CHAPTER THIRTEEN: My Name Was Theresa
Duke leaned his back against the bars of Ana's cell, tilting his head between the bars so he could watch her pull a white T-shirt over her head.
"You know," she said, "I didn't think I'd need a bodyguard to watch me dress."
"I'm not really looking though."
"You know what I mean, Duke."
The blond soldier stared across the hall and sighed, his eyes shutting for a few sparse seconds before Ana's slender arms wound themselves around his neck, through the bars. He absently moved his head towards her skin and pressed his lips into her arm. Ana had been placed under strict supervision as she underwent detoxification of the nanomites plaguing her body, and although they excelled in repairing damaged cells, the nanomites were responsible for sealing off Ana's memories and transforming her into mindless puppet for Cobra.
Most of the nanomites had been successfully removed save for a cluster attached to her brain stem and no doctor was exactly confident in removing them, so until the Joes could excess Cobra's research, an inhibitor ring had been designed to (hopefully) cancel out any attempts at mind control. Ana's inhibitor was a metallic ring locked around her neck, Duke wished they could've designed something less bulky.
"Do you honestly think Cobra's gonna come and get me? If Storm Shadow's alive and kicking, I'm hardly worth the trouble."
"I don't know, babe, but we're taking precautions." He looked up at her. "But I could leave…if you really want me to."
"Oh stop it."
Ana got up from the floor and slumped into her bed chained to the wall, gathering up her dark hair and pinning it up on her head. Duke rose and gave her a quick smile, turning his head as Scarlet approached.
"We need a word," she said to Ana and pulled Duke down the hall. Once out of earshot, she turned to him. "Snake Eyes succeeded in his mission."
"That's great, how is she?"
"From what Snake Eyes has bothered to tell me, she's in shock. She's lashed out at him a few times…"
"Where is she?"
"Back at base, the story is that she's the General's niece."
"That happens a lot, doesn't it?" Duke said, eyeing Scarlet carefully. "What are our orders?"
"Stay here, we're expecting something to happen any time now."
Jinx threw a punch directed at Snake Eyes's torso, anticipating his arms falling to his stomach to block – so she shovelled her foot into his hands, leapt up, and rammed her knee into his chin. Snake Eyes staggered backwards, ducking under Jinx's punches, before he sunk to the ground and spun his legs under her feet. She flipped away, grabbing a bo staff from the wall behind her and rushing towards him, thrusting the pole this way and that. The rest of the class watched in silent awe having never seen ninja fight before, most weren't exactly expecting ninja in an America special forces unit but they looked beyond that for the moment.
Snake Eyes continued dodging Jinx's onslaught of attacks, waiting until she raised the staff over her head so he could lunge at her waist. The force of the fall made Jinx loosen her grip on the weapon, Snake Eyes pinned her down and squeezed his knees into her hips as her legs kicked and flailed behind him. Undaunted, Jinx rammed her forehead against her master's, his grip slackened and Jinx pulled both her legs to her chest and forced them against the older ninja. Snake Eyes bent over backwards, flipping away elegantly and picking up the staff in the process. Jinx sent him a seething glare and ran for the swords, drawing two and racing at him full speed.
He blocked each of her attacks, watching bits of wood fly off in all directions. The audience was still caught up in the action but they were beginning to sense a growing tension that wasn't just friendly competition. Jinx spun around, the blades gleaming brightly in the artificial light, and she brought them both down on the bo staff. It shattered, splinters of wood twirling in the air, and Snake Eyes kept the two broken halves. As Jinx rushed towards him again, one sword kept to block attacks to her chest and the other one brandished high over her head, Snake Eyes dipped low and hooked the broken parts to the hilt of her blades, forcing them out of Jinx's hands as he spun and kicked her solidly in the stomach. There was an audible gasp from the crowd and Jinx rolled onto her side with groan, freezing as Snake Eyes held the blades under her chin.
Another fierce glare was sent in his direction but she blinked the anger away, moving onto her knees and bowing until her forehead touched the ground. The other students took this as a sign of the battle's end and started clapping. Snake Eyes helped Jinx back to her feet and the two of them bowed. As these were new recruits, very few had any experience with sign language so the ninja master trusted Jinx to address them.
"That will be all for today, Snake Eyes only wished to show you what you may soon be able to accomplish. Tomorrow, real training begins and I for one suggest you both physically and mentally prepare for the horrors my master will lay upon you."
A few recruits visibly paled, another few nodded uncertainly, and others grinned. Jinx bowed again as Snake Eyes rang a small bell that served as their dismissal. A couple of students came to thank Jinx for the battle – all blushing terribly – and as the room emptied out, Jinx caught sight of the woman.
She was taller than Jinx was, regrettably. Older too but not by much, with very short dark brown hair and green eyes. She was dressed like most of the personnel in the compound; white T-shirt, camo pants, and combat boots. Jinx couldn't ignore the incredible scar that stretched across her face nor the extensive burn marks covering her body, as there wasn't much she could actually do to cover them up. Jinx smirked a tiny bit as the woman waited until the hallway cleared before making her entrance, folding her arm loosely over her chest.
"Thalia," the woman said, holding out her hand. "Thalia James but everyone calls me Jamie."
"Jinx." The lady ninja offered a tight smile and gripped Thalia's hand, mildly surprised as the other woman squeezed with just as much intensity.
"Snake Eyes said you aided in the rescue, so thanks." Thalia said lamely, still not letting go.
"It is my duty to help my master, regardless of your gratitude."
Snake Eyes let out a long sigh and shook his head, both girls took their hands back and Thalia allowed the briefest of smiles to cross over her face.
"Oh, I'm sure," her smile suddenly looked forced as she turned to Snake Eyes. "Be careful with this one, that personable personality of hers is killer."
"Don't I know it, was there something you needed?"
Thalia bit her lip, receiving a scolding look by Snake Eyes as her teeth punctured the scar on her lip. She gave Jinx the barest of glances and Jinx sensed it was time for her to leave, Snake Eyes was quick to dismiss her anyway. The young ninja picked up her discarded swords, bowed, and promptly left the training area for someone willing enough to play punching bag. After Jinx safely cleared the hall, Snake Eyes guided Thalia back to secluded area of the dojo where no one could see them.
"Thalia?"
"I was also thinking about Nora, Ophelia, and Rowan but I don't know…at least I saved you trouble of giving me a nickname so…yeah." She trailed off a little awkwardly.
"I like it," Snake Eyes signed sincerely. "Now, what did you need?"
"I was wondering if we could go outside or something, I'm not terribly fond of the lack of windows sans the dinky little ones here."
Snake Eyes followed her gaze to the portholes and chuckled quietly.
"I'd have to clear it with Hawk," he signed carefully, Thalia frowned instantly. "Or we could sneak out for bit, provided you keep this a secret."
"My lips are sealed, Hayabusa. Let's go!"
Thalia was up on her feet and practically vibrating by the time Snake Eyes slowly and very deliberately took his time to stand up. He peered out into the hallway and backed into the wall to shut off the lights and automatically lock the doors. Thalia blinked in the near complete darkness and laughed, stretching her arms out in front of her as she hesitantly walked forward.
"If I didn't trust you, this would probably be terrifying." She swung her head from side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of him but only hearing the slightest sound of his feet on the ground.
"Kay, now you're creeping me out, dude."
Thalia jerked as Snake Eyes wrapped a hand around her wrist and she hissed at him, sliding her hand into his palm and allowing the ninja to guide her. She heard something open, a blast of cool air hit her face, and Snake Eyes tapped his foot against the ground. Thalia raised an eyebrow and started tapping the ground, feeling a bump under the sole of one of her feet. She walked over it and heard the clear sound of a door closing, Snake Eyes turned subtly and Thalia followed blindly.
After a while a little while, bright white lights started flowing upwards ahead of them and it reminded Thalia of the stair lights in movie theatres. Snake Eyes let go of her hand and moved over, allowing her up first. She rolled her eyes and felt for the railing, starting the long trek up.
"Just how big is this place anyway?" she wondered, looking over her shoulder. Snake Eyes was barely visible and she knew he was signing something but couldn't quite make it out. Sighing, she fell in step with him and raised her hand, palm up.
"Very big." He wrote in her hand.
"Lovely. How far is it before we move up into the stratosphere?"
"Not long. Watch your step."
Once they reached the last step, Snake Eyes walked off further into the darkness and opened a door. Thalia blinked rapidly and shielded her eyes as she walked out into the hot dry air. The building beneath her feet was grey and when she looked out over the edge of the roof, she was met with a vast orange desert dotted with few wrinkly cacti and far, far away was a metal fence.
"Where are we?"
"I think you can figure it out. Remember: we're still in America."
"Um…hot places in America…Las Vegas…Arizona…that's a state….Wait a minute." Thalia looked around again. "Are we in…Area 51?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny."
Snake Eyes left Thalia at her room and was on his way to the dojo when Jinx ran up to him. She didn't appear as angry as she did after their sparring earlier in the day and informed him that the General wished to see them both immediately. The ninja were outside the General's door moments later and Hawk gestured to the television mounted on the wall as a security tape played. Inside, Jinx and Snake Eyes saw two glass containers, the next second showed someone who looked remarkably like Snake Eyes standing in front of them. Jinx gave her teacher a look but Snake Eyes was focused on the screen. The doppelganger, as it were, suddenly lashed out and cut down the guards, shattering the glass of one container and moving out of the camera's view.
The camera cut to a hallway where the very recognizable figure of Cobra Commander strutted down the hallway, the Snake Eyes impersonator pulled off the mask and tossed it aside as guards blocked off both ends of the hallway. Cobra Commander was tossed two guns and started firing, the other man drew out two swords and swung them around, beheading at least two other men. Amidst the fighting, Hawk paused the tape where the face of the other man was visible. Snake Eyes clenched his fists. The focused look on Storm Shadow's face was unmistakable.
Hello! Early update, I'd like to do this kind of thing regularly until you guys are finally caught up with me.
Had a little trouble because I somehow deleted Chapter Nineteen and had to rewrite it over again but I salvaged most all of it, added some stuff here and there.
Anyway, sit tight, the next chapter's a doozie.