(Chapter 4: Signs of promise)
"So there you are, Ford." Laura said as she continued to judge her former general from afar, he had gotten fat, a beer belly. He was balding on his head, and a beard had grown out significantly.
"Refer to me as, General Brody.." Ford said while staring at one of his favored colonels within the Skull Squadron.
"Why should we? You left on us for a year without giving us any messages, only for us to find out recently that you apparently retired.." Laura said with a sigh.
"I came back because my son inspired me to, I can't allow myself to fall any further than I already have." Ford answered as he walked past his colonels, heading towards the hall closest to an elevator.
"Where are you going?" Andy asked, looking over at Ford as he entered the hallway.
"Going to go train my firing, see if it has gotten any rusty."
"Ford, it is a few hours from six in the morning, we've been up all night almost, I'm pretty sure you've been up as well." Laura scoffed.
"I'm the only one that is going to be up and training, I'm going to put myself through hell again. Besides, no one else is up and training.." How wrong Ford was.
Alan Haas was redirected back into the dorm areas by Andy Williams while Laura followed Ford down into the firing range, as the elevator lowered, they could see a flash of light within the darkness of the room since the elevator happened to have windows on the front, back, and sides of it.
"Who is that?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow as Ford took a glance down, just as puzzled as she was.
"I don't know, did anybody tell you that they were going to increase their skills?" Ford asked.
"No, nobody.."
The elevator touched the floor of the firing range and the doors slid open, they noticed a wrack sitting against the wall. Usually this wrack was within the firing range chamber but it had been moved outside, another thing noticeable was that all of the guns had been removed. Instead of guns and other firearms, there was a sweat soaked shirt hanging on it.
Ford and Laura were intrigued by what was going on, so the two entered the room to see a shirtless young man. Carson Michaels, Carson had been training by himself, working out, and utilizing the firing range for quite a few hours without anyone noticing. Must have crept in the firing range room when everyone was supposed to be asleep until Alan Haas woke Andy and Laura up with his rage.
"Who is that?" Ford asked, he had never seen Carson before due to his hiatus from Monarch before the probe bat invasion.
"Carson, his grandfather was a victim of those bat things and now he is here." Laura answered, surprised to see him up this late at night.
Carson couldn't hear the two over the firing of his rifle into the many practice targets, wearing a headset to stop potential hearing loss from how loud the gun was. Ford and Laura grabbed their own headsets as well.
Carson's body was dripping in sweat, he had managed to put on some toned muscle rather than a lanky and bony body in which he used to have. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand touch his shoulder, he turned to see it was Laura and some middle aged man beside her that he never seen before. He was surprised and removed his headset after placing his rifle down.
"Ms. Belinsky, what are you doing up so late at night?" Carson asked with a nervous laugh, he had sparred with her earlier and lost in humiliating fashion.
"I could ask you the same thing, why are you down here with no supervision?"
Carson chuckled at Laura's question.
"My grandfather is one whom I loved so much, he told me many stories of his adventures in the police force. He even told me stories of Gamera, I lived with him due to my parents not being such great people. With him being gone, his stories inspired me to become a soldier, among you guys!" Carson exclaimed happily, growing an affection for the G-Team and how badass the Skull Squadron was to him.
A warm smile spread across Laura's lips, she ruffled his sweaty, spiky hair.
"Well with enough training, you could be in the G-Team within no time," Laura said but then a smug grin came to her face.
"But you can't keep letting me beat you in sparring.." She whispered while giving his back a hard, playful slap.
Carson growled playfully and then laughed it off, he was curious to see how he would become one of the Skull Squadron.
"How could I be able to be in the Skull Squad?" He asked, this is when Ford Brody stepped in.
"The Skull Squadron you see now was picked up out of desperation, we needed one. Back in 2020, there was a mission to Monster Island but most of them perished, the original Skull Squadron. The surviving members went insane, we tried to bring in a new one, but we did it way too quickly. An island sank nearby Monster Island, taking them down with it..Then, we had what you see in the current Skull Squad within the training academy. The people you spar and train with underwent extreme training and practice to get there, but you can also earn your spot in it." Ford explained, using his memory on how the system works.
"Earn it?" Carson asked.
"You have to do something major, like doing something that would potentially save the planet. Take Vergil for example, he gave Godzilla aid in his battle against the winged monster last year in which was a major move that gave the Big G enough power to finish the fight and save the Earth. You have to do something like that." Laura answered for Ford.
Carson looked at the ground, he would like to be part of this special squadron made of only colonels, but he hadn't done anything special. He remembered that the squadron he was inspired by, was picked out martial artists who desired to be on the G-Team and had an interest in massive monsters, another thought crossed his mind. The current Skull Squadron had the best of the bunch in which was in the training academy.
"I understand, Ms. Belinsky." Carson politely said, Laura giggled and patted Carson on the head again. She was his mentor, and was proud to see his enthusiasm on the Skull Squadron.
"I think it is time for all of us to get some rest, we have things to check out tomorrow." Laura said, Ford nodded his approval and so did Carson.
(Underground chamber, India)
Mark Russel along with his adult daughter, as well as the priestess and her father, descended down a stone flight of stairs. The four of them heading deeper and deeper into the depths of the Earth, the two entered out into a small room with a massive gate out in their front. The large gate appeared to be made out of some sort of thick wood, it stunk of rot, some of the wood had even rotted away to the point of massive holes being in it.
What remained completely intact were two gigantic shisha statues in which appeared to be guarding the gate, both of them shown to be roaring furiously. At the top of the gate was a strange, unknown language carved into the rotting wood. The massive statues were covered in dust and several cobwebs, especially the hole in which a door used to remain.
As the four entered the large room, they were swallowed by total darkness even though the priestess had a bright light within her hand. The first thing that the few heard was a loud whoosh, it was the breathing of something massive. The priestess carefully took a few steps forward and stuck her arm out and up, they saw gigantic wall of sienna brown fur.
The priestess handed the light to her father, he raised it up and to the right to reveal the face of the massive beast in which was sleeping within this massive hollowed out chamber.
They seen the feline like face, it looked like it belonged to a lion. A massive mane and two large tufts of hair around the edges of the face, tips of large fangs were seen poking out of the mouth of the large monster. It had pointed ears like that of a wolf, lowered down and back. On his head there was a large crest with a few smaller crests sticking out of his head from behind the large central one. Within the central crest there was a large purple gem.
All down the feline like body of this beast was black armor in which looked like it was natural formed body armor made out of obsidian. Granted this feline like beast did not appear to be a fire borne creature, it had to be a different material than obsidian, it is the way it looked. The paws of this creature seemed to have a blend between simian and feline, there was no visible opposable thumbs on the creature, however it looked as though the creature could bend the individual fingers and they appeared be stretch out further than regular feline claws.
"He looks like he's wearing a crown with all of those bone crests up on his head." Mark Russel said, examining the titan before him.
"That's a pretty gem on that large crest as well!" Madison said aloud in admiration of how the beast looked.
"Which is where we grant him the name of king, King Caesar.."
"Beautiful." Madison softly spoke as she approached the sleeping giant.
"Honey, don't wake it u-" His sentence was stopped by the priestess.
"Shh, although he can hear, he will only attack unless there is a significant threat, all of his senses are active right now but he is in a deep sleep." The priestess reassured, Mark was hesitant but remained silent as his daughter gently touched her hand against the fur of the sleeping beast.
Each time King Caesar breathed, the low acoustics made her whole arm vibrate. The priestess closed her eyes and began to speak in an unknown language, surprising both Mark and Madison Russel.
"What is she doing?" Mark asked the father of the priestess.
"She is speaking with King Caesar, several thousand years ago, a select type of people were allowed to speak with titans through telepathy. The only people to ever speak with titans were the priests of highly developed societies. Such priests existed within the city of Atlantis, our people during the Vedic age, and possibly many years before the Vedic age." The father answered.
Mark chuckled at these words.
"How do you know this?"
"I am the priest of the village and my daughter is the priestess, as you two obviously already know as of earlier today. We receive knowledge from the dreams we have, our dreams aren't dreams, they are visions of the past and very rarely, visions of the future. A very special elixir was crafted by an overworld tribe on the island what you people know as Monster Island or Skull Island, crushed up leaves from monstrous trees and used juice from something known as the soma berry. They used passageways to trade with the people of the inner earth, the priests of the inner earth blessed the special elixir and granted it telepathic capabilities, such as seeing in the past and in the future, as well as speaking telepathically with the gods that walk among us."
After the father of the priestess explained their powers, Mark looked over at Madison.
"Remembered how Colonel Belinsky and a few others mentioned seeing strange visions after smoking that shit from the large trees?" He asked his daughter to get a chuckle out of the father of the priestess.
"Smoking one of the leaves will grant you only so much, you will indeed have visions of the past and future, but you will not gain the ability to speak with the titans or have it permanently. Soma berry juice is the strongest alcoholic drink in our known history, if it can make a titan drunk, imagine what even a tiny sip can do to a human."
Suddenly, the priestess screamed in horror and collapsed to the ground! Her father instantly diving down next to her on his knees to see what was wrong with his daughter, she was sweating profusely and taking rapid breaths, her chest heaving up and down.
"Something bad is going to happen, something big is coming!" The priestess screamed, not providing any other details due to fear.
"What is wrong, daughter." The father asked, the priestess gently placed her shaking hand on his head.
The father saw a vision of King Caesar roaring, then a vision of a large city burning. Civilians remaining nothing but charred corpses, a bloodied up Godzilla letting out a mighty roar. Kong letting out a roar as he lunged from the top of a mountain, eventually a massive fireball snapped the father out of his sudden hallucinations.
Madison and Mark had concerned looks on their faces as the father stared at them with a serious expression, something wasn't right.
"I seen fires, explosions, and roaring titans, including King Caesar. We haven't used King Caesar for warfare in ten thousand years.."
(The next day)
Brayden Snow was livid, after thoroughly investigating the labs within the GDF base. It was determined that up to fifteen percent of what they happened to have, had been stolen. While fifteen percent wasn't a whole lot to make several monsters, other DNA vials had been stolen such as Godzilla's. Animal DNA had been stolen as well, Vergil Snow frantically tried to calm down his brother and reassure him that whatever monsters APEX would create, they could take out.
"I don't think you realize how significantly bad this is, Vergil. Fifteen percent may not sound like a whole lot, but tell me what would happen if one of them bio-weapons turns out to be something that kills Godzilla and we have nothing left to fight with.." Brayden groaned, hands clasped over his head.
"Well you are in the final stages of a MechaGodzilla and Jet Jaguar, you said they'll be suitable replacements for Godzilla if he ever dies in battle." Vergil tried to say but it was immediately shut down by his older brother.
"We have no clue of how well those mechs would do in a battle against a titan, for all we know, there could be hundreds of them damned things in the hollow earth. Maybe larger titans, or more ferocious titans than Godzilla, if Godzilla fails in battle, chances are that our mechs will fail as well. Especially against a genetically engineered and designed bio-weapon." Brayden spat harshly.
"How could you say these things? Do you not have faith in your own creation, you were the mastermind of these projects, the one who believed that Monarch can go leaps and bounds from where it was, and it did! We have new guns to be used in military against titans, new gigantic ships of the air and sea, pharmaceuticals that can perhaps cure cancer one day! Your Global Defense Force is going to do the world a favor in the future!" Vergil screamed, trying to sound positive.
Brayden sighed, and took a seat. Head buried in his hands before he spoke up to his brother again with a somewhat defeated expression on his face.
"At this point, it is a lost cause. We can easily find all that was taken from us by Mercutio, that bastard.." Brayden growled, Vergil nodded his head.
"I know, it is important to remain positive in times like these." Vergil said with a slight smile on his face.
"Yes, but after all that you said we were able to do. We have made weapons that are built to destroy life, and we've found ways to genetically alter animals or screw with DNA and genes to create megafauna, with enough practice to make full blown titans. We can literally make our own monsters, we can create life in a lab. We can also destroy life with what we have, we can create deadly viruses, the titans we make can destroy cities and slaughter millions if they wanted to, enemy governments can use anti-titan weaponry to attack their enemies, imagine what a weapon that is used to take out a titan, can do to a human." Brayden explained, Vergil sighed and placed his hands on his hips.
"Brother, we're playing the role of God right now. That is something I completely understood when I was thinking of the GDF and the labs, and the new weapons to combat against titans. When playing with that kind of power, it must not fall into the wrong hands, if it does, the consequences will be staggering.." Brayden finished with a serious expression on his face.
Vergil went to speak but Brayden stopped him again.
"Humanity should never have reached this point in technological development, we shouldn't have all the power we have, when you try to play God, the consequences will find you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, maybe not even ten years, hell, maybe not even one hundred years. Down the line though, consequences will show, and when they do show, it will be a vile lesson learned." Brayden continued, it all was starting to make since to Vergil.
"Everything we make, can be used for good.." Vergil said softly.
"Yes," Brayden said." They can be used for good, the titans aren't our issue, our issue lies in the people trying to take us out, and take the titans out," Then Vergil spoke up.
"We need to move against those assholes then, we need to quit sitting on our butts and stop them!" Vergil screamed.
"The methods they use, those people aren't stupid as much as I hate them, as much as they sicken me, they aren't dumb folks. Our enemies know what they are doing and the methods they use are extremely effective, it only took us like five years to take out one of their best men. Mercutio wasn't even on our radar though, we are so focused on Alan Jonah and Floyd Sanders." Brayden said aggressively back to his brother.
"We took out Kaiyo Hanson, shouldn't that be considered a victory t-" Vergil's sentence was stopped once again.
"Kaiyo is dead, but Ren Serizawa has taken his place. The Red Bamboo still remains a threat to us."
"Ren is dead, brother." Vergil said with a confused look on his face.
"What, he's dead? Why didn't no one tell me!" Brayden growled, but there was still the looming danger of the ERR.
What everyone at Monarch didn't know, is that Ren Serizawa wasn't dead, and was only getting stronger..
(Savannah, Georgia)
Sam Brody found himself within the city of Savannah, Georgia. Along with his girlfriend, Destanee. How fitting that their anniversary of being together was coming up!
The two were taking a romantic stroll down the street, talking about their lives. Speaking on their frustrations with things.
"What brought you up here? To see me?" Destannee asked with a teasing giggle, Sam chuckled.
"Why of course, and to get away from my father.." Sam answered, having a sudden flashback on how far his father had fallen.
"To get away from your father? Why so?" Destanee asked with a look of concern on her face for her boyfriend.
"He's become an alcoholic and his addictions are getting worse, last night I caught him getting ready to beat it to an adult film, it just boggles my mind how he can go from a loving father and husband to an alcoholic drunk, I wasn't going to see him get worse.." Sam sighed, Destanee looked to the ground as the two continued to walk, feeling bad for her boyfriend and his family.
"My mother died, got a disease that was pretty bad but extremely unknown. Ever since her funeral, he's lost himself. He's gained weight, he's been getting into too many fights, he's been buying cases upon cases of drinks and now he may be on the path of a porn addict. I can't bear to watch him go further and further down." Sam continued as he leaned against a tree with his hands on his hips, Destanne stopped and gently rubbed his shoulder.
"It's okay, you'll be fine now that you're going away from him for a while." Destanee said softly and calmly, trying to reassure her boyfriend that it was going to be okay.
"It's not okay, babe, I've dealt with his BS for over a year. I drove almost all night long to get here with you, and I'm happy to be here with you. It's just that I love my father will all of my heart and soul, and I don't want to leave him by himself in the current state he is in, but I can't deal with it anymore." Sam responded, giving his girlfriend a defeated expression.
"I understand, you'll pull through this, I know you will. You're a strong man, Sam. For almost all I've known you, you were bold and powerful. Nothing in the world can stop you in my eyes, you are learning through these experiences that you should never make any of these mistakes that your father has made." Destanee said with a smile.
Sam's heart was warmed to hear those calming, reassuring words from his longtime girlfriend. The two were adults now, they could marry and raise a family if one of them so desired to. He looked over at her next to him with a smile to match Destanee's and pulled her into a loving hug, gently stroking her hair as the two embraced each other.
"I swear Destanne, you're the only person keeping me sane through all of this madness." Sam said before looking down at Destanee, who was slightly looking up to lock eyes with one another.
"I shall gladly stand by your side to keep you sane, always baby." Destanee replied, raising up on her tip toes to give Sam a kiss on the lips
"How about we put these troubling thoughts away and go to a restaurant, you know our anniversary is coming up very soon." Sam said after kissing his girlfriend back quickly.
(Outpost 54)
Down in the lower levels of the flagship facility, was the wing in which recruits and other troops of any rank would train or hone their skills to get better. Carson wasn't even a recruit yet, he was still trying to get better at combat and firing guns before he would head on to boot camp where he would receive hell from a drill instructor and put through rigorous activities in which would only be the beginning of many things he would go on to do.
Basic training and boot camp wouldn't be offered at the outpost, only martial arts and other various gun training, as well as the learning stage were offered. In order to make it to the G-Team, it would take many stages of training. If they thought regular basic training was hard, imagine how hard it would be to get in a military branch that fights against gigantic beasts the size of buildings..
Carson was doing exceptionally well, slowly getting better and better at hand to hand combat including firing various types of guns. He stood in a ring with Laura, both wearing a gi. The two standing in their opposite corners, this would be yet another sparring match between the two with Kenny watching intensely from the outside of the ring, sitting in a black folding steel chair.
"Go Colonel Belinsky!" Kenny cheered out playfully, getting a smile out of Laura while Carson remained fixated on her. Kenny was also doing this to distract Carson and get in his head.
"I want you to make me proud someday, boy. Even if I'm not here, I'll still be watching you. I'll still be with you.." The voice of Deputy Michaels, Carson's grandfather and parental figure, spoke in his head. The two didn't have telepathic powers, it was something that he said to him during a conversation mere days before the probe bat invasion erupted, resulting in the death of Deputy Michaels.
Although Carson tried to remain tough, his eye twitched and lips quivered, trying to hold back the tears. He missed his grandfather, the reason why Carson was putting himself through training hell to make it into the G-Team to at least try and make it to Vergil Snow's level.
A single tear dripped out of his eye and rolled down his cheek, falling onto the canvas of the ring, making a little wet stain. This caught Kenny's eye and being the jokester he was and the dick he was to young recruits, he went to say something about it.
"Tears? You're fucking crying! Are you fixed to piss yourself?" Kenny shouted, getting Laura's smug grin to stretch into a devious toothy smile. Carson cast a hateful glare over to him, remaining silent before turning his attention back to Laura. Another memory echoed in his mind as he stared the blonde Russian girl up and down from her head to her toes.
"Don't let any of them stop you, let nothing stop you. Those giant monsters couldn't stop me, no human can break your spirit, no one can.." The voice of Deputy Michaels echoed in his mind.
Michaels told that to Carson during a martial arts class, where the young boy left due to not being able to take the pressure. Kenny's vicious words reminding him of his failure to be strong back in his childhood to pre-teen years.
"I'm ready, Ms. Belinsky.." Carson muttered, Laura nodded her head and left her corner, shifting on her feet to make her approach to Carson. The young man did the same with his guard raised. Kenny snickered, knowing that his female partner would more than likely win this sparring contest.
The two shifted around, not one throwing a punch or a kick yet as they both remained cautious. Watching each other's movements carefully, after a few moments of doing nothing but shuffling around with their arms up to guard or block themselves, Carson decided to attack first.
Carson went for a front kick, as quick as he could, but thanks to Laura's mastered skills, she easily caught his leg and simply jerked it up into the air, sending Carson onto his back with a thud. Carson's eyes instantly looked up to see the Russian blonde approaching him, a smirk on her face, already getting her sparring partner on the mat. Carson went for a quick sweep kick in an attempt to get the colonel down, but she was fast and jumped back from the kick before diving down towards him. Carson swiftly rolled away and got to his knees before getting to his feet, Laura rolled to her back and kipped up.
It was all done in a quick motion, looking flashy. Both fighters getting serious now, an idea suddenly came to Carson's head. He would try something he never utilized before, feint attacks.
Carson feinted a left hand, getting Laura to dodge towards the right in the direction moving away from the fake out attack, believing it to be a real move, not realizing that she fell for her sparring partner's trickery until she seen his right fist coming towards her. Her blue eyes widened as the fist connected under her eye, causing her to wince in pain and stumble back a bit.
A slight smirk came to Carson's face as he bounded towards Laura, it seemed as if she was running away until a spinning heel kick came crashing into his face. Getting a loud grunt of pain from him, the attack making him fall backwards into the ropes. Laura marched towards him as Carson used the ropes to rebound off of and march towards her, the beautiful blonde snagged him by the shoulders and forcefully shoved him into his corner again.
"You got nailed, pussy!" Kenny shouted with a laugh, getting in Carson's head even more than he already was. The kick indeed, nailed Carson pretty good and since he was still stunned, he was having trouble forcing Laura back.
The young man grabbed the sides of her arms and growled as he viciously turned his body to the side, shifting around to have Laura in the corner now. He could see that a lump had formed underneath her eye from where his fist connected pretty good, Carson pressed the blade of his arm against the throat of the colonel to serve as a distraction, when Laura went to push him back, a fist collided with her face hard, causing her to let out a grunt of pain.
Carson backed up and allowed her to get out of the corner, a swelling under her right eye and a bruise on her forehead was the damage Carson had dealt so far in the sparring contest. Laura came out of the corner in an explosive manner, going for a lariat to knock down her opponent but Carson ducked underneath and came out behind Laura.
She turned around, and when she did, so did Carson with a huge spinning backfist. The fist slamming hard into the lump under her eye, making her let out another grunt of pain and fall down to the ground with a thud. Blood starting to slightly trickle out of the swelling, Carson started to get cocky, deciding to mock Kenny now as he was in control of his partner whom he was in love with.
"You got nailed, pussy!" Carson screamed, turning his head right towards Kenny with a brutal stare. The colonel folded his arms and gave Carson a scowl as he seen Laura getting back up now.
A fire was lit within Laura with the mocking words directed to the one she loved as well, both had loving thoughts for the other, and neither one of them were wanting to admit it as of yet. No one mocks Kenny when she is around!
Laura got up and exploded into Carson, but he was ready for her yet again, snagging her into his grasp as she forced him into the ropes hard. The two wrestled on the ropes within a clinch, Laura trying to take Carson to the ground but he was denying all of her attempts so far. Even landing some knee strikes into Laura's gut a few times, the strikes stung terribly but the love for Kenny kept Laura strong as she got her arms hooked under Carson's.
She let out a grunt as she forcefully lifted him off of the mat and slammed him back down, twisting her body to slam him down and get on top in a dominant position. Carson grunted in pain but immediately threw up his guard, locking his legs around her waist and holding down tight to make sure she doesn't get into any better position.
Laura sent a right hand down to Carson's face, stinging him but he kept fighting as he blocked a left hand that was coming down almost instantly after the right connected. He tried to sit up now, but Laura struck him yet again with another right hand.
Then a third right hand connected and that hit Carson hard enough for his legs to pop off of her body, allowing her to get onto his side for a headlock. The young man wasn't done fighting yet as he gagged from the chokehold he was in with her powerful arms. Carson grabbed his wrist, forming a square shape within the hold. One of his arms pressing against the neck of Laura hard, causing her to grunt as well.
Shifting her body weight down, she kept Carson pinned as she spun into the north south position. Carson tried to jerk his knees back while Laura hooked an arm around his neck for a choke, she dodged her head from side to side, avoiding his knees. Kenny was up on his feet, believing the fight was about to come to an end. When Laura is in a dominant position on the ground, it usually means the end for her opponent!
Since the blonde beauty didn't want to get nailed by Carson's knees as they continued rushing towards her head, she sat up now and scooted forward. Carson struggled in her grasp as her head was down by his legs, even closer to get hit by a kick or a knee, she slammed fists and elbows into his body hard, keeping him distracted as he squirmed and fought beneath the colonel.
Laura began to turn her body, the back of her knee pressing against Carson's throat. He used one of his arms to try and push her away, but Laura shifted her weight again and fell to the side, sliding another leg underneath of Carson's neck and slamming the one on top tightly against his throat. Locking in a scissor choke, hooking her feet tightly to ensure a powerful grip.
From the position the two were in, Carson couldn't kick or knee her. He could only use his toned arms, but they were no match for the strength of Laura's powerful legs. She began to tighten the hold, making Carson gag a bit. Kenny started to cheer her on some more now as Laura's sparring partner was in deep trouble!
"That's right, squeeze the shit outta him!" Kenny yelled with a clap, Laura flashed a smile in his direction while Carson continued to struggle. Trying to pry open her legs with his arms, sliding them between the legs and trying to lift up, but her feet were still hooked tightly, this scissor hold wasn't getting broken anytime soon.
Laura squeezed tighter on his neck, like a large snake. With every breath that Carson attempted to draw in, she tightened the legs around his neck. Carson let out a groaning gag as his legs kicked out, his vision became flashy. His head began to pound as his circulation to the brain was cut off due to her legs in which were locked around his neck.
His strength was zapped out of his body, no longer having the power to fight out of the hold. There was nothing he could do, his hearing became blurry as she squeezed only tighter. His face turning a shade of deep red as he passed out in her scissor choke, his squirming legs falling still and his arms falling to the side. His eyes remaining wide open and so was his mouth as he fought for air only to receive nothing but a squeeze in return for his efforts, he was out cold..
Laura quickly unwrapped her legs and rose to her feet, Carson remaining out of it. Ford Brody suddenly entered the room, he was secretly watching from the outside of it.
"Kenny, get Michaels the smelling salts to wake him up. As for you, Colonel Belinsky, nice job as usual!" The general congratulated, Laura nodded her head with a smile. Turning her head to face the downed Carson Michaels, a smug grin returning to her face.
"Face the facts, he doesn't stand a chance against me. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't beat me in any sparring match, Ford." Laura said with a cocky laugh, Kenny smirked and draped an arm over her shoulder as they both looked at him.
"Yes, but I see that Carson was able to get in some shots on you, Colonel Belinsky. Those are promising signs, remember how much you and Kenny humiliated Vergil Snow and now he is officially a member of the G-Team after all that training?" Ford asked with a smile.
"Yeah, but Vergil still isn't nowhere near my level. None of our levels." Laura giggled, but Ford had an answer to her arrogance.
"I understand, but you remember how his brother, Brayden Snow continuously bested you in the training academy before all of you were sent to basic training and back her for the real challenging stuff? Even when you two spar sometimes, he still beats you. Brayden can definitely teach Vergil and Carson some things and they would greatly outclass both of you." Ford reminded the two colonels that stood before him, Laura groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, keep reminding me of Brayden, will you?" Laura asked sarcastically. Ford chuckled and walked off, heading back to his old office.
(Savannah, Georgia)
Night had fallen over the southern skies of Georgia, Destanee was taking a shower and Sam was patiently waiting for her to get out and dry off for him to take one. The two had went on a jog around the neighborhood close to them for a cardio workout that evening right before the sky was black.
Suddenly, the phone within the pocket of Sam began to buzz, he answered it to realize it was his father that was calling.
"Hey, son. I'm just calling to remind you that I'm sorry, sorry for being a hardass to you and others for over a year. I never realized how far I had fallen until you snapped me back into reality last night." Ford said with an apologetic tone of voice.
"Apologies accepted, but dad. I beg you to please go see a therapist or something to help you with your depression or whatever you're going through, I'm sad and depressed a lot but I find different ways to deal with it. I do yoga when I facetime with Destanee, she loves yoga. I go out on jogs, I work out. Use your anger to boost your energy, it may shed you a couple pounds off." Sam chuckled at the end of his sentence, getting a light laugh out of Ford.
"Whatever you say, son. I'm no longer in Florida, I'm back at Outpost 54." Ford answered, this genuinely surprised Sam.
"You're back at Monarch, what got you into that again?"
"You did, son."
Sam was shocked, he wasn't expecting his father to answer with him being the reason for returning.
"I-I did?"
"Yes, son. Just because I am older, and supposedly wiser, doesn't mean I am immune to criticism." Ford answered with a proud voice, Sam smiled at this.
"Good, dad. Would you like to come visit me and Destanee at our condo up here in Savannah, Georgia?" Sam asked, happy to hear that his father was trying to get right again.
"No, not at the moment anyway. I'm sorry for this, but I'm trying to better myself like you want me to. I thank you for opening my eyes on what I was doing, you fixed me, son. I thank the good Lord that your mother had you, if you weren't here, I would more than likely haven't recovered.." Ford said, giving thanks to his son.
"Dad, I.." Sam went to say something but his father continued.
"Yes, I will visit you soon. I need to get on the road of recovery though, don't worry Sam. No matter what separates us, no matter how far apart we are, I'm always with you, in your mind, and I'm always one phone call away." Ford said, this began to move Sam to tears of joy.
"Thanks dad, I love you."
"I love you too, Sam. I'll chat with you tomorrow if you want."
"Of course."
"Goodbye, son."
"Goodbye."
The father and son duo had reconnected with each other after splitting up, although not face to face, over the phone was just as fine.
A/N: Stay tuned for coming chapters, things start to get real, very quickly...