CHAPTER 4

Battles and stuff in this chapter! Hurray!

XxXxXxXx

"So I get to be in th' Games?"

". But only if you do not push yourself."

"Don't worry, doc!" I grinned, cracking my knuckles. "We'll win this Game for sure!"

Medic nodded curtly. "Get out of here and get decent clothing on. The Game starts in five hours."

Finally free from the sickbay, I walked out a new man. I returned to my new room and changed from the scrubs that Medic had given me, pulling out a BLU shirt and black jeans. Once properly dressed, I grabbed my headset and walked back outside.

A static-y noise was coming from the headset. I turned a small dial at the bottom of it, unaware that the thing actually worked. The static eventually materialized into voices.

"Can you hear me? Miles? Miles?"

"Wha…?! Keith?!" I nearly shouted.

"Oh, so you can hear me." My brother gave a nervous laugh. "You wouldn't believe how hard Dell worked on this thing. It would be a shame if it didn't connect with you."

"What d'ya want?" I asked. "We're supposed to be enemies!"

"Listen, bro, there's a few things I have to tell you." Keith sighed, sending another burst of static through the headset. "I just got here and all, so I'm new to the whole kill-or-be-killed thing—"

"What d'ya want?" I repeated.

"We have a bit of info on your teammates." Keith said. "Some rather…classified info, I may add."

"Which is…?"

"That Medic of yours? Insane. Bi-polar and schizophrenic. He was moved here to the Games because he autopsied some people…alive." Keith took a breath. "Your Pyro…please tell me you haven't met him yet…a menace to both teams."

"Like yours isn't?" I growled. "I can't believe ya, Keith. You're on th' other side."

"Trust me, bro. Please."

"No. Get out of my headset." I turned the volume knob down as low as it could go.

XxXxXxXx

"Mission begins in 60 seconds."

I nervously clutched my scattergun, my pistol and bat at my side. This was the first Game I would get to participate in…the excitement was almost too much for me. I giddily shifted from foot to foot.

"Mission begins in 30 seconds."

I was stationed just to the left of the Teufort bridge. Soldier had instructed me to run on ahead, as the REDs had begun to expect Heavy and Medic to be the first on the other side. If we shake things up a little, he had said, we'll get the upper hand.

I sure hoped he was right. And I sure hoped their Sniper wasn't very good. Even from here, I could see the end of his rifle poking through the boarded-up second story windows of the RED base.

"Mission begins in 10 seconds."

I took a deep breath. It was crucial that I made it across as fast as I could…from there on out all I had to do was survive until the others made it over. We would all storm their Intel room in a group…

"Five."

I realized I had already taken a few steps forward.

"Four."

What if they realized the plan? What if, just by my slight movements, they could predict what we were going to do?

"Three."

If that was the case, then I just blew it for everyone.

"Two."

I took a deep breath. I wondered if my Ma was watching.

"One."

A siren sounded somewhere in the distance, loud but not distracting. I ran at the bridge as fast as I could go, nearly tripping over my own feet in the process. My shoes slammed down on the bridge with such force I feared the old structure would break.

I reached RED territory. I quickly ducked into the gates leading into their base, pressing myself against the inside wall. No one was in sight. Now I simply waited. I glanced around the side of the wall.

Soldier jumped into the air and shot a rocket at his feet, propelling him up and over the bridge, where he landed with a crack on the other side. He stumbled to me, limping and favouring his left leg.

"Bad jump," he growled. "Gotta wait for Medic before going on…"

I turned my attention back to our side. Heavy and Medic were making their way across now, slowly but surely. The Sniper positioned in the RED's base didn't take aim for them. In fact, he wasn't moving at all…

"MEDIC!" Soldier shouted.

"? What?" Medic caught up with us and turned the MediGun on Soldier. I heard his leg give an uncomfortable pop.

"Thanks."

"Get moving!" Medic motioned for me. "Go on ahead. You are el Scout, after all."

I took a few steps into the base. It was the exact same as ours, except reversed. The only difference besides the mirrored effect was the colouring. Instead of our light blues, theirs was a dull red. Pink, even. I gave a nervous chuckle at that.

"Lead on!" Soldier prompted.

I located the stairway that would lead to their Intelligence. Throwing open the door, I was met by nothing. I gripped my scattergun tighter and cautiously began my curved descent downward.

"You're a Scout, right?" Heavy asked.

"Duh." I said back.

"You're supposed to be quick. Get a move on."

"I'm workin' on it. Do ya want to die?" I forced myself to move a bit faster.

I stepped off the final step and onto the lower level of their base. Once again, it was deserted. Strange…

"BEHIND YOU!" Heavy shouted.

I spun around just in time to catch the fleeting glimpses of the cloaking RED Spy as he ducked behind Medic, the caboose in our invading party.

I almost shot. I'm glad I didn't. Scatterguns do just that; scatter. I didn't want to hit my teammates…

"MOVE!" Medic insisted, pushing Soldier and Heavy out of the staircase. We stood back to back, watching for anything that moved.

"I will not let another BLU fall to this Spy!" Heavy shouted, minigun roaring as he showered most of the room in bullets. Nothing was hit…nothing bled.

"Keep moving! That bastard will show himself sooner or later!" Soldier said. "Go, Scout!"

My knees were shaking. Never before had I been so close to death in my life. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat and lead the way, waiting for sharp metal to sink into my back.

I rounded the corner that lead into the Intelligence room. Barriers were set up just like they were at the BLU base, preventing me from seeing directly into the room. I heard the three quick beeps of a sentry.

"We need ta take care of that somehow." I said.

"No doubt an Engineer nearby…" Soldier turned and kept a lookout behind us. "He would have run up and attempted to kill you by now."

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Ready to charge." Medic grinned nastily. I shuddered involuntarily. It was the same grin he had given me before he tore me to shreds. "Heavy, come. Hurry."

The two of them rounded the first corner, but the harsh sound of bullets being fired didn't echo around the base yet. I followed them, waiting behind the second wall.

Medic activated something on the MediGun, casting a metallic blue glow over both himself and Heavy. The sentry hidden behind the second wall began to fire, but I knew it didn't stand a chance. In an explosion that drove metal into the wall, it was defeated; blown to bits.

"Hurry, Scout! To the Intel!" Soldier encouraged. I jumped out of hiding and grabbed the briefcase, trading my scattergun for my pistol. I would only have one hand to fight with.

"The enemy has taken the Intelligence!" the Announcer proclaimed.

I gulped down the tightening feeling in my throat again. "Now what?"

"We go back!" Heavy said. "Hurry!"

"Idiota, have you even seen the Games?" Medic spat. "It is simple to follow, even for the most lacking in brain cells!"

I bit back a retort and instead followed Soldier. He was leading us back, Medic and Heavy following behind me. We made it back to the base of the stairs before we ran into trouble.

An explosion rang out in the bend of the stairway. Soldier backpedaled, nearly knocking me off my feet. "Move!" He pushed me to the side of the entryway to the stairs. I pressed my back against it, hardly daring to breathe. My heart was beating so loudly I could barely hear anything else.

A shout of pain followed by a BLU grenade rolled into the lower level, the grenade exploding with a deafening bang. Luckily, my headset covered my left ear, which was closest to the explosion. My right ear was ringing. But at least we received some good news…Demo had made it across the bridge.

"MEDIC!" The pained shout came again.

From the stairs came RED's Sniper. He didn't notice us and instead walked as if in a daze toward the next nearest door. He was bleeding heavily between his shoulder blades and limping.

"Ahh, a sitting duck." Medic grinned nastily and pulled out a bonesaw. He hurried up to the Sniper, silent as death.

"MED—" the Sniper didn't get to finish before Medic reached around his neck and sharply cut across his throat with the saw. The Sniper gurgled out something else before dropping to his knees, twitching madly, and then collapsing motionless altogether.

"It is not every day I have such a fine specimen…" Medic was laughing now as he kicked the Sniper onto his back.

"Doc…?" I managed to ask.

"Don't interrupt him, boy." Soldier said. "He's in one of his trances. Distract him and you'll likely be the next one dead."

Medic slashed the bonesaw across the dead Sniper's chest, carving a deep, upside-down triangle into his body. I turned away, feeling sick.

"Let's go." Heavy said.

Soldier prodded me in the back with his rocket launcher, forcing me to the stairs. Heavy took the lead this time, minigun spun down and ready to let loose a hail of bullets.

We reached the top of the stairs without problem. It was when we exited the enclosed stairway that we reached a dead end.

"The RED's Heavy and Medic are out there." Heavy reported. "And their Engineer, Scout and Demoman."

"Aw jeez…" I stammered. "Well, c-come on…! Let's waste 'em!"

"Are you stupid?" Soldier growled.

"I'll get you as far as I can." Heavy offered. "But once I'm dead…you're on your own."

"What? No!" I protested. "You can't kill yourself for me! Come on, we'll just get Medic and we can—"

A red grenade rolled into the stairway. Soldier pushed me backward and I lost my balance, tumbling head over heels down the cement stairs. A deafening explosion rang out, making my uncovered ear ring loudly.

"Agh!" I finally landed back on the lower floor. I snapped my fingers next to my head, but the ringing was still too intense to hear anything else.

I glanced behind me at Medic, who was too immersed in the dissection of the RED Sniper to pay any attention. I quickly turned my attention away and back toward the stairs.

Soldier was there, yelling something at me. His left leg was bleeding, the pantleg severed just below his knee. His helmet was missing and I barely managed to hear what he said.

"Scout! Hurry! Get up and run! They're right—"

He didn't get to finish as a brown bottle slammed down over his head, the thick glass cracking and spilling something light brown over his shoulders. He slumped and tumbled down the last few steps.

I stood to run; at least put some ground in-between myself and the REDs to make a plan. I had barely taken two steps when I tilted to the right, crashing back to the tiled floor. My ear was still ringing. I felt incredibly dizzy.

"Get up," a voice hissed in my headset. "Get up and fight, you coward!"

I turned back toward the stairs, dread sinking in my stomach.

Standing over Soldier's unconscious body were three of the REDs. Their Demoman, Medic and Scout—Keith.

I just now realized I didn't have the Intelligence or my scattergun. I gripped at my pistol, raising it and aiming at Medic.

"Put that down, laddie." The RED Demo said.

"Bro, please." Keith glanced at the BLU Medic, who was only a few feet away and paying us no attention.

"What do ya want?" I demanded. The ringing was beginning to subside.

"I want to talk to you." Keith said.

Upstairs, a flash of light lit the stairway as bright as the sun. I saw something dark splatter the walls.

I fired twice, missing their Medic the first time but hitting his shoulder on the second. I jumped up with speed I didn't know I had and made a mad dash for the nearest door.

My entire body felt as though I was being dragged to the side. My left ear ached and rung, my entire sense of balance thrown off. I thought I had made progress toward the door, when in reality I had only taken a few steps.

Something sharp dug into my shoulder blades. My first thought was the RED Spy had found me, but a second later darkness overtook my vision.

"Aw, crap." I mumbled before I fell into a drugged sleep.

XxXxXxXx

"Is what we're even doing legal in the Games?"

"Who cares."

"It's not stated in the guidelines."

"So, Keith. What are ya gonna do, boy? Start a family reunion?"

"Shut up, Dell. Jacques isn't my father, anyway."

"Shut up, ze both of you!"

I didn't know where I was, but the voices that surrounded me didn't worry me in the slightest. I blinked open my eyes, staring up at a light red ceiling. Wait…why wasn't it blue?

"He's awake, guys." I heard Keith saying.

"Finally." Another voice said.

Three figures swam into view. I recognized two of them. My brother was giving me a relieved smile and the RED Medic was staring down at me like a disease. Another man, this one wearing an orange hardhat and welder goggles cast me a mildly interested look.

….Wait.

RED…?

I knew I should be panicking, but my muscles were completely relaxed. I actually didn't care what happened to me. I just wanted to lie here—wherever here was—forever.

"Hey, bro." Keith knelt beside me. "How ya doin'?"

I was too comfortable to respond.

"Do not bother him, Keith." The Medic said. "He needs all ze rest he can get. Undergoing two überheart surgeries can take a lot out of someone."

Two…? What?

I closed my eyes, trying to recall what the hell happened. Before I knew it, I fell back asleep.

XxXxXxXx

What a terrible dream.

I yawned and sat up, a dull ache in the center of my chest. I was back in the sickbay, alone and dressed in button down pajamas that didn't belong to me. Alone with the red walls.

So it hadn't been a dream.

I glanced around my bedside, but my weapons were nowhere to be found. I gingerly threw my legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand, relieved to find that I could balance once again. I gingerly took a couple of steps toward the open door at the end of the bay. I could hear someone in there…most likely their Medic.

I silently glanced in.

BLU's Medic was a clean freak. RED's Medic was the complete opposite. Piles of junk and paper were everywhere, some of it stained with motor oil and grease. Only in the far corner of the room was it free of clutter. An examination table was set up, a smaller workspace set up beside it. It took me a few moments to locate the Medic.

He was sitting at a wooden desk adorned with a statue of a bearded man with a gold plaque, shuffling through some paper. A few white doves sat nearby, glancing around the room and cooing softly. His back was to me. He hadn't noticed me yet.

I took a step into the room and grabbed the first thing I could find: a large wrench. This probably belonged to their Engineer. I took another step.

Medic sighed and tossed the papers he was looking through away. He pulled the tiny glasses he wore off his face and cleaned them on the side of his coat. "Zis is stupid…" he muttered. One of the doves cocked its head to the side in a confused look.

I was nearly close enough to strike. I raised the wrench, ready to slam it down on his skull.

Medic reacted instantly. He threw himself to the left, grabbing the statue as he went. Now standing, we held our blunt weapons cautiously, glaring at each other.

"Your shadow fell across ze desk." Medic said. "Zat's how I saw you."

"What am I doing here?" I demanded. "What did ya do to me?"

"I did you a favour." Medic said. He relaxed slightly, placing the statue back on the desk. "Put zat wrench down. Dell will be furious."

"Dell?"

"Our Engineer." Medic stooped into a bow. "Please, call me Viktor. I know you are Miles."

I could strike him on the back of the neck and there would be one less RED to worry about. I could end his life right now. And yet, something held me back. There was something about this Medic that was different than BLU's own…

I placed the wrench on his desk.

"Now as for your question…" Viktor shuffled through the papers and pulled out two clear sheets. "Zis is your heart before I corrected ze mistakes ze BLU Medic made…" He held one up against the light.

I was looking at a ribcage. Well, through a ribcage. He pointed to a dark shape about the size of a large fist. "Zat is your heart. And zis is ze device that transfers the über energy into ze charge." A large, gray metallic object was jammed in sideways into the left side of the heart, nearly half the size of it.

"Now ze problem with zat is zis…" Viktor circled the heart outline with a red gloved finger. "Zat is blood zat has been pooling. Your heart…sprung a leak. It was killing you."

"It was…?" I blinked. This didn't make any sense.

"Ja. And zis is your heart now…" he held the second clear photograph up. The dark splotches around my heart were gone and the über device wasn't crooked. "I think zat you would be dead by now if I had not corrected ze mistakes."

I put a hand to my chest, feeling the normal rhythm of my heart. It wasn't loud and clunky like before…maybe he really had done something.

"Thanks…I guess." I shrugged. "But what am I really doin' here?"

"Zat…you'll have to ask your brother about." Viktor said. "He should be in ze recreation room."

I left through the lab and entered into the hallway. It was odd…everything was reverse and differently coloured. Already, the base was cleaned up. Not a single trace of blood lined the walls from the previous battle. I pushed open the door to the recreation room.

It too was as cluttered as the lab. A ping-pong table was covered with red plastic cups, empty beer cans scattered everywhere. Sitting on a beat-up couch was Keith, listening to an equally beat up MP3 player.

"Keith?" I asked.

He pulled one earbud out. "Hey, Miles. Glad to see you still alive."

"What is all dis about?" I growled. "Why am I here? What's goin' on?"

"Bro, the BLUs are insane." Keith said.

"So are th' fricken' REDs!"

"Do they dissect people alive for an überheart transplant?" Keith frowned. "Does my team refuse to put you out during the duration of said transplant as well?"

I frowned back at him.

"Truth is, we're all just a little bit insane." Keith picked up a can of Bonk! from the floor next to the couch and snapped it open. "I want to give you the better end of the deal."

"Which is…?" I asked.

He took a few sips of his drink. "I want to switch teams."

"An' what will that do?" I demanded.

"Give you a chance." He said.

"A chance at what?!"

"A chance of winning." Keith said with a shrug.

"Winning?" I blinked.

"Jeez, didn't Miss. Pauling tell you anything?" Keith sighed and pulled the other earpiece out of his head. "If you win enough Games, you can go free."

"Where?"

"Outside the walls of the city."

"Really?"

"That's what she told me. And unless the rules have changed, the offer still stands."

I took a second to mull this over. "It's for th' whole team?"

"Maybe. If they last ten rounds without dying. RED's got a chance. Most of these guys have been around for at least four games."

"An' you're givin' up your chance of gettin' out for me." I clarified.

"Yep. Gotta watch out for my little brother. That's what I promised Ma."

I sat in silence for a while.

Keith eventually stood, patting me on the shoulder as he walked toward the door. "I would get changed into the Scout stuff. My room's open for you. I've just gotta make the switch with Miss Pauling."

"Tell her I said 'hi'." I said.

I felt completely numb. Everything was moving much too fast.

XxXxXxXx

Sorry about the complete lack of everything lately. I was busy with work and college preparation and crap like that. Hopefully, though, I will get a chance to churn out the rest of this before September.

Anyway, that RED Medic is the weirdo we all know and love.

Remember to review, please!

Hasta la Vista, Readers!

Lordoftheghostking28