Gunshots and metallic screeches came ever closer. Still nothing appeared however, not even a muzzle flash or a single small creature. Everything in front of them for the last few minutes had been more lifeless than the Moon. No rat scurried away as they walked. No bat fluttered away from the light from Sabretooth's torch as he pointed it towards dark corners. No ambush waited from suspiciously placed chests dotted beside wrecked vehicles and within buildings missing entire walls. Sabot Platoon continued to press on, following the tarmacked road. Street lamps flickered as they walked beneath. There was nothing but steel and dirt.

"Where the hell is all of the monsters?!" Starbug finally called out, swinging over her M16 over her shoulder, "It has been over five minutes since the last one, and it was a mimic!"

"We must have caught up with the guys in front," replied Sabretooth cooly, " Would explain why the gunfire seems to have gotten louder. Keep your guards up, you never know what is around the corner."

Suddenly, a titanic metallic roar. The Gungeon's walls shook in terror as several stone icicles rained down from the ceiling. Sabot Platoon took cover within a garage until the rain ceased. The roar continued to echo long after.

There, a shadow. A huge shadow, only just visible from their hiding spot. It's 'head' was raised above its body with two 'wings' stretching out close by the head. Two thin curved legs held up the bent over body. The creature walked off, its shadow quickly vanishing down the road and around a sharp bend. More gunshots followed from the same direction. Alongside… Voices? Their shouts were indistinguishable from gunfire and a riot of other noises. They seemed masculine. Until they stopped. Then the gunfire.

"Seems like we found the group in front." Commented Subaru, pointing his M63 Stoner ahead of him, "Even if they are fellow players, doesn't mean they won't just blow our heads off as well. I'm ready to kill 'em if they make a wrong move."

Sabretooth rested a hand on Subaru's shoulder. "Easy there killer. We should focus on the non-player enemies first before we can consider our fellow players friend or foe. I mean… I'd rather not fight a boss with minions while also engaging a group of fellow players that might actually help us in destroying it."

"I guess you have a point…"

The three cautiously approached the bend, clinging to the apex like a vehicle trying to get around at the fastest speed possible. They followed the curve, inching forward step by step. More of the next area become revealed with each step. Yet another wide, open arena with small buildings and complexes hugging the outskirts. Bollards and wrecked vehicles were scattered across the centre without patterns. Between the wrecks, countless monsters slowly marched towards a tall tower. Beside said concrete tower, was a dam-like structure. It reached nearly to the ceiling with a steep curved exterior. Red lights flashed brightly against the grey concrete.

All of the monsters seemed to have their full attention to the concrete tower (which was only just taller than the largest monster), where several shots rained from. They came in single shots, yet they one/two shot anything in the bullets' paths. Well, except the largest of them. It was hard to miss it. The mechanical monster towered above the rest, its wings raised.

Suddenly, with an ear-piercing screeching roar, the tubular wings opened and missiles flew out in a horde of smoke and fire. The barrage smashed against the tower. Slabs collapsed in their wake. The walls shook in terror.

"Binos." Starbug quickly gave a pair of binoculars to Sabretooth. He scanned the battlefield. "Yeah, they do travel in herds. That's the most I have seen yet. At least fifty lower rank monsters. Then there's that mech. We need to find its weak spot pronto. Probably the joints, or the head. If it has a head, it has a weak spot after all. Hmm… That tower is still holding up, barely. Another barrage like that and it'll be rubble. Wait… I see a person. A single person. White and grey? Yeah, definitely white and grey. Guy couldn't have entered alone, so his allies must have been wiped out. Would do you two reckon? We save 'em or let 'em die?"

The three looked at each other. Then, they nodded.

"I'm in." Winked Starbug, "Any excuse to blow some stuff up."

"Why the hell not?" Grinned Subaru, "This is going to be fun!"

"Alright, so here's the plan…"

They just kept coming. Crawling up the crumbling concrete wall. bipedal machine, quadrupedal abomination, it did not matter. A shot between the 'eyes' always did the trick. Fire, push off, aim, repeat. Yet, they kept gaining ground. His bullets were running dry, his health points slowly grinded down into the yellow by the odd slash. Then there was the giant mechanoid creature. That was a completely different story. There wasn't even a scratch on the black exterior. While the other smaller enemies approached his position, the mech stayed back, watching from a distance, growling in mechanical hatred.

Suddenly, its mouth began to open, an orange light began to build in intensity. The walls became orange. Other creatures fled in horror. Still the intensity built. In an instant, it was blinding. A blinding light of orange, and it was only growing brighter. He accepted his fate, closing his eyes and dropped his sniper rifle. 'It was a good run. We'd better prepare ourselves next time…'

BOOM! CLUNK! BOOM! RATTLE! SCREECH! BBRRRR!

He reopened his eyes. The Blinding orange light was still there, just pointed… upwards? Its head was pointed upwards as well. Was that… smoke? Grey smoke rose from the hoof-like feet. Must have been a bomb, or multiple grenades stuck together. Whatever it was, it worked.

The mech fired its laser into the roof of the dungeon, giant rocks thundered downwards onto the smaller monsters and the mech. Roars of anger and pain echoed as violently as the falling rocks. The creatures that were crawling up the tower fell. Some fell onto others as others charged to where the explosion came from. Then, came the gunfire. Bursts of bullets shot towards the weakened tower, chattering and ricocheting off several surfaces. He located where the shots came from: on top of a one-story structure on the opposite side of the arena. Several monsters were cut down. Then more were. They vanished into blue pixels as they smashed against the ground. Red bullet lines covered the battlefield.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps beside him after a FOOSH of a rope, and a CLANG of boots on metal. He turned to face the noises, grabbing his rifle while raising to his feet.

"There is a very unstable situation on the ground, that is unfolding very quickly. Care to help?" It was Sabretooth. "Being jumped by one of the most powerful monsters in the Gungeon is pretty unlucky, if I may say so myself."

"Tell me about it…" The sniper responded with a sigh. He was taller than Sabretooth expected, though the somewhat familiar sniper was only just taller than Sabre. While his outfit was mostly grey and white, red seems split the colours. A half balaclava covered the lower part of his face (Halfway down his nose and below). His dark grey hair was swept over to one side, curving around an eye. Still, he seemed to be a player of few words but long stares from his red eyes. "W-why did you help me? I don't even know you."

"A good player never leaves another behind. Especially if loot is on the line." Sabretooth winked, But there was no time for chit-chat or introductions. "C'mon. Let's finish the fight!"

The sniper gave a wordless nod, the two turning just in time to catch the enemy's return. The mech rose back to its feet, with creaks and moans. It roared once again as a health bar appeared above with War Gear Mecha in green writing. It faced them, mouth still glowing. Smoke still smothered most of the battlefield.

"Still got most of its health... Subaru, you manage to crack open the armour?"

"Yes! We managed to crack a… uh, foot by foot and a half worth of armour? Yeah, about that." Replied Subaru, still pouring the general area with bullets. "Right foot, outside. It is now a critical point. Trying to eliminate the Scorch Komodos and Demonic Chompers first before attempting to exploit any other weaknesses."

"Try to distract the big guy you two!" Starbug suddenly burst onto the radio, "We'll handle the rest!"

"Roger Roger!" Replied Sabretooth. "Alright, fella, how much ammo you still got?"

"Enough for the Dragunov, jamming will be an issue soon. Not enough for the optical sidearm."

Sabretooth pondered for a second as the Mech stumbled on a weakened leg with ground trembling groans. "We do have the high ground but it is clearly not over yet… Here, you can use this for now."

Before the bemused sniper could react, a wooden rifle was thrown into his arms. He looked at it, somewhat confused. "A M1 Garand?"

"It isn't much, I know, but she's reliable. Got me out of sticky situations before and will again. Treat her with respect and she will look after you. The durability for your rifle should recover after this fight. Now, c'mon lets get off this tower before the big guy blows us to kingdom come."

The masked sniper nodded, placing a clip into the M1. By now the Mech had drawn its attention back to the sniper and Sabretooth. It roared again, raising its ovaloid wings. Countless bullet lines filled the air in front as missile pods grew outwards. Each red line shot out from a hole in the wings where a missile would shoot out at any moment. Sabretooth grabbed a hold of the sniper's sleeve, starting to drag him away. "We've got to move! Now!"

With some hesitation, the sniper followed until they got to the edge. He looked downwards. Most of the monsters had been defeated or distracted, very few now remained. Of the few that did remain, they snarled and growled at the two players. They couldn't climb up again, but they could wait, their jaws wide open. The sniper looked back at Sabretooth, concerned with the height. "You sure this will work?"

"Only one way to find out." Replied Sabretooth before taking the plunge. He managed to land on a Demonic Chomper and begun to wrestle its giant red jaws away from him.

The sniper hesitated. There were only two options: dive fifty foot into a horde of open jaws or become a part of a future pile of rubble. He chose the former. The Mech roared once again. Missiles began to fly. A barrage of explosions, smoke and noise smashed into the concrete tower. It fell apart. Huge slabs thundered towards the ground as smaller pieces pinged off into other directions. Smoke arose as the pieces crashed into tarmac and dirt. Still the missiles flew, the boss' aim slowly aiming downwards. More of the structure was crushed beneath the weight of the Mech's firepower and the tower falling down.

Suddenly, as quickly as it had begun, the barrage of missiles stopped. The Mech's ovaloid wings creaked under the heat, thin vapours arose from each of the tubes before they retracted back into the wings. It lowered its head to the rubble. The thin rounded legs spread out a little to stabilise itself. Then, it simply stood motionless.

Movement. The Mech turned its head to face the movement. Out of the densely packed rubble, something came into view. A figure. The boss approached with hungry anticipation, its twin jaws lowered slightly. And from the dust and ashes stood Sabretooth. Having found its prey, the Mech opened fire. Blasts of orange plasma from its mouth. A terrifying display of might… were it not for the fact that Sabretooth had emerged unharmed, unscathed, and unafraid. In fact, he almost seemed unaware of the attack that had taken place. The Mech screeched in outrage, firing again, only to produce the same outcome. So much in its frustration that it failed to notice a certain disc-like object right at "Sabretooth"'s feet, a subtle clue to what was happening.

The onlookers who bore witness to the display of deception found themselves as surprised as the Mech. Everyone save for Sabretooth who was already on the move, his one holographic decoy grenade well spent ('I've got to get more of those!' he grinned internally). He told the sniper to remain at the rubble, mostly hidden, but to be ready. For what? He never said. Either way, he managed to sneak past (running at quite a speed), reuniting with Subaru and Starbug. They were still by a small complex, resembling a fuel station just without any fuel. The two had just managed to finish off the last of the lower enemies. A Scorch Komodo nearly spat at Subaru with its corrosive fireball but was quickly dealt with by Stabug's under barreled grenade launcher aimed right at its bright red head.

"We're on borrowed time," Sabretooth began, sliding over to a low brick wall where the two had taken cover at, "Our temporary sniper friend will be able to get some good shots in but I need the road flare. Oh and a good opportunity for a rodeo."

"Should be in my pocket." Starbug nodded, turning around to face her back to him. She also summoned a M202 FLASH, nearly stumbling due to its weight.

"Which pocket?"

"My back pocket!"

"You've got like ten back pockets…"

"Left Cheek! Left Cheek! Left Cheek!" Starbug just took double take at the War Gear Mecha . It had figured out the ruse. The hologram, along with the disc, was nothing but a burnt crisp surrounded by melted (then quickly cooled) tarmac. Now, the Mech faced their direction. Its jaws were wide open and 'wings' stretched upwards. "Hurry up Goddammit!"

"Alright, alright…" He grabbed the road flare with haste, "Try to hit that hole you blasted. Should knock it down, then I can climb on. For now, I'll be the distraction. Don't miss."

Then, with a single hand, he unequipped his G-36C and equipped a red photon sword instead. It glowed in excitement. He retracted the blade before clipping the sword to a small chain that hung from his red cape. Sabretooth was ready. Subaru was ready. Starbug was ready. The sniper was ready. It was time.

Sabretooth grabbed the flare and lit it. Red engulfed the close proximity. He waved it about, high and boastfully to attract the attention of the Mech. "C'mon you bucket of bolts! Follow the flare!"

Like a Tyrannosaurus, the Mech's eyes were glued to the flare and slowly approached it. The ground rumbled with a deep growl. Metal creaked as plates shifted past each other. Some gears rattled as each step was taken. Then came the ear piercing screech. Sabretooth's slow trudge became a jog, which quickly became a sprint. The Mech raised its wings, panels opened, bullet lines covered his general location. 'Anytime now…'

Starbug aimed carefully with the M202 (as carefully as you could anyway). She waited silently, following the Mech's movements from a hundred odd metres. The shots had to count. It was now or never.

Just as the countless missiles were about to launch, Starbug fired. The first rocket struck low, just grazing the metallic hoof. The second struck the left leg, denting the metal slightly. The third hit true, striking directly at the crack in the armour. The fourth did too, right in the same spot. Screeches of pain echoed throughout the Gungeon as the Mech lost its balance. It tumbled head first into the ground again, just as several missiles were launched. They detonated on the ground, just beside the wings they were fired from. Huge shards of metal were ripped off from the wings and were sent flying, trailing smoke behind them. Each piece crumbled and ripped as they smashed into the ground sending tiny shards flying in all directions. Even while behind cover, Starbug and Subaru ducked to avoid the steel rain.

The sniper remained in the rubble and watched the shards rain down while smoke rose gently from the Mech. He then silently watched Sabretooth quickly hop onto the partly fractured wing. Now it was time for the second step.

Metal creaked under Sabretooth's feet, subtle clanks and rattles rumbled the wing. Certain joints fizzled with oil. Oil Bubbled at the seems and seeped down the wings, making the journey to the head a slippery one. However, only with two near slip ups, he reached the head. Still the Mech attempted to raise back to its feet to little avail. For the time being anyway.

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen, now just for the final piece to click in."

Sabretooth summoned his photon sword. It whirred into life, lighting up the black exterior. He just had to find a good spot. Right about… there! He stabbed the top of the head with the sword. The metal fizzled and melted as the sword penetrated deeper. Slowly, he carved deeper.

CLUNK!

The photon sword could not be pushed any further in. All that remained of the sword was the metallic handle. Something beneath sizzled and popped.

Yet another ear piercing roar came from the Mech. Its health had halved in the matter of seconds with Sabretooth's precise strike. Now it was beyond furious and was fully committed in one goal: killing the four.

The Mech's eye slits glowed red as it jumped high into the air. Sabretooth struggled to hold on. All he had was his photon sword, which was slowly being rattled out by the violent movements. Then, the Mech begun to run and jump in seemingly random directions. It smashed Into concrete walls, slammed into the same wrecked saloon at the centre, and even crashed into rubble. Subaru and Starbug evacuated from their cover just in time for the whole complex to collapse. They could only watch as the chaos unfolded. The wings fluttered like a bird, attempting to take off. Bullet lines danced like disco lights. Missiles were fired spontaneously and without warning.

Still hid in the rubble, the sniper became increasingly frustrated with his rifle. The Dragunov had misfired a fourth time while aiming for the boss. He had no other choice. Until this battle had concluded, he was forced to use the gifted Garand. So, the sniper swapped the guns and begun to aim once again. Switching between a scope and iron sights was never an easy transition but he had to get use to the new gun while a giant robotic monster trampled everything around it.

"Aim for the mouth!" Sabretooth shouted, his voice mostly muffled by the raw firepower of the missiles and their destruction.

The sniper only just about heard his voice. He stared closely at the head. Sabretooth was still holding on, just. Half of the photon sword had been shaken out. The twin lower jaws were hung loosely as the cries of anger continued. Only just visible was a plate within the mouth, it glowed yellow. It sparkled and sparked as if damaged somewhat. 'So that's what his sword hit.'

He waited for a good shot, for the perfect shot. The bullet circle grew and shrank with each breath. This had to work, otherwise everyone here would be on the receiving end of the Mech's wrath. Eight shots before the ping.

First shot. Simply pinged off the upper jaw.

Second shot. It hit the plate, causing more sparks. Still needed a few more.

Third shot. It also hit the plate. More sparks filled the back of the Mech's mouth.

Fourth shot. Missed as the Mech violently smashed into the cavern's wall.

Fifth shot. Somehow it pinged off Sabre's photon sword to both their surprises.

Sixth shot. Another shot struck the plate. That one hurt. Molten metal dripped like saliva. One more.

Seventh shot. Slightly dented the lower jaw. Only one shot left.

The laser began to charge once again. Blue and white sparks crackled and twirled around the mouth. Some escaped to the rest of the head. Sabretooth attempted to dodge the bolts while holding on for dear life.

Eighth shot. PING! The bullet hit true, right in the centre of the plate.

A second passed.

Then everything happened.

A ball of blinding white light lit up the whole cavern. The four attempted to look away from the blinding light. Any noise became overshadowed by ringing in everyone's ears. Subaru and Starbug ran for cover behind a huge shard of the Mech that was blown off earlier. The sniper buried himself back into the rubble. Sabretooth prayed that he would land safely (or if not, negotiate for the second best thing). Clashing of steel, concrete snapping, glass shattering then trickling down like a light shower. Then came a metallic screech like no other. It was somewhere between a car being crushed and a jet aircraft smashing into the ground in a ball of fire.

Then there was nothing.

A few minutes had passed. Smoke and dust had finally began to vanish into nothingness. The great War Gear Mecha had been defeated, leaving behind only loot of various qualities. Including (but not limited to): a Magnum, a FN Scar, two M60s and a Bazooka. Subaru distributed the weapons between the three members of Sabot Platoon. Starbug counted the dropped explosives, scanning through the descriptions of each carefully. The two chatted between themselves about the fight.

"That the Flash from earlier on right? I didn't think you had a high enough Strength stat for it."

"Only just. A few weeks ago I wouldn't have had the stats for it. Luckily I did… Four smokes, Five smokes…"

Sabretooth meanwhile had managed to escape with only a few scratches and slightly less health than he began the fight with. Those would vanish soon enough however. Literally walking off of his injuries, Sabretooth saw as the masked sniper tentatively rose from his hiding place. Now there was time for proper introductions. Sabretooth sent over over an invite to his squad to the sniper.

"You're more than free to leave now if you'd rather fight alone or end your journey here."

The sniper simply shook his head and simply accepted. But as Sabre's invitation was accepted, another surprise awaited him. He stopped when he read the name.

Itsuki.

The once unnamed sniper peeled his balaclava off, breathing in relief like his dull gray hair that was finally freed from his mask's confines. "Sabot Platoon," he began. "Weren't you the winners of the third Battle of Bullets?"

"I, er, yeah," Sabretooth muttered. "I mean, it was technically a tie..."

Itsuki looked at his savior weird. "What's wrong? Something I said?"

"No, no, nothing like that it is just-"

"Seiba shot ya in the face with a RPG in the second Battle of Bullets." Subaru interrupted while walking up to the two then proceeding to ruffle Sabretooth's hair a little. "Cost both a good position in the BoB and the rest of your squadron too. Though I don't remember what the scenario was really…"

"Forget about it." Itsuki begun gently shaking his head to everyone's surprise. "I remember that BoB. It was… fun. Even if that event did hinder my efforts, it was something to laugh about for a while. I guess I have to thank you for that."

"No need! No need!" A relieved Sabretooth spoke, waving his hands a little, "Although I do now understand why you had that balaclava on, overly eager fans are more dangerous than any boss."

"I let them have such information in drips and drabs. Their correctness varys however. I allow them to keep digging, keeps it entertaining for them." Itsuki then summoned the Garand again before giving it back to Sabretooth while both hands as delicately as possible. "The gun worked a lot better than I initially thought it would. You done anything to improve its stats?"

Sabretooth received his rifle back before it disappeared in a puff of blue pixels and binary. "Nothing at all. Been exactly the same since that BoB fight where I found it. I use it rarely, never failed me though."

"You fellas done yet?" Starbug finally approached the three, everything counted up and neatly placed into their respective inventories. "Our stocks are what they were at the beginning. Although, as a bonus, we now have some heavy anti-armour and anti-fortification gadgets. Yo, Itsuki you continuing with us?"

He nodded. "Indeed. I see no reason not to fight on to the end of the Gungeon. I made it this far after all."

"Then you'll need these."

Suddenly, Starbug chucked over various items to Itsuki who managed to catch each one and place them into a neat pile by his feet. He knelt by the pile, sorting through it. One by one, he added them to his inventory as Starbug explained.

"Holo-Decoy, like what Sabretooth used. Make sure you're not spotted when using it. Lasts for thirty seconds, give or take… Deployable bulletproof cover, or DBC for short. Ranged monsters have annoyingly high accuracy for my taste… Four smoke grenades, just in case your location is compromised… Combat knife, CQC for a final resort. Just in case y'know… MP5, as a back up for your Optical SMG. That should do for now."

"Hey, he knows all of that!" Subaru sighed, "He's one of the top players for a reason."

"I know, I know. Don't have to tell me twice. Besides, the Decoy is brand new anyway alongside this whole endeavour."

Sabretooth cleared his throat before anything else occured between the two. "Well since everyone's happy: let's roll out."

Thus, with Sabretooth taking the lead, the other three followed. The dam blocking their path begun to creak open, chunks of concrete fell as the roar of cogs muffled the sound of footsteps. It reached way above them, nearly to the ceiling. Red lights danced among the grey. Then the creaking and churning stopped with a colossal thud. Their path was open. Sabretooth motioned for the rest to follow, they did.

Sabretooth had his eyes glued to a blue hologrammatic map, constantly monitoring their progress and watching for any red dots. Subaru and Starbug rambled between themselves, with one occasionally raising an arm in aggression before backing down. Itsuki watched from behind, with his Dragunov hung over his right shoulder. He remained silent, simply gazing at the three. They were an odd bunch, indeed, but they did manage to get him out of his difficult pickle. Granted, he could leave now and regroup with his squadron and accept that this attempt was a failure, if he really wanted to. But no, not this time. Itsuki wanted to stay for the ride. A chaotic ride into the danger zone, yes. But an extremely entertaining one to him nevertheless.

Where would this road take him? Only the cracked tarmac beneath their feet would guide the way.

Author's Notes:

Panzer_Bros:

Expect monthly uploads for the temporary future. A lot is coming up for me over the course of the next month or so (and beyond thinking about it), so please keep that in mind for future progress.

Anyway, Itsuki makes an appearance! Ever since I played the Fatal Bullet game, I've liked his character from beginning to end. I found him very memorable, even among the game-exclusive characters. I won't spoil anything from the game, but I did enjoy his character and what he brought to the plot. Though I do sort of wish we could have seen more of him, but I digress. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Inspirations for monsters that appeared in this chapter; Scorch Komodo is partly inspired by the Spitter from L4D2 but as a large red lizard-like creature. Demonic Chomper is inspired by the Pinky from Doom. War Gear Mecha is heavily inspired by Metal Gear Ray (more the unmanned one from Revengeance). I wanted the monsters players to face in the Gungeon to be unique yet challenging to defeat rather than generic monsters that are extremely disposable.