War Fields: Chapter 7
Roxy, Annie, and Scott sat back enjoying the waterways of Venice in a gondola, while T-bob steered the boat down
the channel. The teenagers quietly engulfed the beautiful surroundings, of course Scott spend most the time starring
at Annie, who was oblivious to Scott. She looked gorgeous with her red hair down and those green eyes just made
his heart melt. Even though it was a rarity for Scott to see Annie, he silently had a crush on her all his life.
Comforting her last night had made him realized this even more. Oh Annie, if only we had this boat to ourselves.
Then I'd show you the most beautiful parts of this city, of course none of it could compare to you.
Scott's daydream was soon interrupted by T-bob singing, "Row, Row, Row your boat gently down the stream…"
"T-Bob, Knock it off! This is suppose to be relaxing, not painful," Scott shouted.
"Yeah no kidding. We'll be merrily dunking your head in the river, until your circuits give in," Roxanne added.
She noticed her brother seemed slightly more annoyed at T-Bob than normal. Out of the corner of her eye she saw
Scott looking wistfully at the back of Annie's head and suddenly realized why. Roxanne gave him a playful elbow
in the shoulder and a wicked grin that said 'I know'. Then she turned back to Annie.
"Speaking of relaxing," Roxanne pulled out a packet of cigarettes, "You want one Annie?"
Annie shook her head knowing better, "No thank you, I like my lungs just the way they are. And you really shouldn't
do that it's not good for you."
Roxanne shrugged lighting a cigarette up, "Some times doing the wrong things in life, are the best things that
can happen to you. After all you only live once a friend told me, so it's better to risk it all. "
Annie simply shook her head and snickered. "I had a friend tell me that there's a fine line between risk
and stupidity and to learn the difference."
"Where did you get those?" T-bob yelled in annoying tone, interrupting the two girls.
"Hotel gift shop. They don't card in this country, so get off my back," Roxanne blew smoke in T-bob face. "If you
tell dad, you won't be coming home at all," She threatened. T-bob just turned his head showing his dissatisfaction
to that remark.
"So Annie where do you want to go?" Scott asked.
She looked at her two friends, "Well I'm not really certain. I've never been in a foreign country before. I've
never even been outside the Lower 48."
Roxanne nudged her, "I know what you want to do." She pulled out her father's credit card, "Shopping!"
"YEAH, that sounds like loads of fun! I'd love to get my dad a souvenir or two," Annie remark.
"Don't forget to get something for yourself," She winked.
Scott just sat back groaning, "Shopping? Oh come on we could go see a boat show."
"All those who want to go shopping raise a hand," Roxy remarked followed by both girls raising their hands. "Two
against one Scott."
"Hey I have T-bob so were even," Scott snapped thinking he out smarted her.
"Well T-bob don't count, cause he isn't even living," she stuck her tongue out at him. "It's not my fault you got
listed as the OFFICAL babysitter."
"Come on, Roxy, babysitter is such a harsh word," Annie soothed. "We're teenagers, we don't have
babysitters."
"What do we have, then?" Roxy asked, slightly annoyed that Annie took Scott's side.
Annie thought a moment. "We have a chaperone. Yeah, I like that better...it's so much more mature."
She turned warm, sparkling green eyes on Scott, enhancing every bit of her next question with all of the normal
Turner charm. "So how about it, Mr. Trakker? Would you like to chaperone while we shop?"
"Uhhhh...." was all Scott could manage to say. He felt his heart skip three or four beats, and after
a few moments, he had to remind himself to breathe. He suddenly felt very warm as Annie's intense green eyes still
rested on him, waiting for his answer. She has absolutely NO idea what she's doing to me... I can see how she
has Brad completely wrapped around her little pinky.
"Scott it's not going to be that bad," Annie added hoping to lift his sprits up, "We can go to the boat show afterwards,
right Roxy?" Roxanne regretfully nodded.
Two people wearing masks entered a church in San Marco Square in Venice. The Basilic of San Marco was best known
for holding the treasure of Venice, the altar known as Pala d'Oro. A collector would pay millions for such a precious
piece of history, or so Mayhem put it more money then you could possible fathom. Several people were lined up
in the church, to admire the extensive artwork on the altar. Cliff Dagger pushed thru the people violently and
yelled loudly, "OUT OF MY WAY! THIS EXHIBIT IS CLOSED!"
The security guard guarding the exhibit approach the muscle man, "What's the meaning of this? Mistier is this a
prank?"
Vanessa crossed her arms, "I don't think these people understand our language Dagger."
"I SAID THIS PLACE IS CLOSED FOR EXTENSIVE REMODLING." Dagger shouted.
"We know of no such thing," the guard replied.
"TORCH ON!" He aimed for the nearby wooden benches that instantly went up in flames. People started to run out
in a wide spread panic. Even the guard didn't stick around, after witnessing the power the mask held. Cliff Dagger
smiled at the smell of fear and burning wood, "That was easy."
Vanessa ignored Dagger's gloating over his ego, and radioed Mayhem in Switchblade, "The church is cleared. Blow
the roof."
Switchblade hovered over the church in helicopter mode. Mayhem locked his missiles on the church's roof and blew
a decent size hole into its fragile structure. The explosion was loud and could be seen for miles; therefore,
Vanessa and Dagger had to work fast. Debris from the roof fell instantly on impact. "WHIP ON," Vanessa shouted,
as she used the energy whip, to throw the debris across the room to protect the altar.
Cliff Dagger ducked as one piece of the roof nearly knocked him in the head, "Hey watch where you're throwing that
crap!" Vanessa ignored his comment; she had more important things to focus on. Immediately afterwards, Mayhem
lowered a platform attach to Switchblade thru the hole. Once lowered down, Dagger attempted to pick up the altar
and move onto the ramp, yet he only mange to move it a few inches, before breaking out in a sweat.
Vanessa shouted irritated as she focus on the entrance, "HURRY UP DAGGER! The cops will be here soon."
Cliff Dagger huffed as he continued to slowly move the altar onto the platform, "This thing is heaver then I predicted."
"You told us you could lift it, when we calibrated the weigh! We told you that Bruno would help you, but nooo
you had to be a damn hot shot and say you could do it by yourself!" She argued annoyed. Just typical guy, trying
to bite off more then he can chew and being a show off!
"WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG!?" Mayhem boomed over the radio, expecting the job to be completed.
"Dagger having trouble getting it on the platform," Vanessa unfortunately added.
"There I got it. Told you I didn't need him." Dagger huff again wishing he could take a break, after the heavy
lifting.
Unfortunately while Vanessa and Dagger were securing the altar to the platform, two policemen entered into the
room with their guns aimed on the VENOM agents. "GET AWAY FROM THERE!" replied one of the officers.
"I'll handle them," was her reply to the officer's request. Bruno gave Mayhem thumbs up to pull him up, while
Vanessa stepped off the platform to approach the guards.
"WE SAID BOTH OF YOU, OVER HERE!" the other officer replied uncertain if he should be scared of a woman who hid
her face behind a mask.
As Switchblade started to pull up the platform, one the officer's guns followed it and fired. Dagger hung onto
the ramp tightly, grunting and cussed loudly as one shot hit him straight in the arm. "WHIP ON," Vanessa shouted
pissed off. The electric whip slash the guns out of the both men's hands in one swipe, causing both to hold their
hands in a great deal of pain. "That was a big mistake," she headed over the first officer spin kicking him in
the gut sending him flying across the room unconscious. The second guard try to run away, but Vanessa used her
mask to make the electric whip wrap around the guy's throat dragging him back towards her gagging, "Where you going
the fun not over yet." She dropped the officer right at her feet, grabbed his hair, and slammed his head into
the floor, then elbowed him in the back of the neck, rendering him unconscious. She knew better then to stick around
and headed out of the church. Just as she exited she notice four more officers heading in her direction. She radioed
Rax as she started running, "Rax I got people on my tail, I need a pick up, NOW!"
Rax spoke in his sly clam down, "Alright…alright kept your shirt on will ya. I can't drive to you, they blocked
the streets off the instant they heard the explosion. I'll have to take a water rout then. There's a bridge 1
block north, 2 blocks east from your location on my map. I'll be right there!"
Nice to know he has nothing to worry about. She continued to run for her life with several more police officers
heading behind her in a massive marathon, "Try to catch me boys!"
Scott and T-bob held several bags in their hands, while the girls walked in front of them still talking about the
outfits they just bought. T-bob huff trying to keep his grip on all the bags, "I swear just wait until their fathers
get their credit card bills, this is ridiculous." Scott just laughed knowing as soon as they reach the hotel they'd
both be busted. Well, Roxy would anyway...Scott had a feeling Brad would just shrug Annie's frivolity off because
she didn't travel much.
Vanessa Warfield ran right thru Scott and T-bob pushing them out of her way. Due to the amount of weight, they
both lost their balance and fell to the ground with the bags pilling on top of them. Vanessa then violently pushed
thru Roxy and Annie, just causing them to stager sideways a tad.
"That was rude! I swear some people are always in a rush," Annie said watching the woman in a mask running away
from them.
"Vanessa?" Roxanne spoke in a whisper, as she stood there slightly dumb founded.
Vanessa crossed over a bridge, and then jumped off the middle of it. Below was the sidecar of Piranha waiting
for her with Rax in it. She landed on the front of the sidecar looking irritated at Rax sitting in the one seat
sidecar, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO GET A BOAT!"
"Hey you didn't give me time to get one," he answered, "Were just going to have to share the seat."
"NO WAY IN HELL AM I SITTING IN YOUR LAP!" Vanessa shouted as she clung to the front window. "Just get us out of
here!" Piranha took off with Vanessa holding on to the front, as it speed off down the waterway. The police stop
at the bridge and stood there dazed as she took off in the small purple boat.
Roxanne grabbed Annie and dragged her into a nearby speedboat, "COME ON! We have to find out what VENOM up to!"
The vision of the woman in the mask finally caught up to Annie's brain. Too stunned to protest or resist, Annie
just let Roxanne drag her into the boat, it wasn't until the boat speed up that she realized Roxanne's true motive.
"HEY!" Scott yelled trying to get the bags off himself and follow them. Unfortunately, it was too late the girls
took off in the speedboat. He search around, but the girls took the only speedboat, "T-BOB MOTOR SCOOTER MODE."
T-bob instantly transform into a motor scooter, "What about all this crap?"
"Forget it. If those girls get in trouble, we'll both be in deep shit," Scott remark as he got on T-bob. "Now stop
stalling and follow along the water. We have to catch up to them."
Vanessa looked up and noticed a white speedboat trailing them in the distance, "Were being followed!"
"No kidding!" Rax remark checking his radar, "Let's see if I can lose them, you better hang on tighter." Piranha
continued to speed up and swerved around obstacles to distract the other boat. Roxanne just laughed as she was
having the time of her life chasing after Piranha, as if it were a game of tag.
"Roxy!" Annie shouted over the boat's engines. "Are you crazy?! Those are VENOM agents we're
chasing!"
"I know who we're chasing!" Roxy yelled, the heat of the moment making her secret slip out. "I
want to see what they're up to. I know I'm not suppose say anything to you, don't know why, but I used to work
for VENOM!"
"YOU WHAT?!?" Annie screamed into her ear. Before she could stop the words from spilling out, she added,
"Then you probably know that Vanessa Warfield's my mother!"
"WHAT?!?" Roxy nearly lost control of the boat as she heard what Annie said. "Did you just say Vanessa
is your MOTHER!?" She asked as she regains control and tried to stay focus while driving the boat.
"Yeah!" She said meaning every word of it.
"Well this will be very interesting when we catch up to them," Roxy remarked trying not to let the news effect
her driving.
"This is nuts!" Annie yelled vehemently. "I don't WANT to catch up with them! We still have time
to turn around! Scott can radio for help on T-Bob, and we can let our parents handle this!"
No reply. Annie was starting to panic. Now that the moment of truth was upon her, she found she had NO desire
to be any closer to Vanessa Warfield than she was previously. "ROXY! Are you even listening to me!?!"
Her only reply was the acceleration of the boats engine.
Scott and T-bob were trailing far behind the girls. "Umm Scott," T-bob said nervously.
"What? Were almost gaining on them!" Scott said with such confidence.
"We just ran out of road," T-bob yelled as he came to a sudden stop. The two watch in the distance as the two
boats left the vicinity of the city and headed out into the countryside.
"Then we'll just have to take another route, turn around, and go back. They'll stop somewhere along that river.
I know they will," Scott said trying to think positive. Please don't do anything stupid Roxy.
"I thought you said you'd lose them!" Vanessa shouted at Rax.
"Who ever this is, sure knows how to drive a boat. Once I lure them out more, I'll fire a torpedo that will handle
them for sure," Rax said with reassurance.
"There slowing down," Roxy said with suspicion, "something is up."
"What do you mean," Annie said with slight nervousness in her voice.
"Ummmm Annie," She forcefully grabs Annie's arm, "ABANDON SHIP!"
Annie's eyes widen as she saw a torpedo in the water heading in their direction. Before she could react, Roxanne
pushed her into the water. The two girls swam their hearts out trying to put as much distance from the boat as
possible. The boat exploded instantly as the torpedo hit, several burning pieces went flying thru the air and
landed around the girls. Roxanne ducked underwater to avoid being hit and swam back up the surface, "Well wasn't
that fun, Annie?" She looked around in the water panicking that she couldn't find Annie anywhere, "ANNIE! WHERE
ARE YOU?" She dived back in searching thru the water for signs of her in the murky water. Her first attempt she
failed miserably and was force to come back up for air. She then dived back down, and this time was able to see
her drifting to the bottom. Roxanne wrapped her arm around Annie and pulled her to the surface. "Oh God ANNIE
Don't do this to me!" She cried as she swam the unconscious Annie Turner to the mainland. Roxanne tried to pull
Annie out of the water, but felt considerable weak. Once she dragged her up on shore, Roxanne started to perform
mouth to mouth. Annie coughed up some water and started to breathe regularly, which relieved Roxanne greatly,
yet she was still unconscious. Annie had a nasty gash on her head, which meant some of the debris knocked her
out cold. Roxanne just laid next to Annie coughing up water herself and thinking her life was about to come to
an end.
Two figures then overshadowed her with rather disappointing looks on their faces. "Roxy, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU
THINKING! GOSH YOU COULD OF GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED!" Rax shouted looking straight down at her.
"You know me I can't resist saying hello," She sits up then looks to Vanessa expecting her to show some compassion,
"Annie needs help."
Vanessa looked down at Annie. This was the first time she had seen her in 16 years and the similarities were beyond
apparent. She spoke in a cold commanding tone "We can't help you, unless you go as a hostage."
Roxanne wasn't keen on the idea that meant confronting Mayhem. Well that is unless she escapes before it gets to
that point. "But she's your daughter, can't you make an exception for once?" She pleaded to Vanessa.
Rax looked to Vanessa, "Whoa, she's yours?" He points to the red head girl, "Come to think of it, you two do look
kind of similar."
"We'll see Roxy," Vanessa left that undecided as she helped Roxanne off the ground. Rax picked up Annie lifeless
body into his arms carefully.
Vanessa scolds Rax, "If you tell anyone. I will personally kill you."
Rax smiled, "Well your secret safe with me at a cost. Don't worry I won't let any of the guys touch her either."
Vanessa didn't want know what he meant by a cost, instead the she lead their new hostages back to base.
