Everyone piled on the shuttle, tired and weary, except the clone and Kyla, who was in good spirits. She had managed to score 50 points for her team. As for Kyla's identical twin, well, no one knew what she was thinking. Who knew if she even thought?
"Great work, guys!" Kyla said to her team. "See? That wasn't so bad."
Boris and Marianna groaned in unison.
Kyla chuckled to herself, then sat back and amused herself thinking about her dopleganger. They were headed straight to the next match, Cryptic. It was made for a tournament Master Kilbragh, but when he died Liandri seized it for the Tournament.
I wonder if she can do more than follow orders? Kyla thought. Does she have her own family? Her own mind? Or is she really just a clone?
They arrived at the arena shortly. Kyla and her team piled out of the transport, obviously in need of a little rest before battling again. Kyla was a little worn out herself, but she didn't let it show. Unfortunately for them, the blue team was completely rested and prepared.
Rylisa and Johnson were back, and fighting harder than before. Lauren decided which point she was going to hold, and held it she did, fighting off Boris and Marianna with ease. My doppleganger, the fact that we had just gotten here from another match not seeming to affect her, went after Rylisa and Johnson's point. The last point for me to siege was the Daemonhead.
Where Harlin was guarding.
As soon as we saw each other for the second time, he lowered his minigun and I followed suit. We did have something in common, after all. Not something either of us would want to have in common, but something. We stood and stared at each other like that for a moment, sharing wordless pity and self-pity about our losses.
Then Boris came charging in. He wound up his machinegun and started firing at Harlin. Quickly noting how sloppy the oncoming barrage of rounds was, I got the hell out of the way. Harlin did the same, but behind a nearby ramp. Boris crouched next to me as he swapped to a rocket launcher.
"What the hell were you doing?" Boris shouted at me.
"Sorry, got a little distracted-"
"Blue's got ninety points! They're going to claim this match in a matter of seconds!"
That got me up and running. Harlin had gotten back to the point, and I ran and shoved him away from it, muttering a 'sorry' under my breath. My rage was pointless, however, as I hadn't slowed the inevitable by much. The intercom sparked to life, and said the words I could hardly bear to hear.
"Blue team wins."