Crimes and Some Punishment
Todd winced as she listened through the door along with the other two. "Man General Hawk is really tearing into them!" All three of them had their ears pressed to Hawk's office door.
"Well they did nearly blow up the base," Althea whispered. "We're just lucky they decided not to blame us too!"
"Those three are so stupid!" Wanda grumbled. "Boy Falcon is getting it too!"
"Yeah well it is his fault that those battle drones were left out there where any idiot could get at them," Althea told her. "And apparently any idiot did."
"What were they doing out there anyway?" Todd asked.
"Falcon was supposed to take them to the repair station to make sure that they didn't have any problems with the firing mechanisms," Althea said.
"Well look at the bright side, they didn't," Todd said. "What's gonna happen to them? The stockade? They gonna be shot or something?"
"Well they're gonna do a lot of KP I can tell you that," Althea said. "And a lot worse!"
"Worse?" Todd yelped.
"SHHHH!" Both Wanda and Althea shushed him.
"You wanna get us in trouble too?" Wanda hissed.
"Yeah we're not supposed to be here!" Althea reminded him. "Uh oh! Move it!"
They disappeared around the corner just as the door opened. They saw the boys and Falcon being escorted by Beach Head. They did not look very happy.
"Well they ain't in handcuffs," Althea said. "That's a good sign."
They ducked behind the corner as Hawk stood in the doorway. "You three can come out here now," He told them. "I know you were listening at the door."
"How did you know yo?" Todd asked as he stuck his head out.
"Maybe if a certain idiot kept his big fat mouth shut!" Wanda snapped.
"You weren't exactly Miss Quiet yourself," Althea told her.
"That's enough," Hawk said. "I'm not angry at you. I should be but considering the circumstances I guess I can't blame you for being worried."
"Sir," Todd asked. "What are you going to do to them?"
"Well besides two full months of KP duty they also have to do some maintenance duty for starters," Hawk said sternly.
"Like what?" Wanda asked, dreading the answer.
"Cleaning all the bathrooms with a toothbrush right?" Althea asked.
"Oh yeah," Hawk nodded. "Two full days of doing that should cure them. As well as a few more training exercises we've cooked up for them."
"That's not good," Althea gulped. "That explains why you only gave them two days of cleaning."
"What? Are they gonna kill them?" Wanda asked.
"Let's just say we're going to make them work off all that extra energy," Hawk said.
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"I told you we shouldn't have done that," Fred said as they started peeling the potatoes. They were in a huge room where there were wall to wall potatoes, literally.
"Shut up Fred!" Pietro grumbled. "Man even with my powers it's gonna take me at least an hour to do all of these! But I'm not! You guys are just as much to blame. I'm not gonna do your share of the work!"
"You mean you want to take the lazy way out!" Lance snapped. "Where did they get all these potatoes? It's like Iowa exploded in here."
"Trapped in a room with the three of you," Falcon groaned. "This is a nightmare! Blob! Don't eat those potatoes! They're not even skinned yet!"
"But I'm hungry," Fred said with his mouth full. "And the skin has vitamins in it that are good for you."
"Don't stop him," Lance said. "His stomach might be the only thing that can save us."
"Heads up!" Beach Head opened the door. "Got some more help here!" In came Roadblock, Shipwreck and Spirit.
"What did you guys do?" Lance asked incredulously.
"Nothing," Roadblock said. "It's what you did that got us here!"
"What?" Pietro startled. "You're punishing them for what we did? That's not fair!"
"That's the way it works," Beach Head told them.
"But we did the bad stuff!" Fred protested.
"And they're responsible for you!" Beach Head pointed. "Now move it!"
"I hope you swabbies are happy," Shipwreck snapped.
"Now do you understand your actions have consequences?" Spirit asked sternly.
Lance hung his head down in shame. He couldn't say anything or even look Spirit in the face.
"But they shouldn't…." Pietro started.
"Quiet!" Beach Head shouted. "Get to work now!"
"Yes sir," Fred answered in a defeated voice. When he left he spoke again. "Roadblock, Shipwreck…I…"
"Save it!" Roadblock snapped. "We'll talk later." For the rest of the time they peeled the potatoes in silence.
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"MINDBENDER! MINDBENDER!" Cobra Commander screamed as he entered the laboratory. Destro walked behind him, looking annoyed to be there.
"He's ba-ack," One of Dr. Mindbender's assistants told him softly.
Dr. Mindbender rolled his eyes. He stepped away from the microscope where he was looking over one of the DNA samples taken from the X-Men. "What is it Cobra Commander?"
"How much progress have you made in creating a mutant army?" Cobra Commander asked.
"Pretty much the same as it was when you asked me that question two hours ago," Mindbender told him. "It's still in the development stages. Of course if someone wouldn't keep barging in here every other hour demanding a progress report maybe we would have made some headway by now!"
"Don't get smart with me Mindbender!" Cobra Commander snapped. "You've had over a month with these samples and nothing has happened."
"On the contrary," Mindbender contradicted him. "Quite a lot has happened. If you read my report not only have we discovered significant data on the genetic structure of mutants in general; we have managed to isolate the various genes that give each mutant his or her powers and why they are so different. We have also managed to clone some of the stronger strands of DNA successfully. We have even manipulated some of the DNA in order to change the abilities of a mutant to our wishes. In fact, we have now doubled our DNA genebank so that we can have a greater variety of mutants when we finish! So you see Cobra Commander, despite your continuous interference and only giving me limited resources we have made a considerable amount of progress!"
"Details, details," Cobra Commander huffed impatiently.
"You must admit my dear Cobra Commander the good Doctor has done some impressive work," Destro told him. He was much more patient and cool headed than Cobra Commander, being interested in research himself. "I would like to review your data when you get the chance."
"I would be more than happy to show you it," Mindbender said respectfully. "Maybe if I had a few more assistants instead of the fifteen you gave me."
"How many assistants do you need?" Cobra Commander snapped. "Why do you need more men on this?"
Immediately a loud scream could be heard. They turned and looked at one of the assistants who was on fire. "All right!" Mindbender shouted as the man was writhing in agony. "Who's been playing around with the exploding Bunsen burners again? I keep telling you people the lab is not a place for fooling around!"
"I see your point," Cobra Commander said.
"Sorry about this," Mindbender shrugged as the assistant was put out. "We have a few practical jokers on the staff. You know how crazy scientists are in a lab. Take him to the infirmary! On second thought," He walked over and took out his revolver. He shot the burned man point blank in the head. "Take the body to the DNA extractor and see what you can do with it. It might prove useful. And someone clean up this mess!"
He went back to Cobra Commander. "Well as you can see sir, this process is going to take some time."
"How long does it possibly take to create an army of mutants?" Cobra Commander hissed. "I mean you managed to created that buffoon Serpentor in no time flat!"
"Well that's because I had a psychic motivator implanted in me, remember?" Dr. Mindbender snapped. "Breeding does take time. Even longer than cloning."
"Why don't you just use the synthoids?" Cobra Commander asked. "Implant some mutant DNA into them?"
"Too unstable," Mindbender sighed. "Besides you remember what happened the last time we tried to create an army of synthoids as ground troops."
"How could we forget?" Destro groaned. "There's still a funny smell in the cafeteria."
"Yes and I ruined one of my favorite cowls," Cobra Commander grumbled. "Just grab a few troopers and use the DNA on them!"
"You can't just grab a normal human, inject some mutant DNA and presto you get an instant mutant!" Mindbender looked like he was going to explode. "Do you have any idea how few people can survive the process, let alone not end up completely psychotic?"
"Well most of our troops are already psychotic!" Cobra Commander told him.
"He has a point," Destro agreed.
"Look Mindbender I don't care how you do it," Cobra Commander said. "I want a crack commando team of mutants by the end of the month or else you will be joining the rest of your specimens in a test tube! Understand?"
"But today is the twelfth!" Mindbender protested.
"Well then you'd better get cracking haven't you?" Cobra Commander said as he stormed out. Destro offered a sympathetic shrug before he left with him.
"And I thought Serpentor had no patience," Mindbender grumbled. "Some people are so picky! But I have to think of something. I have been experimenting with a new synthoid strain that is supposed to make them more durable. Maybe…of course it's possible that it will blow up in my face. But desperate times call for desperate measures. OKAY PEOPLE LISTEN UP!" He shouted to his assistants. "We will continue the cloning experiments but as of now they are secondary. Only assistants number 5 and 7 will work on them. Numbers 8 and 12 you will work on screening candidates for creating mutants! Numbers 6 and 10, since breeding is your specialty I want you two to work on that aspect. You six are going to be our back up plans in case Operation Mutant Synthoid fails."
"Where are we gonna get subjects?" Number 6 asked.
"Ask for volunteers," Mindbender snapped. "If nobody shows up, just kidnap them and do it anyway! Be creative! I don't care if you have to grab people off the street to do it! If they happen to be mutants anyway, so much the better! Just get them!"
"We could try circuses," Number 8 shrugged. "Freak shows. That might work."
"Fine whatever," Mindbender waved. "Just get them! The rest of you will now put all of your efforts into assisting with the production of a new and better synthoid! A synthoid with mutant powers under Cobra's control!"