BACK TO REALITY - PART 4
On the roof of one of the Parliament House apartments on Arlington Road overlooking the Parliament Building park and complex, Cobra Commander stood peering through a pair of binoculars at the conflict between G.I.Joe and Cobra.
He smiled amused behind his metallic mask and chuckled at the foolishness of Serpentor's plight. But it wasn't the conflict he found amusing and it was not that that captured his interest. His attention was on two individuals, two men of equal skill and might, and of equal determination to win against the other.
And to him this personal one-on-one was much more fascinating than anything else playing out on the battlefield. He couldn't be bothered with Serpentor and his usurp of the American capital. He'd done it before and failed miserably, and he'll fail again - it was almost certain. G.I.Joe will never let him keep it!
Cobra Commander had his own purpose for being here and it had nothing to do with toppling the government or occupying the city by futile means, though it did present a very exciting prospect. But he was a man who knew his limits, Serpentor didn't. True power lay with the man and not what he held as collateral. This was not ancient times. He was a man of the 21st century. The problem with Serpentor was he was the culmination of several different rules with varying ideals of conquest and neither one of them had the logic to realize times have changed. The world can't be conquered anymore and it's not run my governments. Corporations were the world's new conglomerate. If Serpentor seized power, a different branch of the government would take over, supersede, and incapacitate the branch held by his hostile force. So no matter what Serpentor did he already lost this battle, he just didn't know it yet.
Cobra was no longer his, it was taken by him by his inner sanctum, hijacked if you will, by people he trusted in his organization. And Dr. Mindbender was the ring leader, forming a splinter cell called The Coil. Serpentor was the only one left of this cell, the rest Cobra Commander killed or they escaped.
He took care of the good doctor in the most satisfying means he saw fit. Dr. Mindbender now hung dead on a meat hook in some meat package plant ready to be chopped up by machines and distributed in small packages marked "Fresh Meat" in countless super markets all around the world. And this time, he wasn't coming back, as a clone or anything else. He made sure all the doctor's DNA specimens and clone chambers were destroyed so it would be assured there would be no more Dr. Mindbender's.
Soon he would have his leadership back, and Serpentor would be dead for good. Again Zartan failed to kill a man he paid to be murdered. Serpentor survived his brush with death after being shot in the face with an arrow. The body in the train freight for which he sealed away all those who betrayed him during Cobra's first insurrection and up-rise in leadership was not Serpentor but a body made up to look like him. Funny how Firefly never mentioned this when he mangled the body to disguise it as if it were him so he could escape from the freighter undetected.
But all that was water under the bridge. But of course nothing was ever forgotten, it was just put aside temporarily while other things were going on.
But now it was time to restore his thrown. He had a plan to get his organization back and it included an old nemesis, the man essentially known as Snake Eyes.
For many years Snake Eyes has been his mortal enemy, if that's the colloquial term nowadays, the last remaining of his family who killed an innocent man on his way home from his job in Springfield, U.S.A, Cobra Commander's brother Dan.
Now it was time for revenge. To finally destroy Snake Eyes for what his family did all those years ago. If there ever was a man who deserved the wraith of the gods, Snake Eyes was that man! And this time he found a surefire way to kill the man.
He tried before but failed. He hired a freelance assassin, an ex-marine kicked out of the military for elicit behavior, calling himself Firefly, he never did find out why, to kill Snake Eyes, who was residing with a family of ninja's the Arashikage Clan in the mountains of Japan. He infiltrated the clan and presented himself as a prominent member and was referred to as the Silent Master, for his consistent quietness but fast reflexes.
It was later on that Firefly said he could not kill Snake Eyes for whatever reason, so he recommended another assassin, Zartan, a trained marksman from the Florida Everglades. But there was a fowl up and Zartan killed the wrong man, Storm Shadow's uncle, the Hard Master, believing he to be Snake Eyes when he was showing Snake Eyes a secret ancient technique to disguise his shadow and change it to any shape he wished. The Hard Master chose to mimic Snake Eyes and Zartan thinking he was Snake Eyes fired an arrow at the shadow piercing his heart, killing the old man.
It was the last time he could get close to Snake Eyes. After that the Arashikage Clan disbanded and the man who later took on the name Snake Eyes went into hiding, later turning up as a member of America's Elite, G.I.Joe, when Cobra rose to power.
But now he had an opportunity to kill Snake Eyes, and this time his plan wouldn't fail. It was fool proof. While fools rush in, he'd been formulating and instrumentally putting his plan together leaving nothing to chance. The orchestra was set, the curtains drawn, and now it was time for Snake Eyes to take his final bow into oblivion.
It was time to take matters into his own hands. He waited far too long for this to happen. If the courts denied him justice, then he would become the court and way sentence on Snake Eyes with his own brand of justice, becoming judge, jury and executor.
Behind him, the door to gain access to the roof creaked open and he heard a man's footsteps as they walked over gravel. "I would have thought a ninja made less noise than that if he wanted to sneak up on a person, Firefly," he said.
"It wasn't my intention to sneak up on you, Commander," he said. "But if I wanted to do so you wouldn't know that I was here."
"Ah, the over-confidence of a ninja," Cobra Commander said, still peering through his binoculars. "You are part of a dying breed, my friend, soon to be made extinct. The ninja are no longer needed with high-tech weaponry and satellite surveillance equipment. Nine tenths of the earth's surface is monitored 24/7. There's nothing you can do that someone won't be able to see. Face the facts."
"The ninja will never be extinct, Commander," Firefly replied. "We're faster, skilled, and more stealth, than any high-tech gadgetry that can ever be conceived. We've existed before humanity ever had the need for high-tech toys."
"Then why do you like then so much? Why don't you simply relay on your ninja skills like Storm Shadow or Slice or the Red Shadows?"
"Because you're correct in a sense, Commander. Much like the world has evolved, so much do the creatures that inhabit her."
Cobra Commander gave a slight chuckle. "You're so much more than a ninja, Firefly. You're more like me. It's the excitement of the hunt that drives us on. All these high-tech gadgets are merely tools to allow us to capture our prey more easily."
"Though something can be said about doing it the old fashion way."
"True, very true. But I've grown accustomed to using these tools. And with them I've done more than I could ever do without them."
"As have I."
"So, I see our little rouse convinced Kamakura and Storm Shadow. I never did trust him. And we need to watch him very closely."
"I've always had my eye on him," Firefly said. "Ever since you sent me to infiltrate the Arashikage Clan there has been something about him that I don't like."
"That he's better at ninjistu than you are?"
"Tommy Arashikage is nothing, and he knows it."
"My dear Firefly, do I hear a hint of jealousy in your voice?"
"I am not jealous of Storm Shadow," he said bluntly.
"I fear he does protest to much."
Firefly didn't respond to that. "Your people were a little slow in pulling the rope back to yank me threw that window. And the missile was too close for comfort." He said.
"I told Wild Weasel to make the attack convincing for both sides," Cobra Commander said.
"Where did you get a G.I.Joe Conquest to attack with?"
"We stole it from an irresponsible pilot who left it unattended at G.I.Joe headquarters just before Serpentor started his attack on Washington. I find attacking with an enemy aircraft against one of our own quite convincing, don't you think?"
"But what is the point? If you want Snake Eyes dead, why don't you just kill him? Why go through this charade to convince Kamakura Storm Shadow is his ally? It's a waste of time."
Cobra Commander quickly turned to him. "Because I don't just want to kill him, I want Snake Eyes to suffer like I suffered when my brother died at the hands of his family on that dusk filled night as he was driving home from work. He was killed instantly when Snake Eyes family smashed their car head-on into his. And Storm Shadow's relationship with Snake Eyes will help me in my goal."
"Snake Eyes lost his family too, his entire family," Firefly said.
"Are you questioning my motives?"
"No sir, I'm stating a fact. If you look at Snake Eyes dossier, his life has been wracked with tragedy and mishap. I'm guessing that's why he chose the name Snake Eyes. In the game Craps that's the worse hand you can get, and in doing so, you lose everything."
"As a result of the crash I also lost everything. My wife left me, my son rejected me - he even tried to assassinate me. I want Snake Eyes dead for what he did to me. But just to kill him won't do it, I'm going to destroy his mind bit by bit."
He turned back around and focused in on the one-one-one duel between Snake Eyes and Destro's assassin Wraith.
"I don't want him killed by Wraith," he said. "Tell Slice to interfere. Kamakura is on his way to his master. I want this to be a fair duel, but tell him not to go for the kill. I know how he likes to flip off the handle sometimes. The ninja mentality irritates me. You people think you know everything there is about the art of fighting. It's more than ninja hocus pocus tricks. I was a soldier once."
"And yet I've never seen you fight, Commander," Firefly said back.
Cobra Commander lowered the binoculars and then turned very slowly towards Firefly. He didn't like that one bit. He snarled beneath his metallic mask and his eyes shown through a glass shield expressed how angry he was by that remark. But he replied in a calm and collected manner. He'd learned not to yell at responses like that. Being calm created more of a scare.
"I'm a thinker, Firefly, a leader of men. I don't have to fight. My minions carry out my orders in the glory of their leader, me. It prevents me from getting my hands dirty. But if you want a demonstration, Firefly, I'd be more than happy to oblige."
With that metallic suit on you'll kill me. "No Commander," he said quickly. "I apologize. I didn't mean to question your combat abilities. Your prowess as a warrior is unquestionable." But without that suit on you're nothing. He actually thought.
"No Commander," he said quickly. "I apologize. I didn't mean to question your combat abilities. Your prowess as a warrior is unquestionable." He actually thought.He knew Firefly was just telling him what he wanted to hear, but he let his comment slip this time and returned to his observation of Snake Eyes and Wraith. Kamakura had now joined the fight and Wraith had his hands full. "Get Slice now, tell him Wraith needs help, but also tell him if he gets the chance kill'em!"
Firefly smirked behind his mask. "Yes Commander, I'll tell him." And Firefly exited the same way he entered.
"Your death will be mine to savior, Snake Eyes, and I will not be denied by any other, even if it means helping you defend against your enemy."
To Be Continued.