Battle Cry

Her name is Theresa Cassidy. But due to her mutant sonic powers, she is known by another name as well--Siryn

As she flies to the roof of The World Trade Center she can see the huge mountain of a man known to the world as Juggernaut.
"Game's done, Juggernaut--I'm bringin' you and my crooked cousin, Tom, down!" The young girl says to the Juggernaut.
"Do tell, Girlie! What're you gonna do--Yell at us 'til we give up?" Cain Marko replies.
"I'm dead tired o' cleanin' up after your messes, Cain Marko--" Siryn begins.
"Ah, go wipe yer nose, ya bloody Screamin' Mimi!" Juggernaut says, as he leaps forward and delivers a crushing blow to the girl.
"Stupid move, Woman!" Theresa thinks to herself as she is knocked back over the edge of the roof. "Sonic scream deflected most o' the blow--Hurts like the devil as it is. Right then, Now that my angers not getting the best of me--Let's play it fine and tight..." Theresa recovers and again flies up to renew the confrontation.
"Comin' back fer more, Terry? Ya got guts, if no brains." Juggernaut tells her.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"Oh, Geronimo--Come to Poppa!" Juggernaut shouted as he saw James falling towards him.
"The name is James Proudstar or Warpath. Yours is mud!" James shouted as he angled his fall so as to knock Juggernaut over the edge of the roof.
"You idiot--We're going over the edge!" Juggernaut screamed as they began to fall.
"Over the edge is where we live, Spam in a can. Do like I do...Whoop it up and enjoy the ride!" Warpath shouted as he began to pummel Juggernaut, even as they fell.

Cable, Domino, Shatterstar, Cannonball and Feral jumped out of the hatch and down on the roof.
"Guards on the roof--I count five!" Sam said.
"Let's take 'em out!" Cable shouted, as he blasted one of the guards.
Domino shot the second guard even as Sam blasted into a third Shatterstar downed the fourth and Cable blasted the fifth.
"We're all clear, topside! Let's take it down! One floor at a time! Secure your perimeter before proceeding! We got suits and ties all around and the media are on this like a lisp on Mike Tyson. You know what that means?" Cable asked.
"It means that I perform my best in front of a crowd!" Shatterstar said.
"What a shame, Shatty-Buns." Feral said with a purr.
"What it means is Restraint with a capital R. No Killing! Minimal destruction for a change." Cable told them.
"Quite a bit to ask, out of this bunch." Domino said.

Inside, meanwhile, Gideon had jumped Black Tom, or rather he tried to jump him. Tom blasted Gideon before he got within ten feet of him. This left him open to an attack by Sunspot, however, and Roberto took full advantage of his chance. He landed two blows on Tom before he, too, was blasted back by Tom's energy blasts. Just as Tom took aim at Sunspot's head to finish off the boy a plasma blast nearly blew Tom's left arm off.
Tom screamed in agony and rolled over to find the barrel of the plasma rifle aimed squarely at his head.
"Dead or alive. The choice is yours." Cable told him.
"I don't know who in the name o' the devil you think you are...But Black Tom makes his own choices in this life! Startin' with the fact that we've laid down enough plastique throughout the buildin' t' make it a pile o' match-sticks--And my finges is poised on this detonator!" Tom said, as he allowed Cable to see the detonator in his hand.

On the ground below, Warpath and Juggernaut were trading blow after blow. Warpath put his all into a right cross to Juggernaut's jaw.
"Not bad, Kid. Reminds me of a few shots I took from the armored mutie--What's his name--Colossus?--A couple'a years back. But his best wasn't good enough then--And yours won't be now!!" Juggernaut said as he returned the blow in kind.
"Try it with your mouth closed for a minute or two!" Warpath said as he delivered yet another blow.
"You want my mouth shut, Kid--Shut it for me!!" Juggernaut replied.
"Oh, I love the ritual tough-guy talk! What say we make your dentist a very rich man?" Warpath said.

THAKKAWHOURRMM

That's a question on everyone's mind. To find the answer we must look past the destruction to the floors just below the explosion. It is here we find Cable and the rest of the surviving X-Force.
"Everyone's accounted for--Good!" Cable said as he shoved debris off of his comrades. Unknown to any, but suspected by Dom, Cable had shielded them with a TK shield to help them avoid the worst of the blast.
"Cable! Where is Black Tom? I thought he was standing by you when the bomb went off." Dom said.
"I don't know. I've been looking for his body in the wreckage since the smoke cleared--But I can't find a trace of him. For now, I need you and Siryn to get downstairs and see what happened to Warpath and Juggernaut. Tell the team to take him out as fast as possible. I'm going after Black Tom!"

Meanwhile, down below, Spidey made sure that Sam was okay while the other attacked Juggernaut.
"Cannonball, I want you to stay here and rest for a while. If you think you can help later, fine. For now, it looks like your buddies could use a bit of help." Spidey told him.
"Don't worry, Spider-Man, I'll be all right in a flash! The rest of the team should be okay since it was the top stories of the Trade Center that blew up. Cable can handle Black Tom." Sam told him.
Spider-Man began calmly walking towards the others battle with Juggernaut.
"Aw, Juggy, my friend, how lovely to see you again. But picking on these young heroes doesn't quite become someone of your stature. Besides, these kid's haven't quite grasqed the idea that you can't be stopped. Now, what say you dance with one of you old buddies instead?" Spidey said.
"Spider-Man!! How many heroes are in this town, anyway? This ain't your fight, so why don't you mind your own business?" Juggernaut told him.
"No can do, Juggster. They'd take away my super-heroes license. Now, if you don't stop this commotion immediately and hand yourself over to the authorities--I'm going to be forced to take some drastic actions." Spidey calmly stated.
"Hee-hee. Izzat right? Well, unless I'm stupider than you look--You're missing the obvious. I'm bigger than you! And since the only thing that can stop me is myself, I suggest you leave immediately or I'll be forced to blow my nose with you." Juggernaut told him.
"Well, you've had your chance. This is going to hurt me more than it is you. Now, X-Forcers, take note! I know I can't stop him--But I sure as heck can slow him down." Spidey said, as he webbed over Juggernaut's eye-slits in his helmet. "Now Push!!" Spidey shouted, as he leaped over and behind Juggernaut. Warpath gave a mighty heave and Juggernaut flipped over Spidey, who was now crouched behind his knees, and fell to the ground.
"Okay. Now we're going to do it my way--Hard, Fast and Ugly!" Juggernaut shouted, as he ripped away the webbing from his helmet.
"Bravado is all you have. It's time you saw our point of view--Literally!!" Shatterstar shouted, as he leaped and stabbed Juggernaut through his right eye.

AARRRRGGGGHHHH

AARRGGGHHHH!!

Topside, within the now ravaged World Trade Center Tower--Hunter and prey--Cable and Black Tom Cassidy--Play out their parts of the game...
"Cassidy--! Play it one of two ways--Give yourself up and die or make me come after you to kill you. Either way, I guess you're a dead man. But I hope you didn't expect anything less after building a stunt like this. What did you expect to accomplish?" Cable asked. He knew just where Cassidy was, through his telepathy, but let Cassidy think that he had got the drop on him to draw him out.
"All that I have and more, Cable! Don't move, Boyo--And don't ye dare be threatenin' me again! So help me, I'll fry ye with me mutant energy blast as likely as listen t' your fool's bravado." Tom told him.
"You're a dead man, Cassidy. Come clean. What did you get out of this entire fiasco?" Cable asked.
"First and foremost, the return of me friend Cain Marko--The Juggernaut. Secondly, that Black Tom Cassidy is a man willin' t' back his threats with actions! Thirdly, the pleasure of seein' one o' your bloody righteous mutant X-Teams humbled and eliminated!" Tom told him.
"Well, you'll end the day batting .666. Not bad for a minor leaguer. But not good enough to play with the big boys." Cable said and raised and fired his plasma pistol before Black Tom could even react. The blast knocked him into the elevator shaft, where he caught the cable with his right arm.
"Funny. I mean you hanging on to a cable for life." Cable told him.
"Enough! Ye win, ye bloody scab! Just pull me up an' I'll be surrenderin'!" Tom gasped.
"So you can be arrested and escape in two months time to do this all over again? I don't play that game, Cassidy." Cable told him.
"Ye don't mean--ye just can't--" Tom's plea was cut short by the blast of Cable's plasma pistol. Cable watched him fall out of sight and turned to go and check on his team.
Tom Cassidy didn't fall to his death, however, he was caught by the merc for hire known as Deadpool, who teleported away with him.

Meanwhile, on the ground below, the battle still raged. Warpath charged Juggernaut from the front while Siryn flew around behind and swooped down to remove his helmet from his head.
"HEY! Theresa! Get back here with that thing! How did you get it off me? It's mystically bonded to my armor!" Juggernaut shouted, confused.
"My blades were forged in a dimension of magic and science, Juggernaut. More than capable of slicing through your helmet moorings earlier...More than capable of slicing off your head next!" Shatterstar said with a smile.
"That's it! ENOUGH!! Legs first! No Ankles! Then fingers! Or maybe jaws first, so you'll all SHUT UP!! Tell you what, how-z-about I let you decide which bones I'm going to break in which order!" Juggernaut shouted.
"How about if you begin with me, Marko?" Cable said, as he walked up to Cain. "Because, quite frankly, I am so sick and tired of dealing with the blatant stupidity of your kind of mutant...And sick of you too! How many times will we have to dance the same dance over and over again? No winners, no losers--Just the two of us playing the part of fools. Now if you take me on first and kill me, at least you'll get me out of your hair. Of course, if I take care of you first, which would be a nice twist on things...Like I already did to your good friend up in the Trade Tower...Then we're all done, nice and neat. So tell me how you plan to die, Cain. And I'll tell you how good a fortune teller you are..."
"I don't know what you're talkin' about, Buddy--But if you're tellin' me Tom Cassidy is dead--And you're takin' credit for it--Then I'm gonna have to--" At that moment, Deadpool, who had teleported behind Juggernaut, teleported back out with him in the same second. Just as Cable blasted away at the spot where Juggernaut's head had been the split second before.
"He teleported away? Why do they all teleport away? In, out, in, out--Can't even end a decent fight anymore!" Cable said.
"Uhm...You sure it's such a bad thing that Edsel-Head took a powder?" Spidey asked. Just then a chopper landed and several men jumped out and leveled weapons at the group.
"Cable--In the name of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate--You are hereby under arrest!" G.W. Bridge shouted over the sound of the chopper.
"Bridge? Bridge!" Cable couldn't believe his eyes.
"Friend of yours?" Spidey asked.
"It's gone on long enough, Nate. End it now. Clean. Before you force too many people to end it nasty. Domino, talk some sense into him--Please." G.W. pleaded.
"Is he joking or what? I can take two of them down right now, give the word." Dom said.
"No. This isn't the time or the place. Scout-Ship--Body-Slide by eight. H-S Genescan only." Cable said, and with this X-Force simply faded out of sight.
"Uhm...Guys...Where'd you go? Uhm...Am I in trouble now?" Spidey asked the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.

The Scout-Ship flew north over Manhattan, headed for home.
"What about Spider-Man?" Sam asked.
"He'll be fine, Sam. He wandered in, he'll wander out. Bridge has nothing against him." Cable said.
"And what does he have against you? What do they all have against you?" Sam asked.
"Good question. I wish I knew the answer." Cable said.
"I wish you'd tell me what you know." Sam told him.
"Everyone strap in and shut up--We walked away from it, they ran from it--Leave it at that! Now let me enjoy turning on the after-burners! Let's blow this clam-bake and go home!" Cable said with a smile of relief.

Somewhere in Europe, the mercenary known as Deadpool teleports into one of Tolliver's mansions with Black Tom and Juggernaut in tow.
"Here they are. Signed, sealed and delivered. Cain Marko, The Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy, would be terrorists. Fresh from a botched takeover of The World Trade Center. You wanted 'em, and I got 'em." Deadpool said to Tolliver. (Who is actually Cable's adoptive son Tyler, remember.)
"Whoever you are--Y' got my thanks for haulin' us outta there--But my friend, he needs a doctor--Fast!" Juggernaut said.
"Oh, he will get one, Mr. Marko. A very, very talented doctor, indeed. And then you will both have to pay the price for services rendered." Tolliver told him with an evil smile.

Early the next morning, Cable sent for Sam and Tabitha to join him in the communications room. When they arrived, Cable motioned for them to watch the news broadcast on the main moniter.
"...As the mysterous X-Force Craft disappeared from the scene of terrorist activity at The World Trade Center, one of the surviving hostages, business tycoon, Gideon, had this to say..." The moniter then switched from Trish Tilby to an image of the External known as Gideon who said, "Though it was Tom Cassidy and his partner Cain Marko who were responsible for the initial take-over--It is obvious that the events were masterminded by X-Force's leader. A man who calls himself Cable. As an example of mutant solidarity against a society they claim continues to oppress them. Frankly, Cable and his band give mutants everywhere a bad name and must, for the greater good of the free world, be stopped!"
"Pretty nice, real smooth. I can't believe that's who Bobby's went to hang out with when he left us. How long's this been running, Cable?" Sam asked.
"Non-stop since they first did the interview, Sam." Cable answered.
"We're bein' turned into public enemy #1 out there! What're we gonna do about it?" Tabitha asked.
"That's the reason we wanted to talk with both of you. The others have nothing to lose. Current events won't affect them. But you have family, Sam, and you have Tabitha--Whether you know it or not." Cable told him.
"I'm stayin' Sir. T' see things through--To the end." Sam said.
"Tabitha?" Cable asked.
"If Guthrie stays, so do I." Tabitha answered.
"Good enough. I just wanted to make sure. Do either of you know where Siryn might be?" Cable asked.
"I saw her headin' towards the gym." Sam answered.
"Thanks." Cable said, as he left the room.
He found Siryn in the gym watching Shatterstar intently as he went through a training session.
"See anything that interests you, Theresa?" Cable asked.
"Huh--Oh--H'lo, Cable. You--What--Shatterstar?--No--Och--Please--No, of course not." Theresa answered awkwardly.
"Would you like us to bring you back to Muir Island or have made you own arrangements?" Cable asked her.
"Well, t' be honest with you, there's not much left on Muir and I was hopin' t' be stayin' on with you, for a while. 'Till some o' the attention from the press wears down a bit, you know. If'n ye don't mind?" Theresa asked.
"Not at all, Theresa. Quite honestly, we could use Siryn's powers, maturity and experience." Cable told her.
"Can't argue with ye there." Theresa told him with a smile.
"Welcome to X-Force, Theresa, I'm sure you'll fit right in." Cable told her.