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The Jamaican Blur: Island Superheroes!
Chapter 79 - Infiltrating The Red Reefers

Chapter 79 - Infiltrating The Red Reefers

The next day, early morning, the interior of Lovers Beach cave had been transformed into a high-tech control centre filled with flickering holographic screens displaying digital data and surveillance footage. They lined the rocky walls as they tracked coordinates and collated information captured by the heroes.

In the middle of this rough-and-ready base of operations stood The Blur, examining a piece of sleek underwater gear - the Hydro-Stealth 3000 dive suit. He tested the pressurized joints of the armoured wetsuit crafted from an experimental titanium-neoprene polymer. Advanced buoyancy controls were built into the diving apparatus for deep sea mobility along with concealed oxygen tanks granting over 4 hours of breathable air supply. An array of sensors and cameras fed tactical data directly to the streamlined hydro-helmet with transparent face shielding.

"Yuh know say mi borrow this high-tech diving equipment from the Heroes Support Department, right?" The Blur said, admiring the gear's intricate design.

"Mhm, more like yuh thief it when nobody was looking!" Cocoa Fox teased with a knowing smile. She leaned casually against a stalagmite, flicking mud off her bushy tail. Behind her sulked their disgruntled prisoner, Poison Dart. Stripped of all visible weapons, the assassin's wrists and ankles remained bound while a metal brace muffled any snide remarks.

"Yuh mad cause mi band yuh mouth? Yuh lucky mi care about people health - including prisoners - or else yuh woulda get electric shock for dinner again!" The Blur snapped.

“Mhnm-uhm…” Poison Dart grunted angrily through her gag but thought better than to test his temper. Her stomach rumbled loudly in protest. Still she hadn’t consumed any food.

Turning back to Cocoa Fox, The Blur's expression grew serious beneath his signature headgear. "Anyway, we have to act fast if we're going to rescue Cain from Lord Skull's clutches. The longer he’s in captivity, the more insane experiments they put him through!"

Cocoa Fox frowned in agitation. "I agree we have to save him...but not by weself! If we inform the proper authorities now about the secret oil rig hideout and show them proof, Jedi Knight or Iron Eagle can storm the place with elite units."

She stepped closer, placing a furry paw on his shoulder. "Going out there alone on this stealth mission is madness! Yuh could get captured too...or worse. We would stand a better chance working alongside alpha heroes for this level-coordinated raid. Yuh need to trust the process, Blur."

The Blur clenched his fists, discharging static electricity. "Yuh think mi stupid? If we give the so-called ‘authorities’ the information now, them inept fools will just barge in with sirens blazing and alert everybody!" Sparks danced along his dreadlocks with his rising agitation.

"By the time some incompetent alpha hero squad assemble and reach the rig coordinates, Lord Skull woulda move the entire Loki-7 operation! We will lose this one shot chance at catching him red-handed and saving Cain. I can't risk that!"

Cocoa Fox maintained a sympathetic gaze, but would not back down. "Even if you're right, attempting this solo infiltration across dangerous waters is beyond risky - it's near suicidal, yuh zeet?! I can't conscience it, Blur...”

Their heated debate was interrupted by faint beeping sounds and blinking alerts from the cave's monitoring systems. Several drones patrolling the oceans had detected a heavily armed freighter adorned with distinct tribal symbols making its way towards the mist shrouded rig. Magnifying the live feed revealed hard-faced deckhands and armed guards outfitted by an Eastern Bloc weapon dealer.

"Big shipment of contraband heading Skull's way by the look a' that," Blur analysed. "Which means prime opportunity for me to slip onto the rig amidst the commotion as them unload cargo."

He deactivated the alerts and pulled up underwater routes leading to the rig's blindside. Programming an approach vector into his dive suit's mini-computer, Blur turned to leave.

"Yuh remember the rendezvous coordinates should things go left. If I don’t report in by sundown, request all the blinking reinforcements yuh want." He managed half a smirk. "Otherwise, enjoy babysitting duties until mi return with Cain...preferably in one piece."

Cocoa Fox crossed her furry arms. "This is still batty risky. But go do yuh thing, if yuh must..."

Her sharp vulpine eyes softened with concern. "Just...come back safe. Don't make risky gambits without backup, please. Yuh more valuable to mi..." She caught herself mid-sentence, her fur bristling in embarrassment. "...Valuable asset to the team, heh."

If he noticed anything peculiar, Blur didn't let on. With a final check of instruments and a thumbs up, he affixed the streamlined helmet and oxygen tanks before diving gracefully off the cave's submerged exit, vanishing into darkening depths tinted azure by fading sunlight. Tiny bio-luminescent jellyfish danced ahead as he swam swiftly downwards while Cocoa Fox stared pensively from above at shimmering ripples fading to stillness.

Transitioning through the Caribbean, past curious dolphins and technicolour coral, The Blur glided effortlessly while avoiding patches of luminous squid-like creatures emitting an eerie psychic interference. Consulting his mini-map showed he was nearing the hundred-meter depth perimeter of the rig's underwater security grid. Straying within its sensor range would alert vigilant patrol drones.

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Relying on suit camouflage technology to avoid visual detection, The Blur carefully navigated the oceanic trenches, reaching advantageous terrain to spy upon Lord Skull’s stronghold dead ahead. Rising from the endless abyssal plains of the azure trough sat an imposing structure - a retrofitted semi-submersible oil rig platform repurposed as a base of operations by cutthroat paramilitary forces and shrouded in secrecy.

Creeping closer, The Blur's suit sensors analysed multiple armed watercraft patrolling the fortified perimeter. He identified each vessel's sonar capabilities and predicted patrol patterns, guided by an infiltration protocol. Breaching the surface cautiously between gaps in coverage, The Blur clung to rugged scaffolding near the rig's rear maintenance bay, assessing viable entry points.

The sound of docking chains clanging preceded harsh shouts in Russian commanding workers to accept incoming cargo. Grizzled deckhands scurried to unload a steady stream of heavy crates stamped 'FRAGILE - MEDICAL SUPPLIES' from the Eastern Bloc freighter now tethered to adjoining piers. An excuse for smuggling, The Blur deduced. Secret munitions perhaps, or banned biochemicals requisitioned by Lord Skull.

While the guards focused on the fishy cargo transfer, The Blur sprayed himself with a special micro-algae concentrate, instantly blending with the oxidized rig surfaces before slipping unseen into dim storage bays filled with transformers and generators droning nosily. So far so good. He just needed to locate Cain undetected and figure out how to get him back to shore covertly. Piece of ackee pie. Yeah right.

Navigating the metallic corridors, The Blur encountered patrolling Red Reefers and lone personnel but easily avoided them by sticking close to harshly lit ceilings, his slender form obscured within tangles of insulated steam pipes and ducts. Outdated security cameras provided easy telegraphed patterns to exploit using careful timing and agility.

Eventually, he reached the rig's fortified midsection and what had once been crew quarters and a mess hall before modification into a heavily shielded research laboratory for covert enhancement experiments overseen by the mutagen-obsessed Lord Skull and his circle of rogue geniuses.

The Blur immediately spotted Cain suspended within the complex's central holding tube, surrounded by intravenous tubing steadily siphoning charged neon essence and weaponizing the energies within immense bio-reactors adjoined to the primary containment unit. Cain appeared emaciated yet defiant from the glow of liquefied variables bubbling ominously in nearby test tubes. Surveillance showed no guards stationed within the chamber itself currently. A stroke of luck at last.

Yet before The Blur could determine an extraction plan, harsh footsteps echoed down sterile corridors preceding the arrival of Lord Skull himself, accompanied by a towering, iron-jawed brute with pale dead eyes. A cursory x-ray glimpse confirmed an abnormally dense bone structure beneath the brute's black beret and heavy trench coat adorned with pirate insignias. Apparently, this was the infamous Boss Hammerhead, notorious leader of the deadly Red Reef Gang, a band of cutthroat Coco-powered pirates wielding mutated sea beast forms.

"We have new investors willing to spend big money on the aptly named 'Darwin Formula' once perfected," Lord Skull conveyed to Hammerhead on approach, oblivious of the hidden intruder. "Imagine the profit potential - a biochemical means to unlock dormant Coco DNA at a predestined evolutionary sequence! No more random abilities dictated by chance Coco Mosquito bites. The first legitimate path to manufacturing consistent Coco powersets for clients able to meet our price..."

The Blur repressed a shudder. More unnatural contamination for profit and control. As if unstable neon drugs weren't wreaking enough havoc already across his beloved island's youth...

"You said der product vas too unstable now for mass deployment, comrade," Hammerhead rumbled quietly in his thick Slavic accent, massive shoulders hunched within the elevator. "Yet investors vant reliable super soldier army. Vy delay further? Ve should move directly to human trials!"

A dubious Lord Skull regarded his brutish companion as the doors parted. "I understand the urgency, my hasty Hammerhead. But until we can eliminate potentially, ah, 'explosive' side effects, field applications remain strictly small batch. Jamaica serves nicely as our testbed for ironing out issues before implementing worldwide."

They strode by banks of equipment towards the Toxic Sisters monitoring Cain's labwork, glancing occasionally at data sheets. Toxica in particular bore an impatient, almost spiteful gaze in her glimmering hazard suit the colour of irradiated cytoplasm. An eager voyeur to suffering, The Blur thought darkly. Neither villain noticed the hidden figure clinging stealthily between harsh ceiling lamps.

"Vy not use protective suit like Toxica's for all subjects during trials?" Hammerhead posited. "Might shield problematic explosions, da?"

Lord Skull considered the notion briefly. "Hmm, perhaps...though any volatile reactions from the Darwin Formula seem entirely random currently. I've seen subjects injected from the same batch develop vastly different abilities and side effects without predictable patterns. Yet your proposal merits exploration."

By now they stood directly before Cain's central enclosure filled with bubbling tubes. The Toxic Sisters concluded remote monitoring of neon essence outputs from the barely conscious youth suspended in alchemic fluids.

"Extraction has slowed to a pitiful trickle again," Toxica declared snidely to Lord Skull while deactivating the hideous processes without a shred of empathy. "The glutton refuses to discharge higher concentrations despite repeated warnings and disciplinary shock sequences!"

"Is that so?" remarked Lord Skull with an eerie calmness. He raised a shadowy appendage that stretched across the borosilicate cylinder and squeezed Cain's throat without ever touching the physical barrier. "Your continued defiance tries my dwindling patience and Skull Dynasty generosity, boy. Perhaps we should motivate your full cooperation another way..."

Dread clutched The Blur's chest observing Cain squirm helplessly within Skull’s clutches. He has to take action! But he was afraid that he was no match for Lord Skull as yet, not to mention that there were 3 other Coco Powerhouses situated in the lab presently. The last time he fought Lord Skull the brute spared his life and promised to savour it another day, so a part of him was still fearful. These villains' presence was blocking any chance for swift intervention. The Blur reluctantly held his hidden position, thinking what to do next...