Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter to continue off where the intro began! So far, I appreciate the followers and the review The Crimson Commando gave! I'll be sure to keep your offer in mind should I need it! Oh, and I'll give you the same treatment, so don't hesitate to ask if you need to use any of mine!
Okay, enough credit for now. Let's see who comes out on top between Spectre and Rez! Now I wish Destiny has a 1v1 Crucible match, and it was named 'Grudge Match'...
Chapter II: Grudge Match
Shores of Time, Venus
As soon as I heard Lord Shaxx start announcing the match's participants the moment I transmatted on my side of the arena, I was ready for settling this with Rez. With the flagpole in hand, I stabbed it into the ground, and down came the Alpha team banner. Thankfully, Shaxx now allowed one-on-one matches to all Guardians. Well, enough of that. Time to vent out my anger on Rez for his incredibly stupid plan earlier. Damn moron, thinking he can make the leader/commander bait for the enemy to distract while having him and Silver take the artifact…
"Grudge Match. Eliminate and humiliate your rival!" I hear Shaxx's voice over the feed in my helmet, followed by the rules and modifiers' icons flashing on my screen. Chaff, Exposure and Trickle among three new modifiers. Great. With Chaff and Exposure, I can deal with, but Trickle? Screw that! That's a tactical Guardian's worst nightmare! And knowing Rez, he's using Trickle to his advantage. Goddamn bastard…
One of them was a crossbone using SUROS auto rifles instead of bones. I knew what this was: Locked Weapons. What that meant was that a certain weapon type was unavailable to use during the match while others were allowed. And for today's Grudge Match, Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Fusion Rifles, Machine Guns and Rocket Launchers were banned for this match. Typical, seeing as Rez wanted a handcannon, shotgun, sniper rifle and sword fight.
The second modifier had a hand holding a handcannon. This one was known as 'Luck of the Draw'. What Luck of the Draw does is that in junction with Locked Weapons, the modifier forces us to use a specific weapon type for a specific amount of time before it resets, and shuffles to another available weapon type. Think of the modifier as a deck of cards, and one of those cards is your trump card. Or in this case, your favored weapon type.
Last one was known simply as 'Ammo Regenerator', which refills our ammo if we start to run low or fire off any number of rounds. The icon this time was the ammo crate normally found in the other Crucible matches. Looks like it's no ammo drops this time.
Right now, Luck of the Draw conducted itself and set out the weapons for the first minute. Handcannon. I know how easily Skyfall can snap off a Knight's head in one precision shot, but I shudder to imagine what it can do to a Guardian. Plus, Skyfall is the only handcannon in my inventory; all my other handcannons are in the vault, and the only other primary weapons I have on is my SUROS Regime, 41, and 45 auto rifles. Wish I brought First Curse with me… Heh, Skyfall might as well end up in a similar ban to Red Death anyway if I used this thing in the Crucible.
I sprinted from my spawn point, taking in my surroundings with the Vex architecture. During my time during patrols, I learned to mind my surroundings in case of any surprise attacks. Honestly, to me, Hunters are just the same as the Fallen. I mean, cloaks and knives? Tch, next thing you know, the Hive and Warlocks are the same as well as comparing us Titans with the Cabal. As soon as I was about to reach the center, I stopped sprinting and pulled out Skyfall, spinning it in a similar fashion as the Tex Mechanica handcannons. From behind my helmet, my eyes darted left to right, up and down, and all possible directions for any red lights. Knowing Rez, he's probably settled down and started to…
Boom!
I ducked for cover, avoiding the explosive round and preventing my shields from being punctured by the explosion. Did I forget to mention that Luck of the Draw differs for the Guardians affected by it? I'm stuck with handcannons for the next minute, and Rez got his hands on snipers.
Boom!
Another sniper shot, this time it was onto me, the evidence parts of the block I'm taking cover behind disintegrating. I summoned Primus and finetuned my Sunbreaker to deal with the explosive rounds, sacrificing my recovery for armor and agility. Knowing him, he's using Stillpiercer; never saw it leave his hands since he acquired it from Banshee. Thankfully I'm using my Pandion Type 0 that lessens Void damage. Now, how to get behind him without him noticing…
Rez's POV
Damn! I thought I got him that time! As soon as my scope didn't register a hit from my sniping nest, despite the explosion radius from the bullet, it was time to step it up. Ejecting my almost empty magazine filled with explosive rounds and unloading the bullet in the chamber, I reloaded Stillpiercer with skip rounds, slamming the puppies in and loading the first round. Thankfully, my helmet's 'third eye' served as a ballistics calculator for my skip rounds. As soon as I aimed the scope, a trajectory beam revealed itself. Aiming Stillpiercer a bit, the ricochet marker turned red. Bull's eye.
"Thought you could hide forever, Spectre?!" I called out, pulling the trigger. The ceramic-jacketed round bouncing off the wall I aimed at and into the corner Spectre was hiding. As soon as I heard a scream of pain, I grinned in triumph. My helmet flashed the First Blood medal, and I knew it was a confirmed kill. Boom, headshot!
"What now, Spectre?!" I laughed, savoring my triumph. That was until I saw a shadow making its way towards me. I stopped my display of the first kill and I looked through my scope. How the hell did he─?! A goddamn clone?! Again?! How many times do I keep falling for that damn trick?!
Spectre was running towards my position, but something about his gauntlets was different. And I mean literally. It's still Pandion Type 0, but the plate on his left shoulder was missing. In fact, the damn thing is now on his arm like a shield, larger than what it was before! He began using a Phalanx's tactic of hiding behind a shield and blindfiring at me with Skyfall as he began sprinting towards me. I evaded the bullets that were close to hitting me. Bad idea, buddy. I aimed Stillpiercer once more, the trajectory markers on and fired. The bullet ricocheted off the wall again, and I hoped this time the bullet landed the real deal. Wait, Trickle's on, so he wouldn't be able to use his tactical gear for a while, and that includes his decoys. Didn't think that one through, dude.
What I saw after pulling the trigger was a blur. Next thing I knew, I was shot in the head! "Son of a bitch!" I fell backfirst to the ground, staring up at the ceiling as my helmet flashed the typical 'Guardian Down' alert. What the hell killed me!? I checked the top right corner of the alert, and my jaw dropped.
It said 'misadventure' before it reassigned to 'Skip Round, Stillpiercer'. How did he cause the round to bounce off his shield?! More importantly, just how was he able to move his shield fast enough to prevent the shot from behind and hit me!? Dammit, now all the Hunters are gonna know me as 'the Hunter who got killed by his own skip round'!
From my Ghost's view, I saw Spectre approach the Ghost, the shield still on his arm and knelt down. "Karma's a bitch, Rez. Haven't I told you that before?" he then proceeded to draw a line across his throat with his fingers, "it's your neck on the line. And don't think I'll go easy on you." He pointed Skyfall at my body and shot me point blank in the head, ensuring I was downed and respawn longer than normal.
"Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark!" I heard Shaxx's voice as soon as I respawned, and I can imagine the laughing faces of the Guardians watching the match. Grrrr, damn his tactical planning! Luck of the Draw shuffled, leaving me with my personal favorite, Handcannons. Whipping out The Last Word, I sprinted back to where Spectre killed me and found him standing there, shield at the ready and Raze-Lighter stabbed in the ground.
"Well…shit."
"You're right about this one, Rez." He pulled out his sword from the ground, resting the blunt edge on his shoulder. "We're buddies and all, but this time, I won't just forgive you easily. Because if it were up to me with that plan of yours, I'd have you be the bait."
"C'mon man, it was just once you had to deal with a mob of Hive and Fallen Majors."
"Once?! That's the thirteenth time you made me distract a large group of Majors during the missions!" he roared, causing me to step back from his lion-like yell, "Enough talk Rez, get ready for 'kicking your ass from your commander 101'!"
He charged towards me and swung, but I was able to evade using Shadestep and fired with Last Word. Again, Spectre blocked my shots with his shield and swung where I stood. Again, Shadestep away from the searing heat of the sword and empty the last bullets in the Last Word until he blocked it. Thanks to my gauntlets, I was able to reload The Last Word fairly quickly, loading it before I─
Whump!
I was kicked over from where I was reloading, rolling on the ground until I was close to the edge. I got back up, adjusting my balance since I was mere inches from falling into a Vex portal. As soon as I saw Spectre, he was next to a conjunctioning portal, arms crossed as if he knows…something I…
The sound of a small hiss reached my helmet, and I knew what was going on. "Oh, you sneaky little─"
Boom!
Spectre's POV
What, did he think I snuck a fusion grenade on him? I'm not that cheap on using offensive grenades on other Guardians in the Crucible. Rez can't even tell the difference between a Solar fusion grenade and a tactical kinetic pull grenade. I heard his muffled 'Oh, you sneaky little─' groan before he was pulled into the portal. And right where I want him. As soon as I heard him coming through the gate next to me, I snatched him by the cloak and chucked him against the wall, leaving a crater in the wall. With him trying to get up, I whipped out my survival knife in my mark, tossing it before throwing it the same as a Gunslinger. The knife pinned his cloak against the wall, and Rez tried to pull it out from the wall to free himself. Yeah, good luck trying to get the knife out the wall, because you'll need a Titan's strength to get it out.
"Ugh, cheap shot, Spectre!"
"Now you're saying I'm cheap? Not really. It's called 'strategy', something you both lack and fail at. Because I'm not the one who uses skip rounds to hit a decoy and get killed by it." I turned away from the pinned down Hunter, walking away and leaving him there. My audio receptors in my helmet picked up a sound from Rez, and I turned, throwing him a 'surprise' present and dodging a barrage of high caliber rounds from the Last Word. Since my shield is still on my arm, I used it to defend myself from the incoming surprise.
"Oh you son of a bi─!"
"Checkmate."
Kaboom!
From the slot in my shield, I saw his body being launched into the air and flying into a pole. What happens next, I don't think it's appropriate. You know what? Screw it, I'll put it in bluntly. He got hit in the junk as soon as he hit the top of the pole and I know that a lot of the spectators would empathize with him by grimacing in mock-pain, given he was hit where the sun doesn't shine.
"Why won't you just kill me?!" I heard him call out from where he hit the pole after he whimpered painfully as he fell to the ground. Before he hit it, I kicked him in the face away from me, sending him into another wall and allowing the structure to collapse on him.
"Good work Guardian, your Light is strong." I hear Shaxx's voice on the feed announce, as well as my HUD going haywire with the victory screen. Undoubtedly, I can imagine the many Guardians watching the match go wild with another victory of mine. My K/D ratio was two to one, and yes, the decoy counted as a death. My reward from the match was an Eyasluna and a legendary engram for my class armor. The handcannon transmatted into my free hand and raised it up for the spectators to see, firing a couple of victory rounds.
Knowing Rez, he'll cool down after this match…but not anytime soon considering the most humiliating death he had of having his own skip round hit him in a ricochet and getting hit in the junk by a pole. Meh, it's what he deserved for those thirteen times of using me as bait.
The Tower, Earth
All the spectators watching Spectre and Rez's match were in a chaotic symphony of cheers and howls of laughter, both from Spectre's victory and earning Eyasluna to Rez's final death.
Among the spectators was Cayde, who clapped as soon as he saw the decisive victory. "And that's why Spectre and Rez's matches are better than most we see here, Zavala."
"I will admit, Cayde, Spectre is an honorable Titan amongst us. His tactics and efficiency proved vital to his combat. No matter the method, that is a Titan victory." The Awoken vanguard commented, arms behind his back as usual.
"Are you kidding me?! Your Titan used an incendiary grenade which launched one of my boys into a pole and got hit in the junk! How is that 'honor'?!"
"Cayde, it's a Grudge Match. The rules are to eliminate and humiliate your rival. I will not consider the last kill as honorable by Titan standard, but most of what was done was what a true Titan utilizes."
"I suppose that last kill was deserving for your Hunter, Cayde. After all, he is basically you in Spectre's vanguard." The Warlock Vanguard pointed out, eyes still on her studies, but occasionally looking over at the match's results. Silver was next to her side, studying Toland's journal intently and proposing some of his theories on the areas Toland never completed.
"Yeah, that and Rez uses Spectre as bait during their Strikes. I mean, isn't that the whole point of the Titans, Zavala? Being walking tanks?"
"To some of us, that may be true. Remember, Cayde: there are two types of Titans. One is that they are walking tanks, and another is the wall against which the Darkness breaks."
"Not this speech again…" The Hunter Vanguard muttered under his breath, preparing for a lecture on the Titans. He looked over at Ikora and her Exo disciple, who were still indulged in Toland's journal. The Warlocks don't seem to mind the speech, and are still deep in their studies.
I gotta get out of this Tower.
In the Tower's Quarters, Reaper was in her individual quarters, settling down with a cup of coffee while she watched the match. Even though she felt sympathy for her fellow Hunter, it was really the Titan she rooted for. She was happy that Spectre taught Rez a lesson, since she was there when she saw Spectre get cornered by the Fallen and Hive Majors.
"Still getting over your meeting with your hero, Reaper?" Her Ghost, known as Rex, joked, catching the Bladedancer off guard.
"I guess you can say that, Rex." She turned in her seat where she watched the match and took off her Celestial Nighthawk, facing the Ghost. She was definitely human, with silky shoulder-length brunette hair and gray eyes as well as a beautiful face to match. Hell, any Guardians who've seen her face would mistake her for a civilian than a Hunter.
"So you're interested in your Titan in shining armor?"
Reaper flushed a deep red. "Why would I be curious about him? He's practically a Commander Zavala!"
"So what does meeting him in person and watching all of his matches since he came to the Crucible mean, hm?"
"Meeting him in person was just a pure coincidence!"
"Suuuure it was." Rex pointed out, her eye seemingly taunting the Huntress. "Still doesn't explain why you watch his Crucible matches."
"It's interesting to watch, little light."
"Don't do that." Rex deadpanned, followed by the Ghost being pushed away. "By the way, there are bounties up from the Cryptarchs and Xander. Think you're up for it?"
Sighing, Reaper turned off the screen on her desk and stood up, stretching as she grabbed her Celestial Nighthawk and put it on. She glanced over on the table and found her new handcannon sitting there. She smiled under her exotic helmet, ready to test out this weapon from Banshee. She took Starfall off the table and spun the cylinder, holstering it on her hip and walked out the door, ready to get back into the wilderness of Earth.
Next stop for Reaper?
The Cosmodrome.
