The Return of the Gamesmaster
A/N: Here's chapter 11. I hope you like and please review on your way out!
Chapter 11: Rescue and Escape
"Help!" Zarana screamed as the robots prepared to fire.
Beachhead snorted. "Like that's going to—" He was cut off as one of the robots' heads suddenly exploded.
"What in the hell?" Duke yelled.
"Now what?" Beachhead asked at the same time.
There was another explosion as something hit a robot's shoulder. Scarlett looked up and gasped. "Don't look now, but we may have just found a way out of all of this!" She exclaimed.
"The cavalry's here!" Beachhead shouted, seeing squads of both Joe and Cobra aircraft along with some military jets as well.
Zarana waved her hands. Down here!"
By this time the robots had shifted focus to the new threat. But they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. As the exhausted group took cover, the planes blew the robots to bits.
In his command center, the Gamesmaster slammed his fist on the console. "Noooooooo!" He screamed. It wasn't possible! The island was in the middle of nowhere and cloaked! But yet it had not just been found, but was being invaded as well!
He knew there was only one course of action. Standing up so fast his chair fell over; he typed a series of commands into the computer. Then, laughing, he ran for the door. He was going to lose the island, but a lot of people were going to go down with it!
Now that the robots were destroyed, a bunch of planes began to land in a nearby meadow while the others stayed in the air to provide cover. Within moments, Joe and Cobra agents were disembarking and hurrying over.
"Guys!" Ace screamed.
"We're here!" Gung-Ho added.
"Where's the Gamesmaster creep?" Dr. Mindbender wanted to know.
"Zarana, Where are you?" Zartan yelled.
"Zartan!" Zarana screamed. Jumping up, she ran to her brother and threw her arms around him.
Zartan hugged her fiercely, hanging on for several seconds. Then he pulled back and looked at her. She was dirty, banged up, and her clothes had tears in them. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Tired and hungry, but alright." she answered. Suddenly she looked scared. "But Serpentor isn't!" She exclaimed.
"What happened? Where is he?" Zartan asked.
She pointed back to where she came from. "Back there."
"Destro!" A panicked voiced cried out then as Zarana led her brother to their injured Emperor. "Oh my darling! Someone help him!" It was the Baroness, and she sounded like she was about to break down.
Nearby, a whole throng of Joes had clustered around Duke, Scarlett, and Beachhead, hugging them, talking all at once, and making sure they were okay.
Suddenly Scarlett spotted someone in a mask watching from a few feet away. She could tell from his body language that he was tense and anxious. In a flash, all her weariness seemed to fade and she disengaged herself from the others and ran to him. "Snake-Eyes!" She exclaimed and threw herself into his waiting arms.
His arms came around her and held her tight. She snuggled closer and rested her head on his shoulder. "I missed you so much," she said softly.
He pulled back enough to sign, *I was so worried about you, sweetheart.* He squeezed her hand, and then went on. *You suddenly vanished and we had no idea where you and the others were and I was afraid something bad had happened to you.*
"Oh, Snake!" She cried and hugged him tight. "Something bad almost did happen to all six of us, but you showed up just in the nick of time!"
He pulled back again. *From the moment you disappeared, we were looking for you. I would never let anything happen to you! I love you so much!*
"I love you too, honey!" She replied and snuggled into him again.
"All right, where's this Gamesmaster jerk?" Wet-Suit's voice rang out angrily.
"Probably in a control room of some sort," Duke replied.
Lady Jaye pulled out a radio and flicked it on. "Ace, do you guys see anything that looks like it could be a control center?"
There was a pause, and then Ace's voice came back. "Affirmative, Lady Jaye. There's a compound about thirty or so miles east of your location."
"We're heading there now!" Gung-Ho added.
"He's very sneaky, so whatever you do; do not let him get away!" Lady Jaye said in a no-nonsense voice.
"He won't, Lady Jaye," Slipstream replied.
Lady Jaye switched off the radio and turned back to the others just in time to hear Duke's angry outburst.
"Scarlett, what the hell is going on?" Lady Jaye turned around and gasped. Her best friend was in Snake-Eyes's arms!
Scarlett jumped, startled, and then turned to face Duke. "We didn't want to say anything because we didn't want to hurt you or anyone else," she explained.
Duke snorted. "That was so noble of you," He replied sarcastically.
"It's true! Scarlett exclaimed, glaring at him.
Duke glared right back. "I don't care if it is or not. As your commanding, officer, I have a right to know about something like this!" He yelled.
"We need help over here, now!" Zarana's panicked voiced yelled then, cutting off the discussion.
"What's wrong, Zarana?" Lifeline asked her.
"It's Serpentor!" She shrieked. "He won't wake up! He's hurt bad!"
"Zarana, just calm down and let me take a look," Lifeline told her, familiar with her dramatics.
"What about Destro?" The Baroness demanded. "He's hurt too!"
"Not near as bad as Serpentor!" Zarana retorted.
"Everybody, calm down," Lifeline said loudly. "I'll look at Destro in a few minutes, Zarana."
"Where's Doc?' Beachhead spoke up.
"He's back at Headquarters, making sure the infirmary is ready," Flint replied.
"And we're going to need it," Lifeline told him.
"What's wrong, Lifeline?" Duke asked him.
"It's Serpentor. He's got a concussion, some bruised ribs, maybe even cracked ribs, and possibly more internal injuries. Without the proper equipment, I can't tell the specifics. But I can tell everyone that he needs medical care now!"
Zarana gasped. "He's not going to die, is he?"
"No, he can't!" Dr. Mindbender exclaimed, speaking for the first time.
"Guys, calm down," Lifeline said. "I honestly don't think it's that bad. But we need to get him to a hospital immediately."
"Destro, too," The Baroness added.
Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling accompanied but the ground shaking.
"What the hell?" Gung-Ho exclaimed, trying to stay upright.
"It's an earthquake!" Bazooka told him.
"I don't think so!" Beachhead spoke up as the rumbling and shaking stopped.
"Then what is it, Ranger?" Zartan growled, and then cried out as it started again.
"Son of a bitch!" Duke swore.
"The whole island's going up! We need to get away now!" Beachhead shouted.
"How the heck could that be possible?" Major Bludd asked.
"How do you know, Beach?" Scarlett asked him.
"The rumbling came from a different direction each time!" He shouted back. Just then, the ground shook, harder this time, and no one missed the sound of an explosion somewhere nearby.
"Son of a bitch, he's right!" Mindbender exclaimed.
"Let's get out of here!" Lady Jaye yelled.
"What about Serpentor and Destro?" Zarana screamed. "They need medical attention!"
"There is none on an exploding island!" Beachhead exclaimed."
"He's right!" Flint yelled. "Come on!"
They all scrambled around, those who were sitting or lying getting up. Roadblock picked up Serpentor and Gung-Ho grabbed Destro. "The whole island's going up!" Lady Jaye yelled into her radio. "We need picked up now!"
"Copy, Lady Jaye!" Slipstream replied. "Ace has zeroed in on the Gamesmaster. Airborne and Wild Bill went with him. The rest of us are coming!"
"Hurry, we won't all fit into the planes that are on the ground and we need the rescue chopper! We have injured."
"Roger! We'll be there in moments!" Slipstream replied.
Lady Jaye switched off her radio. "Let's go! Back to where we landed!" She took off running, the others following.
The Gamesmaster was nearly to his secret transport when it suddenly exploded in front of him. He was thrown to the ground by the blast and when he picked himself up, there was two planes landing on either side of him.
"No!" He yelled, and started to run back the way he had come. But before he'd taken three steps, another plane swooped low to cut him off. Panicking, he looked all around, but all avenues of escape were cut off by the landed planes or ones hovering only feet off the ground.
"It's over, Gamesmaster!" A voice boomed in front of him, as the canopies of the planes on the ground opened. The pilots jumped out, brandishing weapons and pointing them at him.
But the Gamesmaster had one last trick up his sleeve. Quick as lightening, he pulled a remote control out of his pocket. "It's not over yet!" He cackled and started pushing buttons, which would activate the hidden automatic lasers all over the island.
But before he had pushed three, the pilot in front of him fired his weapon and the remote exploded in his hand. He screamed and jumped back, grabbing at his arm, which had many small cuts from shrapnel.
Then a hand grabbed his shoulder. The big man spun and came face-to-face with a gun pointed at him! "Get those hands up now!" The man holding the gun ordered. Another man grabbed him before he could comply and locked his hands in restraints.
An explosion shook the ground all around them. "Come on! We have to go now!" Yelled the man who had restrained him. He and another man hurried him to one of the planes and forced him into it and quickly strapped in. Moments later, they were back in their planes as well and seconds after that they were lifting off as another explosion sounded.
The others had reached the clearing where the other planes were and hurried to secure Destro and Serpentor in the rescue chopper. Lifeline hopped in along with Zarana, Zartan, Zandar, Duke, and the Baroness as the other hurried aboard the planes.
"Let's go!" Lady Jaye screamed as an explosion very near shook the ground and the aircraft that hadn't lifted off.
"Ace and the others have the Gamesmaster!" Slipstream announced over the radio.
They all wanted to cheer, but there was no time! They frantically prepared for liftoff and finally got the planes and chopper airborne. It wasn't a moment too soon as the strongest explosion yet went off, buckling the ground and uprooting trees as bits of ground and trees were thrown in the air as flames shot up out the ground not more than fifty yards away.
"The whole island's going! We have to get out of here!" Gung-Ho yelled over the radio.
"We're going! We're going!" Ace replied. And just as they reached cruising altitude the island exploded in a powerful and blinding fireball that seemed to shake the heavens. The aircraft were peppered with debris, but with only minor damages as they quickly accelerated up and out of range.
On then, did they breathe a sigh of relief. They had made it.
A/N: What did you think? Only one more chapter to go! Will Serpentor and Destro be okay? What will happen to the Gamesmaster? Stay tuned to find out and please leave a review! Authors love feedback!