Wow, it's been a while. Most of the time, I was either at school, working on other chapters that I have more of an idea on, or something else entirely. But after weeks, here's chapter 5, where we see how the mercenaries (or at least some of them) train... well, what I kinda think. I'm also trying to get the character's personalities right, especially for the Afflicter.
And it all begins with a not-so-clever joke that I thought was a little funny at the time...
Enjoy!
Dawn of the Second Day- 48 Hours until Mission
The sound of a bugle horn blared through the hallways as the mercs were rudely awakened at 7:00 a.m. The RED Soldier loved doing this for whatever reason; he was always eager to start training, probably because he could sometimes yell at the mercs like the drill sergeant he wished he could be. Fortunately, the rest of the team was used to his antics. All except the Afflicter, however, who had only arrived the day before. So when the Soldier barged into her room and blew the horn right in her ear as loud as he could, she let out a startled shriek.
"Eek! How did you get in here?!"
The Soldier pointed at her and laughed. "Ha! I didn't think you would scream like that! If only the rest of the team could see the look on your face!"
The Afflicter glared at him, not amused with his little practical joke. "Yes… what a shame." She was about to kick him in the stomach, but the Soldier grabbed her ankle and yanked her out of bed.
He grinned. "Is that all you've got, maggot? You fight like a girl! You're going to have to do much better than that in today's training."
The Afflicter gritted her teeth. "Oh believe me, I will."
While the Engineer was stepping out of his room, already in uniform, he heard the Soldier scream in agonizing pain a few rooms down. "What in tarnation…?" he said to himself. The Texan turned around to see Soldier being thrown out the room as the door slammed shut. He helped the Soldier up off the floor. "What happened?" Engineer asked him.
"I don't wanna talk about it." The Soldier grumbled as he stomped away, leaving a confused Engineer behind to wonder what had happened.
A few minutes later the Afflicter, dressed and ready for the day, opened the door to see the Spy standing in front of her, his arms crossed as he was tapping his foot. "What did you do this time?"
"Well, the Soldier thought it would be a good idea to invade my privacy and blow a trumpet in my ear, so I kicked him in the gro-"
The Spy cut her off. "Alright! I get the picture. I did not need to know that…" He sighed. "I thought we talked about this yesterday…"
"Lo siento, Señor Tío." The Afflicter said, wincing after using the nickname she promised she wouldn't use. "But, what else was I supposed to do?"
"Sacrebleu…" Spy muttered. "You're just lucky he didn't snap your neck. The Soldier does that sometimes."
"Ay, es muy loco." She said, realizing the Soldier was not going to make her first day of training easy.
Spy nodded. "I know what you mean."
They walked to the dining hall together.
•●•
Everyone noticed that the Soldier was in a grumpy mood that morning. When he was waiting in line getting his eggs, he started yelling at the Pyro because he had taken the rest of the bacon.
"Maggot! You do not take all the bacon for yourself! I haven't even gotten any for myself yet! Drop down and give me 50!"
The Pyro mumbled some nonsense, but the Soldier whacked him in the head with a shovel. It was a good thing that the Pyro wore a mask, or else he would've gotten a concussion at best. The rest of the mercs watched in horror as the Soldier and Pyro got into a scuffle.
"Do a lot of fights break out over bacon?" The Afflicter whispered to the Engineer.
He shook his head. "Nah, it's normally over the hash browns. Speaking of which, why are you putting hot sauce on yours? We do have ketchup, y'know."
"It's fine. I like my food with a bit of a spicy kick." She replied as she mixed it in with her hash browns.
"Yeah, but that's like, extra-extra hot sauce." The Scout said, with a hint of a smile. "None of us can handle how hot it is. I mean, the first time I tried dat stuff, I couldn't feel my tongue for the resta' the day."
"And your point?" The Afflicter's mouth was full of food.
"Mon Dieu!" The Spy shouted. The rest gasped as she ate her hash browns, not seeming at all bothered by how hot it was. And she put more than a little on her food. When she was finished, she looked at them curiously. "Honestly, that wasn't nearly as hot as you made it sound. I'm a little disappointed."
"What? You mean it wasn't even a little spicy?" Engineer asked.
"Well, I guess it was somewhat. But I've always been able to handle even the spiciest of foods." The Afflicter said.
"Maybe it's 'cause you're Mexican." The Scout remarked.
Afflicter leaned forward and over the table, scowling at the Scout. "I am not Mexican, you tonto. I'm Spanish."
"So? Is there even a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference!" she shouted louder than she meant. Calming down after her burst of anger, the Afflicter smirked. "I can name off a bunch of differences."
Scout rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever."
ATTENTION! TRAINING BEGINS IN 30 MINUTES!
Everyone's attention turned to the Alarm-o-Tron 5000 as the voice from the speakers was giving the mercenaries instructions on what to do. When it was finished, everyone got out of their seats and started to leave. The Afflicter, however, was a little lost on what to do. Luckily, the Spy stayed behind for her sake, so he could show her where it was she needed to go.
"Did you bring those darts of yours?"
She nodded, grabbing one of the holsters on her wrist. "Sí."
The Spy gestured for her to follow him. "Come with me." He led her outside the RED Base as they walked to a resupply area leading to the training grounds. The hot New Mexico Sun blazed in the sky, even though it wasn't even 8:00 yet. Underneath the Afflicter's uniform was a unitard, which wasn't exactly suitable for the warm weather but it was for her own good. If she accidentally misfired a dart and it punctured her skin, it would be embarrassing beyond measure. Then again, the Spy was wearing both a suit and a ski mask, which weren't very fitting either. She hoped she would be able to put up with the heat.
Neither of them said a word until they reached the overhead door to a large building when the Afflicter spoke up. "So, what exactly do we do in training?"
The Spy looked at her like she asked a stupid question. "It's as the name implies, we train for the next mission, hone our skills on the battlefield, that sort of thing. You could compare it to a sports team practice, or in your case, bullfighting practice."
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, but what do we do?"
"We work on team strategies and cooperation. But most of the time we have individual training, which depends on what you do for the team. Sniper isn't usually in the line of fire, so he does target practice most of the time. But someone such as the Soldier, Heavy, or Scout, they're almost always in the heat of battle, so they have to make sure they're prepared. As for me…" the Spy straightened his tie. "…I have to utilize stealth in my line of work, so my training consists of makeshift infiltration and ambushing enemies. Since this is your first day, you'll mostly be showing what you're capable of doing. After that, your training schedule will be a little more consistent."
Double doors opened to reveal the other 8 mercenaries waiting for the training to start. Heavy was polishing his minigun, the Engineer was tinkering with some machines, and the Demoman was gulping down a bottle of alcohol. The Spy led her to a cabinet with nothing inside it, save for a few things.
"These are the weapons you'll be using." He handed the Afflicter a revolver. It was black, with an ivory grip. "I don't expect your revolver to be getting back to you soon, so in the meantime you'll use one of the stock revolvers." She studied the firearm given to her. It felt comfortable in her hand, despite it being a little bigger than the one she liked to use. It would do for now, at least.
"And these…" the Spy brought out two large, red and beige flamenco fans. "…are your melee weapons. It seems Mann Co. has a rather broad range of things to use as weapons, even those fans. Although, I probably would only use them for fighting if were you."
The Afflicter opened the fans to reveal that the leaves* were replaced with sharp metal blades that looked like they could cut through just about anything almost effortlessly. When she closed them, the blades folded with the fans with ease. Whoever made these was a genius the Afflicter thought to herself.
"There are also a few extra darts for you to use if you ever need more." Spy explained. "Once you get used to everything, there will be more weapons for you to choose from. But you'll start with those for now." She nodded in response.
"Hey, hey, hey, Flicks! Good ta see ya made it!"
Both the Spy and Afflicter turned around to see the Scout strutting up to her. She let out a frustrated sigh, but the Scout didn't seem to get to notice or was just ignoring it.
"I mean, I was worried you were gonna get lost. But don't worry, I could've shown ya around."
"I think I could have found my way without your help." The Afflicter said, hitting her right hand with one of her fans. There was a hard expression on her face and she didn't say a word.
"Ummm… what are ya doing?" Scout asked, pointing at the fan.
"I believe the Afflicter is using what they call in Spain, the secret fan language." The Spy, who had been listening to her and the Scout's conversation, answered.
Scout looked confused. "Well, no doubt it's a secret to me. I have no idea what it means."
The Afflicter quietly snickered. The Scout looked at the Spy. "So, what's she tryin' ta say?"
The Spy thought for a moment. "From what she's doing right now, I think it means she doesn't like you."
"What?" The Scout pouted, most likely jokingly. "Hey, come on. 'Dat's not nice."
The Afflicter opened the fan and held it over her left ear. "And now she wants you to leave her alone." Spy said.
Scout groaned. "Fine, training's about to start anyway." He walked away, but not without flashing a smile at the Afflicter, which she pretended not to notice. When he was out of her sight, she put the fans away.
"He ain't easy to get rid of, ain't he?" The Engineer said to her.
"No, he's not."
The Engineer chuckled. "You'll get used to it over time. So, ready for yer first day of trainin'?" He nudged her in the shoulder.
She crossed her arms. "It shouldn't be difficult."
"Confident, are ya? Well, good luck. You're probably gonna need it.
•●•
After a few more minutes of waiting, some overhead doors opened and the 10 mercenaries walked inside the large training area, filled with boxes. There was a long, high chain link fence blocking most of the room but on the far end were 2 more overhead doors. The Soldier walked up to the fence, took a key hanging on one of the links, and unlocked the gate. He faced the rest of the team. "Listen up here, maggots! We've got individual training for today's schedule, thanks to our 'new recruit.'" He eyed the Afflicter. "But first, we're going to start with a little warm-up. Now get on the ground and give me 30!"
The others all groaned as they reluctantly got on the floor and started doing pushups. The Soldier just watched them all, chastising them for not trying hard enough or telling them to go faster.
"Why aren't you doing pushups too?" The Afflicter said in between gasps for breath as she was on her 15th pushup. Most of the mercs were already finished with theirs.
The Soldier, ignoring her question, knelt down toward her. "You know cupcake, if this is too hard for you, you can just do lady pushups like the weak lady you are!" he laughed.
"That's what you think." She panted as she finally finished all 30 of her pushups. If it weren't for the Soldier yelling in her face, it would've been much easier for her.
Soldier gave his next command. "Next, you're going to run 10 laps around this room! Get to it, maggots!"
Running was no problem for the Afflicter. Although the Scout was at the front of the pack the whole 10 laps, she was able to tail behind him most of the time, but he never looked behind to notice. She guessed the Scout was too confident in his speed to the point that he would never imagine any of the others catching up to him.
"Faster maggots! Faster!" Soldier shouted, whipping some of the mercenaries near the end of the pack. The Afflicter glanced behind to see the Soldier running up to whip her, but she jumped away before he could hit her. He tried several other times, but she dodged every single one, frustrating the Solider.
"I really don't understand why he makes us do this…" The Afflicter said to the Medic as they were running.
"Ze Soldier usually gets zis way when he's in a bad mood." Medic replied. "Ve're just humoring him by complying. And it's much better than when he makes us do zis outdoors."
The Afflicter paled. The Soldier was doing this because of her. But it didn't matter. She was going to show the team that she was no pushover.
The Soldier chuckled to himself. "Not half bad, now you're going t-"
"Aw, forget it! We've had enough of this!" Sniper interrupted. The team grabbed their weapons and went to start the real training, leaving the Soldier behind.
"What the- Hey! Is that how you worms treat your commander? Your sergeant?" He yelled at the mercs.
"You're not anyone's bloody commander, Soldier!" Sniper yelled back.
The Soldier made no effort to catch up with the rest of them, dragging his rocket launcher as he grumbled to himself about how those maggots would never understand the meaning of real training.
•●•
"This room here is for general combat training, but these other two doors have different training purposes." The Spy explained to the Afflicter. "The one on the left is a shooting range and the one on the right is an obstacle course."
The Scout, Soldier, and Pyro were heading to the obstacle course while the Sniper, Engineer, and Heavy went to the shooting range. The Demoman and Medic decided to stick with general combat.
"So, which do you want to try first?" Spy asked.
The Afflicter thought for a while. She'd probably get into a fight with the Sniper if she went to the shooting range after how much disdain he'd shown toward her the day before. But she was also fed up with the Soldier's antics and knew that the Scout would pester her too. General combat was her best option, and she wouldn't have to be around anyone who greatly annoyed her.
"I think I'll just stay here." She told the Spy.
He nodded. "Good choice."
The Demoman was up first. The Afflicter, Medic, and Spy watched behind the fence since the Demoman's weapons were much more dangerous than others.
"Vhen I press zis button," the Medic explained. "Cutouts of the BLU team vill pop up from the ground and ze goal is to try and hit them all. Demoman vill demonstrate."
He pushed a large red button and a buzzer noised. Several wooden cutouts depicting members of the BLU team came up with targets on the head area and body. The Demoman blasted them into pieces with his grenade launcher and hit a few with an empty bottle of alcohol. He even set off some stickybombs, blasting up to 6 cutouts at once. Overtime, the booth surrounding the Demoman was lowered, allowing him to move around freely and hit more targets. Even after how much he had been drinking before the training had started, he was still able to hit the majority of them. The cutouts the Demoman wasn't able to hit slid back into the holes they came from after too much time had passed.
After a few minutes, the buzzer noised again and the Demoman's stance relaxed.
"Excellent work!" The Medic praised. "You got 24 out of 30!"
Demoman looked back and grinned. "Thanks mate!"
"Now it's your turn." The Spy said to the Afflicter.
She stepped into the booth. But just before the Medic pressed the button, the Soldier marched out the obstacle course room, looking proud of himself.
"Soldier!" Medic shouted. "Get out of ze way! The Afflicter is starting ze drill!"
"What are you so worried about?" The Soldier yelled over the buzzer. A Soldier cutout popped up and he leaned next to it. "It's not like she can aim at me or the targets even if she tried." His cutout friend was soon shot in the head as it broke apart, causing the Soldier to yelp in surprise. The Afflicter held a revolver.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was actually aiming for you, but I wasn't really trying." She said sarcastically, shooting close to his feet.
"Grrr… HIT THE TARGET, MAGGOT, NOT ME!" Soldier angrily shouted.
"Then get out of the way!" she shouted back as she hit another target. The Soldier scurried behind the fence as the Afflicter's drill continued. She launched a dart at a far row Sniper cutout, which broke apart surprisingly easy. A Scout cutout popped up and the Afflicter threw a dart at its midsection, but it didn't break apart. Then she shot it in the head (which was most likely what she intended). The booth lowered and she leapt out, pulling out her fans and slashing nearby cutouts into two pieces. Another cutout immediately popped up behind one she cut apart. The moment the Afflicter saw it, she quickly back flipped and launched a dart at it. She moved swiftly as she hit the cutouts, almost as if it were a bullfight. But her maneuvers also had a sense of elegance, like if she were dancing, which looked even more similar when she was using the fans.
"I haven't seen fighting movements like that before." The Demoman remarked.
"That's because they're not directly from fighting." Spy explained.
"What are they from, then?"
"They're from a combination of dances. She would use movements like these ever since she started bullfighting."
"Hah! So she does fight like a girl, then!" Soldier declared.
"Yes, but it's unique and unpredictable."
The buzzer noised and the drill ended. The Afflicter panted and blew a strand of hair out of her face.
"Hm, vell what do you know? A perfect score! And on her first try!" The Medic sounded pleased and impressed.
"Bloody 'ell, she's good…" Demoman was amazed.
The Soldier shook his head in disbelief. "Hmph, if you ask me, I think she just got lucky."
The Afflicter walked up to the Soldier. Her expression was hard, but she was smirking. "And you said I couldn't aim. I wasn't even trying that hard. Do you think this is anything new for me?"
The Soldier opened his mouth to speak, but she whirled around and headed off to the obstacle course.
•●•
Having finished the obstacle course, the Pyro was leaving the room, not paying much attention to the Afflicter or anything else. The overhead door revealed not the room, but a staircase leading downward. Heading down, the Afflicter noticed this room was much larger than the general training area. When she stepped inside, she saw the Scout getting ready to start the drill himself. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice her enter as she went to watch him behind another chain-link fence.
"So, do you want to try to be the Scout's best time?"
Afflicter turned to see that the Spy had followed her. "Perhaps." She studied the Scout quizzically. There was no doubt that he was the fastest mercenary on the team, even before she showed up. The Afflicter had no interest in the Scout whatsoever, but she did want to know how he fought and whether if he was just all talk or not.
Once the Scout was ready, he turned to the Afflicter, smiling as he winked at her. He was aware she was watching him.
"Ugh…" The Afflicter rolled her eyes.
Scout pointed upward, showing off to his audience and pressed a button, starting a timer. The booth lowered and the Scout darted off. A cutout popped up, but he immediately shot it down with his scattergun. Another cutout appeared on his right, which the Scout also shot down.
"Quick reflexes, I see." Afflicter said to herself.
The Scout brought out his pistol when he saw a gun-like machine. When he ran into its line of fire, it started shooting tennis balls, but Scout dodged every single one as he completely destroyed it with his pistol.
The Afflicter heard the voice of the Engineer next to her. "I really wish people wouldn't annihilate that thing." He sighed.
"You made that?" she asked him.
"Yeah, it's a makeshift sentry gun. We use it for practice, so it only shoots tennis balls.
Their attention turned back to the Scout, who veered to his left, shooting apart any cutouts that stood in his path. There were a few he hit that weren't directly in front of him and a bit further away. He switched to a baseball bat and started whacking apart more that popped up. The Afflicter assumed either the Scout was much stronger than he looked, or the cutouts were made out of really weak wooden logs. There was a Sniper cutout standing on a high stack of boxes a long distance away from the Scout that should have been hard for him to see. But he brought out a baseball, tossed it in the air and swung the bat, launching the ball and breaking apart the cutout.
Her eyes widened. "¿Él usa pelotas de béisbol a luchar?"
"Surprisingly, it works." Spy responded, the only one who could understand the Afflicter's Spanish. The Engineer just stared at them, confused.
The Scout leapt onto some stacks of boxes. It seemed as though he wouldn't make the third jump, but he pushed himself while in midair, allowing him to reach it as if there was no thought that he couldn't make that jump. This had the Afflicter stunned. There was no way she could jump as high as he could. Another stack of boxes was a few yards away, but with the Scout's impressive jumping abilities, he was able to clear it with no problem. He jumped off the crates, shooting a cutout below him as he sprinted through the rest of the course, almost finished with the drill. The Scout reached the end, pushed a button that stopped the clock, and checked his time. He had managed to clear the course in less than 2 minutes.
Scout pumped his fist triumphantly. "Woo-hoo! New record!" He ran back behind the fence, spreading his arms out toward the Afflicter. "Hey, how was 'dat, Flicks? Pretty impressive, huh?"
She looked bored and unimpressed. "I really wasn't paying much attention, to be honest."
The Scout grinned. "Suuure you weren't. I saw ya watching me da whole time. Admit it; you're impressed with me and my new best time. I just broke da record!"
"Only 'cause ya cheated!" The Engineer spoke up.
"Whaddaya mean I cheated?"
Engie shook his head. "Don't play dumb with me, boy. We all saw how you took that shortcut. You gotta follow the whole path, or else it doesn't count!"
"Yeah, don't think I don't know the rules. The only things I hafta do are shoot all the targets and reach the end. I did both of those, so it counts." Scout countered.
The Engineer gasped. "I think you might be right…"
"Of course I'm right." Scout boasted. "I beat the record, and Flicks thinks I'm awesome."
"No, I don't." The Afflicter said as she stepped into the course.
"Think you can beat my record, huh?"
"Maybe not." She admitted. "But I know I can beat mine." If the Afflicter wasn't able to take a shortcut the same way the Scout did, there was no way she could beat his time. The only thing to focus on for the moment was her self-improvement.
•●•
Dawn of the Final Day- 24 Hours until Mission
Smoke wafted through the air in the dimly lit control room. A woman sat in front of a large control panel, tapping her foot impatiently as she held a cigarette in her hand. The door creaked open and another younger woman dressed in purple walked inside.
"You… wanted to see me, Administrator?"
"Miss Pauling…" the Administrator wheeled around, facing her. She had an expression that seemed to be a mix of anger, disappointment, and slight concern. "Explain this to me." She pointed to one of the monitors behind her. On the screen was a youthful, Hispanic-looking woman training with some other mercs. A bit later in the video, she spotted the hidden camera and tilted her head as she stared at it like she was looking at them. "Who is she?"
"That's the Afflicter." Miss Pauling explained. "She's the newest mercenary for the RED Team."
"What!?" The Administrator crushed the cigarette she was holding. "I did not authorize anything about hiring new mercenaries!"
Miss Pauling looked down nervously. "I know, it does explain the RED Spy's recent absence. My guess is that Redmond must have given them permission."
"Neither of those old fools have any idea what they're talking about…" The Administrator shook her head. "As for the girl, she must be killed."
"B-but, isn't that too harsh? Why not just send her away?"
"She knows too much, Miss Pauling." She turned to the screen. "From what I've seen of this girl, she's too clever, too… defiant, nothing like those other men that were hired. She already knows of our existence, and she'll likely find out even more."
"But, Administrator! Don't you have any idea who she is?"
The Administrator pounded her fist on the arm of the chair. "I don't care who she is! I want her gone!"
"Then maybe you should take a look at this." Miss Pauling handed the Administrator a file filled with papers. "They're information on the Afflicter." She snatched them out of Miss Pauling's hands and looked over them searchingly.
"Elena Carmencita Belasco Ramirez…**" The Administrator quietly said to herself. "Hold on a moment…" Her eyes widened. "Ramirez! Miss Pauling, you don't mean…"
"That Ramirez? Yes, she's part of that very same family. Or 'clan' as some people like to call it." Miss Pauling shifted uncomfortably. "But it's hard to believe…"
"Impossible. After all these years, she managed…" The Administrator set the papers down. "I was told she had simply… disappeared."
"She looks a lot like her, don't you think?"
"I do see some resemblance in her." They watched the Afflicter fight with speed and grace on the training replay. "It seems she has inherited some of her skills, although this 'Afflicter' is much more aggressive than she could ever be."
"So, are you going to follow through with that plan? To kill her?" Miss Pauling asked.
The Administrator shook her head with a sinister smile on her face. "Perhaps not. We'll just have to keep a closer eye on her than with the others, for now…"
So, I got to thinking, "I should probably include Spanish translations." So I included Spanish translations. Here:
"Lo siento" - "I'm sorry"
"es muy loco." - "(He) is very crazy"
"tonto" - "fool, idiot, moron, etc."
"¿Él usa pelotas de béisbol a luchar?" - "He uses baseballs to fight?"
There were also some asterisks, which meant I was going to explain something in regards to the word or sentence at the end of the chapter, which is right here:
* - I actually went and looked up the parts of a folding fan. In this case, the leaves are the top part.
** - According to Spanish tradition (which is really some article I looked up on the internet, but it sounded believable), the maiden name of the mother goes after the father's last name, not before as I put it. So it should really be Ramirez Belasco instead of Belasco Ramirez. But I liked Belasco Ramirez more, so I wrote it that way (it's also how Elena wrote it in the paperwork). "Carmencita" is considered Elena's second, or middle name. Just something I thought I'd bring up.
Next Chapter, we have the somewhat anticipated mission...
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