Time for the next chapter. How do seven kids hide from Destro? And what did Mindbender find out from the blood analysis? Read on to find out.
Second ChancesChapter Seven: Rules of the Gambler
"How interesting is 'very interesting'?" Cobra Commander asked Mindbender. Shadowatch's lab results were back, and things were sounding promising.
"Like I said, it's varied." Mindbender answered. "No records on Thunderbird or Lady Mastermind, due to their being out of this country. Vampira's mutation is evolving; she'll be a walking dead person within a week. All three have had their natural mutations enhanced or repressed with drugs. But It's been to long to tell which ones."
"We can skip over the Dukes brothers." Zartan said. "We confirmed that relation when Ralph drove them to the base."
"Really?" Cobra Commander raised an eyebrow. "What else have you found out?"
"Atlantis is a shapeshifter and those nails of hers draw blood." Zartan replied. "She scratched Firefly earlier after Lady Mastermind lost herself in the lab."
"Which brings us to Miss Creed's sample." Mindbender said. "I know for certain that she and the other three were in a lab together; however, she must have been a pet project. The fins are not part of her naturally occurring mutation, but an addition. Her system contains trace amounts of a powerful suppressant and strong amounts of a very unstable enhancer, as well as a few mind- controlling agents."
"And what about the DNA itself?" Zartan said. "There weren't any specifics in their resume."
"That's what's gotten me confused." Mindbender sighed. "Her blood matched to that of a Canadian mercenary for hire by fifty percent."
"Her father?" Cobra Commander blinked.
"Yes." Mindbender said. "His codename is Sabertooth. SHIELD's got an extensive file on him from Weapon X and many other hits."
"It seems we have stumbled upon the preverbal 'diamond in the rough.'" Cobra Commander said as Destro burst through the doors.
"ZARTAN!" Destro shouted. "THOSE KIDS MUST BE MADE TO LEAVE!"
"Nice makeup." Mindbender snickered.
"Oh, this isn't the half of it!" Destro growled. "First, they duct tape me to my chair; then, they put makeup on me; then they hung me upside down from the ceiling and left me there with that accursed redneck music!"
"It sounds like a harmless prank to me." Zartan said.
"There was nothing harmless about it!" Destro protested. "And that child of yours was the one who brought the makeup and snow chains!"
"Unless they did some major physical harm, there is no reason to punish them for getting creative." Cobra Commander said. "And didn't I hear that you started the argument with them in the first place?"
"That's not the point!" Destro yelped.
"Seems like it to me." Zartan said.
"Look, until screening is over, I can't let the team go." Cobra Commander said. "Either deal with it or leave."
"I hate kids." Destro grumbled.
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Zarana was walking down one of the corridors when she heard the sound of an argument from behind one of the closet doors.
"We can't play that! It's too violent!" Mitch's voice said.
"Oh, what's the harm?" Andi asked.
"I fell off of the chair the last time!" Mitch returned.
"But we don't have any spoons!" Kristen protested as Zarana opened the door. There in the closet floor were Zanya and Shadowatch, with a deck of cards in the center.
"What are you up to?" Zarana asked.
"Teaching her to play Spoons." Bryan said.
"Which isn't as violent as Egyptian Rat." Kristen commented.
"Yeah, this one's only bad if two people are really competitive and won't let go of the spoon." Andi said.
"Okay, I'll bite." Zarana said. "Why are you playing Spoons, though you have no spoons, in one of the closets?"
"Because we don't want to be casualties of Hurricane Destro." Zanya answered.
"What did you do to him?" Zarana asked.
"Duct taped him to a chair." Kristen said.
"With four different colors of tape." Mitch added.
"Put the Baroness's makeup on his mask." Regan said.
"Used our snow chains to hang him upside down from the roof." Zanya said.
"Graffitied his office." Bryan said.
"And set all his radio presets to country western stations." Neal finished.
"Which one of you came up with this?" Zarana blinked.
"I found some pencils!" Regan said. "Will those work?"
"I guess." Andi said.
"Andi did." Bryan said.
"I did not!" Andi said. "The radio thing was all yours!"
"But you are the one who got the idea out of thin air." Zanya said. "Or in this case, a Tim Allen movie."
"How many pencils do we need?" Neal asked.
"This was payback for that fight I heard about this afternoon, wasn't it?" Zarana asked.
"Six." Kristen said.
"And yes." Andi answered.
"Got it." Zarana said. "I'll go see if I can distract the Baroness for you."
"Thanks." Zanya smiled. "Okay, now how do we play again?"
"Everyone gets four cards." Andi said, handing out seven sets of four cards to each person. "Then, the dealer draws a card."
"If she can't use that card, she passes it on." Kristen said. "I can use this card, so I keep it, and pass one that I can't use to Mitch."
"And I draw again." Andi said. "The objective is to get four of a kind."
"When someone does get four of a kind, they reach for a spoon, or pencil in this case." Bryan said. "Then everyone else goes after the remaining pencils until there's none left."
"The one who's to slow to get a pencil gets kicked out." Mitch said. "Everyone got it?"
"Yep." Regan nodded.
"Okay with me." Neal replied.
"Then we'll start." Bryan said. Cards were passed for about three minutes until Kristen dove after a pencil. The others all made a mad grab and finally Regan was left without a pencil.
"Sorry Reg." Neal shrugged.
"Okay, round two." Kristen said. "My deal." She dealt the cards and the game started again. This time Mitch was the last one to grab.
"Sorry, bro." Bryan said. "Rules are rules." The game went on and Neal was kicked out next.
"Final four." Andi said. "Interesting." This time, Kristen and Bryan grabbed the same pencil and neither was willing to let go.
"It's mine!" Bryan said.
"I saw it first!" Kristen shouted.
"I had it first!" Bryan yelled back. "Leggo!"
"You leggo!" Kristen shrieked. Finally, the poor pencil had enough of the tug of war and snapped in two. The sudden absence of something to hold on to forced Kristen and Bryan to the ground.
"Ow!" Bryan groaned as he landed unceremoniously on his derriere.
"Man, that hurt!" Kristen winced as she rubbed her behind.
"So, now who gets it?" Zanya asked.
"Whoever has the biggest part." Andi said. "Put those halves next to each other."
Kris and Ry did so. "I think Kristen won." Neal said.
"That's how it looks." Regan nodded.
"Whoohoo!" Kristen whooped as she floated into the air.
"Hey, fang, get your butt back down here and finish the game!" Andi admonished.
"Sorry." Kristen grinned as she floated back down to the floor.
"Let's go!" Zanya said. The game went on and Zanya and Andi tied the next round. Tied as in they grabbed the same pencil.
"Here we go." Mitch sighed. "This is when it gets violent."
"Not as violent as Egyptian Rat- Slap." Kristen commented. "That game is brutal!"
"Yeow!" Andi squealed as she landed with a thud on her back.
"I win!" Zanya grinned. She held up a bout two thirds of a pencil.
"Okay, you two finish it out." Andi grumbled as she sat back up. In the lightning round, Kristen was faster than Zanya.
"Not bad for a rookie." Kristen shrugged.
"Not bad at all." Ry said. "You're a quick study."
"Of course it didn't help that we broke two pencils." Neal said.
"Can we play Egyptian Rat now?" Regan asked.
"No!" Bryan and Mitch shouted.
Okay, that's how everyone's doing so far. If anyone has any suggestions, get them to me. I'm running low on inspiration.
Thunderbird: I'll say! You got our idea from a card match!
Rs: I told you I needed help! Writing two fics is hard!
Sapphire: Speaking of which, when are you going to get back to me? I haven't had any face time in three bloody chapters and I'm one of the stars!
Rs: I'm working on it.
Luna: And what about the band? Shouldn't you have us do a gig or something?
Rs: I will get to it as soon as I have time and as soon as my allergies clear up. Anyway, review me with any ideas you fans have. And a big thank you to Red Witch for reviewing!
