Part 6:
"Conscious Thoughts"
With a series of rant filled words of a disparaging nature, Scarface pounded on the door. And then with a swift kick of his boot, he bashed it in, and quickly ducked, avoiding a laser blast from Scarlet, as the Joe released a volley in his direction. His helmet dropped to the floor, exposing his brown, thick hair, and revealing more of his V-Shaped scar.
He swore, and returned fire, braving the exchange of laser blasts. Scarlet was pushed back.
Scarface then saw Snake Eyes near the open, secret elevator within the conference room, reach for her, and then haul Scarlet quickly into the elevator.
Scarface fired as the doors closed, the laser blasts pinging off the reinforced steel.
He ran to the elevator doors and pounded on them further. "Goddamn it!" he said. He turned swiftly to the twins, and demanded, "Where does this lead?"
The lights to the conference room were switched on. The Crimson Twins stood, the expression on their shared faces embedded deep with scowls, and their eyes seemed to veer throughout the conference room, as if the Joe's didn't matter.
They then looked at each other and nodded.
"The room seems to be in tact, save for a few blast holes in the walls which can be easily fixed, brother," Tomax said, walking to what appeared to be a famous Rembrandt painting. "Nothing else seems to be damaged without further examination."
Xamot breathed out a sense of relief, then turned to Scarface. "Your attempts to kill the Joe's nearly added to further accumulate unnecessary costs for Extensive Enterprises. May I remind you that you do not have carte blanche here!"
"They'll expose everything!" Scarface said. "Or don't you want to prevent the Trades Commission from realizing Extensive Enterprises' clandestine operations within the stock market? If that blonde-haired bimbo was disguised as a Crimson Guard, who knows what he overheard. And he also has this uncanny ability to read lips, it's in his Cobra dossier file."
Xamot narrowed his gaze at Scarface.
Tomax seemed to grumble when he ventured further along the same wall and partook in another painting, looking particularly close at it. Scarface looked at him. "What's the problem?"
Tomax gave Xamot a cock of the head and his brother ventured over to the painting on the wall in a decorative oak frame like every other one showcased in the room.
Scarface ground his teeth. The twins were wasting time looking at pretty pictures while their enemy was running around free in the building. He gripped his laser and felt like blasting every painting in the room just to get their attention. But then he saw their guards at the door and all he could do was rage within.
The twins snapped their attention at him and Scarface stared back at them with annoyance. Tomax wiggled a crooked finger at him with a look of disapproval. "What," Scarface spat vehemently, "we're wasting time here!" He stomped over. "What is it now?"
Unexpectedly, Xamot grabbed Scarface's shirt and literally thrust Scarface forward at the painting on the wall that the twins stood in front. "Look at what you did!" he said angrily.
Tomax pointed to a blast mark in a painting. "Your irresponsibility at firing your laser haphazardly into the room has damaged this invaluable Picasso painting. This is worth millions!"
"Claim it on your insurance as a business loss," Scarface said, pulling away. He straightened his shoulders and brushed back strains of hair out of place. "You're worried about one painting, while two Joe's are running around your corporal headquarters like rats in the wall?"
This time it was Tomax who lost control and grabbed Scarface by the lapels of his uniform and slammed him to the surface of the conference table. "You idiot! Your stupidity has not only cost us our office and everything therein, men and resources, but now this valuable commodity!"
Xamot put a hand on Tomax's shoulder. "I think a decision needs to made," he said.
Tomax grinned, gazing down at Scarface like he was possessed by a demon. "Yes, I agree, brother. A decision of grave importance does need to be made," Tomax replied ambiguously, as if responding intuitively to something hidden within Xamot's words. Tomax then pushed Scarface back and straightened. "But first, one more attempt must be made to capture the Joe's."
"They cannot have gotten far, brother," Xamot declared. "The elevator only goes to one place."
Scarface sat up on the table. "And where is your precious Interrogator? How did he allow Snake Eyes to escape? I thought he was 'the best'?"
The twins looked at each other. "That is a good question," they said in unison.
When the elevator doors opened, Snake Eyes stood in front with a laser in hand.
Their location was a large hanger bay that included Cobra aircraft, namely Rattlers and Trouble Bubbles. He put a finger to his lips, then crept out of the elevator quietly, looking every which way. Since there was no activity, it only stood the reason why lighting was dimmed.
Stealthily, Scarlet followed behind him, carrying the rifle she used to in the conference room. "We should try to escape asap," she advised.
Snake Eyes nodded, but allowed himself to "feel" around the place just in case there were any enemies skulking around or hiding the shadows. And he listened intently. Finally, he was able to let down his guard when he didn't hear a sound other than from the two of them.
He pointed to the Trouble Bubbles lined up in a row, six of them. Their operation were simple, but leaving the hanger bay without confrontation could be difficult. No doubt, as soon the hanger bay doors opened, an alarm would sound and their presence would be detected.
"I think we should take a Rattler," Scarlet suggested. "More firepower in case we're followed."
Snake Eyes mused over the idea and decided she was right. But after venturing over to the two Rattlers currently parked, he saw both were under maintenance. There were metal tool sheds near each one, and with a quick inspection neither were capable of flying right now.
When he shook his head, Scarlet shrugged. "Oh well, looks like we'll have to do things the hard way," she said with a smile. "Been while since I flown a Trouble Bubble."
Suddenly, Snake Eyes took Scarlet in his arms and kissed her. It was a passionate kiss between lovers. Since they were alone, escaping danger once more, together, he wanted to show how much he loved her, and this was a perfect opportunity.
When he broke the kiss he smiled at her, she smiled back.
"When I said we should continue this later, I didn't mean here," she said sweetly, cupping his face. "But when we get back home, I want a candlelight supper with all the thereafter."
Snake Eyes winked. In his head, he already had everything planned out for when they got home, back to their condo, and a candlelight supper was just the tip of the iceberg, but that relative thought also reminded him that he needed to buy ice for the champagne.
Just then, they were shot at. Several laser blasts soared past the spot where they stood, and a squad of Crimson Guards came storming into the hanger bay. They were either lousy shots or they were just warning shots. The lights bursting on setting everything aglow, exposing their position next to a Rattler. They ducked down behind the metal maintenance shed.
Obviously the elevator was not the only way to this location. Coming up the same elevator would be too much of a bottleneck and Snake Eyes had already taken out enough CG. The Crimson Twins were no fools, they learned from their mistakes.
"You cannot escape, Joe's!" Snake Eyes heard one of the twins shout.
"Your re-capture is assured!" the other added.
A few more laser blasts soared over their heads for quick measure to persuade them to concede, but Snake Eyes was already formulating a plan, or he hoped, and Scarlet noticed.
"I can see the wheels working overtime in your head," she said. "Any ideas?"
Snake Eyes' senses erupted with the elevated echoing sound of stomping boots on metal flooring, they were being surrounded on all sides. Soon, they would be trapped like a fox in a hole, and mercy was never a Cobra attribute. The one positive thing on their side was their value, the Crimson Twins wanted them alive. But assurances with Cobra were never concrete. He knew he was worth just as much dead than alive. He would either become their unwilling servant under the influence of the Brainwave Scanner, or die with his lover at his side. Either way, he would no longer be a thorn in their side.
Snake Eyes recalled a similar situation when his military squad was surrounded by the enemy deep in the jungles (Vietnam). Death was almost certain. It was either die in a blaze of glory or surrender, but he chose the latter making the decision for everyone, and he was glad he did, yet they were all tortured afterwards. But he survived to live and fight another day.
He thought this might be a same situation. But he couldn't bare to see Scarlet tortured or whatever Interrogator had in store for her.
He stood up, slowly, hands in the air. The Crimson Guards were right on top of him, closer than he thought. And he knew in his heart he had made the right decision as Scarlet joined him, hands up. If he had decided to fight, they would have been both been killed.
"Intelligent decision," Tomax said, holding a laser in his hand, approaching close.
Xamot joined his brother. "Preventing an egregious execution," he finished.
Six red uniformed Crimson Guard stood behind Snake Eyes. But all was not lost. And there was always a way out of every situation once an avenue of opportunity presented itself. All Snake Eyes had to do was wait. Patience was a virtue. And he had learned to be very patient when he was at war, honing this skill further in life during his second life as a GIJOE member.
Xamot turned his attention to Scarlet. "And we wouldn't want to mark up that pretty little face, would we, Scarlet?" he said with a wide grin.
"I think someone is overcompensating," she returned bemused. "Better ask your older brother if you're allowed to date outside your species: the reptilian-kind."
Xamot curled a lip with a sneer, gripping his laser tighter.
"Amusing, Scarlet," Tomax remarked. "While I'm only older by a few minutes, we are same. Much like the biblical LEGION, we command many. And you best not forget your place, or you'll suffer our wraith with a hole in that nice supple frame."
Snake Eyes smirked, shook his head. If he could laugh, he would.
Tomax noticed. "And what do you find so amusing?"
"Your shared interest in me," Scarlet replied, since Snake Eyes could not. "Oh, I do declare," Scarlet began in her best Southern accent, "that I'm being courted by two strange men. Oh, what ever shall I do?" And then Scarlet flicked her eye lashes seductively, but amusingly.
Snake Eyes smirked.
"Mockery will not do you any favours, Scarlet," Tomax said straightly.
"Maybe not, but it sure does alleviate the tension," she said back.
Scarface pushed through the squad of Crimson Guards and came out front and centre with a laser in hand. "How cliche," he said, "advocating to live another day by surrendering, but I have orders to eliminate you for all the trouble you've caused. So, your attempt to save yourself and Scarlet was for naught. Say good-bye, you insufferable ninja!"
Scarface readied to fire, but Tomax grabbed Scarface's wrist before he could. Scarface tried to pull away, but could not. Tomax squeezed and Snake Eyes witnessed Scarface wince. "Cease your intent! By whose orders do you speak of?" Tomax demanded.
But Scarface was silent.
But Snake Eyes had already figured it out. Something in Scarface's eyes told him that there was something else a play, a hidden agenda, and someone else was pulling the strings here. But the Crimson Twins were oblivious to it. And he could only think of one person.
"Killing them would be a disservice," agreed Xomat, pointing his gun at Scarface.
Scarface's eyes twitched as he looked at Xamot, and Snake Eyes saw something peculiar about the way the villain was blinking. He wasn't sure, but he thought it looked like morse code, an old style of communication.
Tomax took Scarface's weapon and ordered his guardsmen to put him under arrest.
Scarface became furious, forcefully struggling against the two guards that now held him. "You'll regret this!" he said venomously, pointing at the twins. "How many times have they interfered in Cobra's operations? Kill him now! That one in particular who started it all!"
Scarface pointed at Snake Eyes.
And there it was, Snake Eyes thought. A personal vendetta if he ever heard one. He had figured out that this entire scheme to bring him to Extensive Enterprises undercover was some sort of ploy even before he discovered the CIA agent was Scarface in disguise, believing at first, but later wrongly, that the CIA was a double agent. And now this confirmed it.
But who was the puppet master?
Was Cobra Commander's visit a day earlier no coincidence? And Scrap Iron's altercation with him merely a means to end to expose Snake Eyes? Did they already known Snake Eyes and Scarlet had infiltrated Extensive Enterprises? But it had surprised the Crimson Twins, kept in the dark. Hence, there was a secret plot against him, making even the twins pawns.
So, who was really in charge here, Snake Eyes wondered.
"We are business men," Tomax said, indicating himself and Xomat.
"And the profitability of their survival favours us at the moment," Xomat added.
Suddenly, Snake Eyes noticed Xamot's right cheek twitched ever so slightly. Tomax, oddly, didn't appear to notice. It didn't slip Snake Eyes notice earlier when secured to the Brainwave Scanner, Xamot's reaction as he interacted with Interrogator during their conversion. And now, with that blinking from Scarface, something was definitely happening behind the scenes.
Snake Eyes knew, simply by the tone of someone's voice a person could be programmed to do things they wouldn't normally do, and then forget, but then brought back to the surface with the simplest form of a gesture, including eye blinks—if programmed as a recall function. Through a single word, phrase, or gesture, a person's conscious thoughts could be transformed to obey the orders of another, similar to a secret mind control program conducted by the CIA years before.
And with Scarlet's reaction after a slight glance over, he knew she had figured it out, too. "The plot thickens," she whispered to him with raised eyebrows. He nodded.
Snake Eyes observed his surroundings more closely, something was about to happen. And all it would take was a further 'push'. He had to be ready for it. He was the obvious target her, and if he wasn't careful, Scarlet would be collateral damage.
And he couldn't let that happen.
Just then, one of the Crimson Guards stepped forward with a computer tablet in hand. "Sir, the Interrogator for you," he said, and handed over the device.
And Snake Eyes let out a silent cry of Nooo!
To be continued...