Chapter 25
As time went by Miyoti, having been given his father's name after a decision was made by the others, became nearly as skilled a killer as the other mercenaries after the training they had put him through. Once his training had been finished Melody saw no reason to constantly keep him under hypnosis, as he had already forgotten what other purpose he served other than to work under her name. Unlike his father Miyoti got to know the mercenaries and talked to them frequently. All of his memories had been forgotten, the only life he knew was that of a mercenary, relating to the others quite well. Some of the others differed in ways, but most were hired killers for the majority of their lives. Now with Miyoti joining in their conversation the group strayed from the predictions of his fate as the main subject.
"You may not have seen a fight yet, but I'm sure your first will work out just fine," the sniper said.
"Speaking of fighting, when was the last time you guys did any?" Miyoti asked.
"About eight years ago when we were in Berlin."
"So other than buy weapons and get in fights what do you do?"
"Most of us have side jobs to keep us busy, though the past few years have been revolving around keeping your ass safe."
"Why is it that whenever we have a kid here they're always the top priority?" The soldier butted in to ask.
"Probably because of what the boss said awhile back about how his line is the only one that can take out that wanker with the spaceship."
"You know I bet if we met that guy we'd be able to kick his ass, no relying on this kid bullshit."
"I don't know, I'm sort of inclined to believe that he really is the only thing that can kill em."
"We've never actually seen the guy, who's to say he isn't a total pushover?"
"The last kid who ran into him sure didn't come out of it too well."
"Eh, I suppose he might be a bit tougher than I give him credit for, but that doesn't mean we can't still kick his ass!"
"Look, let's just leave that to the kid, I'd rather just stick to bagging the blokes he orders around."
"Yeah kid, if you didn't already catch on from what we've been saying, you've got to kill that guy."
"Zerstorung, right?" Miyoti replied to the soldier.
"Affirmative, but the lady's orders are to hold out until an attack, then launch a counter-attack, in which you'll be tasked with taking that son of a bitch down for good."
"I really have no idea what to expect out of that guy, maybe I should stick around fighting his men before I jump straight for him?"
"Making battle plans for a future battle doesn't really work out, we have no idea what kind of troops to expect, where they'll be, or how much territory they'd take; the boss is probably going to send you solo, maybe if you luck out it won't be a one-way ticket to hell."
"If little man wants to stand a chance, he will need to become stronger," the heavy said.
"I've already gone through what seems like years of training, how much more ready can I be?" Miyoti answered.
"Hm, perhaps I am not one in position to train you, you are not as big as I; if scout were here he would be one to train you."
"Didn't you guys see him back in Boston not too long ago?"
"Soldier keeps in contact with em, doubt we'd get him here or you over there without the boss throwing a fit," the sniper said.
"Maybe we can sneak scout in, train little man in secret."
"What's the problem with the scout coming over here?"
"Because kid, the scout's a bit of a blabber mouth, not a damn thing she'd say that wouldn't be relayed back to the States, last thing we need is our whole cover blown."
"I thought everyone already knew about this place?"
"No one knows everything, the information's scattered around, just a large combination of rumors."
"Now, we find meeting place far from this building, tell scout to make his way here, then we can see what he can teach the little man,"
"Alright heavy, how do you plan on convincing em to fly over here?" The sniper asked.
"Soldier will make up story, leave that up to him as I am no good at lying."
"Fine, I'll start thinking one up while you three find a meeting place, doc you just sit tight and wait it out," the soldier said, thinking of a way to persuade the scout into flying all the way to France. The medic sitting idly in his chair while the remaining three boarded the elevator and descended.
Whilst Miyoti made arrangements to meet with his soon to be mentor, Zerstorung set into motion similar plans.
Aboard Zerstorung's space station, the Hunter moved through the cell block, soon approaching one of the inhabitants and unlocking their cell.
"Boss wanted me to walk you over to him, consider yourself one lucky bitch that you aren't dead yet," the Hunter said, the prisoner following him towards Zerstorung's throne room.
"Can you tell me what's going on?" The prisoner asked wearily.
"God damn woman, you've been here for ten years! How can you not know what's going on?"
"Ten years?"
"For fuck's sake."
Upon reaching Zerstorung the Hunter nodded and turned back, leaving the prisoner alone with him.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Zerstorung said smugly.
"Who are you?" the prisoner asked.
"That is none of your concern, you need only worry about preparations for your new duty."
"And that is?"
"The man who escorted you here will see to it that you are ready, as I will need you on the battlefield once we launch our next assault."
"Why me?"
"I have my reasons," Zerstorung paused, pointing out into the corridor from which she entered "Now, you will follow him to the barracks to begin your training," the prisoner walked out of the room without hesitation, being greeted by the Hunter not too long after.
"Just keep your mouth shut and follow me."
The two made their way through the structure, soon reaching a room with numerous weapons lining the walls. The Hunter proceeded to grab one of them from its holster and instructed the prisoner to do so as well. Both armed, the two entered a large shooting range with a small number of soldiers firing far down from them.
"Now, just repeat after me," the Hunter said as he took aim and fired at the distant target.
Both Zerstorung and the WPA took this time to prepare for the battle they both knew was to come. Each side training their own star-players. As the two power-players built their force the only remaining superpower, the United States, made preparations for another war as well. They bolstered a strong military, armed to the teeth with the latest weaponry. Though unable to test its might due to the lack of any enemies, other than Zerstorung. The only thing they could do was wait for the first strike, and pray they're strong enough.
Preparing to approach the imposing WPA HQ, Boris stood only a few yards from the entrance, planning to make his proposition with the inhabitants. He saw the intercom near the door, and rather than barge in, pushed it to ask for entry.
"Hello? I was wondering if I could come in and have a word with the lot of you," Boris said over the intercom. Within the building, the sniper heard the voice and came to answer the call.
"And who's asking?" The sniper replied, pushing the intercom near the elevator door.
"Name's Boris, my parents knew the lot of you back in your days at RED."
"Pyro, right?"
"That's correct, now can I come in?"
"Yeah sure, we don't have anything to do in here right now, heavy and soldier are out with the kid trying to get the scout to come over here and train em," Boris entered the building once given the all clear, and proceeded to the eighth floor via elevator. Within several seconds Boris was on the eighth floor, greeted by the sniper, medic, and demoman sitting around the table.
"Alright mate, so what brings you over here?" The sniper asked upon Boris' entry.
"I was hoping perhaps we could work together, my base is close enough for me to help out around the general vicinity, and I'll probably be wherever the lot of you are in battle."
"If ya ever get out of the military, then perhaps you could join up with us, it'd help to have a near replica of the pyro back on our side," the demoman said.
"I'll consider it, but what I need is whatever info you might have on Zerstorung's recent activity, or any activity I may not have heard already."
"You already know about the assassin who tried to off the kid a few years back, right?"
"Fawkes told me about it back in Georgia."
"Wait, Fawkes? As in Douglas Fawkes?" The medic interrupted the two.
"As a matter of fact, yes, do you know him by any chance?"
"More than you would think," the medic proceeded to explain in detail what he had done to him, and their search for him in Boston.
"So, can I ask why you turned him into a doppelganger of some ten year old from some cartoon?"
"A man just came up to me and asked that I perform this procedure, I thought nothing of it..."
"And you think due to this, that there is some sort of link between that cartoon's "universe" and ours?"
"It's obvious that there is, otherwise we wouldn't have a voice recording of them three years prior to the show even being made."
"Good point, I suppose I could tell you what he told me about his experiences," Boris told the group of the land Fawkes described he saw, leading the sniper to interject.
"Now wait, of the...5 or so minutes I had to watch of that one bloody awful episode we saw when we made that connection, a lot of that seems similar to what you're describing," the sniper said.
"I'm more than convinced that such a link exists, but the only man who seems to know it is already there, with no intention or way of returning," Boris said.
"Guess we don't need to find the spy no more, considering we got all the information we could get from this one," the demoman said.
"I can only hope that whenever we do find some way into that universe, that Zerstorung doesn't follow."
"Though if he does he'll have one hell of a fight I'll tell ya that!"