CHAPTER TWENTY: The Abernathy's Angels Official Rollcall
NIGHTSHADE
"You're being awfully quiet, Sea Witch."
"I'm thinking." Sedna said scathingly, glaring sideways at Jungle Cat.
"What is on your mind, your mood is putting everyone else on edge."
Sedna exhaled slowly through her nose and straightened up, folding her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes. Duke's mind was in turmoil, the funeral hadn't helped ease his sorrow and Sedna was at her wits end; she'd found him begging Jungle Cat for a witch doctor and came a little too close to giving him a concussion.
Sedna had called this village home for a few years now after accomplishing her revenge, and Jungle Cat had been an ever patient father figure despite her cold demeanour and temper; she owed him plenty and he'd done so much for the Joes amassing in Australia. Not many had been allowed into the village, but most were camped out nearby awaiting orders.
Sedna growled as Jungle Cat's heavy hand came down on her head with an amused chuckle, using her body as leverage as he stood up.
"I can hear the roar of a Nightstar jet, I shall go and wake your companions."
"Better late than never, I guess." Sedna rose up and eyed Jungle Cat's back. "And I don't appreciate the coddling, old man."
"I didn't see you protesting." He answered good-naturedly, tipping his head back to smile at her.
Sedna glared at his back for a moment longer before heading out beyond the village's border, eyeing the sleek black jet hovering over the earth. It landed silently, waves of dust rolling away from the belly of the plane as the lower deck opened up. A short woman with reddish brown hair stepped off and grinned at Sedna's unimpressed expression.
"You're late, Nightshade." She said coolly.
"And you're early, as always." Nightshade smirked. "Missed me?"
"Barely. What have you got?"
"How much time do you have?"
Every outsider fell in love with Snake Eyes when he bothered to show himself outside the Arashikage compound. The main compound was located near a small village acutely aware of the ninja threat near them, but the ninja presented themselves very respectfully and Snake Eyes was no slouch in the politeness department.
But Snake Eyes was at least an attainable goal instead of a lofty ambition, but Karin liked a challenge. The clan heir, Tomisaburo Arashikage was a stick in the mud, always reserved and always perfect. He followed the rules like an obedient dog but Karin wanted the uncontrollable storm – not in a romantic way, ew, no. Karin was eight, she just wanted the ten year old to loosen up a little bit.
So she stuck a crab in his bed. Then filled his pillow with wet grass. Culminating in a spectacular trap that had him dangling over the pond behind the dojo. She didn't escape punishment for that though, scrubbing down the dojo was not fun but the startled look on Tomi's face was so worth it.
And then one night, after they'd snuck out to spar, everything changed. The Arashikage kept out of all clan disputes and the one brewing between Iga and Koga was legendary. In hindsight, Tomi had likely been the target of the kidnapping instead of her but whoever was sent fumbled miserably. Karin would wake up days later in an even older compound in the midst of a council of greying old men and a sparse patch of young men and women a few years older than she, all clad in red.
They claimed honest mistake but offered to build her up so strong that she'd gain the admiration of all those whom she desired. At eight, she just wanted to go home because her father would worry. Later that same night, one of girls would whisper about the assassination she was sent on, "His name was Night-something. Went down like a sag of potatoes".
So there was her challenge. She'd wait for the right moment to get the hell out of there and go back home. So she trained, she did whatever those old farts told her to until they were too slow to catch up to her. It took seven fucking years to get out of that hellhole, crossing the Pacific Ocean on a fishing boat, taking over a pirate ship, before swimming through the frigid waters off Canada's Western coast. Going straight to the Arashikage would be obvious, and she was hardly obvious anymore. So she stumbled, half dead, through the northern wilderness until another girl with emerald green eyes dragged her into a cabin built in the middle of nowhere.
"Logan!" she screamed, bursting through the open door with Karin slung awkwardly over her back. "Logan!"
"What, I heard you the first time –what the hell?!"
Karin was this close to splitting a seam as she started laughing, the man's hair was dusted with pink glitter.
"Get her on the table," spoke a calmer voice from the staircase, tying his ebony hair back and examining the cuts on Karin's feet.
"Is she going to be OK, Hideki?" the girl asked, slightly repulsed but equally concerned. She held Karin's hand as Hideki carefully pulled Karin into a sitting position, his fingers flicking along the scars from the lashings. The look on his face seemed vaguely familiar, kind of like how Tomi looked after the Hard Master struck her the first time for her disobedience. In an instant, she knew he'd seen wounds like hers.
"I think so. Theresa, please go upstairs and get her a spare set of clothes, she's about your size."
"Got it!"
Karin watched Theresa run upstairs, then peered back at Logan as he shook the glitter out of his hair. He and Hideki shared a look and both helped Karin back onto her feet and into a small bathroom.
"Clean up, we'll get food for you ready."
She ended up staying with them for a month until Hideki was willing to let her go. She decided he was a lot like Tomi if he didn't have a stick up his ass. She wondered if he changed at all in her absence.
But there were things that needed her attention even before the challenge of Tomi, namely her father's company and affairs. One day, she'd get back at those who had murdered her father but in order to combat them, she needed more assets.
When she had time, Karin returned to the cabin as often as she could with supplies; although the last time she'd set foot in that house, it looked as though a turbulent storm tore it to shreds.
"What are these, exactly?" Sedna muttered, holding up a black latex suit with a look that screamed annoyed.
"Tactical suit. Acts like a second skin, regulates heat, senses enemies…Certainly more subtle than those Accelerator Suits." Nightshade remarked snidely.
"A bit tight, isn't it?"
"You've got the bod, baby." Nightshade said, completely serious.
"One size fits all then?" Sedna deflected, feeling her cheeks warm slightly.
"Of course. I trust you've got the weapons bit handled."
Sedna nodded. They were able to salvage weaponry from secure cashes hidden throughout the world, and Roadblock's mission also afforded them a few specialty pieces. She made a mental note to seek him out later, maybe he'd have a better time getting Duke ready for the action.
"Will you be joining us then?" Sedna asked, dropping the suit back into the crate and leading the petite woman into the village.
"I have a bone to pick with a certain Arashikage ninja, so for the time being, yes."
"Snake Eyes is handing that."
"Then I'll take the interrogation." Nightshade said, a devious twinkle in her violet eyes. Sedna frowned. "Oh relax, I'll be good."
WHISPER
Sedna trusted Nightshade with acquainting herself with the rest of team and explaining her equipment; the power dynamics were certainly going to be interesting with the absence of General Hawk. She'd heard nothing from her surrogate uncle in a few weeks, only that he had moved his family to a safe place and would be staying with them "for a while". Whatever that meant.
The next thing on her to-do list was seek out another of Jungle Cat's wards whom Hawk had also named a niece, although like Nightshade she did not take his name. Sedna weaved her way between the huts until finally wandering towards the stables, giving a group of curious boys a look before she walked inside.
It only made sense to find Whisper loitering among the stables with the horses like an elf taken directly from Tolkien's books. Whisper was a master of several different languages, an excellent tracker and deadly warrior, so Sedna slid in beside her with a quiet grin. Unfazed, Whisper tilted her head back and blew the hair out of her face, the jagged scar that ran over one of her eyes visible for a few seconds.
"You've been taking care of them." She noted with an impressed tone. "Didn't think you liked horses."
"I knew you'd have words with me if I didn't. How badly were you hit?"
"I lost a couple dogs," Whisper admitted and Sedna noticed immediately that the German Shepard, Macy, was nowhere in sight. "And some good men. You?"
"Avoided most of it. I was solo in the rainforest."
"What on earth were you doing there?"
"Poaching." Sedna deadpanned and Whisper raised an eyebrow. "The zoos were starting to wonder what we're doing with all the exotic animals we've been taking in, was ordered to recruit some wild talent."
Whisper snorted at his surrogate sister's choice of words, reaching into a bag and grabbing a handful of oats.
"I made sure they were all safe. They've been transported to your ranch." Sedna continued languidly. "What happened to the ones with you?"
"I brought them with me, of course." Whisper answered nonchalantly.
"A group of tigers, lions, wolves, and bears...Where exactly do we hide those from Cobra?"
As if on cue, a symphony of deep mewling, muted roars, and rumbling growls rolled in from the darkness of the stables. Whisper, seeing the mildly distressed look on Sedna's face gently patted her arm as she fed the closest mare.
"They won't attack anyone." Whisper said reassuringly, backing away from the horse to kneel by an open cage. Sedna watched warily as the woman stuck her arm out and stroked the large orange tiger with bright eyes, its tail thumping against the ground as it rolled onto its side.
"Don't look so surprised, the old man's shown me some favour too, you know."
"Just don't let it go to your head, there are enough invading egos here."
Whisper let out an unladylike snort and stood back up, running her hand through her bangs and sighing. She grinned and Sedna shrugged her shoulders, throwing an arm around the shorter woman's neck and dragging her outside. They passed through a crowd of children and caught up with Jungle Cat, he meandered in between the two of them and put comforting hands on each of their shoulders. Sedna huffed.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
"You're about as fine as a coiled cobra," Jungle Cat murmured. "I can lead the meeting, if you wish."
"I could do it." Whisper offered, receiving mixed looks from her companions.
"Too blunt, I'll do it." Sedna growled. "Besides, I know everyone, you don't."
"Fair enough."
When everyone had assembled for the meeting out in the cool night air, it became very clear how little everyone knew each other. Abernathy's Angels – as Sedna loathed to classify them – were enigmas. Whisper was usually tied up training animals for combat and saw action only when it was extremely necessary; Nightshade was not formerly part of the Joe program nor was she on contract (that and she rarely needed General Hawk for anything), and Sedna was just an unfriendly personality.
Roadblock's team consisted of the veteran Lady Jaye and the rookie Flint. Lady Jaye was much like Scarlet in terms of intelligence and acting as a sort of buffer between her teammate's egos, she was also a weapons specialist with a little more experience. Flint was in the same vein as Ripcord and Duke when they initially joined up – cocky and naïve. Both had undergone some counselling from the village elders, focused on the path ahead.
Roadblock had also successfully broken Duke out of his stupor and while the blond soldier avoided Sedna, he was at least channeling his anger against their true enemy.
A laptop had been hooked up to all sort of complicated devices, supervised by Breaker, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, a video link was established somewhere in Russia.
The first thing that appeared on the screen after the static finally cleared was Erebus, an old friend of Snake Eyes. Several of the assembled crowd seemed to recognize him, Sedna had crossed paths with him a few times whenever she found herself traipsing about Japan. Aside from his tracking skills and impressive weapons and combat training, he was also a notorious flirt. Sedna moved her hands over her face, pressing her fingers into her eyes sockets just as Erebus's garbled voice started speaking.
"I know we're about to get into things but we have a problem that needs addressing." Erebus grimaced at the look Whisper cast him.
"What problem?" Sedna growled irritated.
"We've lost contact with Snake Eyes and Jinx. They were closing in on Storm Shadow, I think they found his hideout but we've heard nothing else since."
"How long ago was this?" Scarlet interrupted.
"Five days, we check in every three."
Sedna sighed deeply and moved her fingers into her temples. A look around the circle of soldiers provided mixed reactions of anger and distress. Sedna looked over at Nightshade who wore a closely guarded expression of indifference, the bright-eyed woman compared it to Scarlet's face and pressed her lips into a thin line.
"Fine. Nightshade, you're going to Japan."
Scarlet flushed crimson. Nightshade raised an innocent eyebrow.
"Ah," Erebus said sagely. "We only wanted to inform you of the situation, we're closer than you guys are and we can handle it."
"Whose this "we" you keep referring to?" Nightshade queried and Erebus opened his mouth to answer when a woman with dark blue hair shoved Erebus out of his seat and sat down. Nightshade did a double take.
"Hang on a second, don't I know you?" Nightshade cocked her head to one side, eyeing the brilliant scar across the woman's face. The blue-haired woman peered at Nightshade and it looked like a lightbulb appeared over her head; her eyes lit up with recognition and she nodded.
"You crashed at the cabin before – " she made a face. "Look, we'll have a good long talk about it when you meet us in Iga." She looked at Sedna. "Leave the ninja to us. We have a flight to catch so Nightstar can fill us in on the rest of the plan, OK? Lovely, bye."
The video cut out and Nightshade turned around and gave the Joes a look.
"What the hell is going on?"
Ah, I meant to upload this sooner...hehe.
Jungle Cat and Whisper are here courtesy of MustangLover97 and Nightshade is blackrosewitch1996's.
Hope I got their characters down (and thanks for being so patient with me)