Chapter 29

January 12, 1999

Lightning crackled and flames burst forth, in all the colors of the spectrum. Beams of energy lanced about, with ghostly sounds and strange sights. Smoke blossomed from the shattered walls, floor and ceiling, giving the room an inky feel. The ground tremble as power gathered and was released, the very land howling from the demands asked, while winds that should never had been underground howled. Had one looked, one would think he was in hell, for the strangeness and the violence of the scenery.

Only this wasn't Hell. This was real life.

This was a battle of Psychics.

The power of the battles had caused cave-ins throughout all the High Lair, as they all had felt. Indeed even this room - this very room of great ancient power could barely contain what was happening within it, unknowing the the fate of the Circle was on the line. And, most possibly, already lost.

The battle had been raging for over twenty minutes, the green-haired psychic Herman decided. No more than that, and yet it felt to him as if it had been far longer, an eternity. He had never been in this kind of battle. Certainly, he'd had to fend off attacks throughout his life, from psychics who didn't like his non-affiliation status, but he'd never taken part in something so big, so dangerous and so deadly.

Already two on each side had fallen, and none showed his or herself free of pain and wounds. Herman's own right arms was burned, smoking from the chi discharge one of the circle Elders had let loose upon him. The pain was excruciating, but he held on. All his life, he had wished to see the destruction of the Circle Elders, these fiends who thought they could tell all how to behave. And now he was in the battle, fighting. No, he would hold on, see this through to the end.

Looking around, he saw one of his allies locked in psy-battle with an Elder - and loosing, clutching her head, sweat drenching her face as she tried to keep up the extraordinary mental contest. Had one been able to see psychic energy, there would undoubtedly have been arcs of light between the two opponents, colliding in pure energetic friction. He went to her aid at once.

His eyes glowed as he let his mind powers link with hers. She was surprised, but greatly relieved at his unsuspected arrival, and she redoubled her efforts. The elder, however, did not find this amusing at all!"

'You dare interfere, worthless dog?!?' came the angry thought scream. He would have laughed if he had the strength, but his reserves were low.

'I've come here to do far more than that.' he thought back grimly. His mind brought up images of sorrow, of pain, accompanied by very real sensations of the aforementioned emotions. He cringed at the images - his parents dying to a Circle assault, him nearly being stone when he had unwittingly revealed his powers, the hatred of many mortal eyes.

'Why do you try to protect these very mortals which have treated you like a freak, child?' came the voice of the Elder, malicious. They fear you, for you stay young and are powerful beyond their dreams. They hate you, because you are so much more than them, they are nothing and they know it! Why do you help them?"

And the impressions intensified, absorbing him, making him lose focus. He fought as best as he could, but felt himself lose tangibility. He was losing his psychic coherence. Quickly he searched in his mind for anything that would help his resolve, and, quickly enough, they came forth like rescuing angels.

He remembered a kind old man who, near the end of his life, had told him to do good with his gift. He remembered the face of the man - the normal man - who had gotten him out of the water where an enemy had dumped him. He saw parties watched from afar, family reunions, children running and laughing, and his resolve returned. With a great cry, he removed part of his power, wound it about himself, called upon what remained of his chi, and charged. "I will tell you why I fight. I fight so that children may laugh without your people shadowing their lives, taking them if they exhibit power. I fight for the future and the hope of tomorrow. I fight fore the good that is within the human race, for good there is, good there ever shall be!! That Elder, is why I fight." and he broke through the barrier the powerful man had wound about himself, and rammed into him like a quarterback.

Now Herman's frame wasn't marvelous. Only one hundred sixty pounds, he wasn't that enormous. But it still packed a punch, and the man had expected his wall to fail so quickly. The older psychic made an oof sound and stumbled back. And for a few moments, his defenses were wide open as he instinctively shifted to keep the psychic girl at bay. He never had the chance to correct it, as he rammed every bit of offensive power he had left into the opening. The man screamed. And screamed again as his power started to fade from the strain, and allowed his original opponent a foothold in his mind.

And they both didn't let up - not used to being merciless, they knew they had to be this time, it had been a battle to the death the moment they had gotten inside the Elders' private sanctuary. They poured out the psychic energies, ramming the man's mind and body with destructive power. The Elder screamed as his mind was being unraveled, bit by bit, layer by layer. Four times had such an agonized scream been uttered this day, and after this battle Herman wished never to hear it again.

Finally they were through, to the control of his mind, and with all of their strength, they convinced the powerful man that his heart had stopped. He convulsed, trying to resist the suggestion, but his barriers were in tatters, his strength gone. Soon the lie was believed, and by effect, the heart stopped. The Elder clutched the silent artery, his thoughts now in shambles. He gurgled something unintelligible at them, then fell flat on his back in convulsions, already dead.

Herman immediately fell to his knees, panting, his energies spent. An audible gasp caused him to look hard to his right, only to see his temporary partner sitting down, clutching her head. He gave her a tired grin and, gasping, she answered by a wobbly high-five. He struggled to his feet, noticing an increasing glow. He had no trouble finding out where it came from.

It came from Rose. And the Head of the Circle, facing each other in a show of terrible power. He'd seen glimpse of Rose fighting, and had been surprised at the out-of-character kind of skill she had showed, and at the ruthlessness this serene, gentle woman could show. Right now her power was such, her chi so concentrated that her aura was flaring like a small nova. And the Elder facing her was no slouch either almost - but not quite - matching hers.

As he stared, he heard another death scream, followed by another, and saw one of their own - the tall dark-skinned man who had been so ready for this fight - fall, followed a second later by the Elder he'd been facing. He'd been killed, but had unleashed a killing blow before he died. The other Elder was locked in battle against the four remaining others - including Francois - and was being pummeled by low-intensity chi blasts and psychic attacks. He was dying. Only one presented any danger now.

"Rose, do you need any help?" he called, although he had just about nothing else to give. In answer, the glow only intensified, until he actually had to shield his eyes. 'Shit shit shit! They're going to throw everything they got at each other in one shot!" the prospect of being near such a burst of power scared him enough to spur his legs into action. He ran to the girl, picked her up and ran as far as he could. He felt the powers reach their peak, felt the orders to let loose.

And then it was as if a star had been born for a moment, as two incredible powers collided in uncontrollable fury. A few moments passed, then two screams from tow female throats, and the glow died. Both were down as it did. He let the woman he'd been holding down, and both rushed to see Rose.

They felt her mind quickly, and sighed in relief, even more so when they felt only void from the Circle Head. As they neared her, they saw the last of the six Elders fall to his knees. They saw François step behind him, take hold of his head, and twist it with great strength. The last one fell to the ground lifelessly. Behind them, outside the room, he heard noises, and knew the shielding they put around the place was waning. Herman looked at the others.

"Quickly! Take our dead and wounded and teleport!" he shouted, channeling what remained of his power. The blue-haired woman next to him aided him, and although it drained what remained of their energies, they were able to teleport back to Rose's mansion.

But the strain was too great for him, his strength couldn't hold any more. He had the time to see the others appear next to them, and then fainted, the ground rushing to meet him. But not before he had thought one thing. A simple sentence, but which carried a world of implications.

'The Elders...have fallen.'

Ten hours later...

"Listen up people." said a very determined Julia Simmons to the assembled leaders and helpers of the Limerick Attack Force. "This is the the last meeting before the battle. So listen good and take notes if you need it!"

Excitement ran high as she said this, as everyone had been pumped up for the occasion. For months the Battle of SCD Headquarters had put a pall on the people who worked for the dedicated operation. From the highest Elite to the lowest grunt, the battle and the horrendous losses sustained repelling the attack had created a wish, a need to fight back, to give back some to the enemy. Now the time was right, to strike back at the exact lair which had ordered it. No one wanted to pass this opportunity.

No one had the intent to fail.

They were in a special United Nations compound, only twenty miles from Limerick itself. The compound was overrun by SCD troops, artillery, and fighters. For this operation was to be not only the time for revenge, but also the time to deal the final blow, the destruction of the only Lair which had enough influence to hold the Circle together if the infamous High Lair failed. Julia had thus called upon the Base Commanders of SCD around the world, asking them to bring in any firepower and man power they could spare. And they had, by sending most of their own Elites, a few of their troops and their stock of the famed and high tech SCD Fighter, the Jaguar. In the end, nearly a hundred Elites had been put together, backed up by thousands of ground troops and three hundred fighters.

It had shocked and angered Ireland to see so many foreign, highly-trained troops on their home ground, but the United Kingdom, China and the United States had pressed the issue, offering compensations, for they had had lots of problems with the Circle and wanted it out of commission. Germany and France had followed suit, until Ireland stood down reluctantly. That was all they had needed. And now, they were ready.

She pointed to a map on the wall, before the assembled group. "We'll attack from the east, bringing in an attack wave of Jaguar carrying medium-powered missiles, to soften the defenses."

"Wait a minute, Commander." stated a muscular, wild-eyed man from the Sydney Base. "We can't bring in such a force and destroy the parts. Hurting civilians, its just not SCD, with all due respect ma'am."

Simmons nodded crisply. "I understand your concern and approve of it." she pointed to a spot a little distance from the town. "However, the place we'll hit is uninhabited, except for the Circle, and has been for hundreds of years."

Julia saw Cammy blink, then start. "They're at the old castle?"

"More like beneath it. We'll destroy a landmark, that's true, but its a small price to pay if that means getting the Circle because of it in the long run. Other questions?"

There were none.

"After the first wave of fighters, we'll send the scrambling signal and the special virus one of our allies came up with. While talking about it, let me thank mister Nathan McIntyre for his contribution."

The crippled, scarred man, seated next to Jeremy Storm, received a friendly pat on the back and a smiling thumbs up from the athletic man. He flashed a grin, then looked at Julia squarely. "Thank you," he said earnestly "It was really the least I could do to help hurt these bastards."

She smiled and nodded back, passed a hand through her hair and resumed. "After we do this, we'll send the troops to level the first level, opening the way into the base and silencing their outer defenses. Next will come the inner attack, made up from sixty of the SCD Elites. Their goal. To find the core of the lair, its most fragile point, and blow it up. That way we'll have achieved our objective."

"Sounds okay." nodded Castillo.

"Yeah." said another Elite, this one from America. "But how can we be sure we'll be taking down the Circle. With their so-called Elders..."

"That won't be a problem." stated Jeremy with a smile "We received a communiqué from a very reliable person. Renegades psychics siding with us have eliminated them."

Excited mutterings, the morale was skyrocketing. Amidst all this an hand was raised. Julia raised an eyebrow and held up an hand for silence. "You have something to say, captain Hemmerson?"

The man nodded gravely, his face unreadable. "Yes, indeed. And some may not like it, but I must say it."

"What is it?"

"Simply put, its about THIS." And he pointed directly at the white, deformed man called Necro. All turned to stare at him, something the strange man did not seem to like at all, receding as much as he could in the corner of the meeting room. Many of London's Elites were surprised at the harsh tone the respected officer had taken, so polite was he normally.

Julia frowned. "I can't say I like that word, THIS, and secondly be more specific." she commanded. He shrugged.

"You put him on the Elite Teams, right?" he asked, only it wasn't a question.

She still didn't know if giving Necro his chance was very intelligent of her yet. Cammy had been adamant that the man, so strange did he seem, deserved some kind of second chance. Jeremy had approved hesitantly, but backed her up more strongly a few days after meeting with Necro and talking to him. They seemed quite determined that he could be redeemed, and she'd decided to give it a go here. After all, she had gathered that the very two who vouched for him could stop Necro, and anyway what could he do, surrounded by sixty top-notch soldiers? Still, she had her doubts.

"I did." she said at last "His abilities are impressive. He could definitely give us an edge in the coming battle."

"I acknowledge that."

"Then what is the problem?"

"The problem," he spat with such uncharacteristic heat that those who'd worked with him before - which involved the majority of the in the room - were stunned. "Is that I don't work with freaks."

Julia saw Cammy's eyes narrow, and she started to rise, but Jeremy put an hand on her shoulder and gently but firmly sat her down again.

"And especially," he added "With the freak who caused what happened at Saratov." he stared at Necro darkly, and Julia saw the man seemed more confused than anything else. She decided to stop this before things degenerated.

"Enough!" she called, and the whisperings stopped almost immediately. Almost. With Brisby, it had always been silent the moment he opened his mouth. But then, he had been the Founder of the entire organization. She had to cope with what she could get. "Everyone knows what is expected of them and as such, I will call this meeting to an end. We attack in four hours. Dismissed.

They all left, many casting a curious or cold gaze at Necro, who returned them easily enough with his weird yellow eyes Cammy seemed ready to go get Steve's ass, but again Jeremy stopped her, and they went out with the white, deformed man. At long last, the only ones who remained were Giorgio Castillo and Mark Culhen, who seemed very distraught.

Mark spoke first, anxiously. "Saratov Julia. If its true, and knowing Steve it probably is..."

She sighed. "I know."

"As did Brisby and Michael. We five were the only ones to know the whole story." Castillo paused in his little speech "Julia, this could cause complications in the mission, and we don't need complications for this one ESPECIALLY if Kale is out there."

"Steve has not called for his Right of Vendetta!" she snapped "I know he will do his duty. Everything will be all right." she knew her tone wasn't that confident, but couldn't help it. Mark, however, jumped on it.

"Are you sure, Julia?. he asked.

She sat on a chair heavily, sighing. "No. But I trust them. And I know that these people will do what they must. I trust in them and Fate."

And for now, it would have to be enough.

"Speaking of trusting." Mark asked in curiosity "Where is Ibuki?"

Nearly four hours later...

They would attack soon. And that meant she had to hurry.

Ibuki had never been that much of a hurrying person. Certainly not out of laziness, but out of the desire to do something in the most efficient way possible. Unfortunately, this could tend to make her a perfectionist. And she had to admit she didn't have time for her personal quirk of non-hurrying. Not when a full blown battle was about to be joined.

Entering the base had taken the information gathered by countless agents from many organizations - the most extensive and complete of which dating from eleven years or so back, from an MI6 agent named Cindy Herman. She'd been deep underground, gathered tons of useful information - including the layout of the place. How she ever got out was a mystery, but it had helped Ibuki a lot. The only thing she had needed when she'd known the way in,had been to catch a female acolyte about her height, and then think thoughts of obedience and servility.

It was here that the training she'd been given - the long, arduous training that allowed one of her clan to seem of think something while thinking something else entirely - had come quite handy, for the place was filled with low level - and some higher-leveled psychics. And thoughts of how to best wreck the place might not be the best way for someone to be inconspicuous.

After a while, it had become clear that the nervous, central core of the compound couldn't be breached by a lone person, no matter how skilled - they were too many people, well-trained and wary. But there had been something else that she had been able to do. Not an easy thing to do, that was certain, but something that would ensure a great victory not only for SCD, but for all of this part of the world as well.

And, with a lot of nosing about, a lot of use of her stealth skills and admittedly a lot of plain luck, she had been able to do what she had wished. Now all that remained was to get the hell out of here, or at least find a place they weren't about to hit too hard. She was walking down a bustling corridor filled with highly nervous people - but then who wouldn't be when a full army was about to storm and do all it could to raze one's home - when she stopped, hearing a voice she now knew too well.

"My Lord, you cannot ask me to do this." stated a voice, cold and yet carrying a wave of surprise and indignation. "Leave this place? While battle is about to be joined? That would be... inappropriate for me to do." Everick.

"Aww, don't sweat it!" answered an amused voice, filled with overbright friendliness, an ever-present smile felt even in the words. Kale. Although she knew it was risky, she stopped, blended in the shadows of the corridor as best she could, and listened in.

"I must worry about it." said Everick a trifle more strongly. "You are my Lord and I have given all my loyalty to you. To leave you to risk your own death, to do nothing is..."

"Is following my will!" finished Kale brightly. "I'm not asking this out of impulse. I want one of us to get out of this mess intact. And I think it should be you!" A chuckle. " So don't worry yourself over it!"

"My Lord..."

"Don't worry yourself, Everick my friend." cut in Kale, actually sounding sad and somber "Death is not something I wish and yet, I wish to see this through. Anyway, I have prepared a certain something which will allow me..."

She certainly would have liked to know exactly what Kale had prepared and what it would allow him to do, but at this moment a shudder made people cry out, and she lost the thread of the conversation. It had been the impact of a bomb. The SCD attack was under way.

She fumed a bit. It seemed that it often was the case that when she was about to get obviously critical information, something happened to make her attempt nearly worthless. She risked a look down the corridor where she'd heard the two men speaking, only to nearly slam into the Lord of Limerick, who was walking down with a slight, almost sad smile on his lips. She reeled back in no less than a panic, but fortunately he seemed to be thinking about something else, his mind elsewhere. He passed her without acknowledging her, and she scooted, knowing that this wasn't the time to push her luck.

She had seen how well-armed the place was, having formidable, if well-hidden, defenses. But it certainly was nothing compared to the defenses that the old Headquarters possessed, even less compared to the rebuilt one. It would never stand to the strength of the attack the SCD wished to put against it, with the manpower and firepower and sheer desire to destroy they were putting it.

She searched and finally found an empty room - a small room with a bed, obviously someone's living space. It would have to do for now. She tapped a small device on her ear, slightly wincing as other shudders came forth, more and more frequent.

"Nathan?" she called. "Nathan, come in."

"Well, hello, lass!" came the American voice almost immediately. "Are ya enjoying the party down there?"

"No, not really." she muttered "Just wanted you to know that I've taken care of what I came to do here, and I'm heading out for now, going to stay low."

"Good job!" he answered with an almost cruel glee "Never doubted you could do it, lady! and you're right, you should stay low until the boys arrive. Shouldn't be long. Gotta admit, these guys know their business pretty well!"

"Indeed." she smiled softly for a moment. She liked the crippled American, and not just because the guy had been able to fight off the despair his condition entailed, but simply because he had great inner strength. "I know that quite well, having worked with them often enough. Now how long will it take for them to come inside?"

"You weren't told?"

"I was not."

She could almost feel his shrug. "Not very long, the way they're hitting them right now. They're so damn gleeful about it, it's starting to scare me! Still, if I had to make an educated guess, I'd say...thirty minutes? Certainly not more than that. Probably less."

"Thank you." she said, then signed off.

Outside, she was hearing people walk about in a hurry, orders being shouted, yet very fewer then would have normally been. Because of the psychic powers of them commanders here, of course. This allowed for excellent coordination, and explained how it could be that the panic wasn't so widespread. Rigid training, these people had had, and they were definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Well, whatever was happening now, with the faint explosions and the harsh battle outside, there was little she could do presently. She hated waiting. It gave her time to think. And these days she didn't have time to think, because she simply didn't WANT to!

For every time she thought about anything else than Shinobi work or school, she found herself thinking about Everick the Shadow Walker. Not in an affectionate way - Kami-Sama forbid! - but not in a very aggressive way either. It was strange to her, to find herself feeling something else than void towards an enemy.

She'd supposed that it had been because she felt some kind of gratefulness - after all, the man HAD spared her twice, going as far as to stop a very powerful psychic from killing her. But she had thought that this new impression would pass. And for a while, it seemed that it really had, the void had returned.

Now, however, waiting for the battle to come to her so she could join it, she wasn't so sure of that.

For, when she'd heard that Everick was being forced to leave the place, she'd felt herself being disappointed, for her honor still demanded some sort of battle. That feeling had been normal. However, amidst all this, she had also felt strangely...grateful. Glad he wasn't going to be caught in this. What was up with that?

She had no answer.

Or maybe she did, but refused it so much that it did not appear. And in that case, she was in deep, deep trouble.

Around the same time...

"Its been hours, François. She's slipping away from us. We have to do something." said the young Psychic, Herman, in a tight voice the far older man couldn't blame at all.

Another one, the blue-haired girl named Marjorie, seemed more than to agree. "Rose is the reason we were able to succeed in destroying the Elders. Now her mind is descending into darkness and its OUR turn to do something right!" There were assents from the three other psychics present. François sighed.

He'd been partially surprised that they had succeeded in that crazy endeavor. He'd known two of the Elders, and had been doubtful that they could take on the combined powers of the six. But he'd sorely underestimated Rose's power. She'd helped in taking down two of them, and had single-handedly managed to kill the most powerful of them all. It had been incredible, even had him worried. It was true that without her, they never would have been able to kill them all, much less escape alive, even though three HAD died.

But she was paying the price of this right now. Her power had been channeled for one last attack, and it seemed that it had been such a near thing that her mind had shielded itself from everything around her - noise, thoughts, feelings, everything. It was a normal safeguard, but she'd gone far too deep, and was now stuck, unable to get out, effectively catatonic, her mind caught in a downward spiral that would inevitably lead her to her death.

"Marjorie, you and I have the kind of psychic powers that would get through her firewall." the green-haired man suggested. "If we could only join our powers to yours, we could..."

"Fry her brain completely and render her a true vegetable." the old Frenchman sighed "You never undertook such an operation, I have. You've never seen it fail, I have. Moreover, she is so powerful...how to know if even the three of us can break through to her core consciousness?"

Marjorie actually glared at him, as if this was all his fault. "What are you saying?!?"

"The truth, unfortunately."

"So you're saying you want us to just leave her in her bed of hers and let her die?!?" she hissed.

That snapped something within him, and his eyes flared in such fury that his two protagonists took a few cautious steps back.

"BON DIEU DE BON DIEU DE BORDEL DE MERDE!!!" he shouted in french. "You children just HAVE to jump to conclusions, eh?!? Well, let me state it all as simply as I know how. NO, I do not intend on letting her die, especially since I most probably owe her my life. But you have to understand that if you link with me, you're putting all of your marbles on the line! DO YOU GET THIS?!?" He glared at them all but especially at the two.

They stood down a little, yet not completely. They had gained an immense respect for Rose - they all had. His warnings WERE being heeded, but they meant little to these two. They were willing to play along. He shrugged with a sigh.

"Very well. Since your decision is made, let us try this." He gestured them to follow him, telling the other three to wait there. They entered the room where Rose reposed, as if sleeping. The kind of sleep which was often eternal and fatal. He looked at her for a moment, looking so peaceful, and then steeled himself.

"You should sit down so you don't fall down when you give me your psychic offensive powers." he stated. They nodded and sat themselves on the foot of the bed, and closed their eyes. "Concentrate, only on me, and then give me every ounce of power you have." he closed his own eyes.

For a moment nothing happened, and he wondered if the two youths had truly released their powers. And then they rammed into his own, unbalancing him, suffocating his mind. Yet he managed to hold on, through a will forged on centuries of battle and self-discoveries. He found the threads of power he needed, and merged them with his own. That done, he penetrated Rose's mind as gently as he could.

He encountered resistance nearly as soon. It was a formidable defense wall, created by a most powerful mind. he found himself hard-pressed to find any way to break through, and this wall was only the unconscious one that she had put up.

Still, he had gone through worse in his long life, and pushed forward, knowing the risk that he could encounter - one false move and he could trigger a backlash that would kill her, another error and it would kill them too. He sincerely did not know if he could do this in a satisfying way, or could do it at all.

But he owed her to at least TRY.

Her mental energies pushed him back as he advanced, and he tried another way. When that way failed, yet another. He had no intention of stopping, not now, not ever. He took together all the emotions that had defined him. Burning cynism, strong love of children, hatred of those who abused their powers. His qualities, and his faults. He took it all in, blended it using his will, and finally tried what he wished never to do on any Psychic who called herself an ally or a friend: an attack.

He now knew the wall was too strong for a probe, and took the risk. He plunged ahead, breaking the wall with the combined powers of three. Such was its strength that it almost held. But it was unconscious, and couldn't be reinforced. He entered, and faintly heard Rose cry out in pain. He blotted it all, pushing through, and using his mind to call out.

'Rose! Rose, come back to us!!'

No answer.

'Rose, you must stop this! The danger is past! There is no need for what you are doing. Come back with me, follow my psychic trail!'

Still nothing but the void of an empty mind. François let his fear and his anger take the better of him, let him find the words that were in his heart.

'You damn CHILD! Bordel! After all the talks you gave us about will, about strength, about humanity and all those things you said you held dear, don't you dare let me, let the others who followed you through that HELL, down! Come back to us NOW, you young FOOL!'

Still nothing. Mentally he sighed, more than a little sadly, starting to feel the ice of despair clutch his heart. He started to relax his hold in dejection, when heard something. Something faint, but that he could actually recognize!

'Come back?' hesitant, but present. Rose's mind! He went frantic, as his powers waned through fatigue.

'Yes, Rose, you must come back. The others need you to come back, we all do! This victory is empty if you do not come back! Please, you must follow me...'

It was all he could get out before the power failed him, and he was forced back through the opening he had made, unable to clutch at anything, not knowing if he'd been followed back to the real world. He let go of Herman and Marjorie's thread, and reintegrated his own with a shudder. Drenched in sweat, he open his eyes blearily, to face two tired out, worried young psychics.

"Did it work?" Herman panted, worried.

Francois found himself without words to explain what had happened, how to explain the uncertainty he felt. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, not knowing what he thought, what he was supposed to do in this situation. Just as he started to gather his thoughts, however, a voice, faint but very present, answered for him.

"I think....it did...well enough."

They looked down to see Rose stirring, looking at them with a slight smile, so tired she could barely move. Herman sighed in relief, while Marjorie cackled in joy. François just looked at her with an expression between gladness and irritation.

"What I do for you children." he scoffed in good humor. She smiled tiredly.

"And you'd do it again, old man."

And they both shared a short, joyous laugh.

Running through a base filled with enemies was any soldier's nightmare. Running through a subterranean one was, if possible, even worse. And if the enemy was persistent enough, desperate enough, a situation so tuned could only be described as Hell on Earth. Unfortunately for Cammy, the people in the Circle base were both persistent and desperate, defending a subterranean base.

The good thing was, they were advancing, and advancing fast. But, what could one expect from the team they had put together.

Each and everyone of the persons inside the team going for the core was an Elite, a man or woman trained and retrained in the use of tactics, fighting and armaments. Each had a talent which was undeniable, far greater than the average, able to stand toe-to toe with the low-level psychics who swarmed around them. There were nearly sixty of them swarming around the base, in groups of four or five,taking out anyone that who moved. They were like a virus running its course, until it reached the heart and stopped it.

Their current team was made up of Cammy herself, Jeremy and Necro. A strange team, not very proficient in firearms - except herself - but nevertheless probably more powerful than any of the others. They'd been unable to get anyone to join them once they had known the deformed man was going with them. Obviously what Steve had told at the meeting had taken its toll, for the level of trust and acceptance the others felt for Necro - and it hadn't been that high to begin with - had fallen to an all-time low. It angered her, but she had to admit that they had the right to be suspicious.

She flashed a look at Jeremy, walking swiftly beside her, trusting their unusual companion to take care of their backs. He had been a little uncertain with him himself at first, but after a talk between the two of them - of which she'd never been able to find out anything - he'd told her he'd go along with her hunch, and trust him. The yellow-eyed man had seemed to take this trust very seriously.

"According to the data we had," said Necro, not for the first time revealing a certain military background "We should be nearing the principal core."

Jeremy nodded. "I agree. And there's another thing we should be doing in a few seconds."

They both looked at him. "What?" They said in unison.

"DUCK!!!" he called out, falling flat on the floor. They were so shocked by the tone of his voice that they did so at once. Just in time, as a door opened from the side and a myriad of machine gun shots zipped over their heads. Circle Acolytes. Five of them. Nervous, blinded by their action, they still hadn't reacted to the fact that their preys were on the floor instead of walking around.

They never had time to correct this mistake.

She felt Jeremy collecting his chi, easily enough since he'd pump it up and kept it up as he went through the mission. As such, it wasn't surprising that he shot a blinding burst of chi so easily. The acolytes cried out, their eyes unfocused for barely a few seconds. An eternity. Necro was upon two an instant later, giving them a deadly electric shock. Jeremy kicked one in the stomach with all his strength, knocking him out for a good long while, and Cammy, who felt she shouldn't have to waste her energy yet, took down the last two with precise shots. They stood for moment there, victorious, a little dazed. Necro turned to Jeremy, half-amused and half-angry.

"Couldn't you have told us BEFORE?!?" he asked

"I would have had I FELT it before." was the equally mixed reply. Cammy wondered at the quick bond these two had formed in this mission. An hour and it seemed they'd gone on missions together often.

"I see you people are having fun." a voice she knew well said.

"Ibuki!" she called out to the appearing shinobi. "Glad you could join us! What kept you?"

A gentle smile. "Oh, this and that." she became serious again. "I see you're on your way to the central core. I will join you, for it should be very challenging." she stopped as she saw Necro move. Her stare was of mild surprise, and knowing her, it was as much as a gasp of consternation and horror. Jeremy saw this obviously, and moved to smooth things out.

"Ibuki, this is Necro." he said quickly "He's a new ally of ours and you can trust him."

A raised eyebrow. "Indeed? Well, I certainly would have reservations, but if you find him to be a good ally, then...I must believe it as the truth. Follow me, we're close to the core."

They did, carefully trudging the paneled hallways, made wide and airy enough so that people did not feel claustrophobic, but unable to hide the fact that the place was under tons upon tons of rocks and soil. They heard the sounds of machine gun fire - SCD mostly - and knew that other teams weren't that far behind.

Twice they encountered small groups, and in one there was one who was a pretty good fighter. But the man had been unable to stand up to Cammy, while the others with him were efficiently cut down by the combined might of her three teammates. The resistance was thinning, it seemed, which meant the end of it all, the end of Limerick Lair and by that the Circle, was almost up. Cammy couldn't help but feel excited.

They found the great steel door to the core closed, guarded by three guards. A Kunai thrown with perfect skill took one in the throat, killing him almost instantly. As the others turned to look at their fallen comrades, Jeremy let loose with his machine gun, killing them both before they even fired a shot.

They came to the door, which was locked tight - no surprises there. Thee were no pass for the computer which opened it, again, not surprising. Cammy took out a small electronic device and attached it to the computer. Immediately it began to humm softly. Necro looked around critically.

"This was much too easy." he stated bleakly "Its almost as if they wanted us to reach the core."

Ibuki nodded. "They do not give sufficient opposition. I must admit that I wonder why."

The machine beeped, and the door started to swing open. Whatever was happening here, they were about to enter a crucial step in their mission, a mission which they absolutely could not fail. They entered cautiously, to a darkened room. As soon as they had, the door slammed shut behind them. Jeremy cursed audibly.

"Well, well." laughed a voice. "I'm overjoyed that it is you who will fight me this day, you four, three of which having been a thorn at my side for a while now!" The lights went up, illuminating a room which had walls filled with screens and computers and other high-tech equipment. In the middle stood a man well-in shape but not extraordinary looking, in grey pants and a white shirt, a wide smile that did not reach his eyes plastered on his face. The three recognized him.

"Kale." Jeremy growled.

"Exactly!" exclaimed the man "Welcome to you Jeremy, Cammy, Ibuki - I really shouldn't have listened to Everick - and freak whose name I ignore and do not wish to know. Welcome, welcome to my last stand!"

"Your last stand?" sneered Ibuki "Not TOO melodramatic." He beamed at her.

"Perhaps. We shall see." and then his smile was lost, replaced by a grim line, as his power rose and he assumed a fighting position. Cammy and Jeremy raised they're weapons, but they flew out of their grasp, breaking against the monitors­. All four took their own personal fighting stance, facing the Lord of Limerick.

"I knew it was too easy." Necro muttered.

"Come, my four fighters. COME AND TASTE THE WRATH OF KALE!!!" screamed the powerful psychic.

And the battle was joined.