Chapter 21:

"Ah…." Came the sassy voice of the Baroness as she and her small group of Viper soldiers, Storm Shadow, and Zartan eyed the holographic map of the Pit before them.

All eyes were now glued onto the one spot of the visual where a flashing red light beamed.

"There's our little warhead case." She stated before she turned her head back over her shoulder to look at two of the Viper's she had brought with her to the GI Joe base, "You two, stay with the Mole Pods…" she ordered, "We'll go retrieve the Warheads." She finished.

Taking their orders without question, the two soldiers went to patrol their post while the rest of their team set off further into the infiltrated base.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Argh!" Isabella cried after she felt the whap of the rolled-up magazine come down on her head once more. Automatically, she in response took a low, playful swing at Breaker with her fist. Or was it Ripcord?

When the two men finally cornered her in one of the many hallways just outside their bunker, they came at her so quickly it was hard for the young woman to keep track of who did what.

"You guys are such brats!" she declared with a quick laugh, raising her arms up in a typical blocking position that took the blow of the two rolls aimed at her center.

Ripcord and Breaker laughed with her before they then decided to withdraw their hand-made weapons; giving Isabella a moment's peace from their teamed up assault.

"Sorry, Bella…." Breaker apologized with an adorable grin etched across his face, "….but perhaps that'll teach you to inform us the next time you decide to wander off."

Isabella could only roll her eyes before she waved the comment off, "…Yeah, yeah, yeah." She answered with a smile of her own, "I'll keep that mind."

Of course, that was kind of a lie. Isabella was too independent and far too prideful for that sort of stuff. She did what she want, when she wanted to; no questions asked.

"Whew!" Ripcord exclaimed breathlessly as he rested his arm on Breaker's shoulder's, "….why don't we head on back to the Bunker." He suggested, "I'll get us some drinks." He added.

Drinks did sound good.

Shaking her head softly, Isabella politely declined the offer, "Maybe later, fellas." She answered before she smoothly glided past the two men and started down the hallway, "…I must speak with General Hawk about something first. So I'll see you in a few."

Breaker and Ripcord both shared a quick look with each other before shrugging their shoulder's in resignation.

"Alright, girl." Ripcord answered, "…have fun with that."

"Yeah." Breaker agreed, "….Don't take too long ok?"

"Will do." She answered with a quick nod.

With those words of departure, Isabella separated herself from the two men, and set off for General Hawk's quarters.

The walk wasn't too long; a good ten minutes or so. As she turned down the hallway that would take her to the General's office, from a distance she saw that his door was wide open. And as she drew nearer she heard multiple voices coming from the room.

At once, Isabella stopped her approach. There was something off about the voices; they sounded familiar….but not in the good kind of way.

Other sounds coming from the office soon followed the voices; something was definitely going on in there.

Frowning, Isabella tiptoed closer to the office to investigate what was going on. But before she got too close, a bunch of people stepped out of the General's room at once.

Isabella felt her blood run cold as her eyes darted back and forth from the faces of the Baroness and her apparent groupies. Storm Shadow, much to her displeasure, and Zartan were amongst them as well. They had stopped in their tracks the moment their eyes fell upon the younger woman's form.

"No way…" she managed to breathe out; her hand instantly reaching down to her left lip to feel for some sort of weapon. Too bad for her she had no gun on her person; she wasn't even wearing a holster.

More importantly, how on earth did these people even get into the Pit?

It was then Isabella saw that the Baroness was gripping the warhead case with one hand.

Well, that explained their motive "….they're after the Warheads." Her mind screamed.

"Well, well, well," Zartan spoke up as he stepped up to take the front of his group, "…hello again, sweetheart." He greeted with a cruel smirk, "Miss us?"

Isabella's turquoise eyes narrowed in anger before she took a cautious step back, "Hardly…" she answered in an icy tone.

"You know," the bald man continued on, "…it's very lucky that you found us." He continued on as he took another approaching step towards her "Saves us the trouble of tracking you down."

Isabella's brows drew together in confusion, "I beg your pardon?" she returned, not completely understanding where this man was going with this.

"The good Doctor is most anxious to finish your long-overdue appointment."

The young woman gasped and retreated back another couple steps. So then, they had a double motive for coming here. One was to obviously retrieve the warheads from the Joes, the other….

"Oh screw that!" Isabella snapped venomously; instantly recalling their Doctor's so-called-plans, "You can tell the Doctor that he can take that machine of his and shove it up his a…."

"Now, now…." Storm Shadow suddenly cut her off and fixed her with an almost scolding look, "….There's no need for such foul language to leave the mouth of a young lady like yourself."

She frowned at his words. What was with men thinking that they could tell her what she can or can't do? She's twenty-three years old for crying out loud. Just in spite of the white-clad ninja, Isabella used the most colorful swear word she knew.

"Fuck…." She started in a slow, drawn out voice, "…you, Storm Shadow."

Behind his white mask, the ninja raised a single, dark brow up in hidden amusement at the woman's choice of words. She definitely had spirit; he had to give her that. But unfortunately, that will only get you so far in a compromising situation. And whether she knew it now or not, Isabella Wright was in quite the situation.

Clicking his tongue in disapproval, Storm Shadow took a step forward.

"Careful, Isabella…" he warned, "….it would be best if you keep that sharp tongue of yours quiet…" he stated, "….or I'll silence it for you."

"Bring it!" she snapped back; if this guy wanted to challenge her, she'd meet him head on.

Then again….

What was she thinking? She had no weapons on her whatsoever. And this guy was a ninja. Just like…

"Snake Eyes…." The silent, black-clad ninja's image suddenly came to Isabella's mind. Now, Snake eyes was an incomparable opponent; his skill with his blade, his speed….

"His strength…" her mind added in a soft whisper; as she recalled his built body of rippling muscles.

Though Isabella would never admit this out loud, she knew that physically, she was no match for that black ninja. And if Storm Shadow was anything like him, and she had a strong hunch that he was, she was going to be in for it.

"So can I like knock her out, like now?" Zartan suddenly asked as he eyed Isabella's form from where he stood. He seemed almost anxious to raise a hand against her.

"No…." Storm Shadow replied firmly as he turned his black eyes upon the woman himself, "….I'll deal with her."

"Shit!" Isabella mentally screamed inside her head. Perhaps now would be a good time to call for back up or heck, maybe find a gun somewhere?

Before the white ninja could make his move, Isabella spun away on her heel and took off down the hall. But right as she made it to the corridor's intersection, a sharp pain struck her in the left leg, right around her calve muscle.

At once, she fell to her knee; her eyes closed against the pain while her hand found the throbbing spot on her limb. Cool, jagged metal met the tips of her fingers, and as Isabella looked down on her injury, she discovered a single, throwing star protruding out of her leg. Already, blood started soaking through her pants.

Hearing footsteps approach her from behind, Isabella's head turned back over her shoulder to glare up into Storm Shadow's makes face. His dark eyes shot right back into her turquoise ones and they were alight with smug triumph.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

The bastard…