Hey guys! This is TyForestGames, and I'm back to write Agent Rhode Island: What If. This is an AU, and is not canon to my Agent Rhode Island series. I'm mainly doing this for fun, but chapters will come out regularly. This is what would've happened if Rhode survived through Season 9's flashbacks... Let's go!
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Prologue: The Sarcophagus
THE HIGHEST BUILDING IN THE CITY OF INSURRECTIONISTS
MANY YEARS AGO
Wash got to his feet and stared at the soldier lying on the ground in front of them, "That guy was a jerk!"
"Come on," Carolina ordered. "Let's get moving, guys!"
As they ran out the Vault, Rhode glanced at the carnage around him, "That bit with the purple plane; that was just showing off."
But he was happy nonetheless. The murderer of his family was gone. But now, back to business.
Down the passages they ran, up the stairwell towards the roof where York was waiting, "Come on, come on, hurry!"
As they ran through, he smashed the control panel with his rifle and the door slid shut, "There, that oughta hold 'em for a while."
But then he jumped back as the soldiers started welding through the doors on the other side, "Okay, maybe not."
As he set off after the others, he then said, "Hey, where's Maine?"
"Downstairs, keeping our hosts occupied," Wash replied.
At that moment, an agonized scream rang up from below and York winced slightly, "Man, I almost feel bad for them."
"That's what I said!" Rhode cried.
At the front, Carolina quickly got on the radio, "Four Seven Niner, this is Team Alpha! We need evac on the roof of the tower!"
"Roger that, I'm on it," the pilot replied.
"Come on, it's up..." York skidded to a halt when he saw someone by the Sarcophagus, "...here."
"You!" Carolina's eyes narrowed when she saw the black-armored figure standing up from the strange device, "What are you doing here? Is that a bomb?"
Carolina stared at it for a moment then she gasped, "I knew it. It was you who blew up the oil platform!"
"That thing blew up?" Wash gasped.
"Somebody's been covering up our tracks," Carolina stepped right up to Texas and stared into her visor, "You're on the roster too, but they hid your name. Why did they send you?"
Rhode quickly got between them, "Hey, hate to bust up your reunion, but we've got a problem!"
Right on cue, the doors were kicked open and dozens of Insurrectionists came pouring out onto the roof, led by a figure that Carolina and Rhode recognized right away; the red-armored leader from Bjørndal.
"Let's go, go, go, now!" he ordered his team, "Get into position! Completely surround them!"
As the soldiers followed their orders, four Hornet-Class fighter-ships swooped out of the sky. Then several more soldiers wearing jetpacks zipped out of the Hornets like bees from a hive and landed behind the Freelancers, cutting off their escape.
"No one gets behind me!" Red Leader yelled, raising his rifle, "Drop your weapons!"
As the Freelancers reluctantly obeyed, he then turned to Rhode, "You, moron, disarm the bomb!"
"Easy, easy, no reason to get all dramatic," Rhode reassured, kneeling down by the device, "I've never done this before, but okay, let me take a crack."
"Just do it already!" Red Leader snapped.
"Easy, easy, man," Rhode picked up the device, glanced over it for a moment and then frowned. "Um, this may not be my job, but I know this isn't a bomb. It's a transmitter."
"Alright, it's not a bomb!" Red Leader informed his team then he looked puzzled, "Wait, a transmitter? What's it transmitting?"
"Our location," Rhode replied.
"Why would it do that?"
Rhode just shrugged and glanced up at the sky.
In orbit above the planet, on the flight deck of the Mother of Invention, the Director waited in silence as FILSS prepared the ship's weapon, "System online, Director. Awaiting your command..."
Behind him, the Counselor began to look nervous, "If I may, Director, I think it would be wise if we-"
"Shut up, Counselor," the Director cut in sharply.
"Of course, sir," the Counselor murmured.
The ship then fired a tracking laser down to the planet, scanning for the transmitter.
Down below, Red Leader looked up at his prisoners and gasped when he just saw Rhode, York, and Wash standing there, "What the crap? There were five of them here? What is going on?"
Suddenly one of the soldiers turned to the others and started beating the crap out of them, her armor fading back to blue. Several soldiers turned to fire at her but they were then knocked down by an invisible being running around them.
"What did I say?!" Red Leader bellowed, "I said one thing! Keep them in front of me!"
Just then, Rhode saw a red laser hitting the transmitter and he quickly handed it to the leader, "Hey man, you mind holding this for me for a sec? Thank you."
Then he took a few steps away.
"Huh?" Red Leader looked at the transmitter as it started to beep then he looked slowly up at the sky.
XXX
At that moment, the Mother of Invention's tracking computer locked on to the signal.
"Target locked," FILSS announced.
The Director gave a superior smile, "Fire!"
"Firing main cannon," FILSS replied.
Then from the front of the ship, a huge beam of light shot out towards its target.
XXX
On the building, Red Leader stepped back as he saw the light coming right at him. "Oh, son of a-"
KRA-POOOOWWWWWWWWW! The beam shot straight through the building, shattering every single pane of glass and sending the Freelancers flying back. As Rhode got to his feet, he saw a huge gaping hole right where Red Leader had been standing moments ago.
'Man,' he thought, "I'm glad that wasn't me.'
Suddenly, the whole roof began to cave in around them. Texas then spotted Pelican Four-Seven-Niner approaching and ran towards the Sarcophagus, snatching up a dead soldier's jetpack and strapping it to her back. She then kicked the Sarcophagus off the roof and jumped off after it, switching on her pack and soaring off.
York, Wash, Rhode and Carolina then took off after her as the whole building began to crumble and sink into itself.
"This must be karma for kicking Main out the window!" Carolina cried as they ran.
"I don't wanna DO THIIIIIISSSSS!" York screamed.
"OH NOOOOOOOO!" Wash yelled.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!" Rhode cried.
They reached the edge of the roof and dived right over the edge, streamlining their bodies as they went after the Sarcophagus, dodging falling soldiers and building debris. The Pelican dived after them, drawing alongside the falling Freelancers.
Soon Carolina caught up to the falling Sarcophagus and landed right on top, her magnetic boot-clamps attaching to its side as she rode on it like a surfboard.
"Line it up!" Four Seven Niner called through her radio, "Come on! Come on! Stay on target!"
Carolina watched as the Pelican overtook her then opened its hatch. But then two Hornets swooped out of the clouds and opened fired on her. She jumped aside to avoid the blows and Wash quickly took her place, shooting a Hornet down in mid-air.
Just then Texas appeared behind him and pushed the Sarcophagus right into the flight deck, sending Wash sprawling on the floor, "Ow..."
As Texas crashed down beside him, her armor started to spark blue.
"Hold on!" the pilot called as she pulled the Pelican out of the dive and flew out of the city.
Texas then appeared at the doorway, "Get the package back to Command, now!"
"On it!" Four Seven Niner replied.
XXX
Outside, York, Rhode, and Carolina, still in freefall above the city, watched helplessly as the Pelican flew away.
"Well, there goes our ride," York sighed.
"You think maybe we should've had a fallback plan?" Carolina muttered.
"Hey, what happened to Maine?" Rhode realized.
And then suddenly mere moments before they could hit the ground, an armored jeep burst out of the building right beneath them.
Carolina and Rhode grabbed onto the turret while York caught a hold of the roof, "Whoa! Are we in a car?"
"Hang on, everyone!" Maine called out as the jeep dived right into a tunnel.
Explosions ripped through the building's insides as it crumbled down to the ground. Then the jeep roared right out of the tunnel and onto the freeway. York was now sitting in the passenger seat and Carolina kept a firm grip on the turret as Maine swerved around the traffic. Rhode, however, had slipped and was now hanging on to the back bumper for dear life.
"Rhode! Quit showing off!" York ordered.
"THIS ISN'T ON PURPOSE!!!" Rhode screamed as Carolina offered her hand, which he gladly took.
XXX
On the Pelican, the pilot got on the radio, "Command, this is Four Seven Niner. The Sarcophagus is secure, I repeat, the Sarcophagus is secure. We are inbound. Two Agents aboard, Team's status unknown."
In the hanger, Texas took off her jetpack as it started to spark and Wash gave a smile, "So, jetpacks, huh?"
Texas just tossed it aside and then jumped out of the Pelican moments before the door closed.
Wash raised an eyebrow, "That was interesting."
XXX
Things were looking grim for Team B. As soon as their jeep had come within sight of the car that Rhee Sebial was in, the police escorts had opened fire on them, forcing their jeep to crash. They quickly took cover behind their vehicle and returned fire, but Wyoming took a hit on the shoulder and went down fast so C.T. broke off her fire to examine him, leaving North and Tenn to face the police alone.
Now as he pulled back to reload his rifle, Carolina's voice called to him through his helmet radio, "Team B, report. Team B!"
"Team B is down!" North reported, "We have wounded, and are taking fire!"
"We'll be right there."
"Negative," North said, "Get the package and get it out of the city."
XXX
Further up the road, Carolina nodded. "Roger that."
As Maine kept the jeep going as fast as he could, York quickly typed in some numbers on the tracking screen, "Reading Team B's tracker..."
At last, the screen started beeping and a red light flashed on the map, "Okay, there he is. I got it."
"We'll cut 'em off at the overpass," Carolina decided, "Go, go!"
With a nod, Maine took the next turnoff onto the bridge and set off in pursuit.
XXX
In another part of the city, Texas made her way through a building, avoiding the Insurrectionist patrols until she reached a balcony outside then she switched on her radio, "Come in, Mother of Invention."
"We read you, Agent Texas," FILSS replied, "Go ahead."
"FILSS, I need you to fire ordinance pod 0-4-0-1 to my position."
"I am sorry, but I cannot verify the contents of that pod. Protocol dictates that all-"
"Just fire it, FILSS," the Director's voice cut in.
"Acknowledged," FILSS replied. "Safety protocol override. Firing pod 0-4-0-1."
Texas waited a few seconds then a huge pod crashed down onto the roof nearby.
As she approached, a large panel opened up and slid down... to reveal an armored motorcycle and a fully-loaded rocket launcher inside, "Hello there..."
XXX
Outside the building, one of the patrolling guards spun around, "Did you hear that?"
"Uh, no man," his partner replied.
"You didn't?" the first guard cried, "It was like-"
Suddenly the motorcycle crashed right through the window behind them and landed right next to them. The guards only had time to see Texas wink at them before she drove off down the freeway.
"How 'bout that?" the first guard yelled, "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, I heard it," his friend replied as they jumped into their jeeps and set off in pursuit.
XXX
Further down the road, Carolina, Rhode, York, and Maine had reached the bridge that went over the main freeway and waited.
Then they spotted Rhee's car approaching them and Carolina turned to Maine, "Get ready."
Maine nodded and climbed onto the railing on the other side.
Then just before the car reached the bridge, Carolina yelled out, "Now!"
With that, Maine leapt off the bridge and landed neatly on the bonnet of the car, "Stop this vehicle and hand over the package... NOW!"
"What the?" Rhee quickly spun the wheel round and swerved the car, trying to throw the Freelancer off.
But Maine managed to cling on tight then he whipped out his brute shot and turned it so that the blade was facing Rhee, "Looks like we're gonna do this the hard way..."
XXX
York drove the jeep down the road for a while until he spotted Maine waving to them by the wreck of Rhee's car.
As he pulled up, the bigger Freelancer smiled and held up a white briefcase, "Going my way?"
Behind the turret, Carolina beamed, "Nice work, Maine."
"Thanks," Maine grunted, sticking the case onto his back as he climbed into the jeep.
"Yeah, subtle as always," Rhode muttered, noticing the brute shot's blood-stained blade, "Response team is probably on the way."
Carolina nodded, "Let's get outta here."
"Hold on!" York slammed his foot on the pedal and the jeep took off across the highway, ducking and dodging around the traffic, "Coming through! 'Scuse me! Look out!"
Rhode then heard the sound of jet engines behind them and turned round to see two Insurrectionist Hornets diving out of the sky towards them, "Here they come!"
As the Hornets drew closer, three Insurrectionists wearing jetpacks leapt out of the back and flanked around them.
"Behind us!" York yelped.
Carolina opened fire on them with the turret, but the soldiers ducked around some passing trucks, letting them take the hits. One soldier, who carried a sniper rifle, sped on ahead and landed on the back of a flatbed truck before taking aim at the Freelancers.
"Maine, protect the briefcase!" Carolina yelled as she fired.
Rhode pulled out his sniper rifle and pulled the trigger. Click. That was a bad time to remember he had wasted his bullets on Sharkface. So he pulled out his pistol and opened fire.
Maine raised his brute shot to fire, but then he spotted an infrared laser beam and followed back to where Sniper was. Acting quickly, he dived in front of Rhode just as Sniper fired, taking the hit on his chest.
"Maine?" Rhode turned round to see the taller Freelancer slumping forward then he gasped, "Sniper!"
He ducked aside as the soldier fired again.
XXX
Further up the road, Texas sped down the highway, dodging the fire from the pursuing jeeps behind her. She quickly ramped off the barrier into the other lane, swerving around the oncoming traffic. As one of the jeeps followed after her, she hit the brakes, sending the motorcycle wheeling round, grabbed her rocket launcher and fired at the jeep, sending its passengers flying.
As she set off again, she spotted the Hornets pursuing Team A, "Gotcha..."
She swerved to her right onto an off-ramp, sending the bike flying onto the road where Team A was driving. As she landed, she fired a rocket at one of the Hornets, taking out before tossing the launcher away. She then whipped out her SMG and fired at some Insurrectionists pursuing the team on Mongooses.
XXX
Up ahead, the other Insurrectionist on jetpacks opened fire on the Freelancers and Carolina ducked behind the turret, "Punch it!"
"It's punched!" York yelled back.
Then one Insurrectionist, with blonde hair sticking out from the bottom of her helmet, landed on the jeep's bonnet and raised her shotgun but Carolina jumped to the front, knocked the gun away and kicked Blondie off the car.
Rhode stared at Blondie, painful memories coming back to him. He looked at Carolina, who realized the same thing. Then Blondie switched on her jetpack, whipped out a knife and swung out at Rhode, knocking him towards the edge of the bonnet.
Behind them, Maine began to stir but then Blondie planted her foot on his back, knocking him out again, and snatched the briefcase off his back. But then Carolina ran forward and kicked Blondie back, sending the case flying.
Carolina fumbled with for a moment before getting a firm grip on it. "Got it."
But then the second Insurrectionist, who wore a sleeveless suit of armor, dived down and kicked Carolina off the jeep, grabbing the case back. Carolina grabbed onto the bonnet and Rhode pulled her back on as Sleeveless raised his rifle and pointed it at the still-unconscious Maine's head.
"Hold on!" York swerved the jeep hard left, flinging Sleeveless forward. The soldier bumped into Carolina and Rhode and they all flew off the jeep and landed on a truck, scattering its load of oil drums like skittles.
As York swerved to avoid the barrels, Maine stirred in his seat, "What happened? What did I miss?"
"Just about everything!" York cried.
On the truck, Rhode managed to retrieve the briefcase but then Blondie dived out of the sky and fired at him, sending the Freelancer into cover. At the same time, Sleeveless picked up a barrel and flung it towards the jeep, knocking its turret off.
"Would you quit throwing stuff?!" York bellowed.
Then he spotted the truck with Sniper on board drawing up next to him, "On your left, on your left!"
Sniper raised his rifle and fired at them, but York swerved back to avoid the hit then rammed the jeep right into the truck, sending Sniper flying. The soldier switched on his jetpack to regain his balance and took after the jeep, but as he drew up to them, Maine punched him back into the path of a barrel and he was knocked back down again.
York then sped up the jeep until it drew up alongside the barrel truck, "Watch it! Watch it!"
Maine leapt off the jeep to rugby-tackle Blondie but she jumped out of the way then kicked him back into Rhode and Carolina, leaving the three Freelancers back to back as they faced their opponents. Maine felt the briefcase clip onto his back then he charged towards Sleeveless while Carolina and Rhode fought it out with Blondie.
"On the right!" York tossed the brute shot out and Rhode snatched it out of the air.
He then did a Matrix-style jump to avoid the bullets fired at him before he plunged the brute shot's blade into Blondie's chest.
But as she fell back, Blondie tossed her pistol over to Sleeveless, who caught it before punching Maine back. As the Freelancer swung his fist out, Sleeveless caught it then fired the pistol right into Maine's throat. He then threw Maine to the floor and held him down with his foot as he fired at his throat again and again.
"NO!!!" Rhode tackled Sleeveless off his friend and swung the brute shot down at him but he ducked aside and kicked him away. The wounded Blondie then flew into the fray, and Carolina quickly ran to Rhode.
Behind them, Maine staggered to his feet, blood pouring down his throat, and grabbed his brute shot.
"Have to... protect... them..." he gurgled, taking aim at the Insurrectionists.
But just as he pressed the trigger, Blondie fired at his shoulder, disrupting his aim and making him hit the rear of the truck. The Truck swerved round violently and smashed into a car, sending its five unknown hitchhikers flying through the air.
As she flew, Carolina reached out for the briefcase still on Maine's back but just missed and landed on the back of York's jeep while Rhode landed perfectly in the passenger seat.
"Sup?" York said casually.
"Jacked up, about to die," Rhode muttered, "The usual."
Maine however bounced off the road a few times before a speeding truck smashed him right off the road. Sleeveless snatched up the briefcase and took off towards his Hornet.
Behind them, Texas roared round her other pursuer and fired at the Hornet, but Sleeveless ducked to avoid the bullets. The Hornet then dived into a tunnel, its rotor smashing the door controls. Texas gunned her cycle and took off into the tunnel.
Carolina gasped as she saw the doors begin to slide, "Don't let her grab it first!"
"Who cares who gets it first?" Rhode yelled.
"I do!"
But as they drew closer, Carolina realized that the jeep wouldn't make it through in time, "Bail out!"
"Bailing!" York and Rhode leapt out of the jeep and rolled down the road.
Carolina mounted the jeep's roof and rode it like a surfboard towards the closing doors. Then just before the tunnel was completely sealed shut, she leapt through the gap and activated her speed unit, hitting the ground running as she set off after Texas.
Outside the tunnel, York and Rhode staggered to their feet and stared at the burning wreckage of the jeep by the tunnel's doors.
"Man, We've got to quit jumping off stuff today," Rhode grunted
They then spotted Pelican Four-Seven-Niner approaching and waved their arms to flag it down.
XXX
In the tunnel, Carolina spotted the Hornet up ahead and urged herself to speed up, ducking around cars as she drew up next to Texas, "Fall back, Agent Carolina. I've got this!"
"You fall back!" Carolina retorted.
Texas scowled at her and accelerated her bike. The Hornet left the tunnel and began to ascend but Texas drove her bike up an off-ramp and bailed out just as it left the end. Sleeveless spotted the bike approaching and jumped off just as it smashed into the Hornet in a fiery explosion. He quickly switched on his jetpack and took off.
Texas flipped round and landed on her feet just as Carolina overtook her. As Sleeveless flew away from the highway, she leapt over the traffic barrier and fired her grappling hook at a crane, swinging over the buildings like Spiderman. She landed on a rooftop and took off after Sleeveless, jumping over the roofs in pursuit. Eventually she caught up to him and dived straight at him, knocking him out of the sky and onto the road.
Sleeveless' jetpack skidded across the road, propelling them down the road like a rocket-powered skateboard. He swung out at Carolina but she raised her fist and punched him right in the face, sending them tumbling down the road. A truck smacked into the back of Sleeveless and sent him flying, knocking the briefcase off his back. Carolina quickly curled into a ball as she skidded right under the lorry, but its back bumper hit her armor and she was sent flying through the air before smacking into a traffic barrier and crashing to the ground.
With a groan, she staggered to her feet, her helmet slipping off her head. As she shook her head, sending her fiery-red hair whipping round her face, she looked around and spotted the briefcase on the other side of the road... just as Texas walked over and picked it up.
"Command, the package is secure," Texas announced over her radio. "Heading home."
"Excellent work, Agent Texas," the Director replied.
"Thank you, sir," As she ended the call, Texas turned and nodded to the blue Freelancer, "Better luck next time, Carolina."
Then she jumped over the barrier and disappeared. Carolina swore under her breath then she looked up and spotted Pelican Four-Seven-Niner diving out of the sky. The hatch then swung open and Rhode beamed down at her, holding out his hand. With a slight smile, Carolina picked up her helmet, grabbed Rhode's hand and was pulled up onto the Pelican as it set off back to base...
XXX
Man, that was a workload... But hey, I'm back! Origins is still on hold, but I'm working with for the next chapter. Till next time guys!
