"Always get my man," Major Blood grinned at Mindbender, dragging in the limp body and dropping him on the floor in front of him.
"Careful!" Mindbender yelled. "That's part of my new bio viper!"
Major Blood didn't look too concerned. He held out his hand. "I believe you said double the fee?"
Mindbender prodded the limp body with his foot. "I wanted him alive. You're sure he's alive?" He nudged the body over with his foot, studying the face, comparing it with what he remembered from the file picture. Some facial hair, fatigue lines, but unless the man had a twin brother, it was him.
"See that chest rise and fall? Alive, I tell you. However, with where we found him….the drug lords were going to use him for bait, but I managed to….persuade….them to give him to me, that it would be best for their interests," Major Blood laughed.
"What about his mental state? I don't need to deal with that complication."
Major Blood shrugged, taking the money Mindbender handed him. "That wasn't part of the deal." He nodded at Mindbender, taking one last look at the body on the floor. I'm not sure if he wasn't better off with the drug dealers, he thought. Poor sap. Who knows what the mad scientist will do with him. Oh well, not my concern. I have what I came for, he thought, jiggling the money bag in his hand. He loved the sound of gold clinking together! Humming, he left the room, leaving any thoughts on the matter behind him.
Mindbender sighed. "It's so hard to get good help these days," he said, leaning down and dragging the body over to the table. "You my friend, need some experiments to test your mental state. I have just the thing," he murmured, rummaging through a drawer.
Much Later On…
"Arise, my Bio Soldier! Arise and serve your new master!"
Where the hell am I? wondered MacBride. His movements felt sluggish and slow. Last he remembered, he had been separated from his teammates during that last drug raid he had been leading. His vision was blurry and he had a hard time focusing on objects around the room he was in. The voice kept talking to him, but it sounded like it was coming from a hollow tube. His head was killing him.
Suddenly, his body was riddled with tiny electrical shocks. He struggled to fight whatever seemed to be holding him, but it was of no use. He slowly lost consciousness again.
Mindbender sighed, rubbing his head. What was wrong now? He checked his formula again. No, it was correct – this should be working. Maybe it was the wrong test subject. Maybe the soldier's mind wasn't as strong as he thought. He had researched this one! Besides being declared MIA, which was handy since no one would be looking for him and assume him dead, the psychological profile had intrigued him. The melding of the bio viper with this soldier should have been more successful. Maybe given time….
The thing moaned and Mindbender perked up. Maybe it could be a success after all! It might just take more time than he anticipated.
He groaned as the communicator beeped. "Yes?" he answered impatiently.
"Do you have my new super soldier ready?" rasped Adam DeCobray's voice.
Mindbender closed his eyes and rubbed his temple absentmindedly. "It's taking a little longer than I thought, but so far it seems like a success!" he lied.
"How much longer?" the voice grew impatient.
"A couple of days….I need time to run tests, to make sure the meld is complete."
"Very well then. You catch me in a giving mood, Dr. Bender. Failure is not an option."
"Yes, sir!" Mindbender cut the communication and sighed. "Come on baby, you need to get your dad out of a hell of a lot of trouble!"
