(A/N): New chapter! Enjoy! The next chapter is planned to be out sometime next week!

"No more stealing my kills, Elliot," Wraith said to Mirage while playfully pushing him.

"Well, next time, be a bit faster. That's your specialty, right?" Mirage teased, quickly throwing a push back.

I was following behind him, trying my best to ignore their playful bantering. I wasn't in the mood for it. The two people I didn't want to be on my team was on my team. They had to be bothering me with this. It's too obvious.

We were heading to the Epic Center another time and I didn't know why. Mirage and Wraith had taken a zipline near the area and continued walking in that direction. The Ring was near Fuel Depot and the Tree and that was on the other side of the damn map.

I had my hands stuffed in my pocket, holding onto a G-Seven Scout and an R-Ninety-Nine against my back. The cold was once again annoying just as much as my team, but at least it was quieter.

Suddenly, a grenade went off in the distance; somewhere within the Epic Center. Wraith instantly took off.

"Those are mine." She said before leaving Mirage and I behind.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Mirage shouted, chasing after her.

It was as if I was never here. I was starting to wonder if they were secretly a couple.

"Crypto, you're with us, are ya?" Wraith asked in the mic.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Great. Do you mind hovering the drone over me? I would like to have the constant reveal if you don't mind."

I clenched my teeth at Wraith's request as I threw out my drone, taking my time to move it near her.

Wraith had run straight into the fight with Mirage running a few feet behind her, using his ultimate ability. My drone had finally made it to my team while I watched two other teams fighting with mine. I should have joined that fight, but since my teammates' health bars were fine, I continued to watch, continuing to reveal every enemy manually. I noticed it was the champion team, seeing Gibraltar taking down Bangalore. Though, Caustic had stepped into the fight, pulling out his ultimate ability. He began to aim it near Mirage and Wraith, making me freak out and rush out my drone.

"Get out of there!" I yelled into my mic.

"We're fine, Crypto! Fights like this-"

Then, I heard the Nox Gas Grenade explode in Mirage's mic as coughing began to be heard as well. I saw the green gas engulfing the main area of the Epic Center as I watched Wraith and Mirage's heath quickly drain.

My hands began to shake. I didn't want to face Caustic. He was the most terrifying and dangerous player in the Apex Games and I wanted to make sure I was never near him as much as possible.

"C-Cryp…help!" Wraith wheezed, trying to talk within the gas.

I despised these teammates of mine, but the noise of them having to deal with a gruesome death was terrifying and as well pissing me off. This was just one of Caustic's experiments. The Apex Games wasn't just a game to him; it was also a disgusting science project.

I shook my hands to try and calm my nerves once again as I pulled out my G-Seven Scout. Though, as I was about to take off, someone had grabbed me by my arm and slammed me down into the snow. My gun had headbutted me, giving me even more pain to yell for. I opened my eyes to the head of the Longbow in my face. I tsked at the sight, forcing me to be reminded of my first death in this chaotic game.

I focused my eyes on who was holding it, meeting my own eyes. I was taken aback, staring at myself. The enemy Crypto scoffs.

"You're the real one." He says.

I smack the gun away from my face and rushed to my feet as I felt the enemy grab me by my jacket and pushed me away from him. I hit the ground expecting the enemy Crypto to pull the trigger as I pulled out my R-Ninety-Nine. When I faced myself, the fake Crypto was aiming a wingman at me as I aimed my R-Ninety-Nine at him. I began to hear my teammates get knocked down from the gas, one by one before hearing the wicked laughter from Caustic in their mics.

Then, Wraith and Mirage were both killed. I clenched my teeth while tightening my grip on the trigger of my gun.

"Three versus one. You might as well take the bullet." The fake Crypto said, smirking at me.

I instantly pulled the trigger watching the bullets spray into myself. The fake Crypto didn't have time to think about pulling his own trigger since my gun was too fast as it blew through his body shield and health. He drops to the ground with his blood staining the snow under him. I reloaded my gun as he called for Gilbraltar and Caustic, but before he could finish, I shot a couple more bullets in his head to finish him off before taking off towards Epic Center. I slid down the hill, checking into my drone's eye, picking up Wraith's banner. Caustic had heard my drone flying by, shooting it down. When I was forced out of my drone's eye, I found myself heading towards a supply crate. So, I quickly raised up my hands and slammed into the crate. My hands were stinging from the heavy impact, but that didn't stop me from trying to get Mirage's banner. I didn't want Caustic to know I was nearby, so I stayed behind the crate, listening to Gilbraltar and Caustic loot the death boxes. I checked my ultimate ability; it was at ninety-five percent and the enemy team was almost done. I sighed, shaking my hands before the nervousness came out. I listened to the notification of my ultimate being ready. Though, I was still waiting on my drone to be regenerated.

"I'm going to go grab Crypto's banner. Be back in a second!" I heard Gilbraltar say before hearing his large footsteps heading towards me.

I pulled out an Arc Star and waited for him to pass by as my drone finally appeared back into its holster. I waited for Gilbraltar to pick up the fake Crypto's banner before I threw the Arc Star onto his back and yanked out my G-Seven Scout to make sure I knocked him. Then, the grenade finally exploded, leaving only Gilbraltar's death box and an explosion of blood around it.

"Attention, the Champion has been eliminated." Says the Announcer.

I pulled out my drone to look for Caustic while trying to grab Mirage's banner. I had heard his breathing within his gas mask, forcing my heart to race. I had found Mirage's death box, quickly getting my drone to pick up his banner before rushing my drone out of the area, but Caustic had cut off my drone one again and shot it down.

"I will find you, Rat!" I heard Caustic shouted.

My breathing hitched from his voice as I reloaded my G-Seven Scout. My mind was telling me to fight this chaotic man, but my gut told me to run. Hearing him call me rat was triggering my inner anger and I wanted to unleash it. I sighed and reloaded my R-Ninety-Nine before taking off towards the center of the Epic Center. My teammates began pinging the closest respawn beacon, but I ignored them. I wanted to take on my fears.

I heard Caustic's breathing close as his Nox gas tanks were being set down to be activated to my left of the building. I pulled out a Frag Grenade and tossed it in that direction before running right. The grenade went off as I heard one of the tanks activate and Caustic grunt from pain. I didn't break his body shield yet, so I turned the corner and pulled out my G-Seven to make sure I did. I was met with the head of another Peacekeeper with Caustic staring at me on the other end of the shotgun in interest.

"Intelligence always defeats courage." He says as he began to charge the shotgun.

I dodged the spray of bullets by ducking down and taking a punch to his stomach and pushed him back. Caustic coughed up of his blood, spitting it onto his gas mask, blocking some of his vision. He roars as he charges up his Peacekeeper again as I aimed my gun at him and fired. I had broken his shield while he fired his Peacekeeper, earning a near-death headshot. I ducked one last time to pull out my R-Ninety-Nine and threw bullets into his head.

Then, the shooting had stopped between us, I watched Caustic's lifeless body stand for a moment, allowing the blood in his gas mask to leak out before his body fell forward. Then, his death box appeared beside him, glowing purple for his Precision Choke. I dropped myself into the snow. I was covered in blood with only a bit of health left. My entire body was shivering as I pulled out a Medkit and a Shield Battery. I felt the medical supplies recharge my energy, but my shaking did not stop as I stepped up to Caustic's body and sighed.

"It appears that intelligence is just a word to you," I muttered to him before stepping my way towards the respawn beacon in the Epic Center, but as I climbing to it, someone had sniped at me from afar.

I fell back down into the snow and rushed to my feet to find cover. It was a third party trying to earn themselves free death boxes. They already knew I was here, so I quickly took off for the Ring.

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