Nightmare Island

Low Light fought as much as he could, but he still could not prevent the Cobra soldiers from stripping him again. "Stealing clothes," Sable grinned. "Naughty, naughty…" He took out the whip. "Hold him down!"

Low Light screamed as the neuron whip cracked over his skin. "You won't get away with this you bastard!" Low Light howled.

"I'm through being patient," Sable hissed. "I should have done this long ago!"

"Oh doc you ain't gonna do what I think you're gonna do," One soldier groaned. Low Light tensed as he heard the sound of pants being unzipped.

"Could you at least wait until we tie him up and are out of the room?" Another growled.

"Yeah whatever," Sable agreed as he placed his hands on Low Light's back. He lightly traced his finger down his spine and onto his buttocks.

Panic overtook Low Light. He thrashed wildly as he felt ropes binding him. "N-no…" He whimpered. "NOOOOOOO!"

Something inside him charged. At that very moment something lit up in his brain. He felt as if he was on fire. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Low Light screamed, his body convulsing in agony.

"What the…" One of the soldiers cried out.

"His mutation is finally kicking in!" Sable shouted. "How wonderful!"

"For who?" One soldier asked.

Low Light's body glowed with energy. Immediately all the soldiers holding him down screamed in agony as they were electrocuted. "SABLE!" Low Light howled.

"Uh Doc maybe touching him isn't such a good idea right now," One solider standing beside Sable gulped.

"Hmm, an electric type 'eh?" Sable thought.

"Sir this guy ain't no Pokemon!" Another soldier shouted. "HOLY!" Then Low Light's body turned to fire.

The fire burned through the rope. Low Light stood up. "SABLE!" Low Light howled his features ablaze. It was like he had turned into a being a pure fire.

"Well don't just stand there, shoot it!" Sable shouted.

The soldiers opened fire just as Low Light changed again. This time to a stone formation. The bullets bounced off him and hit some of the soldiers.

"Electricity…fire…now stone?" Sable gasped. "What kind of mutation is this?"

"SABLE! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!" Low Light howled in an unearthly voice.

"This is not good…" Sable gulped. "Now I am beginning to worry."

Mindbender was unaware of what was going on. He was far too busy noticing the large squadron of Joes headed towards the island. "How did they find our position?" He snarled.

"I think sir we should concentrate on saving our hides!" His aide gulped.

"You're right," Mindbender ran off. "Sable you fool you are going to pay for this! If the Joes don't get you first!"

The Cobras had put up a fight. Several Greenshirts had been injured but the majority of the team had made it to the inside of the base. "What the heck has Cobra been doing here?" One of them asked.

"Nothing good you can bet on that soldier," General Hawk told him. He looked inside the laboratory and immediately felt like vomiting. Body parts were strewn everywhere, surgically removed. Some were still on the operating tables, obviously still alive when the vivisection process began.

"Oh god…" Duke gulped before running off to the side and throwing up.

"Sir there are still some people alive down here!" Mercer shouted.

Hawk looked in the corridor. There were several people in cages. They were emaciated and thin, covered with scars. Some of their bodies had tusks or horns growing out of them. Others were partially covered in scales or fur. His heart wrenched in his throat as he looked at their pitiful frightened eyes. "Get these people out of here and give them medical attention," He told Doc and the others.

He had to get outside. He had to get in the fresh air. Before he could think he was standing alone outside the compound, trying not to shake. Shipwreck was outside. "Makes you sick doesn't it," Shipwreck growled.

"Mutations…" Hawk snarled. "Cobra was experimenting with mutations."

"Again," Shipwreck's eyes grew hard. "I had to step outside too."

Hawk nodded in sympathy. Shipwreck was taking this hard but for good reason. His wife Mara had been a subject of such experiments and their newborn daughter was a mutant herself. If Cobra ever got their hands on them…

"When I get my hands on the bastards responsible for this…" Hawk growled. "I want first crack at them. You hear me?"

"You may have to take a number. Hawk I think I just found the guy responsible for all this!" Shipwreck pointed in the distance. Sable was running for his life from something glowing with energy. "Looks like one of his creations has turned on him."

Hawk's eyes widened with recognition as he looked at the binoculars. "That's not a Cobra creation…" He gasped. "That's Low Light!"

"Jesus!" Shipwreck spat. "What did they do to him?"

"Get Lifeline," Hawk told him.

"Already here," Lifeline had emerged. "What's going on?"

"Low Light," Shipwreck told him as he went to a jeep. "Come on! We gotta help him!" The three men jumped in the jeep to get to Low Light and Sable.

Sable was fast, but Low Light was faster. "What did you do to me Sable?" Low Light howled as he grabbed him by the throat.

"No please! Stop!" Sable screamed as the energy crackled around him and into his body.

"How many times did I say that?" Low Light hissed as he sent more energy into Sable. "How many times did you hear that from your victims who pleaded and begged you to stop? WELL NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! HOW DOES IT FEEL SABLE? HOW DOES IT FEEL?"

Sable screamed as his body was electrocuted and it started to burn. "TELL ME HOW IT FEELS!" Low Light howled as Sable started turning to ashes in his hands.

"Low Light!" Hawk cried out. "Stop! It's over! He's dead!"

Low Light stood there, his naked body glowing brightly. "He is dead isn't he?" He spoke in a dazed voice. The glow started to fade. He dropped what was left of the body and looked at himself. "Hawk…what happened? What did he do to me?"

"Easy son," Hawk carefully approached him. "It's over now."

"No…" Low Light sank to his knees. "No it's not over…it's never going to be over…" He curled up into a ball and started to sob.

"For god's sakes get a blanket or something to cover him up before the others see him," Shipwreck said to Lifeline.

"No…no they can't find me," Low Light moaned. "Not like this…please…"

"It's okay Low Light," Lifeline took a blanket out of his emergency backpack. "It's gonna be okay. It's me, Lifeline." He wrapped it around his body.

"Lifeline…" Low Light looked at him with tear stained eyes. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah it's me," Lifeline said.

"We're here Low Light," Hawk said softly as he knelt down next to him.

"I knew you'd find me…" Low Light sobbed. "I almost gave up. I think I did give up at a point. I…" He broke down again.

Hawk gently patted him on the head. "It's all right now son," Hawk spoke gently. "We're going to bring you home now." He looked at Lifeline and Shipwreck. "Take him to one of the Tomahawks immediately. Shipwreck don't let anyone else besides Doc near him. And don't say anything about this yet, that's an order!"

"Don't worry," Shipwreck helped Lifeline pick up Low Light to his feet. "Can you walk buddy?" Low Light nodded weakly. "Come on we'll help you." They helped him to the nearest Tomahawk.

"Oh man," Lift Ticket was there. "What happened to him? He don't look too good."

"He's not," Lifeline said softly. "Just leave him be for now Lift Ticket. Doc has to look him over."

"How many survivors?" Hawk asked Doc a few hours later.

"Only 14," Doc told him. "Some of them are just kids Hawk." He indicated one being carried by Roadblock.

A small boy with green skin and big eyes wrapped in a blanket lay in his arms. "No more pain?" He asked innocently.

"No more pain," Roadblock said gently as he lay the child down on a stretcher. "I promise. What's your name kid?"

"Palo," The boy whispered.

"Well Palo you're going to be all right now," Roadblock gently mussed his hair. "I'll be back." He walked over to Hawk and Doc. He rubbed his eyes. "Just when I think those snakes couldn't get any lower…"

"I know," Hawk said. Suddenly several black helicopters came into view.

"Who is that?" Roadblock asked as they landed.

"Special Ops by the look of it," Hawk said. "Wait here." He walked over to the lead chopper as it landed.

"Well if it isn't General Hawk," A stout general with a black mustache walked out. It was General Bragg. He was often put in charge of secret projects. Projects usually deliberately kept out of the public eye.

"What are you doing here Bragg?" Hawk asked.

"I've come to take care of the survivors," Bragg told him.

"How did you know there were survivors?" Hawk looked at him suspiciously. "In fact we didn't send any transmissions at all."

"One of my informants heard about this little operation," Bragg told him. "We've been looking for this island a long time." He handed him some papers. "General you are to transfer all survivors to my custody immediately for medical attention. My men will take care of them."

"Everything looks in order," Hawk nodded. "A lot of them have been used for experiments and…"

"I can imagine," Bragg cut him off. "Don't worry, my men are trained to deal with these types of situations. We appreciate your assistance in this matter. I'll speak of you highly to the ones higher up."

"And who are we talking about?" Hawk folded his arms. "The Jugglers?"

"That's on a need to know basis," Bragg told him. "And you don't need to know. I suggest you and your men leave immediately."

Hawk watched as Bragg's men started transferring the patients to their choppers. "All right." Hawk agreed even though he didn't like it.

He joined the rest of the Joes at their choppers. "They took them pretty fast," Roadblock grunted. "Low Light's already been sent back to base along with some of the others." He pointed to the Tomahawk in flight.

"Good," Hawk nodded. "Let's move out. We should…"

The gunshots rang in his ears. Hawk and the rest of the Joes ran to where the choppers were. But they were too late. "No…" Hawk gasped. "NO!"