Chapter 8: Let the moment be (Show time Part 2)

When Blossom reopened her eyes and regained consciousness, she noticed multiple things. Unlike the gym area she had been in before, she looked around her surroundings and noticed that it replicated a war zone down to the last detail. Instead of dodge balls, gun shots were fired. Many "dead" corpses littered the floor, all adorning war outfits ranging from generals to privates. Next to her was Brick. Or, should we say, "General Brick" as his nametag and symbol suggested. Blossom looked at her own sleeve; perfect, she was just a private 2. "Private!" Blossom turned around to look at him as he calmly stated, "You're a sergeant now".

Confused, Blossom swerved around to see that all her fellow comrades were down, however, one was missing. She muttered a simple "oh" before she came back to the war scene before her. Currently, 6 Gr.7's were still up, with about 2 hiding behind a random wall, with all others sniped out. Back to back, it was just Brick and her now. "Sergeant, when I give the count of 3, we sprint to the nearest barricade" Brick whispered. Blossom nodded in affirmation. It was a risky choice, but seeing that they were clearly outnumbered and it would be suicide to fight back, Blossom could only hope that they would be lucky and pick a barricade that contained no hostile company.

1… Pink and red eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area for the nearest barricade (table). 2… Both minds calculated the safest routes to get there, and what dangers they'd have to avoid. 3… Simultaneously, a streak of pink and red dashed across the gym to hide behind a sturdy wall.

To her relief, their luck had held out so far, and the barricade was empty. Brick look relieved, too. That is, until a certain black haired guy popped out from around the corner. Instinctively, Brick pushed Blossom behind him, Blossom happily doing so. Again, due to pure luck, it was just Butch. "Butch! What are you doing here?" Brick hissed, in a voice that hopefully went unheard. Butch just smirked in response. Brick sighed; "Alright, we've got 6 to hit down, 2 hidden, and hopefully three snipers" as he said this, he looked to meet the eyes of an ecstatic Butch, and a somewhat nervous Blossom.

As if by telepathy, Brick held up three fingers, and no further explanation was needed. On the count of three, they would all rush to the closest barricade. When the streaks of pink and red had been passing by, Brick had by chance gotten a quick glance of the perimeter, securing that no living being was by that barricade. Taking a quick scan of the area with just his eyes, Brick motioned with just his hand for the trio to lay low, and stay hidden.

"Hey Brick! Look!" Butch whispered, pointing at a pile of ammunition much like a kid would point at fair rides. Brick only acknowledged this with a short shake of his head, before his eyes returned to scanning the area. Butch pouted. At times like these, Butch was quite transparent; Blossom read him like an open book: Stupid idiot, it's right there! We could make it if we try! Blossom gasped, she tried to latch on to Butch, but he left without another word. Seconds later, multiple shots were heard, ringing throughout the battlefield, signalling the end of her comrades' life. Dramatically, Blossom took off her own army cap and saluted him, closing her eyes and bringing the cap to her chest. At least Butch had managed to kill 2 more on his suicide spree before his death. That was a pretty good sacrifice in her book.

When Brick saw his comrade down, Blossom heard a string of fluent curses flying out of his mouth like bombs, before he calmed down to take a good look at her. His facial emotion remained impassive, but his eyes told a different story-at least someone was still with him. A small whisper of a smile tugged at his lips, but dropped before Blossom could tell if it had been real or just a figment of her imagination. Brick returned to peering out at the corner. This time, Blossom decided to accompany him. She noticed him staring at the group of four in the middle, back to back as if expecting a surprise attack at any given moment. Blossom pursed her lips; it was obvious that attacking them wasn't a good choice, as they could be ambushed by the people hiding near the ammunition pile (whose clear purpose had been bait), or they were either sniped by one or another of the 4. After giving it a thought, Blossom turned to look at Brick but was met by a pair of red eyes. Staring into the red abyss of his eyes, like a burning fire waiting to be unleashed, the two seemed to communicate by just that, as Brick stared into an unending calm, cotton candy pink ocean.

After a moment of constant staring, Brick was the first to break eye contact, as he motioned with his eyes towards the center-the deadly 4. It was a suicide choice, but since no better idea made itself present, both leaders commended that it would be the best choice of action. Quickly, the leaders made their way to the very corner of the table, just before anyone could see them. If someone had been in the right angle, they might have spotted a tuft of orange hair peeking out from one of the barricade tables.

Blossom's wise eyes scanned the perimeter, quickly noticing small objects to their advantage. There were a few stray packs of ammunition lying around, and there was also the ammunition pile to be put into consideration. Maybe Butch hadn't made it alive, but he'd had neither a plan nor comrade to help. Blossom gently tugged on Brick's sleeve, an insignificant blush blooming on her cheeks. She could only hope the lighting of the gym hid her blush pink cheeks. Brick glanced at her, annoyance clearly broadcasted on his features, but something else present in his eyes; something Blossom couldn't quite make out. Blossom quickly explained her plan to him using hand gestures; he would distract both groups of 7's while she took on ammunition. Then, they would meet back at the same barricade and hopefully hide out for a moment's notice before they followed Brick's plan. Brick nodded his approval, a flicker of pride evident in his eyes; like a dying flame, they soon doused out until they became just a lingering stream of smoke.

On the count of the 3, Brick jumped out of hiding into clear sights of the enemy, "Hey you!" He shouted at the group of 4, firing a shot that hit one guy square in the shoulder, slightly evening out the battle field. At the same time, Blossom tried to gently coax the packs of ammunition to roll towards her, keeping wary of the distracted duo just mere inches away from her. One slip up and it would all be over. As Blossom took her merry time retrieving ammunition, Brick was trying his best to avoid any shots fired his way. So far, he'd been lucky and managed to pick up a stray pack of projectiles. Loading them into his "gun", he sniped down another 7, before quickly rolling on the floor to a nearby barricade. Again to luck, it was mercifully empty.

With Blossom, she was not fairing as well, and time was not quite on her side. Now that Brick was in hiding, the duos 7 were fully alert again, and the tiniest sound would alert them. Slowly, she coaxed the last 3 remaining packs towards her. To her misfortune, the third pack rolled off, resounding in a "ping" sound that reverberated throughout the gym. Even Brick would have heard it no matter how far away he was. As the time neared her impending doom, only one thought crossed Blossom's mind; I'm so screwed…Brick, wherever you are, now would be a good a time to save a damsel in distress!

Brick's POV

Dammit! I whisper cursed to myself. I knew Blossom had tried her best, but… Aww crap, I can't help but feel like this is all my fault. And that's probably why I'm on my way to fix it.

Blossom's POV

A pair of heads turned around to face me, "H-hey, w-wanna g-g-g-o f-f-for a dr-dr-ink?" I stuttered. Darn, keep it together Blossom! Never let your enemies know your fear, no matter how fatal the situation! I gulped in anticipation, closing my eyes, already prepared for my death. Suddenly, a flash of red whipped by me, and before I could comprehend anything that was happening, the two 7's previously before me were dead. Just like that. I could feel ragged breathing on my neck, making my skin moist and tingly. I couldn't fight the blush on my cheeks. "Blossom…" Brick whispered, his voice husky from over exertion. I turned around, only to come face to face with my crush. Immediately, I was entranced by all the emotion swimming in his fiery red eyes. I didn't know I was panting heavily, until the dull thud of my heart pounding at an irregular rate faded for just a moment, so I could hear the outside world again. Oh. My. God. I'm right next to him! At this moment, I took the time to observe that our lips were just about 5 inches from meeting, and was it just me, or was the distance closing? Keep it cool, Blossom. You can do this! It's probably just as easy as the girls on screen.

Disappointingly, the second I leaned in for a kiss, Brick just so happened to whip around, resulting in my flailing helplessly as I prepared for impact to the ground. Somehow, with cat-like reflexes, Brick reached out to catch me by the armpits just before I fell. A smirk spread over his usually monotone features, "Be quiet" he whispered, making his voice sound chastising yet playful at the same time. As quick as the smirk came, it fell off, before he gave me one last look and reverted to staring at the corner, his hand still unknowingly clutching onto mine. When he turned away, I put one hand to my cheek, feeling the resonating heat slowly fading away. My free hand travelled down to a spot on my shirt right over my heart, feeling its rapid, pulsing rhythm. It's only been about 20 minutes, and already twice I've felt my heart beat this fast. When I came back to reality, I saw that Brick was still staring at the 2 in the middle. Now we were evenly matched. I joined him, the both of us, pink and red orbs fixated on the same target: the last two 7's. We could do this. We still had a chance to win.

Somewhere in the background, I heard 5-star general Ms. Keane call out the 2 minute warning until the battle ended. It was now or never. The two of us, Brick and I, simultaneously reached out to grab ammunition to reload our guns. Our hands ended up touching, and I felt a spark course through my blood before I retracted an opted for another pack. Brick looked at me for a second, just confusion with a mixture of something else swimming through his eyes. I stopped to stare, and this time I was the first to break eye contact. As soon as my eyes left, Brick came back to reality as well, and proceeded with loading his gun. Once done, we stared out at the center. 1 minute left...

Brick and I ran as fast as our legs could carry us, heading towards our target: the 2 last survivors.

45 seconds... I open fired the second I got there, successfully sniping one down by surprise. 1 left...

30 seconds... I fired at the last remaining survivor, but I'll give it to him, he was fast and agile, already recovering from the initial shock and back up on his cat-like feet.

20 seconds... Oh no! We weren't going to make it! The guy started to fire at Brick, who also returned the shots, both equally agile. They were evenly matched.

15 seconds... Formulating a plan, I quickly sprung into action.

10 seconds... At the last moment, I fake fired at the guy, causing him to flinch, reflexively ducking, allowing Brick at least a good 2 seconds to shoot him down.

5 seconds... Brick aimed...

3 seconds... And fired. The bullet seemed to travel in slow motion as it steadily made its way towards its victim. When the guy realized the fake, he immediately whipped around, only to see the bullet just seconds away from his face. Opening his mouth in surprise, he scrambled to get back on his feet and run as far from range as he could. His attempts were futile.

1 second... The bullet nailed him right in the shoulder. We won. Immediately, I jumped up in glee, before I wrapped my arms around Brick and squeezed the living life out of him from joy and excitement. My happiness was like a drug, and for a moment I forgot what or who I was holding. Until I looked up to meet his red eyes staring at my own pink. I attempted to say something to ease the awkwardness, but words failed me, and none leaved my lips, leaving me with my mouth hanging open at an awkward angle. Brick smiled down at me, his lips tugging into something that resembled a smirk, playfulness shining through his eyes. For a moment, I was scared he would just push me away. He must have seen that, too, because in the next second, before I could open my mouth to protest (not that I would, anyway), he enveloped me in a hug of his own, and I enjoyed the feeling of it, his arm around my frame, the other arm around my head, softly combing out any knots in my hair, feeling the warmth we both emitted; it was perfect. I felt so safe and secure, so I just let the moment be.

Sorry for my lack of updates! Hopefully this is good enough and makes up for it! I particularly enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope it's just as awesome to me as it is to you when you read it. Until next time!