Shadow in my Memory.

Chapter four

After the police cars vanished, the bell rings and students quickly get their stuff together, Night Stalk avoiding reporters, teachers, faculty, and questionable policemen. She takes the hands of her coworker's children and stiffly walks away, her nerves and senses on high for any more Cobra men. When she gets to car they strap themselves in, excitedly chattering about the day's events, and Night Stalk takes a deep breath, pulling out of the parking lot and down the street.

"Okay, who says we should call daddy up and bake him some brownies?" She asks after the school is out of sight. The girls cheer and agree, but a suspicious car takes Night Stalk's eyes and she watches them carefully, a man in the front wearing a Cobra shirt. She quickly jerks off the lane she was in, startling the two girls in the back as the other car follows, his conpanion pulling out a handgun.

"Get down!" Night Stalk shouts back, the girl's face's stuck in a panic and scared expression. The other Cobra man fires a shot, making cars all cars around either slow down or honk at the sudden action. It breaks a window, but doesn't hurt anybody. Night Stalk speeds up, trying to get passed the attackers and pulling the emergency gun from under the dashboard. She aims, but the other guy shoots first and makes her duck down, turning off of the highway and onto a smaller road. They fight to catch up, their target running away. Night Stalk fires a shot and hits their tire, making effort futile. As the family car drives away quickly, the girls start to cry, and Night Stalk tries to calm them, the small but persistent sound of beeping hitting her ears. She turns off of the road and to the side, jerking back and grabbing the girls out of their seatbelts, bursting the car door off and jumping on onto the terrain as soon as the beeping quickens. The entire car explodes into flames, projectiles heading at them, but suddenly stopping a foot away on all sides of the three. Smoke and flames keep their distance from the ninja and the two girls on her hips, Night Stalk's face etched with determination. As soon as the group is far enough from the wreckage the flames return to normal, no longer a forcefield holding themback.

"We might not get to the brownies." Night Stalk admits, setting the girls down and smoothing out their clothes, calming their fear stricken faces with a gentle touch. She takes a step back and they attach themselves to her legs, burrying their faces in the denim and sobbing. Night Stalk pulls out her phone and taking another picture, sending it in a message. Seconds later her phone rings.

"What happened?" Roadblock demands.

"Cobra." Night Stalk replies. The phone goes silent for a while.

"Are they okay?"

"A bit shaken. Their first near death experience, and hopefully their last." Night Stalk responds.

"Agreed. Get them to safety, and get here now."

"Their home might not be safe."

"Their grandmother lives a while down, they need to be safe."

"I couldn't agree more." Night Stalk mumbles, hanging up.

"Who wants to go visit grandma?" She asks the scared girls on her calfs. With a quick thought, the flames go out and only a smoldering hull of the car is left over, blackened and strewn across the area. With a sigh, Night Stalk heaves the two girls into her arms and starts walking away.

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"What is Cobra Commander up to?" Flint asks, their meeting getting confusing after the 'accident'

"He is looking for me. Maybe he still is determined to make me join him, or revenge." Night Stalk explains.

"No, it doesn't make sense. He had high tech devices, the best lies money could buy. He could do so many other things to convince Night Stalk to join them. I say he wants to keep her away from us." Roadblock announces, still pacing. The event shook him up, hard.

"Keep the prize away from the enemy." Lady Jaye states, folding her hands.

"It makes sense, but why not just kill me?" Night Stalk asks.

"Maybe he still believes you will work for him." Flint suggests.

"Or maybe he doesn't want to get rid of this." Roadblock says, pointing to Night Stalk's mind.

"So you heard of that." She whispers, leaning back and smiling.

"My little girls explained the wall of fire that, for some reason, didn't want to get closer." He explains.

"Mental Master, master of the mind. I can do things other people will only strive for, but the wrong teachers." Night Stalk explains.

"Like what?" Lady Jaye asks. Night Stalk's expression gets determined again, the chair under each G.I. Joe falling to the floor. They hadn't noticed they were levitating, until now. Roadblock stops pacing to look at Flint, who only places his feet firm on the ground and his hands on the table.

"It's also how I survived so many years of pain." She says, pointing to her mind. Roadblock starts pacing again, rubbing his chin a bit in thought.

"How can we use this to get rid of Cobra Commander for good?" He asks himself.

"Joining isn't an option. He wouldn't trust me." Night Stalk admits.

"She's right. He would get suspicious, since he knows she has been with us." Flint agrees.

"So, we use her as a special weapon." Lady Jaye exclaims.

"Yes, she is alnost untouchable." Roadblock say, stopping his pacing again to rest his hands on the table.

"How did you get captured anyway?" Flint asks. Snake Eyes leans away from the wall, showing his interest.

"They took me by surprise. I was so excited, just becoming a master that day. I would have pupils of my own to teach one day. I wasn't giving my suroundings as much attention as I should have." She admits, looking at her hands in disapointment.

"Mistakes happen." Flint consoles. Night Stalk looks up and makes eye contact with him, getting to her feet and walking away.

"Where are you going?" Roadblock asks.

"To bed. I want to start training tomorrow." She replies and disappears down the hallway to the bunker.

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