Chapter 5

Gangster Wraps

"Hey I don't get it."

Scarlett walked over to Mainframe. "What's wrong?"

The hi-tech wizard ran his fingers along the edge of the twenty-foot tall, half-inch-thick steel doors that sat closed in front of the Joe team. "These doors, they aren't even sealed shut. Look, I can press on them, and they swing back and forth." Sure enough, with a good deal of effort, Mainframe could push them back almost three inches.

"So they're basically just giant curtains?"

"Yeah. That's kinda weird, don't ya think?"

Scarlett took a few steps back and examined the doors even closer. They weren't too rusty, but they had been sand-blasted red by the environment. Built in separate pieces like giant garage doors, they obviously were meant to be pulled up into the warehouse by a massive engine. But now, they were simply cut free of their tracks and hanging like drapes.

Looking over to the center of the right door, Scarlett saw Grunt leaning against it with his ear pressed to the side. "Grunt! Get away from that thing! I don't think these things are safe anymore."

"Hold on a minute, boss. I think I hear something in there. Like a buzzing sound."

"How can you hear through an inch of steel?" asked Mainframe.

"It's only half-an-inch. And I definitely can hear something."

On cue, the sound of metal crashing upon metal rang through the wall.

"Grunt get away from that door, now!" barked Scarlett. Before he could turn and run, a burst of explosions sent fire and shrapnel flying from the top of the door. Looking up, Grunt cried in panic as the massive metal panel began to tip over, threatening to smash him like a fly beneath a swatter. Scrambling as fast as he could, the Joe sprinted across the desert ground, attempting to tune out the loud, groaning sound coming from the metallic hammer descending upon him. With less then two feet to run, the door struck Grunt's head and knocked him onto his stomach. Crying out in pain, Grunt closed his eyes, but suddenly felt a jerk as someone grabbed him by the shoulders and swung him free of the crusher.

A gust of wind and sand blasted Grunt as a deafening slam punched his ears. Before the Joe infantryman could open his eyes again, his ears were again pebbled with the sounds of rapid sub-machine-gun fire.

Broken words began to spill into his aching audio reception: "…fire…those…can't let…out and fire…stop BATs."

Grunt's eyes bugged open immediately. He looked up to see Scarlett and Mainframe shooting their small guns at a swarm of Battle Android Troopers pouring out of the warehouse. The robots were armed with machine guns, flame throwers, missile launchers and even a few just had grappling claws. The Joe team's sub-machine guns were having little effect against the armor plates of the androids. A few had fallen, but there were plenty more to take their place.

Scarlett and Mainframe began a retreat, and reached down to pull Grunt around the building's corner with them. Once they had reached their point of brief safety, Grunt shook off their hands and stood up. "Thanks guys, but I'm okay now."

"Where's your gun?" asked Scarlett.

"Uh…under the door."

"Damn! We need to get out of here, ASAP!" The group turned around and ran down the length of the southern wall, jumping over pipes and cables. "We have to find Snake Eyes' team and--."

Scarlett was cut off as a BAT-fired missile destroyed the pipes that the Joes had just jumped over. Machine-gun fire quickly followed. Mainframe's shoulder was eaten up by a trio of bullets.

"Can you go on, Mainframe?" asked Scarlett.

"Y-yeah The shots passed on through. Let's go."

"Thank god those BATs are slow, eh?" joked Grunt.

"They may be slow, but they'll never stop coming. We're almost to the end of the wall, guys. Ow!" Scarlett dropped to the ground and grabbed her leg. "Dammit, not my leg, not now!"

Grunt crouched down in front of her. "Get on my back, Scarlett. I owe you one as it is."

"No, I can walk."

"This isn't up for debate, Scarlett! Hurry up!"

Knowing that it wasn't a good time to fight about protocol, Scarlett nodded and grabbed Grunt's shoulders. As he hefted her up, the Joe trotted to the end of the wall and turned left, with Mainframe right behind him.

Once again, they were safe, if only for a few moments.

1.

Despite the amount of discomfort North Africa and the Middle East always brought him, Tunis was not a total loss; it had a few points of beauty. A view of the Mediterranean Sea was a definite bonus. He would never say it out loud, but Destro actually liked looking out of the hotel room window at those monstrous cruise ships pulling into the Port. Amazing. But in his opinion, the town felt too "old." It needed a metallic skyline, with some high, swooping interstates. One of the few American inventions that he enjoyed was the freeway; the way the massive roadways twisted themselves throughout a city, granting infinite, high-speed access. Of course, those stupid Americans had too many cars for their own good, and simply flooded the glorious roads from one horizon to the next, reducing their speed potential to nil.

Wine was one of the few luxuries that could still relax Destro's anxious mind. Another bonus of Tunis was that although it was an Islamic city, alcohol was permitted. Today, the inventor's mind was very difficult to relax. Somewhere mixed in the ancient cityscape of Tunis that sat on the other side of the window, was his lover; very nearly a captive of a bastard pig who dared to demand money from Lord James McCullen Destro.

An Iron Grenadier walked over to Destro, carrying a plate of food. "Would you like something to eat, sir?"

Although his face was hidden behind the metal mask, Destro made sure his disgust was apparent. "I could not stomach another plate of couscous if my life depended on it."

The Grenadier, who had long served Destro as more of a personal assistant than a soldier, shook his gray hairs and raised the plate into the light. "If you will notice, my Lord, this is a fish dinner, called tajine in this land. I had it for dinner myself, and rather enjoyed it."

Destro eyed the food, then looked back out of the window. "Fine. Leave it on the table and assume your post. I will eat it shortly."

"Very well, sir." With that, the eldest of the Iron Grenadiers set the food down next to the wine, then walked out of the room and shut the doors. Now feeling secure, Destro reached up and swung the windows' curtains shut. After that, he placed his finger at the proper point on his neck and gave the secret voice command that popped the lock on his facemask. Slowly pulling the halves apart, Destro set them onto the table next to his food as well. The mask was no simple metallic shell. Sound amplification was also a feature, in sync with vision modifiers, including a miniature Heads-Up-Display that could display information sent to him via satellite and process the info in the facemask's hard-drive. Cobra Commander's mask was just as technologically advanced, but it was smaller than Destro's, and therefore lacked some of the computer power.

After sitting down with his back to the door, the Lord of the Iron Grenadiers began eating dinner; but after only a few bites, Destro was startled by chaotic screaming in the hall behind him. Cries of warnings were quickly followed by scuffling and slammings into walls. The door handle to the room jiggled; Destro stood up, grabbed his gun and faced the entrance. After a few moments, the handle came flying into the room as the door was kicked and busted. The door was slowly swung open by the left arm of a heavily robed person who stepped very cautiously into the room.

"I do not know what your business with me is," warned Destro, "but you are a fool to come here, for you have seen me without my mask on, and that is a crime that I can only punish by death. Enjoy your view, for it is the last that you shall ever see."

"Indeed," replied the intruder, in a lavishly rich voice, "Would you reward me with one kiss before you send me to my doom?" As the robes dropped, the intruder revealed itself to be the--.

"Baroness!" Destro set down his pistol and ran to his lover as fast as he could, and in a nearly crushing hold, embraced her with ravenous passion. "I was afraid I would never see you again!"

Pushing him back a little, the Baroness slapped Destro. "Do you think me so weak a woman? Things took a bit of time, but I was always in control."

Rubbing his cheek, Desto asked, "Did Firefly help you?"

"Bah! I never want him working for us again! That idiot barely lifted a finger. I had no need of his help."

"I shall cancel all payments to him immediately. What happened to the Iron Grenadiers that accompanied you to Sidi Bou Said?"

Baroness eyed the food lying on the table and walked around the couch, heading straight for it. "I do not know. We were attacked by a group of locals, and while they struggled with your Grenadiers, I slipped away into the crowd and headed to this safehouse as fast as I could."

"Lord Destro, are you all right?" came a call of a Grenadier intending to charge into the room. Destro grabbed the front half of his facemask and held it against is head as the soldier rounded the corner into the room.

"Yes, Lieutenant, I am fine. Now, if you would please leave, I would like to eat dinner with the Baroness."

"Y-yes, sir."

"And have some couscous sent up!" ordered the Baroness.

Destro felt his stomach rumble.

2.

Crankcase stumbled down the stairway yelling at Chuckles. "Why do I have to carry down all of these boxes? Can't you hear all of that gunfire? Let's get moving!"

"Trust, me, driver-dude, we need those boxes, I've already told you that. And we're almost down to the center of the action, don't worry; whatever's going on, we'll help out." Chuckles clenched the rusty door lever and slowly pushed it down, wincing in pain as the moisture-less metal shrieked. As he gently pushed the door open, the Joe undercover agent jumped back as a black-gloved hand grabbed the edge of the door and swung it open.

"Out of the way Chuckles!" barked Mainframe. As his teammate fell backwards, the computer-expert charged into the warehouse, quickly followed by Grunt and Scarlett. As Grunt set his passenger down onto the stairs, Mainframe slammed the door shut.

Chuckles helped Grunt settle Scarlett onto the stairs. "Are you guys okay?"

Mainframe slid to the floor and grabbed his shoulder. "No, I wouldn't bloody say so!"

"Calm down, Mainframe!" ordered Scarlett. Grunt turned around and tore the left sleeve from his shirt and began wrapping it around Scarlett's leg. "We reached the northern entrance and were greeted by a brigade of BATs. There was no way to get away from them. We're lucky that you guys were in here.

Crankcase, sick of his seemingly pointless task, dropped the black boxes. "Can I put these down, now?

Mainframe immediately took interest, crawled over to them and picked one up. "Are these what I think these are?"

Chuckles knodded. "Yep. We found Destro's lab upstairs. It was obviously where he was putting all these parts together."

Mainframe began studying each and every box, then throwing them aside. "They're all empty. Did you find any with any parts in them?"

"No, sorry."

Scarlett caught a tossed box and looked into it. "Then that means Destro could have finished building whatever he was working on."

"Swell." groaned Chuckles.

Buzzing, clicking and whirring sounds stomped through the door from outside.

"Yikes. That doesn't sound…lifelike." commented Crankcase.

Mainframe bolted the door shut. Scarlett screamed in pain as Grunt tied the bandage around her injured leg wound. She then stood up and cocked her Uzi. "We need to get out of here. The BATs will charge through that door like a knife through paper, and through us even faster."

"But where do we go?" asked Chuckles as he looked down a hallway. "The lab?"

"Where did Snake Eyes go?"

"We last saw him sprint in here," replied Crankcase, "but if he did, he would have found us in here by now, right?"

"Or else the BATs have found him." said Chuckles solemnly.

"There is no way that the BATs could take out Snake Eyes." emphasized Grunt.

Mainframe pointed upwards. "Then the only place he could have gone…is the roof."

Scarlett's face lost what little color it had left. "If he went chasing someone on the roof, that could mean…" With a spark of energy, she ran up the stairs almost as quickly as Snake Eyes did, her fire-like sprint inhibited only by her injury.

"Scarlett! Wait up! What are you doing?" cried Crankcase, but before anyone could respond, a hard slam thundered against the rusty metal door.

"Damn!" cursed Mainframe, "It's the BATs!"

"Let's get up the stairs, quick!" ordered Grunt. The group of Joes began backing up the steps as the pounding continued reforming the shape of the door. After about a half-dozen hits, the punches stopped.

Crankcase ceased his accent up the stairs and squinted at the door. "Do you think we stopped them?"

On cue, the door blasted off of its hinges and flew into the warehouse, chased by a ball of fire and smashed into the concrete wall ten feet across the hall. Crankcase covered his eyes with his arm and leaned back. Before he could regain his wits, a trio of BATs walked into the hallway, searching in every direction.

As Crankcase lowered his arm, another arm carrying an Uzi reached over his shoulder and opened fire on the robots. The foremost BAT began shaking and spitting shrapnel. After a few seconds, it finally exploded, knocking the other two robots to the ground.

Chuckles pulled his arm back from Crankcase's shoulder "Sorry to burst your eardrums like that, buddy, but we're in a bit of a rush."

"What?"

"Get up here, you two, before more BATs walk in!" barked Grunt.

"Yes, sir!" replied the two Joes in unison.

3.

Having lost all of her energy to the pain of the bullet hole in her leg, Scarlett was left gasping as she slowly dragged herself through the roof door. The dry, dusty wind immediately swooped up her hair and blew sand into her eyes.

But the sounds came quickly and sharply into her ears, and they were indistinguishable: two ninjas were fighting each other. The sharp crashing of swords rang in the distance, mixed with the scrambling of feet and the occasional sound of kicks reaching their target.

Scarlett picked herself up and limped over to a chimney, trying to keep out of sight, but also trying to see where the fight was taking place. The sky was growing a very dark gray, and since the roof of the warehouse was covered in chimneys and large cube-shaped air-vents, the duel could be happening anywhere.

There: thirty feet away, behind a motorized heat-vent. A flicker of light. Two swords were hitting each other. Scarlett cautiously moved closer, desperately trying to keep out of sight of the ninjas. If there was one thing that she had learned during her experiences with Snake Eyes, it was that she was forbidden to interfere with his matches against Storm Shadow.

The white ninja ducked a high slash from Snake Eyes and countered with a low stab. The black commando dodged the jab and deflected the ninja's sword, then charged at him with a punch. Storm Shadow jumped backwards and slashed at Snake Eyes, cutting the Joe across the face.

As the lower portion of Snake Eyes' facemask tumbled to the ground, blood trickled down the commando's chin. The two warriors paused for a moment. "On any other man, such a wound would be considered atrocious." Storm Shadow smiled. "But, G.I. Joe Snake Eyes, on you, it is barely noticeable."

Scarlett could see Snake Eyes' rage as he ground his teeth. Her teammate grabbed his sword with both hands and charged at Storm Shadow, swinging passionate, powerful attacks that the white ninja could barely hold back.

"No, Snake Eyes, don't do this…" whispered Scarlett as a tear raced down her right cheek.

His rage pushed all of his concentration into his sword attack, leaving his body undefended. Storm Shadow saw this, deflected a cut and placed a hard kick to Snake Eyes' left side. The Joe buckled over, and Storm Shadow combined his first hit with a left kick to Snake Eyes' head. His sword flailing from his hand, the black commando flopped face-first onto the rooftop.

Standing behind his defeated foe, Storm Shadow raised his sword. "So now you see, Snake Eyes of the G.I. Joe team, you will always be weaker than the man I called brother! Good bye, forever!"

As the white ninja began the downward slash, the sound of high-pitched rapid-fire broke his concentration. A stream of bullets tore into his right shoulder, causing him to drop his sword. Falling to his knee, Storm Shadow unsheathed his hidden dagger and looked behind him. As expected, Scarlett was running up at him. Using his left arm, he flung the blade at the accursed Joe, hitting her in her right shoulder. As she dropped her gun, he picked his sword back up, and began walking towards her.

"It seems I must kill you, Scarlett, before I can ever taste my vengeance!" The white ninja raised his sword and prepared to strike. When only a step away, Storm Shadow screamed in pain and fell to his knees. Snake Eyes stood shaking behind him holding his own katana, having just completed a slash of the white ninja's back. The Joe commando collapsed to the ground from weakness.

Storm Shadow grabbed his blade and stood back up, but was looking straight at the barrel of Scarlett's Uzi. "Get out of here, Storm Shadow. Now."

With that, the white ninja smiled, ran for a door located far across the roof, and disappeared.

The red-haired Joe, coughing, desperately trying to ignore her pain and not swallow dirt, pulled herself across the roof over to Snake Eyes' body. The Joe commando was unconscious and bleeding out of his mouth.

"I…I'm sorry, Snake Eyes. I…had to. That bastard Storm Shadow. He, he was going to kill you, Snake Eyes." She had to stop him; to do what she did. There was no honor in shooting a man from his blind-side, but at the same time she saved the life of her friend…her lover. Wasn't that honorable?

Time would tell.

4.

Muhammad-Rabah leaned forward, with his forehead and fists pressed against the window. This…this situation was ridiculous. Just a few hours ago, he had Destro—the greatest illegal weapons manufacturer in the world—under his control; now…now he was only mildly hopeful for a few thousand dollars for the device in the black box that Muhammad couldn't even get open!

The "Terror of Tunisia" turned away from the window and walked back to his desk. He looked down to the papers that he had just finished writing; a speech that he would give to the mercenaries under his command, praising the faithful loyalty that Bakri, Madani, Rais and Shamim all held for Muhammad until they were massacred by the infidel Iron Grenadiers. Their families would all be greatly rewarded. Loyalty to Muhammad carried potential for glory, and disloyalty would lead to death. Bakri, Madani, Rais and Shamim would forever be remembered as some of the most loyal men to work for the Tunisian gangster, and had all lost their lives to the Iron Grenadiers in a brutal gun battle in the shed where their bodies were all found.

"Muhammad?" asked Samad, the man in charge of his money affairs, and a very loyal friend.

"Yes, Samad, what do you want?" sighed Muhammad as he collapsed into the chair behind his desk.

The accountant took a deep breath. "I know that you wish to shower the families of your loyal mercenaries with rewards, but I am afraid that, well, we cannot afford to give them much more than small sums."

Leaning forward, the leader asked, "How small?"

"Um…only about enough for a couple trips to the market."

Slamming his desk as he stood up, Muhammad amazingly kept himself from screaming out loud. He walked back to the window and re-took his stance with his fists and forehead against the glass, staring down the street. "I did not know that my business was in such poor shape, Samad. Was it your place to tell me of this?"

Swallowing a heavy gulp, Samad prepared to provide a condemning response, but was saved by and explosion. And another explosion. And another explosion.

"Samad! Come look at this!" The accountant ran to the window and stood by Muhammad's side. Three cars parked along the street were engulfed in flames. The two men shook in surprise as another car on the street erupted. A ball of flame elevated the small vehicle almost three feet off of the ground and sent its right-side door tumbling through the air and crashing into the building across the sidewalk, smashing a window.

"What is happening? Who is doing this?" asked Samad.

"I…I do not know. This is insane!" As if on cue, another car exploded, but before it even landed back on the ground, a blast fired off of the power pole at the end of the street, causing the sparkling wooden tower to come crashing down onto the burning wreckage of the cars. As the power lines snapped, lights began shutting off in buildings all around the intersection. Most importantly to Muhammad, the power in his building blackened out, leaving his building wide open to an attack of any kind; and with cars repeatedly exploding on the street leading up to his building, someone was obviously on their way.

"Samad! Tell the men to get their flashlights and grab their weapons. Everyone is on guard duty. Some one is attempting to assault me, and we must stop them!"

"Yes, Muhammad!"

As he listened to his friend crash into furniture and the wall, attempting to get out of the room, Muhammad felt his way back to his desk and sat back on his chair. He began rummaging through his desk's drawers for his little pen flashlight—a trinket that he never thought he would need—and clicked it on. He nearly shrieked in panic and dropped the flashlight onto his desk as the light revealed a man in gray camouflage standing at the side of his desk, holding a sub-machine-gun pointed at the "Terror of Tunisia's" chest.

"Who…who are you? Are you the one who has destroyed all of those cars?"

"Who I am is not important. What is important is your desire to live. Do you want to live, Mr. Muhammad?" The intruder's eyes squinted harder, showing that they could be even more frightening.

"Y-yes. What do you want?" Muhammad slipped his left hand down, attempting to reach for the pistol he always left attached beneath the desktop.

"I want the black box. Go get it."

"Black box? What black box?" Just a few more seconds…

The sub-machine-gun swung and belted him hard in the head. Muhammad had to pull back from his reach for the pistol to hold his aching skull. "Don't play stupid with me, Arab. Go get the box before I start removing your limbs one at a time."

Taking a deep breath, Muhammad stood up and shone the light for the doorway. "Follow me."

After walking into the next room, the crime leader pointed the weak little light towards a table at the back wall. "It is on that table. Take it if you wish, but I promise you, you will never get out of here alive!" Turning the light to the wall next to where he was standing, Muhammad grabbed a .45-Magnum off of the wall, cocked it and spun back around to where the intruder had been standing. He was no longer there. Turning towards the black box, Muhammad prepared to shoot…but the box was gone!

The sound of sub-machine-gun fire burst from his office, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Muhammad ran to his room, only to feel a rush of cold night air pour through the empty window frame. Looking out onto the flame covered street, the "Terror of Tunisia" caught a glimpse of a man running into an alley.

As the fire engine sirens grew louder and spectators began to line the distant streets, Muhammad finally lost his control and screamed with rage. Samad re-entered the office and walked over to his friend.

"Samad, be witness to my words. Destro, I dedicate the rest of my life to destroying you and everything that you have acquired and hold most dear on this world. I am, and always shall be, your sworn enemy!"

Upon seeing the rage in Muhammad's eyes, Samad took a step back, fearful not of what Muhammad may do to Destro, but to what he may do to himself.

5.

Rapid, pounding blasts of sub-machine-gun fire filled the air, mixed with the sounds of cracking plaster and wood—and the occasional explosion and shattering of compact circuitry.

Quickly regaining her senses, the G.I. Joe Intelligence Officer looked towards the doorway that she walked onto the roof of the warehouse from. As she expected, Grunt, Chuckles, Mainframe and Crankcase were fighting their way out of the doorway, shooting their light weaponry back down the stairway, doubtlessly at a group of BATs. Rising to one knee, the crimson-haired Joe looked around for her dropped Uzi. As she found it and picked it up, Grunt saw her and ran over.

"Scarlett! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'll live. What is our situation?"

"The BATs smashed down the door and chased us up the stairs. We've got nowhere to go but here." Grunt looked around. "Where's Snake Eyes?"

Scarlett's face went white, then red. She had been so caught up in the current attack that she forgot about why she had come up to the roof in the first place. Looking over to where he had been laying after his fight with Storm Shadow, Scarlett panicked. "I…I don't know!"

The three Joes by the doorway began running. "Move, move, move!" cried Chuckles. A moment later, ten-square-feet of wall exploded next to the door, sending the running Joes into a tumble. A squad of BATs began marching up the flaming stairway, swung their mounted machine-gun forearms in the directions of the Joes and opened fire.

Before the androids could get off a dozen shots each, a moving shadow leapt down from the roof of the battle-damaged entranceway. Snake-Eyes slashed down his katana through the foremost BAT's right forearm, severely damaging the weapon. The Joe commando raised his sword high and hacked down a second chop, completely severing the weapon from the android's body. The other BATs abandoned their assaults on the other Joes and turned their attention towards Snake Eyes. Unaffected by the impending danger, the ninja pulled back his sword and stabbed it through the face of the BAT that he had just amputated. The robot exploded, and the commando jumped away.

Snake Eyes landed on his hands and feet and quickly looked over at Crankcase, who was just getting back onto his feet after his tumble from the wall's explosion. Snake Eyes gained the driver's attention by waving his hand.

"What? You want something from me, Snake?" he asked in an almost honored tone.

Snake Eyes began frantically waving his hand in a pulling motion.

"Huh? I…I don't get it."

"Snake Eyes! Here, take mine!" Grunt threw his Spectre sub-machine-gun thirty yards through the air towards his long-time teammate. The commando caught it, spun around and opened immediate fire on the BATs walking out of the smoke. The robots began exploding in sequence without a chance to return their blind vengeance.

"We've got a few seconds for escape now, boys! Let's get off of this roof and back to the motorcycles, pronto!" ordered Scarlett. Snake-Eyes pointed over to the distant doorway that Storm Shadow had used for his escape. His ruby-haired teammate agreed and waved the Joes towards the exit.

6.

As the BATs punched through the flaming wreckage of their brethren, they stepped out onto an empty floor. Their scanning systems clicked on, set to full power, and the group all turned left as a soft click emanated from the west exit; but there was nothing to be seen.

Lack of visual contact: Irrelevant. Source of sensory stimulation: One. Style: Audio. Unable to calculate next action: Irrelevant. Next action: Investigate audio stimulation. Mode: Full Combat.

Charging towards the exit with their weapons-arms raised, the BATs prepared to tear the door from its hinges—

The roof began exploding at the feet of the androids, engulfing the robots in punching red flame and concrete shrapnel.

Warning! Warning! Unexpected source of attack! Recalculate to def…………..

7..

Crankcase grinned as he watched the BATs crash through the ceiling. It would have been a perfect time for some whisky, but he learned long ago that you have to be thankful for what you can get.

Mainframe, Grunt, Snake Eyes and Chuckles lowered the smoking RPG launchers from their shoulders. "Great job, guys,' praised Scarlett, "now let's get out of here as fast as we can."

"Boy, you'd think Destro would have something a bit higher-tech than Vietnam-era RPG-launchers, you know?" joked Chuckles.

"We were lucky to find any weapons at all in this place, Chuckles." commented Grunt.

The light-hearted Joe looked confused. "What makes you say that?"

"Look around! This isn't an ammo dump. It's a weapons plant. You'll find a lot of guns, but not much to shoot out of them. The RPGs must be around for armor testing."

"Okay, enough bickering, let's get out of here!" barked Scarlett.

"Yes, sir."

8.

He was still hungry. The Baroness had eaten all of his fish dinner, then two plates worth of couscous because, well, Destro hated the stuff. If he didn't get something to eat before he left the hotel, he would make the plane trip to Peru very unpleasant for his servants.

As he packed the last of his supplies into a bag, Baroness entered the room, no longer wearing her jilbab. She was back to her normal attire of tight black leather. "Are you ready to go, Destro?"

"Of…of course, dear Baroness."

The Cobra Queen smiled as she saw the flicker of light emanate from her lover's face—and it was not a reflection off of his facemask. Locked in a sultry walk over to the weapons developer, she caressed his chin with her right hand. "Is something wrong, meu armasar?"

Destro grabbed her hand and pulled it around his shoulder. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

The smile on the Baroness' face thinned to a sinister grin. "But you are my stallion."

Feeling the sweat build up beneath his mask, Destro was forced to push her off. "No! Not here, not now. Please. We have work to do."

Frustrated, but in agreement, the lean, dark temptress brushed back her long black hair and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Very well. What do you want to do?"

"I must get my Matrix Cannon equipment back from Muhammad."

"Then why are we leaving?"

"We are in the heart of his territory. I do not wish to fight a battle on his terms. We must escape from Tunis, then coordinate a recovery mission using commandos and ninjas."

The Baroness laughed. "Now you are starting to sound like Storm Shadow."

"It is the only logical way." Destro picked up his lover by her shoulders and looked her deep in the eyes." I almost lost you once. I will not risk that happening again."

The Baroness leaned forward, then stopped in frustration. "Sometimes I really wish you didn't wear that accursed mask."

Destro set her down. "I wear it with pride, my dear, and I always will."

9.

Destro and the Baroness walked out of the hotel entrance and onto the sidewalk amidst a clutter of native citizens and tourists. A small convoy of European-style luxury cars awaited his arrival. Two un-armed, non-uniformed Iron Grenadiers stood next to a BMW that awaited the leader of the IG and his lover.

Many of the local pedestrians walking past the Baroness stared at her in shock and disgust. A few tourists took pictures. The duo of high-ranking Cobras hunched over and crawled into the back seat of the BMW.

As soon as the back right door shut, Destro looked to his left, and took notice of what was lying on the seat next to him: a black box.

"What in the hell?" Grabbing the box, the weapons developer began examining it. Baroness looked over and was shocked as well.

"Is…is that the box?" she asked.

"I…" Destro examined the lock, then began nodding his head. "Yes. Yes it is! How in the world did--?" Looking up to the driver's seat, the man in the passenger's seat turned around.

"Firefly!" cried the Baroness. "What are you doing here? I told you to go away!"

Despite the fact that his face was covered by the gray cowl, his smile was all too obvious. "I did what you ordered, Baroness. But then I decided to do a little freelance work."

Destro stared in amazement as he calculated the facts. "You…you went after Muhammad, didn't you?" Firefly nodded. "And you recovered the box by yourself?"

"No help whatsoever."

Destro smiled. "I applaud your ambition. You have redeemed yourself in my respects, Firefly. Excellent work. You shall receive your promised payment as soon as we land in Lima."

"Double."

Destro silenced himself for a moment while the Baroness growled. "Very well, double. Any man who kills the Tunisian gangster Muhammad deserves double."

Firefly took a deep breath and looked away. Destro caught sight of this, and took a stern glare. "You did kill Muhammad, didn't you?"

"N-no, Lord Destro." Firefly couldn't turn himself back around.

"You fool! You have endangered my business operations in the Middle East and Africa for years to come!"

"I told you he was a fool." insulted the Baroness.

Sighing, Destro looked at the box. "Fool or not, he did retrieve the box, and that has saved me tens of thousands of pounds worth of money." Looking back at the saboteur, the commander of the Iron Grenadiers pondered deeply, "Firefly, I offer you a new contract: I will pay you half of your current contract salary as reward for providing me with the box, and offer you free passage from Tunisia. You will also be granted another opportunity to work for me under a new contract. If you reject my offer, I will leave you here in Tunis to fend for yourself. Do you agree to my terms?"

Looking frustrated, but also a bit desperate, the saboteur nodded.

"Excellent. Driver, take us to the airport. We have a long flight ahead of us."

The Baroness pouted in frustration, crossed her arms and slumped back onto her seat.