The Search For Johnny Cage
Ch7: Generals Gathered in their Masses
The Air Hangar of the Special Forces HQ, Director John Connor stands beside his bodyguard the T-800 as a rather large plane lands and out walks the combination of Special Forces, Shaolin, and 141 that fought Ming in Herefordshire. They all walk out together but the first one to be greeted by Director John Connor is Captain Price who has trimmed his beard into his signature mutton chops and wearing a bucket hat.
John Connor: Captain Price! It's an honor to meet you sir!
Connor sticks his hand and the British captain shakes the hand of John saying "You gonna show me around then?". Director Connor then nods and gestures for the group to follow him to the war room where Cyrax and Jack Ryan rigorously looking into different leads as to where the Shin-Tan are holding Johnny and laptop playing satellite footage of the board game shop in San Francisco believed to be a Shin-Tan front. The CIA analyst and cybernetic ninja turn to see that their allies have returned.
Cyrax: Welcome back everyone and for those that are new welcome to the War Room.
Cassie: Any leads?
Jack Ryan: Cyrax heard chatter online about a Shin-Tan installment in the ruins of Raccoon City. We sent Team Rainbow there in full and they came up empty handed, they're on their way back now.
Cassie: What about my mom? Is she back?
Jack Ryan: She went to Major Briggs' house in Smallville in the hopes of bringing him out of retirement but she accidentally brought some serious baggage with her.
Jacqui: What could she have possibly brought that was so bad?
The voice of Rico Rodriguez behind the group can be heard telling them "Well we didn't exactly bring him our best salesman!". The group turns around to see Rico, Sonya, and none other than Tom Sheldon. The group of soldiers all begin to gather around the table.
Jacqui: You guys set my dad off?
Rico: Sheldon did.
Sheldon is sitting down while Rico leans against a chair while he's saying this and gives Rico a nice little side eye for that comment. Cassie starts recognize Sheldon from the framed picture on her mom's desk.
Cassie: I know you! You're Uncle Tommy!
Sonya rolls her eyes at that comment and Sheldon replies "Why yes I am! And you must be Cassie! You look so much like your mother, I've heard a decent bit about you Cass. I'm very proud of you." Sonya sternly cocks her head over in the direction of Sheldon telling him "Thats enough ass kissing for one day Sheldon.". Jacqui still looks confused as to what happened with her father and interjects.
Jacqui: I'm sorry, but what did you guys do to my dad?
Rico: It is alright, we did not harm him. Sheldon just as history with your father and Cassie's parents... A very negative one. If it weren't for me and Sonya holding your father back, Sheldon would be a puddle of blood in Kansas right now.
Jacqui shoots daggers at Sheldon but this doesn't seem to bother him. Director Connor sits at the head of the table and gets everyone's attention.
John Connor: Alright everyone listen up! Everyone in here has the skills, the experience, and tenacity for the mission at hand. Special Forces, 141, CIA, Shaolin, Shirai Ryu, and once they get here Rainbow will be apart of this operation as well.
Cyrax begins to project a hologram of the board game shop that they suspect is a Shin-Tan front.
Laswell: We've been sending undercover agents to examine the shop and day in and day out we found nothing until the other day when we saw this.
Cyrax then begins to play footage of Celia Penderghast coming out from the back of the store with bloody knuckles. Cassie watches with visible disgust on her face.
Cassie: Do we have green light yet?
Cyrax: We might as well after this.
Cyrax then pulls up satellite scans of the building revealing that there is a unique energy signature in the basement of the store.
Jack Ryan: We've ran the numbers multiple times and by all accounts this energy signature is identical to the green energy both you and your father emit.
Gaz: Then we found him?
Rico: What about this island near Medici? Sonya said it was a point of interest.
Cyrax: I am actively still scanning it right now and we have sent search parties several times to check it out and we've came up with nothing each visit. That being said we haven't ruled it out yet.
Sheldon: Rico why don't you tell Mario to check that little island out. It might help having a local look at it.
Sonya: That's all well and good but we need to prep for extraction.
John Connor: Agreed, which is why once Rainbow gets debriefed we are immediately briefing for extraction.
Meanwhile on the other side of the country, The Batwing and Flash Gordon's Spaceship soar through the clouds as they fly toward New York City. Gordon's rocket is currently set on autopilot while he talks with Chell and Sara to learn who they are.
Flash Gordon: So you're an assassin who was indoctrinated at young age and you're the survivor of a rogue AI taking over Aperture Labs and the government covered that up as an experiment gone wrong.
Sara and Chell both and Sara telling him "Yeah, you've got the gist of it. We met Batman and Johnny a about a month ago now. Big miss understanding about some Aperture tech that found it's way to Gotham.". Flash nods along to the story they are telling him.
White Canary: Chell isn't really a talker she only just started getting out of her shell not too long ago.
Flash Gordon: I understand that but I have to ask... How do you two, with such different yet similar back grounds both meet in Gotham City?
White Canary: I left the League a few years back and Chell escaped Aperture around the same time. Both of us we're hitch hiking across the country until we met in Gotham. I was there looking for work and so was Chell, and we both started running amok in the operations of few local crime bosses and the rest is history.
Flash Gordon: That's, wow... Small world.
Batman radios in telling them "It's about to get a lot smaller." and the group of heroes look out from the cockpit window to see that the sky scrapers of New York City below them. They have arrived and can now look for Luke Cage.
White Canary: Flash Gordon, Tony Stark, and Johnny Cage have all been friends since before you all became heroes?
Flash Gordon: That's right, we all had mutual friends and Johnny would have us play small rolls in his movies and I'd get them seats at Jets games.
White Canary: So how come Tony isn't on this superhero shopping list?
Flash Gordon: I love Tony but he's a showoff, I'd put the house on Johnny wanting the spotlight all to himself. That being said though we should probably get Tony involved.
Batman then radios in "I already spoke with Stark, he's apart of a much larger investigation now. He thinks this goes deeper than just abducting Johnny. He did tell me however that Luke frequently patrols the streets during the day over by Mutant Town." The Batwing and Flash Gordon's spaceship begin to slowly descend on a rooftop in the East Side of Manhattan where they can see the Quarantine Walls that have been erected to keep those who have been mutated by the Mutagen Bomb in. Batman, Chell, and White Canary get out of their respective aircrafts ready to traverse the rooftops while Flash stays in the pilot seat of his spaceship and will follow them with a birds eye view.
Batman: Let's go find an Avenger.
The group traverses the rooftops and as they get closer to the Mutant Town walls they see graffiti of the Purple Dragons insignia on a small portion of the wall, they look down on the sidewalk to see very few civilians walk by the wall like it's not there.
White Canary: That must suck.
Batman: In reference to what?
White Canary: Being turned in an animal hybrid and then have all your rights taken away from you and then everyone acts like you're the monster out to get them. Look at all those people down there, they're avoiding this place like the plague. Communities like this are just going to continue to pop up-
Batman: That's not our problem right now, we need to find Luke.
Sara rolls her eyes and Batman radios to Oracle asking "Oracle, any sign of Luke?".
Oracle: Tony said he called ahead and told Luke to meet you guys on the corner of the wall facing the TCRI building, other than I haven't heard anything from Tony or Luke.
Batman: Gordon what about you?
Flash flies over them and replies over the radio saying "I mean Luke doesn't exactly stick out like Hulk or Thor. But I'll keep an eye out.", the space ship glides over them with ease but something catches Chell's attention she hears the voice of a teenage boy cry out for help and the sound of smug laughter. "Somebody help me!" the voice cries out, Chell runs over to the left side of the rooftop where she hears the voice to look down into an alley she sees an open manhole into the sewers and a group of five Purple Dragon thugs surrounding a small hooded figure of a teenage boy. Chell quickly shoots a portal on the wall next to the group of thugs and then another portal on the rooftop she's on. Chell jumps down the rooftop portal sending her into the group of Purple Dragons, her boot collides into the side of one of thug's heads. Chell lands on her feet and goes to check on the teenager but sees that this is no ordinary human kid but instead a mutated one who has been turned into a rabbit. This surprises Chell which gives the Purple Dragons a moment to strike but the fist is then caught by Batman who stands beside White Canary with both of Escrima Sticks at the ready and the noise of Flash Gordon's space ship landing on the rooftop to their right causes them to jolt in that direction.
Batman: You have two choices, you can walk away empty handed or we'll make you wish you did.
One of the thugs tells the Dark Knight "We fight mutant animal ninjas on a regular basis. If you think we're scared of some human looney in a bat suit, you got anotha' thing comin' pal!". The group of Purple Dragons then charges at the group of heroes but just outside the alley way, a tall black man his earbuds in and his headphones on walks by but something catches his eye he sees the conflict and then quickly glances over his phone to see two texts one text is from a Ray Stanz asking if Luke "Are you still good to come by tonight?" and the other is a group text between Tony Stark and "Oracle" saying "They should be on the roof waiting for you". The man sees the heroes fighting thugs and mutters to himself "Sweet Christmas", pulling his head down to reveal Luke Cage.
