138 Man vs Savage land (part 2 )

Night was coming. I had to make a shelter. Better to be in the bamboo, where there was water and supplies than to continue on in hopes I'd find my way home in the middle of the night.

I worked as fast as I could. Cutting more big bamboo down, I broke them open and laid them down until I had a crappy green bed made of chopped up bamboo laid down for me. Running out of time as I looked up to see the sun slowly lower in the distance, I used my rope and some more big bamboo as a frame and flattened out the rest, laying those over where I'd placed my bed. It should have been fairly waterproof, though I didn't hold out hope.

Fire. I needed fire.

Once again, my arm being broken was going to make it a bitch. It was still sending lightning through my body whenever it got jostled, so I had to work around it.

First, I grabbed a bunch of dry wood in one arm. I couldn't use just the bamboo, since, while it was thankfully full of water, that same water made it almost fireproof. But I got some dry sticks after a quick search, placing them in a bundle, and brought them over to my shelter. With the sticks and a bunch of small pieces of dry tinder, I prepared the next part. First, I dug out a small pit next to my shelter, placing sticks and tinder inside that. Then I placed the leftover tinder, basically tiny pieces of bark, leaves, and straw, on top of a rock, placed half a piece of bamboo on top of that tinder so that it was laying almost entirely on top of the tinder, and got the other half. Placing the other half with one edge on the bamboo, I used my left boot to keep the half covering the tinder still.

The idea was simple. I'd rub a piece of bamboo on the other fast and hard, making sure to keep it to the same spot. Over time, friction would create heat, and that heat went would transfer from the bamboo to the tinder underneath.

It was hard as hell. I found myself sweating soon, my left arm sore from the constant movement while pressing down, my fingers tight on the bamboo. I sang to myself under my breath.

"Getting hot in here… take off all yo clothes, I am… getting so hot… The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire! Don't get no water…"

Somewhere into the middle of me just singing 'fire' to myself (I ran out of songs), I raised the bamboo.

The tinder was smoking on one small spot. My heart leaped. I lifted the tinder and gently pulled it together to make a small 'home' for the spot that was smoking. Gently as I could, I blew into the embers I'd created. When Nat and Bucky had me practice at home, I'd gotten this down to an art form. But my heart was still beating like a drum as I tried to stay calm while the embers smoked, but didn't quite become fire.

Then it lit up. I smiled with glee at the fire, the dry heat against my hand making me want to dance with glee, before bringing it to my makeshift fire pit. Things were still tense. If I made one mistake, the fire would die out. The sun had fallen by now. If this didn't work, I'd be stuck even further in hell than I was.

The fire held onto the tinder. The sticks began to smoke. I laughed.

"Oh shit! YES!" I snapped my hands upward. "YES! FIRE!" I looked around while laughing. "Wooo!"

After some more work, I had a makeshift bamboo spit over the fire, which I placed bits of scorpion meat on. As it cooked, I took some pieces of denim, wrapped it around more tinder, and placed it inside a bamboo, making a torch to hold. I couldn't quite remove my clothes since my armor had melted over my shirt and waist, but I was able to get my boots and socks off. My feet were thankfully unhurt if soaking wet from sweat and river water. I laid them out to dry next to the fire, though still close enough to grab in a hurry if I had to run.

The scorpion ended up being more useful than I thought. Being a meter long, it had a very large thorax. And it's armor had held up under several blows. So once I had the armor hollowed out of all meat, I was able to make it into a makeshift bag of sorts, running a cord through where the legs had been.

But that was it. I didn't have the energy for anything else. I just sat next to the fire, drinking bamboo water and eating scorpion. Thanks to being cooked, it actually had a flavor now, the meat tasting like slightly fishy beef jerky. Which was delicious as far as I was concerned. I had my helmet on again. Despite my faceplate being mostly gone to leave my good looks exposed, and the rest of it half-melted crap, I felt better with a helmet on. Felt a little ridiculous, sitting next to a fire with my feet bare and a helmet on. But I had to look on the bright side of all this.

I was lucky I had the training to survive. I found food, I found water, and I found bamboo. My sword had been intact enough to do its job. I was lucky.

I mean, if I'd been really lucky, I would have landed without my Omnitrix getting anti-metaled.

That had to have been what had happened. When I fell off the cliff and into the water, I must have ended up drifting near an Anti-Metal deposit. Otherwise known as Antarctic Vibranium. Metal that could dissolve the bonds of other metals. The stuff was dangerous. Not just because it could turn other metals into liquid either. Stay close to that stuff, and the iron in your blood would dissolve as well, which any doctor will tell you is bad.

That was my guess on what happened to the Omnitrix. Alien genius or not, it was made of metal. I'm sure if Azmuth had known that Anti-Metal was a thing he would have designed protection for the Omnitrix from the stuff. He seemed to have protections installed for most everything anyways. I suppose Anti-Metal was just different enough to slip through the cracks and make it glow white. The fact it could even do that instead of just being a pile of useless mulch was proof of how tough the thing was.

Fucking sucked though. I didn't want to be out here. I wanted to be home. With my fridge full of food, the power of the universe on my wrist, and a working weapon.

"...I wonder if they're still looking for me," I said to the forest, the heat and smell of the fire on my face, scorpion meat crackling over the flame. I pulled the spit off the fire and began to eat once more.

Creel and Fantasma had to be searching for me. And if BRIDGE could get a message to the mainland, everyone would want to find me. X would want to find me. Nat, Tony, Steve, Thor… huh. All of them would want to find me.

And Jen… I missed Jen. I'd only been lost for a day. Why did I miss her this much? I wanted my big green nerd girl talking constantly about lawyer work as I laid my head in her lap. Or to have her head in my lap while I talked about my own nerd stuff. I missed her hair. That was weird. She just had such… long and curly hair, reaching almost to her waist it seemed like. And it was so soft. I liked running my hands through it. Granted, I loved a lot about her, but I couldn't get my mind off her hair.

Jen said she liked my muscles. I was half sure she was making fun of me when she said it while pressing her palms against me, but it was nice to hear.

I sat in the light of the fire, lost in my thoughts.

There was a sudden rush. Then a shadow leaped from the bamboo, going over the bamboo spears I'd set up as a defense. I didn't have time to move before hundreds of pounds of flesh hit me from the front. I caught sight of flashing teeth as I shouted in horror. My broken arm, which had calmed to a dull ache, screamed in pain again. A sudden pressure hit me right over my heart. When I looked down, a single long toe claw was pressed against my armor where it was protecting my heart. The creature on top of me snarled.

Then the adrenaline hit. I grabbed my sword off the ground and swung upward. My sword, battered but still sharp on the edge, hit the creature on its jaw. Blood sprayed outwards, the creature screaming in pain. The claw scratched at my chest armor, flaking off the melted pieces that had once been catoms.

"Fuck off me!" I shouted, kicking upwards and slicing at the face of the thing. I took a portion of flesh off before I hit bone. The animal leaped back, whining in pain. I got up and faced it.

Another one rushed out of the bamboo forest, coming towards me. It made the mistake of ignoring my bamboo stakes. The sickening sound of bamboo stabbing through scales and flesh filled the air.

"SKREEEE!" the bipedal thing shouted in agony, falling back with a bamboo stake in its chest.

The one that had attacked me first backed away. I didn't lower my blade, simply facing him. He snarled at me, the fire letting me get a good look at both my attackers.

Velociraptors. Well, not real ones, I guess. Over the years if felt like scientists were putting every effort to make dinosaurs less cool than they looked in Jurassic Park. Doing things like saying 'oh, they have feathers, they're actually a lot more fat, they sound more like squeaking turkeys, and they weally wuv you and want to give you cuddles'. Adorable.

Granted, that was all the annoyed 12 year old inside me that had been so awed by cool looking dinosaurs that I didn't like anything tarnishing that image.

Regardless of all that, the ones trying to kill me right now looked more like the ones I'd once seen on the big screen. Though there were a few differences.

For one, they were more muscular than the ones in movies. These guys were built like damn linebackers, muscles flowing under their scales in armored plates. Their scales were almost a bright tan color, spotted with darker orangeish stripes. They still had feathers, but only on their arms and legs. Everything else though? The long toe claw on each foot that twitched as it prepared to slice into flesh. The long jaw filled with needle-sharp teeth as beady little eyes glared at me.

Velociraptors. They'd become near-legendary in the eyes of the public as the most savage and mean predators you could ever face. In some ways, people thought the idea of facing a T-Rex was less daunting than taking one of these guys on.

And now I was facing one. One, because the other had stabbed himself on one of the spears I'd placed. He fell back, blood pouring around the bamboo in his chest. In a fit of panic, it pulled back, the spear coming out of it with a loud 'schluck' sound. That was a mistake. Any doctor will tell you that removing an object stabbed into you is a bad idea when you have no way to deal with the blood loss that will follow.

The velociraptor began to bleed out immediately. Screeching in pain, it fell weakly to the ground.

The one that had initially jumped looked over at me. Its jaw had strips of flesh cut off from when I'd slashed at it with my sword. I raised my blade, trying to remember as much as I could from animal behavior.

Two. Just two. They'd ambushed me from the front. What did I remember about ambush pack predators? They-

I leaped to the side blindly, not thinking about it. As I did, something slammed into my bamboo shelter, trying to use it as a ramp to leap towards me. Another velociraptor landed in the dirt where I had been, screeching.

"Fuck!" I shouted. I hit the ground rolling. A shadow moved in the forest. Probably another one. I had to move now.

Stop responding to attacks. Velociraptors are ambush predators. They like to strike when you least expect it. But that also meant they liked having the initiative. I had to take that.

The fire was sputtering from the dirt being tossed up into the air as I rolled to my feet. I leaped up from a crouch, jumping forward.

Toward the first velociraptor.

The thing screeched in shock when I tackled. I wrapped my good arm around it as we rolled together. My broken arm screamed at me as I pressed myself to warm scales, the long tail whipping as scrambled for a good angle while I and the raptor hit the ground hard. It raised a clawed hand and scratched at my chest. Its claws bounced off my armor and went lower, to where my unprotected stomach lay. Three white-hot lines sliced into my skin.

Everything had come to a crawl to my vision. Even though I knew it was all going at high-speed, I felt adrenaline pumping through me. I landed on top of the velociraptor, legs on either side of it. In a crazed part of my mind, I imagined the other two surviving raptors rushing me from behind. The fear and rage pumping through me made want to scream.

I brought my sword down on the velociraptor's neck, slicing deep into the scales before getting stuck in the spine. It choked on the blood filling its lungs. I didn't have time to worry about that, leaving the blade stuck there.

The raptor who'd leaped over my shelter hissed while rushing me from my back.

Thank you, Nat, for attacking me from behind. Long training had taught me how to deal with it. She'd had me run attack drills with everyone faster than me. Her, Bucky, Steve. And the fastest person we knew, if only a couple times. I still couldn't dodge him even when I knew he was coming.

But this raptor wasn't as fast as Quicksilver.

I rolled aside at the last instant, right when the raptor was most committed to the attack. His toe-claw still slashed into my hip, cutting through the skin. I imagined I could hear the sound of the claw skipping off my hip bone as it passed, a dull 'clunk'. Better than dying.

I reached out as I landed. My palm wrapped around warm greenwood. One of the bamboo spears I'd left as defense. Ripping it out of the ground, I spun to face my attackers.

The one that had been in the shadows came rushing me head-on. I almost despaired when I saw two more in the forest. I raised the spear and held my ground while stabbing forward, right arm hanging limply at my side.

The spear of bamboo went into the raptors chest and out of it's back. It hit me like a train even then. I held my ground as best as I could, legs sliding in the dirt. It slid down the spear with a squeal. I shoved it aside and hastily reached for another spear, ripping that out of the earth to face the velociraptor that had initially leaped over my home.

The one left over stared at me. Behind it, I could hear the forest moving. More. I couldn't guess how many. And it had taken everything I had to kill three.

I panted in and out, my breath feeling cold against my lips. Sweat was pouring from my lips. I lifted my spear. Shit. Shit. I was going to die. If they kept coming like this-

Don't show weakness.

Natasha's advice filled me. I lowered into a crouch. God, I was going to die. I took my breaths, facing the raptors. I tried my best to roar, channeling every alien I'd ever become.

"C-" I coughed, regrouped. "Come on you fuckers! I'm an Avenger! You want to take me, you need to do better than that!"

Like a drug, shouting out at the raptor growling in front of me felt good. I roared wordlessly, laughing. "You can't kill me! HYDRA, robot monkeys, dinosaurs, I'll kill them all! I'm fucking Dial!"

I coughed at the end of that little speech. In the heat of the moment, it felt good. Later I felt a little ridiculous, shouting at an animal that had no idea what the hell I was talking about. But it felt good.

A series of barking filled the air. The raptor I could see growled, slowly retreating backward, it's head low to the ground. In the shadows, flickering scales moved around. They were hard to see, even when I knew they were there. I counted five though. Including the one moving away and the three I'd killed, that made a pack of nine.

Fuck.

I moved forward as the raptor stepped back, heading toward my fire. The raptor kept its eyes on me. I didn't stop watching it until it had stepped back into the shadows. A rushing sound came from the bamboo. Then the sound of leaves getting trampled, shadows flittering away.

I kept still a moment longer, my spear pointed out. I didn't dare hope. My head was on a swivel.

But… Nothing. I wasn't attacked. I wasn't hurt. I waited for a good moment longer before I dropped to my knees in exhaustion.

"La ilaha illa Allah Muhammed asul Allah," I mumbled to myself. The prayer my dad always told me that Muslims are told to do before death. A little late, now that I was actually alive. It had been ringing in my mind, underneath all the useful advice about survival.

My arm was killing me. Oh god, it was worse now. At some point in the fight, it had bounced out of its sling to hang limply at my side while my left arm clutched at my spear. I felt warm blood from the cut in my hip pouring down my leg, and my whole body ached. I needed to take care of my wounds. But with the adrenaline leaving me, I just wanted to sleep.

I forced myself to rise once more. The agony that followed would have had me want to curse if I had the energy.

A small pinprick came from my neck. I almost wanted to roll my eyes at the thought of a mosquito bite reaching me through the pain. I couldn't seem to keep my eyesight straight actually. I was drifting as I reached for my fire. Maybe I could caut-cauterize-

My knees hit the floor of their own volition. I stared at the fire as I fell to my stomach in front of it. Things got fuzzy. I reached for my neck weakly, felt something stuck in my skin, but was too weak to take it out.

"Three dead," someone said. "Rest ran off… well. You'll do."

A humanoid shape stepped into view. The last thing I saw was the fire and the bamboo forest before I passed out.

Director Maria Hill of BRIDGE

Maria stood with her arms crossed in her office in the Avengers Tower, staring at the screen in front of her calmly. "How is it, that with all the technology at our disposal, some of the best-trained soldiers on Earth, and a magician working together, we can't find Dial anywhere?"

On the screen, an image of Fantasma and Creel were standing inside of a quinjet. The Russian Witch bristled. "We're trying everything! All of us! He just disappeared-"

"I know," Maria cut her off. "That wasn't an indictment on your abilities. I'm asking this literally. How did he just disappear? Was he taken? I hate to be dark but if he was dead, or eaten, then we'd have found some sign, wouldn't we?"

"He can't die," Creel said desperately. The tall bald man was staring at the ground, fists clenched. "He's told me before. The watch has a safety feature. If he's about to die, it turns him into something that can survive it."

Maria noted that mentally. She'd never heard of that little feature. While she knew that Creel and Dial spent time together working out, she hadn't known they were that close.

"If that's true, he'd have flown over to the cliff in one of his fliers," Maria pointed out.

"So what do we do?" Creel said, almost spitting the words out.

"Find him," Maria said simply.

"We've been trying, we told you," Fantasma said.

"So we don't stop," Maria crossed her arms. "I've been on these kinds of searches. He's been missing for only two days, and we have the best in the world trying to find him. We aren't giving up hope. Take a moment to sleep, then keep looking. I'll go through everything we've got here and send people out to aid in the search."

"Can we at least get satellite tracking?" Creel asked.

She shook her head. "Shuri is working on it. But right now, we're blind. Any help I send is going to be physical."

"And how about the other Avengers?" Creel asked. "Do they know Dial's missing?"

"...No."

"Why not?!" Fantasma asked, her face twisting in horror.

"Because they're on missions," Maria spat back. "They all have assignments to work on. Some of them possibly life-threatening, like Rio patrols. We have multiple jobs to do, and I have to think about the full picture. Dial is important. But the people of this Earth of a whole are much more so. The second they're free, I'll let them all know."

"Jen is going to kill you," Fantasma said softly.

"She'll have to get in line," Maria scowled. "Get some rest, then keep looking for our boy. That's an order."

She swiped a hand through the air, dismissing the screen. She stood for a moment, frustration filling her, before leaving the room.

A while back, Tony had been gracious enough to give her an office of her own in the Avengers Tower for her to work in as needed. Of course, Tony being Tony, he charged her rent for it. 20 dollars a month. She wasn't sure how to feel about the incredibly minuscule amount he was charging her. Insulted, maybe?

Whatever the case, as soon as she left she headed for the labs. Entering into Shuri's lab, she ignored Ruby and Ayo to focus on the young princess working on her computer. Shuri was wearing a blue dress. The same dress as the day before, Maria noted. "They still haven't found him. Any luck with piercing the Veil?"

Shuri looked up at her sadly. "Nothing. I've been trying with everything we have, but the only thing we can do is enter the Savage Land. Which still requires us to be quite close."

Maria kept her anger from her face. Shuri was trying. Fantasma and Creel were trying. Getting angry at them for the helplessness she was feeling was useless.

"Okay," Maria said as gently as she could. "Then keep me posted."

"Can I go?" Ruby asked.

"...Go?" Maria asked, confused. She looked the tiny teen over.

Ruby was wearing some combat boots that were too big for her, military pants, a leather jacket, and a green tank top. In other words, she looked…

"No, you can't."

The blonde glared at her. "Why can't I?! I want to find him too!"

"Because you aren't trained for it."

"I am! I'm more trained than Dial was even! I can find him."

Maria shook her head. "No. We have everyone we can send to find him already, we can't-"

"Ugh!" Ruby spitefully spun on her heel and headed for the door. Maria looked over at Ayo. The bald woman shrugged, nodding towards Shuri.

Maria knew what Ayo meant. 'I already have one to worry about, that one is all yours.'

The Director of BRIDGE held in a sigh. "If you need any help, Shuri, let me know."

"Yes, yes," Shuri waved a hand dismissively. "I can't get work done if you keep staring over my shoulder. Please leave."

Maria held in the annoyance all adults felt after one too many damn teenagers got on their nerves and simply left the room to let Shuri work. She had just stepped out when a voice surprised her.

"You haven't sent everyone," Maria looked over at the speaker.

"...Mikhail. You're supposed to be getting ready to leave for home," she noted.

The tall Russian, dressed in his full uniform, had somehow snuck up on her. A tough prospect even if he hadn't been one of the biggest men she'd ever met baring superhuman forms. Sneaking up on a spy of all people was never easy.

"I was planning to inform you of my departure… the young man. He is still missing, yes?" Mikhail asked seriously. "Then I suggest you use everyone you have at your disposal."

Maria crossed her arms. "I don't have time to play around, Mikhail. Who are you implying?"

Mikhail chuckled, though there was a dark edge to it. "You must track someone who has become lost in the jungle. Isn't that, in essence, a hunt?"

"...Oh goddamnit," Maria sighed.

Mikhail was already on the plane to Russia when Maria made the call from her office. After a moment of a holo-screen blankly ringing, the screen lit up.

"Hello, Director Hill," Boris said as soon as the screen lit up, giving her a small smile. The Russian official was standing in his own office, wearing his usual business suit. "Is there something you need? I trust that Fantasma is well, and Crimson has said she is doing good work."

"Yes to both of those questions. But that isn't why I called. I'm on a tight schedule. 48 hours, to be specific," Maria said. "Dial is missing."

Boris recoiled, surprised. "He is? Mikhail has not informed me of that."

"He knows about it, but I'm keeping it close to the chest," Maria explained. "Not just because the news of an Avenger going missing is big. But because of where he went missing."

With that, Maria began to explain the Savage Land. Boris listened closely, interrupting to ask questions. But not once did he treat her as though she was crazy. She had to wonder why. Even with all that she'd seen, the Savage Land had still thrown her for a loop. Still, it was to her benefit now.

"-it's been a full two days," Maria said solemnly. "And I need to get him back."

Dial was important. Not more or less than any of the other members of BRIDGE and the Avengers, but even pragmatically speaking, he was valuable. And honestly? After losing Trip and Sharon? Maria was starting to take missing BRIDGE members as a personal insult.

"So you want me to send one of our operatives to aid you," Boris finished for her. His face had become incredibly still. "Into the jungle. Not just any jungle. A jungle that is full of the most dangerous creatures the world has ever developed naturally. Dinosaurs. Beasts so massive and powerful… do you realize what you've done, Director Hill?" Boris looked haunted. "If I ask this man, he won't even wait for those in charge of the Winter Guard to allow it. He's going to say-"

"I accept!" in the background, the sound of a man roaring as he ran could be heard, the voice of Kraven the Hunter drifting into the distance. "Boris, I'm headed to the airport! I have some smuggler friends, they'll drop me off!"

"Kraven, you can't just-" Boris held out a hand towards the door, only to drop it slowly. He looked like he was resigned to his fate. "He's gone."

Boris walked over to his door, the holoscreen turning to follow him as Maria continued to watch, the director wondering what the heck she was watching.

Chernobog walked up to the door just as Boris got to it. The massive dark god looked odd for a moment. Maria stared at him for a moment before realizing what was wrong. Chernobog, in all the time she'd seen footage or photos of him, had usually had a very smug appearance on his shadowy face. Here he looked…

Confused as hell?

"Hey, so… Kraven just passed me in the hall?" Chernobog said, pointing behind himself with his thumb. "He was grinning like a loon. It was creepy."

"You were creeped out?" Boris said in surprise. Then he shook his head. "Look, Director Hill, I'll send Kraven out as soon as possible. Please send me everything we need," he turned to meet eyes with her. "If anyone can find him-"

"Oh, hello Miss Hill," Chernobog said politely, waving.

"...Kraven can," Boris said, looking like he was on the edge of a heart attack. "I'll make sure he understands the mission."

"Thank you, Boris," Maria said sympathetically.

Superheroes. Useful. But crazy, every last one of them.

With that, she sent Boris mission file through a secure email. As the file left, a sound came from nearby.

Maria looked around, confused. It sounded like… well, like a rocket blasting off? But none of the Towers security measures had activated. "Jarvis, what is that noise?"

The Avengers Tower AI responded immediately. "That was X, ma'am."

She calmed. Maria Hill was many things. But she wasn't an idiot. "He's headed to the Savage Land."

"Yes ma'am," Jarvis said politely.

Maria turned to look out of the window, walking up to it. New York City spread out in front of her as she stared outward.

"Kraven the Hunter and X the android are going out to the Savage Land…" Maria sighed. "I guess we'll have to hope this all doesn't end as chaotically as I think it will."

But she didn't hold much hope for that.

X

When a message came from the Savage Land two days ago, X had been watching over the Avengers Tower network. He'd known it would take a while for a message to get back, so he was rather surprised by how fast the first had arrived. After all, thanks to the Veil, if someone wanted to send a message to the mainland, they had to leave the Savage Land, making communication with those within a chore.

X had watched as Creel appeared on screen, speaking to Maria Hill on the emergency line, informing her of Dial's disappearance. The moment he had gained the gist of the events in question, X left a subroutine to continue to watch. The rest of him prepared.

Dinosaurs. While X sympathized with the need to protect endangered life, he knew he needed something powerful to take them down. He rolled through a digital file of the current arms available to him. A jungle with all the undergrowth that entailed. So something handheld he could reach easily, while still capable of doing immense damage. And something large he could carry on his back in case he had to kill something large or destroy a building containing Dial.

He quickly found the correct designs. Including a simple requisition order for a machete as well, he entered his android body and rose from the seat in his lab, walking to get them.

Now. How to get there. He had an android body now after all. The Veil could become a problem. Very well. Prepare to back himself up on a server and load his primary 'self' completely within his android form. That would take a full day, as he was quite a large AI if he said so himself.

Probabilities of surviving after 24 hours in a hostile environment wer- Disengage line of inquiry.

Transportation. Well, he didn't need a plane. Just a way to lift himself across the ocean. Months ago, Dial had created armor for Skye in his Jury Rigg form, including powerful jet boots. He'd recently made something based on those designs. Increasing the size of those jets and focusing them into a single unit became his new jetpack. With some improvements, it was even able to carry his hefty form.

Then, X waited. There were two reasons for this.

First, it would take time for his preparations to- Probabilities of survival after- Disengage line of inquiry. It would take time for his preparations to be complete. The weapons needed to be fine-tuned, and the jet pack refined. His AI mind had to be uploaded and backed up. Not to mention the tasks he pushed himself to complete before leaving.

Some would have seen the sudden need to complete as many tasks as possible as a way for X to distract himself. Those people would have had a fundamental lack of understanding of how AI were able to logically function in every situation.

Probabilities of survival in the Savage Land for Dial after a day and a half, with the possibility of dea- DISENGAGING INQUIRY.

The second reason X waited was to see if Mahmoud would be found. If Fantasma, Creel, and the BRIDGE soldiers found him, then this would all be unneeded. 48 hours. They had that long.

When Creel and Fantasma called back after that time had passed, X took a look at them. One read of their body language later, and he was entering the hanger.

In the corner he'd set up for himself, his weapons had been placed on a table. Without looking, he picked up a machete and place it on his hip. Then he took a massive revolver off the table, taking a pair of belts with pouches to hold bullets. While revolvers were less efficient than more modern handguns such as the Glock 19, X did not need a Glock. His body had enough power that a Glock was unnecessary. This revolver, sized specifically for him to fire bullets so large the recoil would have shattered the wrists and forearms of anyone mortal attempting to use it? It was for those moments where X needed to kill something and they were just out of arm's reach.

Once the revolver was magnetically attached to his hip and the belts of ammo were wrapped around his waist, he lifted his final weapon. The one he'd selected for the most massive of enemies. A double-barrel rifle made to fire bullets as big as three fingers across. He placed this giant of a weapon on his chest. His back would be carrying something during the trip.

He looked at his transport. A jetpack. That was wider across than he was, with rockets the size of trash cans. It would do.

X lifted it up and placed it on. After a moment's thought, he placed on a pair of aviator goggles. If any rain or snow fell on the way, he didn't want his vision receptors impeded.

Dial was alive. He knew it, even if the probabilities didn't.

Lowered into a crouch, X began a mental countdown from five. On three, the jets ignited. On one, they released plumes of green-blue light. He rocketed forward, moving his hands to grip the jetpack strap. For a moment, he flew over the steel floor of the hanger. Then he was in the open air of New York City. The jets truly blasted off then.

"FWOOOOOO!"

With that loud clap of noise, X flew past city limits. Freed from the possibility of hurting others, the jets went into overdrive. The sound of a sonic boom could be heard in the distance as X disappeared.

He would save Dial. If not… well. There was a reason they were called the Avengers.