"Okay guys. Phases Two and Three of the plan are going to be a piece of cake with ice cream on the side." Xion explained.
Stryker Team Alpha was gathered around a table in the center of the warehouse. All eyes were focused on Xion.
"Okay guys, here's the deal. Phase Two of the plan isn't overly detailed like my other plans. I've left this one simple so that you guys could have some fun with this part of the mission, you know, maybe do a little improv. The basic idea for Phase Two is simple. All we have to do is infiltrate the brain, block off all entrance ways to the hypothalamus and the mayor's office-"
"With what?" Thrax interrupted.
"Oh, right. Demo, this is where you come in. You're going to plant RADIA bombs on the outside of all of the doors and on the inside, a healthy dosage of C4. I'll let you handle how you want them detonated."
"Sure thing Xion."
"Excuse me. Hold up, just hold up on second here."
"Yes Thrax?" Xion asked.
"Would you mind telling me what RADIA bombs are because I kind of feel out of the loop here."
"You got it. I'll leave the explanation to our explosives expert. Take it away Demo."
"RADIA bombs are of my own invention. The word RADIA doesn't stand for anything but it is short for Blast Radius Control bombs. As the name implies, RADIA bombs can be set to explode in any direction and cover any amount of space."
"I get it now." Thrax said.
"Good. Let's move on. After Demo rigs all of the doors, we're going to obviously have a little bit of fun with this body. At this point, I've left the paper blank with hopes that Thrax can fill it in."
"I can. From that point we'll already be in control of the brain so why not head for the command center? After we've made sure that everything is secure we'll head for the Mayor's office. I'd like to pay an old friend a visit." Thrax said with a very evil grin. "Everything else will come as it comes, no further planning needed baby. As you say Xion, the rest is improv."
"Right. Once the brain is secure, we can do really what ever we want and since you're technically in charge of this mission, Thrax, what happens is your call."
"But I thought Draco was in charge here?" Thrax asked.
"Not this time. I'm in charge of the team but what they do and what you want done with this body and all of its cells is your call."
"So this is like a joint command, right?"
"You bet baby. That's exactly what it is."
"On to Phase Three." Xion said.
"Right." Draco replied.
"Phase Three is the getaway. We'll obviously be using the choppers for that. On your headset Draco, I've set it so you can remotely start the helicopters and direct them to our coordinates for the pick up." Xion said, handing Draco a very small, one-ear headset.
"Thanks Xion." Draco replied.
"I made
one for you too Thrax." Xion said, handing Thrax a headset as well. "You're part of this mission but whether or
not you want to be a permanent part of the team is ultimately your decision."
"As I've told Draco, I'm
not a team player." Thrax said, looking around at Stryker Team Alpha. When his eyes landed on Draco, he noticed
that she was frowning slightly. "But, I
could get used to it." Draco's
expression changed to a smile. Some of
the members of the team were also smiling.
"Alright guys," Draco said, clapping her hands and standing up "I want every one to get some sleep and trust me, you guys are going to need it for tomorrow. Dismissed."
The Strykers all got up and headed towards their rooms. Draco walked up to Xion and put her hand on his shoulder.
"And Xion."
"Yes commander?"
"You especially need to get some rest. You've done enough for one night. Okay?"
"Sure thing Drac. Good night."
"Night Xion." Draco said, removing her hand and walking over to Thrax. Thrax put his arm around her.
"So we going to sleep tonight or are we…"
"Maybe for a little while, but you know we need to get some sleep."
"Right. For a little while then." Thrax said with a pleased look.
Draco and Thrax entered their room and the rest of the night, was history.
The Trachea 2:06 AM
Osmosis Jones returned to his apartment a few minutes passed two o' clock. The street war had been resolved and The Chief had allowed him to come home. After realizing what kind of shape Ozzie was in, The Chief gave Ozzie the next day off.
Osmosis didn't even bother to change his clothes. He just threw off his jacket, gun holster and shoes while walking to his bedroom. He slumped down onto the bed and drifted off into a deep sleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold later that day.
The Liver 9:00 AM
The team was fully awake now. They had been so for the passed two hours. All of them were fully decked out in their mission attire, weapons and all. The plan for infiltration was simple. They would enter the brain and kill anyone who got their way. Originally, Xion had opted for the usual sneak in undetected plan but he had changed his mind after Thrax said that just going in and killing people would be a lot more fun and in some instances, easier.
The team had packed their extra gear in the five choppers and had left the warehouse with out a word. They cruised through Frank's veins and arteries on their ten black Harleys until they arrived at their destination, the brain.
The Brain Stem 12:00 PM
The sentry who was posted at the guard station had little time to react as a shower of bullets and the ominous roar of engines entered his workspace. The guard dove down and covered his head as a waterfall of glass fell upon him. The guard had no time to sound the alarm because as soon as he stood up he saw an assault rifle pointed at his head and the grin of the germ holding it. That was the last thing that he ever saw. The germ on the Harley opened fire and as he did the bullets ripped through the guard's body, splattering his blood all over the walls of the guard station.
The group of bikers laughed as they sped towards the entrance to City Hall. On the way, armed guards jumped out in front of them, weapons raised in an attempt to stop them. The guards were mowed down and then ran over, creating bloody tire marks in the road leading to City Hall.
Upon reaching the entrance of City Hall, the black Harleys stopped. Suddenly a group of more heavily armed guards came running out the doors. They opened fire on the team. As they did, the team revved their engines and rode their bikes up the stairs, plugging the guards full of holes from their own weapons. The team burst through the doors, shooting at every living thing they could see. The screams of their victims echoed through the hallowed halls of the brain. Bodies flew from every direction, landing on the ground with a deafening splat. Blood flowed form the wounds of the dead bodies, creating many puddles all over the floor.
The team parked their Harleys, got off and took their helmets off their heads. Raven and Shade posed for the security camera before shooting it. Pieces of the camera fell to the floor as the camera exploded into tiny pieces.
"Okay boys, you know the drill. Get into those elevators and start clearing the path upstairs. After you've accomplished that, we need Demo to set the explosives, got it?" Draco asked.
"Yes ma'am!" The team shouted, giving their commander a salute. Demo also did so and patted his duffel bag, which rested at his side.
The team filed into the elevators and rode them up to the next floor. When the doors opened the team split up into different hallways and Demo went to the doors to begin setting the explosives. Draco and Thrax went down the hallway that would lead to the Hypothalamus and farther down, to the mayor's office. The rest of the team separated into their usual groups. The order was as follows: Raven and Shade, Diego and Xion, Rip and Spike and finally, Demo and Zen. Each group would report in when they had cleared their hallways. For each hallway, Xion had given it a sector.
Sector 1- Elevators and Connecting Hallway
This was the hallway in which the team had entered the upper floor on. There were no guards, which gave Demo an opportunity to rig his explosives. Demo sealed each of the elevator doors shut using a blowtorch and then he planted one C4 cellular plastic explosive on each door. The explosives would be set off if one of the doors were forced open. After completing that task, and radioing in to Draco that he had done so, Demo moved on to the next sector. Zen followed with his M4 assault carbine drawn and ready.
Sector 2- Subconscious and Connecting Hallways
There were several guards posted in this sector. As Rip and Spike moved through Sector 2, they opened fired on anything that moved. The pencil shaped bullets of their heavy machine guns ripped through anything in their paths. The bodies of the guards moved in accordance with the way that the bullets impacted their bodies. They looked like a willow tree in a hurricane. The two brothers laughed as the bodies of their victims fell onto the cold floor. They radioed in when they had killed all of the guards in their sector.
Moments after they had, Demo and Zen entered Sector 2 to complete their jobs. Demo walked to the end each of the hallways, planting a RADIA bomb on the outside of each door he came to and a few C4s on the inside. Demo radioed in when Sector 2 was secure.
Sector 3- Memory Vaults and Connecting Hallway
This part of the brain was relatively unguarded, save for the two guards that patrolled the hallway and the librarian who worked The Brain Memory Library. When the two guards saw the intruders they gave their usual "stop right there" speeches. Diego and Xion laughed during the speech and allowed the guards to finish before opening fire on them with their assault rifles. The guards screamed and coughed blood before falling to the floor.
The librarian heard the noise and came out of her office only to ripped to shreds by a barrage of oncoming rifle fire. Her blood splattered against the wall behind her and then pooled into her office. Diego and Xion radioed in. Demo and Zen arrived moments after. Once Demo had completed his task, he radioed in as well.
Sector 4- Hypothalamus Gland and Connecting Hallway
The security in this area of the brain was high. There were four guards stationed on the inside of the Hypothalamus gland, two guards outside the door, two more in the center of the hallway and four more near the end. Raven and Shade used the upper hallway to gain access to the Hypothalamus gland while Draco and Thrax distracted and dealt with the guards outside.
When the four guards at the end of the hallway saw Draco and Thrax, they panicked and began to open fire on the pair. Draco and Thrax's bodies were covered by flames that engulfed the bullets, rendering the guard's assault helpless. Draco fire blasted two of the guards into ash while Thrax used the conventional method of slashing them with his claw. The pair simply walked passed the two guards in the middle of the hallway and as they did, the flames on their bodies leapt onto the guards. The two guards ran around the hallway, screaming as their bodies boiled and began to burn. They eventually fell to the ground and writhed around in pain before letting out a final, helpless scream before dying.
The two guards at the end of the hallway dropped their weapons, screamed and tried to run away but Thrax and Draco each fired a fireball that automatically incinerated the guards, turning them into a still burning pile of black ash.
Inside the chaos was as equally great. Raven and Shade had positioned themselves on the upper catwalk and began to open fire on the four guards below. When one of the snipers hit a target, their heads exploded from the force of the bullet impact. It took each sniper one shot per guard to end his life. The two techies in the room met the same, gruesome fate. The two snipers stood up and saluted Thrax and Draco as they entered the room.
"Sector 4 clear ma'am, and sir." Shade said with a smile.
"Great work you guys." Draco said to the two snipers.
"Like shooting a chickenpock with its head cut off." Raven said with a laugh.
"Great. Now all we have to do is wait for Demo to get here and-" Thrax said, getting cutoff.
"Already here." Demo said, entering the room. "I've got all sectors rigged so far."
"Excellent. I'm assuming that the police know that we're here?" Thrax asked.
"Yessss… I would assume so." Zen hissed in reply.
"More party guests!" Raven shouted.
"Exactly." Thrax said, snapping his fingers. "And we wouldn't want to disappoint them by not having the party in full swing now would we?"
"No we wouldn't." Shade agreed.
"Good. You two stay here in Sector 4. Draco and I will move on to Sector 5 to go pick up our guests of honor."
"I'm all done commander." Demo said, showing Draco his work.
Draco smiled and gave Demo a thumbs up. "Demo, you can move back to Sector 1."
"Shall I accompany him?" Zen asked from the corner of the room.
"Yeah. Radio back in when you two arrive. Got that?"
"Got it commander." Demo said with a salute.
Demo and Zen left the room and headed for Sector 1.
"You two hold down the fort while we're gone." Draco said to Raven and Shade who were still positioned on top of the catwalk.
"Gotcha covered Drac." Raven said.
"Report in every hour, on the hour. We'll be in Sector 5."
"No problem commander." Shade acknowledged.
"You two have fun now." Raven said with a sly grin.
"Oh we will. We will." Thrax replied as he walked out of Sector 4 and into Sector 5. Draco followed behind him.
Sector 5- Office Block and Connecting Hallways
The door to Sector 5 had been locked from the inside. Apparently, the office workers didn't want the intruders to get inside. It really didn't matter much to the two viruses who were standing outside the door because they knew that one little locked door wasn't going to stop them.
Draco raised her deadly claw and slashed through the locked door. The door melted where Draco's claw had touched it. Through the newly created opening there were three armed guards, weapons raised and shaking like crazy.
Thrax walked towards the guards. "Boo."
The guards jumped out of their skins and dropped their weapons. Thrax and Draco both laughed an eerie laugh together. Draco walked up to the guards and twirled her claw around in one of the guard's hair.
"Aw, c'mon baby." She said. "I don't bite, much."
Draco's claw burned hot orange and the scream of the guard echoed though the room as he began to incinerate, from the head down. Thrax proceeded on to kill of some of the innocent office workers as Draco killed the rest of the guards.
When Thrax came upon the first office, he found that the door was locked. Thrax kicked the door down and entered the office. He found no one in the room. He was about to leave when he heard a sound coming from under the desk. Thrax grinned and walked over to the desk. He saw nothing until he bent down and looked under the desk. Sitting in a fetal position was a very frightened office worker.
"Hello." Thrax said, reaching his right hand under the desk and pulling out the terrified cell by his neck. Thrax raised his deadly claw into the air. "And goodbye."
He was about to kill the cell when he heard Draco yelling from outside the room. "Thrax!"
Thrax turned his head and replied, "What? Baby, can't you see I'm a little busy here?!?"
"Yeah I can see that but for now leave the office cells alone!"
"What? Why!"
"I'm assuming that the cells here have families and family members always make good bargaining chips if we get into a tight spot."
"Fine." Thrax said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Thrax let the cell go and as he did the terrified cell crawled back under his desk. Thrax left the room and closed the door with disapproval.
"You know baby, I was about to kill him. Couldn't you have told me this before I got all excited?"
"Sorry but I didn't think of it until now. Anyway you can go work on the door to the Mayor's office while I give the team a call."
"Alright." Thrax said giving Draco a kiss on the cheek and walking over to the Mayor's door.
"Strykers, listen up!" Draco said though her headset. "I'm going to re-position you to better fit our current plan of action. I need Demo to come up to Sector 5 with all of his equipment. Zen will stay in Sector 1. Spike and Xion also need to come to Sector 5 with all of their gear as well. As for the rest of you, stay in your currently assigned sectors and report in as planned. Over and out."
Then Draco switched the frequencies on her headset. "Spike, do you copy, over."
"I copy loud and clear commander. Over."
"I need to you round up all of the office workers in Sector 5 and keep an eye on them. We're keeping them as hostages. Over."
"You got it commander. Over."
"Alright then. Draco over and out." Draco said as she turned off her head set and walked over to Thrax who was standing in a now open doorway.
"Time to party." Thrax said, entering the room.
Inside the room were two desks. At each desk sat a cell. At the larger desk sat the newly elected Mayor, Tom Colonic. Clonic was not a familiar face to Thrax and he quickly drew his attention to the female cell working at the second desk in the room. This cell was Miss Leah Estrogen, aid to the Mayor. Thrax knew her as Osmosis Jones' girlfriend and perhaps his most valuable bargaining chip.
"Hi baby." Thrax said with a wide grin. He walked toward her with his arms out. He put his hands on the desk and leaned close to her. "You miss me?"
"Thrax." Leah said, astonished.
"I'd put the phone receiver down if I were you." Thrax said, placing his hand over hers and putting the receiver down just as the operator answered the call. "Wouldn't want to ruin the big surprise, now would we baby?"
"You're going to kill Frank, aren't you?" Leah asked in a frightened tone of voice.
"Of course Leah and I'm going to kill your boyfriend, Jones too."
"NO!" She cried and got up out of her chair.
"Yes."
"No, you can't."
"I can and I will, now sit down."
Leah did as she was told.
"What's the meaning of this!" The Mayor yelled from the other side of the room.
Thrax walked in front of his desk and brandished his deadly claw.
"Why can't you see it? We're taking over Frank and there's nothing you can do about it."
Tom Clonic punched the call button on his desk and spoke into a microphone.
"Guards! Help, we need help!"
The voice that answered was cold and dark. "They're all dead. Please try again later." The voice belonged to Zen.
"Dead? All of them!" The Mayor yelled in fear.
"Yeah. We took them all down." Thrax said smoothly, cutting his hand horizontally through the air in front of him. "And trust me, baby, we're just getting started."