Chapter 9: Along Came the Train
RED team was already stationed at the train stop when BLU arrived. Their platform, "RED Railway" overlooked their rival's "BLU Line", something set up purposely with the intent to have the losers watch the winners of the territory go on aboard and ahead of them to the next land. Since the last battle there was a notable edge to the REDs. They were glowering towards each other and in a collective bad mood. Their youngest medic had never been found after battle and for those that actually wanted the young man around it was a source of contention with those that didn't.
"Hey! Look! Nurse is over there! He's wearing blue!" Scout exclaimed, drawing attention to the other platform. Sure enough, walking beside the hulking BLU heavy pushing a wheelchair bound medic was the small man, looking timidly towards them and trying to hide behind the other's bulk at the same time. Medic jumped down from the platform and went full run over to the other side. Ignoring jeers and shoving aside BLUs that got into his way he was up and face to face with his found apprentice in short order.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, eyes burning into the younger man's with a determination to know exactly what was going on.
"Hey buddy, you better get on out of here! He's our guy now!" the scout shouted, trying to push himself between the two. One hard shove later the boy found himself onto the ground flat on his rear and the youngest medic found himself held by his collar.
"Answer me dammit!" he shook the youth once, who looked upon him with fear, dread, and guilt.
"I.. I -I'm sorry sir, it wasn't under my control!" his apprentice stammered quickly.
"We searched for you all night and day, turned over every rock and looked under every cranny of the battlefield in fear you were injured and here you've been this whole time with our rivals making friends! How could his not be under your control? I would really like to know!" he shouted, ager mounting quickly.
"Perhaps you could calm yourself and put the boy down then one of us could explain things to you." a smooth accented voice spoke from behind him. Letting down the youth he spun round to see the source of defiance, it was BLU's spy, knife flicking idly in one hand as a sort of threat.
"My apprentice shows up over here and I'm not to be angered by this?" he growled.
"It was I who stole away your ward. You couldn't get him back even if he were to be killed. As far as BLU is concerned he is ours whether or not you or he approves." the masked man said with a determinable lack of caring. Revelation dawned upon the RED medic.
"You tampered with our equipment." he said accusingly.
"That I did." the spy grinned.
"Make no mistake sir, you have earned my animosity. What you did was surely against the rules, you will be hearing from the judges soon enough. You will have hell to pay for this." Medic growled before turning to leave.
"I'm sorry sir." his ward spoke out.
Without looking back he answered, "Watch yourself. When you are BLU we are enemies. Goodbye my apprentice."
Trevor looked at the retreating back of his mentor, eyes full of hurt at how quickly he was turned upon.
"Would it make you feel better if you knew how upset your elder was?" the blue masked spy asked as he returned his knife back into the folds of his uniform.
"How can anything you say make me feel better? Didn't you see how angry he was?!" the young man asked, his voice raising as did his emotions over the situation. The spy watched him with a infuriatingly enigmatic expression, betraying nothing going on in his mind. For a person who wore his heart out upon his sleeve it irked the medic to no end. How could this man exist? It was as if he was carved from some sadist's fantasy made to exclusively torment him and make his life harder.
"Porfirio... Please. The boy is upset enough. Do not play with him." the strained voice of one of the others, Armin, requested. The pale medic, wheelchair bound and weak from yesterday's experiences seemed to hold far more command of presence than he himself could ever hope to have upon the mysterious masked man for the spy turned his head away and leaned against the wall with a feign of disinterest.
"Danke, Porfirio." the medic smiled before lapsing into a fitful cough. His guardian hovered his large hands over the other's frame, indecisive as to what to do. He couldn't thump the coughing man's back due to the ribs. The smoky teddy was hugged tightly to his chest as Armin relieved some of the pain caused by the entirely uncontrollable action.
"I'm fine.. Borislav. Danke." the man gasped after a moment. Trevor caught the looks of deep seated concern from all around. From the short distance away he heard the jeering laughs of the RED team. They were mocking the doctor, or him, or both. It was impossible to tell. The BLU sniper sneered at the lot of them through his scope, his finger squeezing the trigger in a decidedly wishful way.
"Damn REDs. See that Trev? They're assholes. A whole stinking bunch of assholes. Good riddance you're away from that batch. They're no good." Stan walked up from behind him and helped him up.
"Th-thanks I guess.. Your sniper seems mad." he thanked before mentioning his observation. The scout looked over at the other man and back before answering with a shrug.
"Oh. Yeah. Pierce spends so much time looking at things through his gun he's learned to read lips. Hey Pierce! What're those REDs sayin'?" Stan shouted over to the sniper. Sharp eyes appeared from the brim of dark glasses.
"They're calling our lot a bunch of pussies as well as questioning our gender preferences. They say it's fitting that we ended up with our new medic, he's enough of a woman for the whole team to enjoy." the man said simply, though one could hear the contempt under the tone he chose to use.
"Oh is that so? Well then. Hey! Hey REDs! It's a good thing he left you all! You dicks have all been away from your sisters for so long you've forgotten what a woman is and would take whatever you guessed would fit the role!" the scout jeered at the rival team, displaying many particularly vulgar hand gestures to emphasize his point. The young medic didn't know whether or not he had been insulted or not. Stan laughed at how dumbstruck he looked.
"You gotta learn how to throw it back at them." he grinned lopsidedly, crowing at the responding gestures fired back at him from the other side as he strutted back and forth on the platform. Trevor was absolutely mortified. The laughter from BLU team at their scout's antics roared in his ears as they cheered his show on.
"Why are you letting him do this? They're going to remember this come next battle and target him for it." Trevor asked the BLU leader. Jack just pulled off his helmet and ruffled his hair, the gesture did nothing to hide his smile.
"I know they will. Let them. Stan can hold his own and while they are busy trying to get even with one trash-talking scout we'll end up surprising them with a mean counter assault. Didn't anyone ever tell you about what teams look for in a good scout?" Jack asked in an amused voice.
"Speed, agility, and endurance?" he answered questioningly.
"Heh, yeah those are important, but you're missing these important qualities: pluckiness, gumption, and obnoxiousness. Trust me, we'll pick them out exclusively for those traits. A good Scout is worth their weight in gold, and not just for how fast they can run." the leader laughed heartily, swatting the dumbstruck youth across the back in a way that made him stumble forward slightly. That explained much more than his own pondering mind could ever have had hoped to accomplish on its own.
"That answers so many questions." he said dryly after a bit. Earning another back thumping laugh from the leader. As their scout did a crotch thrust and grab maneuver at the RED team Trevor conceded that the plucky youth did a wonderful job at dispelling the tension that was hanging in the air just a few moments ago. Jack nodded in his direction, seeing that the medic caught on finally to what he meant. A whistle came from the distance, the train was coming.
"The RED trains even with ours." Pierce spoke. The others looked towards him and then strained their eyes at the specks breaking over the horizon. Why would they send the losing team's train out at the same time as theirs?
End Chapter Nine
Author's notes: Another transition chapter. What is that Red train doing arriving there with the winner train? Find out!
