Chapter 12:

Both of Isabella's eyebrows rose up at the new information that Heavy Duty had just stated, then she glanced over at Scarlet who she could've sworn was smirking at the task she had just been assigned to.

"Oh yeah….this is gonna be a great day…" she muttered sarcastically inside her head.

"Well then," Scarlet spoke up, "…let's get started." She stated in an enthusiastic tone that was way too happy for Isabella's tastes.

"Right." Heavy Duty agreed before he pointed to Ripcord and Duke, "You two…with me. Now." He ordered before he turned on his heel and walked away from the group, heading for the bunker's exit. Ripcord and Duke shared a quick glanced before they hurried after the bigger man. Breaker chuckled softly before he too then departed from the circle of Joes,

"Well if anyone needs me, I'll be with my computer watching the two new guys." He stated. Once Breaker was gone, leaving Isabella alone with Scarlet and Snake Eyes, she turned towards Scarlet who had that Oh-the-things-I'm gonna-put-you-through kind of look displayed on her face, and nodded her head in acceptance,

"You're going to enjoy this aren't you?" she stated in a calm voice. Scarlet straightened up at the acknowledgement and softly smirked,

"Indubitably." She replied. Isabella nodded again before she brought both of her hands up, linked them together and cracked her knuckles in response,

"Well then have at it." She challenged. Scarlet's smirk widened softly before she gave a soft jerk of her redhead, signaling that Isabella was to follow as she led the way out of the bunker, leaving Snake Eyes behind. As they entered the training arena, Isabella stared in wonder at the different exercises going on at once; some involved training with arms, others worked on hand to hand combat. Scarlet took her over where a simulator had been set up,

"This is going to test your aim and reflexes with a gun." She stated as she made her way over to the machine's controls where she quickly typed in something before walking over to a rack of guns. She grabbed the closest automatic before she turned back to Isabella, "Catch." She called to her before she neatly tossed her the weapon. Isabella took a step forward and caught the gun cleanly in her hands. She took a couple moments to look it over and adjust to the weight of it since it was much heavier than the pistol she use to carry around before she looked up at Scarlet for her instructions,

"Your goal is to hit all of the targets under the time of three minuets." Scarlet stated while she crossed her arms over her chest. "Your score and time will be recorded here." She pointed out as she signaled over to an electronic board.

Isabella nodded her head at the information, "Sounds simple enough." She mumbled under her breath while she took up the gun in preparation, "Let's do this." She added in a louder voice so Scarlet could here.

Scarlet smirked before she reached a hand out and pressed a button on a remote that she now held in her hands. Once Isabella saw the timer moving she turned about to face the simulator. Holographic images of viper soldiers came out into the open from the windows and doorways of the tall simulator that was set up to look like a couple buildings standing next to each other. Isabella eyed her first few targets before she raised her gun up and fired. Once those had been cleared, more came out. And Isabella quickly discovered that the faster you take them out, the faster they come back at you. The harder targets even shot back at you with an electric shock. Keeping herself light on her toes, Isabella skillfully moved about the simulator floor, shooting when she had a target, dodging when she receiving fire while concentrating on making her hits under three minuets. When her last target was taken out, Isabella stopped her firing and turned to glance over at the clock. She frowned softly before swearing,

"Damn…" she grumbled under her breath.

"Mmm..." Scarlet stated out loud as she too checked out the scoreboard, "…3:08:56….not bad….but the goal is to get under three minuets." Scarlet reminded smartly.

Isabella licked her now dry lips before she turned her eyes upon the redhead,
"….my bad…" she sarcastically replied, her eyes softly narrowing in response.

"Go again." Scarlet ordered before she raised the remote up and hit the button that would start the exercise all over again.

Isabella had only a quick second to glare resentfully over at Scarlet before she jumped back into the simulator. This time through, sweat broke out on the top of Isabella's forehead and her breathing quickened in response to her determination of making it under those three minuets. When she tried to glance at the clock when it had reached the two minuet marker, Isabella found herself thrown back across the floor as a powerful electric shock that came from an unexpected target, struck her square in the chest, knocking the automatic right out of her hands. She slid back a couple feet and watched with wide eyes as her gun slid even further out of reach before it stopped right by Scarlet's boots. Isabella swore at her situation before she pulled her gaze back up to the scoreboard; it now read 2:25:43 and she still had five targets left. Isabella rolled onto her back and skillfully flipped to her feet before she ran over to the rack of guns that lied less than eight feet away on her left side and reached for a handheld. Taking the gun up in her right hand, she spun on her heel to face the simulator and fired at the moving targets.

"1….2,3…..4" She counted out loud through gritted teeth; when her fifth and final target appeared at window at the top of building, Isabella aimed the gun and fired, nailing her target right in between his eyes.

Scarlet had watched Isabella with surprised eyes at how she had handled the situation of being disarmed and marveled at how fast and precise her aim was with a handheld. When she glanced over at the clock she was even more impressed, "2:49:33." She stated.

At the news, Isabella turned her head up to the ceiling and let out sigh of accomplishment before she raised both fisted hands up into the air victoriously. "Yesss!" she exclaimed softly before she did a jazzy spin on her heels as a little happy dance. When she stopped, she found Heavy Duty standing off to the far right side watching. He carried with him a notepad of some sort and had a look of deep consideration on his face. Isabella watched as he eyed her before he glanced over at the scoreboard then quickly wrote something down in his notes. When he looked back up at Isabella, he nodded his head in what Isabella took was approval before he walked off.

"You've got good reaction time with a gun, I'll give you that." Scarlet stated as she approached Isabella from behind with her arms crossed over her chest. Isabella turned about to fact the redhead with an almost surprised look on her face,

"Wow…that's probably been the nicest thing you've ever said to me." She replied.

Scarlet's mouth turned up at a corner slightly, "Yes well…." Scarlet answered, "…try not to get use to it." she finished.

"Wasn't going to; so what now?" Isabella asked curiously, "…are we going to run through this again?"

Scarlet shook her head, "No….we're done here." She answered before she turned her head to look over at where another training exercise was being performed.

"Sweet." Isabella replied with a tiny grin causing Scarlet to laugh,

"Oh I wouldn't get too excited just yet." The redhead answered before looking back at where Isabella stood.

"Ah….and this next exercise…it involves….?" Isabella questioned with mild interest.

"Hand to hand combat." Scarlet replied.

"Oh that's nothing." Isabella stated while she quickly flicked her wrist, brushing off her next trial. "I've got that stuff down already."

"Great." Scarlet derisively exclaimed, "This way then." She added while she started to walk off. Isabella, after returning the handheld to where she had found it, followed behind as Scarlet took her across the training arena and led her over to a group of about twelve GI Joe male soldiers who were all huddled in a half circle.

"So what kind of hand to hand will I be doing over here?" Isabella asked as she eyed the backs of the men who seemed to be watching something going on the other side of the circle. The distinctive sounds of a fight reached Isabella ears following by the loud grunt of a man as he was thrown back off his feet. She and Scarlet moved around the huddled men to get a better view. What Isabella saw brought her to a quick stop as her eyes came to rest on what exactly her next task was.

"No way…" she began while shaking her head slowly; when she turned to look over at Scarlet, she found the redhead smirking, "I've got to fight HIM?" she asked in disbelief.

Scarlet's eyebrows lifted and dropped in response before she turned her head to stare over at the last man standing in the fight, "Hey Snake!" she called over to the black clad ninja, "…I've got a new one for you!" she informed.

Snake Eyes, who stood tall in a firm fighting stance with his powerful legs braced apart while being slightly bent at the knees, turned his black head at the sound of Scarlet's voice to quickly glance over at Isabella. Through his black visor, Isabella felt his eyes land on her momentarily before he nodded his head at Scarlet. The soldier he had been fighting just moments ago had now just picked himself off the ground and seeing Snake Eyes' attention drawn elsewhere, tried a sneak attack aimed at the ninja's back. Before the man could lay down his blow, Snake Eyes took a swift step sideways and countered the attack with a hard jab to his side. While the man hunched over slightly at the strike, Snake Eyes wasted no time in ending the match with a smooth take down. Grabbing the soldier's arm with one hand, he gave it a forceful twist, causing the man to spin with it before Snake Eyes sweep kicked his feet right out from underneath him. As the soldier fell hard to the ground with a loud grunt, Isabella's mouth softly dropped open.

"Don't worry…" Scarlet suddenly spoke up from alongside Isabella's form, "…Snake Eyes goes easy on the first day." She informed with a mocking smirk.

The moment those words left Scarlet's mouth, Isabella slowly turned to face Scarlet so that her back faced the fighting arena while her turquoise eyes narrowed at the redhead, "I don't need him going easy." She replied, "I can match whatever he's got to throw at me." She declared with determination.

As Scarlet's smirked deepened, her green eyes flickered away from Isabella's face for a moment before returning, "Hey, no need telling me this, why don't you go tell him that yourself." She suggested as her arms came up and crossed themselves over her chest in amusement.

"Why tell when I can easily just show?" Isabella replied in a daring tone.

Again Scarlet's eyes glanced off into the distance behind Isabella's shoulder before replying, "….Snake Eyes says he's ready whenever you are."

That made Isabella stop for a quick second before she glanced behind her and spotted Snake Eyes standing just a couple feet away. No doubt he had been listening to every word Isabella had just spoken.

"I've been ready." Isabella answered as she softly glared over at the black clad ninja. Unbeknownst to her, Snake Eyes cocked an amused eyebrow before he raised his hands and quickly signed back. Isabella watched his swift hand motions but could not comprehend what he was saying. So Scarlet stepped in once more to translate,

"He says 'well then let's see what'cha got.'" Scarlet answered.

"After you, ninja boy." Isabella replied in a cool tone, her eyes never leaving Snake Eyes' masked face. While the two had a silent stare down, Scarlet took that opportunity to take a couple steps back from the pair.

"Alright I can see that you can take things from here now Snake, so with that said, you two have fun." Scarlet stated before she turned on her heel and started to walk off.

Isabella's head turned to follow Scarlet,

"You're not staying?" Isabella called to her retreating form as her eyes once more darted back over to where Snake Eyes stood.

"Wish I could…I'm sure this is going to be an amusing sight to witness but as of right now, I've got Duke and Ripcord coming in, so I can't." the redhead answered in a matter of fact tone.

"But…but he doesn't speak!" Isabella threw back, "….how the heck will I know what he wants?"

"Oh Snake Eyes has his way of getting his message across….trust me, you'll know exactly what he's telling you." Scarlet replies with a tiny laugh before she quickened her pace, shook her head in amusement and walked away.

A quiet groan of frustration passed through Isabella's lips before she turned her body to face her new instructor. With his head cocked to the side and his arms crossed over his well muscled chest, Snake Eyes eyed the young woman before him with curiosity and slight interest. Isabella quickly huffed at her situation before she moved across the floor, passing right by Snake Eyes to position herself somewhere in the fighting ring. Once there, she turned about to face the black ninja before she stepped out in a strong fighting stance, with her hands up at the ready,

"Your move ninja boy." She called to him. Snake Eyes' arms uncrossed themselves from his chest before he dropped them to his side. Then he did something Isabella was not entirely expecting, he turned his black head to the side and nodded softly at another male soldier who then stepped out into the ring to face Isabella.

"You're the new one we've just picked up aren't you?" the man asked curiously while he slowly approached where Isabella stood before stopping once they stood about three feet apart from each other.

"People call me Isabella." She coolly answered. The man quickly looked her up and down before he too took up a fighting stance,

"….you're a lot younger then I expected. Have you any experience with hand to hand?" He questioned curiously. Isabella frowned at that.

Without giving him a reply or a single warning, she sprung into action, closing the distance between them so that she could face him head on. When her fist made contact, the soldier instantly put up his defenses. But Isabella was easily able to break through it in just a matter of seconds. She landed a couple blows in his midsection before performing a fluid round house kick right into his gut; the solider grunted as he was knocked off his feet. The momentum of it all sent the man sliding back across the floor before coming to a stop. Isabella relaxed from her stance, lowering her hands down to her side before she walked over to the fallen soldier and lightly hovered above his form,

"I don't know…" she answered his question, "….you tell me." She returned sweetly. The man let out a groan in response before he rolled himself to his feet. About halfway up, Isabella offered him her hand as a sign of good sportsmanship. The soldier gave her a tiny smile of gratitude in response. Once he was back on his feet, he nodded once at Isabella before he went back to his place outside the ring. The onlookers gazed upon Isabella with both admiration and surprise while they sent low murmurs around their little huddle about the performance they had just watched. Then with a deep sigh, Isabella turned about on her heel to once more face the still observing Snake Eyes.

"Anyone else?" she inquired; her turquoise eyes flashing with a silent challenge. Isabella watched with satisfaction as Snake Eyes straightened up to his full height before he stepped out into the ring. Widening her stance with her hands at the ready, Isabella prepared herself to take on her new opponent. Low murmurs and chuckles went around the ring of men watching the scene, especially when they observed Isabella's cool confidence with the black ninja who also took up his fighting stance. Then, almost like a green flag had been waved in front of their faces signaling the start of the fight, at the same time, Isabella and Snake Eyes charged for each other.