"...So, you stuff just about any bits of sharp, hard objects in here, rocks, scrap metal, you name it. That'll be your shrapnel." The spy carefully held up what appeared to be a steel water pipe. "You then cap it off with steel or brass."

"...You can light the fuse with just about anything, matches, lighters, good ol' friction. Like this, you should have roughly a five second fuse, but to be safe, consider any fuse to be two seconds less than advertised." Kaplan advised. "I've seen these coated with rat poison to prevent blood clotting. Nasty shit, the IRA loved em'".

"...Oh, so, not only will anyone be burned and shot with shrapnel, but poisoned and bleeding out." Ren rolled his eyes. "They must really want that someone dead."

"Never underestimate our creativity when it comes to killing each other." Was all the spy could say. "If I recall, they found that particular one in a bag where there would be a marathon running."

"...Oh my god..." Ren mumbled with dismay.

"I remember reading about that one in training." Kasumi spoke with an expressionless face. "Sometimes I'm a bit worried as a gymnast because of these stories." The redhead shuddered as she thought of Munich 1972.

"These should be more or less good for any potential shadows you may encounter." The spy continued. "Of course, it's better to not use them at all if you can, but this is an option."

"...And that's the pipe bomb down for the count..". The spy finished, gently placing the explosive down.

The spy had introduced Ren to a variety of explosives, ranging from simpler ones to molotovs, creative ones using dry ice, and plain cruel ones that were [REDACTED].

"Now we'll move on to firearms," the spy prefaced as he opened the armoury door, "Specifically something for you, Kasumi."

"You have done firearms qualifications, correct?". Kaplan asked Kasumi.

"Yes, I've trained on the Glock 17 and M4 Carbine." The redhead replied succinctly. "But I've never used them outside of training."

"You will soon." The spy replied. "Let's see you take some shots."

The spy tossed out pairs of earplugs and handed a sleek black handgun to the redhead.

"M1911, can't go wrong with it." The spy next produced several magazines, "You know what to do."

Kasumi picked up the handgun, analyzing the weapon with an efficiency Ren had never seen before.

She rapidly disengaged the safety, plugged in a fresh magazine and racked the slide, before whipping into a weaver stance and planting tight groupings of shots into the paper target twenty five meters away, forming a neat ring on the torso.

BANG
BANG
BANG

BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG

"Good, now fifty meters.." The spy said as the paper target slid back.

Kasumi ejected the empty magazine, which fell with a clang on the floor, rapidly reloading with the swiftness only a gymnast could possess.

Despite her small stature, she handled the heavy recoil of a forty five caliber round smoothly and firmly, her well toned muscles assisting in this endeavor.

BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG

BANG

Another neat ring of holes decorated the target again.

"Now seventy five.." Kaplan continued.

BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG

BANG

Again, the redhead demonstrated superb marksmanship, planting a slightly looser but still tight grouping on the farther target.

"..Huh, so how was that for a refresher?". The spy asked Kasumi.

"...I'm not the most familiar with this recoil," The redhead remarked. "The Glock was smoother, but it's nothing I can't manage."

"That's good to hear, but you will need more than just a handgun for the missions you'll be undertaking." The spy spoke. "You good with rifles?"

"I did long range marksmanship with the carbine, but that's about it." She answered.

"Well, prepare to learn."

Kaplan turned to the gun racks.

"...You need a sniper rifle, something compact and light…" He mumbled.

"Also something with a good rate of fire and easy to aim…"

"I know what you need." The spy suddenly left the rack and headed to a locker, taking out a large gun case.

"...You got a saxophone or something in there?". Ren spoke as he saw the case.

"Oh, this ain't a saxophone, but it is an instrument alright." The spy smirked.

The interior of the case was rather velvety, cushioned and well protected for what was inside.

A sleek, compact black rifle

"...The Walther WA 2000." The spy carefully revealed the weapon. "Only a hundred and seventy six exist in this world."

"...Oh, I know this one." Ren remarked as he looked the gun over.

"It is a masterpiece of German engineering. Semi automatic, chambered in seven six two NATO, and a six round magazine, comes with a flash suppressor as a bonus."

The spy pulled the bolt back, checking the inside of the gun.

"The Germans took the unusual approach with a bullpup design, the result is that it's quite compact, and easy to move around. It has strong scope magnification and should be sufficient for any possible situation. It was meant to stop terrorists after all."

"It's also stupidly expensive, one can go for almost eighty thousand U.S dollars these days."

The spy released the bolt, putting the rifle back into its case.

"Come over here." The spy told Kasumi. "This is yours now."

"...Are you sure about this, sir?" Kasumi was a bit bewildered at the responsibility.

"Treat her well, and she'll treat you well back." The spy patted the redhead's back.

" Ohmigosh, omigosh, omigosh." The redhead thought.

"Now, before you take her for a spin," The spy began. "This firing range isn't really big enough for something like the walther to show it's full potential."

"This is why…" The spy suddenly picked up a cardboard box in the corner. "I've set up somewhere where we can."

"Hmh?". Kasumi raised her eyebrow.

He opened the box, revealing the SPEKTOR.

"You hauled that all the way from the cafe?" Ren asked.

"Yes I did." The spy replied as he fumbled with the device. "Pain in the ass, it's all worth it though."

"Now, I'm gonna need everyone here." Kaplan declared, "Kid go get the cat." He told Ren.

As Ren moved to get his school bag, the spy turned to Kasumi.

"Are you ready for your first trip to the metaverse?".

"Lady and gentlemen, welcome to the Circuit's metaverse training ground." The spy puffed on his cigarette.

As the distortions faded away, the group found themselves in the inside of what appeared to be the interior of an aircraft hanger. Large flood lights illuminated from above, while a chest high sandbag wall divided the entire area, with small gaps to allow passage.

"Wow, so this is the metaverse." Kasumi took in the surroundings, "Huh, trippy."

"Hey, by the way, nice outfit senpai." She complemented.

"Uh-Thanks." Ren remembered he was wearing his phantom thief outfit again.

The spy was also back in his white tuxedo, as he wore during the infiltration with Ann.

In fact, Kasumi was the only one without a persona yet, as Morgana had transformed into his metaverse form.

"So, how does this place even work?". Morgana pressed, his ears twitched. "It doesn't really feel like a palace.."

"Well, if palaces are merely the manifestation of thoughts and desires." The spy turned to the corner where the SPEKTOR sat on a table. "This training room is kinda like a collective idea thought up by our people in Washington, and after a bit of tweaking, we made it manifest. I don't really know the exact details, but think of it like the training programs they did in the Matrix."

Kaplan began pressing buttons and turning dials. "I just got this thing upgraded." He remarked.

Slight tears in the fabric of reality revealed the gun racks back in the firing range.

"There, we have our toys back…" The spy drawled. "Gimme a moment.."

Suddenly, on the opposite end of the hanger, shadows appeared.

"Shadows!" Morgana instinctively drew his sword as did Ren with his gun.

"Oh, relax, they're training dummies, won't do jack." The spy dismissed with a wave.

True as he said, the shadows did not move an inch or make a sound. They stood still as statues.

Ren took a closer look at these training dummies.

They were completely different from the palace guards he encountered in Kamoshida's castle, instead,

They resembled soldiers, with gasmasks, helmets, bandoliers, uniforms, boots, and AK 74s in hand.

"...Are these Soviet soldiers!?". Ren realized.

"Yeah, these models are a bit outdated." Kaplan remarked as he turned to view them. "The Russian army doesn't wear this crap anymore, but this training ground was made back in 'eighty nine, so.."

BANG

The spy drew his sidearm and immediately planted a headshot on the training dummy, causing it to groan and fall over, with gun clattering on the ground, before disintegrating.

"...They fall all the same." The spy let out a puff of smoke. "Anyways, Kasumi, you see those Reds back there?" The spy waved his gun, gesturing at several training dummy shadows standing at roughly two hundred meters or beyond.

"Yes, I see them." Kasumi nodded.

"Take em' out."

With that, Kasumi lowered herself down, setting up the bipod of the WA 2000 on the sandbags. Adjusting the scope, she slid in a loaded magazine.

BANG

The recoil rocked her entire body as the Shadow was punched by a powerful, unseen force.

It fell to the ground and disintegrated.

She adjusted her aim again.

BANG

This time, a shadow at two hundred and fifty meters dropped.

Kasumi fell into a rhythm as she familiarized herself with the gun, firing the third shot to a hit.

BANG

BANG

"...Good shooting !". Morgana called.

BANG

"If gymnastics don't work out, target shooting is an option for you, I suppose." The spy smirked.

BANG

"Nice one." Ren congratulated after the last one fell.

The last brass casing fell with a ring as Kasumi sighed, putting down the gun.

"Thanks." She bowed.

"No need for the formality." Kaplan replied.

"Now, onto the next demonstration." The spy returned to the SPEKTOR.

"As you know, the Shadows come in many flavours, some of the tougher ones come with shinier armour, or something like that. These Soviet training dummies also come in varieties."

"...Oh, so your people thought up different types of dummies?". Morgana spoke. "Depending on how similar they are to the ones in Kamoshida's palace, this could help us a lot…."

"We did think these up, but they were mostly modeled on the palace guards of a Soviet army general." The spy said. "I can't tell you more or I'll have to kill you, or unless I get permission from the brass."

"...Wait, so these were actually shadows!?". Ren spoke. "And from a real person's palace."

"Not exact replicas, but yes effectively." The spy replied.

"Anyways, the ones we've been blasting so far have been your run of the mill riflemen, but they're not the only ones"

"We've got machine gunners.."

A shadow similar to the previous one appeared, except the assault rifle was replaced with a PKM light machine gun, with ammo belts slung over its shoulder.

"Anti tank infantrymen…"

This time, the Shadow had an RPG slung over the shoulder.

"Snipers…"

A shadow wearing what could only be described as a ghillie suit, armed with a SVD Dragunov appeared.

"Radiomen.."

The shadow was identical to the "standard" rifleman, but with the exception of a radio strapped to its back.

"Dogs.."

The Shadows resembled military dogs, with purplish fur and glowing eyes.

"... Combat engineers…"

This Shadow wore full body armour and a titanium helmet with a visor.

" Non commissioned officers…"

It was the same as the rifleman shadow, with the exception of stripes on its right shoulder.

"Commissioned officers…"

It was similar to the non commissioned officer, but traded the helmet for a beret, and even more stripes that denoted its "rank"

"The whole Soviet Army, basically." The spy shrugged. "Let's start out with some more advanced target practice."

With a click of the button of the SPEKTOR, the Shadows vanished.

"What do you mean by advanced?". Ren asked.

"Oh, you'll see, senpai." Kasumi answered, cocking her rifle.

"I don't like that tone.." Morgana turned to Ren.

"You see those sandbags in front of you?". The spy asked Morgana, Ren, and Kasumi. "That'll be your shooting position, so get ready."

Morgana and Ren slipped into position, with Ren loading his handgun.

"I'm gonna rig about a squad's worth of dummies to appear on the other side of the room, and they'll be advancing on you. They'll take cover, they'll move erratically, they'll charge. But they won't shoot."

"And how much is a squad's worth?". Ren asked.

"Six men, give or take. An NCO, two riflemen, one machine gunner, a combat engineer, and a sniper in this case." The spy explained.

"Your goal is to hold them off and take them all out. Some of them are heavily armoured, so there's a couple of hand grenades by the sandbags. They are specifically designed to only work in the metaverse, so y'all should be fine if you fuck up, but remember what I taught you about them earlier."

Sure enough, three lemon shaped, green M61 grenades lay on the floor by the sandbags.

"Is everyone ready!?".

"I'm ready sir!". Kasumi confirmed.

"I guess I'm ready." Ren sighed.

"Well, I'm not, but I trust Ren." Morgana spoke.

" ATAKA! ATAKA! URA!".

All of a sudden, the hanger door on the other side split open, revealing a snowy airstrip, and in rushed the Shadows.

BANG
BANG

Shots already rang out as Kasumi took the initiative.

The Shadows dove for cover behind assorted objects in the hangar, barrels, crates, and other obstacles.

" VRAZHIESKY SNAYPER!"

Just the tiny silhouette of a helmet poked a little too high from a barrel.

BANG

A Shadow fell.

Its buddy made a beeline to a crate, but-

PEOW

Ren shut that one down.

"Ren! Left side!". Morgana shouted.

Two more Shadows moved in white they were looking elsewhere.

"I got it!". Kasumi announced, releasing a shot into the leading Shadow.

Ren adjusted, and shot at the second one.

PEOW

PEOW

But the bullets bounced harmlessly off the armour, allowing the Shadow to slip behind some sandbags, dangerously close to where Ren and Kasumi was.

It was grenade time, Ren decided.

He gingerly picked up the explosive, pulled the pin, and tossed it overarm.

And then Ren ducked down.

BOOM

No more movement came from that area.

Only two Shadows were left.

However, Ren decided to take the offensive.

He clambered over the sandbags, before darting behind a crate.

Crouching down, Ren shot Morgana a look.

The not-a-cat reciprocated and rolled a grenade over to him.

Meanwhile, Kasumi was already firing away, pinning the Shadows down as Ren readied the explosive.

BOOM

As the dust cleared, the exercise ended with a literal bang.

"And cut." The spy finished. "So how was it?".

"Phew.." Kasumi sighed. "It was.. Exhilarating, but it wasn't too difficult, it's similar to shooting pop-up targets, but with the difference of horizontal movement."

"...Well, they're smarter than the ones at Kamoshida's palace," Ren voiced his opinion, "But it's fairly easy to aim and shoot if they don't fight back."

"Yeah," Morgana spoke up. "It's too easy if they don't pose a threat."

"In that case," The spy spoke in response. "Let's move on to the next level. Restock your weapons."

"Now, we'll repeat the exercise, with the difference that this time, the dummies will shoot back. Their shots will sting as much as a full power paintball round, so they won't really be a threat to health. But, still not a good idea to get shot, especially when they have a machine gunner."

"Any questions?".

"Nope." Ren and Morgana agreed.

"None." Kasumi spoke.

"Alright, here we go." The spy spoke.

" ATAKA! ATAKA! URA!". And once more, the hangar doors opened.

RATATATAT

RATATATAT

The Shadows rushed in, spraying gunfire in all directions to suppress the group.

"I'd suggest keeping your heads down!" The spy shouted, with several stray bullets striking the wall behind him, but none ever hit him.

"You can say that again!". Ren shouted as he huddled behind the sandbags. He stuck the barrel of his gun over the cover and blind fired.

The gunfire had calmed down once the Shadows had taken some of their own cover, that is,

Until the machine gunner set up.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM

Red hot tracers tore through the air, threatening to take someone's head off.

Instinctively, the group duck down to avoid the danger, but as the machine gun fired away, the rest of the Shadows crept up.

"It's no good!" Kasumi reported. "I can't even aim under this!".

"Morgana, I have an idea." Ren retreated back into cover. He crawled around and reached for a grenade. "Take out your slingshot."

"...Oh, I see what you're doing." Morgana smirked.

Ren pulled the pin and passed the explosive to Morgana.

Who now had a makeshift grenade launcher.

The grenade tumbled through the air, before overshooting and bouncing off a support pillar, roughly next to the machine gunner, who didn't see it coming.

BOOM

Bits of wood and steel were thrown skywards, vaporizing a Shadow and knocking another sideways, out of cover.

And in a flash, Kasumi sprang up and planted a clean shot into the now exposed target.

There was no time for relief or celebration as two riflemen were bearing down on them.

BANG
BANG

BANG
BANG

Ren surprised the first one, jumping up and rapidly popping off with his weapon at nigh-point blank range.

RATATATAT

RATATATAT

The second rifleman retaliated, spraying its rifle blindly in Ren's general direction as he dove back into cover. Several shots grazed his shooting arm.

Ren crashed to the ground with a groan, the smell of sweat and gunpowder permeated the area. It had already felt like an hour of fighting.

"Are you alright?". Morgana ran back from attending to Kasumi.

"Just fine!". Ren shouted to Morgana. "Just got the wind knocked outta me. How is she?".

"She's currently in a sniper duel." Morgana informed. "I'll take over here."

As Ren went down, Morgana took his turn at shooting, drawing his slingshot and loading a steel ball, before springing up with a loaded and ready slingshot.

And his shot found its mark.

CLANG

The steel ball punched into the Shadow's gasmask, shattering the left visor.

And just as David fell Goliath, the Shadow, which towered over Morgana, fell to the ground, assault rifle in hand, firing wildly into the air.

Shoot.

Move.

Shoot.

Kasumi shrunk down as counter fire came from the Shadow.

She slid slightly to the side before taking her next shot.

The redhead sighted the Shadow, a faint outline using a stack of boxes as cover.

BANG

She spotted the fall of the shot, it fell slightly too high.

Just as she ducked down, the whistle of a supersonic bullet soared overhead.

' Too close.." Kasumi grimaced. She needed help.

"Hey senpai!". She shouted.

"What!?" Came the reply, from further ahead.

"I need you to make a distraction!". She explained. "Something to draw the sniper out!".

"You got it!". A thumbs-up stuck out.

A small object flew from where Ren was, arcing into the air.

BOOM

And then it detonated, sending shockwaves.

Ren then appeared, firing his pistol in the general vicinity of the sniper.

Within that moment Kasumi jumped up and aimed.

CRACK

The sound of two gunshots merged into one.

A bullet missed Kasumi by mere inches.

A bullet smashed into the scope of a SVD Dragunov, and out the other side.

"..H-heh.." Kasumi sighed in relief.

Then more sounds of gunfire emanated from the other side, causing Kasumi to swivel the WA 2000 over.

Ren emptied the magazine into the body armor of the combat engineer to no avail.

Bullets bounced off harmlessly or ricocheted.

"No good!". He informed Morgana as he retreated from counterfire.

"Well, better hope she returns the favour!". Morgana exclaimed.

Only the more powerful rifle round of the WA 2000 stood a chance of punching through.

The sounds of the assault rifle grew louder and louder as the Shadow bore down.

Kasumi fumbled with a fresh magazine.

Slamming it in, she racked the bolt and squeezed the trigger.

Click.

Nothing.

She grumbled, before pulling open the bolt again and pulling the trigger.

Click.

Nothing.

A misfire.

She hastily cleared the round, before jamming the magazine back in.

BANG

This time, the familiar recoil returned.

The last Shadow fell after a clean headshot.

"EXERCISE OVER!" Kaplan shouted.

There was no celebration amongst the exhausted trainees.

"You guys alright?". The spy rushed over, with a concerned tone.

"...I've dealt with a bit worse back at the palace." Ren admitted, remembering the vicious assault with the guard captain. "But, now I know what to do against the police if I get arrested again."

"...I think this was a good taste of what I'm gonna be doing when I take over from you." Kasumi reflected.

"Whatever to help us prepare for returning to Kamoshida;s palace." Morgana spoke.

'...Hmh…" The spy scratched his chin. "I think it's time to go back to the real world for a debrief.."

It was in the spy's interest to pack things up, not only because his agents were a bit worn out, and had their own priorities, but because of a startling piece of new information.

As Kaplan moved to the SPEKTOR to send everyone home, his eyes passed over the coded message on the table, which he read while the teens trained.

Begin Message POTUS, SECDEF, JCS, USSOCOM

Subject: FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Eastern Europe

NATO Allies report 95,000 Russian troops and counting in Crimea and Belarus.

All agents must be on high alert. Further instructions pending.

End Message

So, this chapter was delayed because I took some time off during the holidays, for family and general R&R. Unfortunately, I might have to slow down on the update schedule, from one week to two (I don't want to burn out) and other work I need to do.

Overall, in this chapter, I want to go in-depth on espionage measures the phantom thieves will be taking to conduct their operations, from weapons to gadgets, and more. I choose to split this chapter in two because the next chapter will also talk about espionage measures, so it would make sense to split the chapter in two.

And one last thing; Thank you all for the support you've shown. Your comments not only give excellent feedback, but inspire me to continue.

-Joesephi