Discordance
I don't own "G.I. Joe." That belongs to Hasbro. I'm only borrowing the characters for the duration of the story.
Chapter 2
Destro watched the two Joes' retreat with detached interest. Letting them go served his purpose, but it was also the honorable thing to do. He knew there would be hell to pay when Cobra Commander found about his deed, but he would see to it the commander meted out his pound of flesh from the appropriate party.
After all, the entire idea to pit the two soldiers against each other had been Bludd's and the good major deserved some discipline.
Destro had watched the Joe called Falcon fight several rounds with Vipers and had found the situation fairly amusing until Bludd had trotted out the coup de tat - making the captured Joes fight each other to the death.
That was his breaking point. A little prisoner demoralization never hurt but what Bludd thought of as "entertainment" was despicable as well as tasteless. But what really caught his interest was how the two soldiers turned the situation around and used it to their own advantage.
In spite of the stacked odds, they still thought they had a chance. That was what appealed to his sense of honor, his sense of duty.
It was his reason for interfering and even though he would never admit it to anyone, his reason for admiring his enemy, an admiration that over the years had built into a grudging respect.
The bravery the two soldiers exhibited during their fight was the embodiment of everything Cobra Commander did not understand, the very qualities most of his troops did not have. Instead of finding common ground and unity, petty bickering and greed ruled.
Destro knew he was a crook but he was an honorable crook. He kept his word and only hoped if the situation were one day reversed, the Joes would do the same for him.
Most of the time, he had no real quarrel with them unless their activities interfered with his sometimes questionable activities but sometimes a man had to stand up for what he believed in or he was nothing. And sometimes, his association with Cobra and Cobra Commander in general made him feel less than honorable.
His dealings with the Joes had stirred something inside him, something he thought long dead. They exhibited ideals he once considered archaic and outdated but now, he felt hope.
Maybe after all there was hope for a better future, with or without him in it.
And watching the two soldiers fight, Destro was now sure he was ready to sacrifice himself for what he believed in, even if it meant defying Cobra Commander. Because now he had his own honor and self-respect back and no one was going to take that away.