Number Two Chapter 3: Wraith, a kim possible fanfic

"Doctor Director, what's the sitch?" […] "Why weren't we called? Kidnapped foreign royalty is something I handle once a trimester." […] "Yeah, I know we were busy with Drakken, but we would of went there right after if we knew to give your boys a hand." […] "You've got men handling it? Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but if you need us don't hesitate to call, alright?"

- Kim Possible to Doctor Director in regards to the situation involving Rodegan

Chapter 3: Wraith

June 9th, 2007

4:00 AM Local Time

Somewhere under Warsaw, Poland

Wally groaned as he woke up again, finding himself still in the dungeon, still stuck to the rack. He glanced around again, still the same place. His stomach grumbled as he realized he had not eaten since the kidnapping. The clamps suddenly released and he dropped to the stone floor, pain shooting up his delicate legs as he landed on it. "Ow, ow, ow," he muttered as he slid onto his side.

The cell door opened and an armored man walked in with a tray, "Here's your meal." He said dully as he dropped it and walked out. The stew and water splashed out and landed back into their cheap wooden containers as the old wooden tray landed. He looked at the horrid smelling porridge and likely musty water, turning his nose in disgust. "Ew..."

His stomach grumbled again, but the upper class twit he had refused to eat such lowly food. It was ill fit for someone of his stature. He looked around and said, "I demand a proper meal!"

"You are in no position to make demands." said the guard outside the door, looking in with his scarred and ugly face, "Shut up and eat already."

Wally looked at him, pushing himself up and dusting off. As he did so, he realized that his clothes had been all torn. Scoffing, he thought: This is so indecent, how can I be expected to carry favor with the people when I look like I have been through the garbage dumps! This was not how a democracy was supposed to go!

Yet again his stomach grumbled. He tried to force it to stop, but it wouldn't even as he sat down with a sickening squish. Then he sniffed; the dudgeon air was one thing, but the putrid stench he realized was his own waste, caught in his royal undergarments. "Ewewewewew!" he shouted as he ripped the pants off, the guard outside laughing at his predicament.

Wraith growled as she heard the news; "My little sister is dead?"

"Y... y... yes ma'am!" said the sniveling soldier, "S.. sh... she committed suicide rather than be captured."

Her wrist blade was out in a flash and it was right above the conscript's neck. One swift stroke and she could vent her anger on the miserable man. It was not like he was important without any magical potential. They were expendable fodder anyways, drafted into the cause to serve in that role. The soldier whimpered as she pulled the blade away, glancing towards the base's assigned spellcaster, Cornelius, who was in charge of the whole operation. He shrugged.

With one swift slash, the soldier's neck was slashed open. He gasped in horrific pain as the blade tore through the jugular. Collapsing with a dull thud in his chainmail, he bled out onto the floor and died slowly. Snorting, Wraith pulled a cloth out and wiped the blade, anger still seething. "What is it?"

"We will be leaving soon," the robed man said, "Be sure the prisoner is prepared."

"Yes sir," she said with a bow. They may of been above the rabble, but he still held status over her. And formerly, her sister. It was time to leave soon. They just had to get their teleportation circle ready. She inhaled as she glanced back at the dead soldier, whose eyes were starting to blank as he stared at the stone wall. This mission is only the start of many operations, many moves to begin moving puppets forging our path. Soon, we will be at work bringing the natural order about.

Will Du could not believe everything that had happened so far. It had started so simple; a simple peacekeeping mission into what was literally Europe's smallest country short of the Vatican. Yet now here he was: following a Specter-class operative into the jaws of an unknown enemy base with the only knowledge of it being that they had unusual energy signatures and a lack of most basic modern day technology. He could not believe the mission he was about to embark on: Reinforcements were available to give them a full strike force that was necessary for them to break through, but they were not going to wait for them. Instead they were going to charge headlong into the enemy base unawares, blast a hole for the reinforcements, and somehow rescue Wally before they scuttled the base or took them out. This is madness! Will thought to himself as he quietly followed the Specter. He was carrying extra batteries for the GJA-14 he was using, and Atton had left his GJA-19 behind in favor of additional ammunition for his GJA-15 Vindicator. Both were carrying flash bang grenades, but the Specter was a walking armory as usual. Still, Will had more of the ammunition that would likely be shared by the two once they ran low on ammunitions. I feel like a mule… a sidekick.

Sidekick. The word stuck in his mind as he looked at his position as Global Justice's 'number one agent'. He still did not know how that still applied if any Specter operative could wipe the walls with him and afterwards use him as a mop. He was not even in the same category as them threat wise. He was like a raw recruit without combat experience with a jackknife against a fully trained and armed commando. He did not understand how he could be Global Justice's best while one man armies were walking around that were not him. Is that all I'm good for now? He wondered, Are soldiers like me only good for trying to tie up henchmen, so our supers and elites can fight theirs? Are we outdated relics? The thought did not sit well with him. He was an agent of Global Justice, trained to never give up the fight against evil no matter the odds, to prevail through tactics and skill. He glanced down at his stun watch, the first and for a long time the primary weapon he had. He remembered the first time he had worn it: it was like being given a great responsibility. It had saved him against WEE agents and thugs alike, and now it was regaled to a secondary role to the modernized energy shotgun he was carrying. Weapons that first saw use amongst Specters from what he knew, and only began being issued down to agents when they had the facilities to do so.

How can we fight with these heroes around? Why are we even needed when we have all these heroes around? Why is Global Justice not just focusing on heroes like Possible or Team Go or any of them, why is it bothering with us agents when it can get those kinds of people? Will could hardly place his wayward thoughts. He saw Atton dispose of Ghost easily where he and other GJ agents had failed to do so. He saw Atton turn into a general one man army against WEE soldiers. He felt inferior, he felt like he was an afterthought, like he was just brought along for the ride as a second for some shred of regulations that were above his clearance level.

Atton held a hand up for them to stop as they came at a four-way cross section. Will nodded and took up a firing position in the event a hostile appeared ahead of them as Atton quickly checked the other two paths. He wondered how the strict discipline he'd been trained with had proven inferior. I cannot fight these kind of supers, yet that was part of Global Justice's purpose. It doesn't make any sense! he thought as Atton gave him the all clear signal. They continued quickly down the tunnel, Atton finally asking: "Something wrong, Agent Du?"

"No, sir..." he automatically said, remembering one of Drill Sergeant Zim's phrases he drilled into their heads: If it isn't mission related, keep it to yourself. Speak, Strike, Redress.

"I know they drill it into your heads to keep everything mission related, but I need to know. Can't watch each other's back if we have issues."

Will inhaled, trying to think of how to say that he wasn't good enough. He was not even sure if he could say it aloud. Thinking it was one thing, the fleeting thought that dashes through the tunnels like they were in on a daily basis, but actually vocalizing it was another. He was not sure if he could admit that he was not Global Justice's number one agent. That he was, if he was lucky, a number two to the real ones. The tunnel began to give way from rough dirt to more orderly stone as he said, "I don't know, sir. I feel... I feel like I am living a lie. I am called our best agent, but you are an example that I am not the best. I cannot even hold a candle to you. Fuck," he did not catch the foul language in time, "A civilian cheerleader is better than me!"

Atton paused, looking at him and raising his helmet's visor so he could do so properly. "Agent Du, you are Global Justice's number one agent. I'm a completely different category, I'm a Specter operative. You, Will Du, are as much a hero as I am, or Possible is. You may not be in the same weight category, but to say you're less of a hero? Bigger disservice than Westborough Baptist protesting the funeral of an American soldier over BS like letting gays be themselves." Atton's answer was unusually slow, as if he was confronted with ugly thoughts himself. Will mulled over it a moment.

"I am not sure I understand, sir."

"I don't think I do either. I feel like I had some, I dunno, obligation to say something like that." He lowered his visor, "Think on what I said either way. It's the truth, even if I'm not sure of it myself. Come on, we need to deliver a royal pain to these guys."

Will nodded as he disabled the safety on his GJA-14, "Yes sir."

Five minutes later they came upon a sealed door made of wood and inscribed with runes. Will was not sure what it was, but as the dirt had given way to cut stone they knew they were there. Atton set a charge on the door and they got back, waiting...

As Atton hit the detonator, there was a brief moment where it seemed like the explosion would never happen.

Then with force amplified by the tunnel so much that Will was nearly clobbered against the wall the door exploded into wooden shrapnel. In the opening made, a guard stood clad in chainmail bearing a black and blood red tabard over it, carrying a bastard sword but no shield, a simple leather cap for head protection. Unfortunately for the guard, he was ripped into by the high velocity wood, several rune engraved flashes emitting from his armor as the higher velocity bits hit.

Wraith about to enter the cell to move Wally to a new position when she heard it and snarled. The explosion had echoed throughout the small hideout. So, we are exposed. She looked at the nearby spearman and slapped him across the face, "Wake up! Raise the alarm!"

"Y, yes ma'am!" the conscript stuttered in fear as he hurried off. She shook her head as the base's three dozen other soldiers grabbed their weapons and moved out. They're weaklings, but at least they can swarm. The only non-magic using man in the base who was any shred of real competency walked up in his heavy armor, hand-and-a-half sword sheathed. The two nodded out of mutual respect, and she went towards Wally's cell.

Following Atton into the breach they had made, Will fired the shotgun at an incoming guard armed with a mace and wooden shield. The shield shattered as the energy round hit, but the rune engraved leather armor he wore glowed faintly a moment as it absorbed some, but not all, of the impact. Hit by the burst, the guard collapsed backwards, stunned unconscious. "Good shot!" Atton said as he pulled the pin from a flash bang and hurled it into a group of guards charging with assorted melee weapons from what looked like a barracks. Will's combat goggles shielded him from the light, but he was still forced to squint as another guard charged with a sword. Taking the shot, the blast of energy caught the guard and staggered him. Crap, he thought as the large man closed in stumbling. Will braced himself and smacked the guard in the head with the butt of the shotgun, a crack telling Will that he may of hit too hard as the man fell to the ground, his forehead bleeding where he had been hit.

Atton decked a swordswoman in the face, knocking her back before he blasted her at point blank with his GJA-15's shotgun mode. She crumpled to the ground as Atton ducked a sizzling energy bolt that shot towards him. Will caught sight of two crossbowmen taking shots at them with some sort of crossbow that had a glowing firing mechanism rather than physical bolts. Alright, this is really screwed up now! he thought as he pulled a sonic charge from his belt and shouted "Grenade!" before hurling it towards them. The charge landed next to another squad of soldiers and the two crossbowmen, who frowned as they looked at it confusedly before it exploded into a burst of sound, taking out the entire squad. The two Global Justice soldiers took cover behind a table Atton overturned as more guards came from deeper inside, leaping over the downed men and women between them and their two opponents.

Will panted as he rose and fired the last shot in the clip into an incoming guard, ejecting the battery and shoving another one inside the shotgun. Atton was switching the GJA-15 to assault rifle mode, "Keep them from getting close, I'll handle the ones at range and lay down suppressive fire."

"Yes sir!" With that, he rose and blasted a female guard charging with a large two handed flail. The impact of the energy burst slammed into her as she closed on them and causing her to collapse backwards, dropping the flail and sliding several feet back. Atton was opening fire into the incoming soldiers in chainmail, the energy rounds being absorbed partially by the runes, whatever they were. Some sort of shield device attuned against projectiles, Will decided as he glanced behind them, checking the flank. A soldier charged with a spiked club, but Will hit him with a single shotgun blast at five yards, taking him down and overwhelming whatever barriers he had.

Atton howled in pain as an energy blast caught him in the left shoulder, knocking him down and smoke was rising from his shoulder-guard. "SHIT!" he swore loudly as he stayed in cover clutching the burned shoulder, "Will, take some shots!"

Glancing out of cover, Will saw two soldiers charging with broad swords and jumping over their downed comrades. While not stopped, the bodies they leapt over did slow them down. He glanced down at the shotgun's energy readout: Two shots, then I have to reload. He paused, trying to decide between blasting both individually or waiting until they were closer to try and hit them both with the same shot. An energy bolt shot over him, telling him that he did not have that kind of time. Taking the shot, he nailed the left guard and took him down. Will turned and fired the last shot, but the second guard, a bear of a man, tanked the hit despite staggering as he kept charging. Will fired his stun watch at him, the electric charge shooting through him with whatever shielding he had nullified by the shotgun blast and he slid forward. Ducking back into cover after retracting the stun watch, the man crashed into the table and shook it. Will glanced at Atton as he reloaded; "Sir, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he grunted as he pulled a needle out of his arm and discarded it. Will frowned as he recognized it as GJ's field painkillers, the same kind he did not have when Astrid was wounded. Atton grabbed his rifle and opened fire with a shotgun blast before converting it to assault rifle mode, his attack taking out a guard charging with a spear and his suppressive fire hitting the crossbowman, whose strange shields flashed against the first two hits but failed on the third and fourth. "Not sure how many of these guys they got left, but they're worse than Drakken's dudes!"

"Sir, never underestimate the enemy." Will answered as he blasted another soldier trying to flank them.

"You had Zim as a training sarge, didn't you? Good man." Atton said with a faint smirk as he pulled a flash bang out, "Flash grennade!" he shouted as he hurled it towards a small squad of six coming in. Will glanced at the other door to the right, it smashed open and a soldier charged with a spear, but a shotgun blast took him down. I must admit, he thought as he pumped the weapon, I love shotguns in close quarters. The guard landed on top of the one who tried to charge prior.

"Yes sir," he answered as one last soldier charged. Will and Atton both rose at the same time, and two simultaneous blasts of their energy shotguns sailed into him and blew him backwards over his downed comrades and into the wall. Well, that's surprising, Will thought as he recalled Newton's Third Law. The two looked around: they had taken down almost thirty six soldiers, all now piled up across the room. Will had a hard time understanding that they two had just survived a slug fest while they were outnumbered eighteen to one. However, as he looked closer he noticed that many of the guards were dead, having fallen on their comrades weapons, blood and bodily waste bleeding out onto the floor. Will winced as the two began to step over it, moving towards the back.

"Hopefully they know something once we have them back in interrogation," Will said as they reached the other side.

"Assuming they aren't all armed for suicide, yeah." Atton commented as he stepped over a half eviscerated guard carefully, "But those shields weren't as tough as I imagined. Much weaker than Ghost's shielding alright. Odd that WEE shock staves wouldn't be able to breach them."

"Perhaps she and her escorts were elites and thus better equipped?" Will offered. "Given her actions, I believe it's safe to extrapolate that data."

"Agreed. Good job in there, Agent Du. Weren't for you we wouldn't of gotten through that."

"You carried the day, sir," Will said automatically, but he wondered why in the back of his mind. I got out unscathed, he took a hit. Both of us took down considerable numbers of hostiles. No wonder why they went to WEE for help!

He began mulling over in the back of his mind what Atton had said earlier, how he was the best but in a different category. That doesn't make sense, how can I be Global Justice's top agent yet those in other categories are superior to me? It's oxymoronic...

"Hang on," Atton said as they came to a corner room of roughly fifteen by fifteen foot space. The room ahead had several benches and there was a rack of torturer's gear on the wall, but otherwise it was relatively open. It only led to one corridor that shared a corner with the hall they were with. The two hit the side of the wall and Atton glanced over before whispering: "Alright, prison over there, female ninja in all white in the cell itself and some heavily armored soldier with them. He looks like an officer or some sort of knight."

Will gulped, nodding. "Plan?"

"Arming flash bang," Atton said as he pulled the last flash bang from his belt and disarmed it, sliding it down the corridor. Will shut his eyes and braced for the sonic boom. It hit and there was shouting, the two moving into the corridor quickly and aiming down the hall shouting "Drop your weapons!"

Wraith snarled as she whirled around deafened for a moment as her ears howled in pain. "Captain Richard! Slow them down!" she shouted to the heavily armored soldier as he squeezed and activated one of the wards in his armor, rectifying any blindness he suffered from the explosion. She strode into the cell, menacing Wally and saying, "Come on, whelp, you're coming with me."

"PLEASE!" he begged, voice barely audible over the whine in her ears, "Just say the word and I'll give you anything!"

"Forget it," said a voice that echoed in her head, "Retreat to the back, we leave without Wallace the Third."

She blinked in surprised: the entire point of the operation was for them to capture him and use him as a puppet so they could begin a foothold. Why would they abandon the plan now, after losing so much? She heard the captain talking to the two soldiers who had breached the base.

"We must reevaluate," the voice added, "Wraith, pull back."

She slipped into the shadows, Wally whimpering as she did so and dropped him.

Will frowned as the heavily armored man who looked like a knight out of the Middle Ages stepped up. "You two are great warriors," he stated, offering a polite bow, "I am honored to duel such. Let us begin!"

Atton fired full auto into him, exhausting his entire magazine in several seconds. The flashes of light left Will's eyes dilating as they tried to adjust despite the protection offered by the combat shades. The knightly man stood tall as he moved his shield in front of him, his shield flashing with the runes that Ghost had. Atton sighed, "Damn it, been wanting to use that one liner a long time..."

"Sir, focus!" Will said as he fired a shotgun blast down the corridor as their opponent charged. He raised his physical shield and absorbed the hit again as a second one followed, slowing him down momentarily as Atton began to add his own shotgun bursts. The two began to move back quickly, Atton getting a third burst off before the plate wearing man slammed the specter into the wall. Will stumbled back as he reloaded and fired into the knight's back, causing him to grunt and turn, dropping Atton back to the floor in the process. Will fired a second and third blast, emptying his shotgun's clip in rapid pace. As if answering prayers however, the third hit shattered the shield, but the cost of it saw Will tackled into the wall, the sword inches from his head when two wires shot into the sword from behind and pulled, an electric charge speeding down and causing the knight to loosen his grip just enough for the wires to pull the sword away.

"What the?" the knight shouted as he turned, still holding Will with one arm. Atton caught the sword as he released it from his stun watch, pointing it challengingly towards the knight. Turning, Will lost focus as he was hurled towards Atton, crashing into the specter and the sound of metal clanging echoing in his ears. He felt himself pushed off as Atton rose and pulled himself next to the wall, watching Atton engage the knight in hand-to-hand combat. Will shook his head as he reached for the GJA-15, checking it to make sure it was in the right mode. Atton uppercut the knight and knocked him back before dodging a swift right hook, answering with a leg sweep. The knight grunted as he landed on the ground, and Will knew he had his shot. He pulled the trigger and held.

Three pulled triggers later, the three energy bursts smashed against the knight and left him unconscious. Red foam rose from his mouth as Atton caught his breath, "Nice shot, Agent Du."

"Thank you... sir..." Will answered, inhaling deeply to catch his breath as he flipped the safety on and handed it back to Atton, who had grabbed his GJA-14 and offered it back. They took a moment to reload and make sure the weapons still worked.

"Let's find Wally." Atton said.

The two hurried, checking each cell. The first cell they checked, however, was more of a library. The entered cautiously, aiming their weapons towards the dark corners and Will turned to watch the doorway. "Any ideas, sir?"

"Looks like an office, or a library." Atton said. Will glanced back to see him walking up to the desk, briefly flipping through one of the texts on it. "Lotta interesting stuff here. Should grab some of it on the way out."

"Yes sir. Let's keep moving." Will answered, and the two continued to explore, this time finding actual cells. Four cells in they found Wally, but the sight horrified Will so much that he wish he was currently submerged in the mysteriously rumored substance known as 'brain soap'.

Wally was on the floor, his pants worn inside out and covered in his own feces. The dirtied pants looked like they had been through and the mushy remains of what was presumably a meal was scattered on the floor, Wally's face covered in the wrecked meal. Will inhaled sharply before instantly regretting it as he received a few days worth of body odor up his nose for the trouble, nearly knocking him out cold. "Aw, gross!" Atton exclaimed, "And I thought WEE camps were bad."

Wally's eyes widened as he realized rescue had come, "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" he exclaimed loudly in his annoying voice, hugging Atton's leg as he stumbled forward, "You have no idea the indignities they forced on us!"

Atton's jaw dropped slightly underneath the helmet as he looked down, a glance to Will telling him all he needed to know: This prick was the next in line for the throne?

"Where did she go..." muttered Cornelius as he prepared his escape, amazed at how swiftly the conscripts had been cut down by the two soldiers. This is not good; an entire base lost to two soldiers? And from the non-magical populace as well... at least they do not have barriers against magical bolts yet.

He closed his eyes, trying to get a sense of the base and sensed conflict arising. Sighing, he made his preparations to leave. Looks like Wraith joins her sister. Foolish girl, she will not live for our rise to power. He attuned the crystalline matrix and stepped into the center of the runes, channeling his power to activate it, and escape to another base. A clever man always escaped before they were overwhelmed, and he was a clever man.

Will and Atton were suddenly interrupted as a white figure smashed Atton from behind, twin blades slashing across his backside straps and causing them to fall off. Atton whirled around and barely parried the second strike of twin blades, but the block left deep cuts into his rifle. He also blocked the second set of strikes and Will fired a blast with his GJA-14, only to hit the white clad ninja's rune-engraved shield again. She howled loudly, "You will pay for killing my sister!"

Atton's rifle was knocked away and he grabbed one of her wrists, breaking the sword by its flat side against his armored kneecap. A head butt followed from Atton, knocking her back and left her with only one wrist blade. She snarled and faded into shadows in a puff of white smoke.

"Look alive!" Atton shouted as he tried to follow her. Will could make out small disturbances in the dust bunnies and fired, a flash of shielding telling him that Wraith was moving towards him. He dove to the floor as a swipe from her blade revealed her as whatever cloaking she had failed. Will rolled under her as she leapt over him, a sword strike nearly impaled his shoulder as he crawled out of the way quickly. Atton charged into her and slammed her into the wall, grabbing her sword hand. She got her bladeless hand free and punched Atton across the head, knocking him back and to the floor and holding the blade in a position to stab Atton despite having just punched a man wearing an armored helmet. Will suddenly had a flash of realization when Atton's words went through his head: You, Will Du, are as much a hero as I am, or Possible is. You may not be in the same weight category, but to say you're less of a hero?

It finally clicked what he meant: It was not the fact that he was able to be a one man army, it was the fact that he was fighting and of the mainline he was the best. He was able to stand with those even better. If nothing else, that made him a number one agent of Global Justice. He took the shot.

The blast of energy hit Wraith's shielding, flashing into it before dissipating but causing Wraith to pause. Pumping the shotgun, Will took a second shot, which also blasted against her barrier but it seemed to be fading. The final shot got through, knocking her into the wall with a grunt. Atton was up and he grabbed her blade and pulled, twisting her arm and breaking it with a painful hand-to-hand maneuver before grabbing her by the shirt, lifting her like a GWA wrestler before hurling her into the stone floor with a loud crash, "And stay down!" he shouted.

"Fuck... you..." she gasped, grunting from pain. A sparkle suddenly came to her eye, predatory in nature, "You think this is it?" she gasped in short breathes, "The Conclave will destroy you! You're just too foolish to try and stop them, you insignificant little lambs to the slaughter!" Atton leaned down on her,

"What's the Conclave?"

"You mean you don't know?" she chuckled evilly before hacking coughs took hold, turning the last laugh into a gross chortle. Then her head lolled back, red foam coming from her mouth as whatever suicide method these odd soldiers carried activated. Will winced somewhat and heard a horrified scream from Wally.

"I hate that!" Will exclaimed as it finally got to him. "I really hate those who commit suicide; makes finding out what they're on about that much more difficult!"

"Dead men tell no tales, and apparently neither do dead women." Atton said with a nod, "Let's get an autopsy team here..." he dialed his radio, "This is Operative Williams to Global Justice Command, come in." A moment paused, "No signal, we'll need to head topside to call in someone for an autopsy."

"Could... could we get out of this cesspit?" Wally asked as he crawled his way towards Will, "This place is really no place for royalty, even if soon to be ex."

Will inhaled sharply again to block his desire to punch some sense into Wally as the annoying royal brat began to wear on him. Atton looked at Will and nodded, "Check the back of the base for anything, I'll drag his royal pain-ness to the surface and grab some documents. I think we should be able to reach each other until I get too far off."

"Yes sir," Will said, nodding. They split paths, Will taking a left to the final room while Atton and Wally went to the right. As Will entered the last room, he found a large rune circle traced on the ground, four glowing crystals that gave the entire room a dark purple hue to it. He frowned as he walked up to the only furniture inside: A console-like pedestal with a small crystal arrangement. He advanced slowly and with the shotgun aimed, wary of any further traps. As he reached it, an image sprang to life in the rune circle of a robed figure.

"So," the figure said, "You're one of the two who blasted through my base and ruined my plans."

"I am Agent Will Du of Global Justice," he stated as he gave one of several standardized spiels to dish to villains making their last cry, "If you are considering a further attack upon its agents or those of the free world, I would advise that you give up those actions and reconsider your life while you still can."

The robed figure snorted, "I would advise you run, if you value your life."

Will looked down and noticed the crystals and the entire room was beginning to glow red. Red like that of nuclear fire. He looked a moment as it dawned on him just what was about to happen, and one of the crystals exploded.

He dashed down the hall, sprinting towards the exit and leaping over the downed opponents as he heard an explosion behind him, secondary explosions beginning to line the entire facility. Son of a bitch, they had the whole place wired to blow, those suicidal fanatics! he thought in frenzy as he dashed by the corner. He could see the main room and the other two escaping ahead at the blown-open door as Atton pushed Wally out and turned, "Agent Du!" the specter shouted.

Will darted over the bodies, stumbling as he nearly tripped on a broken spear as an explosion riveted a large stone above and dropped it right on the hallway. As explosions blasted behind him and splattered the remains of the guards into atoms, Will leapt for it...

He landed on the top as another explosion sent stone shards at him, cutting his face. He slipped as rubble began to fall behind them and crushing what had survived as a strong grip pulled him up and out of another explosion. Nodding to Atton, the two jumped down and sprinted out of the wrecked doorway as Wally kept moving forward, screaming like a little girl as the two hurried away as rubble collapsed on what was left of the base.

One Hour Later

GJ Rally Point Zulu-Six

Outskirts of Warsaw, Poland

Will Du was sitting on the hillside as Global Justice agents were busy securing the tunnel entrance and Wally was in the hovercraft changing out of his feces covered clothing and into a set of Global Justice clothing. He shook his head, amazed at what he had seen. And we have a new enemy, it seems. One that's willing to work with Gemini to keep causing problems...

He glanced up as Atton walked towards him. The medics said that his shoulder guard caught most of the impact and that he would only feel some light pain from bending his shoulder too much. "Hey, Agent Du," he said as he sat down next to him holding a pair of cups, "Good job in there."

"Thank you, sir."

"So, what's your take on this mess?" Atton pulled a hip flask out and poured a drink, offering it to Will, "Here, borrowed some vodka from the local Polish agents."

Will shook his head, "No thank you, sir. I don't drink much beyond a brief glass during quiet hours in the recreational rooms or to be polite at a diplomatic function."

Atton shrugged and took the glass himself, downing the one ounce shot in one gulp.

"As for the mission," Will said as he considered, "I think all things considered it went well. We nullified a WEE base and engaged their allies and seemed to drive them away. Still, we did not learn anything about them other than they seem to have some sort of shield technology or, if they are to be believed, magic."

Atton nodded, "That'll be a problem alright. I asked if they got Ghost's body for autopsy. Far as they can tell, normal human, but there's some odd things with it. Weird passive energy signature, sotra like what we get on supers, but different."

"Magical genes or something?" Will offered, the only explanation that made sense to him.

"Maybe, but that's a bit too Sci-Fi for my liking." He paused, "Then again, what happened last month?"

Nodding slowly, they were quiet for a few minutes, resting as a change from the action an hour ago when Will said, "You were right, Lieutenant."

"About what?"

"About how I am Global Justice's number one agent." he pulled some tufts of grass as he spoke, dropping them one by one, "I may not be as good as you are, but you said as much yourself: You're a completely different weight category than I am. I'm the best in my own weight and I can stand up in yours. You said it yourself, I'm as much of a hero as any of the big names because I'm making the stand despite not being in the same category." He gave a slanted smile as he mused on the possible ego behind his statement, "I don't think this'll change who I am, but at the very least it's helping perspective."

Atton nodded slowly as they looked out to the morning sun. "Well, I'll be joining you on the way back to Rodegan before I get back to my mission. It'd be a war crime to leave you to handle His Royal Pain alone." A noncommittal grunt was Will's answer as he saw Wally in an argument with an agent over the rations. Atton smirked towards Will and commented, "I'm definitely not voting for him."

"Sir, we're not even citizens in Rodegan; we don't get to vote."

The operative sighed as Will realized it was humor he was trying to go for.

End Chapter

* Wally... ugh, scrappy fuel much? Consider this him getting wailed on a bit for his snotty attitude. Personally I'd leave him to his fate, but GJ is supposed to be Lawful Good... sometimes playing good guys sucks, huh?

* I'm hoping that Atton isn't coming across as a Mar(t)y Sue. I mean, conceptually he's supposed to be GJ's (inferior) answer to heroes like Kim, but I sometimes feel like I cross the line with him. His character purpose was, as I said earlier, to be a sort-of stand in for Kim as I don't see KP giving Will Du advice on soldiering and being number one in GJ.

* But yeah, I think Will Du, despite not being up to the level that you'd expect, is still GJ's number one agent if only on the technicality that folks like Atton are operatives and Doctor Director is an officer. Hey, I love loopholes!