The Past Few Days, Bobby's Earth-616 [Late Thursday Fandom-Time]
It all started with a newscast.
"Are you saying the United States government has granted permisson for a paramilitary organization to operate on American soil and to open fire on her citizens?"
"How do we know these X-Men are American citizens? What do we know about them, save they are a threat? What I'm saying is remember Onslaught: Thirty-four American citizens, slaughtered by a mutant. Consider the Legacy Virus, a disease spread from mutant to mutant, a virus that now, it seems has spread to the human population as well. I'm saying the assassination of Graydon Creed, a pro-human-rights activist, brutally murdered on the eve of his election to Presidency of the United States, this sequence of events, combined with the threat the mere presence of mutants poses has given credence and momentum to those within world governments who seek to strike back at this unseen enemy. Whether we like it or not, it seems Operation: Zero Tolerance has begun."
"I can't help thinking that I'm looking at a very dark time for the American people."
"Or perhaps, Mr. Kren, what we are seeing is a people, a race, working together to take their destiny into their own hands. We're-"
Bobby couldn't take it anymore, shutting off the TV with a disgusted snort. "Dad," he said quietly. "I know I promised to stay with you until you got better, but-"
"But you have to do what you have to do. Give 'em one for me, Iceman."
"I will, dad," Bobby said, icing up as he spoke. "And dad-"
"I know, kid. Now go and make me and your mother proud," he leaned over, giving Bobby a fierce hug. "You," he pointed at Sookie. "Try and keep him from doing anything too stupid, will you?"
* * *
Doctor Cecilia Reyes had had bad days before, to be sure. But nothing quite so bad as this one, where an apparently flatlined patient had come back to life, tried to kill her, and outed her as a mutant to all of her coworkers. The bioplasmic force field that was her "gift" was starting to flicker and fail, and she thought for sure this was the end, until...
"Columns of ice? But how?"
"Yeah, that'd be me," Bobby gave her a little wave from where he stood in the doorway with Sookie. "Dr. Cecilia Reyes, I'm one of the X-Men," man, it felt weird to be saying that again. But kind of good, too. "And I'm here to rescue yo- OW!"
"Rescue me? You've ruined my life!" Cecilia shouted as her fist connected with Bobby's face. "What are you people doing here? He promised me! Promised me he'd keep my secret!"
Unfortunately, she'd have to save the rest of her rant for later, what with the rather pressing concern of the Sentinels after them.
* * *
"Look," Cecilia ground out, trying not to look down as Bobby's ice-slide carried them across the water, "I don't claim to be an expert on this 'mutants on the run' stuff, seeing as about three hours ago I was a real life surgical resident and all, but if we're going to bring this all to a head, wouldn't we be better off with backup or something?"
"You should be grateful I even let you three join me, healer," Marrow spat.
"It's Doctor," Cecilia retorted. "Doctor Cecilia Reyes. And I wasn't talking to you."
"Continue to use that tone with me, healer, and soon you will not be talking to anyone."
"Ladies, please," Bobby pleaded, shooting a why-is-this-my-life look in Sookie's direction. "We have enough problems with an army of technologically advanced Sentinel-human hybrids after us, I don't need to keep the new kids from pulling each other's hair out."
"All I'm saying is-"
"We're on the clock, Doc. We have to get where we're going before Bastion does. So grab an icicle, hang on, and shut up."
How was that? Bobby thought at Sookie. Did I sound all confident and in-charge-y there?
* * *
They'd arrived in Conneticut and met up with Sabra again to storm the proverbial castle. As usual, things were going... not so well.
"I didn't start this battle, Iceman, but I'll end it!" Marrow was saying.
"No. You won't." And suddenly, everyone in the room found themselves unable to move, encased in ice. "No offense, Sabra, or anyone else for that matter. But this is an X-Men thing. It began when Cyclops and Wolverine and the rest were ambused by Zero Tolerance. As Bastion put all his faith behind the misguided notion that an entire nation would turn a blind eye to mutants being hunted down and killed or imprisoned. But there's one thing you didn't count on, Bastion. Any nation is made up of people, of individuals, and those individuals have rights and responsibilities and lives that they are willing to fight and die for! Unfortunately for you, some of those individuals are mutants!" A column of ice flew out from Bobby's hands, pushing Bastion out the window. "Do you see the irony of all this, now that it's come down to you and me? If it weren't for another zealot, Graydon Creed, probably a friend of yours, I would have been taken with the rest of the X-Men. But before you started Operation: Zero Tolerance, I was home taking care of my father, a man who was nearly beaten to death by Creed's goons because he dared to stand up for his family. That's the part of this you and every other hate-monger never got. Me, Cyclops, Beast, Dr. Reyes, Storm- none of us are X-Men because we want to be, we are X-Men because someone has to stand up to people like you and Magneto and Apocalypse, and anyone else who thinks terrorizing or terminating mutants or humans or anybody is the right thing to do. we're only here because you're trying to destroy us. Almost funny."
"Don't you dare compare me to aberrations such as Magneto and Apocalypse!" Bastion shouted. "This human form I wear was forged from the heat of compassion for my fellow man! If there was any way at all that humans and mutants could live together, I would fight with all the formidable power at my disposal to see the dawn rise upon that day. But that can never be. Mutations are about change," he explained, fist flying towards Bobby's face. "For something new to be created, something old must be destroyed. If Homo Sapiens Superior are to one day walk the earth, it could only be by treading upon the graves of Homo Sapiens. So you see, Robert Drake, I understand a greater irony than even you realize. That the very existence of mutants necessitates their destruction if the human race is to be preserved," he stepped closer to Bobby's prone form, frowning. "You're not moving?"
"Because that was only an ice replica of yours truly," Bobby said triumphantly, clocking Bastion on the back of the head. "Which helps prove my point- that it's all a matter of perspective. Perspective, and who's stronger. Let me give you an example. When my father was nearly killed, I hated you and Graydon Creed and everything you and your kind stood for. There were days- when he was learning to stand again, to walk on his own, to feed himself, when all I could think of was him getting better so I'd have the freedom to track you down and kill every last one of you. I wanted zealots to suffer for what you believed in, the same way you made one defenseless old man suffer for his beliefs. But every day I spent with my dad, every day I saw him struggle with even the simplest of things, it became more obvious to me that his fight to regain control over his life is the same fight each and every one of us fights every day of our lives. I started to realize how much more important life is- love is- than the hate I'd almost allowed to consume me," he kept talking, watching out of the corner of his eye as Sookie, Sabra, and the others stepped out of the rubble of the house, "I realized I had to let that hate go before I let it destroy me as violently as any Sentinel was programmed to. You claim you love humanity, Bastion. How you'll do anything to preserve it. But look around you. Look at everything you've done in the name of that humanity, the lives you've threatened and ruined, and then tell us again how much your sacred humanity means to you. I don't know what you were before you became the person you are now," icing down, he groped for Sookie's hand as she came to stand beside him. "I only know that you've become everything you claim to hate. So kill me if you have to, Bastion. If you believe that's what it takes to achieve your goals. But you should know that every mutant you kill, every life you take, every family you shatter, takes you one step farther away from that same humanity you're so desperate and determined to defend."
There was silence, a silence that seemed to stretch on forever, until Bastion cleared his throat.
"Prime unit: Sentinel battalions?" he spoke quietly, calmly, a hint of a smile on his face."
"Awaiting orders," came the mechanical voice of the Prime Sentinel.
"On my command... "
"Belay that command, sir! By executive orders of the United States government, the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistic Directorate hereby revokes all of Operation: Zero Tolerance's rights and priveliges on American soil. Effective immediately!" Bobby grinned as the SHIELD operatives swarmed on to the beach.
"Well what do you know, the cavalry. So what do you say, Bastion? We were prepared to die fighting. Are you?"
"Prime unit: Sentinel battalions?"
"Awaiting orders."
"On my command... stand down."
And just like that... it was over. Time to go home. To Westchester, anyway. Cecilia and Marrow needed a place to stay, and Sookie... well, Bobby was looking forward to showing her the one place besides Fandom where he'd ever truly felt he'd belonged.
[ooc: cut for length and extensive speechifying. dialogue taken and slightly modified from the operation: zero tolerance crossover. oh, 90s comics. nfb for distance, natch.]
"Are you saying the United States government has granted permisson for a paramilitary organization to operate on American soil and to open fire on her citizens?"
"How do we know these X-Men are American citizens? What do we know about them, save they are a threat? What I'm saying is remember Onslaught: Thirty-four American citizens, slaughtered by a mutant. Consider the Legacy Virus, a disease spread from mutant to mutant, a virus that now, it seems has spread to the human population as well. I'm saying the assassination of Graydon Creed, a pro-human-rights activist, brutally murdered on the eve of his election to Presidency of the United States, this sequence of events, combined with the threat the mere presence of mutants poses has given credence and momentum to those within world governments who seek to strike back at this unseen enemy. Whether we like it or not, it seems Operation: Zero Tolerance has begun."
"I can't help thinking that I'm looking at a very dark time for the American people."
"Or perhaps, Mr. Kren, what we are seeing is a people, a race, working together to take their destiny into their own hands. We're-"
Bobby couldn't take it anymore, shutting off the TV with a disgusted snort. "Dad," he said quietly. "I know I promised to stay with you until you got better, but-"
"But you have to do what you have to do. Give 'em one for me, Iceman."
"I will, dad," Bobby said, icing up as he spoke. "And dad-"
"I know, kid. Now go and make me and your mother proud," he leaned over, giving Bobby a fierce hug. "You," he pointed at Sookie. "Try and keep him from doing anything too stupid, will you?"
* * *
Doctor Cecilia Reyes had had bad days before, to be sure. But nothing quite so bad as this one, where an apparently flatlined patient had come back to life, tried to kill her, and outed her as a mutant to all of her coworkers. The bioplasmic force field that was her "gift" was starting to flicker and fail, and she thought for sure this was the end, until...
"Columns of ice? But how?"
"Yeah, that'd be me," Bobby gave her a little wave from where he stood in the doorway with Sookie. "Dr. Cecilia Reyes, I'm one of the X-Men," man, it felt weird to be saying that again. But kind of good, too. "And I'm here to rescue yo- OW!"
"Rescue me? You've ruined my life!" Cecilia shouted as her fist connected with Bobby's face. "What are you people doing here? He promised me! Promised me he'd keep my secret!"
Unfortunately, she'd have to save the rest of her rant for later, what with the rather pressing concern of the Sentinels after them.
* * *
"Look," Cecilia ground out, trying not to look down as Bobby's ice-slide carried them across the water, "I don't claim to be an expert on this 'mutants on the run' stuff, seeing as about three hours ago I was a real life surgical resident and all, but if we're going to bring this all to a head, wouldn't we be better off with backup or something?"
"You should be grateful I even let you three join me, healer," Marrow spat.
"It's Doctor," Cecilia retorted. "Doctor Cecilia Reyes. And I wasn't talking to you."
"Continue to use that tone with me, healer, and soon you will not be talking to anyone."
"Ladies, please," Bobby pleaded, shooting a why-is-this-my-life look in Sookie's direction. "We have enough problems with an army of technologically advanced Sentinel-human hybrids after us, I don't need to keep the new kids from pulling each other's hair out."
"All I'm saying is-"
"We're on the clock, Doc. We have to get where we're going before Bastion does. So grab an icicle, hang on, and shut up."
How was that? Bobby thought at Sookie. Did I sound all confident and in-charge-y there?
* * *
They'd arrived in Conneticut and met up with Sabra again to storm the proverbial castle. As usual, things were going... not so well.
"I didn't start this battle, Iceman, but I'll end it!" Marrow was saying.
"No. You won't." And suddenly, everyone in the room found themselves unable to move, encased in ice. "No offense, Sabra, or anyone else for that matter. But this is an X-Men thing. It began when Cyclops and Wolverine and the rest were ambused by Zero Tolerance. As Bastion put all his faith behind the misguided notion that an entire nation would turn a blind eye to mutants being hunted down and killed or imprisoned. But there's one thing you didn't count on, Bastion. Any nation is made up of people, of individuals, and those individuals have rights and responsibilities and lives that they are willing to fight and die for! Unfortunately for you, some of those individuals are mutants!" A column of ice flew out from Bobby's hands, pushing Bastion out the window. "Do you see the irony of all this, now that it's come down to you and me? If it weren't for another zealot, Graydon Creed, probably a friend of yours, I would have been taken with the rest of the X-Men. But before you started Operation: Zero Tolerance, I was home taking care of my father, a man who was nearly beaten to death by Creed's goons because he dared to stand up for his family. That's the part of this you and every other hate-monger never got. Me, Cyclops, Beast, Dr. Reyes, Storm- none of us are X-Men because we want to be, we are X-Men because someone has to stand up to people like you and Magneto and Apocalypse, and anyone else who thinks terrorizing or terminating mutants or humans or anybody is the right thing to do. we're only here because you're trying to destroy us. Almost funny."
"Don't you dare compare me to aberrations such as Magneto and Apocalypse!" Bastion shouted. "This human form I wear was forged from the heat of compassion for my fellow man! If there was any way at all that humans and mutants could live together, I would fight with all the formidable power at my disposal to see the dawn rise upon that day. But that can never be. Mutations are about change," he explained, fist flying towards Bobby's face. "For something new to be created, something old must be destroyed. If Homo Sapiens Superior are to one day walk the earth, it could only be by treading upon the graves of Homo Sapiens. So you see, Robert Drake, I understand a greater irony than even you realize. That the very existence of mutants necessitates their destruction if the human race is to be preserved," he stepped closer to Bobby's prone form, frowning. "You're not moving?"
"Because that was only an ice replica of yours truly," Bobby said triumphantly, clocking Bastion on the back of the head. "Which helps prove my point- that it's all a matter of perspective. Perspective, and who's stronger. Let me give you an example. When my father was nearly killed, I hated you and Graydon Creed and everything you and your kind stood for. There were days- when he was learning to stand again, to walk on his own, to feed himself, when all I could think of was him getting better so I'd have the freedom to track you down and kill every last one of you. I wanted zealots to suffer for what you believed in, the same way you made one defenseless old man suffer for his beliefs. But every day I spent with my dad, every day I saw him struggle with even the simplest of things, it became more obvious to me that his fight to regain control over his life is the same fight each and every one of us fights every day of our lives. I started to realize how much more important life is- love is- than the hate I'd almost allowed to consume me," he kept talking, watching out of the corner of his eye as Sookie, Sabra, and the others stepped out of the rubble of the house, "I realized I had to let that hate go before I let it destroy me as violently as any Sentinel was programmed to. You claim you love humanity, Bastion. How you'll do anything to preserve it. But look around you. Look at everything you've done in the name of that humanity, the lives you've threatened and ruined, and then tell us again how much your sacred humanity means to you. I don't know what you were before you became the person you are now," icing down, he groped for Sookie's hand as she came to stand beside him. "I only know that you've become everything you claim to hate. So kill me if you have to, Bastion. If you believe that's what it takes to achieve your goals. But you should know that every mutant you kill, every life you take, every family you shatter, takes you one step farther away from that same humanity you're so desperate and determined to defend."
There was silence, a silence that seemed to stretch on forever, until Bastion cleared his throat.
"Prime unit: Sentinel battalions?" he spoke quietly, calmly, a hint of a smile on his face."
"Awaiting orders," came the mechanical voice of the Prime Sentinel.
"On my command... "
"Belay that command, sir! By executive orders of the United States government, the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistic Directorate hereby revokes all of Operation: Zero Tolerance's rights and priveliges on American soil. Effective immediately!" Bobby grinned as the SHIELD operatives swarmed on to the beach.
"Well what do you know, the cavalry. So what do you say, Bastion? We were prepared to die fighting. Are you?"
"Prime unit: Sentinel battalions?"
"Awaiting orders."
"On my command... stand down."
And just like that... it was over. Time to go home. To Westchester, anyway. Cecilia and Marrow needed a place to stay, and Sookie... well, Bobby was looking forward to showing her the one place besides Fandom where he'd ever truly felt he'd belonged.
[ooc: cut for length and extensive speechifying. dialogue taken and slightly modified from the operation: zero tolerance crossover. oh, 90s comics. nfb for distance, natch.]