The sound of the sea rushes the ear drums. The smell of the salty air and the wind on John’s face was both calming and exhilarating. He opens his eyes to see nothing but the ocean, he is on a sail ship with some other shady looking characters. Why are we all dressed like pirates John thinks to himself, and why do I have this chain on my ankle? Pinky stops playing her harpsicord and looks at John with complete disgust. “Move it you scallywag. We didn’t let you out of the brig to just stand there”. “Yeah you old Butt Pirate” chimes in Knuckles “Hurry up and mop this puke up before I make you lick it up”. Just then EO bursts through the door from his Captain’s quarters “No one is doing anything on my ship without my permission, got it you scurvy dogs? Now who the hell let you out of the brig?” EO towers over John waiting for an answer bad enough to warrant him the right to throw him over board. “It was me” said a voice from high up in the crow’s nest. The pirate Phoenix comes gliding down the ladder almost as graceful as a pigeon landing. Pinky says to herself “How the hell does he do that?” Phoenix proceeds to explain to EO “I thought he could use the exercise by cleaning up the mess these two made last night when they got so drunk and puked all over the decks and then passed out on top of each other”. Knuckles interrupts “In our defense that wasn’t until after we took down that fort” Then Pinky responds “Yeah I did all the work as usual but we got the treasure from the fort”. “I found the treasure first” says Knuckles combatively. “Come on Lomane, you were so damn drunk I had to go find your stupid ass after you launched yourself from the cannon, AGAIN!” Knuckles soon remembering the night before then puts his head down and says ”oh yeah, I forgot about that.” EO lets out a big sigh of disappointment and turns back to John. “Well what are you waiting for, keep mopping”. Phoenix climbs back up to the top of his perch and starts scanning the ocean horizon. He spots another pirate ship and they are heading right for them. Phoenix starts ringing the bell next to him as loud as he could “Ship approaching get to the cannons!” Pinky jumps to her feet and runs down to start collecting cannon balls and other things needed for the fight that is about to start. Knuckles takes the sails and adjusts them to get maximum wind speed while EO steers the ship to try and cut off the fast approaching enemy vessel. Phoenix glides back down the ladder and loads a cannon ball “READY TO FIRE!” he yells. EO was successful at placing the ship directly in front of the enemy ship so they would not have a clear shot with their cannons. As the ship got closer Phoenix yells “FIRE!” all four cannons burst, sparks of gun powder and smoke ignite the whole side of the ship. The concussion from the blasts were deafening. The enemy ships front end was so damaged it started flooding, instantly sinking the ship and the crew on board. In the excitement and rush of the moment no one noticed that one of the enemy pirates had slipped aboard. He quickly ran down to the bottom of the ship took out his pistol and fired one shot at the gun powder barrel below. The explosion erupted underneath the whole ship instantly killing the enemy pirate. When they finally got back on their feet and realize what had happened, it was too late. The ship was going down and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Phoenix yells for them all to abandon ship, EO runs back inside the captains quarters “I can’t leave without my hat” he yells, then Knuckles runs off “I need my floaties, I still can’t swim” meanwhile Pinky plays the harpsicord and sings “Oh how much I would love to be a Moose, It would be the greatest, just checkin’ out my Caboose.” The ship now almost under water John starts running to jump off the side, his leg jerks back, he was still chained to the ship. He screams for help but no one was around except for Pinky who was so wrapped up in her song about being a Moose she just wasn’t listening. The ship starts to turn on its side and flip over, John falls into the water with the entire ship on top of him. He knew this was the end for him, he tries frantically to free himself but he just can’t eventually he feels the air in his lungs start beg for air, he can’t hold hi breathe any longer and starts to choke on the salty water. John wakes up from his sleep gasping for air all soaking wet from Knuckles pouring a bottle of water on him in a twisted attempt to wake him up. “Wakey – Wakey sunshine. It’s time to go.” John spits at Knuckles in disgust. “You jerk.” Moose starts laughing “Well someone woke up all grumpy”. “Ok you guys knock it off. We need to get moving.” Phoenix looks directly at Moose “Hey Pinky, go help the Brain pack up please.” The team walk through the streets carefully, Phoenix and EO are constantly scanning the area for any activity. Phoenix throws his hand in the air signaling to the team that they had arrived at their destination. Phoenix approaches the rusty iron door that is clearly marked as a contamination area. He knocks three times then once more. After a few minutes a little door slides open at the bottom of the door, Phoenix takes the 12 pack of Diet Cola and slides it through inside. After a minute longer the door latch buzzes and the door is now free to open. John resists at first “I’m not going in a contaminated area, are you people crazy?” “Relax Lomane” says Knuckles “you only die once” and laughs as he shoves him through the door. Inside was a long empty hallway. The contamination signs were just a ploy to keep unwanted guests away. They make their way down the hall and see a glowing light seeping out the cracks of the door in front of them. EO opens the door to reveal a hidden technological marvel inside. The room was gigantic, perhaps an old Ball room that used to host fancy dinner parties. Now the walls are covered from one end to the other with video monitors, circuit boards wired up together and a handmade control panel where every wire in the place flowed to. It looked like the work of a mad man, a brilliant mad man. Every square inch of the city was being watched from this one spot, John even noticed a live feed of the extraction zone where they almost died. He could see the blast from the bomb Phoenix left, but no sign of Dryce and his buddy Collin. “What the hell is all this?” John asks. “This my dude is the nerve center of the NEW, New York City” said the little guy that was under one of the console panels fixing a bad connection. He gets up and introduces himself “You can call me Diet, Phoenix thinks you can help us.” EO mumbles under his breath “I still have my doubts”. “Anyway” says Phoenix putting his arm over Johns shoulder “I know this is going to be a hard pill to swallow, but the reason why I needed you was to show you something we found. The day I ran into Torex, he introduced me to Diet here. Diet has pieced together the missing events that shows what really happened to Agent Aaron Keener and what he found.” John’s eyes lit up with interest. “I mean this with all sincerity I did not believe them at first. But it’s best if I just show you what I saw.” He sits down John in one of the chairs, “Go ahead Diet, Play it for him”….
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Dryce scans the room with great intent and focus, he zeroes in on Moose and her wounded arm. “So what happened to you”? He asked inquisitively. “Is it that hard to see that I have been shot? Man you are dumb”. Snaps Moose. “Relax little one, just trying to be considerate”. Dryce tried his best to hide his true intentions and couldn’t mask the grin that was now written all over his face. He heard the shot that hit Moose before they stumbled onto this group. He paused for a moment and thought to himself, there is only one person that can take a shot at someone and still be a ghost. Could Badger be back in this area? It’s been so long since he saw him, but then again, there is no way it could have been Badger…. Badger doesn’t miss his target. Unless something is wrong, is he hurt perhaps? Did he finally meet his demise? All these thoughts started rushing through Dryces mind until he finally snaps out of it. Colin starts cautiously walking towards Torex. “Listen guys, we all know that this is a difficult time we live in and if we want to survive we have to think of our self-preservation” Dryce cuts off Colin and says “But we can do a lot better if we stick together” He gives a look to Colin who immediately understands where Dryce is going with his interruption. EO was clearly not falling for the fake sense of comradery they were offering and did not want them anywhere near the group. Dryce continuing with his inquisitive nature then asks Torex “So, where are you guys heading?” “None of your business” Torex replies with haste. Dryce steps in between Colin and Torex and makes a suggestion “Well the way I see it you guys are being hunted, and I have a theory on who might be the hunter; and if it is him then you are in big trouble.” EO points his weapon at Dryce “How do we know it wasn’t you that took that shot?” “You don’t” says Dryce, “But at this point how many other options do you have? They say strength is in numbers, and you can clearly use some more muscle. No offensive” he smirks at Moose while he starts making his way toward the door they came in through. Agent John finally breaks his silence “Look, I don’t know who you are but if these guys don’t trust you neither do I.” “I never asked you to trust me Agent, all I am saying is you are in my world now and today I happen to be feeling generous and will happily make sure you make it to your destination without too many more bullet holes.” EO and Torex both agree that they better play Dryce’s game for now, EO looks over at Colin and sarcastically says “Alright sweetheart, lead the way.” The team files out of the Electronics store leaving behind any thought on who the ghost shooter was, or if they were still out there. The group continued north on their journey, the silence was so great you could have heard a pin drop in the middle of the street. Without warning a few blocks east they see and hear a flair go up. John immediately becomes hopeful, it’s an extraction being called in by one of his fellow agents. His mind starts racing to formulate a plan to get him and Lamar out of there and on that extraction helicopter. Dryce looks over at the flair and says “Well looks like this is where we split off, No one calls in an extraction in my DZ without my permission.” He looks over at Colin and they both head toward the incoming extraction, John speaks up “But wait, we should go with you, what if something happens with us being separated?” EO knew something wasn’t right “What the hell do you mean? We don’t need him let’s continue on”. John rushes up to EO and says to him “If we take our eye off this guy he will double back and try to kill us, you know it as well as I do.” EO reluctantly agrees “Alright let’s stay on them, Torex keep your eyes peeled for anything weird”. They arrive at the empty parking garage where the extraction was taking place, there was only one Agent waiting there. Dryce pulls out and deploys his mobile shield, he looks over at Collin “Time to get to work”. They quickly move in as the agent was placing his bag on the extraction line dropped down by the helicopter. John turns to Lamar and says “Listen to me carefully, no matter what happens you grab a hold of that extraction line and don’t let go. GOT IT?!” Lamar shakes his head as he prepares himself mentally for what’s to come. A gun fight breaks out, both Dryce and Collin focus in on the unsuspecting agent, all of the sudden shots are being fired from all around the extraction area. It was a trap setup by the Agents. They had Dryce and Collin surrounded, they both hunker down behind the mobile shield cover that Dryce was holding on to. The shield was soaking up the bullets as they flew into its path. John looks over at EO and notices how distracted he was trying to make sure they themselves are not spotted by the Agents that were focused in on the two rogue cowboys. John yells to Lamar “Run, Now!” They both roll out of cover and started running toward the extraction rope, while running John signals to the Agents not to fire at them. One of the agents yells out “Seize fire we got friendlies out there”. They get to the rope and John makes sure to strap Lamar by his belt first, before he got a chance to hook himself to the rope Torex grabs him by the collar and yanks him back toward the rest of the group. The Agents see the situation unfolding and start firing at Torex and the others that have John in captivity. The Rope starts to retract up to the chopper, Dryce seizes the opportunity looks at Lamar dangling helplessly on the rope and says “Not so fast bro, see you in Hell” he takes out his pistol and shoots a bullet right into Lamar’s forehead. Lamar’s body was lifted up as the chopper was pulling out of the extraction area. John looks on helplessly as he is being dragged by his neck collar and the group starts putting distance between themselves and Dryce and Collin. Out of nowhere a loud flash bang hits the agents as well as Dryce and Colin. The flash and smoke blinded everyone in its blast radius except for EO and the team. The flashbang was followed by a well-placed BFB sticky bomb that was now locked on to Dryces vest. Through the smoke a figure emerges, it’s none other than Phoenix himself. Carrying an empty RPG launcher in one hand and a 12 pack of Diet Cola in the other. He puts down his things as he greets the team. EO and Torex High-Five him and Moose and Knuckles start making Pigeon sounds to show their appreciation for him just saving their asses. Phoenix walks up to John and says “Sorry you had to go through all this, but we really need to talk.” Dryce interrupts the reunion with a sarcastic question. “Excuse me Ass Hole, but do you mind getting this shit off me so we all don’t blow the fuck up?” Meanwhile the remaining agents that finally gained their sight and hearing back all realized the situation had just escalated dramatically and decided to retreat back to the nearest check point. “Dryce, I have been watching you for a while and I have to say, I’m not your biggest fan right now.” Dryce smiles and replies “Well, the way I hear it Phoenix, you lost your damn marbles and think you are going to save the world all by yourself. How’s that working out for you?” “Dryce, this is the only warning you will be hearing from me, next time I see you I am pushing this little button in my hand and only God will be able to sort through the mess.” John asks Phoenix “So where do we go from here?” Phoenix picks up his weapon and his 12 pack of Diet Cola “We are going to see an old friend; EO lead us out, Moose, Knuckles make sure no one follows us.” |
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