Chapter 4

Taoreta

Everything seemed fine, that was until I was thrown to the ground and dragged behind cover, bullets whizzing overhead. I could see the red bullet lines come over or around the side of the rubble every few seconds, we were effectively pinned down. I shouldered my rifle and prepared to pop up over cover. As I was racking in a round red prediction lines began to appear all over Jaegis, directed at him from the building parallel with us.

I bolted into action, reaching over my back and grabbing onto a handle that was there, snatching upwards. The square of metal began to expand in my hand as I rolled to Jaegis' side, plates of collapsible steel unfolding to create a solid wall. A small sheet of ballistic glass no larger than a ruler was left in the middle for me to see from.

The first bullet of a barrage pinged off of the metal, followed by more unsuccessful attempts on our lives. A bullet from the other side of the crossfire caught me in the side and I stumbled further back behind cover, expecting to bump into Jaegis on my way to the ground.

My back hit asphalt and wind rushed from my lungs as I nearly forgot to keep my shield up. I shoved the bottom into the ground and backed myself into a corner between the rubble and a column before screaming from my partner's name.

"Jaegis!?" I called out, expecting an answer from somewhere else, as if he'd moved from cover to cover.

No answer came. I pulled the shield closer to my body as round after round slammed into the shield, hammering my arm with its percussive retaliation against the resistance. I should have known he would ditch me as soon as things got hairy. It's what I got for trusting him. It's like he said, who wants a noob like me dragging them down? I sat there, hating myself and just waiting for a bullet to strike home. But after a moment passed, the rain of lead on my shield stopped, followed by our original attacker suddenly stopping as well. I drew my pistol in apprehension and took aim at the door of the enemy's highrise.

"Hey Tao! Don't shoot, it's me!" Jaegis called from the blackness of the doorway.

I was still shuddering, my arm shaky and the aiming circle going wild with my heartbeat. I shouted back at him exactly how I felt about the current situation, "I have a mind to anyways!"

He paused for a moment, no movement or voice coming from inside. I got up and walked towards the door, not even aware of the tears that had begun to sting the edges of my eyes whilst I'd curled up in the corner.

"Please don't." He called in an almost amused fashion.

I holstered my gun and as soon as he rounded the corner I gave him a straight jab, right into his gut. He doubled over and gagged for a moment before standing again.

"Don't you ever pull that stunt without warning me again!" I yelled at him, pointing a finger into his face accusingly.

"Shit, I'm sorry. God, why are you so pissed?" He asked.

I could've nearly ripped his head off at that, of course he didn't know why I was pissed. This was exactly the reason why I didn't like men, they never understand. I seethed a bit in aggravation and finally consciously felt the stinging at the same moment he saw the tears.

"Oh, crap, um sorry… Didn't realize it'd scare you that bad..." His face was one of pure guilt and apology, which was something even I could respect.

"Don't worry about it, I just don't have a good history with shit like that m'kay?" I said, wiping tears from the corners of my eyes. I didn't like to cry, especially not in front of people, but people can't just up and leave me like that, he had to have understood at least that much, right? I snapped the shield downwards, hitting a button in the handle as it collapsed into a square again. I reached over my head and fitted it to a slot on my back.

He stepped a step closer, nearly touching me to where my face would be buried in his chest, "Look, Tao… We're partners, and I don't leave partners high and dry, alright? I'm not going to leave until we have kicked everyone else's ass. Got it?"

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I mean, I guess we were partners, so I should've have trusted him a bit more. I habitually pulled the wooden stock of the carbine closer to my chest and gave a nod, allowing some of my hair to fall into my face to cover my eyes.

He offered a hand, "We cool?"

I took his hand and shook it once, letting it fall to my side again before nodding, "Yeah… yeah we're cool."

I forced a smile onto my face before he could speak again, "So, Onwards?"

I looked up at him and grinned, his face mirroring my own. He began walking and I fell in line with him again, humming the tune to an old, nearly forgotten song, just like our guns. I didn't remember the name, only the tune that my mother used to sing to me. I hummed it and swayed back and forth on our walk to the stadium, and before we knew it, we had made it.

Jaegis turned to me and spoke, almost at a whisper, "We are going to go to the top of one of these neighboring buildings. I have a feeling someone is already in the stadium…

"Sounds like a plan." I said, scanning the nearby buildings for one that suited our purposes nicely.

I spotted a tall building on the south side of the stadium, the side that was missing the lights so we could see inside. I shook Jaegis' arm and pointed, receiving a nod. We both took off towards it, busting inside and up the stairs, all the way to the top. I opened the door outwards, Colt in hand sweeping the roof. As soon as I'd confirmed no one else was sharing the space with us, we laid down on the north west side facing corner of the building, overlooking the stadium and its street.

I focused on the streets below, barely able to make out a few objects. I was suddenly jealous of Jaegis' scope. Then I saw Jaegis, out of the corner of my eye, fumbling around in his coat, feeling for something. I jumped a little when he thrusted a rangefinder into my hands.

"That should help you see… Also, at this range I'm going to need a spotter."

"Oh really, you need the noob's help now?" I teased, smirking as I raised the glass to my eye.

I noticed him shrug before he delivered a crushing blow, "Kind of hard to fuck up a rangefinder."

"Oh come on, now that's just rude." I came out of the sights, looking over at him in mock disgust.

He had a stupid smile painted across his face as he looked at me. I suddenly wanted to tear it right off his face, but I settled with a sigh before leaning back into the rangefinder lens.

I realized all too late that I had made a key error in judgement, "Uuuuhhh, Jaegis."

"How do I use this thing?" I asked with a little hint of embarrassment.

I saw him blink once before turning to me. A blank stare had replaced his smile. He just looked at me for a moment, and I was sure I could see him preparing a smart ass comment.

"Second button on the right side to power on. Range is in the top right, windage is right under it. Elevation and bullet tracking are on the top left, but you have to press the first button on the right to start them up."

I stared at him, not believing that he hadn't said something sarcast-

"And I so called it." He added with a devilish smirk.

I scoffed but didn't retort, he was right, but I hated that he was. I powered up the electronics and gauges and numbers showed across the sides of the screen. While I was fiddling with the magnification and focus features Jaegis made a callout.

"Contact."

I got the focus to work and zoomed in on the two figures that were walking the road. They stopped at the intersection and I gasped.

So they did team up.

It was Kiriko and Sinon, Sinon's green hair standing out against nearly everything else around her. I watched them for a moment and heard Jaegis bolt his rifle. I reached out and tapped his arm lightly, holding up one finger, signaling for him to wait. I heard him sigh, but I didn't care, if he killed one of them, then both of us were screwed.

Kiriko ran off into the stadium. This was our chance to kill one of GGO's best players! I tapped his arm furiously, doing nothing more than annoying him while I tried to tell him something he already knew.

"Range."

I was already dialed in on her figure subconsciously, so I looked at the number, "612 metres, wind speed about 2 kilometers per hour to the east."

"Understood."

I heard him let out half a breath and he seemed to mold together with his rifle. His right hand came up and adjusted something on his scope. Three clicks of a knob later, he was back in the glass. I heard just the barest of noises indicating his trigger moving back. Just before he could put the final squeeze on the trigger Sinon went down. I gasped, waiting for the death tag.

There was no red tag, but in her right arm, was a strange blue spark, and in the shadows, two glowing red eyes appeared as if from nowhere.

"Shit…" I hear Jaegis mumble before coming out of the scope and sliding down behind the railing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down with him. His voice was barely a whisper when he spoke, "Stay down, if that bastard sees us we're fucked!"

I whispered back to him as loud as I could through gritted teeth, "Are you kidding me?! We can't leave her down there like that!"

He looked at me, a wild look of pure and utter fear. "You don't understand. That guy side stepped a fucking hecate round like it was nothing, and took down that Pale Rider guy. There is no stopping that guy."

I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him to my face to show him exactly how serious I was, "Listen here, do you think I thought about how many bullets that fucker had in his clip when I saved your sorry ass? No. The answer. Is no. Now I'm not gonna stand idly by and watch someone helpless get killed like that. It's not an honorable way to go, nor an honorable way to kill. Now either set your gun back up on that railing and shoot his ass like a big boy or give me the gun." I shoved him away and thrust my hand outwards, gesturing for the weapon.

He gained an angry look, and for a moment I thought he might snap. But then he spoke. "No one uses my fucking gun except for me, clear?" He pulled his bandana back over his face for the first time since the alcove, and I was no longer looking at Jaegis, my sarcastic friend. I was looking at something much, much more sinister. And then it clicked, where I had heard his name before.

I was face to face with Jaegis, the Plague Doctor.

He sprung up, raised his rifle and took aim with so much intent to kill that I felt it radiate off him in waves. I looked back over the railing in the rangefinder, waiting to see his shot connect. Again I heard his half breath go and saw him meld with his Kar98, becoming one with his surroundings. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then reopened. He looked set. He began to squeeze on the trigger ever so slightly. Every fiber in my body knew that it would strike home.

But a shot rang out before he could squeeze off the round, I let out a small squeal of surprise as I watched the shot connect.