Team Sloth
"Welcome back to the 29th Annual Paintball of Paintballs Tournament!" An announcer spoke swiftly with an edge of excitement.
On screen, the young man was fitted with disheveled formal wear. He had on a partially tucked white dress shirt and dark green pants, a slack yellow tie that was tied loosely around his raised collar, and round opaque glasses that obscured his eyes with a white gleam.
For an announcer, his appearance seemed uncanny and somewhat laid back.
His slicked back, messy green hair was almost dusky in color and easily as prominent as his voice through the speakers of the large curved monitor.
The holographic screens he was displayed on floated in a suspended rotation at the center of the large dim room. Smooth, black metal built up the walls and multi-elevated floor all around it. Booths with glass tables, illuminated with subtle lime-green mood lights made up the exterior wall of the cue room.
"We're almost to the big thirty, can you believe it? This will most certainly be a Match Finals to watch." An older man, mid-fifties, spoke confidently and boisterously on the screen as well. His double-breasted burgundy suit gave him a look of authority, like that of a military officer; especially with his gold buttons and trim.
He rested his hands against his black pants as he turned to his announcement partner, making his slightly over-weight belly more prominent along with his fantastic mustache; that and his hair all greyed with age.
"That is all too true, Peter. This match will prove to be an exciting one, and with a big milestone approaching quite quickly in front of us, one can only assume this one will be the icing on the cake in anxious preparation." The green-haired man spoke, adjusting his glasses with two fingers as he stood up straight.
"Well said, Bartholomew. We have a lot of eager, and quite strapping young contestants this year. I look forward to a tremendous fight." Peter spoke in turn, turning his gaze back to the cameras.
"Oh, I have no doubt in my mind this will be a well fought battle royal. Not only do we have some of the most powerful returning competitors to date here in the stadium, but we also have some very promising new-comers as well. This will be an incredible brawl indeed." Bartholomew said, his voice drifting to the ears of everyone lounging in the large room as well as everywhere else it was being broadcasted.
The Paintball of Paintballs. A competitive tournament held every year to test the prowess of young combatants, as well as entertain the mass populous much like a national sport would. Shortened to the sweet acronym of PoP, the competition has grown and become the most popular and supported large event of the 26th Century.
One on one preliminaries have already been concluded, bringing all who remain in the brackets to the final Free-For-All in this paintball frenzy. Alliances will be made and broken, allies will be trusted and betrayed; every contestant will fight for their place as the number one spot and become the 29th PoP Champion.
Once inside the dedicated arena, anything goes.
Violations of the rules already set are impossible.
All is fair in paint and war.
As the announcers explained the competition, one solo-player slouched back in his seat and crossed his arms. His Alpha Black Elite paintball gun hung on its bandoleer strap as he tilted his head against the booth. His gun had an M-16 styled stock and a twelve inch ported barrel, all of which fitted to look like an M-16 assault rifle.
His pitch black visor obscured his eyes on his matt-black paintball helmet. If one could see them, they were loosely flicking between his competition. He took note of weapons in use, equipment strapped to their persons, and who may or may not try to shoot him right off the bat.
Granted, everyone spawned in at least 50 meters from another player, but there were still people who gunned it on their own.
"25 competitors huh?" The young man spoke evenly, his voice muffled by his mask. "…can't be too hard to find someone to team up with."
In an arena 1,250 meters in diameter, there had to be at least one person in need of an ally.
That was one of the only ways to make it through this.
Of course, if you were skilled with god-tier capabilities and unrivaled equipment, then you could gun it alone.
People have done it before.
Gazing down at the gun situated at his side, he grasped the handle tightly with his black-gloves hand and lifted it into view. "Could I do that?"
His internal montage of training sequences and struggles overcome flashed through his mind, each image strung together in a time-lined rush of thoughts. Before long, he cracked his neck and sat back against his seat again.
"Nope, I'm fucked. Gotta find a teammate."
In truth, he was rather skilled with a CO2 powered rifle and inaccurate spheres of shelled paint. But, was that really enough to beat some of the competition here?
Speaking of which…
A lone duo leaned against the wall not too far from his booth. Their presence alone dictated a wide birth to be set around them, without either of them really trying at all. No sane competitor stepped so much as within 3 meters of the dynamic duo.
Yet… they hardly seemed to notice.
With his arms crossed, a young man clad in a dark green and black regulation combat suit eyed his surroundings. His black helmet had a thin streak of pink running asymmetrically down the left side, and his black visor was more than enough to block any sight of anything behind it.
Two black holsters were fitted on either side of his waist with reserve ammo filling the open slots on his belt.
Agility, precision, speed, he was the perfect partner to his companion. Even his calm nature and stoic personality were compliments to the other.
Beside him, the young woman, his partner, was currently balancing her rifle atop her head as she lifted one of her legs off the floor. A horrifically large paint-hammer was strewn down her back; its heavy gleaming metallic head seemed to reflect even the dimmest of lights in the room. It had an intricate silver handle as well that subtly bent and curved in segments.
The head itself had layers of metallic plating that sharpened into points as they pulled backward from the flat front. And beneath them all was a snuggly fitted pink rotating six-chambered barrel.
It certainly brought an edge of unparalleled strength to the mix.
Much like the male next to her, she was wearing a light pink and white combat suit with a pink helmet. The material hugged her feminine curves nicely as well, yet no one seemed to eye her with any hint of adoration or desire.
In fact, people were scared to even look at her.
The sole reason behind this was the man in green. Rumors have drifted around over the years of their involvement with the PoP. Most people even find this common knowledge by now.
The two were an inseparable pair.
It's been rumored that no matter how far away they spawn from each other, they'll know exactly where their companion is located. And anyone who happened to spawn between them?
Well… they get eliminated. The only sign of the imminent doom so heartlessly shoved down their throats was a small, quiet, ear-tickling sloth call. If you weren't paying attention… you'd miss it. But those that heard it?
It was the ultimate sign of instantaneous humiliation and elimination. The single most unavoidable and inequitable reincarnate of death itself is summoned when one hears this noise…
There is no escape… there is no time to pray… there is nowhere to hide… it is the most unlucky, unfathomably unfortunate, spawn you can ever hope to start in. No one wants to spawn between them.
Simple really.
Was it safe to assume these two were unbreakable? Did they have some sort of subconscious connection? A personal and unworldly pull to one another?
Not really… maybe… who knows. But it's all common assumptions nonetheless.
In the twenty-nine years running of the tournament, no one has ever won the PoP more than once. There has always been someone greater in skill or power. Yet, this duo happened to win the past three competitions in a row. Not just that, but they both won.
Every time was different, but it would end in a similar fashion with each win.
Whether that was a simultaneous paint grenade or twin shots to the helmet, these two made an effort to be co-winners in each of their endeavors.
It's built them quite the reputation, and quite the impression. Those who looked at them in fear were those most likely to fall to their guns. However, there were some who glanced at them with determination, serious brow furrowing, and subtle grins of confidence.
For every show of power they've displayed, they've attracted rivals and competitors looking to beat the team that seemed to be unbeatable.
The team everyone wanted to be… but no one wanted to be associated with.
They were a dynamic duo, an unbreakable combination, the two most powerful deadly sins… they were known…
…as Team Sloth.
A name so ridiculous… it struck fear into the hearts of small animals.
And… subsequently… humans as well. Apparently.
"Wonder what makes those two so scary." The young man in black wondered curiously from his spot in his booth. He was new to town, and new to the tournament, so he had no prior knowledge of the two standing not six meters from his booth.
"-nd the current arena that this will all be taking place in will be as follows." Bartholomew, the announcer, once again was acknowledged as people turned to address his image.
"Ah yes, this year's biome selection was quite an interesting endeavor. Please, tell the young chaps what they're up against in this treacherous terrain…" Peter made a wide gesture, and the screen suddenly switched over to a wide digital image of the map they'll be fighting in.
"Interesting… and quite dramatic as well…" Bartholomew's voice was overlaid atop the display as the image colored and rotated to show off its regions. "Much like the world we live in, the terrain is constantly evolving. And so, this new arena will have five different biomes. The central biome is a city in ruins…"
The image zoomed in on the center and covered the layout of the city in bright grid-like patterns. "Surrounding this will be four different biomes altogether. A desert with rigid rock formations, a forest with densely packed trees, a tundra covered in ice and snow, and lastly…"
Zooming in on the final biome, several muffled gasps and side conversations broke out as the final terrain was revealed, "…a field of hot fire, red stone, and lava. Your suits are built to reject even the harshest of temperatures, so do not worry. However, please… do mind your step anyway."
The map spun and panned outward, showcasing the entire layout before fading and revealing the announcer broadcast once again.
"Peter." The man with green hair turned to address his partner.
"Bartholomew." Peter returned with his own gesture.
"I believe it's time to start off the Paintball of Paintballs Finals."
"It is."
"Well then!" Bartholomew clapped his hands together and took a long sip out of a large thermos that appeared out of frame, "Let's get this tournament under way, shall we! Competitors, prepare for instantaneous teleportation…"
The teen in black jerked his head back as he stood up and stared at the screen, "W-what was that?"
His inquiry fell on deaf ears as he was suddenly bathed in a bright white light. Everyone around him also became engulfed in similar illuminations as one by one, competitors began disappearing from the dim cue room they waited in.
As more and more people vanished, the newcomer to the competition gripped his M-16 tightly before he felt his light brighten momentarily. He suddenly felt a weightlessness blanket his stomach and lungs, his boots lifted off the ground and gravity soon pulled at his nerves…
But the moment only lasted a fraction of a second.
The world around him suddenly flashed into view and rendered in. The soft crunch of snow dully emanated from where his black boots made contact with the ground, and as quickly as the light appeared in the previous room…
It disappeared in an instant.
Leaving his black visor unobstructed and perfectly clear.
He spawned in the tundra biome. There were scattered ferns here and there, all of which covered in layers of thickly strewn snow. Beneath his feet was a mostly solid layer of the crystalized white substance, frozen enough to crunch with every step but not enough for his footing to be compromised.
He could tell it was deep though, and he was thankful he didn't sink into it.
That'd be problematic.
The watch that he was supplied suddenly beeped, and he lifted the device into view to notice a holographic number '5' displayed outward from its face. It beeped again as the number switched to a '4', and then continued.
"Three…" He spoke under his breath as he waited, "…two." Gulping down the anticipation and adrenaline suddenly coursing through him, he waited anxiously for the final number.
"…one."
His watch then displayed 'GO' in large text before flashing and letting the display fade back into the watch's screen.
"Here goes nothing…" The young man mumbled as he dropped his arm and raised his gun, settling his hand to grasp his fore grip instead as his other fingers were firmly wrapped around his handle.
All of a sudden though, there was a strange noise that echoed off of his surroundings.
It wasn't very loud. In fact, he almost didn't hear it at all. But because of how quiet his surroundings were at the moment, the subtle wind carried the sound directly to his alert ears.
Soft, reverberating, yet somehow sweet and oscillated; like it was rolled off the tongue.
He honestly coundn't tell if it was a male or female making the call, but it sounded strange. It was obviously from an animal… but why did it sound so human?
"Wait…" His visor tilted up and around as he gave it some thought, taking in his surroundings once again. Rigid formations of blue ice were scattered here and there where the trees weren't. There were a few patches of ice on the ground as well, and the rest was a smoothly hilled area covered in snow.
The sun even caused the cold surface to glisten and sparkle under its golden rays.
But there was one thing he was looking for…
His scrutinizing eyes suddenly stopped and he tilted his helmet, "No animals. What the hell made that noise then?"
The ground suddenly shook beneath him and he fell down into a crouch, planting his palm on the ground hard for needed support. All around him, the frozen surface of the snow and the ruggedly formed ice scattered around him cracked and crumbled.
"Earthquake?"
Oh no, something much… much worse.
A concussive shockwave blew across the tundra, the force tearing at his suit and nearly throwing him from his sunken position. The invisible wall of power blew the thick covering of snow off of every tree in sight and completely obliterated the formations of icy spikes and pillars in the same moment…
Rendering the hardened crystals into piles of shattered ice shards.
"What… the hell?!" His helmet snapped back and forth, trying to get a read on where that explosion came from and what caused it.
There was nothing in the distance in front of him, behind him, or on either side of him. Frantically, he checked his watch for some form of help or notifications…
There was an elimination count on it… and it was going down.
"Only nineteen people left? Already?!" The number then changed to eighteen, then seventeen, and all of a sudden another shockwave tore through the area.
This one… a lot closer.
He looked up just in time to see a small figure in the distance, standing atop the horizon of a faraway hill. It seemed to be looking around, dramatically with their hand placed flatly above their visor. It looked left, then right, then it seemed to spot the one clad in black.
A feeling of dread suddenly washed over the young man as he scrambled around to pick back up his rifle. The paintball gun was strewn on top of the snow at his side; having been yanked from his hands in the earlier concussive blast.
He finally grasped the handle and grip and raised the holographic site to his eye. The comfortable and familiar feeling of his stock pressing into the crook of his shoulder gave him a sense of confidence as he took aim at the figure in the distance.
Whoever it was, the person seemed to make a big happy wave then lift something into the air. It was a long thin shaft with some sort of large cylinder at its tip-
Oh god… The figure then gripped the shaft with both hands and reared the whole thing backward, dipping the tip up and over their head before slamming it forward.
There was a line of piercing light, shining brightly and momentarily from the point of impact before the world suddenly grew quiet.
And despite being so far away… despite the helmet covering his ears… or the sound of ice shards still crumbling and scattering… he heard it.
The subtle… mechanical sound… of a trigger.
And then…
Destruction.
Another enormous concussive blast ripped through his entire body. All loose ice and still standing structures were torn from the ground and propelled in a violent expanding storm of wind and debris. The wave didn't spare him this time either.
He was pulled forcefully from the ground and pushed backward.
If it weren't for his hand so deeply buried in the ground; he would've gone flying too and certainly would've been eliminated.
With the grip he had, he was slammed back into the icy ground behind his original cracked position. Whatever air was currently swirling in his lungs was painfully ripped out from his gasping lips and crashed against the inside of his visor.
As he looked up though, his bleary vision took in the site of a horribly cratered hillside.
Right… where that person… was standing… before…
The once white snow that resided there was now blanketed in a widely dispersed layer of pink paint.
He took a sharp intake of air and coughed away his aching pain, "W-where did she…?" A small shadow suddenly caught his attention. It dashed across the ground and quickly approached him, and whatever it was… it was getting bigger.
"Shit!" Gripping his gun in one hand and planting his other into the ground, he hefted himself off the ground and backed away quickly.
Right in front of where he laid a mere second ago landed the figure from before in a loud display of sunken snow and shattered ice fragments. The violent crash-landing whipped up a veil of powdered snow, completely shrouding him and the person in front of him inside its white cloud.
There was the resounding clang of metal, then the sound of a strap being tugged on. The noise of heavy plastic falling into solid hands then graced his ears, and he quickly raised his own gun to counter.
His vision was dusted white, blind from the cloud around him, so he didn't know exactly where she was right now. So he waited…
Slowly, the airborne snow began to settle.
Light twinkled and illuminated falling crystals, the wind around them stilling now as the blanket of powder drifted to the ground.
After a few more seconds, he got his vision back.
If front of him stood that girl from before. Her pink helmet was tilted with her black visor staring down the iron-sight of a JT E-Kast submachine gun. The white gloves of her hands held it deftly in her grasp as she held the barrel perfectly at the center of his mass.
"Have you seen my Ren?" The girl suddenly spoke, but remained still.
The young man could only continue to stare, his trigger finger twitching softly as he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, "Who's Ren?"
The girl's head tilted the other way this time and raised one of her hands, "He's wearing dark green and has a black helmet. There's a cute pink streak running down the left side of it and he's about this tall…" She held up her free hand and brought it up to slightly higher than her own head.
"You mean that guy who was with you in the cue room?" The male asked.
She nodded her head excitedly and dropped her barrel, pointing it to the ground now, "Yeah yeah, that's him! Have you seen Ren-Ren?!"
She dropped her guard! The teen in black quickly pulled his trigger and fired off a burst of three shots.
He was silently cheering, he was going to eliminate one of the strongest competitors! And it was as easy as-
The girl snapped her gun forward and rapidly fired off three consecutive rounds, moving her hand a fraction of an inch each time and blasting the man's paintballs out of the air with her own.
"Come on! That's not an answer, silly! You're supposed to give me a direction."
She… she just… and so casually… what exactly am I against?! The teen choked up and fired off another burst, only for the girl to shoot those paintballs out of the air again and sigh.
"We can keep doing this… or I could shoot you and move on. So stop being so stubborn already!"
"How can you even do that?!" The male suddenly yelled.
Tilting her head curiously, the skilled girl brought a hand up beneath her chin and appeared to wonder what exactly he meant by that. It was actually a cute pose… and he would've noticed if he weren't so terrified right now.
"Do what?" She responded.
Firing off two bursts this time, the six paintballs met the same fate as the ones before with quick agile snapshots from his opposition. Each of the small black objects imploding and smashing against equally sized pink orbs.
"That!" He cried out, gesturing to the crushed ammo laying on the snow between them.
Her gaze followed his hand and she lowered her gun once again, "Oh, that! You're just too predictable is all."
Predictable. Is that all there is to it? "You can't just shoot a guy's paintballs out of the air with that much accuracy and just explain it with predictability." She had to be kidding.
"Maybe I'm just really, really fast. Like lightning! Buuuuut faster!" She spanned her hands out dramatically.
He could only imagine a massive grin plastered on the girl's face right about now… he wasn't sure if it was unsettling or calming. Her laid back attitude and excited nature were… strangely both. In the end, he was more so calm than freaked out though.
"…who are you?" He spoke back finally; however he had yet to answer the girl's important question.
"Not telling!~" She responded, sticking her tongue out and tilting her head into her fist adorably.
Of course, he couldn't see the tongue.
"Nooot unless… you tell me where Ren is. Have you seen him?" She asked again.
"If I did, I wouldn't be here right now." The male mumbled exasperatedly, finally dropping his barrel as well. If he really did have a run in with this 'Ren', he'd definitely already be eliminated if this is the kind of skill he's supposed to be expecting from them.
"Awwwweeee… I guess you were useless after all." Stumbling backward, the black suited teen suddenly sputtered on his words as the girl lifted her barrel again.
"W-w-wai-"
"Nora?"
Huh?! The girl's helmet suddenly turned and looked over the guy's shoulder, her gaze directed at where that new voice came from.
"Ren!"
The young man was unbelievably relieved when the pink girl dropped her aim and dashed past him. His eyes followed her moments later and saw her skid to a stop in front of a casually standing male in a dark green suit.
He was the one with the black helmet and pink streak on it.
Ren… I am so dead now, aren't I…
The girl laughed giddily before leaning in and poking the center of Ren's visor with her finger, "Boop. Found you!~"
Ren holstered his two Custom Tippmann 98 machine pistols at his waist and rested a gentle hand atop his partner's helmet, "Yes. Yes you did."
He petted her helmet affectionately before his gaze fell on the awkwardly shifting third party in the snow. His relief had already vacated his mind… and was replaced with fear while he fruitlessly grasped his gun under the gaze of Ren.
Lots… and lots… of fear.
He was so going to die.
"Oh him?"
Dead. Dead. So very dead…
"Yeah. Who is he?"
Nobody! I'm nobody! Please don't eliminate me! The one in question screamed in his mind as he fought himself not to turn and run. It would only end with a paintball to the back of the head.
"I was asking him if he saw where you went so I could find you. He wasn't very useful…"
Ren hummed and started walking toward the unknown player, "Is that so?" Slowly, with menacing indifference, the green competitor coolly walked up to the male in the black suite. With the smallest of movements, Ren lifted his hand and placed it on the teen's shoulder…
…
…and gave it a gentle squeeze with a nod of the head. "Well, I suppose I should thank you."
T-t-thank… m-me? "I-I'm sorry… I thought I was useless… why thank me?" Confusion, bewilderment, unbridled fear… those were some of the feelings currently present in the young man's mind.
"If it weren't for you… who knows where Nora would've jumped next. I'm glad you held her in place for as long as you did." Ren said with a hidden smile, and then he stepped away.
"Oh… really Ren?" Nora asked, stepping up to her green-clad partner's side.
Ren gave a small nod, "I was following the sloth call when I saw the hills over there covered in pink paint, and the concussive shockwaves that caused it were moving in this direction. So, I decided to rush to your next landing zone."
"Awe… sorry, I guess I got a little carried away. I hate staying in one place."
"It's fine. No harm done." Ren's visor then turned to the one in black once again. After a few silent seconds, Ren extended his hand with a friendly open palm. "What's your name?"
To be honest, he's surprised he even reacted as fast as he did. And so, the young man extended his own hand and firmly grasped Ren's in a friendly handshake, "T-the name's Storm."
"Storm huh, nice name." Ren replied before pulling his hand back.
Nora came around and pet Storm's shoulder, "Whew… I thought you'd say Nimbus or something."
Storm shrugged her hand off and sighed, "That's not actually a bad name. Sort of creative."
"Not really." Ren cut in before placing his hands at his sides and caressed his guns with attentive fingers, "It's nice to meet you Storm. I'm surprised you haven't reacted like most people would."
"Most people?" Storm inquired.
"Yeah…" Nora sighed as she dropped her helmet, solemnly looking at her feet, "Most people run, or cry, or run and cry. Or just lock up in fear, I mean… what's up with that? Seriously. And then the rest just shoot at us no matter what we say. At first, I thought you'd be just like that." She suddenly shot her gaze back up and flicked Storm's visor.
"But nope! You are actually not like that. So… wanna team up?" She asked with a tilt of the head again.
Ren stood by Nora's side and gave Storm a soft nod, giving him and his partner his silent support.
Teammates… with the strongest team in existence… hell yeah I'm in! "Sure, sounds like fun."
Meanwhile, up on a nearby hill.
"Red to Flame leader…" A slightly younger girl lay idle atop a snowy hill. Scattered remains of ice crystals and branches littered her surroundings… but she paid them no mind. She was sporting a red and black combat suit with a red cloak wrapped comfortingly around her neck.
The hood bunched up behind her helmet, and the tail trailed down her back to rest behind her thighs. Her friends often advised against wearing it. It'd impede movement, cause sound, or even alert the enemies… they've used all of the excuses in the book.
Nope.
She would have none of that. She could do what she wanted. And if she wanted to wear her mother's cloak… she will wear her mom's cloak.
"What's up, Rubes?" A cherry voice responded through their inter-helmet com system.
"Yaaaang… what happened to the code names?" Ruby whined quietly, tilting her helmet back in annoyance. She nearly bumped her scope in the process.
"Laaame. Sorry little sis, they just don't sound cool." Yang retorted.
"But code names are cool…" Ruby mumbled.
"What was that?"
"N-nothing!" Ruby shifted her position ever so slightly, then rested her helmet back against the stock of her gun. It was a repainted version of a Remington 700 rifle, an M24 Sniper Weapons System.
Or M24 SWS for short.
Her baby was painted black with red detailing. Each of her noticeably separate portions or accessories were a nice solid red while the rest remained black, giving it one of her favorite color schemes ever. Her scope was a 5-12x42.
And of course, that meant it was a variable scope. So at any time she could switch to anywhere between 5x zoom and 12x zoom.
She double checked her height and wind variable, along with the bullet drop on her paintballs and the differentiation of temperature in the tundra biome. Making sure all these settings were still accurate, she rested her crosshairs back on the trio in the distance and relaxed her breathing.
"Anyway. Target sighted. And it looks like Team Sloth has found an ally." Ruby informed to her apparent 'Flame' leader.
"He seem dangerous?" Yang asked.
"Yes, he's wearing all black."
Ruby heard a well-deserved sigh carry through the speaker in her helmet, "Ruby… just because he's wearing black doesn't mean he's powerful."
"But… every anime character who wears black is always powerful!" Ruby returned full heartedly.
"Not every-"
"Every. Single. Time."
"Whatever, just… just take the shot. We're in position." Yang face palmed, where ever she was, and gave Ruby the green light to fire.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure, whatever." Ruby moved her crosshairs, glancing over each respective head of the people below. She stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and clamped her lips around it, her mind falling into a steady focus as she determined which to eliminate first.
Nora, the strength of the team. Can't have her alive… but at the same time, she's a preferred brawler. I can take her out easily after dropping the others. Ren, he'll be quick to respond if I drop Nora first anyway. But… what about that unknown?
He's a liability. An unforeseen variable. What if he's some sort of ungodly force? What if his alliance has forever secured Team Sloth's victory?
Should I drop him first? Her crosshairs hovered over Storm's helmet below, Ruby contemplating whether or not to pull the trigger.
Yang's words suddenly echoed in her head, and she swiped her aim back onto the other two. Nah, Team Sloth is the priority here. She made up her mind and rested her crosshairs on the side of Ren's helmet.
Taking a slow, deep, intake of air. She controlled her breathing and slowed her heartrate, and on her exhale… she pulled the trigger.
There was a dull pop from the release of pressurized CO2, and then the barely notable whistle of her unleashed orb of red paint. She was too far away for it to be heard, and it would take inhuman speeds to react to the whistling noise.
She had them.
They had finally gotten the upper hand.
They were going to win this time. Thanks to Ruby, Team Sloth will be defeated today!
Her gleaming red bullet passed through the air undeterred; only shaking against the wind as it pushed through the slowed time-vortex of Ruby's adrenaline filled mind.
80 meters… 50 meters… 20 meters… the paintball was closing in now.
It was only a matter of time-
No… no No NO! Ren's visor snapped to his left, his gaze staring directly at Ruby's current position. In the next instant, he drew his pistol and fired over Storm's shoulder…
Sending his green paintball directly into her perfectly placed red sphere.
How?! Her crushed ball fell uselessly to the ground just a few meters from her target; the paint meshed and crushed against that of Ren's own ammunition.
"He blocked it!" Ruby called out, slamming her bolt back before ramming it forward to prime the next orb.
Immediately, she pulled the trigger.
Down below, all three helmets were turned to face the direction of the sniper.
"What's going on?" Storm asked, unsurely drifting his gaze over the horizon.
Ren fired off another shot, his paintball making contact once again with their assailant's before dropping harmlessly to the ground, "We have company." He informed calmly.
Nora's helmet perked up as she whipped out her hammer, "Awesome, fresh bait! Want me to level their position?"
Ren's helmet shook subtly as he unleashed more shots, each one dropping to the snowy ground with an added mixture of red, "We don't know how many there are. I need you hear instead of on your own. Besides, Storm's here now. He needs to be acquainted with our strategies."
Storm switched his gaze between Ren and Nora, and then tightened his grip on his M-16. "So, got anything in mind then?" He asked.
Ren's eyes never left his assailant atop the hill as more and more splashes of paint were plummeting to the ground, "Yean. Nora, watch our surroundings. Storm, I need you to aim at precisely thirty-six degrees and unload your current clip above that sniper's position. At that angle, your rifle's rounds should fall on top of them in a condensed spread of paint. Can you do that?"
Storm brought his gun up and lifted it to around the mentioned angle that Ren requested, "Of course I can. Just let me know when, pal."
"Fire."
He immediately sent off burst after burst of his current magazine. Unloading every paintball he had left in his clip into the air before sliding the empty container out and priming in a fresh one.
"Think it'll hit?"
"Probably not."
Storm turned his gaze to Ren as the young man dropped his own barrel to face the ground, "Then why have me waste all that ammo?"
As Ren reloaded his current machine pistol, he spared Storm a glance before turning back to the hillside. "To get them to move."
Up on the hillside, small splashes of black paint began raining down at its peak. From it ran a small red figure; a short streak of red trailing behind them as they sprinted.
"It's a she." Storm noted, to which Ren gave a curt nod. "Should we follow?"
"Guys, more company." Nora suddenly cut in.
The two guys' heads turned to Nora, whose own gaze was directed at an approaching crowd.
"What the…" Storm noticed the strangely large number of competitors stepping down off of the surrounding hills. All of them converging at a distance around the three in the center as Team Sloth plus Storm pushed themselves back-to-back.
"What's with the large alliance?" Storm wondered aloud, but he received no response.
The red sniper hopped through the snow until she came to a stop beside a bright yellow figure. She seemed slightly older than the young one clad in red, maybe by two years at least. Whoever she was though, she had a racing yellow colored helmet with a black visor.
Her suit was mostly black with some yellow highlights, and her weapons of choice were a drum-magazine Thompson sub-machine gun as well as a large green bazooka strapped to her back.
To her right was someone who was similarly dressed, however to accent their black outfit was a deep purple rather than a yellow. The three so far were all female, from the looks of them. And the one in black and purple had a black helmet, but atop her accessory were protrusions that seemed to give her head a cat-like appearance.
Like cat ears.
In her hands was a light machine gun, and holstered on her side was a pistol.
"Team Sloth! We have you surrounded, so why don't 'cha give up while we're ahead!" The yellow one called out. Her voice was strangely excited with a hint of anger and a whole lot of confidence.
No one gave a response from the trio.
"Come on! There is no need for a firing squad you three. Just set your guns down and settle this diplomatically." A forth spoke up. Storm quickly looked to the girl beside the red sniper.
She had a pure white helmet on, and her suite was mainly light blue with a few traces of black and white here and there. Her waist was fitted with numerous paint-grenades and in her hand was a powerful semi-automatic pistol.
"Why would we do that?" Nora called back.
"Because you have no chance of winning!" The white-helmet clad female responded.
Nora and Ren shared a look, then raised their guns; prompting Storm to do the same.
"And if we refuse?" Nora asked.
"You lose. Easy to understand right? So, we can do this the easy way… or the fun way… which will it be?!" The one in yellow jumped in again; visibly cracking her knuckles before taking aim with her gun.
Every single person surrounding them brought up their own guns as well.
It was 14 to 3.
The odds were not in their favor.
Or were they?
Storm took in his enemies positions. There were the four at their front, the obvious leading team of the lot of them. Behind them, he noticed a clear pairing of two competitors as well.
They were standing closer together than the rest of the randomly assorted combatants.
One of them had a dirty yellow helmet on, and his suit was a mixture of red, blue, and mostly white. His AK-47 styled rifle sat somewhat professionally in his hands.
He didn't seem too masterful with his gun, however he didn't seem like a rookie either.
Somewhere in between.
Beside him stood a much more composed combatant. She had a bright red helmet on with a gold and red suite beneath it. An MK 14 rifle with a short-range scope attached to it rested in her firm hands. She had a much more curvy body than the majority of the girls that he'd noticed around them. She, along with the yellow and purple at his front, were noticeably more attractive than the rest.
No one failed to notice the red sniper or white pistol-wielder either. And of course, Nora was up there as well.
Storm didn't bother taking in anyone else. Maybe the one with a gold gattling gun… but that was about it.
In his mind, they were screwed. But, he kept up with what Ren and Nora were doing. Standing guard against a squadron of competitors four times their size.
"Guys… what's the plan?" Storm asked in a hushed tone.
"Nora, how many kills do you have?" Ren asked at the same volume.
"Seven."
Ren nodded his head subtly in acknowledgement, "We need to get you three more."
"Three more? For what?" Storm asked.
"You'll see. Just do everything you can to protect her, and make sure she gets those kills."
Storm looked back at the tense situation around them. Y-yeah… how exactly are we going to last that long? Of course, he didn't ask this aloud.
Might as well go down fighting.
"Final offer! Surrender now or get shot down!" Yang called out once again. The three in the center seemed to share another conversation. Storm and Nora nodded a few times, then after several seconds, the three raised their guns again.
In response to her demand, Ren and Storm ducked to the ground. Above them, Nora whirled around and unleashed a hail of bullets into the wall of teens on their side of the circle.
And thus started the carnage.
Shooting up onto his feet, Ren flipped over Nora as she ducked to the ground, flipping elegantly through the air as he grasped his pistols in his hands and took aim.
Holding his arms out on either side of himself, he delivered his own hail of bullets at the incoming fleet of multi-colored orbs.
His quickly spinning form and quickly firing guns was an epic display of maneuverability. He flipped, landed on his feet, then leapt again as he continued to pelt the incoming ammunition out of the air. As he did this, Nora pitched in as well and took out the stray paintballs that Ren didn't have time for.
"Storm… do me a favor." She spoke up over the rapid shots all around her.
"Hmm?" Storm responded, letting her know she had his attention. He was currently reducing the incoming barrage by taking out some of the weak links in the chain of people around them.
"Cover me!"
Nora slid into the dead center of everything and pulled up her watch. The kill-count on it displaying the number '10' as she rapidly opened up a holographic menu.
Storm didn't ask questions, he started firing off more and more barrages as he attempted to fill in the gap Nora opened up. He supported Ren now, taking out the incoming hail of paintballs as Ren continued his protective destruction above.
How… how can a human even do that? To be able to read the trajectory of more than ten guns around him, then fire accordingly to take out the closest ones? And without mistake? Storm shivered from the mere presence of that kind of ability.
Team Sloth was seriously a force to be reckoned with.
As his barrage continued, and their assailants were becoming increasingly more irritated, something interrupted their shootout.
Ren dropped to the ground, visibly panting as the remaining nine opponents lowered their guns; helmets tilted to the sky.
"U-uh… guys?! What's that noise?" The yellow helmeted male called out.
Loose ice began to shake on the ground as the sky began to rumble, the continuous sound of thunder increasing in volume as the noise vibrated the air itself.
"Thunder?" Storm asked.
"N-no… oh what the hell, how?!" Yang exclaimed, lifting her gun once again to fire at the trio.
Nora was quick to stand and block her shots as the rumbling got louder.
"Too slow!" She called out with a laugh, irritating the blonde-helmet further.
"Yang? What's wrong?" A calm, almost accented, voice spoke from the girl clad in purple at Yang's side.
"I-I don't know how… but they got one! Blake! They got a Rolling Thunder!" The yellow combatant yelled furiously as she emptied yet another clip in a fruitless attempt to end this now.
The rumbling was becoming deafening. All around them, the world began to shake violently. And to everyone's now growing fear… a massive bat-shaped jet was approaching from the north.
"Y-you can't be serious?!" The white-helmeted girl exclaimed.
"T-that's a carpet bomb guys… and it's approaching fast." The sniper spoke meekly, stepping back fearfully as she began to turn.
Her shoulder was soon caught by her elder sister's hand, "Sorry Rubes, but there's no escaping a carpet bomb."
Across the way, the voice of the female behind them spoke up, "Wouldn't you get caught in the blast as well?" She asked curiously, her bright red helmet tilting in confusion.
Ren and Nora simply huddled closer together, pulling Storm in with them as the two gave everyone blank stares.
Silence once again blanketed everyone in the immediate area, the only noise now solely being the dangerously loud thunderous bellow of the jet engines above.
Everyone looked up for the final time. The 10-killstreak rolled directly above their location and dropped its ten ton paint-laced payload. Hopelessly, the assailants watched as a wide dispersion of clustered spheres of liquid paint fell from the sky.
It was over.
All of them, doomed.
Every last one of them.
The first glob struck the ground, flooding the area of impact in an explosion of thick pink paint. Then the next, and the next, it was as if the flood-gates had just been pried open.
The buffoon with the yellow helmet and his bright red companion were crushed by another huge fluctuating sphere of liquid, sprawling out their forms in a jumbled heap of motionless limbs.
Purple and yellow soon met the same fate. A pink orb crashed into their position and sent them sprawling as well.
As the final two girls of the surrounding group cowered together in one-another's arms, another glob landed atop their hugging forms and washed them down the nearest hill.
"Nora."
Nora hopped to her feet, the sky around them blanketed in a still raining cluster of paint-bombs. But she gave her companions a mock salute before giving her hammer a magnificent twirl.
What happened next… surprised Storm.
As several orbs threatened to fall on their own position, he watched as the pink girl's hammer collapsed in on itself.
The segmented handle folded up and nested itself mostly inside the hammer's cylinder. All the while, the panels around the inner chamber rotated and shifted. The metal pushed forward and pulled backward in a cool animation of mecha-shifting before settling into the compacted form of a heavy grenade launcher.
"Super Nora barrier… ACTIVATE!" Nora called out happily as she fired off several air-propelled paint-grenades.
The small explosives rocketed into the air before piercing the massive globs falling upon them at their centers. Their metallic capsules sunk into the surfaces of the threatening spheres before causing each glob to suddenly implode.
Each orb the grenades entered imploded in on itself before rupturing and dispersing whatever paint it was made of in a wide ring of force.
And just like that, Nora cleared the sky above them with the remaining explosives in her beloved weapon of pure destruction.
"Tada! Like magic!" She laughed happily as she plopped herself down next to the two guys on the tundra floor.
All around them was a freezing ocean of pink paint. Several limp bodies floated here and there, but they paid them no mind.
The only white that was left still shining in the large area of their surroundings was directly around them. Snow glistened in a lopsided circle surrounding their sitting forms, completely untouched by any paint thanks to Nora's explosive methods.
"That… was… incredible. You guys are awesome." Storm smiled behind his visor. He rested his rifle on the ground and leaned his head back.
"You get used to it." Ren sighed, giving his two teammates a tap on the helmet before reaching behind him.
His movement caught the other two's attention, and before Storm could even voice his curiosity…
Ren pulled out a paint-grenade.
But before he could pull the pin, Nora gently rested her hand atop his fingers, "Wait…"
Ren's visor tipped up to gaze into Nora's, Storm's did the same, and the two waited for the girl to continue.
"How about we celebrate our new alliance with a little special surprise?" She asked with a wide smile.
"Surprise?" Storm asked.
Ren however began to chuckle lightly as he put his grenade away, "Sure, why not. Storm, welcome to the team." He reached over and squeezed the newcomer's shoulders.
"Yeah! And I've got just the thing to celebrate!" Nora exclaimed.
"Before you do though, first thing's first…" Ren held up his hand for a moment, stopping whatever it was Nora was about to do. He then turned his head to Storm and gave him his attention.
"We're all going to meet up after this, feel free to join us." He said kindly.
Storm nodded, pulling his hands into fists as he looked between Ren and Nora. I think I'll like it here… "I'd be more than happy to. Where are the two of you meeting?"
Ren's smile got a little bigger as he pulled his hand away, "We'll be in Remnant. It's a small café on the east side of the city. It's easy enough to find."
"Practically everyone who competes in this thing goes there after each match." Nora commented with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Storm was… genuinely happy. He gave the two people another nod, two new friends, as his mind began to wonder what the two looked like behind their helmets. But, he'd find out soon enough. "I'm glad I met you two. Nora… Ren… I'll see you two soon then."
"That you will, buddy." Ren replied.
Storm then turned to a giddy Nora, "Alright, so what's this surprise?"
He suddenly noticed Nora had been hiding her watch behind her back, completely out of view during their conversation.
Quirking an eyebrow, his mind suddenly began to piece the information together.
Wait a sec… how many kills did she wrack up with her rolling thunder? Recounting the remaining combatants in his head… he realized something that was unbelievably terrifying…
Nora had single-handedly destroyed almost all of the competition.
Save for the one he had taken out, and the one Ren eliminated as well. That left '20'… Oh god…
Nora stood up, throwing her hands toward the sky as the two guys looked up.
"ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT!"
It was then, in this moment, that the clouds above them parted in an expanding circle of fluffy wisps… numerous openings appeared all around them after the initial central one occurred as well…
And then…
…
The world shattered.
…
The 29th Annual Paintball of Paintballs Tournament had ended. There were three winners that day.
It was spectacular.
Disclaimers:
I do not own any rwby-verse characters. Nor do I take credit for the Paintball of Paintballs styled tournament. That was inspired from the Bullet of Bullets Tournament in Season 2 of Sword Art Online, during the Gun Gale Online arc.
Team Sloth OP!
Also, this story was for a friend. Happy Birthday Afro! God Speed.