Author notes: So, here it is, biggest chapter yet and one that may either cause you to wonder what the heck I'm doing or cheer out in joy. Sorry for the lateness, exams have started now and won't be over for a few weeks so things will probably be quiet around here for a good while. You'd have gotten this chapter earlier but the site appeared to be experiencing issues last night and I was unable to finish updating it.
As ever, thanks go out to everyone who's read so far, reviewed, or lent me a hand with my first story here in any way, shape or form. You people rock!...so try not to hate me too much for the sudden turn around of this chapter or any of my recent evil endings...please?
Chapter 13: Redemption
A blurred image slowly made itself known in the BLU Spy's mind as he blinked, groggily waking up to find himself face down on the cold floor, body aching all over. He lay there, slowly waiting for his senses to recover and for his mind to make sense of this jumbled mess. A weak cough, soon followed by a chorus of groans, grunts and spluttering from the others.
Others? The Spy lifted his head, blinking again as the blurriness started to fade and his mind slowly pulled itself into a state less like sludge and more like a lean, mean, calculating machine. Of course, his teammates and himself were in the main respawn room at Teufort. For all of them to appear like this and to be in such pain...they must have lost their latest battle, the respawn after a round with RED was always more painful than during the conflict itself. Perhaps it was some punishment built into the system for failure or perhaps it was just the adrenaline no longer pumping and numbing the pain.
Wait...
The Frenchman suddenly paused as recent memories returned to the surface, his eyes wide in shock as he took in the sight of his colleagues all alive and mostly well around him. This couldn't be right; he'd seen the RED Engineer tampering with the machines in the belly of the base...surely their foe had disabled respawn. The team slowly got to their feet, some stumbling and others choosing to remain sitting for the time being as the worn-out BLUs tried to clear their minds and make sense of events.
Their attempts were interrupted by a loud cough and the familiar sound of a shotgun being cocked. Slowly the mercenaries turned around to face the transparent doors that led to the resupply room and the base beyond. Like deer caught in the headlights, they froze, expressions of shock etched into their features.
Sitting before them on a wooden chair, flanked by two level three sentries and directly in front of a dispenser, was the RED Demon himself. The Engineer smiled, the expression having about as much warmth to it as an Arctic blizzard. His eyes were firmly placed on them and Vengeance was pointed at them, a finger very ready and willing by the trigger, daring them to make his day.
They shivered and looked down to find themselves stripped of all their weapons, helplessly at the mercy of the man who had killed them again and again, inducing in them despair beyond measure. It was only the currently closed doors separating respawn from resupply that protected them from the sentries and the Texan himself. Needless to say, anyone stupid enough to venture beyond their current position would be torn to pieces even with their weapons.
The RED spoke at last, not bothering to hide his displeasure with the BLUs even as the majority of the team wore confused and frightened faces, if for different reasons. The BLU Spy and Engineer were perhaps the most perplexed, but all remained silent.
"It's about time y'all woke up. I know I'd set a pretty big delay on your respawn to give myself more time to prepare but damn if you weak cowards don't take your time getting up. Was very hard not to just end you all again there and then."
Predictably, the Scout was the first to break the stunned silence.
"Oh yeah big guy? Then why didn't ya?"
Further silence and the runner, realising that he'd essentially just begged the one-man army who'd so utterly destroyed them to kill them again. A small "eep" slipped through the boy's mouth, eliciting a harsh laugh from the cold Engineer who sat there watching them all.
"Why indeed? I could have kept that fight going, could have kept on killing you over and over until not a single one of you could even crawl onto the battlefield, too busy rocking yourself in a corner and crying your wretched eyes out. I could have, given you the ultimate taste of irony, sabotaging your own respawn to end your lives as permanently as you so casually did to the men who mattered most in my life."
A pause for breath, or perhaps something to cool the increasingly heated words spat from his mouth. He shut his eyes beneath his goggles and breathed again before snapping them open to pierce the BLUs once more.
"I could have done all that and more...but I didn't. That would be stooping to your level and it would be damned low. My team...wouldn't have wished it. And neither do I. I've had my revenge against you and to lose myself in the madness would be to betray my teammates. No...I still need you alive. I need answers."
A glance was exchanged between the trapped mercenaries, some of whom had become ever so slightly more relaxed and risked a shrug. The RED was no longer sitting, getting up and walking to the door that divided them. A snarl started...and died.
Turning away, the Texan bowed his head for a moment before raising his left hand to his head and stripping off the goggles he seemed to always wear. Blinking from the sudden change and aware of the silence behind him, he turned to face the BLUs. His eyes held anger, but it was dulled and didn't seem to be directed at them. Instead they saw the sadness, the question etched into his features.
"...why? Why damnit, why did you fellas have to go and do something like that? I know we're paid to kill each other but dang it if our little rivalry wasn't just that. We respected each other and fought by the rules. Why after all this time did you break contract? Why did you want to kill us off for good? Why the hell did they have to die! This ain't like you folks...I want ANSWERS!"
Tears flowed freely now, surprising the already flabbergasted BLUs. The RED clenched his teeth and shook his head before embedding his metal fist into the wall to his left. His head bowed again for a moment and he slowly removed his hand from the wall, crumbling the debris in his palm as he did so. His right arm tensed, the shotgun it held still beaded onto the enemy mercenaries as he strapped the goggles back on one-handed before his head raised once more.
There was no more anger to use against them, no longer any sorrow to shed. His eyes simply sought every last one of them out, demanding answers. One by one the BLUs shrunk back as if bitten. The Spy found himself trapped in the gaze and opened his mouth as if he wished to say something before he shut it again and remained silent. At last it was turned to the BLU Engineer, who struggled with it for a few moments before he pulled himself up to full height and looked his fellow Engineer in the eyes.
He quivered under the intense gaze for a few seconds before he had to break eye contact and he looked to one side, coughing a little before he prepared himself to deal with the RED Demon's request.
"...it was the Administrator. Not that our dumb hides weren't responsible but...it was her. She spoke of plans on the RED side to go behind the rules of engagement behind our combat scenarios, that you fellas were sick of the war and were willing to do whatever it took to end it. We...we didn't react well to that, I'm afraid."
The Spy snorted, finding his voice again, if only to interrupt the Texan.
"Didn't react well? Labourer, please, could you have possibly have understated it any further? As I recall zhis whole team of trained monkeys was in uproar, afraid and lapping up every word zhat...woman said. After all, RED's sentiments were ones we shared even if we had yet to act upon them..."
The Spy's usual disdain for his team was by no means masked and eyes narrowed at the Frenchman's arrogant interpretation of events. The Heavy found it in himself to stand and pull the Spy up to his height, the Frenchman's feet dangling, looking the smaller man eye to eye as his own narrowed.
"Strange how leetle Spy speak bad of team for trusting woman, Spy was one who panicked most and lost usual cool. Was funny to see this, did not laugh at time, did not want to die from RED team. Very angry, would crush entire itty bitty team!"
The lone RED watched this exchange calmly and coldly, clicking his fingers to bring attention back to him and the matter at hand. The Russian dropped the masked man onto the floor, promptly causing the Spy to mutter curses under his breath as the BLUs turned their eyes to their Engineer once more. The poor Texan tried to pull himself together and continue his explanation. After all he'd done, he figured his RED counterpart deserved the truth and nothing less.
"The Announcer, as a neutral party, stated that she couldn't directly interfere in our battles but considering that RED were planning on breaking contract...she'd be more than willing to turn a blind eye to any plots on our behalf if it meant removing the rogue mercenaries from the equation."
The BLU laughed bitterly, caressing his Gunslinger as his eyes stared off into nothingness. The RED's eyes lingered on the artificial limb for a moment but said nothing of it, merely raising his eyebrows for a second at most.
"I of all people should have realised that she was playing us all like fiddles. Still, lost in our panic, our anger and our fear, the instinct to survive overcame any suspicions we might have had. With what little we already knew, some peeking at captured intel and some lucky breaks from the Spy, who had been able to break into TF Industries and secure some vital blueprints...we were able to construct a plan to disable RED's ability to respawn. Looking back on it, the essential documents we needed were probably planted on purpose and security had probably been lowered to aid our spook in securing them..."
"Not that any of that matters now, does it?" The Medic interjected, frowning. "It wasn't until after our plan failed and Herr Engineer escaped that we started to realise the truth."
The RED's brow furrowed at that but he said nothing, gesturing for the doctor to continue.
"I have been called mad before for some of the things I've done. Es ist richtig, I have committed my share of atrocities both before and during zhis war...but they all pale in comparison to what the Administrator has done. She doesn't just end lives, she destroys them. Laws, friendships, families...they do not matter to her. She'd brainwash a parent into killing their child in cold blood if she zhough it would benefit her!...I...I learnt that very early on during zhe...punishment each of us had to go under after our plan failed."
The German's face darkened at this and he gulped, unable to carry on. The Heavy laid a comforting hand on the doctor's shoulder. The two men gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, some hidden message passing between them. The Sniper, who had up until now been silently observing from his position, sat in one corner, chose this time to speak up, tearing everyone's gaze away from the pair.
"I didn't like havin' to do it, but a job's a job, it was never personal. Professionals have standards and everything pointed towards you RED buggers breaking those standards. I'm not the sort to be getting teary-eyed about the men I'm paid to kill, but I'd thought that you blokes were alright until then. Ya gotta understand, Truckie, she had surveillance footage of your team tampering with our bases, audio recordings of you discussing how best to deal with us, blueprints for torture devices for crying out loud! We didn't want to off you lot but pissing hell, we thought, it's the only way we would survive. It was you or us...law o' the outback, that is...Durin' the time we laid out the plan, sabotaging bases and leaving behind explosives...with no sight of foul play on your part, I got a might suspicious...but this only drove us harder, expecting your plan to be hatched at any moment. By the time I'd gotten my emotions in check it was too late to turn back and she'd even given us some experimental upgraded versions of our older weaponry to help us eliminate the threat. I suppose I-"
The BLU Soldier suddenly chose this at the perfect opportunity to leap to full height and resume his usual solution to everything: to bark out whatever was on his mind and fix objects or people under his glare from beneath his helmet.
"That bitch was giving us the proper goods, not any of the hippie guns we've been getting lately but our proper, bonafide weapons perfected to a standard we deserved! She held promises of sweet freedom, the thing every true American will die for. We had the chance to end those maggots on RED for good and we'd be given our due reward for our services, to be able to retire from the battlefield with honour and acclaim."
The ranting American, finding himself without his trusty shovel, decided to rap his hand on his helmet before he tossed the headpiece off, causing it to clang off a wall and nearly hit the Scout. He turned his unblinking gaze to the RED who sat silently before the broken BLUs.
"That woman...she's no woman at all but a filthy commie devil. Her lies have no place on MY battlefield in MY war...with her sweet talking and her promises, slipperier than any Spy..."
A pause, his head fell and for the first time in the history of the war, the man known as Jane Doe cried.
"She'd forced me against my best friend in the past, back during that damn Soldier vs Demoman war. The others got roped into it too but in the end it was just a ploy for me and Tavish to abandon what makes a man a man and to kill our friendship. And for what! Measly weapons and medals! I'd broken my unbreakable bond with a damn good man for that woman and by the time I'd realised it...it was too late for things to go back to how they'd once been. And now..."
His sobs grew greater, his body shaking as he fell to his knees, staring up at the ceiling as the tears streamed down his war-torn face. He'd promised that he'd never do something so weak, so pathetic and so emotional as crying. Crying was for hippies and women, he'd always told himself. He no longer cared.
"...that...that heartless, soulless, scum-sucking bitch made me do it all over again, to put my friend to rest forever and to end the lives of eight damn good men who...despite their damn commie colour scheme...had done no wrong, who had never truly been the enemy, who...under different circumstances...who...!"
The Soldier was broken and could not continue. A muffled sound made the presence of the Pyro known, gently placing the American's helmet back onto his head, sitting down beside the man and wrapping one arm around him. The asbestos-suited mystery looked up at the RED Engineer, obscured burning eyes meeting and connecting between them.
The exact wording of what was said was lost but the message was clear enough as the firebug finished the Soldier's unspoken line: "Who, under different circumstances could have been friends."
The Demoman, his eyes half open, muttered to himself, his body splayed against the far wall. "Doesn't matter now, th' devil herself cannae be stopped an' we're as good as dead already."
The Scottish cyclops made a motion to drink from his bottle, only to find his hand empty. Raising his hand to his good eye and confirming that it was indeed not in his grasp, he clumsily reached around him, trying to find the alcohol to drown his sorrows that simply wasn't there.
The RED Engineer could take no more. Leaving his shotgun behind him he stood up and swept his eyes over the sorry scene before him. The men that had once stood so tall, that had been so devastating in combat, were little more than husks ready to be killed. He half expected one of them to decide it wasn't worth the pain and leave the respawn area to be gunned down by the waiting sentries...not that it'd help them, he hadn't destroyed or even properly hijacked their respawn. He'd simply found a means to temporarily adjust the respawn times and ensure that their weapons didn't spawn alongside them. He'd used the time between to secure BLU base and ensure that even if a BLU somehow escaped, they wouldn't get far.
BLU were broken, they had received their punishment, they had tasted judgement and now they were empty, likely better off dead than alive...But enough was enough.
"You've done as I asked, and gave me what answers you could spare."
His voice, as quiet and calm as it was, immediately got everyone's attention. It was closer to what they'd expect from an Engineer outside of battle, closer to how their own Engie spoke to them...but not quite.
"...but, BLU team, I have a final question to ask of you."
The Demoman laughed at that before trying to stumble to his feet so he could walk over to the doors. He ultimately failed and had to make do with looking up at the RED from his position in a heap on the floor.
"Always with th' questions, aren't you lad? Not that it matters, we're all as good as dead and the bloody woman who yells at us when we fight has won."
The Spy cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, glancing around the room and sighing.
"As much as I hate to agree with the drunken wretch over there, he is correct, gentlemen. I suspect this whole ordeal was a coupé by zhe Announcer to gain true absolute power over the world. As much as she currently holds in her grasp, RED and BLU still have a more direct grasp on the world. By advancing the offensive and destroying RED she could then wrestle control of BLU from that senile fool, Blutarch, and become ruler of the world. It is likely that the only reason we were chosen over RED is because Redmond Mann was always more cautious and less likely to fall into her snare so easily. His brother was always more reckless, which certainly explains why we find ourselves attacking more than we defend."
The RED Demon hit a few buttons on his gauntlet, causing the sentries in the resupply room to deactivate, the sudden loss of their beeping only enhancing the silence. All eyes were on the man that had destroyed them so easily as he stood before them, the familiar fire building up within him, the air becoming thick with energy from his will. Whatever he was about to say would be huge.
The righteous inferno burned with passionate fury but for once, much to BLU's confusion, it was not directed at them. The object of the Texan's blazing contempt was the Administrator herself. He'd been wanting to deal with her anyway but this really sealed the deal. But one thing at a time, he had to deal with the sorry excuses for men in here first.
His hand was raised, free of any weapon and pointing generally at the beaten BLUs. His voice started even enough, but rose louder, and louder, becoming more powerful with every word to the entranced mercenaries.
"Tell me something, BLU team. Where are the men who were once capable of anything, somehow breaking past my best-laid defences and rapidly turning the battle around? Where are the men who were able to face my team head-on and live to tell the tale? Where are the nine best damn mercenaries BLU could find? Where are the mercenaries we could be proud to call our rivals? Where is your spirit, your will, your drive!"
They flinched as if struck but he was far from done with them.
"Don't tell me I did this to you, don't look away when I talk to you, don't just lie there and accept death. The nine of you, working together as a team, used to do the impossible. The nine of you, working together, are a force like no other left in this world. The nine of you...are about to be given your second chance, your last shot at redemption."
A pause, in part for effect, in part to ensure they were listening and were focused on him.
"What do you do when you are dominated, do you give up and let this jus' keep happening and happening? Heck no, you track down that poor son of a bitch and give them hell for it. Yet here we all are, we know who the enemy is, we know where they are and we all have plenty reason enough to unleash an eternity of hellfire upon the world if it meant a shot of vengeance, a shot of justice, of payback."
To this there was outcry, or rather there would have been, but somehow they all found their words stuck in their throats as they just looked at the Engineer, standing there, a proven force of nature in his own right.
"I don't want your excuses, your claims of impossibility, of how she's too powerful. I went from an injured, broken wreck into the driven man that tore you apart single-handedly. I found a fuel to cling to, a goal to shoot for, a reason to live. BLU team! I will storm the world once more, I will deliver justice, I will destroy that bitch, alone or otherwise! But this is your chance: call it a second chance, call it forgiveness, call it revenge or even just another job...I want the best by my side when I unleash my wrath unto the world once more. I want my eternal rivals there to live and laugh and be able to enjoy the peace we all wanted without this damn war! I want to be free and I'll be damned if you don't too, I can see it in your eyes, in your beating hearts, in every last drop of blood in your body, screaming for relief!"
Their heads were raised, their eyes shined with what could have been hope and all around them the fire raged, consuming and twisting, a force of destruction but also one that brought light and warmth to the darkness of the world. The Demon grinned, his finger shooting to the heavens as he held his head up high and addressed them once more.
"Are you dogs before her, willing to do her every whim? Or are you men, ready to fight to the bone for but a taste of victory? This is your chance of redemption, of making the eight men who couldn't be here swell in pride for your accomplishments. To live and make your mark or to die here at my mercy! That is YOUR choice and only YOURS! I beat you down to absolute despair with the intensity of my spirit and I will drag you back up, reborn as something new, something stronger! Your hands shall rust no more, for our reach as two teams united is beyond the stars, beyond the heavens, encompassing all of space and time with our unbreakable wills!"
Not a single man wasn't standing, not a single one found themselves unable to meet the Texan's eyes now. Their expressions varied but within the depths of their eyes, the will of their souls couldn't possibly be clearer.
A hiss and the doors dividing the BLUs from the last RED separated even as the Engineer turned around to face the exit, lifting up Vengeance and hefting it over his shoulder, his left arm fell to his side, clenched into a fist as he continued, facing away from the nine others.
"One way or another, through death or through union, BLU team ends here! Divided we were strong but together we will be unstoppable, our spirits an untouchable fountain of resolve! Me...! All of you...! Together...! We are the mountain that cannot be scaled, the fire that cannot be extinguished, the warriors that never die! WHO IS WITH ME!"
The roaring of pure resolve, unified regardless of usual demeanour, of the past or anything but the future they would carve with their bare hands was what the RED Demon had been waiting for.
"So be it! WE! ARE! TEAM FORTRESS!"
End of chapter notes: You thought BLU were dead? Bzzt, wrong. You thought things were almost over? I'm afraid not. You thought I couldn't give the Engineer another even more hammy speech to give? Also wrong. Things have still got a long way to go and now...now the mercenaries stand together as one.
Sorry if you were expecting the BLUs to have been killed off for good or anything or you see Engie's willingness to help them out of character but this is how its always been planned and it made more sense to me than having him kill his rivals for real without getting any answers or help in tackling the real problem out there.