Dragon's Claws #23

"It is not in giving life but in risking life that man is raised above the animal; that is why superiority has been accorded in humanity not to the sex that brings forth but to that which kills."
- Simone De Beauvoir , 'Le deuxième sexe'

"Kaine, a word."

"Yes, my lady?" said Etorian Kaine as he crossed over to Jessica Drew, the woman who had summoned him, where she was standing with the other Claws, ready for their team battle against the other heroes, who had been christened Team X by the aliens. "How can I help?"

"If we're going to be fighting together, I need something from you, more disclosure. Who are you, really?"

"I can't tell you more than I already have," he said. "However, I know you will have guessed I'm from Otherworld, but I can tell you I don't report to Merlyn, Roma, or even King Britain. I'm neutral in their power-plays."

"You work for the Green?" Kaine smiled. "You can't say?"

"The truth will out," he said. "If the plan works, then I promise all will be revealed."

"And if it doesn't, Eto?" asked Sam.

"Then it won't matter either way." Kaine shrugged. "But we're not going to screw this up, because I have faith in the plan."

Jack smirked. "It's your plan."

"Which is why I have faith in it," Eto said, giving them a wink. "Just remember, nobody dies, unless they're Martian." They arrived at the arena, where there was a tangible buzz in the air. Domino, Bishop, Deathbird, Leonard Samson, David North and Melissa Gold were all waiting, ready to engage in a battle to the death with the Dragon's Claws, thanks to the team setting up the plan. It had been simple enough to goad them, playing on existing tensions and heightening them. With the whole atmosphere down in the holding areas it had been easy to play them. They needed the fight to be real, otherwise the enemy wouldn't buy it. However, while the Claws were adamant there'd be no killing, the others weren't aware of any agreement. It was going to be brutal, but then again there was no other way.

This was also no ordinary match, and there were a lot of off-duty Martians here to observe in person. For a long time the Arena had been mobile, but with the resistance numbers reducing day by day, it hadn't been much of a need for it and now it was stationed in Australia. The show would be broadcast as well, but for a special event such as this, tickets had been sold.

"Does this make a difference?" asked Jessica, looking at the worried brow of Kaine.

"I don't know," he said, "but I might need to improvise."

"Any ideas from your source?" He shook his head. His source hadn't been in contact for a bit, and if the source was hearing the calls, there was no response, and Kaine wasn't sure what was going on. "Great," Jessica muttered and the team readied themselves to be propelled up by the pneumatic pressure and in to their corner. It seemed odd that what was essentially a big circle had corners, but they were more like holding pens than anything else and when the signal was given they would be released in to the greatest propaganda tool the Martians possessed. People were used to heroes saving them but after all this time, now they were used to watching them fight and kill each other. The greatest problem that they all faced was simple - now they had crossed a line most of them regarded as unviable, could they go back? That would be something for another time, as right now the issue that faced the team was breaking out of this place, tearing it down and reminding the invaders that the heroes of Earth didn't go down easily, and never without a fight.

They all knew the arena pretty well by now, the vastness of the circle that at times seemed to change size, but that was due to the combat conditions. Your mind would play tricks, depending on how well you were doing and that could be the thing that swung fights one way or the other. Mental discipline was the key. The walls towered up around them, fifty feet to the top where the force field generators created a network mesh to prevent fliers getting out. Then there were the shock weapons, and they had been able to take down even the most powerful of warriors, but it took a lot of power to do it. The team took a moment. The pieces were all in place, the game plan gone over and now it was all up to them. They would make history or they'd die trying.

"Let's do this," said Jessica, breaking the silence and she put out her hand and the others placed theirs on top of hers, and they were a united force.

"All for one," said Jack, and then they were thrust upwards, through the hatches, and now they were in the Arena and almost immediately the warning sounded and they were released in to the battle. Ideally Elena could mindlink them all and they could discuss things, however their mental shielding was pretty good and for that she needed time to focus and that was something she wouldn't easily get. They had to get them to listen while fighting at the same time. It wasn't going to be easy.

Each of the team had selected their own target - Elena and Maverick, Kaine and Deathbird, Nomad and Bishop, Sam and Songbird, Jessica and Domino and that left Roberto and Doc Samson. When they had been plotting it out, Roberto had reminded them that while Samson wasn't the Hulk, he was pretty damn close and the only time he'd ever been close to being that strong was when he'd been in Asgard. Kaine had smiled and said Bobby would think of something, and Jessica had pointed out that he stood the best chance out of all of them to take Samson on and survive the experience. Whatever happened, the fight was supposed to go to the last one standing, but seeing as the real plot involved escaping it didn't matter that much. Bobby was still unsure of it but now it was time and they went to work. Team X seemed to have had a plan of their own, but the Claws weren't going to play by it. If they were to succeed they needed to take charge and quickly and Team X were caught off guard by the speed of the Claws as they charged in to combat. Their plan was in disarray and so the first part of the Claws agenda was working.

Roberto powered up and flew like a rocket through the air, slamming in to Samson. He'd seen Cannonball do this many a time, though Sam had always had the advantage of invulnerability on his side, where as he only had the force in his arm and it was like ploughing in to the side of a building.

Samson staggered but he didn't fall and Roberto got the feeling he was in trouble. However, he had engaged his target and that kept him off the others for the moment and Roberto unleashed bursts of plasma from the sky, the energy cascading down on Samson and Roberto realised something - his arm was broken. It wasn't much, but there was still a fracture. In a one on one fight he was going to get in trouble so he had to stay in the sky. Then Samson leapt up and grabbed him, wrenching him from his airborne position and Roberto cursed in Portuguese, using his native language.

This was going to hurt.

Nomad grappled with Bishop, the mutant being at a disadvantage, as Jack had no energy based powers to work with. It was a basic brawl, but Bishop had been a member of the XSE and X-Men long enough to be used to such things. While he preferred guns and powers, he could knock heads with the best of them and having some of the best training of two eras, he was more than capable.

However, Nomad was seeming to enjoy the release, as if using his serum enhanced abilities was something he had denied himself too long, and Jack knew that since the Scourge suit was destroyed during their time travel adventure, he was more like his old self and he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed this. If the others had time to watch they would have seen an impressive display of combat, but they were focused on their other battles, waiting for Elena to reason with Maverick and allow her the opportunity to psi-link them and finish this, and the Arena.

The Martians had made a serious error of judgement in putting a dozen assorted mutants, aliens and metahumans. So the Claws hoped.

Kaine and Deathbird was another display of fighting prowess, though Deathbird had been responsible for training many of the Imperial Guard of the Shi'ar and was a mistress of combat, with a skill matched by few within the galaxy. It was not an easy fight for Kaine, but Eto had also been trained by the best.

He had developed his fighting skills with the Captain Britain Corps on Otherworld, had been part of the Royal Court for many, many years and he had also been taught moves and the use of his fire claws by his mentor. He could cast them as if they were arrows, extend them well beyond the reach of his arm or use them as they were intended. The man who taught him had been an expert, but Deathbird was putting him through his paces, using her talons and flight to keep him occupied. Because of her physiology, she was faster than he was, moved with an expert grace and she wanted a piece of him very, very badly. She was a warrior born and he was someone who grew up surrounded by warriors.

There was a distinct difference in class, but as his mentor had often reminded him - you don't have to be the quickest to be the best, as long as you're the last one standing. There was too much going on for him to let her kill him and their duel continued.

"You're holding back," Domino said as she sparred with Jessica, the pregnant woman barely touched, while Jessica was taking some lumps and Domino had fought enough over the years to know when someone wasn't giving their all. "Lost the taste for the fight?"

"Never had the taste for it in the first place," Jess replied. "This isn't about us, it isn't about Cable, it's about taking these aliens down once and for all. It's a stalemate at the moment, neither side is taking any advantage, but if we can get out of here…"

"We tried that, we failed," said Domino as her fist was caught and twisted behind her back by Jessica, but she turned and flung the other woman, who slipped on the floor of the Arena at the most inopportune moment.

"You were betrayed," said Jess. "There's a traitor within the Resistance. They've had SHIELD resources tapped for a very long time."

"You said it was Cable," Domino said.

"He betrayed us," Jess said, fire flashing behind her eyes, "and I see him again, I'm going to kick his ass, but he did it for you."

"You sound desperate, Drew," came the reply. "Everything just seems to fall in to place."

Jessica gave a wry smile. "That's your department, isn't it?"

The battle that seemed a mismatch of sorts was that of Samantha Hasard against Melissa Gold, Argent against Songbird. The two women seemed to be about the same age, but Sam had quite a few decades on the other woman. Her powers to create a metallic ectoplasm around her body and mentally sculpt it in to any form she chose seemed a great difference to the powers of Songbird, with a sonic cry that was capable of creaing simple 3-dimensional sound/mass constructions, which were shaped and animated by mental command.

Sound against metal, and Sam knew she would have to use her powers in new ways. She had used them before to create art, but never objects like those Songbird could create. The two of them had no legitamate problem with each other, but it looked as though they had been dragged in to the conflict by association and so the two of them were not as aggressive towards each other as the other fights. That suited Sam as she wasn't quite able to adapt her powers in this new way, but she was putting up a good defence and that was what counted right now. Like the others, it was all about buying themselves enough time.

Maverick and Elena's fight was not as physical as the other fights, the two of them standing and confronting each other in a psionic confrontation. The Martian devices could see the usage of psionic energy and that meant the battle was outside of their view and Elena could sense them watching her powers. This wasn't good, because it meant that to connect them all, the Martians would know. The plan had hit a flaw, unless… There was certainly a way, but it would be difficult, and on the astral plane she worked to convince Maverick of the team's intentions, as he would be the conduit from her to the others in his group.

"You goaded us in to this?" he said, disgusted with what he was hearing.

"Can you say you'd have done less?" she replied. "We needed a fight to get us in to the field, and we chose you because you all bring your own abilities to the field. It wasn't a random fight."

"Elena…"

"David, we're fighting a war, a war we need to win or Earth's future is gone. You and I are of the past, we needed each other at the time but that's gone. The only way I need you now is to help us destroy the Arena."

"I…" He was unsure of what was happening here, but he knew as well, that the battle would be to the last one standing. Could these people bring down the walls of the Arena? How many had tried before, how many had failed? "How do we convince the others?" he said.

"You need to hit me with a full burst of biokinetic power," she said. "I'll unleash my mind fire and blind the Martian sensors, it'll mind link us as well."

"What if I kill you?" He didn't like the idea, his power was raw, unfettered kinetic energy.

"Don't." It was that simple and he did as she instructed. His powers flared to life, slamming her across the Arena and in to one of the walls with a sickening thud and for a moment Maverick wondered if he'd been too aggressive, but they wouldn't have bought anything less but as she hit the wall her powers flared and all of them were dropped to their knees by the psionic ravaging of their collective minds.

Both Dragon's Claws and Team X were caught in the psychic maelstrom and the Martian sensors were overloaded. Elena didn't move, but the link was established and the truth was revealed as well as the plan and agreement was reached. The battle would no longer be with each other, but with the Arena itself and Elena surrendered to unconsciousness, her work done. It was up to the others now.

Songbird created constructs that would block the shock weapons for a short while. She had tried it before only to be felled by the Martian guards that entered, her powers taxed to their limit, but it was a different matter this time. As planned Samson grabbed Bishop, ready for a fastball special as the X-Men had called it. Alarms sounded as the Martians realised that the fight was over and they started the Arena defences, but they had never been used against such a high number of combatants before, and with them all trying to avoid being hit, the Martians were forced to send in their guards but the team knew they would be too late. Samson grabbed Bishop and threw him up towards the energy mesh shield, and as the mutant connected he grabbed the energy, feeding in to himself as his powers drained the energy, and breeches began to form in the shield, and it slowly began to collapse, Bishop grabbing other energy tendrils as those he drained faded in his hands, to keep from falling. The Arena was no longer secure and that was what they had been waiting for.

"NOW!" shouted Jessica and she leapt for the wall and used her spider abilities to climb and quickly. Nomad, Kaine, Sam and Maverick stayed in the arena along with Samson to cover the backs of those escaping and soon Jessica was out. Bishop had drained the mesh of power and they were free and the Martians looked panicked. This wasn't what they had expected and Jessica unleashed her powers, raining biokinetic blasts on them, causing the enemy to explode on contact.

Bishop fell, but was caught by Roberto and also put in to the fight, so he could rechannel the energy he had drained and fire it at the Martians as Bobby reigned fire down on them as well and they were joined by Deathbird who was at the height of her fury and she was certainly showing why she had taken the name. The aliens were unprepared, had no weapons and it was a massacre. Reinforcements were being called but it wouldn't be enough. There had never been a riot like this one, and what was more it was being broadcast. Domino was being covered so as not to risk her child, but now that he was able, Samson started to rip out the walls of the Arena and the combat zone was being demolished. The Martians were being humiliated and Kaine knew it wasn't over yet. He took a moment, turned and fired his claws up, extending them high, pushing himself hard. Sweat poured from his face as they arched upwards, connecting with the main tower, digging in around the captured shield that hung as a trophy on their wall.

"Time to take it back," he muttered and twisted his hands, digging in around the shield, cutting it free and it dropped from the sky. "NOMAD!" he called and Jack looked up at the symbol he had idolised since his childhood, the icon that had brought him to this time, this place and he jumped up and caught it. It felt right in his hand, and he wasn't sure he was Nomad anymore. He felt greater than that and he landed and rolled and Kaine nodded. "Captain." He only said that one word and Jack knew that was what he was now. He wasn't Nomad, he wasn't Scourge, he wasn't even Bucky. He was Captain America now, his destiny realised at last.

"Let's finish this place," he said and they started to tear the place apart and there was a rumbling sound that brought them all to a halt. Reinforcements had finally arrived and the Martians looked pleased as the heroes could feel the last of their hopes fading away. They had done some damage and if they died, they had shown the people of Earth that the aliens were not invulnerable, they were not the Masters they claimed and they could be hurt.

"Damn," said Kaine. It was time for the last hurrah, but there was a surprise. It wasn't the Martians, it was the escaping heroes. The combatants had been released, obviously as a result of the battle, but how the dozen heroes didn't know. The Arena had fallen and the Martians were overwhelmed and they fled the Arena, heading for the desert area outside. The Arena was in flames and they were free, but on the horizon were tripods and other war machines.

"What now?" Fury asked, having taken charge of the prisoners.

"I don't know," said Jessica. "If the whole Martian army comes, we'll have problems against their firepower, but…"

"Need a hand?" said a voice and they turned.

"T'Challa?" asked Jessica, in amazement, looking at the Wakandan leader, who was behind her, with SHIELD agents appearing as well. "What the hell…"

"We captured Cable, and he had some things with him," he said. "Specifically the contents of the Arsenal. How he got them out is another matter, but the tesseract generator was there as well. It was almost at full capacity, so Forge checked it, made the final adjustments to it and here we are, with weapons and equipment. It'll give people time to get out, while we make sure the enemy gets what's coming to them." He nodded to Fury. "Good to see you're alive, Colonel."

"Ever think this was a bit easy?" said Fury and T'Challa nodded.

"We thought it was a set up, but it seems legit, and I am not complaining."

"There were higher powers at work," Kaine said. "Trust me, it wasn't easy at all." He knew there would be questions asked, but now wasn't the time.

T'Challa nodded and looked to Fury. "Start getting everyone out and we'll convene a debriefing later. The balance of power just shifted in our favour, but we can expect serious reprisals." There would be consequences for this, but they'd deal with that later. Now they needed to get as many people out of here as quickly as possible. "Jessica, can your people help us?"

"Oh yes," she said and she gave a nod to Kaine, who smiled. He'd done what was needed to be done. The rest of it was out of his hands now.