Chapter VI: Fight or Flight
Absolution Arc
2207 Hours, December 17, 2714
"What do we have, guys?"
Leon dug through his team's weapons packages he acquired while Valhalla was getting theirs, then at his team. "Aside from our weapons? Basic supplies. Food to barely last a day, a lighter that won't last long, and half of a standard medical kit," he threw down the lighter from his package and stomped on it as if to prove its worthlessness. Leon threw his girlfriend her package—which only contained her journal—but struggled to carry Cloud's to him. "Dammit Cloud, why did your swords have to be this heavy?!"
Cloud stood up and walked over to the struggling Dark Knight, picking it up effortlessly. "Fookasu. Kibarashi no tame no yochi ha nai desu. Focus. There's no room for distractions here."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Don't tell me you're complaining, Leon," Lightning looked out into the wilderness of the district her HUD activating a thermal scope-like view. It zoomed in and out according to her eyes dilating and constricting. So far, the coast was clear. "We're expected to survive until the end of the match and you're just gonna throw in the towel?"
"Light, these supplies are just half of what we'd normally have in the Battle Royales back home. And no, I'm not throwing in the towel," objected Leon as he started fiddling around with a kunai-like throwing dagger before spinning it in his hand professionally. "No outside help for supplies or sponsors, stuck with a Fireteam that can't do shit and are better off as bulls in a china shop, another that can decently get the job done despite switching members with their sister Fireteam, your brother's Fireteam with a Hunter that can barely score any kills when he's in the Crucible but gets a shitload of kills against what the Guardians fight on the other planets, and of course, a certain three-man Fireteam with a bear of a Titan with a sore head."
Night already fell upon the battlefield that was the Shibuya district, enveloping the entirety of the area in a black blanket. Stars scattered around the skies and revealed the mesmerizing effect a clear night sky has on many. The kazoku only heard the sound of crickets and the gentle breeze and hopefully not the sounds of possible bloodshed riding on the wind. Thanks to Cloud for knowing a safe zone in the Shibuya district, they all regrouped at the shrine that he uses as a base and a sanctuary.
"You think Reaper made it out alive?" Aqua sat against the wall with her weapons package at her side, the question pointed towards Tohsaka. The leader of the team leaned against the wall and looked out into the night sky towards the shining moon.
"She's not dumb enough to get herself killed at the start of the Battle Royale. Knowing her, she had the same idea as us and fled the scene after she got her weapons."
"It's just a matter of which team she allies with; us or Nero Bianco."
Lightning removed her helmet and continued to gaze at the moon before drawing out her father's knife. She inspected it before repeating Leon's knife spinning. "I'll stand guard. The rest of us get some sustenance and sleep. We'll go after some stragglers tomorrow." The kazoku agreed in unison and allowed Lightning to start the night watch before having a rather small dinner with a small fire at the center of the shrine lighted thanks to Aqua using some of her magic. One by one, the rest of the kazoku fell asleep with Cloud being the only one sleeping back against the wall. After they all fell asleep, Lightning dug into the food available in her pack and tore off a chunk of bread. She tore the chunk into berry-like pieces and popped one in her mouth, slowly chewing on the wheat. Her own combat knife appeared in her other hand and threw it towards the torii gate like a Gunslinger.
The blade hit the side of the Shinto archway, impaling itself tip first. As the moon continued to shine on the Shibuya district in its hypnotic light the knife's blade reflected the light mesmerizingly. A reflection shone on the aged wood resembling the emblem emblazoned on her cape and used by her mother. Darkness, in spite of its mostly used definition of the unknown and evil showed how wonderful it could be if used in a way the Light is. Its potential could've been realized if Trionus and the first generation Dark Knights hadn't started slaughtering hundreds of Guardians.
Father… I swear I will set this right. Both Nero and I. We will restore your name and find a way for our class to return home. Lightning closed her eyes in a meditative state. She swore that as the breeze gently blew she heard her father's voice riding on the wind. He approved of his children's mission to clear his name and encouraged them to never stray from it. An apparition of her father manifested itself at her side, glancing at the moon with its hands behind its back.
"Just because you and Nero bear the title of 'Primus Ultima' doesn't mean you are a true Dark Knight. It is only a title, given to those that have walked the path of Darkness than they can take and come back sane. There is no significance to be obtained from being a Primus Ultima. A true Dark Knight learns to persevere when the odds aren't in your favor," the ghostly voice said, the rhythm of the words mimicking that of Trionus's. "The Darkness doesn't control us, nor do we control it. With a clear mind and concentration the Darkness becomes our ally. A friend. Without these qualities it can control us, tempt us into doing what we don't want to do. The same goes for those that find the Darkness as a weapon or a tool for us. Such foolish thoughts lead to our downfall. A true Dark Knight never relies on anger and vengeance to fuel them in battle; it only serves as an invitation for the Darkness to start corrupting us."
"…But what about you, father? What did you see the Darkness as?"
The original Tenno-Dark Knight vanguard faced his daughter, a warm smile on his stern face before fading away. "I saw it as a harnessable power. Something harnessable like the Light was. But I was wrong," he summoned a sphere of Darkness in his hand, the surface reminiscent to a crystal ball. "Over the course of when I became the first Dark Knight to my execution after the Tenno-Dark Knight War was when I realized that it was as it was said to be. It was, as your brother had put it, a curse. I was ignorant back then, Tohsaka. A damned fool."
"I don't see it that way, father," she sat down on the steps to the shrine and hugged her knees to her chest, looking up at the moon. It was starting to get cold. She lost track of how long she was on night watch. It could be past midnight already. "I know the Darkness is frowned upon if Guardians use it. I don't see the Dark Knights using it as a curse; I see it as a second Light. It may not be kind to us and tempt us into doing things we don't want to do, but this may be our last hope if the Light fails us. I know that the Darkness can be used against itself and a part of it can fight for the Traveler. You experimented that and it worked."
"I know that you've asked yourself why I don't see you as my successor to both my name and power and that I often praise Nero. I sense that you doubt that you can ever live up to your heritage," Lightning looked up at her father's apparition immediately after she heard him talk about her doubt. "Tohsaka, you're already living up to both my name and expectations. I only praised your brother when he understood the mistakes he made and corrected it. In fact, he even doubted himself too. My expectations of my children are different from the Cyphers' expectations and already are you two fulfilling it. A true Dark Knight doesn't rely on brute strength and using the Darkness as much as the Guardians use their Light. We discipline ourselves, learn from our mistakes, understand if the odds are against us, and most importantly know both our enemy and ourselves."
"But, what about my—?"
"Your actions of saving his life that day at the risk of your own is another trait that we Dark Knights cherish," it sat down next to Tohsaka, glancing up at the moon as well. "Well, I wouldn't say it's a trait that Dark Knights cherish. It makes you more like your mother. The similarities between you and your mother are almost alike that I wonder if you inherited anything from me."
"Well, I do have your ability of fighting against a horde of the enemy and making it out alive. That and your idea of the bigger picture."
"True," the glow that the apparition created started to flicker out on it and he got back on his feet. "Tohsaka, I have to go. But before I do, I have something to tell you."
"What is it, father?"
"Nero…he may return to the fight sooner than you think."
Before Lightning could ask it to clarify what it meant, the spirit vanished from its place. The wind had lowered to a subtle breeze as suddenly as the ghost of her father disappeared back into the afterlife and her red-tipped flaxen hair delicately flew about in the night wind. She felt relief and the need for answers rise in her battling it out until one stands victorious. Return to the fight sooner than I think? But…how? The poison's hindering the process of his healing. How can it be?
Great, just when I thought having supplies like this would actually help me in this environment. Reaper grumbled mentally as she fiddled around with her lighter. It barely started and if she got it to light, the flame would only last for a few seconds before being extinguished by the wind. Can't always expect Shaxx to give Guardians the high quality gear. Then we'd all go after each other's throats. Frustrated, she chucked the useless lighter far away from her hiding place. Just when I thought this would last the normal twelve or so minutes, turns into a full out twelve hours. She wanted to get warmer, but her armor had forsaken the feature for body heat regulation for her amplifying her stealth duration. Cursing herself for not equipping herself properly, she hugged herself and sat against one of the ledges in a fetal position on the floor. Even wrapping herself in her cloak didn't help.
Reaper found refuge on one of the roofs of the countless buildings surrounding the park, allowing her to hide in plain sight thanks to some aspects of the roof. With her vantage point, she could scope out the competition and scout out for any supply drops. Using the scope from her Tamar-D, with an added night vision function active, she checked around the starting area. Then, her sight shifted to the drop ship hovering above the Shibuya district; the ship carrying the five revived Guardians that died in the match. Five Freelancers out. Quite unbelievable for someone like Adam to let the bigger fish go and take out five of us small fry. She had no obligation to join forces with the other three Freelancers. Well, maybe except one.
Where the hell is he? She shivered, grasping her Strength of the Pack tightly. Her helmet didn't help her as well as it started to make small white clouds from her breath and decided to remove it. A bit of a bad idea. The cold winter wind slapped her in the face and goose bumps were starting to show on both her face and under her armor. And the fact that it was a snowing December didn't help either. I swear to the Traveler if he doesn't show up, then I'll─!
Her mental cursing at her partner was silenced as she felt her body being moved upright. Under her cloak, she tried to draw out her knife but a hand reached for her wrist and lifted her grasp from the handle. She wanted to scream for help if Adam had somehow found her. Instead, they gently placed a hand on her cheek before leaning in and kissed her. Her protests were muffled by the act as the hand on her cheek started caressing it affectionately with a thumb. As swift as the kiss was, Reaper stopped her protests and gave in to the kiss. The hand around her wrist shifted over to her hair brushing some of the strands covering her face behind her ear, and Reaper cupped the other's face with both of her hands.
The two broke apart from the moment, hand still on Reaper's face and the two looked at each other in the eyes. Their foreheads touched each other's own and gray eyes met a heterochromic blue and gold, both of which were shining as bright as the moon. Such heterochromic eyes belonged to a Hunter in the same shader as she was albeit with red linings all across his body. Her partner in the Battle Royale. Excalibur, better off known as 'Combatant 30' in this Battle Royale was the Freelancer that joined the match at literally the last second. Even his name in the roster stated 'Combatant 30' instead of Excalibur.
"Sorry I'm late," the Guardian said in a faint English accent, still cupping a hand on her face. "The Fireteam proved to be a little tougher to handle than I thought."
"Do you have any idea how long I waited for you? I thought you were killed!"
"It's going to take more than Blood Gulch to bring me down. Here," he noticed the shivering Bladedancer's quivering body and unbuckled his cloak, wrapping it around the Freelancing Predator like a blanket. "You'll need it more than I do tonight."
"That's not what I'm talking about, Excalibur! I'm talking about the fact that you should take it easy!" argued Reaper, wrapping herself tightly at the two cloaks being her shield against the cold. "Straining yourself might reopen your wounds and your healing's still─!"
"Enough, Reaper. I'm here, I didn't push myself than I should, and I lessened the competition by eliminating the pathetic of the Tower's Fireteams," Excalibur sat next to the Bladedancer and letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
"You're stubborn, you know that? Stubborn and have an ego. You were never stubborn or had an ego before."
"Well, I suppose being in charge of a group did have to make me change into something like Zavala. The group's still active but I'm not yet ready to retake my place."
"How did you do it? Taking down Blood Gulch without straining yourself, I mean."
The Hunter looked at his partner, and a grin formed on his face. "The only thing Blood Gulch is known for is their stupidity and unable to work with each other as a Fireteam. So how do you think I eliminated them?"
"You used their one weakness to your advantage."
"Exactly."
Earlier that evening…
"Simmons! Where the hell's that fire!?"
Blood Gulch, unlike the kazoku, was stuck out in a barren area of the Shibuya district in close proximity to the park where the Battle Royale started. Given that the winter weather was starting to show signs of a mild snowfall, it was highly unlikely that anyone would've survived in these conditions.
The maroon Warlock sat in front of a pile of wood and raised his head towards the red Titan. "Sir, with all due respect, there's just no way we can start a fire with this thing!" Simmons pointed out with the lighter that came with everyone's weapons packages, then throwing it on the ground frustratingly. "That and the fact that it's snowing out here means we can't!"
Sarge held his Universal Remote close and filled the lighter full of shotgun shells. Unexpectedly to Blood Gulch, the lighter burst into flames…which only lasted for a few seconds until being extinguished. "Damn it! Who's idea was it to have us in a snowing environment for a battleground!?"
"Uh, sir, I believe that would be Cloud," Grif pointed out.
"Like a cloud in the sky?" asked Caboose, his damaged mind clearly confusing the Dark Knight Cloud for an actual cloud.
"No, Caboose. We're talking about the Dark Knight that's a part of Lightning's team." Washington corrected.
"Grif! Go back to the park and get us some firewood! Your possible insignificant death at the hands of Sparta will provide us time to hide from them and not be the first team eliminated from this match!"
Grif growled at the order and rolled his eyes under his helmet. "Up yours sir!"
Sarge responded with reloading his Universal Remote and blasting the snow-laiden ground under Grif's feet. Some of the pellets burrowed itself into the armored boot but a majority of them found itself in the snow. The orange Titan started dancing to avoid his feet being shot to smithereens and ran for the park. Grif vanished into the snow-covered vegetation running like a cowardly Rez.
A shadow of a winged creature remained perched on the lamppost in Blood Gulch's hiding place. Curious, its head tilted sideways towards the team while remaining hidden from their sight. The golden slit eyes of the creature switched from watching Blood Gulch to the moon. As it continued to eavesdrop on Blood Gulch the sound of a four note melody rode on the wind, causing it to perk its head up and quietly repeat the melody. Purring gently after the exchange, the creature spread its wings—scaly and reptilian—and flew off into the night. It fled to the park where the melody came from and perched itself on a branch. The landing wasn't as good but it was adorable to watch it try to latch on the slippery branch until it hung upside down like a bat. Squealing at hanging upside down it squirmed about until its claws slipped from the branch and the creature started to plummet to the ground, but not before a hand reached out and caught it.
"You okay?" the creature opened its eyes and saw a Hunter hanging around on the branches. It purred adorably before spreading its wings and flying over to his shoulder. "At least you're safe, buddy. This cold's starting to get on my bloody nerves." Tiny flames spewed out of its mouth before it shut its mouth closed, smoke emerging from the nostrils. It chirped and cried, almost like the creature was attempting to speak in a human tongue.
"They're close, buddy?" Excalibur asked his companion, petting it on the head gently. The creature roared affirmatively and enjoyed the petting, nuzzling its head against the Hunter's hand. In his night vision-esque view, he saw his companion's form; a tiny, black and gray baby dragon the size of an adult bird. Its wings were both leathery and tough as diamonds, a red glow appearing between the scales of its chest that vaguely resembled a dragon's head. "Good work, Nyx. Here you go, bud." He held out a piece of bread from his weapon package in front of the dragon to which it started to sniff and nibble at the wheat before proceeding to devour it. After finishing its reward, Nyx cried for more food and started poking around his pouches around his belt before Excalibur took the dragon in his hands and putting it back on his shoulder. "Later, bud. Go back to Reaper now, okay?"
The infant dragon whined before spreading its wings and leaving, leaving the Hunter to conduct his work. Excalibur stood up from his perch on the branch, maintaining his balance as he did. A pain in his side shot through his body and hissed painfully. He warned himself to take it easy but there was no way he'd stand in the sidelines and watch the Battle Royale from the Tower. Excalibur sat back down on the branch and reached for his pouches, pulling out a single painkiller. Popping it in and swallowing it without water, he waited a while for the impure pain to pass and pulled out a boxy, heavy handcannon-like weapon from his lower back. He loaded a box magazine into the rear of the slide and pumped the shotgun pump-like slide on the bottom of the barrel. An indicator appeared next to the safety button, confirming how many shots was in the magazine. Nine.
"Stupid Sarge…wish I could take the son of a bitch out myself, see how he likes being in my shoes…"
Excalibur looked down from his perch and saw the orange Titan that was Dexter Grif collecting some firewood. A rather large pile was in his hands arranged like logs and he stumbled around like an idiot. He crouched down on the branch, closely observing the Titan. Soon enough, an idea clicked in his head and a smile formed on his lips. His finger was on the trigger but not ready to pull it yet. Let's see how Blood Gulch can get out of this trick…
-Destiny-
"Grif! I thought you were killed off by Sparta!" Sarge commented, seeing the approaching Grif emerging from the sea of trees. "Where the hell's the firewood?!"
Said Titan rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, sir. I was attacked by Adam so I had to get the hell out of there before my balls are punched."
"D-dammit Grif! Why d-didn't you do as I a-asked you to?!"
"Uh, Sarge? You asked him to g-get firewood, not get himself k-killed." Simmons butted in, hugging his shoulders from the cold. The temperatures were dropping badly and already did the rest of Blood Gulch are starting to suffer from the early signs of hypothermia.
"Simmons, s-shut up."
"Ugggh… Hey g-g-guys?" a shadow stumbled from the unknown in the park as though they had a bad hangover and already were the rest of Blood Gulch up in arms. Sarge aimed his Universal Remote at the shadow, followed by Grif, Simmons, Washington, and Caboose. Normally Blood Gulch would be half-assed prepared for any scenario, but they weren't ready for this.
"What in the doggone name of Sam Hell, Betty bloomers goddamn tarnation is going on here?!"
"G-Grif?!"
The rest of Blood Gulch couldn't believe their eyes. The shadow and Grif stood before the other, and both the stumbling figure and the rest of Blood Gulch took a while until they realized what was in front of them. And when they realized it, the realization hit them like an anvil was dropped on their heads.
"Who the hell's the real Grif?"
"Dammit, now there's two of him!"
Both Grifs responded with an 'I am!' in unison before glaring at each other. Idiotically, when one Grif did something the other Grif mirrored it flawlessly. It went from flipping the bird, to cracking the knuckles, and unexpectedly stomping the ground angrily and clutching at their helmet. One of the two were already getting pissed off at the other mocking/mimicking his every move and threw a left hook. The other Grif recoiled badly from the punch as he did the exact same thing and jawed Grif 2. Even their recoil from the left hooks were mimicked and it was seriously starting to get stale.
"Damn, I hit hard!"
"Or I just have a glass jaw," spat Grif 1, readjusting his jaw. Grif 2 crossed his arms and tapped his foot, angry as hell as he stared at his own reflection standing before him.
"Simmons," Sarge pumped his Universal Remote and faced the Warlock. "How do we tell which one's the real Grif?"
Simmons cupped his chin and tapped his foot. "I think a matter of─"
"No 'ten questions'! It'll take too long!"
"What about eenie meeny miny moe?" suggested Caboose and the rest of Blood Gulch turned towards him.
"Son, that might as well be one of the doggone best ideas I've heard from a bluetard!" Sarge turned around and looked at the two Grifs, pointing Universal Remote at Grif 2.
"Eenie…" Grif 1.
"Meeny…" back at Grif 2.
"Miny…" the shotgun was still pointed at Grif 2.
"Mo." After the slight exchange of Caboose's idea, the shotgun landed on the Grif that first returned from the park. The rest of Blood Gulch summoned their weapons from their inventory and aimed it at Grif 1.
"You're the fake! Die!"
Just before Sarge could pull the trigger on his shotgun, 'Grif' threw down a smoke bomb and prompted the rest of Blood Gulch to open fire at the cloud of smoke. Shouts of where is he and pain erupted from the group like a symphony on a sour note as they unloaded their guns into the smoke. Somehow, the smoke had affected their HUDs by scrambling it like an EMP and forcing their onboard computers to reboot. The fake Grif was already airborne above the smoke cloud before his armor morphed into a black and red Hunter's armor. As luck would've had it, Fireteam Blood Gulch, in all of their stupidity, bought into the 'impostor Grif' trick!
Excalibur already drew out his heavy handheld weapon and aimed down at the Fireteam. The smoke had already dispersed and the Fireteam knew they were screwed as soon as they looked up. O'Malley managed to pull out Gjallarhorn from his inventory and aimed the rocket launcher at the Hunter.
"TASTE OBLIVION, YOU DECEIVING FOOL!"
"Personally, I'd prefer tasting victory of defeating such a useless bunch, thank you very much." Before O'Malley could get a lock on him and pull the trigger, he felt like time─and himself─come to a complete halt. It was only Excalibur that was still moving the evidence of it his cloak dancing about in the soothing winter wind.
The black and red Hunter held down the trigger on his heavy handheld weapon, hearing a whine like the startup of a ship coming from the weapon. In his vision, which tinted the world and the Guardians below him in a monochromic haze, Excalibur watched the nine rounds in the transparent magazine lower themselves into the chamber of the weapon and a holographic indicator appeared on his HUD. It marked the points of impact as the weapon charged up and once there were nine dots on screen, he smirked.
"Bull's eye." Excalibur saw the cue on his holographic indicator and pulled the trigger back fully. The weapon finished charging up and fired all nine rounds at once. As Excalibur got out of the threat zone his weapon would make based on the warning his HUD made and previous handlings of the weapon, the nine rounds came into a hexagon with a center triangle formation. All nine rounds hit the ground in unison and detonated into a massive explosion, leaving no one alive as the very wide blast radius ensured that chances of surviving were slim to none. Even Gjallarhorn's loaded rocket detonated from within the weapon, lowering the chances of living the blast to negative one hundred.
After Excalibur got back on the ground away from the blast zone, he stayed in a crouching pose for a while and watched the fires from the explosion dancing about in the cold wind. Under his helmet, he felt some form of accomplishment and content as he watched the embers continue to fall like snow.
"Well, I suppose that should compensate for your lack of a fire."
Me: Well, that settles that.
Prophet: With Fireteam Blood Gulch eliminated from this match, which leaves four left still in the fight. So far, this makes the number of eliminated combatants up to eleven and we're still kicking in for some action.
Me: What's with the entire 'announcer' deal, Prophet? That's not your job.
Prophet: Just felt like it.
Me: Fair enough. Putting this chapter together was a real pain, since I tried to maintain some kind of memorable lines from Red vs Blue and the chaos of the Crucible in one package. Ah well.
The Crimson Commando (II-V): Well, I didn't say that North and South were holding hatred for the Dark Knights. Yes, I did bear in mind that hostility is a part of South's nature and that North doesn't have any grudge or distrust towards the Dark Knights. In fact, I was referring to Adam's friends (excluding his Fireteam partners) that were in deep waters now.
The Crimson Commando (II-IV): Trust me, this is probably the 7(?), 10(?) time I've actually written family/bonding moments. And that's not just counting the ones from Destiny: Skyfall. Then again, a year or so of picking up new writing techniques did pay off to make the reader feel something. And with the aforementioned 'Heir'? They'll show up eventually… Just have patience until then.
So until we meet again, keep fighting the Darkness until they surrender, Guardians!
