This is War
"Yer fault."
"Is not."
"Is so."
"It is not."
"Sure it is."
"I deny it completely."
"I don't."
"Mater."
"Finn."
"Both of you stop it!" Holley sighed in frustration at the bickering men who sounded more like children at this point. "Honestly, how is that getting us anywhere?"
"I jus' wanna remind Finn dat this here sitiation is all his fault." Mater said with a childlike pout.
"This here 'sitiation' is not my fault." Finn protested. "If anything, it's your fault for encouraging her."
"Hey, if it weren't fer you, Harley wouldn't have gone ta the dark side!" Mater countered.
Finn rolled his eyes. "Harley did not go to the dark side. Don't be so overdramatic."
"You're one to talk." Holley huffed. "The both of you are a couple of drama kings."
Suddenly, they heard shots fired, and the tree they parked beside shook from the impact.
"She found us." Mater gulped.
"Drive for your life!" Holley yelped. The three of them shot off, jumping when they heard more shots fired. The barrage of gunfire didn't come from Harley. They knew she was saving her ammunition until she got a clear shot at them. That's how most of their team was taken out.
"Split up!" Finn ordered. Holley and Mater each took a new direction, but Finn changed his path of travel only slightly in hopes of drawing the fire towards him. Maybe then Holley and Mater could regroup and come up with a plan. They would need one if they wanted to escape this alive.
Of all the things Finn expected, Harley turning on her comrades was not one of them.
The forest offered a new set of problems. It was both a blessing and a curse: plenty of cover for them to hide, but also several places for someone to pop out. Finn ducked down behind a collection of boulders, panting silently. He listened closely as several enemy cars and humans passed by, but did not discover him. He sighed in relief. As long as he kept his wits about him, he could potentially win this.
Finn froze when he heard tires tearing through the dirt and grass. He prepared his gun, but Mater screeched to a halt in front of him instead of an enemy. Thankfully, Finn had waited and looked before shooting.
"We gotta move!" Mater urged. Finn didn't question him. The two cars sped off as stealthily as possible, hoping they wouldn't draw attention or be caught in any way. They found another hiding spot behind a large tree and a collection of bushes. The two cars panted softly.
"What happened to Holley?" Finn demanded in a low tone.
Mater swallowed, still trying to regain his breath. "We lost her."
Finn's eyes widened. "Oh no. Not Holley!"
"I'm scared." Mater squeaked.
"Come now, Mater." Finn scolded. "Let's not lose our hoods."
"But we're gonna die!" Mater whimpered.
"We are not going to die." Finn assured. "There are two of us and one of her."
"Which means she can brag more when she wins!" Mater complained.
Finn groaned. Secretly, he too feared their seemingly imminent defeat. "Just be calm. How many rounds do you have left?"
Mater grinned sheepishly. "Uh….more like…a few shots….."
"You had almost two full rounds of ammunition left just a few minutes ago!" Finn gawked.
"I kinda got…uh, how Sheriff says…trigger happy." Mater explained.
"Oh great." Finn groaned. "Maybe you're right. We are doomed."
"Yer the one with the plans." Mater said. "What do ya think we should do?"
"Well, I did have a plan with James, but I'm not sure what happened to him." Finn said. "For all we know, we may be the only survivors of our team."
The branches of the tree shook as gunfire rained down on their cover.
"Not again!" Mater gulped.
"Go, Mater! Move!" Finn urged. They kicked up dirt as they sped off.
Mater yelped in surprise as he felt something like rocks pelting his back fender and tires. He skidded to a halt. Finn screeched to a stop, but Mater shouted at him. "Keep goin', Finn! Go without me!"
Finn hated the idea, but he suddenly saw a shadow in the trees. He reversed before any of the shots could hit him, and he did a quick 180 to drive away. But he could hear branches rustling and breaking right above and behind him. If he didn't think of something soon, he was a goner.
Suddenly, Harley dropped down right in front of him. She fired a shot from her gun, but Finn stopped just before it could hit him. He fired back, but Harley created a force field around her to block the shot. The two of them stood firm, each aiming their gun at the other.
"I'll admit, you were hard to catch." Harley said.
"And you are faster than I expected." Finn countered.
Harley smirked. "Well now we seem to be at a stalemate. Neither one of us can hit the other until I drop the force field."
"That's a bit of an unfair advantage, don't you think?" Finn noted.
"All's fair in love and war." Harley shrugged with snarky smirk.
Finn looked around. "Perhaps we can come to an agreement?"
Harley raised an eyebrow. "Sure. And then I can take my flying pig for a stroll."
"Well what are you going to do, then?" Finn demanded. "We can't stay like this forever."
Harley suddenly dropped the force field and ducked behind a tree. Finn kept his gun out and darted after her. But he circled the tree and didn't see Harley anywhere. He tensed up, looking all around for her. But right when he heard her cry of effort, Harley leaped out from nowhere and kicked Finn's gun, knocking it loose and disarming him. Harley landed before Finn, grinning triumphantly and aiming her gun for him.
"Guess we aren't at a stalemate anymore." Harley shrugged.
Finn laughed nervously. "Now, Harley. I'm sure we can work something out."
Harley hummed, musing the thought. "Such as?"
"I've been shot before with those things." Finn nodded to Harley's gun. "I would like to not get shot by them again if I can avoid it. So I'll make a deal with you. Don't shoot, and I offer complete surrender."
"Really?" Harley asked. "You'll truly surrender?"
"Yes." Finn nodded.
"And you won't underestimate my abilities again, will you?" Harley guessed.
Finn sighed. "No."
Harley paused, then grinned. "And I want to take point on our next assignment, no matter what it may be."
"Are you bloody mad?" Finn snapped. He jumped when Harley jerked her gun towards him. "All right! All right! Deal!"
Harley smiled cheekily. "Thank you, Finn." She spun around and fired into the tree branches above her. A car once suspended in the branches jumped and shouted in surprise. The jerking movement caused him to slip from the branches and fall to the ground, thankfully landing on all four tires like a cat. He groaned painfully, blue paint splattered across his fender and windshield. "Sorry, James!" Harley called. She turned and gave a look to Finn. "Really, Finn? A sneak attack? You're better than that."
Finn sighed. "If I was, I would have come up with a better plan."
"Still, you surrendered. So I win." Harley shrugged. She turned and shouted into the forest. "Victory for the Blue Team!"
A chorus of cheers and shouts rang out, and Harley became surrounded by vehicle and human C.H.R.O.M.E. agents who congratulated her for the fine shooting skills. Finn sighed again, driving around the commotion.
"James, are you all right?" Finn called to the recently fallen car.
"I'm quite all right, McMissile!" Agent James called, stretching and shaking himself a bit. "My suspension isn't shot yet!"
Finn nodded in relief. He noticed Mater driving up to him. "You all right, Mater?"
"Harley went easy on me." Mater said. He had a few spots of blue paint across his side and fender. "But Holley…" He looked behind him, and Finn followed his gaze.
"Oh Holley." Finn moaned in sympathy.
Holley sighed. Most of her magenta paintjob was covered by the blue that came from a barrage of paintball pellets. "This is what I get for doubting Harley's abilities."
"She did git shootin' lessons from Sheriff." Mater reminded them.
"Yes, but I was the one who suggested we go against each other." Finn sighed.
"Bet you regret that, huh?" Harley asked, leaning against Finn's side and twirling her paintball gun.
"I thought you could use the challenge!" Finn protested.
"I bet you also thought that you could poke fun and easily beat me." Harley said.
"It's not fair to read my mind, Harley." Finn droned.
Harley laughed. "Maybe next time, you'll put up more of a fight." She walked off with a couple other agents, still receiving praise for her fine work.
"I have a proposition: for our next agency paintball game, we have Harley on our team." Holley suggested.
"Agreed." Finn and Mater said.
"Ah think ya should always have Harley on yer team." Mater added.
"Agreed." Finn and Holley nodded.