The Knights of Avalon


"Scalpel, Torch. Come in," Hans's voice crackled through their earpieces.

Scalpel let off the button of his minigun, allowing it to wind down as he pressed a finger to his earpiece. "This is Scalpel, go ahead," he replied.

"What's the status of our friends?"

"We've engaged them, but they split up. They're heading further into the keep."

"Good. Hunt them down and take them out. I want those two dead. Do whatever you have to, no excuses. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir. We'll take care of it," Scalpel glanced over to his partner and gestured his head towards the hole.

Torch nodded his understanding and hefted his grenade launcher, then jumped down the hole to track down Elsa.

Above, Scalpel gave the barrel of his minigun a spin with his hand, then set off down the corridor after Anna.

... ... ...

"Separated again. Perfect," Elsa laid a hand against a barrel and leaned on it as she caught her breath.

She had wound up in some kind of large storeroom, where old barrels and crates were stacked on top of one another. The walls were lined with all sorts of racks, shelves and other detritus. This part of the castle was dimly lit from whatever scant sunshine made it down from the outside. It was just well enough to see by, offering Elsa a meager amount of concealment if she kept her distance and stuck to the shadows. She would need them if she was to remain undetected by her pursuer.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the long and narrow passageway she had taken to reach the storeroom.

Elsa's breath caught in her throat as she glanced around quickly for a place to hide. She retreated to the far side of the storeroom and crouched down between a wall of shelves and a stack of barrels. Long seconds passed as she remained hidden and scanned the room around her as she searched for a way out. All the while those heavy footsteps thudded against the stone floor, each one causing Elsa to flinch as they grew nearer. She risked a glance over the top of the barrels and that was when she saw Torch enter the storeroom.

Elsa could hear his breathing, as if it were somehow amplified by the mask. It was steady and even, unlike Elsa's own breaths which came in rapid and shallow as she struggled to keep as quiet as possible. He swept his gaze slowly over the storeroom and kept the barrel of his grenade launcher pointed outwards. The low light caught the yellow paint of his ballistic face mask, causing it to stand out from the darkness that surrounded him. As he looked over in Elsa's direction, the eerie smiling visage filled her with dread and she ducked down.

My guns will be useless against that armor, Elsa thought. I have to find a way around him.

... ... ...

Elsewhere, Anna leaned against a stone pillar in the center of a wide hallway. "I have to find my way back to Elsa."

She paused, panting heavily as she gathered her wits and surveyed her surroundings. The hallway was long and the walls to either side were regularly broken up by entrances to different rooms that were interconnected. Between the doorways, tall suits of ancient armor clutching various types of medieval weaponry lined the length of the hallway.

From behind her, a loud mechanical whirring drew steadily closer.

"Shit!" Anna turned to the closest suit of armor and tried to wrench the heavy mace clasped in it's armored gauntlets free. "Come on, come on!" she gave a harsh tug, then leapt backwards when the suit of armor crashed to the ground in a loud clatter of noise.

"I can hear you!" Scalpel taunted.

His voice was close and the mechanical whirring of his minigun was growing louder. Anna silently cursed her clumsiness and ducked into the nearest room just as Scalpel rounded the corner.

"Come out, little mouse," Scalpel approached the fallen suit of armor and nudged it with his boot. He then kicked it aside, sending it clanging along the floor and into the closest room as he continued to walk down the hallway.

Anna nearly cried out from the sudden clanging helmet that bounced by her and she had to clamp a hand over her mouth to remain quiet. Slowly, she caught her breath and allowed herself a moment to gather her wits.

... ... ...

Torch approached a ladder that led up and out of the storeroom. He stepped into the light, and peered upwards for a long moment as he searched for Elsa.

From the far end of the storeroom, Elsa observed him. That's it, now just leave, she thought. She dipped back behind the barrels and waited for the sound of a ladder being ascended. After several moments, Elsa frowned and peeked around the barrels again.

Torch was standing with his back turned towards the ladder, blocking the way. From where he was, he had a view of the entire storeroom and he blocked the only exit. Elsa would not be able to move to the way she had come in or to the exit without being seen by him. However, there was enough cover between her and him that she could approach him unnoticed.

He stood as tall as an armored golem and remained eerily still which sent shivers down Elsa's spine. It was clear to her that her opponent was waiting for her to come out.

I have to take him out, but how do I do that? Elsa thought as the beginning of plan took shape in her mind. He'll blast me to pieces if he sees me, but maybe he wouldn't do that if I was close to him.

... ... ...

Anna crouched by the doorway, then quickly glanced down the hallway. Scalpel was walking ahead of her with his back turned as he remained unaware of her presence. She took careful aim with her pistol, and let off a suppressed gunshot at his head.

"Ungh!" Scalpel grunted in surprise as the bullet bounced harmlessly off his helmet. He immediately whipped around and sighted Anna.

"Shit!" Anna squeezed off another two shots aimed at her opponent's head hoping to drop him. The first missed and the second ricocheted off the side of his helmet. "Oh come on!" she hissed and ducked back.

"Gonna have to do better than that!" Scalpel taunted. He let loose with his minigun and sent a rapid storm of lead in the spot where she was standing just a moment ago.

"Crap!" Anna cursed as she retreated further into the room and proceeded towards the far entrance. She pressed her back against the wall and holstered her pistol, then slung her rifle from over her shoulders and clutched it to her chest.

She risked another peek out, and saw Scalpel just as he turned away from where Anna had been to where she was now. Their eyes locked for a brief second, and Anna let off a rapid burst of bullets from her own rifle.

Once again, they slammed harmlessly into the thick armor plating over his chest. This time, he didn't even flinch.

"Is that the best you can do!" Scalpel shouted then beat his chest with his fist repeatedly, knocking the bullets that were embedded in his armor loose.

They fell to the floor, clinking and rolling along unceremoniously. A second later, the quiet plinking was replaced by spinning barrels spewing out a storm of bullets.

"Oh jeez," Anna turned and ran diagonally across the hallway to the next room, then rolled beneath a wave of bullets as Scalpel adjusted his aim.

... ... ...

Elsa made the first move. She hefted a rock in her hands, then tossed it into a rack of tools across from her position. They rattled and clanged against each other loudly as they fell to the floor.

Torch took the bait and began making his way over to investigate the commotion. Meanwhile, Elsa lifted a lengthy chunk of wood in her hands and silently crept across the way to intercept him. She leaned into the shadows below a ledge where Torch was making his way over. Once his back was turned, Elsa sprang out and struck him over the head with the chunk of wood.

He made no sound and barely recoiled from the sudden blow. Elsa followed up her attack by striking downwards, aiming to knock the weapon loose from his hands when he turned and caught it. He effortlessly tore the wooden chunk from Elsa's grasp, then lifted her off her feet by the throat with one hand.

Elsa choked and struggled in his grasp, kicking against his armored chest as she tried to free herself. He simply cocked his head while he remained silent and tightened his grip on Elsa's neck. Her vision began to blur, and her lungs burned for air when suddenly, he drew Elsa down and tossed her away from him.

She landed on her back and before he could blast her apart with his grenade launcher, she recovered and rolled backwards, then dove behind another stack of barrels.

Torch fired a grenade where Elsa had just been, blowing to smithereens wood and stone alike. He approached the smoking scorch mark from his grenade and rounded the corner where he last saw Elsa dive. She had disappeared.

He remained unnaturally still and quiet for a moment, then rolled his neck and loudly cracked it as he loaded new grenade shells into his launcher.

... ... ...

The ground shook from a sudden explosion that erupted from somewhere below, causing a nearby suit of armor to topple over onto Scalpel. He stumbled and lost his balance for a moment before quickly recovering and angrily kicking aside the scattered pieces of metal.

Anna observed this moment from her new hiding place, and an idea took shape in her mind.

"That would be Torch. He has a thing for explosives, and if we can hear him then your partner is already dead," Scalpel spoke aloud. "Come out little mouse, and I'll make it quick," he intended to get a rise from Anna, trying to get her to slip up and expose herself once more.

However, Anna knew better now, and did not rise to his taunts. Somehow she felt that Elsa was still alive, she just had to deal with her current foe and get to her. Another boom echoed in the deep as the earth shook, rattling the suits of armor that stood vigil in the hallway.

Anna grinned hopefully. Continued explosions meant that Elsa was still alive.

... ... ...

Elsa quietly crawled across the floor on her hands and feet, putting as much distance between her and the smoking pile of wood as possible. She knew her opponent would not fall for the same trick twice and gave up trying to draw him away.

The game was now cat and mouse, and Torch relentlessly paced up and down the storeroom as he hunted his prey. If Elsa exposed herself for even a second, she would be done for. She would have to make another attempt at her target unseen.

From somewhere above, Elsa heard a minigun release it's rapid payload like a dragon bellowing in the distance. She smiled, for it gave confirmation that Anna was still alive.

Elsa held a brick in her hands and waited for her opportunity as Torch approached her position. He knelt down to peer under a table, which was when Elsa struck. She delivered a swift and savage uppercut aimed directly at his face, smashing the brick apart in her hands as it landed.

Bafflingly, Torch remained silent though he recoiled from the ferocity of the blow. He stumbled backwards, shielding his face mask with his hand and leaving himself open to another attack. Acting fast before her blinded opponent recovered, Elsa rushed forwards and snatched a red cylindrical grenade off his armored vest, then ducked the wild haymaker that he threw out blindly. Quickly as she had done so, Elsa retreated away.

Torch loosed a volley of three grenades, aiming at random. Stacks of barrels, crates, shelves, and racks detonated one after the other. Once the dust had settled and he realized his quarry had evaded him once again, he began reloading his grenade launcher.

... ... ...

Anna blew a loud raspberry, catching Scalpel's attention who had ventured into the last room she was in. "Over here, stupid!" she held up her hands on either side of her head and wiggled her fingers.

Scalpel shouted in frustration then let loose another barrage of bullets. By now, Anna had hoped he would run out of bullets or at the very least, pause to reload, but his reserves of ammunition that was linked to his backpack appeared to be endless.

She ran to the far end of the hallway, then doubled back and looped around from the adjacent entrance. Scalpel was now in front of her, pacing down the hallway with his back turned. She waited for the moment when he would pass between two suits of armor on either side of the hallway. Anna deduced that his field of vision would be limited by the helmet he wore, so she pressed her advantage when the moment came.

Anna sprung out from her cover and ran up behind Scalpel, who immediately began to turn around once she came into earshot. Not that it mattered, for Anna had already closed the distance to him and turned sharply towards the nearest suit of armor. She grasped it with both hands and brought it crashing down then leapt back just as the metal collided into Scalpel and knocked him towards the center of the hallway. Before he could get a chance to recover, Anna dragged the next suit of armor down on top of him. Man and metal crashed into each other as Scalpel finally lost his balance and toppled over, dropping his minigun. He landed harshly on his back and struggled to push the mass of metal off of himself.

Seizing her chance, Anna quickly bent down and seized a halberd that had fallen on the floor. With it in her hands, she used the axe bit to peel away Scalpel's armor plating. With her opponent momentarily disabled and defenseless, Anna raised the halberd above her head to deliver the final blow.

"Yaaaaaggh!" Anna let loose a mighty war cry and brought the spiked end of the halberd crashing down onto Scalpel's unarmored chest with all her might.

Scalpel grunted in pain as he clutched the halberd sticking out of his chest. He fixed his hateful glare up at Anna, then coughed several times before his body became slack and he died.

With her foe finally defeated, Anna released the halberd which remained stuck in his chest and knelt down to catch her breath. "I guess he got the point," she chuckled shamelessly at her own quip.

A glint of dull gunmetal caught her eye, and she looked over to the minigun just beyond Scalpel's reach.

Anna's eyes filled with a devilish gleam as she hefted the instrument of warfare. "Oooohhh ho ho ho!" she chuckled with glee. "Now this is going to be goo- oh holy fuck, this is heavy!"

She bent over and set the minigun back on the ground as she leaned over it. Anna attempted to lift it again and only succeeded in bringing it up to her waist where she held the business end pointed away from her. Tentatively, she fiddled with the weapon until she found a single red button on top of a vertical grip by her right hand, and a small button on the horizontal grip by her left hand. She gave the left button a press, and giggled maniacally when the minigun whirred in response as the barrels began to spin.

"Oh yeah," Anna grinned with manic glee. "Anna's got a gun, baby."

... ... ...

Elsa held the thermite grenade tightly in her grasp, keeping the spring-loaded activation lever from flying off. She had pulled off the safety pin to make her final attack as quick as possible.

Torch was incensed, or as far incensed as one could tell from his silent demeanor. At random intervals he fired off grenades from his launcher, reducing much of the storeroom to smoldering debris.

The thick smoke that had begun to fill the space turned out to work in Elsa's favor by offering her additional concealment. She crouched low and moved slowly, picking her way over splintered pieces of wood and shattered stone alike. Additionally, she was partially deafened from the repeated explosions, yet she surmised that her opponent surely had to be suffering from the same ringing in his ears as well.

She used this to her advantage and made her approach behind Torch as he paused to reload again. Once she was close enough, she sprung up and leaped off her feet, extending her right arm out as if to punch the armored figure.

Torch spun and easily caught her fist. This time, he had been prepared for the sneak attack, but he was nonetheless surprised when he noticed Elsa's empty hand. He merely blinked in shock and failed to notice when Elsa brought up her left hand and released the spring-loaded activation lever on the thermite grenade. She then planted it beneath his armored collar and kicked off his chest with both her feet, freeing herself from his grip. After she landed easily on her feet, Elsa wiggle her fingers which held the safety pin with a triumphant smirk.

Torch betrayed no other emotion and made no other sound as he realized what had just happened. He dropped his grenade launcher and began pulling at his collar as he tried to remove it, but by then, he was already too late. The explosive detonated in a dazzling shower of sparks and eruption of white-hot fire, engulfing the armored figure before completely in flames as he was incinerated. He struggled in place for a few seconds, desperately trying to fan out the flames before finally succumbing to the heat and fell over, dead.

"Anna would say something clever right now," Elsa scratched her head in thought as she entertained possible corny one-liners her sister might say. "Um… cool off! No, that's terrible. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

She continued to talk to herself as she bent down and retrieved her fallen opponent's grenade launcher. Elsa inspected the weapon, keeping her finger off the trigger as she fumbled around until she opened the drum containing the grenades. The weapon remained fully loaded and Elsa snapped the drum shut with a grin.

"Out of the frying pan, and into the fire… I'm bringing the heat? No, no, awful," Elsa muttered to herself as she made her way out of the storeroom. "Wait, I've got it!" She snapped her fingers and stopped in place when she settled on the perfect zinger. "You're fired! There we go, that's the one."

... ... ...

"Anna, Elsa, are you guys there? Come in," Kristoff's voice came through the radio hooked on Anna's belt. "Anna or Elsa, come in! I'm in a bit of a bind here!"

From somewhere further inside the keep, the chaotic sounds of a gunfight rang out.

"Shit, he's in trouble," Anna fumbled around with the minigun in her hands before letting the barrel rest against the floor. "Kristoff!" she said as she found her radio. "Kristoff, what's going on?"

"They got me pinned down in this- shit! I'm pinned down in a courtyard inside of the keep, I could use your help!"

"Okay, just hang tight! I'll be there as fast as I can!" Anna replied and then set the radio back on her hip.

She adjusted the straps of the large ammunition backpack linked to the minigun and nearly stumbled over from the immense weight. Once she found her balance, she lifted the minigun and began to shuffle along as fast as she could.

"As fast as I can," Anna panted heavily from the effort. "Come on, Anna!"

... ... ...

Elsa climbed up the ladder out of the storeroom and back into daylight as she entered a sort of gathering hall. Gunshots could be heard not far ahead, echoing through the keep.

"Maybe that's Anna!" Elsa said to herself, gripping the grenade launcher in her hands tighter as she jogged towards the commotion.

She passed through a short series of passageways before finding herself in a large rectangular courtyard. It was lined on all sides by thick stone columns that formed a cloister around the center. Above on a second floor, four balconies stood out from the center of each side of the courtyard, and on the ground in the middle was a large fountain. The blue skies above had begun to bleed orange as evening advanced, highlighting the carnage unfolding before her in gritty detail.

Kristoff was taking cover inside of the dry fountain as he faced off a small army of Westguard mercenaries in front of him. They had taken up positions all along the far side from Elsa, using the columns and low stone walls throughout the courtyard for cover.

Elsa raced to Kristoff's aid, running down the length of the right side of the courtyard before pausing by the column closest to the fountain. "Kristoff!" she shouted over the chaos and waved her right arm to grab his attention. "Kristoff!"

"What!" Kristoff screamed as he spun around.

"Where's Anna?!"

"She's not with you?!"

Bullets slammed into the column near Elsa as mercenaries spotted her and began targeting her position. She leaned away, shielding her head with her right arm.

Kristoff quickly peeked up and fired his revolver until it clicked empty. "I'm out of bullets!" he scowled then sat back down, leaning with his back against the perimeter of the fountain. "Do you have a gun I could use?!"

Elsa removed the shotgun she still had from around her shoulders. "Here, catch!" she tossed it underhand through the air towards Kristoff.

"Thank you!" Kristoff caught the weapon it one hand easily then immediately shifted over and blasted a mercenary who was trying to flank him.

As the mercenaries intensified their efforts to bring them down, Elsa repositioned herself and sprinted forward, sliding into cover behind a low wall. She spotted a group of mercenaries gathered on the balcony directly ahead of them, then took aim with her grenade launcher and released a single round. The grenade arced through the air, flying towards the upper balcony before making direct contact against the underside. A burst of light and heat immediately followed as the explosion enveloped the balcony and blew it apart. Mercenaries were flung through the air as if they weighed nothing while the balcony shattered and collapsed.

On and on this exchange of fire went as Kristoff blasted his foes with the shotgun and Elsa bombarded groups of mercenaries unlucky enough to be gathered together. Explosions, gunfire, and chaos wrapped all around them, and no matter how many of their foes fell, more seemed to pour in to replace them.

The last grenade flew from Elsa's launcher, flying towards a column on the far end and blowing it to pieces. All about, mercenaries shouted orders or attempted to drag away their wounded allies.

Elsa pulled the trigger, several times before she realized she was out of grenades. "I'm empty!" she called to Kristoff as she tossed her useless weapon aside.

Meanwhile, Kristoff unleashed another volley of pellets, sending a mercenary charging towards him flying several meters back. He racked the pump and attempted to fire again before he too, realized he was empty.

"Me too!" Kristoff threw his shotgun straight in the face of another mercenary. "Got any other ideas?!"

A new group of mercenaries arrived on the scene, attacking with renewed ferocity as they sensed their foes were out of munitions.

"What do we do?!" Elsa asked frantically as she fired her pistol as a last ditch effort against the endless tide of mercenaries attacking them.

On the second floor, Anna finally arrived to the scene. She raced around a corner as fast as she could and nearly tripped over again from the awkward and clunky weight across her back. From where she was now, she was standing one of the balconies overlooking the large courtyard.

Down below, she could see Elsa and Kristoff pinned down by a storm of lead.

"Oh man," Anna said in shock as she sized up their opposition. "Really glad I bought this," she lifted the minigun and supported the barrel by resting it on top of the balustrade as she began to spin it up. "You boys want a gunfight?! I'll show you a gunfight!" she screamed as she began to let loose

From somewhere behind, Elsa heard the fierce sound of Anna's voice as she shouted over the battle. She looked up in time to see Anna standing on top of the balcony and was completely stunned by the display of utter ferocity before her.

A storm of metal rained down upon the mercenaries in front of them as Anna relentlessly gunned them down with her massive weapon.

"Raaaaaaaahhhh!" Anna roared continuously as she held down the triggers.

Below, Elsa and Kristoff ducked and took cover. The only thing they could hear was Anna's long and furious roar, the panicked and confused shouting of Hans's mercenaries, the clinking of shell casings as they rained down from above, and the tidal wave of lead that was being unleashed. Bullets poured out from the spinning barrels of the minigun in an endless wave and with unstoppable force. Columns and walls were ripped, torn, and shredded apart as if they were nothing. Mercenaries shouted in panic and fled in disarray as they tried to seek cover from the ceaseless metal storm.

More mercenaries came pouring in through entrances on the far side, where they were immediately met by the onslaught. None of them were safe from Anna as she swept the business end of her weapon all over the far side of the courtyard, peppering that half with bullets and targeting any of the mercenaries who dared withstand her attack. They dropped one by one in rapid succession and soon enough, they gave up their attack as they were routed. They began to beat a hasty retreat, shouting frantic orders to any of their allies who remained alive.

"Go! Go!"

"Fall back!

Anna held down the triggers until her minigun spat no more and the red-hot barrels belched visible heat waves as they spun. Once all of the dust had settled, no mercenaries remained alive in the courtyard.

"Ho-ly shit," Kristoff finally looked up behind him and saw Anna on the balcony behind them holding the now empty minigun.

Elsa looked up at her sister in awe, stunned by the extreme act of destruction she had just witnessed. The barrels of Anna's weapon were as red as her hair, and her eyes were alight with righteous fury. However, when Anna searched out Elsa and their eyes locked, they visibly softened with relief.

"That'll do, pig. That'll do," Anna grinned and patted the side of the minigun before setting it down carefully.

Afterwards, she shrugged off the much lighter backpack, then leaped down into the courtyard by climbing over the edge of the balcony and dropping down. As she made her way over to Elsa, Kristoff intercepted her halfway and beheld like some kind of war goddess.

"Where in the goddamn hell did you find a minigun?!" Kristoff asked incredulously.

Anna walked past him and continued towards Elsa as she simply waved away his question. "Yeah, yeah. It's a long story, are you guys alright?" she asked. "Still got all your parts?"

"We're fine now, thanks to you," Elsa approached Anna and looked at her in a similar way to Kristoff. "Anna that was- "

"Awesome, I know," Anna muttered and pulled Elsa towards her in a tight hug. "Oh man, that thing was so heavy," she leaned on Elsa for support as she swayed on her feet.

Elsa smiled softly and embraced Anna. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too, not that I was worried. I knew you could handle yourself," Anna matched her smile and leaned into her shoulder, swallowing a lump in her throat that indicated the opposite of her supposed lack of concern.

"Ahem," Kristoff cleared his throat. "Hey, Kristoff, we're glad you're alright as well. Thank you guys, your friendship and concern means everything to me," he said mockingly.

Anna smiled and clapped her hand on his shoulder. "You're fine, don't be a baby," she said as she walked past him and bent down to re-arm herself with some of the fallen weapons scattered about.

Elsa shrugged at Kristoff, and followed after Anna.

Kristoff remained still, staring into empty space as he spoke to himself in bafflement. "What just happened?"