I'm back for the war! I don't own anyone, Valve does!
10:15 A.M.
The air already smelled like blood. I scoped out the scene.
Badlands.
This wasn't a new map. This wasn't even a Capture the Flag map. They'd lied to us again, but I wasn't surprised. Apparently they had uninstalled the Control Points so there were only large, dark circles in their place. I watched the greens parachute down. Their Demoman was already launching grenades. Our team dodged airborne bullets and took cover. I ran and hid in a covered area where the dirt path had led to. All I had to do was run around it and I'd be in their territory.
"Move up! Schnell!" Medic called, slowly charging Soldier. I realized that most of the other team was still in the air, so now was the time to run. We all moved as a group, racing to their capture zone. Pyro kept compression blasting the bullets from above, keeping us alive and somewhat uninjured. Engineer stopped running abruptly to build a sentry hidden in a small lake.
"Scout, go take it! I am right behind you!" He was still charging Heavy, who was shooting behind me. I ran faster and snatched their Intel before they could locate me on the ground. Halfway through, I felt pressure coming from my side. I looked to my right and fired two shots at the other Scout (who was apparently a girl) who was tryin' to nail me. I hit her once. Apparently that wasn't enough because she pulled out her cleaver and threw it at me. I was bleedin' like nobody's business. Ahead of me, I saw a batch of bright green sticky bombs. I swerved around them, but my feet didn't keep up with me as I felt a sword cut into my neck, then my head altogether.
"We have dropped the enemy Intelligence!"
10:35 A.M.
Right now the score was 6-4, and we were losing. What lied outside the respawn doors was a level three sentry (from them of course), a Heavy waiting to be Übercharged at any given moment, a scoped-in Sniper, sticky bombs lining the entrance, and whatever else. And you ask how I know this? I made the stupid mistake of actually leaving the respawn when I saw them setting all of these things up.
Eventually, all of the team had died and we were gathered in the respawn room.
"This is very bad. I do not like this." Heavy said, who had taken a headshot.
"I moved my sentry so it's guarding the Intelligence." Engineer said. That is, until he looked at his PDA. "Oh, never mind. Spy's sappin' it."
"Alert! The enemy had taken our Intelligence!" The intercom said.
"Oh, what? Are we stupid now or somethin'?" I yelled back, facing the speaker.
"I have a plan," Medic said. He reached into his coat and grabbed nine needles filled with fluid. "Back at the base, I created a medicine zhat I inject into you eight, and soon as I activate it with a push of a button, all of you will be fully charged simultaneously! Including me."
"That's amazing. Can you inject us now? Quickly before they cap it?" I asked.
"You've failed. The enemy has secured our Intelligence."
"Before they cap it AGAIN?" Without speaking, he handed each of us a needle. I injected mine a little too fast, and it stung more than it should of.
"Are we ready?" He asked. We nodded.
"In three...two...one." He pressed the button, and the other team didn't stand a chance as we ran past them, ruining their spawn-camping plans.
11:00 A.M.
It was now 9-7, and they were still winning. So far I had gotten shot by a Sniper with amazing accuracy, decapitated two more times, blown up by the rage Soldier, burned to death, gotten back stabbed, and guess what happened when I had one health left?Death by medicine. Yep, I got killed by a needle. A NEEDLE. These guys are really good. They've got their ambush strategies all worked out. There were steady streams of blood dripping from the rail cart, in which I had attempted to hide behind several times. We were all limp and sore. It would be a close game, but I just didn't think that this battle was for us.
I ended up running into Pyro, who was waiting for the Medi pack to appear again. Her hands were on her knees and she looked worn out, but determined.
"Hey, fire face." I greeted, not noticing that I had an arrow in my good shooting arm. She compression blasted me into the wooden, splintery wall. I've learned my lesson.
"Okay, okay!" I pleaded.
"Uh-huh." She responded. I would've said more, but the enemy Pyro had apparently spotted us and killed our Pyro with his/her charged Phlogistinator. I managed to run away, set ablaze. After the Medi pack that the late Pyro was waiting for showed up, I went to go seek revenge on the green Pyro.
Love is no place for the battlefield, but it felt like I was fighting for it.
11:20 A.M.
We had managed to nab the briefcase one more time. With every respawn, you were supposed to feel new and refreshed when you came back. For some reason, I felt worn out. Running out for the last time, I felt something cold slice into my skull. I immediately dropped to the ground, crawling at this point. The enemy Soldier jogged by and gave me the finger. I now had a huge laceration in my head, and they were about to win. I knew that we had gave it our all, and this was pretty impressive compared to the best team. Laying on my stomach, I took out my Bonk! and took a swig. Feeling energized, I got up and ran past the halfway mark.
"I think we're done for, son." Engie said after he suddenly creeped up behind me. He pointed to my right. There was our Übercharged Medic and Heavy duo fighting theirs. Our charge ran out first, and Medic ended up dying.
"You are dead!" Their Heavy said. I passed Engie, still invincible, and ran straight into their Intel room. Surprisingly, they didn't have any sentries or defense up. I ran up to it, but little did I know that the green Femscout came in through the other side, and double jumped. I did the same thing, readying my Boston Basher, and hit her. Amazingly, I killed her and the Intel remained inches away from their Capture Zone.
"HELP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I heard footsteps, and the smallest breeze behind me. A blade cut into my back, and I felt dizzy. My blood spilled down my spine, and I fell onto the ground with no physical strength to get back up. As I closed my eyes, I saw a whisp of a green buisinessy-looking suit.
"You've FAILED!"
So...we lost 10-8. That doesn't suck completely, but we still lost.
"We need new fighting methods." Soldier said, limping through the doorway. "That was a terrible display of shame to Mann Co."
"It was only 10 to 8, that's pretty impressive for going against the best team."
"A loss is a loss Scout!" He spat. He grabbed his bucket and went elsewhere. Everyone else scattered to do something other than sit around.
"So, the first one was a loss I see." Ms. Pauling said, walking out of one of the many hallways.
"Well, we tried, I mean it wasn't like we got shut out or anything like that..." I said, trying to defend the team.
"It's still going down in the records." After everyone cleared out, she sat down next to me.
"I know that you have a secret, Scout." She said. Oh really now?
"Where are you gettin' at Miss?"
"If you tell the others, you think that it'll hurt the person that you're trying to protect. But I'm telling you that it won't."
"You mean...Pyro?"
"Scout, everybody's been wondering what's behind that mask since she joined. I'm just saying that if she wants to be known, then don't stop her." I stared at her, confused.
"Then you should be talking to her about this! Why me?" I said, taking off my cap.
"Because you seem to be, well, partnering with her lately."
"What will the Admin. say?" I asked.
"I'm not sure if you noticed, but there was a Femscout on the enemy team today. Females on the mercenaries are just uncommon, not prohibited."
"So..." I said, motioning with my hand.
"Pyro's allowed to be here, and nobody can get her in trouble just because she's a girl." Well this was interesting.
"Are you sure?"
"Certain."
"Very very sure?"
"Yes, Scout. I'm sure."
"What if you're a Spy?" She took a gun from the rack and fired it at the table.
"No disguise." She gave me a salute. Amazingly, Pyro came nearly racing down the stairs to see what was wrong. It was then that I realized that she had fired a Flare Gun, just to get Pyro's attention.
"Mmph!" She muffled and took back the gun from Pauling's hand.
"Sorry, I just needed your attention. There's something that we'd like to tell you..." She said, pointing to the both of us.
"Oh, no no no. You are going to tell her." I said.
"No, you tell her!"
"Well, let's both tell her." We faced Keira and realized that she had already took off her mask.
"It wasn't much of a secret, I guess. After I saw that girl Scout today, I didn't think that it would be so bad to leave off my mask every once in a while. Besides, I already have asthma and it doesn't help wearing it almost all day, every day." There was a light scar on her neck. I didn't know if it was from where she had actually got cut on the neck, or some weird after effect from the dream she sent me. What was it with all these neck injuries? Something important, I wouldn't doubt it.
"Well, I'm glad you know." She blew a purple whistle. Footsteps crowded our hearing as everyone met in the living room. Keira faced towards the front, so only her hair was visible.
"We have a training session at 6, so meet in the gym." Pauling said.
"I don't even know where the gym is." Sniper said. "I don't really know where anything is in this place. Too fancy for my taste."
"Zhen why don't you go live in your camper van, jar man?" Spy said, un-cloaking behind him. Sniper just glared at him.
"Do your best. I have to find it too. That's all." Everyone cleared out once again, and nobody seemed to notice Keira. Maybe they just thought it was one of those weird guys with long hair.
I spent about an hour actually looking for the gym, running into some people along the way. Eventually I reached a garden of some kind, open and free. There wasn't much except for a wide range of grass and a giant gazebo. I laid down on my back under the gazebo and stared at the sky. What was goin' on back home? Probably the same stuff. My bros weren't as reckless as I was, but not any better either. I wondered what it would be like in college, or a school. For a moment I could've swore that the gazebo moved on its own, but it was probably the illusion of the clouds. The mansion seemed so isolated from other civilization.
It felt like I could lay here and forget all of my problems. Forget about if Ms. Pauling was lying about Pyro, about the neck injuries, the next few brackets, and what was going on back home. Unfortunately, I'd only have this time to do it.
Because the battlefield isn't a place for personal problems, either.
YAY! First bracket done. So far we know that love and personal problems don't belong in war :) And how will the others accept Pyro's true identity? All coming up soon! R and R!
