All characters and content of this work belongs to their respective owners, I own nothing other than my Original Character and the plot of this story.
For the rest of the night, the mercs prepared for their mission to locate and defeat Merasmus. Each of them gathered any weapons, tools, and items they planned on bringing with them once they arrived in Denver through Engineer's teleporter, which Engineer quietly tweaked overnight to be capable of allowing the mercs to teleport back to their base after their mission was completed. Sniper even took the van into a nearby town to gas it up for the long haul and gathered snacks and on-the-go cereal containers that they would need to keep him, Engineer, Medic, and Lady Emeraldblade from starving to death; he also made sure to bring a few glass jars for a more…strategic purpose. The Medic meanwhile grabbed his white overcoat and a special backpack that was connected to special gun he planned on using for support.
Early the next morning, Soldier made a morning call to alert the mercenaries and Lady Emeraldblade, who got up immediately, albeit with some confusion thrown in.
"Man up ladies, for today's the day we beat the crap out of Merasmus, when Engineer gives us the call, one by one each of you will be stepping into the teleporter, where you will be transported to Denver post haste. Soldier explained, "Remember your experience from the Gravel War, and use your specialties to your advantage against Merasmus. Do not hold back your guard, and most importantly: DO NOT LOSE!"
After his motivational speech, the mercs went about their day, some of the smarter ones gathered in the media center to await Engineer's call, while others did more practical activities, such as playing video games, or chowing down on food. Meanwhile, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, and Lady Emeraldblade boarded the van and began their long journey north to confront Merasmus. The garage door opened, and Sniper hit the gas, thrusting the old van forward as it sped out of the vicinity of the old Mann Co. Warehouse.
The first several hours of the journey were relatively quiet, save for the occasional conversation the mercs and Emeraldblade would talk about to keep them preoccupied. They would occasionally stop for a brief break at various rest stops along the way.
About halfway there, Lady Emeraldblade decided to ask a more personal question to the other three men in the van.
"So back in the bunker, Soldier seemed to hold a personal grudge about Merasmus, what was that all about?" she asked.
"Oh that," Medic decided to answer, "You see many years earlier, before any of us met during the Gravel War, Soldier and Merasmus use to be roommates back when the wizard moved to the badlands, they didn't get along very well, and it ultimately led to a bitter dispute ever since."
"Geez," Emeraldblade reacted.
"Merasmus is known to be very vengeful on Soldier for ruining his livelihood, so it doesn't surprise me why he sided with Nightmare in the first place." Engineer explained.
"Because he wishes to kill the person he hates most to end his suffering," Emeraldblade realized, "The cursed sword Soul Edge often times tricks those who are often unfortunate enough to want to accomplish something they desire most; Merasmus must've made a deal with Nightmare so that he will be rid of Soldier forever."
"That makes total sense now." Engineer commented.
Eventually, the four of them reached their destination sometime in the afternoon, they navigated through the city streets to find Cheesman Park. Eventually they found the park and exited out of the van to explore the area around it. They first checked the large marble pavilion that stood as the main point of interest, before exploring the park around the area, however despite their search, each of them came up empty-handed.
"Nah!" Medic groaned, "Zer is no sign of Merasmus anywhere."
"I've checked all around the park from the pavilion to the lake and back twice, but I don't see any signs of that bloody wizard." Sniper explained.
Lady Emeraldblade was initially bewildered, but after scanning around again, she found a small marker on a nearby pathway. She took a look at it and began reading its contents.
"Hey guys, take a look at this!" Emeraldblade called over.
The three mercs were confused, but shrugged and decided to see what all the fuss was about. They walked up to Emeraldblade as she began to explain what she found.
"It says here that back in 1893, there used to be an old, disused cemetery that was located directly where the park is today. But the city wanted to build a public park in its place, so they commenced a plan to relocate the bodies of the deceased to other cemeteries in the city, paying $1.90 for each coffin they unearthed. However a greedy entrepreneur wanted to exploit this payoff by substituting normal coffins for child-sized coffins instead to fit less bones, that way they could earn more money by falsely providing more bodies. The thought that someone would desecrate the bones of the dead just to make a greedy profit really disturbs me."
"What else does it say?" Medic asked.
"Since the park's construction, many citizens visiting the park, especially at night have claimed that the park is haunted, possibly by the ghosts of the those whose graves were desecrated during the transformation."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Engineer asked.
"Hmm…maybe the reason why we aren't finding anything out of the ordinary here is because we're searching during the day." Emeraldblade thought about it, "If we wait until nighttime, then perhaps we might find out about Merasmus' whereabouts.
The three mercs looked at each other, smiled, then turned back to Lady Emeraldblade.
"That's actually a good plan mate," Sniper thought, "Maybe we could do a stake out and see if Merasmus shows up."
The four of them returned back to the van, there Engineer called Soldier on the tablet and notified him on the change of plan.
"Soldier listen, Emeraldblade thinks that Merasmus isn't showing up because it's still daytime here, so notify the boys to hold your horses a little longer as we wait for Merasmus to appear."
"Roger that!" Soldier saluted his comrade, before disconnecting the call.
"Alright guys new plan, Medic, you and Sniper keep watch at the front of the van, making sure no one tries to steal it whilst also staying alert for any unusual activity. Engineer, you set up the teleporter so that the other mercenaries can get here quickly as originally planned, I myself will go up to the pavilion and keep watch from there in case Merasmus decides to show up."
"Ja" Medic agreed, as everyone broke off to their roles.
For the next several hours, Lady Emeraldblade watched on top of the pavilion for any signs of activity that appeared to be out the ordinary. As the sun set, Sniper decided to ask her if she wanted anything from a nearby restaurant to eat, to which she agreed whilst staying in the vicinity.
As day turned to night, Emeraldblade was about to fall asleep when suddenly she notice a strange green glow originating from the north side of the park; the glow appeared to match that of what Rosalina told her about before she left for her journey. When she noticed this, she decided to rush back to the van and tell the mercs about it.
"Let's check it out," Engineer replied.
Everyone nodded as Sniper started up the van and traveled to the area Emeraldblade mentioned, upon reaching it, they noticed that the light was emitting from a large figure in the middle of the open field surrounding the loop that encircled it. Emeraldblade as well as the Sniper decided to get out of the van and investigate it. As they approached, they heard a male voice reading a strange incantation in a strange language that was unfamiliar to the female warrior, however when Sniper heard the ritual, he immediately recognized the voice. He took out a pair of binoculars to take a look at who the person was and what they were doing. It only took a few seconds before Sniper realized who the man was.
"Holy dooley!" Sniper exclaimed. "It's Merasmus!"
Emeraldblade was shocked upon hearing this news, "We need to tell Engineer about this, that way he can notify the rest of the mercs back in the bunker to get here ASAP."
Sniper nodded and the two rushed back to the van, there they told Engineer about the situation, and he proceeded to call in the Soldier and gave him the all clear for him and the rest of the mercs to travel to Denver immediately.
Within a few minutes, each of the mercenaries emerged from the other end of the teleporter until all eight of them were present. Soldier then commenced the next plan: to begin a surprise attack on Merasmus to catch him off-guard.
"Forward men, charge!" Soldier commanded.
All nine of the heroes rushed into the field to confront Merasmus but just before they could confront him, an army of undead skeletons emerged from ground below, surrounding the mercenaries.
"Ah hello there Soldier, I was expecting you and your friends to show your faces soon enough." Merasmus remarked smugly.
"MERASMUS! Surrender now wizard or I will off your ghost head and crap down your stupid hat!" Solder angrily demanded.
"Oh, but I can't allow that to happen can I? Not without a fight!" He laughed maniacally, "Cower Fools, Merasmus is here!"
Merasmus then directed the reanimated skeletons to attack the mercenaries and Lady Emeraldblade by pointing his staff into their direction. Seeing that the skeletons were a more direct threat than Merasmus was, the mercs proceeded to attack the skeletons. Their attacks proved to be effective as the skeletons were completely decimated by a volley of bullets, rockets, and other projectiles.
"Ye got anymore wizard?" Demoman mocked the sorcerer.
"Ah Demoman, such a good question to ask," Merasmus replied, "Yes, in fact I do have MANY more!"
Suddenly, Merasmus raised his staff up into the air, conjuring more skeletons from the ground to attack the mercs, once again they responded by obliterating the undead creatures with their weapons. The sorcerer repeated this summoning of skeletons three more times, but each time only allowed the mercenaries to eliminate the skeletons in a matter of seconds.
"It's no use wizard, your tiny baby monsters are no match for our weapons." Heavy laughed.
"Hmm…so it seems," Merasmus thought, "However your cockiness won't save you from…the WHEEL…of FATE!"
Suddenly, Merasmus raised his staff once more into the air, but this time instead of conjuring more reanimated skeletons, he used his magic to cause the ground to shake around everyone.
"What manner of magic is this?" Demoman fearfully asked.
"I don't know, but I don't like the look of this one bit." Lady Emeraldblade replied.
Just then, the Earth below them began to split apart, causing a chasm to form. Almost instantly, a large spinning wheel began to rise up from the chasm, it was the Wheel of Fate, something the mercs were all too familiar with, likewise equally dreaded simultaneously.
"Oh no," Spy reacted, clearly not liking the sudden events that had just unfolded.
"That's right fools," Merasmus chuckled, "Now let's see how you handle…wait for it…MALFESTED MORTALS!"
The sorcerer then pointed his staff in the opposite direction of the mercenaries and shot a strange bolt of magic into the vicinity. Upon hitting the ground, a strange portal began to materialize. Once the portal had stopped forming, a strange individual emerged from it, neither Lady Emeraldblade nor the mercenaries recognized the individual, but discovered that it was no ordinary human, as its skin was quite pale, and strange red, glowing veins ran down its arms and legs, but the most terrifying feature was its eyes, which were blood red with glowing pupils.
Lady Emeraldblade's eyes widened with fear upon realizing what this individual was, it was a "Malfested", a human who had fallen victim to Soul Edge's power, transforming them into a twisted, murderous monster that had only one thing in mind: attacking any living person on sight.
Soon after this individual emerged, another one stepped out of the portal, and then a another, and another; countless entities seemed to pour out from the portal one by one. Finally after what seemed like a whole minute went by, the portal dissipated, and in front of where it was stood several hundred Malfested entities.
"Now servants of the cursed sword, attack the individuals standing more you! And make sure none of them escape…ALIVE!" Merasmus commanded his army.
The Malfested responded by raising numerous weapons into the air and charging towards the mercenaries.
The mercenaries, though frightened by the series of events that had just unfolded, responded by charging at the Malfested.
"It's nine against…well…lots…we're outnumbered, but we won't go without a fight!" Soldier attempted to rally his allies together.
Almost immediately, the mercenaries fired a volley of projectiles at the Malfested, but while it managed to stop the several of the twisted entities in the front, the Malfested continued to charge in their direction, eventually several of the entities managed to come within a few feet of the mercenaries and began attacking them with a variety of melee weapons, such as swords, axes, and spears. The mercs were forced to holster there primary weapons and instead took out their melee weapons to counter the Malfested's offensive.
As Soldier fought his way through the Malfested, he was stopped in his tracks by one individual carrying a giant battle axe, who roared at him with hostility.
"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get maggot!" He responded.
The Malfested attempted to thrust his axe in a downward strike as a means to violently chop the Soldier in half, Soldier responded by taking out his rocket launcher and fired it at the ground as a means of rocket jumping, but before he could perform this evasive maneuver, the Wheel of Fate suddenly activated and spun around, it eventually stop on one particular setting: Zero Gravity. As a result, Soldier's rocket jump caused him to begin endless floating into the air.
"Merasmus, I hate you!" he angrily cursed the evil wizard.
"Oh and I hate you too Soldier." The sorcerer mocked his former roommate nonchalantly.
With no other option in mind, Soldier took out his shotgun and began firing round after round at the Malfested individual, but they barely flinched; it seemed as though they were resistant to their ranged weapons, thus explaining why very few of them fell upon the initial counterattack. He then took out his rocket launcher and fired several rockets completely obliterating them in the process.
"You are a maggot hatched from a mutant maggot egg!" Soldier taunted his fallen adversary, "Now to get down somehow…"
Suddenly, as though on cue, the zero-gravity effect wore off, causing him to plummet several feet and landing face first to the ground.
"Ow, my head." He groaned in pain.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the battlefield, Demoman was fighting off member after member of the Malfested. He found that his grenade launcher was equally as effective as Soldier's rocket launcher, but he decided to turn to a cleverer method of taking out the Malfested quicker: by tricking them into walking over several sticky bombs he had planted onto the ground. The idea seemed to pay off when he retreated away and lured several Malfested over the mines, which sure enough they fell for, Demoman responded by detonating the mines with his stickybomb launcher, causing the twisted individuals to be launched several feet into the air.
"Kablooey!" Demoman shouted.
When they landed, they struggled to get up before falling limb; the force of the explosion had eliminated them.
Another Malfested individual approached Demoman from behind as a means of a sneak attack, but Demoman heard their footsteps and grunts by ducking and pulling out his signature sword: the Eyelander. He blocked strike after strike before headbutting them back with a counterattack, causing them to stagger.
"You're making me very cross." Demoman replied angrily.
The Wheel of Fate activated again, this time landing on a different fate: Super Speed.
At the same time the wheel was spinning, Demoman charged at the Malfested he was attacking, just as he was about to land a powerful strike on them, the wheel's selected fate activated, causing him to lose control of his movement, and overrunning his adversary, before crashing into a nearby tree.
"Oh that smarts!" He reacted painfully.
The Malfested took advantage of Demoman's misfortune by counter charging Demoman. While he was recovering, Demoman turned around and noticed them. And exploited the Super Speed fate by stepping away from them, causing the twisted individual to missed. Demoman then countered once more by charging them while taking full advantage of the Super Speed he had. The Malfested failed to react fast enough and was struck in the chest with Demoman's sword, killing them instantly.
Just as Demoman breathed a sigh of relief, another Malfested lunged at him, but Demoman took out his bottle of scrumpy and with perfect timing struck them on the head as they fell unconscious onto the ground.
"That'll teach the two of you." Demoman laughed.
In another part of the park, Sniper was trying to fight back a Malfested with his signature kukri. He managed to push back the individual before pulling out his SMG and firing at them. However, like Soldier, he found that the bullets dealt very little damage to them. The Malfested managed to absorb much of his bullets and attacked Sniper with their axe, knocking him back aways. He recoiled from the pain he sustained, but regained his composure and took out his signature bow, the Huntsman.
"Now let's see how big that melon on your neck is mate," he taunted the Malfested.
However, while he was aiming, the Wheel of Fate once more spun around before stopping on a rather unique, yet amusing fate. Just as Sniper was about to fire the arrow from his bow, the fate activated and suddenly teleported him and all the other mercenaries, as well as Lady Emeraldblade in front of Merasmus. Suddenly, as though on cue, strange pop music began playing, immediately the nine heroes began uncontrollably dancing the Thriller dance.
"I can't stop dancing, what's going on?" Lady Emeraldblade asked cautiously.
"One of Merasmus' more notorious tricks," Sniper explained, "Forcing us to dance out of our control."
"Darkness falls across the land!" Merasmus recited faux poetically, ""The Dancing hour is close at hand! And though you fight to stay alive, your starts to spasmus. For no mere mortal can resist the magic of MERASMUS!"
"Wait for it men…" Soldier quietly ordered the mercenaries.
Suddenly, the music stopped playing, and everyone regained control of their bodies.
"Now!" Soldier commanded.
The mercenaries then started to fire their weapons at Merasmus with minimal success, that all changed when Sniper managed to launch a well-aimed arrow into Merasmus' head, that show managed to stun the evil sorcerer in place, causing the chaos to abruptly stop.
"Gotcha, ya blasted warlock!" Sniper called out.
"Ah, son of a-" Merasmus cursed this sudden turn of events, before regaining his awareness, "I must applaud you mercenaries for managing to stop my game of "Scream Fortress", but while you celebrate your brief period of victory, I still have a trick up my sleeve!"
Suddenly, the evil wizard raised his staff into the air, before releasing a bright blast of light that blinded all of the mercenaries and Lady Emeraldblade.
"Hold on to your skull hats mortals," Merasmus' voice sounded over the blinding light, "Because it's time for my favorite part of our ill-fated battle: the BUMPER-CAR SLAUGHTERHOUSE!"