The New Mexican Badlands
Four Miles away from RED Base
The desert, a vast emptiness on the Earth, void of life for hundreds of miles, the only known populace consist of bugs, lizards, desperate birds, and the occasional tumbleweed that constantly was hired out to play a role in some Western movie. The wind howled in the distance, stirring up dust and dancing it in a whirl of nature itself. Who can judge that nothingness isn't breathtaking sometimes? Massive rocks stood vigilant, overseeing all that exist in the Badlands, ever eternal, keeping a keen observance to anything and everything until the ends of time.
"I BELIEVE I CAN FLY~!" Loudly sang a flying Frenchman as he flew through the air, crashing into a boulder, puncturing it through the other side and collapsing the once majestic mountain. So much for eternal. Doppelganger gingerly rose from the ground, scuffed and dirty, wiping blood from his mouth and spitting out a few pebbles as clouds of dust covered the landscape. Within the clouds stalked a tall, imposing figure, striding steadily towards the Copycat Freak. "Didn't think a human like you could have zat kind of strength, Ghost." The dust settled, clearing the way as a dark garbed man prowled closer. He wore a black military uniform, a black ski-mask, gold-tinted goggles obscuring his eyes, and two straps clipped to his belt, each jangling a pair of grenades. In one hand he held an incredible looking machete, a carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer blade with crimson grip, stained in fresh blood. In the other he gripped a high-tech rocket launcher, complete with x200 magnification scope and laser guidance, marked in a white paint the words 'The Follower'. One of the strongest HECU soldiers in existence, Ghost was out for blood.
Doppelganger quickly formed a frozen katana between his hands, and leapt at Ghost as his legs turned into rockets, a manic smile threatening to tear his face apart. Ghost readied his launcher once more, aiming the laser right at Doppelganger's head, he quickly pulled the trigger and fired a powerful missile. Not falling for the same attack twice, Doppelganger quickly twisted his body as the missile narrowly missed him, instead crashing into a cactus and causing a major explosion.
"Hohohoho!" Doppelganger laughed, watching the small mushroom cloud rise. "So much for zose vision enhancing specs, right?" The instant Doppelganger looked back, however, he found himself staring right into the barrel of a compact SMG, and Ghost's finger resting on the trigger. "Oh, merde." Ghost pulled the trigger, unleashing a spray of bullets, peppering Doppelganger in red spots across his white suit and shattering his icy blade. Doppelganger snarled, banging his fists together and forming brass knuckles out of volcanic magma. He swung at Ghost, knocking the SMG out of his hand, but missing the HECU soldier entirely. The Copycat struck again, but Ghost was faster, blocking with his machete and bracing heavily against his foe. With a shove, Doppelganger was thrown backwards, his magma knuckles shattering upon the ground. He rose again, growling like a feral animal.
"You want a knife fight, do you?" Doppelganger snarled. "Then let's have a knife fight!" With a roar, he conjured an identical machete, completely engulfed in flame. Ghost nodded, charging at Doppelganger with vicious intent. Just as the two met blades, a beaten-up camper van had driven a distance away from the site, with a certain pair of terrified BLU Freaks clutching to the roof. One by one, the RED Mercenaries, all bruised and battered, emptied out of the camper van, watching the ongoing fight between Man and Monster.
"So that's the guy who saved our bacon, huh?" Engineer asked, adjusting his cracked goggles. "What did you say his name was again, pardner?"
"His codename is Ghost." Intelligent Heavy said, helping Seeman and Seedler off the roof of the van. "Sergeant of the HECU, incredibly dangerous man. All he ever does is defeat Freaks, never talk or take off mask."
"He's the strongest non-Freak in HECU's ranks." Seeman explained, fiddling with the grenades on his belt. "I've seen 'im hold his ground against bloody tier-3 Freaks and even win! It's like he was bred to fight Freaks, like it was his ruddy destiny."
"Sounds like he's more machine than man." Engineer muttered. Doppelganger and Ghost continued their blade on blade clash, sparks and embers flying as the two weapons contacted with each other. Doppelganger continued to slash and smash, with absolutely no refinement or planning, other than to kill the man. Ghost, on the other hand, was on the defensive, blocking every hit and standing his ground as his opponent continued his onslaught. Another vehicle arrived on scene, a military jeep driven by Miss Pauling, carting the HECU Freaks and their allies. Major Scout Guy jumped out of his seat and ran to Intelligent Heavy.
"Intelligent Heavy, what the hell's happenin'?!" Major practically shouted. "We've been driving over here to stop Doppelganger, and the freakin' sky's lighting up like the Fourth of July!"
"Ghost and Doppelganger have been fighting each other for the past half an hour," Sniper explained, peering through the scope of his rifle as the fight progressed. "Two bastards look like equals, but Doppelganger's fighting like a god damn beast."
"Affirmative." Soldine droned, standing next to Major as he watched the fight. "Target Doppelganger's erratic movement and sloppy fighting style are unpredictable, but leave him open to attack." To further prove a point, Ghost finally got a shot in, slicing at Ghost's head and cutting a long gash above his left eye. "His behavioral actions match in the databanks with Freaks known to have extreme cases of mental alteration."
"Namely dementia." Handsome Rogue said, the yellow-suited Freak casually striding out of the jeep and observing the fight. "When Doppelganger copies a Freak, he not only copies zeir powers, but zeir personality as well." All eyes turned to him, confused as to how this could happen. "Allow me to explain: Freaks are created from clones being genetically altered into super mutants…"
"We got it already with the brains!" Scout said, putting a frozen steak on his swollen shut eye. "Skip to the part that makes sense!" Handsome Rogue huffed, but needlessly obliged and continued.
"Our power are not only linked to ze body," He said, putting a hand on his heart. "But the mind as well." He pointed with his other hand to his head. "An inert trigger within ze human brain that was discovered when the First Freaks were made, activating unusual powers from mental triggers."
"Ah, like how multiple-personality disorder can cause ze different talents to accomplish feats ze host couldn't pull off!" Medic exclaimed, his medigun working on healing Heavy's numerous broken bones. "I remember an incident where an elderly man had a personality of a youthful acrobat, and he perform tricks zat vould normally have killed him." Medic chuckled a bit. "Oohoohoohoo, and it did! Ahaha!" Everyone just stared at the unstable German man, the only sounds being the lapping wind and the clash of Doppelganger and Ghost's blades in the distance.
"Right…" Handsome Rogue said, steadily drawing out the word. "So, as I was saying, our powers are linked also to ze mind. Many Freaks have to think in order to use their abilities and powers, such as myself and my array of knives." To emphasize the point, Handsome Rogue summoned a ring of knives and daggers of varying types, circling around his waist in a dance of blades. "It all takes a thought, and a world of opportunity can occur." And in the instant they appeared, the blades were gone, and Handsome Rogue turned about to watch the fight once more. "When Doppelganger copies a power, he copies it from ze source."
"The mind…" Demoman softly said, casually sipping a bottle of scrumpy. "That's pretty interestin', but that doesn't bloody explain why he's fightin' like an angry wee brat with a sword?"
"Simple, when he copied different Freaks," Major said, checking his gun. "He must've copied their personalities… And we did find Soljah dead where the blood trail ended and the bodies began." Off in the distance, Doppelganger yowled as Ghost sliced at him once more. "He's a reality-warper, and most Freaks like that are extremely unstable."
"Like Stu Pidface!" Soldier pointed out, his cracked and dented helmet wobbling on his head.
"Soljah is a lesser Reality Warping Freak," Handsome Rogue continued. "But he is a fairly durable sort, and is completely insane. When Doppelganger copied him," Doppelganger let off a mad cackle as he continued his relentless attacks on Ghost. "He gained his insanity as well."
"Combine a desire for destruction with dementia," Major said, clicking his scattergun. "You get a recipe for disaster." The entire group watched on as Ghost and Doppelganger continued trading blow for blow, the fight growing longer and even more destructive. Yet no one moved an inch.
"Shouldn't we, ah," Demoman said, popping open another bottle. "Do somethin'?" The answer was unanimous.
"Nah."
Eye in the Sky
Control Room
Agent Cinder sat alone in the control room, keeping a vigilant eye on the monitors as he was paid to do. Splash, Grease, and Sci-Fi had bolted a long time ago, after everyone else had cleared out to track down Doppelganger, leaving him behind to do their jobs for them. Cinder sighed, taking a puff of his cigarette.
"Sometimes I think I'm the only one around here who actually gives a damn about what I'm doing." Cinder muttered. Carefully checking if anyone was in the room with him, Cinder carefully opened a drawer within his desk and began shuffling the contents around. At the very bottom of the desk, hidden amongst papers and folders, was a small circular parcel, no bigger than a half-dollar coin, wrapped in a few layers of cloth. The orange clothed man carefully ran his fingers along the cloth, swallowing a lump in his throat. "One last job. One last job and Watcher said I'm finally out of my debt." Out of the corner of his eye, Cinder saw an empty soda can fall from Splash's desk, clinking on the ground and rolling to his feet. Sighing at his co-worker's sloppiness, Cinder picked up the can and moved to put it in the trash. Imagine his shock when the instant he stood up, he saw a pair of sharply-dressed Freaks frozen amidst tip-toing through the room. Both parties just gawked at each other, Cinder staring with a practically blank expression on his face, while both of the Ninja Freaks held absolutely mortified looks.
"Um…" Cinder managed to croak out. The instant sound was heard, Ninja Spy drew his revolver, Cinder aimed his pistol, and Ninja Heavy… Attempted to look cool, but slipped and fell on the floor. Cinder and Ninja Spy were staring each other down the barrels of their own guns, each an unmoving statue.
"Pardon me," Ninja Spy said, calm and collected as ever. "I do hope I'm not intruding…"
"You kind of are, friend." Cinder said with spite on his tongue.
"But we are in a bit of a hurry to complete zis little job." Ninja Spy continued, pressing his gun slightly towards the fiery-haired man. "So why don't you turn around so I don't blow your brains all over zese nice computers?" Cinder grunted, his finger kept firm on the trigger. It was exactly what Watcher told him, Ninja Spy was here to do something at the behest of Dr. Schadenfreude, something extremely bad. He could shoot him and Ninja Heavy right then and there, do his duty to Mann Co. and the Administrator, and possibly get a raise from it. However, a twinge of fear fell in his heart when one of his eyes fell upon the clothed parcel in his opened drawer. 'It must happen', Watcher had told him. It must've been a fixed point in history, otherwise Watcher would not have mentioned it. He had a job to follow under the Administrator and Saxton Hale, but that came second to Watcher and his organization's orders. Sweat ran down his forehead as his grip on his own gun was starting to shake. The two orders burned within Cinder's mind, to choose Mann Co. or choose Watcher. Eventually, Cinder finally conceded, dropping his gun and swiveling his seat around. Ninja Spy smirked, holstering his own gun and pulling Ninja Heavy to his feet.
"Do what you want and get out." Cinder spat out. "I'll erase the security footage and you'll be off the hook for now."
"While I won't question your motives, monsieur," Ninja Spy said, producing the encrypted disc from his person. "I thank you." He slipped the disc into a drive, the monitors beeping as the sudden download began. Cinder immediately whirled around, but Ninja Heavy and Ninja Spy were already at the door. "Au revoir!" The door slid in front of them, and the two Freaks were gone. A beep signaled the download had completed, ejecting the disc from the drive. Cinder immediately dove for the disc, plucking it from the drive and examining it, only coming up blank. He instead began scanning around the computer for the most recent file downloaded. He finally came across the most recent file, and his heart practically stopped.
File Program: /DATA CONSTRUCT: THE DOCTOR/
*Editor's Note: There will be no Freak-Lopedia entry on Ghost, due to him not being classified as an actual Freak. If you want information on him, check out his page on TF2 Freakshow Wiki.
~IDA Official, Editor Mr. X
*Author's Note: And we're back, sorry if the fight between Ghost and Doppelganger was a bit lackluster, there wasn't as much we could really work with, and we wanted to move the main plot forward a bit with this mysterious plan by Dr. Schadenfreude. Also the chapter was delayed due to the Invasion Update and beta access to the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns expansion. Don't worry, more updates will come, in due time. In the meantime, have fun speculating what that mysterious program is in the reviews.
~IDA Official, Head Writer Mask
