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San Juan, Puerto Rico:
Valora walks down the street, dressed in combat fatigues and a beret, looking every part the Latin American Freedom fighter she has become. Next to her, walks the mayor of the town, a doctor, and Samantha. Valora smirks. “By the way.. Aren’t you supposed to arrest me or something?” The mayor laughed and shrugged. “You brought supplies to us when the American Government told us to give them their money or die. They’ve done nothing to protect us.. And I’m hearing daily from the people that they think Castro was right.”
Valora sighed and clenched her fist.. “I know.” She nods. “And you gave some of the guys a job. Trained them. We can protect our island, escort supplies and get them where they need to go.” Valora rolls her eyes. “Or as the McStrump regime is saying, ‘raising a terrorist army.’ The Mayor took a breath. “Valora… have you thought about politics?” Valora came to a dead stop and turned to face the woman she was talking to and crossed her arms over her sizable bust. “What the fuck makes you think I’m cut out for fuckin’ politics?!?” The mayor shrugs. “Chica… if you ran for governor of Puerto Rico.. your ass would win in a landslide. The people are ready to build a fuckin’ statue to you.” Valora blinks. “But… I’m...I’m not Puerto Rican.” The mayor shrugged. “You are an American Citizen. You have been in Puerto Rico for a few months helping us which is long enough to make a claim of residency.” Valora cuts in. “I am also officially wanted for terrorism, treason and espionage and whatever other bullshit the McStrump fascists are cooking up. You should run for Governor. I think the people of Puerto Rico would back you. I’ll even endorse you.”
A couple days later sees Valora and Samantha sitting on the out door balcony of the hotel they’re staying at. Valora is calmly sipping a Mojito and looking out over the Island of Puerto Rico. Samantha, drinks her water and looks at her. “I know you see the same things I do. The same opening. The same...opportunity. I won’t insult your intelligence by explaining it to you.” Valora smiled wryly. “Thank you.” Samantha nods. “Why don’t you? You tell me you’re not sure you trust the Rebels of Wrestling. Fine. But it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’re more than just a fan of Che Guevara. You’ve gained the skillset and training he had. Hell more than he had in some aspects. You know the argument can be made that those with the ability to bring about change have a duty to act.”
Valora sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, opening her mouth but cutting off an angry retort and she took a second to gather her thoughts before finally letting out a long sigh. “You a fan of Greek mythology at all?” Samantha scoffed a bit. “Yeah, sure. I have an IQ that makes Einstein look like a moron, so of course I’ve studied Greek literature.. So what?” Valora leans forward. “So.. the one running theme throughout. When mortals get uppity, when they get too much hubris.. The Gods punish them. I waged a war against the Drug cartels… that cost me my lover and… my sanity thanks to torture of epic and inventive proportions. Then, I tried again. That wound up with Allan fucking Anderson in my head twisting me into his little monster. Then.. because I’m a stubborn puta who thinks she can ascend beyond the mortal realm… I tried one more time.. To be the heroine.. The freedom fighter. And millions of people are fuckin’ dead! No.. not just dead.. Vaporized… like they never fuckin’ existed! That’s on me! I failed!”
Samantha calmly and coolly listened and nodded. “Yes. Los Angeles and Seattle are gone. Millions dead. A tragedy. But you saved tens of millions more. Furthermore, you had a choice.. Personal revenge and kill Anderson, or try to save people. You tried to save people. You know Anderson will never give you a better chance to kill him.” Valora smirks. “Yes he will. He is the definition of Hubris.. He’s still convinced one day I wander back to him and be his ace in the hole. I know what you’re saying.. But the good I did doesn’t change the fact that I failed. Nor does it change the likely result if I go trying to play the heroine again… and as soon as I become the Freedom Fighter.. They start running shit 24/7 about how right they were about me.”
Samantha sighs. “They are doing that right now. You’re a soldier.. An assassin for fuck’s sake.. How do you not see the simple logical conclusion that you’re in a war.. It’s time to fucking fight!”
Valora sighs. “A few speeches and shit ain’t fighting chica. Also..once you poke the dragon, the fuckin’ dragon kills your whole fuckin’ town. I wouldn’t just be risking my ass. I’d be risking your ass, Abbigail’s ass.. The lives of any and all allies I’ve ever had any friends, anyone close to me. And to what end? What are you asking me to do? Run for office? You think for one second he’ give me any kind of fair chance to win? McStrump and his cronies are already looking into rigging the election and/or cancelling it for ‘security reasons.’
Samantha leaned forward. “I’m laying out options. You need to reply somehow. Of course I’m suggesting you run for office or anything like that. Plenty of options and I think you’d do better than you think but it’s not your cup of tea. What I am suggesting is that you maybe start building a group. You recruited, trained and equipped a paramilitary force that is ensuring security for Puerto Rico and ensuring relief supplies get to where they need to be. Like it or not, you are, for all intents and purposes, in charge of Puerto Rico at the moment as evidenced by the fact that you are here and no one has yet turned you into the feds yet.” Samantha took a deep breath here as she looked at Valora and gauged her reaction before continuing. “Look. You can’t do this yourself. So if you decide you can’t trust Ares and his Rebels of Wrestling, than you should build your own faction, which, I might add you’ve already taken the first steps in doing.”
Valora sighed. Samantha had her there and she nodded. “Alright.. I’ll give it some thought. Speaking of projects, where are you on Kronin?” Samantha nods. “The A.I, is developing.. I believe we’re about ready for the implant surgery. Which we’ll need you for. I don’t have medical or surgical training. Valora frowns a bit and nods. “Alright. Well then we’ll have to add that to the to-do list then.” Samantha nods. “And we also have to-” She’s cut off as her phone rings and she takes the smart phone, answering it, listening to the voice and on the other side. The conversation being enough to elicit a spock like eyebrow raise from Samantha and she turns to Valora. “Olivia. Vastrix’s fiance. She claims someone tried to kill Vastrix in the hospital.” She then turns her attention to Olivia. “Keep the assassin secure.. Valora and I can try to… oh, I see. You? Hmm, interesting.” She said as she stood up, Valora standing up with her as both move inside, Samantha saying. “Cortana, privacy mode.” She then hits a button putting the phone on speakerphone. “You’re on speaker now, Olivia.” She says turning to Valora. “Assassin was crossed off by Olivia.” Valora shrugs. “Okay. Well tell Vastrix the next time his robot shell breaks down, he might want to consider, I don’t know.. Posting security around him. So what’s up, chica?”
Valora listens as Olivia explains the massive tag team match. “Uh-huh.. Well if Mudcock wants me to fight.. He better convince McStrump to not have me declared an enemy of the state.” Both Valora and Samantha share a look as Mexico City is named as the locale for the fight. “So, basically the whole roster has been paired up and is fighting each other. Alright. I’ll give you an address where Vastrix can meet up with me. I’m in Puerto Rico at the moment and have to make a detour on my way to Mexico City. We have to be careful of the Russians… Boris and Dasha have been working together for years and are going to be tough to beat. I’ll talk to Abbigail, see if Vastrix, me, Abbs and Sato can all work together.. Get to a point where its just us two teams left and then see which team is better. If we can coordinate that.. It’s probably the best approach.” Valora winks at Samantha before turning back to the phone. “And seriously.. Tell Iron Man 1.3 to hire himself some fuckin’ security he can trust.” Samantha rolls her eyes. “I’ll bring a list of names I know of reliable sorts.” Olivia’s voice crackles. “Professional fighters?” Samantha smirks. “Professional fighters, mercs, soldiers.. What? Did you thinkI’m just a sports agent?”
The call ended shortly as Samantha and Valora continued to make preparations. Valora glancing over her shoulder. “Think fast… Our Russian friends.”
Samantha raised her eyebrow and nodded. “Boris Drago. If Soviet record keeping can be relied on, which, shocker, it can’t, he was born and raised in Siberia. Expert in Sambo. Conscripted into the Russian Army as most citizens were. Combat experience in Chechnya, Georgia, and believed to have taken part in combat in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria. Russian Federation still lists him as a regular soldier but his fighting style makes it clear he has Spetsnaz training. Dasha Ivanova. More deception. She and the Soviet Union/Russian Federation want us to believe she is a Spetsnaz and she certainly has the mentality.. In reality.. I think she might be one of what would have to be very few survivors of the Black Widow project as he fighting ability and skills are well beyond even Spetsnaz training. She is brilliant, cold, and ruthless. And I can’t tell if she has a crush on you or wants you dead. The big mystery is why Boris puts up with her abusive treatment of him.”
Valora smirks. “Because he’s in love with her. I’m guessing that plays into her complicated feelings for him. If I had to guess he saved her life once. She is grateful and surprised that someone did something for her without expecting a thing in return.. And hates him for making her feel weak. But that’s just a guess.. We’ll have to find some facts about those two.. Specially since I have a feeling they’re going to be sticking around and making some real problems for UOW.”
Samantha nods and glances over. “Any chance there might be truth to the conspiracy theory that the Russians are controlling Mcstrump?” Valora shrugs. “Possible, but unlikely. If they are.. Then I promise you Dasha has already gotten orders to either bring McStrump back under control or to cross him off as the all the cool covert ops say now.”
Samantha finished her packing and stopped for a second. “Perhaps we let her.” Now, it was Valora’s turn to stop in her tracks and turn to look at Samantha. “The fuck?” Samantha shrugged. “The Russians assassinate McStrump. Your major enemy is removed from play and you don’t have to dirty your hands. Given the rampant ineptitude of his regime, it will be easy enough to replace him with a more...stabilizing leader to get our country and government back on track.. I don’t see how saving his life helps you, yet I can see a decent number of ways in which letting him meet his end helps you.”
Valora nods. “First, with bunker boy in hiding, we can’t be sure if he’s alive or if he’s dead or otherwise indisposed. Second, if he’s alive and hiding in the bunker, Dasha will find it hard to reach him. Third, you kill him, you make him a martyr and now have angry fascists out for blood. Fourth, fuckin’ aliens could descend from the sky, blow the shit outta the White House Independence Day style and kill the President and my latina ass would still get blamed for it. So we have new items on the to do list. Find out if our Russian friends are planning a coup in the USA and then make our next move from there.”