MASK: Legacy Saga 2: Death Becomes Her
Chapter 11
Author's Note: Once again, sorry for the long wait on the next chapter. Thanks to several sharp nudges from co-writer Lisa, I've finally posted the next and nearly final installment. We hope you enjoy the semi-conclusion of this installment, because Saga 3 will be here before you know it, and we've got more twist and turns in store before we're done…
So please keep reading and reviewing…it keeps us going!
As the bike soared directly over the semi, Roxanne jumped off her bike shouting, "SHELL ACTIVATE!" Chameleon instantly was covered in a thick black shell, then crashed straight into the forest area on the other side; meanwhile, Roxanne body slammed into the top of the moving semi and left her scrambling to maintain her balance.
"ARE YOU CRAZY! YOUR BIKE DOESN'T FLY!" Brad shouted at Roxanne once she had her stomach flat and secured on the truck's top.
"Something just landed on my truck," The driver radioed to his escorts.
"I'll check it out, you two take care of our unwanted guest," Floyd ordered as he converted Vampire from a touring motorcycle to a turbo jet.
"GET OVER HERE! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Brad shouted constantly at Roxanne wanting to drag her to safety, but she down right ignored him and slowly crawled her way towards the front of the truck.
"Is she trying to get us all killed!" Annie snapped rhetorically over the radio before she ordered Brad, "Hurry up and get her down from there before I shoot her down!"
Before he could reply, Floyd buzzed by him in Vampire, drawing his complete attention back to the battle.
"Well what do we have here a spider and a mosquito hitching a ride," Floyd remarked as Vampire hovered along side them, "Better do some exterminating before the pest get out of control. BUCKSHOT FIRE!"
Several moderate size balls emitted from Floyd's mask and showered Roxanne. Brad activated Condor's anti-gravity cannon and started zapping as many of them as he could to shield her. He then aimed his dual lasers on his landing skids directly at vampire and forced Floyd to back off.
"I'll be back for you Roxanne!" Brad shouted as Condor took flight and chased after Vampire.
"Well what do you know," Rax remarked with humor as he saw Phoenix, "the bitch isn't dead yet."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Dagger questioned.
Annie engaged Phoenix's auto-navigation before taking aim and firing the rifle attached to Phoenix directly at Piranha. The shot nearly missed his windshield, "What do you think?"
"Something tells me she has something against you Rax," Cliff Dagger joked, as the hood of Jackhammer slid over the windshield to form a protective shield. A reciprocating cannon then emerged from behind the drop down front grill and started firing at Thunderhawk.
Thunderhawk's doors opened up, and the vehicle took flight before Dagger's first shot hit.
"Annie I'm going to take care of him from up here. Be careful," Matt reminded as Thunderhawk's wing blasters fired back at Jackhammer.
Piranha fired its front machineguns back at Phoenix, "You better back off little girl, cause that bike isn't gonna cut it."
"What is little old Rax afraid of me, cause Annie's got a gun?" Annie snickered as she avoided the oncoming fire and took another shot that went straight into Piranha sidecar window.
"You ain't gonna make it through this battle if you drive as bad as you shoot!" Rax retorted as he sent out another barrage of machinegun fire toward Phoenix's tires.
"Shoot me again, I ain't dead yet!" Annie shouted as her next shot broke Piranha's left side mirror.
"Missed again!" Rax taunted as he prepared another volley.
His gunfire managed to pierce a few holes in Phoenix's side where Annie wasn't quick enough to dodge. She nudged the auto navigation toward a tight turn until she was behind Piranha, and readied her next rifle shot. She stood up and took careful aim, sending the bullet zinging just inches from Rax's ear before it shattered a hole in his windshield.
"What was that?" Annie sneered back at him, continuing the game of cat and mouse that slowly led the two bikes away from the truck carrying the weapons cargo.
Thunderhawk and Jackhammer continued their own little dance as Dagger aimed his front cannons up at the flying car. Matt easily dodged and continued hammering the SUV with the lasers attached to Thunderhawk's wings. They too slowly receded away from the semi holding the weapons stash.
At this point, Rhino finally showed up to take the rear. "Matt we're gonna ram the truck off the road. That will stop the shipment from going any further."
"Negative Alex," Matt ordered, "Roxanne is on that truck."
"SHE'S WHAT?" Alex responded surprised.
"That's not even part of the plan," Jess noted as she glanced out the window to get a look at her.
"Maybe I can bring her down with Lifter," Bruce suggested.
"I don't even see her anymore," Matt replied worried as he avoided more fire from the ground.
"She could of jumped off?" Bruce suggested.
"We can't take that chance," Jess pleaded to Alex for the safety of her good friend.
"Aye your right…we'll wait until the truck reaches its destination to take action."
Despite Roxanne's missing in action status, she squeezed in between the front of the semi truck and it's cargo. She started fiercely messing with the lock mechanism. "All I got to do is detach this, then the whole mission is over with." After a few minutes of examining the lock, it was clear she couldn't turn it off while the vehicle was running. Therefore, she took the direct approach. "MEDUSA FIRE!" A surge of electrical energy emerged from the mask and hit the lock head on.
The driver sweated as he noticed the lock connecting the cargo had been release, "What's happening?"
The back end containing all of the truck's cargo violently slid off the front end of the truck. The metal container slammed into the roadway and skidded sideways until it came to a complete halt.
Bruce slammed on Rhino's breaks as he nearly rammed right into the oncoming container. "HOLD ON!" He cried to Alex and Jess who were already bumping into everything in the computer room. Bruce had his eyes shut uncertain if Rhino would stop in time. The moment Rhino connected with the container it would go up in flames, due to all the explosive weaponry inside. Instead, the front lightly tapped the container causing him to let out a sigh of relief, "That was close…too close. You ok Jess and Alex?"
"Yeah, that's not any worst then my father's driving," Jess remarked with a smudge face.
"I second that remarked," Alex smiled getting to his feet.
"It's Roxy!" Matt shouted over the radio, "She detached the truck!"
"Somebody aught to detach her head, she nearly blew up Rhino!" Brad shouted as if it were the craziest stunt he'd ever seen. He sent a few more blasts Floyd's way to vent his frustration.
"Shit the cargo's lost!" Rax yelled, "We better high tail it out of here."
"Jon not going to like this." Dagger reminded, but he followed Rax anyway.
"Ahh who gives a shit…its not really our problem," Rax added as Floyd landed Vampire and joined the retreat.
"Their retreating, Annie," Brad noted as excuse for them to back down.
"That doesn't end our problem," Annie inquired, "Roxanne still attach to the front end of that truck. We need to stop it!"
"I'm putting Thunderhawk on auto-pilot!" Matt stated as he jumped out of the driver side window in mid-air, "SPECTRUM ON!" The mask allowed him to glide through the air and land directly on the back of the truck. Roxanne was desperately holding on for life. "I got you!" He remarked as he put his strong arms around her, then gently glided her to solid ground.
Condor came up from behind as soon as Roxanne reached safety, "End of the road for you pal! HOCUS POCUS ON!"
The truck driver then started screaming, as he saw there was no more road ahead of him. Once the truck stopped, Annie opened this driver side door and held her rifle on him, "OUT! NOW! YOUR UNDERARREST!" The man nodded in defeat and exited the vehicle allowing Annie to arrest him and read him his rights.
Matt towered over Roxanne, as she knelt on the ground trying to catch her breath, "What were you thinking! You could of gotten yourself hurt, no worst killed!"
"I…I though you'd be proud of me." She muttered under a soft breath.
"Proud? You didn't even stick with the plan. You nearly endangered everybody else's lives out there! You're still fighting and looking after only yourself. How do you think Scott going to react when he finds out your fighting so recklessly?"
She blocked out her father's lecture and watched as several people came up to Annie giving her credit for a job well done. She didn't do anything. I stop the shipment. It isn't fair. She takes all my credit.
"Roxanne you owe everyone an apology," Matt insisted in a demanding voice.
"Yeah sure dad…I'll just go find my bike first," She remarked in a sad tone, as she took off in the opposite direction to where Chameleon crashed.
After she handcuffed the semi truck driver, Annie forced him into the now trailer-less semi-cab and locked him inside. She then turned toward what remained of the battle scene, noticing Thunderhawk still circling in the air on auto-pilot. Annie stepped over to Phoenix and activated the uplink to Boulderhill, allowing Thunderhawk's navigational system to use the bike as a homing beacon and land safely in the field beside it. She then noticed Rhino's precarious position relative to the explosive weapons trailer, and anger burned like liquid fire through her veins as she remembered the reason for it.
She stalked over to where Matt, Bruce, Alex, and Jess stood gathered outside of Rhino, inspecting the now immobile weapons trailer. Brad landed Condor and dismounted just in time to hear Annie ask in her most calm and dangerously quiet tone, "Where the HELL is Roxanne? I want some answers and I want them NOW!"
"She went after Chameleon," Matt replied, meeting Annie's eyes with an equally angered expression. "She should be back soon."
"Well, it's not going to be very pretty when I get my hands on her, and it's going to be even less pretty if I have to track her down, so I suggest you get on that radio and get her sorry ass back into my command!" Everyone stood there with mouths agape, as Annie seemed to completely forget to whom she was speaking and continued to vent at Matt. "Her ass is going to be MINE! She's going to be history if I have to deliver this mission report to PNA Headquarters myself, so don't even THINK about trying to cover this one up! She's gotten enough second chances to last a lifetime, but she's not getting another one. Not from me."
Annie turned on her heel and stormed toward Phoenix, ignoring the utterly stunned looks of her teammates. She sat down on the bike's seat and tuned in the Rangers normal communication channel.
"Flying Tiger, Black Magic, you still out there?"
"Go Phoenix," called Matt's voice in reply.
"You can bring the barricade down and send through a clean up crew. We've sent the snakes scurrying back to their nest."
"You got it, Red, they're on their way."
Two hours later, a no less calm Annie was busy with the final remains of the clean up effort on their border skirmish. Her father and Matt had insisted on staying behind as well, but she sent Bruce, Alex, and Jess back to the Ranger Station with a 'congratulations and job well done' as soon as she knew they wouldn't need Rhino's assistance to tow the weapons stash back to Tahoe. On the Ranger's end, Matt Hawkes and Hart had escorted the ATF and other appropriate law enforcement personnel through the barricade to coordinate everything at the local level, sending the rest of their team back to the station as well. It wasn't long before Cutler radioed in to say that Dusty had arrived at the Ranger Station, bringing with him a celebration dinner the likes of which they'd never seen. Annie allowed herself one small smile at that as the ATF finished attaching the weapons trailer to a fresh semi-cab and prepared to haul it away. Leave it to Dusty to turn a mission into a barbecue. Satisfied that the clean up was complete and everything was in order on the mountain pass, Thunderhawk, Condor, and Phoenix headed back to the Ranger Station, with Matt and Hart also in tow.
At the same time, Roxanne drove Chameleon into an empty garage at Boulderhill. She told her father she would return to the group to accept responsibility for her actions, but she chose not to face the death squad head on. All they were going to do was yell and tell her how messed up she was. She didn't have to be physically there to already feel Annie's breath running down the back of her neck. Heck she probably ended her career as an agent by running away. Roxanne remained fixed on Chameleon still trying to understand why they were angry. I accomplished the mission objective, but even that wasn't good enough for any of them.
Roxanne started to head towards the locker room feeling more dazed and confused then ever. She removed her mask letting it hang in her drooping left hand, as if she had no more will power to hang on to it. Why is it they assume I don't know what I'm doing? Dad even you have lost faith in me…you've replace me with Annie haven't you? You've all betrayed me…no there's still…"
Her train of thoughts were broken the moment a strong hand clamped on her left arm, causing her to drop her mask to the ground. Buddy spun her around and let his angry brow stare her directly in the face, "Tell me you didn't do it!"
"What are you talking about?" She trembled slightly wondering if he too had abandoned her too.
"Don't give me this innocent crap. I know you're the one who put the hit on Annie."
"That's ridiculous, what the hell makes you think I'd do something like that!" She shouted deeply offended by his accusation. To show that he meant business, Buddy slammed her up against the wall and put more pressure on his grip. She cringed in pain especially after receiving numerous bruises from her jumping stunt. Roxanne pleaded, "Buddy your hurting me…please stop."
"I want an answer right now!" He shouted as he continued to pinch her arm harder, "Why did you put a hit out on Annie!"
Her body twisted and turned as she tried to break free of his grip, but he was too strong for her to break free, "No I didn't do anything…I had nothing to do with it. Oowwww!" She fell to her knees in pain, "I swear Buddy I didn't."
He spoke in a dangerously threatening tone, "Why is it I don't believe a word coming out of your mouth? You've always hated Annie. In fact, the way you've been acting around her recently tells me you just might consider doing something extreme to rid yourself of the competition."
Roxanne started crying, "Its true I hate her! I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER!"
He yanks her forcefully off the ground and brings her to eye level, "So you admit it!"
She shook he head still sobbing, "I could never do it, cause Scott loves that bitch so much!" Roxanne practically choked on her tears, "I love my brother so much. I could never hurt him again. Look where he is now…I couldn't do a damn thing to save him."
Buddy continued to observe her closely. Her face was red and still showering a never-ending flow of tears. She kept repeating 'Never hurt him', as she trembled in his arms with fear. He wondered if she could be acting, but nobody could pull off such a believable performance such as this. The moment he let go of her arm, she crumbled up into a ball babying her arm. "Alright Roxy," his tone became softer, "I believe you. I just needed to know if you were telling the truth." He then knelt down next to her offering a hand, "I'm sorry."
Instead of accepting his hand, she pulled away scared, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"
He pulled back hurt by her remark, "I'm really sorry Roxy. Forgive me; I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't have much of a choice. Now lets get you off the floor."
He grabbed her hand, but she slapped it way and threatened him, "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN! YOU OR ANYBODY ELSE!" Before he even had a chance to speak another word she took off down the hallway as fast as she could crying. How could you betray me love?
"SHIT! That didn't go well." Buddy remarked as he kicked his foot against the wall angry with himself. He wondered if he should chase after her, but she looks so fragile that he didn't want to hurt her anymore then he already had. He picked up Medusa off the floor, "Believe me Rox…that hurt me more then you know." Buddy then headed off to his office thinking of the next action to take.