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When The Colonel gets to the monitor room, Flint walks up to him. "We've got it under contr-"
"If you had anything under control, we wouldn't have three Joes facing desertion charges, and we wouldn't have an M.P. being placed in pre-op after getting struck by the jeep they stole; so get the hell out of my way, Faireborn!" Col. Sharp demands, ignoring the glances. "Duke, status of our recon teams abroad?"
"We've just spoken with Recondo's and Cutter's teams, none of them are missing. Asian branch reports all normal, too; so whatever caused those three to take off like that is restricted to the U.S."
"That's not helping my mood." The Colonel tells them, pinching the area between his eyes. "Is there anything else i don't want to hear?"
"We've been overhearing calls from a couple other bases... Army, Navy, etc., all having the same problem that we and thousands of concerned civilians are." Stalker explains, with a screen behind him showing a bunch of lines that all converge on a location at Keystone city.
"So where the hell are they all going?"
"...To a rock concert, Col." Duke told him. After being stared at for a few seconds, he asked where he's going.
"To get drunk and not stop until it's yesterday!"
After Cobra's ultimatum, the three female Joes are in their quarters after coming back from a 1 hour and 24 minute trip to a fashion magazine company in Keystone, and are getting ready to go. "I still don't get why you picked... that... instead of dressing like us?" Scarlett asks while cosmetically hiding her scars.
"It's so w-" Lady-Jaye starts as she is wondering whether to wear a red choker and a black one.
"-so i can get Flint out of uniform later." Cover-Girl says, copying her voice as best she can.
"...No; it's because I'm still not ready to go "formal" after that crap Xamot put me through... now shut up!" Lady-Jaye tells her before picking the red one.
After Cover-Girl apologized for the reminder, Scarlett joins in. "Here's an idea, why don't you make your 507 like that permanently?" She suggests before putting on a pair of neon-green socks.
"Yeah, you'd w-win us the war in an instant." Cover-Girl says, barely able to keep a straight face.
"No way in hell, i get gawked at enough as it is." Lady-Jaye tells them after blowing a raspberry.
"Come on, all you'd have to do is go like this-" Cover-Girl says again as she bends over. "And like this-" She adds as she folds her arms just to adjust them to show those off, and gives an exaggerated wink. "And all those big blue chumps will give up so fast, it'll make Cobra Commander's hood spin."
Lady-Jaye pauses to think, but shakes her head. "Nah, that would take away all the fun of making them cry for their mommies."
"Spoilsport; and what made you pick some magazine over our base's storage, by the way?" Scarlett asks next, and gets handed one of the factory's magazines on it's 19th page, where a blond woman's posing on a school desk. "That model again, what's her name?" She asks, and is told by Cover-Girl that it's Una MacBride.
"Remember when i mentioned staying at her house back during that stuff with the drive-ins and rockets?"
"Oh, right."
Later, the three head for the elevator causing Flash, Blowtorch, and Wild Bill to walk into a wall, and causing Snake-Eyes to drop a box on Clutch's foot. While peering around a corner to see what all the noise is, Alpine takes his hat off to slick back his hair when he notices Flint exit the restroom and groans before getting an idea. "...Uh hey, Flint; i think i just saw another of those gerbils Cobra dumped on us!" Alpine says, seeing them stop and chase off Snow-Job and Ace for some barely audible cat-calls behind Flint.
"We haven't seen any for 18 months."
"Well i just saw something run in that closet."
"...Fine."
Once Flint walks in, Alpine takes a rag, wraps it around his mouth, and places a bucket on his head for good measure before shutting the door and leaning against it. "Hey there; going out, ladies?"
"We're off to wreck that so-called concert, you know that." Cover-Girl replies before they hear pounding.
"Huh, what's that sound?" Lady-Jaye asks him while the trio look around.
"Must be the ducts or something." Alpine says with a shrug. "Oh, and nice threads, L.J." He adds, mentally placing her new outfit above the dress from the Cobra perfume mission in his wet-dreams folder.
"Nice try, but no dice; these are work clothes, pal." Lady-Jaye tells him, but pats him on the shoulder as he gives a fake pout.
Only for him to do so for real once the three are gone.
As the three are leaving, Deep Six is in his usual spot, and pressed a button on his suit. "Rockmover to Tango Delta; three mermaids heading upstream."
After getting past the Cobra perimeter, Scarlett talks their escort into walking into a random room and breaks his neck before taking his rifle. When she walks back out, she and the other two look around.
"You should have asked him where the dressing room was." Cover-Girl tells her.
"Well sorrrry, i couldn't stand his breath anymore. It stank to high heaven." Scarlett replies.
"So we split up?" Lady-Jaye asks when they hear something above them.
"Awk, dressing room's this way."
"Polly?!" All three asked after Scarlett lowered the rifle, and follow after the parrot flew away.
Once the speaker equipment is destroyed, M.P. Lavigne shakes his head. "Aw, feels like it's full of guacamole." He says before he stumbles into a person next to him. "'Scuse me, sorry. Wait, are those dog tags you got?" He asks, recognizing the chain around the person's neck.
"They sure are." The man says, and points to himself. "W.O. Vince Falcone, a Green Beret; and you are?"
"Cpl. Lavigne, G.I. Joe M.P. division."
"Oh, you're with them." Falcone mumbles. "What brings you here?"
"Three Joes went A.W.O.L., so me and some others came here to get them back, but we blacked out; how about you?"
"I was on break after P.T.; the next thing i know, I'm here with AstroTurf in my nostrils." He says while pointing downward, only to feel his arm get shoved. "What the... hel-lo there." He says next, seeing an Asian lady staring at him. "Who might you be, sweet-cheeks?"
"None of your business, jack." She tells him, ignoring his feigned shock.
"Hehe; Pardon mi amigo here, Miss. You from around here?" Lavigne asks her while Vince scowls at him and folds his arms.
"No, but i have an... acquaintance who is." She replies before she hears some Parrot infront of her squawking. After seeing the curtain open, she notices the braggart turning around for some reason. "Not a music fan?"
"Not a fan of that two-legged cheese stick is all." He tells her, nudging his head back.
"You know Duke?" Lavigne asks him.
"Mr. perfect up there? My half-brother, what's it to you?" Falcone asks back.
"Your related? That... is so excelente!" Lavigne replies, only to look back at the stage. "I take it back, the chica in the middle is." He added while pointing at Lady-Jaye.
"Warumono-tachi." The arashikagi woman says while rolling her eyes. (Scoundrels.)
"...Whatever; just don't let Flint hear that." Falcone said next, making her narrow her gaze. He didn't know much about Japanese, but it was a bit obvious it wasn't a nice word.
"Eh, he's not here, is he?" Lavigne asked before ducking behind him.
At the same time in an unknown location, Gen. Abernathy is on his portable phone. "George, this is Clayton; I've just been informed that the situation's been dealt with."
"Good to know Clayton, so when can i expect those two sailors of mine?" Adm. Lattimer asks.
"Oh, around the same time it'll take for the one I'm missing to return to base... Hold on a sec." The Gen. says, hearing a commotion from a room behind him. Inside, he sees Metzger, Forrest, Morreli, Boyajian, and the person Cover-Girl, Snake-eyes, and Spirit spoke with just before the earthquake ordeal in Japan, all watching T.V. too closely while MacBride and Beachhead are on the other side of the room.
"What're they doing?" He asks, pointing to the five men hooting and hollering at the screen.
""Droolin' lahk uh pack uh dogs, General." Beachhead explains in annoyance.
"Keep it down, you fag, we're watchin' some foxes." Metzger says over his shoulder.
"Ahm not gay, dammit; done tode yoo 'bout mah wahf fav tahms!"
While those two argue, The General leans over to see what they are so interested in, only to see Burnett wearing the last thing he expected.
"Clayton, are you still there?" Adm. Lattimer asks.
"Yowza."
"Yezzir?" The Admiral asked next, mishearing the word. "Clay, are you feeling alright?"
At the Benton mansion, Jerrica was getting some chicken from the fridge when she heard a voice from her earrings. "Jerrica, i have been monitoring all continental media broadcasts. The Cobra plot has ended, now disengaging counter-signal."
"Okay, thanks Synergy."
The next day, while the three A.W.O.L.s are doing K.P. with Bazooka, Snow-Job, Ripcord, Ace, and Alpine... the latter having a black-eye; and while Flint arrives at motel in Keystone city he was called from, where Lady-Jaye comes out of hiding in the bathroom leg first... Cover-Girl and Cross-Country are on their way to The Joe's Place. "That wuz sum singin' thuh uther day, Coveh-Girl." He says to her.
"Well thanks; but i bet that's not all you liked." She replies, giving him a wink.
"Aw, yew gots me, call fer a medic!" He says playfully. "Thet dress wuz almost as purty as yew, though, darlin'." He adds, only to pull over after she places her elbow on the window frame. "Hey, what's thuh matter... ah say thuh wrong thang?"
She glances to him after a sigh. "To be honest, i only put that stinking thing on because the other two did. I hated every second i had to wear it because of how much it brought me back to before i enlisted... bec-because i was almost starting to miss those days, so i burned it when we got back." She tells softly while closing her eyes.
"Well gee, Ah'm sorry; wish ah hadn't..." He starts to say, but she just grins.
"No, it's fine, it's over with. Now wah-oncha git thus thang movin', i need sum food." She says as the grin gets bigger.
"Can do, girl... Yo, Joe's Place!" He said, restarting the car as she repeated the last part.
At a house somewhere outside Enterprise city, Amber Phillips is getting back home. "Mom, dad?" She asks, and hears them run down the stairs.
"Amber, you scared us to death!"/"Do you have any idea what you put us through again?" Her parents both said while the three embraced.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry; but it wasn't willingly this time; i met with that Duke person, and-"
"You what... we told you not to-"/"Hush, let her finish."
Chapter sixteen.
