Penn walked out of the Directors office. After he had woken up, FILLS had said the Director wished to see him. He entered the office, and listened. He rambled on about protocol and not harming other agents outside of training.
Penn brushed it off, those assholes had it coming. They attacked him, not the other way around. He stepped into his room, and shut the door. Omicrons small figure appeared next to Penn's head.
"That guys a dick" the AI said.
"Yeah, but he's the boss, so…"
"So? Those guys attack you, and you get yelled at? That is fucked up." The AI sounded restless.
"Okay, it says here, we have a match in ten" Penn said, looking over his schedule.
"Great, I feel like kicking some ass." The AI put, smugly.
"What if it's like, Carolina, or Tex?"
"Tex may be a problem, but we can beat Carolina."
"I wouldn't be so sure." The AI was taken back Penn's lack of confidence.
"And why not?!" The AI asked, almost angrily.
"Well, she's Carolina." Penn responded, getting tired of the conversation.
"Great answer, dickhead"
"Aw, shut up." Penn told his AI. He started putting his armor on. He stopped when only his helmet was left. He remembered when his visor had shattered.
"Remember" wasn't really the right word though. It was all black to him. He couldn't think of the seconds before, or after, the glass had shattered. It was almost like something was blocking it out.
Penn sighed, slid the helmet over his head, and walked out of his room. He walked down the hall, and toward the training floor.
His schedule hadn't said who he was facing, so he wasn't sure who he was about to fight. When he came to the large blast doors, he stopped. His AI started going over strategy. It was difficult, not knowing who they were facing.
Penn opened the doors, and walked into the large, empty room. Well, it was empty, except for the maroon and blue armored girl that stood before him.
Why did it have to be her?
Do you have a problem with her? If you do….
What?! No! I just don't like her, she annoys me.
Uh huh, right. You do know that I'm inside your head, and can hear what you think, right?
Penn stopped talking to his AI, when FILLS said the match was about to start. He grabbed his normal array of weapons, an assault rifle, a BR, two magnums, and some grenades.
The game was free for all. Pillars rose from the floor, blocking the view for both freelancers. Penn waited, just wanting to get this over with. The seconds seemed like minutes, before FILLS began the round.
"Game begin in 3…..2…..1, begin!"
Penn had Omicron mark her on his HUD. She was trying a newbie style, flanking maneuver. She was trying to come up his left side, and then she would switch to left. He knew where she was, so that was that.
He walked straight into the middle of the floor. She was behind him now, still thinking she could flank him. Penn started walking the path she had just gone, but now he was behind her.
He caught sight of her armor, and fired his rifle, hoping to end it. There was a flash, and she was gone. Penn stood there, confused.
"Om, where did she go, what just happened?"
"Scans indicate large power fluctuation. That means she has a thruster pack."
"Damn, mark that for next time, and help me calculate where she's gonna go with it."
Penn walked cautiously; perhaps he had underestimated the newbie. He kept walking slowly toward her red blip, she was to his left, and four pillars away. He walked slowly, trying to be quiet.
When he came to the pillar she was behind, he rolled in front of it and fired. Another flash, and she was gone. But this time Omicron had counted on that, and targeted her trajectory.
Seth spun around as a blur of maroon tried to attack him. She threw sloppy punches, obviously not a regular in the hand to hand department. He blocked, and waited for an opening.
It came, when she threw a bad left hook. It left her unbalanced, and Penn went for it. He started off with a round house that made her stumble back. He went in with his fists, landing multiple blows to her body, before hitting her visor with as much force as he could.
As this happened, an image of his fight with Tex flashed through his mind. It made him pause, which let Delaware, who had been knocked to the ground, get back on her feet. She took notice of his pause, and started punching.
Penn didn't even notice the hits driving him back, as more images flashed through his mind. They blinded his consciousness, and made him forget everything else.
Delaware kept hitting, and Penn finally hit the floor. He lied there, not really sure what was going on. Delaware aimed her own rifle, and fired. Before he knew what he was doing, Penn's shield activated. The paint round bounced off, confusing the shit out of Delaware.
She figured it was a fluke, and went to fire again. But her finger never pulled the trigger. Faster than she thought possible, Penn was in a crouch, and went to throw a powerful uppercut. She activated her thruster pack, and was thrown sideways, away from the punch.
She looked at him, and noticed something. His stance was different. It looked almost like he was angry. She ducked from a jab he had thrown at her. She kept dodging, using small spurts from her pack, to keep away from the punches.
She saw an opening, and threw a hook at his side. Nothing happened. There was an orange outline that had appeared, and it blocked her punch. She was stunned by this. She looked up from his side, and saw a black fist, right before it connected with her visor.
She was thrown, and hit a pillar. It cracked with force she carried. She slid down, and was now on the floor. Her body ached, and she prepared for the sting of a paint round. Instead, she felt something around her neck. Before she could react, she was hefted off the floor, a hand clutching her neck.
Delaware could barely breathe. She looked into Penn's double colored visor. She was begging in her mind for him to put her down. She tried to speak, but the hand clamped around her throat prevented it.
Then, he began punching her. It was everywhere. Her stomach, her head, he just kept punching. She went limp. Letting the fist make contact, over and over. Her body cried out in pain, but she held on.
Penn had felt the throbbing in his head, before he lost it. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but it felt good. He could vaguely recognize the feeling of his arm moving, but he didn't know why. It was only when a voice yelled in his head, that he stopped.
STOP IT!
Penn was suddenly aware of everything. His heavy breathing, and the girl he held around the throat. He dropped Delaware, and she fell in heap to the floor. Penn felt so many things enter his mind. Fear, anger, confusion. He turned, and ran off the training floor, Leaving Delaware on the floor.
He ran to his room, and slammed the door. He didn't even bother to take his armor off, before he sat on his bed. He pulled his knees to his chest, and started rocking back and forth. Thought s ran through his mind. What was wrong with him? Why did he just do that?
These thoughts stayed, and Penn just sat there, rocking back and forth.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Delaware wasn't found, until North, York, Wash and Maine were ready for a match. The four men walked onto the floor, and got a nasty surprise. Lying in the middle of the floor, was an unconscious Delaware. They ran up to her, and tried to help.
"Delaware!" York said, as he shook the girl. A moan escaped her lips.
"At east she's o.k.!" Wash said, relieved. Delaware, groaned, and sat up. She took off her helmet, and rubbed her head.
"What happened to you?" York asked, concerned.
"I had a match." She told them.
"Okay, well what happened?" York asked.
"It was against Pennsylvania." She mumbled, almost quietly enough for no one to hear. They did anyway, and got worried looks on their faces.
"Where did he go?" Maine growled angrily.
"Whoa there big guy." Wash said, a little frightened.
"No, I'm going to let him do this again!" Maine growled, making Wash step back
"Do what again?" Delaware asked, not sure what was going on. York sighed.
"He's done this before. From what he has told us, he kinda loses control of his anger, and goes a little crazy."
"That would have been nice to know before I had a match against him." She said, looking at York.
The four men helped Delaware up, while she insisted that she was fine. And she was, physically speaking. Mentally, she wasn't sure what to make of all this. It was almost time for lunch, and she was hungry.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Delaware sat at the table, and ate her lunch. The other agents were there to. They kept asking her questions about the match. It annoyed her slightly, but she answered them.
"Speaking of which, has anyone seen Penn?" Wash asked.
"Not since the match earlier." York responded.
"I think he's in his room." North said.
They all kept chatting, until lunch was over. Then they went on with their day. There were matches, and training. Delaware mostly just watched. The rest of the day went pretty quick. It wasn't until they were eating dinner, that something interesting happened.
They had all just been eating and talking, when a man burst in screaming. The freelancers knew who it was immediately. Agent Hawaii marched toward their table, still yelling.
"Where is he?!" He spat at them.
"He who?" York asked, trying to be funny.
"That prick Pennsylvania!" He screeched into York's ear.
"Calm down Hawaii." North told the angry freelancer.
"Calm down? Ill calm down after I bash that assholes face in!" With that, Hawaii marched off, leaving the table behind.
"What's his problem?" Delaware asked the table.
"Hawaii and Penn have…history." York told her.
"I'm gonna say the bad kind?"
"Yep."
"He does raise a good question though." Wash stated, earning a look from the table.
"What point would that be Wash?" Tex asked, causing Wash to flinch.
"That we haven't seen Penn all day." Wash said, still frightened by Tex.
"That is true." North added.
"Ok, all in favor of going to see if he is alright?" Tex asked the table. Everybody but Carolina raised their hand. They all stared at her.
"Ok! Fin
" She grumbled.
North was the one to knock on Penn's door. No sounds came from the room. They waited, and still nothing.
"Should we just go in?" Delaware asked.
North tried the door, it wasn't locked. He opened it, and they stepped inside. The lights were off, but the door provided enough to see.
Armor pieces were scattered across the floor, along with other articles of clothing. Penn was lying on his bed, facing away from them. North walked up, and sat down next to him.
"Hey buddy, how's it going?" North didn't get a response.
Penn wasn't sleeping either; he was just staring at the wall. North stood up, and shrugged. They left the room, and grouped in the hall.
"North? What's wrong with him?" Delaware asked.
"I'm not sure."
North's response worried everybody. They all went back to their rooms, for It was getting late. Delaware went back to her room, and tried to sleep. She tried, but couldn't. So, she after lying in bed for an hour, she decided to take a walk.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Delaware had been walking past the observation deck, when she heard something. She walked onto the deck, and saw Tex.
"You couldn't sleep either?" Delaware asked her.
"No, so I went for a walk." Tex responded.
"Me too."
Delaware looked to the floor. Penn was in full armor, with a room full of robots. She wasn't exaggerating; the whole training floor was a sea of bots. They were all weaponless, while Penn was dual wielding paint, assault rifles. He was gunning them down, as they came close.
"What is his problem?" Delaware asked. Tex looked curiously to her. " I mean, one second, he's moping around, all depressed, than the next, he's doing that." She said, pointing to the floor.
"I'm not sure, but he has been doing this a lot lately, late night training, I mean." Tex said.
"It's just so fucking weird." Delaware said, and Tex nodded.
"Hey, we go clubbing every other Friday night, and tomorrow is Friday. You wanna come?" Tex asked.
"Sure, I guess." Delaware responded.
"You'll have fun, trust me."
The two females watched the robot fight, before heading back to bed.
"Night Tex."
Night Delaware."
"Tex, you guys can call me Del." She said, before heading back to bed.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The next went slow for everyone. They were excited for going out that night. It was a normal day, except Penn never came out of his room. It was only an hour before they were set to leave, that this beco,mes a problem.
"We should invite him." North says.
"He is just gonna say no, or not answer." Carolina rebutted.
"Yeah, well we should ask." North said again. Carolina put her hands up, surrendering. They walked to his door and knocked. No response.
"See, I told you." Carolina said. Then the door opened.
Penn looked bad. His hair was ruffled and dirty, and his eyed were bloodshot. He just stared at them.
"Do you wanna come with us tonight?" North asked. They stood, and waited for him to answer.
"Maybe." Was his response, before closing the door.
An hour later, everyone was on the pelican. Everyone except for Penn.
"C'mon North, he's not coming." York said, sitting across from North
"Just give it a minute."
"North, we are-"Carolina was cut off when North smiled.
They all looked toward the hangar bay door. Penn had just walked in, and he was coming toward the pelican. He got in, and sat down next to York. Penn had fancy black shirt, and pants on. He had also showered.
They took off, and were on their way. Penn had a look in his eyes that told the others not to speak to him.
When the y entered the club, it was the same thing as before. York and Carolina went together, Wash and CT and Wyoming and South. Penn at down at the bar, and ordered a beer. Del had decided to just go dance with the crowd.
About three hours in, Penn was drunk. He normally didn't let himself get drunk, but he made an exception for the night. He looked toward the crowd, and saw South and Wyoming. He felt sick to jis stomach, and ordered another beer.
Del saw him sitting there, alone, and decided to sit with him. She sat down and said,
"Hey, you looked lonely." Penn just took another drink of his beer. She spoke again,
"Look, about the match, it's not-" She was cut off by Penn slamming his beer down.
"It's not what? Not my fault? I almost fucking killed you!" He practically yelled at her
"Okay, so there has to be a logical explanation for that." She said, trying to cheer him up. Penn laughe3d darkly at his
"You don't get it, do you? I can't control it, I am a fucking monster." He let that hang in the air, before he spoke again. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to be alone." With that, Del got up, and went back to the dance floor.
They left the club at about 3:30. They were all extremely drunk except for Tex and Del. Del had drank, but not enough to get fully fledged drunk.
They landed in the hangar bay, and the drunk freelancers stumbled around. Penn was the worst, he could barely even stand. He tried getting to his room, but Del thought he was going fall over any second. He almost did once, but she caught him.
She helped him into his room. Penn drunkenly plopped onto his bed. Del looked at him and may have been the alcohol, but she leaned in, and very quickly slid her lips along his. When she pulled back, he was unconscious. She walked to his door, before turning around.
"You're not a monster." She whispered, before shutting his door, and walking back to her own room.