COUNTDOWN!/Something REALLY Unexpected
2340 HOURS
"She’s still out cold."
Funny…
"She’s not dead, good."
"Really? Darn, I did my best!"
I don’t recall God sounding like Kevin…
"You know, if you weren’t way up there, I’d hurt you. Look at all these bullet holes…you almost killed her!"
"You said that already."
"I KNOW!"
"Daaaaniiii…"
That must be god calling…time to go, I suppose…
"DANI. Wake up before I throw your little mousy butt into the river at the bottom of the gorge!"
Dani’s eyes fluttered open, revealing something large, evil, and metal looking…
"Oh, no! I’m not in heaven! I’m IN THE OTHER PLACE!"
The cockpit slid open, and Kevin stuck his head out.
"Oh, that’s a nice way to greet someone who just saved your little mousy hide from becoming a reddish smear on the floor!"
Reality struck like a lightning bolt. Dani wasn’t dead, and Kevin was cruising around in a Dreadnaught. Kevin leapt from the cockpit of the Dreadnaught, flushed with his victory.
CRUNCH
"ASHIT…. owoowowowowOOOOWWW! PAIN."
(It’s true, a cat always lands on its feet, but that doesn’t stop an 11-foot fall from hurting.)
"Ah, your cat-like abilities never cease to amaze me.." Dani said, as she walked by the injured Tabby.
2355 HOURS
Tony kicked in the door, much unlike his normal, cheery mood. He was peeved, to say the least. The first thing they saw was a large desk, with a swivel-chair turned away from them.
tikka tikka tikka….click…ticka The sounds of a keyboard being pecked.
"HEY, BONEHEAD!" Dani, apparently, was in a bad mood too.
"Let me tell you a bit of something about my day. I have been drug from my nice, cozy dormitory into this…this…HELL HOLE, and nearly killed 4 times. I-"
The chair slowly wheeled around.
"Yeeeeas…and now, I’m going to finish the job!!"
It was Algernon.
All: "AL??"
Al shook his head. "Duh…. you should’ve known by now. It seems that all the defense did no good…I’ll just have to finish you off myself!" He jumped up on the desk, cradling a small machinegun. "Say goodnight."
Once again, the CM crew scattered….all accept for Damon.
KAAABAMBAMBAMBAMBAM
Several bullets tore into Damon’s suit, revealing patches of Body Armor.
"What the hell?"
KAABAMBAMBAMBAM…. CHTH
A bullet finally connected. Damon looked down at his legs, and noticed his right leg rapidly reddening.
He took 5 steps forward.
"Why (step) you (step) son (step) of (step) a (step) WALRUS!" CRACK
Damon delivered an uppercut to Al that would’ve killed him, if he hadn’t just been shot. The chubby walrus staggered into a wall. Damon’s leg couldn’t hold him up anymore, and he collapsed on the floor. He barely had enough energy to drag himself under the hardwood desk.
"Come on out!" Al yelled. "I won’t hurt you…I’ll just kill you!"
"HEY, GEEK!" As Al looked towards Tony, Cindy snuck up on his left side.
"KIIIIIYAH!" WACK Cindy delivered a high kick, connecting with the side of his head.
"This is ending, NOW!" Al focused his energy on Dani, who was quickly charging him.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
A nock at the backdoor.
Al looked furious. "I TOLD YOU I DON’T WANT ANY GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!" The door opened.
All: "BIFF???"
"Yea, Biff is right, and that Ain’t wat I’m sellin’!"
Biff stood in the doorway, cradling an MK62 assault rifle, backed up by several FBI and SWAT agents.
The CM crew was confused, and Algernon was scared.
"Time to leave…" He punched a button on the table, causing the chair to slide sideways, revealing a set of stairs.
"Bye-bye!" He ran towards the stairs. Damon had enough sense to cause him one last misery. TRIP!
Al tripped over his leg, and went sprawling down several sets of stairs.
"I’m ok….ow."
He re-appeared again, in the distance, and stumbled into a chopper.
"Say, that pilot looks familiar…" Kevin grabbed Damon’s discarded binoculars and gazed out the door.
"That pilot looks suspiciously like Alice…Not so fast…" Kevin let go of the Binoculars, and picked up Al’s gun.
He took careful aim...
Ka-BAMBAMBAM!!
3 precisely aimed bullets struck the chopper’s tail blade, causing it to smoke profusely and slow down. The chopper wobbled severely, but kept on flying erratically.
The chopper flew off, closely followed by all the military units in the area. Biff walked the rest of the way into the room.
"Damon?" Cindy looked around for Damon. Spying the trail of red on the floor, she found him curled on the floor, under the table. His breath was labored and heavy. Cindy pulled out a small med kit from her backpack. "Pathetic." She said, "No bandages…" She pulled out the pink sweater from her bag that she’d stored, and tied it in place. She probed his leg in a few spots, muttering to herself, "Probably broken…I hope it didn’t do too much…we have to get you to a real doctor…come on, up now…" She hoisted him up, knocking the table over sideways. She set him down in the corner, leaving him in a rough sitting position.
"Ok, is someone going to explain what the heck is going on here?" Tony asked.
"Oh, I’ve just thwarted an evil genius..." Biff leaned over, and retrieved a small folder from the floor, "And retrieved the codes. Excuse me, I have to become a hero!" With a cocky smirk, he walked towards the door.
"Waittaminute…. How did you know where we were?" Lisa stepped in front of Biff, blocking his exit.
"Well, I got this crazy woman on the internet telling me that I needed to scramble a police force and meet her here…I think her call sign was AliceInWonderland2005…"
Kevin was getting suspicious. Lisa moved out of the way, to allow Biff to go through…
SHOOMP the back door slid shut and locked, and CLANK the front door was blocked by an iron gate.
<Ahhh…I will NOT be stopped tonight!! If you think you can beat me that easily, you’re mistaken! > Algernon, over the radio. <I suppose you never thought that I had my own copy of the firing codes. You, and everything within a 10-mile radius are about to become radioactive, molten slag in about 20 seconds! AAAAHAHAHAHAA! >
A timer appeared on the screen.
WARNING: MISSILE LAUNCH IMMINENT. 20 SECCONDS TO LAUNCH
"Wait….if it’s launching in 20 seconds, and it takes time to travel, how are we going to die in 20 seconds?"
< Oh. This base you’re in was rebuilt over the rubble of the one I demolished earlier. You’re standing on the Firing Silos. MUAHAHAHAA…you now have two choices. You can either figure out the door code (fat chance!) Or you can abort the missile launch. Neither option is likely, not at all. >
"Well," Dani started, "I think we COULD get through the door, and leave this crumby base to be blown to smithereens, but that’s highly unlikely."
20.
19.
18.
"Well then, let’s go with the other option!" Tony said, brightly.
17.
16.
15.
tikka tikka…chink…tikka
On screen: Richter will burn!
Password accepted.
<Darn, I’ve got to change that sometime…>
14.
13.
12.
"Tony? Why didn’t it stop?"
11.
10.
A red button slid from the panel on his left.
Fweep – launch canceled.
"That’s why.
9.
8.
"it still didn’t stop!!!"
By this point, the entire crew (plus Biff) was in an uproar.
7.
6.
"Tony," Cindy started, " If this is the end, I just want to tell you, -"
"I know."
5…..
4….
3…
2..
1.
…………………………………………..
2400 Hours Somewhere off in the distance, a timer ticked to 0.
Setbacks/Running would be a good idea!
Saturday 14th, 2001
0001 HOURS
"It…it…it stopped!"
Kevin was clinging for dear life to Dani’s arm.
"WILL YOU GET OFF ME?! We’re safe!" THWOP
Dani nailed Kevin with the clipboard.
Biff punched in a code, and the door slid open easily.
"Why didn’t you say that you knew the door code?"
"Well, you never asked!"
Author’s note: Due to the graphic nature and content of the ensuing fight seen, combined with my own squeamishness and moral decency, I cannot show you what Dani does to Biff, although I think you can use your imagination. (Big grin)
"Ok, that tears it, I’m out of here!" Biff rushed off to the waiting chopper, oblivious to the fact that he had left the firing codes. There was a small celebration then, just to be alive.
<AAAHAHAHAA…. Oh…ah…ow…that’s funny! Ah! >
Tony glared at the speaker.
<You think you’re safe? > the door started to slide shut again. Tony grabbed it, and forced it back into its panel.
<I don’t NEED nukes you kill you! Launch the secondary missiles! BLANKET THE COMPLEX! KILL THEM!!!! >
WARNING: MULTIPLE MISSILE LAUNCHES DETECTED. ESTIMATED TIME TO IMPACT: 3 MINUTES.
"Ummm…. Running would be a good idea!" Lisa said, as she ducked under Tony’s arm.
"Come on, Damon, we have to get out of here!" Lisa was tugging desperately at Damon’s arm.
"No…Leave me. I’m too much of a hindrance. I’ll never be able to get out in time."
"But…..I can’t just leave you!"
"I said, GO! NOW!"
Lisa’s eyes were getting teary. Suddenly, she smiled.
"Attagirl…Don’t worry about me."
"OY! CINDY! COMMERE! to Damon I never said I wouldn’t let Cindy take you..
Cindy arrived, and seeing the problem, easily hoisted Damon over her shoulder, and took off at breakneck speed, followed by Lisa.
Kevin stopped by the Rocket car, noting its position. He ran out to the gorge, looking at the depth of the water, and he ran back.
"Hey, everyone! Help me push this thing over!"
Kevin had a killer plan.
~Author’s note: Why didn’t the timer stop until it hit 1? Come on, be serious – have you EVER seen an action/thriller movie’s timer stop before 1 second? Be realistic now…~
Algernon saw everything on his monitor. Well, almost everything. The battered-looking, barely runnable car taking off, and taking a lap around the complex. The missiles falling from nowhere. The explosions. The car, engulfed in the explosion, and bursting into flame.
The car lolled, dived, and smashed into the wall of the canyon.
"YEAAAHAHAHAHA! I’ve done it! I’ve finally killed them!" Algernon did a happy little jig around the inside of the copter.
"Please sit down, sir, you’re rocking the chopper…"
<Don’t you think it’s a bit early to be celebrating? >
"HUH?" Al ran to the comm., and flipped it into active mode. "Who is this?"
<A large, wet, MAD bull! (Background) "Yeah, and one waterlogged, half-drown rat!" Kevin yelled out. THWOP. >
"How the…how did you…. the missiles…. you…"
<It’s amazing how well 30 feet of rock wall and water will insulate you from an explosion. >
Al turned on the satellite camera. Sure enough, on replay, Al could see 5 miniature figures run to the edge of the cliff. (Damon had to be thrown off – broken leg, remember?) Zoom in
"KAMIKAZEEEEE!" Kevin and the crew leapt off the cliff’s edge, and into the water. Several explosions
They were now swimming in the river (Damon was clinging to the rock wall), with a chopper on it’s way to pick them up.
"NO!"
< Ohhh yeah. I’ve got the codes, too. They’ve locked down the silos, and I think you’re going to have a rough time explaining your way out of this one! >
The Class Menagerie Crew would live to see another day.
Epilogue: CONSPIRACY THEORY
MEDICAL/GOVERNMENT STATUS RECCORD:
Subject: Class Menagerie Crew (focus: Damon)
Diagnosis: Fracture of the ribcage, several lacerations, and a shattered left leg.
Status: Damon has fully recovered from all injuries sustained in his mission. Bullets blocked by the body armor had enough force to crack several ribs, and the bullet to the leg completely shattered the bone from the Waist down to the kneecap. His Medical bill will be fully paid by the government, in return for the acts he and the crew performed for the State. He and the rest of the crew have received cash rewards for ‘Actions beyond the call of duty’ in sums of $500,000.
6 hours and 500 miles later…
Algernon walked into the dark, forlorn office of the DeMontfort University. The only light on was a dim, flickering fire from under a door in the back.
"Maybe we should pick up a new vendetta…" He muttered to himself, "The cost of all this equipment is likely to drain the treasury soon…what, with the costs of the 3 bases, the 350 trained military personnel, the nukes, the cluster missiles…the Cyborgs..."
He stopped in front of a large desk. A man sat behind the desk, tapping a pencil.
"I’m very disappointed in you, Al. You’ve failed me." He snapped the pencil into 3 parts. "AGAIN."
"I…it…it…It wasn’t my fault! It was that Biff character!!"
"You expect ME to believe that that…Under-informed, brick-for-a-Father, wood-post-for-a-Mother…LUMMOX…. foiled MY well thought out plan?"
"Take it or leave it, that’s what happened."
"You know, Algernon, if you fail me much more, I’m going to have to classify you as useless." Algernon quivered.
"And USELESS things have a way of…disappearing…. permanently. You are dismissed…watch your step Algernon."
As Algernon left the building, he thought to himself, "Gee…he seemed in a good mood today!"
"*sigh* Why do I have to put up with such idiots, Alice?"
"I have NO idea."
PS: Done with the storyline? Good! Email me! Tell me what you thought! (sorry, I don’t look at posts much, so this is the best way to contact me)
Email: Sniper3_v3@yahoo.com