CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Siege on the Seas
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."
As Scarlet finished speaking, a loud boom hit a spot on the lower deck, disrupting the ship's equilibrium and sending everyone tipping over to one side. The alarm was screaming down every hallway as several, smaller booms smashed into the ship again, tipping the boat in the opposite direction. Duke and Scarlet slid along the floor and crashed into one of the walls, Duke's chest collided with the metal first and then Scarlet's chin smashed awkwardly against one of his shoulder blades. The two of them climbed back to their feet where Duke cast a look in the direction of Ana's cell and gave his companion a pleading look.
"Fine," she said shortly. "Go and get her. I'll find the others."
"I'll meet you topside," he gave her a swift nod and took off running. One of the walls blew open and Duke had seconds to duck under a volley of gunfire, sliding under the debris and glancing outside. At least three helicopters hovered in the sky, a dark green cobra head was painted on either side of hull along with the wings. A tad tacky at best, fucking annoying at worst. Duke rolled to his feet and smashed into the bars of the cells as a small missile collided into the ship, the blast of heat carrying him forward as the floor opened up behind him. A volley of voices echoed behind him, several heavily armed men swung into the many openings within the ship and started shooting.
As the ship rocked back and forth with each attack, Duke crawled along the bars until he reached Ana's cell and the two marines guarding it. Another shell piercing the hull and Duke explained the situation as he knew it, trying to keep a level head. He also demanded the keys to Ana's cell, he wasn't going to leave her behind and if they had any objections, they could certainly try and stop him. The two marines shared a look, grimaced, and reluctantly allowed Ana out – she dipped into a dramatic bow and blew kisses before another tremor sent her careening into Duke's chest.
"We're under attack," he shouted over her head.
"Hadn't noticed." Ana replied dryly, wrapping a hand around the heavy collar around her throat to keep it from jumping around too much. The four of them started running down a hallway, pausing as the sound of harsh voices ordered a strike in the one of the rooms. Ana spared a look at the marines and smiled as innocently as she could, not even wincing at the gunfire.
"Sorry ma'am, we don't have the key." One of them said gruffly, he moved out from behind the wall and tossed a grenade but reacted too slow as hail of bullets pierced his chest. Duke cursed, ordering them backwards and down another hall of rooms, all destroyed and full of bullet-ridden bodies.
"We need backup," Ana hissed, reaching for one of Duke's pistols and turning around. She shot three men down, cursing as a bullet sliced through her shoulder.
"If we reach the tower, we should be able to call for assistance." The marine said, pausing in the middle of the hallway. "I'll cover you, go!"
Duke set his mouth into a frown, caught between wanting to take the man with them or leave him behind. The marine had a grim look in his eyes and gave a two-finger salute, dashing down the hall and tackling a group of soldiers. Ana tugged on her lover's arm, dragging him up a flight of stairs just as before the ship teetered left, the duo went sliding down another hallway and nearly flew out a hole.
"How the hell did they find us?" Duke roared angrily, yanking a metal pipe from the wall and holding it in front of him. He passed his other gun to Ana and the two of them pressed their backs together, meandering down corridors and rooms on full alert.
"Don't look at me." Ana said, firing a shot into a room. "Where are we going?"
"That stairwell." A line of Cobra soldiers stood there, waiting.
"Well then, let's go."
Duke nodded briskly and charged down the corridor, swinging the pipe and at least trying to mimic Snake Eyes's swordplay. Sure, he'd wrestled the ninja into submission on his first day but he never quite mastered the whole sword thing. At least he did better than Ripcord, who not only managed to shatter his training sword but nearly took off a couple fingers as well. Almost as good a shot as Scarlet, Ana was pulling off headshots as if she was born for it – Duke wondered for a second if the nanomites had anything to do with her calm demeanor but chose to ignore that for the time being. They smashed through the squad of soldiers and ran up the stairs, slipping down the galley hall as the ship lurched forward. They fell solidly onto their knees, riding the momentum into the games rooms and picking off enemies like one of those shoot'em up games at the arcade.
As the groups of Cobra troops became more and more frequent, Duke passed the pipe to Ana who still retained a lot of Storm Shadow's lessons, and though she was hindered by the weight of the collar, she was nimble and flexible enough to dodge. A few of troops seemed to even recognize her, they were hesitant to strike and unlikely to cause any real harm. Ana was content enough to knock them out if it meant leaving faster.
Exiting onto the flight deck, however, was fruitless. Most of the planes had been shot to pieces and Duke couldn't see where Scarlet or any of the other survivors. Reminded of the marine from earlier, he instead looked to the command centre and the two of them quickly sprinted up the stairs. The crew had been murdered and the main console was on fire, Ana pushed her fingers between the collar and her skin with a groan. A dark band of purple-black bruises was starting to form.
"So much for getting help." she muttered.
"We have to go down, they might've gone to the submarine." Ana groaned again and Duke took her shoulders. "Trust me, OK?"
"I trust you," she said breathlessly. "It's everyone else I don't trust."
Duke pushed his forehead against hers, inhaled the scent of her skin before they dove back into the ship. Everything was starting to creek at this point, the lower bits of the hull hadn't been blown to shit yet and looking out the holes found that a few sailors and soldiers had found their way into the water on easily identifiable orange rafts. Cobra was focused more on the people than the actual ship which worked out well for those inside, but those on the outside would still battle weather conditions and lack of supplies.
They rushed through the empty kitchen area just as something big and bright barrelled into Duke's side. The two of them skated along the floor and Ana screamed Duke's name, the figure rose and looked up at her.
"Why is it always him?!"
"Destro?" Duke coughed as the hulking, silver-coated man veered around and punched the air where his head once was.
Duke staggered backwards and ducked under another punch, gasping as Destro tackled him into the wall. The man's entire head was coated in metal, preserving his gaunt cheeks and deep-set eyes which were all one colour. He could see Ana aiming the gun at them but she hadn't committed to pulling the trigger, shooting Destro in the head might cause the bullet to ricochet. Duke turned his attention back to the maniac as Destro pulled his head away, Duke squirmed out of his grip as Destro slammed his face into the wall.
"Pipe!" the Joe shouted, catching the metal stick and ramming into Destro's back. The bigger man shouted angrily, Duke ducked under a blind grab and swung the pipe into the back of Destro's head. A loud wail erupted from his head and he collapsed with a heavy thud. He gazed up at Ana and vainly crawled towards her even as she backed away, the guns shaking in her hands.
"I could've given you everything!" He howled. "Cars, mansions, money, beauty, power. We could've ruled this world together, under Cobra!"
"And therein lies the problem," she retorted, the bit of sass stopping the tremors.
Duke jumped onto Destro's back and pulled his arms behind him, clumsily slipping his wrists into handcuffs and smashing the pipe into his head again. A dull ring came off Destro's head like an old church bell and the man slumped into the ground with a flat note.
"Do we take him with us for questioning?" Ana wondered, tapping his head with her boot.
"I have all the answers I need right now." Duke grumbled, herding Ana away. "I don't know how long he's going to stay down and I don't want to be here when he wakes up."
"Right, right."
The two of them climbed down some stairs and both let out sighs of relief as Scarlet ordered the remaining personnel onto a small submarine. She spotted the two of them and nodded swiftly, but her face quickly melted into panic as an inhuman roar echoed in the chamber. Duke pushed Ana forward, pleading with to "get to the damn sub" as he whipped around and tried to halt Destro's movement. His feet slid along the floor and Scarlet unclipped the small crossbow from her hip, releasing an explosive arrow that soared right into Destro's shiny head. Duke swore as it bounced backward with a shrill ting! And he watched it fly –
Destro screamed.
He blindly barrelled into Duke, sending the smaller man flying backwards as he caught Ana in his arms. The arrow had burrowed deep into her back. If one had to guess, the tip had rebounded off her ribcage and stabbed through one of her lungs, disengaging the timer on the tip. Duke forced himself into a sitting position, his eyes growing wide at the sight of Ana's lifeless body clutched to Destro's chest.
"Get your hands off her," Duke murmured. He staggered to his feet, brandishing the pipe and moving closer to the sobbing Destro. "I said, get your hands off her."
"Duke!"
The Joe brought the pipe down on Destro's head, repeatedly. He did not stop until there was a noticeable dent. He did not stop until Destro released his death grip on Ana's body. It was Scarlet pulling him away from them both that snapped him out of it, the room was starting to fill with water.
"I am not leaving her!" he shrieked. He jerked away and ran for Ana's body, arranging her limbs into his arms and lifting her off the ground. Scarlet shook her head, trying to block his way into the submarine.
"We have no place for her."
"I don't care! I'm not leaving her with him."
Destro was still sobbing, gasping as the water moved over his face and down his throat. He refused to move or maybe he couldn't perceive the danger of drowning anymore.
"Duke! We can't bring her – "
"Listen to me! She's coming with us." He practically snarled, shoving his shoulder against Scarlet's and disappearing into the submarine. Scarlet let out a breath and shook her head, quickly following him as the craft sunk into the water.
Can't forget about the rest of the crew.
Happy New Year folks, today's gonna be a double upload - one now and another chapter later tonight.
Here's hoping 2016 isn't complete shit.