XIX
The
Funhouse
The Funhouse
Bubblegum Crisis is property of AIC/Youmex
Toshimichi Suzuki and Kenichi Sonoda created Bubblegum Crisis
GI Joe is Property of Hasbro and Marvel/Sunbow entertainment all rights reserved.
Gundam and all related names are property of Bandai and Sunrise
Mobile Suit Gundam was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and any related character is property of Tatsunoko
The Funhouse was originally written by Steve Mitchell and Barbara Petty
Point of caution from the author: This merely directed to the Flint/Lady J fans, in this interpretation the two play a more minimize role. The primary reason is that I wanted to bring the Knight Sabers and Cover Girl into the forefront and sacrifices had to be made, which also included writing out Zartan, Air-Tight and Dusty as well.
This takes place after the Synthoid Conspiracy
Placing a cigar in his mouth, Hawk looked to Duke, Flint, Scarlett and Grey Fox during a normal staff meeting, "Well if there isn't any new….what?" Hawk asked as the 4 Joes looked at him like he was committing some sort of crime.
"Umm, you didn't read the sign behind you, sir?" Scarlett questioned pointing to the sign behind the General.
Hawk turned to notice a sign in big red letters: NO SMOKING, under it in little black letters by order of the Department of Defense. "Geez, thank you political correctness." Hawk grumbled removing the cigar from his mouth and placing it back into his sterling silver cigar case. "Anyway on to some lighter news, I hear you're finally taking a vacation, Sylia. What happen?"
Sylia gave off a light chuckle; Sylia Stingray had the reputation in GI Joe of never of taking a vacation. "Well, after months of constant nagging from Doc, my Knight Sabers and Scarlett. Scarlett booked me a trip to the Bahamas and filled out the paperwork; Dagger and Cypher packed my bags and are personally seeing me to the plane. Wolf bolted my office shut."
"So they put the proverbial gun to your head," Flint smiled
"Basically, but even I could use a vacation. One thing I need some bolt cutters to get in my office, I have some things I need to take care of before I leave."
"Before I close this meeting, has anyone seen Beachhead?" Hawk asked. It seemed out of place for him to ever miss a staff meeting.
Even before anyone could answer Hawk, the ski-masked Joe entered he quietly sat in his chair amongst the snickers and near bursting out of laugher. With the exception of his ski mask, Beachhead was dressed in a pink bunny suit complete with floppy ears and a cotton tail. "Beachhead, have you lost your mind?" Hawk questioned.
"No sir," He humbly responded "Wolf and Cover Girl dressed me like this when I was asleep."
"General, can you excuse me please." Sylia said as she got up and walked out of the conference room. As the door closed behind the Knight Saber commander, and she let out, for lack of a better term, a gut busting laugh at Beachhead's expense.
Later, after cutting the bolts to her office door, Sylia convened a meeting of her Knight Sabers, which Priss complained she was called right in the middle of her 'joint operations' with Cover Girl. "Since we already know I being sent on vacation, there is no point of discussing it."
"Oh come on, Sylia it's not that bad we bought you a new swimsuit." Nene smiled at her CO.
"How?" Sylia sternly asked with an arched eyebrow. "You don't know even my measurements."
"Uh, you're brother," Linna meekly answered
Sylia's eyes narrowed, the measurements were for the Knight Sabers' hardsuits and softsuits so their measurements were classified, then she wrote a note on her memo pad. 'Memo to self: Upon return plan dear brother's funeral!' Cause I'm going to murder the little bastard! Sylia thought to herself. "While I'm gone, Priss you're in charge of the Knight Sabers."
"Ya got it Boss."
"Oh, Priss, while I'm gone, please don't do anything like duct tape Beachhead to the ceiling,"
"What about a cruise missile?"
"Nice thought, but no."
Chapter 1
At a major research institute in Washington State, a janitor was making his nightly rounds. For him it was a normal night as he pushed his broom down the corridor off offices. Until an unknown assailant grabbed him from behind and dragged him into an office where his neck was promptly snapped.
Exiting from the office the janitor continued down the corridor for labs. Inside Dr. Emil Hibbentrope was in the middle of his research. An expert in microbiology, he was conducting research in creating microbes capable of purifying sewage into drinking water. "Dr. Hibbentrope?"
"The door says: 'Do not Enter,'" Hibbentrope told the janitor, "Clean the lab, later."
"Doctor, I think a nap is in order." The janitor cackled with a modified M-9 in his hand.
At GI Joe headquarters, Flint ran down the list of scientists and their photos of who have been kidnapped over the past week. A botanist, a microbiologist, two astronomers, a cosmologist, a geologist. "Anyone care to take a guess, why?"
"You think Cobra Commander like to collects scientist like umm…."
"Baseball cards." Bazooka added for Alpine.
"Maybe, anyone again care to guess what he would do when he completes his set?"
"Blow up the Earth, flesh eating zombies, the usual shit." Wolf shrugged
The main view screen crackled to life as an audio/video transmission came through, Breaker brought up the transmission while Cypher worked her magic tracing the signal origin. But on the main screen was the image of Cobra Commander; helmet and faceplate. "Greetings GI Joe. You no doubt know what I have chosen to speak with you about."
"So much for the unlisted number," Wolf grumbled but this was also an opportunity for her either to put the Commander in the ICU or in a pine box.
"Get on with it, Cobra Commander! What kind of shit are you pulling this time?" Flint demanded
The Commander arched an eyebrow under faceplate, in his mind he should be spoken to with more respect considering he had a bigger bargaining chip that was of value to GI Joe. "I would be rather displeased, Flint. If you were to accept my demand, I would be disposed."
"What demand?"
"10 billion dollars for each scientist or I will return them, one body part at a time."
"Kidnapping? You've hit a new low, Commander."
"I don't know Flint. This is a step up from that Cold Slither shit. So give the fucker a little credit." Wolf responded with a laugh, she fell on her ass laughing at the plot of Cobra of corrupting the youth of America by recruiting them into Cobra with rock music and the Dreadnoks used as the rock band Cold Slither. She listened to the song with the subliminal message removed, and she laughed long and hard at the Dreadnoks lack of singing talent.
"Where do you expect us to get that kind of money, Commander?" Lady J stepped in
"Bake sale?" Cypher sarcastically suggested
"Hey, the lottery is up to 50 mill," Dagger laughed
"Pull the cash out of our asses." Wolf retorted
"Enough of this foolishness!" The Commander snapped, "Lest you think I'm not serious, watch this!"
The image changed from the Commander to Dr. Hibbentrope tied to a chair pleading for GI Joe to free him by any means necessary. "Joes, you have 3 days to come up with the money." The transmission ended
"Flint, I traced the signal to Columbia, near the border of Venezuela," Cypher reported, then ruefully added, "We better do this quietly. If Chavez finds out we're very close to his door, that putz will rip us a new one on the world stage."
"Well, Cypher if'll make ya feel better, I can take a side trip and put that commie son of bitch out of our misery." Wolf approached placing a hand on the redheaded Knight Saber's shoulder
"No Wolf," Flint stepped in, "I don't think Fox wants to come back from her vacation and deal with an international incident. Anyway, I'll have you assemble an insertion team, and go after Cobra Commander."
"Hey, I don't even need the order," Wolf grinned evilly, "I'll bring his head back on a silver platter."
Knowing you Wolf that probably wasn't a metaphor. Flint thought to himself.
After terminating his transmission, Cobra Commander gleefully smiled, GI Joe was not going to give in to his demands, he knew that. This was a part of a game of his design. "GI Joe took the bait and are heading for the jungles of Columbia. Thanks to you, Dr. Hibbentrope or should I say Berg Katse."
"Mother always said I should have become an actor," Berg Katse cackled under the latex of his disguise of Dr. Hibbentrope. "But I happen to enjoy this job."
"Perhaps, but it is possible that GI Joe could have seen through your soap opera acting."
"Watch it Baroness, I happen to be your boss."
"Silence. Your performance, Katse will give me the greatest luxury there is: revenge." The Commander laughed.
Chapter II
With permission of the Columbian government, GI Joe was permitted to conduct operations within their country. Flint gave Wolf an explicit order not to do anything that may be considered an overt act against Venezuela; he didn't want that Chomsky-loving son of bitch giving GI Joe any grief. Since Grey Fox was also out of town, use of the Hardsuits and beam rifles was restricted without her direct authorization. Onboard the Medea transport, Wolf study the satellite maps of her target, her team consisted of Cypher, Dagger, Cover Girl, Bazooka and Alpine. While a support team of Gung-Ho, Zap, Scarlett and Recondo was along for the ride. In the cockpit, through her night vision goggles, Lt. Matilda Ajan spotted the LZ then pointed it to her co-pilot. "LZ in sight. Prepare for deployment." Matilda spoke into her headset. The Medea transport went into hover, unlike most transports; the Medea had the capability of VTOL, in a sense it was like the Osprey except the turboprops were built into the landing struts.
Exiting the transport, the insertion team headed into the jungle for their objective. After several hours of trudging through the jungle, Wolf ordered a rest break; she needed to study the map to determine where they were. Finding a secluded spot for herself, Wolf pull out her canteen to wash away the sweat that culminated on her face, just as Cover Girl sat down beside her. "So, how much more hiking do we have to do?" Cover Girl asked as she laid her head against her lover's shoulder.
"I say about another five hours. I have bad feeling about this, Courtney." Wolf said
"Oh?"
"Cobra Commander has made this too easy; so far there have been no patrols or anything on the way. I had Dagger and Recondo go out ahead of us to scout out the area and they ain't found shit."
"Well, as you so simply put it, love, he is a dumbfuck." Cover Girl sweetly said as she snuggled closer to Wolf wanting to rest up against Wolf.
"Ya know, Court, I envy Sylia right now."
"Do tell."
"She's in the Bahamas, while I'm stuck here dealing with bug bites and a guy across the border whose ass I wanna kick!"
"Well, you do have one plus, you got me, Priss."
"Your Blue Hawaiian, Ms. Stingray," A waitress said, as she placed the drink on a stand next to the beachside hammock she laid in.
"Thank you," Sylia smiled, lowering her book, before boarding the plane, she stopped off at a bookstore in the airport. She had to laugh; both Linna and Nene watched her like hawks making sure she boarded the plane. But she bought a couple of paperbacks and one hardbound, one was a the first installment of a three book cycle detailing the back-story of the Cardassian Occupation, the hardbound was the about the Death Star from construction to destruction, lastly another thee book cycle of the rise, fall and exile of Khan Noonien Singh.
But even though she was going to kill her brother upon her return, she had to admit the swimsuit did look good on her. Linna, Scarlett and Nene picked out a nice one piece dark blue swimsuit. Blue was always her favorite color. Which springs to mind, she may have to kill Priss as well, she suggested a thong for Sylia. Being somewhat conservative, Sylia never pictured herself parading in thong bikini. But for the time being she was going to relax; personally she loathed vacations; she had too much work to do, and that various priorities took precedent over vacations. There was nothing she could complain about, she was in Bahamas, she did make plans to enjoy herself, relaxing by the beach, scuba diving and bicycling for starters.
"What a waste!" Alpine commented on ease of getting to the Cobra installation, "We busted our asses and not even a fight to show for it."
Partly listening, Wolf turned to the structure before them. What the fuck is this guy with temples and near gothic structures, the Commander's gotta problem. Well, nothing a pine box won't cure.
"You think the scientists are in there, Wolf?" Cypher asked
"Well, only way to find out, kid," Wolf answered, then turned to Zap. "Zap, can you blow us a way in?
"Yeah, you a want a little crater, or a big one?"
"Just get us inside without killing us." Wolf glared at Zap.
Placing several C-4 charges on the steel barrier leading inside the temple, with detonator in hand he led the Joes and the Knight Sabers away from the explosives. Then pushed the plunger. The steel barricade fell over, much too easy for Wolf's comfort; Fox's paranoia must have been rubbing off on the 2nd in command of Knight Saber. "Nothing better than a good kaboom to open up closed doors, eh, Wolf?"
"Yeah, I got a friend in 101 whose a little more demo-happy than you; she would have turned this temple into a parking lot." Wolf mentioned, "Gung-Ho wait out here, if we run into any trouble come in after us."
"With you, it's Cobra who's in trouble." Gung-Ho quipped after Wolf, the Knight Sabers, Bazooka and Alpine entered the temple. He's actually seen firsthand the end result of Wolf on her bad side, but seeing her really pissed was a fate worse than death.
Inside the temple the nagging in Priss' mind grew even worse, no guards, no welcome committee. If that son of a bitch is screwin' with us!
"Somehow Alpine was right, Wolf, we're busting our asses for nothing!" Cover Girl remarked, something did not feel right to her.
Suddenly another barricade fell down behind blocking the way they came in. "A trap!" Alpine exclaimed.
A monitor dropped from the ceiling with Commander's image. Wolf scowled as the head of Cobra was probably getting his jollies at whatever sick scheme he had going. She couldn't give in her anger, she had to ride this out, and keep those on her team from killed. "Welcome to my funhouse!" The Commander cackled.
Chapter III
"Your fuckin' what?!" Wolf gasped, she didn't know whether to fall on her ass laughing that Cobra Commander either was ready for the funny farm or pity for such a dumbass idea.
"Yes, welcome to my fun house."
"Okay, is anyone else creep out by this besides me?" Dagger chimed, both Cover Girl and Cypher raised their hands.
"Talk about insane!" Alpine added.
"Despite your rudeness," The Commander calmly said from the control booth of his funhouse. "I offer you a sporting chance. Three doors. Three choices. Two of them lead to dead ends." The Commander chuckled sadistically.
"The 3rd?" Wolf asked
"It leads to me." The Commander grinned under his faceplate.
"Great, a door prize."
"You are beginning to try my patience!" The Commander angrily replied to Alpine before clearing his throat. "Before I forget, I am obliged to tell you that this structure is a bomb and the only way to disarm it is here in the control room."
Wolf arched an eyebrow, she did not know if the Commander was bluffing. Being a skilled poker player she has bluffed many times and won, except against Sylia. Right now she was going to play the Commander's game. "Okay Dumbfuck, why don't you disarm the bomb yourself or do you want to blow yourself to hell too?"
"And ruin my fun? Surely you jest." The Commander laughed terminating his transmission
"Take no chances, Commander, kill them now!" Demanded an impatient Baroness
"Let him have his fun, Baroness, I'm gonna enjoy the hell they're gonna be put through." Berg Katse cackled. "Besides, it more enjoyable when you can destroy an enemy mentally rather than physically."
Wolf's only real option was to split up her unit: Dagger and Cypher were to take the door on the left; Alpine and Bazooka took the right while Wolf and Cover Girl took the middle.
Moving down the left corridor Dagger and Cypher felt strange they didn't need their NVGs and the corridor was brightly lit. Dagger kept her long sword at the ready as she led on point. There were no guards or defenses. Why would Cobra Commander be in installation so undefended? It didn't make any sense. Given her knowledge of the Commander, anywhere he was a fiercely defended target. Something was not right. "What the?" Cypher giggled, breaking Dagger's train of thought. "What is this New Year's?" The Knight Saber added as hundreds of balloons with the image of the Commander.
"Oh this is so sick!" Dagger frowned.
Cypher grabbed a balloon floating in the air. "What an airhead!"
Dagger watched as her friend squeezed on the balloon. "Don't break that balloon."
But Dagger was too late, a red dust flew into Cypher's eyes. She instinctively began to rub her eyes from the burning and stinging. For Cypher that was the beginning of her problems when she looked to her friend. "Stay back!"
"Nene? What's wrong?"
From Cypher's view, it wasn't her best friend she was seeing it was the Cobra Commander. "Stay away from me, Commander!" Cypher threatened lifting her FN Herstal P-90 at Dagger.
"Nene put the gun down. I'm warning you!" Dagger calmly told her, the powder she took is probably causing her to hallucinate.
'Cobra Commander' approached the Knight Saber. Coming closer to her, a slew of snakes came out of the Commander's uniform. Scared out of her mind, Cypher opened fire on Dagger.
If there's something Dagger hated more than guns, are guns being pointed at her and being shot at. But she had to temper her hatred since the person shooting at her was someone she regarded as a kid sister, who wasn't in her right frame of mind. Even with a simple sidestep and a few flips, a bullet still grazed her right arm, fortunately her mental discipline has given her a high threshold of pain. "Forgive me Nene, this will hurt me more than you." Dagger got close and ripped a hard left cross to Cypher's face, knocking out the Knight Saber.
Dagger showed no emotion, but inside, she attacked her best friend and regretted she had done it. Kneeling next to Cypher, Dagger ran her hand through her red hair. "Please, Nene, don't hate me for what I've done." Dagger whispered soothingly.
The Commander chuckled at how he brought down the weakest member of the Knight Sabers and the psychological damage on her. But Dagger will have to be dealt with quickly. He found it odd that the intrepid Grey Fox was not with them; perhaps she was waylaid for one reason or another. This could work to his advantage; the ultimate blow to the leader of the Knight Sabers is her team coming back in body bags.
Chapter IV
Alpine and Bazooka carefully moved down their assigned corridor. "How come Wolf gets to pick Cover Girl and I get stuck with you! Just once I want to be with a beautiful woman."
"I heard from Shipwreck that Wolf and Cover Girl are….you know."
It took Alpine a couple of minutes to think about what his friend was saying, until it dawn on him. "Oh, they're having sex!?"
"Yup, don't spread it around if you know what's good for you."
Alpine was well aware of that both Clutch and Shipwreck were hanging upside-down from the flagpole in their birthday suits. He was unaware of why they were playing "Porkys" the home game on Wolf and Cover Girl. His train of thought ended with a boarding dock and a set of real tracks.
Suddenly a robotic replica of Cobra Commander appeared from the floor, dressed as an old style carnival barker, complete with a straw hat and cane. "Whoa! What the hell is that?!"
"Funny." Bazooka snickered
"Funny ain't the word, sick is more like it."
"Welcome, welcome." The robot spoke, "Welcome to the Cobra Express. Step aboard. You're in for the ride of your life." The robot gestured to a car that pulled up. The two had no real choice but to get on. "After you," Alpine gestured to Bazooka, he was still wary about the situation, for all he knew the two could wind up death or lead to Cobra Commander.
Outside the temple Zap worked feverishly on a detpack. "Come on, Zap hurry it will ya? We haven't got all day!" Gung-Ho prodded, which wasn't helping Zap.
"I'm goin' as fast as I can! These aren't firecrackers!"
Gung waited, his orders were if he didn't hear from Wolf, then he was to send the Marines. It's been hours since the massive blastdoors came down. They were going in, but he still believed it was Cobra who was in trouble, Wolf could take on a gang of Marines and come out the winner.
From the control booth the Commander watched the CCTVs of the Joes running through his funhouse like rats through a maze, he was surprised at the amazing agility of Dagger as she dodged multiple bladed traps almost unscathed. But he had something special in store for her. As for now he continued to watch Alpine and Bazooka riding his roller coaster; his attention was diverted when Berg Katse entered the control room. "Katse?"
"I took care of Cypher, I have her so drugged up that she doesn't even know who the hell she is."
"Excellent Katse, soon we'll have the others." The Commander laughed as Katse approached the Commander's console. The Joes on the roller coaster rode the track at break neck speed. Next was the best part, the two faced a constant flow of darts from both sides. It was sick and he knew it, but the Commander was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when he came up with that little idea. Heh heh heh. Enjoy the ride, Joes. He chuckled, watching Bazooka getting struck by several darts. His laughter grew harder as the Joe known as Alpine declared he was playing for keeps. "You're welcome to try."
Dagger thought she wasn't going to survive those bladed traps, she received a few nicks including a nasty gash across her stomach, but nothing serious that couldn't be treated by her medkit. She entered a large room, all lined with mirrors. A maze? She surmised. Geez. I haven't seen a hall of mirrors since I was a kid or when I last saw Enter the Dragon. Dagger thought to herself as she continued forward into the maze, trying to maintain her perspective and a path out. Suddenly a cloudy white mist began to fill around Dagger. "Linna," a ghostly voice called out.
Dagger quickly drew her long sword, her eyes darted around, someone was calling her. "I got to be cracking up. I wish I'd joined Sylia on her vacation." Dagger forced herself to concentrate on finding her path through the maze of mirrors.
"Linna," another voice called out, this time a female voice.
"What?" She rubbed her eyes, she saw her parents, which was impossible, they've been dead for almost 8 years. How could they be standing before her? "Mom? Dad?" She whispered.
"How could you let, Linna," her mother spoke, "how could you let us die."
"I was 13, what could I've done?" Linna stammered, "I could have been killed as well."
"That's your excuse for being a coward?!" Her father accused jabbing an accusing finger at her.
Closing her eyes, Dagger forced herself to get a tight rein on her emotions. "This is not real. This is not real." She repeated her mantra through clenched teeth with much as lucidity she could muster. Her mind couldn't figure out what was stimulating these hallucinations or what was real and what wasn't.
Cobra Commander watched the traumatized Knight Saber trying to resist the effects of the gas. "So Dagger's trauma is the lost of her parents? Interesting." To get an idea what goes through the Knight Sabers' heads, he worked at getting their pysch profiles which were just as closely guarded as the nuclear launch codes. His lips curled into a smile when he reached for a clipboard next to him; he had Katse dig up some information on the whereabouts of Grey Fox, much to his pleasure, she was vacationing in the Bahamas. "Excellent! I'll have a nice welcome home gift for her and it ain't fruit!" The Commander laughed.
"This is not real!" Dagger repeated, it was taking most of her willpower to fight off the hallucinations. In her mind, she focused on happier times, she focused on Nene who she regarded as a kid sister and her best friend Lady J, who was also her confidant, she'd told things to Lady J that she never told anyone else; memories of herself, Nene, Scarlett and Lady J on shopping expeditions with Duke and Flint as their unwilling pack mules. "I can win, I won't give in!"
Suddenly a dart pierced her neck and everything went black.
"3 down and 3 to go," chuckled Berg Katse as he snapped his fingers for two Vipers to lift Dagger. "Now I get to play with some of Dr. Mindbender's toys." Katse sadistically chortled. In Cobra's hierarchy, Berg Katse was Cobra's chief Intelligence officer, a skilled interrogator in his own right. He relied a lot on psychological warfare rather than physical torture; he seen others conduct interrogations, in his opinion, most were very sloppy since it would degenerate into beating the subject senseless. "Torture is a precise surgical tool, not a club." Katse thought aloud as he cupped Dagger's chin with his thumb and forefinger, lifting her face to his. "Hmm, you may prove an interesting challenge, my dear. But after I get through with you and your little friend, you're going to be so mentally fucked up you'll be useless to Grey Fox!" Katse gave an evil grin. From his research he conducted for Cobra Commander on the Knight Sabers, despite their difference in backgrounds, Grey Fox has molded them into effective team. Now Katse wondered how much damage he could do to break that mold.
The Commander chuckled as he watched the CCTV of Katse having Dagger carried off. "I guess the Knight Sabers aren't as tough as we were led believe." He said to himself. But he had to stop himself from indulging in such thoughts, he never faced Grey Fox in actual combat and he never wanted to face Wolf in combat ever again. Last time he spent six months with bedpans and feeding tubes while his Zaku had to be rebuilt by Kycilia's staff. But he had plans in the event he ever had to face Wolf, along that train of thought he would have to come up with plans if he were to face off against Grey Fox.
Alpine continued down the corridor until he came to a right turn, the corridor emptied out into a larger. Continuing down the new corridor, his foot slipped and he was unable to get any traction, the floor was like glass or covered with a highly slick lubricate. As he muttered about the floor, he heard a low rumbling that grew louder as it approached. A giant bowling ball. "What the hell is this pro-bowlers tour?!" Alpine broke and ran trying to get as much traction as he could. Bowling pins? Crap! This is the pro bowlers tour! Alpine mentally exclaimed heading for the pins.
The ball picked up speed slamming into the pins and Alpine.
The Commander and Katse roared with laughter at the Commander's handiwork. "A strike, nice job Commander. Katse laughed. "Now just Wolf and Cover Girl."
"What of the Joes outside?" The Baroness questioned.
"It will be of no consequence Baroness." Katse answered as he headed for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm quite anxious to play with Dr. Mindbender's new toy, the brain wave scanner. It'll turn the brains of the two captured Knight Sabers into milkshakes." Katse laughed on the way out.
"While Katse is having fun I have some other arrangements to make."
Katse gave a sadistic smile as Cypher screamed in agony as she was put through the brainwave scanner. The Knight Saber was psychologically tortured along with drugs pumped into her to mentally break her down. "Stop it! You're hurting her!" Demanded Dagger.
"Of course I'm hurting her. You both will be useless to Grey Fox. Besides I can't have Cobra Commander have all the fun. Perhaps once I broken the both you I'll keep you on as my servants." Katse threw his head back and laughed.
Angry and disgusted, Dagger fought against her restraints. But she started to calm herself down, she was going to resist with strength she had against the drugs and the brainwave scanner. She hoped Cypher can hold out against Katse's efforts. Dagger started figure out he wasn't out to get information but this mission appeared to be plot hatched by Cobra Commander to destroy the Knight Sabers. Since their inception, the Knight Sabers have been a major thorn in Cobra's side and Cobra Commander made it a top priority to develop new hardsuits or ways to destroy the unit by any means necessary.
Placing several packs of C-4 on the blastdoor, Zap finished prepping the packs to blow. "Its ready to blow! Everybody hit the deck!"
The detpacks exploded with intense force it would have blown the blastdoor wide open. "Damn it! It's still there!" Gung-Ho cursed.
Zap scratched his head, he started figure that the blastdoor had been designed to resist high explosives including C-4 and semtex. Looking at the explosives he had left, he might as well pack enough on that door for three carbombs.
Chapter V
"Cypher, come in! Cypher, respond damn it!" Wolf ordered, no response from Cypher or Dagger. She tried to reach Alpine and Bazooka, those two had better not picked the wrong time for a siesta or screwing around.
"No response?" Cover Girl asked
"Fuckin' squat!" Wolf bluntly shot back, ramming a cigarette into her mouth. "Something from the beginning of this bullshit mission really sucked. I don't know what, but the Commander better start cryin' for mamma!"
Cover Girl flashed a reassuring smile to Wolf. But the moment was quickly broken by the sound of servos. "Oh my god!"
Wolf swung around with shotgun to see a squad of BATs made up to look like Cobra Commander. "Oh you major league sick fuck!" Wolf exclaimed, switching from her shotgun to her M-4 carbine, flipping the switch to full auto.
Cover Girl readied her M-4. She had to agree with Wolf something was not right about this mission. Even though she concentrated on the mission, but she couldn't help but wondered if Cobra Commander was playing something up his sleeve. Right now Cover Girl didn't know what the Commander was planning.
A smile came to the Commander's face as he watched Wolf and Cover Girl deal with the BAT replicas of himself, but he also had a live feed of Katse torturing Cypher with the brainwave scanner. His laughter grew harder hearing the young Knight Saber screaming for Grey Fox, Dagger and Scarlett. He knew Katse was a sadist but he was all business when conducting an interrogation, but right now he wanted to have some fun. Katse knew no better than to fuck with the head of the young Knight Saber.
He turned back to the main monitor, he saw Wolf holding Cover Girl, from the looks she appeared to be wounded, he couldn't tell how bad it was nor did he cared, the Commander was about to have a bigger problem. "COMMANDER! YOUR FUCKIN' ASS IS MINE!" Bellowed the enraged Knight Saber, "I'M GOIN' TO TEAR YOUR FUCKIN' BALLS OFF!"
"Oh crap!" The Commander realized as he turned a completely new shade of pale. Reaching into the inner pocket of his uniform jacket, he pulled out his blackberry checking to see if his health insurance premiums were paid up from the last time he got on Wolf's bad side. Most of his Vipers would flee in stark terror, if they had any brains. And he was not interested in spending 6 months in the IC ward again. Flipping a switch, the Commander activated two auto gun turrets and two missile launchers. "Katse, get the Baroness!" The Commander ordered over his cell phone.
Outside the temple, Zap placed whatever explosives he had left into one big detpack. He said a silent prayer for this to work or he was going back to selling insurance.
Gung-Ho hoped this will do it. It's been hours since Wolf's team went in and hasn't been heard from since. Despite, Wolf notoriety as the Scourge of the Marine Corp, but he had respect for her as a fighter especially during several barroom brawls and they were fighting side-by-side, tough as they come and a mean left hook.
The detpack exploded tearing a huge hole in the barricade. Storming the temple Gung-Ho's team searched through the temple, two to three Joes broke off from the main unit to retrieve Alpine and Bazooka and take to the extraction point for medical aid.
Wolf entered the control room, she was beyond pissed when she got in, the sick fuck had her chased by those BAT replicas but also used an auto defense grid on her. But the missiles gave her an opening, dumb fired, the missiles slammed into a tower of floodlights that slammed into the bay windows of the control booth and no Cobra Commander. Bastard must have pissed his pants. He ain't here.
Approaching the control console, an image of the Commander appeared on a large screen to her left. "Greeting Wolf, by the time you get this message, I won't be in the temple. I'm sorry we didn't clash swords, so to speak, but I have no interest in spending another 6 months in the IC ward. Now as for the missing scientists, you will find in the room next to you."
Wolf headed for the door, she didn't think of it, but the message paused as if the Commander planned it all out. The door opened, "Alive is another question." Wolf blanched smelling the stench of rotting corpses as she saw the missing scientists killed in the most horrific fashion and probably have been dead for days. She closed her eyes and concentrated on resisting the urge to throw up. "As you can see Wolf, my objective was never to hold the scientists for ransom, they were dead even before I made the call. But to break you accursed Knight Sabers on the other hand. As you and Cover Girl were on the final leg on my maze, Dagger and Cypher were being tortured and hopefully broken. Sadly, I wanted give Grey Fox a welcome home gift in the form of you three in body bags, but I figured broken and defeated will suffice. Her three prized soldiers virtually useless to her. Oh, by the way the bomb, it was feint; that way it was much more sporting, as you ran like rats through a maze." Wolf drove her fingernails into the palms of her hand until they drew blood, she became more enraged as the Commander went on began laughing, especially at her.
Scarlett and Lady J led a detachment from Gung-Ho's unit, breaching a pair of large doors, the two paled at the sight of both Dagger and Cypher bound to chairs; it looked like some sicko was having fun with them. Scarlett approached the redheaded Knight Saber and began removing her straps from the chair, besides the nasty bruise on the right side of her face, she wasn't injured physically. "Nene? It's me Shanna."
Weakly, Cypher lifted her head to the redheaded Joe, through the haze of the drugs still clouding her mind; she flew into her arms and cried uncontrollably. "It's okay, kiddo. I'm here and no one will hurt you." She said soothingly. As she held Cypher, she watched Lady J help Dagger; she was nearly in the same state as Cypher except Dagger was half conscious. Scarlett quietly called for Doc and asked for a sedative.
Cypher saw Doc prepping a needle for her. "Please don't! No more drugs! Don't!" She screamed hysterically, thrashing around in Scarlett's arms.
"Nene, listen to me. Do you trust me?" Scarlett firmly asked. A nod from Cypher was her answer. "Everything is going to be alright, you're just going to take a nap. I will be with all the way home. Okay?" Scarlett's face softened into a smile as Cypher presented Doc her arm, which had multiple needle marks from drug injections.
"Scarlett, will you stay with me?" Cypher asked as the sedative took its hold.
"Of course, I will kiddo." Scarlett softly whispered as she gently placed Cypher on a stretcher. Doc took one end while Scarlett took the other, keeping her promise to Cypher.
Gung-Ho entered the control room and found the Wolf standing there shaking with rage; smoke rising from the barrel of her depleted M-4. The control panel was shot to hell. "Wolf?" He nervously asked.
Snapping her head in his direction, Gung-Ho nearly took a step back; she had that look in her eyes that someone was going to die. "He was fucking with us. That bastard was fucking with us." She seethed in an emotionless tone. She pushed Gung-Ho aside heading for the exit to the control room.
Chapter VI
Sylia exited the shower tying the sash to her terrycloth robe, waiting for room service which was given 5 stars in the Zagat guide; she was looking forward to a plate of surf 'n' turf, a bottle of fine red wine. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Sylia turned the TV to Fox News, before seeing what was on the History channel or perhaps find a ballgame. "This is a Fox News alert: Tensions increased in the last 24 hours between the United States and Venezuela. President Chavez has accused the US military of allowing the GI Joe team to operate within Columbia, accusing GI Joe of conducting exercises to overthrow the socialist president. From Caracas, President Chavez demands GI Joe be tried as war criminals and demands that GI Joe be put under the control of the United Nations. Defense and State Department sources denied the accusations; GI Joe was conducting operations against the Cobra terrorist organization. This has been a Fox News alert."
"Oh shit." Was all Sylia could say. GI Joe stepped into a huge international minefield, with a world leader whose nose was so far up Castro's ass, he could smell Castro's gas before it ever reached his colon; as well as make the United States worse than Pol Pot, Lenin, Stalin and Vlad Tempes.
Reaching for her cell phone, she called the airline for the next available flight back to the States.
Returning to the base, Dagger and Cypher had to stay over in the hospital while the rest of Wolf's team were treated for minor wounds; Cypher was still too drugged up that for her own safety, she was kept under observation; Dagger was kept for psychological observation.
Duke was walking from the admin building to meet up with Wolf as she continued for the barracks after she left the infirmary with Cover Girl trying to keep up with Priss' pace. "Wolf!" Duke called as he approached her, "I need an after miss…" He stopped in midsentence when Priss snapped her head with an extremely pissed off glare and her red eyes blazing. "Uh….never mind."
"Wise fuckin' choice." She quietly muttered under her breath.
As Priss walked away, Cover Girl quietly told Duke she was sorry for Priss' behavior. As far as Duke was concerned, he would rather fight off an entire army of Cobra Zakus with a stick than having to deal with Wolf; especially when she was pissed.
Priss and Cover Girl returned to their quarters. Priss looked at the mission as an abject failure, that bastard Cobra Commander was probably somewhere laughing at her, getting his jollies that the scientists have been killed well before her team got there, and that he made it look like the Joes were planning to invade Venezuela and Linna and Nene got mentally fucked up. She swore that if she ever got her hands on Cobra Commander she won't need her hardsuit; she will kill him with her own hands.
Cover Girl watched as her lover lost her temper and started tearing apart their quarters in a fit of absolute rage. "Priss, love, please calm down," she pleaded as Priss threw a lamp across the room. She watched as Priss went on her rampage, her red eyes were a blazed, she tried to talk to Priss, but in fit of anger and without looking she hit Cover Girl with the back of her fist. Crashing against the wall, then collapsing to the floor, Cover Girl lied there, sobbing.
The sounds of her lover crying snapped the Knight Saber out of her rage; she looked to see the last person she wanted to take her anger out on. "Courtney?" She whispered, "Oh god, what have I done?" Rushing to her lover on the floor, she picked her up in her arms and held her. "I'm sorry, Courtney, forgive me please, I'm sorry." Priss cried, tears running freely down her face. "I never wanted to hurt you. Never."
The two lovers held each other, cried in each other arms. "I know Priss, I still love you and I forgive you." She whispered, kissing Priss on the cheek. The two continued to hold each other not moving from the floor. From that moment, Priss made another promise on that night, one she would keep for the rest of her life, that she would never raise her hand in anger to her lover, not now or ever.
Glancing at her watch, it was 0225 hours by the time she dumped her luggage in her quarters. She ran into Gung-Ho who gave her a sitrep of what he knew transpired during the mission. She took a step back when she heard Linna and Nene were in the infirmary. After thanking the marine, Sylia made a beeline for the infirmary. Entering Nene's room, she approached her bed and quietly read the medical chart, she was under heavy sedation. She looked up from the chart to see Scarlett sitting next to Nene's bedside, asleep. A smile came to Sylia's face as she noticed Nene clutching her teddy bear, she figured Scarlett must have brought it for her. Next she checked on Linna whose trauma was more psychological in nature, was also under moderate sedation, she noticed Lady J was sitting by Linna's bedside.
Heading for her office, she thought of checking Priss and Cover Girl, but she passed on it, to give them their privacy. Running into Duke in the admin building, she requested all available information of the recent mission no matter how minute to be delivered to her office, while she grabbed some coffee; there wasn't going to be any sleep for her.
Quietly sitting in her office at 0700, Sylia waited for her Knight Sabers, except Nene who was still in the infirmary. She cut her vacation short after seeing the news report of saber rattling from the asshole from Caracas and GI Joe being involved in some plot to overthrow him. She got a good look at her Knight Sabers; the team looked like they went through a mental hell that Dante would pass on at best, at worse the team was falling apart. She also took notice that Cover Girl had a black eye. She frowned mainly at herself, for going on vacation. "I've read the after mission report," she sighed, "I want to talk to you as a group, then on an individual basis. I want to help in any way I can."
The calm presence of Sylia was a almost godsend to the team, reassuring them they weren't total fuck-ups, and that the Knight Saber Commander was not angry at them in the slightest, more concerned after what she's heard what happen during the whole ordeal. "Priss, since you were in command, in your own words what happen, and I remind you you're not in trouble."
Priss began to explain what happen, Sylia took in everything, not passing judgment but offered analysis which sounded cold, but offered the benefit of experience. These people were her friends, her family, she was not going to let Cobra Commander destroy what she worked hard to create, a close knit team one built on trust and 'foxhole' friendships. Once Linna and Cover Girl finished their accounts, Sylia spoke to the team. "Now I will see you all on an individual basis, anything said will not leave this room. I hope that this incident will make us stronger in the long run."
Everyone but Priss left, Sylia watched the door closed, sitting on the edge of her desk, before she said anything. "Okay, Priss," Sylia started off, "How did Courtney get the black eye?"
The thought of what she done made her winched and forced her eyes to look at the floor, holding back her tears and guilt. "It was a mistake," she whispered, "I lost control and I hit her." Then she forced herself to look at Sylia trails of tears ran down her cheeks. "I never wanted to hurt her, Sylia, I love her." She further explained to Sylia that the two spent the entire night sitting on the floor holding each other.
Sylia gave Priss a sympathetic smile as she placed her hand on her shoulder. "Priss, I would be worried if this was a regular occurrence, I know you love her, because she has been a very calming influence on you, you're not as angry as you used to be. You even let Shipwreck live after some of the shit he's pulled." Sylia smiled, even Priss had to chuckled
"Sylia, I promised myself that I will never again hit Courtney or abuse her in anyway." Priss vowed to Sylia. But Sylia knew Priss all too well, there were certain promises that Priss made that she would rather die than break and this fell under that category; Priss' loyalty to her friends and her fidelity to Cover Girl ensured that she kept her promise.
The next morning, Nene awoken, moving from the bedroom to the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror, she still was exhausted from the mission; she was still recovering from her mental ordeal. Sylia took Nene off active duty until she was cleared by Psyche-Out. Heading for the kitchenette, Nene poured herself a glass of orange juice; she reached the dining table to find a note from Linna.
Nene,
When you're reading you will know I have left. I'm going to Japan for a while to heal. I'm unsure when I'm coming back, I will when I can forgive myself for attacking you; don't hate me for what I've done, I already hate myself for many things, hitting you was one of them. I will return as soon as I can. But for now, I need to heal and sort some things out.
Your friend
Linna
Slowly lowering the letter, tears began to well up in her eyes, she needed Linna, now more than ever. How could she, in Nene's time of need, run out on her. "Why Linna?" She sobbed, "I need you."
Pouring herself a cup of tea, Scarlett was still trying to wake up. With tea in hand, she sat down on the couch, sipping her tea. Her peace was broken with a knocking at her door. Heading for the door, she opened it to find Nene standing there. "Morning Nene," she cheerfully smiled until she noticed the distressed look on her face and that she has been recently crying, "what the matter, kiddo?"
Without a word, Nene collapsed in Scarlett's arms unleashing another torrent of sobs. "Why did she leave me? I needed her. Why, Scarlett?"
Escorting her inside her quarters, "Nene, please call me Shanna. Who left you?"
"Linna," Nene sniffed, "Linna left for Japan. I needed her."
Scarlett tightened her embrace around Nene gently stroking her hair. But on the inside, she was very angry at Linna, who was suppose to be her best friend, abandoned Nene when she needed her. How could she? She flees to Japan and leaves her best friend a train wreck. But Scarlett could feel her own feelings for Nene deepen, she and Lady J spent time with her and Linna; Scarlett was very fond of Nene, she found the young Knight Saber's innocence and naiveté very endearing. When Linna or Sylia were unavailable Nene would come to Scarlett with a problem or just wanted to talk. Her feelings for her were like that of an older sister to her kid sister, being raised alongside four brothers, she welcomed these sisterly feelings for Nene. She softly kissed the sleeping Knight Saber's brow. "Don't worry kiddo, Linna will be back before you know it."
"Thank you Shanna," Nene mumbled in Scarlett's arms.
Scarlett smiled at Nene as she brushed a few strands of Nene's hair from her face. "I'm here for you, Nene. Whenever you need to talk or just need a friend."
Taking a window seat on the plane, Linna stared out the window, she regretted leaving Nene, but there was healing she needed to do without her. Taking in a deep sigh, she closed her eyes focusing on returning to the level of what she was. "Hey, Linna you don't have to go through this alone." A voice said, next to her.
Linna turned to the person next to her, smiled as she took her hand into her own. "I know, Allie, thank you for coming with me. I could use a good sparring partner."
A smile of her own grew on Lady J's face, "Remember, I won't go easy on ya, even If I have to go Snake-Eyes on your ass." Linna, actually planned on going to Japan by herself, but Lady J didn't even give her a choice, she was going with her to help sort out her problems, whether she wanted Lady J to come with her or not. The only difficulty Lady J had was Flint, he was annoyed that she was spending more time Linna than with him, but she put him in his place, that for the time being her friend's welfare was more important.
Linna for the first time in a week, allowed herself to laugh at Lady J's challenge, which wasn't idle boast.