Chapter Seven

. . .

Royston Parnell arrived at 00:54.

He walked along a deep underground hallway as dark as a mine-pit. In his gloved hand he held a flashlight that shook violently in his grasp. In his other hand he should have held a gun, but he'd been instructed to come unarmed. Instructions he had to follow. Straight ahead was an old freight elevator that stood open, both inviting and repellin.

Is my wife dead?

He could feel warm bile rising in his throat. He glanced down at his watch as he stepped out of the humming elevator; 00:55. He was five minutes early. She is still alive. He shuddered as a cold sweat broke out anew and unwelcomed images of his wife invaded his mind, images of her lying in a pool of red. He entered through large, double doors and found himself face to face with his old counterpart – the BLU Engineer.

"Howdy."

"You ...!?"

"Nah, y'all be lookin' for the Boss man." The former BLU cocked his head – and his gun – towards a nearby door. "This way." Despite having been on competing teams, Roy had a lot of respect for his old rival and had always respected the man's genius. To see him as he was now, wires and bolts protruding from his flesh like some hideous robotic voodoo doll – he pitied him. He followed silently through the iron door and found himself gazing at his wife, who stood trembling but very much alive at the far end. "Arleen!"

"Hold it." the BLU Engineer held up his gun, but the voice that spoke had not belonged to him. Chunky boots clapped on smooth tiles as a figure appeared from behind Arleen, stopping to rest a big, warning hand on her shoulder.

"I'd stay put if I were you Roy. You can't be too careful, now." The man's face twisted into a cruel smile as he looked between Roy and his wife, whose arms were tied behind her back. A swelling bruise inflamed her left cheek and her eyes were bright red from crying.

"I've brought them jus-" Engie swallowed as he brought out the nanoids. "Jus' don't hurt my wife, I'll – I'll do anythin' you want jus' let her go-"

"If only life was that simple." The man was ugly in a subtle way. His skin clung tightly to his bony face and his lips looked redder than they should have done, compared to his sand-paper complexion. He leered at Roy with the hostility of a rabid wolf. "So good to finally meet you; the RED Engineer himself." He patted Arleen gently.

"R-Roy?"

"Shh shh." The man hushed her as she sobbed. "I've told your wife here all about you. About your team. About your job. How you killed on a daily basis."

"Roy, please-"

"I don't think she believes me though." His deep voice drowned out Arleen's weaker one. "So why don't you be a good sport and just be honest with her, hm?" Engie couldn't peel his eyes from his wife as she shook like a leaf in a storm. "Go on." The man insisted.

"I ... I worked for a company known as RED. I killed for them. I-I killed a lot for them..." Arleen began to weep under the man's grasp as Roy stood, shame burning on his face as he found himself having no idea what to do. "I'm so sorry Arle-"

"Yes, you did." The man nodded, satisfied at the fear now in the former REDs eyes. "Tell you what. There is something you have of mine that I want back. Give me it and the lady can go."

"Anything you want, please jus-"

The man held up his arm – or the stump that was once a full functioning limb."I want my hand." Engineer stared at him momentarily confused but the man read his thoughts like book. "Oh yes you built it – good for you, you did your goddamn job. But who do you think designed it, huh? Who do you think slaved over all those designs and plans for a decade only to have that Mann bastard steal everything, huh!? Me. I did!" he looked ready to self-combust with rage. "And you! You'd be nothing without me! Every time your precious gunslinger's ever saved you – you've owe it to me!" Roy was confused, but he cleared his head and tried to put the pieces together.

"...You're 'C' ... you're ... a Conagher...?"

"No." He spat. "I am not a Conagher – Grey claimed my initials to be his after he tried and failed to get rid of me. You and your BLU counterpart have no idea how much my work has aided you. Yet, you have no idea who I am. Do you?" That BLU counterpart stood just behind Roy, robotic eyes dead to the conversation.

"No."

"No, and you'll not live long enough to find out. Know that even the 'great' Radigan Conagher was in awe of my work. Even Gray saw me as a threat." Roy was still focused on Arleen who quivered under her captors rage but he needed time to think and so spoke regardless of his crippling fear.

"So y'all sent the BLU Scout after us then?"

"For the nanoids– but you've saved me that hassle yourself, haven't you?"

"You want them ... so you can destroy them?"

"Very good. Nothing will be able to stop my fully completed HU-BOTs. Not even you."

"You let my wife go and I'll give you the gunslinger and anythin' else you want."

"Oh, Royston. You say that as if you have any choice."

BANG

"NO!" Arleens cry encompassed everything. That one, long note of raw grief and anguish echoed off the walls of the base. Her bound hands trembled and she closed her eyes, unable to bare the sight. Her husband stood frozen for a moment, staring unblinking at her until he fell to his knees and then on his back.

Blood began pumping from the bullet wound. "Aagh..."

Arleen burst free of the man's hand, though he didn't try to stop her, collapsing onto her husband in panicked pleading. Sobs shook her violently as tears flowed down her cheeks and fell onto his face.

"Roy!" she cried into his chest as his eyes flickered opened and closed. He breathing rattled. She sagged down into him, pressing her face into him and shaking her head as dry sobs choked her. He stopped moving.

. . .

"'is R.I number 'as pinned 'im for right ahead." Spy sat tense in the passenger seat of Snipers van, for once not complaining about the Australians barely-legal driving. In the back was Soldier and Demo who were assembling their own, much bigger guns than those weeny pistols. God Spy hoped the pair of them still knew how to use guns as big as theirs.

Medics van sped alongside Snipers with Heavy and Scout beside him in the front. For once even Scout was quiet, his mind racing faster than the speeding van as he considered that Engie had taken off with the nanoids. His gut told him that Engie was in big trouble. But how?

"No not worry," said Heavy "leetle Toymaker will be fine. He will have us soon."

"Yeah." Scout nodded, but remained quiet. "Yeah…"

. . .

"I'll be taking that." The man leaned over Arleen and tore the gunslinger clear from her husband's arm, splattering blood over her plump face. In her desperate struggles to hold her husband she'd managed to loosen and free her hands from the ropes.

"You animal!" She lunged at him, pummelling her small fists into his chest frantically as she wept.

"Take her away, I'll find some use for her corpse later." The Hubot Engineer complied, easily dragging Arleen from his master and pulling her away into another room.

"Mr Calvert."

"What?"

"Two vans are approaching from the west." Hubot Sniper called down from his ledge, having been peering down his scope.

"Of course they are. All of you, go take care of them." He grinned down at the Engineer as blood pumped from his stump and stomach. "They say you are the ones who finally beat Gray. Well then, lets see if you have what it takes to beat me."

. . .

They were met with a hail of bullets. Taking cover behind his van, Sniper readied his rifle.

"Oi, the van wasn't cheap y'know!"

"Wait for my signal." Spy activated his cloak and snuck into the base as the others took cover. When the gunfire ceased, the teams burst into the base.

"Spy!?"

"Here." He appeared, cigarette on his lips. "I will go and find the labourer, hold them off." He gestured to the rumbling sounds of feet approaching from behind a nearby door.

"Gotacha, now go, go , go!"

BAM

"Whit is that?" The very ground beneath their feet shook as if a stampede was approaching. In the distance they could make out a hulking shadow, towering over them by about a foot. In it's hands was clutched a mighty mini-gun.

"I'll be damned." Soldier swore as he tilted his helmet up for a better look. The Hubotic Heavy was enormous, in fact he seemed even bigger than the BLU had ever been while human. The thing scowled at them as the nozzle of the machine gun began to spin.

"Oh fu-"

"Take cover!"

The team scrambled as the mini-gun caused sparks to encase their vision.

As the Spy listened to the chaos behind him he found himself genuinely wondering if his team would be alright. He had to push such thoughts away for now, he had a mission at hand. He ran down a dark hallway when suddenly he became very aware that someone was shadowing him. He turned and shot his revolver but his stalkers dodged it with inhuman speed.

It was the BLU Spy. The entire right side of his face was encased in metal, leaving one glowing red eye to stare back at him completely void of emotion. While the rest of the BLUs looked meticulously human, Calvert had went to great lengths to keep the BLU Spy crudely robotic looking. Punishment for his escape, no doubt. In the blink of an eye the Spy disappeared from sight in an all too familiar hiss.

"You gotta be kidding me ... the BLU Spy cant still go invisib-" Scout appeared and just managed to hop out of harm's way as the Blu brought his knife down, tearing into Scouts shirt. "Sonofabitch!"

"Scout-!? What are you doing here!?" Spy snapped.

"What's it look like, I'm comin' with ya!"

"Damn it boy-!"

"Hey, no time to argue Frenchie, we got a problem here!" The BLU Spys metallic hand appeared from nowhere and sliced through Scouts hat. The RED Spy ran forward and kicked the Hubot away from him.

"Go." He stood between Scout and the BLU, his face stony. "Go and find the Engineer, I'll take care of this." Scout nodded before sprinting off. Oil leaked down the BLUs face like black tears and he jerked as if every movement caused him agony.

"Come Francois, it is time for you to sleep." At his words both Spies lifted their knives and vanished from sight under the shimmering cloak of their device.

As Scout sprinted down the halls away from the sound of clanging steel, his ears detected the sound of a woman crying. For whatever reason, he recalled the Engineer telling him on a road trip one time that he had a wife. The Bostonians heart sank down into his stomach.

Ya better be alright hardhat.

At that moment, Scout couldn't recall a time in his life where he'd ran faster.

. . .

Sorry for the delay and the shorter chapter. I had actually finished this story and was posting it on a weekly bases but my laptop broke and I lost everything so I'm sure you can understand my dismay at needing to type it all up again. Hope you enjoy this chapter nonetheless!