John’s Hot Take - Part 4

John sat slumped in a chair with his hands tied up behind him. His face bruised and bloodied. Every inch of him ached. Yet he actually felt great. Mango would get away with the codes safe and sound. Push comes to shove, they'll just blow up the island to stop Jade from using the weapon. Jade paced back and forth in the command room while Laz stood silently behind her.

“I can’t believe this,” Jade said. “I left you for dead in a burning blimp tens of thousands of miles in the air! I even cut my name into the damn parachute just to make sure it wouldn’t work. How? How?!”

She turned abruptly toward John. “Did you check the reserve chute? Did it have holes? It was the reserve right?”

John exhaled in an annoyed manner. “I don’t know. I never checked.”

“You never checked?!” she screamed. “How is this possible?! You survived a fall from that high?!”

John coughed out a pained laugh. “Because I have friends.”

Jade stopped pacing. She threw her hands up maniacally.

“Friendship? Are you seriously telling me "the power of friendship" is what stopped me from killing you? What is this, some kind of anime? Is this a Saturday morning cartoon?!”

She spun on a dime and pointed at Laz.

“And you! How the hell didn’t you realize it wasn’t Agent Eagle? It was John, you buffoon! Haven’t you been keeping tabs on him?!”

“How was I supposed to know?” Laz said.

"I need a plan! I need a plan!" said Jade. Jade rubbed her head. She winced in pain.

“Yes... yes! You know what? I bet that Mango girl is still here. She wouldn’t leave without her precious Johnny.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” John said. “If there’s one thing you can trust a thief to do, it’s to get away with the money.”

“She hasn't bailed on you before. She’ll show up again! I know she will.” She turned to Laz. “That’s why you need to go find her and kill her.”

Laz nodded and quickly left the room, several guards trailing behind.

John scoffed. “Too late to-”

SMACK! Jade slapped him hard across the face.

“Shut up,” she said. "Your voice is like a buzzing fly!"

“I can’t believe you were the sister I once loved.”

“Oh, spare me. I’m going to vomit. Don’t act like we were besties before!”

“... I thought we were. Obviously, I was wrong.”

“Is this the part where you say ‘I love you’?”

“No. I don’t know if I can. You’ve shown me your true colors, and I have to take you at your word. That’s why you know that when I say, ‘I’m going to stop you’, you know I’m not lying. I made it this far. You always said I was too naïve. I’m starting to believe you.”

Then she backed away, laughing maniacally to herself. “I can’t believe this is happening! I thought of everything. Everything. And yet… if someone was going to beat me, of course it would be my own blood. No... yes, that makes sense. Only someone with my blood could possibly defeat me! In a way, he is me, just a different genetic code... yes...”

She took a long breath, straightened her back, and shifted her expression to calm and calculating. “I mean, we’re just that good,” she said with a sly smile. "I'm a Nero. We're Neros. We're the best!"

John shook his head. “How many personalities do you have locked away in that deranged skull of yours?”

“Don't talk to me like that! I'm the smartest person in the world!” Suddenly, she grabbed her temples, wincing. She stumbled back and collapsed into her chair, reaching out a hand toward a guard.

A guard rushed over, placing a bottle of pills in her palm. She took two and swallowed them dry. Another guard handed her a bottle of water, which she downed halfway in one gulp. She then took a moment to compose herself.

John raised his eyebrows. “Still getting headaches, huh? I see that never went away. You shouldn't push yourself like that.”

“What do you know?” said Jade. "I can think of 30 outcomes of today based on this scenario in three seconds! Plus with my FOCUS, I can do even more! In fact... Focus! Blueprint!"

She turned to the command console and began typing furiously. It was as if she were possessed by something. She worked like a machine, and she mumbled to herself.

“What are you doing?” John asked.

“You’re not going to stop me. I’m going to show you the resolve you lack. You see, my talent is 'Blueprint'. It allows me to reconstruct anything I've seen. The more data and scenarios I have stored in my brain, the more I can create! That includes recreating real-life scenarios.”

On the screen, the satellite camera feed came to life. A massive, glowing array of lenses appeared. Jade adjusted the satellite’s position slightly. The many multifaceted spyglasses realigned. Instead of being scattered at multiple angles, it was now focused on a single, concentrated point.

“I’ll show you what resolve really is,” she said coldly.

Then, a photo flashed onto the monitor of the satellite’s new target. It was the White House.

John couldn't believe his eyes. Jade turned to him with a wicked grin and pressed a button. A counter started.

“In two hours,” she said, “there will be nothing but a crater a mile wide in Washington, D.C., with the White House at its center.”

“You’re insane! You’re just like Peter.”

“No, I’m not!” she screamed. “I am nothing like that truculent boor! I’m nothing like you, nothing like Dad! I am better. I am superior.”

She stood up slowly; her smile becoming more manic. “In fact, I’ll show you how superior I am. This is the last part of the blueprint scenario. I’m going to get rid of you right now before you have a chance to escape. ”

She raised a hand. “Guards,” she ordered, “take John to the laser room.”

*******************************************

Mango leapt from the hangar just in time to make out just in time.

Inside, she heard John's cry of pain echo through the chamber. She turned back only for a moment, but leapt anyway. She swiftly turned around in the air and hit the silver button on her grapple belt. The wires immediately shot out, anchoring themselves to the edge of the volcano. The wire pulled taught, and she body-slammed against the steep incline.

Gripping the wire tightly, Mango buried her face in her hand and began to sob.

This was her life. Another love, come and gone. Every time something good came along, it vanished just as fast. John had come back for her. He'd saved her. He kept her safe. Just like he promised. And now, she'd left him behind.

What else could she have done? The stakes were too high.

She had to fulfill his dying wish.

Wiping her tears, she steadied her breathing. She wasn't safe yet. She needed to contact Noreen, or she’d be trapped.

Sliding the earpiece into her ear with trembling fingers, she spoke through the sobs.

“Noreen… please, please tell me you hear me.”

A familiar voice crackled to life.

“This is Noreen. Michelle? Is that you?”

“Yes,” Mango cried. “But we’ve got a big problem.”

“What’s going on?” Noreen asked.

“I’m outside the hangar bay, on the side of the volcano. I need you to come back around and get me.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that? I can’t land this thing easily on a volcano, Michelle!”

“I don’t fucking know!” Mango shouted, then looked up toward the crater's edge. “How low do you think you can get?”

“You want me to fly over an active volcano? Not very low without overheating the damn aircraft.”

“Don’t worry. The steam up here is just exhaust. You can fly by, right?”

“Yeah, but only once because I'm not trying to get shot down. I’ll need you to latch on fast with the grapple. One shot. You’ll probably get whiplash. Where's Johnny boy?”

“John’s gone,” Mango said. “If he could sacrifice himself, I can handle a little whiplash.”

Silence.

“…Okay,” Noreen said. “I’m so sorry, babe. I’m on my way back.”

Mango wiped her tears again and pressed the silver button on her belt. The winch pulled her upwards as memories of John flooded her mind.

Focus, she thought.

<<<>>>

[Focus activated.]

<<<>>>

Is there anything I can do to help John? Any way I can go back?

<<<>>>

[No.]

[Current inventory: Knife Shade (talent), Sleight of Hand (4), Decipher (3), One with Shadows, Face Changer (1), Shadow Step (replaced Evaluate) (1). There are no known skills that can assist with rescue.]

<<<>>>

Fresh tears fell. The man she loved was gone. But she couldn’t fail him. Not now. She gritted her teeth and finished her climb to the top of the volcano.

“I’m here,” she said into the earpiece.

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” Noreen said. “I was far out. John was supposed to contact me first, but… obviously he couldn’t.”

“Obviously. I’ll wait here.”

“Well, well, well…” came a voice behind her.

Mango turned and immediately felt a splitting headache just at the sight of him. It was Laz with this uptight demeanor.

“You really thought you were gonna get away with it,” Laz said, “so close.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you not have loyalty to anyone?”

“I am loyal to my career and my career alone. I’ll be the greatest spy of all time one day. I’ll be the new Agent Eagle! I knew the real one couldn’t be here. I get the codes back, and everything’s hunky-dory.”

Mango reached for her knives.

Focus. Activate Knife Shade.