Disclaimer: Zartan, Snake Eyes, Scarlet, Storm Shadow,
etc are property of GI Joe Marvel comics. Ana and Kim
are mine.

Feedback: Please direct feedback to
perihawk@subreality.com =)

Dedicated to . . . . . . Let me think. I HAVE to have
a dedication. I know! WinkWink and NudgeNudge.

South 75 part 6
Shai PeriHawk

*Fucking drugs.*

I didn't understand how it could be so damn cold in
the Everglades. A swamp. But I felt like my body was
one solid block of ice.

*At least they took my freakish reaction to drugs into
consideration this time.* I thought as I used the cold
metal bench to pull myself to my knees, and then to my
feet. I wobbled a bit, but managed to stay upright.

*Shit.* It was dark. So dark. Black, like the black
between the stars that swallowed the light of those
awesome balls of fire. And cold enough to consume my
soul, creeping over my skin like cold seaweed.

I felt it over my face and down my throat.

Then I realised that the coldness on my face was
tears.

Metal clanging in the distance kept me from complete
silence. I didn't know if the silence would have been
worse than those sounds that made me think the walls
were slowly contracting around me. Like a cold vice,
ready to crush me.

Was this torture?

My knees felt like gelatine and I fell to the bench.
The cold metal shocked the bare skin below the line of
my jean shorts.

*At least I'm not naked again.* I clung to any shred
of hope.

I closed my eyes so I could focus inwards. I had to
pull myself together. The drug was almost completely
gone from my body. Only a slight fuzziness to my
movements remained.

Where was I? I pulled all the details I could.

Florida, Everglades, Zartan's stronghold. Probably
towards the centre, and in the lower levels. Why was I
here? Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow. We'd been caught. Kim?

No clue. Had to fight Scarlet. What did I remember
about Scarlet?

Nil. Only that she had a temper. And she'd taken out
three men with her hands tied.

*I'm dead meat.*

The pattern of the metal clanging changed suddenly, as
if, instead of contracting, expanding to let the warm
air of the swamplands through. The temperature rose
noticeably in a few seconds. Then I heard the sound of
people.

Was it time? I'd lost track of the time, didn't know
whether it had been hours or days since I'd been
shoved into this cold hole. Light seared my eyes like
a fire-heated knife. I flung my arm over my face to
block the painful glare.

Four pairs of hands grabbed me and hauled me upwards.
"Hey!" Before I could start to put up a fight,
handcuffs trapped my hands behind my back.

"Time for your fight, chippie. 'Ere we go."

I blinked until the stars cleared from my vision as we
stumbled along. I couldn't even see the turns, my feet
barely touched the ground. *Damn giants. At least let
me get oriented before I fight.*

Like all the other organised fights, free fighting and
slave fighting were kept separate. Apparently this
Scarlet and I were considered slaves. The slave-arena
was smaller, giving us less room to run, I suppose.

The floor, the fifteen-foot walls, they were stainless
steel.

No sand to throw or cushion a fall, just cold, dull,
gray, unrelenting metal in every direction. Even the
door they pushed me through closed seamlessly behind
me.

My opponent, Scarlet, stepped out a similar door, just
a hundred feet away. She was tall, closer to six feet
than five. Her long hair hung limply in a dusty river
of fire. Dirt smudged her pale skin under one
cheekbone. Bruises discoloured her bare arms and legs.

And she looked pissed.

We both settled into guard positions and made a few
test passes. I had the strength and speed, but she had
precision, co-ordination, finesse, and a hell of a lot
more training.

I grunted when she landed a series of rabbit punches
to my ribs.  She ducked under a high kick, only to
have my elbow smash into her shoulder. She back-fisted
the back of my knee while she was down and thrust
upward.

My body flew through the air, half hit the wall, and
half hit the floor. Blood pounded through my ears, and
I felt that roaring surge up on me.  I staggered to my
feet, rubbing my head where it had smacked the deck.
Red tinged my vision and I leapt at the other woman
hands up.

We locked face to face. Her arm pressed against my
throat, slowing the blood to my head.  Our eyes met.
"Take care of Kim," I hissed between my teeth. My head
felt like the top was floating away.

Her gaze turned cloudy with confusion, and a tiny bit
of pressure was gone. "What?"

"Snake Eyes knows," I whispered. "Now finish it!" I
pushed away, swaying on my feet, ready to let her end
it.

Scarlet leapt *into the air*, twirling like a
twelve-year-old gymnast, landing *behind* me. She
knocked me forward into a head-lock. "Play dead," she
ordered just before she yanked up on my face.

I went limp, eyes closed, shallow breaths. Scarlet
dropped me to the floor. The dull thud of my body
hitting the floor echoed through the stadium.  She
limped away, towards what would normally be called a
press-box.  She looked up, feet braced apart.

"Are you happy, Zartan?" She shouted. "A woman, a
*girl* is dead! ARE YOU HAPPY?"

My skin tingled with anticipation. Scarlet didn't
move. Both arena doors hissed open. I waited for any
sort of signal from Scarlet. If I was to trust in
Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, I would trust her as
well. They were clearly opposed to Zartan and the
slaves.

Weren't they?

Two shadows leaned over to grab my wrists. Scarlet
yelled "NOW!"

Using my leverage, I heaved them men holding my wrists
to the ground and rolled to my feet. I followed
Scarlet out "her" door, hoping she knew where she was
going. The two men I'd thrown were right on our heels.
 Well place elbows and fists cleared our path.

"Where are we going?" I shouted.

"That little girl and I were in the same cell. I'm
going to find my way back and a way out of here," she
replied.

She was a better woman than I if she could find her
way around *this* place. "And we're just going to
waltz on out of here?"

That was the moment a dozen guardsmen in crimson
uniforms caught up with us. Scarlet immediately
wrested a gun from one of them and tossed it to me. I
stared blankly down at the pistol, then used it to
bean one of them over the head.

Several gunshots reported off the walls. The guardsmen
were down. Scarlet turned her furious blue gaze on me.
"Try the trigger."

She whirled away before I could say anything.
Flawlessly she moved through the maze-like structure.
She stopped outside a seemingly random door.

"This is it."

Scarlet pressed her ear to the door before opening it
and slipping into the room. I waited anxiously
outside.  My breathing rasped harshly in the air.  I
was strangely alone.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a softly callused
hand covered my mouth. "Quiet," Storm Shadow whispered
against my ear. "Do you feel it?"

Then I *did* feel it. The coliseum vibrated all around
us, in the walls, the floor, the ceiling. I pulled his
hand from my face. "What *is* that?"

He released me completely and stepped back. "He's
going to move the coliseum."

"MOVE it?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"COBRA is resourceful, and startlingly ahead in
technology."

"Ana!"

"Snake Eyes!"

Kim threw herself against my chest and Scarlet leap
into Snake Eyes' arms. I hadn't seen the dark ninja
before then.

I hugged Kim close to me. Relief flooded my limbs with
weakness.

"Unless we would like to throw ourselves upon Zartan's
mercy, I think we should leave now," Storm Shadow
broke into my reverie.

With Snake Eyes and Scarlet in the lead, we ran to the
nearest exit. The structure was already nearly fifty
feet in the air.

Scarlet and Snake Eyes didn't eve slow down before
leaping to the swamp below. Before Kim could open her
mouth, I tossed her after them.

I turned to Storm Shadow. "You first, I'm right behind
you."

It looked like he sighed in exasperation. "You are
*not* staying behind. You won't get off that easily,"
he said as he hooked his arm around my waist and
*jumped*.

We hit the water hard. Murky darkness flooded my eyes,
nose and mouth. Stunned, I floated limply in the
gloom. Then that iron arm dragged my spluttering to
the surface. Half a dozen hands grabbed my clothing,
yanking me onto the bank.

The five of us lay panting in the sultry swamp heat.
Snake Eyes pulled a hand-radio from his belt and
handed it to Scarlet. She called in for an airlift.

We had only to wait.

End Part Six