"Unhand me, cow!" Villain X wrenched his arm from Leopard’s grip and dropped Equinox. His booted foot swung in an arc to connect with Leopard’s head.

At least it would have, except Leopard ducked and fired off a kick of her own that knocked Villain X back a few feet. "I’m a bitch, not a cow. Get your animals straight."

"I’ll keep it in mind." Villain X stepped forward…and stumbled when Trinity’s sweeping kick caught him low in the leg. He didn’t fall, but he did turn to face her.

"Fool. Ignore her, I’m the one who’s the real threat." Leopard’s fist slammed into Villain X’s unprotected back, cracking the plates beneath her well-placed blow. He whipped around with a backhand and followed through with a straight punch that she easily blocked. "C’mon. My grandmother hit harder than that."

Trinity lashed out with two high kicks that bounced off the armor. Paint chips fell to the ground with each impact but he was otherwise unharmed. Villain X punched Leopard in the stomach and kicked backwards, sending Trinity sprawling. He tried to grab Leopard in a headlock, but she shrugged out of it and pushed him away.

"You’re a big one, aren’t you?" he snarled.

"It’s better than being a little man in a tin suit." She faked a high punch, and when he took the bait, Leopard kicked him square between the legs. It didn’t do any damage, but her point was well taken, as evidenced by his low growl. Trinity jumped up from the ground and launched into a flying kick that took him in the back, and he responded with a long bolt of lighting that sent her back down, steaming like a burnt steak.

Leopard’s vengeance-driven punch connected solidly with the faceplate, which cracked under the intense pressure.

"How long you been in that uniform?" Shadow asked. He scanned left and right, watching out for any ambushes.

Whispering Knife shrugged. "Long enough. Be careful, they’re starting to come back down."

They reached the base of the stairs. "I’m not worried, we can handle…" Shadow began, but he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of two shocktroopers.

"What’s going on?" the first shocktrooper asked.

"We’re returning to the exfil point," Whispering Knife responded.

"What about the Aleph protocol?" the second asked, his head tilted to the side.

Shadow stepped forward. "I decided I wanted to live. Sorry to ruin your plans." He fired point blank into the shocktrooper’s helmet, dropping him instantly. Mute’s katana came out in a flash and he drove it through the second shocktrooper’s heart.

Whispering Knife sighed. "Was that really necessary?"

"No, but it was fun," Mute said, wiping his blade on the sagging body.

"Whispering Knife to Koschei – we’re coming back to your position."

"Good, then I can quit faking and get down to serious business kicking this bitch’s ass." She deflected the descending blade, forcing Nova to drive it into the marble floor.

Nova’s eyes widened in surprise. "Wha…?" Koschei rolled her hips to the side, disrupting Nova’s balance, and punched her, completing Nova’s decent to the floor. Koschei quickly stood up and glowed with healing energy.

"Ready for round two?"

Nova leapt up and charged, howling with fury but her wild punch missed, leaving her open to Koschei’s punch to the ribs and follow-through uppercut. Nova attempted a spinning roundhouse kick, but Koschei trapped the leg and swept Nova’s other leg from beneath her, driving her face first into the ground. Koschei’s iron fist slammed into Nova’s kidney and she grunted with pain.

"Try just a little harder. You’re taking all the fun out of it."

Koschei released Nova and stepped backwards, allowing her to stand up. Nova rose, more slowly this time, and faked a kick before throwing a punch. Koschei caught the fist, grabbed Nova by the throat, kneed her in the stomach and pushed her backwards.

"I’m disappointed. What happened to being fit?"

Nova reached down and pulled the kris from the ground. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she lunged forward with two rapid strikes. Koschei dodged the first, then trapped Nova’s arm on the second blow. She drove Nova against the wall and twisted her arm, catching the dagger easily as it dropped from Nova’s numb fingers.

"And now for the finale." She yanked Nova’s arm out wide, raised the dagger stabbed it through Nova’s wrist into the wall behind. As Nova struggled to free herself, Koschei retrieved to broken half of the spear and returned to the wall. She grabbed Nova’s other wrist and pinned it to the wall in the same manner.

"I…I was your friend. Don’t do this!" Nova stammered, her voice choked with pain.

"I seem to recall myself saying the same thing."

"Please, I can teach you things… show you things… about the Fist."

Koschei smiled. "Sorry. I’ve already gotten from you the only thing worth learning."

Nova’s eyes widened in fear as Koschei lifted a glowing red hand.

Mouhtymerc crawled to the edge of the hole and peered over. Unfortunately, there was nothing there. "Well shit."

A shadow darkened his view and he turned over, staring up at Eris’s power armor. It was dented and scratched, but it was intact. "Whatcha lookin’ for?"

"You. Everything okay?"

"Peachy. Funny thing: when you shouted your warning, I stumbled and fell and landed behind a big hunk of concrete. It took most of the blast, but my radio is kaput. You, on the other hand, look like hell. You okay?"

"I’m fine," Mouthymerc growled. "I guess I don’t have your luck."

"That’s okay, I’m willing to share. Not you of course; your girlfriend might have issues with that."

"She’s not my girlfriend. Although…"

"Don’t tell her that. She might kick your ass."

"I’ve got go reports from Beta and Gamma," Hephaestus said.

Avatar nodded. "Good. Then perhaps this will work out after all."

"Hephaestus to all teams. Move to exfil. Scorched Earth is on final countdown."

Whispering Knife took one look at Nova’s body, then at Koschei who lounged quietly in the chair next to the ruins of the front desk. "Feel better?"

"Much, thank you."

"What happened to my poor assistant?"

Koschei frowned. "She caught me off guard with that one. He’s going to be fine, but he’ll need time to recover."

Whispering Knife nodded. "Shadow, Mute. Get to the ex-filtration point and take my assistant with you. Koschei and I will hold the line…here." He walked over and stood in the middle of the seal embossed in the marble floor. Koschei got up and stood next to him, drawing her LDA.

Mute and Shadow looked at each other, shrugged, then Shadow picked up Whispering Knife’s assistant in a fireman’s carry and headed for the door.

Koschei smiled, listening to the sounds of the shocktroopers descending the stairs. "You up for this, old man?"

Behind the helmet, Whispering Knife smiled. "I’ve been ready my entire life."

Leopard dodged past Villain X and scooped up Trinity in her arms. "C’mon, girl. We’ve worn out our welcome." Trinity moaned and twitched but didn’t struggle.

"Don’t leave on my account. I’m just getting warmed up." Villain X launched another lightning bolt that caught Leopard on the shoulder. She hissed in pain but continued running, heading toward the jet packs piled in the corner. Villain X clomped toward them, his hand arching with electricity. "No, you don’t escape that easily."

*KA-POW* The bullet plinked off Villain X’s armor and he turned. Equinox held up the shattered, smoking, cane in a shaking fist. The bullet didn’t do any real damage, but the trigger mechanism was functional enough to fire off a shot. "Time to put you out of your misery, boy!" Villain X growled. He grabbed Equinox by the hair, lifting him high into the air. The armored fist struck once, twice, three times, and Equinox stopped moving.

"Scorched Earth is a go. Batten down the hatches, folks. Things are going to get rough."

Villain X dropped the body and turned back to Leopard and Trinity, only to discover them long gone. Before he could move, something slammed him to the ground. Hard.

The ballistic tracking system in his helmet kicked in, tracking the bullet’s path across the street. Vision-enhancement took over, zooming in so that he could clearly see the Barrett "Light-Fifty" aiming at his chest and the man behind. He wore shoulder-length dreadlocks, looked to be of mixed African and European parentage and when he leaned back and flashed a winning smile, Villain X clearly recognized him as the man he’d just killed.

Equinox reached into his coat and pulled out a small black remote control. He flicked open the red safety and extended the antenna, then pointed the device at Villain X and pushed the button.

Hundreds of shaped explosives detonated in their pre-programmed sequence. While designed to minimize collateral damage, they were powerful – and deadly. The ensuing roar of destruction made the previous battle sounds seem like a quiet Sunday afternoon, reflecting the awesome destructive power of the well-placed packages. Every window within eight blocks shattered; every car alarm within fifteen blocks shrieked in protest and the Parisian Institute went from a pristine glass and steel monument of technology and innovation to a hellish conflagration of fire, noise, and rubble. The resulting mushroom cloud billowed upward, clearly visible from at least three miles away.