Chapter 29:

Climbing from the wreckage that was their transportation, a battered Baroness and Storm Shadow immerged with the case of Warheads and a type of launcher.

Pulling out one of the live warheads, Storm Shadow connected it to his launcher before he handed the Baroness a bulky, digital pad.

"Here...take the kill switch." he told her and she quickly hooked it onto her belt before grabbing the warheads case. The two of them then ran off, still heading for the tower only this time, on foot.

They entered a large building before going separate ways. Storm Shadow took a flight of stairs on one end of the building while the Baroness took a glass elevator.

But it wasn't long after that that Duke and Ripcord showed up on scene and quickly followed after them in fast pursuit.

However, when Ripcord finally caught up with the white ninja he was just seconds late when Storm Shadow fired the live warhead out of an office window that overlooked the grand Eiffel Tower.

Tackling the ninja, they broke through a wall and landed in a kitchen where they proceeded to tussle briefly before Storm Shadow grabbed a pot full of tomato sauce which he used to blind Ripcord before smacking him in the head and running away.

The white ninja then threw himself out of a window only to catch himself on a small platform of a high powered aircraft. Pulling himself up, he stepped into the ship which then continued its way up to the roof of the building.

On the roof, Duke was still chasing the Baroness down. He almost had her when she fired a blue ray out from a gun that completely shattered the glass and knocked Duke nearly off.

Smiling triumphantly, she turned and ran to the farthest end of the roof where her aircraft sat hovering in mid air with its door wide open.

She leapt into the ship, carrying the rest of the warheads with her.

Pulling himself up, Duke, seeing the ship about to take off into the sky, quickly took his helmet off and threw it aside before he charged full speed at the aircraft as it was pulling away from the building.

When he was close enough, Duke launched himself into the air, soaring across till he too landed in the ship right behind the Baroness.

Since she was in close distance, he reached out and hit button on the kill switch that would stop the nanomites.

After hearing the kill switch announce 'disarmed', Duke looked up at the Baroness with a triumphant look of his own.

"Hmm...congratulations Duke...you just saved Paris.." she addressed sweetly.

Storm Shadow came up from behind and struck Duke hard in the head, knocking him down.

"...or at least most of it." the Baroness corrected before she turned face Storm Shadow. "Shall I set a course for base?"

"Not yet..." he answered. "...there's something I need to pick up first."


Isabella felt her phone vibrate in her front jeans pocket. Making sure the road was clear, she slowly pulled off to the side before retrieving her device. A voice message had been left.

Punching in the code to access her voicemails, Isabella brought the cell phone to her ear and listened.

"Hey sweetheart I'm calling from a payphone right now."

It was her father.

"Look..I had gotten word from General Hawk and heard that you were gonna be in Paris and well long story short, I'm in the area. I have to see you, honey. I have some important information that I need to give you. I'm staying at the Hyatt Regency. Come to me as soon as you can. I'm in the King's Suite."

When the message was over, Isabella couldn't believe it. Her father was here...in Paris. Reaching over to her little screen, Isabella punched the name of the hotel in and almost instantly was given the fastest route to it.

Starting up the car once again, Isabella turned around and drove off, following her monitor's guiding directions.

It wasn't a long drive before Isabella was pulling up at the magnificent hotel. Pulling into a parking space before shutting off the engine, Isabella unbuckled herself from her seat and opened the car door.

Stepping out of the vehicle and closing the door, Isabella quickly whipped out her phone once again and sent a brief text out to her team so they'd know her whereabouts before she slipped the phone back in her front pocket and continued on heading up to the hotel.


After watching his team get taken into custody by the French, Snake Eyes sent word back to the Pit by typing in a secret code on the little digital device that he wore around his wrist before fleeing back into the shadows.

Things had definitely not gone according to plan.

A warhead had been tested, the French are furious right now and the rest of the Joes were being contained.

"Well...not all the Joes..." he reminded himself. He had managed to slip past getting arrested with his group.

And so did she.

Isabella. Their youngest and most spirited new addition whose sharp wit equally matched her loveliness.

The image of her smiling face with her mischievous twinkling eyes flashed across Snake Eyes' mind. And the Black clad ninja couldn't help but wonder just where that fiery little vixen was right now.

She had vanished from the scene once the Baroness' black truck got struck by the train. And no one has seen her since.

Snake Eyes' COM. device suddenly went off. Looking down at his wrist, the black ninja read the message from the Pit that appeared on the tiny screen. It was telling him to head over to where his team was being held and wait for further instruction; General Hawk was on his way.

Sighing, Snake Eyes did what he did best. He set off on his task, slyly tracking his friends down to a large and seemingly well guarded facility on the outskirts of the city.

From his unseen spot, as he waited around for General Hawk to arrive on scene, the black ninja suddenly found himself thinking once again about Isabella and the little incident that had taken place back in her room before they had left the Pit.

He had almost kissed that woman...almost but not quite. Snake Eyes could still envision the very look on her face when he had approached her. Her wide eyes, the rosy blush that stained her cheeks when he touched her, her lips quivering ever so slightly...

It seemed to Snake Eyes, that he affected her just as much if not more as she affected him. Whether she'd admit it or not, he didn't know.

But he did know one thing.

Once his team got released from custody and this whole mess with the warheads had been taken care of, she would become his next mission.


When she finally reached the King's Suite inside the hotel, Isabella found the door propped open.

Cautiously she pushed the door open wider and stepped into the luxurious room.

"Hello?" she called out as her eyes took in breathtaking detail of the furnished room. "Father?" she tried again.

Silence was her only response.

Frowning, Isabella began searching the main room.

"Dad?" she spoke out as she walked around apricot colored room.

"I don't get it..." she noted out loud as her eyes scanned the empty room. "He said he'd be here..."

The young woman fixed her eyes briefly upon a set of double, white framed doors that sat behind a cream colored sofa almost in the center of the room; both were wide open, leading onto a nice balcony.

Seconds later, something else caught Isabella's attention once she had pulled her eyes away from the balcony's view.

A single pink rose was laying in the middle of the sofa with a black ribbon tied neatly around its stem, and tucked behind it was a little white card.

Placing one hand on her hip, Isabella stepped on forward and collected the flower and note.

"My little Marine Brat..."

The note said.

A smooth eyebrow rose into a gentle arch. Her father had many pet names for her...but that usually wasn't one of them.

Something cold and metal brushed Isabella's fingertips and the young woman realized that hanging off to one of the sides, was a tiny little charm. Frowning, She studied the detail for a couple moments.
"Wait a second..." she murmured out loud, taking a few steps back in defense. "That's a..."

Before Isabella could finish her sentence, two large hands grabbed her from behind. "So...this had been a trap." the young woman quickly thought to herself.

Her head had barely just turned in time to see her white clad attacker standing behind her form before she was thrown across into a nicely polished coffee table a good five feet or so away from the sofa.

Isabella emitted a quick cry of surprise as her back struck the wood with such force that the table splintered and collapsed right under her weight.

A quiet groan of pain followed after as she willed her body to roll out of the wooden debris and climb back to her feet so that she could face her attacker head on.

It wasn't surprising to find that he stood a few feet away with his dark hair, handsome face and two slanted eyes the color of ink that were staring right into her.

Isabella's chin lifted almost defiantly as she straightened up and brushed herself off. "Storm Shadow, you bastard...you certainly know how to make an entrance." she addressed in an icy tone.

The white ninja smirked in response before taking a step closer. "Years of practice..." he replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The young woman frowned, "And just what the hell do you think you're doing here?" she demanded, "I would've thought that after your little stunt show with the tower you'd be running away from the scene like a dog with his tail between his legs."

"I had some...unfinished business here. And in terms of who should be the one running right now Isabella it ought to be you...not me."

Her eyes narrowed ominously at the sure threat in his words, "I don't run...from anything." she replied as her body automatically took up a stealthy position, readying for a fight.

"Well then you're just going to make my job all the easier." Storm Shadow replied with a chuckle.

Words were now no longer needed and so the white ninja lunged forward.

Isabella had only a blinking second to react when Storm Shadow moved. He was acutely swift on his feet. She barely missed being grabbed again by the wide side step she took in response.

And then to counter his advances, the young woman turned and dived smoothly to the ground, performing an efficient body roll across the floor before she leapt up onto sofa.

Though Isabella was no ninja, she at least knew a few tricks or so when dealing with one. Glancing momentarily over her shoulder, she saw that Storm Shadow had recalculated his last move and was coming at her again from behind.

...Which was precisely what Isabella had anticipated.

Keeping her balance in check, the young woman faced front once again only to throw her entire weight into the back of the couch. The piece of furniture flipped backwards with mild resistance, carrying Isabella with it who then jumped off when it landed on its back.

A satisfying 'thump' followed by a grunt reach her ears and Isabella couldn't help but smirk triumphantly when she spun around and saw an enraged Storm Shadow half-hunched over the fallen sofa which had proved to be a very useful blockade.

"Not so easy, is it Storm Shadow?" the young woman asked; her mocking eyes twinkling with challenge.

The white ninja's lips drew back in a silent snarl as he slowly regained his composure and raised himself back up to his full height.

"I'll make you regret those words." he promised darkly as he reached into his long white sleeves.

Isabella's smirk faded instantly when she saw the knowing gleam of a bunch throwing stars that Storm Shadow now held in both hands.

She had forgotten about those pesky tools.

"I hate ninjas..." the young woman hissed under her breath as she began shifting her weight back and forth from foot to foot in sudden anxiety .

Without any mercy, Storm Shadow hurled both handfuls of the jagged stars.


"Wait...Monsieur..please... s'il vous plaƮt, don't touch my equipment! It is very sensitive!"

A dying electronic sound reached Breaker's ears as he watched from the inside of a large, thick plastic holding cell as his precious computer got shut down by a French guard who had been messing around with it.

"He's touching it..." Breaker mumbled in defeat as he turned around to face the rest of his team who were all sitting around the cell.

Scarlett spared him a sympathetic glance before something else caught her eyes.

"General!" she suddenly spoke in obvious surprise before she hurried over to the plastic barrier that was holding her team captive where she watched as General Hawk rolled up in a electronic chair. Back in his black hooded cloak, Snake Eyes stood behind.

The rest of the Joes lined up alongside the redheaded female.

"The French have agreed to let you all go...under one condition." The General addressed. "That none of you ever come back. Ever." he emphasized.

"What do you mean ever?" Breaker replied frantically, "You mean like never, ever, ever?!"

"Also..." Hawk carried on, brushing off Breaker's clear distress over the thought, "You have all been called back to your respective states...GI Joe is to return back to the Pit."

"But...what about Duke?" Ripcord asked as he fixed General Hawk with a beseeching look.

The General looked away, "Gather your things quickly." He ordered as he nodded toward one of the guards, signaling that he could release the Joes.

While his team was being released, Snake Eyes' COM. device went off with a 'beep'. The black ninja looked down on his wrist where a message had come in.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw that the message was from Isabella.

"Joes, after speaking with General Hawk, my father came to meet with me on behalf of some Intel that was needed to be passed on. I've gone to his hotel...the Hyatt Regency. I shouldn't be long. ~ Bella"

There was something odd about this message.

Almost instantly, Snake Eyes found himself reaching out and respectively tapping General Hawk on his shoulder.

The General turned around in his chair to gaze up at the black clad ninja.

"Yes Snake, what is it?" he asked.

Instead of signing out Isabella's message, Snake Eyes showed it General Hawk personally. Hawk's brows furrowed as he read through the lines, a reaction that was not a good sign in Snake Eyes' eyes.

General Hawk pulled his eyes away to look back up at the towering ninja next to him. Swirling in the General's blue eyes was a mixture of both confusion and suspicion and Snake Eyes felt a knot start twisting in his stomach.

"Snake Eyes..." The General spoke, his voice low and certain, "...I never spoke with Isabella's father."

Then something was incredibly wrong.

"Isabella..." The thought of her being in trouble sent Snake Eyes' blood racing with an urgency to get to her as quickly as possible.

The black ninja didn't even bother signing another message to the General before he spun away and swept from the room in a whisper of his black cloak.


Isabella's head fell back against the locked bedroom door she was now using as a barrier as she attempted to catch her breath.

The young woman, with her back pressed firmly against the flat door, found herself clutching her left arm tightly where she had been struck with a throwing star.

Upon being hit, she had ripped the darn thing from its place in her bicep, and now a thick flow of blood was oozing down her arm, soaking the sleeve of her mini black jacket.

But as far as her injuries went, this was the worst of it. Besides some bruising all over her body and the rips in her jeans and jacket from where throwing stars had grazed but not cut, Isabella was fine.

The sharp crack of wood sounded off by Isabella's ear and when the young woman turned her head slowly to the side to see what had made the noise, she found that a major fracture had been made in the door.

"Shit..." she swore. Storm Shadow was trying to break the door down.

When the sound came again, louder this time, harder too Isabella had no choice but to push herself off the door and move away.

Reaching into the front pocket of her jeans, the young woman pulled the bloodied throwing star that had struck her arm, out and now clutched it tightly in her hand. She had held on to it just in case she needed it.

And now it looks like she may need it.

Backing up till she felt her calves brush the foot of a rather large bed behind her, Isabella boldly faced the bedroom door and waited, her hand already up and in position to chuck the star back at its owner.

Storm Shadow must've delivered a powerful kick because he neatly knocked the door right off its hinges. But instead of letting it fall flat to the ground like Isabella had been anticipating, the white ninja had other plans.

Taking it with both hands, Storm Shadow launched the door into the air with great force and sent it flying right at Isabella.

The young woman's eyes opened wide as she saw the huge piece of wood come at her and automatically, her hands prepared themselves in defense.

"Oh fuc..!" Isabella didn't even get to finish her exclamation before the whole weight of the door struck her full in head, knocking the young woman down onto the bed with the heavy door lying on top on her body.

Isabella's vision had gone completely white as pain flashed behind her eyes. Now multiple things were hurting as it seemed her plan with the throwing star had backfired.

To defend against the door, Isabella had forgotten about the jagged star she had held in her hand...and now it seemed that same star had sliced deep into the palm of her hand.

Groaning with her eyes closed, Isabella used her knees to shift and move the door off her body before she carefully sat back up and pulled the sharp star out of her hand. Seconds later, when she opened her eyes, Storm Shadow was standing directly in front of her, his black eyes gleaming with amusement as he smugly smirked down on her form.

Filled with rage, with the star still ready to be used, Isabella drew her arm across her body and was prepared to send the damn thing flying at Storm Shadow's arrogant face.

But before she could move her arm and let the thing fly, Storm Shadow's hand shot out and caught Isabella's wrist in mid-movement.

Next thing Isabella knew, she was once again flat on her back with Storm Shadow half straddling her body as he held her captive wrist far above her head. He kept her other hand pinned by his knee as he used his weight to press it into the mattress beneath her.

Isabella's head threw back as she screamed in outrage. When her head snapped down so she could glare at the white clad ninja, she found his face already much too close for her liking and she couldn't stop the gasp that slipped past her lips.

Storm Shadow smirked as he stared into Isabella's furious turquoise eyes, "Game over."

Isabella's eyes narrowed ominously before she threw her head forward and head butted Storm Shadow right under his chin.

His dark head jerked back at the force, but it wasn't enough to completely knock him off or have him ease up on Isabella.

Still, the young woman got major satisfaction out of the split, bleeding lip that now marked his handsome face as he glared murderously down at her.

At once Storm Shadow grasped Isabella by her arms and got to his feet, pulling her up with him only to then roughly throw her face down on the wooden floor by his feet.

Before Isabella could react, Storm Shadow had both her hands behind her back and was cuffing them in place.

"Get up." he ordered once he was done securing the metal cuffs tightly around Isabella's wrists.

She gritted her teeth in anger before she slowly pulled her upper body off the ground and slowly got to a steady crouching positioning on her knee, turning all the while to face Storm Shadow who stood a couple feet away.

The white ninja made a smooth gesture with his hand, signaling that Isabella was to lead the way out of the bedroom now. "After you." he spoke with a tone that made Isabella's blood run hot with hate.

She slowly rose out of her crouch but before she could stand tall once again, the young woman performed a quick, handless switch-kick and was able to land a final blow to Storm Shadow's midsection.

"Go to hell!" she spat venomously.

He had hunched briefly from the unexpected attack but didn't need time to recover. Her move hadn't been made in terms of actually doing damage; she did it out of pure defiance.

Straightening back up to his towering height, Storm Shadow reached out and took hold of Isabella by her neck, pulling her close still she stood toe to toe with him.

"You have a relentless spirit..." he stated in a matter of fact tone as a cocky smirk tugged on his still bleeding lip. "I find it very admirable..." he added as his dark eyes traced Isabella's face. "It's a shame they plan to rid you of it..."

He didn't have to say who for Isabella to know what he was talking about.

At once, Isabella jerked back against Storm Shadows hold which in response he only tightened.

"Now none of that." he informed as he clicked his tongue in mock disapproval.

Then, dropping his hand from her neck, Storm Shadow grasped Isabella by her waist before he lifted her right off the ground of slung her over his should like she weighed little to nothing at all.

"Storm Shadow, you son of a bitch!"

Her cry of frustration filled the room as he carried his squirming young prize out into the main room and then onto the balcony.

Neither of them had to wait long before the distinctive sounds of a flying aircraft came around.

As it was brought down to hover right by the balcony's railing, the aircraft opened up as if it were greeting its two new passengers. Storm Shadow easily climbed over with Isabella on his back before stepping into the ship.

The door closed behind them with a hiss before the aircraft pulled back into the sky and flew out of sight.


The room was completely wrecked; furniture had been flipped, tables smashes, there was signs of a great struggle all throughout the room.

But no sign of Isabella herself. She was gone.

The young woman had at least given quite the fight, the evidence of that was everywhere.

The black clad ninja walked out into the center of the ruined hotel room; his movements rigid, his body tense as he was able to distinguish some blood drippings across the floor. Yes, Isabella did not go quietly.

Snake Eyes' hands flexed once before curling tightly into two large fists down at his side. "There'll be hell to pay for the unlucky bastard who laid his hands upon her." he promised as his eyes followed the small blood trail to the far side of the room where it disappeared through a busted doorway.

Tracing the trail back, Snake Eyes found himself walking into a bedroom noticing first, the door that had been taken right off its hinges lying off to the side of the bed. But what caught his eye next made him freeze momentarily in his step.

The black ninja approached the bed almost in a daze...his eyes glued to the dark, and much larger burgundy stain that was smeared across the top comforter.

" More blood..." Snake Eyes thought quietly to himself, "...Isabella..." So there was more to the blood drops than he had originally thought. She was really hurt.

When he finally managed to pull his eyes off of the blood stain, Snake Eyes' found something else that was on the bed too.

Something shiny and very familiarly shaped was lying half in the crinkled folds of the blankets.

The black ninja's breath quickened with an unspoken fury as he picked up a throwing star whose edges have been lined with blood. Snake Eyes didn't have to think twice about who was the owner of such a tool.

"Storm Shadow..."

So he was the one who took Isabella.

How typical.

But nonetheless, it was personal now.

Not wasting another second, Snake Eyes turned on his heel and left the bedroom; taking long and powerful strides till he walked right out of the hotel room and continued down the long hallway.

Sheer determination radiated off his form in catastrophic waves as his mind was filled with the image of Isabella's smiling face.

There was just no other option for him now; he was going to get her back.

By whatever means necessary.