Chp. 11 – Kuroi Tori "A Kunoichi's Last Dance"

Liquid walked in to find the Cyborg attending to Solid Snake's restraints. Unconscious, it was able to restrain him without a fight but dared that he'd test its strength with retaliation, if he were to come to. Liquid stood between a large capsule and the electric chamber that held his brother.

"Is he awake yet?"

"No."

"Then wake him up!"

The Cyborg took a few steps forward, drawing the katana from its sheath, and pressed the blade against Solid's neck. Snake groaned, lifting his head to the blade's pressure as it pinched at his skin. Unfocused, a blurry image of a Cyborg stood before him, clad in a Gunmetal and Black metallic suit.

"..A…a ninja?" He mumbled.

A fist slammed into his middle, creating a grunt of pain from the man. Snake's face contorted to that of hurt but he became immediately alert. The Cyborg stepped back and crossed its arms. "He's up."

"Good."

Snake winced, and lifted his gaze to the other in the room. An apparent trench coat stretched from broad shoulders to an inch from the ground. Worn brown trousers fell into the vamp of leather boots. Blonde hair cropped the head of an angular face while sunglasses his unidentifiable eyes. A lean frame stood before him with great intensity equal to that of his and instantly he knew who held it. Liquid!

Liquid stepped forward, removing the sunglasses from his eyes.

"Hullo Snake." The Brit said as he folded the glasses and held them up. "Do you still like my sunglasses? I bought an extra pair just for you."

Snake scowled, jerking forward toward his brother. He growled, feeling the restraints' full force against him. Once again he rested shackled within the electronic contraption. Liquid straightened, dropping his arms to his sides. He smirked. Distant tapping caught Snake's attention and he turned to his left. The Cyborg stood in front of a large capsule, tapping the glass with its index. Inside, Cora lingered within the liquidation. She was supported by chains that wrapped around her body, just enough to hold her up. Her eyes were closed, her hair was boundless, and her body, listless. Snake assumed her to be in a state of unconsciousness. Air bubbles escaped from the air mask mounted to her face. Liquid smirked at his lack of attention.

"Surprised, Snake?" He said catching his brother's attention. "I just couldn't resist putting her in our newest contraption."

"Release her. It's me you want, Liquid."

"Yes. But why not have double the pleasure?"

"Liquid!" Snake yelled.

"Hmph. No need to get mad. You both will get the same treatment."

The Cyborg turned in Liquid's direction, distortedly speaking. "Shall I wake this one up?"

"Of Course."

Solid glanced over to the ninja who made its way to a wall panel. A hand arose and pulled down a lever. Snake looked at Cora's face. For a moment nothing happened and she didn't stir as the lever was pulled. The liquid in the tank slowly became restless, swapping colors between gray and green. Cora's eyes shot open and bubbles flooded from the corners of her mask. She began to scream, horrifically aloud. The muffled screams became garbled as she began to choke on the liquid substance. Snake watched in horror as a surge of electricity streamed through the water and engulfed Cora. The tank became overrun by waves and bubbles.

"Cora!! Liquid stop this now!" Snake yelled, fighting with his restraints. Liquid nodded to the Cyborg and the switch was released. Cora's body dropped weightlessly against the chains that held her. Liquid crossed his arms.

"I don't think she'll be able to withstand another shock, Snake." Liquid watched her labored breathing, then returned his gaze to Solid.

"Liquid. …Let her go." Liquid smiled as he stepped up to him.

"Say please. Or are you too proud to beg?"

David grumbled, glaring upward at his brother. The olive tassels wavered with the air from the ventilation shaft. Silently whispering, he muttered. "…please."

Liquid swung around with an uproar of laughter. "How nice!" He grinned, turning toward the ninja near the large container of Cora. The ninja nodded in his direction, acknowledging his cackle. He lowered his eyes to Snake and advanced. "Too bad I never listen to reason."

            "Keep them entertained. I want her screaming. Him… I want dead, Got that?" The Cyborg nodded as Liquid made his way to a security-locked door. Snake watched him darkly, and held his stare as he watched Liquid tap in a key-code. Liquid briefly smiled to his brother and waved with a "ta-ta!" The Cyborg moved back over to the tank with Cora and pressed a hand to the lever. Snake lunged forward, still held by his restraints.

"Don't!"

The Cyborg slowly turned its head in his direction. "What?"

"Don't do it!"

"…." Interested by his reaction, the cyborg removed its hand to fold its arms. "Why not?"

"Because I'm the one he wants. Not her."

"…She must be close to your heart."

Snake hesitated on her remark. "No. She's not even supposed to be here."

"Hm," LA said turning back to the tank. A hand was propped up under its chin, then moved and pulled the lever. "Too bad."

Cora jolted up, her body pressing against the chains as she began to scream again. Even through the liquid, Snake could see her eyes become bloodshot, and the veins that covered her face, arms and legs. He growled with almost an animalistic behavior. He pulled against his restraints, and yelled out to Cora who continued to give heart-wrenching screams. Through the rage that was building within him, it pained him so to see this woman be put through such strife. The Cyborg stepped over to him, slammed him back, and pulled another switch.

Snake's body tensed deeply as he fisted his hands. His head tilted to the ceiling and his face grimaced as he yelled through clenched teeth. His eyes were tightly shut, veins stretched across his neck and chest. No longer could he contain his yell as it erupted aloud. Every shock driven through his temple drained him of life; robbed him of his dignity, and stripped him clean of sexiness. Not likely, girls. The cyborg watched as his chest expanded and sweat formed from the crown of his head and trickled downward until it dropped onto his chest where it would continue to stream downward 'til it made pattern-less spots against the cold, tiled floor. The cyborg turned away and lowered its head in thought. If its eyes were visible, it would most likely be staring at the floor as it listened to both, Cora and Snake's, screams. The Cyborg began to walk off.


"Cora…Where are you?" She faintly breathed.

The elevator doors were ripped open. Kaplan sat abruptly up, and in an effort to move, she cringed in pain. She held her side as she quickly scooted her way to the back of the elevator.

"Get up!" Kaplan scowled at the sentries that flooded into the elevator heavily armed. Bracing her hand against the elevator's rail, she moved to stand but collapsed back to a sit.

"I..I can't."

The leading sentry nodded to another and he advanced forward, grabbing her up while the others held their aim on her. She yelled in protest and growled through clenched teeth. That hurt!She told him. The sentry supported her with a hand to her shoulder and the other to her waist. She made a mental note of his grasp. His hands were small even though gloved and weren't as manly as Snake's had been when she confronted him at his home. His bust was slightly bigger than the rest, but his size was slim. Just under the black mask, sable strands peaked out, messily tucked beneath it. She leaned in to whisper.

"Lee-Anne?"

The sentry looked down on her and his brown eyes narrowed on her. He winked. So, it is her! Kaplan sighed in relief. She knew with her on her side, she would be all right. Kaplan glanced back at the dozen sentries that trailed closely behind her. They all had their trained eye on her and wouldn't remove them even to blink. She frowned and turned back to what was ahead of her.

Kaplan slammed into the back of a cell. Smacking into the wall, she hid her face from the sentries as they slammed shut the door and called her obscene names. She glanced back at them from under her bangs and looked directly at Lee-Anne. She gave a slow nod to her captive and turned to her fellow officers. Disguising her voice, she said,

"Go back to your posts! I'll handle it from here."

The sentries hesitated as it sunk into their thick heads. Reluctantly nodding, they set apart to do their given task; patrol the compound and ask questions if they heard anything out of the ordinary. Kaplan turned in her direction and leaned her head against the wall, cringing as she held her side.

"What are you doing here?" Kaplan said almost breathlessly.

"I was sent in."

"…And the home-front?"

"Secured. What happened to Cora?"

Kaplan tapped her ear and Lee-Anne followed suit. "The last time I saw her was when we landed. Haven't talked to her since."

"And codec?"

"She doesn't use it."

"Hm." Lee-Anne looked away for a moment then returned her gaze to Kaplan. Lee-Anne nodded to a small cot in the corner of the cell. "Take a seat over there and I'll clean you up."

Kaplan moved along the wall until she can to the cot. She slowly sat down, and in the effort of doing so, cringed with agony. Once seated, she sighed and moved to lie down. Lee-Anne moved over to a medicine cabinet mounted on a wall near a clerk's desk. She sifted through the bottles, reading over the names until she found some painkillers, cotton swabs, gauze, and bandages. She shut the cabinet doors and carried the items over to the cell. She could see Kaplan lying down on the cot with an arm arched over her head, the other against her wound. She remained still, unmoving with little breaths of air.

"Kaplan?"

She didn't move or answer. She just lay there. Lee-Anne's heart skipped a beat.

"Kaplan?" She said, nearing the cell. She braced a free hand against the bars and peered further inside. "Kaplan! Wake up!"

For a moment she didn't move and Lee-Anne became worried. She opened the cells doors and stepped inside. Kaplan slowly directed her eyes toward her.

"I can hear you loud and clear. You needn't yell."

"You should have answered me. Almost thought you were…." Her voice trailed off.

"Dead?" Kaplan finished. Kaplan turned away, placing her eyes against the marks scraped into the concrete walls. She looked over the sticks etched beside one another. It must have been the days spent of an old inmate. "One shot can't kill me. It'd take a hell of a lot more to send me home."

Lee-Anne smiled for her apathy. She set the items down on the cot beside her and ordered her to sit up. In the effort, Lee-Anne found herself helping the wounded Kunoichi, who was never usually in need of help before. They had been friends for quite some time now. She was an even longer friend with Ayane, the one person she looked up to once Kaplan left the Faction. Kaplan hung her head low as Lee-Anne began her work. She waved away Lee-Anne's suggestion of downing the morphine pills—something in which she hated to do with all tablets. She explained that pain was what kept her going in that elevator, what kept her from blacking out into darkness. Even so, she was still weakened; defeated by the loss of blood and Lee-Anne prescribed that she got some rest and plenty of it. She dressed the gunshot wound with a prophylactic antibiotic of penicillin, gauzed it, then bandaged it. She sat back and Kaplan sighed.

"When'd you learn to be a medic?"

"Mei Ling taught me a thing or two."

"How is she?"

"Good."

"Hmm." Kaplan nodded, lowering her shirt. "How'd you find me?"

"We don't have cameras here for nothing."

"So you knew we were already here."

"Yep." She got up and stepped out of the cell.

"And your getup?" Kaplan asked, watching her.

"Temporary. I'm a neutral operative." She returned with a uniform in her hands and tossed it on the bed beside her. Kaplan picked it up and looked it over.

"And this?"

"Yourgetup. Put it on when the lights shut off. The cameras are blind in the dark." She stepped once more out of the cell and tossed the used materials into the trash. Then she began closing the cell door. Kaplan looked up.

"What're you doing?"

"Leaving you a way out. Remember when the lights shut off. Get some sleep. You'll need it."

"Right."

Kaplan watched as Lee-Anne went down the hall. When Lee-Anne disappeared through the double security doors, she sighed. She swiped her hands through the clothing, feeling around it for anything, something that could be used to pick the locks on the doors or disarm the security system. A security card slipped out of one of the pockets and landed at her feet. She claimed it. Security Card Levels 5 & 6was on it. She smirked.

"Thank you, Lee-Anne.But there's no way I'm staying in here."