Spy Down!
Finally…here be action! Hope I get it just right and please R&R.
Chapter 10.
It was precisely twenty seconds until the beginning of a new match.
"Twenty seconds."
The Announcer's chilly voice travelled over both bases, igniting a kick start to the adrenaline rush that every man felt as they ran yelling out of that gate.
Demoman pulled on his beanie hat, Soldier saluted his team, Sniper rubbed his cheek with his thumb – something he did when nervous – absentmindedly and Scout pounded his bat into his bandaged palm with a wild grin. Pyro stroked his sleek flamethrower and chuckled to himself while Heavy and Medic could be overheard whispering the last – minute details of their battle plan in a frantic manner. Engineer calmly stood looking over his modified blueprints and nodded in satisfaction. These were the observations of Spy as he peered at his team from his secluded corner, unsure of how to bolster their confidence. They all seemed happy enough already, but he wanted to try and repay their kindness, small as the gesture was. Besides, team morale was the Soldier's job.
"Okay men!"
Speaking of the devil…
"Listen up, maggots! I want a solid performance from each of you today! It doesn't have to be your best, but it most certainly can't be your WORST!"
Here, he looked meaningfully at Spy, who nodded uneasily.
"I'm not asking for superheroes. What I am looking for is an ability to work together and look out for one another and NOT letting the rest do all of the fighting while you sit on your lazy ass! Am I understood? AM I?"
"SIR, YES SIR!" came the bellow of collective voices with all different accents and Soldier smiled with pride as he gazed upon Spy to wait for his affirmative.
Spy just nodded curtly. He was not a shouter by nature and that suited Soldier just fine, so long as he got his answers. Piercing dark brown eyes turned towards the gate and narrowed fiercely as the countdown began.
"BEGIN!"
"CHAAAAARRRRGEE!"
The other members of RED swarmed out of the respawn, a sea of red yelling their respective battle cries. Spy felt himself swept amongst them and immediately activated his cloak, sliding behind enemy lines with grace. A stray rocket had the Spy dodging to one side in an attempt to save himself; the ground behind him shattered under the booming impact of the shell, sending clods of earth whipping into Spy's face and deactivating his cloak. Hurriedly, the Frenchman changed into his disguise as Elias the BLU Medic and ran further towards the BLU base. Again, the whole objective was focused on gathering the enemy's intel and RED Spy was determined to show that he had not lost his touch.
Suddenly, while he rounded a sharp corner, he bumped into Damon and Elias.
"Oh…"
The BLU Heavy roared out his class name and Spy fumbled with his cloaking device as the deadly mini gun started up like a small car engine.
"Haha! Cry some more!"
Spy cursed as bullets began to spray, catching in his legs or torso. Hissing in agony, unwilling to show more emotion, he finally managed to duck to the side and cloak and Damon raging about him being a coward. The wounds burned and bled as Spy quickly limped to find a medi - kit or RED Medic. Screams and battle cries travelled through the air and the whole battlefield was in turmoil. Dust and soil were being ripped up by bullets and bombs and what little plant life remained had sadly been destroyed. Smoke filled the air, the sound of sniper rifles cracking through its haze and shadows flitted crazily as every class gave it their all. The RED Heavy fell with a roar under the BLU Demoman's pipe bombs, his large corpse splattering wetly into gibs. The RED Medic's rage was enough to send the BLU Demoman running away from the rapid fire of his toxic syringes; they flashed wickedly in the sunlight. The Scouts were locked in bat to bat combat, Pippin's determination against Seth's blind fury. They were nothing but a blur.
"Oh yeah? Come and say that to my face, chucklenuts!"
"I will…with my BAT!"
Wood clonked together, being drowned out by the clanking of the RED Engineer as they fought past him a moment later, Pippin gratefully catching some of the dispenser's rays.
"Thanks, hardhat!"
Spy limped towards it, flinching at a bullet speeding inches from his left cheek, but being too weak to do much about it. His cloak wore off as he collapsed next to the healing machine, feeling cool metal against his skin.
"Ya alright, pardner?" Dustin asked in concern.
"O-Oui."
There was silence as the comfortable rays stroked the Spy's wounds, sealing them up like they had never existed. It was broken by a fizzing noise and an angry yelp from Dusty as a sapper appeared on his sentry. Spy went on the alert instantly.
"Spah sappin' mah sentry!" Dusty grabbed his wrench, dodging scattergun fire and beating off the device.
Spy shifted as a cloak began to disappear; the horrible whooshing sound available to his trained ears as a balisong arced towards Engineer's exposed back. Pulling out his revolver with the speed of a cheetah, Spy shot Emmett the BLU Spy without pause. The body slumped over the startled Engineer, ruby liquid gushing out forcefully and vanished to Respawn. Cloaking before Engineer could praise him, Felix scurried through the battle, intent on taking down the BLU Sniper, who was once again at the top of his game and causing big problems for RED as his rifle took down Jasper with a gaping hole in his brain. Spy leapt over the fresh body like he was jumping a hurdle and crept cautiously up the stairs.
Flames spurted through his vision and the poor French citizen shrank against the wall, petrified of the dancing orange and gold flickers sweeping the area. Digging his gloved fingers into the unyielding concrete, Spy watched the faceless monster wind towards him, blank eye sockets staring into him, freezing him in the position of crouching (because he could SEE him!), unable to escape this horrible fate of ash and burning flesh and he was coming closer and oh mon dieu, he would be fried to a crisp and it would hurt – pain, pain, pain – and there would be hoarse screaming as the flames burnt through his throat like acid and –
CRACK.
The BLU Pyro twitched and gave a muffled wail before sinking to the floor in one splayed thud. The accursed silver and pale blue flamethrower rolled away and Spy kicked it vigorously, thanking God and the RED Sniper silently. It still took him a good few minutes to peel himself away from the slabs of concrete painted a dull grey and start moving forward again. The dead Pyro's blood lapped against his dress shoes made from fine leather (they were the only expensive items he owned) and the body gradually faded to Respawn while he passed by, ever so quiet in his deadly intent. Drawing out his knife, the Eternal Reward, the Spy ghosted silently through the wide halls of BLU, worried that the BLU Sniper would be tense and on alert, thanks to the noises of the stupid BLU Pyro. Thus, he was grateful to discover that Joey remained completely oblivious to anyone creeping up behind him as he perched triumphantly in his nest, muttering profanities at the other team.
"Wave goodbye to yer head, ya bloody fruit-shop owner!"
Spy carefully placed one foot in front of the other, keeping one eye on his opponent's back and another on his partially concealed feet landing with no sound on the planks of dark wood. Unfortunately, a momentary slip-up cost him his advantage of surprise; the floorboard creaked under his left foot. Snipers were exceptional in their sight and hearing and Felix practically saw Sniper's ears twitch before he threw himself around at Spy with vicious anger. Spy retaliated by kicking him in the midriff, causing him to stumble backwards towards the window that streamed in daylight. Grunting in winded frustration, BLU Sniper grabbed his kukri, peed off at his fallen rifle now discarded on the dirty floor, lost in this struggle. Charging forward once again, he slashed at Spy's face clearly wanting to kill him. RED Spy kept a blank expression the entire time, refusing to say a word as he lifted his hand and swiftly cut open the bushman's cheek. He gained a second of satisfaction as Sniper pulled away with a wince, his head snapping to the side before he put a broad hand to his cheek and brought it away with sticky blood dotting his fingertips and shock in his pale grey eyes. Anger and humiliation quickly replaced that and he lunged, trying fruitlessly to stab the Frenchman through the heart. It wouldn't be worth it really – not with Respawn. Still…all part of the job.
Through the slits in the boarded-up windows and rotting wood, filtered light lit up the Spy's performance, like he was going through the motions in a play. Sniper reeled as Spy slashed up and down with the Eternal Reward, effectively weakening the Australian and making his grunts of pain increase in crescendo. Then, that final push as the beautiful knife slit though the slightly tanned man's back, drawing out the final note in the fast paced song. A little nudge and the withdrawal of the weapon from the Sniper's shuddering spine sent him falling out of the broken window, meeting his curtain call with a death scream.
Spy wiped down dust (hopefully NOT blood) from his pinstriped suit and straightened his tie, breathing a little quicker than normal. A curt nod of grim approval and the Frenchman was on his set course, managing to cloak in a red haze as he slid through the quiet base. The distant sounds of battle and gunfire told him where the rest of BLU were. He crouched in another corner to allow the BLU Sniper to exit from his renewed respawn process, angrily cursing RED Spy with all of his might as he hurried closer to the front lines this time around, not until he examined the supposedly empty corridor in front of him. Spy resisted the urge to laugh at Sniper's adorably confused face. As the BLU ran off, trying to convince himself that Spy had been killed, Spy snuck off to the intel room. The rest of the journey remained relatively easy and he escaped the room with the precious brief case in record time. The blasted Announcer chose to give him away, her tinny voice blaring through those terribly loud speakers.
"The enemy has captured our intelligence!"
Spy exhaled in a huff of air and darted down the corridor, a few papers streaming behind him in a raggedy trail.
"Mon dieu…" he breathed in alarm and pressed against the wall with his thin arms wrapped around himself as the damned BLU Pyro came back for a second pop at the French speaker, twisting his body around and swishing his flamethrower from side to side. An evil cackle escaped his empty, black gasmask.
"Non…non!" Spy squeaked and ran for his life, pelting like he was being chased by a demon (the Pyro WAS a demon, he was certain of that now!) and attempting to dodge the charring soul-destroying flames of orange and gold. The heat chased his back, brushing along it closely and forcing him to go even faster. He leapt over a crate, his palm pushing his whole body forward as he did so and he bolted over a few rocks standing in his way. The Pyro's angry voice followed the Spy as the RED fled from his wrath once more and Spy allowed himself to relax a little as he hurried into his own base and past the smiling Engineer on the way to the RED Intel room. Finally, he could happily bring the briefcase down on the table.
"We have captured the briefcase!" The Announcer's voice rang smugly throughout the corridors, bringing forth a pleasant hum from each RED member and they renewed their attacks with high spirits.
"Nice one, Spah." Engineer stated in pleasure to the saboteur as he slunk forward and caught a brief nod of acknowledgement. The cloak was raised and he vanished like a ghost.
The BLU team increased their assault in desperation, for time was ticking by and it looked like RED would win. By the time Spy intercepted BLU Spy with a successful backstab (getting a horrid splotch of blood on the corner of his suit in the process) and made his way outside, blinking at the harsh sun, his comrades were being pushed back ferociously. They didn't like this one bit.
"COWARDS!" Scout yelped indignantly, overriding Lance's sharp, strategic commands and venom - laced taunts at the opposite Soldier and he withdrew his metallic baseball bat, the tip of it gleaming dully but menacingly as he set upon the BLU Pyro, dancing away from the dangerous flames with a laugh.
Spy could glean pleasure from this – that Pyro scared him witless.
It all happened so fast.
One moment flew by and the head of a rocket soared in a perfect arc, its aim straight and true, to the Scout's bobbing head. So caught up in his personal fight was Pippin that he turned himself into a sitting duck. Flashes of his dream struck Spy's mind as he reacted accordingly.
"Scout!"
Scout froze and there was nothing he could do but Spy sprinted and pushed him violently away, attempting feebly to shield himself and he thought STOP constantly and OH…it started just before the –
A gasp drawn together as a collective whole and Felix Paris creaked open one bright blue eye.
"Mon dieu…it's true?"
It felt like God had parted the heavens to shine down his light. All around him and Scout and the dead Pyro, bullets and that single damn rocket hung suspended like metallic stars. The lilac energy rolled around in his palms in coils and waves, extending their vine-like reach to the lethal killing devices and covering the whole battlefield in shards of crystals and swirls, making a gorgeous glow. The light reflected in the eyes of the enthralled audience, Elias dropping his Medi – gun and signing one word over and over.
"Miracle."
And that's the climax of this chapter! Don't worry, the shocking scene will be continued next chapter (what sort of author would I be if I didn't?) and we finally put a name to this beautiful yet alien gift of Spy's. Any guesses? *laughs*
Please review and see you soon!
Love Lily. X