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"Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind."
- W H Auden, The Dyer's Hand
Pen Dragon smiled felt Elena's presence in the back of his mind and he knew that the collision of the jetfighter in to the complex had damaged the power inhibitor. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Sam was armouring up and Jack was looking a lot more vigourous than he had been.
~Elena, free the captives. Wake them up, shut down their pain receptors and they can do the rest~
~On it~ she answered and Dragon looked towards the Martian Overseer, and his eyes narrowed as he unleashed his hot knives, the super-heated plasma spikes forming around his body.
"OVERSEER!" he shouted, and the alien turned to look at him and Dragon smiled as the alien's eyes went wide. "Time to die!"
"No," the alien hissed as the hot knives flew across the room, striking at as many targets as they could, a substantial amount streaking across towards the Overseer, but the Overseer waved his hand and the hot knives diverted their course and missed him.
"What the fuck?" muttered Dragon as the Overseer waved his hand and Dragon was flung back and slammed in to the wall. "He's telekinetic?! How come nobody mentioned these things were telekinetic?!"
"I don't detect any psychic energies," Elena said, momentarily breaking off from her task. "Whatever it is, it's not psionic in nature."
"Brilliant," said Dragon, as the others fought against the Skorpsmen who were coming in to the room. The Overseer was advancing, and Dragon cracked his knuckles. "So we do this the hard way then. Keep them busy, guys, I need to focus."
He concentrated, put his hands together and channelled the hot knives in to one focused energy wave. The Overseer waved it off again, but Dragon wasn't in the mood to mess about and he had a great deal more control than that over one hot knife than the many he had simply flung. The hot knife swung back again towards the Overseer who threw himself out of the way before he was killed. The hot knife shot up and began to chase the Overseer, and Dragon could see he wasn't using his power to divert it. If he had to guess, it was some kind of technological enhancement, perhaps something that created a local gravity well, and it needed a few moments to recharge. That said, the alien moved quickly and there wasn't too much longer that he could keep this up. The knife would dissipate soon enough and he worked harder at catching the alien eventually striking the Overseer in the chest. The alien staggered and fell over and Dragon wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I'm really beginning to hate these bastards," he said, breathing heavily. Then he looked on in horror as the Overseer began to get up again. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Then he heard a noise and he knew that it was just what the doctor had ordered as one of the cycles crashed in to the room, Jessica firing her bio-electric blasts left and right, the Martians exploding as the energy beam struck them. Never had the venom blasts had such bite, Dragon mused, then he remembered himself. "Shoot the Overseer!"
"Who?"
"The big one in the middle!" Jessica turned her energies on to the alien who once again deflected the beam as he had done with Dragon's hot knives, and it went up, striking the roof of the complex, sending materials crashing around. "Sorry, thought I'd fixed that!" called Dragon as the dust cleared, and when it was there was only the heroes, the rescued captives and the dead aliens surrounding them. The Overseer had fled.
"If he calls for reinforcements, we're screwed," said Monroe.
"Agreed," said Dragon. "Going to have to stop him. Everyone split up, one of us with one of them," he said gesturing to the four people they'd retrieved. "I won't leave you here, as sitting ducks," he said before they could object. "Sam, you and Roberto, Jessica and Agent Allen. Jack you and Anjelica, which leaves me…" he took a slight pause "and Agent Del Ruiz."
"What about me?" asked Elena.
"Contact Forge, if he can spare anyone we could use some help."
"Take my bike," said Jessica. "It'll get you out."
"I'll keep us all linked," Elena replied and they all headed off, hunting for the Overseer. Dragon wasn't happy that they were hunting him, but the fact he hadn't stayed to kill them meant he was hurt and that gave him some cheer. If he could be hurt, he could be killed and that was good.
"I know you," Lydia said, and Pen's heart skipped a beat, memory flooding back to the first time he had seen her, outside his apartment with an invitation to meet Colonel Fury. That selfsame feeling he'd had then was back again now, though tempered by several years of experience.
"No," he said, "you just think you do. My name is Pen Dragon."
"Lydia del Ruiz," she answered.
"I know," he said. "Forge sent us to come get you."
"I see," she said. "So how is it you look like Pete Wisdom?"
He shook his head. "Long story. I… DOWN!" he said as a couple of Skorpsmen came over and he fired his hot knives towards them, taking them down with precision strikes. "Another time?"
"Agreed," she said, standing shakily, and he knew she wasn't quite right after what they'd put her through while a prisoner.
"Easy," he said. "Even you can't take that kind of punishment that easily."
Lydia looked at him. "What do you know about my powers?" she asked, curious. "It's not exactly something out in the open."
"I'm well briefed," said Dragon, quickly covering himself. "I know you're fast, strong, and that you're also clever. You absorb solar energy, which builds up the strength of your muscles." He well remembered a sunny day in June when they were alone in a secluded cove on the XSE Island, but he let it slide away. There was work to do, but he couldn't help but grin when she asked what else he knew.
"What?" she asked, curious.
"You have a crescent shaped birthmark on your inner right thigh," he said, unable to resist and her eyes went wide and blood rushed to her cheeks, turning her face a crimson colour. "You'd be surprised what's in the files."
"I really must read them when I get a moment," she answered. "Skorpsmen." He looked and he could see she had seen them by the shadows they were casting as they approached. "Back me up," she said and he knew she had some issues to work out. Her body wasn't as focused as it normally was but she still packed a punch and the Skorpsmen didn't even know what hit them. Pen took a moment to check in with the others, and so far they hadn't found the Overseer. He capped the Skorpsmen with his hot knives as they laid on the floor, ensuring they wouldn't get up again, and then he had an idea and he activated his comm device.
"X, this is Dragon."
"Yes, Commander, how may I assist you?"
"Can you scan for the closest gravity abnormality near our current location?"
"Working," X responded. "There is one approximately seventy feet in a north-north-west direction from your current location, Commander."
"Seventy feet, north-north-west," he repeated for the benefit of Lydia, and the others with whom he was psionically linked. "Thanks, X. We'll be in touch soon."
"Acknowledged, Commander," answered X and there was a musical tone as the computer sentience signed off.
"This way," Lydia said, and Dragon knew the others would be there soon enough and as they walked he looked at her.
"You sure you're up to this?" he asked.
"I'm not 100%," she said, "maybe not even 60%, but there's a job to do. We have to make sure this complex is destroyed. The fate of Genosha and the world is depending on it."
"Agreed," said Dragon, hoping he had enough power left in him to take on the Overseer. He'd used a lot of his energies in the first fight with the Overseer and he could feel that he was a little drained. Either way, they were out of options and they hurried on. The best he could figure was that they distracted the Overseer long enough for the others to arrive and take him down once and for all.
"There he is," said Lydia. "How do you want to play this?"
"How do I?" asked Dragon, surprised that someone was asking that. He'd not met with much blind co-operation thus far, though the fact it came from Lydia was a comfort to him.
"You're a commander," said Lydia. "I'm a lieutenant, therefore you outrank me."
"I've never been fond of rank, but seeing as you ask…" he said and he walked in to the chamber. "OVERSEER! YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!" His voice echoed around the chamber and the Overseer looked, laughter coming from his alien mouth.
"Our forces will be here soon, and while you may kill me, I will die knowing that you will meet your soon follow, either here or in the Arena."
"Whatever," said Dragon and fired his hot knives, but he could see how weak they were and they fizzled out before they hit the Overseer. "Oh, crap…" Then the Overseer struck him and sent him flying. "Ow, again," he said, and he looked up to see that Lydia had charged him and was pounding away, focusing on the gaping hest wound that Dragon's first attack had caused, but she was still not quite managing to get him to fall. He picked himself up and was heading over when the others arrived. "About damn time," he said and he tackled Lydia out of the way as the other unleashed their combined power blasts at the Overseer, who could hold them at bay, but not redirect them. Dragon could feel himself recharging and was puzzled, then he realised there was a proximity to Roberto DaCosta. His solar based powers were giving Pen his own abilities back and he smiled. "That's kind of cool," he said.
"It's why Forge paired us up," Lydia said, feeling it too. Pen nodded and unleashed his powers. The new strike overtaxed the gravity generator and it failed and the blasts struck the Overseer, the majority killing him, but Jessica's bio-blast reacted with the alien body chemistry and the Overseer exploded.
Dragon nodded at a job well done. "And that is…" He paused as he realised something was wrong. "That?" There was something pulling at him. "Oh bloody hell…"
"The gravity generator," said Lydia. "It's been damaged."
"RUN!" said Dragon, and they hurried as best they could, as the gravitational pull increased around them, ripping bits of the complex in as the generator began to build to it's inexorable climax. "X!" he said to the comm link, but the gravity anomaly was doing something that interfered and the computer was not responding. The heroes hacked and fought, clearing a way out of the complex, slowing and becoming more laboured as they did. The only one of them to really suffer from the affects was Agent Allen, whose normal human genome was not as hardy as the metahumans he was surrounded by.
"This isn't going to be cool," Dragon muttered as he realised that they were never going to escape the eventual concussive blast if it continued to build at this rate.
"Does anyone have anything?" Monroe, shouted and they all shook their heads. They could barely move now.
"We saved a lot of lives today," said Sam. "The aliens lost a key weapon."
"It was always a longshot," said Jessica. "At least Elena survives and they have access to the Arsenal."
"Small mercies," Monroe answered, knowing they were pretty much finished.
"Thank you for trying," said Lydia. "You did all you could and more."
"Better to die like this than as some trophy on a wall," DaCosta said.
"Amen to that," Angelica replied, the gravity now beginning to draw them back to the generator. They couldn't fight it anymore and then suddenly they were free, hovering in the air and accelerating away from the complex, which moments later exploded. They were caught on the fringes of the shockwave, yet were only rattled by it.
"We're alive?" said Dragon. "But how?"
"Him," Jessica replied and he turned to see one of the few figures he had never confronted. Magneto himself had saved them.
"Oh my…" he said.
"It is the least I could do," the Master of Magnetism said. "After all, you just did my country a great service…"
Back in Hammer Bay, Eric Magnus Lensherr sat down next to the governor of Genosha, the man he had left in charge while he conducted affairs above Asteroid M. Forge nodded to Magneto as the debriefing began.
"First of all, I thank you for the rescue of our citizens," Magnus started. "The lives you saved today are important to me, as is the life of everyone on the island."
"Thank you for getting us the hell out of there," said Dragon. "I didn't even know you were in the area."
"I am always watching," Magnus said, and Dragon got a shiver down his spine at the insinuations that comment had. "The destruction of the Martian complex was also expertly accomplished. The energy field that negated mutant powers also negated their effects and the invaders had proved very resistant to the thing I had thrown against it."
"You knew?" said Forge.
"My communications between Genosha and Asteroid M are not as easy as they were," Magnus admitted. "And if it were not for the telepathic conversation being broadcast I am not sure I would have been able to get to you all in time." He looked to Forge and put his hand on his shoulders. "I did try to contact you, my friend, however since the battle on the Mothership, the enemy has been focused on the Asteroid. I am putting the Asteroid in peril by remaining here, but…" He paused. "Needs must."
"Question, you took out the mothership?" said Monroe.
"The Pendragons and Acolytes did," Forge replied. "After the Pendragons attacked Mars."
"Oh no," said Dragon. "They won, right?"
"Yes," said Magneto. "And the enemy was weakened."
"They hit the wrong place," said Dragon.
"We know they came from Mars," said Forge. "Reed Richards…"
"I know that, I read the reports," said Dragon. "But they're not Martian in origin, they're using it as a base of operations."
"You know this because of your former allegiances?" said Magneto, looking at him directly, but Dragon was annoyed.
"Yes," he said. "Mars is a big, red, rock, the only redeeming feature it has is it's strategic position within the solar system, but not for invading Earth. They're invading Earth from a closer point." His hand shot out towards the window, his finger pointing at a celestial object just coming in to the sky. "They're on the Moon!"
"Impossible," said Magneto. "We would know…"
"Tidal disturbances, the ease of invasion, the fact we've not beaten them yet with their two main facilities taken out. You hit the two secondary centres of operations," said Dragon. "We're just about holding our own, which is more than happened before, but that's about it."
"Is it possible?" said Magnus. "Could the miscalculations be so advanced?"
"Or maybe we just looked to the obvious," Forge said. "Yet the timeline. T'Challa and the others seemed so certain."
"Time has been very fragile of late, especially around this era," Dragon said. "Travelling back or forwards won't necessarily take you to the correct timeline, but worse than that any changes may not affect the progression of history the way you think they will. Or at least it didn't, hopefully that's been fixed now."
"I see," said Magnus and nodded to Forge, who stood up.
"I will tell our allies what's been going on," he said. "We may have to revise our plans."
"There are two other matters to be discussed," said Magneto and the team figured it wasn't going to be a very long discussion. "The first is that I am… wary of people who have an advantage that I do not have access to. This Arsenal you have command of…"
"Is accessible to those who need it," said Monroe. "I will not let any of the things be misused."
"And neither will the rest of us," Jessica agreed.
"Good," said Magnus. "However I would make a request, that one of my people becomes part of your alliance."
"Who?" Dragon said, his blood running cold.
"Roberto DaCosta is one of my most trusted lieutenants," he said. "And with the benefits he has had from the teachings of both Xavier and Cable, he is no fool and will not follow me blindly. You can be assured his allegiances are not bound to me as some of the others under my protection."
"We'll let you know," said Dragon. "What's the other?"
"There is a celebration being held tonight, a party to rejoice in your accomplishment, to which you are all invited. It is a respite I feel the people need. I will not be thee, but Forge will, and I will expect an answer to the question of Mr DaCosta."
"How will you know?" asked Sam and Magnus smiled.
"As I said, I am always watching…"
Back at the Arsenal the team met to discuss the proposal.
"I don't like it that much," said Dragon. "That said, do we really want to piss Magneto off?"
"I didn't get the feeling it was much of a request," said Sam. "I've not had much dealings with him, but his reputation stands for itself."
"Agreed," said Jessica. "I don't think we can afford to have Magnus on our case."
Elena looked at the others. "Then again he did say that Asteroid M was under pressure. Could he really divert his other energies towards us?"
"We're surrounded by a shitload of metal," said Jack. "He could rip us out of here anytime he wanted to."
"I think that argument kind of says it all," said Dragon. "How about we say yes, but Roberto has restricted access. Jack, you can do that right?"
"Count on it," Monroe answered. "I'm not really up for the party though." There was a general consensus that they had been through a lot today and that a party wa a nice idea, but they were tired and needed to rest.
"I'll go," said Dragon. "There's something I want to sort out while I'm there." They looked at him. "It's personal, y'know?"
"I'll keep an eye on him," said Sam. "I'm more likely to need less rest than you guys."
"Let's get ready," said Pen. "I believe it's a black tie do…"
The party was in full swing as Pen went up to Forge.
"Magneto spoke with you?"
"Yes. You have an answer?"
"Did we have a choice?" He held his hands up before Forge could answer. "I know you Forge. I know you wouldn't be here if you didn't believe in him, and what he was doing. Maybe the war's changed him, like it has a lot of people. I'll take your word over anything else I know."
"We've never met," said Forge, puzzled.
"No. We haven't." Dragon looked at him. "Yes. We'll be in touch to arrange transport." Forge nodded and Dragon took his leave, heading towards where Lydia del Ruiz was standing and he steeled himself. He could hear Kate's voice in his head as he getting ready to go out, telling him this was a bad idea and he shouldn't do this. He'd taken the medallion off and left it back at the base, because he didn't need it. Not now.
"Hi Lydia," he said as he approached.
"Pen," she said with a smile. "Glad you could make it. Is Roberto…"
"He's on the team," said Pen, taking a drink off a passing waiter. "Just wanted to see… how you were doing."
"Good," she said. He could feel the attraction there, he could almost taste it and he wanted nothing more than to tell her what he felt inside. "I want you to meet someone," she said, suddenly and then Pen noticed the man nearby. "Pen Dragon, this is Michael Stewart." She smiled and looked down. "My fiancée."
"Oh," he said, his look of innocence masking completely the stabbing pain in his gut and he drained his glass quite quickly. "Good to meet you. You're a lucky man."
"Thanks, and it's all down to you." Michael shook his hand and Pen took it. "You saved her life, I'll be forever grateful."
"There were others about," said Pen, as nonchalantly as he could muster. "I just did my part."
"Lyd says it was you. You were the leader. You were the Dragon, they were your Claws."
"Dragon's Claws," said Pen. "Cute."
"I'm sorry," said Lydia, a little embarrassed. "Mike's had a few tonight." She gave him a mock glare, an expression Pen was familiar with and he shook his head.
"Not a problem. He's got good reason." He kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you're doing okay."
"Thanks," she said. "For everything."
"I'm gonna go get some air," he said. "I'll see you later." The couple nodded and Pen wandered out to the balcony, getting a beer on the way. He needed something more than the champagne right now, and they didn't have scotch.
He stared out from the balcony across the battle ravaged city of Hammer Bay, wistfully looking out at the ocean and thinking he should have known better, that he'd been risking it by sailing that close, but at the same time it was something that he'd needed to do. Such a shame about the cost. He glanced down and wondered how long it would take to fall and hit the floor from here. Not that he ever would, of course, but he could see why people might. Then again, had he really expected it to play out differently?
"Penny for them?" said a voice. He didn't turn around, but he knew who it was.
"Hello, Sam," he said, his voice betraying how tired and alone he really felt. It was more a sigh than a statement and she wandered over.
"You okay, Pen?" she asked, and he gave a wry smile before taking a drag on his cigarette.
"Every time I come to Genosha it's always the same. Something bad always happens here, though usually it's someone trying to kill me." He took a drink of his beer. "That I can deal with, as I can cap the bastard with a hot knife. This…" He shook his head in resignation. "Never got the hang of this." He looked at her for the first time since she came out. "Any wisdom of the ages?"
She smiled. She seemed young enough but she'd live a long time already, and she knew that was what he meant. "All I know is that it gets easier, it just takes time."
"I'm kind of sick of hearing that. It's all a matter of time, one way or another." He felt her hand on his shoulder and he was glad of it.
"If you want to talk, I'm here." He stayed silent and considered the last few day or so and how they'd gotten here.
"Doesn't matter," he said, looking in to her eyes. "Not really."
"She was someone special to you back home?" Pen looked at her. "It was obvious to all of us, Pen."
"Yeah, she was." He flicked the cigarette off the balcony and let the winds carry it. "Let's get out of here." She nodded and he made the call. "X, bring us home."
