So, I was going to write this last night, but I was tired after my soccer tournament, I crashed as soon as I parked my truck and walked into my house. So the moment I woke up, I stared writing. Hope everyone likes.

This door had to open somehow. Lucky already triggered the switch, so there must be another thing we have to do before entering. But how? I scanned the room again. Nothing of importance popped up.

"Maybe there's a timer…" I muttered to myself, pacing back and forth in front of Edward and Lucky. "Maybe we have to wait a few moments for the switch to activate the door…"

"What if that switch I triggered wasn't for this door?" Lucky asked, sitting back up. "What if it was an alarm?"

I froze. I hadn't thought of that. "Don't you think we'd hear something if it was?" I responded to him.

He shrugged. "Just a thought." He muttered to himself. "I still don't see why we can't just have Eddy here break through the wall."

"I told you, we have to remain in stealth mode, Lucky." I sighed, and leaned against the wall.

"But does that really matter now?" Edward piped up. "With the people who are supposedly coming after Lucky? They'll already know we're here."

I ducked my head down, and stared at the stone floor. What to do, what to do…. Part of me cried out to keep the silence with us. But Edward was right. If people were coming after us, there was really no need.

"Alright." I finally said. "We'll wait for another moment, and we don't find another way to open the door, we'll bust through it."

"Yeah!" Lucky jumped up, excited. "Edward gets to show us that killer strength he was telling me about!"

Me and Edward shared that I-can't-believe-he's-yours/mine-best-friend look. Edward came over and leaned against the wall with me.

"So, you plan to blow this place up?" He whispered to me.

I shifted my shoulders, almost shrugging, but not quite. "I planned to render this place unusable for the Pontas. That way, whatever they were working on here couldn't be used against us."

"But you told us this was strictly search and rescue."

"I know." I glanced over at him. "This was something I had to do."

"We could help, you know." Edward grabbed my hand. "Me, Lucky, Jasper, and Alice." And he smiled at me. That stupid crooked smile that had made my heart skip from the first time.

"I know, but I…." I looked away from him. "I'm used to doing this stuff alone."

I could feel Edward's eyes drilling into the side my face. "No matter how long I stay with you, I can never seem to get a feel for what you'll do next. What you'll say next."

"Well, I guess that's good." I mumbled, more to myself. "That means no one else can figure me out too, right?"

To be honest, most of the time, I didn't even think about what I was doing or saying. Everything that happened to me was purely what my body or tongue had decided, not my brain. Sure, I planned out most of the missions beforehand, but whenever something unexpected happened, I only did what my instincts told me.

Across the room, I saw Lucky's head shoot up. "Hey, do you hear something?"

I tilted my head, listening intently. Edward copied me.

"No…." I answered after a while.

"It's like…" Lucky paused, his face twisting in concentration. "Like a screeching noise. Like metal moving over metal. Only it's not that loud and piercing."

I listened again. Nothing. "Edward?"

"I think I hear it." He said, folding his arms. "It seems to be coming from that room where I heard the voice earlier."

"That can't be good." I muttered to myself. Strange noises from rooms where people were being held hostage could never be a good thing. "Looks like we'll have to break through this door." I turned toward it.

"Actually, there's no need." Edward told me. "I can hear someone coming down the hall to open this door."

"Seriously?" Lucky asked. "How insanely lucky are we?" He pumped his fist. "Now all we have to do is hide and knock that guy out, while getting through the door, right?"

I nodded. "Exactly. But we should probably make sure the guy doesn't see who we are, or that we've taken him out. Don't want anyone else finding out this base has been infiltrated."

"Alright!" Lucky shouted again. "Bring it on!"

I almost punched him. "Quiet, you moron!" I shushed him. "They could hear you!"

"Oops," He whispered. "Sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "Get into the shadows and put your masks on." I ordered the two of them, and jumped back toward the door. "No noise, whatsoever."

They nodded and hid in the shadows themselves. A few moments passed, and footsteps crossed my ears. Dulled footsteps, like someone was walking behind a wall. Which, in fact, they were. I sucked in a breath and held it, refusing to take the chance of this guy hearing my breath quietly moving through my lungs.

A creak sounded and the door was pushed open slowly. A small, white-coated man stepped out, wiping a towel over his face. I could tell by the drooping skin under his eyes and on his forehead, he was a very stressed person. And he seemed especially so now.

Excellent.

I nodded to the other two, and they leapt out, silent, hiding in the man's blind spots. They crept up behind him, and I followed shortly behind them. Lucky quickly caught the man in the crook of his arm, cutting off the guy's breathing, and his head fell slack. Unconscious.

I knelt down and checked the guy out. Obvious a man of science, from the looks of it. White lab coat, and stains of unknown—to me, anyway—chemicals, and that science air seemed to linger around him. I checked the tag hanging from his neck.

"Julien Ket." I read aloud. "Director of Science Department, B3." I flipped it over.

On the back of his tag, there was a list of names. Most of them unfamiliar, but one stood out. "Renee (Swan?)—incapacitated." It read. I checked the other names. All of them had either 'incapacitated' or 'dead' written next to them.

I scratched the back of my neck nervously. This wasn't good. I ripped the tag from his neck, and searched his pockets. I found a card with a code on it that was bound to be useful for something.

I nodded to the others. I stood up and we walked through the door. Being the last one through, I checked behind us as the door was shutting. The light dimmed behind us quickly, but I could have sworn I saw the scientist we'd just taken out reach for something.

Blinking fast, I couldn't get another look. The door had already closed. Maybe it was a trick of the dim lighting. Oh well, I couldn't worry about it now. I turned and followed my comrades down the hall.

Lucky had taken the front position, leading Edward and I forward down the hall. I was in the back, watching behind us, and Edward was listening to everything around us. Something was tugging at the corner of my mind, warning me, but I ignored it. I couldn't deal with anything else right now.

I forced myself to calm down and try to think rationally. Maybe that voice Edward heard was my mother. I couldn't hear it, so I couldn't confirm anything, but I hoped we'd finally found her. I wanted to get out of here and back home already.

Something in the ringing of our footsteps changed. "Lucky." I said, alerting him to the change in sound, and he nodded back at me. He was on guard. I nudged Edward. "Be ready." He smiled at me and nodded as well.

The room quickly opened up to a giant room. The ceiling towered above us, a good three stories up, with beams crossing over our head. Some of them seemed to be used as catwalks as well as support. The rock around glowed a dark, menacing red color, and the heat was intense here. Almost unbearable.

But was really unbearable was what I could see on the floor. All around us, spanning several yards in a semi circle were beds, torture devices, cold medical desks, and sharp objects of all kinds. In the bed, there were actually some people. People who looked to be mangled beyond being form like a person. We stepped out to see a man with skin dripping off his face, and sharp green teeth exposed through transparent lips.

I could hear Edward and Lucky gasp at the sight, and my stomach turned. It took a lot to make me sick, and this was definitely more than enough. Beside the bed, there was a tag that "Jek Turner, Garanian marketman. Failed."

"Failed what?" Edward asked, reading over my shoulder.

I shrugged and looked back at the guy. "I have no idea, but looking at him, I'd have to agree."

"Unless what they're doing is creating disgusting monsters." Lucky said, poking the man's skin. "Seriously, this guy is gross."

I looked at the tag again. Something about the name was familiar. Then it hit me. It was on that scientist's tag that I took. I brought it from my pocket and set it next to Jek's.

"So this is what they're up to here." I muttered. "They're creating… something." I looked to Edward. "What, I don't know. But looking around, I can tell it isn't good."

"Do you think they've done the same to your mom?" Lucky asked, pulling his hood off.

The mention of my mother looking like this guy horrified me. "I certainly hope not. Come on, let's have a look around." I lead them away from skin-drip man and across the floor.

*Shudders* Can you imagine someone with dripping skin? Ick. Anyway, the climax point of this part of Ninja Bella and Edward's story is coming close. I must say, I am very excited.

In other news, I have a funny story for you! I printed a few chapter of this story off and gave them to a friend to read. She was reading them in my Lit class and my teacher, thinking they were notes, confiscated them and read them aloud. After she was done, she looked to my friend and asked "Did you write these?" My friend, of course, shook her head and pointed to me. My teacher glared at me and asked "Why can't you write essays for me like this?" I almost died and fell out my chair.

Maybe it's not so funny, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway. My lame joking aside, until next time, faithful readers!