"Okay, now that Carlton Drake and First Officer Black have left the room, let's see what my dear Uncle Tarkin has to say." Eddie Brock said as he made his way over to one of the computer terminals. Blue had to carefully step over the corpses left by Doctor Victor Von Doom, all of whom where killed during what was supposed to be a simple meeting where he would once again hunt down Venom and Launch with new information provided. Right now though he needed to know who was telling the truth, whether it be his superiors or that dark god Knull.
Taking out the tape from his pocket and plugging it into the computer terminal, Blue typed in a series of links before getting to the password screen.
"Okay, let's see if my username and password works." Eddie said as he typed into the terminal.
"Unauthorized user. Name: General Blue, Rank 9. Rank Clearance Needed: 10." The terminal read.
"Damn it. I don't know Commander Red's password, but I may know Uncle Tarkin's password." Blue said as he began typing again. "You_may_fire_when_ready."
"Access Granted. Welcome Charles "Wilhuff" Tarkin." The terminal said.
"And I am in." Blue said to himself as he looked over the selections. "Okay looks like I viewed part of short version. Let's view the long version."
"Let the games begins." Said an all too familiar and creepy voice as the face of Tarkin appeared on the screen.
"Good Morning Carlton. I have reviewed your report regarding Venom and Launch, and while I don't necessarily agree that we should pursue these creatures, Dr. Gero seems to at least agree with you. I trust his judgement in this matter." Tarkin said.
"Come on, get to the part about me." Eddie said.
"As you know, I have been reviewing suitable replacements for the leadership of the Red Ribbon Army and the Life Foundation. No one is more qualified than my 'nephew' Edward Brock, otherwise known as General Blue. However, he must never learn the truth, even after obtaining the position of high commander." Tarkin said.
"And here it is." Blue said to himself, feeling the shadow of Knull loom over his shoulder.
"Blue must never learn that I was behind the deaths of his parents and his wife Annie. Remember this is all for your ears only Carlton. Not even First Officer Black has the right to know such details. I expect you to take this to the grave."
"So Commander Red hasn't known this information until quite recently and everyone else is completely in the dark." Blue thought. "My uncle is the one true mastermind."
"This is was all to prepare my son Edward for a greater purpose. Since the loss of Dylan, Annie Brock would have dragged him down. So she needed to be dealt with. The same could be said for his mother and stepfather. The car crash was only meant to be an accident."
"I knew it!" Brock yelled as he slammed his on the terminal keyboard, nearly breaking it. "He killed Annie! He killed my mom and dad! I don't care if he is my father by blood, he killed my wife!!!"
"As for Edward's surviving offspring, Lapis and Lazuli will remain at my mansion until they both have completed puberty. Then they will be taken to Dr. Gero. He has requested that he had wanted two subjects for his experiments. The good doctor doesn't need to know where they came from. For all he knows, the twins could be street rats."
"Are you serious!" Blue screamed. "You expect me to let you hand my two living children over as guinea pigs!!!! Over my dead body!!"
"In conclusion, I expect General Blue to resume command of the Red Ribbon Army and the Life Foundation after your departure. Whether your retirement will result in relaxing on a private island or in a jail cell remains entirely on the success of capturing the symbiotes. I wish you good luck in your mission. You will need it."
And with that, Tarkin's face disappeared thus signifying that the recorded video message had ended. General Blue sat back in the wake of it, thinking over what he should do.
"Do I kick down my newly discovered father's mansion and take Lapis and Lazuli to safety before Tarkin has a chance to hand his twins over to Dr. Gero? No, if he did that the three of them would be in danger of the Red Ribbon Army...unless..."
If Tarkin wanted Eddie to be the head figure of the Red Ribbon Army and the Life Foundation, then that is what he will do. The moment he receives the position, he will disband both organizations. This way, no one would stop him from taking Lapis and Lazuli away from his father and Dr. Gero. Not to mention, finding and retrieving Venom and Launch depends on whether or not Carlton Drake stays in power. He would have to make it seem that he tried his best against the symbiotes, this way he would be blameless. This meant that his showdown with Venom and Goku was inevitable. Just what Knull had wanted.
"Did that damn god know this was going to happen?" Blue said as he looked around the room for the shadow, which was nowhere to be seen. "The shadow is gone. Maybe I will get my answers from him another time, right I need to interrogate the prisoners. Panchy Briefs and Shu should have arrived at this base already."
Meanwhile, in the office of Commander Red...
"I am surprised you didn't have me execute General Blue for revealing your name. I could have sent Mercenary Tao to finish him off." First Officer Black said as he entered the office alongside Commander Red.
"That is none of your business First Officer Black, although I would like to see Tao Pai Pai use that tongue of his." Red answered before releasing what he said. "That came out wrong didn't it?"
"Yes sir, it did." First Officer Black said, trying his best not to chuckle at the comment.
"Enough of these fun and games, I have a meeting with Charles Tarkin to discuss the problem with Doctor Doom." Red said. "That means I need to be alone."
"Yes sir." First Officer Black said as he calmly and respectfully walked back out the door. "If you need me, I am going to tinker with more phones."
Pressing a few buttons and switches, the image of Vice President of Finance Tarkin appeared on his monitor.
"CEO Carlton Drake. Is there a reason why you are contacting me?" The seventy something year old man asked.
"Yes there is Charles, we have some news." Red said.
"Ahh, more bad news. I assume this has to do with the recent shakeup in Latveria." Tarkin said as he rolled his eyes.
"H-how did you know?" Red gasped.
"Overnight, Life Foundation assets started disappearing or being destroyed, according to our financial statements. The first ones targeted were those tied to the Red Ribbon Army. So far we haven't received word from any of our personeel behind the border, nor any representatives in that region. I don't know what is going on, but our spies in King Furry's administration have revealed that they are scrambling their forces together in case of an attack." Tarkin informed.
"Could I know something that Tarkin doesn't?" Red thought to himself with some immature self satisfaction. "He has no clue about Doctor Doom does he?"
"Well I have some news to share with you, the situation with Latveria is more troubling than you realize." Red informed.
"Really? Enlighten me." Tarkin said, testing the younger man.
"It seems that the old king has most likely been assassinated and replaced by a new dictator named Doctor Doom. This Doom is behind everything going on in Latveria." Red informed.
"Such an original name." Tarkin scoffed sarcastically. "And how did you come upon such information where I didn't?"
"Doom actually had the balls to call central command a few minutes ago during an update report with General Blue. He declared that he would kill off any Red Ribbon and Life Foundation personnel within Latveria's borders." Red said.
"Really? Well I am sure General White can handle the situation in Latveria until we can send additional forces to squash this rebellion." Tarkin said.
"Well I felt that we should cut our assets lose in Latveria loose and forget the whole thing happened." Red said as he straightened his tie out of nervousness.
"You mean you haven't given the order to declare war on Latveria yet?" Tarkin growled, for the first time truly angry since the start of the conversation.
"Yes." Was all what Red whimpered.
"I never knew you to have no spine Carlton." Tarkin spat, eyes glaring daggers. "What in Kami's name possessed you not to give the order to crush such a small and insignificant country like Latveria into the dirt?"
"Because Doom killed everyone in the command room." Carlton answered.
Tarkin looked down at Red, trying to make sense of what the smaller man said.
"You mean Doom killed several of your soldiers in your own base while on the phone with you?" Tarkin asked which Red nodded in response. "And how was he able to do that?"
"I don't know. There was no external wounds. Our forensic scientists on site have studied some of the bodies, and there is no evidence of gas or poison. All their hearts just stopped at the same time." Red answered.
"And what weapon do you believe Doom used to cause this?" Tarkin asked.
"The only thing that we can conclude is that Doom used magic. It's the only explanation."
"Preposterous. There is no such thing as magic anymore. Such individuals had died long ago along with their order. I believe King Harold saw to it before King Furry put an end to his favorite pastime." Tarkin said in disbelief. "No matter, we can deal with the Doom situation another time. I would like to know the status of the symbiotes and the dragon balls."
"During the raid of Capsule Corp, we learned that Venom and Launch were already there...along with a third symbiote."
"A third symbiote?" Tarkin said.
"Yes, we believe the host to be that of a woman named Mai with the symbiote's name being Vendetta. She serves an individual by the name of Emperor Pilaf, who was also at Capsule Corp at the time of the attack."
"So sending my son to Kame House was an useless endeavor since neither symbiote was present at the site." Tarkin commented.
"Not completely. There were four individuals at the island, three of which we managed to capture and are currently interrogating. The Turtle Hermit Master Roshi, the bandit Yamcha, and their pet tortoise Turtle are in our custody. The only one who managed to get away was one of Master Roshi's students, Krillin." Red said.
"Well that is of little consequence. One mere human child isn't going to thwart us." Tarkin said. "I want to know more about what went down at Capsule Corp. Tell me."
"Well during the fight, we managed to capture Dr. Briefs, his wife Panchy Briefs, and Emperor Pilaf's other servant Shu. However, that is the only good news." Red informed.
"Tell me." Tarkin said with disdain.
"We were unable to recover the dragon radar and the symbiotes, along with the Briefs' daughter Bulma, and their other friends Oolong and Puar. We even failed to capture Krillin a second time when he showed up out of the blue to assist the symbiotes in the battle." Red said.
"Then I believe it's time to hand Colonels Silver and Violet their resignations. I insist on laying out plastic on the carpets. I just got them for you during your birthday." Tarkin said.
"There is no need for a Lethal Weapon 2 situation. I know you and your friend Wilson Fisk love such pleasures, but Colonel Silver already paid with his life when Vendetta ate his head. Former Colonel Violet on the other hand decided to switch sides and join Bulma's group." Red finalized.
"This is unfortunate." Tarkin said, clearly not caring about Silver's demise. "Are you prepared for another attack? We need those symbiotes in our custody."
"We can't. Venom's little group has been granted special access into Latveria. The only ones who can touch them until they leave the country is General White's group in Muscle Tower. We have Dr. Briefs and Dr. Frappe working on some of Dr. Gero's projects, including a weapon call Android 8."
"In the event they leave Latveria, have General Blue and Mercenary Tao work together to stop them. Combined they are the single greatest force the Red Ribbon Army has to offer. We should have sent them together from the start." Tarkin said giving his final orders. "Is that all the news you have?"
"Yes my old friend, it is." Command Red said. "I will get started in contacting Tao Pai Pai right away."
"See that you do." Tarkin said. "Have a good night."
Once Tarkin hung up, Carlton breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now that wasn't as bad as a scolding as I thought." Red said as he looked through his phone book for Tao's number. "Now to call the man of the year himself."