The next morning was rather awkward to say the least, as everyone passed the time killing zombies by day and working on, what Isabella assumed was the 'easter egg', when they had a moment in between waves.

Since their encounter last night, Isabella had stayed far away from the German doctor. Luckily, he seemed to want nothing to do with her either as they all continued on with their normal routines, too occupied with slaughtering the undead to worry about anything trivial...

No one can ever know... Isabella realized, too absorbed in her thoughts on the matter to notice exactly where she was running. If Tank ever finds out then Richtofen won't have to worry about the zombies trying to beat him to death... She thought grimly, thinking of what the Marine might do to the crazy doctor.

Tch, why the fuck am I worried about what happens to him anyway?! Isabella asked herself suddenly, pausing to take in her surroundings and realizing she wasn't anywhere near her teammates anymore.

She had followed the underground path to the power room, moving forward cautiously as she heard the tell tale sounds of gunfire coming from above the dirt ceiling. Isabella crept forward into the shadowy room, listening closely for the sounds of the undead as a large flash of lightning caused her to jump in surprise. The world began to spin suddenly as she closed her eyes, willing the sickening teleportation-like sensation away, wondering what the hell was going on...

Opening her eyes a few seconds later, she gasped aloud as she realized instantly where she was. The multiple television monitors and operating chair gave it away instantly as her panicked gaze fell on the tray full of sharp tools on the table close by. 

At least I'm not in the chair this time... Isabella realized, backing up slowly while scanning the room for anyone else. She felt the knob of the metal door behind her as she tried desperately to open it, cursing lowly as it refused to budge.

"Son of a bitch-"

"It's no use..." A tiny voice from the shadows said calmly, making the dark haired woman spin around in surprise.

"Hello again Isabella~" Samantha sang almost cheerfully, waving to the girl in front of her as though she were a close friend. She emerged from the darkness, smiling sweetly as Isabella backed up against the wall behind her, a glare on her face as she gave the small child in front of her a suspicious look. 

What is this shit? She thought, unsure of what to say and very confused by all this. It has to be a trap or something...

"You are wondering why I'm not attacking you, right?" Samantha questioned with a laugh as Isabella stared back silently.

"Well, you have tried to kill me once or twice..." Izzy growled, sounding quite bitter as the demon girl picked up on this.

"I'd like to put our differences aside... For now." Samantha explained, watching the dark haired woman's face carefully as she continued to speak. "I need your help..."

Isabella's eyes widened as she considered the girl's words. But she knew enough about games in general to know when to keep her poker face on...

"Oh really?" Isabella said sarcastically, suddenly noticing that she was unarmed. "And what makes you think I'm going to help you?"

"You will." Samantha replied confidently, sending Isabella an evil smile as she giggled. "Unless... you don't want to go home? But judging by what's written in here..."

The demon child pulled a small purple journal from behind her back as green eyes widened in shock.

"You want to return to your time..." Samantha continued, smirking as she watched the girl in front of her listening closely. "I can make that happen... but you have to do something for me in return..."

Always a goddamn catch, Isabella thought stubbornly, crossing her arms as she waited for the girl to tell her what it was that she wanted from her. She really had no other choice than to cooperate if she wanted to end this game...

"Well...?"

"I know that awful Richtofen is planning something and I need you to stop him..."

Isabella snorted, "How do you think I'm going to be able to do that exactly?" She chuckled sarcastically, smirking openly at the young girl in front of her. If this is her game then why can't she-

"You'll know what to do when the time comes," Samantha said, sounding worried for once as Isabella watched the demon girl glance down at her hands momentarily, staring as she could have sworn she saw them fade slightly. "Here!"

Isabella caught her journal as Sam threw it to her, looking it over for a second as she noticed a few extra pages in the back...

"Our time is up for now!" Sam hissed, cackling madly as lightning engulfed the small room, blinding Isabella as she felt the floor slip from beneath her feet. 

Opening her eyes when she felt solid ground once more, she blinked slowly a few times, trying to place where she was yet again. The center room... but what the-

"Wait... I'm on top of the..."

Isabella froze, eyes widening like a child at a candy store as she stared at the alien machine in front of her.

"HELL TO THE YES! HAHA!" She shouted, laughing wildly as she skipped towards the device, feeding her Ballistic knives to the glowing gears inside. A small ding was heard a few seconds later as the newly titled, Krauss Refibrillator popped out. Isabella grinned, admiring her new set of knives for a moment before sheathing them in the dual holsters at her waist and heading towards the stairs. 

I can't wait to shoot someone with this thing... She thought grinning as she trotted down the stairs happily, reaching the bottom of the altar as the sounds of stones shifting behind her could be heard.

The staircase leading to the Pack-A-Punch had reset itself, becoming unreachable once more. Dammit, I was hoping it would stay open from now on... She thought, slightly irritated at the fact that they had to open it each time. What a pain in the a-

Hearing a sound to her left, Isabella drew her knives instinctively while moving forward, ready to eliminate whatever threat it might be. Sighing, she relaxed when she saw it was just Brianna and Dempsey making their way through the spike traps.

"Hey!" Brianna called, dashing through the death trap at the sight of her sister as the Marine cursed, stopping reluctantly as the bamboo chutes shot up a couple inches in front of him.

"Watch it with the spikes! I got valuables down there..." Tank growled, glaring at the blonde woman from the other side as he waited for the trap to reset itself.

Brianna rolled her eyes, coming to stop in front of her sister while noticing the far off expression on her face. "Where'd you go?" She asked, sounding out of breath and slightly worried as she waited for her response.

"I headed downstairs..." Isabella mumbled, not wanting to think back on why she had gone down there in the first place.

"Well, you shouldn't just run off by yourself!" The older blonde woman scolded. "You of all people know how dangerous it is to-"

"I know, I'm sorry..." Isabella rushed, thinking back on her conversation with Samantha. "But Bri you have to listen, we need to-"

An explosion on the other side of the room cut Isabella off as Dempsey made his way through the spike trap, all three of them moving towards the cloud of dust slowly. Coughing could be heard in the plume of smoke as Takeo stepped out of the wreckage, followed by Nikolai, Richtofen and three hissing crawlers.

Isabella gave her sister a look that said they would have to talk later when they were able to have some privacy, something that was considered a luxury around here...

"Now vhere vere ve?" Richtofen said cheerfully, getting the groups attention as he moved towards the stone button on the wall next to Quick Revive.

Everyone knew the drill by now as the other three buttons were occupied by the remaining three soldiers, leaving Isabella and Brianna to stand back and watch as they all pressed the stones into the wall, resulting in the eerie blue glow of the eclipse filling the skies around them once more.

"We're back in the past... Again," Tank grumbled, getting tired of doing this whole eclipse thing over and over and over. "I'm gettin' kinda bored here..."

"Ahaha!" Richtofen giggled, "But zhis is so much fun! People are dying in such creative vays! Ahahahaha!"

"Goddammit Doc, just keep your craziness to yourself and tell us what we have to do next, would ya?" Dempsey said, fiddling with his gun anxiously as he glanced around the room, keeping an eye on the three crawlers.

Richtofen calmed down for the moment, shooting a glare towards the American soldier before walking to the front of the room near the left fountain. 

"Zhese are vhat ve're looking for..." He explained, gesturing towards the symbol on the wall as everyone stepped forward to get a better look. Richtofen drew the knife from his belt, grinning as he brought it down across the front of the rock plate as a strange sound was heard before a blue light illuminated the alien symbol upon it.

"I'm better at cutting out schpleens..." The doctor drawled, laughing as he glanced back at the rest of the group. "But zhis looks nice..."

"Like second wife," Nikolai gestured, sliding his finger across his throat before laughing, noticing everyone staring his way. "She was bitch..." He explained, shrugging his shoulders before pulling another bottle of vodka from his magical pack. Isabella laughed slightly, nudging Brianna who was silent, shaking her head as they continued to watch their conversation unfold.

"Vhy danke Nikolai, zhat is a good example I suppose..."

"Exactly how many steps are there left?" Isabella questioned, ready to recieve silence as her only answer...

"Ve are very close now..." Richtofen said to himself more than her as he smirked, thinking of his long term plans. I have ze golden rod, now I just need ze focusing stone... But how vill I get it? 

The doctor realized everyone was staring at him as he cleared his throat, looking at the group he continued with what he was saying. "Ve have everyzhing ve need to complete ze last few schteps... In fact, after zhis all ze crystals should be in order..." Richtofen explained, hoping no one would question him further.

"Fuckin' Treyarch," Dempsey spat angrily, looking towards the sky as everyone stared at him like he was crazy. "I swear if I ever get outta here, I'm gonna find him and-"

For once Richtofen was glad for the American's presence as he interrupted him, directing everyone's attention away from the questions at hand.

"Dammit Dempsey! Stop breaking the forth wall!" Isabella chided, putting her hands on her hips in irritation as she watched everyone seeming to question her sanity...

"I think you have all lost your minds!" Takeo said sternly, as he moved forward to find the tiles. "Let's hurry so we can find them..."

Isabella chuckled, jogging to catch up with the Imperial. "We should split up so we can cover more ground quicker..." She suggested, glancing at Takeo for approval as he nodded and continued forward. Spinning around quickly, she waved at Brianna and the rest of her teammates as she headed towards the spike trap on the other side of the room. 

"We'll all just meet back here when we're done!" She shouted, smiling one last time before dodging the spikes and hurrying to catch up with the Japanese man.

Vhere does she get off giving ze orders? The German thought irritatedly, eyes narrowing at her as he watched her go. Sighing, he glanced at his partner who was currently draining the last few drops of alcohol from his clearly already empty bottle. Vell, at least zhings are getting done...

Brianna sighed dejectedly as she found herself once again, not knowing what to do. Once again, Izzy runs off to have her own little adventure... She thought sadly, wondering why she couldn't be more of a leader like her sister.

"Come on then," Dempsey said gruffly, sounding rather put off as he turned around, heading the same way Richtofen and Nikolai had gone. "Let's get this over with..." 

The sooner we get out of here, the better... He thought, practically glaring holes through the German walking in front of him. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on him...

...

Meanwhile, underground...

...

"This rooks right..." Takeo said while knifing a symbol on the wall near the power switches. Isabella nodded, scanning the room for any more of the stone plates as they proceeded across the bridge and towards the exit. Isabella spotted a symbol to their immediate right as she stepped up to it, swinging her blade across it's surface lightly as three dots were illuminated by a soft blue glow...

Continuing forward through the underground tunnels, Takeo led the way as he stopped to knife the symbol next to the chalk outline of the Stakeout as the sound of the eclipse ending echoed throughout the area.

"Taks..." Isabella said lowly, getting his attention as he stopped in the water he was currently wading through, turning to look up at the young woman standing on the wooden platform who seemed to be slightly nervous to talk with him. His dark eyes locked with hers for a moment as he watched a small hand grab at a piece of dark hair next to her face as she fidgeted with it, looking at the ground for a moment while trying to find her words. 

I don't want to have to do this alone... But I don't know if I can really trust him...

"What is it Isabella-san?" He inquired curiously, stepping out of the water and joining her on the platform as he waited patiently for her to continue.

"O-okay... This is going to sound weird but here's goes nothing..."

After she had finished explaining her latest encounter with Sam to him as well as her suspicions concerning the doctor, she released the breath she didn't realize she was holding as she waited for his reaction to it all since he hadn't said a single word the entire time she had been talking. Worrying slightly, that he might be offended by her accusations towards someone he had been fighting along side of for longer than he had even known her, she looked down, beginning to prepare some sort of apology in her head.

"I know he's your comrade and-"

"One day... I wirr make Richtofen wish he had amnesia." Takeo said firmly, looking at Isabella with a serious expression as she stood there, slightly shocked by his answer.

"But I thought..."

"I know what Richtofen has done to us and so do you," The Imperial stated, sounding neither angry nor upset as he looked around the room cautiously for a moment, making sure they were truly alone.

"The memory wipes, the experimentation..." He continued as Isabella could only stare at him sadly as he told her his story. "He acts as though he is our comrade... But truly, I think he is plotting against us."

Isabella stood there unsure of what to say next as she knew they had to continue with his plan. But now that Samantha knows he's up to something, how can I just act like nothing ever happened-

"You cannot trust the word of the demon either." Takeo warned, snapping his teammate out of her thoughts as she knew he was right. She could only guess that Samantha would betray her in the end if that wasn't already her original plan. The promise of 'going home' was never a real possibility Isabella realized sadly, clenching her fists slightly as the thought of her being stuck here forever flashed through her mind. 

No... She thought suddenly, her usual fire returning as she raised her newly upgraded knives for whatever might come next. I'm going to get out of here... I'm going to get us out of here, even if it kills me... She repeated to herself as the Imperial soldier smirked, seeing the determination in her eyes as he sighed, somewhat glad that she was back to her rambunctious self.

Suddenly the sound of the round ending filled their ears, surprising them both as Isabella looked up to see Takeo scanning the windows in the area while holding his AK at the ready. The moans of the undead were already beginning to echo off the walls in the distance as the growing horde approached, their numbers larger and their forces stronger than before.

Dammit, not now... Not when we're so close! Izzy cursed, following the Imperial soldier back through the power room as they quickly made their way towards the meeting point in the center room. 

The sound of boards being ripped down filled their ears as they both rushed through the underground tunnels, spying daylight as they exited the caves near Speed Cola. Running as fast as her legs could carry her, Isabella sprinted forward following the back of the Japanese man's uniform in front of her until he froze suddenly, making her crash into his back as she looked up and around him, wondering what had made him stop.

A wicked scream filled their ears as Isabella saw the screeching zombie eyeing them from across the bridge as it let loose another deadly howl before sprinting towards them...