[center][h2][color=fff200]Carol Danvers Is[/color][/h2][/center] [center][img]https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nvx0W_KnWUg/Ubi4l6sDvCI/AAAAAAAACus/VjAW0HOvMHM/s1600/Logo+Ms.+Marvel.png[/img][/center] [b][u]Nevada Skies[/u][/b] [indent][color=fff200]"Alright Carol, gotta kick it up a notch to catch this death machine."[/color] With a little pep talk and a slap to the cheeks I started to rev up my engine into high gear. Really, I had no idea how my flight actually worked but there was one very interesting thing I had noticed, I didn't feel the wind. Though it was just me that was flying it was like I was in a cockpit, protected from the air around me, which meant it was very easy to reach incredible speeds without the wind threatening to rip my face off. Also since it was just my body and whatever was keeping the wind at bay I was incredibly aerodynamic and able to achieve great speeds without worry. Mach I, Mach II, Mach III, I had already left the sound barrier long behind as I streaked across the sky, already catching up to my target. The Kree Sentry must have noticed me as energy pulses and missiles screamed through the sky to try and knock me out. Dives, climbs, strafes, loops, all the tricks from my fighter piloting days coursed through my head as I blasted the missiles and tried to remember to let the pulses hit me so I could absorb their power, it was very hard since my reflexes for the most part took over which told me to avoid everything. Dodge, fire, explosion, hit, close call, all of these things and more occurred as I weaved through the air like an F-22 raptor. I scored some strong direct hits on the sentry but it was only enough to knock it off course for a few seconds. My blasts were just not strong enough to knock it out of the sky. Terror gripped me as I looked beyond and saw the city of Las Vegas quickly becoming larger, if I was unable to stop this machine in time who knows how much of the biggest high-society gambling entertainment industry city would be reduced to rubble. Course, even if I did stop it I also had to find a way to stop its reactor from becoming the bomb that made the human race extinct like the dinosaurs. My options were getting even slimmer as the Kree Sentry had finally realized it's energy based weaponry was completely ineffective against me so now I was only dealing with physical projectiles so no more power spikes for my blasts. If I had more time to practice and understand my powers maybe I could have figured something out, but there was no time for that I needed a new plan of attack. There was really only one option left that I had yet to try, it went against all common sense, but after my transformation I guess I needed to learn a new type of common sense, that of a superhuman's. [color=fff200]"I can't believe I am going to have to fight a giant hunk of metal with my actual body, I certainly hope this cellular restructuring is all it’s cracked up to me or I am going to make one colorful splat on that bad version of an Iron Giant."[/color] Quickly I ascended into the air to gain altitude then, putting my arms out in front of me, I dive-bombed the Kree sentry. I gritted my teeth as my pilot reflexes told me to pull up at the last second but instead I smashed right into its back. The impact hurt but at last I had actually made a difference as the force of impact caused us both to careen straight into the ground. The screeching of metal, banging and clanging were about all I could hear as the robot scraped and dug into the ground from the force of impact, gouging out a large swath of ground in the process. My body ached from the impact, especially my arms which took the brunt of blow, as I found myself partially embedded into the body armor of the sentry but I managed to get up and breathed a sigh of relief since we had crashed just shy of the city. Unfortunately Sentry 459 also managed to stand up and despite a lot of dents and scraps it was still very much active and decided to try and walk the rest of the way into the city. I threw my hands up in utter disgust, this automaton had more durability M1A2 SEP tank and felt like it was made out of the hardest of diamonds. I quickly flew back into action to cut off the sentry as it started to try and bombard the city as it walked. The most intense game of missile commander in my life had quickly begun as I shot missiles out of the sky with the speed of an M-134 minigun. I had to find a way to end this battle fast or a missile was going to slip past me very soon and create a lot of casualties. The longer this went on, the harder it would be to keep up and the closer to reactor meltdown the sentry got, time was not on my side at all.[/indent] [b][u]Las Vegas Stratosphere Casino[/u][/b] [indent]Beeps and boops could be heard from the various slot machines as people gambled their life savings away for the chance at making it big. People with already a lot of money just did it for fun with a chance to increase their pocket change. Gone were the days when coins clinked and clanked whenever a jackpot was to be found, everything was now electronic, quiet and frankly not as fun as it used to be. The lights were there, the money was technically there, but without the clatter of dropping coins gambling really had lost a lot of its flavor. There had been a slight rumbling earlier but nothing major so it had been ignored. The traveling millionaire sighed as he took a sip from his overly fancy cocktail, nearly gouging his eye out with the tiny umbrella. With a grunt he wretched it out of the cup and tossed it toward the nearest trash receptacle but his aim was off and the umbrella fell to the ground. He was considering if he should pick it up when all the televisions suddenly changed as a reporter appeared on the tube. “We interrupt this programming for an emergency announcement.” The report was reduced to the left side of the television as video emerged on the right. A giant robot appeared on the screen and the subtitles underneath it announced the location, just outside the north-east outskirts of Las Vegas and the LIVE title could be seen. A figure could be seen flying around it, blasting the robots missiles and trying to prevent the robot from advancing on the city. “Currently an unknown individual is combating what appears to be a giant robot. Residents of Las Vegas are advised to seek shelter immediately until the danger has passed.” The video changed angles to an aerial view from a news chopper trying to get a better look at the action. As the helicopter got closer though suddenly a missile erupted from the shoulder of the sentry, heading straight toward the chopper. You could hear the news crew cursing, urging their pilot to take evasive action but then the missile blew up in flight before it could reach them and suddenly a blond woman in a mostly red outfit was right in front of the camera, urging the helicopter to fly away with her hands, before zipping back into action. “Please seek your closest emergency shelter immediately! As you can see we almost lost our news chopper and we have no idea when one of those attacks might get past the superwoman currently in combat. We will inform you of the situation as it unfolds before our eyes.” Well, that was all it took to send a large portion of the casino running and screaming to get out of there. Patrons and staff rushed for the exits and lower portions of the hotel. Drinks were spilled, shoes where lost, hair was undone as the masses descended into absolute terror. The millionaire however, just sat there, unmoving watching as the place was soon deserted. The millionaire stood up, went over to an area without cameras and then remerged as not the middle-aged millionaire from before but as one of the female staff of the establishment. [color=6ecff6]“Might as well take advantage of the situation.”[/color] The now stunning brunette smiled devilishly as she went to work raiding the casino, it would not take her long to make way with a sizable sum. Sure this wasn’t the reason why she was currently in Las Vegas but it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra cash on hand.[/indent] [b][u]Las Vegas Outskirts[/u][/b] [indent]I couldn’t believe the news had already gotten involved in my battle. Guess my existence was no longer going to be a SWORD secret. That stupid helicopter had almost gotten itself blow out of the sky and would have if I hadn’t been there to save it. My frustration was growing as I noticed despite my best efforts, the sentry was making some headway. What was doubly concerning however was the fact the sentry had started to glow all over its body, which could only mean the reactor was running quite hot. A missile managed to streak past me and blow up what I hoped was an abandoned building, of course I had no way of knowing for sure as I was busy blowing all the other ones out of the sky. How did the sentry keep firing so many missiles? Was it creating them in its body somehow? Considering how many I had shot down, yet they kept coming that was the only option that seemed possible. This meant I could not just make the sentry run out of ammunition and even if that was possible, if the sentry started firing all of its energy blast it would be impossible for me to stop them all, I might be able to absorb and fight back more effectively but by then it would be too late. [color=fff200]“Ok Carol, you need a way to take this thing down once and for all! The problem is that armor is just so thick I can’t seem to get through it.”[/color] As I shot another missile down I suddenly remembered a very important piece of information. I had been so distracted trying to slow down the sentry that it had completely slipped by mind what had happened back at the base. I conked myself on the head for missing such an important detail. [color=fff200]“Of course! I should have been going for that section from the start! I need to do this before Las Vegas becomes a complete battlezone.”[/color] The SWORD railgun attack from early had managed to blast out a chunk of the sentry’s armor which meant that was my point of entry. I desperately flew around, blasting whatever I could as I tried to find the exact spot. There, I found it, three o’clock, back left side of the sentry, some tearing off of the sentry’s hull out be seen. I had to be quick, I started gathering energy in my fists as I prepared to attack, increasing my speed I circled around the sentry, making it hard for it to follow my movements as well as to increase my momentum. Concentrating on the task on hand I had to let a few missiles sneak past, their explosions on the ground below gave me pangs of guilt but if I was unable to punch through the alien machine everything would be destroyed anyway. With one final loop I released all my energy at the same time I stuck my fist into the spot. For the briefest of moments nothing seemed to happen and I feared I had failed, but then, I could feel my fist rip into the metal and with half a second I had already torn open a hole in the body. I slipped in right before a giant fist tried to knock me away. The inside of the sentry took my breath away, it was positively gorgeous. It was like being inside of a giant computer but with no traditional wiring that I could see, everything just seemed to flow through the gigantic body on waves of blue-green energy and at the center was a round orb, glowing like a small sun in the middle with hundreds of threads of energy flowing from it to all portions of the body. That had to be the reactor core and I could tell it was nearing its limit by the way it glowed and flickered violently. There was no time to think, I had to get it out of there before the doomsday clock reached midnight. I rushed to the center, blasting and knocking everything in my way while trying to avoid directly hitting the reactor. Ripping my way to the center I grabbed the orb, which was about twice my size, and yanked it with all my might. The connections groaned in protest but thankfully the innards of the machine were a lot less durable than the armored shell and I finished extracting it. Instantly with the connection having been lost the once glowing body went silent and dark. It also started to topple over which forced me to quickly remove the robot’s heart through hole which I quickly had to blast open a bit more to safely extract the reactor. But now that energy was no longer being supplied to the sentry the reactor’s power had nowhere to go, what had been a mostly pure white glow was quickly turning a sickly bright green as the pulsing accelerated. [color=fff200] “If this thing is as strong as I think it is, then I only have one option!”[/color] I stared up at atmosphere, hauled the reactor core up on top it’s weight pressing down upon me but while dense, thankfully it was a weight I could easily handle. I steeled myself and took a sharp breath as I prepared to enter the stratosphere. [color=fff200]“It’s do or die now!”[/color] I shouted as I shot up like a rocket into the sky, the glowing reactor growing ever more unstable. I didn’t even know if I could survive in space but I was going to have to take that chance if the Earth was going to survive. Feeling the air quickly thinning, I took a final deep breath as a precaution and started to hold my breath before the atmosphere could complete disappear. Schalg! It was getting cold as I started to leave earth behind but it seemed that my energy was keeping myself from freezing to death. Feeling that the reactor had achieved escape velocity I tossed it as hard as I could at the sun. It was breathtaking to see space in person, and while I wanted to see more it was exactly that, breathtaking. I needed to breath and I was not about to stay above the stratosphere longer than I had to, also a giant death bomb was still a little too close for comfort so I quickly divided back down toward earth. I greedily gulped in some air as I floated in the lower atmosphere and look back at where the reactor had gone. As soon as I did the sky lit up with a brilliant green glow as the reactor reached critical mass and exploded. I had to admit it was pretty to look at but unlike normal explosions there was little aftereffects as it disappeared from existence as if it had never been in the first place. Seeing that the earth had been saved by adrenaline left me and the full weight of all the energy I had used and the blows I had taken quickly became apparent. I could feel a cold sweat on my brow and my body ached all over, my stamina was certainly amazing these days but when you were forced to fight like an Amazon for half an hour straight with no break even my super stamina couldn’t completely counter all the fatigue that had built up. I lazily floated down to the ground where the husk of Kree Sentry 459 was. I really did not feel like moving much for a while. [color=fff200]“Congratulations Carol…you somehow did it thanks to SWORD’s rail gun. Oh Lord, I’m going to have to deal with all that press aren’t I?”[/color] I groaned as all sorts of news vans and every other news vehicle in the area rushed to the scene now that the danger was passed. I considered flying away but I just felt too tired to bother, it looked like my fight might not be over quite yet after all. [color=fff200] “I think I’d rather fight that Kree Sentry all over again…I wonder what happened to Captain Mar-vell and Colonel Yon-Rogg? Guess I won’t know for a while if these reporters have anything to say about it. This is going to be oh, so much fun.”[/color] My voice dripped with sarcasm as I touched down near the broken body of the sentry while my next mission approached, the mission of public relations. [sub]Joy.[/sub][/indent]