(A/N) Okay guys, after a busy day, I'm running low on time, and need to head to bed, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet! However, I just want you all to know how shockingly incredible I thought this chapter is! Jerem6401 never leaves us disappointed, and he sure as hell exceeded his past standards here! Read on, and you'll see what I mean! And, to everyone RvB fan out there, that last episode was incredible. That is all that I can say to explain how I feel on the subject. Word cannot suffice.
Enjoy!
Chapter Eighty-Eight -There Can Be Only One
Agent Pennsylvania
Written by Jerem6401
"It's been a long time coming,
And the table's turned around.
Cause one of us is going,
One of us is going down"
- "You're Going Down" by the Sick Puppies
I stood in the centre of that training floor. It was like home to me. I had seen so many fallen opponents on this ground, practically begging for me to stop. I loved it, really. I knew what the other freelancers thought of me… not that it really mattered. They had called me relentless, vicious, unpredictable, careless, heartless, and violent in nature. All of which were accurate.
But they had no idea.
That training floor… it had seen no blood. No death by my hand. Maybe the Director's lessons were working. Maybe my rage was under my control. Maybe there would be no more killing out of rage. Not like the simulation troopers in Valhalla that day. Not like my squad members back in the UNSC, who just didn't know when to stop talking. On the day that lost me my rank in the military. The day they locked me away.
I suppose the Director was right. He did promise me after all. He promised he could control me, when he took me out of prison. I'm sure it wasn't simple to get a murderer out of a UNSC jail cell, so I should probably have felt grateful. I probably should have liked the Director… but I didn't. He was just a puppeteer. Playing us against one another with that damned scoreboard of his. I needed to prove that he wasn't pulling my strings any more. I needed to be on the top of that scoreboard.
I assumed it's why he called me to the training floor. To prove myself once again. I promised that I would.
"Your training session is scheduled to begin, agent," he spoke to me over the intercom. I nodded and fastened my helmet into place.
"And what, might I ask, is my mission?" The Director was silent. I could see him standing in the spectator booth above, with all the other Freelancers gathered around him, looking down on me… judging me.
"This will be a live combat training exercise," he replied. "You, fighting another freelancer in singles combat." I nodded. Imagining who the poor sap was in my head. I scanned the faces of the other freelancers, when I noticed… something. I look through them again, assigning names to each face I came across. Where? I looked again, still nothing. Where was she? Suddenly the access door next to me opened and my opponent stepped onto the floor. I just turned my head, my body still facing the others. Carolina walked into the arena, in her full suit, ready to fight. I kept my eyes locked on her, but threw my voice at the Director.
"What is the weapon choice?" I was speaking through my teeth. That rage I mentioned… it was returning. Quickly.
"There are no weapons, gent," he replied. "Just yourselves. No holds barred. The first to submit or be unresponsive for over ten seconds will lose. The winner will hold the number one spot on the scoreboard."
There it was again. That fucking scoreboard! Always stabbing its way into every aspect of my life. Controlling me… like the puppet I was. I turned to face Carolina as she paced back and forth, keeping her eyes locked on me. This was my territory. No weapons, just fists. One-on-one. If I couldn't beat her here and now… I never could anywhere else.
I closed my eyes and ground my teeth together when images suddenly started flashing through my mind. The simulation base in Valhalla. The man with the crushed throat. The soldier broken in half. Were they wearing Carolina's armoUr? Or was my mind just replacing the memories? The behemoth with a live grenade shoved into his helmet. He looked just like her. Flint and Steel. Getting his head caved in by my fist. Sucked into and dismembered by a piece of machinery. The elite with a sword buried in his skull. And then… then my fellow soldiers in the UNSC. Broken. Necks snapped. One almost split completely in half. They were all her. All of them looked just like her.
I opened my eyes again. Nothing was clear anymore. Even with the yellow tint of my visor, the world in front of me was bathed in red. Blood red. This was ending… now. Carolina stopped pacing and put her hands into the air, on guard. She was ready to fight. So was I. I took a step in her direction and clenched my hands into fists. This was it. It was finally time.
"Training session begins in 5." I lifted my arms up, ready for her first assault. "4" Carolina leaned back, getting ready to lunge off of her back foot. "3" I knew it. She was going to try and attack first. Gain the upper hand right away. "2" She wouldn't fool me that easily. I was ready. "1. BEGIN!"
Carolina charged towards me, faster than I thought a human could even move. Within a second she was right in front of me, but I was ready. She threw her fist at my helmet. I expertly pushed it out of the way and ripped my forearm to the side, slamming it into her chest and knocking her to the floor. She rolled back to her feet and I turned to face her once again. She took a deep breath, before charging at me again. She threw a kick, which I ducked underneath. The momentum spun her around so her back was to me.
I reached for her, but she quickly dropped to her hands and pushed herself into a handstand, slamming her boots into my visor. I stumbled backwards, trying to regain my balance as quickly as possible. If she got me off my feet I was in trouble. She saw the opportunity and went for a quick leg sweep. I saw the attack coming and shoved my foot into the floor. My strength far surpassed hers in every way. Her leg sweep stopped dead in its tracks. She might as well have tried to sweep out a redwood. I lifted my arm into the air and threw my fist towards her. She rolled out of the way as my hand tore through the concrete, leaving a crater in its wake. She was fast. But with the rage building inside me… it just wasn't fast enough.
Carolina jumped up to her feet and ran in to strike my helmet once again. I leaned back, just in time to see her fist pass right by my visor. I grabbed her wrist and gripped it so tight that I could feel her gauntlet denting inwards. I swear I could hear her gasp. This was my chance. I had her. I pulled her arm in and smashed my elbow into her helmet. A dent formed and I felt her knees go weak for a moment. I wasn't going to wait and see if she was knocked out or not. I pushed her away, before pulling her in again, slamming my fist into her helmet.
This time one of her legs gave out, making her weight drop. I reached out and grabbed her visor, stopping her from falling. I lifted her off the ground by her head, before dropping to my knees and slamming it into the concrete. I could hear gasps and screams in the spectator booth as I again and again raised her head into the air and smashed it into the floor. The concrete was giving way and taking the shape of her helmet. Her visor was cracked and shattering more and more with each blow. I wanted this. I wanted to kill her! But my position on the scoreboard. What would happen to that if I did? Killed an ally… again?
I pushed her head into the floor one last time, before slowly standing up and taking a step back. She was still on the ground, and the countdown began. Numbers ticked by on their way to 10. Once the number 5 was called out… I saw it. I saw her move, and then begin to push herself up. It wasn't possible. She planted her foot on the floor just as the number 9 rang out.
"No," I growled. "NO!" I ran at her. Blinded by my anger.
It was a mistake.
She suddenly spun around and slammed me in the face with a backhand. I fell to my hands and knees, and looked up just in time to see her shin coming in a breakneck speed. She punted me in the head, shattering my visor instantly and knocking me to my back. Before I even hit the ground, she was straddling my chest and unleashed punches into my face. I could taste the blood, and the world was quickly going black. I closed my eyes for a moment to regain my thoughts. I opened them again to the sound of the number 7 being called.
What?! I had been knocked out?! 8! I leapt to my feet as quick as I could. My knees were shaking, but I couldn't give in. Not like this! Carolina had been looking at the spectator booth, and turned back to face me. I could see her eyes behind her shattered visor. Looking at me the same way I'm sure I was looking at her earlier. My helmet was dented and fitting tightly around my skull. I reached up and unsealed it, before pulling it off and throwing it to the floor. Carolina titled her head and stared at me.
I don't know what made me do what I did next… but I'm sure fury had something to do with it. I reached to my gauntlet and pressed a button on my suit, which was followed by an eruption of smoke as my suit depressurized. In an instant, armour began to fall away from my body. The leg guards, the gauntlets, and finally the chest armour. Soon I was standing there in the black carbon-fiber underlining of my armour. Basically no protection at all.
"Agent," the Director called. "What are you doing?" I didn't respond, and instead stared right at Carolina. She didn't say a word either, and then slowly reached up and pulled off her helmet. I had a small smile on my face when she eventually reached to her gauntlet, and disengaged her armour. It all fell away, and left us face-to-face… basically naked. No armour, no weapons. Just two humans. One of us was better than the other… and this was going to prove it.
"This is dangerous, Penn," she said to me. "One of us could get seriously hurt." I smiled again and nodded.
"I'm counting on it." We both took a step back, before charging in once again. I can't recall everything that happened. Fists slamming into me, while several of my own landing on their target. Neither one of us was getting knocking down, and every vicious blow was almost immediately returned in full. Suddenly she dodged one of my strikes and spun around, throwing a kick that landed right on my temple.
I blacked out, only for a moment. But long enough to make me fall to my knee. I regained consciousness and looked up to see her fist coming down. She struck me in the side of the head, knocking one of my teeth from my jaw. I saw it fall to the ground and splash into a small pool of blood. She loaded up again, and gave me another shot across the face. My eyes were starting to swell, and seeing was becoming an issue. I looked up at her. She had the same look about her. Black eyes, blood under her nose and dripping from her mouth. This was it… this was the fight I was waiting for.
And I was losing.
"It's over, Penn!" she yelled. She lifted her fist again, but I just smiled and shook my head. She slammed it into the back of my head, blacking me out for a moment again. "I've won!"
I snickered and spit some blood onto the floor, before shaking my head again. She threw her leg into the air, cracking her shin across the bridge of my nose. Another flood of crimson poured off of my face, not that I could feel it anymore.
"I'm better than you!"
That was it. That was what I needed. The Director was wrong. Rage wasn't holding me back… at least not anymore. Carolina swung at me again, but before she made contact, I pushed her arm to the side and grabbed her shoulder. I ripped her downwards and slammed her face into my knee. The impact made her bounce back upwards and roll to the side. I used the opportunity to grab her shoulder again and pull her downwards. I draped her over my knee and put one hand on her hip, and another on her neck. This was it. Last I remembered, she was screaming it me while I held a simulation trooper like this… right before I murdered him. And now she was here… and it was time to end this.
I started to press down with all my might. I could feel her resisting as her spine started to bend over my knee. I could see the other freelancers pressing against the glass, screaming at me and trying to break their way in. Even the Director had unfolded his arms and was watching in what seemed like terror. Carolina's grunts gave way to screams as she fought against my attack. I wanted it! I wanted to break her in half like a toothpick!
I saw her plant her hand on the floor, and felt her hip move under my palm. I turned my head to see her leg flying upwards, just as it slammed into my forehead. My grip fell away and Carolina slid off of my knee. I wiped the blood out of my eyes and looked in front of me. Carolina was back on her feet and had wound up her back foot. She threw a kick with all of her strength… and probably more, that cracked directly into the side of my head. The world around me instantly went black as I dropped to the floor. As the dirt sunk into my cheek, I thought I heard her talking to me. By the time I pieced the voice together… it was all too clear…
"10. Agent Pennsylvania is eliminated by technical knockout. Winner: Agent Carolina." No. It couldn't be. I pushed up to my hands and knees to see Carolina walking out of the arena. No. She didn't beat me. Not at my own game. No. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
"Penn," one of the medics said. "We need to get you to the medical bay, now!" He reached down and grabbed my shoulder. I immediately took hold of his arm and threw my fist into his head. He fell to the ground and the other medics quickly jumped away.
"Enough!" another voice yelled. I turned as another person grabbed me, holding my arms to my side. "The match is over!" Wyoming yelled at me. "We're your allies, old chap!"
I threw him to the ground as more soldiers grabbed onto me. I smashed my fists into anything I could see. Cal's helmet, South's shoulder, Florida's chest. Anything! Freelancers were falling to the floor around me as more and more of them were on the receiving end of my rage. Then two freelancers grabbed my arms and held me in place. I looked to see North and York holding me down, desperately trying to keep me from swinging.
"It's over, Penn!" Massa yelled. "Stop before someone gets hurt! They match is over! It's over!" I took some deep breaths and my rage started to subside. She was right. It wasover.
It was all over.
I sat in medical, looking down at my own hands. They reports didn't sound good. I was in rough shape. I had seven broken fingers, a broken nose, two broken collarbones, 3 shattered ribs, a concussion, two black eyes, several torn ligaments, and was now short four teeth. I would say I've looked worse… but I never had. I was supposed to be lying down, but I just couldn't. Not with this much on my mind. Medics had stopped coming into the room. Probably because of how quickly I was dismissing them.
"How's the healing coming along?" a voice asked. I looked upwards as one of my so-called 'allies' strolled into the room.
"What do you want?" I asked him. I looked back at the floor and massaged my arm, trying to get some feeling back. It's like my nerves had completely shut down. Which must be how Maine feels all the time. Ark sat on the cot next to me and looked down at the floor as well.
"I wanted to check up on you." I looked at him and grunted.
"I don't need some kind of nurse walking in here to 'check up on me' every three seconds. As far as I'm concerned, only friends come to check up on people. So tell the other freelancers the same. They'll keep their distance if they know what's good for them." Ark nodded and folded his arms.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You're mad about the loss. Look, there are worse things out there." I reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt, holding him tightly in my grip. My fingers hadn't fully set into place again, and I could hear them popping.
"You don't get it!" I growled. "None of you do. This fight was everything to me, and I blew it!" I let him go, trying to keep my anger in check. Giving in now wouldn't help anything. Not if it couldn't help me before. "I'm just… I'm just not as good as her, Ark." I sighed and closed my eyes. "A failure." He snickered and slapped my shoulder. That… that I could feel.
"I understand a lot more than you think, Penn." I chuckled, but kept my eyes closed.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. In fact. I think I know exactly why you can't beat, Carolina." That fucking name. I looked up, glaring at him. He was starting to make me angry.
"And what's that?"
Ark wasn't fazed, and leaned a little closer to me. "Fear."
…What?
"Fear?" He pushed himself from the cot and stood up. "You think I'm afraid of her?"
Ark shook his head and started to pace. "Carolina is afraid, Penn. She's afraid of losing everything in this program. She'll do anything to fight for Project Freelancer and her position in it."
I pushed myself up as well, fronting on Ark. "And I wouldn't?!"
Ark looked into my eyes and titled his head. "Would you?"
My anger was started to fade. I thought back to my preparation before the fight. What I thought about. The Director. The scoreboard.
"I…" I looked away from Ark and into the distance, just letting my mind wander.
"How do you really feel about this project?" he asked. "Is it really a cause you would die for? Because if it isn't… that's why you can't beat her." I kept staring as the number 2 flashed over and over in my mind, in that blinding blue light. I sighed and looked back at Ark.
"I'd give anything for this project," I spoke slowly and clearly. "I owe the Director. So I'd do anything for him." I closed my eyes and bared my teeth. "Do I like it? No." I turned away from Ark and made my way towards the door. "But that's the way it is."
"Wait… Penn… where are you going? You're supposed to stay in medical!" I looked at Ark and smirked.
"Look… Ark. I get that you're trying to help. And on some level, I suppose I appreciate it. But I can't be around you or the other Freelancers, right now." I turned and walked out the door, leaving Ark alone in the room. "I can't be around people who don't understand me."
I sat with my back to the cold metal. The room was dark and completely silent, except for the occasional drip from an overhead pipe. I wasn't supposed to be in here. No one was. Strict orders. But the guards knew they were in no position to stop me. I was talking in almost a whisper, with my eyes closed and my mind clear. There was a calm before that storm, and now this was the aftermath. The destruction. Not just my body, but my mind. There were both broken and lying in pieces.
"I couldn't do it," I said quietly. "I did everything I could. But I just wasn't good enough." I sighed and rested my head against the wall behind me. "The others, they just… they just don't understand. I don't trust Project Freelancer, and its all-mighty Director. I don't have allies anymore. That's what this project has done. All I have are opponents so long as the scoreboard stays up. Soon… soon we'll all be at each other's throats. And our blood will be on the Director's hands."
The room remained silent. I don't know what I expected. I pushed myself to my feet and slowly shook my head. "Maybe I'm the only one who can see this storm coming. I just don't have the option to get out before it hits. I'd be in prison right now if it weren't for the Director." I turned my head and then reached out to grab the metal bars in front of me. I sighed and closed my eyes. "I'd be in that cell right now, if it weren't for him."
I looked up and opened my eyes again. I don't know if he was listening, or if he could even hear me. He was just sitting in there, facing the wall, leaning forward on his knees. He looked so different without the armour. But I knew more than anyone it wasn't the armour that makes a man into a soldier. They're just born with it. Like him. Like me.
"Well, that's it." He slowly lifted his head up and turned slightly towards me. Just his head, not his body.
"So," he started, "what made you come here, anyways?"
I looked back at the exit, knowing I should be leaving before anyone else realized I was here. "Director said you were looking better."
He faced away from me again and nodded. I turned to the doorway out and sighed once again. "I guess…" I closed my eyes, before turning to the cell one last time. "I guess I just wanted to check up on you, Al."
