Disclaimer: I do not own G. I. Joe, nor any trademark names in this story. I do own Megan Catrenski and any OCs that may appear, unless stated otherwise.
TURNING
I woke up in handcuffs, but it wasn't as fun as it sounded. We were all in a van, moving along the streets at a steady clip. The van jolted into a pothole, and the movement threw me to the side. I landed on what felt like Roadblock.
"You still asleep, Cheshire, or you just jumpin' on me for fun?"
"I'm awake," I mumbled, head still fuzzy. "Where is everyone?"
"We're here," Scarlett didn't sound much better than I did. Of course. Smaller body masses, slower to process the drug. Stupid muscly men. "You alright?"
"I'm awake." I pushed myself back upright and braced one leg against Roadblock so that I would stay that way. "Do we know where we're going?"
"No."
"Did you bring your lockpicks?"
"Of course I did. But Zarana made sure to take them."
I sat back and thought. "So... we're screwed."
"The others know we've been taken," Mainframe said. "I used Dermish's computer to send a ping their way."
"You can do that?" Scarlett asked, sounding impressed. "Good work, soldier."
"What did Zartan mean about Storm Shadow?" I asked.
"I may have bitten him once."
"Oh. Well, he probably won't remember."
Scarlett sighed. She was one of the Joes who hadn't thought much of my theory. She worried that I was leading Snake Eyes on. "Right, because he's brainwashed?"
"Is now really the time to start bickering about this again?" Mainframe demanded.
"We have nothing better to do," I said with a shrug.
"We have plenty of other things to talk about," Scarlett said sternly, remembering her role as ultimate leader. "What data did you get, Mainframe?"
"Dermish was working on a chemical trigger to cure mental illness and a nerve gas, but neither of them was working. That's the sum of my knowledge."
We all sat there in silence. That had been a bit of a fail.
"Why were Zartan and Zarana still there?" I asked out loud.
"Why didn't you realise?" Roadblock asked me.
"I told Hawk that last night may have been a fluke." I waited a few more minutes, then said, "Scarlett? Why did they kidnap us?"
"We'll be fine, Cheshire."
I bristled instantly. "I'm not scared, I'm honestly curious."
Before Scarlett could respond, the van slowed to a stop, and the doors were flung open. We sat there, blinking in the sudden light, until our newly-adjusted eyes showed us the dozen gun barrels pointing in our direction.
The situation really went downhill from there.
They led us into a laboratory and made us kneel on the floor. They cuffed our hands to our ankles, and didn't move the guns an inch while they did it. Scarlett's face was almost the same colour as her hair. Not being nearly as curvy as she was, I hadn't been groped nearly as much, but there had been a few wandering hands all the same and I wasn't in a good mood either.
"Maybe they're going to kill us with boredom," I said after a few minutes.
"Why the hell do you only get a big mouth when you're in trouble?" Scarlett demanded. "Usually we can't get two words out of you unless they're related to your work."
"This is work," I told her. "See the Viper pointing his gun at Mainframe? He's gay. He's got a crush on the guy next to him. The guy next him hasn't taken his eyes of Zarana's ass since we got in here. He's as straight as they come. The guy–"
"He's ogling Zarana?" Scarlett asked, sounding scandalised. "God, what awful taste! Are you sure he's not gay too?"
Zarana stepped forward, grabbed her hair, and dragged her head back. "Keep it up, Red," she said, tracing a knife along Scarlett's jaw line. "I dare you."
"Zarana!" A voice called from the doorway. "Stop it, I need her!"
A bald guy with a monocle was standing there looking pissed off. "Dr Mindbender, I presume?" I asked. "Your help isn't house-trained. Just so you know."
The guy ignored me completely. "Zarana, release her."
Zarana waited a beat, to show she was doing this of her own free will, then let go of Scarlett's hair and stepped away, sheathing the knife. "Next time, Red." Then she turned on her heel and led all but four soldiers out of the room, fuming.
"Cow," I murmured.
"Shut the hell up, Cheshire," Scarlett ordered. Right, like she could criticise me for my big mouth anymore. "Alright, Mindbender, go ahead and gloat."
"I don't think so, Scarlett," he said. "If you want information, you'll have to find out the old-fashioned way."
"Reading?" Roadblock said hopefully.
"Participating," Mindbender said with relish. "I've been looking for test subjects. You'll do quite nicely."
"What exactly are we participating in?" I asked. "Nerve gas? No. Epigenetics? Chemical triggers... mental illness." The lack of hair made for great reading. This guy was like a book. I was almost enjoying myself. "Mental illness and a nerve gas equals...Mindcontrol? Really?"
Mindbender frowned at me. "I've heard of you, Miss Catrenski."
"It's Cheshire."
"You won't be participating. You'll get to watch your friends turn into mindless drones for Cobra. I hope you'll enjoy it."
"I thought you already had mind control technology," Scarlett objected.
I glanced at her, irritated. We were inches from death and she was still trying to prove me wrong about Storm Shadow. Then I saw Mindbender's face and began to laugh.
"Care to share?" Mainframe asked tightly, sounding very unamused.
"It's not working anymore," I told them. "Whatever they're using on the ninja, it isn't working. That's why he's not here. They're afraid they can't control him anymore."
"I think I've had about enough of Miss Catrenski," Mindbender said, turning to one Viper. "Get Dermish in here and tell him–"
I had heard enough. "Hey, Mindbender, aren't you scared?"
Mindbender paused. "Excuse me?"
"You're working with a really, really unstable ninja. You have to keep refreshing the mind-control. When he wakes up, you'll be the first he'll go after, right?"
Mindbender turned his back to me, but I could see a tiny quiver in his hand as he reached out to pick up a vial.
"And besides," I added, to mask the fact that Scarlett was still trying to manipulate the lock picks she had pick-pocketed from Zarana when the biker made the mistake of getting close enough, "It's not like you could stop him. What would you do, hit him with your diploma?"
"Very amusing," Mindbender said tightly. "I trust you'll be this cheerful when your friends are giving us the access codes to the Pit?"
"So Storm Shadow really did get brainwashed?" Roadblock asked, his deep rumble masking the tiny noises the lock picks made.
"Not my own invention," Mindbender agreed. "If it had been, I assure you, there wouldn't have been these... issues!"
"What went wrong?" Mainframe asked, with a certain amount of professional interest. "I mean, was it a medical fault, or was there some type of mechanical failure?"
"If there was a mechanical failure it wouldn't have worked at all and the good doctor here would be fertilising some rosebush somewhere," I told him. "I mean, imagine if someone tried and failed to wipe Snake's mind?" Scarlett pressed the picks into my hands. I had taken a few classes, but I still nearly dropped them twice.
Mainframe shuddered. "Hmm. Not pretty."
Scarlett twitched her foot, telling me to be ready to move. I inclined my head slightly and rambled on. "Mindbender, why did you grab Dermish? Did you need him?"
"He needed us, my dear Cheshire," he sneered. "We were the ones funding his research. He spent the past twenty years working for us, after the company trashed his research."
Scarlett twitched her foot again, once, twice, three times. I tensed, then shook off the manacles and lunged at the Viper nearest to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scarlett kick one guy so hard in the groin that I'm surprised all of his facial hair didn't fall out. Roadblock had actually picked up two Vipers, but I didn't see what happened to them. I punched my Viper twice, once in the arm to make him drop the gun, once in the jaw, then kicked him in the face as he fell for good measure.
Mindbender was scuttling around at his bench like the cockroach he was, but oddly enough he wasn't going for any panic buttons. He was strapping some kind of breathing apparatus to his face. I felt my stomach drop.
"Scarlett!" I yelled. "He–"
Mindbender pressed a button, and a sudden hissing filled the room. I smelled chemicals, and began to cough desperately, but it was no good. I fell forwards, choking, my lungs burning. A crash told me Roadblock was down, a pair of lighter thumps a moment later said the same thing about Scarlett and Mainframe. I recognised this smell: Dermish had had it around him all the time. It was an airborne sedative.
I paused, thought for a moment, and then inhaled deeply.
Time passed. I wasn't sure how long. The moment I had stopped fighting the noxious gas, it had stopped bothering me, or maybe it was just my body remembering. Mindbender hadn't been lying; Dermish was working for Cobra. This was the gas he used to subdue unruly patients. I remembered it well.
I really had to do something about that man.
After a while, Mindbender pressed a button, and a troop of Vipers wearing the same gas masks as him entered the room. "Bring them to the lab," he ordered. "The other troops, as well."
One stepped forwards and picked me up, slinging me over his shoulder. With my face pressed to his back, I could just make out my teammates. They hadn't fared so well; I could see that Scarlett was definitely out for the count, and from the sounds of it, poor Roadblock was being dragged along.
We entered a laboratory, and were dumped unceremoniously on the ground. I lay there, limp, eyes half-open, taking in the room. In the middle of the floor was a machine, a huge metal monstrosity, all sleek lines and silver restraints.
Mindbender seemed to relax once we were in his space. He wandered over to the console and checked something, then wandered back to us and stood there for a moment, looking down at us. I didn't twitch, didn't move, barely breathed. After a very long second, he wandered away again. He was strangely aimless.
Then I heard footsteps and realised that he was waiting for someone. Then that someone entered the room, and I saw who.
Dermish.
The slimy son-of-a-bastard walked in, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. I was going to enjoy wiping the smug smirk of his face, preferably with one of Snake Eyes' most pointy weapons.
"What on earth happened here?" Dermish exclaimed, looking at us.
"One of the Joes picked the locks. I had to put them all to sleep. The Vipers who were in the room also." He sounded not as put out by that as I would have thought. Maybe he planned to involve the Vipers in his experiments now too.
"Well, mistakes do happen, my friend."
My friend. He called everyone my friend. 'Mistakes do happen, my friend.' 'I'm not angry, my friend, just disappointed.' 'Don't do that, Megan my friend, you'll regret it when I catch you.' I hadn't regretted it. I hadn't regretted anything, except perhaps letting him live. It had always been worth it.
I had to plan this carefully. I was in a room full of Vipers – though I was only worried about the conscious ones – and I wasn't armed. The first of those two obstacles took care of itself when Dermish said to the troops in his polite way, "Could you give us a few moments?"
They filed out obediently, and Dermish turned to Mindbender. "Doctor, I hope I can trust you to go through with our deal?"
"You can have her," Mindbender said, kicking my ankle lightly. "Three test subjects will do at this point."
"Excellent!" Dermish said, rubbing his hands. "Twenty years, but we'll get there yet, eh, Megan?"
It was a real mark of my self-control that I didn't even try and throttle him. Instead, I lay there, limp, unconscious, planning how I would kill him.
He turned away, and I watched him and Mindbender move to a bench, where they began discussing some chemical theorem. I raised my head and glanced left; nothing. I glanced right. Bingo. They had dumped a sedated Viper next to me, and there, on his belt? A gun.
I rolled over, pulled the gun, and then resumed my former position, carefully positioning the gun next to me where it couldn't be seen. I hadn't blacked out, but I was still weak from the air-borne toxin, and I didn't have a clear line of fire at them.
"Well," Dermish said clearly and suddenly. "Good luck with Joes, my friend, and good luck with whatever you turn to in the future. I doubt I'll be seeing you again after this. I'll just take Megan and toddle along, shall I?"
"Good luck," Mindbender snorted. "She is a Joe now, you know, Dermish."
"Oh?"
"Yes, she goes by the name Cheshire now. You'll have your hands full with her if she's anything like the others."
"I can handle Megan, doctor, but thank you for the advance warning."
I had heard enough. Shakiness notwithstanding, I rolled to my knees, lifted the gun and pointed it squarely at Dermish. "What were you saying about handling me?"
"Megan," Dermish began.
"It's. Cheshire."
"Cheshire, then," he said slowly. "You'd really shoot me?"
The gun was a Colt Anaconda. Too big for me. I needed both hands just to keep the damn thing upright. "In a heartbeat."
"So do it," he spread his arms. "Shoot me."
"No," I said. "The gunshot would bring the guards."
"So would me yelling for them."
"Yell for them and I'll have no reason not to shoot you."
"Stalemate," he observed.
"How long until my friends wake up?" I demanded.
"A few hours, certainly," Dermish said.
"You're lying."
"I am. I really don't know. Mindbender?"
"A few minutes," Mindbender said tersely. He wasn't lying.
"Good," I said. "Step away from the bench, and I won't shoot you." I was being very careful not to make any promises for the other Joes, of course. Scarlett in particular would take it very badly if I offered them immunity on her behalf.
Mindbender stepped away from the bench very slowly, raising his hands. Then he lunged for the bench and slammed his fist down on a button. A siren began wailing. I shot at him and missed. Dermish was already running. I jumped to my feet, danced sideways a few steps, shot at Dermish, and clipped him on the shoulder, but the scumbag didn't halt. I swore, turned to face Mindbender, and saw him haring out of the room. Suddenly, I was alone with the unconscious Joes.
I had to think fast. I had to decide if it would be worth it.
It would be.
"Scarlett," I said, dropping to my knees and shaking her vigorously. "Scarlett!"
She moaned, and her eyes opened slightly. "Cat?"
"Scarlett, listen." I slapped her across the face to get her attention. "Scarlett, I promise, no matter what you see, I'm not evil."
"What?" She was still out of it.
I sighed. "Never mind."
I left the gun within her reach, glanced at them all for the final time, and took off running.
I made my way up, guessing that Mindbender would have had a helipad up there for quick escapes. Sure enough, just as I burst through the doors, the final helicopter's blades began turning lazily.
I sprinted across the roof, blessing Beach Head for his sadistic PT. The helicopter lifted off the surface. I took a running leap and sailed through the door, landing in the middle of a group of Vipers.
There was only enough time for me to roll onto my back and yell, "I want to join Cobra!" before the butt of a rifle slammed into my temple and I blacked out.
