Just A Few Questions

Log Title: Just A Few Questions

Characters: Ebony, Major Bludd

Location: Cell, Burpleson Air Force Base (SG)

Date: 26 April 2011

TP: Shattered Glass TP

Summary: Ebony stops by Major Bludd's cell to interrogate him.

As logged by  Major Bludd

Burpleson Air Force Base
Burpleson Air Force Base is located in a desert region of the United States of America. It serves as the main control center for the country's Global Orbital Defense Satellites, via an advanced signal relay transmitter. The base's commander is a battle-hungry, commie-hating, cigar-chomping General in need of a psychiatric appointment.

Major Bludd sits on a ratty bunk in a cell in the brig section of Burpleson Air Force Base, his knees drawn up to his chest, his forehead resting on his knees. He finds it one of a very few positions that allow him some respite from the pain of his injuries.

Ebony steps into the brig area, seemingly all patched up from her adventure of the previous night. "So... we meet again. Perhaps you should have paid me for those G.I. jokes, back in your universe, eh?" she mentions, idly, to the Major.

"Wasn't my job t'pay," Bludd mutters into his knees. He turns his head slightly to peer at her. "What're you gonna do with me? An' where's the other fella?"

Ebony chuckles softly, "I wouldn't worry about 'the other fella'. He's going to be taken care of." She leans against the wall across from the Major's cell, and folds her arms, "As for you? I don't know if that has been decided. I suppose.... I could offer to sell you back to you 'Baroness' and 'Cobra Commander'. See what your value is to them. Or, I could offer you to the Sec-Def, and V.P. as an Intelligence source about the other side... Let them run you through the standard torture protocols, to wring every last bit of information out of you..."

Major Bludd presses his lips together at the mention of the Lt being 'taken care of', but doesn't flinch at the promise of torture. "My world's like yours, near enough. Full o' people with lives and problems and whatnot. Dunno as I know anything you'd find useful."

Ebony smirks, "Oh, you know a lot of information about the current whereabouts of both Cobra and G.I. Joe operatives. Information we could use when we invade your universe."

Major Bludd lifts his head slowly, leaning back against the cool cinderblock wall behind him. "I thought your country was at war with the Ottomans or something," he mutters, a faint smile crossing his lips. "Surely you don't wanna jeopardise your military foray in the name of seizing fabulous footwear!"

Ebony laughs, "Myself, and a small team could easily take out the leadership of Cobra, and the Leadership of the United States, and set ourselves up as Kings in your universe. With the United States there, and Cobra there paralyzed, there would be no one to stop us. We could than enslave that Universe's population, send them through the portal to fight our enemies, and victory would be ours." Yes, Ebony has dreams... Dreams that even her superiors do not know about....

Major Bludd begins to chuckle quietly as Ebony speaks, his shoulders shaking as he puts his head back down on his knees again. The chuckles quickly grow into a halting laugh as he tries to keep himself from aggravating his still-sore wounds. "Dammit, stop," he gasps, lifting a hand toward her. "Yer killin' me already!"

GAME: Ebony PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Very High difficulty.

"Don't laugh at me!" Ebony snaps. She pulls a gun out and aims it at the Major. Her temper is showing, and she is almost ready to pull the trigger, when she realizes that if she shoots him, she can not use him for information. "Nice try...." She holsters her gun, opens the cell, drawing her knife, "Instead of killing you, how about I just cut on you for awhile? Did you know that you can a man over 500 times, if done right, and still not kill him?"

Major Bludd gets his laughter under control after a moment. Only a faint smile remains as Ebony replaces her sidearm. "I've no doubt you know all sorts of wonderfuly horrible torture techniques, m'dear," he quips.

"Would you like to see them?" She moves towards the Major, and asks, "Tell me, Major, Tell me about.... Anastasia DeCobray...."

GAME: Major Bludd PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Average difficulty.

Major Bludd looks Ebony up and down for a moment, gives a quiet chuckle, winces, and looks away again. "She's from Europe," he says, resting his head on his knees again. "Where the history comes from."

Ebony grabs the Major's left hand, and slices a shallow cut across the tip of his index finger, just deep enough to bleed, "Try again. Tell me something not easily gleemed from two minutes on the internet!"

Major Bludd peers at the cut, raising an eyebrow as blood begins to well up and bead on his fingertip. "Yer gonna have t'be more specific," he states flatly. "What is it you want to know that can't be found on the Internet?"

Ebony moves to the middle finger slices another cut, just a little deeper, and asks, "What can I use to draw her off Cobra Island, and to a location of my choosing?"

Major Bludd peers up at Ebony. "Hm," he grunts. "I dunno. I suppose if she thought the Commander was in danger she might come out. 'Course she might just send somebody else. She is in command, y'know."

Ebony shakes her head, and turns his hands over, slicing a cut across his palm, deeper than the others, but still not deep enough to cause any permanent damage, or any massive blood loss, "I want something that is gaurenteed to bring her out, not her sending someone else. Her."

GAME: Major Bludd PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Average difficulty.

Major Bludd presses his lips tightly together as Ebony slices his palm. "I don't live in the woman's head," he complains. Aware giving an answer his torturer doesn't like will land him another cut, he searches his weary mind for something that might be true but not give too much information away. "If you had that bitch Queen of Spades over a barrel, she'd surely come out for that. Hell, so would I."

Ebony nods, "Who is Queen of Spades?" she asks, politely, not cutting.

"Queen of Spades is an intermittent thorn in Cobra's side," Bludd explains. "She claims to be some kind of artificial intelligence, and a confirmed sighting has never been reported of her in the physical world."

Quickly an 'X' is formed on Bludd's palm, as another cut, is made, "Than how does that help???"

"Because Ana'd come out t'get her," Bludd grinds out, frowning at his palm.

GAME: Ebony PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

Ebony arches an eyebrow, "Ana, huh?" She smiles, and just looks at the Major for a few seconds, "Ana... You know her well enough to use a diminutive of her first name... Perhaps you are the bait I should use to draw her out?"

Major Bludd snorts. "We've known each other for years," he replies. "Don't mean much."

Ebony nods, as if she almost believes him, "And what of Cobra Commander? What drives him? What can I use against the man, to bring him out?"

Major Bludd shakes his head. "The Commander's in hiding. And when he's in hiding, nobody knows where he is unless he wants 'em to. He hasn't been seen in public for a long time."

Ebony smiles sweetly at the Major, "But you know where he is, don't you Major?"

"I know where he /was/," Bludd admits.

Ebony nods, "Good enough. Where was he?"

You say, "Indianapolis."

Ebony nods, "I see..." She looks thoughtful, "I am not sure I belive you, on any of this, mind you... I will, of course, be bringing in a specialist...."

Major Bludd looks at his bloody hand. "You gonna gimme some bandage roll t'wrap this up?"

Ebony slices off part of Bludd's shirt, "Here you go."

Major Bludd smirks and grasps the proffered bit of cloth, making sure to smear some of his blood on her hand as he does so.

Ebony licks the blood right off her hand, savoring the flavor. "Mmmmm. You taste a little bit of.... fear and alot of pain.... A nice mix, Major." She smiles, at him.

"Fear?" Bludd wraps the cloth around his hand. "Maybe you oughta go clear your palette or something." He grips the ends of the cloth in his teeth and pulls a knot tight.

Ebony chuckles, "Oh, your blood still tastes of the fear of last night. You really did fear I would catch that woman." She shakes her head, "Why it should bother you, is beyond me, what with your close relationship with 'Ana', and the fact that the woman was the 'whor... I mean, 'Wife' of your duplicate."

GAME: Major Bludd FAILS a LEADERSHIP roll of Very High difficulty.

Major Bludd rises to his feet, wobbling far more than he'd like. "She's not a whore, dammit!"

"Why does it bother you so, Mister Bludd?" Ebony asks, curiously.

GAME: Major Bludd PASSES a STRENGTH roll of Average difficulty.

Major Bludd steadies himself, levelling a steely gaze at his tormentor. "Leave that bloody family alone," he growls. "Just leave them the hell alone!"

Ebony says simply, "No."

"Why?!" Bludd's voice breaks on the word. "They have nothing you could possibly want!"

Ebony shrugs, "Because someone ordered me to bring them in. I follow orders." Most of the time....

Major Bludd stares at Ebony for several long moments, his rage almost palpable in the air between them. His stance relaxes, and he sits back down on his bunk.

Ebony grins at Bludd, and sits next to him, "Still, you give me a good reason, and I suppose, I could let the wife go... The wife, maybe the child...."

"You'd go against orders?" Bludd doesn't look at her.

Ebony shrugs, "Depends on what you have to offer."

Major Bludd turns his head slightly to gaze at her. "You'd let her go if I tell you what you want to know, is that it?"

Ebony nods, "That is one possibility...."

"What assurance do I have that you'd honour any such agreement?" Bludd asks.

Ebony shrugs, "What assurances do I have that you'd tell me the truth?"

Major Bludd shakes his head slowly. "You don't trust me an' I don't trust you. If I thought you'd deal straight I'd be willing t'make an arrangement." He looks down at his cloth-wrapped hand. "But I figure as soon as you have what you want from me I'll be late for trip down a long, dark hole someplace."

Ebony smiles, and says softly, "Not if you can think of a way to make yourself... interesting to me."

You say, "Define 'interesting'."

Major Bludd sighs. "So I'm meant to guess what it is you want?"

Ebony chuckles softly, "I am not hard to read, Bludd... I want, what most women want."

Major Bludd stares at her. "And you've the gall to call Katherine a whore," he states.

Ebony laughs, "I'm not a whore. I'm a nympho. There is a difference."

Major Bludd drawls, "I still don't trust you t'keep yer end of the bargain."

Ebony shrugs, "Than I guess, I just go find the Wife, and the Kid, and bring them in, huh?"

Major Bludd squints his eye shut for a moment. "No," he says quietly. "If you leave them alone, permanently and forever, I'll do what you want."

Ebony laughs softly, "You keep that in mind..." She stands up, "And I'll consider your offer."

"Wait, wait." Bludd looks up at her. "What's that mean?"

Ebony grins, "It means, when I am not so tired, I might take you up on that, but tonight, you would hardly be getting my best effort, and from the looks of you, I'd have to give you the equivelent of two of your side's Viagra just to see a reaction."

Major Bludd frowns, running his thumb over the knotted cloth on his hand.

Ebony remains quiet, as she gets near the exit of the cell, "Oh, one more thing, Bludd... Why did you come to this side? You promised to do a job, you than backed out of the deal... you should have stayed away. You wouldn't be in this condition, if you had never come back."

"Tell me about it," Bludd mutters.

Ebony shrugs, "WHY did you come back?"

"T'do th'job!" Bludd cries, wincing immediately as he aggravates his injuries. "I came here t'collect at least my alternate self an' th'kid."

"Why not the woman? Why do you find youself unable to turn her in?" Ebony asks, again.

Major Bludd stares at his boots for a time. "I owe her," he says finally. "Well, the other her."

Ebony shrugs, "So you owe *her*, nothing. She is not the same person. Just like I am not Scarlett. You are not the Writer... Anasasia Decobray is not some Duchess...."

Major Bludd shakes his head. "It don't matter. She's near enough."

Ebony arches an eyebrow, "So, since I nearly killed you, you will take it out on Scarlett?" She pauses, and laughs, "You know, actually.... I'm O.K. with that."

"No," Bludd replies. "I can't explain it."

Ebony nods, "So, she looks like someone you loved... Someone you failed?"

Major Bludd frowns. "She /is/ ... she married my alternate self because he ..." He presses his lips together. "I used t'be like him." He looks up at her. "I coulda been. Maybe even shoulda been. But I'm not like him any more."

Ebony shrugs, "But she isn't. She is just someone who LOOKS like her. Maybe has other simularities, much like I am simular to your Scarlett... But I am NOT Scarlett. I am much more blood thirsty..." Literally, at times, "... and sexier."

You say, "Are you trying t'convince me I shouldn't be tryin' t'help her?"

Ebony shrugs, "I just don't understand why you are. Personally, I wouldn't help the man Scarlett is dating, for all the money in the world."

Major Bludd leans back against the cinderblock wall. "Guess we're just different, then," he mutters, closing his eye.

Ebony nods, "That we are. You are a frigging pansy. Fighting for someone that will never love you. What a waste of blood...."

Major Bludd sneers. "I'm tougher'n your jackass mates, bitch," he growls, getting to his feet. He doesn't wobble this time. His right hand reaches out for Ebony's throat.

Ebony is grabbed by the throat, but only because she is laughing so hard at Bludd's outburst. She could break it at anytime, because to be honest, the Major likely shouldn't even be standing.

"Who and what I fight for are none of /your/ concern," Bludd goes on, his vision dimming. "You go ahead an' carve me up like a Christmas turkey. I'm still 'ere. I'm still kickin'. An' I don't lay down fer a lousy f-ing skank like you!" The grip on Ebony's throat becomes less of an attack than an attempt to steady himself. He wills his legs to keep holding him up as he stares into his tormentor's eyes.

GAME: Ebony PASSES a STRENGTH roll of Very High difficulty.

Ebony continues to laugh at the Major, while she reaches up, pulls his hands from her throat, and shoves him back towards the cell's bunk. "Sit down, shut up, and if you call me a skank again, I'll find your woman, tie her up, cut off her t*ts in front of you, and make *you* eat them for dinner! Is that F**king clear enough for you?"

Major Bludd sits down heavily on the bunk, somehow managing not to crack his head on the concrete wall. He glowers up at her, his view of her obscured by the fading of the outer edge of his vision.

Ebony shakes her head again, and slips outside of the cell. "You are stupid Bludd.... Stupid."

"She's right, you know," mumbles a voice inside Bludd's head. Once Ebony's gone he lowers himself to the bunk and finally allows the unconsciousness to claim him.