Invasion: MSV Chapter 29

[dazzledfirestar.livejournal.com]

Yup, the block is down. Woo. :D Oh, and just a brief reminder... we are dealing with comics!Doom here... not movie!Doom. He is not made of metal, he does not control electricity... he's more into the mystic shit... kinda like a crazy ass Dr. Strange... Just making sure we're all on the same page here. ;)

Title: Invasion:MSV
Fandom: Marvel Universe
Rating: 18+
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters here. They and the world this is set in are the property of Marvel Entertainment. The Purple Team is the property of ginevrasm (Morgan/Faye), ladydeathfaerie (Dare), sessys_fangirl (Jehnna), nanaeanaven (Roxxy) and dazzledfirestar (Haley). They are not to be used without permission. I make no money from this, and it is simply a form of entertainment.
Warnings: graphic M/F sex, preg, language and as always... ANGST

The reaction was instant. Haley turned to stone, Johnny ignited, floating about a foot off the ground, now free to move without worrying about his leg, Dare had a fireball in her hand, Jehnna’s fists were raised and Ben and Reed looked as ready for a fight as they could given their physical state. “Victor, you had to know someone would figure out what really happened eventually.”

“Of course I did, Richards.” The scorn in Doom’s voice was chilling. “But these… little girls? I thought the world thought better of you and your family. I thought they’d send real heroes after their best and brightest.” The masked man turned his gaze on the girls, each one in turn. They all held their ground, thankfully. When he stared down at Haley, his eyes narrowed a little. “You lead this rabble?”

“I do.” What else was she going to say?

“You are a reckless child.”

“So I’ve been told.” Her shoulders tensed a little more. He was toying with them and that wasn’t a good sign. She could see the glowing eyes of countless Doom-bots gathering behind him. She had absolutely no idea how they were going to get out of this one without some serious damage occurring on both sides. All she could do was hope that Reed had some clue, because she was fresh out of leadership like plans.

Doom glared at her a moment longer before turning to Johnny. “Does it not bother you that she puts so little value to the life of your son, Storm?”

“You can’t possibly know that.” Her voice cut across the room. She felt the heat of Johnny’s hand on her upper arm.

“The Mystic arts grant me access to knowledge that your feeble little mind could never begin to fathom, girl.” A dark laugh echoed through the cavernous room. “But I am not a cruel man. I have no intention of killing your child. You will have the honor of watching my defeat of those you deem friends and your lover and knowing that your son will be raised by a better man than fathered him. A pity you will not live long enough to see it once he is born.”

“That’s what this is about? Look, you want an heir, go knock up some willing monarch groupie!”

“No, no. This is just a surprising bonus to my final victory.” The cold laugh came again. “You dropped this gift in my lap, child. If you had simply stayed out of this, you could have raised your son in as much peace as any could hope for.”

“Without his father.”

“A small price to pay for the safety of your child especially considering the father.” She felt the temperature rise considerably beside her. “Now, because of your hubris, your friends will share the fate of my enemies. And you, my dear,” She could almost see the cruel grin beneath the mask. “Will live for months knowing that your folly is the cause of it all. Knowing that they could have been spared, that you could have been spared, and that your son will grow in the care of one you deem to be a monster.”

A small noise drew Doom’s attention and his glare fell on Dare. “Yeah, okay… are you done now? Can we get to the part where I roast your nuts for you?”

“Impudent shrew!”

“That’s a new one… and I’ve been called a lot of things over the years.” The fireball in her hand started to grow.

“I will teach you to respect your betters.” A bolt of energy flew from Doom’s hand. Before Dare could dodge the shot, the energy dissipated in front of her.

“That’s enough, Victor!” Susan’s voice echoed slightly.

“’bout time you two showed up.” Dare glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Morgan.

“Yeah, well… we had some company to take care of.” Morgan moved up beside Dare. “What’d I miss?”

“Haley’s having a boy.”

“Wow… how long was I in that hallway?”

“Enough!” Doom’s voice boomed in the expansive room. “Your little force fields will only last so long, Susan. I will have my victory.”

“I don’t think so.” Haley pushed a button on her comm link. This was the last chance. She hadn’t wanted to play this card. It was dangerous and the chances of them all getting out without any further injuries, or worse, was slim. “A friend of mine always told me to keep an ace in the hole.” She smiled at Morgan. “Rox, Omega.”

“Copy.”

“What is your plan?” Reed moved closer.

“Take down the castle. Land the plane as close as possible and run like hell.”

“That could work.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“Sue!” Reed called his wife closer. “We’re going to need some cover I think.”

“Can anyone hit those bots from behind your field?”

“I can.” Johnny nodded.

Dare took a few steps closer. “Me too.”

“Faye could do some good out there.”

“No, Morgan. I’m not risking either of you. If worse comes to worse, then, yeah. But let’s call that the last line of defense, okay?” Haley took a deep breath.

“I thought Roxxy blowing the fuck out of the castle with the Blackbird was the last line of defense.” Morgan smirked, a strange shadow falling on her face as Sue deflected more of Doom’s blasts.

Haley almost shook her head. “Alright. Let’s do it.” Dare and Johnny moved toward the edge of the shield, and quickly the pop and crackle of burning computer components could be heard over the booming of the explosions above ground and Doom’s continued affirmation that he would have revenge for this. “Is he always that talky?”

“Oh, he ain’t even warmed up yet, kid.” A gruff chuckle came up behind her. A moment later, Ben was calling out to Susan. “Open a door for me, Suzie. Ain’t gonna let Matchstick have all the fun.”

“Want some back up.”

He looked back at Haley. “Not this time, kid. If Doom’s got it in his head that he wants that baby, you need to stay outta his way.”

“Ben is right, Haley. Victor does tend to get very single-minded about such things.” Reed moved up beside his best friend.

“I’ll pound on ‘em for ya!” Ben grinned and the two of them moved out into the madness of Doom-bots.

The booms were getting closer, louder. The cave seemed to be losing some of its ceiling. “Sue! What are the chances we could get a little more cover?”

“I got it!” the field in front of them expanded up and over them, and it was soon covered in bits of rock.

A glimpse of light was the only warning they got. “Pull back! Behind the field!” Haley’s voice barely carried over the noise of the fight and the cave giving way. Ben barely made it through before the ceiling completely gave way. Sue pushed the debris off the top of her shield and the dust from the collapse invaded the space. “Well, that took care of the Doom-bots anyway.”

“But where’s…?” Jehnna didn’t get a chance to finish her question before the answer materialized behind them, his cold laugh signally his reappearance.

Whatever spells or tricks or whatever Doom had used to save himself from being buried under the rubble had worked too quickly for them to notice. His movement to grab Haley had been even faster. “I will not be cheated of my revenge!” He growled at them.

“It’s over, Victor. Let her go.” Reed took a few steps forward.

“Not another step, Richards. I will not be robbed of this again!”

“Haley…” Johnny’s voice was soft, none of the fear he was feeling leaked into it. He was telling her the plan without saying a word.

She smiled. “I love you.” A moment later, flames sprang to life around her and Doom. Victor flinched from the heat and gave her an opening. She broke free of him and the wind from the landing Blackbird fanned the flames. “Let’s go!” She ran toward the plane, not daring to look back. She knew that at least two members of their little party that weren’t following as quickly as she would have liked. She waved Morgan, Jehnna, Reed and Sue onto the Blackbird. “Ben! Come on!”

“On it, kid.” He looked over his shoulder. “They’re comin’ kid. Don’t worry.”

“Never do.” She smiled.

“Thanks, kid.”

“Any time.”


“I will not be cheated!” The volume of Doom’s voice was still surprising.

“You don’t think you can pull this off alone, do you?” Johnny flinched and turned to see Dare beside him.

“Get on the damn plane.” He frowned. “I can fly out of here, you can’t.”

“Gee, thanks for the update, hot shot.” She actually rolled her eyes. “If I leave and you don’t fly out of here, Haley will have my ass.” She narrowed her gaze on Doom, pouring as much heat as she could manage on the inferno surrounding him. “Besides, you got a kid to worry about.”

“So do you! Go!”

Dare frowned. Why wouldn’t he ever just cooperate? “Dare! You two need to move now!” Roxxy’s voice crackled over the comm link.

“Take off.”

“What?”

“Fucking go, Roxxy!” She looked at the man floating next to her. She was leaving a lot up to him, and she still wasn’t sure she trusted him. “We’ll catch up.”

He seemed to hear her and nodded. Good, one less thing to worry about. She focused back in on Doom. “Holy shit… is he still… moving toward us?”

“Yeah… he does that. Shit…” Johnny turned it up a little more, turning away just for a moment to see the Blackbird circling the area that had once been Doom’s castle. The man himself wasn’t slowing down despite their best efforts. “We gotta go.” He grabbed Dare’s arm, not giving her any more warning than that before taking off as fast as he could toward the plane. He watched a rocky hand slide out and grab Dare from him, pulling her into the plane a moment before he found himself sitting on the metal floor of the jet, trying to catch his breath.

Dare looked at him for a long moment, looking as breathless as he was. “I still don’t like you.”

He let out a small chuckle. “Then I guess you never will.”

“Nope. I don’t think I will.” She let out a small laugh of her own. “I’ll be there when you marry Haley.” Her face was serious. “But if you hurt her…”

“I won’t.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.”

“Strap in back there.” Haley’s voice echoed in the metal enclosed space. “We’re not out of the woods yet.” Her eyes flitted between her flight displays and the on board radar screen. “We’re out of ammo, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, it takes more than I thought to level a castle and drill into a cave.” Roxxy shot her a mildly annoyed look.

“Well, as long as we get out of Latverian airspace, we should be fine.”

”You think he’ll give up that easily?”

“Nope.”

“Oh good.”

An automated voice hailed them. “You are in violation of Latverian airspace, and are charged with crimes against the Latverian state. Land your vessel immediately.”

“Yeah, that’s going to fucking happen.” Haley nearly snarled.

“Aw, we’re criminals in Latveria now?” Haley could almost hear Morgan smirk. “Guess I’ll have to change my summer plans.”

“It’s got friends, Haley.” Roxxy’s eyes fixed on the radar. “Four of them.”

“Doom’s favorite number.” She almost shook her head. “How far out are we?”

“Can you avoid being shot down for the next seven minutes or so?”

“I would say yes if we had some backup…” She turned and looked over her shoulder. “Either of you have enough left to take down a plane or two?”

“I think you’re shit out of luck there, fearless leader.” Dare’s voice sounded breathy… still. Fuck.

“Can you get a hold of the Hungarians? Let them know what’s happening?”

“I’ve been trying to.” Roxxy sighed. “I’ll keep trying.” Haley pulled out every maneuver she’d been taught. They were nearly there. “Damn! No one there speaks English and my Hungarian isn’t going to cut it.”

“German?”

“Maybe…”

“Morgan! Get your ass up here!” As the petite X-Man moved up to the cockpit Roxxy found an operator that spoke German. “Get us out of this mess.” Haley’s face finally betrayed some of her concern as Roxxy handed her the head set.

“I’ll do what I can.” A few more minutes of Morgan speaking to the operator and her frustration was kicking in. “Sie sind nicht tot. Wir haben die vier an Bord unseres Strahles und wir unter Angriff durch die Latverian Luftwaffe! Nein! Nein! Fuck!”

“What?”

“She thinks I’m kidding.”

“She’s a fucking bitch!” Haley growled at the jets that were closing in on them. “Just another minute…” She ignored Morgan’s ongoing conversation with the Hungarian operator. “Rox?”

“We’re through… but they’re still coming.”

“Morgan…” Haley didn’t take her eyes off her displays. “Morgan!” Faye popped up on Haley’s elbow.

“She’s talking to the supervisor. Just a minute…”

A different voice crackled through the radio. “Hilfe ist auf der Weise. Unsere Flugzeuge sind dort bald.”

“Morgan, tell me that means what I hope it means.”

“They’re sending back up!” She brought the mic on the head set back to her mouth. “Danke, danke soviel.”

“Let them know we’re just passing through on our way back to the states.” Morgan nodded and informed the man of their intentions. He wished them well apparently.

Haley let out a labored sigh. “Go sit down. I think you’ve done enough.” Roxxy patted her shoulder. Haley couldn’t argue. All the tension she’d been carrying was gone, and in its place came complete and utter exhaustion.

She got up, letting Roxxy take the pilot seat and went back to strap herself in for the flight home. She stopped beside Dare for a moment. “You did good.”

“Yeah, well…” She yawned. “I had help.” Dare’s eyes flickered to the door that lead to the med bay. “I think he’s waiting for you.”

“He is.”

“Gumby’s patching him up.”

“I know.”

“Haley,” Dare frowned a little, “I really didn’t think we could pull this off.”

“Yeah… me either.”

“You did good too.”

The redhead squeezed her friend’s shoulder lightly before moving toward the door. It opened before she reached for the handle. “Are we clear?”

“Yes.” She sighed again.

“That was an impressive rescue.” Reed moved toward his seat and began strapping himself in. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She almost smiled. That was the closest she was ever going to get to a compliment from Mr. Fantastic. She vaguely wondered how Sue dealt with that from day to day. Oh well, she’d have time to ask later. She moved into the med bay. “Hey there Handsome.” She smiled, moving closer to the gurney Johnny was sitting on. “How’s the leg?”

“Ah, a few stitches and I’ll be as good as new.” He pulled her down next to him. “I don’t think I’ll be able to dance at our wedding though.” He pushed a few strands of hair off her forehead.

“I couldn’t care less.” She leaned against him, letting him wrap his arms around her. “I’m sorry.” She sighed. “I know I shouldn’t have risked it, but…”

He kissed her softly. “It’s okay. No harm, no foul, right?” her gaze fell to the floor. “But next time…”

“Next time, maybe someone will listen to me.”

************************************************************************

The alert that the Blackbird was coming in sent Logan, the Professor and Cyclops down to the hanger at mach speed. Haley was the first off the plane. “What the hell do you think you were doing? You risked the lives of your team, you stole the…” Scott’s tirade was cut short when he saw, Reed, Sue and Johnny, supported by Ben coming off the jet.

Haley didn’t smile. She didn’t gloat. The only signal she gave Cyclops that she’d heard him was a glare and a quiet smart ass comment. “I may have scratched the paint.” Her eyes were cold as she stared at him.

“My office. Now.” The Professor wheeled out of hanger nearly as fast as he’d arrived there. Scott followed closely. When they were gone, Haley finally let herself relax a little.

“You’re fuckin’ crazy, kid.”

“Yeah, Logan. But I was also fuckin’ right.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” He glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t change things in some minds.”

“Didn’t think it would.” She shrugged. “Can you get Hank to…”

“Yeah kid.” He nodded. “They ain’t gonna take it easy on ya if ya make ‘em wait.”

“I know.” She sighed. After facing off with Doom, one would think that a dressing down by Cyke and the Professor would be a piece of cake. Haley, however knew she had one more fight on her hands.