several feet away, Boom-Boom planted a few of her cherry-bombs around several clusters of rubble, where they promptly detonated, loosening it enough for Cannonball and Havok to blast through, opening up the building that had been blocked off. As Miss Martian and Leviathan quickly levitated and lifted the remaining pieces of rubble out of the way, Jubilee, Husk, and Wolfsbane promptly moved in, and led the Genoshans trapped inside out into the open air. “Anyone else in there?” Cannonball asked.

Wolfsbane frowned. “Aye; my nose picked up a few scents we couldn’t account for.” she replied. “Android?”

As he hurried over, Android’s eyes momentarily glowed brighter…before widening. “I am detecting two thermal signatures behind the west-side collapsed wall.” he reported.

Boom-Boom nodded. “No problem; I’ll just boom ‘em out of the way…”

“Inadvisable; structural integrity in that section is currently questionable – even a small detonation could prove hazardous.”

Quickly, Phantom piped up. “Leap and I can do it!” At that, she and Leap darted into the building, where Phantom phased herself through the wall in question, while Leap just ‘ported in after her…seconds before they both emerged with the two civilians, before leading them to the ambulance, where they were promptly taken to the hospital with the other injured civilians.

As he finished freeze-drying the concrete, Iceman looked up…and grimaced. “Uh-oh.” he murmured. “We’ve got trouble, guys.” Turning, the others saw the Avengers walking towards them, their expressions grim.

Cap managed a light smile. “I suppose we should have expected you guys to stick around.”

Wolverine chuckled. “Someone has to watch your back, Steve.” he replied…before he frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re actually going through with this, Rogers.”

“We don’t have much choice, Jim.”

“But Hodge all but admitted that they did it!” Leap protested. ‘If you just give the others a chance, they can prove it!”

“I’m afraid that we can’t afford to take chances.” Iron Man replied.

“Unbelievable.” Leviathan said flatly. “This whole thing is bogus, and you guys know it!”

The Hulk – having since resumed his massive form – frowned. “Scale-Man right.” he boomed. “Hulk not smart like Banner, but even Hulk know this wrong.”

“Hey, don’t tell us, big guy; tell Fury.” Giant Man said.

Wasp nodded. “With any luck, the first few hours of our ‘extended visit’ will go quietly…”

Miss Martian’s eyes widened. “I wouldn’t count on that, Dr. Pym.” she said. “We have company!”

At that, three silvery metal spheres flew overhead…flanked by a familiar cloaked silhouette.

“Magneto.” Iceman muttered.

Cap’s eyes narrowed. “Iron Man, Thor, Danvers, intercept him, but don’t make the first attack; we can’t risk injuring any civilians.”

“Understood.” Iron Man agreed.

“If Lensherr be innocent of this crime, we will allow him a chance to set things right.” Thor agreed. With that, the two of them took to the air, flying ahead of Magneto.

As the three Avengers flew in front of him, Magneto stopped in his path, scowling. “So, Fury sends his lackeys to enforce this travesty, does he?”

“Peace, friend.” Thor said.

“This doesn’t have to get ugly.” Iron Man added. “Just settle down…”

“…and watch you subjugate my people for a crime we are innocent of?” Magneto replied archly. “I think not!”

And with that, Magneto unleashed a magnetic pulse, repulsing Thor’s hammer away, taking the startled Thunderer with it, causing him to crash into Ms. Marvel. Iron Man began to arm his wrist-missiles, but another magnetic surge scrambled his systems, sending him falling. “You come against me with a suit of metal?” Magneto sneered. “No wonder we’re called Homo superior.”

The instant Magneto had attacked, the others sprang into action; Green Lantern and Hawkgirl took to the air, as Green Lantern caught Iron Man with an energy-field, giving him time for his armour’s systems to reboot, while Hawkgirl flew at the Master of Magnetism…and was promptly thrown back, as Magneto repelled her mace.

By then, Thor had recovered. “Woe to those villains who foolishly refuse mercy,” he thundered, raising Mjolnir above his head “for they shall feel Asgard’s wrath!!” And with that, he brought the hammer down, unleashing a massive thunderbolt towards Magneto…who quickly levitated a steel girder towards him, and used it to block the thunderbolt, conducting it away from him, before repulsing it towards Thor, who knocked it aside with his hammer.

Magneto was about to attack again, when he sensed another magnetic field forming…seconds before Polaris magnetically threw Colossus towards him. Before Magneto could repulse the iron-skinned Russian youth, Colossus deactivated his powers, becoming flesh-and-blood…and completely immune to magnetic forces.

With a loud yell, Piotr slammed into Magneto, tackling him down onto a rooftop. Piotr glared at Magneto, raising his fists. “You threatened my family with your powers,” he roared, “but let us see how well you fight like a man!!” And with that, he charged at Magneto. The Master of Magnetism quickly levitated several pieces of metal rubble towards him, but Piotr dodged away from every single one, before closing on Magneto and sending him flying with a haymaker.

Without Magneto’s power to keep them aloft, the three spheres descended to the ground, before they opened, allowing Sabretooth, Pyro, and Quicksilver to emerge. Spotting Wolverine, Sabretooth grinned savagely. “Figured it’d come to this, Short-Stuff.”

Wolverine snorted. “Good to know.” he muttered…before he and his mortal enemy charged at each other.

Sabretooth’s initial swipe caught him in the shoulder, sending Wolverine spinning to the side, but Wolverine managed to rake his claws across ‘Tooth’s gut as he did, sending Creed staggering back, as both of their wounds quickly began to heal. Before Sabretooth could attack again, he was peppered by Wasp’s sting-blasts, before he was sent flying by the foot of the giant-size Giant Man, knocking him to the side several feet…and into the path of the Hulk. “Hulk smash Claw Man!!” Hulk roared, as he barreled towards Sabretooth. Snarling, the feral mercenary did the only thing he could: he dove low, striking the Hulk’s ankles and causing the gamma-powered powerhouse to tumble over him, momentarily stunning Hulk. Before he could react, Sabretooth was pasted by Magma’s flame-blasts, coupled by Havok’s force-blasts and Boom-Boom’s explosives, knocking him back towards the recovered Wolverine, who leapt at his longtime foe, claws at the ready, to tear him limb from limb.

Spotting his father in danger, Quicksilver rushed to help him…but Iceman quickly intercepted him, coating the ground with ice; Quicksilver momentarily panicked, but then he smirked, and stopped running just as he hit the ice, allowing his momentum to carry him over it…

…just as Iceman had predicted.

As Quicksilver hit the ice, Jubilee peppered him with her fireworks, blinding him long enough for Wolfsbane and Cannonball to double-tackle him, sending him sprawling. Quicksilver quickly got up, and dashed towards them…only to be telekinetically thrown on his rear by Miss Martian, allowing several dozen Jamies to dog-pile him into unconsciousness.

As he blocked Pyro’s flame-blast with his shield, Cap gave Black Widow a brief nod; as soon as the pyrokinetic youth paused, Cap let his shield fly at the same time that Widow opened fire. Both of their shots hit, striking the weakened frame of the building behind Pyro and forcing it to collapse, prompting Pyro to scramble out of the way…and right into Leap’s flying kick. As Pyro started to unleash another fire-wave, Leap teleported herself away, while Angel and Leviathan came at him in a two-pronged attack, Angel from the air, and Leviathan from the ground, forcing him to pick a target.

Starting to panic, Pyro blasted Angel, who quickly barrel-rolled out of the way, and allowing Leviathan to unleash a scale-plated uppercut on Pyro, stunning him and giving Android the time he needed; morphing his arms into flails, Android cleanly severed Pyro’s fuel-lines, rendering him powerless. Snarling, Pyro readied a curse…but stopped as he saw the powered-up Sunspot and the ultra-dense Husk in front of him. He tried to run…but he couldn’t, as Phantom rose up out of the ground behind him, having phased his feet into the ground.

“Oh, bloody hell.” was all he got the chance to say…before they punched him out.

As he recovered from Piotr’s initial attack, Magneto began to ready another magnetic field…but he was sent sprawling by a force-field pulse from Green Lantern, as he, Thor, Hawkgirl, and the rebooted Iron Man surrounded him from the air. “It’s over, Lensherr.” Green Lantern said.

Magneto’s eyes narrowed…before he smiled slyly, and turned towards the edge of the rooftop. “Do you see, my brothers and sisters?” he shouted out. “Whether F.O.H. or S.H.I.E.L.D., the result is the same; the humans will not stop until they’ve dominated us! Even here, upon our own sanctuary, we are not safe from them! There is only one way for us to protect ourselves, and that is to drive them from our home!!”

It was only then that they noticed that their brawl had attracted a crowd…which was starting to turn into an angry mob.

On the streets below, the rest of their little band started to back away from the crowd of angry mutant citizens. Wolverine managed a grim chuckle. “Just like old times, eh, Steve?”

“Unfortunately.” Cap answered. His tone grew serious as the mob started to close on them. “Minimal force necessary, everyone; we’re not the bad guys, here.”

“Try telling them that.” Leviathan muttered.

Iceman sighed. “I sure hope Big Blue and the others are having better luch than we are…”

XXXXXXXX

F.O.H. Outpost

The Winter Soldier had just finished cleaning his revolver when he’d gotten the call from Sinister; after heading to the spooky S.O.B.’s personal lab, he found Sinister poring over a computer readout, as usual. “What’s the problem, Essex?”

Sinister just smiled his usual creepy smile. “I believe that we have company, Soldier.” he answered, as he brought up several security feeds.

The first feed showed only a shadow and two red blurs…but the others showed some of those Institute punks and some of the League members…which could only mean that those blurs could be..!

“I see that you recognize them.” Sinister mused. “They appear to be heading for the main security center, as well as the two main research labs. I will intercept the group heading for the west lab; the security system should be able to handle those heading for the east lab. I trust you can handle the rest?”

The Soldier just smiled. “Just let me get my big guns.”

“Good.” Sinister replied. “Then get moving.” With that, he turned, and headed towards the lab.

Alone, the Winter Soldier turned, and headed to the armory, to gear up; from what he’d heard, the Kryptonian and his team would be tough…

…but taking out that Cap-Wannabe would be worth it; just thinking about that stupid kid made him sick – he likely thought that he could actually make a difference by playing hero…just like..!

Quickly, the Soldier squashed that thought, before returning to the moment. He had a job to do.

And no stupid kid was going to stop him.

XXXXXXXX

Minutes after the Argo’s teleporter beam had deposited them deep with the F.O.H. base, Cyclops and his team quickly made their way into the west-side laboratory without incident, as Phoenix’s telepathy enabled them to evade the guards on patrol. After briefly scanning the lab and finding it empty, they moved in. “Beast, Siryn, you two start hacking into their system.” Cyclops instructed. “There should be some record of the F.O.H.’s involvement somewhere.”

At once, Beast and Siryn quickly moved to the nearest active console, and began downloading. “Careful,” Beast cautioned, “they’ve guarded their network quite well.”

“I’m aware of that,” Siryn replied, “but unfortunately for them…not quite well enough!”

And with that, they were in. Beast’s eyes narrowed as he started to pore over the files. “These look like mission-logs,” he mused, “so that means…aha!”

“Found something?” Aquaman asked.

“Yes: a log clearly detailing their mission to Genosha…including the deployment of sleeper agents in the Genoshan base and the orders to launch the nuclear warheads!” Beast declared, as he took out a floppy disk and began to download. “This proves their involvement!”

Spyke grinned. “So if we show that to Iron-Pants, he’ll back off!”

Siryn looked concerned. “There’s more here.” she added. “They were running experiments here…on mutant DNA.”

Shadowcat looked stricken. “W-What kinds of experiments?”

“I’m not sure; from the looks of it, they were carried out in the other lab, so the records must be there.” Siryn said. “But there’s something else…”

“What?” Wonder Woman asked.

“There’s another project that HYDRA is working on.” Siryn answered. “I can’t tell what it is – the files are far too well-encrypted – but it appears to be called…Project: Galatea…”

“Very good, Miss LeRoux.”

As soon as that voice spoke, the computer network automatically locked them out, before Sinister stepped out of the shadows. “I must commend you for finding this facility,” Sinister said, “but I’m afraid we can’t have you poking into our secrets, now, can we?”

Cyclops frowned. “Beast, did you get it?”

Beast nodded, holding up the disk. “I finished just before he pulled the plug.”

Sinister chuckled. “I see.” he said. “What a pity that you won’t be leaving.”

And with that, he unleashed a massive telekinetic pulse that sent all of them flying.

Recovering quickly, Cyclops shouted, “Take him down!” before firing an optic-blast…which crashed harmlessly against Sinister’s telekinetic shield. Taking Cyclops’ cue, Siryn unleashed a sonic scream at the same time that Spyke fired a burst of bone-spikes, which were promptly accelerated by the scream…but both attacks failed to pierce Sinister’s barrier. Before Sinister could counterattack, however, Shadowcat leapt at him and phased his feet into the floor, and then phasing out from behind him, while Aquaman leapt at Sinister and slammed him with a haymaker.

As Sinister staggered back, Aquaman closed on him, pressing his advantage…but Sinister caught his follow-up punch, and twisted his arm into an arm-lock. Before he could press the attack, Beast slammed him with a drop-kick, knocking him back and freeing his comrade. His smile turning to an angry scowl, Sinister telekinetically ripped several computer consoles out of the floor and threw them at his foes, but Wonder Woman snagged the nearest console with her lasso, and spun it like a mace, deflecting the rest of Sinister’s projectiles, before sending it flying back at him, stunning him. As Sinister tried to recover, Phoenix peppered him with a pulse of psychic fire, giving Cyclops time to adjust his visor…before he unleashed a massive optic-blast at the same time that Phoenix slammed Sinister with a PSI-pulse.

The combined attack utterly shattered Sinister’s TK-shield, sending him crashing through a wall. “We’ve got what we came for! Let’s get out of here!” Cyclops shouted. With that, they turned and ran out of the lab as fast as they could, heading for the extraction point…but as the alarms began to sound, they knew they were in for a rough trip…

XXXXXXXX

As the alarms began to sound outside the main security station, the three guards on duty visibly tensed, readying their weapons for anything that might come at them..!

Suddenly, one heard the faintest clink! Looking down, he saw three small black spheres roll to a stop next to his boot…seconds before the spheres exploded in clouds of white gas. Coughing and cursing, the three guards strained to see…but they never even had a chance to evade the twin crimson blurs that barreled into them, knocking them out.

With the guards blinded by Batman’s smoke-bombs, it had been easy for Superman and Flash to take them out, clearing the way for the three of them to head into the security center. As soon as they were in, Batman got to work at one console. “The alarm sequence is already active; I’ll see if I can bring it up.” the Dark Knight said. “You just be ready on your end, Boy Scout.”

Superman nodded, as he armed his Gauntlet’s Nanite-Spreader, before entering a few commands, modifying the nanites’ basic programming. “Ready when you are.”

Batman nodded, as he entered a few more commands. “Done.”

With that, Superman aimed his Gauntlet at the console, and fired a single nanite-crystal at it; the crystal buried itself in the console, before it disintegrated, delivering its payload. Seconds later, numerous crystalline growths began to shoot up from the console, with Kryptonian characters beginning to pollute the screen, before the crystals shattered, as the nanites invaded the computer’s circuitry, delivering their subversive program, before disintegrating, leaving no trace.

Almost instantly, the alarms ceased, as the entire security system went dead.

Disarming his Gauntlet, Superman breathed a relieved sigh. “That should give the others enough time to grab the evidence we need and get out.”

“Great.” Flash said. “Can we go home, now?”

Suddenly, Superman’s hearing picked up a tell-tale whistling sound…causing his eyes to go wide. “DOWN!!” he shouted, as he quickly threw himself into the doorway, allowing the shell fired from the hand-held rocket-launcher to impact him, slamming him back into the console, stunning him, but leaving his comrades unharmed.

Outside the security center, the mercenary known as the Winter Soldier, with his rocket-launcher strapped to his shoulder, and flanked by three F.O.H. soldiers, chuckled to himself. “I love this job!” he declared, before he and his comrades opened fire with their automatics.

As the three of them scrambled behind the computer consoles, Flash groaned. “We always meet the crazies on this job.”

Batman – as always – was all business. “Winter Soldier, a highly-trained international mercenary, linked to numerous terrorist acts credited to HYDRA. Skills include weapons training, martial arts, computer expertise, explosives training and assassinations. A detail of note is that his left arm has been replaced with a bionic prosthesis.”

“Nice guy.” Superman said, as he peered out over the consoles, getting a bead on their foes. “Batman, there are two steam-lines just above their heads…”

Batman instantly understood. “Shot-in-the-Dark maneuver.”

Flash grinned. “I love that one!”

As the Soldier and his lackeys continued to fire, Batman rolled out from behind the consoles and let fly with a Batarang; the whirring blade spun through the air with expert aim, slicing into one steam-line, and ricocheting off to bury itself in the other, bathing the four soldiers in hot steam.

Almost instantly, Superman darted out and zoomed past the four goons, generating a mini-sonic-boom in his wake, knocking them into the air…before Flash darted at them at super-speed, slamming into each and every one of them.

The other three were knocked out easily, but as Flash closed on the Winter Soldier, the mercenary recovered in mid-air, and sent Flash sprawling with a side-kick. As the Soldier recovered, Batman darted towards him, throwing a freeze-capsule at him, but the Soldier raised his bionic arm, blocking it…giving the Dark Knight the time he needed to close on him; Batman’s fist connected solidly on the Soldier’s solar plexus in a powerful uppercut, but the Soldier countered with a headbutt, widening the distance between them, again. His eyes narrowing, the Soldier pulled back his bionic arm…

Moving like lightning, Superman intercepted the Soldier, grabbing his bionic arm by the wrist and throwing him across the hallway, slamming him into a wall.recovering quickly, the Soldier smiled darkly. “Not bad, kid.” he spat, flipping back to his feet and drawing a revolver in one swift move. “All you need is a shield, now.” With that, he opened fire on Superman, who didn’t even flinch as the bullets impacted against him harmlessly. His eyes narrowing, the Soldier rolled towards his fallen rocket-launcher, grabbed it and fired; the rocket impacted against Superman’s chest, but Superman braced himself, and dug in his heels, only allowing the blast to push him back a few feet…but it gave the Soldier enough time to close on him, punching him in the face with his bionic arm.

“You’re deluding yourself, kid.” Winter Soldier spat, unleashing a metal-fisted uppercut, momentarily stunning Superman. “You honestly think that a pretender like you can change the world?!” Pulling back his metal arm, he swung again…

…and Superman caught his metal fist effortlessly. “Yes.” he answered, his eyes narrowing. “And we will…because we don’t give in to scum like you.” And he punctuated the sentence by gripping the Soldier’s bionic arm with his Gauntlet-clad hand, unleashing the lightly-charged Disruptor-blast that he’d been storing in the Gauntlet.

Instantly, the electrostatic surge rippled through the metal appendage, knocking the Soldier back a good fifty feet, to land hard, out cold. After powering-down his Gauntlet, Superman’s eyes narrowed in determination. “We’d better meet up with the others.” he said. “Let’s move!” At once, the three of them hurried away from the security center, towards the rendezvous point, where, hopefully, the others were waiting for them…

XXXXXXXX

A few minutes earlier

Several minutes after splitting up from the others, the alarm had started to sound throughout the base, startling Power Girl and the rest of their team…before numerous laser-turrets dropped out of the ceiling, taking aim at them. “I guess we’ve officially worn out our welcome.” Avalanche muttered.

Almost instantly, the two closest turrets opened fire, crashing against the barrier that Power Girl quickly raised, while the Martian Manhunter telekinetically pulled one out of the ceiling, and smashed it into the other. “Move!” he ordered, before he ran down the corridor towards the lab, followed by the others.

They were only a few feet away from the lab’s entrance when six more turrets dropped down; before they could get a shot off, Krypto leapt at one turret, ripping it to shreds with his teeth, as Scarlet Witch rusted two more to nothing with a hex-blast, while Avalanche unleashed a precisely-aimed tremor, causing a second to implode. As the last two prepared to fire, Nightcrawler ‘ported directly between them; automatically, the turrets took aim at him, and fired just after he ‘ported away, destroying each other.

Turning back towards the entrance to the lab, they saw three F.O.H. troopers taking aim at them, as the lab doors began to slide closed. With perfect aim, Power Girl fired her eye-rays, slicing apart their weapons, while Gambit took out his bo-staff and threw it, causing it to catch between the closing doors, keeping them open long enough for Mystique and Rogue to dart through. Morphing into a bear, Mystique took out two goons with her paws, while Rogue took off her glove and drained the third, knocking him out.

With the guards disabled, Mystique quickly reopened the doors, allowing the others to dart inside…seconds before several more turrets dropped down, taking aim…

…and then, the alarms shut off, as the turrets retracted. J’onn chuckled. “It appears that the security system has been deactivated.”

“Ja!” Nightcrawler agreed. “Let’s just get vat ve need and get out, before zhey catch on!”

“Good plan.” Avalanche agreed. “So…any ideas on how to get into their network?”

“Ah’ve got the password; that guy Ah drained knew it.” Rogue said. Quickly, she moved to the nearest terminal, and entered the code, before poring over the files…as her eyes widened. “Okay…bad news, good news and more bad news tahme.” Rogue said. “The bad news is that this stuff has nothing to do with their Genosha plans, so hopefully the others had more luck on their end. The good news is that this tells about some of the experiments these sickos are running, so Fury might wanna know about it.” With that, she initiated a download.

Power Girl arched an eyebrow. “And the other bad news?”

Rogue gulped. “That Sinister guy was makin’ a vahrus.” she murmured. “It looks lahke it’s supposed to ‘enhance’ the people that catch it; Sinister made it right here, usin’ samples of mutant DNA.”

“Merde…” Gambit murmured.

“We can’t allow Sinister to use it.” Mystique said.

J’onn nodded. “Alison?”

Power Girl nodded, as she armed her Disruptor. “Rogue, get clear.” she instructed. After finishing the download and removing the floppy disk, Rogue stood back, as Power Girl loaded a good charge into the Disruptor, took aim, and fired.

The electrostatic blast surged through the lab, utterly devastating every single computer and piece of equipment, and destroying any and all data stored in the lab. With that task accomplished, they all turned, and headed back the way they came.

Within minutes, they had met up with Cyclops and the others. “Any luck?” Power Girl asked, as they all ran for the rendezvous point.

“Oh, yeah; they’re busted!” Shadowcat exclaimed.

As they rounded a corner, only meters from the rendezvous point, they saw about a dozen soldiers heading towards them, as several dozen more came at them from behind, and from both sides. In seconds, they were surrounded.

As they quickly moved back-to-back, guarding against an attack from all sides, they saw Sinister walk towards them. “Well, you’ve certainly led us on a merry chase,” the creepy-looking guy said, “but I’m afraid the jig, as they say, is up. Surrender now, and you may yet live.”

“And end up as your lab-rats?” Spyke snapped. “Pass.”

Sinister sighed. “DNA from a living specimen is preferable,” he said, “but if you insist…” At that, the soldiers cleared their weapons…

…but they never got a chance to use them, as a massive rumbling noise shook the ceiling above them…seconds before the ceiling collapsed, as Superman smashed through it, dropping down into their little group, followed by Batman and Flash.

The normally-unflappable Sinister’s eyes momentarily widened, before he quickly recomposed himself. “Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance.”

Flash grinned. “Comes with the job.”

Superman glared at Sinister. “It’s ‘Sinister,’ isn’t it?”

Sinister lightly bowed. “We meet at last.” he replied. “I’m afraid that little demonstration is meaningless, Superman; even if any of you survive long enough to escape this small handful, you’ll never escape from this base; the entire facility is being locked down as we speak – it’s over.”

Superman frowned for a moment…and then smiled slyly, activating his Gauntlet. “Phoenix, Power Girl, put your barriers up and keep them up, no matter what.”

Sinister frowned. “It is futile, Kryptonian; if you do not surrender, your colleagues will undoubtedly be killed. Not even your powers can…”

“I have no intention of using my powers, ugly.” Superman retorted, as he tapped the disc on the back of the Gauntlet’s hand.

The Rotamace.

Power Girl’s eyes widened. “Superman..?”

Superman just grinned. “Brace yourselves.” he warned, as he clenched his fist; at once, the trio of metal spheres inside the Rotamace disc began to spin faster…and faster…and faster, until they were glowing. As Phoenix and Power Girl quickly raised their barriers, Superman activated his Targeting Visor, and targeted everything in the entire base; most weapons wouldn’t be able to achieve that kind of damage…

…but the Rotamace wasn’t ‘most weapons.’

Raising his arm, Superman took aim, and fired; numerous small, glowing spheres of semi-solid energy emerged from the disc, circling his wrist at high speeds, before shooting away from him at deadly speeds, breaking away randomly to impact dozens of soldiers with one pass…but they didn’t stop there; instead of dissipating, the Rotamace-shells bounced off their targets, recoiling off the walls to attack new targets.

As his troops fell around him, panicked, Sinister tried to raise a TK-barrier, but several shells tore through it like paper, knocking him to the ground. Once their assailants were taken down, the shells widened their attack-range, bursting through the walls to wreak havoc with the rest of the base, achieving destruction on a level more chaotic and devastating than anything that Earth had seen before; in a matter of minutes, troops were knocked out, computers and labware were shattered, weapons and vehicles were ripped apart, and entire rooms were demolished.

It wasn’t long before one shell found the main generator.

As soon as the emergency evacuation alarm started to sound, Superman tapped his Gauntlet, unleashing an energy-wave that dissipated the Rotamace shells. “Well, it sounds like you guys have more important things to worry about than us.” he quipped. “As much as we’d love to stick around, our ride is here, and we must be going.”

Power Girl lightly chuckled. “See ya!”

Rogue quickly picked up on her quip. “Wouldn’t want to be ya!” And with that, they were quickly engulfed in the blue-white teleporter beam of the Argo flying over the base, taking them away, leaving a livid Sinister behind.

As Superman hopped into the Argo’s control chair, setting a course back to Genosha, the others – save Batman – broke into cheers. “Way to save our asses, Big Blue!” Spyke declared.

Siryn nodded. “That was quite a weapon.”

“No kidding!” Flash agreed. “Man, big guy, your people sure knew how to kick ass when it called for it!”

Superman chuckled. “The Rotary Mass-Energy Shell Cannon, better known as the Rotamace.” he explained. “Believe me, engineers on Krypton had a hell of a time developing it; their first prototype nearly knocked out half of Krypton City.”

Power Girl nodded. “You were right; I didn’t want to know what it could do.”

“I trust we acquired the proof we needed?” Batman asked.

Cyclops nodded. “We caught ‘em red-handed.”

“Then we had best notify the General.” J’onn said.

Checking the Argo’s sensors, Superman’s eyes went wide. “We’ve got bigger problems, guys: there’s a riot on Genosha, and it looks like the others are in the middle of it!”

“Then we had best hurry!” Wonder Woman declared. Nodding, Superman promptly doubled the Argo’s speed, taking them back to Genosha as fast as possible.

There wasn’t a moment to lose.

XXXXXXXX

Genosha City

As he blocked one rioting citzen’s punch with his shield, Cap quickly knocked his attacker back with his shield, ensuring that he didn’t hit hard enough to seriously injure the man. The situation was bad enough as it was.

Magneto’s little speech had been the proverbial match that had ignited Genosha’s powder-keg; the mutant citizens, already bitter over the F.O.H.’s occupation, brief though it was, had been easily enraged by news of their investigation, turning the city into a war-zone…and giving Lensherr and his Acolytes time to escape.

Blocking the crowbar-attack of one citizen, Thor scowled as he pushed him away. “Lensherr flees as these misguided souls attack us?!” he thundered. “Does his cowardice know no bounds?!”

“This was likely his plan from the start.” Green Lantern said, as he tossed several rioters aside with a force-field, while Hawkgirl batted several more away with her wings.

His expression nervous, Iceman quickly formed an ice-field between his comrades and about a dozen rioters. “Yeah? Well it sure is working!”

Snarling, Hulk batted away several rioters. “Hulk want smash, but Banner say no.” he grumbled. “Stupid Banner.”

As she kicked one rioter away, Black Widow looked to Cap. “Steve, are those reinforcements en route?”

Cap nodded, before he deflected a piece of garbage thrown at him with his shield. “I’ve just gotten word from the General; they should be here any minute..!”

As if on cue, numerous vehicles with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s eagle-insignia pulled up, as dozens of heavily armed soldiers piled out, forming a line, and taking aim. “Attention, rioters,” the leader ordered, “you are hereby ordered to stand down and disperse; failure to do so will be met with appropriate action! This is your only warning!”

The rioters didn’t listen; they only turned their fury on their new oppressors. Automatically, the soldiers cleared their weapons…

Phantom’s eyes went wide. “Th-They’re not going to..?!”

Cap grimaced. He wanted to believe that their side wouldn’t murder innocent civilians – which, despite their actions, was what the Genoshans were – but if someone got scared..!

The Genoshans were rapidly closing on the soldiers; in seconds, they would be on top of them…

Several soldiers – new recruits – started to look nervous…as their fingers tightened on the triggers..!

Suddenly, a whirrring noise cut the air, as the Argo flew overhead, before ‘porting the X-Men and the rest of the Justice League directly between the rioters and the soldiers. His eyes narrowing in a stern glare, Superman turned to the rioters.

“ENOUGH!!”

Superman’s command nearly shook the ground with its force, causing every single rioter to stop in their tracks. “You have all been deceived.” Wonder Woman added. “The attack on the United States was not the work of mutants, terrorists or otherwise!”

“It was S.H.I.E.L.D.!!” one rioter shouted. “They made up the whole thing, just so they could have an excuse to attack us!!”

“The attack was the work of the Friends of Humanity!” the Martian Manhunter declared. “We have incontrovertable proof that they were behind the attack.”

Superman nodded. “They wanted to make it look like you had attacked the States, for the purpose of causing you all to do exactly what you’re doing now.” he said. “They wanted you to fight…and you – all of you – played right into their hands.”

He looked out at the growing number of faces fallen in shame. “The Friends of Humanity attacked you because all of you are the greatest threat to their way on Earth; your country is living proof that they’re dead wrong; you’re proof that humans and mutants can coexist.” he continued. “If you throw that away…then they have already won.”

Those words were exactly what the doctor ordered; their fury diminishing, the former rioters promptly dispersed, heading home.

A collective sigh of relief echoed from the Avengers and X-Force, as they all walked over to greet their comrades. “Man,” Iceman said, “are you guys ever a sight for sore eyes!”

Cap lightly chuckled, before his expression turned serious. “You have proof?”

“Straight from the F.O.H.’s computers to your door!” Flash quipped.

“Well, that’s a relief.” Wasp said. “Once Fury hears this, he’ll definitely call this whole thing off.”

At that, the entire group smiled in relief…and then they laughed as Multiple expressed what they all were feeling.

“Can we go home, now?”

XXXXXXXX

Xavier Institute

After delivering the new intel to General Fury in debriefing, the Justice League, the X-Men, and X-Force all returned to the Institute, accompanied by the Avengers. “Well, as we’ve said before, we definitely appreciate the assistance.” Iron Man said.

Dr. Banner – having since de-Hulked – nodded. “I especially owe Professor Xavier for helping me get the Hulk under control.”

Cyclops smiled. “We’ll be sure to tell him, as soon as he gets back from helping Fury and Lt. Danvers brief Congress on the situation.”

Wasp chuckled. “I don’t envy him that job.”

“Nor I.” Wonder Woman agreed.

Turning, Superman spotted Cap standing off to the side, watching the setting sun. Walking next to him, Superman chuckled. “I thought this day would never end.” he commented.

“You and me both.” Cap agreed.

Superman’s expression turned serious. “That guy, the Winter Soldier…he was your friend, wasn’t he?”

Cap closed his eyes. “Private James Buchanan Barnes, call-sign ‘Bucky’.” he answered. “Back in the days of the War, he was my sidekick; we must have gone on dozens of missions…”

“…and now he’s on their side.” Superman finished.

Cap nodded. “I still don’t know how it could have happened; not to Bucky…”

“You’ll figure it out, Cap.”

Cap just sighed. “Before, it was just so simple.” he said. “Back in my day, what was good for America was good for everyone…and now…I just don’t know.”

“Well, maybe that was true, back then,” Superman said, “but today, I think it’s reversed: what’s good for everyone is good for America.”

Slowly, Cap smiled. “You’re wiser than you let on, son.” he said…before he grinned. “Hard to believe you beat me out in the ‘Nuclear-Bonehead-Maneuver’ category!”

Superman laughed. “How do you figure that?”

“Well, at least I had enough sense to jump off the missile after I’d sabotaged it!”

“Hey, pal, unlike you, I was at least marginally sure that I could survive it!” Superman defended…before he grimaced. “A fact which has probably put me in the dog-house.”

Cap shrugged. “It happens.”

By then, the Avengers were getting ready to leave; as he headed back to the Quinjet, bidding Superman good-bye, Cap passed by Power Girl. “Go easy on the kid, will you?” he chuckled.

Power Girl just smiled. “I’ll see.” she replied sweetly…causing Superman to gulp.

“It has been an honour to fight with you, my friends.” Thor declared.

“Take care!” Wasp said.

“You, too.” Cyclops replied. With that, the Quinjet took to the air, heading back to the Triskelion.

“We’d better get going, too.” Aquaman said.

Superman nodded. “Call me if you need me.”

“Got it.” Flash agreed, as the rest of the League headed into the Javelin, before taking off, while the others headed back into the Institute, for a well-deserved rest, while Superman headed to the Argo, to take it and the weapons back to the Fortress.

After making the trip to the Fortress, Superman quickly flew back to the Institute, and darted into his room, quickly changing out of his uniform and into his white tshirt and black boxer shorts. Clark was about to turn in, when he heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”

Slowly, the door opened, as Alison, clad in her blue bathrobe, stepped in, closing the door behind her.

Clark gulped; he should have known she wouldn’t have let this go. “Ali…”

Alison just raised her hand calmly. “Clark,” she said softly, “you really scared me, today.”

Clark lowered his gaze. “I know.”

“I almost thought I’d lost you…”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” Clark replied. “There just…wasn’t any other way…”

“I know that.” Alison said. “It’s just…” she started to sniffle, “…I never thought that…that there could actually be anything that could take you away from me..!”

Clark’s guilt doubled. “Ali…”

“I know how strong you are…and I know how hard it is to hurt you,” Alison sniffed, “…but…watching that bomb go off…it made me realize that…that every time you go out there…I…I might never see you again..!”

Moving towards his precious taushi, Clark enfolded her in an embrace, allowing her to cling to him. “You’re right, Ali.” he relented. “Every time I go out on League business, I put my life at risk, invulnerable or not; we all do. I guess I did take my invulnerability for granted, a bit.” He lightly smiled. “But we can’t let that fear rule our actions, taushi; if we do, the bad guys have already won.” Seeing her worried expression, he finished, “All I can say is that I promise that I won’t take any risks that I don’t have to take.”

Lightly smiling, Alison nuzzled her head into his chest. “Thank you.” she cooed. “I guess…I kinda did freak-out a bit, didn’t ?”

Clark chuckled. “No worse than I would have if it had been you.” he answered. Smiling, he gently brushed the tears from her beautiful face. “We just have to make sure that we make every moment we have together count.”

At that, Alison’s smile grew. “Sound advice, tausha.” And with that, she slipped off her bathrobe, revealing her favorite blue bra and panties, the pair with his crest on the front, before they both lay down on the bed, slowly embracing. “Clarkie?” Alison whispered. “Could you just…hold me?”

Clark nodded. “Of course, taushi.” he replied, as he folded his arms around her waist, letting her lean back into him, as her hands rested over his, as if she were reassuring herself of his presence.

“Clark?” Alison whispered, her voice sounding so small. “P-Please…don’t leave me…”

Gently, Clark held her closer to him, as he softly whispered into her ear.

“I promise.”

XXXXXXXX

Undisclosed location

“You lost the Legacy facility.”

In one of HYDRA’s North American outposts, Madame Hydra fixed Sinister with a stern glare, causing Sinister to frown. “Madame, the psychic conditioning I gave Hodge should have compelled him to use the suicide pill the second he was interrogated..!”

“Silence!” Madame Hydra spat. “Your incompetence has cost us, Essex; because of this failure, the Legacy project has been set back at least several months, and if they found out about..!”

“They did not, Madame; I encoded those files very well.”

“Not only that, but now that Fury knows about our hand in Genosha, he’ll be looking for us!” Madame Hydra finished. “This is a disaster..!”

“Enough.”

That commanding voice stopped Madame Hydra’s tirade. “The loss of zhe Legacy facility vas unfortunate, but HYDRA still survives.” the voice said. “Zhe Legacy Project can be rebuilt, nicht wahr?”

Madame Hydra’s silence told Sinister that question was directed at him. “Yes, sir.” Sinister replied, straining through the shadows to see the commander of HYDRA. “I am confident that I can gather more samples to perfect Legacy.” He smiled. “The Summers youth and the Grey girl are particularly promising.”

“Zhen a delay is nothing.” the commander said. “HYDRA has stood for decades, because ve are patient, and ve only grow stronger from our mistakes.”

“Yes, mein Herr.” Madame Hydra said.

“Still, zhe Kryptonian and his veaponry intrigue me; zhe polar outpost – can ve send a satellite to observe..?”

“Doubtful, sir.” Madame Hydra said. “The outpost must block all known forms of detection.”

“I see.” The sound of footsteps filled the shadows…until Sinister got what he wanted: a good look at HYDRA’s supreme commander…and wished he hadn’t.

The rest of him was normal: tall, athletically built, and clad in black pants and a long black coat.

But his face…

“Ve vill continue as planned.” the man known only as the Red Skull said. “HYDRA vill reign supreme.”

And with that, he smiled…a truly terrifying sight.

XXXXXXXX

Bayville Park, October 26

As the mid-morning sun shone over Bayville Park, Charles sat at a chess-table alone.

His students were all in school, and his visit to Congress had gone reasonably well. All that remained was this one last task…

Looking around, Charles sighed to himself; he should have expected him not to come…

“You wanted to see me?”

Looking up, Charles lightly smiled as he saw his old friend, clad only in a trenchcoat and a broad-rimmed hat, walk over and sit down. “I take it you heard.”

Erik nodded, as he moved a pawn two spaces. “The F.O.H. played us both against the middle.” he said with a frown. “I do not care for being played.”

“Few do.” Charles agreed, moving his own pawn. “The General wished me to relay a message.”

Erik frowned, as he moved a knight. “His renewed determination to arrest me, I assume.”

Charles shook his head, as he moved another pawn. “Nick is offering a truce; if you and your Acolytes cease any and all activities against this country, he will cease his efforts to arrest you.” he replied. “The General has realized that there is a greater threat than the one you present; his exact words were, ‘I’ve got bigger fish to fry than Lensherr…but if he tries anything ever again, his ass is grass and I’m a lawnmower.’”

Erik smiled wryly. “I presume the Senate protested?” He moved another pawn.

“They do not know about it.” Charles answered, moving a knight. “Nor do they know of Kal’s outpost, despite their inquiries towards his technology.”

Erik moved one pawn. “I suppose I might consider it.”

“Peace benefits all, Erik.” Charles urged, moving his knight to take a pawn.

“I agree,” Erik replied, taking Charles’ knight with a bishop, “but the fact is that humanity will never allow peace.”

Charles frowned, sensing the old argument coming…and then smiled. “Do you know why Kal was sent here?”

Erik looked puzzled. “To escape Krypton’s destruction.”

“True,” Charles agreed, “but the question is: why here? Why did Jor-El – Kal’s father – send him here, of all places?”

“Where else could he go?”

Charles chuckled. “Earth is hardly unique, old friend; there is a myriad of inhabited worlds – an entire Confederacy of sentient beings of different worlds, all with common goals. Earth is but one voice in a choir.” he answered. “Furthermore, Krypton and her people were well-known among them; almost anywhere else, Kal would have been welcomed with open arms.”

Erik frowned. “Well, why, then?”

“Because Jor-El saw something in humanity, Erik.” Charles said. “Unlike what most of his race likely saw – a race of barbarians, mutant and human alike, and perhaps rightly so – Jor-El saw what humanity could be…and he entrusted Krypton’s legacy – his legacy – to us.”

Charles smiled. “We saw that same potential, Erik; we saw it in Genosha – we saw humans and mutants living side-by-side, if only for a moment; it is possible. Jor-El saw it, Erik – he, one of the most brilliant minds of his race, saw what we could be; why can’t you?”

Erik frowned…and then slowly smiled wryly. “Who is the greater fool, I wonder: the fool, or the fool who follows?” he asked aloud. “Very well, Charles; I will agree…for now, at least.”

Charles smiled. “That is all I ask.”

And with that, the two old friends continued their game of chess.

XXXXXXXX

Coming Soon:

Gotham City.

A crime-infested hell-hole…and the kingdom of the Dark Knight.

As a usurper comes to Gotham, Batman realizes that he’s got bigger problems than criminals.

Can the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight stop this lunatic?

Does Batman truly want to stop him?

Find out soon, when “Punishment” takes on a whole new meaning…

Continue to the Next Story of this Series