Chapter One
Cobra Trooper Morris popped open his second can of Cobra Cola. Taking a satisfying gulp, he turned to comment to his partner, Cobra Trooper McCoy. "I can't believe you think the Adders are going to beat the Pythons."
"Hey," responded McCoy, "Miller hurt his arm and Murray popped his shoulder in the quarter finals." McCoy took a swallow of his beverage, Cherry Cobra Cola. "If you're so sure, why don't you place a little wager."
"That's okay, Mike. I know how strapped you are for cash," Morris responded to his teammate.
Cobra Trooper Mark Morris and Cobra Trooper Mike McCoy were pulling guard duty in a warehouse in Key West, Florida. The weather was gorgeous, they could sport fish in their off time, and their duties were light. It beat their last assignment, Project Swelter at Terrordrome Antarctica, by a mile.
At the moment, the two Cobras were kicking back in some chairs, snacking on Snakewells and cola, and watching CobraNet Sports on a small TV. They had their feet propped on a card table, which, besides the TV, had on it their guns and a GI Joe wristcom.
"Alright!" shouted McCoy, responding to an Adder score on the TV. His exclamation was underscored by sounds of exertion coming from behind him.
Morris turned to McCoy. "Looks like Little Miss Joe likes the Adders too," he snickered.
This comment prompted them to both turn their attention to "Little Miss Joe". Morris had told McCoy her codename was Cover Girl and she sure lived up to it. She had been spying on their operation and been discovered. You would never get Morris or McCoy to admit it, being the macho studs they were, but she had easily floored both them and their entire squad.
As the Joe stood triumphant over their prone forms, her hands folded over her chest, she declared in a wry voice, "Now boys, why don't you tell me all about it."
Morris remembered hearing then an accented voice purr "But my dear, you won't be awake to hear it." There was a soft moan and a collapsing sound. When Morris picked himself off the floor, he saw the Joe lying unconscious on the ground and the Baroness in a black bikini standing over her.
"We showed you," Morris thought smugly.
Now the Baroness and the rest of the squad were off the Florida coast continuing the operation while Morris and McCoy got picked to guard the Joe at their warehouse hideout.
While the game broke for half-time, the two Cobras got out of their seats, slung their weapons over their shoulders, and walked over to the prisoner. The exertions they heard were of course the Joe trying to squirm out of her bonds.
"Not likely," thought McCoy. Like the Baroness, the Joe had on a swimsuit, in this case a navy/blue Speedo proback. They were near the water and Mike figured it made a good undercover disguise for her. And it made it good for them when it came time to tie her up.
Not only could she not hide anything but the swimsuit helped them ensure that her ropes were extra snug and tight. Wiggle out of-proof.
"Well, well, how we doing?" Trooper Morris asked Cover Girl. Of course he wasn't expecting an answer because they had gagged her. Cover Girl just glared back, shooting daggers with her eyes. The two Cobras towered over Cover Girl, tied to a chair as she was. Suddenly, Cover Girl's wristcom began to beep. The two Cobras tensed up but after a few moments the beeping stopped.
"Well, Little Miss Joe," Mark taunted, looks like you missed your phone call.
"Don't worry," Mike snickered, "I'm sure they'll think you're just "all tied up" right now. The two Cobras chuckled at their little pun.
Cover Girl groaned through her gag; she hated tie-up jokes. But Cover Girl had to admit that they were right; she should have contacted the rest of the team but things just happened too fast.
GI Joe had learned that Cobra was planning something in the Florida Keys. She, along with Shipwreck, Snake-Eyes, and Scarlett, had been dispatched to find out what. Once there, the team had split up. Snake-Eyes and Scarlett had rented a boat so they could scour the coast while she and Shipwreck had staked out the beach. Shipwreck had gone to check in with Snake-Eyes and Scarlett when Cover Girl spotted two out of shape Cobra Troopers slipping inside one of the warehouses that dotted the beach. She thought about calling the others on her wristcom but decided to get a closer look first. And after all, she figured she could handle two out of shape Cobras easy.
She crept into the warehouse and hid behind a stack of crates and watched. On the other side, the two pudgy Cobras were prying open some of the crates near them. Cover Girl took the opportunity to quietly open one of the crates she was hiding behind. "Oh my gosh," Cover Girl whispered when she saw the sea mines packed inside.
"Cobra Commander sure is a genius," boasted one of the Cobras. "Blow up the Key Bridge and cut off the islands off the coast. They'll make easy pickings for Cobra then."
So that was their plan, thought Cover Girl. She had to tell the other Joes. As Cover Girl raised her wristcom to her mouth, a "Hey, what's this," came from behind her. A squad of heavily armed Cobra troops had just walked in right behind her!
Cover Girl went on instinct alone. She rushed the squad, catching the squad off guard. They tried to draw their guns but she was too fast. She took out the first trooper with a spinning kick to his head, diving to sweep the legs out from the second trooper before elbowing him in the stomach.
They charged her in mass but she sidestepped their attacks, turning their momentum against them. After five eventful minutes, the only Cobra troops left standing were the two pudgy Cobras who had gotten to the fight late. They were about to attack but saw the damage Cover Girl had done and hesitated.
"Get her, Mark!" pudgy number one told his partner. Pudgy number two waited a beat and then charged, yelling wildly. Cover Girl calmly waited and when he took a sloppy swing at her, she deftly turned her head to avoid the blow and caught him on the back of the neck with a karate chop that put him down for the count.
Pudgy number one just stood there for a beat. Cover Girl beckoned him with her hand. That did it. Pudgy number one sprinted… away from Cover Girl in full retreat.
Triumphant, Cover Girl folded her arms under her chest and surveyed the wreckage of Cobra troopers groaning and moaning on the floor. "Now boys, why don't you tell me all about it," she declared in a wry voice. Just as one of the troopers was about to speak, Cover Girl heard a familiar accented voice say "But my dear, you won't be awake to hear it."
Cover Girl tried to turn around but it was too late. She felt a sharp blow to the back of her head and then everything went black.
"Oh, my head," Cover Girl thought as she came to. She tried to raise a hand to her head but something restrained her. "I'm tied up!" she realized with a shock. Then it all came back to her, up to the point where the Baroness knocked her out.
Cover Girl assessed the situation. She was still inside the warehouse. The Baroness and her squad of troopers had left along with the crates of sea mines. Only the two pudgy Cobra troopers remained behind to guard her but they were absorbed in watching some sort of ballgame and snacking up on junk food.
Not that any of that was going to help her, the captured Joe thought ruefully after examining her bonds. She twisted her hands, trying to work some slack into the bonds. It was useless. Tight ropes bound her wrists together behind the back of the chair. The ropes were also laced through one of the chair slats, securing her wrists to the chair itself. Fortunately, the knots were within reach of her fingers but they were complicated and tight. With time, Cover Girl was confident she could have them undone and free her hands.
But if it was only that, Cover Girl wouldn't be feeling so hopeless. For yards of more rope wound their way around her upper body, pinning her to the chair. Several feet were wrapped around her stomach, up to just below her chest. Her chest was lashed by crisscrossing ropes with more tying down her shoulders. Her upper body bonds pinioned her arms to the chair back, making it near impossible to move them.
On top of all that, more cords secured her legs together at the ankles, knees, and thighs, those ropes securing her lap to the chair seat. An oily cloth kept her gagged, completing her distress.
"Come on girl," Cover Girl told herself. "You've been in worse situations and you've always managed to find a way. You've got to get free and warn the others."
With a renewed sense of purpose, Cover Girl went about fighting her bonds. She knew she had to get some slack in the ropes looped around her body so she could free her arms. To this end, she took in great intakes of air, expanding her diaphragm. The ropes bit into her body when she did this and were just as tight after she exhaled. She tried massaging her shoulders up and down and jerking them back and forth. This too failed. The problem, Cover Girl discovered, was her swimsuit. It allowed her ropes to be tied exceptionally snug and secure without an inch of slack.
"I bet Shipwreck never has this problem," Cover Girl lamented.