G I JOE - BACK TO REALITY - CH19
In the real world, Snake Eyes wore a mask that hide his real identity. But here in this artificial world, his face was bare for all who were watching to see. It wasn't scarred as most people would think. In fact, it had a baby-face quality that most people would adore. Movie star looks, some might say. And with his thick blonde hair and baby blue eyes and muscular body, he had it all in the looks department.
But not all was what it seemed. Mentally, Snake Eyes was a very scarred individual. And apart from an injury to his larynx that prevented him from speaking, an accident that he endured in military service, you'd never think a little swearing would cause him pain…
Snake Eyes had never heard someone swear horridly the way Firefly was right now. The nastiest language ever to come out of another human's mouth was spewing from Firefly directed at Cobra Commander, who had just recently betrayed him, to be trapped in the Brainwave Scanner's new VR world Cobra Commander had created to wreck revenge on Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.
Snake Eyes clasped his hands over his ears. Storm Shadow did the same thing, nodding. Storm Shadow mouthed, "What a potty-mouth!" And Snake Eyes nodded in agreement.
"And what are you two doing?" Firefly directed his attention to them. The man's eyes narrowed with distain and contempt.
Storm Shadow lowered his hands after Snake Eyes did ,and said, "And where did you learn that kind of language?"
"Are you two children? Grow up! You'd swear too if you'd just been betrayed by a man you believed in," explained Shadow put his hand on his hips in mock disbelief. "He betrayed me too, remember? And so did you, matter-of-factly. So you'll get no sympathy from either of us."
Snake Eyes momentarily looked up. The sky swirled with wisps of white clouds across a molten red sky, as if thought patterns or bits of code were circulating for a change.
Snake Eyes could only attest to it be metaphoric to the mind of Cobra Commander. The entire atmosphere smacked of a man who desperately was in need to visit an insane asylum and be put on psycho-drugs.
"What's the bastard waiting for?" Firefly protested. "If he's going to kill us, why doesn't he get it over with?""I for one welcome the wait," Storm Shadow said calmly. He sat down in a lotus position. "It'll give us time to formulate a plan of escape."Snake Eyes agreed. But he did not sit down like his friend. He preferred to stand. The place where they were was almost vacant except for the picturesque sky and ground. He was no psyche-major, but in studying this, it might give him some insight into Cobra Commander's personality.
The rivalry between them was a personal one and one might even say coincidental as worldly events might go. Snake Eyes parents were on their way to the airport to pick him up after returning from active duty, injured. But on there way, his father, mother and sister, were involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, who just happen to be Cobra Commander's brother. All four were killed in the horrible accident.
But while Snake Eyes didn't hold a grudge. Cobra Commander did. And vowed to kill Snake Eyes for the death of his brother. It was an accident Snake Eyes was not even apart of it. He was merely labeled guilty by association because the crash involved his family.
Both Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander had clashed numerous times throughout the years, each time ending in a draw. Cobra Commander always had a scheme to kill Snake Eyes, while Snake Eyes always seemed to foil it. Now it seemed Cobra Commander was finally going to have the last laugh.
Snake Eyes was trapped in a VR world where anything could manifest itself and hurt him, and Cobra Commander was in complete control of it. And there was nothing Snake Eyes could do to stop the mad man!
And now Cobra Commander had just shown what kind of man he truly was by betraying one of his top generals for failing to kill Snake Eyes years earlier. An assassination that ended with the mercenary Zartan murdering the Blind Master inside the Arashikage Clan compound in Japan, where Snake Eyes was training under the tutelage of both Storm Shadow and his Uncle, the Blind Master. The training was a kindness extended to Snake Eyes by Storm Shadow after Snake Eyes entire family was killed. Storm Shadow even made Snake Eyes an extension of his Arashikage family. But that kindness ended up costing Storm Shadow everything.
The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. It had all started with Cobra Commander… Now it appeared, it was finally going to come to pass with Cobra Commander as the all-in-all victor.
Storm Shadow, who had joined G I Joe on/off again, sat with his eyes closed in mediation. Cobra Commander had used the Brainwave Scanner on him countless times, and Snake Eyes knew how psychologically damaging the machine could be. Storm Shadow, or Thomas Arashikage, was a severely psychologically scarred man. But to Snake Eyes surprise, Storm Shadow was also a man who had great mental strength that even Snake Eyes was envious of. A power Snake Eyes knew he could never match despite all his martial arts skill and mental discipline over the years.
Over the years, Snake Eyes had clashed with Storm Shadow. But when everything was said and done, their history was strong; their friendship was even stronger; drawing all the way back to when they served in the military together. Some bonds, some people - blood brothers - could never be separated, even by other people or snorted a protest. "Escape? How? There's no way to get out of this blasted world Cobra Commander has created other than disconnecting us from the Brainwave Scanner and that can only be done from the outside!""Kamakura will do it!" Storm Shadow replied, his eyes still closed. "I'm attempting to send him a mental message. I feel a change in our fortune coming soon. All we can do is wait.""And how the hell can you send him a mental message? You're not psychic, no matter how much martial arts you know? I know true psychics; Cobra Commander's even employed some. You ninja are - "
Snake Eyes put a finger to his mouth, hushing Firefly. Firefly was about to protest, but Snake Eyes put up a finger of warning to the man. And Firefly took it to Shadow smiled. "There…Kamakura is free!"
"What? What do you mean?" asked Firefly. "How could you possibly know that?"
Storm Shadow opened his eyes. "We ninja have a sacred connection with each other that other people could only dream of," he said. "I trained Kamakura for a time, as did Snake Eyes, as did Jinx, my sister. Kamakura may be lacking in a few disciplines, but I truth him, as does Snake Eyes."
Firefly crossed his arms across his chest and snorted.
To be continued…