Is it possible to be moral while still being a backstabbing scumbag? It is, or at least, you can be as moral as possible. What if being a backstabbing scumbag is part of your job? What if it is everything you are? Finally, what if you are a fictional character in a videogame? Chances are if you're reading this you aren't, but here is the story of two spies that are.
For this story to make any sense, it needs a setting and characters. The setting is a place in western USA called "The dustbowl". It is a dry ghost town with many places to hide and a watering hole in the center of town. The characters are a bit more complex. Here is the entire list: Demoman, Heavy, Scout, Sniper, Soldier, Medic, Pyro, Engineer and of course, Spy. Each person isn't exactly a person though. They are more like clones. Clones that are divided into two teams, Red and Blue, and are forced to fight in a never-ending battle to the death. Each class has different abilities and traits.
The Demoman is a black Scottish man who lays down mine-like projectiles called stickybombs that, expectedly, stick to everything. The Heavy is a large Russian man with a minigun. Not much else to him. The Scout is a kid with an arrogant and over-the-top attitude despite his relative weakness. He's fast, but he can't take many hits. The Sniper, as you could imagine, wields a sniper rifle, and has an item called a razorback. The razorback prevents him being stabbed in the back and emits a strong electric shock. The Soldier is a very balanced class. Not too much on the bright side, but you can't really outsmart a rocket launcher. The Medic heals the other classes, but has a rapid-fire syringe gun when he has to fight. If he heals someone for a long period of time, they can get 'overhealed' and have even more health than normally possible. The Pyro, surprise surprise, loves fire. He has a flamethrower for close quarters , and a flare launcher for long distances. The Engineer is an unusual class. His main purpose is to build Sentry Guns that have artificial intelligence, rocket launchers and miniguns. Since his machines have artificial intelligence, he can get quite attached to them. He can also build a dispenser, which gives out ammo and health, and a two-way teleporting system. Finally, there is the Spy, the main character(s) of this story. The spy has many different attributes. He has a balisong knife that when he stabs people in the back with, they die instantly. He has a portable handheld machine called the sapper that destroys Engineer's buildings. He has a gun called the Ambassador that when he headshots someone with it, they die instantly, similar to his knife. He also can disguise himself perfectly as someone on the opposite team, but can't use their weapons as they are holographic. He has one more item at his disposal. The cloaking watch. With it, he can turn invisible for a short period of time. It is a fragile watch, however, and can break if the spy uses his gun or knife while cloaked. This is against the Spy's programming, so that doesn't happen. But in this story, it does.
You have the cast and the setting, and you know what they can do. But what happens when something goes wrong during an automated game. What happens when the two teams, Red and Blue, have a glitch in the programming? The two Spies, both on opposite teams, suddenly become self-aware. The Red Spy decides his programming isn't suitable for war, and circumvents the preventative measures in place so he can do as he likes. The Blue Spy decides to stay with the measures that were set in place, and to be as ethical as possible in the war. Here is what happens.
Red:
Red Spy opened his eyes and looked around the base. Simple, white walls, tiled floor, maps scattered around, and a resupply cabinet in the corner. One wall was covered in a gate that leads outside. All this was new to Spy, since he had just spawned. Before he could investigate further, the rest of his team spawned in the base. Blank, expressionless faces greeted him as they lined up at the gate leading to the arena. Utterly cold, they seemed to have no idea they were probably about to die. Spy stroked his masked chin as he pulled a cigarette out of his disguise case. Why could he think, while his teammates were emotionless statues? Spy calmly walked over to the medic. He waved his hand in front of the medic's face. No response. Red draws his knife in an attempt to stab the medic to elicit a response, just as a loud booming female voice is heard of loudspeakers outside.
"Thirty seconds remaining, thirty seconds remaining."
Red lowers his knife and looks out the gate. A dry, dusty ghost town with dilapidated wooden buildings loomed outside. In his core programming, he knew what he was supposed to do. Kill or be killed. He also knew what his limitations were with what he could do. He couldn't stab or shoot while cloaked, and he couldn't take others weapons. At least, he couldn't before. Red smiled. He couldn't care less about what he wasn't supposed to do. No one could beat him. The voice blared over the loudspeakers again.
"5"
"4"
"3"
"2"
Red smirked.
"1"
Blue:
"Thirty seconds remaining"
Blue glanced worriedly over his team. Still unmoving, no apprehension. He was concerned. If they had no sense of self awareness, they would have no thought to defense. Blue didn't want his teammates to die, even if they were hollow shells of people.
"I'll just have to kill the other team as quick as I can to protect them."
Blue closed his eyes and searched through his programming. His programming was telling him to kill the other team as soon as the gate goes up. It also said what he could and couldn't do.
"If I ignore that programming, I could probably be a more effective killer… But should I?"
The voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
"5"
"No."
"4"
"I will follow-"
"3"
"-the programming."
"2"
"It's there for a reason."
"1"
Blue took a deep breath.
Red:
Red Spy squinted as he dashed out the gate alongside his teammates. Even their movements were jumpy and rough. He rolled his eyes.
"What a miserable lot… They better not slow me down."
The sniper ran inside a building and jumped up the stairs to the roof. Pyro, Soldier, Scout, and Heavy ran straight down the street, and turned a corner leading towards the enemy base. The medic overhealed the Heavy as he ran with them. The Engineer stayed behind, and began building his sentry gun. The Demoman turned down a side street while laying stickybomb mines as he went. Red found himself alone except the preoccupied Engineer. Red decided to slink down a side alley similar to the one Demoman went down. Hearing fighting going on, he cloaked, and proceeded ahead cautiously.
Blue:
"No! You two should stick together and go down there! You're a scout, why are you camping? Don't set a sentry gun there!"
Blue's words fell on deaf ears as his teammates went their own way without rhyme or reason. He could only stare hopelessly as his teammates ran as they got lost among the twisting alleys of the ghost town. Sighing to himself, Blue walked down an alley that would eventually lead to the Red base. Blue turned a corner and saw the Red Demoman running closer to him. Blue cloaked, and waited.
"I could just backstab him when he runs by while still cloaked… but I'm not going to. The programming is there for a reason."
The Demoman turned the corner and ran past the cloaked Spy. As soon as the Demoman was past him, Blue uncloaked, ran up behind the Demoman as he pulled his knife, and stabbed him square in the back. The Red Demoman died instantly. Blue dusted himself off, and look at the fallen Demoman's weapon. Since he didn't have to follow his programming, he could take it.
"No, I'll stick with what I've been given."
Blue hid the body behind a bunch of barrels, and continued on.
Red:
Skirting around the sounds of fighting, Red ran down a side street. Halfway down the street, the Blue Demoman appeared out of an alley, and ran towards him. Red quickly cloaked, and hid in another alley.
"Hmm… when he passes by, I'll backstab him while remaining cloaked. It'll be less risky, and it's a stupid rule that the program has against it."
The oblivious Blue Demoman ran by, and was quickly stabbed by the still-cloaked Spy. As the Demoman's body fell, Spy's cloaking watch beeped loudly and his cloak flickered a bit. Red shrugged.
"Eh, stupid thing must be on the fritz."
Red ignored the watch, and glanced down at the Demoman's stickybomb launcher.
"That could be useful…"
Red takes the launcher and stores it away for later use.
Blue:
After he had traversed many winding alleys, Blue finally made I to the main street. Peeking around the corner, he saw the Red Heavy, Medic, and Soldier. Afteroverhealing the Heavy, the Medic started overhealing the Soldier.
"This is my chance to take out Heavy… but how? If I disguise and backstab, my disguise will be blown as soon as I attack. Ahh! I know…"
Blue returned his knife to his pocket, and drew the Ambassador. Blue leaned against the building, and carefully took aim at the Heavy's head.
"It would be easier to cloak, and backstab while cloaked, but this will be good practice." He thought.
The Heavy, being a big guy, stopped for a second to catch his breath.
"Gotcha."
Blue pulled the trigger. A loud bang, a quick flash of fire, and the Heavy was dead. The soldier and medic turned around when they heard the noise, but by then, Blue was long gone.
Red:
After offing the Demoman, Red slinked through another nearby alley. After taking just a few steps, he heard a peculiar noise coming from up ahead.
"Nom nom nom… yummy sandvich."
Red knew instantly who it was.
"Urg… It's the fat Russian isn't it?"
Red peeked around a corner, and saw the Blue Heavy sitting down taking a snack break. Red looked at his stickybomb launcher.
"Hmm… time to test this out."
Red quickly disguised as the Blue Demoman, and laid down the bombs around him. Stepping around the corner looking for all the world as the Blue Demoman, he tapped Heavy on the shoulder and jerked his head back in the direction he had come from. The Heavy managed to understand, and got up to follow. Red ran around the corner and a little ways farther to put distance between himself and the mines. The Heavy turned the corner and his boot hit one of the mines. He stumbled a bit, and looked down in confusion. Seeing the bombs around him, he looked up at the smiling Demoman. Red dropped his disguise, revealing himself as Red Spy with a stickybomb launcher. Realization dawned on Heavy's face as Spy pushed the detonate button.
After the raining bits of Heavy ceased, Red smiled and made his way closer towards the center.
Blue:
After the Soldier and Medic had passed, Blue peered out into the street. Red Scout ran by without seeing him, stopped at a nearby supply cabinet, and ran back the way he had come. This gave Blue an idea.
"I'll just wait by the cabinet for when he comes back. If I'm patient, it should be an easy kill."
Blue quickly ran over to the cabinet and hid right behind it. After a few minutes, the Scout ran back to the cabinet. He rummaged through some supplies, all the while muttering to himself. He turned his back for a moment, and Blue jumped out and backstabbed him. With the scout successfully dealt with, Blue ran along the road to get even closer to the center.
Red:
With the Heavy in about 100 different pieces, Red slinked through an alley until he came to a main road. Seeing the Blue Scout running in the distance, he quickly disguised himself as the Blue Soldier. Mimicking the gruff tone of the Soldier, Red called the Scout over.
"Get over here maggot!"
The Blue Scout came running over.
"What is it?" He asked with his Boston accent.
"Go check out that alley behind me, I thought I heard someone."
"Alright."
Blue Scout jogs down the alley, with Red right behind him. The Scout stopped to peer around a corner to check for enemies. While he was doing that, Red drew his ambassador and aimed it at Blue Scout's head.
"What're you talkin about? I don't see any-"
Boom!
The Scout never got to finish his sentence. With a gaping hole in his head, the Scout's body slumped to the ground. Red undisguised, and smiled. Off in the distance, he heard the unmistakable *clank* of an Engineer working on a sentry gun. Going back to the main road, he began following the sound.
Blue:
With the Scout dead, Blue looked around for a clue as to where his next target would be. A teleporter built by the Red Engineer stood nearby. Blue disguised as the Red Scout, and stepped onto the teleporter. The teleporter registered him as a red teammate, and sent him right next to the Red Engineer. Since the Engineer didn't see him, Blue cloaked while remaining disguised. Several thoughts raced through his mind.
"Let's see… I could sap all his buildings and then backstab him when he tries to fix them… But I know Engineers really like their buildings, and he would be heartbroken if they got destroyed. That settles it, I'll have to be more careful, but I'll stab him and then destroy the buildings."
Blue got a better idea of his surroundings. He was in-between two buildings with a clear view of the main street directly ahead. That was where the Engineer was working on his sentry gun, and where he had his dispenser set up. Blue uncloaked, and casually walked over to the Engineer. The Engineer was so engrossed with his work, he didn't even notice.
"As soon as I stab, I'll lose my disguise and the sentry will attack. I have to stab quickly, and then attach the sapper before the sentry realizes I'm an enemy."
Holding the sapper in his left hand, and his knife in the other, Blue crept up on the Engineer. With a swift strike, Blue drove his knife into the Engineer's back, and spun around to attach the sapper onto the sentry gun. The sentry exploded as the Engineer hit the ground. Blue sapped the dispenser and teleporter with ease, and followed the main road ever closer to the center.
Red:
After following the sound of the Engineer working on his sentry, he saw them both hidden away inside a building. While wondering how to approach, he saw the Blue Pyro run up, grab some ammo from the dispenser, and stop to chat for a moment with the Engineer. A minute later, they waved goodbye and the Pyro ran off.
"Hmm… they appear to be friends… let's make this interesting, shall we?"
Red disguised as Blue Pyro, and ran over to the Engineer. Blue Engineer looked up and asked,
"Back already?"
Red only nodded as be slid his sapper underneath the Engineer's Sentry, and made a big show of destroying it. The Engineer, not seeing the sapper, thought that his friend was destroying his own machines. The Engineer moved to stop Red, but he was knocked back from the explosion of his sentry gun. Being unable to get up, the Engineer could only watch in horror as Red destroyed his dispenser and teleporter as well. Red then undisguised, revealing himself to be the Spy. Before the Engineer could do anything, Red took out his ambassador and shot him.
"Hehe, that was fun. I should kill like that more often."
He left the building, and continued on the main road.
Blue:
"Finally, the center of the arena."
Blue hung out close to a building and cloaked. Looking around, he examined the center. Two large pools of water surrounded the control point, which was just a large metal disk with a grey light in the center. Power lines crackling with electricity were strung overhead. No one was to be seen except a lone Red Pyro. For some reason, he wasn't trying to capture the control point. Blue began to move in his direction, and then thought better of it.
"The Red Sniper is probably hanging around somewhere, overlooking this area. I'd better take him out first if I don't fancy my head being separated from my shoulders."
Looking around, Blue noticed the tallest building around besides an old water tower was right across the street. He ran over and entered. Quietly sneaking up the stairs, he heard the Red Sniper load a round into his sniper rifle's chamber.
"This is where he is all right." Blue thought to himself.
Once at the top of the stairs, Blue saw the Sniper looking out the window, his rifle resting against the frame. Blue also saw the razorback protecting him.
"I could just stab at his neck, and avoid the razorback. But that's not what I'm supposed to do."
Steeling himself for the shock, Blue stabbed the razorback. Twelve volts of electricity coursed into Blue through his knife. Having felt the attack, the Sniper turned and picked up his kukri. Blue leaped out of the way just as the Sniper's kukri smashed down right where he was standing. The Sniper swung wildly, and Blue skillfully dodged. With his knife, Blue scored a glancing blow onto the Sniper's arm, which only enraged him further. Blue dodged another attack by stepping around a wooden beam, and the Sniper's kukri sunk deep into the wood. While the Sniper struggled to pull his weapon free, Blue sliced his exposed throat. The Sniper, with his hand at his neck, staggered backwards, and out the open window. All Blue heard was a crunch as the Sniper hit the ground below. Blue exited the building.
Red:
"Almost to the center…" Red muttered to himself.
With only five enemies left, he started naming them off in his head.
"Pyro, Medic, Sniper, Soldier, and of course, Blue Spy. I wonder where that Spy is now..."
Red shook his head.
"Doesn't matter. He'll be dead soon, just like the rest of his team."
Seeing the center of the arena ahead, Red began looking around the outer ring of buildings for his nemesis. The Sniper.
"No doubt he's going to be holed up in the tallest building he can find."
Just off to his left, there was a dilapidated wooden water tower. Red smirked, and ran to the base of it. Looking up, he saw the sniper crouched down, overlooking the center of the arena. Red began climbing the structure. A few minutes later, he was in position behind the Sniper. He was too engrossed looking through his scope to even notice Red. Pulling out his knife, Red noticed an African-looking tribal shield on the Blue Sniper's back.
"Darn… he has a razorback. Hmmph. Like I care."
Red stabbed at the Sniper's neck, and killed him. Blue Sniper's body fell under the railing and dropped to the ground.
"Well that was easy."
Red climbed back down the water tower.
Blue:
"Now that the Sniper is taken care of, that Pyro should be easy pickings."
Blue cloaked and walked towards the center of the arena. The Red Pyro was looking wildly about, as if wondering where everyone was.
"Not too many people left at this point." Blue muttered to himself.
The Pyro was standing right on the edge of one of the pools of water.
"Pyro's hate water, and probably can't swim very well. His weapon would also be useless. But drowning would be a horrible death; I won't make him suffer that."
Seeing a bucket lying nearby, Blue gets an idea.
"If I just throw some water to put out the pilot light on his flamethrower, his weapon will be useless."
While the Red Pyro looked away, Blue got the bucket and filled it with water. Pyro, hearing the sound, looked his direction to see a floating bucket of water. If he had a puzzled look on his face, Blue couldn't tell because of the gas mask. Blue threw the bucket of water, and soak the Pyro's flamethrower. In doing so, he also uncloaked. Pyro ran towards Blue, and tried to start his flamethrower. Obviously, it didn't work. Blue pulled his knife, and lunged. Pyro held up his flamethrower and caught Blue's knife on it. He then dropped it, and stepped back to pull out his axe. Blue pulled his knife free. They circled each other, both looking for an opening. Pyro stepped forward and slashed, using his axe's longer reach. Blue stepped back just far enough, and saw the blade of the axe pass just inches by his face. The Pyro over-swung, and Blue stepped into the opening. Two quick cuts on both arms, and the Pyro was forced to drop the axe. Without letting up, Blue kicked Pyro in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Pyro scrambled in his pockets for something, and Blue switched his knife for the ambassador. Blue leveled his gun at Pyro's head just as he pulled out his flare gun. They both fired simultaneously. Pyro was instantly killed, and Blue was knocked to the ground and set on fire. Thinking quickly, Blue rolled into the nearby pool of water, which extinguished the flames. Soaking wet, he dragged himself out. The direct hit did a good bit of damage, and it was all he could do to cloak himself and rest.
Red:
Once at the base of the water tower, Red looked around the center. On his way down he heard sounds of a struggle, but now there's nothing but a dead Pyro in the center.
"I wonder if the Blue Spy did that…"
The sounds of footsteps interrupted his musings. Hiding in the shadow of the tower, Red crouched and waited. The Blue Pyro Ran out near the control point and stopped. Red immediately began formulating a plan. There was a heavy looking lead pipe and some rope lying near the Pyro. Red smiled wickedly.
"That lead pipe could work well as a weapon, but even better as an anchor."
Red turned on his cloaking watch. It fizzled and sparks flew, but it eventually worked.
"That's odd…" Red muttered to himself.
Red crept towards the Pyro. The Pyro was oblivious. Without making a sound, red tied one end of the rope to the pipe, and the other end around the Pyro's ankle. Red stood up, positioned himself with the Pyro between him and the water, and uncloaked. Hearing the uncloaking noise, the Blue Pyro turned, only to be met with a fist to the face. He stumbled backwards, and fell into the water, dragging the lead pipe with him. Red looked down into the water. All he could see was a trail of bubbles and the Pyro rapidly disappearing into the deep.
"I love it when a plan comes together." He smirked
Red turned around, and saw the Red Medic and Soldier come running towards him.
"I should leave now; they might have enemies following them. Open combat isn't really my thing."
Red cloaked, and ran in the opposite direction.
Blue:
Red's cloaked foot landed with a splash just an inch away from Blue's cloaked face. Oblivious to Blue's presence, Red kept running. Blue lifted his head and watched as Red disappeared.
"So that's the Red Spy… He acted differently than the others."
Realization struck Blue.
"He's like me! Able to circumvent the programming, but unlike me, he actually chose to do it. I'll have to deal with him eventually. Without being bound by the rules, he'll be difficult to beat."
Blue got to his feet and looked from where the Red Spy had come from. The Red Medic and Soldier had just stepped into the middle of the arena.
"Good thing I'm still cloaked…or I'd be blown to bits right now. I have to separate the pair; I should start with the medic."
Blue reached down to pick up a small rock, and ran over to the pair. After passing them and getting closer to the buildings, he turned around and threw the rock at the Medic. The Red Medic turned around just as Blue, still cloaked, opened the door to the nearest building, and closed it. Naturally, he went to investigate. As soon as Blue was inside, he hid in a corner. The Medic entered soon after, and began looking around the dusty room. Blue drew his knife. Hearing a faint sound, the Medic turned towards where Blue was hiding and drew his bone saw. Blue uncloaked, and lunged. He scored a good hit, and the Medic swung wildly in defense. Blue grunted as the Medic's bone saw scored a glancing blow on his arm. Blue leapt back and the two began circling each other. The Medic lunged first, and missed by a mile when Blue dodged. Blue followed up with another slice, and hit home. Medic fell to his knees, almost dead. To Blue's surprise, he held up a finger and asked; "One moment, please."
Unsure of what to do, Blue stepped back.
"I don't think they're supposed to do that… could it be that they are becoming more like me over time?"
The Red Medic pulled out his medi-gun and healed himself to full health. The Medic then pointed the medi-gun at Blue, and healed him as well.
"I know for a fact they aren't supposed to do that. Maybe they are slowly gaining free will?'
After a moment, the Medic stopped healing him and drew his bone saw again. Blue, now overhealed to past full health, dropped back into his fighting stance. The Medic nodded his head, signaling he was ready. Blue did the same. Medic was again the first to lunge, and just like before, he missed when Blue leapt out of the way. This time, Blue swept his legs out from under him. The Medic face planted into the hard wooden floor, and Blue quickly drove his knife into the Medic's exposed back. Blue pulled his knife out, and walked out of the building, lost in thought.
Red:
Red raced down an alley. And another. And another.
"Where the hell are they?" He growled.
It was only the Spy, Medic, and Soldier left, and he couldn't find any of them. Just when he was about to give up and head back to the center, the Medic and Soldier appeared.
"About time."
He put his back to a wall, cloaked, and watched as they ran by. Thankfully, the sparks coming from his watch didn't alert them. When they had safely passed, he uncloaked.
"This stupid watch is going to give me away someday…" He muttered as he followed the pair.
After a few seconds, the Medic and Soldier came across a branch in the alleys. After a fair bit of head-scratching and coin-flipping, the Medic went Left and the Soldier right. Red smiled.
"They're making this far too easy for me."
Red followed the Medic. After what Red deemed a long enough time to get hurt and come back, he disguised as the Blue Soldier. With his disguise in place, he yelled out; "Medic!"
The Blue Medic turned around, and ran up to him. Red limped closer, making the disguise more believable. The Medic bent down to look at Red's left leg. Red drew his ambassador and fired. The Medic was sprawled back from the blast.
"The Solder might have heard the gunshot. I'll just wait here for him…"
Red disguised as the Blue Demoman, and pulled out his stickybomb launcher.
Blue:
Blue ran back to the center, and spotted the Red Soldier.
"He's the last one before that Spy… I'll face him in open combat. It's the honorable thing to do."
Blue walked out, and uncloaked. The Red Soldier spotted him instantly. He fired a rocket, and due to the distance between them, Blue dodged easily. Blue drew his ambassador and took careful aim. The Soldier walked ever closer while firing more rockets, forcing Blue to dodge. Once out, the Soldier began reloading. This gave Blue an idea.
"His helmet protects his head, but his rocket launcher may not be a bad target. I'll have to be perfectly precise…"
Red Soldier began firing again. Being closer, Blue was hard-pressed to dodge. After a rocket streaked by just inches form his face, he'd had enough. Aiming for the launcher, Blue dropped to one knee and fired. The bullet flew right down the launcher, and it hit a rocket waiting there to be fired. It exploded, and the shrapnel from his own launcher tore the Soldier apart. Blue took a deep breath to calm himself. Nearly being blown up is quite stressful.
"Well… all that's left is the Red Spy. No doubt he'll come here, so I'll wait."
Blue sat down cross-legged in the center of the arena, and cloaked.
Red:
After waiting just a few minutes, and hearing a large explosion in the distance, the Blue Soldier came running up.
"Right on time…" Red muttered under his breath.
The Blue Soldier ran up, looked down at the dead medic, and asked; "What happened here?"
Knowing there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell he could pull off the Demoman's Scottish accent, Red simply shrugged.
The Soldier snorted.
"Fine, I'll run on ahead. You cover me."
The Soldier ran down the alley, looking for the one who killed the Medic. Blue aimed his stickybomb launcher right at the Soldier's back, and fired. The Soldier stumbled a bit from the impact, and then spun in circles trying to reach what was on his back.
Red chuckled in grim amusement.
"You look like a dog chasing his tail."
Hearing a voice that could never belong to a black Scottish man, the Soldier turned towards Red. Red dropped the disguise. The Soldier's jaw dropped. Red pushed the detonate button. The rest of the Soldier's body dropped.
"Well now… it appears only the Blue Spy remains. Let's go pay him a visit."
And with that, Red began the walk back to the center.
Red vs. Blue; The Final Showdown:
Blue checked his cloaking watch. It had been several minutes since he had killed the soldier.
"Red should be here any moment now."
Blue looked up from his watch and scanned the arena so he could prepare a strategy. There were several interesting things to note. Powerlines overhead crackling with electricity, two large pools of water, and the control point in the center. Even when he was uncloaked by the control point, nothing happened.
"Once everyone on a team is dead, then it will probably be able to be captured. As far as I know, it's only Red Spy and I left. Whoever wins this fight wins the battle."
Blue took several deep breaths to calm himself. He then closed his eyes, and waited.
He didn't have to wait long.
Just seconds after he closed his eyes, Red Spy came running into the center, carrying a stickybomb launcher.
"He stole the Blue Demoman's stickybomb launcher!" Blue thought in shock.
"Not a bad idea," He thought begrudgingly, "But it's still against the rules."
Red looked around, and not seeing the Blue Spy, began laying down the last of the stickybombs around the control point.
"I wonder if he knows that the stickbombs will explode if he touches them without being disguised?" Blue pondered.
"I guess we'll see."
Blue stood up, and uncloaked.
Red looked at him in surprise, then smiled. He dropped the launcher, drew his gun, and ran over towards Blue to get a closer shot.
"Guess not."
The tip of Red's shoe brushed up against one of the bombs he laid down. It stuck to his shoe. Red stumbled a bit, and comically tried to shake it off. The bomb began beeping. Red shook harder. The beeping grew faster. In his desperation, Red took off his shoe and threw it into one of the pools of water.
Just in time.
The bomb exploded just underwater, showering the arena in water, and soaking Red. Looking miserable, Red stalked closer to Blue, careful to avoid the other bombs. And then they all started beeping. Red ran closer towards Blue, desperate to get away. The bombs exploded behind him. Since he was able to get a fair distance away, the bombs did only minor damage. They did, however, knock Red flat onto his face.
Sopping wet, with the back of his suit slightly burned, Red staggered to his feet.
Throughout all this, Blue just watched in amusement.
"If I stand here long enough, you'll just end up killing yourself." Blue said with a smile.
Red wasn't amused.
Red Held up his left wrist, showing Blue his watch. He smiles wickedly, and pushes the cloak button.
The watch blows up in his face.
Blinded, ears ringing, and cursing all the while from the blast, Red staggers even closer to Blue. At this point, Blue just begins laughing. Red recovers from the blast, and aims his gun at Blue. Blue stops laughing, and hurriedly cloaks. Red fires wildly, hoping for a lucky hit. Blue dodges all the bullets while remaining invisible. One of Red's bullets hits a rock, and ricochets. It hits a power line. To the chagrin of both, it falls and the live wire comes into contact with the water that had been sprayed onto the arena. Both are zapped with 120 volts of electricity, but Red, being completely soaked, takes much more damage than Blue. The voltage dries up the puddles, and the electricity is reduced to a few sparks coming from the downed cable. Since he was more used to voltage from his experience with the razorback, Blue recovers first. He staggers to his feet, draws his ambassador, drops his cloak, and fires. The shot hits Red in the left shoulder as he staggers up. He falls back down, but shoots at Blue right before he falls. The shot hits blue in his left thigh, and is a lucky critical hit. Having been overhealed by the Medic beforehand, Blue still has more health left than Red. Blue attempts to cloak, but the electricity fried his watch.
Red staggers to his feet, and shoots at Blue.
Click.
Out of ammo.
Red growls as he tosses his gun away.
"It's come to this then… What are you waiting for? Shoot me!"
Blue shakes his head.
"Killing a man with a gun when he only has a knife? Dishonorable."
Red painfully draws his knife. Blue sheathes his ambassador, and draws his own knife.
Blue limps forward.
Red walks forward, left arm swinging by his side.
They circle each other.
Blue patiently waits, and Red finally lunges forward. Blue blocks, and counters. And so they go on. Even with both of them being heavily wounded, they both fight ferociously. Red using every sneaky and underhanded technique in the book, while Blue fights honorably and patiently.
After several minutes of intense fighting, they both take a step back to breathe.
"Temporary truce?" Red asked.
Blue just nodded.
While they were both catching their breaths, Red's mind was in overdrive.
"That fool… trusting me to obey a truce. I'll strike in just a moment while he is still resting."
He'll never see it coming.
After just a few seconds had passed, Blue looked up and asked, "You ready yet?"
Red shook his head.
"Not yet…" Red thought.
Blue nodded and looked away.
"Now!"
Red took two big steps forward and stabbed with all his might right for Blue's chest.
Blue deflected the attack and rammed his knife into Red's gut.
Time seemed to stand still for the two combatants as they held each other in a deadly embrace.
Blue holding the knife, and Red holding onto Blue, trying to prevent himself from collapsing to the ground.
Blue looked at Red and asked in a voice of cold finality, "Did you really think I wouldn't expect a sneak attack from you? An immoral, honorless rule-breaker such as yourself? It was obvious."
Blue pried Red off of him, and Red sunk to his knees, barely alive.
He managed to stammer out a reply.
"But-t… I was just taking advantage of a situation… just trying to survive…"
"Exactly. You were taking advantage of a situation by doing things that are against the rules. Everything has rules, and all rules have reasons. That stickybomb launcher you stole, taking weapons are against the rules because they will just backfire. Because you obviously didn't choose to stab the razorback, you weren't prepared for the voltage from the cables. Your watch broke because you misused it, probably by attacking while cloaked. The rules are in place to protect us, and to keep things fair. It also shows good character if you choose to abide by the rules, even if the opportunity arises that you can circumvent them. That's the difference between you and me."
Red had the thousand yard stare as he tried to take in everything Blue said. After a moment, he simply asked, "Now what?"
Blue replied, "Now, I put you out of your misery, and end this battle for good."
Blue drew his ambassador, and fired.
The nearby control point made a humming sound, and after a few seconds, the white light it was emitting turned blue.
The arena has been captured for the Blue team.
The battle is over.
Blue has won.