The loud alarm declaring the beginning of the fight blared loudly, followed by the sound of metal slide doors opening, and the usual sound of gunshots and explosive weapons being used.
But Richard knew better than to get in the middle of the battlefield, his revolver out and ready. Being a good spy meant not being seen, and, with his "Cloak and Dagger" watch out, he'd make sure he'd keep his reputation as a fearsome threat to the BLU team. He stood a few feet away from the water, watching as the two teams met up at the center bridge, shooting each other like crazy. The spy looked up at the roof of the bridge and smirked as he saw the BLU Scout, running on the roof, his face in deep concentration...before a sniper rifle bullet went right through his skull, stopping Nathan right in his tracks, and making the corpse fall into the water below. "That'll slow you down, ya twitchy hooligan!" yelled the RED Sniper.
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Richard thought with a chuckle as the battle on the bridge quickly died down, with both Heavies dead and the BLU Soldier quickly jumping into the water to extinguish the flames caught on his uniform, and most likely to reach the first aid kit found in the sewers. With the bridge finally cleared of any massive threat, Richard slowly began to move towards the BLU base, making sure to crouch low and walk slowly, to make sure his motion sensitive watch battery didn't reveal himself to any prying eyes.
The sound of rubber boots walking towards him made the RED Spy move closer to the side of the bridge. Standing still and holding his breath, Richard stared as the full body suit of the BLU's monster walked by, brandishing its trusty flamethrower. The rogue had to suppress a shudder as he thought of the countless excruciating deaths he experienced to it, screaming in pain as he roasted alive in front of the Pyro's expressionless breather.
"Dieu merci", Richard thought as the Pyro passed by him without a doubt in his cruel mind that a spy was hidden two feet away. And Dieu mercithat the BLU Pyro didn't know what Richard knew...
During his first year working for "Reliable Excavation Demolition", Richard decided to take his work as a spy to heart, and find out everything he could about every single member of the other team. And he did. He followed around every opposing team member when they were off hours, and, with the help of the basic info on hired mercenaries provided by some outside help, he was able to piece together who they were and how they came to be there.
For example, Dell Conagher wanted to work in a private security firm, but his dream job wasn't interested in his concept and blueprints of "automatic sentry guns". He tried with many other security firms, but none wanted anything to do with it, claiming they were "too dangerous for public use". Dell thought about changing career paths and becoming a mechanic, but Builder's League United came to his door with a job offer.
Boris Morozov, on the other hand, had been deported during his teenage years into a North Siberian gulag with the rest of his family because of his counter-revolutionary father, but they and the rest of the prisoners all escaped three months later when the work camp was burned to the ground, and all of the guards had been found tortured to death. He managed to sneak himself and his mother and sisters to his father's old cottage, in an undisclosed location, and became a boxer to support them. BLU hired him when they found out he accidentally killed a man in the boxing ring. A bit of research made them found out about his past, which only made them want him more.
And that was just the backstory for the Engineer and the Heavy. The rest of the team also had interesting backgrounds, and Richard was able to decode and find out all about them in a matter of days.
Except for the BLU Pyro. It took the RED Spy almost a month to find out what was truly behind that mask.
Richard slowly headed inside the BLU base, while still cloaked, as he remembered just how hard it had been. The Pyro placed a lot of measures to make sure no one knew who he was. And the first was the teleporter back to his home. Richard quickly realized that the Pyro constantly switched the teleporter for his home with other less used teleporters when no one was looking. That way, on one night, he would take a teleporter labeled "Sweden", and the other, he'd take a teleporter heading for "South Africa". As if that wasn't enough to begin with, his teleporter closed a few seconds after he takes it, so no one can follow him. Richard had to call in sick one day to wait, cloaked in the BLU teleporter room, and see for himself where the Pyro moved his teleporter next, and use it while the monster was busy torching people.
His teleporter led to a secret room he seemed to have built himself, since it was underground. Along with the many lanterns placed around the room, with easily a few month's supply of lantern oil not too far away, there was a desk with paperwork, a tunnel, leading out, and clothes. Lots, and LOTS, of clothes, hung up on many different movable coat racks. So much, in fact, that Richard's first thought when he found this room was that he teleported into a shop. And, judging by some of the clothes present, the Spy successfully guessed that the Pyro must be from somewhere in Mexico. He couldn't think of many other places where wearing a sombrero would be both socially acceptable and discreet.
The tunnel that leads out divides into many different paths, creating a dangerous, dark maze that Richard nearly lost himself in. So, against his better judgement, the Spy turned off the lanterns he lit and cloaked, waiting until the Pyro came back from work to try and ghost him. Sure enough, after a few hours of pointless waiting, the Pyro teleported into the room and, using a special key, turned around and turned off the teleporter. Richard kept very still and very quiet as he watched the Pyro turn on the lanterns, take off his full body suit, get dressed into a random set of clothes, and turn off all but one lantern, which he then used to navigate his dark maze. The Spy now knew how he looked like without the mask, but he wanted to know more about this mysterious lunatic.
The reason it took Richard almost a month to truly find out who the Pyro was is because of that damn maze, and the fact that he couldn't pretend to be sick all the time. The Pyro moved quickly through those tunnels, doing many twists and turns, and the Spy had a hard time keeping up with him while also keeping cloaked as much as he could. Obviously, Richard lost the Pyro many times in that damn maze, which, to add even more of a challenge, had multiple exits, so he never knew where his target would come out. So, he kept telling his job he was ill while desperately trying to see where the Pyro would leave.
Finally, after exploring the maze to its fullest one evening and even drawing a map of the whole thing, the Spy was able to determine which exit the Pyro would be heading to based on his direction, and managed to follow him all the way out of the maze. The exit that the Pyro took that day was one that lead right next to a bus stop. Richard saw that the Pyro, now dressed as any random civilian, easily blended into the crowd, and the many different clothes in his hideout ensured no one would truly notice him. Richard, using his disguise kit to dress as an old lady, proceeded to follow the Pyro as he took a bus which lead him back to a small house. The Spy was surprised at where the Pyro lived. He had expected him to live secluded, in the countryside, where his twisted mind was free to burn anything he desired. Instead, when the Pyro was off hours, he lived in a nice little Mexican neighbourhood, and seemed quite social, as he was happily greeted home by his neighbours. A bit more research about the man who lived there made Richard found out that he used to be in jail for having roasted a few buildings in his youth, and TF Industries paid his ticket to freedom before hiring him.
Obviously, his neighbours had no idea. They believed he was a simple man who lived alone and worked at a factory a few miles away. And why should they believe otherwise? He was well spoken, polite, and looked perfectly normal...just like many psychopaths.
Although Richard now knew who the Pyro was and what he did, he never told another living soul, for one big reason: he was scared. Not scared of the Pyro's identity, but rather, scared that if the Pyro found out he knew, the monster would hunt him down outside of work to make absolutely sure Richard would never tell his secret to anybody. After all, if he was willing to go to such extreme lengths as to build an entire underground bunker to make sure no one knew who he really was, hurting or killing a Frenchman would be no problem at all, and he doubted that even TF Industries could protect him from his fury.
The RED Spy snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the gentle beeping of the BLU Engineer's sentry gun, which was nearby. Never one to miss the chance to mess with the labourer, Richard grinned, pulling out his disguise kit.
-x-
"Missed me!" taunted Nathan with a laugh as a rocket exploded a few feet away from his body. Despite his rocky start with that stupid Sniper, he was still on a roll today. He readjusted the RED's briefcase on his back as he stepped out of the enemy base and back out into the sun, dodging the rockets sent by an angry RED Soldier, who could never dream of catching up to the young Boston kid.
The Scout laughed as he left his opponent in the dust, rushing into his own base and passing by a few of his teammates, who cheered him on as they noticed what he was carrying with him. With the help of his agile legs, he was able to give himself a small midair boost when he jumped, making quick work of the stairs in his base's courtyard and immediately heading down into the basement through the courtyard's entrance.
He slowed down a bit as he neared his team's intelligence room. As if to add just a bit more insult to injury, he began to casually walk towards the desk, ready to deposit the intel in a secret spot where the RED team couldn't steal it back. He wished he could store his own intelligence briefcase there, but there was only enough room in the secret spot for three briefcases, and the enemy's intel was much more important than their own intel. As he headed towards the desk, he saw the BLU Engineer, his wrench in his hands, looking around the intel room.
"Hey, hardhat! Y'gonna build a sentry down here, huh?" Nathan smiled at his friend. The Engineer turned around, and grinned.
"Oh, stringbean! Yup, I'm gonna build mah sentry right there, in that corner", he replied, pointing in the corner of the room opposite of the desk, "I'll see if I can catch any of them REDs by surprise with it! Oh! Hey, I see you got their intel! They didn't give ya too much trouble, did they?"
"Pfft, the RED team? Givin' me trouble? Puh-lease. I'm not even winded! Those morans didn't even see me comin'!"
The Texan laughed. "Well, good work, Scout! Now go deliver that there intel and get goin'! I got work tah do 'round here."
Nathan chuckled with a nod as he walked towards the desk. However, just as he was about to drop it off to safety, he heard the Engineer's voice shout out from upstairs. "Guys, watch yer back! There's a spy creeping 'round here! He sapped my sentry!"
Nathan turned around and saw the Texan, one foot away from him. The Engineer in front of Nathan sighed as the young boy quickly took some distance between the two of them, growing heavily suspicious. The Scout watched as he saw the Engineer speak, but in a completely different voice. One with a French accent.
"Shame. I had thought the respawn machine would've taken a bit longer than that. If it did, I would have laughed harder than I did yesterday."
Nathan frowned, before growing an evil grin on his face.
"Richard! I've been lookin' all over for you!" he chuckled, pulling out his metal bat.
"Well, I can't possibly imagine why" replied the Spy, taking off his disguise and wielding his butterfly knife with a grin.
"Ya think you gonna take me on with that little thing? Ha!" the Scout laughed, grabbing his bat with both hands.
"Is that what every girl tells you in the bedroom, Nathan?" shot Richard, his grin growing wider. Nathan stood stunned for a few seconds before frowning, and, with a rage filled cry, charged towards the Frenchman, his baseball bat up and ready to take a few swings. Richard, proving to be more agile than he looked, easily dodged the bat as it swung down, breaking through the air as Nathan kept trying to cave his mother's boyfriend's head in, growing angrier with each miss.
After almost five misses from the bat, Richard dodged to Nathan's left, his blade slicing through the boy's cheek as he passed by, leaving a large, bloody gash that would most likely have given the Scout a scar if it wouldn't be for the Respawn machine. Nathan screamed in pain, grabbing his bleeding cheek while looking at Richard with all the hate of the world in his eyes.
"I always did find fencing to be a more admirable sport than baseball" said the Spy, getting into a fencing position with his knife. Nathan growled furiously as an idea formed in his mind. Tightening his right hand's grip on the bat, he raised it and threw it towards Richard, hoping to distract him long enough to pull out his pistol. Nathan took aim with his secondary weapon and emptied the clip on where Richard was standing a moment ago...but when he stopped shooting, he saw that the Spy was no longer there. Nathan rapidly looked around the room for his nemesis, but he seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.
"Show yourself, ya fuckin' coward!" he screamed, pointing his pistol every which way.
"Oh, I'm the coward?" came Richard's voice, but the Scout couldn't tell where it was coming from. "Right, because I'm the one who pulls out a firearm on a melee wielding opponent."
"I swear to the Almighty God that when I find ya, I'll fuckin' stick my gun up your ass and pull the trigger 'til I'm out of ammo!"
"If you must...but before you do that..." replied Richard, uncloaking against the wall, a large revolver in his hands, "may I show you something? I'm sure you'll enjoy it."
Nathan had half a mind to kill the now exposed spy, but his curiosity got the best of him. What did Richard want to show him? "A'right...what is it?" he asked, gripping his pistol tightly.
Richard chuckled softly as he gripped the barrel of his revolver with his free hand, showing the side of the weapon to Nathan. The gun was made of smooth steel, and had a fine redwood grip. On the side of the enormous barrel was a picture of a woman, engraved with meticulous precision and craftsmanship. However, it was only when Nathan took a closer look at the engraving that he realized what the Spy wanted to show him.
Nathan's blood began to boil.
He recognized the woman engraved on the barrel of that RED bastard's gun.
That woman was his ma.
"What do you think? I had a friend of mine engrave it not too long ago...really adds a charm to my revolver, non?" chuckled Richard.
"YOU SONUVA-!" screamed the 23 year old Boston kid, grabbing the older Frenchman by the shirt collar and pressing the pistol against his masked forehead. Richard stood still, his small smirk still on his face, as Nathan was fuming, but with a wild look in his eyes, like the one of a feral beast who has captured his prey. "I'd like t'see you cloak your way outta this, dickhead!" he yelled, as he pulled the trigger.
Click. Click click.
Nathan's face turned from fury to fear while Richard's smirk only grew. In all of his rage against the Spy, Nathan had forgotten to do one of the most important things in his line of work: reload his gun.
"Oops." said the Spy with a chuckle. Nathan could feel the cold barrel of the high caliber revolver press under his chin, before feeling a large, hollow round magnum bullet go from one end of his skull to the other, blowing his brains out along the way.
A short distance away, the Respawn Machine beeped, sensing Nathan's death, and began to do its top secret work to slowly revive the young boy back to full health, a procedure that usually takes about 20 seconds.
Richard chuckled to himself, pulling out his cigarette case and a lighter. He placed the cigarette on his lips as he uttered "Here lies Scout. He ran fast, and died a virgin!" He began to laugh, but that laugh quickly died as he heard the sound of flame-retardant boots coming down the hallway.
"Oh, merde." he said in fear as he quickly gripped his Ambassador, aiming it at the BLU Pyro, who was charging towards him, his flamethrower spewing dangerous flames as he walked. Richard began to shoot, shouting "Back! Get back, you abomination from Hell!". However, maybe it was because he was nervous, or maybe it was the way the Pyro moved, but the bullets whizzed past his suit without making the Pyro slow down. Richard backed himself into a corner, screaming in pain as the flames caught on to his clothes, before roasting him alive, almost melting the skin off of his bones. After giving the Spy an excruciating death, the Pyro turned his head, staring down at the RED intelligence the Scout had dropped.
Without another sound or a second glance at the burned remains of the Frenchman, he walked over, grabbed the briefcase, and scored a point for the BLU team