Author's Note(OLD): My second crossover story I've been wanting to do. Don't worry about MHAEU, It's still ongoing, I just wanted to start a story I could work on whenever I hit a snag in MHAEU's writing. Gives me time to figure everything out while still practicing my writing. And yea, for those unaware, this Gordon Freeman in the story is from Ross Scott's web series 'Freeman's Mind' I've been watching it for years and I just like that particular version of Gordon Freeman. So If you want an idea of this Gordon's personality, go give the series a watch. Thank you! I hope you all enjoy.
Author's Note (NEW): Howdy folks. For those of you who aren't aware this isn't the first time I've posted this story. I posted the first few chapters of MHALI a year or so ago. And a decent amount of people seemingly enjoyed it. The only issue was that I hadn't really written an outline to the story and I felt as if the story wasn't really going anywhere in some places. I had ideas, just no avenue to get to them without it feeling hamfisted. So I deleted this story and MHAEU and began actually writing a cohesive outline for them. And I made a lot of changes that will become readily apparent as you read through the story. The foundation of the story hasnt changed, its just certain factions and places have been changed to fit the new narrative. IE the Ethereal Vanguard no longer exists. They were mostly created as an excuse to have Gordon enter the MHA world as a villain already. And after that I didn't have much of a plot going forward with them besides maybe a conspiracy involving KAIDA Corporation, who is still in this story. You'll probably notice more as time goes on. But yea. That's the skinny. MHAEU is still in limbo. A9toC9 is currently being worked on as we speak. Not much else to say really. Just wanted to clear the air. Everything from the page has been preserved though, including the comments you all made. Which again, I greatly appreciate, especially the ones that were very constructive. So yea. Hope you all enjoy it! See you next time.
"That always pissed me off about Spiderman. How he got superpowers by being bitten by a radioactive spider. That is SUCH bullshit. For starters, the odds of a random mutation being beneficial is ASTRONOMICAL. But more importantly, even if you did get one. You'd still have radiation poisoning! Comic book writers know about as much about science as I know about...
Well...I'm not a good example since I know almost everything, but...The point is, they could try harder..." ~Gordon Freeman
My Hero Academia: Lambda Impulse
Chapter 1: A Point of Insertion.
Lambda Complex, Black Mesa Research Facility
"I'm not waiting; I'm gonna go! Don't fuck me on this!" Gordon Freeman, 27 year old theoretical physicist and neurotic individual shouted up to a fellow researcher operating the controls to a large teleportation device that was, at least in Gordon's eyes, about to teleport him to Massachusetts. (Or any nearby city in New Mexico, he wasn't picky) Though after activating the machine, dozens of floating, giant headed aliens had begun to pour out from the machine and started a lengthy battle with the beleaguered scientist. Exchanging a series of frantic MP5 fire with the alien's energy blasts, the portal was supposedly ready, and Gordon wasn't going to wait around any longer.
"This is so fucked!" Gordon yelled out to no one in particular, beyond the panicked scientist sitting at the controls nearby, though the machine was so damn loud that he didn't even hear him. Just before he could leap into the glowing ball of orangish-green energy. Freeman could swear he heard someone behind him screaming something about... backrubs? Before the world faded into a green, electrified haze.
Musutafu, Japan
After falling for what felt like hours through a horrible cacophony of distorted spacetime hell. Gordon was finally thrown out of another green haze, letting out a loud gasp now that his temporary hell was over.
"-AAAAGH! Oh! That was horrible!" Gordon's eyes finally adjusted and realized that he had his gloved hands planted against…asphalt. "Wa... Hey...Hey! I think it worked!"
Gordon heaved himself up and took a look at his surroundings. At first glance, he appeared to be standing in the middle of a street, certainly not a busy one, but a street nonetheless. The sun was just barely torching the horizon and the street lamps were just barely beginning to flicker on. "City street, close to sundown…forested, kinda quiet. Well, whatever, I'm not in New Mexico anymore! And... That's all that matters!" Gordon placed his hands on his hips triumphantly and looked around at his surroundings.
"Ehh... Not a whole lot to go on...average neighborhood. Temperate climate... That doesn't really narrow it down too much." Gordon scanned the horizon, alongside the buildings and shrugged his shoulders. "But I mean, hey, what a problem to have, right? I haven't seen a single alien, or been shot, bombed or zapped with electricity since I got here.
"Yea, I'll take this...mystery town any day. Doesn't really look like Massachusetts though. Getting more Rust Belt vibes. Huh." Approaching one of the buildings, Gordon took notice of a sign written clearly in Japanese.
"Aaah... I see. Japan. Well, I suppose I'm not that impressed with that teleporter then since this isn't even close to Massachusetts, but, I mean. It's better than just teleporting me back to the lobby again, so. I'll just have to count my blessings I guess. But yeah, Japan…never been to Japan. "
Gordon squinted his eyes at one of the nearby, backlit signs on one of the buildings and attempted to read it. "Damn it, This is what happens when I procrastinate. I should have learned Japanese incase I did get lost in Japan one of these days. But I kept putting it off and putting it off over and over again and now I can't read a damn thing. I do know Laotian after I got sold into sex slavery for 6 months that one time during that field trip back in MIT, but that's not going to help me here at all! That was the same semester I had that roommate who was obsessed with Japan, he collected those weird game shows on tape. I bet he could read this... Eh, I'll pick up a book or something, a dictionary. I'm sure I can find one at a grocery store somewhere."
Looking down at himself though, Gordon realized he was still wearing the HEV suit, coated in all sorts of blood, dirt, scratches, electric burns and dents from all of the shots he had taken over the past 2 days... and he was still armed to the teeth too. Having taken just about everything he could carry from that Zen scientist back in the Lambda Complex, alongside still having the Long Jump Module on his back.
"Oh... well, shit. I can't go out in public looking like this. And- wait a minute-! I'm still a fugitive! If the cops catch me here they'll just extradite me back to America! Gahhh! Even If I'm outside of Black Mesa, those guys still fucked me! I'm stuck in Japan with no money, no ability to communicate with the locals, with enough firepower to take over a small African nation and I'm still wanted by my government... Fuck me. Oh, and if I'm on Okinawa, I'm double fucked, we like, own that whole island!" Gordon's ranting was interrupted by a loud growling emanating from his stomach. Something he hadn't really been thinking about was the fact that he hadn't eaten since... Well, two days ago from a bag of stale Doritos he bought from a vending machine. Alongside a cup of coffee. And since that dose of morphine, not to mention all of the adrenaline from the last two days, was wearing out, he was starting to realize he was becoming mighty hungry. And tired...
"Christ, I'm fucking exhausted... You know what? I'll figure this shit out later. I just need a place to sleep... and to find dinner." Gordon began to make his way down the street, some locals having heard his ranting were beginning to glance out of their windows to see an armed man walking down the road in a suit of bright orange armor.
"Actually, this place reminds me of another one of my old roommates back at MIT. He was one of those...new age botanists, I think? He would always clog up our room with a bunch of genetically modified plants. He would even speak to them sometimes. It was super weird, but I mean. The dude knew a lot of pharmacists and even hooked me up with some good shit too, so he wasn't that bad. God, I could use a decent trip right about now, the morphine didn't cut and I couldn't really enjoy it, what with the constant threats to my life. I don't speak Japanese but... I mean, I'm sure the SPAS-12 could make a fantastic argument for me. I'll let him do most of the talking." Approaching the large building, Gordon realized that it was some kind of old supply depot surrounded by smaller buildings all within a fenced off complex... But that wasn't what alarmed him.
It was the obvious military presence inside it. Instantly, he dashed into cover. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Seriously? I just fucking got here and these guys are already looking for me? Wait, wait... I know what happened. The soldiers must have shook down that guy in the teleportation room and forced him to send them where I was going. I guess I wouldn't put it past my coworkers to rat me out to the Feds either, I guess I'd do the same If I was in their position. But I'm not." Oddly enough, the soldiers nearby the building looked nothing like the HECU Marines back at Black Mesa. They looked more like hired guns rather than a professional army. Though Gordon was so exhausted that it really never crossed his mind.
Two guards stood in front of the main gates leading into the complex, both wielding MP5s. Though none seemed interested in keeping watch in the slightest. Off in the distance, the last thing both guards could hear was "Punch buggy." before a 40mm grenade impacted between them and ripped them both apart with shrapnel. Gordon leapt from behind cover and reloaded another 40mm round into the underslung grenade launcher. "No punch backs!" He said to the two guard's dead bodies. Before a hail of gunfire ripped out from the now alerted soldiers within the complex. "I said no punch backs! You guys can't play by the rules!"
Gordon dashed past the gates and opened fire on the soldiers standing in the center courtyard. Nailing one with a headshot and hitting another's chest plate, knocking them down. "I'm telling the teacher!" Gordon shouted from behind a concrete barricade. "You're all getting detention!" One of the guards, meanwhile, dashed around the corner, shouting as he attempted to stab Gordon with a knife. The knife harmlessly bounced off of Gordon's armor. And for his troubles, the man was blown in half by a series of SPAS-12 shots. "Hyah Hyah Yaaah!" Gordon shouted, panicking as he backed up, firing shot after shot into the man.
"You guys are being super immature! I expected better out of you!" Now surrounded by a dozen or so soldiers, Gordon bolted for cover behind a shipping container. Leaning out and firing his MP5, only to hear a click. "I'm out!" Gordon frantically removed the Tau Cannon from his back and charged it up. Firing a particle beam that ripped one of the soldier's heads off and damn near killed the man standing behind him too.
"Woah-ho! Feel the sting of defense department spending!" Gordon's moment of triumph was stunted by a loud bang, and a bullet whizzing past his head, coming from an emplaced, .50 cal turret sitting above in a window in a nearby building. "Oooh my God, that was so close to my head. You could've killed me!" Gordon shouted at the woman operating the turret. Unloading a few rounds of the Tau Cannon towards her. "How could you be so inconsiderate!?" The woman cringed at the particle beams ricocheting off of the metal shielding protecting her. "Are you suppressed yet? No? Lemme try again!" More shots rang off of the shielding, causing the soldier to lose her nerve and bolt off of the turret, only to barely escape from being hit by another 40mm grenade. Having not repelled the intruder, some of the soldiers began to fall back towards the main building as Gordon chased them.
Now the minor disturbance of Gordon's appearance to the civilian populace nearby had turned into a major problem with the ongoing firefight. Thankfully, it seemed as if this depot wasn't nestled close to any living complexes. Though the soldiers within were hesitant to fire on Gordon due to the risk of civilians getting hurt.
"Hey! Where are you all going? I didn't hear the bell, class hasn't started yet!" Gordon holstered the Tau Cannon and reloaded the MP5, giving the bolt a nice smack into place before leaning out of cover and taking one of the fleeing soldiers out with a shot to the back.
"Tag!" Some of the soldiers meanwhile fled into cover and started attempting to suppress Gordon to allow their comrades to escape. "Yayaya!" Gordon shouted in gibberish as he fled the oncoming gunfire, leaping and flailing, before he ducked into a nearby building, taking a few shots that harmlessly ricocheted off of the HEV suit's thick armor in the process.
"Christ! I've been killing you bastards since yesterday and It feels like there's even more of you now! What are they just sending reservists now?! Do these guys get a pay raise If they kill me or something? How much damage have I single handedly done to the United States Armed Forces?" Gordon peaked out a nearby window, only for a bullet to rip through the window, nearly sending shattered glass into his face.
"Agh! Y'know what? Fine! If you fucksticks want your raises so badly. Then come earn it then!" Gordon unfurled his .357 magnum and kicked the door of the building open, attempting to quickdraw one of the many soldiers having taken up a post across the way, "Draw!" but missed, "Shit!" Gordon nearly stumbled running to the left and taking cover behind a cargo truck. "Okay, shut up! That would've looked so badass if it worked!" Several bullets pinged off of the metal chassis, causing Gordon to cringe a bit. "You guys like baseball, right?" Gordon produced a grenade and pulled the pin. Quickly leaning back around the side of the truck, he tossed the grenade as hard as he could towards the soldiers. "Fast ball!" He shouted, the grenade landed near one of the soldiers with a loud CLANK.
"Is that a grena- grenade!" The soldier shouted and began to fall back into the building. Though the others foolishly pushed out into the open to avoid the explosion. Rounding the truck, one opened fire on Gordon, managing to strike him several times. Only to get cut down by a SPAS-12 blast. "Agh! That's a strike! Don't make me bench you!" Gordon unloaded more 12 gauge shots at the two surviving soldiers now hiding behind a set of concrete barriers nearby. "You're up to bat! Knuckle ball!" Gordon unleashed a 40mm grenade at the duo of soldiers. One fled and managed to survive the ensuing explosion that gibbed his teammate. "You're out! Get off the field!" Gordon pursued the fleeing soldier, unloading a salvo of bullets from his MP5, though the soldier managed to flee into the main building too. Leaving Gordon alone, standing in the carnage of dead bodies littering the main courtyard, alongside a choking cloud of smoke from all of the gunfire. In the distance, he could hear police sirens heading towards the depot.
"Ballgame." Gordon reloaded his MP5 and inspected his gory handiwork. "Okay, so. I saw those guys running into that building there-" Gordon holstered the MP5 and began to reload the SPAS-12, glancing towards the main building the soldiers fled into. "-So the question of the hour is should I go after them? Or should I just pretend they don't exist and move on with my life. I could go both ways, no way of telling whether or not there's already another group of them waiting for me down the road. Maybe I should try and conserve the ammo…No, I'd better go looking for them. Loose ends in my situation usually ends in a bullet in my back. Now if this were the Old West, they'd be labeled as cowards for the rest of their life. True, the cowboys had honor, but tactically speaking, shooting someone in the back is probably the strategically correct option" Gordon rounded the complex, seeing a series of offices and warehouses nearby making up the greater portion of the fenced in, industrial area, he could see parked military vehicles everywhere, all sporting a gray paint job, with a logo running along the side of the vehicle's chassis featuring a thin, black rectangle with three smaller notches at the end colored in red, green and blue respectively. Within the black rectangle were blocky, minimalistic letters 'KAIDA'. Scattered around were boxes of what he assumed to be ammo or more guns. Oddly enough, there were also vials sitting around on or within metal boxes, all filled to the brim with some kind of liquid, of which Gordon couldnt nor really felt like identifying.
"Wow…they set up a command here FAST huh. It's got vehicles…ammo…wait a second." Gordon paused mid-stride as a particular thought crossed his mind. His face scrunched in confusion…then turned to searing anger.
"Oh those fucking backstabbing ASSHOLES!" Gordon kicked the asphalt, sending discarded rocks flying into the air. "Those fucking scientists set me up! This wasn't random! They cut a deal with the military to send me right into this stupid trap in exchange for their own damn lives! That's the only way they'd even have a base set up this fast! Damnit! The only thing that's missing was that they didnt put a BOW on my head. And they had me too! All wrapped up like its fucking Christmas Eve! I bought into it, hook line and sinker! I'm getting sick of trusting people and then they just backstab me! I'm about to bring back that whole 'shoot first' policy I had before. I'm not letting anyone else get one over on me." Looking down the road, he saw nothing but emptiness, more ammo crates and more assorted military objects that he didn't know the names of.
"No one else? I guess that does mean everyone ran. Okay, I've gotta just take the front door, there's no getting around it." Gordon began to round back around the concrete complex towards the front door, he began to reload his weapons, picking up some of the soldier's magazines on the way over, particularly for the MP5.
"Alright..." Gordon's tone sounded like a teenager being forced to do chores. "Time to play Operation Nimrod..." Gordon approached the front door, which looked to be made of metal, but was so heavily rusted it seemed like a swift kick would be enough to knock it down. Gordon cracked his knuckles before attempting to kick it in with his left foot. Which accomplished nothing besides sending a shooting pain up his leg. "Aghhh! Why did I do that?"
Gordon hunched over, even with traces of morphine and adrenaline running through his system, that still hurt like Hell. "Fine, I'll do It the old fashioned way." Gordon approached the door and stuck a satchel charge against it, before backing away to a safe distance and leaping behind one of the concrete barriers. "Fire in the hole..." Gordon detonated the charge, sending the metal doors flying into the complex.
"Wow, that actually worked this time? I suppose the doors here in Japan aren't built like fucking nuclear bunkers like back at Black Mesa. Welp, once more unto the... rusted breach, I suppose..." Gordon leapt over the barricade and dashed into the building, flashing his MP5 in all directions once he entered the lobby. "Surprise! Who's ready... to... party?" Gordon paused whenever he finally saw, through the smoke, that the building was empty.
"Alright... What the fuck? I swear I saw some of those guys run in here earlier. I thought they'd have like... I dunno, ten guys set up here or something. It could have been like the end of Scarface. Except I'm the one doing the raiding. And I'm not Bolivian... And... I'm not on cocaine either... I mean, not that I'd say no to some, just, not right now. " The main lobby seemed to be completely gutted and replaced with various military emplacements like sandbags, radios, even the skeleton of what was once a gun nest. It resembled Black Mesa to an almost uncomfortable degree.
"Really? No one's here? Okay. Either I'm really sleep deprived or those guys must have some kind of an escape route under the floor or something. I rounded the entire building and I didn't see jackshit!" Gordon began to search the lobby, rounding every corner with his SPAS-12 raised. "Actually, that was a pretty sore subject between me and my landlord back in my old apartment. I dug out an escape tunnel underneath the toilet in case I needed It for... Well, I guess anything. Do you really need any kind of justification for an escape tunnel in your house? If you're in a situation where you have immediate need of an escape tunnel, then you're screwed if you don't already have one. It's too late! That's what I tried to explain to him, but he wouldn't listen."
Gordon made his way up a flight of stairs connecting the lobby to the second floor. He glanced up at the broken skylight above that once housed a large set of windows. Reaching the top of the stairs, Gordon took one look around at the balcony overlooking the main lobby. Empty, aside from some sandbags placed around. "Christ. I apologize for breaking into your magician convention guys! You can come out now! I am thoroughly astonished!" Gordon's shouting echoed off of the empty lobby and lingered for a few moments.
ACHOO!
[Joel Nielsen, Forget About Freeman]
Gordon had barely any time to turn around, before from all sides, gunfire erupted seemingly out of thin air. Shouting out a set of expletives, the HEV clad scientist hauled ass towards any kind of cover he could find, which came in the form of a concrete pillar off to his left. Bullets peppered the pillar, leaving deep pock marks in its surface and sending concrete dust flying everywhere.
"What the fuck?! Alright! I said I didn't mean to interrupt your sermon! You don't have to jump out of the fucking 4th dimension to scold me!" Gordon leaned out and fired in a random direction but had no time to actually see whether or not his shots hit. He was pinned down. "Jesus Christ, Jesus Rollerblading Christ! Fuckin' suppress me Cap'n!" Gordon leaned out and fired a 40mm grenade off in a random direction. Suddenly, the air started to shimmer as the figures of around 6 soldiers shifted into view, all of them fleeing from the grenade.
"Oh! So you were all invisible!? Fine! If you really don't want people to see your corpses, then fine by me!" Gordon pulled the pin on another grenade and hucked it out, causing another group of invisible soldiers to expose themselves. As they ran from the live explosive, Gordon leaned out and dropped 3 of them with a few well placed shots from the MP5. "Y'know, being invisible isn't exactly all that it's cracked up to be!" Gordon ran towards one of the soldiers blinking in and out of invisibility and dropped them with a shotgun blast, their body was thrown over the edge of the balcony and landed on the concrete floor below. "Kevin Bacon had to wear sunglasses because while he was invisible, so were his eyelids. So you really can't sleep all that well!"
Laying behind a set of sandbags, Gordon unloaded a clip from his Glock 17 towards some of the soldiers who were now advancing from the other end of the balcony. "-And even then, you'd still have to walk around completely naked to be completely invisible! So if you get shot once, you're done for!" During his ranting, Gordon failed to notice an outline appear on the wall behind him. Just before the figure could make a move on him though, Gordon got a feeling like something was watching him. He spun on his heel, "Wait... wha-? Shit!" Gordon attempted to open fire on the ghost. But the figure delivered a devastating right hook that sent the now dazed scientist over the railing.
Gordon tumbled down, flailing helplessly before landing flat on the concrete, right onto his shoulder, the wind knocked out of him. On top of that, it felt like he had been hit by a truck, even in spite of the fact the HEV suit had taken most of the impact for him. Still dazed and breathless, Gordon could barely make out the half invisible figure leap down from the balcony, landing hard on the concrete. "Why... Why would they do that...? That's... so bad on your knees..." The figure finally began to come into view. It was a female soldier wearing mostly black and gray military clothes. It sort of reminded Gordon of the ninjas he had fought before. Was she a ninja? Was this revenge for killing her clan?
"Keep the guns on him..." The woman ordered in Japanese to her soldiers, though even with that there was still a distinct Southern twang to her voice. Before approaching Freeman, who was still too busy trying to recover from his head bouncing off the concrete floor to even attempt to fight back. "So." She began, kicking the SPAS-12 away from Gordon's grasp, before stepping on his chest. "Who sent you?" The Ninja asked in clear English.
"I-I... what?" Gordon shook his head. The woman tilted her head. Scanning Gordon's appearance. "That is some serious body armor you're carrying there, amigo." She commented, rapping her gloved knuckle against his chest. "You' a part of the League of Villains?"
"League of Villains? What are we, back in recess or something? What's next, Is she going to ask me If I know of Captain Malicious, commander of Team Nasty?" Gordon's lack of a response puzzled the mystery woman. "Man of few words, aren't ya? I suppose I can respect that. Still, you coming up in here and attacking us. Killin' my boys for no good reason. That's a big wrap sheet you got already and we just met, son." Gordon tensed up, thinking about drawing and attempting to kill her, but realized that he was completely surrounded again and he wasn't really willing to push his luck again. "The hell kind of Quirk is that you've got anyways? I was watching the footage from our bird when you first rolled in here. I'd say I'm impressed if I was as batshit insane as you are."
"Quirk? Christ, does she think I'm retarded or something? What does that have to do with killing someone? It was... well, actually I guess It was pretty hard now that I think about it."
The lady shook her head, again, with Gordon's lack of a response. "Ugh. Did I knock your brain out of place or something? All I'm asking Is a- Y'know what, forget this. Tie him up and get him onto the transport. We got Pros coming from the city, we need to wrap this shit up pronto gents.. Tell the Director the exchange is still on, just some criminal psycho fucked with the wrong mercs." Unable to stand, Gordon merely could watch as one of the woman's goons approached and began to slap a pair of handcuffs onto him. All that time and bloodshed at Black Mesa, only for it to end with him getting sent to jail anyways! Gordon struggled against the soldier's grip, managing to grip onto the activation switch in his palm for the Long Jump Module. Upon activating the LJM, a burst of monopropellant exploded out and launched Gordon forwards, sending the soldier that was trying to handcuff him flipping head over heels. In an impressive act of agility, Gordon managed to flip himself over onto his feet, even he stared at himself in amazement.
"Woah…uh…" Gordon opened fire once more on the soldiers with the MP5, causing them, alongside the 'Ninja' to scatter back into cover. Gordon took the time to dash through the lobby and into a nearby, empty hallway. He hastily slammed the double doors behind him and locked them.
"Okay, plan. Need a plan right now. Or we die. That's good enough motivation." Gordon's face lit up and he grabbed one of the tripwires off of his belt and stuck it right at the base of the door, it activated with a quiet HUM, before a blue laser shot out of the tripwire's main optics and extended across the doorway. "Hmm…Y'know what. Let's be liberal about this" Gordon then placed a second tripwire above the first, the laser now at around knee height, but still relatively hidden in the heat of combat. "Perfect. Man. I'm gonna feel like an idiot if they don't come down this way. I bet you anything one of those people who like to make tapes of themselves exploring abandoned buildings is gonna wind up on the receiving end of that trap one of these days. It'd make a pretty kickass movie though, that's all the Blair Witch Project really needed was explosive mines. So…what to do now…what to d-" Just then, the nearby window exploded as a bullet whizzed right past Gordon's head and slammed into the concrete wall nearby. The shock, alongside the broken glass flying into his face caused the combat weary scientist to stumble backwards with a loud, high pitched scream.
"Wahh! What the fuck?!" Gordon broke into a sprint down the hallway, gibbering to himself and keeping his head low. He reached the end of the hallway where there was a divot of concrete that provided cover from the windows, he leaned himself against the gray concrete and began to pant. "Oh my god…Ohhhh…Mother Hen…Okay…Not standing near windows, that's going in the vault. Rookie mistake…" Gordon's voice sounded like he was choking back vomit, though even if he wanted to, there really wasn't much he could even puke up due to his unwilling crash diet he'd been going through for the past 3 days.
"Snipers…Why did It have to be SNIPERS?!" Gordon's voice changed from broken to enraged as he slammed his fist against the concrete behind him. "Okay…This is stupid, This is very stupid" Gordon's fingers wiggled around as he tried to psyche himself up for what he was about to do next, which was lean his head out from his hiding spot to try and spot the sniper as fast as he could. Which was reciprocated as another bullet ripping through the glass and nearly taking his head off. Gordon whimpered and leaned back into cover, his heart racing.
"Nyehh. Okay…I think I saw him. I think I saw him, just…need to go out one more time…" Gordon bit his lips, before giving a few rapid inhales and exhales before leaning out from cover once again. This time, another shot rang out, and sure enough, Gordon could see the bastard sitting in a building across the way. Gordon quickly aimed the MP5 in his direction and fired a 40mm off into the window. The explosion, the building itself shook, but very little damage remained. Silence. Waiting a few, agonizing seconds, Gordon glanced back out and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh..It's over. We got him…" Gordon leaned back against the concrete wall and stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath, though with the dust in the air, it was becoming a hassle. His moment of victory was interrupted, however, when the sound of a loud engine could be heard outside. Gordon's face scrunched up as he grit his teeth, slamming his fist against the wall again. "Oh come ON!"
Gordon peeked out from his hiding spot and through the dirty, fogged up windows, he could see what looked to be some kind of armored vehicle rolling down the road on treads, what were they called again? An IFV? A Type 89 IFV to be exact, though once again, emblazoned with the KAIDA logo on its hull. The semantics were not what bothered him, it was the 35mm cannon currently scanning the alleyway for him. Alongside the vehicle were more of the soldiers, all moving in formation and searching for him as well, the odd man out of the group being what looked to be 'robotic soldiers' of the bipedal kind wielding pistols and providing the organic mercs cover.
"God…is there really no end to it. I thought that force in the courtyard was all they had. But now they've got another tank after me? And fucking…killbots?!" Gordon glanced back out again, his hands now trembling at his…less than advantageous position. The IFV slowed to a stop and the gunner, having received Gordon's last reported location, turned to scan the hallway, sure enough, he could faintly see Gordon's arm poking out on thermals. After receiving the go ahead from the commander. The gunner unloaded a salvo of 35mm shots Gordon's way. Shredding what was left of the window and leaving pockmarks in the concrete nearby Gordon, sending concrete dust flying into the air alongside dangerous amounts of shrapnel. All Gordon could really do was just scream out in terror and hug the wall for protection.
"AHHHHH! AHHHH! FUCK! FUCK! STOP! STOP IT!" Gordon cried out, hugging himself and curling against his relatively safe spot. The IFV commander, hearing Gordon's cries in the building, emerged from the hatch.
"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!" The commander's tone was stern. Unfortunately for the both of them, he had given his order in Japanese. And Gordon had no clue as to what the man was saying.
"YOU GUYS ARE BEING ASSHOLES! GODDAMNIT I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!"
Running off of instinct, Gordon ran for the nearby door and flung it seeing the hostile scientist begin to move again, the commander dove back down into the IFV and another salvo was unloaded into the building. Though Gordon had moved away from the impact zone, the sound and the associated rumblings made him begin to almost break down into tears as he ascended a flight of rusty stairs.
"Oh my god, Oh my god! OH MY GOD! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
Entering a bulkhead at the top of the stairs. Gordon paused, leaning over and grabbing his knees, panting and trembling as he tried to calm himself breaths ragged and almost producing a sort of whimpering sound.
"Holy…Holy shit…That is so terrifying! Okay…we can get through this. I have a height advantage…I might be able to just use the rocket launcher and hit them from here. If it worked for the Chechens, then It'll work for me…Or they'll just shred me and call it a day. I guess there are worse ways to go."
Gordon unfurled the rocket launcher from his back and took up a position at the door leading to the roof. He carefully inched the door open, though saw very little, mostly due to the low lighting with the sun now basically having set.
"God fucking…damnit…Why did they have to fight me now? Black Mesa had better lighting than this shit. I bet If I had a helmet, I wouldn't have to worry about this crap either. There were probably night vision goggles built into them! It had a fucking tracking device and a 'MUNITIONS COUNTER' so why not NVGs?!"
Gordon bashed the door open and hastily sprinted onto the roof, mostly surrounded by vents and AC units, he carefully glanced over the edge down to see the IFV still sitting there, searching for him among the hallway which was now frankly peppered with craters from the autocannon. Taking up aim from the edge of the roof, Gordon was just about to pull the trigger when shots began to crack past him from the other building where that sniper was earlier. A squad of soldiers had noticed Gordon exit and began to open fire towards him accordingly.
"For fuck's sake I cant get anything done with you assholes anymore! Atleast the ones in New Mexico let me move around and actually fucking strategize! You guys are oppressive! I don't have to stand for this!" Gordon hid behind the walls of the bulkhead, hearing the bullets ping off of the ground and walls nearby.
"Pinned down…Pinned down! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE PINNED DOWN?!" Gordon frantically reloaded his MP5 and glanced around the corner, just barely able to make out the silhouettes of the soldiers across the way. He couldn't really tell how many there were, just that there were far more than he was comfortable with.
A loud, whooshing sound alerted Gordon to the skies and a aircraft, shaped oddly enough like the Osprey's he had fought back at Black Mesa, though this one seemed to be powered by jets rather than propellers, and of course, lit up on the side of the aircraft's main body was the KAIDA logo. The aircraft rotated its thrusters to a VTOL position and it began to hover just over the roof, Gordon having to cover his face from the hot winds now blowing down on him.
"Oh good! More participants! I wasn't pinned down enough! I'm running out of fucking options here! You guys are like every picky roommate I've had to board with! 'No Gordon! I don't want it your way, I want it MY WAY! MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY!'"
Leaping from the cabin of the aircraft down onto the roof was another robot sporting dark blue armor, and a white head that resembled that of a riot officer's helmet. And like a riot officer, the robot was wielding an equally blue riot shield in one hand and an SMG in the other. Upon spotting Gordon, the machine hummed to life and raised its shield.
"ORDER 42. PURGING BANDIT."
The machine said in a heavily vocoded, monotonous tone. And with that, the machine opened fire, dashing forwards at an impressive speed for a machine its size, though this was mostly attributed to jet boosters located on its back and legs.
"Yea?! Well Order 43, System Delete!"
Firing off a series of shots from the SPAS-12, Gordon remained at the bulkhead to the best of his abilities while still trying to engage the Riot Guard. Most of the shot pinged off of the Riot Guard's bulky shield, though it still managed to stagger the droid a bit. It responded with a burst from its SMG. Gordon quickly dashed back around a corner, though a shot managed to ping off of the HEV suit's collar.
"Gah! Oh! That was SO close to my head! That was a good shot even with the shield! Why are the robots in Japan so much more fucking hardcore!?"
Gordon leaned over the corner and dumped the rest of the tube, once again, striking the Riot Guard's shield, creating a series of pock marks in the blue polymer though.
"Hit the plate! Damnit! The robots at Black Mesa were bulky, looked like spiders and all they could do was carry boxes…or shoot at me! But those were mounted to the floor or the ceiling! Not deployed from dropships like Starship Troopers or something!"
Frantically, Gordon began to load shells back into the SPAS-12 while constantly checking to see the Riot Guard's progress. He managed to get around 2 shells loaded before the machine was right on top of him.
"OH MY GOD! BACK OFF! I HAVE RIGHTS AS A CITIZEN! YOU CANT-"
Before Gordon could finish his frantic sentence, the Riot Guard reared back his shield and bashed the panicking scientist across the face. Sending him tumbling to the concrete. The Riot Guard stomped over to likely finish Gordon off, and with what energy he had after that strike to the head, Gordon grabbed the MP5 and unloaded a salvo of bullets against the Riot Guard, who promptly raised his shield, though was forced backwards a bit from a full magazine being dumped into his shield.
"Cough Fuck…Oh god I think my jaw's broken…Agh…Get up, Get up!"
Gordon's internal encouragement accompanied him pulling himself off the ground as fast as he could and taking aim at the Riot Guard once more. This time though, firing off a 40mm grenade right at the droid's torso. Though his supposed victory was dashed when the Riot Guard, with an ungodly amount of precision, managed to rear his shield back and actually bat the round clean out of the air and away from itself, the round striking the floor nearby and detonating, but not enough to harm the Riot Guard. There was a loud CLANK sound nearby as a black hook with a cable attached to it struck the concrete and hooked onto one of the nearby ledges. The soldiers on the nearby building had fired a zip-line into Gordon's building and were preparing to zip over and provide assistance to the Riot Guard. Though it seemed as if it needed very little help.
"Grenade launcher didn't work! It's getting closer! Pirates! Pirates are trying to board too! Abandon ship!" Gordon frantically removed the Tau Canon and charged up a shot, the Riot Guard once again put up its defenses, only for a particle round to rip straight through its shield…and through its torso. Gordon, upon realizing that that actually worked, began to unload shot after shot into the Riot Guard, tearing it to shreds, leaving it as nothing more than a pile of scrap metal, oil and a fallen SMG on the ground. Gordon had very little time to sigh in relief.
"Oh how I love the Department of Defense, praise be unto thee, Harry S. Truman for thou have-"
Gordon's act of semi-faux prayer was interrupted when a series of shots struck the concrete nearby him, causing him to yelp out in fear and dive for cover once more. Had the soldiers zipped over here already?! Looking up into the sky, though, he found his answer. That damned dropship was circling overhead, he could see it in the sky. And just as soon as he spotted it, the dropship unloaded another quick salvo of rounds.
"Aagahggha! Stop that! That doesn't stop being terrifying! It just gets worse! I've already fulfilled my quota today for high caliber rounds fired my way!"
Glancing back out at the ship, Gordon quickly grabbed the RPG from the ground, and taking aim, he fired a rocket that streaked upwards towards the aircraft, the soldiers now zipping in managing to witness the missile launch. The dropship quickly began to dump flares and attempted to outmaneuver the , the turn it attempted to pull allowed the missile to strike one of its two engines. Turning over upside down, the ship quickly lost altitude and began to plummet downwards, streaking off in a fireball to the ground nearby. Some of the first responders approaching the scene managed to have a glimpse of the aircraft's destruction firsthand.
Upon witnessing the dropship being shot down overhead, alongside the Riot Guard being promptly dispatched, one of the commanders for the assaulting forces began to shout at his team as they moved into positions on the roof.
"We need to fall back! He's got heavy arms. Fall back to the gates and wait for the Heroes to arrive! Gatecrasher 1, this is Gator Actual! OPFOR has AT capabilities fall back! We're in over our heads here!"
The soldiers began to fall back across the roof once more. Though some began laying down fire at Gordon's position to allow themselves an escape route.
"Oh so NOW you don't want to fight huh? The laser gun and fusillade of bullets didn't scare you but one rocket launcher does?! You guys are losing your edge!" Gordon leaned out from his cover and fired upon the fleeing soldiers, managing to catch at least ONE in the process. Though their teammates quickly dragged them to safety. Before Gordon could pepper the soldiers with more shots, the edge of the roof once again exploded into dust as the IFV from earlier had backed off to get a better shot at Gordon and was now suppressing him to allow the infantry to flee under more favorable conditions.
"Agh! Son of a bitch! Of course! I would NEVER forget about you! I'm probably going to have nightmares about the last 30 minutes for the rest of my fucking life actually! So thanks for that!"
Gordon reloaded the rocket launcher, and waited for the shots to stop. Once there was a sufficient amount of silence. From the IFV of course, there was still a wall of bullets raining down around him from the fleeing mercs nearby. Gordon exhaled rapidly, psyching himself up for yet another likely poorly thought out peeking maneuver. Bolting upwards and taking aim, he fired down at the IFV. Quickly, the lightly armored vehicle began to reverse to attempt to dodge the rocket. It managed to strike the front of the vehicle's top half and instantly the vehicle burst into flames, it rolled to a complete stop and Gordon could hear the engine seizing from the rooftop.
"There! I gave you your piece of the attention cake! Now enjoy it and leave me alone!"
—-
At the gate leading into the supply depot, police vehicles had already arrived at the scene with officers rushing out of their vehicles to establish a perimeter around the rapidly growing warzone that had just appeared in the middle of the city. Alongside that, ensuring that no civilians were still in the area. A pair of firetrucks raced past the blockade towards the crash site of the dropship which was easily identifiable by the growing smoke cloud on the wooded horizon. An armored vehicle screeched to a halt just outside of the gate and several officers carrying rifles and tactical gear poured out of the back of the vehicle, alongside them was a man standing at around 8'2 and wearing black pants and a yellow hoodie with the letters 'F' and 'G' emblazoned across the front. His structure was odd, compared to the rest of the relatively regular looking people around him. He was egg shaped. The odd looking man quickly rushed over to the front of the blockade to where an officer was coordinating everything. Upon seeing the man's arrival, the officer's attitude seemed to shift from fear to some variety of relief.
"Fatgum. Wish we could have met under better circumstances, bud. Hawks is already providing cover for some of the guys in there."
"What's the situation? Are there any civilians trapped there? Do we still know where the villain is?"
Fatgum glanced into the depot, though could see very little besides some sporadic lights here and there. He could still hear the gunfire from the roof.
"Director Yamaguchi is alongside other members of the Commission. Where they are we aren't sure, KAIDA has assets in the area keeping this guy pinned down we don't-"
The officer's explanation was interrupted when a loud whooshing sound came from the nearby rooftop, followed by another explosion on the ground. Without missing a beat, Fatgum rushed past the gates and approached the team stationed in the courtyard. There were still bodies scattered in the courtyard, though now being hastily covered up with blankets, unfortunately, some bodies were nothing more than just parts scattered about in pools of blood. Fatgum could feel his lunch coming up, but he promptly swallowed it down and continued on despite the horrors unfolding before him. He approached a female mercenary, in fact, it was the 'Ninja' who had attempted to arrest Gordon earlier. She was standing over a body covered in a blanket. With her hand on its chest. Noticing Fatgum approaching, she promptly stood and gave a quick salute. Though had her head turned at an odd angle away from Fatgum.
"Fatgum…good to see you could…cough…Good to see you…" Her voice was quavering, Fatgum noticed wet streaks running down the woman's face. "He's on the roof.T-Theres a line you can take up near…nearby…" Nodding without much of another word, besides a 'thanks' Fatgum moved promptly towards the nearby zipline up towards the roof.
—-
Gordon, despite having dispatched the IFV, was still pinned down by the fleeing soldiers across the roof. Taking a cursory glance out from cover, and nearly having his head taken off. Gordon pursed his lips and slammed his fist against the wall.
"Surely they're going to run out of bullets right? They're trying to run away so maybe I should just let them? Maybe they're going to leave and let me have this…random military outpost all to myself. That would be great if I knew they were actually going to let me have it…rather than just call down artillery fire or an airstrike onto me once they're out of the area. It's something I would …"
Hearing a noise below, Gordon glanced back over the roof towards the IFV to see something vaguely red land on the burning chassis and begin to pull the crewmembers out to safety.
"Wow, they actually survived that? I figured a rocket like that would have just shredded the crewmembers on impact. It happened to the ones I fought earlier. So either the tanks they make in Japan, like their robots, are just better than American tanks. Like we're not already living in Snow Crash or Cyberpunk Red…or these rockets are just dummy rounds and that scientist with Aspergers didn't know the difference and the fact that the tank is on fire is just a lucky coincidence."
Gordon took aim at the splotch of red down below. Though mostly just trying to identify what the hell it even was.
"Drop your weapon and surrender now! Villain!"
Fatgum had leapt onto the roof and shouted towards Gordon, whom he could see was aiming down at Hawks. Even attempting to target someone rescuing the wounded. Who was this psychopath?!
Gordon turned once he heard someone shouting at him in Japanese. Upon seeing Fatgum, he was taken aback for a second, performing a double take.
"Wait what? Who the fuck is this? What's with the costume? Why does he look like one of those banana ice pops you get at the store? Did he say something to me? Goddamnit, I need sleep…or drugs. Or both really."
Gordon's silence and puzzled look didnt at all sway Fatgum into dropping his guard. Though he figured that Gordon was so wired up from the fighting…or psychosis, that he had not caught what he just said.
"You've hurt a lot of people today. A lot of innocent people. Drop the gun and step over here slowly! This is your final warning! You're surrounded. It's time to give up!"
Gordon raised an eyebrow and lowered the MP5.
"I don't understand what you're saying! You're in a warzone. Get out of here! There are soldiers all over the place and If they were burying scientists and guards. They'll probably smoke some fat kid too!"
Gordon once again attempted to turn his attention to the IFV…only to hear Fatgum shout from across the rooftop once more…and Gordon felt about the worst pain of his life and had been thrown several feet backwards due to Fatgum delivering a nasty haymaker against the scientist's already abused face. Shouting obscenities, Gordon raised his MP5 up and unloaded a burst at Fatgum, only for the bullets to strike his torso and just fall to the ground.
"What the fuck?! You're wearing kevlar too?! You're part of the military! You assholes! You fucking dickheads are dressing up as civilians now?! What's happening?! Nothing makes sense today!"
The sound of wings flapping alerted Gordon to turn around, but he quickly found himself lying face down on the roof instead after receiving a hard impact to his ribs, knocking the wind out of him yet again. The man in question pinning him down was Keigo Takami, or 'Hawks' as he was popularly known. He held Gordon against the roof, knocking his MP5 out of his hands and wrapping his arms behind his back, though finding it a bit hard due to the Long Jump Module getting in the way. Gordon, being absolutely hungry, sleep deprived and afflicted by both drug and alcohol withdrawal, wasn't exactly prepared to keep going either.
"Found your guy, Fat, all this trouble…He kinda looks like an orange ice-pop..."
"This guy's a slippery bastard. Pardon my French..." Fatgum approached Gordon with his arms folded, before scanning the rest of the roof. "Is everyone safe, what about the hostages?" Hawks, now toying with Gordon's MP5, emptied the magazine. "At the gate. They were all in safe spots once this nutcase showed up. Seems like everyone was okay." Hawks pulled the bolt on the MP5 and ejected the remaining bullet, "You got quite the arsenal here my man. Where'd you get it from? JSDF armory?"
Gordon shook his head and growled. "Christ! I. Do not. know. what. you. are. say-ing." Hawk's eyes widened a bit. "English...? Oh boy. Where did you get the weapons?" Hawks asked again, in passable English. What kind of a question was that? He should know damn well where he got these weapons from!
"What? I found them. Off of your dumbfuck buddies too. You guys really need to learn the difference between scientists and aliens. But I suppose the big bad Freeman should have just laid down and died then, right? Tell your Commanding Officer to sit on it, Khufu." Gordon would have attempted to spit in Hawk's face too, but he was drier than a bone when it came down to that department.
Hawks and Fatgum looked at each other as If... well, as if Gordon was insane. Aliens? Scientists? What was this nutcase on about?
"You attacked members of the Hero Public Safety Commission in broad daylight and killed several people doing their job. AND you endangered and frankly terrorized the neighborhood with whatever sort of Rambo act you've got going on here buddy."
Gordon wasn't about to let himself be captured. He figured if it worked against the Ninjas, it would work against…whatever birdman hybrid and egg people these guys were. Managing to work his right hand in Hawk's grip, he pressed down on a button that activated the Long Jump Module. Its jets fired with a loud sound of pressurized air. Sending Gordon into a front flip forward, knocking the surprised Hawks off of him. Somehow, Gordon managed to land on his feet after all of that tumbling, maybe all those hours on the training course had amounted to something in the end. Without another word, Gordon unfurled the SPAS-12 from his back and opened fire. Fatgum responded by moving to protect Hawks with his body. The 12 gauge shells bounced harmlessly off of his fat, though began to leave welts on his now exposed skin. Hawks, meanwhile, took flight and unsheathed his Feather Blades, looping around to Gordon's 12'oclock while Gordon was busy dumping lead at Fatgum.
"Bulletproof bastard. If I had a bayonet, you wouldn't be so safe right now, Eggman!" Gordon shouted, before ducking behind an AC unit and frantically reloading. Hawks bared down on Gordon's position, before attempting to deliver a strike from his blades, not intended to kill Gordon, but to incapacitate him for the time being. "Oh shit! No!" Gordon quickly blocked the strike, meeting Hawk's Feather Blade with his crowbar with a loud clang, now both were locked in a clash.
"Agghhh! What are these fucking feathers made out of, man?!" Gordon asked, but received no answer. Suddenly, the feathers composing the blade spread out and surrounded Gordon's crowbar, ripping it out of his hands. "What the shit?! What kind of a fucking bird-" Before Gordon could finish, Hawks followed up his disarmament with a strike from his other sword. Ripping a pretty nasty cut through the chestplate of the HEV suit and sending Gordon flying over the various AC units.
Gordon shakily stumbled to his feet, his head throbbing with pain. Fatgum rushed towards Gordon in an attempt to envelop him in his fat to quickly subdue him. Gordon, though, wasn't having any of it, grabbing his crowbar off the ground and quickly used the LJM to leap back towards the far end of the roof. "No! That's close enough! Back it up-" Before Gordon could even reach the end of the roof however, Hawks managed to tackle him. Sending Gordon off of the side of the roof.
Just before Gordon could fall to his presumed death. Hawks quickly grabbed Gordon's arm, the scientist dangling over the edge of the roof. "It's over, pal, drop your weapons. You're under arrest." Hawks was hoping Gordon would just give up now. Though that dream was ended quickly when Gordon unfurled his .357 magnum and unloaded a round directly into Hawk's left shoulder.
"Gahhh! Aghhh!" Hawks yelled out, blood now shooting from his shoulder, he rolled over onto his side, dropping Gordon from the edge of the roof. Gordon yelled as he fell, attempting to activate the LJM to slow his descent, but the module didn't seem to work unless Gordon was standing on flat ground... somehow. "Why did they design it like thisssssss?! Fuck you, Black Mesa! I knew I should've taken that job at Aperture!" Gordon shouted, fully expecting to die on impact. Instead, he felt an intense heat strike him and was sent flying in a completely different direction. He still slammed into the ground, but at least it wasn't fatal. He had been saved from the fall,
"Agh... hey, hehe-Hey! I'm not dead!" Gordon felt himself up to make sure he wasn't injured. "Yea! Not a scratch! I feel like I might have gotten burnt a bit during that fall, but I mean, I've been through worse. I'll take some burns over being a concrete pancake any day!"
"That's far enough, villain!" Gordon turned to see a tall, muscular man wearing a dark blue skinsuit, with what looked to be gloves and boots made of some kind of steel. Though it was hard to tell due to the fact most parts of his body were on fire.
"Wait…what? He's on fire but he's not…burning…What the fuck is going on? Is this some kind of movie set? Have I just gone crazy and wandered on a fucking movie set and now they have actors coming out to subdue me? I mean, this wouldn't be the first time that's happened. But that was a low budget film! -What's he doing? What's that glowing-?" With Gordon being lost in thought, Endeavor cocked his arm back, a fiery, almost javelin-like object made of searing flames appeared in his hand.
"IGNITED ARROW!"
Endeavor hurled the flaming arrow towards Gordon, faster then he could've hoped to dodge even if he'd been ready for it. It struck Gordon directly in the chest, sending the confused scientist flying backwards, now with a massive scorch mark buried into the chestplate of the HEV suit. Even though It took the brunt of the damage, Gordon could still feel burn wounds developing underneath the armor plating, the compacted metal transferring the heat to his skin. A beeping sound emitted from the suit's internal computer.
"Warning, Extreme heat damage detected!"
BEEP. BEEP
"Emergency! Seek medical attention!"
"Ogh... Shut up...! I thought I shut you off..." Gordon wheezed and stumbled to his feet. "That hurt... that hurt really bad. Like a jet engine or something..." Gordon coughed and gripped at his chest, wincing in pain at the likely 1st or 2nd degree burns he had just received across his torso. Meanwhile, not intending to let up on Gordon, Endeavor's arm exploded into a roaring inferno before he slammed his fist down into the dirt. Fissures began to form from the impact point, spreading rapidly like the very Earth itself was beginning to collapse. Gordon had very little time to react, seeing the ground now starting to glow and pulse with heat.
"HELL MINEFIELD!"
"What the fuck?! The ground's caving in! No!" The ground erupted into a wall of flames, towering high above Gordon, all stretching around him, intent on trapping him. "Holy son of Fourier, I'm gonna get baked in here!" Gordon began to run in circles around the ever shrinking ring of fire he was finding himself in, trying to find a way out. He could feel like he was about to pass out from heat exhaustion. Using the LJM, Gordon made a dash for a small slit of land that hadn't yet erupted and made a harrowing leap, just barely managing to escape before a wall of fire torched him.
Free from that danger, came even more danger. Though Endeavor believed he had trapped Gordon and let his guard down, merely awaiting for the flames to dissipate. Sure, it was a bit of a risky move in an area such as this, but with most civilians being evacuated from the area and the partial open, concrete nature of the supply depot, he figured it was a calculated risk. An armed Villain that just shot a Pro-Hero needed to be dealt with, and that called for drastic measures, no matter how heavy handed they seemed to be. Endeavor was alerted to a loud clank sound at his feet, he glanced down to see a frag grenade had landed right in front of him.
"Oh shit!"
Acting on reflex, Endeavor kicked the grenade off in a random direction away from the nearby buildings, having little time to process that, before a bullet cracked past him. Gordon was now on his left flank, popping shots at him with the Glock 17.
The grenade exploded, obviously not harming Endeavor nor Gordon, but the blast shook Endeavor up ever so slightly, enough for Gordon to fire a shot that slipped by his defenses and grazed Endeavor, managing to strike his left ear and rip a decent chunk off, showering the concrete ground with blood and bits of destroyed earlobe. "GAH! MY EAR! YOU BASTARD!" Endeavor clasped one hand over his now bleeding ear before producing a shield of fire in front of himself, blocking the rest of Gordon's gunfire.
"Out of the fire and into the- more fucking fire! Fucking goddamn Johnny Storm- How about you cool down, asshole!?" Gordon turned to see a glint off in the distance, before a sniper's bullet slammed into the badly damaged chestplate of the HEV suit, leaving yet another deep pockmark. And scaring the daylights out of Gordon. "Agh! No! No! No! Snipers are too much! Fuck you! I'm done!"
Gordon, not even caring about Endeavor anymore, sprinted for some kind of cover, any kind of cover for that matter. The shot came from a sniper wielding droid up in one of the nearby buildings. Dashing into one of the nearby warehouses. Gordon leaned against the wall panting, though he knew he had very little time left before Endeavor cooked him alive…well that's what he assumed anyways. He needed a distraction, he very obviously wasn't going to win this fight and he needed to bug out. His absolution came in the form of a series of boxes all containing ammunition just laying about in the building. Gordon recalled seeing a manhole in the ground earlier and began to put the pieces together.
"Okay…This should be good enough for an exit strategy. Now yesterday If you had told me this was my only option to escape…I think I'd be confused, but at the same time I'd kind of understand. Its sort of like how our brains have trouble processing why logic doesn't apply during REM sleep. Like here in the real world if I see an alien…wait…bad example-"
Gordon dropped 3 satchel charges onto various boxes, trying to space them out for maximum coverage.
"-Wait, am I dreaming right now? Maybe this whole experience has just been a bad dream that I can't really wake up from. So any moment now I could wake up…well shit. Where would I wake up? I took a nap twice yesterday…I guess either then or maybe I'll wake up back in the dorms again. But then I'd either have to relive hell on Earth again. Or It'll just be a normal day. Or this all could be a premonition. Like Thrill Seekers or something like that. Whatever."
Gordon peeked out from one of the windows towards his target, a manhole in the ground not far nearby. Endeavor seemed to be holding position near the building, though thankfully hadn't set it ablaze.
"Okay, that'll do. Fuck. I need to think of something clever to say first before I light this candle…um…damnit, I'll just wing it"
Gordon stepped out from the side of the building with his hands up. "Konnichiwa, asshole! I'm surrendering! Look at that. I got my hands up in the air!" Gordon said, though he was not so subtly shuffling away from the building as much as he could. Still gripping his severed ear. Endeavor grit his teeth.
"Keep your hands where I can see them! And stay right where you are! Not one more step!"
Gordon was surprised, the first person to actually speak to him in plain, decent English today besides Hawks.
"Yea man! Ill stay right here. Standing…" Gordon swallowed before glancing at the building next to him. He was still too close for his liking. "Man fuck this. Fire in the hole!" Gordon clicked the detonator and quickly dashed for the manhole. The building nearby was engulfed in a fiery explosion that lit up the night for just about everyone present and sent a shockwave out that alerted far more people to the ongoing situation at the depot, shattering windows, setting off car alarms, startling both birds and other animals. Fatgum, who was trying to get Hawks medical attention for his arm, attempted to block him from the blast. Endeavor was blown backwards from the explosion, though besides his ears ringing and the obvious pains from the shockwave, he was relatively unharmed. Just dazed. Gordon had been launched by the blast too, though managing to land right on top of the manhole cover, in which he frantically pried open with his crowbar and leapt down into before anyone could see, quickly closing up the cover as if he were never there.
Now Gordon found himself standing in a large tunnel, a sewer? Storm drain? He wasn't really sure; it featured a river flowing through the center of it, though he really didn't feel like deciphering its origin. This was all starting to feel rather familiar again…
"Alright..safe…I didn't think I'd actually want to go back underground today…but honestly I'll take this over being attacked by robots and mutants…fuck…"
To be continued….
"Man…I should have told them to teleport me to Hawaii…I need a vacation…"