Christmas in France

To Red Witch: Hey there, Red! I read the new chapter of 'Holidays Are Hazardous To Your Health' and I loved it! Man, talk about your holiday tension. And yes, our heroes are in trouble! Glad you liked the last chapter! Enjoy this new one, and I can't wait to read more from you.

To Sparky Genocide: Hey there, Sparky! Don't get me wrong, I like your idea, but I don't think it would be appropriate. Kyle is only 13. Oh well. I hope you like the new chapter!

To Raliena: Hey there, Rae! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Enjoy this new chapter and Merry Christmas to you too!

Disclaimer: "What did he mean by exact change?" - William Shatner as Admiral James T. Kirk, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Chapter 7: Confrontation!

A ballroom in Paris

Toshiro Yashida, the Japanese West Coast Misfit codenamed Sunfire, was standing at the wall of a ballroom. He was in his Sunfire costume, and he appeared to be bored. Not to mention he felt a little lost. After all, he spoke no French, and not many of these party-goers, business executives and the like, spoke a lick of Japanese. His mask bleeped, and the Solar Samurai snapped to his feet.

"Sunfire here."

"Toshi, is anything going down?" Theresa's voice came out of Toshi's mask's internal headset.

"Besides being…how do you Westerners say it…bored to tears, nothing of any significance whatsoever. How is the industrialist and the device?" The Japanese mutant replied.

"Everything's going without a hitch so far." Theresa said. "We had an…incident with Thunderbolt and Marie-Claire d'Agastino, the company owner's daughter. She's got a pretty good handle on her powers already from what we saw." Toshiro nodded.

"I am not surprised." Toshi remembered something. "I heard about her…abrasiveness. Only natural a personality like hers would clash with a personality like Thunderbolt's."

"Abrasive is an understatement. We had to sedate them to keep them from tearing each other apart."

"Why am I not surprised?" Toshi chuckled. "I hope you arrive quickly. This party is becoming rather dull."

"We'll be there in a couple minutes, Toshi. How is Beast King?" Toshi looked up.

"His is one very bored bee."

Downtown Paris

"You shall fall before the might of the Apache, robot!" John Proudstar roared as the hot-headed teenager charged Overkill, intent on pounding the mechanically-enhanced Cobra into next year's slag with his bare hands. The goofy cyborg smirked.

"The Apache are still stupid organics." Overkill laughed. His fingers on his right hand extended into whip-like cables. He flicked his arm and wrist in a sideways motion. The whips wrapped themselves around the Apache mutant's neck and upper body. He then sent John flying sideways over his head and the Apache mutant landed hard on his back on a car hood. Taking the opportunity, Tommy leapt on Overkill, catching him in a sleeper hold. Terrell raced around Overkill, firing punches at incredible speed.

"Fall…you…dumb…tin…can…fall!" Terrell screamed.

"Come on, you Mega Man wannabe, time for a nap…" Tommy growled as he tried to keep his hold on a struggling Overkill. The cyborg screamed and grabbed Tommy. He threw the shark-like mutant over his shoulders, slamming him into Terrell, causing the two mutants to crash into each other hard. They fell to the ground, groaning.

"I have had enough!" Overkill snarled. His right hand opened up and a gun barrel emerged from his palm. He pointed it at Terrell and Tommy and fired. An energy beam flew out of his hand and hit the two mutants. They were trapped in a strange orange energy field. Overkill heard John groan as he got up. The cyborg fired his beam and trapped the Apache warrior as well.

"Stupid organics. They fell under the might of my tech." Overkill cackled happily.

Elsewhere in Paris

"Man, I love the cops in this town! They are so AWESOME!!!" Ace Starr whooped from behind the wheel of a police car.

"This is a lot like that movie with Burt Reynolds, no?" Tarot laughed from the passenger seat. Ace chuckled.

"Yeah, 'Smokey and the Bandit'. I have that movie on DVD. Jackie Gleason was at his best in that one." The American feral mutant grinned.

"You know, mon amour, in the end, Burt Reynolds kissed Sally Field." Tarot purred. Ace looked at her with a smirk that made the French girl melt.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Ace grinned. The car jerked as the two ran over Senator Kelly. Following the cop car was another car the others commandeered.

"I cannot believe Ace actually convinced a pair of police officers to let him take their car." Dial-Up shook her head from the passenger seat.

"Well, he did. I guess being an American superhero has its advantages." Jester chuckled from the driver's seat.

"Jester, keep your eyes on the road!" Longshot exclaimed.

"What will we do? What's going on with the B.A.T.s?" Rahne wondered.

"I can't reach Velocity, Chilljaw, or Thunderbird." Dial-Up said. "Something is very wrong here."

"If there are B.A.T.s, then you know Cobra is up to something." Jester sighed. "But what?"

"Wait!" Longshot realized. "The new B.E.T.! The Broadcast Energy Transmitter Mark II! They're going to try and get their scaly claws on it again!"

"But Cobra-La was destroyed (1)! Why would they come after it again?" Jester wondered.

(1) - See "GI Joe, The Movie: Evo-tized!"

"Ye nae need a B.E.T. to raise an ancient civilization." Rahne shook her head. "Just because they cannae raise up an ancient civilization with the B.E.T., that does nae mean that the B.E.T. has no value to them."

"Yeah, she does have a point." Longshot said. "The Broadcast Energy Transmitter allows one generator to power numerous electrical devices remotely. Imagine the possibilities."

"One battalion of tanks could be sent practically anywhere, and their energy source is safely back at base camp. They'll never have to worry about running out of gas, because the energy is transmitted remotely." Jester blinked. "Yeah, and if Cobra gets their paws on it, they will be unstoppable."

"Well, what're we waiting for?!" Longshot whooped. "Let's get them!"

Well, well, well! Looks like the craziness will continue! What insanity will happen next? Will our heroes be able to save the day? What happened to Velocity, Chilljaw, and Thunderbird? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!