Jade's PDA beeped as more memories began to appear before her. She reached for it, and found it missing. The little Monk looked at her, "too many machines in this mind already, you don't need that one right now." Jade grimaced I hope that was nothing important
_____________

Back in the real world, Jade's real PDA was beeping. The Dr. carefully took it out of her pocket and played the message. "Oh god, this doesn't look good...Hurry up Jade."

Wolf turned back to Katlin. "Well...it's up to them now."

"Do you think they'll come?"

"I beleive so. Despite what they may think of my actions, they know you're innocent in this. I just wish this wasn't complicated by the fact that Mastermind has a personal vendetta with me for some reason. What does he want from me?"

"Jason, he wants your skills."

"What?"

"Think about it. You have unerring firearms accuracy. You never miss a shot, except when battling agents. Mastermind wanted to capture you so he could transfer your skills into his soldiers...and now his agents so that he can make them unstoppable."

"But of course I'd never join willingly, or be decieved."

"And that's why he ambushed our ROTC unit, took over me, and basically ruined your life. And yet you didn't give in. Out of everybody who Mastermind has harmed and then taken over, you are the only one to have fought back and lived."

"Well...he did leave me something to fight for." Wolf said. "He left you alive."

"Again, he was worried of a reprisal from you for some reason. My death would be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it could crush your spirit entirely, or it could turn you into a one-man unstoppable killing machine."

"And now he's run out of patience." Wolf frowned. "Well, if Mastermind wants to come up here and kick my ass...he's welcome to try."

"...We have to move quick," Wraith finally says at length. He glances up to see Hikaru looking at him. "Angel's in trouble right now, but Wolf has some time to spare. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get out to him and Kaitlin."

"So where exactly have you been the past 5 years? I only ask because Mastermind didn't start informing me of your exploits until recently."

"Well. Following my court-martial, which I was acquitted from, by the way, I had decided that I needed to punish the ones responsible for killing our unit, and taking you over. So I began to pack up to leave. The night I was ready to leave, Mastermind's troops showed up with a job offer. I killed them all, and ran. I've been running since then. I emerged from China with the codename Wolf, and created an indentity for myself as a Mercenary. I made my way to Austrailia, where I joined up with a unit of RW mercs led by a young man named Andy. He was a real big cyber-phobe, and he and I always didn't see eye to eye on that subject."

"Where is he now?"

"He and his entire team died in an ambush of some kind over 24 hours ago. To be honest, I'm glad he's gone. He used to be in charge of the Cyber Force's RW operations, and he really hated all of us. He got pissed at me for saving both Monk and Jade during a RW op where Monk went a little insane. I really think he wanted the three of us to die that day. The ones I miss more from his unit are Brad, an ex-SEAL who lost his whole team to Mastermind, Glam Durham, one of our rookies, Gabe Bishop, another rookie, and Roy Rogers, our mysterious benefactor who went with them."

"I'm really sorry to hear that they all died. Well...anyway. How long did you serve with Andy's team?"

"I served with them for 3 years, racking up quite a rep as a sharpshooter. Then you managed to send me that Email, and I realized I'd need to fight on both fronts in order to find you. So I joined a squad of UN Cyber Troopers for a year, and then left them for 6 months of employment under Michael Knight and the Knight Foundation. It was during my time as a merc working in FLAG, that I freed Monk from Mastermind's iron grip. He had been sent to gather intel on a secret project Knight Industries had been working on, and I managed to have him see that he was being manipulated. He and I became friends after that while I tried to help him recover his past. Then we heard about the Cyber Force, and we joined right up. That brings us to now."

"Quite a past. As for me...there is obviously not much to tell. Before I was forced into the generalcy, I basically trained Mastermind's soldiers in gunnery skills."

"That figures; you we're always a great shot, almost as good as me."

"I'm not so sure about that now... Katlin said with a sly grin, After all...I had to train too while incarcerated. I think I could shoot better than you now."

"Well...you may yet get your chance to prove that." Wolf said grinning for a second, then his expression hardened "Mastermind is gunning for us after all."

"Oh yeah. How are we for weapons?"

"Not to good. I have my PSG1-S, with 10 bullets left. The M16 has 5 full clips remaining. I have 5 cookie-cutter rounds in 1 .45, 7 FMJ rounds in the other. I have 6 more FMJ clips for the .45s. And then there's the tranq pistol, but that will be next to useless. I also have the two katanas in case things get really desperate."

"Are you sure that's it?" Katlin asked.

"Pretty sure." Wolf rummaged around in the duffel bag, and to his surpirse, found about a pound of C4 that he had packed in case he needed ot demolish anything at the base. "Well...I also have this C4 with a couple detonators. Hmm...this gives me an idea."

"Planning to set a trap?"

"You know it." Wolf said grinning madly. "I'll do it after the snowfall though, things are a little trechaerous right now."

Hikaru nodded. "All right then. Uh... Jade said you were in charge. So I guess that means that you lead the way." He motioned his arm foward "Lead... away..." He nodded. "Yeah... that's what I want to say, right?"



The young Monk nodded as he led her through more of his past. They were both forced to relive Monk's "training" in Mastermind's grip, something neither of them could handle, but both of them knew they had to do. All the while however, Monk seemed to grow older by the moment. At first, Monk started out 10, then he grew into his teen years, the whole while reliving to tell everything that happened in his life. All the pains that he had to go through, both physical and emotional. All the while, he grew up a little more, both physical and mental. It wasn't long until he was back to his original age. Looking like the Monk that was in the bed before he fell into deep sleep.

Something clicked in him when he reached the end of his story. He walked into the monestary, but it was the one from his mind. The big room, and then the hallway leading to three others rooms. The one on the right would lead to his open mind, the one in the center, the room of fears, and to the right. The locked door of deep hidden, almost forgotten memories. He took a breath then looked to Jade. "I guess I now know the real me, and you as well." He lowered his head. "I can't believe all this happened. Life can be so short and so cruel to you sometimes."

"Something hit me back in the room before all this Jade. Something you said made me revert back to the past. I wasn't sure who, or what I was. You shouldn't have come here. This was something that I had to do on my own. This happens to all the Monks from my monestary. At a point in their life, they will fall into remission and relive everything that has happened to them. This is what people call the... turning point in life. If they like what they see, they chose to come out of remission and live out their lives. If they don't, and they are too full of grief and pain, they chose to wither into the night, and return to the Almighty being for another chance at life. You should not be here! How do you know if I will go out today? If I chose that, you would die too, in my own brain. You yell at me for making decisions without thinking, how about you? You just rush into my mind, to see if you could make things better?" He paused, then leaned back, "I see it now. I know why you're here. You're here to make sure that I pull out of this. You don't want me to go because then I would have had the last word. I would have won. No... you wanted to make sure that I was going to live for another day, so that you could push you're superiority on me. Well it's not going to work! You're in my mind now, and I make the decisions here, and I order you out!" He pointed to the exit. The door opened behind them, leading into once was known as the hallway, but this time it lead to darkness. "That door will lead you into you're own mind, you're own home. Go home, and leave me in mine!" He turned and walked towards the room of fears. "Or... there's plan B, to prove to me you're real intentions." He walked in and shut the door behind him.

"You're wrong," Jade said to no one in particular. "I came here to apologize for what I did. I shouldn't have yelled at you, or pushed my position as commander on you as well. I've been a soldier all my life, I've never had to deal with these types of situations." Her words fell on deaf ears, for Monk had already walked into the room of Fears. She hesitated at the door...Should she let him handle this? Like he said, it was something all monks had to go through. No, she had to intervene. She didn't want him to choose to die just because of what she said, it wasn't worth it. Turning the nob and pushing the door open, she stepped into blackness. In the middle of the blackness was Monk sitting in the fetal position. "You want to know my true intensions right? You want to see the real me? You can. Walk out of this room and into my head. The truth will be there for you. Perhaps if you learn a little more about me, you'll see why I did what I did."

"bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! BORED!!! " Coyote prime said.

Tycho and Gabe arrived. they were now dressed in garb of the english rennaisance.

"ph0rs07# my10rd. W3 br1n6 n3w5." Tycho said.

"I got your news two hours ago. Go boil your heads in oil or something."

"#3y N0nny! N0nny!" Gabe exclaimed happily.

"Is it so much to ask for something exciting to happen?" Coyote said.

An expolsion rocked the mansion. some debris fell onto Coyote's shoulder.

"Nothing interesting happens here anymore. Jade is busy, Monk is insane, Wolf is occupied, and Wraith is ignoring me. I hate when people ignore me. Should I erase all the data in all the computers around him, or hack Mastermind's suck ass computer security network? Decisions. Decisions."

He paced about in his king outfit.

"If I'm going to do this, I need to make it a challenge. I know. I'm only going to hack his security system using internet explorer."

A web page opened in front of Coyote. A keyboard window appeared beneath it.

Monk had seen everything that he feared. It was awful, but not as much as the test that was going to be placed...

...for Jade.

Monk sat for a few moments, then talked calmly. "You came with me. You followed me, and now you tell me to walk into you're mind? I can't take this one! I don't want this one!" A spirit stood up from Monk, it was the one from the start of this trip. The 10 year old. He now stood, shivering and crying. "My life is awful! There is no reason for me to live anymore..."

Another spirit floated up, this time it was the teen Monk. This time around, he had an evil grin. "Death. Death to all who stand up against me. Everyone is inferior to me. All will perish by my hand alone! No one can defeat me!" He laughed for aminute, "Even you... commander. You wouldn't last a minute against me. You are weak, and pathetic. You couldn't even hold you're own in a battle. You've already been shot twice..." He held up a hand as Jade was about to speak. "And don't even say anything about those agents. You fought them in a weakened state, a state I put them in! And not even one! TWO! I took two on myself!"

The young one grabbed his head. "Stop it! Please... stop fighting!"

"The teen laughed, "What's the matter baby? Can't take it anymore? What to run off to Mommy?"

"I have no mommy. I have no daddy. I have no family..."

"Oh... that's right. I forgot."

"Enough!" The two looked around, both with obvious looks of nervousness in their faces. The Monk in the middle was now standing, his fists to his sides, his hair covering his face. "I've had enough, and I've made my decision..."

"Is it over?" The young one said.

"No... We have many more people to kill." The teen answered him.

"Neither. I leave this decision... up to Jade." Everyone was confused. "Jade came here in hopes that she could help me. She offered her intentions by showing me herself. That's not enough." He looked up, now making eye contact with her. "Jade... we have been through much, and you are the last thread I have in this miserable life. I know you don't see it, but there is a ring of light surrounding you. On the floor, beneath you, you see white, not even a shadow is cast, because you are that light. However... you have taken that light from me." The two inner souls began to move towards Monk. "There is a test that is used to prove a person's goodness in his or her intentions. You have already passed one, and that was walking through my memories, seeing me again. You have already passed two, where you walked through that door, and confronted me in my weaken state. Now you must past three..." The two inner spirits now walked into Monk, he know becoming a whole man again. "... you must defeat me in a battle. This is you're last chance. Walk out now, and spare yourself, at the risk of me. Stay here, and risk yourself, to try and save me. I assure you I will not go easy. It is wise for you to turn back and live on without me."

Katlin noticed that Wolf was looking extremely tired. "Jason, when was the last time you slept?"

"Well...I was up for 24 hours straight...and then I slept for 8 hours...now I've been up another 4 or so hours, with a two hour nap in the interim. Why do you ask?"

"To be honest, you look terrible. You really might want to get some more rest."

"Can't...Mastermind could attack."

"Come on, Jason, be reasonable. It's a blizzard out there. Not even Mastermind would dare attack. Besides, it's not like under all that snow, they can see the ejection module. Also, I'm kind of tired too...even though I woke up only a couple hours ago."

"Ok, that's true. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should get some rest." Wolf pulled the survival blnaket over himself and began to nod off. Just before he fell asleep, Katlin lay down next to him, and wrapped her arms around him in a loving embrace.

"Thank you for risking everything to save me." she said to Wolf.

"I've only completed...half of the battle..." Wolf said as he finally fell asleep, his right arm draped around Katlin's shoulder. Katlin fell asleep a few minutes after.

Wraith gives Hikaru a funny look, but shrugs it off. "Okay... let's get going."

He starts off down the hallway, shoving his padd into his pocket and then fidgeting with his hands. All right... now all I gotta do is assemble some kind of team -- which is just me and this guy Hikaru -- get up to Moscow, infiltrate KGB headquarters, get past a few hundred elite guards and agents, free Angel, and get back out again...

...Sounds easy enough, but we need help... serious help... God, if only I had Wolf, Monk, and Jade here. At least then we'd have the manpower to pull this off.

*beep beep*

He looks down and removes his padd, turning on the audio receiver and holding it up to view the screen in one smooth motion. "Wraith."

"Hello," says J2.

"J2... can I help you?"

"Actually, I'm here to help you," she starts. "Jade assigned me to your mission to give you whatever assistance I can."

(( Heads up: Batgirl gave me control of J2 for the time being. ))

"Great. I guess you can help us bypass security and create diversions," he suggests.

"My thoughts exactly... but you could use some extra help on this mission, too..." She pauses and seems to glance down for a bit.

"Oh?"

"This wasn't in the mission briefing, but... Jade did give me autorization to use any and all resources I had to help free Angel..."

He stops walking abruptly and crosses an arm over his chest, reaching up to fidget with his shirt collar. "Any and all resources? Such as?"

"Two Coyote AI programs helped Wolf free Kaitlin from the Boston facility. They could be very useful on this mission, too."

An eyebrow raises. "Coyote AIs...? ...Great! Get in contact and see if they're interested. Right now we could use anything we can get our hands on. And while you're at it, arrange for transport to Moscow immediately, to leave ASAP."

"I'll get right on it, Lieutenant," she says just before disappearing from his screen.

He pockets his padd and glances back at Hikaru, who waits patiently behind him. "All right, let's go!"

And with that said, he starts off down the hallway for the hangar bays... but as he walks, he rings up a number and attaches a headset. "...General? This is Wraith. I need men and equipment for the Angel mission.

"...Enough to outfit an army, and we need them ready to go in less than five minutes."

Another pause. "It's that important a mission, sir."

His headset clicks and hangs up the line.