(A/N): Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Our team nearly had fallen to the outer Ring after our last fight in Capitol City. Ajay continued making jokes about how Mirage and I were making sure it never did touch us while she had the running headstart.
We were heading for the Epic Center. It was a fortress on top of a space elevator. It was surprisingly beautiful.
"Ajay! Where are your medkits?!" Mirage shouted from behind me as I heard him jogging through the snow. I watched him finally jog passed me.
"I know, Elliot! Don't get ya panties in a twist!" Ajay called back while she pulled her medkits our her bag and tossed two kits to Mirage.
Mirage started using one of the medkits while I pulled out my drone to make sure nobody was near us. It was too quiet.
"I'm going down to loot the towa'. Don't die while I'm gone." Ajay said as she headed down the snowy hill.
"Geez, you don't know anything about sticking together as a team." Mirage sighed.
"You can handle yourself, right?"
"Of course I can!"
"Then, stick with that."
Then, Ajay was gone. I made sure I moved my drone near her, just to make sure she was alright as I felt someone lay their arm on my shoulder. I knew it was Mirage, but I was trying my best not to break his arm as I continued to watch Ajay.
"So, after this match, Apex is giving us a day off tomorrow and I'm hosting a party at my bar. Want to –"
"No." I interrupted.
"I make juices as well, you don't have to drink." Mirage continued.
I close out of my drone but kept it on to hear out for any notifications for an enemy.
"What I mean is, I don't want to come to your party," I replied, staring at him.
Mirage took a second to stare back at me before taking his arm off my shoulder. That's when I realized he was a few inches taller than me. It pissed me off and even a bit jealous.
"What did I ever do to you?" He asked.
"Annoy me."
"That's a part of my personality! Everybody knows that! Though they might call it an ego, as you can see, every Legend seems to enjoy me. Even Alexander!"
I stuffed my hands into my pockets and looked away from him. It was getting cold and my jacket wasn't really helping. I even tried zipping it up and the cold air still found a way to make me shiver.
"Come on, Crypto. Just check it out and if you don't want to stay, just leave. I get plenty of drunk idiots that walk out my bar every – K-UGH!"
I had punched Mirage in the stomach then walked down the snowy hill myself. He had pissed me off once again all because he decided to put me in the category of drunk idiots. They were messing with me. They knew Mirage will put me on edge and they could possibly sneak up behind me and take me into custody. My nerves were on fire, I thought.
With the anxiety that I had, I didn't realize Mirage had come up behind me and tackled me down the hill of snow. He held me at my jacket collar as we rolled down the hill. Once we hit the end of the snowy hill, Mirage was on top of me with the angriest expression I have ever seen on his face. Then, with swiftness, he punches me in the cheek before throwing me into the snow.
"I'm not your punching bag, Kid." Mirage spats as he got up, watching my every move. "I'm your teammate."
I sat up and glared at him. He wasn't in the mood for his annoying personality anymore. Mirage was somewhat intimidating at that moment and I felt my heart skip a beat after losing my glare and looking away. He was right. He was my teammate in this match.
Suddenly, Mirage raised out his hand to me and smiled. I stared at his hand then glanced back up at him. He wiggles his hand a little, making me understand that he wanted to move on, so I took his hand.
"The invite still on the table." He says before heading towards the frozen space elevator to loot with Ajay.
I watched him while sticking my hands back into my jacket pockets. Mirage had a dark side to him this entire time and I thought he was some dude who wanted fame. But, it seems I was wrong. I realized I was staring for too long and shook my head to regain myself. I felt the heat on my cheeks as I hurried down to my team.
"Huh, this match was pretty fast. What happened to the other teams?" Mirage asked us inside the tower as he was leaning up against the wall. He fixes at his scarf to cover his mouth, trying to let his breath warm him up. I bet it stinks of his scent.
"Rank matches, rememba'?" Ajay answered beside him while checking her own map. I was nearby them, fiddling with my remote once more. "The Ring is deadly, so we best keep our asses in the inner Ring."
"How many are left?" I asked him.
"Eight. Including us." She answered before closing her map and sitting down. Her healing drone flew onto her lap and curled up like a cat. Ajay lays a hand on the robot as she leans her head against the cold metal wall.
I noticed Mirage had glanced at the drone then at me before looking back at his map.
"What?" I questioned and Mirage knew exactly who I was talking to.
"Is your drone artificial?" He asked.
"Never needed it, but I have my thoughts on it."
"It's useful and loving," Ajay added, glancing at her drone.
"It's definitely noted to be worked on," I responded.
"If ya want, I can help ya with it." Ajay grinned.
I nodded to her before checking on my drone's eye. No other players were getting picked up yet and it was making me nervous again. The Ring seemed to be ending near Epic Center and Refinery. There was too much open ground and a lot of high ground with only eight teams standing. Without Pathfinder or Gibraltar, we won't have much ground coverage. The only opportunity we have is my drone and if that's shot, we're blind.
"You seeing anything on ya drone, Crypto?" Ajay asked. I glanced through my hologram to look at her.
"No. Not yet. Though, where are the rest of the teams?" I asked her.
"Camping. It's for placement points. Every team wants to make sure they're at least within the top five teams. If ya make it to top five, you get more points, but of course, everyone wants to win."
I focused back onto my drone's eye, watching the snow pick up a little due to some winds, but if I didn't think to look back into my camera, I would have never noticed someone aiming for my drone. I panicked, instantly swinging my drone away from the bullet that nearly took it out. I quickly called my drone back before leaving the camera and dropping onto the ground with adrenaline, out of breath.
"Kid, what happened?" Mirage asked, jogging to me with an outstretched hand. Even Ajay was worried as my drone flew into the room with us. It had startled both my teammates as they yanked out their guns. Once they realized it was my drone, they holstered their weapons and focused back on me.
"Someone's here. They're pretty far, but if we waste any more time, they're going to find us." I told them while taking Mirage's hand. He pulls me up as I pulled out my Wingman.
"Did you see who it was?" Mirage asked as he pulled out his Hemlock after seeing me pull out my gun.
"No. They caught me off guard." I answered.
"We need to keep movin'," Ajay added as she checked the map. "The train is comin' from Capitol City. We could take it for cover after getting' away from this team. We'll use it to get to Refinery and claim the high ground. There, you could use your drone to scout the rest of the teams who are still alive."
I nodded to her once more.
"Let's go," I said as I put up my drone while we all hurried for the door, but what stopped us in our tracks were electric fences blocking all our exits. Wattson and Pathfinder appeared on the other side of the door, waving at us.
"Hi, friends," Pathfinder said before pulling out a grenade and tossing it inside with us.
"Shit!" Mirage shouted as I felt him push his body against me, trying to dodge the grenade. He collapsed on top of me before the grenade blew up. I heard all of our body shield break as the impact pushed us up against the wall. Smoke filled the air as I listened out for my teammates. Mirage suddenly started coughing before he raised his head and made eye contact with me. He realized he was on top of me and his face turned beet red.
"…Y-you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine. Where's Ajay?" I asked him, trying to ignore his embarrassment.
"I'm alright, boys. Luckily for us, we all had some good body shields."
Mirage made sure to get off of me and lends another hand for me, avoiding eye contact. The smoke finally disappeared as everyone began to recharge their shields. I was surprised the enemy team didn't close in after the grenade.
"They blocked every entrance," Mirage responded to Ajay as she quickly peeked at the doors to see if she could shoot the bottom of the fence poles.
"Yeah, and I can't even get a good aim at the bottom of the poles. We need anotha' way out."
"My drone can break those fences. The only problem is that we'll be hit by the E-M-P as well." I explained to my team as I yanked out my drone.
Ajay and Mirage suddenly stare at me in shock.
"What the hell? It can do that?" Mirage blurted out and I nodded.
"That's perfect!" Ajay exclaimed, grabbing Mirage's and my attention. "I got an idea."
(A/N): Comment and Review! Also, check out my Wattpad: ashlin_port