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Dreadnok headquarters
Where am I?
Jetta opened her eyes to darkness. The van they were held captive in was no longer moving, but it was impossible to determine where they had stopped. She tried to sit up but found that having her hands tied behind her back with her feet shackled provided insufficient leverage. The best she could manage was to lift her head slightly, looking back over her shoulder to the locked double doors. The dim light shining through one of the windows allowed her to see that Pizzazz and Stormer were huddled next to her still unconscious. Their arms and legs were likewise bound. She started to nudge Pizzazz with her shoulder when she heard voices outside. She lay still to give the appearance that she was still asleep.
The doors swung open. A large hooded figure peered inside. She tried to get a look at his face, but his features were hidden in shadow. She almost gasped when his chest started to glow with a bright blue light.
"So, Zandar, these are the famous Misfits?"
"I trust their condition meets with your approval, Zartan?"
"My approval would've been secured had Pelligrini been among them, brother. Her absence presents a problem. What happened?"
"G.I. Joe happened."
"Their appearance should not have been totally unexpected."
"No. It was their timing. I was under the impression that we had a two day lead, considering the way the Pentagon drags their feet."
"Dealing with the unexpected is part of being a leader. What's your operational status?"
"One of the HARPys was severely damaged, but it's still viable. We are proceeding on schedule."
"This is acceptable. Make the call to Gabor before the Joes get to him. I'll leave the details to you."
"Consider it done, Zartan."
"In the meantime, I'll check in with my asset at the Pentagon and see if I can find out exactly what the Joes know."
"So, when are you putting the next phase of this little treasure hunt into operation?"
"Zarana is already in play. I will be in contact with more details shortly… Oh, and Zandar… no more screw-ups."
The doors closed. The strange conversation left Jetta with more questions than answers. Again she tried to wake Pizzazz and Stormer. They stirred weakly when she heard voices again. The doors swung wide, and bright lights shone in their faces.
"Wakey! Wakey!"
Jetta recognized Buzzer's voice along with two other Dreadnoks. A pair of hands dragged her out of the van. She looked down at the floor away from the bright flashlight pointed at her face while Monkey Wrench untied her restraints. For the first time, she noticed that the couture dress she wore was gone. Not only hers, but Stormer's and Pizzazz's was missing also, made evident by the fact that they were in their underwear—except in the case of Pizzazz, who opted not to wear any at all. Ribbed by the jeers and gropes of their captors, the Misfits were lead to a dark, musty basement. Jetta couldn't see at first; she heard the rattling of keys and rusty hinges and was pushed inside of a small cell. She fell onto a mattress and the door locked behind her. A dress and a pair of slippers was left with her. She saw that Stormer and Pizzazz were provided with similar clothing in their adjacent cells.
Zandar ordered the Dreadnoks to leave. "Get dressed." He stood patiently in front of Jetta's cell. Jetta regarded her orange-haired jailer with apprehension, but she obeyed. "Are you comfortable?" Zandar asked of her.
She didn't know why, but Jetta found herself nodding at him nervously. He said nothing further and pointed a device at her. He pressed a button, and she instinctively yelped at the flash of the camera, still traumatized by the effects of the scanner she suffered earlier. He grabbed the picture that ejected from the device and put it in his pocket.
Zandar did the same to Stormer, but he hesitated with Pizzazz. "You are Phyllis Gabor, correct?"
"Yeah. What do you want?"
Without replying, he snapped a picture of her and walked away.
"What have you done with Roxy?" He ignored her. "Listen. I have money. My father—"
The thick steel door closed at Zandar's egress; there was no point in Pizzazz finishing her plea. Soon afterward, it opened again. This time, Buzzer walked in carrying three trays of food. He slid one under each of their bars. He was more talkative than Zandar.
"Wanna know what happened to the albino, do you? We ran a train on her. And, after we each had our fill, we left her body to burn in the warehouse. Same thing'll happened to you if you give us any trouble." He leered at the three of them and left.
It was quiet for several minutes. Stormer could stand the silence no longer. "He's lying about Roxy."
"Then why isn't she here?" Pizzazz said.
"She must have gotten away. Roxy's a fighter. She got away and she's going to get help. Tell her, Jetta."
Jetta sat on her mattress and picked at the tray of food on her lap. "Yeah, sure, mate."