Last time on TAPE!
"Oh, crap!"
This time!
"Oh, crap!" Petunia hugged her laptop tightly and turned her back to the door as rounds whizzed by shattering the monitor at the back of the room and smashing into a couple of the other servers.
"Petunia, give us cover!" Eve tried to call out as short bursts of gunfire filled the air.
Petunia rolled over and pressed her back against one of the servers, still holding her laptop against her chest. "What?!"
"I said, give us some cover!"
"What?!"
"Oh, for the love of bunnies- CO-VER! CO-VER!" Automne shouted at the top of his lungs as he tried to pull out and arm his handgun, one of the servers crackling loudly near his face as he leaned against it.
Petunia suddenly gave them an 'Oooooh,' look and flicked her wrist towards the door. With that the rounds came to a halt, well, not necessarily a halt since the guards were still firing at them like it was a redneck new year's party, but at least the rounds were slamming into a wall of large blue triangles rather than their lungs.
Automne let out an exacerbated sigh and slumped forward. "That was an ordeal."
"Automne, you can't rest we still have to get out of here." Eve pleaded sympathetically as she picked herself up off the floor.
"Eve, what the hell happened? Where'd all these guys come from?"
"Ty and Professor Baula tripped a security alarm and these guys came flooding in from the basement."
"The basement?" Automne blinked a few times. "I didn't even know this place had a basement… You know maybe we should have checked a few more of the security cameras before we gave them the all clear." Automne said calmly as he scratched his gun against the side of his head.
Eve blinked a few times and held a hand up to her chin in contemplation. "Did we check any other cameras?"
"Oh crap, we didn't… Damn… We kind of suck at this."
"Automne, there's no point in beating yourself up over a mistake. The best thing you can do is to resolve to do better next time." Eve said with a cheerful smile that only a grossly over-paid life coach could give.
"Eve, that was incredibly corny." Automne responded with a flat stare.
"Don't be rude, and don't think I forgot about you abandoning me either." Eve recalled, puffing her cheeks out in an utterly adorable frown as she crossed her arms and tried to look cross.
Automne gave a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. "Alright, Eve, I'm sorry and I swear I'll-"
"No," Eve huffed as she turned her back to Automne.
Automne's eyes widened as he stared at Eve in shock. "What? …C'mon, Eve, I said I was sorry, let's-"
"Hmph,"
Grief quickly spread across Automne's face. "Eve? Eve, come on. Look, I really am sorry." Automne lamented, pulling his goggles off his eyes as he tried to catch her attention.
Eve paid him no mind as she stiffly turned away and strutted over towards Petunia.
Automne paused for a couple moments as the room's cool air washed over him, wrapping him in a blanket of shame.
"Eve… Eve, you are not allowed to be mad at me in a combat zone!" Automne declared as he followed after her intently. "What if one of us gets shot or killed by faulty architecture?! Then one of us would feel all guilty and mopey about the fact that we never forgave each other and it would be stupid and a huge waste of time. So, Eve, I really am sorry. Now forgive me."
"No," Eve said stubbornly as she stood resolute.
"Eve, forgive me."
"No,"
"Forgive me."
"No,"
"Forgive me."
"No,"
"Forgive me."
"Dust damn it! You two are like nails on a chalkboard!" Petunia shouted as she typed at her laptop feverishly.
"Well, you're like a lesbian on a chalkboard." Automne retorted like he was some sort of Renaissance man of the lost art of comebacks.
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"You're right, it makes change."
"You know what, once I'm done hacking this thing, I'm going to shove my shotgun so far up your ass-"
Unfortunately the rest of Petunia's threat was interrupted by a thunderous explosion and a solid ball of steel blasting through both the door and Petunia's barrier. The three members of Taupe quickly turned to the hall to see a man dressed in dark camouflage pants, a black pirate's blouse, and a tricorn hat carrying a small cannon.
"Har har har, thar' they be." The man bellowed jauntily as a few guards joined him at his side with rifles at the ready.
Automne, Petunia, and Eve all stared at the man blankly for a few moments.
"Are you shitting me?!" Automne screamed in bewilderment.
Petunia raised her hand and threw up another couple triangles to replace the ones that the pirate had just smashed through.
"That's a pirate! That's a fucking pirate!" Automne shouted at Eve and Petunia as if he were experiencing some kind of bad fever dream and he needed someone to throw ice water on him. "Why the hell are we fighting a pirate?! Is the author on meth?!"
"Automne, don't be rude. If he wants to dress as a pirate then he should be able to dress however he wants without your judgement." Eve scolded as she continued to face away from him. "Also no, you are not forgiven."
"Can you three just keep standing there- I mean thar. This thing takes a couple minutes to reload." The pirate called out from across the barrier as his companions started to open fire.
Petunia gave a loud growl and kicked at the base of the server. "Can all of you, please, shut up for like five minutes?! I am trying to hack and that is not easy when everyone is shouting!" Petunia yelled as she picked up a piece of jagged metal and tossed it at Automne.
Automne glared at her with a small defiant grin. "Hypocrite,"
"I will cut you!" Petunia let out another aggravated growl and bashed a fist down against the cold, dirty floor. "Dust, you two are the most annoying couple ever; in the history of the universe.
Automne gave a groan as Petunia went back to typing. "This is ridiculous! Petunia, forget about the back door, let's just go!"
"Umm, just to clarify, we're not a couple." Eve quietly interjected.
"No, I am making a back door and you are not going to stop me."
"You're going to get us killed!"
"No, I'm not. You're freaking out over nothing." Petunia insisted with a rather concerning amount of calmness in her composure.
"Umm, guys," Eve said timidly as she stared into the ruined hall. "I think the pirate reloaded."
Automne gave a heavy sigh. 'You know I never would've guessed that I'd be killed by a pirate; always assumed it would've been the tapeworm in my lower intestine.'
"Automne, move!" Eve called out in concern as she pushed Automne backwards onto the ground as the cannonball shattered Petunia's barrier.
Automne fell back with a thud, his eyes still holding on Eve as she sprang forward, pulling her naginata off her back. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and in a long, fluid sweep, tearing through the thick air like a razor, she slashed clean through the cannonball. The lead hemispheres immediately began to veer off in opposite directions, yet Eve still found more than enough time to lunge forward with the shaft of her weapon and bash the lower flying half back at their assailants.
The riflemen hastily ducked out of the way, but the pirate, however, was thrown backwards into a wall as the remainder of the cannonball slammed into his chest.
Automne's eyes sat mostly wide open, the thick dust hovering above the ground didn't exactly improve eyesight, as he stared up at Eve in awe as she plunged the blade of her weapon into the ground and ripped up a cloud of debris.
Eve unexpectedly kneeled down amongst the cloud of dirt and looked over at Automne in concern. "Automne, are you alright?" She said quietly, throwing cautionary, fearful glances back towards the doorway.
"Uhhhmmmm, yeah, yeah I'm good." Automne replied softly as he rolled onto his hands and knees.
A couple loud wheezy coughs erupted from nearby Petunia's hijacked server. "Are, you guys alright?" She asked between coughs as a cloud of dust poured from the wall behind her.
"We're alright." Eve said calmly as Automne and her crawled back towards Petunia.
"I think I'm breathing in more dirt than air." Petunia remarked humorously. She spat on the floor and tried to wipe a growing layer of grime from her laptop.
"Petunia, we need to get out of here." Automne pleaded after swiveling his head back around to see the guards in the hallway getting back to their feet.
Petunia grit her teeth and looked back towards the hallway and then stared at her laptop for a few moments. She let out a low growl and pulled her shotgun off of her back. "I have an idea." She shouted as she shoved her laptop into Eve's arms and sprang to her feet. "Eve, don't touch anything. Automne, cover me."
Automne pushed his goggles back over his eyes. "What're you-"
"Just cover me, jackass!" Petunia screamed as she pumped the forestock of her shotgun with a loud click and shot a round into the ground.
"What are you- Gah!" Automne howled as rounds began to fly at them again. Automne quickly whipped his escrima off of his back and flicked it in his wrist. "Petunia, give us some cover!" Automne screamed as he went prone and started to fire back at the guards.
"I can't!" She shouted between shots into the floor. "I don't have enough aura!"
"Well whose fault is that?!"
"Bite me!" Petunia snapped as she pulled a couple of shells off her bandolier.
"No thanks, I don't want herpes! Ahck!" Automne groaned as a round hit the ground next to him and sent rubble up into his face.
"Do you wanna start something, bro?! Cause we could go right here!"
"Stop fighting!" Eve whined as she hugged Petunia's laptop like a stuffed bear.
"Eve, we are not fighting! We are simply discussing the fact that Petunia's a bitch!" Automne shouted in a casual manner as he shot at and missed the almost completely stationary guards.
"Up yours!" Petunia shouted, tucking the stock of her gun into her shoulder so she could flip off Automne with her free hand.
"No, up-"
The floor beneath them gave a loud crack as Petunia fired another round into it. The ground started to crumble and groan as the floor underneath the server began to sink inwards.
Automne let out a small shriek as he slid back into the hole, along with Petunia and Eve, and violently slammed down against the floor. Automne grit his teeth as a sharp pain surged out from his shoulder through the rest of his body. "Auuugghh!" Automne moaned as he rolled onto his left side.
"Ahhh, crap." Petunia groaned as she kicked a chunk of debris off of a trapped ankle. She gave a couple dry coughs. "That worked out better in my head."
"Mnnnnn," Eve moaned miserably as she rolled over, Petunia's laptop chirping lightly in her arms.
Petunia gave a gasp and crawled across the ruined floor, well technically it was now the ceiling, on her hands and knees. "I'm in." She said happily as she took her laptop from Eve, who was trying to pull her weapon out from under some debris.
"Well, isn't that just fan-fantastic." Automne stuttered as he tried to get to his feet, only to fall back down onto his knees.
Eve looked at him in abject horror and gave a small gasp. "Automne," She said calmly, holding her hands out towards him. "I need you to stay calm."
Automne blinked a couple of times as the thick dirty air began to turn unusually hazy. "Eve, why do you-" Automne stopped abruptly when he caught a glance of something protruding out of his shoulder from the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath, looked down to his right, and saw a short metal rod jutting out of his shoulder. A chill ran through Automne when he realized there just happened to be more than a fair amount of blood dripping out of the deep mangled wound. His vison began to narrow and his body trembled as he stared at the dark, rusted rod.
"Oh," He said in a daze before toppling over and smashing his head against a rock.
Automne's eyes twitched as his breathing began to hasten.
"Guys, I think he's waking up." A soft voice whispered from behind the veil of Automne's eyelids.
He started to wriggle restlessly under the cover of thin, dry bedsheets; moaning softly as he stretched and flexed. His soft moaning turned into a loud agonized groan though when he inevitably tried to stretch his shoulder. He winced in agony and let out a pained wheezing noise as if he was being murdered with an icicle made of acid… which was also on fire.
"Well, he's awake." Ty's distinct, sarcastic voice said as Automne writhed like a slug that just had salt poured all over it.
"Automne, calm down, you're alright." Eve softly urged as she placed a hand on his left shoulder and tried to ease him back onto his pillow.
"Ahhhhhhh, what happened?!" Automne moaned as he fell back and pried his eyes open.
"You fell onto a piece of rebar and fainted." Eve whispered calmly before jogging around the foot of the bed, where Ty and Petunia were standing, and joining him on his right side. She pulled up a wooden chair and folded her hands together as she stared at Automne's bandaged shoulder in concern. Leaning forward in her chair Eve took a few deep breaths and began to channel her semblance, making the air around them grow thick and cool.
Automne's calmly laid back into his bedding as Eve's soothing mist washed over him and steadily drove the pain out of his shoulder. Automne gave a deep sigh. "Thanks, Eve, but I- uh… I don't think I fainted. I-I probably just-"
"Nope, you fainted." Petunia said matter-of-factly from the foot of his bed as she pulled a cookie from a small plastic bag and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Yep, like a bitch." Ty added with a smirk as he reached into the bag and pulled a cookie out for himself.
"Well what happened after… that?" Automne said evasively as Eve's icy mist began to numb his arm.
"Eve and me yanked the junk out of your shoulder, Eve stabbed you, and then we carried your lazy ass out of there and flew all the way home." Petunia said in an almost bored tone as she tossed another cookie into her mouth.
Automne blinked a couple times before he sat up in a jolt and turned to Eve in surprise. "Wait, you stabbed me?"
A miserable frown twisted Eve's lips as sweat accumulated on her forehead. "I'm sorry, b-but Petunia said we couldn't let the Professor see your wound because then he would know we left the security room so I had to stab you so it would match my blade and-"
"Wait, you told the Professor that you stabbed me?"
"Well, actually we told him you tripped and accidentally landed on Eve's blade." Petunia said with a shrug as she chewed her snack.
"You'd be surprised how unsurprised he was." Ty said with a frown as he looked into Petunia's now empty cookie bag.
"You could have just told them it was faulty architecture. Everyone believes faulty architecture." Automne whined.
"Automne, please calm down. You need to relax." Eve said in a sweet, worried voice, lowering her hands and allowing her mist to dissipate as she tried to catch her breath.
Automne gave a heavy sigh and leaned back into his pillow. "Sorry, Eve." Automne said quietly as he looked around the mostly vacant infirmary.
Eve gave a light sigh and bowed her head to Automne. "Apology accepted." She gave him a small sincere smile and silently got to her feet. "Automne, do you need anything else; food, water, something to read?"
"Umm…" Automne darted his eyes around for a couple seconds. "I'm a bit hungry… I guess."
"I'll go get you some gelatin." Eve said happily before rushing off.
"I like the cherry kind… please!" Automne hesitantly called out.
"You will get lime and you will like it." Ty interrupted in a facetiously stern tone.
"Shut up." Automne said with a smile as he wiggled a bit in an attempt to get comfortable in his sterile, sand-paper like bed that had the texture of fiberglass. Automne gave a sigh and tossed his head back into his pillow. "So, what happened with the-the… hacking thing?"
Petunia shot him a large smirk. "Yours truly managed to make a back door into their network and we didn't get caught." She said proudly as she took a large bow.
Ty cleared his throat like a chain-smoker as he crossed his arms and glared over at the blue haired girl.
"Okay, well, not by Baula." A freshly deflated Petunia shrugged. "But me and Ty were talking about it earlier and we had an idea." A rambunctious smile appeared on Petunia's lips.
Automne glanced between the two nervously as they both stared back at him with devious smiles. "Uh, what kind of idea?"
"Alright, so here's the thing." Ty started, "Baula didn't even know those servers were there. We don't even think he suspected the station was being used for anything other than storage."
"Okay?"
"And when I opened the backdoor earlier I kept finding a bunch of files." Petunia added, her smile beginning to stretch her face to almost cartoonish lengths. "All of them were encrypted or password protected and shit. So that's gotta mean that there's more goin' on than some easy weapon smuggling crap."
"And remember how we were supposed to do reconnaissance?" Ty asked. "Baula and I completely skipped the third floor because he saw a few guards patrolling the hallways. Since Baula destroyed the station without checking the third floor he basically neglected to perform the required objectives and in doing so destroyed evidence."
"So, we're going to find out who these guys are and where they're hiding and once we do we're going to hand them over to the government and get Baula fired for being an idiot." Petunia finished triumphantly, her fists pumping like pistons.
Automne paused for a moment, taking in everything like a hospitalized sponge, before going. "What?"
"Baula destroyed evidence that could've led to a breakthrough with that criminal organization, dude. If we can present irrefutable evidence that proves the people from the weather station are connected to a bigger criminal syndicate somewhere in Vale we can get Baula arrested for destroying evidence and obstruction of justice. Or you know at least get him fired." Ty said with a proud grin as he placed his hands on his hips.
Automne swapped his gaze between them a couple more times. "Ehhh, guys, I don't know. That doesn't sound like-"
"Oh, come on, dude." Petunia said with a grimace. "Don't try and stand up for the guy, he's a jackass. And besides imagine it; if we take down a whole crime syndicate we'll be heroes! They'll give us awards, we'll be in interviews, and we'll be the most popular Huntsmen Beacons ever seen." Petunia ran up to Automne's bedside and wrapped her arm around his neck as she waved the other through the air, displaying to him a magnificent view of the roof. "Think about it, dude. Everyone will be talkin' about us, including all the ladies. Chicks dig fame, dude, and once you're famous you'll be able to have any girl you want. Even that green haired girl from Biology."
"The green haired girl…" Automne muttered under his breath as his eyes glazed over.
"I bet you'd like to get a D in her biology." Ty said with a grin.
Automne gave a small chuckle. "Yeah,"
"Awesome," Petunia said with a solid pat to his freshly injured shoulder. "Now that everyone's onboard I can go ahead and start decrypting shit without anyone whining at me." Petunia said with a large smile as she sauntered off, Automne cursing and writhing in pain behind her.
"Wait," Automne growled through grit teeth as he managed to stop rolling in pain. "How'd you get Eve to say yes?"
"Easy," Ty responded as he made to follow after Petunia. "We just left out all the selfish stuff and told her we'd be taking down criminals."
Automne stared blankly at the back of Ty's head as he watched him walk away, his sash flowing elegantly behind him. Automne gave a sigh. "Well, crap."
"What was that?" Eve said curiously as she walked up and took her seat next to Automne's bed, a red gelatin cup in her hands.
"Nothing," Automne lied tiredly as he laid his head down on his pillow.
"Oh, okay." Eve said with a small smile. "I was looking for cherry, but they only had lime and strawberry, so I got you strawberry."
Automne gave another heavy sigh and pressed his head back into his pillow. "The universe sucks sometimes, Eve."
Eve stared down at the gelatin cup.
"…Would you prefer lime instead?"
Hey, everybody, thanks for reading. I hope the story is tickling your fancies and if you like what you're reading then please follow, favorite, and review if you want. I love to hear from all you guys and gals so please don't shy away. Also I want to thank all of you that have already decided to follow and favorite the story. I really appreciate your support and having y'all along for the ride really makes it that much more fun. A lot of stuff is going to happen in the future and I'm happy that I'm able to share it with all of you.
As usual a shout out to NinjaSlayer4x and Crimson Grave. They have stories of their own, so if you want go over and check out some of their content. Now, until next time, peace out.
-CS