(A/N): Enjoy the newest chapter!
"Crypto! Go! They're chasing –"
"Great game, fellas! The kills we got kept us from not losing too many points." Ajay said back on the dropship in perfect condition. She was smiling at Mirage, giving him a high-five. Then, she turns to me. "I'm impressed by you, Crypto. Didn't think you were a fighta' when I first saw you."
I don't respond, so Ajay smiles at me another time before stepping away, leaving me with Mirage beside me.
"Hey, uh…great job with your ultimate ability," Mirage admitted.
I was taken aback from his sudden compliment and actually turned to him. Mirage was avoiding eye contact, fixing at his scarf. I looked ahead to stop my gaze on him.
"Was my…shock grenade as strong as the Nox gas?" I asked him to at least give him a bone.
"It was pretty strong. Nearly felt some sort of foam in my mouth for a moment, but it's still not as strong as Nox gas." Mirage answered, hearing the tease in his voice. He sounded more relaxed than he was just a moment ago, so I stepped away.
After the match, Apex Games had notified the players there was free time for another match before nightfall. I was honestly hoping to be matched with Ajay again. I felt horrible after leaving her to die like that. I could have at least tried to pick up her banner, but I knew if I tried, I would have died sooner than I did.
My hands started to shake, so I clenched them and sighed out. Apex was a lot more complicated than I remember seeing it. It felt so real. The pain, the emotions, everything. But, when we all stepped back onto the dropship, everyone was companions like nothing ever happened down there in the Arena. Wattson and Pathfinder had waved at me through the halls, Octane wanted to know if he could have a ride on my drone, Bloodhound, Wraith, and Gilbraltar complimented me on my performance, Bangalore gave me a quick nod passing by me through the halls, and Caustic only stared at me while I passed by his quarters.
I had made it to my own quarters, taking a seat on the bed Apex had given me with a pillow that had the Korean flag printed on it. My quarters were clean and simple with a computer just for me, but I knew Apex was watching my every search. I sat down at my computer and began to do a little more investigating on my own case. I had about thirty seconds until I had to cover my tracks before the Syndicate can realize there's a virus in their system. I was about to begin my search when someone leaned against the wall near my desk. I gave them my attention, locking eyes with Wraith's silver ones. I was able to feel a shiver go down my spine as I clenched my mouse.
"I was killed a bit after our little fight. Nice ultimate ability. Now, I know you're not just a wannabe Bloodhound." She says with a grin against her lips. Wraith wanted me to crack on her, get under my skin. I clenched my teeth, holding back my own insult. "A hacker always has a story. Hyeon Kim, right?"
I glared at her, completely tired of her shit.
"Dangsin-i eongmang-in salam-eul deo jal bol su issseubnida. (You better watch who you are messing with.)" I retorted, standing up to her. Wraith was a few inches smaller than me, but her intimidation was much stronger than her size. I felt my chest ache as the alarm for the next match began, revealing my new team:
Mirage and Wraith.
I frowned at their photos on the screen before eyeing Wraith who was already smirking at me.
"Good luck." She says before stepping away to get onto the jumping platform. I logged out of my computer before heading over beside Wraith. She avoided my presence as Mirage stepped up to us. He smiles at Wraith, giving her a quick nudge to the shoulder before looking at me.
"Teammates again? The fans must love us together, huh?" He asked me as he prepared himself onto the jumping platform.
I didn't answer him, trying to look for Ajay, finding her with Octane and Pathfinder. I sighed, stuffing my hands back into my jacket pockets.
Yeah…the fans, I thought as the floor under us began to open to World's Edge.
Snow began to fly into the dropship as I gazed at the Arena once more. The head of the Peacekeeper flashed in my brain, making my hands shake again. I gripped my remote and began playing with it to calm down. Suddenly, a holographic screen appears in front of the team:
Champion: Gibraltar
Mirage groans under the sounds of the wind as he stretched his shoulder.
"Let's go to Overlook." He says.
"The Geyser's Hot Drop," Wraith added.
"Nah, too many players rushing for the Vault."
There was a pause between all of us.
"Crypto," Mirage called. "Overlook or Geyser to claim the Vault?"
I thought for a moment about it. Though, we were running out of time before we had to jump.
"…Overlook." I finally answered.
"Let's go," Wraith said before she jumped with Mirage following right behind her.
Then, I jumped, following them to the edge of the map. I felt my nervousness freak out within my arms as we glided to our chosen destination.
"Enemy team!" Mirage called onto the mic.
"It's Ajay. She told me she wanted to versus me early match." Wraith replied as we all finally landed.
"And you tell us this now?"
We all rushed for the buildings. I ran into a truck, finding a P-Twenty and a Level One Helmet. I sighed as I heard footsteps rushing towards me.
Shit, I thought as I hurried out the truck. Octane sped towards me and jump kicked me in the face the moment he saw me. I hit the ground hard, tasting dirt in my mouth. I saw one of Octane's metal legs raise once again, forcing me to quickly dodge a metal foot in my mouth.
I started shooting my gun, missing all my shots since Octane stabbed himself with one of his drugged needles.
"Crypto?" Mirage asked.
"I need help!" I shouted into the mic.
"Ah! Don't worry, Amigo! I'll finish you in a matter of seconds!" Octane shouted to me before rushing towards me.
I raised my hands up in front of my face, blocking more metal. The impact pushed me back a little as I pushed myself against Octane's foot. He staggers back, allowing me to run to him, throwing punches, but majority of them missed. Octane quickly punches me in the gut, knocking me back down, and allowing me to drop the only gun I had. He pulls out his Alternator and aims it at my chest.
"Remember to respawn, so I can run around, and chase you again!" Octane exclaims before a bullet flew through his head, making him drop to the ground.
"Knocked," Wraith mutters into the mic. I heard the grin in her voice.
Then, Mirage steps up beside me with a smile on his face. He slides his feet, moving over towards Octane before snapping a pose. Then, he does a twirl, kicks Octane square in the face, and does a little dance.
"Already off to a great start, Squad!" He says before looking over his shoulder at me.
"Was that really necessary? Octavio is going to get you for that." Wraith responded.
"Yeah, but I still haven't completely gotten him back for kicking me in the face during the first season."
"Someone's holding a grudge."
Mirage hesitates.
"Payback is what I call it."
Wraith scoffs in the mic just as I did. Though, Mirage had caught me amused by the conversation and smiled at me.
"Hey, we made the kid smile." He teased before raising a hand out to me.
I frowned and avoided his gaze. I was going to say something about the nickname he had given me, but I stopped myself and reached for his hand. Then, a bullet flew between us.
"It's a sniper!" Wraith shouted on the mic. Mirage and I rushed to our feet, taking cover in the building Wraith was standing on top of. "We need to find out who's the sniper."
"I got it," I told her before throwing out my drone. I moved it out the window of the building and began my search. I didn't see anyone in my drone's eye, but the banner of the champion squad had told me there was still a team nearby. It was too quiet. "I'm not seeing anyone. They're not even respawning Octane."
"It's a normal match. They don't need to worry about points." Wraith explained.
I logged out my drone and glanced at Mirage. He was looking out the window with his Triple Take, tapping at the trigger. I noticed he had changed his uniform this match. It was still yellow, but it was a full steel outfit. He even had dyed his curls yellow. I rolled my eyes back into my drone's eye. Though, the moment I went into my drone, something exploded in my right ear. I leave my drone once more and found thick smoke blinding me as I heard my drone being destroyed.
It was Bangalore again.
"They're rushing the building!" I shouted as I tried to pull out my P-Twenty and realized I left it where Octane was.
Mirage instantly threw out one of his holograms towards the door the enemy team was rushing, but a thermite grenade had stopped its path, but still giving us a reveal on where that thermite came from.
"On it," Wraith said before I heard footsteps on the roof of the building.
"Let's go, Crypto." I heard Mirage call in the smoke while hearing a door open in front of me.
I hurried to my feet and followed the noise out the building and into the sunlight with Mirage. Then, I get sniped in the chest and knocked down. I never felt so much pain in my life. The bullet was strong enough to pull me back a few feet, making me bump my head against the steel building.
"Shit, Crypto! Wraith, the sniper was forcing us out! It's two versus two!" Mirage shouted as he ran for me. When he did, he blocked a bullet for me. He coughed up some blood, holding his hand against the wall above me before looking up at me. Mirage looked dazed, grabbing me by my shirt collar, and pulling me up. I was expecting him to throw me over his shoulders, but he grabbed the first wrist he saw of mine and ran for more cover.
Even though I was shot, Mirage knew I still had some strength to run. Before we cut a corner to finally have cover to heal up, Mirage was knocked down by another sniper bullet, making me trip over him. I rolled into cover, smacking my back against a boulder. I shouted out my pain before looking down at Mirage who was trying to crawl to me.
"Are you guys alright?" I heard Wraith ask in the mic. I was going to speak to her, but another bullet had barely missed my head. I rushed for Mirage's aid, grabbing one of his hands and pulling him behind the boulder.
I peeked over my cover to look for the sniper, finding Ajay camped on a two-story building closest to the edge of the Arena. I saw her sights aimed at my head and dodged another bullet when I ducked back down behind cover. I quickly pulled out my map and pinged Ajay on the map for Wraith.
"Heard you. I'll buy you some time to get Elliot back up." Wraith responded.
I looked over at Mirage, finding him leaned up against the boulder beside me. He was holding his stomach with tons of blood on his uniform and even some dripping from his mouth. My chest began to ache as I pulled out a needle of adrenaline. Mirage glances at me and nods, dropping himself onto the ground to give me a better aim for his heart. I crawl over next to him, making sure my head isn't seen by Ajay before stabbing the needle into Mirage's chest. He clenches his teeth while trying to hold in a cry of pain as I quickly pulled out the needle to help him back up.
"Thanks." Mirage sighs as he goes through his bag and pulled out a few syringes for us to share.
I nodded to him, obviously terrified. I started shaking again while trying to use one of the syringes. I saw Mirage watching me in the corner of my eye.
"Shut up," I told him.
"I'm not saying anything!" He responded, starting to laugh. "Don't worry. I'm shaking a little from that needle you stabbed me with."
"That's different."
"Yeah, but…it's still a shake."
I rolled my eyes, but I noticed him talking to me had stopped my shivers. I glanced at Mirage another time and found him smiling at me before he focused back on Ajay.
He knew that was going to work, I thought.
Mirage covered himself behind the boulder by laying down on his stomach and aimed down sights with his Triple Take. I heard the sniper charge up before I heard a bullet go off. Mirage took Wraith's kill.
"Seriously, Elliot?" Wraith asked in the mic.
Mirage started to reload his sniper.
"She made the new guy scared," Mirage answered.
"I'm not scared," I responded, glaring at him once again with heat against my cheeks.
Mirage made eye contact with me again and winked. I rolled my eyes and stepped away, heading to Octane's death box.
(A/N): Comment & Review! Also, check out my Wattpad: ashlin_port