All right, as many of you know I don't like mincing words, so I'll get
right down to business. This is the last chapter for the latest reviewer
challenge. Also, I'm going to bring this story to an end soon. For more
alternate universe adventures be on the lookout for Rise of Cobra. Coming
soon to a website near you. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to
work the Death Valley mission into this, but I promise, that will be next
chapter. Now that that's out of the way, on with the story.
Death Valley or The Many Rebellions of Cobra
Mindbender sat down in the plane, and then as soon as they were out of the base's weapon's range, pulled out the spray nozzle and the vial of clear liquid, and sprayed the gas into the pilot and guards' faces.
For a while no one said anything, then the pilot spoke. "What happened?"
"Congratulations gentlemen, the part of your brain that allows you to make decisions is no longer operating very well. You are now under my command. Pilot, alter course for Death Valley. You," he pointed at one of the guards, "get me a direct line to Cobra Commander."
"Yes sir." They both said simultaneously.
Mindbender pulled out the walkie-talkie, and activated it. "Yes, Zartan, it worked. Prepare the landing pad for a large transport." He turned back to the communications screen, where Cobra Commander was now scowling at the screen.
"What do you want Mindbender?" he snarled.
"I just thought I'd let you know that this transport is now headed towards Death Valley. The pilot's under my orders."
"Guards, kill Mindbender!" Cobra Commander shouted.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm controlling them too?"
"Damn you. So, why did you bother to alert me to this?"
"I wanted to see the look on your face when you realized I had planted a bomb underneath your desk."
"What?!" Abruptly Mindbender pressed the detonator and cut the transmission.
***********************************************************************
Cobra Commander dove out the window of his office into the hallway outside, just as the bomb exploded. Soon after Destro came into the hallway.
"Destro. Good to see you." Then he noticed the figure behind Destro. A figure identical to Cobra Commander.
"Destro, what the hell is going on here?"
"I don't have to explain that to you. In fact, I don't take orders from you anymore. Meet your replacement. He gestured to the figure.
"Let me guess, you pulled Mystique out of deep freeze?"
"No. This is one of our own."
"In that case, shapeshifter, kill Destro."
"I forgot to mention, Dark Beast made some modifications to the brainwashing techniques."
"Oh, wonderful. I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way then." He pulled out a pistol and fired directly into the shapeshifter. However, the shapeshifter reformed its body to avoid the bullets.
"Say goodnight Cobra Commander," smirked Destro, and pulled out a pistol of his own. He shot Cobra Commander six times in the chest, then flung him out the window. He watched as the body hit the waves.
Then he whispered something to the shapeshifter. The shapeshifter sat, hit the videophone, which had miraculously survived the blast, and said, "Tamox, Xomat, Mindbender is on his way, I want you to eliminate him as soon as he sets down. Or better yet, before he has a chance to land."
Zartan's face came on the screen. "Cobra Commander, I regret to inform you that Xomat and Tamox are no longer in control of this facility. I faked their orders to move their operations to the Antarctic base a short while ago. My employer is now in complete control of this facility.
"Idiot. You can't expect me to believe that you single-handedly disposed of the entire guard."
"Not just me. Ripper, Buzzer, and Monkeywrench had a hand in it to." The Dreadknocks that he had just mentioned stepped into view.
"Hi Snake Breath." Sneered Buzzer.
"Now if you'll just excuse me." Zartan shut of the videophone.
"He's lying." Said Dark Beast, who was standing in the doorway, "There's no way those idiots could have disposed of the entire guard force."
"And what do you think happened? Pray tell." asked Destro.
"I think Mindbender gambled on Cobra Commander taking him at his word, and won."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He was farther along in his experiments then we thought. He has an army of mutants."
"Interesting. That could present a problem. All we have are the shapeshifters."
"Well, there is the Brotherhood."
"What do you mean. Mystique's still in the freezer we put her in when we caught her trying to destroy the outpost in Ecuador, she's too risky to use, Pyro's and the Acolytes were killed when they attacked Washington shortly before we announced that Cobra was in command, Magneto's and his daughter are the only one left at large, and we have no idea where they is. Besides, even if we found him, it would take the entire army to defeat him, and that would leave us open to attack from the Resistance. Not to mention the threat his daughter would pose."
"First point, I have positively identified huge magnetic surges in Tibet. Second point, actually, the Resistance is going to help us find him. I'll leak some information through their intelligence. I'm sure they won't pass up this opportunity. If they could ally with him, then they would be poised to overthrow Cobra in an area as big as Alaska. I'm positive that he'll refuse, and then one of two things happen. They beat him, and we move in and take him, or two, he kills them, and we're rid of quite a few members of the resistance."
"I see. Quite a good plan. Practically guaranteed to make me ruler of the world."
"Actually, it will make me ruler."
"I doubt it." Dark Beast looked at the gun in Destro's hand. "Ironic justice isn't it? The same gun I killed Cobra Commander with." Destro smirked.
"I see. Shapeshifter, sleeper cell."
"What will that accomplish?"
"The Shapeshifter is no longer under your command. Shapeshifter, kill Destro."
One of the Shapeshifter's arms transformed into a giant knife. It sliced through Destro like butter.
"Thank you. Now please call up the Baroness's private quarters. I believe she is intending a coup."
"You would believe right." Came the Baroness's voice. She was standing in the door, pointing a submachine gun directly at Dark Beast's head. "Tell your shapeshifter that he has to obey my commands only."
"Shapeshifter, McCoy Alpha Omega Beta Baroness."
"What's that mean?"
"It's a small safety device I installed so that no one could trick me into giving over my command." While he was talking the Shapeshifter had changed into liquid, and oozed over to the Baroness's side. At the word command, two tentacles reached out, and grabbed the Baroness's ankles, pulling her off balance. Her gun clattered to the floor, as she was encased in goop, all except her mouth. Dark Beast walked over and smacked her in the head. She fell unconscious.
"Shapeshifter change back to Cobra Commander. Order guards in here on the double to bring her to the torture chambers. Tell them that I will be along shortly."
There was suddenly the sound of shooting outside. Dark Beast grabbed the Baroness's submachine gun and looked out. Cobra Troops were fighting the Baroness's private guard.
However the Cobra Troops heavily outnumbered the Baroness's private guard, and they were soon forced to retreat.
Two of them had been killed. Another one had been wounded in the leg, and left behind by her comrades.
"Take them both to the torture chambers. I'll be down in a moment." He went back into Cobra Commander's office. Destro's body was gone, replaced by a pile of protoplasm. Dark Beast knelt down and picked up an earpiece.
"Well, Destro, it seems I underestimated you. It would also appear that the game if far from over. Good. It was almost too easy before. This promises to be a challenge." *********************************************************************** Cobra Commander lugged himself out of the river. "Idiot Destro. Thinks I haven't learned a thing from all the times he'd mutinied before. Mindbender's the same. Assumed that I wouldn't notice if the Crimson Twins went missing. They called to complain the moment they got the orders. Well, I outsmarted Mindbender and Destro." He pulled his shirt away to reveal a Kevlar vest. The bullets had damaged it, and one had gone through. It had been stopped by his ribcage, but he was losing blood. "Now they will play off each other. Only one of them will survive, and it will be easy enough for me, with the help of the Crimson Guard, to remove them."
He started walking. Soon he was out of sight of the Cobra base. Not long after, a large hovercraft set down in front of him. Xamot and Tomax were in it, along with several other members of the Crimson Guard.
"Good work. Is the safe-house ready?"
"It is. There are" Said Xamot.
"Enough supplies to lay low for at least a year." Finished Tomax.
"Good let's go." ***********************************************************************
Destro paced in an underground cavern. Dark Beast's betrayal had been a setback, but not a surprise. Hence the shapeshifter, and hence the shapeshifter, being controlled by the earpiece, and hence the underground safe house.
"I hope you didn't really think it would be that easy McCoy."
The plot thickens. Next, I promise, I will have the Death Valley scene. Hopefully I will be able to tie up a few loose ends and simplify them a bit. Or maybe complicate them.
Lance: Oh sure, as if our lives weren't complicated enough.
Gambit 14: Be quiet.
Lance: No! I have a right to freely express my opinions.
Lance is suddenly hit with a barrage of muffins.
Gambit 14: Not in my story.
Death Valley or The Many Rebellions of Cobra
Mindbender sat down in the plane, and then as soon as they were out of the base's weapon's range, pulled out the spray nozzle and the vial of clear liquid, and sprayed the gas into the pilot and guards' faces.
For a while no one said anything, then the pilot spoke. "What happened?"
"Congratulations gentlemen, the part of your brain that allows you to make decisions is no longer operating very well. You are now under my command. Pilot, alter course for Death Valley. You," he pointed at one of the guards, "get me a direct line to Cobra Commander."
"Yes sir." They both said simultaneously.
Mindbender pulled out the walkie-talkie, and activated it. "Yes, Zartan, it worked. Prepare the landing pad for a large transport." He turned back to the communications screen, where Cobra Commander was now scowling at the screen.
"What do you want Mindbender?" he snarled.
"I just thought I'd let you know that this transport is now headed towards Death Valley. The pilot's under my orders."
"Guards, kill Mindbender!" Cobra Commander shouted.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm controlling them too?"
"Damn you. So, why did you bother to alert me to this?"
"I wanted to see the look on your face when you realized I had planted a bomb underneath your desk."
"What?!" Abruptly Mindbender pressed the detonator and cut the transmission.
***********************************************************************
Cobra Commander dove out the window of his office into the hallway outside, just as the bomb exploded. Soon after Destro came into the hallway.
"Destro. Good to see you." Then he noticed the figure behind Destro. A figure identical to Cobra Commander.
"Destro, what the hell is going on here?"
"I don't have to explain that to you. In fact, I don't take orders from you anymore. Meet your replacement. He gestured to the figure.
"Let me guess, you pulled Mystique out of deep freeze?"
"No. This is one of our own."
"In that case, shapeshifter, kill Destro."
"I forgot to mention, Dark Beast made some modifications to the brainwashing techniques."
"Oh, wonderful. I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way then." He pulled out a pistol and fired directly into the shapeshifter. However, the shapeshifter reformed its body to avoid the bullets.
"Say goodnight Cobra Commander," smirked Destro, and pulled out a pistol of his own. He shot Cobra Commander six times in the chest, then flung him out the window. He watched as the body hit the waves.
Then he whispered something to the shapeshifter. The shapeshifter sat, hit the videophone, which had miraculously survived the blast, and said, "Tamox, Xomat, Mindbender is on his way, I want you to eliminate him as soon as he sets down. Or better yet, before he has a chance to land."
Zartan's face came on the screen. "Cobra Commander, I regret to inform you that Xomat and Tamox are no longer in control of this facility. I faked their orders to move their operations to the Antarctic base a short while ago. My employer is now in complete control of this facility.
"Idiot. You can't expect me to believe that you single-handedly disposed of the entire guard."
"Not just me. Ripper, Buzzer, and Monkeywrench had a hand in it to." The Dreadknocks that he had just mentioned stepped into view.
"Hi Snake Breath." Sneered Buzzer.
"Now if you'll just excuse me." Zartan shut of the videophone.
"He's lying." Said Dark Beast, who was standing in the doorway, "There's no way those idiots could have disposed of the entire guard force."
"And what do you think happened? Pray tell." asked Destro.
"I think Mindbender gambled on Cobra Commander taking him at his word, and won."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He was farther along in his experiments then we thought. He has an army of mutants."
"Interesting. That could present a problem. All we have are the shapeshifters."
"Well, there is the Brotherhood."
"What do you mean. Mystique's still in the freezer we put her in when we caught her trying to destroy the outpost in Ecuador, she's too risky to use, Pyro's and the Acolytes were killed when they attacked Washington shortly before we announced that Cobra was in command, Magneto's and his daughter are the only one left at large, and we have no idea where they is. Besides, even if we found him, it would take the entire army to defeat him, and that would leave us open to attack from the Resistance. Not to mention the threat his daughter would pose."
"First point, I have positively identified huge magnetic surges in Tibet. Second point, actually, the Resistance is going to help us find him. I'll leak some information through their intelligence. I'm sure they won't pass up this opportunity. If they could ally with him, then they would be poised to overthrow Cobra in an area as big as Alaska. I'm positive that he'll refuse, and then one of two things happen. They beat him, and we move in and take him, or two, he kills them, and we're rid of quite a few members of the resistance."
"I see. Quite a good plan. Practically guaranteed to make me ruler of the world."
"Actually, it will make me ruler."
"I doubt it." Dark Beast looked at the gun in Destro's hand. "Ironic justice isn't it? The same gun I killed Cobra Commander with." Destro smirked.
"I see. Shapeshifter, sleeper cell."
"What will that accomplish?"
"The Shapeshifter is no longer under your command. Shapeshifter, kill Destro."
One of the Shapeshifter's arms transformed into a giant knife. It sliced through Destro like butter.
"Thank you. Now please call up the Baroness's private quarters. I believe she is intending a coup."
"You would believe right." Came the Baroness's voice. She was standing in the door, pointing a submachine gun directly at Dark Beast's head. "Tell your shapeshifter that he has to obey my commands only."
"Shapeshifter, McCoy Alpha Omega Beta Baroness."
"What's that mean?"
"It's a small safety device I installed so that no one could trick me into giving over my command." While he was talking the Shapeshifter had changed into liquid, and oozed over to the Baroness's side. At the word command, two tentacles reached out, and grabbed the Baroness's ankles, pulling her off balance. Her gun clattered to the floor, as she was encased in goop, all except her mouth. Dark Beast walked over and smacked her in the head. She fell unconscious.
"Shapeshifter change back to Cobra Commander. Order guards in here on the double to bring her to the torture chambers. Tell them that I will be along shortly."
There was suddenly the sound of shooting outside. Dark Beast grabbed the Baroness's submachine gun and looked out. Cobra Troops were fighting the Baroness's private guard.
However the Cobra Troops heavily outnumbered the Baroness's private guard, and they were soon forced to retreat.
Two of them had been killed. Another one had been wounded in the leg, and left behind by her comrades.
"Take them both to the torture chambers. I'll be down in a moment." He went back into Cobra Commander's office. Destro's body was gone, replaced by a pile of protoplasm. Dark Beast knelt down and picked up an earpiece.
"Well, Destro, it seems I underestimated you. It would also appear that the game if far from over. Good. It was almost too easy before. This promises to be a challenge." *********************************************************************** Cobra Commander lugged himself out of the river. "Idiot Destro. Thinks I haven't learned a thing from all the times he'd mutinied before. Mindbender's the same. Assumed that I wouldn't notice if the Crimson Twins went missing. They called to complain the moment they got the orders. Well, I outsmarted Mindbender and Destro." He pulled his shirt away to reveal a Kevlar vest. The bullets had damaged it, and one had gone through. It had been stopped by his ribcage, but he was losing blood. "Now they will play off each other. Only one of them will survive, and it will be easy enough for me, with the help of the Crimson Guard, to remove them."
He started walking. Soon he was out of sight of the Cobra base. Not long after, a large hovercraft set down in front of him. Xamot and Tomax were in it, along with several other members of the Crimson Guard.
"Good work. Is the safe-house ready?"
"It is. There are" Said Xamot.
"Enough supplies to lay low for at least a year." Finished Tomax.
"Good let's go." ***********************************************************************
Destro paced in an underground cavern. Dark Beast's betrayal had been a setback, but not a surprise. Hence the shapeshifter, and hence the shapeshifter, being controlled by the earpiece, and hence the underground safe house.
"I hope you didn't really think it would be that easy McCoy."
The plot thickens. Next, I promise, I will have the Death Valley scene. Hopefully I will be able to tie up a few loose ends and simplify them a bit. Or maybe complicate them.
Lance: Oh sure, as if our lives weren't complicated enough.
Gambit 14: Be quiet.
Lance: No! I have a right to freely express my opinions.
Lance is suddenly hit with a barrage of muffins.
Gambit 14: Not in my story.