Daddy's Girls: Chapter 21

Author's Notes: Well, the calvalry is on it's way, but will they be in time to save Annie and Roxanne? What foul tricks does VENOM have in store. Read on to find out! :)

"Unbelievable, how the hell did they manage to figure this one out?" Rax muttered under his breath from Piranha.

"Well I think the problem is," Nash started to point out over the radio from his ready combat station Outlaw, "nobody put a cork in the leak."

"Leak what leak?" Cliff Dagger shouted with insult, "I check those vehicles twice nothing was leaking."

"You idiot we're talking about information leak," Bruno explained. "This base has been home since we lost our Nevada hide out, and now we're gonna have to move again. I hate moving."

"Do I have to remind you who's responsible for losing our last hide out?" Nash reminded, "She's laying in a bed not to far from here. If you ask me that's not a coincidence."

"You know Gory if you got something to say...say it and don't hide behind riddles. All ya ever did was blame that kid just like Mayhem…when in fact it was Mayhem's little pride and joy who got us in this situation to begin with. He's the one who lead trouble in our direction and failed to cover his own damn tracks."

"I'd say somebody just a little peeved his little girl in the infirmary." Nash joked openly.

"You know your this close to going there yourself," Sly Rax snapped. "He lets that maniac son of his roam free as if he owns everything."

"MASK will own everything if you continue to stand there and play in the sand!" Mayhem barked over the radio having just caught the last bit of the conversation.

"I figure why waste gas since it's becoming precious as gold."

"Quit lounging around! I need MASK distracted to perform a full-scale evacuation. I'm giving you more men to put out among the parameter. We just might be able to salvage some of our operations, if you give us enough time.

"Alright if that's what you want…you'll get it."

"Another thing, "Mayhem continued, "I hear anymore crap about my son, you'll be seeing down the barrel of my shot gun."

"Yeah whatever," Rax took it as an empty threat coming from a senile old man. It won't be too long before he checks into a retirement home.

"Dusty get a hold yourself!" Gloria shouted over the radio as her ex-partner and brother-in-law gunned Gator's engine and headed straight toward the waiting enemy.

"These bastards have gone too far! Nobody, I mean nobody kidnaps my little girls and gets away with it." Clouds of dust blasted into the air behind Gator, as it sped ahead to reach the action first. "Last one there gonna have to clean my grill with a toothbrush!" Dusty hollered with a quick 'Yeehaw.'

"Got an easy target at 3:00 for ya Dagger," Mayhem mentioned from a hovering switchblade, as he noticed the lone agent breaking away from his safety net.

"Which way it 3 o'clock….oh never mind I see the orange thing coming right at me."

"Thank goodness it's a bright color we wouldn't want ya heading the other way," Rax grumbled, before leading Piranha behind Jackhammer and staying directly in its shadow.

"Hey quick mocking me Rax," Cliff Dagger protested as a hurt child, "It won't take much to turn my guns around and knock you out of the game first."

"So ya decided to tango with me?" Dusty noted noticing Jackhammer heading straight for him, "After some electric ouch we'll see how well you'll be dancing," Dusty said as he activated the atom blaster on gator's roll bar.

The shot bounced off Jackhammer's windshield the moment the hood slid over to protect the driver. Cliff Danger laugh and stuck his head out the window, "That was interesting, but lets see how ya do with some fire, Torch on!" Fire erupted from his mask and blazed towards Gator. Dusty took a sharp turn to the right to avoid the heat, but was soon to be surprise by Piranha emerging from Jackhammer's shadow.

"What the heck!" Dusty yammered in shock.

"Stiletto on!" Rax shouted as he passed Gator's driver side. One stiletto dart bounced off the jeep and fell to the ground the second dart stabbed right into Dusty's arm.

"Uhhh!" Dusty shouted as he felt the sharp dart pierced his skin. He continued to drive Gator knowing all to well he was surrounded. "You got to do more then that to stop me partner."

Jess watch in horror from Rhino computer room, "DAD! Somebody…somebody help him!"

"Jess we need you to concentrate on remembering the entry point for the base," Alex reminded, "Don't worry we got your father's back."

Jess slammed her fist on the computer console and bit her lip. It was too hard to concentrate on remembering, after seeing her father already getting injured. Dad don't get yourself killed, there's so much I want to tell you. A few tears trickled down her face that she quickly dried. Get yourself together girl you have friends to save.

Shark approach Jackhammer drawing Dagger's attention with its machine guns, while Thunderhawk swooped down low to offer cover to gator, by fire its lasers on Piranha. Rax started to back away as he maneuvered the on coming attack, but Switchblade took the opportunity to introduce itself.

"Try this one on for size," Mayhem gloated as he fired a torpedo missile directly at Thunderhawk. The red Camaro notice the missile and pulled the nose of the vehicle up quickly to dodge. As Thunderhawk soared towards the sky the missile continued to follow determine to destroy its target. A bomb was then release from the bottom of Thunderhawk and fell directly on the missile instantly destroying it.

"Blast it! You got lucky with that one, but the next one won't miss!" Mayhem cursed, but before he could fire a second missile Firefly flew in between the two bitter rivals firing its tripod laser ray.

The massive confusion didn't end, but only worsen once Rhino started to activate its smoke screen. The battlefield was covered in layers of thick black smoke only allowing airborne combatants to see.

"You think that old trick gonna stop me from up here." Mayhem snorted firing his machine guns on firefly.

"I do expect this to confuse you," Julio responded as he activated his prism beam launchers.

Mayhem screamed slightly as he felt disorientated by the bright light. Switchblade started to head straight towards the ground. Yet Mayhem quickly reacted and converted the jet back to a helicopter to regain control.

Completely unaware of the cavalry's arrival, Annie continued making her way down the hallways of ContraWorld's Headquarters, heading back toward Mayhem's personal office. It was the only logical storage place for the virus and antidote. But she couldn't help feeling that something wasn't right… even if she did overhear the soldier tell Rax that there was a situation developing, she should have seen at least a few ContraWorld soldiers milling about. So far, she hadn't seen any. It shouldn't be this easy, Annie thought as she ducked into an open doorway, peering cautiously around the frame for any signs of pursuit. It reminded her of all the times she and Cody had played their version of 'tag' in the mountains. Just when she would think she was home free, he'd jump out of nowhere and tackle her to the ground, dashing off to continue the game. This was almost the same, except in this case getting caught meant game over. She took one last glance and heaved a small sigh of relief. So far, so good, I'm almost there.

A tingle at the back of Annie's neck made her look again, and she pulled her head back into the doorway of her hiding spot as a Contraworld guard stepped out of Mayhem's office, leaving the door wide open. She prayed for her luck to hold as the soldier headed in the opposite direction. As soon as he was out of sight, she rushed into the open doorway with all the speed and stealth she had been taught by the Rangers. She stopped short when she saw the two vials lying on Mayhem's desk, in a silver case that was also conveniently wide open. Bells of alarm rang out violently in Annie's mind. This is waaayyyy too convenient… But even as she had the thought, she found herself cautiously yet deftly wrapping the vials up in a nearby cloth, gripping them firmly but gently as she turned to leave.

The sound of a cocked rifle blocked her exit, along with the angry Contraworld soldier that was holding it. "Drop those vials, NOW!" He ordered in an irate snarl.

"I really don't think the boss would be too pleased if I dropped these right now," Annie retorted, feeling oddly calm despite the fact that she was staring down a loaded rifle barrel. Then she added tauntingly as she gave the vials a little shake, "And he's really not going to be happy if you shoot me…I'm off limits, remember?"

"It'll be too late by the time he finds what's left of ya…now gimme those vials before I blow ya into next week!"

"You want them so badly…CATCH!"

"What the hell is taking so long!?!" Vanessa snapped, muttering to herself as she stormed around the curve in the hallway and approached Mayhem's office. "If that fat slob had just let me go get the vials in the first place instead of sending one of those useless and incompetent soldiers and wasting my time…"

Vanessa's rant choked off mid-sentence the minute she saw the soldier standing in the open doorway of Mayhem's office with a rifle trained on her daughter. Angrily and without hesitation, she drew her pistol and stepped up stealthily behind him.

Annie mimed as though she was going to throw the vials at him, hoping to catch the soldier off guard. Instead, she caught a bullet that ripped through her shoulder and sent her sprawling as the guard fired his rifle. Annie curled up into a ball as a second shot rang out, risking a glance only when she heard the sound of a second body hitting the floor. She looked up to see Vanessa standing over the now dead soldier, holding a smoking pistol as she stared down haughtily at his unmoving body. For a moment, Annie thought she saw a flash of worry cross Vanessa's eyes as her attention focused on her daughter, but it was very quickly replaced by her usual frigid aura.

"Get up!" Vanessa ordered her icily.

Pain and shock from her bullet wound, as well as the scene she just witnessed held Annie immobile. Vanessa stalked over to her, and noting the vials in her left hand, yanked her to her feet by her wounded right arm. Annie yelped in pain as Vanessa gave her another harsh shove out the door.

"Get moving!" Vanessa snapped as she turned her back and holstered her pistol.

Annie didn't waste Vanessa's opening by arguing as she sprinted away toward what she hoped was the path back to the infirmary. Pain jolted up and down her shoulder as she ran, making her confused and disoriented, and she could already feel shock setting in from the blood loss. Her vision blurred, but she forced herself to push onward, praying that she was headed in the right direction. Her eyes focused just enough that she could see the open doors to the medical ward just ahead, but then they betrayed her by turning everything gray. Her legs gave out at the same time, sending her crashing to her knees against the wall just outside of the hospital area. Annie's hearing seemed to be the only sense that was unaffected as her ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps. She ignored the excruciating pain slamming up her arm as she drew the hidden knife from her boot while she knelt. He would've…had to shoot…my throwing…arm… Annie told her unwilling legs to shut up and hold her weight as she forced her uncooperative mind to focus, then she let the knife fly the minute the shadowy figure turned the corner.