"We should go what's better for all of us," Joe says. "This is better for the Joes, but also better for Zaltana and for Mina." Lowlight, Roadblock, Jaye, Snake Eyes, Hawk, Brian and Flint all stare at him speechless. "I talked to the President about it and consulted the files Breaker got for us. It's completely safe for the both of them." Jaye shares a look with Flint while Snake Eyes and Roadblock converse quietly.
"The chances of them just accepting us are slim to none," Hawk says in agreement. "Wiping their memory would do a lot of good. Thankfully we don't have to worry about the Commander knowing their location thanks to Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes."
"Speaking of," Jaye says, holding her hand up. "where is Storm Shadow? Why can't he be here?" It is an appropriate question since Storm Shadow cares more for the blonde woman than Brian ever did. He was even willing to keep up with Aron when it was, and still is, Brian's responsibility as her boyfriend. Brian shifts slightly, as though feeling the thoughts of everyone at knowing Brian is there while Storm Shadow isn't.
Joe shares looks with Hawk. "Two reasons, Brenda." A poor attempt at lightening the air, but an attempt nonetheless. "Firstly, he's with Zaltana and her friend Mina now. He doesn't really trust anyone else at the moment to take proper care of either of them. He's even leaving Aron under Duke's eye." Murmurs from Flint, Roadblock, and Lowlight are heard. "Secondly, if we go through with erasing her memory, she'll be in a lot of pain before and after the procedure. We don't entirely know how much pain."
"So we're going to just go with the memory wipe?" Jaye bursts out without really thinking it through. "I mean, the files say that as long as we remind of her certain events and facts that the memories will slowly come back."
"In dreams," Hawk says from his seat. "We don't have time for waiting. She can escape and get out if she doesn't trust us. Where will we be then? That's right, under attack from Cobra." Jaye sits back, keeping her mouth shut with Flint rubbing her shoulder absently. "No, we aren't going to go straight to the swipe. We're going to give her a while to trust us. Let me finish next time, Lady Jaye, and you won't have such issues."
Lady Jaye nods, keeping quiet. "We have a week. If nothing changes within a week, all of us are going to put both her and Mina through the memory swipe. Remember, both of them or neither. Mina can get away just as easily, and with less on her mind. She doesn't know us, Zaltana does." He glances around at the faces of the Joes taking on this mission. "That's it."
"Z!" Zaltana wakes up, bumping heads with Mina and curses. Her head hurts from the headbutt and from the dreams already fading from memory. She glares at the pinkette. "Man, about time! I thought you were about to go Under." Zaltana stiffens at the mention of the Under. "I mean, if you go Under now, we'll be screwed. Commander probably would wait until you came out, but you know how unpredictable the Under is. It can keep you Under for days, weeks, month. Hell, I remember Fiona was Under for a whole year."
The Under is how their body recuperates after going through too much trauma and using too much of the given abilities. If a Prototype were to take more than three bullets, the healing factor would drag them Under for the body to fully heal and for the mind to catch up with where the body is. It's a way of the parasite telling them they aren't immortal, but Zaltana doesn't know what she's done in the last twenty four hours for the parasite to make her go Under...
"Alright, ladies," Roadblock says, unlocking the door. "I think it's time you guys got some fresh air, don't you?" He stands at full height, and Zaltana sees him in a darker lit room, crossing his arms and looking down on her. Mina stands up cautiously, and Zaltana grabs her arm. Mina leans down, waiting for what Zaltana has to say.
"If you can, get the jump. Then go. I'll meet you eventually." Mina nods once, standing straight once more. Zaltana gets up, dusting off her clothes as more figures join Roadblock. She looks up to see Mina already walking out with Roadblock, a man with blonde hair, and Jaye. She sees another group waiting on her and curses. "Damn, I knew I should've killed you guys." Lowlight, Flint, and Storm Shadow are waiting for her. "Roadblock I can take. Storm Shadow, I might be able to. Flint, hell yeah. Lowlight, I know you don't like me. All four of you? Overkill."
She walks anyway, keeping her mouth running and looking relaxed, or as relaxed without her weapon. Or any weapon in general. Zaltana doesn't realize what she's saying until she begins talking about her friends. And Fiona. "Anyway, Tommy doesn't really like Fiona either. Stupid bitch tried to tell Sara about his little crush on her, but I still think he's gay too. Tommy doesn't like opening up all that much about things like that. But damn is he a good fuck."
"Are you normally like this now?" Flint asks in a soft voice. Zaltana glances at him sharply. He keeps his mouth shut after that, and Zaltana walks forward with her head high. She is not going to stay here no matter what. They reach the training grounds. "Welcome to paradise." Zaltana sees several weapons at her disposal. "Just so you know, you can train here too. You'll have people watching at all times, but you can."
Zaltana gapes at him openly, looking for her pink haired friend. "She is actually using the guns over there. She doesn't appear to be very good with a gun." Flint rubs a bruise on his cheek. "But she can hit." Zaltana smirks.
"She's my friend for a reason, brother." Zaltana hops over the railing. "Mina!" Mina turns immediately, using the shock ammo to take down everyone nearby while Zaltana takes up a sword. She turns in enough time to dodge shurikens, one grazing her cheek just like in her dream. She growls, low and deep in her throat, glaring at the white clad ninja.
Zaltana tries not to hesitate to attack like she did in the dream, which probably ended out as a mistake on her part. But something about this brings the dream to life as Mina's shots stop and she's cursing. Zaltana moves quickly against Storm Shadow, who purposely makes it exactly like the dream, each moment of hesitance leading to a reason to move away from him. Could he be the blurry figure?
Suddenly it isn't the dream, and he has her pinned against a wall. Zaltana curses as the blade falls from her hand. He looks at her again with something she can't read. He leans forward, her chest against his, and whispers, "You still fight the same way you did five years ago." A click alerts her to her hands. "But you're a bit more distracted... I miss that focus." He leans back, and pulls her forward. Zaltana catches Mina's eyes from across the room.
"I guess we can't be together anymore." Storm Shadow nods silently, and Zaltana sighs. "I'll see you soon, Mina!"
"Movie night?"
"Sure. Next Friday? We can invite Xaria and get her drunk. Hibiki too. Remember that?"
"Who wouldn't!" Mina snorts a laugh. "See ya, babe!"
"See ya!" Zaltana is pulled on the arm to a direction opposite of Mina. She looks between the two with her, Lowlight and Storm Shadow. "So... Scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in?"
"Try fifteen," Lowlight answers, glaring at her. "Twenty since I'm still mad about you shooting me." Zaltana feels slight shame for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. Storm Shadow tightens his grip on her, and she winces. "Don't try anything." Zaltana grits her teeth in anger, but continues forward anyway, deciding that they aren't worth it.
She reaches a room with key card access. She waits as Storm Shadow opens it, swiping his card through. "Only a few of us can get in, so don't get any bright ideas." Zaltana walks inside, looking around. A sense of familiarity settles over her, though she's sure she's never seen this room before. Lowlight sits down on her bed, Storm Shadow choosing to stay standing as Zaltana reaches for a trinket, a small necklace. "Who's room was this?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Storm Shadow answers. Zaltana smiles, letting it go and grabbing the dagger. She sees the stone, and feels the world closing in on her.
She lashes out at the bodyguard, snarling in hatred that they would go so far as to hire people to protect them from her. She told them they would get it. She told them she was coming. She told them that if they tried to touch her son that she'd get them back for everything. For Hillary, who lost her baby because of them. For Lilah, who won't ever be found or given a proper burial. For Hibiki, who will forever carry those scars on his back. For Aron, who has done nothing to deserve his grandparents attempting to murder him.
The blue gem twinkles as she rolls under his arm, sinking the dagger deep into his chest before he has a chance to go for her again. She twists it out, letting him fall to the floor with nothing to hold her back from killing them now. The couple in front of her couldn't be more terrified than they are, and she loves it that way. She wants them to know this is what they deserve. Hell, they don't have to know. They just have to think it in their dying moments. "W-we were wrong. W-we understand now. We were wrong."
She stares at the man with cold indifference between whipping her dagger across his neck, effectively silencing him as he gushes blood, falling to the side in twitches. Her gaze turns to the woman, who is glaring at her with such hatred that her own intensifies. "I was never afraid of you. I never agreed with you or your methods, but your father insisted you were the perfect child. He had to retire from his job because of an injury he can't ever fix. So he took to drinking. Tell me, daughter, do you want to be like him?"
Her voice comes out hard. "I am like him, mother. You and father made me afraid of so many things just to force me to be unafraid. You tried to beat my brother and sisters into being like me. I don't care if you're afraid of me, mother. I don't care if you agreed with him, mother. I care that you get judgement for trying to kill my son." A smile curves her lips. "I'll see in you Hell."
"I'll see you in Hell."
"Zaltana!" Storm Shadow shakes Zaltana again as she slowly comes to her senses. She looks around, her head pounding against her skull as her body begs to go Under. "Zaltana... Are you okay?"
Her green eyes meet his, every bit as sharp as they were before she delved far into her mind. "I'm perfectly fine." An outright lie to get him away from her. She gets unsettled when he's so close, and she has enough to make sense of already. He stares into her eyes, going farther than that and into her soul. She breaks eye contact. "I'm perfectly fine."
"You're lying too." Storm Shadow stands up anyway, and helps her up. "I'll believe this once, Zaltana. But next time, I won't let you go so easily.