Hello there! Here's the fifth instalment for this story. It's time for some ghostbusting! Thank you to Doctor Wheel for your contribution in the reviews section: I decided to follow the teams you suggested, hope you'll enjoy the result!
Happy reading everyone!
After their brief, but intense encounter with a so-called ghost, Shield, Sniper and Scout had attempted to describe it to their colleagues yet again – alas, their descriptions were as vague as they could get. In his terror, Scout had hidden his face in his arms, praying for the ghost not to attack him, and Shield and Sniper only saw it for a brief half-a-second before it vanished at the end of the corridor. Shield had rushed after it, but to no avail. The pale, misty shape had simply disappeared.
The team was divided. Some believed that their colleagues had experienced some kind of collective hallucination, while other thought there was something more to it, and probably a very rational explanation at hand. The others suggested they called an exorcist, but their suggestion was largely ignored by the rest of the group. In any case, the majority thought there was someone, or at least something, roaming around their base. Which, in the present state of affairs, they could not afford. Not with waves of robots putting up a fight on an all-too-regular basis. At least they all agreed that something needed to be done, and decision was made to split up. Nobody was to be left alone (Hacker and Scout had seen enough horror movies to know it would be a terrible idea), but they needed the whole base covered.
Shield had decided to go look for Spy, who was momentarily missing. Scout, who had had the fright of a lifetime and didn't want to be left alone with any of the other dumb-heads (who were all making fun of him for his girlish scream from earlier) had clung onto her like a kitten to its mom. Even if it meant hanging out with Spy eventually, Scout knew staying with the cool-headed, unbelievably strong Shield was the safer bet in the eventuality of another encounter with a terrifying soul-eating ghost.
"I can't believe it. An actual, real-freakin' ghost in da base." Scout repeated for the third time as they were headed to Spy's smoking room. Scout had grabbed his baseball bat, refusing to be taken by surprise once more, and held it ready to aim and whack some heads off. "I mean, ya saw it too, right? I ain't been dreamin'!"
"I am not sure what we have seen yet, Scout." Shield tempered. "I do not believe in ghosts, but this was very intriguing, to say the least. I wonder if Spy caught anything on his radars."
As they walked up to the door, and Shield was about to knock, the lights suddenly went off again. Scout gasped and grabbed Shield's jacket.
"Chrissy, if we die here, I want ya ta know, I'm real sorry I broke your window the other day – even though Pyro could'ah aimed better." He said very quickly, looking everywhere for the ghost to pop out of the shadows and axe him down. The poor thing was shaking from head to toe. Shield couldn't repress a smile.
"So it was you, little monster." She simply replied, but he ignored her. Scout had started calling her Chrissy not long after they first met, when he realised that Christina was pretty much the only person in the team (possibly in the world) who would listen to him without complaining or telling him to shut it. As for Shield, her patience and undeniable talent at communicating with people had gotten to Scout, who grew a bit calmer in her presence, as she was the only person in the world he would listen and obey to. Of course, in front of everybody else, he acted like his usual self, but they all knew Shield had become some sort of substitute big sister to Scout – the kind of big sis' you would rely on, whose authority you would never question, whose shoulder you'd cry on when you got your heart broken, and who'd tuck you back in bed after a nightmare. And yes, they all knew for a fact that the latter actually happened, despite Scout's protests. Demo had seen everything and, of course, by the next morning, the whole team had known about Scout's babysitting session.
Shield knocked at the door and listened to the footsteps that came on the other side. The door opened, giving way to a visibly irritated Spy and a lit match, probably the closest thing he could find to a light source when the power had gone off again.
"Ah, it's you. May I enquire as to the meaning of all this? I heard a very loud squeak earlier, but I was not sure whether it was Hacker or Scout." he asked.
"Hey, watch your filthy mouth, chucklenuts! An' for your information, I don't squeak."
"Right. Shield, would you care to explain?"
"There is something roaming around the base. Something that looks like a ghost." Spy raised an eyebrow and shoot her a I-thought-more-highly-of-you look, to which she responded with a at-least-let-me-finish glance. "Before everybody panics, I wanted to know if you had caught something on the detectors."
"None of the alarms went off, if that is what you are asking, but it is worth having a look. Come in." Shield entered the smoking room, Scout on her tail – but Spy blocked the entrance and tried to close the door on him. "Not you, Scout. You would just be a nuisance."
"Hey! Don't lemme outside on my own! Haven't ya been listenin'? There's a freakin' ghost around here! C'mon Spy, don't be a dick, for once!" Scout cried out, trying to wedge his way through the door as Spy was trying to close it to his face. Shield sighed, suddenly feeling like a mother witnessing yet another immature argument between her two teenage sons. Except that neither of them was a boy anymore. Especially not Spy.
"Spy, let him in. I promise he will be quiet. Right, Scout?" She said with a pacifying tone in her voice, laying a hand on Spy's shoulder. Spy looked up at her, then sighed and reluctantly let the Bostonian in. Christina was too nice. One day, her tolerance to nuisances would wear off. He had warned her repeatedly, but when he did she either shrugged or smiled. Shield always smiling – she very rarely laughed, and her smiles weren't of the bright, blinding kind. She always smiled as though she had something to conceal or knew something about her interlocutor even they didn't know. People instinctively trusted her, partly for that way of smiling knowingly. In the few years they had known each other, Spy, surprisingly, had been no exception to that.
Guided by the faint light of the match, they all walked up to the small screens on Spy's desk, monitors enabling him to keep an eye on what was happening in the base. They were running on independent batteries in case of an event such as this one, and they all sighed in relief when they saw they were still operating. It wasn't a secret to anyone that Spy had hidden cameras scattered around the base (one day Hacker came out of the shower, fuming with rage, with a camera Spy had forgotten to take out of the showers now used by the team's ladies, and everybody thought she was going to stab him to death with his own knife) (several had hoped she would) (but he had cloaked and disappeared for the next 24h).
"Whadda hell? You still have a camera in our shower? Whaddaya keep dat one for?!" Scout exclaimed, right out outraged.
"Focus, Scout, we have more important issues at hand here." Spy replied, undisturbed. He rewound the tape, and the three of them looked at the latest footage from the cameras, half-hoping half-dreading to see the strange white figure appear on one of them.
"I dinnae ken about ye lads, but I 'ave a bad feeling aboot this."
"Chill out, Demo. If there's a ghost comin' fer us, oi'll put a bullet right between his eyes 'fore he can blink."
"That's not how ghosts work, ye eejit!"
"Don't worry sister, Merasmus once told me that if you see a ghost, you need to cut off your own hand and stab yourself in the eyes with your fingernail! I know you only got one left but if we stab it twice, maybe…"
"Soldier, ye are NOT stabbin' me in the eye!"
At this point, Hacker was barely listening. While Medic, Heavy, Engie and Pyro had gone off to tour the base and check the installations, she, Soldier, Demo and Sniper were stationed in the rec room, keeping an eye out in case the ghost would come back and finish whatever it had set out to do before they had barged in following Scout's screams. The four of them had elected to wait on the sofas, surrounded by the few candles they had been able to gather in the hope of getting some light when the power had gone out again, but they were starting to feel like the candles only made it worse. A candlelit room looked so much creepier, when a ghost was (allegedly) up and about. Sniper didn't seem too bothered by the situation: he held his rifle between his legs, and occasionally looked around, but wasn't tensed like some of his colleagues were. Had seen too many weird things in the outback and since he joined the TF Industries to be worried about an ectoplasm. Soldier was weirdly enthusiastic about all this and kept coming up with 'reassuring' tips for his teammates (swearing that if the ghost came and killed them all, he'd hold their hands and splattered insides until their final breath, and only then would he consent to die himself). Hacker and Demo had the opposite attitude: the very nervous Scot was too sober for this shit, not to mention he hated ghosts with a passion. His native Highlands were notorious for their haunted castles. Well, let him tell ye, these were not legends and fairy tales. He'd seen them himself. A shiver went down his spine as he recalled his dreadful encounter with the ghost of Duncan McDonald (nicknamed "Toothless Duncan") when he was just ten. Never. Again. Or so he thought. As for Hacker, she had never been the superstitious kind, but she didn't like surprises and hated unexplained mysteries she couldn't crack. Ghosts were definitely out of her jurisdiction, and Demo's nervousness was definitely getting to her.
"What is taking them so long?" she asked for the third time, looking at the door where Scout and Shield had vanished just ten minutes earlier. Her legs were folded on the couch and she was holding them tight, in a kind of foetal position that would suit a scared child – not a grown-up woman who had defeated an army of robots with her brains. Sniper would find it pretty hilarious if he didn't think she would resent him and enrol Engie to ruin his van's engines out of revenge. Instead, he sat quietly, while Soldier, having noticed Hacker's uneasiness, had set out to comfort her.
"Worry not, lady, I will defend us if the ghost comes here! There's nothing a good shovel smack in the face can't fix! I'll run around the base and hunt it down – naked, if need be!" he exclaimed with a massive smile on his face.
"Oh please, keep yer clothes on Solly, we've seen enough of yer delicate constitution for the next three years." Demo grumpily said. Hacker couldn't agree more.
"I know! We must tell scary stories!" Demo and Hacker gave Soldier a deadpan look, but he completely ignored them. "It's dark and scary like a sweet American Halloween night! And it's good for the morale of the troops! That's team building for you maggots!"
Neither Demo nor Hacker could see how telling scary tales was going to improve their morale, but Soldier was so determined, he had already started telling one of his personal favourite, about a killer with a hook in a house at night; Demo and Hacker imperceptibly moved closer to each other, conscious that it was them versus Soldier – since Sniper obviously had no intention of helping whatsoever and even seemed to enjoy the story. Traitor.
"Heh, that was a good one mate."
"Ha, glad you liked it, Bilbo Baggins! Your turn now!" Sniper still had no idea who Bilbo Baggins was, nor why Soldier kept on calling him that, but at this point he'd given up on trying to find out.
"Alroight. Did oi ever tell ye about the Lady in Blue in Port Arthur?"
"Sniper, stop it. Now." Hacker said, a threatening streak in her voice.
"Wot? C'mon Sheila, it's just a story!" Sniper protested.
"Don't you even dare Sheila-ing me, love, or I will steal Soldier's shovel and smack you with it." She threatened. Sniper instantly knew she was dead serious. Although, she was notoriously weak as a kitten – he momentarily considered what a fight between them would look like and decided it was worth telling the story.
"And I'll help the lass out and ye won't like it when Scotland and England go full United on ye!" Alright, if Demo was getting involved, maybe not. Sniper sat back sulkily. He loved telling stories around a good campfire – he secretly loved Halloween for that reason, 'cause Soldier and Pyro would always have a fire outside, get some marshmallows, and they'd spend the whole night outside telling stories and spooking each other out. Engie was pretty good at it too. Too bad he wasn't there. Maybe he could have talked some sense into the two British chickens sitting on the other couch. He knew Demoman had never been comfortable with ghost stories and the likes, but that was taking it to a whole new level. Good for him that Spy wasn't here to witness this pitiful spectacle.
Hacker was furious at herself. She knew ghosts weren't real, and even if she had seen her fair share of unbelievable events in her life, supernatural beings weren't part of it. That didn't prevent her hyperactive brain to let loose and already come up with the craziest scenarios, each scarier than the last one. She had always had a particularly vivid imagination, and it usually served her well, but the flip side was how intense things could get as soon as she started thinking about bad things. She couldn't help it. Even if somewhere, somehow, she know it was completely irrational, her brain had no filter to help her heart slow down. Not to mention that Sniper and Soldier were terrible at reassuring her, and Demo only made it worse. She couldn't wait for Shield to come back. Or to go to her bedroom and lock herself up for a few hours before being able to face her teammates again.
A clanking sound came from the kitchen. Sniper straightened up and stared at the kitchen counter while Soldier stopped picking his nose. Demo gasped with a squeaky sound and grabbed Hacker's arm – she did likewise, her face turning even paler than it already was.
"What was that?" she asked in a breath, her fingernails unconsciously clawing into Demo's jacket.
"It's the ghost. I'm sure it's the ghost – och we're doomed!" Demo lamented.
"Don't be stupid mate, probably ain't nothin'. Oi'm gonna have a look." Sniper said, standing up and making his way to the kitchen space just a couple of meters away, his rifle hanging to his shoulder. Hacker and Demo stayed on the sofa, anxiously following him as he bent over the counter, looking intently. He walked around it and explored the space next to the stoves, the drawers, the dishwashing machine.
"Can't see anythin'. Oi'm guessin' it was a mouse, nothin' to worry about. It's probably more scared of ye that ye're of it." He concluded and was about to make his way back to the group when he noticed the expression of sheer terror on Demo and Hacker's faces. His blood froze in his veins. In an instant he grabbed his kukri and raised his arm as he turned around, using the handle to hit whatever was standing behind him.
Pow. Hit right in the face.
The silhouette fell to the ground with a solid bump and let out a cry of pain. A ghost that could feel pain? His heart racing in his thorax, he quickly grabbed a candle and lit the space. Instantly his facial expression went from intense concentration to utter surprise.
"Crickey!"
"Didn't ya boys hear somethin'?"
"Da. It was like mouse getting stepped on its tail."
"Hmphh hmph hmm. Hmpf hmphemhomhy hmf hmphay."
"I'm sure they're fine, Pyro. If anything was wrong, you can be damn sure someone would'ave already called the Doc by now."
Medic rolled his eyes to express the sheer exasperation Engie's words inspired him. It was more than enough to be called upon every boo-boo on the battlefield – he had no intention of dealing with his teammates' panic attacks too. His beloved colleagues had taken in the bad habit of assuming he was always around to fix them whatever the problem was, and Medic felt like his talents were under-appreciated despite the numerous medical miracles he had already performed to save them all –including, but not limited to, creating the Medigun itself. Well, technically he imagined it and Engie built it, but still. And with everything he did for them, he received little to no gratitude. All of them ran away when he casually mentioned a new experiment he had in mind that necessitated a volunteer – talk about returning a favour. He had hoped that Hacker would be different, since she had shown an interest in his experiments (smart mädchen, this one), but she had run away as soon as he had suggested to replace her liver with a baboon uterus. What a disappointment.
Holding onto his torch, Engie led the way, escorted by Heavy who held his fists ready in case something decided to jump at them in the dark, Medic and his ruminations, and Pyro, walking a few steps behind and playing with the shadows the torch cast on the walls. Since the generator had gone out again, they were headed to the external one to see if it had been disturbed as well.
Engie let out a sigh. He didn't like that, their power source going off when they could be attacked by a new wave of robots at any time. Sure, they'd won their last battle quite brilliantly, as Shield and Hacker had proven how much of valuable new assets they were, but he wasn't too enclined to believe the war was won. Gray Mann would come back, maybe even with new robots copying their new teammates. The ladies had given them a momentary advantage, but how long before Mann would make it even? And then what?
Oh, and also, the ghost thing. He wasn't too sure about that. An enemy spy who made it into their base and was now lurking around, trying to set them off and gather intelligence at the same time? A distraction?
His thoughts were interrupted when they got to the second generator. Heavy took his keys and opened the door, looking in to check that it was just the four of them. Clear. He nodded to Engie, who went it and looked at the multiplicity of wires and buttons only he could understand.
"Vell, herr Engineer?"
"Looks fine to me. Whatever our friend the ghost is doing, it hasn't been down there yet. Let's lock the door on our way back and ask Spy to keep lookin' out through the cameras. Might be worth getting to the surveillance and communications room to make sure something's been mingled with there."
The walkie-talkie at his belt chirped. He took it out while checking the connections one last time.
"I'm listenin'."
"Engie, Shield here. Everything alright on your end of the base?"
"Hey pardner." He replied with a smile. "Yep, all good here, looks like the ghost only messed up the first generator, so we're good for now. What news from the western front?"
"Not much I'm afraid – except that Sniper just knocked out Miss Pauling, but that's irrelevant to our little problem. Or more like a casualty." Spy intervened.
"Hold on, Sniper did what?"
"In his defence, she did sneak up on him, even if she didn't mean to." Shield added. "Anyway, you'll see the footage later. Spy, Scout and I are still looking at the camera footage from earlier. We haven't found the 'ghost' yet though."
"Could it have been Miss Pauling? Maybe Scout just saw her and in the dark mistook her for a ghost." Heavy butted in, Medic nodding at his side. Pyro was playing with their lighter, mimicking a rabbit with their fingers and casting the shadow on the wall.
"Hey, I know what Miss Pauling looks like, thank you very much!" Scout's outraged voice sounded even higher than usual through the walkie-talkie. Engie sighed and lightly shook his head. Medic rolled his eyes again.
"Alright boy, no need to get all flustered. You guys keep looking, we'll be back 'fore ya know it."
He hung the walkie-talkie back on his tool belt and turned to his teammates.
"Well, looks like we're not done with this mess yet. Shall we?"
"Ach, zhis is ridiculous and a waste of our time. Vhat "ghost" vould find it enjoyable to turn a light off again and again?" Medic ranted. Heavy gave him a compassionate look, knowing very well that their dear Doctor was not the most patient of men. Thank God for the rest of the team, Heavy excelled at listening to him ranting for hours, sparing the others the effort to do likewise. In that regard, Heavy was a real saint, surpassing even Engie – who was generally amiable and well-behaved, but was known for his occasional temper (during which staying away from his workshop could become a question of survival).
"I am tired of zhis nonsense. Can we get on so zhat we can all go back to our work?" Medic asked impatiently.
"Point taken Doc. Let's get going then…"
"I think Pyro has already left."
Engie looked at Heavy, then looked around. Pyro wasn't in the room anymore. Strange. Pyro wasn't usually the type to abandon everybody behind and go wander in the dark alone, especially at a time of crisis.
"Pyro? Parden, you around?" Engie called, stepping into the corridor and flashing his torch in both left and right. No one. Puzzled, he and Heavy exchanged a worried look. Meanwhile, Medic repressed a sudden urge to sigh.
Great. Now Pyro was missing.
What next?
