Edit: Fixed grammar issues and some minor continuity details.
Edit 2: Refreshed it with actual information good to the lore and grammar stuff. Reorganized some stuff too. Added a lore entry at the end.
Jingles kept a steady track on Sombra's signature as Russell followed the outline that was supposed to be the woman. Leaping over a duct, Russell pursued the elusive hacker, sliding under some pipes and double-jumping once he got close enough to his target.
"Fast one, eh?" Sombra said as she sidestepped the Hunter's punch. Her quip proved to be a mistake as Russell quickly took the opening and backhanded the side of her head. "Ow! Come on, dude!" The hacker threw something down behind Russell before going in for a punch.
Russell attempted to grab her hand, but the woman teleported behind him and landed the punch to the back of his head. It would have been an impressive move if she had Titan levels of strength, but that wasn't the case.
"Good hit, but…" Russell turned around and grabbed the woman's neck. "Bit of a lightweight, aren't ya?" He threw the woman to the edge of the rooftop.
Sombra barely had enough time to sit herself up before Russell's foot was pressing on her ankle with enough pressure to fracture the bone. She grit her teeth and groaned in pain.
Russell took out the Ace of Spades. "You know, I should just get rid of you right now." He said.
"But I need a favor."
"Hey man I'll do whatever you want, just let me go." Sombra coughed a few times. "You need information? I have everything-Agh!" Russell pressed down on her ankle.
"I don't need information. I need you to…create a fake identity for me." The hacker's brows furrowed as she looked at him with confusion, ignoring the current strain on her foot.
"Is that seriously it?"
"Yep, I'll let you off easy this time. Next time…not so much. My drone here will send you the details." Jingles materialized.
"She tried to hack me. Fortunately, I don't rely on TCP/IP protocols so she just went into a dead end. They still rely on Unix based software, you know that?" Jingles monologued.
"What kind of name is-Agh oh come on!" Russell pressed on her now broken ankle.
"You really should stop trying to be funny sometimes." The Hunter smiled at Sombra. "Olivia."
"H-How do you know that name?" He let go of her ankle.
"Connections. Now get out of sight before this beauty here blows your brains out." For effect, Russell twirled the Ace of Spades, and trained it on the woman. "You have ten seconds before I start shooting."
Sombra quickly scrambled to her feet, relying on the foot that had the non-broken ankle. She turned around and then disappeared.
"Make sure it looks realistic!" Russell called out before turning away, giving one last look over his shoulder as a small airborne vehicle rose into the air – practically silent – and flew away.
"Pretty good there, right?" Russell chuckled as Jingles did the equivalent to a shrug with his shell.
"If I do say so myself."
/
The Tower, a year prior…
Russell held the tin of cookies in his hand as he anxiously waited for Cassandra to come back. His fireteam had finished their Strike operation before Fireteam Tidal would finish their raid on Riven of a Thousand Voices.
They had planned every part of the raid so meticulously, it was practically impossible that they would fail. Cassandra said she'd made sure of that. Russell hoped she would hold true to her promise as the fireteam were a couple minutes late by now.
Russell sat down, shaking the tin of cookies that he had prepared in anticipation of the Dawning. A mixture of Taken Butter, Vex Milk and Ether Cane with some Personal Touch was what he could come up with. Cassandra said she liked homemade things, so this was the best Russell could make, considering he only came up with the recipe a week ago and only went around to collect the ingredients a few days ago, and now got around to baking it today.
His anxiety grew as Fireteam Tidal grew increasingly late: It was now five minutes. Cassandra hated being late, she was always a punctual woman. She planned the raid so carefully, they should've been back already!
Russell really missed her, despite it only being a week. It felt like a part of him was missing when she wasn't around.
Titan Hazel sat down next to Russell. "Who're the cookies for?" She nudged his shoulder. "Is it for…"
"Yeah, it's for Cass." Russell felt butterflies in his stomach at the mention of her name. "Only a gift to make up for our time apart."
Hazel laughed. "Oh come on, aren't you overdoing it a bit with the romantics?"
"What can I say?" Russell chuckled.
A Titan in scorched armor teleported into the Tower, clearly injured as he collapsed to his knees. Russell quickly sprang up and caught the guy before he could fall.
It was Titan McAllan, a member of Fireteam Tidal. Russell's anxiety spiked. He sat the man down as Guardians started to gather around the injured Titan.
The Titan started speaking before anyone asked. "She…killed her, she killed them all!" Russell paled, the butterflies in his stomach was replaced with needles.
"What happened? Where's everyone else?" Russell gulped, not wanting to hear the answer.
"Riven…she's too strong. She wiped them all out!" The Titan started hyperventilating. This man was a veteran, having been one of the fireteam members of the first attack on Riven, so it was quite unusual for him to be panicking like this. "There's no way, we can't beat her! She'll end us all, you hear! She'll end us all!" Russell shook the man and fixed his head to look straight at him.
"Where is everyone? What happened?" The Hunter's voice was neutral and as reassuring as he could muster.
"Kalli took out Arya-Three, Shuro Chi felled Ryan, Ilin and Tori-Four were trapped in the Vault. It was only me and Cassandra to face Riven. She was the last one to fall...she tried to hold off Riven on her own. I…I ran." The Titan looked down ashamedly. "I should've been there to die with her. I saw her beg for mercy...and her wish was granted. She's alive...but Taken."
The world spun as Russell took in the information. He let go of the Titan who could now hold himself sitting. His ears rang in an increasingly higher pitch and volume as the fact registered in his mind.
Cassandra had been Taken.
She was now an enemy.
The world went black.
. . .
Months later. The Dreaming City.
"Guardian…I do not think this is a good idea." Zavala's voice was heard over the communications line. "She's more powerful than we could have ever imagined."
"It's alright, I can handle it." Russell said as he stabbed a Taken Psion in the neck, then killing a Taken Phalanx with a single shot of the Ace of Spades. "If anyone's going to take her down, it's me. Maybe I can convert her back? Maybe?" His voice was full of hope.
"Guardian…you know that you're risking your only chance of putting this threat down if you even attempt to bring her back." Ikora said. "In fact…I don't even know if it's possible."
Russell stood upon a grand door that slowly opened for him. "Well, wish me luck, guys." He sighed.
"…Good luck, Guardian." Zavala said before the line was shut off.
Cassandra stood on top of a few small steps with her Suros Regime Auto Rifle in hand. Her eyes were a twisted black that replaced her diamond-blue pupils.
"Oh, Russell…you romantic fool." The Warlock said as she smiled a sickeningly sweet and poisonous smile at him. "Perhaps…maybe you can embrace the Darkness too? So we could be together, forever and ever? Like the fairy tales said?" Her voice was sweet, too sweet.
Russell knew this wasn't her. "I'm doing the opposite, Cass. You're coming home with me." He loaded a glowing cylinder into the Ace of Spades.
Memento Mori was activated as he aimed his hand cannon at Cassandra, his eyes narrowed.
"Oh please…don't be foolish." The Warlock laughed in mockery. "Besides…being with the Darkness is more enjoyable being a foolish 'Guardian of the Light'. What a farce that was."
"Shut up, you're not Cassandra." Russell grit his teeth as his anger levels rose. "You're not her!" He said, through gritted teeth. Tears started streaming down his cheeks.
"You're entirely right." Cassandra paused, putting a finger on her chin, looking upwards with a disgustingly innocent curiosity. Her expression twisted into one of pure malignant evil as she devilishly smiled. "I'm better than her. Shall we?" She put her hand back on the Auto Rifle and pointed it straight at him.
"You and me, one on one." Russell said before sprinting straight towards the being.
Taken portals appeared to his side and an invisible barrier stopped him from advancing any further. "Not so fast, Russell, not so fast."
Several Taken enemies appeared.
Russell fired the first shot, he always did.
"Guardian…give your will to me."
/
Overwatch Campus, Cafeteria, 0700
Russell rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming up. He grabbed his tray of food and went to go sit down, making sure to put on a smile on his face. Gotta look good in front of your colleagues, after all.
He missed Cassandra, he really did.
His face was pallid, and his eyes were haunted and blank. The memory always came back to him, his final duel versus Cassandra, their final dance together.
He could have done more, he should have done more.
The Hunter pinched his nose, then started eating despite his appetite wanting the opposite. It just went down his throat and into his stomach.
Lena came to sit in front of Russell, she didn't bring anything to eat. "Luv, you alright there?" She had a look of mild concern.
It took a second for him to recognize her voice. "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Just a bit tired."
From the edge of his peripheral vision, he could see Angela scanning him from afar.
Russell immediately let up the gloomy look. "Could barely sleep last night."
"Yeah, looks like it." Lena remarked. "There…something bothering you?"
A feeling of irritation started rising. "No." He said curtly.
"Come on, you look like you've been seein' ghosts!"
"If anything's gonna scare me, it's not gonna be ghosts." Russell answered as softly as he could. "I need some coffee." The Hunter then stood up and grabbed a paper cup on the way to the coffee machine.
"You know, those cups are made of edible material-"
"Not right now, Jingles. Please."
"Sorry."
Russell was not in a good mood today.
He downed the cup of coffee at the machine and poured himself another cup.
That cup got downed in a matter of seconds.
Having enough of the bitter coffee, Russell threw the container in the recycling bin and walked out of the cafeteria.
He needed to shoot something.
/
Lena sat back down with her table of colleagues.
"So, did you find out anything about him?" Jack asked, taking a sip of his drink afterward.
"Nope." Lena shrugged her shoulders. "Sounded really irritated when I asked if something was wrong. Might've ticked him off."
"He looks like he's about to fall over and die," Ana remarked, watching Russell leave the cafeteria. Her sharp eyes noticed his revolver materializing in the holster on the right of his waist. His gait and posture were poor and he looked ready to kick the bucket.
"He's definitely hiding something," Angela said as she cut up a piece of pancake. "I can't tell what…but it's not good."
Something irked Angela about Russell. Sure, he was sociable, but he distanced himself from his colleagues and seemed to suffer from something. The doctor would've concluded with PTSD but jumping straight to conclusions was rude. "He's the perfect soldier." She said.
"What do you mean by that?" Ana asked.
"He's sociable but works independently. It doesn't seem like he sees his enemies as individual beings. My grandfather said that that was what made the perfect soldier." She replied, grabbing her empty tray of food and offering to take her colleagues' trays for them. "He's distancing himself from his humanity."
That was quite rude, she thought, but it was the only way she could put it.
"Psychopathic, maybe?" Jack suggested. That was a definite possibility, considering his complete lack of remorse towards the incident in South Africa.
"Perhaps."
/
Russell swore to himself as he shot the civilian target by accident once more. They just appeared so quickly! How was he supposed to tell what robot was a civilian, and what wasn't?
"Fuck!" He swore out loud, reloading the Ace of Spades as he started another round.
An enemy sprang up, a bullet went straight into its head. Another came up, it went down soon after.
"You're a good shot." A voice alike those cowboys from the old pre-Golden Age movies said behind Russell. He paused the session and turned around.
A literal cowboy stood there, with a cigar in his mouth, a hand on the holster of his hand cannon and the other on the side of his waist.
Surprised was putting it a bit lightly.
"What, you haven't seen a cowboy before?" The man chuckled. "The name's McCree." A puff of smoke came from the cigar as the cowboy extended his free hand.
Russell cautiously took it and shook. "Russell Dulk."
Upon letting go of the cowboy's hand, Russell holstered the Ace of Spades. "There a reason you came up to me?"
"Uh, yeah. You're my partner for our next op." McCree stretched his neck, making a cracking noise. "Simple Talon hunting mission, Reyes will brief you more on the details."
. . .
"The mission's simple." Commander Reyes started. "Talon has been setting up shop in this forest next to a former Omnium factory in Russia."
"Normally we're not supposed to send anybody there, but they seem to have turned a blind eye even though their spies have been hounding them about this." Reyes paused. "Go in, eliminate any hostile you see and get out before the authorities respond. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Russell nodded.
"Good. Don't mess this up, you're walking on thin ice here, boy."
"Right…" Russell turned and headed for the door, McCree followed.
. . .
Somewhere in Russia.
The helicopter passed over the Talon field base as it headed towards their drop-in point. Quick mission, should only last a couple of hours and they should be back in time to catch a late-night snack.
Russell looked downwards, marking every enemy he saw and having Jingles put them on his HUD. They seemed to be casually strolling around and not expecting anyone to even ask what was happening here. Probably having killed anyone that did already.
"Ya ready, partner?" McCree asked. Russell chortled in response.
"Of course."
"This is your insertion point!" Russell tied the rope to a point and threw it out of the helicopter. Of course, he could just jump off and double-jump to break his fall, but he had to arouse as little suspicion as possible about himself. "I'll be back in a few hours! Stay safe out there!"
Russell did a finger salute to the pilot before grabbing on the rope and hopping off the helicopter, sliding down the thick nylon string before landing on the ground.
"Pretty cold out here, don'tcha think?" McCree commented as he landed. "Darn freezin' out here!"
Russell rolled his eyes. "You'll live. Our target's just a few clicks west." He tilted his head in that direction. "Faster we do this, sooner we get to get out of this freezing shithole."
"Let's get a move on then," McCree said before taking off towards their objective. Russell followed and kept pace with the cowboy.
Their first encounter with the enemy was in the form of a lone guard who had fallen asleep leaning against a tree. Poor guy didn't know what hit him as Russell quickly twisted his neck in an unnatural position and killed him.
The area was quiet when they approached the base. It was decently sized, with a good number of soldiers were stationed there. Men and women milled about carrying cases of what was assumed to be weaponry or whatever they needed to do their thing out here. In the corners were watchtowers where snipers were either dozing off or about to doze off in their post.
"I'll take out the snipers, you start dealing with the ground units," Russell said as the Ace of Spades was switched out for the Fate Cries Foul. The Hunter quietly scaled one of the sniper towers, soon enough putting his feet inside them as he snuck up on the sniper that was too busy sleeping to do their job.
Russell covered their mouth and snapped their neck, holding onto the sniper to gently put them down, so that anyone under the tower wouldn't hear the impact from the body. He then set up his sniper rifle and took aim at the sniper who was leaning on the railing, smoking a cigarette and most likely daydreaming.
"Going loud." The Hunter muttered as he pulled the trigger. There was a pwshh as the target's head practically exploded. Russell quickly locked onto another enemy.
"SNIPER!" He heard one of the people on the ground say as he saw the foot soldiers scramble for cover. McCree opened fire, his revolver echoing throughout the area as the cowboy took down a multitude of enemies with a single cylinder.
Russell took aim at the last sniper and was about to fire until he heard the quiet footsteps of a Talon goon trying to sneak up on him. The man tried grabbing him by the neck, but Russell overpowered him and threw him to the floor.
The man struggled against the Hunter's grip as he tried to free himself from the hold on his neck. Russell then threw the poor guy off the sniper tower.
"Pretty far drop." Jingles commented.
"That's gonna last a while."
Russell picked up his sniper rifle once more and quickly dispatched of the last sniper who was ineffectively trying to hit McCree—as the cowboy was simply too quick and always seemed to roll away at the perfect time.
"Let's get down there…" Russell muttered to himself as he jumped down, using a double-jump to break his fall. The Fate Cries Foul was replaced with the Ace of Spades. Russell twirled it in his hands, looking for any enemies to slay.
Unless McCree killed them all, which he did for everyone on the outside. How the cowboy did that so quickly Russell would never know.
"I'm waitin' on you so we can storm this darn thing and go home!" McCree called out using his radio. "I'm over by the main building, get a move on!"
Russell got a move on and met McCree leaning next to a door, loading some new bullets into the cylinder of his revolver. "Well? What're you waiting for?" The Hunter took the queue and kicked the door open, it flew off the hinges and landed a few feet away from the frame.
Russell went in first, his weapon at the ready. Inside the small command building was a fat man in formal clothing and a Talon soldier. The latter was quickly dealt with while the former stood there menacingly, or as menacingly he could, which was not very frightening. Russell raised his weapon and pointed it at the man.
"Do it, I dare you." The man said, his voice seeping with venom.
Russell thumbed the hammer of his weapon. "Oh, I will."
McCree pushed the barrel of the Ace of Spades down. "Unfortunately, you can't kill him." The cowboy sighed. "He ain't Talon."
"Looks like he's working with them, so probably as bad," Russell replied. "Let's just get this over with. What are we gonna do with him?"
"He's a high-ranking Russian Army official, Russell. It's probably not the best idea if you killed him." Jingles added.
"Really?" Russell holstered his hand cannon.
"So, what do we do with you?" The Hunter muttered as he turned the man over and forced him on his knees.
"You shall not treat me like-" The man was interrupted by a jab from Russell's elbow.
"Shut the fuck up before I break your arms."
"Gentle, be easy on him. We can't risk injuring, yet." McCree said. "I'm contactin' command to see what we do with him."
"Why can't we just fucking kill him?" Russell demanded, letting go of the official who rubbed his wrists standing up. "He's working with Talon, so he's an enemy too!"
"Yeah, but we can't go about killin' high officials in different governments. Look, I know it's frustratin' for the both of us, but we have to go through chain of command before we make our next move."
Russell groaned in response. "Alright, fine." He threw a glare at their prisoner, who returned likewise. "He moves in a way I don't like, and I'll put a bullet in his brain." The Hunter kept a constant watch on the man, tracking every minuscule movement he made.
McCree exited the room whilst talking to Commander Reyes, soon enough the cowboy soon came back in. He nodded to Russell. "Send a message."
Russell smirked as he raised the Ace of Spades once more.
"Wait, you can't do this-" The man was interrupted by a shot to the arm that nearly took it off, with only a few strands of flesh keeping it attached to his body. Russell kicked the man down and shot his kneecap. Their prisoner screamed in guttural pain.
"That enough?" The Hunter asked.
"Should be."
"Alright, let's get outta here. Army's comin' soon."
The two left the room, leaving the Russian official in his pain.
The helicopter soon came back and picked them up.
"Jingles you mind typing up the report for me…pretty please?"
Jingles groaned mentally. "Fine."
"Thanks, dear Ghost."
/
Gabriel Reyes read the mission report submitted by Russell. The result was satisfactory and hopefully, the message was sent to the Russian government on their apparent cooperation with Talon. He turned off the tablet when Ana walked in.
"There's a situation that requires your attention, it involves your new agent." The co-commander of Overwatch said.
Gabriel grumbled a bit as he stood up. Of course, when something goes right, something else must go wrong. It all balances out in the end, no such thing as a truly good day.
The two headed out towards the location of the supposed incident.
. . .
It took place at the sparring arena where Russell stood embarassedly in front of a brutally beaten up Overwatch soldier. The agent kept on repeating apologies, yet didn't look guilty at all.
"Look man, I'm sorry I hit too hard and-" Gabriel glared at Russell, which shut him up quickly. "What happened here was totally my fault."
Angela rushed in soon after with a First Aid kit. The medic kneeled next to the gravely injured soldier. "What happened?" She asked as she pulled out some gauze and the small bottle of rubbing alcohol. "This will sting a bit." She muttered.
Russell started explaining himself. "So…it happened when we sparred, he made a sloppy punch, I kinda took advantage of that too hard and…uh...yeah, that happened." The man bit his lip. "Look, I don't know how many times I gotta say sorry, but I'm really fucking sorry dude."
"Russell, in my office. Now." Reyes threw a glare at his newest agent. "Ana, you're gonna have to come with me too."
"Yes, sir."
. . .
"Can you go one day without messing something up? Just one day where Morrison isn't up my ass about you!?" Gabriel scolded. "Don't make me regret ever letting you in here."
"Yes, sir." Russell's tone was polite and reserved. "I'll…do my best."
"What I don't need is your best, just stop fucking around!" Reyes' grip on his desk tightened. "I don't know if where you come from has different rules, but that shit isn't accepted here!"
Russell looked downwards in supposed shame, but Gabriel could tell that he was faking it. Ana looked sternly at the agent.
"We're gonna have to add some new rules." The sniper muttered. Gabriel sighed in response.
"I'll give you one more day. Behave and maybe we can discuss something about your presence here."
"Yes sir."
/
The next day, Overwatch Campus 0500
"You know, that wasn't the worst scolding I've received," Russell said to no one in particular, he kicked his feet on his bed and relaxed. "Reyes really can't compare to Zavala."
Jingles appeared, his shader now different. Instead of the usual midnight blue it was a mix of red, white and green.
"What's with the festive colors?" Russell inquired, tracking his Ghost fly about in the air.
"Oh, just felt like changing colors, midnight blue was getting a bit boring." His Ghost replied, twirling around.
"Cassandra liked green." Russell smiled sadly. "Man, I really miss her."
"It's been over a year, Russell. Maybe it's about time you moved on?" His Ghost said.
"I…can't. I can't forget it." Russell replied. "I could've saved her, you know?"
"Oh please, it ends all the same with every Guardian twisted by the Darkness." Jingles rolled his photoreceptor.
"Maybe I could've been the first, huh?" Russell asked. "Maybe if I was strong enough, I could've done something. If McAllan hadn't interfered…"
"You would've been dead or worse, Taken too. He saved you." Jingles floated in front of Russell's face. "You owe your life to him, he would've wanted you to move on."
"If I was Taken…I could've spent more time with her." Upon hearing that, Jingles ran into his face, a pointy bit of his shell poking his eye. "Ow, what the Hell, asshole?"
"Don't say that. You're just lying to yourself right now."
Russell sighed. "Whatever."
Jingles then disappeared. "Just…don't go around killing innocent people, alright?"
"I do my best."
"Guardian of Light, defender of humanity. Your pledge is to humanity, no matter where it is."
"Why are you bringing this up? I've only been here for a week."
"And you'll most likely be here for a lot longer. Just…don't forget yourself."
"Understood, boss man."
Jingles made a positive tone before going quiet.
"I need something to drink."
/
The Dreaming City, one year prior.
Russell fired his first shot towards a Taken Phalanx, eliminating the being from existence as it warped to nothingness. The Hunter ducked a swipe from a Taken Psion, replying with a punch to its throat, and another to the one that formed after the original split itself into two.
Twisting around he backhanded a Taken Vandal, sending it screaming back to wherever it came from. The Ace of Spades rang once more as another enemy was put down. A Taken Fallen Captain was all that remained of the small Taken force sent to attack him. He threw a knife towards it, the blade detonating and shredding the Taken's shield, before unloading a round into it, finishing the job.
"Good, you're still sharp." Cassandra said as she dashed up to him with ungodly speed and threw a punch stronger than any Warlock has ever thrown. Russell's boots grinded on the floor as he was pushed back, his shield talking the brunt of the attack. "Unfortunately, you've never been able to beat me. Unlikely for the first time to be now, or ever." The twisted Guardian laughed.
"You're going down, you're coming back to the Tower and we'll make-" Russell was interrupted as Cassandra interrupted him with a volley of shots from her Suros Regime. "Alright, fine then." He muttered as he replied with a few shots of the Ace of Spades, twirling it as he loaded a fresh cylinder. He then went in for a quick punch, being met with equal force as they parried each other's jabs.
This was her exact fighting style, nothing changed.
Except she was much, much stronger now. It caught him off guard, as every time she parried, she would push back with much greater force than the Hunter would anticipate.
Whatever the Darkness did to her, it fucked her up and made her stronger.
Russell grit his teeth as he primed a grenade with his off hand and shoved it into Cassandra's stomach, quickly going back as to evade the blast. The explosive detonated in a flash of Solar Light as his opponent recoiled back but quickly picked herself up.
"Up to your usual tricks, huh?" Cassandra said. "Looks like playtime's over." Her malicious smile indicated something bad was going to happen.
She was a Warlock after all, and her Super ability should have been charged by now. She did have a tendency to stick Super Mods into every piece of armor she wore.
"Oh shi-" Russell thought as he was suddenly blasted with a large beam of Darkness infused Arc energy that knocked his wind out, and slammed him into a wall.
The Hunter landed with a grunt and stumbled his way standing. "Alright, I-" He panted. "I didn't expect that one." He readied himself for battle as Cassandra quickly used the opening given by his momentary quip to inflict even more damage.
"Alright then," Russell unsheathed his knife. "Now I'm pissed." He grit his teeth as his legs propelled him straight to his enemy. His first move was a slice at her face that was quickly evaded, and a knee soon found itself jabbed into his rib cage. Sustaining the counter-attack, Russell charged back in and managed to land a cut on her cheek.
The cut disappeared after a few seconds.
Swearing angrily, Russell pushed on with his attack. Fist met knife as Cassandra attempted for a straight punch to his chest, more akin to a Titan rather than a Warlock.
When Russell side-stepped Cassandra had pulled out a sidearm and shot a few rounds into his chest.
His shield broke taking the bullets. Russell charged the Warlock and managed to knock the weapon out of her after taking an elbow to the face.
"Foolish." Cassandra said as she continued her attack. "You're a brute, unsophisticated." She stated coldly. "That's what I always loved about you." Her tone changed to a malevolent warmth as she continued pummeling the Hunter.
This was bad. In fact, it couldn't have been worse. He snarled as he pushed himself upwards, ready to meet her next attack.
Fire burned in his eyes as he grabbed a hold of her elbow and flipped the lightweight Warlock over himself, with the intent on crashing down on her afterward, but she kicked off his back, pushing him to the ground.
No matter, he caught himself and turned to face his opponent.
She was good, unnaturally good.
Russell was ready to bounce back into the fight, determined to win this one.
The brutality and savagery of every blow would even make Shaxx pause. No mercy was given or taken, every strike was meant to kill as fast as possible. Russell stopped caring about bringing her back a few minutes ago and his only goal was to kill this bitch as soon as possible.
Russell, with murder in his eyes, gave a war cry as he charged Cassandra with his blade, with every intention of killing. She only smirked and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her. Russell used his other hand to grab the Ace of Spades. Although this one wasn't his usual aiming hand, it was serviceable. He pressed the hand cannon to Cassandra's chest.
A short yelp came out of his mouth as a blade met his stomach. He looked down to see that it was his, and fell to his knees, dropping the Ace of Spades.
/
Lore entry unlocked: Russell Dulk, a student of Cayde-6
Entry 3: Concerns from the Vanguard
Russell Dulk is an...interesting Hunter. Imitating Cayde-Six more than I would prefer but he was proven to be efficient in the battlefield. When he had heard of his significant other being Taken, he has taken a turn for the worse.
I tried my best to stop him, but all that was left was the broken shell of a man and a dead Guardian. I should have done more. Even though he still retains the same personality, it is quite apparent that it is all a ruse, and his participation in the Drifter's Gambit only proves that to me.
I worry for him, and Ikora does too. It's unthinkable losing a close friend and a lover within short time periods, the death of Cayde-Six affects us all, but it seemed to have struck him particularly hard.
There is a sigh.
I have received intelligence from Ikora of the Praxic Order taking particular interest in Russell, thinking that he would walk down a dark path and follow in the footsteps of the man I shall not name. I only hope that his resolve is strong enough to resist.
RECORDING ENDED.
Leave your thoughts in a review, and I'll see you next time.
Edit: I did Last Wish maybe 20 times now.