"I can't believe we're late." Wraith said as her and Mirage made it to an incredibly huge building.
This building was a part of an even bigger complex that was surrounded by a huge wall to keep random people from entering. The place is used for many things; Apex Games registration, barracks for the Legends, training grounds- loads of things.
The main purpose of the building they were standing in front of, was for refueling the spaceships they had to take the Legends to different planets for their games, it also housed their personalized stations for them to tinker at while they waited.
"Well… at least we have… a good reason… to be late…" Mirage said between pants. "How are you… not tired?" he asked, almost out of breath.
Wraith couldn't help but to smile as she turned to him to respond. "I hope your stamina issue won't be a problem later on." She then walked off towards the doors of the building.
Mirage was shocked at her response as his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "H-hey! I do not have s-stemney-...stamor… issues with keeping up!" Mirage said as he started to walk towards that same building.
"Whatever you say. And look, I don't want the others to know about… us, not right now at least. So do me a favor and don't run your mouth." Wraith said as the two made their way into the building.
"Alright… but, I'm sure they wouldn't care if they knew." Mirage responded.
The two were making their way through the halls of the Giant building while passing a few MRVNS that greeted them.
"Still… I don't want them in my personal life as it's none of their business." Wraith stated.
"I'm so touched that you consider me a part of your personal life." Mirage said in a dramatic tone.
"And if you want to stay in it, I suggest you keep it between us." Wraith responded as Mirage and her walked into the preparation stations where the other Legends were waiting.
Taking a look around, everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Crypto and Wattson were sitting at Crypto's station with a piece of the mysterious artifact that Loba was so desperate to know more about. Lifeline and Gilbrator were fixing Octane's legs as he laid on the counter of a bar that was installed a few weeks earlier. As for Caustic, he was talking with Bloodhound.
"You two are late." A stern voice spoke that was all too familiar. That commanding, know it all, 'I'm the boss of you' tone, was both universally hated, yet respected… in a way. Mirage and Wraith looked over and saw; Bangalore. An uptight, hardass of a sergeant who worked for the IMC.
"Wow, thanks mom! Want to tell me something else o-oblue-...ovlous-... I already know?" Mirage asked
"Yes actually; you're-" Bangalore was saying but was cut off my a screech
"AHHHH!"
Looking over to where the scream was heard, 'Hack'; Crypto's drone, was violently hovering around Wattsons head while backing her up into the corner. She had a horrified look on her face as the drone got closer.
"THIS THING DOESN'T HAVE ANY SHARP EDGES. HOW DISAPPOINTING." The voice that came through the microphone on the small drone was Revenant's
"Hack! Geumanhae!" Crypto yelled as he ran back over to where Wattson and his drone was.
"Crypto your drone! How the hell did he hack it?!" Loba asked as everyone turned around to watch the unfolding events.
"Hack, isn't hackable, so I don't know how he's doing this!" Crypto said
"GREETINGS SKINBAGS! IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOU'VE LOCATED SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME! SO I DECIDED TO COME BY AND GIVE YOU… A PIECE OF MY MIND. GET IT, WATTSION?! GET IT?!" Hack left Wattson whimpering in the corner as it suddenly flew over to Loba who quickly stood and watched the drone intently as it hovered in front of her.
"AND YOU. YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SO CLEVER! THAT YOU HAD EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT." Revenant said.
"Out of my face, demonio!" Loba said with her voice dripping with malice as she turned away from the drone.
Hack darted around in front of her and got right up in her face. Just inches away from her nose "YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO FINDING THE ONE THING THAT COULD DESTROY ME, BUT UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, LOBA, YOU TRIED TO MAKE FRIENDS AND THOSE FRIENDS THAT YOU THOUGHT WOULD HAVE YOUR BACK, PUT A KNIFE IN IT INSTEAD. DREADFUL."
"You bastard! I swear when I find you I'll-" Loba was responding but was cut off by Revenant
"HOLD THAT THOUGHT, GIRLIE! I WANNA DO THIS FACE-TO- FACE. I'LL SEE YOU SOON. VERY SOON." The drone dropped to the ground as soon as Revenant was done talking and the room went into stunned silence for a few seconds.
"Nobody moves!" Bangalore shouted, breaking the shock.
"Crypto, just how many people have been around your drone within the last 48 hours?" Loba questioned.
"No-one. Just me and Wattson." Crypto answered
"Are you sure?" Loba asked with a hint of judgement.
"Of course I'm sure." Crypto said without hesitation.
"Crypto… when I said 'Give Hack a personality.' I-I… I didn't mean it like that." Wattson chimed in. Her voice was shaky and frightened.
"What? I-... I didn't-" Crypto said as he turned towards Wattson. He reached his hand out, but Wattson recoiled back when she felt his hand land on her shoulder. Crypto jolted back and looked taken aback as he looked at Wattson who looked up at him with a terrified look.
Crypto looked around the room and everyone was staring at him. It was obvious what they were thinking. "Y-you think I did this? Why would I allow him access to my drone?!"
"You wouldn't…" Bangalore said as she walked up to him. "Unless you've been working with him from the start. You're a mole."
"Bullshit!" Crypto bit. "I would never work with him."
"That's messed up amigo. Betrayal is a deep cut." Octane chimed in.
"I didn't. Betray. Anyone." Crypto stated as he turned slightly to look at Octane. "Clearly someone has set me up." he added as he looked back at Bangalore
"Point fingers all you want, but the fact of the matter is; It was your drone he used." Bangalore said
"I'm not taking this…" Crypto stated as he walked around Bangalore and picked up his drone that laid in front of Loba. When he rose he looked Loba in the eyes and saw nothing but anger. Crypto wanted to say something so badly, but decided against it as he walked out the waiting room past Mirage and Wraith who were watching everything go down as Pathfinder came strolling up.
"Oh no, friend Crypto seems upset." Pathfinder said as a sad emoji appeared on his monitor.
[=X=][=X=]
Bright and early, that was how the day always started. Everyone was gearing up and was preparing to freefall into the Arena that they would be killing each other in. The Apex Games. It's a bloodsport they partook in. It would last for a week with 2 games happening while they were away for said week. When they weren't killing each other, they took care of tasks that were either personal issues or general issues that pertained to harming the general public.
"10 minutes until pairing." a woman called out monotonically over the PA system. Pairing. It happens every time. Legends reported to the loading bay and they're split up into groups of 2 or 3 at random. Any team with less than 3 are paired with people who aced all of their entrance exams and were the top contenders. If they performed well, were popular and well received by crowds, they'll become official Legends. Sometimes they would get people who seemed to have gotten way over their heads, sometimes they get people who are overly confident and end up falling short. It's always left up in the air.
"Bonjour, Renee. Doing well?" A sweet sounding voice greeted Wraith who was sitting in the loading bay by herself. All of the other Legends were either at the shooting range or distracting themselves with hobbies until they departed for the Arena.
Wraith stopped a Kunai from spinning on her finger upon hearing the voice and turned to see; Wattson.
"Hey, Natalie. I'm doing as well as I can. And?" Wraith returned the greeting. Wattson had sat beside her on the metal bench next to her and sat her equipment on the ground beside her.
"I am doing better than last night." She said in a saddened tone.
Wraith quickly grew a look of concern "Yeah… you were pretty distraught."
"Yes… Thank you for comforting me though, you're the most best friend I could ask for." Wattson said
"You're a great friend too, Nat." Wraith replied
Wattson gave a saddened smile as she dropped her head slightly "…To think that Crypto would do something like that… He was so kind and understanding. I never would have thought he'd betray us… or betray me."
Wraith had an unreadable expression as she tried to find the right words to comfort her. "Well, we don't know that for sure. For all we know, it could be anyone, but since it was his drone, then it gives reason to assume it's him."
"And to think I liked him… I mean… he was always so nice and charming. But now… everything is bad and these feelings are… painful. I'm such a fool." Wattson said with a sad look.
"Woah! That's a bomb shell!" the voice in Wraith's head chimed in
"Well, that was unexpected." Wraith responded to the voice with a hint of disbelief.
"Woah there. You are not a fool. It's fine to feel the way you are now, especially with how stressful things have gotten." Wraith hesitantly asked.
Wattson groaned before she spoke "Well… now I don't know what to feel."
"Did he know you liked him?" Wraith stated
"Oh goodness no! I could have never told him that! Que penserait-il? I was afraid that he would have taken it the wrong way or maybe didn't like me in that way." Wattson quickly answered. "Ce serait mauvais… I wouldn't have been able to recover from that embarrassment."
"Calm down, everyone here likes you and I mean that. It's kinda hard not to when you radiate joy and positivity." Wraith said in a matter-of-fact way.
"You really think that?" Wattson sheepishly asked.
"Yes, I do, everyone does." Wraith reassured
Wattson let out a sigh "Merci Renee, you always know what to say to help cheer me up. But, I'm afraid it's all for- not, as I still feel awful."
"Well, hopefully this game will take your mind off of things." Wraith said, unsure of what to say
"I sure hope so too…" Wattson agreed. "Um, Renee, can I ask you something?"
"Ask away." Wraith confidently responded.
"Do you like someone? I mean… as in liking them in that way." Wattson questioned halfheartedly.
Wraith started to blush and get flustered "I-... I do, but-" Wraith started but was cut off by an excited Wattson.
"Really? Who? Do I know them? Is it another Legend or is it someone outside the games?" Wattons barraged with after a gasp.
Wraith nervously chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. "It's…a bit complicated. You see, I-" she started but, again, she was cut off by the PTA this time.
"All Legends report to Loading Bay #1 for pairing and departure in 5 mins." the woman said over the PTA in that same monotone voice, some of the Legends were already coming into the Bay as the woman was talking.
"Ah, poor timing, we'll talk later." Wraith quickly said as she stood up.
"Aww. But you didn't even tell me." Wattson disappointingly exclaimed
"I'll tell you some other time. But for now, don't tell anyone I told you that." Wraith responded.
"Worry not, Renee, I shall not tell a single soul." Wattson reassures with a big smile.
[=X=][=X=]
"5 minutes until the ring closes." the announcer said in a monotone voice.
"And there's our cue. Luckily the next ring is close" Mirage said aloud over the comms
"So let's get moving. We should head over to the Containment Facilities just west of here." Wraith answered.
"Oh goodie. Might I suggest the 'Watchtower' as our place of occupation? It will give us great visibility and the advantage of the high ground. And as an added bonus, there might be loot!" Pathfinder cheerfully suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. Although, if we came up with it, who's to say others might have not had the same idea." Mirage added.
"That means we'll just have to be careful. Let's regroup here and we'll head there." Wraith finished while pinning a location on their maps.
[=X=][=X=]
After regrouping and arriving at their destination, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was quite aside from the occasional screeches from the birds that flew overhead. After they explored the surrounding buildings, they came together and divided their loot to who it would be most useful to. Wraith found a level 4 light extended magazine for her R-99 while Mirage got a skull piercer for his Wingman and Pathfinder got a level 4 stock for his R-301. They also got a slew of other useful things such as ammo, med kits and throwables. After upgrading their weapons, they decided to go into what seemed to be the main building of the small compound that lay atop of the tall hill to plan their next move.
"Man, would ya look at that, Path, you were right about this view, I can almost see the entire island." Mirage said while stepping in front of a glass wall that overlooked the valley below.
"Precisely! The advantage of the high ground is unmatched if used properly." Pathfinder responded cheerfully.
"Great. So, what now? We already looked through this place and there wasn't any armor. Path and I still have a level 2 shielding and there's only 1 ring left until the final." Wraith added while taking a seat in a chair.
"If you're that worried about your shield, you can have mines. Since it's Evo and 57 points away from level 5." Mirage offered while glancing back at her.
Wraith just stared at him with a slightly annoyed look "I don't need your shield, Mirage, mine works perfectly fine. I'm just pointing out how underprepared we'll be if we get into another fight."
"Which is why this will work." Mirage stated while turning towards her. "Since you're more likely to fight up close and personal, you'd be better off taking the higher tiered armor." He finished while stepping in front of the desk she was sitting at. She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, but Pathfinder chimed in before she could.
"That is a great assessment, Mirage." Path said while walking beside him.
"See? Even he agrees." Mirage added with a cocky smile.
Wraith scoffed, "Please. 'Great assessment' my ass. There wouldn't be a point to doing that since mine is 200 points away. All I have to do is take down 1 or 2 people." she said reluctantly, not wanting to trade armor with Mirage. But it sounded like she was trying to convince herself she didn't want his armor rather than actually needing it.
"Oh don't be so stabren…- subber…-hard ass, it'd be better for you to get it sooner than later." Mirage said while removing the shield made of hard-light nano technology. "Here." he said while handing over the piece of equipment.
Wraith stared at him with a displeased look before closing her eyes and exhaling through her nose harshly. "Fine." She said while standing up and removing her own armor and swapping it for Mirages.
"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Mirage teased.
"Another word and I'll make sure you regret it." Wraith bit back while strapping the armor to her. She felt the armor shrink down and slightly tightened as to fit her smaller frame. The armor then seemingly expanded down to her feet and hands then became translucent, almost invisible when it was fully on. It was like she was wearing a second skin. "This still doesn't make up for how under prepared we'll be."
"Sure it will. Just gotta have a little faith that everything will work out." Mirage said while walking back over to his earlier spot near the window.
"Easy for you to say." Wraith whispered to herself while taking a seat back in the chair.
"Faith?" Pathfinder asked as he moved towards the middle of the room.
"Yeah, it's a thing that uhh...you just-...um. Ok, like; everything will work out in the end, even if something bad does happen.… or something like that." Mirage explained. "I don't know how to explain it to a robot."
"Oh! I see. I have faith that everything will work out too, friend! We are currently in the lead in terms of teammates, which puts us at an advantage!" Pathfinder expressed enthusiastically.
"Riiight." Mirage dragged out. "So, what do you think, Wraith, can you have as much faith as me and Tin Can over here?"
Wraith got an idea and started to respond "Sure, Mirage. Hey, Path, you know who the remaining squads are?" She asked as she stood up and walked over to Pathfinder.
"I sure do, friend. I have been keeping track of all of the people who have died." Pathfinder cheerfully said as he pulled up a list of names on his monitor.
Squad #1.
Crypto; Status: [Alive]
Corta; Status: [Timedout]
Gilbirator; Status [Alive]
Squad #2.
Loba; Status: [Timedout]
LifeLine; Status: [Timedout]
Bloodhound; Status: [Alive]
Squad #3.
Wraith: Status: [Alive]
Mirage: Status: [Alive]
Pathfinder: Status: [Alive]
Squad #4.
Wattson; Status: [Alive]
Banglore; Status: [Alive]
Octane; Status: [timedout]
Squad #5.
Caustic; Status: [Timedout]
Revenant; Status: [Alive]
Lotus; Status: [Timedout]
As Wraith looked over the list, Mirage was rambling on about something, but Wraith didn't really pay it any mind until the last few lines of his speech, but something else caught her attention;
"Get out of the room!" the voice in Wraith's head quickly shouted.
"Get out of the room! Now!" Wraith shouted while pulling away from the monitor and quickly grabbing hold of Pathfinder and shoving him towards the direction of the door, causing question mark symbols to appear on the monitor.
"-and I doubt the fans would notice-... wait what? Why?" Mirage questioned while playing with his goggles as he looked back at her, but just as he looked away 3 missiles flew towards the glass, shattering it and planting themselves into the ground a few feet away from Mirage knocking him over from the ground shake.
After getting his bearings Mirage looked over towards the objects stuck in the ground and his eyes went to the size of saucers. "Ah shit…!" he thought as he quickly got up and looked towards the door and saw Wraith yelling at him to get moving. Just as he made it to her the objects exploded launching the pair out of the door and falling onto Pathfinder which caused the trio to hit the ground as the building they were in began to explode and topple.
After scrambling to their feet they spotted a squad coming at them. They, of course, began to open fire at the people who immediately returned fire. Wraith took cover behind a broken wall from the collapsed building and Mirage took cover across from her with a gap between the two spots. Pathfinder was crouched down and was hiding behind the generators.
"Question!" Mirage said "Who are we fighting right now?! I-... I didn't get a good look!" Mirage asked over the gunfire.
"It's Crypto and his squad!" Wraith answered back.
"Great! That's just great! Gotta deal with Mr. BackStabby." Mirage replied. He peered around the corner and spotted Gilbirator. He opened fire and landed 4 shots, the blue shielding that Gilbirator was wearing shattered, leaving him exposed. Mirage tried taking him down, but he moved behind cover before he could. "Hey, Wraith! Remember how worried you were about your shielding? Well, turns out they might have been too. Gilbirator has level 2 shielding and I just broke it."
Wraith could practically feel the cockiness in his tone as she responded "That's all fine and dandy, Mirage, but our shields are too low to push them." as bullets started to hail down on their cover. Wraith peeped around her cover and opened fire.
"Then we'll have to be tacmical... I mean tacktenal-... I mean-...ah, forget it. Path! Can you get up on that roof and give me some covering fire? I got a plan." Mirage asked
"You betcha!" Pathfinder agreed as he grappled to the top of the building he was standing by.
"Are you going to let me in on this little plan, Mirage?" Wraith asked over the gunfire.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm going to run directly at them!" Mirage answered.
Wraith felt her brain do a factory reset when he finished his response "W-what? You'll get yourself killed."
"No, no. Not me, me. A decoy." Mirage said as he reloaded his Wingman. "I'm going to flank them, it'll be an easy bambluegal-... I meam bamboo… wait no-... never mind."
When Wraith was about to respond the voice called out "Run!" as a tubular object rolled out in front of the two. It then started to emit a red smoke.
[=X=][=X=]
Loud explosions could be heard followed by gunfire as Wraith ran inside a building.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Wraith cursed inwardly as she closed a door behind her and then ducking down behind a desk. The smell of gunpowder filled the air as the taste of the iron in her blood was overwhelmingly present in her mouth, gunfire continued to blared in the background and her gunshot wounds started to sting like hell's fire. She pulled out a med kit that was in the form of a syringe, she took off the cap and braced herself before stabbing it into her arm, then injected herself with the mysterious nano infused fluid. The pain quickly subsided, but only slightly, the bullet wounds she had healed themselves as the bullets that were logged into her stomach pushed themselves out of her skin.
She grinded her teeth as she peered over the desk she took cover behind due the sound of the door opening. She readied her gun at the door, but instead of open firing, her eyes widened at the sight of Mirage who clambered into the room, clutching his right shoulder before dropping to his knees and quickly shutting the door and leaning against it.
Mirage sat for a second before he looked up. His face was filled with blood splatters. He let out a yelp at the sight of Wraith aiming her gun at him. "Ah! Fuck!" He loudly whispered while breathing heavily. "Damn, am I sure glad it's you and not that psycho with a thirst for blood. Then again, that sounds like you too." he finished in a joking manner but then groaned in pain.
Wraith quickly rushed over to him and when she reached him her eyes were met with a horror movie scene. Almost the entirety of his shoulder was hit and bleeding profusely. His chest and arm looked like grinded up meat mixed with his yellow colored jumpsuit and the fragments of bullets. "Holy shit!" Wraith said aloud while gazing at his wound.
"Yeah… turns out a Peacekeeper... isn't as fun when you're at the end of the barrel." he said in a joking manner again only to groan in pain once more. "Fuck!... This hurts like hell." he loudly whispered. His voice was rugged and forced, and breathing was wheezed with a few coughs in between. Wraith was already rumbling through her bag desperately looking for a syringe. When she found one, she felt a euphoric sense of relief as she uncapped it and held it to Mirage's chest.
"This... ain't gonna feel good." She said as she glanced over to his wound again. "Then again, I don't think you'll even feel it." she finished as she plunged the needle into his chest. Mirage didn't even seem to notice it enter, but he did let out a pained groan as she pressed the button to release the fluid inside.
"I hope this stuff can heal something like this" Wraith thought as she watched the wound intently.
A few seconds after the injection Mirages' wounds slowly healed and his shoulder repaired itself. She could hear the bones snap back into place, to which she winced a little at hearing it. "Damn, that sounds horrible." she said while watching the pellets that peppered his arm push themselves out with the holes they caused closing behind them. She had seen many horrible injuries before, but this was among the worst.
"Well, it felt just as bad as it sounded. It's too bad my plan was ruined." Mirage responded while being helped up from the ground.
"I bet you're regretting not keeping your armor now." Wraith teased.
He gripped his and moved his arm a little in an attempt to get the feeling back in his shoulder though a dull ache still remained. "Nah, besides, if I kept it, I would have had a guardian angel to pick me up- because she'd be dead…" He said "I'm talking about you." he added
Wraith gave him a deadpan look then rolled her eyes as she turned away "You're welcome."
"How about as a thanks, I take you out for dinner?" he added while upholstering his Wingman and reloading it.
"Stop talking about dinner dates, Mirage, we have bigger things to worry about, starting Crypto and his team." she said while walking back over to the desk, but then she stopped "Wait, where's Path?" she questioned while looking back at Mirage.
Mirage's eyes widened upon hearing the MRVN's name "Oh shit." he exclaimed while looking down at his wrist that had a watch with a screen on it. "It says his banner is timed out, he must have been taken out by that airstrike. And I'm the one who told him to get up higher, he might have survived if he was still on the ground." Mirage loudly whispered.
"Quit beating yourself up and we can't stay here forever, so start brainstorming some ideas on how we can survive, alright? I need you to focus." Wraith responded while leaning on the desk.
"I'm trying, but everything I'm coming up with isn't going to work. God, if only there was some way we could distract them while escaping at the same ti-" Mirage started to say but stopped. "Wait! I just got an idea!" he said while walking over to Wraith.
"Well I'm all ears." Wraith replied
"Right. So, I can go out and distract them with my decoys-" He said as one of said decoys appeared beside him. "-and while I do that, you sneak out and run off. You can use your portal thingy to get me out. Easy as cake… o-or pie…Whatever that saying is." he finished
"But make sure you go somewhere safe, like that forest we passed coming up here, then tell me over the comm when I can join you." The clone piped up. "Of course it'll have to be quick as it'll be a 3 on 1 until you're done."
"He works well under pressure." the voice in Wraith's head said.
"Right, and the 'best legend' better not get himself killed because he was overconfident." Wraith stated.
"C'mon I can handle it. I mean, I'm not the best legend for nothing, y'know?" Mirage added "But we'll only have one shot at this, so take p-p-preoustious-...precupush?-... be careful."
"Or maybe not." Wraith answered the voice's earlier comment.
"Seriously, you need to be careful." Wraith warned
"Relax, babe. I'll be fine, we'll win this thing no prob-" the decoy was saying, but Wraith stabbed it in the chest with enough force to shatter it causing Mirage to yelp.
"Don't call me that in the game Mirage, the camera's will hear it." Wraith said sternly.
"Right! Forgot the whole 'down low thing'. People wouldn't judge if they knew…" Mirage trailed off.
"Mirage…" Wraith she warned.
"Ok, ok… So, are you ready?" Mirage asked
"Yeah, my portal is up and ready to go." Wraith replied as the two approached the door that led outside where gunfire was heard. "Great… sounds like there's another team out there. You still think this plan of yours will work?" Wraith questioned in a hushed tone
"Yeah, of course it will, it has to, otherwise we'll lose and I don't like losing, cause it's bad." Mirage replied.
"Right." Wraith answered "We'll move on your 'go'."
They both positioned themselves on one side of the door with Mirage in front of Wraith
"Three…two…one-" Mirage counted down, but before he could say 'one', the door to the building they were hiding in suddenly came flying open, surprising the two.
They both raised their guns at the door to shoot who came in, but then in a split second a green orb flew inside and passed them.
"What the-..." Mirage loudly whispered, he watched the orb as it floated around the room. The color on their watches started to glow orange as a warning came up that read 'You are being detected'. Wraith quickly raised her gun at the drone and shot it as soon as her sights landed on it.
"They know where we're here, no point in being sneaky anymore." Wraith said as she lowered her gun and turned to Mirage.
"Right, right." Mirage responded as the two went back into their early position. "Alright, Mirage, you got this. Nothing to it." Mirage thought as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath then released it. "3...2...1 GO!"
As soon as Mirage said 'go' he rushed outside and was immediately met by gunfire. He dropped to the ground in a sliding motion before scrambling to his feet and ducking off to the right all while barely dodging bullets that threatened his life. He then lifted his arms and made a waving motion with hands. Less than a second later of waving his hands there were 6 other Mirages that all ran in different directions and each one was met by gunfire as they dodged and ran.
Mirage went invisible and ran behind a wall for cover as he snuck around to flank the shooters. When he reached the other side of the wall and was about to round the corner, he saw Revenant climbing up the wall to the side of the building. Mirage stopped, quickly raised his gun and shot him down.
Revenant fell off the building, but he slowed himself by jabbing his arm into the side of the wall as he fell. When he reached the ground he looked up to see Mirage reloading his gun. He ran over and threw a punch which Mirage dodged and immediately raised his gun to shoot Revenant, but the gun was knocked up and out of his hand as the shot went off. Revenant punched Mirage in the face, sending him to the ground and the gun sliding away
"And now you'll die." Revenant said as he approached Mirage.
[=X=][=X=]
Gunfire could be heard far off in the distance as Wraith stepped outside of her portal. When she turned back, she saw missiles raining down where she had just come from.
"Just how many missile barrages do they have?" She thought as her eyes widened at the explosions that nearly engulfed the Plato of buildings. Her hand immediately raised to the side of her head as she pressed a button on the comm that clung to her ear.
"The Portals up." She quickly called out over the comms, but she got no response. "Mirage! The portal is up!" She repeated louder. "Mirage?" She called out yet again, but no response was given. She then looked back over to her portal and got an uneasy feeling.
"Move."
Wraith side-stepped out of the way just in time as Mirage who came flying out and crashed to the ground with a thud. Although Mirage came out of the portal the feeling didn't leave.
Mirage groaned as he crawled away from the portal and before she could say anything Mirage yelled
"M-murder bot!" Mirage called out.
"'Murder bot?'." Wraith questioned in her head
When Wraith was about to question what he meant aloud the voice spoke again "Portal!"
Wraith turned her attention to the portal just in time to see Revenant emerge. Wraith and Revenant locked eyes for a split second before Wraith raised her gun and opened fire on the robotic foe. Revenant ran and slid over to Mirage and took him hostage as he held his gun to his head causing Wraith to cease fire.
"It seems I've won." Revenant said as he pressed the barrel of his gun into Mirages neck
"I'm surprised the Syndicate allowed you back in the games. Can't wait to see Loba put you down for good." Wraith said while aiming her gun.
"That lowlife couldn't even put a fly down for good, she'll never be able to touch me. And you'd be surprised by a lot of things, little girl." Revenant stated
Wraith looked between Revenant and Mirage as he gripped the handle to her gun harder "You just can't play fair huh?"
"This is a kill or be killed world and I don't play fair. Now, drop your gun and fold, cause I've got a full house." Revenant retorted as he pressed the barrel of his gun harder on Mirage' head
Wraith gritted her teeth as her eyes narrowed even more. He was right, what could she do? Either way it went, Mirage would end up dead and she'd have to face Revenant and everyone else alone. Wraith sighed as she tried to think of something.
"Shoot them both!" the voice said. Wraith felt her brain do a factory reset when the vice finished it's comment. "Look at Mirage." the voice clearfield. Wraith's gaze shifted to Mirage' and then Mirage... winked at her?
Wraith's eyes widened at the realization. She then aimed her gun square a Mirage' chest and then emptied her magazine. The bullets went right through Mirage and straight into Revenant who was caught off guard when his prisoner shattered into blue light. Revenant had fell to his back as Wraith walked over to him while keeping her gun leveled at his head.
"Ugh…" Revenant groaned. "What was that?" He asked with his voice becoming staticky, maybe she hit his voice box or something.
"That was the sound of you going down. You better hope they find your body in the void." Wraith said as she loomed over Revenant.
"You talk about me using tricks, yet you use them yourself. How hypocritical." Revenant responded with his staticky voice cutting in and out.
"'Kill or be killed world'." Wraith simply stated as she opened a portal behind her and then she grabbed ahold of Revenant threw and threw him in before collapsing the portal.
After dealing with Revenant, Wraith looked around for Mirage and spotted him leaned up against a tree. He was flickering in and out of being cloaked. "The old bait and switch- never fails." Mirage said
"Second time today of me saving your ass, Mirage." Wraith said as she strolled over. "I told you to be careful and look at what happened."
"Hey, I could have taken him. And besides, even if I somehow managed to fuck up, I knew you'd save me, so I guess that means I'm twice as lucky." Mirage responded.
Wraith rolled her eyes "Or twice as stupid. Let's get moving while we still can. The next ring is pretty close, so we'll make it if we go now." Wraith said after helping him up. The two then began their journey through the forest.
[=X=][=X=]
As Wraith and Mirage tread through the forest, all of the gunfire and explosions they heard came to an abrupt halt. Maybe one of the other teams won the fight or maybe they decided to retreat. Even though the fight had seemed to cease, Mirage continued to banter to Wraith who was more or less, not paying attention.
"Someone's watching you." the voice spoke, causing Wraith to stop dead in her tracks.
Mirage, who was unfocused bumped into her. "Oop-, sorry. Why'd you stop like that? Is there something out there- or maybe someone? Or is it the trees? Do you like forests? You never told if you liked forests, I mean, I'd totally understand if you didn't. They're dark, they're creepy, all sorts of bugs and they-"
"Sshhh." Wraith cut him off with a hush. Wraith eyes narrowed as she looked around and as if on cue;
"Get down!" The voice spoke. Wraith immediately turned around and tackled Mirage, causing them both to fall to the ground as the sound of- what was no doubt- a Triple Take.
Wraith sat up and took aim with her gun at the woods "In the tree's above." The voice guided as Wraith's sights flung up and landed on a figure perched in the trees aiming down at her.
Wraith unloaded her gun at the figure who tried to avoid the bullets that spread at them, but unfortunately for them, they were hit a few to many times as their shields were broken and they were hit with the stinging sensation hot lead.
The figure ran deeper into the forest as Wraith got off of Mirage and began to take off after them. "Come on Mirage!" Wraith said.
Mirage sat up while rubbing the back of his head. "Y-yeah yeah! I'm coming.". Mirage got up and was about to take off after Wraith and the enemy, but he stopped and instead he sent a clone with them as he ran off in another direction.
[=X=][=X=]
Wraith chased the figure down to a clearing in the forest that resembled a circle. The figure turned around and fired at Wraith. Wraith disappeared leaving the figure confused as they looked around them in search of her.
Wraith appeared behind the figure and attempted to stab them with her Kunai, but the person's reaction time was as sharp as a razor as they immediately turned around and caught Wraith's wrist.
Wraith looked at the person in the red colored lenses attached to their mask. "Bloodhound," Wraith said.
"It's good to see another warrior alive. Although you're a worthy adversary, I am guided by the Gods, they determine who shall be the victor and unfortunately for you all signs are pointing towards me. You shall fall to my might" Bloodhound said as they quickly took out their axe and attempted to chop into Wraith.
Wraith disappeared once again causing Bloodhound to miss their attack, Wraith suddenly reappeared next to Bloodhound and once again, went for their neck. Bloodhound was quick to block it with their axe.
The two began to fight, throwing punches, kicks and slashes. Wraith managed to land a sidekick on Bloodhound that left them stammered. Wraith raised her Kunai to deal the finishing blow, but Bloodhound dodge it at an abnormal speed. Wraith slashed at Bloodhound only for them to easily dodged each blow before sweep kicking Wraith down. Bloodhound went after Wraith to finish her off, but then Wraith pulled her p2020 out and tried to shoot, but Bloodhound kicked the gun out of her hand.
"Nice try." Bloodhound said. "You fought hard, but now your journey must come to an end." they said as they raised their axe.
"Not today it's not!" A voice called
Turning to see who it was, Wraith felt a sense of relief seeing Mirage run towards, however, Bloodhound also saw Mirage coming, and they quickly upholstered their RE-45, and landed every shot on Mirage putting him down.
Wraith was extremely confused as to why he didn't shoot or try to avoid being shot. He just ran directly at them. Mirage fell over and hit the ground hard.
"A good attempt to save yourselves, but the Gods had other plans." Bloodhound said as they finished off Mirage with a shot to the head, but then Mirage's body exploded in blue light fragments.
Click. The sound of a gun cocking came from Wraith's side.
Standing behind Bloodhound and holding his gun at the back of their head was Mirage with a huge, cocky smile on his face. "I'm sorry, did I confuse you?" he said with a chuckle.
"How di-" Bloodhound was saying but-
Bang! The gun went off and down went Bloodhound.
"Man, that works every ti-" Mirage was saying and as if on cue, extremely celebratory music started to play both confusing and startling Mirage and Wraith as they looked at each other with confused faces.
END+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++END+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++END
Song Name: Song Name: Sweet Victory - David Glen Eisley