Target: Snake Eyes Part 6
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| "Target: Snake Eyes Part 6" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | December 19, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | December 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Alex Cal | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Romulo Fajardo, Jr. | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Neil Uyetake | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber and Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
Storm Shadow brings death and destruction to the USS Flagg for his final showdown with Snake Eyes.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
In the depths of the Philadelphia Naval Yard, G.I. Joe members Ragtop and Sure Fire discover something alarming: dozens of barrels of high explosive! Ragtop phones in to G.I. Joe control to check if the barrels are for planned demolition work, but before he can clarify, both Joes are taken out by Storm Shadow! Confused, Dial-Tone notifies Scarlett, who has been trying — and failing — to convince Snake Eyes to rest and let his body heal; Scarlett has a team sent to look for the missing Joes, before reporting with Mainframe to Duke on the bridge of the USS Flagg. The Joes' leader has summoned them because he wants the two to head up an autonomous unit of the Joes, to be called in when things go badly wrong... but as he speaks, things are about to go as wrong as they possibly could, as the time detonators linked to the high explosive go off, detonating the barrels and destroying the Naval Yard's sea gate, letting the Delaware River flood in!
From the bridge, Scarlett sees Storm Shadow taking advantage of the confusion to enter the drydocked ship, and realises he must be going for Snake Eyes. The ninja kills his way through the Joes defending the ship, hoping to find one that will lead him to Snake Eyes, but he has no luck until he is challenged by Helix — and though she would never betray her ally, when Storm Shadow overpowers her and moves in for the kill, he is stopped by Snake Eyes, now suited up and ready to fight. Aiming to make his one-time brother's death an "epic", Storm Shadow grapples with Snake Eyes and hurls them both down the stairs, onto the gantries above the Flagg's lower deck; the Arashikage leader accuses the other ninja of betraying his clan and leading them to their deaths, but as ever, he is met only with silence.
As Shipwreck arranges the evacuation of the ship, Scarlett refuses to leave, and heads into its depths in search of Snake Eyes. Coming across the badly wounded Helix, she is directed to the ninja's battle below, which Snake Eyes has run from to help his teammates: Deep Six's arm has been trapped below a fallen piece of equipment, and though Torpedo is trying to cut him out, the unstable ordnance around them means an errant spark could kill them all; Deep Six insists that the others leave him to drown in the rising waters, but his salvation comes when Snake Eyes arrives, cutting the naval Joe's arm off to save his life. Torpedo and Cutter provide cover for the ninja, but they are no match for the oncoming Storm Shadow, who stabs Cutter through the chest; as Snake Eyes draws his brother ninja off to continue their duel, Torpedo and Deep Six head for the surface, passing Scarlett on the way. Torpedo insists to Scarlett that they cannot intervene in the duel without being killed, and at that moment, the ordnance stacked on the bottom of the Flagg's hull begins to detonate, consuming the battle below in fire.
Scarlett, Torpedo and Deep Six make it to the surface in time as the destroyed Flagg begins to fall apart, and Scarlett is left to mourn. Though Mainframe insists that he could still live, Scarlett knows in her heart that her former lover is dead; she saw him consumed by the explosion, and no-one could have survived that, not even Snake Eyes. But away from the eyes of the Joes, Storm Shadow crawls from the water of the flooded Naval Yard... alive, but alone, with Snake Eyes nowhere to be seen.
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Arashikage |
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"You all right, Red?"
"Ever have someone in your life, no matter how hard you tried to get their attention, they looked right through you?"
"Yeah. You."
"Fair enough."
- —Mainframe and Scarlett
"You betrayed the Arashikage. You destroyed the clan that raised you from a child. They made you as one of their own and you repaid them with death. What kind of man does that?"
- —Storm Shadow
"Just one dude. With a sword."
"You say that like it's good news."
- —Torpedo and Cutter
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- The "special team" that Duke wants Scarlett and Mainframe to run is the Special Missions unit, the team who will star in G.I. Joe: Special Missions following the conclusion of G.I. Joe vol. 2.
- And so, the saga of Snake Eyes comes to a close... or so it seems...
Covers (2)[edit | edit source]
- Regular cover: Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow battle to the death, by Alex Cal, Aburtov and Grafikslava.
- Cover RI: Snake Eyes with Storm Shadow looming behind, by Dave Wilkins; combines with cover RI to G.I. Joe vol. 2 #20 to form a larger image.
