"Five, four, three, two, one: fight to the death."
The Announcer's voice sounded much too happy for Robin's liking. Unlike her eight teammates, Robin hesitates to leave the "respawn room". This is sudden death, an arena where the machines won't bring you back if you die. Being so spoiled with respawn, even abusing the system once or twice, Robin isn't so sure if she's ready to die yet. She has never been in a place like this before, her job as Scout only a fresh month, but she has heard many things from her team such as the death being real and this battle being a monthly routine. A monthly routine. This nightmare won't happen once, oh no, it will continue until she dies, and though they're only against one enemy, she fears today will be her last.
Sniper's voice screams throughout the area. Robin is still in the room and already she's lost a friend. Pyro is next, then Engineer. One-by-one through the music of the battle in Military Area she can hear the cries of each man until suddenly all is quiet. Robin backs far away from the opening until her back hits the wall and she slides down in the corner. They're gone. All of her teammates, all of her friends are dead and gone forever. How can something like this happen monthly?! Slow, quiet footsteps approach the opening. Blue eyes stay glued to the entrance in wait, her heart beating quickly in fear. Tears form in the backs of her eyes, but none come out. She won't allow herself to cry during the final minutes of her life. A shadow slithers inside followed by a man she could almost mistake to be her own teammate. This man is identical to her team's Spy, the exceptions being his fedora and a missing jacket to the three-piece suit. This is the man who single-handedly killed off her entire team. Robin almost refuses to believe it if it weren't for the blood stains shared by both sides on his white dress shirt. Their eyes make contact and again Robin has trouble believing it, then she notices the knife and fear returns. She presses her back more and more into her small corner with each step he takes; it isn't long until he's standing directly in front of her.
Do I plead or accept my fate...?
The Spy kneels down to her level, tips his fedora and offers a small, "Good day." Confusion washes over Robin. Does he plan to kill her or treat her like a newly moved-in neighbor...? "G-... Good day..." is Robin's reply, her voice quiet and unsure. He raises a gloved hand to her shoulder and leans in close to the opposite ear, whispering, "Zhey are playing a prank on you, ma petite Scout. I promise you will wake up again."
Before Robin can think or ask she feels a stabbing pain in her back, quite literally. She has just been backstabbed for the very first time. It isn't a pleasant feeling, but it is very quick. All in just one second she limps forward into the Spy before everything turns black. A few seconds later is when Robin opens her eyes again and finds herself on the white tiled floor of the familiar respawn room in Teufort. The pain in her back is still present as she sits up, then she becomes distracted by Soldier's obnoxious squeaky laughter. Playing a prank...
"The fuck're you laughin' at, numbnuts?" she bites at the American, who immediately ceases at the language and invades Robin's personal space.
"This is why I do not want a crybaby having a slap fight on my battlefield! You should be ready to fight to the death instead of crawling into a corner!" he screams loudly in her face. Not exactly a scream, but may as well call it that, even though this kind of volume is normal for this psychotic man.
"I ain't no crybaby ya self-centered prick an' I would 'a been ready ta fight in a situation like that if I was told ahead 'a time so I could train harder an' be prepared!" Robin smacks Soldier's helmet down before storming out of the respawn room, angry and embarrassed. She hasn't gotten along with the patriotic crazy man since day one and at this point she doesn't really care to even try anymore, though she can hear Medic scolding Soldier about his "prank" and it brings a smile to her lips. Surprisingly Soldier doesn't go out of his way to bother her through the rest of the day. Of course she doesn't ask or complain, happily seeing a quiet day and is now extremely curious of what the good doctor said to make Soldier leave her be. As the sun begins to set and the mercenaries finish their dinners, Robin takes care of the majority of plates and silverware before excusing herself to visit Medic in his office. As expected the area is clean and spotless to the point where even the doves are making sure to not leave one dirty speck. One dove in particular, on the other hand...
"Archimedes, no! You are not helping! Go, shoo!" the German scolds as he tries to wash away fresh blood from his operating table, but the small troublemaker continues jumping in the small puddles and happily leaves tracks everywhere he walks. Robin whistles for Archimedes and the bird responds instantly, abandoning his mess and making purchase on her shoulder.
"Gah, danke, Scout. Please help me discipline him vhen you get zhe chance. He is getting much vorse lately," Medic explains and quickly wipes away the remaining blood.
"When's the late time you made time for 'im? Poor baby might just be tryin' ta—trying to get your attention." Sometimes Robin forgets to correct herself around Medic, especially after Soldier riles her up and her accent makes itself more apparent than usual. If she's really ticked Medic excuses it, but pet-peeves are pet-peeves and she tries to fix it for him anyway. A simple kind gesture.
"Mm... Zhat may be true... Archimedes, come be my assistant." At the kind offer Archimedes quickly abandons Robin to rest on the doctor's shoulder, his head happily held high. "Told ya so," she remarks with a grin. Medic shushes her before the simple checkup begins. Every now and then each mercenary must go visit their most wonderful doctor for a checkup or some kind of examination. The main reason for this is to make sure the respawn machines are not leaving any wounds or scars, though such an occasion is rare with Engineer checking the machines at least once a day. In fact neither of the RED mercenaries can remember the last time they came back with a scratch, the most recent incident being Sniper's encounter with the enemy Spy and receiving a cut along his left cheek, partially his nose, and even the top of his ear.
"I vant to take zhis time und apologize about Soldier's "prank". I know how vell you two get along und I told him to make sure you vere informed about how zhe respawn machines vorked vizh Freak Fortress... Haa, I should have just told you myself..."
"It's okay, Doc. Heh, I'm glad we're all still alive... but, uh... So what's "Freak Fortress" anyway?"
"Before I even begin to explain please forget everyzhing Soldier has told you about it."
"Way ahead of ya, Doc."
"Gut. Now zhen, Freak Fortress is an event zhat bozh RED und BLU must take part in every monzh. Vhat happens is zhat instead of fighting each ozher, ve fight against zhese... monsters. In separate areas, of course. Zhe monster ve fought today calls himself Gentlespy. He is much more skilled zhan eizher of zhe Spies, und sadly stronger zhan zhe nine of us..."
"Are there more of these... monsters?"
"Ja, many more. Ve fight a different vone each monzh."
"How does that work exactly? Why are we fighting them, and why is it a monthly thing? Not that I wanna question too much, but fighting against monsters seems more like a spontaneous thing than a scheduled thing."
"Vell, ve are fighting as ve normally do. Zhose monsters are occupying areas ve need. Vhy it is a scheduled zhing I have no idea, but ve get paid more."
"Oh, well that's awesome, I guess. Where'd they come from?"
"Ve don't know, but ve must execute zhem as soon as possible. At least next monzh you know you vill live, so give it your all. You are zhe only vone as fast as zhem, Scout."
"Aw jeez... Alright Doc, I'll do my best."
"Gut girl. Now zhen, turn around und let me see your back..."
In just a few quick minutes Robin's small examination is finished. Good news: her body has yet to be claimed by any malfunctions from the machine. She is relieved by this, but she has only been with her team for a month, so receiving a permanent scratch or two is bound to happen eventually. She hopes it will be a good scar worthy of being permanent.
Quickly the days begin to go by after Robin's first Freak Fortress experience. With each daily mission she changes her routine to practice for the next encounter by targeting certain enemies at certain times. Of course she makes sure to never stray from her job when it comes to capturing the enemy Intelligence or a point, but along the way she invents new moves and strategies for each enemy, mainly the enemy Spy. When she's not in the middle of a battle during the day, at night she's lying in bed thinking about the man called Gentlespy. Man? Monster? ... Freak? He looked normal... At least he looked like a man. Robin is anxious to meet the other "freaks", anxious of what they can do and how they will slaughter her and her team.