Chapter Text
Joy snuck through the long grass, searching the savanna for animals to extract.
After venturing further into the savanna, she came across a vast open clearing. In the distance, peering through the grass, she could see an animal. It looked like some sort of antelope, with large twisted horns and white stripes across its body.
She skimmed through the handy manual she was given to identify the animal, and found one with a picture that matched. It was called a greater kudu.
She aimed the rifle at the animal. With a loud bang, she shot at the kudu, the blow dart hitting it in the shoulder. The kudu could only travel a short distance before quickly falling asleep. Joy smiled to herself, before running over to the animal to use the extraction equipment.
She strapped the device to the kudu and as Brave said it would, a propeller emerged from it and began rotating at great speed, causing the animal to levitate off the ground before flying into the sky, presumably bringing the animal to the base.
Joy watched as she smiled contently to herself, before deciding to return to the camp for a short rest. However, as Joy was returning to camp, she was shocked at what she witnessed.
She saw David tied up in rope, being escorted by Italian soldiers who held him at gunpoint. It seemed that David had been captured. She stayed hidden in the grass, watching them as they passed by.
Joy had to think fast on how to rescue David.
She then remembered the gun she had in her hands that could put the target to sleep. She knew she was only supposed to use it on animals, but she had no other choice.
She aimed the gun at the soldier in front. With one shot, the blowdart hit the soldier in the head, causing him to be knocked out. He fell to the ground, the other two soldiers looking on in shock. Joy retreated further into the grass, but the soldiers had seen the move and knew they were being attacked.
“Cecchino nell’erba!” one of the soldiers shouted and decided to search for the enemy in the grass.
Meanwhile, the other soldier went to aid the soldier that was attacked. He was surprised to see that the soldier wasn’t dead, but rather asleep.
“Eh? Sta dormendo? Ack!” The soldier had barely enough time to react before Joy had stabbed a blowdart into his neck, causing him to fall asleep on top of the other soldier.
Joy then immediately went to David to help him loose from the rope. Of course, the color in David’s face had started to drain when he noticed someone over Joy’s shoulder.
“Joy, behind you!”
Joy looked behind, and a pistol was aimed right at her face.
Joy turned her head and saw a gun was aimed right at her face. She recognized the man who was staring at her with a cold expression. It was the same man from the kitchen when Joy infiltrated that one Italian base for fuel. She felt a burning hatred upon seeing him, given that the man had groped her.
“What do you want?!” She snarled at him. She didn’t think that the man spoke English but it was something that she blurted out.
The man smirked, and began speaking in English, to Joy’s surprise. Albeit, his accent was thick. “You are the same girl from the base, yes?”
“Yes,” Joy answered. “And who exactly are you?”
“I am Italo de Gassi! Italy’s greatest and most loyal soldier!” The man turned to David, smirking sinisterly. “You want your friend free? I’ll let him free…if you marry me.”
Both David and Joy had looks of shock on their faces. “ What?” Joy emphasized.
“It’s simple…you defect to Italy, become nationalized, then marry me, and I will let your little friend go. But if you refuse, then I will take him back to the base where he will be a prisoner.”
“Joy…” David sighed. “Don’t do this, please. I’ll be fine, trust me.”
Joy stared straight at Italo. “I’d rather be captured and tortured than to ever marry you or join your side. Go to hell.”
Italo became angry, and roughly knocked Joy on the head with his pistol, causing her to fall to the dirt. “Fine!” He spat. “If you want to be like this, then I will have you both imprisoned!”
But just after the mad had responded, a distant rumbling sound was heard. They could hear the sound grow louder as the group looked back and saw the source of the noise: an enormous elephant that was charging at them in fury.
Italo’s smile completely vanished, now swapped with an expression of terror. He turned away and sprinted as fast as he could, leaving behind both Joy and David. Pulling out her survival knife, Joy sawed vigorously at the ropes, attempting to cut David free.
“It’s getting close!” warned David.
“I got an idea.” She pulled out the rifle that was given to her and aimed it at the elephant. Shooting a blowdart at it, the elephant was quick to slow down and fall asleep, not too far away from where Joy and David were.
“Must be the elephant from last time,” Joy sighed.
Joy then continued to cut through the last of David’s ropes, finally cutting him free. David stood up and rubbed his wrists which were sore from the tight ropes, relieved to finally be free.
“Thanks, Joy.” David then glanced at the sleeping elephant. “We should call Dragon and have them take this elephant back to the base.”
“We also better cut our trip short,” said Joy. “Since this place is clearly occupied. Don’t want to run into any more soldiers.”
However, Joy and David reacted when they heard a rustling sound from the nearby grass. Assuming it was another Italian soldier, they had their weapons ready, prepared to defend themselves. However, the person who was in the grass was none other than Taz, and David and Joy immediately lowered their weapons as soon as they recognized her.
Taz raised her hands. “Relax, it’s just me!”
“Ivy!” David ran up to her and gave her a big hug. “You won’t believe how much had happened in the past hour.”
“I can see that from the big huge elephant behind you!” Taz snarked.
“What happened to the pangolin?” David asked, noticing the animal was missing.
“Oh! Well I simply called Dragon over to pick it up. I can also call them to pick up that elephant of yours.”
Joy smiled. “Alright. Then afterwards, we go home.”
Joy was surprised to see a helicopter come by and take away the elephant. She thought that helicopters were only in limited numbers, but it seemed that Dragon managed to build one or get their hands on one.
Afterwards, the three quickly packed up their stuff and were eventually extracted by helicopter, but not before Joy planted the baobab tree in a safe place, as Joy had promised Dakota she would. Although it was disappointing that the trip lasted so shortly, at least she’ll be able to return to the base and see her little Adam again.
After the helicopter landed at the base, Joy stepped out, along with David and Taz. They were greeted by Armfield as usual, although Joy noticed that he had a distraught look on his face.
“Glad you are back, Joy,” he said in a slightly quiet tone.
“How is Sorrow and Adam?” It was the first thought that came to Joy’s mind.”
“They are doing well. And we’ve already placed the elephant in the conservation platform.”
“Major…” Joy spoke to him. “Is something wrong?”
Armfield was silent for a moment, before speaking again. “Joy, it’s best that I tell you this in private. Come to my office.”
Armfield was silent for a moment, before speaking gain. “It’s best we take this somewhere private. Follow me to my office.”
Joy followed Armfield through the platform and down the halls of the base, a trip that lasted a good while before the two had eventually reached the office. Armfield invited Joy in and gestured for her to sit once they were inside.
After he and Joy both sat in each of the chairs, with Armfield of course behind his desk, Joy was the first to speak.
“Alright, let’s make this quick. I’d really like to see my husband and son again.”
Armfield’s expression was heavy with gloom, before responding. “We found William’s wedding ring in a pool of blood.”
Joy became uneasy upon hearing that.
“We brought a sample of the blood back to motherbase. It belongs to William.”
“You’re not suggesting that he’s…”
“I’m sorry, Joy, but it seems like that may very well be the case.”
“But you can’t know for sure that he’s dead. He could just be captured and kept as a prisoner.”
“Joy, even if he was indeed captured, it’s very unlikely he would have survived. He would have either succumbed to his injury or killed by his captors. It’s been months, Joy. It’s realistic to assume that he would be deceased by now.”
Joy stared down at the floor, not knowing what to think at this point. As much as she disliked William, she never wanted his end to be like this.
“Joy, you’re going to have to travel to London with me and help me break the news to his family. I don’t think I can do it alone.”
Joy nodded. “At least allow Sorrow to come along with me.”
“What about Adam, though? You would need someone to take care of him.”
“I already have a few people in mind.”
As requested by Joy, the helicopter made a stop over by Joy’s base in France before heading off to London. Of course, the Cobras were ecstatic to see her and Sorrow again, as they were to see Joy and Sorrow’s new son.
“Aw, he’s just so cute!” Fear gushed.
“He looks just like you guys!” Pain also effused.
Joy glared at Fury, who was trying to maintain a stoic expression, as if he was unaffected by the presence of a baby.
“I guess he’s kind of cute…” Fury grumbled. “We don’t have to babysit him, do we?”
“That’s exactly what I came here to ask you to do,” Joy snapped, as Fury grumbled. “Sorrow and I have to go to London, so I’m leaving Adam here with you guys. I’m trusting you four, so please take care of him for me. You can do that for me, right?”
Fury was far from pleased, though Pain, Fear, and End seemed excited.
“I have a lot of younger siblings, so I know how to take care of a baby,” Fear boasted.
“I always did want a grandson,” End added.
“Taking care of babies is like taking care of bees, right?” Pain queried.
“Well, you guys can go ahead, but I’m not playing nanny!” Fury declined.
“Oh, you are going to contribute whether you like it or not, Fury!” Joy snapped. “I’ll be calling regularly to check up on all of you. Thank you, guys.”
After they said their last goodbyes to Adam for now, Joy and Sorrow boarded back onto the helicopter and it proceeded to take off, heading towards London. Joy stared at the window, feeling nervous over what’s yet to come. She became anxious over seeing how the Cromwell family would react over their son’s apparent death. Especially Charlotte. How was Charlotte going to react to the death of her brother? Especially since the last time they saw each other, they seemed to be on good terms.
“Joy…” Sorrow spoke. “I obviously didn’t want to say this in front of the Major, but I have a feeling that William may still be alive.”
Joy turned her head to face her husband. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, I would have seen his ghost in Normandy had he died.”
“Maybe he’s in the spirit realm?”
“Entering the spirit realm isn’t easy, and some souls aren’t even granted access, especially those who have been a terrible person in life.”
“I see…” Joy became uneasy over the possibility that Hayashi and Wolff’s ghosts are still out there, haunting the living world. “I just hope I’ll at least get to see my father again when it’s my time…”
“I can’t know for certain where your father is, but I promise you that he’s not one of the ghosts wandering around the living world. You’ll get to see him eventually.”
Joy smiled to herself, feeling pleased over that revelation.