AN: I'm alive! I'm so damn sorry, guys. My summer ended up being more busy than school, and now school's already started again. It's no excuse, I know. Writer's block had me bad, so I decided I need to stop worrying about it and take a breather. About the time I was writing again, my beta reader was busy (not that I'm blaming him/her), so I waited for another stretch. All that aside, I'm back. At least for the next chapter or two, I plan on having them out within the month. Anyway, what you all are here for:
The next morning's alarm rings, awakening me. I sigh with pleasure; last night had been one of my most relatively relaxing evenings in awhile. As I dress, I decide that we are winning today. I won't be fooled by those spies again. I pop my joints in preparation for the day and descend the staircase with renewed energy.
I hesitate, not wanting to be alone with the Spy, but I don't wait long before the rest of the team emerges practically all at once. It seems everyone is as ready to seize the day as I am- the power of a good night's rest, I suppose. The breakfast table, though void of any kind of breakfast, is filled with chatter. Most of it- okay, all of it- is from the Scout. As he tells of last night's fire, I notice a few grinning side-eyes directed at me; they're onto me.
"So it was you, Solider and, uh, PYRO?" Sniper asked, sending Engie a knowing glance.
"And when you and PYRO were there, there was a fire?" Engie clarified.
"Uh, yea, and Soldier," Scout confirmed in confusion.
"It is a shame zat ze evening you visit vith ze Soldier and PYRO is ze evening zat SOMEONE starts a fire." Even the Spy chimes in. His voice is enough to make me sweat and stir with conflicting emotions and confusion; I brush it off the best I can.
"Von might even call it a coincidence," Medic adds, scratching his chin, holding back a smile.
"What's the matta with you guys? What the hell are ya talkin' about?" Scout asks, his head cocked to the side, clearly missing the obvious hints.
"Fur Christ's sake, laddie!" the Demoman exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air in baffled disbelief at the Scout's denseness. This causes the rest of us to break. The Heavy's laugh is heard above the rest and the Scout and Soldier remain silently confused. By the time the laughter begins to ebb, the usual announcement is played. I feel even better about this mission with everyone approaching the van in good humor.
I call shotgun as soon as the vehicle is in sight, as is the rule of the game. I take my seat before anyone can complain.
The Heavy drives surprisingly smooth while I focus for the first time on where exactly we're going. I forgot how much I enjoy driving, so I want to learn the way. I'm going to be behind the wheel next time. Unfortunately, it doesn't really look like we're driving anywhere specific except forward. I sigh, disappointed. I don't trust myself to not get us lost and I can't even ask for help.
I forget any kind of unhappiness I might've had when we arrive and make it to the spawn room. The room is as it always has been, except for the clutter of a couple wooden crates. I'm already excited, despite not knowing what importance they hold. It seems I'm not the only one enthused by their presence. The Scout rushes up to them and picks one up like a Christmas gift, shaking it with his ear pressed against the side.
"Awe yea! New weapons, baby!" he says, putting the boxes down and jumping around a little, unable to keep his feet still. "Go on, open 'em!"
"Don't get too riled up," the Engineer says, placing a hand on the Scout's bouncing shoulder, "There's not enough boxes for all of us."
"Awright then, let's bust these puppy's open, see who they're for," the Sniper says, hiding his excitement better than the Scout. Everyone silently agrees to rely on the Heavy to pry them open using nothing but his big, meaty hands. He digs his fingers into the wooden top and pulls. We all watch with bated breath as the squeak of metal nails being pulled from wood is heard. The lid hardly moves and the Heavy strains. A vein begins to pulse on his forehead and bicep. Quietly, the rest of start whispering encouragement. Things like "c'mon…" or "almost there…". Before long and without realizing it, we're all yelling and cheering the same words. Even the Heavy's silent concentration is broken as a yell of effort flies from his throat. The room is enveloped in silent anticipation as soon as the lid snaps from the crate, freeing its contents.
The Engineer does the deed, carefully reaching through the packing peanuts. Slowly and dramatically the weapon is removed. We all stare in awe.
"What the heck is it," the Scout says, breaking the silence. "Who's it for?" The Engie turns to beam at him cockily.
"For me!" he says, grinning hugely. It seems everyone catches new weapon excitement, even if they don't show it. Even the Spy, probably. I resist the urge to look to him. Instead, I look at the strange contraption the Engie holds up like baby Simba.
It's a glove. Kind of. It looks more like a bionic hand or something. It's got metal fingers and looks, if I don't say so myself, pretty damn rad. The Engie seems to think so too. As he slaps the thing onto his wrist, it takes the place of his hand. I want to know what it does, so I ask, hoping the message gets through.
"Haha, thanks Pyro, but that's just the half of it. It's called a 'gunslinger'," he says, clearly not understanding me. "It lets me build mini-sentries instantly, but-"
"Aw, who cares! Who's the other one for?" Scout interrupts. I slump, wanting to actually hear more of what the Engie had to say. "Gunslinger" just sounds really cool. I wonder if he had a hand in designing it. The announcement for five minutes left is made. The Scout, without consent from the rest of us, frantically declares that we don't have any time left, and slings the remaining box to the floor. Everyone let's out a startled cry as wood chunks burst and packing peanuts fly.
"You idiot!" the Medic chastises, slapping the back of said idiot's head. I swear to God if that weapon was mine and the Scout broke it, I'm gonna tear him a new one. The Engineer, obviously the unspoken designated man to reveal the weapons, dusts aside the packing peanuts and wood. He holds up a weird looking red gun. It doesn't look like it shoots bullets, the barrel is too wide. We all wait for the Engineer to announce the owner of this funny looking gun. I find my heart pattering quickly and my stomach doing flips. I don't know and don't care what it is, but I want it.
"This is for…" the Engineer considers the weapon before a light goes off in his head, "Oh! This is Pyro's!"
I exclaim, unable to control myself and the gun is dropped into my greedy hands.
"How come he gets it? He hasn't even been here long enough to deserve it," the Scout says with a pout. The rest of the crestfallen team doesn't defend me, but I don't care.
"That there's a flare gun. That baby can ignite someone from a hundred feet away. If they're already on fire, well then, that flare will be the last thing they see," the Engie informs me. He really does know a ton about weaponry.
"Alright, can it, nerds!" The Soldier yells, obviously not pleased he didn't get a new weapon. "It's time to talk battle plans! Mission: Doomsday! Today's victory will be riding on Scout's shoulders! You hear me?"
"Who can't?" the Scout quips, twisting his pinky around inside his right ear.
"Good, Pyro's job and my job will be protecting you so you can keep hold of that Australium. Heavy, Medic, Spy, you do your thing. Engineer: don't bother building around the Australium, build where your sentries are our last resort."
"Understood."
"Demoman, we need stickies all over the lift, just in case one of these ladies blows it. Same for you, Sniper, you're part of the back-up plan. You need to kill any BLU that gets near that rocket. Now, are we ready, maggots!?" Soldier glares around at us. I'm so ready and I can see everyone else is too. We crowd around the the fence and wait; we are going to win today.
The countdown begins and I squeeze my flare gun, ready to fire it at the first BLU I see. I can't help but wonder briefly who's in charge of delivering and creating the new weapons. Someone I haven't met, I'm sure.
The clock ticks down to 1 and the team explodes forward, Scout in front. We break off in branches, Soldier, Scout, and I staying together. I try to keep pace, but find myself falling behind; my constant Spy checks aren't speeding things along, either. The Scout, jumping impressively high, the Soldier rocket jumping after him, disappear into an entrance I can't reach.
I hesitate less than a second before deciding the tunnel in front of me is my best bet and will hopefully take me in the right direction. I follow twists and turns when another countdown begins.
I finally get sight of the Australium when the Administrator declares that "The Australium is available for delivery." I see two blurs of red and blue, and skillfully shoot at the blue one with my new weapon. The thrill of incinerating someone at such a distance fills me with glee and I giggle manically with no holding back. The BLU Scout manages to survive the hit, but is slowed down enough to let ours capture the Australium. BLU Scout breaks out his pistol for vengeance, but is blasted to pieces by a rocket, courtesy of our Soldier. I call my thanks and take a different path to the lift, searching for any BLU mercs to take care of along the way. I'm constantly whipping around with my flamethrower full flame, just in case either of the jerk Spies come around.
At the lift, I find some of my teammates fighting off a Heavy/Medic duo and I join the attack, hoping the Soldier and Scout can fend for themselves. I go for the Medic, knowing I don't stand a chance against an overhealed Heavy. Unfortunately, he calls for assistance and I'm taken care of swiftly by his companion. As bullets rattle my figure, I'm pleased to see that my death wasn't in vain. I created an opening for the Engie to plop a mini-sentry nearby enough to finish off their Medic.
I'm murdered two more times before I finally catch sight of the australium. Damn; It's the BLU Scout that pounces towards the rocket, evading my flares with the Australium securely strapped to his body. Our Medic has my back as I join the enemy on the lift. I take a few body shots from the BLU Sniper, but survive long enough with the overheal to ignite the Scout and air blast him off the platform, leaving him to hurtle to his doom. The lift begins slowly lowering, but I'm blown away before it can reach the ground. I'm not sure who to blame for my demise, their Demoman or Soldier.
I rush out of spawn, but am thrown back by a strong gust of air. Looks like my friend the BLU Pyro is trying to camp by our spawn. She manages to kill me quickly, but I'm back just as fast to finish her off. I blame my loss on being caught off-guard. I laugh as her burning body crumples to the ground, refusing to acknowledge the morbidness. I have no time for cheap moves like spawn camping; serves her right.
God, I love my job.
I hurry back to the rocket and find that our Soldier and Scout have made it. Just as I realize it, the Soldier is nailed in the face by their Sniper's bullet. No problem; we don't need him. I have to jump to reach the platform with the Scout.
"Finally made it, huh?" he teases, taking shots at the BLU mercs below us.
I laugh and blast incoming bombs away easily, as well as the BLU Soldier as he attempts to board the rising lift. I hear the Scout cry out as that Sniper manages to graze my teammate.
"Get down!" I call. I don't know if he understood me, but he is able to conceal his skinny form behind the narrow rocket. I steadily aim my flare gun towards the Sniper; I have to be quick. At least quicker than him. I fire three times, the first missing, the second lighting him on fire, and the third finishing him off. I grin; not too shabby. I turn back in time to see the bloodied Scout desperately fend off the attacks of the uncloaked BLU Spy on our platform. Or maybe it was the RED; there's no way to know for sure at this point. I bare my teeth angrily and swing my heavy red axe.
He dodges while the Scout takes a knee to recover. I have to protect him. I slash my weapon quickly through the air, missing several times before my blade catches on the flesh of the Spy's shoulder. The man cries out, but his image remains steady. Okay, it's definitely the BLU Spy; not that changes anything. I jerk my dripping axe back and finish him off with a satisfying slash through his torso. I feel a sense of peace as I watch the suited figure fall through the air and crash to the ground.
We've gotten quite high up by this point; we must be almost to the top. I turn to see the rocket tip slowly begin twisting. I want to shout at it to hurry. The Scout wipes blood from his vision and smiles a broken-toothed, bloodied grin. He must have been knifed a coupled times at least. His face also took a beating. I'm surprised he's still clinging on to his life to finish the mission. An official nod of respect to him. The rocket slowly opens, ready for the Australium.
"No sweat," he beams from a swollen face, jamming the case into place. When it's accepted and the the lift rumbles under our feet. I shout with victory. We are lowered back down to the BLU massacre, high-fiving several times before reaching the ground. I watch the rocket soar upwards.
We did it, we finally won! I let out another whoop. Even as the rocket's trajectory curves and declines, landing with an impressive explosion, I whoop again because I just thought of the hella sick party we're about to have. I laugh at myself. "Hella sick" makes it look like I've been spending too much time with the Scout.
The rest of RED reappears in spawn and excited chatter fills the van on the way home. No one needs to say a word concerning the party. As soon as we enter, the first person to the fridge passes booze around.
I really am sorry, though. I don't deserve fans ;-; Thanks so much for anyone who's still reading as well as new readers and for reviews I got during my hiatus. I'm sorry I'm the worst /3
