Chapter 28:

Cruising down the freeway, approaching the all-time glamorous city of Paris, Isabella found herself enthralled by the foreign terrain; her eyes taking in her new surroundings as they passed by.

"Man…" she spoke out, "It's a shame we're here on business…I'd love to do some sightseeing just about now…"

"What, have you never been to Paris, Bella?"

Isabella smiled softly at Breaker's question; "That's a negative." She replied.

There was a few seconds worth of pause before Breaker's sympathetic voice filled her ear again.

"You deprived girl…."

"It's ok…" She assured him, "I just now know that when I save up the money and leave, where to go for my next vacation."

"Can I come with?"

Breaker's eager voice once again made Isabella laugh out loud softly, "Sure." She answered back, "….but you're buying your own plane ticket."

"Guys…."

Heavy Duty's voice interrupted.

"Keep focused, please. We'll be running into some 'old friends' soon."

Both Isabella and Breaker murmured their apologies; smiling all the while.

"Ok...We're about ten minutes from the Lab, Bella."

Isabella glanced down at her screen before rolling her eyes, seeing how she had almost twice the amount of time on her meter, "Of course you guys get the shorter route and make me take the long way around." She mumbled under her breath.

Her head piece picked up the low chuckling of Heavy Duty before Breaker's voice filled her ear.

"Your position's a precautionary, Bella…just in case those guys decide to give us chase, we'll have you already out and about in the area."

"Yeah, copy that…" she grumbled; not exactly pleased but not angry either.

Gazing out of the windshield, eyeing the city of Paris that drew closer with each passing minute, Isabella found her found herself pressing further down on the gas.

"Hey Breaker..." the young woman suddenly spoke out.

"What'cha need Bella?"

"What's the speed limit around here?" she asked; her turquoise eyes dropping briefly to check the speed meter. It read 70.

Isabella was met with a quick silent pause.

"Eh...65-70 for the road you're on now...but once you hit the city, 35-40."

"Hmmm..." the young woman clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Yeah I don't think so..."

"You don't think what, Bella?"

That was Heavy Duty. Isabella found a tiny smile was now pulling on her mouth.

"Oh nothing...I'm just talking to myself..." she replied in an overly sweet voice.

Another momentary pause.

"...You're not planning on doing something reckless are you?"

"Whhhaaaattt?" The young woman replied dramatically. "Reckless? Me?! Neeeevvveeerrrr."

But even as she spoke those words, Isabella couldn't stop the unseen twinkle that was lighting up her eyes as she glanced down and watched her speed meter reach 85 and climb higher still.


With the Warhead's case in hand, the Baroness along with Storm Shadow and some Vipers swept out from the large building, heading for their monstrous black vehicle.

The group was practically there when a semi-big white van turned abruptly down the main road and was coming directly at them.

"Joes..." The Baroness informed as she and her team quickly scurried into their vehicle, instantly starting up the engine and speeding off onto a second road that led away from the Laboratory.

The white van slowed to a stop, its door sliding wide open where Snake Eyes then flew out in a flash of black.

"Don't let them get away Snake!" Breaker voiced from his seat up front.

The Black Clad ninja, understanding his mission, set off in fast pursuit of the black vehicle on foot.

Duke jumped out of the van next, all suited up in his accelerator gear. "Come on Rip." he urged his friend as he took off running after the Viper vehicle.

Ripcord had just thrown on his helmet and was just about ready to leap from the van.

"Be careful with that equipment." Heavy Duty warned , pausing the handsome black man in his steps. "Each suit is worth millions of dollars."

Ripcord turned around in acknowledgement "Millions of dollars right."

But the fast turn threw his balance off and Ripcord ended up tipping out of their vehicle, landing smack dab on his back.

Every other Joe stared blankly at Ripcord as he scrambled to his feet. "It's all good. I got this."

Ripcord took one step back before he was struck by another vehicle that had been driving on the road they were on.

Kicking himself to his feet a second time, Ripcord mumbled a quick apology before he set off after Duke, running straight through the green of a tree.

"Come on Scarlet baby are you gonna get in on this or what?" Heavy Duty asked the fiery red head; his voice urgent.

A man on a motorcycle pulled up along the van.

Scarlet smiled and climbed out of the car, a bike helmet tucked under her arm.

With the last Joe dispatched, Heavy duty slammed on the gas and drove off into the city.

A beep sounded from Breaker's computer. The computer wiz glanced down on his screen, quickly adjusting the glasses on his face. "Ooo...the tracking signal is good. Don't let go of that truck Snake Eyes." he spoke into his head set.

"Hey Bella..." he added. "I'm sending you the positions of the Baroness and Storm Shadow."

"Copy that."

Isabella replied.

A similar beep came from her own monitor when the positions of Storm Shadow and the Baroness suddenly appeared on her screen along with Duke's, Ripcord's, Scarlet's and finally Snake Eyes.

Studying the screen for a few seconds, Bella found her brows furrowing softly as she noted how close Snake Eyes was to their targets.

"Damn..." she noted out loud as she made a sharp turn into the city, "Snake Eyes' is practically on top of them..."

"He is on top of them."

Came Breaker's voice.

"What?" She replied not hiding the surprise in her voice.

"He's riding on top of their vehicle."

"Ohh..." Isabella murmured softly.

"You better get over there Bella...Snake may need a lift."

Snake Eyes? The young woman found herself chewing softly on her lower lip at the thought of having to retrieve the Black Clad ninja and remain alone with him for the rest of their mission.

"...is that an order?" she replied.

"Move that ass of yours sweetheart!"

Hearing the tone of Heavy Duty's voice, the young woman swore softly before she hit the gas in compliance.

Glancing at her tracking screen every now and then, Bella skillfully swerved her way through the city traffic before she turned down a back road which allowed her more leniency with her movements as she plotted out the fastest way to intercept the Baroness's vehicle.

In under ten minutes, the young woman found herself finally closing in on the black car.

"I've got them Heavy Duty.." she informed through her headset.

"Bella you'll need to cause a distraction."

Breaker's voice answered.

"A distraction?" the young woman repeated, clearly confused. "With what? You guys didn't leave me with a lot to work with."

"There's a Beretta M9 in the glove compartment and a 12 gauge shotgun under your seat. Both fully loaded, take your pick."

Answered Heavy Duty.

"12 gauge? Nice..." Isabella murmured quietly as she took the wheel with one hand and used her other to reach over and open the small compartment where she proceeded to pull out the M9.

Bringing the gun close but keeping it pointed away, Isabella checked the safely and made sure it was on before she carefully set the gun down in her lap.

Swiftly checking her position with the Baroness' vehicle, Isabella made a sudden hard right before hitting the gas hard, gaining speed up in 90's.

"Why am I having to distract again?" Isabella asked curiously as she smoothly switched lanes, getting ready for another turn.

"They're trying to knock Snake Eyes off the roof of the car."

"Ohh...well I'm sure he can handle it." Isabella answered unaffected by the information.

"Yeah but the streets of Paris can't."

She sighed. "Alright...I'll take care of it." she informed as she spun the wheel and made another turn coming out onto a new road. When she had steadied her ride, Isabella hit a button on the door and rolled both her side front windows down before she gripped the butt of the gun with her free hand firmly and continued on driving straight.

The Baroness' vehicle was coming towards her just as Isabella had plotted earlier. And sure enough, the Baroness was causing havoc for the city folk; using some kind of attachment on the truck's front, the black vehicle was scooping up smaller cars left and right.

Snake Eyes, Isabella noted as she drove directly at the black vehicle, was having to dodge some pretty close ones by either jumping over the flying car in mid-air or grabbing hold of it briefly as it passed over the roof before letting go and landing unscratched back on the roof.

When the Baroness was less than 50 feet away, Isabella decided to take action.

With the gun in hand, the young woman quickly flicked the safety off with her thumb before she stuck her armed limb out the open car window and took aim at the black truck.

Keeping herself steady and calm, Isabella's pointer finger curled around the trigger and pulled, firing three rounds that struck the center of the windshield of the Baroness' vehicle.

Isabella wasn't surprised in the least when the rounds left only a couple scratches behind on the glass.

"Bullet proof...how typical..." she grumbled as she drew her arm back in and placed the gun back in her lap right as she veered off to the side as she the black vehicle passed by each other heading in opposite directions now.

"Hey..." Isabella continued on, "I wasn't done with you." she finished as she jerked the wheel as far as it would go, spinning her car into a perfect 180 before slamming down on the gas and speeding off after the black vehicle.

Since she had the smaller car, it was no struggle catching back up to the Baroness.

Driving alongside the black truck now, Isabella once again picked up her gun and started shooting a few rounds at the driver's window.


Inside the black vehicle, both the Baroness and Storm Shadow looked up front.

"Who the devil is that?" the beautiful Baroness asked as she and the white clad ninja eyed the sporty vehicle that was shadowing them now. "Roll your window down." she ordered the driver.

The Driver complied.

And the second he did, he found himself barely dodging a bullet that flew right by his ear and stuck into the other side of the car.

The Baroness shifted in her seat, leaning forward slightly to get a look at whoever was firing the gun. She caught a glimpse of feminine silhouette before Storm Shadow's hand came to her shoulder and pulled her back in her seat.

"I know who that is..." he informed her.

One look of his dark eyes told her what she wanted to know. "It's that Marine brat isn't it? The one McCullen and the Doctor keep talking about."

"It appears...the Joes decided to bring her along." He confirmed.

"Well...what concern is she to us? She's practically a child still..." The Baroness stated coolly as she and Storm Shadow sat back in their seats.

A shower of rounds hit the vehicle, going down its full length.

"Still...she's persistent enough." the dark haired woman added, a frown starting to tug at her mouth as she glared over at Isabella's vehicle.

Storm Shadow smiled softly. "She's also a Cobra target..." he reminded.

The Baroness looked over at the white ninja, "And I suppose you have a plan?"

"Well...I have my orders..."


Down to her final round, Isabella set her gun down, took the wheel with both hands and sped along, no longer driving alongside the black car but instead driving directly in front of it.

"Was that enough of a distraction for you?" Isabella asked into her head set.

"Well it stopped them from chucking cars around..."

Breaker's voice answered.

"Yeah about that...you know..I'm not usually pulling stunts like this myself but I'm just saying, they've sure picked a funky route for a getaway..."

Almost as if answering her own statement, Isabella quickly began dodging cars as smoothly as she could seeing how she was driving the wrong way in a one-way street.

"Yeah I know...they're driving right into the heaviest traffic...what kind of escape route is that?"

"It isn't!" Isabella swiftly threw out as she pulled her car up onto a curb to miss hitting another one.

"She's right...maybe they're not trying to escape..maybe they're heading somewhere."

Spoke Breaker.

"Possible targets?"

"Yes...someplace with a lot of...metal..."

"Metal?" Isabella repeated as her eyes automatically started scanning the city up ahead for anything that fit the bill. It didn't take much to spot it however. "Heavy...the tower..." the young woman spoke.

"They're going to blow it up.."

Confirmed Heavy Duty's voice.

"All units, all units..."

"Guy's we have to stop them!"

"Yeah we're on it!"

"No I mean right now...they're going to detonate one of the warheads on the Eiffel Tower."

"Shit..." Isabella swore before she pulled her vehicle back once again so that it was mirroring the Black Truck which suddenly turned onto a different road that would bring it closer to the famous Tower of France.

On the roof of the black vehicle, Snake Eyes, understanding now that they were running out time, pulled out his handheld and fired some shots into the ceiling. But when it proved to be fruitless, he put away his gun and whipped out his katana which he stuck deep into the metal instead.

Suddenly, a gun shot came at him from his right. And Snake Eyes found himself reaching down the side of the vehicle where Storm Shadow had stuck his arm out.

Grabbing the white ninja's arm and using his other hand to keep him secured in place, the Black clad ninja climbed down the side where the open window was where he proceeded to land a few blows against his old rival.

Storm Shadow timed his blow just right, knocking Snake Eyes under his chin, forcing him back a bit when the Baroness shouted a direct order.

"Crush him!"

The driver then pulled the vehicle harshly to the side till its whole side smashed a large truck.

Watching the scene as carefully as she could while avoiding all objects she could possibly hit, Isabella found her breath lodged briefly in her throat when she saw Snake Eyes suddenly vanish from sight once they had hit the truck on the side of the road.

"Snake Eyes..." she breathed out, feeling something deep within her knot at the thought of the Black Ninja becoming KIA.

A shadowy movement beneath the Baroness' car caught Isabella's eye. Squinting softly, the young woman made out the broad and well muscled form of Snake Eyes, clinging tightly to the underside of the vehicle.

A sigh of relief left her almost instantly.

He was ok.

Facing forward in her seat, Isabella smiled softly and shook her head. But then her eyes spotted something up ahead that instantly wiped the smile form her face.

"Oh fu..." She didn't even bother finishing the sentence before she slammed on the gas and raced onward. "You better get out of there Snake!" she warned as she left the black vehicle behind in the dust.

It was almost like he had heard her words. From his position, Snake Eyes' dark head turned at something before he carefully let himself drop off the vehicle and quietly roll away to his feet while the Baroness and Storm Shadow drove on.

For a few feet or so before a large and fast moving train came at them from the side and collided unforgivably with them, knocking the black truck into the air before it landed, burst into flames and rolled away to a stop.