Mask: Legacy Saga 3: The Fallen
Chapter 7
Author's Notes: Thanks for staying with us through the almost month long wait. We're sure this chapter will satisfy you as our MASK agents continue their mission. The surprises and suspense continue to build, and we're sure you'll all have more guesses as to what's happening after this section. You'll just have to keep reading and reviewing to find out! Heheheheheh …
The headlines of Duane Kennedy's death were spread out all over Miles Mayhem desk. He bit down hard on his Cuban cigar taking in as much of the bitter flavor as he could, while scanning every piece of authentic intelligence to uncover more details on the hit. When he first learned the good news, he thought the tables were finally turning to Contra World favor. Just thinking the amount of chaos he could cause while the organization scrabbled for permanent leadership gave him a wicked satisfaction. Nobody could stand in their way except for MASK, but with Matt Trakker's daughter wanted for murder even they couldn't be trusted. Leaders will scramble for power, the black market will be booming with business, and the weak nations will have nobody to protect them.
Yet something deeply puzzled him. Why now? What was the motive to kill him? The PNA linked Roxanne 'Thorn in his Thigh' Trakker to the murder, but what was her stakes in this? More questions entered his mind the more he dwelled on the situation. This could be more trouble then it's worth, but if I don't act now I won't have a second chance. The door opened, but he didn't care who it was. This was too important to be disturbed. "I'm busy…come back later," he snapped arrogantly.
"You look perplex Miles," Roxanne spoke up as she boldly stepped into the room with a malicious smile over her face.
The chipper voice caused him to look up at the girl he should of killed off years ago. She was a fully-grown woman now showing off her curves in a tight black leather contra world uniform. Practically a splitting image of her mother, except for the fact she cut her hair and dyed it red. This was obviously an attempt to start a new identity, since the whole world was looking for her. Unlike the last time she came bursting into his office, she wasn't alone. Two men he recognized as security detail stood at both her sides. "What do I owe the pleasure? Daddy doesn't have enough money to buy your way out of this one sweetheart?" He added with a mixture of laughter and several coughs from inhaling his cigar smoke.
"My father has nothing to do with this," she calmly remarked as she approached his desk. "In fact, if I were you I'd be a bit worried about my own future considering the shortage of leaders going around lately."
"So you killed a man, I'm suppose to be impress? I've drenched my hands in more blood then you can stomach little girl. You think you can walk in here handing out empty threats with nothing to back it up. Get her out of my sight," he angrily growled at the two men at her side, "I don't know why you even thought she was worth my time."
"Your washed up Miles. It's time for some new blood to run this circus you call a terrorist organization."
"You think a spoiled little rich girl can do a better job?"
She smiled innocently as the sound of the door being locked by one of her followers, indicated nobody would disturb them, "I'm only the messenger."
Miles Mayhem brow's narrowed downward at her response. His eyes shifted from her face to the two men in the room. The signal was clear in Mayhem's mind, either there here to apprehend him or kill him. "So somebody's got the guts to dig themselves an early grave, by attempting to steal my organization." He pulled the cigar out of his mouth letting smoke pass through his lips and continue to talk as thought the news didn't upset him, "Do you mind if I ask who?"
"Oh come on…you already know who."
"Jon," Mayhem spit out with a disgust taste in his mouth. "Is he too cowardly to face his own father? Is that why he sent his little whore to do the job?"
"There's no reason to start the name calling…especially since you're not even worth his time," Roxanne sat on the edge of his desk staring directly into her long time enemy's eyes and opened a nearby cigar box. She helped herself to his private cigar stash and lit the cigar in front of his face, as an attempt to provoke him to do something irrational. "You're old and chasing ghost that don't exist anymore. You've brought nothing to your so-called organization, except defeat and humiliation. Jon didn't sell you out Miles, Contra World unanimously voted to replace you."
The confidence in her voice and the cocky attitude bothered him, but he didn't let it show "You expect me to believe Contra World is backing that half-wit son of mine? I got people on that board who'd like to see vultures peck out his rotting carcass."
"True," She casually remarked as she blew smoke into his face, "But their protest was noted and they were already taken care of."
Mayhem gritted his teeth and ran his hand under this desk to grab a gun he kept aside for special occasions. She was so close it would only take one shot to rid of her completely. His hand froze under the desk as he noticed the gun was missing.
"Oh did I forget to mention I took the liberty to remove anything that could pose a threat before hand. I didn't come here to spill any blood just to borrow the team for a high stakes mission."
"They won't work for you! Hell I won't work for you stupid little bitch!" He stood up from his desk and reach out across the table to grab her by the neck, but as he reached out towards her the two men in the room grabbed his arms then slammed him face first into the desk.
"Don't worry Miles, I wouldn't ask you to swallow your pride and work for me. In fact, if I could I'd make you join the late Kennedy in hell. But I'll be a good girl and follow orders, you're under arrest for treason against Contra World." She remarked as one of the men put cuffs on both Mayhem hands and legs, as thought he were a prisoner on death row.
"You won't get away with this. You're the only traitor in this room!"
"I've atoned for my sins. What do you have to show for? Nothing but screw-ups."
"Next time I see you I'll kill you!" Mayhem shouted as the two men escorted him out of the office.
"Ditto," She coldly remarked as she walked out behind them.
The mess hall was filled with Contra World soldiers passing the time until the next big plan Mayhem would devise. It had been a month since they had seen active duty and many were getting restless. Some soldiers were keeping to themselves and enjoying the well deserve break, while others were looking to provoke a fight or head off on their own in organized crime. Either way everybody knew some major changes were coming. It was no secret among the men that Jon had taken every opportunity to walk all over his father. It was just a matter of time before there was a shift in power.
Sly Rax entered the mess hall and couldn't help but notice the whispering going on at every table, "Alright Ladies the mess hall is closed!" Instead of cooperation, he got ugly stares and questionable looks of 'who put you in charge.'
"YA HEARD THE MAN!" Bruno came in besides him flexing his muscles, " OR DO I HAVE TO PERSONALLY CARRY YOUR UGLY ASSES OUT OF HERE!"
Nobody questioned the order after hearing Bruno's threat, but that didn't stop the whispering. The top ranking Contra World VENOM agents Sly Rax, Cliff Dagger, Floyd Malloy, Lester Sludge, Bruno Sheppard, Nash Gory, and Vanessa Warfield were taking over the room.
"Lousy help I tell you, they have no respect for authority anymore." Nash stood next to Rax taking in an observation.
"Who's asking you?" Sly Rax gave in irritated reply back as he pulled up a chair at a nearby table and kicked his feet up.
"It's almost like having these mask and vehicles don't mean a thing anymore," Floyd added with frustration.
"That's probably because that's all you got going for ya short stuff," Rax snickered.
"You want a piece of me Rax?"
"What ya gonna do bird man, screech in my ears?"
"I don't know what you guys are complaining about. Nobody gives me hard time," Cliff Dagger jumped in.
"That's because your pump full of steroids." Lester reminded, "Nobody with half mind would argue with anybody 10 times their body weight."
"Are you saying I'm fat!" Cliff Dagger reached out at Lester and pulled him up by his shirt."
"Uh…ummm no," Lester began to sweat and realized his teammates were watching with amusement. "Just your…really really strong."
Cliff Dagger drop Lester to the ground, "That's what I thought."
"Are you boys done stroking your egos?" Vanessa snapped eager to get down to business. She turned her head to Bruno, "How's it looking?"
"Everybody cleared out and no on lookers left in the corridor." Bruno replied.
"Good," Vanessa locked eyes with her fellow agents, "We all know there's trouble brewing for us. Hell, by tomorrow we might even have a mutiny on our hands."
"That's if they don't slit our throats in our sleep," Rax reminded. Cliff Dagger ran his hand over his throat; in deep thought about sleeping with his mask on.
"Let be serious," Nash gulped, "Jon wouldn't sink to that level would he?"
"If we stood in his way for a taker over," Vanessa replied, " I wouldn't run it by him."
"What are you suggesting we do? Run while we can?" Bruno asked.
"It's always an option. This organization is getting old. There's too much to compete against. Some of our competitors would gladly take us in and pay us more for our services." She reminded.
"What about Mayhem?" Nash curiously asked pushing up his glasses.
"What about him?" Vanessa scolded, "Everything he's done has been for his gain alone. This is our only opportunity to take off on our own. At this very moment, we are his only allies. Jon is on the verge of having complete control of Contra World. I'm not willing to take the fall with him."
"That's probably the only thing we'll ever agree about Vanessa," Rax calmly spoke up, "If the old man going down, I don't want to be around when it happens. But can we be sure that's Jon behind all this commotion? Have you even read the paper today?"
"You mean this one," Lester pulled out of his back pocket today's newspaper with a picture of Roxanne Trakker on the front page with the title 'Millionaire Heir Terrorist.' "Bought the first dozen on the rack, isn't she just the cutest thing?" All Lester got in return were looks of utter disgust. He didn't care what they thought. Just looking at the paper caused him to drift to another plan of existence, a world where he was living happily with his one true love.
"You can't believer everything you hear by the media," Nash reminded. "We all know that girl isn't capable of it. Somebody else has their hands in this."
"Exactly why we need to be cautious boys," Vanessa reminded.
"Who says you can't believe everything you read in the papers today?" Roxanne Trakker interrupted the meeting as she came bursting through the doors.
Lester ignored Roxanne sharp tone and felt like he was living in one of his daydreams There she was staring directly at him with those piercing blue eyes and shaking her hips side to side as she moved ever closer to him. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Was this real? He always fantasized about this day. Lester let the paper drop out of his hands as he jumped out of his chair and headed towards her. He felt like he was walking only on air, "You finally came back to me, love. I waited all this time for you to come to your senses. I was the only man who could ever please you."
She stopped as she noticed the big red neck idiot approaching her. The other agents watch with curiosity wondering if they'd have to pry him off her, but this was her chance to make a statement. She's not a little girl anymore, and she wanted to make it very clear she could take care of herself. "Come here Lester, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," She seductively replied as indicated him to come closer.
In Lester's mind, her smile showed that she fully desired him, when in fact she was smiling because she was on the verge of giving him a world of pain. The moment he got within arms length Roxanne's hand quickly reached out and jabbed Lester in his Adam apple. Lester's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets as it felt like something was blocking the passage of air to his lungs. His hands clamp down on his throat, and he fell to his knees in defeat.
Roxanne hovered over him with a wicked smile of satisfaction, "Your right Lester seeing you struggle gives a new meaning to the word pleasure."
The other VENOM agents in the room were in complete shock by her sudden attack. Could this be the same girl they help raised as one of their own?
"Now that I've shut up the village idiot, anybody else want to do anything stupid to piss me off?" None of the agents dared to speak up; especially since nobody knew what cards she actually had up her sleeves. She looked around for any objections, and then continued on, "From his point on you'll be working under me! If you have a problems with that, you can join Mayhem in purgatory."
Sly Rax and Vanessa Warfield exchanged angry glances at the news, but didn't dare let the expression show on either of their faces. Both had for years fought to have control over this organization after Mayhem retired, and now this good for nothing kid had taken everything away from them. With Mayhem removed from power, all that they had work for was gone. In addition, they'd be force to work under this New Contra World or pay with their lives.
"That doesn't sound too bad, where's that?" Dagger stupidly asked.
She smiled sweetly, "It's a place where he'll be spending his lasts days screaming out in agony for death. Still want to go? Cause I have several men, who are very eager to escort you."
A lot of teeth were gritted, but their anger didn't phase her good mood. "All of you are replaceable. I'd remember that before you do anything drastic. At five hundred hours we'll be heading off to Gabon, Africa. I suspect MASK will be expecting our arrival, and I do not wish to keep them waiting for too long."
"So we're going all the way to Africa to battle them for no reason?" Vanessa question.
"It's not your job to question orders from your superiors, Vanessa." Roxanne snicker, "But I'll ignore it this time for old time sake. Maybe if you work your way back to the top, I might consider discussing the plan with you. Right now all you have to do is keep MASK occupied."
There was an icy chill that pass between the two women for the struggle of power. Vanessa felt a sudden surge of uncontrollable fury running threw her veins, but she still managed to speak out in a relatively calm tone, "Very well, Roxanne. Everything and everyone will be ready."
"I knew I could count on you," She continued to smile and turned around to head out.
"You forgetting something," Vanessa reminded as she glanced down at a blue in the face Lester lying dormant on the ground.
Roxanne glanced down at Lester, "Oh very well. I guess there still might be a use for him." She re-jabbed him in the Adams apple removing the pressure she applied earlier.
Lester rolled over gagging for air and coughing continuously. When he looked up to see her hovering over him, he pulled back in fear and covered his neck with both hands. "Stay…stay…away…"
Roxanne laugh as he cowered in fear, then headed off on her way without even bothering to look back.
"Is…is she out of …her …her freak'n mind?" Lester managed to spit out still shaking from shock as Floyd helped him off the floor.
"Get a hold of yourself. She could of done a lot worst." Vanessa reminded
"I'll say," Rax stood up pacing the room in frustration, "I know we taught her a few survival tricks, but I never showed her that moved. A few more minutes of that she would have been ready to kill us all off. What the heck is she talking about? I am NOT replaceable."
"Is that the only thing on your mind?" Vanessa crossed her arms annoyed.
"No…but she has no right to kick us to the bottom of the food chain, after all the work we put into this terror network!"
"Exactly, who the heck does she think she is? She can't come in here, take over Mr. Mayhem organization, and order us around?" Nash asked.
"Well what are we to do. It looks like everybody on this base is under her control," Bruno reminded. "We protest and we endure the same punishment Mayhem getting."
"Somebody should put her in her place?" Floyd Malloy suggested. At this point all the men had eyes on Vanessa, as if she was the only one who could fix the situation.
"You men are unbelievable. Is this why you decided to keep your mouth shut the whole time. Don't have balls to face her or too worried she gonna cut them off."
"Hey now!" Rax spoke red in the face at her abrupt comment, "She was the closest to you; therefore, your the best person to sit her down and get into that head of hers."
"Very well," Vanessa turned her head towards the door curious herself, "I'll follow her and find out what's up."