AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was partly inspired by the true story of Jean Moulin. In 1940, when the Nazis conquered and occupied France, Jean Moulin was a prefect of one of the departments of France. He was ordered by the Germans to sign a document wrongfully blaming retreating Senegalese French troops for a civilian massacre. When Moulin refused, Nazi troops beat him. Afraid that he would relent the next day under torture, Moulin attempted to take his life by cutting his throat with a piece of glass. He survived the attempt, recovered, and was eventually dismissed from his post by the collaborationist Vichy government. He returned home and soon joined the Resistance. The Resistance smuggled Moulin out of France and sent him to England, where he met General Charles de Gaulle, who appointed him as his personal representative to the French Resistance. In 1942, Moulin parachuted into France and worked for a year and a half to unify the various Resistance movements. He was
betrayed and captured in May 1943 in Lyon by Klaus Barbie, a S.S. officer who brutally tortured him for several weeks until his body was broken. But Moulin never betrayed his comrades to the Germans! He died of a heart attack while in transit to Berlin for further interrogation. Today, he is revered as a hero and martyr.
* * *
Half an hour later, Dr. Mindbender, accompanied by two Vipers pushed open the double doors of the banquet room, and was greeted by the sight of Snake Eyes continuing his relentless torture of Scarlett.
As Dr. Mindbender closed the doors behind him, Snake Eyes punched Scarlett across her face. Scarlett, bound and tied to the chair, gasped out in pain as she felt Snake Eyes' hard fist against her cheek bone.
"Snake Eyes, please, I'm begging you," Scarlett cried pathetically. Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. Her head rolled around a bit, as if she had just taken a knockout punch from Muhammad Ali. She looked ready to pass out.
"Ah, Snake Eyes, pleased to see you are making progress here," Dr. Mindbender commented, surveying Scarlett, who now slumped over in her chair, looking mentally and physically exhausted.
"But you haven't hurt her enough," Dr. Mindbender said. "I suggest you cut her up to encourage her to start talking."
Snake Eyes reached behind his back, where his sheathed sword was strapped around his torso. The deadly katana blade gleamed in the chandelier light. Snake Eyes stood before Scarlett, contemplating the weapon.
He also took out with his other hand a butterfly knife. Knife and sword in hand, Snake Eyes walked toward Scarlett. Dr. Mindbender and the Vipers stood nearby, behind him, watching in perverse excitement and fascination.
Without warning, Snake Eyes spun on his heels and hurled the butterfly knife straight into a Viper's throat. Before Dr. Mindbender could even blink, Snake Eyes lunged forward and impaled the other Viper. Suddenly, Dr. Mindbender found himself standing beside two dead men, with Snake Eyes holding a bloody katana blade to his throat, daring him to make a move. He stared in disbelief as Scarlett squirmed out of the ropes that tied her to the chair and stood up, looking a little bruised but otherwise perfectly fine.
"How is this possible?" Dr. Mindbender was stupefied.
"We're going to be the ones asking the questions now, and you're going to answer us, you son of a bitch!" Scarlett growled as she grabbed Dr. Mindbender and practically threw him onto the chair. Scarlett picked up one of the fallen Viper's rifles and shoved the barrel up Dr. Mindbender's nose.
"Start talking. We want to know how this brainwashing operation is being done."
"How can I be expected to know such things? I'm just Cobra's interrogator."
"Don't you bullshit me!" Scarlett snarled, grabbing him by the ear with her free hand. "I know it has something to do with the satellite you launched, and with signals being transmitted via satellite television. And I know you know something about it."
"What are you going to do if I don't tell you? Kill me?"
Scarlett's forefinger tightened around the trigger. Behind her, Snake Eyes kept watch with his sword and a rifle.
"You aren't ruthless enough. You are G.I. JOE. You are not cold-blooded killers. Look at me, helpless and unarmed. Would you kill a defenseless man? Could you live with your conscience?"
Scarlett slapped Dr. Mindbender so hard that the monocle flew off and landed on the floor, cracked and broken. She was enraged because she knew he spoke the truth.
Snake Eyes stepped forward and pointed with the tip of his sword toward Dr. Mindbender's belt. Scarlett followed Snake Eyes' sword and saw what Snake Eyes was looking at. A hypodermic syringe was attached to his belt.
"What have we here?" Scarlett took the needle and inspected its contents. The name of a drug was written on the syringe.
"Is this what I think this is? Truth serum?"
Scarlett jabbed the needle into Dr. Mindbender's right internal carotid artery and administered a full injection.
Dr. Mindbender groaned and he grew woozy.
Scarlett now resumed her interrogation. Snake Eyes turned his head toward the door. Scarlett looked to Snake Eyes and understood. There was not much time.
"How is Cobra doing the brainwashing?"
"We transmit signals to our satellite in orbit," Dr. Mindbender said slowly and unevenly. "We have all of the brainwashing algorithms stored on CD. Our supercomputers encrypt the data and transmit via our uplink antenna to the satellite. Using satellite television, we can broadcast low frequency signals over the entire country. We compel the weak minded to do our bidding."
Footsteps now approached outside. Someone was knocking on the door, calling for Dr. Mindbender.
"Where is the uplink facility? Where is it?"
"We took over NBC's broadcasting equipment. The Rockefeller Center..."
It was all clear now. Scarlett turned to Snake Eyes and nodded. Now that they knew what was going on, how were they going to get out? What were they going to do with Dr. Mindbender?
"We have to waste him," Scarlett said. "Otherwise they'll know that we know Cobra's location."
She pointed her rifle at Dr. Mindbender's face. As much as she loathed and despised the Cobra interrogator, Scarlett was equally loath to execute an unarmed man who was not even mentally competent at the moment. She slowly began depressing the trigger while looking away from the unpleasant action she must now commit.
Suddenly, the doors burst open and a squad of Vipers strode into the room. Seeing Scarlett and Snake Eyes armed and about, the Vipers immediately opened fire on them, not realizing as Scarlett and Snake Eyes dove out of the line of fire that they were perforating one of their senior leaders.
"Fuck, we just fragged Mindbender," one of the Vipers said as the four Vipers abruptly ceased fire.
"Uh, let's just say the Joes did it," a Viper suggested.
For a moment, they had forgotten about Scarlett and Snake Eyes, which proved a fatal mistake as Scarlett and Snake Eyes opened fire, killing all four of them in less than a second.
"Come on!" Scarlett cried to Snake Eyes as they bounded for the door. Racing out of the banquet hall, the pair found themselves on a balcony overlooking the ground floor. A short distance away, Scarlett spotted the escalator that led to the ground floor.
The alarm now rang out. A dozen Vipers around the balcony, as well as a handful of Cobra foot soldiers standing around on the ground below, spotted Scarlett and Snake Eyes and began firing at them.
Ducking beneath the metal rail, Scarlett and Snake Eyes moved swiftly toward the escalator. Below them, they heard Duke's voice ring out. Apparently, he was now in a position of authority within Cobra.
"Hold your fire, goddamnit! Hold your fire, all of you!"
The firing stopped.
"Take them alive! Shoot to wound!"
Two Vipers came in from behind, and Snake Eyes saw them. He quickly blew both of them away, then continued with Scarlett toward the escalator.
When they reached the escalator, Scarlett and Snake Eyes saw a handful of enemy troops led by Duke, waiting for them with guns raised.
"Cover me," Scarlett whispered to Snake Eyes, who gave her a thumbs up. Scarlett smiled wistfully for a moment. It was just like old times.
Turning her attention to matters at hand, Scarlett leapt onto the rubber escalator hand rail, and as Snake Eyes popped up over the edge of the balcony barrier behind her to fire on the enemy below, she slid down the escalator hand rail on her back.
Scarlett fired several rounds with her handgun at the enemy soldiers all the way down, who were too slow to react to her astonishing maneuver. When Scarlett reached the bottom, she flipped herself off and continued firing with her rifle as cover as Snake Eyes followed her move.
Twenty yards away, Duke and four Vipers crouched behind the glass elevator for cover. Around them, a dozen Vipers lay sprawled on the floor.
It was time to move. Snake Eyes raced backward behind Scarlett, covering their rear, while Scarlett, in the lead, mowed down two more hapless Vipers. As they neared the exit to the street, however, they soon came face to face with a half dozen Vipers, who were armed and waiting.
Oh shit, Scarlett thought as she looked from her left to her right, finding no cover. In a head on gun fight, she and Snake Eyes were sure to lose now that the element of surprise was no longer a factor.
A lone figure burst through the front doors with a sword. Swiftly and mercilessly, it sliced through the Vipers before they even had a chance to figure out what hit them.
The ninja pulled off her mask. It was Jinx.
"Jinx?" Scarlett said, shocked.
"Hurry, no time for a reunion party, let's get the hell out of here!"
"After them!" Duke cried as Jinx led Scarlett and Snake Eyes out the door and into the middle of Times Square.
The three pursued Joes wove in and out of the rush hour pedestrian traffic, pushing and shoving the bystanders out of their way, stopping to cut or shoot any Cobra soldiers they found in their path. A few pedestrians were smart enough to jump out of their way. Behind them, about a block away, Scarlett could hear Duke shouting curses as he led four Vipers in hot pursuit through the sidewalks and the streets of Manhattan.
The angry shouts of New Yorkers filled the air as the frantic chase ensued down 42^nd Street, heading east.
"Watch where you're going!"
"Fucking assholes!"
"They've got guns--"
"Holy shit!"
Gunshots rang out, and Scarlett looked behind her. Duke and the Vipers were shooting people who got in their way, merciless in their chase.
Snake Eyes pointed to the 5^th Avenue subway station across the street, and Scarlett and Jinx nodded. Defying the red light, the three Joes ran into the congested street, jumping onto the hoods of cars and ignoring the indignant protests of the drivers. As they raced down the stairs into the subway station, they saw the 7 train about to leave for Grand Central. Scarlett, Jinx, and Snake Eyes, without hesitation, jumped the turnstile and hurled themselves into the subway train just as the doors were about to close. As the train pulled away from the station, Scarlett saw Duke and the Vipers come down the stairs and grimly stare at the departing train.
Inside the train, two Vipers were coming toward the three Joes.
"Excuse me, sorry," Scarlett shouted as she led Jinx and Snake Eyes in the opposite direction, away from the two Vipers who advanced on them, brutally shoving passengers aside. The Joes pushed open the car doors and headed for the next subway car. Scarlett came face to face with a startled Viper, and she stabbed him on sight with her switchblade. The Viper crumpled to the floor as the Joes advanced down the train car.
"Out of the way, now!" Scarlett shouted to the passengers who were crowding the train.
"Fuck you, bitch!" someone yelled.
"Move your fat asses!" Jinx threatened, brandishing her rifle and looking behind. She saw the two Vipers coming at them between the cars. With a clear line of sight, Jinx pulled up her rifle and squeezed off two rounds, causing the Vipers to duck for cover and sending the passengers in their car into a state of panic.
"Move, move, move!" Scarlett ordered as the three of them moved for the next car.
When they got onto the next train car, the train began slowing down. They had just pulled into Grand Central.
Scarlett led Jinx and Snake Eyes out of the train, and they raced through the subway tunnels. A few shots rang out behind them. It was the two Vipers who had pursued them on the train. Snake Eyes and Jinx both pulled up, took aim, and downed each of the Vipers with a bullet to the head.
"Nice shooting," Scarlett said as they ran out into the main concourse.
Scarlett gasped as she and her friends came up face to face with Duke and the four Vipers.
"Not so fast, Scarlett," Duke said as he aimed his handgun at her face. Duke and the four Vipers now faced Scarlett, Jinx, and Snake Eyes in an armed standoff, in the middle of a busy Grand Central Station.
Scarlett did not know what to do. If anyone began shooting, it would not be pretty for either side.
"Duke, look at me, don't do this," Scarlett said, remembering that she had been able to break Snake Eyes from Cobra's control.
"Shut up. Drop your weapons now, or we will shoot."
Duke's face was a mask of hatred and anger.
"You're my friend," Scarlett said, "you're G.I. JOE. Listen to me. What does that mean to you?"
Scarlett met his eyes and gazed into them, peering through the brainwashed exterior, into his soul.
"Duke," Scarlett pleaded as she trained her firearm on Duke's head, "we've been through too much together for it to end this way. I know part of you is struggling now, fighting against what Cobra is telling you to do. Duke, you have to fight back."
"Let's waste them!" one of the Vipers said.
Duke held up his hand to stop them.
"No one fires until I say so!" he commanded.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Duke said to Scarlett in an even voice. "trust me, you don't want to do this the hard way because it involves you leaving this station in a body bag."
"No, I don't believe that. Duke, I know that deep inside, you care for me."
Snake Eyes and Jinx stood behind Scarlett, poised to shoot.
One of the Vipers sneered, "Aw, listen to that. Isn't that sweet."
Scarlett ignored him.
"Duke, I think you might even have loved me. And once, there was a time when I might have loved you too. In another life, in another time, we could have shared a life together. You know that deep inside, don't you?"
Duke's eyebrows twitched. He was in emotional turmoil now, but the other Vipers standing behind him did not see this.
"Shut the hell up! I swear--"
"Duke, I care about you. It breaks my heart to see what Cobra has done to you. But Duke, if you do this now, Cobra will win. We have a fighting chance. We need you."
Duke's forefinger trembled on his handgun trigger. Part of him wanted to shoot her, but another part, his true self, was fighting back. Scarlett closed her eyes.
"I need you," she said.
"This is fucking bullshit," one of the Vipers said. "Drop your guns now, motherfuckers!"
"Scarlett," Duke said in a tremulous voice, his handgun never leaving Scarlett's face. Scarlett opened her eyes.
"Run!" Duke cried as he spun around and fired on the Vipers standing behind him and beside him. He shot one Viper and turned to shoot another before the three remaining Vipers turned at once and nailed him at point blank range.
Scarlett's eyes went wide.
"No!" she cried as she, Snake Eyes, and Jinx immediately opened up on the Vipers standing before them. All three Vipers went down in a rain of bullets, and a growing pool of blood formed beneath their limp, twitching bodies.
Scarlett had emptied her entire clip of ammo in her handgun. She tossed the weapon aside and went down to Duke's side.
Duke groaned as Scarlett lifted him off the floor with one hand. Snake Eyes tore open Duke's black suit and white shirt, which were now stained with blood. He had been shot several times through his vital abdominal organs and the internal bleeding was heavy.
"Duke," Scarlett moaned in dismay as Duke blinked and looked at her hazily. She tried to lift Duke off the floor and help him to his feet, but Duke cried out in agony.
"Leave me, I'm dying," Duke said with heavy, forced breaths.
"I won't leave you," Scarlett said.
"You must," Duke said calmly. "More will be here soon unless you get out of here now... the enemy is seconds away..."
Scarlett laid Duke down on the floor and cradled him in her arms.
"I blew it," Duke said, "I'm sorry."
"No," Scarlett whispered, "It's not your fault."
Scarlett could envision now all the memories she and Duke had experienced together. The battles, the adventures. Was this how it would all end? No, she could not accept this. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.
"Listen," Duke said, "you can beat them. You can win this war."
"We will," Scarlett said, blinded by her tears.
"Good-bye," Duke said as he took Scarlett's hand and squeezed it tightly. He released her hand and took hold of his handgun, grimacing with pain as he did so.
"Now... go, G.I. JOE. I've got your rear covered... Leave me... That's an order!"
Scarlett stood and nodded to Snake Eyes and Jinx. They all saluted, took one last look at Duke, and said their good-byes. Duke dragged himself along the floor and propped himself against one of the fallen Viper's bodies. He was prepared to fight to the very end against any Cobras that came his way.
A crowd of onlookers had formed near the scene, and Scarlett waved them all off.
"Get out of the way!" she screamed as she, Snake Eyes, and Jinx raced for the exit and the streets beyond.
betrayed and captured in May 1943 in Lyon by Klaus Barbie, a S.S. officer who brutally tortured him for several weeks until his body was broken. But Moulin never betrayed his comrades to the Germans! He died of a heart attack while in transit to Berlin for further interrogation. Today, he is revered as a hero and martyr.
* * *
Half an hour later, Dr. Mindbender, accompanied by two Vipers pushed open the double doors of the banquet room, and was greeted by the sight of Snake Eyes continuing his relentless torture of Scarlett.
As Dr. Mindbender closed the doors behind him, Snake Eyes punched Scarlett across her face. Scarlett, bound and tied to the chair, gasped out in pain as she felt Snake Eyes' hard fist against her cheek bone.
"Snake Eyes, please, I'm begging you," Scarlett cried pathetically. Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. Her head rolled around a bit, as if she had just taken a knockout punch from Muhammad Ali. She looked ready to pass out.
"Ah, Snake Eyes, pleased to see you are making progress here," Dr. Mindbender commented, surveying Scarlett, who now slumped over in her chair, looking mentally and physically exhausted.
"But you haven't hurt her enough," Dr. Mindbender said. "I suggest you cut her up to encourage her to start talking."
Snake Eyes reached behind his back, where his sheathed sword was strapped around his torso. The deadly katana blade gleamed in the chandelier light. Snake Eyes stood before Scarlett, contemplating the weapon.
He also took out with his other hand a butterfly knife. Knife and sword in hand, Snake Eyes walked toward Scarlett. Dr. Mindbender and the Vipers stood nearby, behind him, watching in perverse excitement and fascination.
Without warning, Snake Eyes spun on his heels and hurled the butterfly knife straight into a Viper's throat. Before Dr. Mindbender could even blink, Snake Eyes lunged forward and impaled the other Viper. Suddenly, Dr. Mindbender found himself standing beside two dead men, with Snake Eyes holding a bloody katana blade to his throat, daring him to make a move. He stared in disbelief as Scarlett squirmed out of the ropes that tied her to the chair and stood up, looking a little bruised but otherwise perfectly fine.
"How is this possible?" Dr. Mindbender was stupefied.
"We're going to be the ones asking the questions now, and you're going to answer us, you son of a bitch!" Scarlett growled as she grabbed Dr. Mindbender and practically threw him onto the chair. Scarlett picked up one of the fallen Viper's rifles and shoved the barrel up Dr. Mindbender's nose.
"Start talking. We want to know how this brainwashing operation is being done."
"How can I be expected to know such things? I'm just Cobra's interrogator."
"Don't you bullshit me!" Scarlett snarled, grabbing him by the ear with her free hand. "I know it has something to do with the satellite you launched, and with signals being transmitted via satellite television. And I know you know something about it."
"What are you going to do if I don't tell you? Kill me?"
Scarlett's forefinger tightened around the trigger. Behind her, Snake Eyes kept watch with his sword and a rifle.
"You aren't ruthless enough. You are G.I. JOE. You are not cold-blooded killers. Look at me, helpless and unarmed. Would you kill a defenseless man? Could you live with your conscience?"
Scarlett slapped Dr. Mindbender so hard that the monocle flew off and landed on the floor, cracked and broken. She was enraged because she knew he spoke the truth.
Snake Eyes stepped forward and pointed with the tip of his sword toward Dr. Mindbender's belt. Scarlett followed Snake Eyes' sword and saw what Snake Eyes was looking at. A hypodermic syringe was attached to his belt.
"What have we here?" Scarlett took the needle and inspected its contents. The name of a drug was written on the syringe.
"Is this what I think this is? Truth serum?"
Scarlett jabbed the needle into Dr. Mindbender's right internal carotid artery and administered a full injection.
Dr. Mindbender groaned and he grew woozy.
Scarlett now resumed her interrogation. Snake Eyes turned his head toward the door. Scarlett looked to Snake Eyes and understood. There was not much time.
"How is Cobra doing the brainwashing?"
"We transmit signals to our satellite in orbit," Dr. Mindbender said slowly and unevenly. "We have all of the brainwashing algorithms stored on CD. Our supercomputers encrypt the data and transmit via our uplink antenna to the satellite. Using satellite television, we can broadcast low frequency signals over the entire country. We compel the weak minded to do our bidding."
Footsteps now approached outside. Someone was knocking on the door, calling for Dr. Mindbender.
"Where is the uplink facility? Where is it?"
"We took over NBC's broadcasting equipment. The Rockefeller Center..."
It was all clear now. Scarlett turned to Snake Eyes and nodded. Now that they knew what was going on, how were they going to get out? What were they going to do with Dr. Mindbender?
"We have to waste him," Scarlett said. "Otherwise they'll know that we know Cobra's location."
She pointed her rifle at Dr. Mindbender's face. As much as she loathed and despised the Cobra interrogator, Scarlett was equally loath to execute an unarmed man who was not even mentally competent at the moment. She slowly began depressing the trigger while looking away from the unpleasant action she must now commit.
Suddenly, the doors burst open and a squad of Vipers strode into the room. Seeing Scarlett and Snake Eyes armed and about, the Vipers immediately opened fire on them, not realizing as Scarlett and Snake Eyes dove out of the line of fire that they were perforating one of their senior leaders.
"Fuck, we just fragged Mindbender," one of the Vipers said as the four Vipers abruptly ceased fire.
"Uh, let's just say the Joes did it," a Viper suggested.
For a moment, they had forgotten about Scarlett and Snake Eyes, which proved a fatal mistake as Scarlett and Snake Eyes opened fire, killing all four of them in less than a second.
"Come on!" Scarlett cried to Snake Eyes as they bounded for the door. Racing out of the banquet hall, the pair found themselves on a balcony overlooking the ground floor. A short distance away, Scarlett spotted the escalator that led to the ground floor.
The alarm now rang out. A dozen Vipers around the balcony, as well as a handful of Cobra foot soldiers standing around on the ground below, spotted Scarlett and Snake Eyes and began firing at them.
Ducking beneath the metal rail, Scarlett and Snake Eyes moved swiftly toward the escalator. Below them, they heard Duke's voice ring out. Apparently, he was now in a position of authority within Cobra.
"Hold your fire, goddamnit! Hold your fire, all of you!"
The firing stopped.
"Take them alive! Shoot to wound!"
Two Vipers came in from behind, and Snake Eyes saw them. He quickly blew both of them away, then continued with Scarlett toward the escalator.
When they reached the escalator, Scarlett and Snake Eyes saw a handful of enemy troops led by Duke, waiting for them with guns raised.
"Cover me," Scarlett whispered to Snake Eyes, who gave her a thumbs up. Scarlett smiled wistfully for a moment. It was just like old times.
Turning her attention to matters at hand, Scarlett leapt onto the rubber escalator hand rail, and as Snake Eyes popped up over the edge of the balcony barrier behind her to fire on the enemy below, she slid down the escalator hand rail on her back.
Scarlett fired several rounds with her handgun at the enemy soldiers all the way down, who were too slow to react to her astonishing maneuver. When Scarlett reached the bottom, she flipped herself off and continued firing with her rifle as cover as Snake Eyes followed her move.
Twenty yards away, Duke and four Vipers crouched behind the glass elevator for cover. Around them, a dozen Vipers lay sprawled on the floor.
It was time to move. Snake Eyes raced backward behind Scarlett, covering their rear, while Scarlett, in the lead, mowed down two more hapless Vipers. As they neared the exit to the street, however, they soon came face to face with a half dozen Vipers, who were armed and waiting.
Oh shit, Scarlett thought as she looked from her left to her right, finding no cover. In a head on gun fight, she and Snake Eyes were sure to lose now that the element of surprise was no longer a factor.
A lone figure burst through the front doors with a sword. Swiftly and mercilessly, it sliced through the Vipers before they even had a chance to figure out what hit them.
The ninja pulled off her mask. It was Jinx.
"Jinx?" Scarlett said, shocked.
"Hurry, no time for a reunion party, let's get the hell out of here!"
"After them!" Duke cried as Jinx led Scarlett and Snake Eyes out the door and into the middle of Times Square.
The three pursued Joes wove in and out of the rush hour pedestrian traffic, pushing and shoving the bystanders out of their way, stopping to cut or shoot any Cobra soldiers they found in their path. A few pedestrians were smart enough to jump out of their way. Behind them, about a block away, Scarlett could hear Duke shouting curses as he led four Vipers in hot pursuit through the sidewalks and the streets of Manhattan.
The angry shouts of New Yorkers filled the air as the frantic chase ensued down 42^nd Street, heading east.
"Watch where you're going!"
"Fucking assholes!"
"They've got guns--"
"Holy shit!"
Gunshots rang out, and Scarlett looked behind her. Duke and the Vipers were shooting people who got in their way, merciless in their chase.
Snake Eyes pointed to the 5^th Avenue subway station across the street, and Scarlett and Jinx nodded. Defying the red light, the three Joes ran into the congested street, jumping onto the hoods of cars and ignoring the indignant protests of the drivers. As they raced down the stairs into the subway station, they saw the 7 train about to leave for Grand Central. Scarlett, Jinx, and Snake Eyes, without hesitation, jumped the turnstile and hurled themselves into the subway train just as the doors were about to close. As the train pulled away from the station, Scarlett saw Duke and the Vipers come down the stairs and grimly stare at the departing train.
Inside the train, two Vipers were coming toward the three Joes.
"Excuse me, sorry," Scarlett shouted as she led Jinx and Snake Eyes in the opposite direction, away from the two Vipers who advanced on them, brutally shoving passengers aside. The Joes pushed open the car doors and headed for the next subway car. Scarlett came face to face with a startled Viper, and she stabbed him on sight with her switchblade. The Viper crumpled to the floor as the Joes advanced down the train car.
"Out of the way, now!" Scarlett shouted to the passengers who were crowding the train.
"Fuck you, bitch!" someone yelled.
"Move your fat asses!" Jinx threatened, brandishing her rifle and looking behind. She saw the two Vipers coming at them between the cars. With a clear line of sight, Jinx pulled up her rifle and squeezed off two rounds, causing the Vipers to duck for cover and sending the passengers in their car into a state of panic.
"Move, move, move!" Scarlett ordered as the three of them moved for the next car.
When they got onto the next train car, the train began slowing down. They had just pulled into Grand Central.
Scarlett led Jinx and Snake Eyes out of the train, and they raced through the subway tunnels. A few shots rang out behind them. It was the two Vipers who had pursued them on the train. Snake Eyes and Jinx both pulled up, took aim, and downed each of the Vipers with a bullet to the head.
"Nice shooting," Scarlett said as they ran out into the main concourse.
Scarlett gasped as she and her friends came up face to face with Duke and the four Vipers.
"Not so fast, Scarlett," Duke said as he aimed his handgun at her face. Duke and the four Vipers now faced Scarlett, Jinx, and Snake Eyes in an armed standoff, in the middle of a busy Grand Central Station.
Scarlett did not know what to do. If anyone began shooting, it would not be pretty for either side.
"Duke, look at me, don't do this," Scarlett said, remembering that she had been able to break Snake Eyes from Cobra's control.
"Shut up. Drop your weapons now, or we will shoot."
Duke's face was a mask of hatred and anger.
"You're my friend," Scarlett said, "you're G.I. JOE. Listen to me. What does that mean to you?"
Scarlett met his eyes and gazed into them, peering through the brainwashed exterior, into his soul.
"Duke," Scarlett pleaded as she trained her firearm on Duke's head, "we've been through too much together for it to end this way. I know part of you is struggling now, fighting against what Cobra is telling you to do. Duke, you have to fight back."
"Let's waste them!" one of the Vipers said.
Duke held up his hand to stop them.
"No one fires until I say so!" he commanded.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Duke said to Scarlett in an even voice. "trust me, you don't want to do this the hard way because it involves you leaving this station in a body bag."
"No, I don't believe that. Duke, I know that deep inside, you care for me."
Snake Eyes and Jinx stood behind Scarlett, poised to shoot.
One of the Vipers sneered, "Aw, listen to that. Isn't that sweet."
Scarlett ignored him.
"Duke, I think you might even have loved me. And once, there was a time when I might have loved you too. In another life, in another time, we could have shared a life together. You know that deep inside, don't you?"
Duke's eyebrows twitched. He was in emotional turmoil now, but the other Vipers standing behind him did not see this.
"Shut the hell up! I swear--"
"Duke, I care about you. It breaks my heart to see what Cobra has done to you. But Duke, if you do this now, Cobra will win. We have a fighting chance. We need you."
Duke's forefinger trembled on his handgun trigger. Part of him wanted to shoot her, but another part, his true self, was fighting back. Scarlett closed her eyes.
"I need you," she said.
"This is fucking bullshit," one of the Vipers said. "Drop your guns now, motherfuckers!"
"Scarlett," Duke said in a tremulous voice, his handgun never leaving Scarlett's face. Scarlett opened her eyes.
"Run!" Duke cried as he spun around and fired on the Vipers standing behind him and beside him. He shot one Viper and turned to shoot another before the three remaining Vipers turned at once and nailed him at point blank range.
Scarlett's eyes went wide.
"No!" she cried as she, Snake Eyes, and Jinx immediately opened up on the Vipers standing before them. All three Vipers went down in a rain of bullets, and a growing pool of blood formed beneath their limp, twitching bodies.
Scarlett had emptied her entire clip of ammo in her handgun. She tossed the weapon aside and went down to Duke's side.
Duke groaned as Scarlett lifted him off the floor with one hand. Snake Eyes tore open Duke's black suit and white shirt, which were now stained with blood. He had been shot several times through his vital abdominal organs and the internal bleeding was heavy.
"Duke," Scarlett moaned in dismay as Duke blinked and looked at her hazily. She tried to lift Duke off the floor and help him to his feet, but Duke cried out in agony.
"Leave me, I'm dying," Duke said with heavy, forced breaths.
"I won't leave you," Scarlett said.
"You must," Duke said calmly. "More will be here soon unless you get out of here now... the enemy is seconds away..."
Scarlett laid Duke down on the floor and cradled him in her arms.
"I blew it," Duke said, "I'm sorry."
"No," Scarlett whispered, "It's not your fault."
Scarlett could envision now all the memories she and Duke had experienced together. The battles, the adventures. Was this how it would all end? No, she could not accept this. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.
"Listen," Duke said, "you can beat them. You can win this war."
"We will," Scarlett said, blinded by her tears.
"Good-bye," Duke said as he took Scarlett's hand and squeezed it tightly. He released her hand and took hold of his handgun, grimacing with pain as he did so.
"Now... go, G.I. JOE. I've got your rear covered... Leave me... That's an order!"
Scarlett stood and nodded to Snake Eyes and Jinx. They all saluted, took one last look at Duke, and said their good-byes. Duke dragged himself along the floor and propped himself against one of the fallen Viper's bodies. He was prepared to fight to the very end against any Cobras that came his way.
A crowd of onlookers had formed near the scene, and Scarlett waved them all off.
"Get out of the way!" she screamed as she, Snake Eyes, and Jinx raced for the exit and the streets beyond.