CONTAINS CONTENT:
Mild action violence.
{{Unedited}}
Vincent urged them all towards the middle of the room and stared them all down. “What did we learn from this experience?”
No one spoke for a long while. Finally, Austin blurted out, “We were all worried about Marielle.” Everyone turned to him. “Well, I mean, not worried, but-”
Sabine interrupted him, “Distracted by… we were either concerned because you put us into an emotional state before you started the match, or distracted by the fact that she was laying there the entire time. We didn’t think about the fact that the bots could be behind us, and we probably didn’t plan as well as we could have,” she explained, flashing Austin a look.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I was team captain,” Austin replied, sarcasm edging his tone. Marielle could see his hand trembling. That wasn’t good in the current situation.
“Well, when no one is talking, or sharing plans, someone often takes charge,” Marielle said with a sigh. “Might as well be him,” she added.
“I hate to say it, but… probably best that we play as a team?” Han said looking from one to the other. “So, what’s the plan?”
Vincent turned to Marielle, “Marielle, tell Han that you forgive her for setting you up last night.”
Han, and Marielle’s eyes widened in horror. Austin smirked and looked down. “Y-you know about that?” Han asked shakily.
“Of course I did, I could hear you from over here,” Vincent said, gesturing with his head to where Austin and Han had stood the day before.
“You are one interesting guy,” Han replied shaking her head from side to side, incredulous, hands on her hips.
“Interesting is a word… Not sure it’s the one I’d use,” Sabine growled, looking off.
“Why in the world would you encourage your supposed wife to go out with me and the man who you know wants to put his tongue all over her if you knew it was a set up?” Han pondered aloud.
“That’s not important right now, what’s important is that-” he lifted his game pistol, and shot Han in the head, “You’re dead.” He lifted his hand, and snapped, vanishing in a flurry of purples, golds, and oranges. “Go!” He cried, and the game began.
The red light on her chest went off, Han’s head dropped back between her shoulders in frustration, and she slowly put herself face first to the ground, and lay still.
Austin rolled his eyes, and whirled around to the others, squatting down again. “Okay, we have what… a minute before this gets ugly, again?” He glanced at Han.
“Not even,” Marielle said with a large sigh.
“What’s a better plan?” John broke in in his deep, gravelly voice.
“Sabine and I are pretty well matched in pistols,” Austin noted. Sabine nodded once, not liking that, but admitting that it was true. “We go together?” he asked.
She stiffened a little. “Fine,” she said.
“Why are you doing this?” Han demanded of Vincent, who was already back with Liam and Tala, to watch.
All four of the others went to different areas of the arena, preparing.
“I am putting you all in the state of chaos that you could very well be in when you have to fight. You have no idea what advantages and disadvantages you’re going to have until the moment of the fight, and even then, things can change in an instant. You can’t count on my teleporting, or Austin’s ice floor. You can’t count on Marielle’s ability to move through walls, or Sabine’s gas. John is barely learning to use his abilities.” Vincent paused, watching them set up and noting who was doing what.
“Then there’s the emotional side of everything. We all know how Sabine feels about everyone, and she’s continually processing trauma that will never fully be resolved.” Sabine and Austin were both pressed against the side of a set of stairs that went up to a ledge that led nowhere. Austin was checking the slide of the rifle in his hands now, and pressing the earpiece further into his ear, so it wouldn’t budge. “Marielle is in a state of confusion regarding multiple areas of her life,” Vincent explained. Marielle was weaving her way through the same boxes and stands that John and Sabine were in the previous match, and she blew out through rounded lips upon hearing this from him. Wasn’t that the truth?
“John is fighting insecurities that none of us could possibly imagine, which is one of the reasons that he’s remained quiet most of this time… by the way, John, your input is important. We need it.” John was standing, arms open, legs parted, waiting for something to move so he could move in on it. “And Austin-” Vincent silently chuckled, “let’s not even get into that mess, right now.”
Austin breathed in deeply, and closed his eyes, trying to still himself inwardly, and disregard Vincent’s words. He was already trembling in his left hand, again. It’d been thirty-two, plus hours since he’d had his last fix and he was starting to lose it, physically and mentally. Sabine’s closeness wasn’t doing him any favors, either. She was sweating, and it was messing with his head. She also smelled like something woodsy; almost manly, and it was seeping into his thoughts in a way that he hadn’t expected. His untamed mind started thinking of ways that he could break her. He’d had women like her in the past; they were sometimes the easiest to break- angry, bitter, and desperate for a few delicious words to get their heart racing for something other than their constant need for complete and total control. It got tiring for them, they wanted someone to take control. If you showed a woman like this that you could, they’d jump into bed with you.
“You okay, there?” Sabine asked, gesturing with her head to Austin’s hand. She didn’t really mean it, or care. He knew this.
He cut his eyes to her. “Fine,” he growled.
“Going to share what mess he’s talking about?” Sabine hissed.
Austin rolled his eyes. “Bla, bla, bla,” he mused under his breath.
“Let’s keep this line a little more quiet until it matters?” Marielle growled. “I don’t need to hear the two of you tear into each other.”
“Yeah, no one needs to hear that,” John hissed. Then he raised his hands and pushed outward. “Cover going out,” he breathed, and the purple and black dome covered the area in front of him.
Suddenly an alarm sounded overhead. “That’s a spike,” Vincent announced in a warning tone. Then he turned his attention to John. “John, do me a favor, close your eyes and visualize the space that you’re in; the space that we’re all in.” John obeyed. “Do you have it mapped out in your mind?”
“Yes.” A low growl.
“Confuse it.”
“What do you mean?” John breathed. It echoed.
“You’ll understand it when you do it.”
Liam wandered more closely to Vincent, “What are you asking him to do?”
Vincent gestured to John with his head. “He’s pulling from other dimensions, continually. It’s difficult to explain in laymen’s terms, but he has the ability to confuse everyone about where they are and why for a moment.”
John looked like he was digging deep inside of himself for an answer, and after a moment, everything blurred for everyone’s vision, and a high-pitched screeching shattered the silence in their ear pieces.
Austin grabbed his scalp with the fingertips on both hands, and sucked air in as he yanked his ear piece out. After the noise left him, he hard blinked a few times and squinted before him.
He noted that Sabine was doing the same, but she was on her knees, reaching as if trying to understand what she was seeing now as her vision blurred and fluctuated. A quick flash of chrome that was aiming at Sabine from the left, caused Austin to lift his Marshal and fire… one down. “Get up,” Austin growled through clenched teeth, turning to peek from behind the stairs; the rifle pointed upward and away from hurting anyone. She was trying to stand again. “Now!” Austin barked, shattering any notions that he was a gentle spirit.
Marielle was glancing in their direction, and watched in horror as all four of the other robots descended into the area, sensing the team’s disorganization and distress.
Austin saw, and was pulling his pistol after shouldering his rifle in one elegant movement.
“No!” Marielle cried, and aimed her weapon, firing at one of them. The bot went down, but the others were still advancing. Austin went down again, having been shot from behind and with a throated growl, he threw his hands up and lay on the ground.
Sabine finally recovered, although she now seemed like nothing was ever wrong with her, and proceeded to take out another of the robots just as John managed a teleport, albeit awkwardly, and he proceeded to shoot with Sabine, the two of them back-to-back, firing.
John managed another teleport behind a robot and shot it from behind. Marielle took out the last one, trying to climb on top of boxes to fire from a higher vantage point as she ran toward them.
Vincent called a stop, and with a snap, he teleported back down to them and advanced, fury in his eyes.
Austin stood with a sigh, and wiped his face with his palm. “Are you two ever going to work out your differences? Or are you repeatedly going to die because you hate him,” he pointed from Sabine to Austin, “and you can’t get in her pants?” From Austin to Sabine.
Marielle looked away, disgusted.
Austin looked just about as disgusted as Marielle did, but he was eyeing Vincent. “I have standards, you know? I’d rather not go to bed with a blood sucking leech. I’m not quite ready for that kind of kink.”
“Oh, come on, Austin…” He got close to Austin’s face; the two men nearly nose to nose. Vincent was taller, but not by much. “You see her, I see her. You know that she resembles Marielle, physically, same as I. It doesn’t matter that she’s a bitter, venomous tarantula, she’s gorgeous. Makes your knees weak, right?” Austin was seething, but kept his mouth shut. He was well trained in the man-to-man insult and pressure arena, same as Vincent. “We all know who you are, Austin… Her very scent is driving you to madness, isn’t it?” Austin flicked his hair back from his face with a head jerk, and turned his gaze downward. No answer meant yes. “How ya doin’, there?” He gestured to Austin’s hand. Shaking.
Marielle felt her pulse start to race in anger. Did Austin want Sabine? Of course he did. It was obvious. Austin briefly met eyes with her. -For a moment, there… you cared.
-Shut up. I hate you right now more than you could ever know.
-Well, that doesn’t surprise me, look what he’s doing to us. Austin replied briefly looking at Vincent.
-You mean what you are? What you are doing to us, Austin? And there is no us.
Austin said nothing.
Vincent turned to Sabine, “And you,” he began, his voice full of venom. “Apologize to your son because you didn’t protect him like you said that you would. You could have stood to help him earlier, and you know it.” Sabine shot daggers at Vincent with her eyes. “Do it!”
“I’m sorry,” Sabine said, flatly, feeling her resolve weaken.
“Tell his family.” Vincent hissed, in her face before walking away. “By the way, we’re all dead. You killed everyone, including half of your team, but the spike still detonated while you were busy showing off.” He teleported, and went back up the stairs. “Run again.”
“I’m not fond of your games,” Sabine growled after him.
“Again, I don’t care. I do… not… care,” he said flicking a hand in the air, dismissively. “I don’t care if you’re plotting to murder Austin the moment this all ends, I don’t care if John is, which I’m sure is the case at this point, and I don’t care if Marielle rode him to the east coast and back last night, right now. Why? Anyone?”
“Because none of it is important on the battlefield,” Han’s muffled voice came from the concrete floor. “It can only be important after the fact. In here we’re all family, and we all have to be willing to let everything go for the sake of one another.”
“Thank you.” Vincent said, calmly gesturing to the puddle of Han still face down. “I will deal with Marielle later… I will deal with Austin in my own time,” Vincent said with a smirk. Marielle swallowed hard. What did that mean? “And I’ll deal with everything and everyone else when it’s important. It’s not important now.”
“Oh yeah? You’re so good at this, why don’t you get down here and play with us?”
“Would that make you feel better, Sabine?” Vincent retorted, eerily icy.
“Much!” She barked; it echoed and she looked like she was preparing to run up the steps and slaughter him.
“Fine, then go!” He growled, and he snapped again, coming down with them. The lights cut, plunging them all in complete darkness, and after a moment of adjusting, everyone raised their pistols, and strained to hear and see in the black surrounding them. It was total darkness; there were no windows in this room. John’s eye glow was the only indicator of anything, and Marielle could make out Sabine’s shadow near him.
There was movement, and the jerky sounds of metal and chrome stirring in the pitch-black surroundings.
Everyone tensed, but five shots cracked the silence, giving off lightning strikes in the dark, there was a pause, and the lights came back up. Vincent was standing, pointing the tip of his pistol towards the ceiling and watching as the last robot jerked, and fell back, crashing to the ground, joining the other broken bots, which were haloed around his body.
The circle of frozen faces all glanced at one another, stunned silence moving over them all.
“You all know what I’m going through, there are no secrets in this building.” He holstered his game pistol. “The love of my life is attracted to another man.” He gestured to Austin. “He knows that she’s mine, and he tried to seduce her last night,-” he gestured to Han, “-And Zippy Jett here, set it all up.” He gestured to Sabine, “I slept with Sabine in the other dimension after I lost Marielle to a horrible, long, death…And Sabine was in pain, too.” He swallowed. “I’ve already helped John in my own dimension.” He let out a long sigh. “And this isn’t the first time that I’ve been in a room with all of you where we were all feeling things similar to this.”
“If you are so good at all of this, then why don’t you just take on everything on your own?”
“For two reasons, Sabine. Because number one, these aren’t people,-” he moved two fingers between the broken metal on the ground, “-these are bots. Their placement is random, their reactions in battle are not. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in this room. People don’t react the same way as androids do.” He stepped closer to her, getting into that personal space that she guarded so well. She shifted uncomfortably. “And number two… I can’t be all places at all times.” He looked distant for a moment, glancing up at Liam and Tala. They were both staring at everything happening, on the edge of their seats.
Liam was nodding his approval of all of this. “That’s right, get them to work as a team,” he growled, gruffly. Tala glanced at him, riveted, and then back to the circle.
“I make mistakes on the field, just like everyone else,” he explained rolling his sleeve up a little more on the left arm and revealing the scar from the bullet he took in the Philippines. “You don’t know what your opponent is thinking or what tricks they can pull on you. And being willing to jeopardize one teammate is being willing to jeopardize all team mates.” He glanced at Austin. “He knows this, that’s why he commanded you up,” Vincent explained. “He wasn’t barking at you, or ordering you, he knew that you were capable of getting up before you did… and you didn’t.” He hissed at Sabine. She looked down. “Again, he’s not your enemy. You are.” There was silence from everyone. “Are you satisfied?” Vincent asked Sabine, and with a flourish of his right hand, he swept it across his midsection and bowed to her over it. She crossed her arms and raised one of those cruel eyebrows at him, challengingly. “Have I proven to you that I can do what I say?”
“I already knew that you could.”
“Then stop wasting their time!” He boomed. It bounced off the walls. “Stop wasting mine.” He hissed bitterly, and he walked away from them again. “If you want to be a hot head, you do that on your own time and when no one else’s life is at stake.”
Something flickered in Sabine’s eyes for a moment that looked like respect to Marielle, but she was unsure. He stopped, “Oh, and one more thing,” he lifted his gun and fired. “You’re dead.” He said to Sabine.
She rolled her eyes, dropped her weapons to the ground, and languidly lay down.
“And you…” he glared at Austin; Austin glared back. “Start thinking with your other head… the one that matters.” Austin rolled his eyes. “Come here,” Vincent said, motioning him over. Vincent walked away from the others, and Austin followed. Once they were out of earshot, he turned back to Austin. “I know that you’ve had basically no sleep in the last forty-eight hours, and that you’re desperate for your fix, but get your head in the game. You’re better than this. You know it, and I know it. You might have to take control someday.”
“You’d want me in control?” Austin asked raising an interested eyebrow.
“Cut the crap.”
“Or you’ll beat my face in, later?”
Vicent squared his shoulders and flicked a brow at him. “I already did that, Austin. And I still don’t think that you learned your lesson.” He sighed heavily, shaking his head and rebuttoning his sleeve. “Understandable… I never did when it came to Marielle, either.” Vincent said giving him something that reflected a compassionate smile. Austin smiled back in a similar way. For a moment, they were okay with one another.
He gestured him back to everyone else, and Austin obeyed, looking like a superhero as he walked back with his rifle strapped to the back of his right shoulder.
Vincent snapped, teleported, and began up the steps. “Marielle?” He threw over his shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at him. “With Austin,” he ordered. Austin closed his eyes, taking that order in with a heavy sigh.
Marielle grumbled under her breath and went to his side. Austin glanced at her, “Imagine meeting you here,” he whispered, throwing her a glance.
She wouldn’t look at him. “Yeah, same,” she sighed.
“I’m Austin Rancor, and I am… a disgusting pig.”
“Nice to meet you, Austin. I’m Marielle Chaenes, and I still hate you.”
“Are you gonna be difficult to work with?”
“Always,” she beamed, sarcastically.
He couldn’t help a small smile, but his chest hurt; his lack of sleep, and his desperate need for a fix was seriously getting to him.
He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, through rounded lips.
Liam leaned forward a little, “Out of curiosity…” he began, stroking his beard, “Why did you do that?”
Vincent turned to him, eyes wide. “What Marielle and Austin?” Liam nodded. “Are you kidding me? It’s the worst possible situation that they can both be in, right now. She wants literally nothing to do with him, and he wants nothing more than to sleep and take her to bed right now.” Vincent shook his head, incredulous. “It’s beautiful,” he said in wonder as he leaned over the railing.
Liam looked down at them, shifting uncomfortably. “You’re kind of twisted, you know?” He asked. “I kind of like it.”
Vincent chuckled, proudly. “You have no idea, mon ami. Ah, my little marionettes… dance for me,” he whispered under his breath; he was staring at Austin. “I wonder what he’ll do. He’s beyond distracted,” Vincent said low and giddy.
“Did you do something… to the game?” Tala asked suspiciously from his right.
He glanced at her, having almost forgotten that she was there. She’d been a good little observer. He grinned, salaciously, and turned back to the arena. Vincent lifted his hand again, “Go!” He cried.
The lights destroyed themselves, and they were plunged into blackness once more.
Austin heard movement to his right, and felt his heart speed up in his chest. He sucked in a deep gulp of air, stilling himself, turned and blew ice in that direction, his eyes piercing the darkness with their bright, intense blue. He heard the stiffening and cracking of metal, raised his pistol and fired. Something went down.
“Good!” Cried Vincent, in the darkness. “That’s what I mean, use everything.”
Marielle slipped in next to Austin. “What can I do?” She asked.
“Be ready.” She was already holding her pistol ready to fire. He wanted to slip his hand down and clasp hers. He shook it from his head.
That was when there were noises everywhere, whirring, clanging, marching, jerking noises.
Austin’s eyes turned their bright glowing blue. “Marielle get back- fifteen feet, at least.” She promptly obeyed, sensing what he was about to do. He smirked, “Do you like it hot?” He took in a deep gulp of air, “Or cold?” He whispered, and then he released a powerful, stormy gust that swirled around him, and moved outward like a shield around him, slowing the bots. The lights slowly came up.
Marielle was shivering, her teeth chattering, having been just outside of his controlled blast, but she quickly lifted her pistol and began aiming and firing as she could see three of the other bots.
Han, and John followed suit, and Austin did the same. John teleported behind one of them, and shot it in the back of the head. It jerked, and went down.
“Go find the spike, and defuse it!” Vincent cried, gesturing outward with his hand.
Marielle and Austin nodded at one another, and went left, the other two took right, all four weaving boxes, and ducking under fodder, searching for the little box they knew they’d find humming somewhere.
They both came to a wall, and Austin smashed it with his fist frustratedly. He could hear the beeping somewhere on the other side.
“Back to the wall,” Marielle whispered catching up to him.
Austin had to go around it, taking longer. As Marielle used her abilities to push through it, spotting the spike after she glanced quickly around to be sure that she was alone.
“Here, here!” Marielle cried, pointing. She bent down and pressed a button on the side. Nothing happened, it continued to gently beep. “It’s not… working!”
Austin finally caught up to her. “Hold it down!” Austin cried, his gaze on the tops of all boxes, ledges, and walkways.
“There’s still one more out there!” Marielle said.
“I’m guarding you; you worry about that,” he gestured with his head, “I’ll worry about him.” She did so, and he stood watch, breathing deepening. “Where are you?” he whispered, scanning the area, rifle now lifted in his hands. Han was running up on them with John. The ominous beeping sped up. “Don’t let up!”
John raised a hand and threw a swirling dome of purple and black dust into an area that would have easily revealed Marielle and Austin to an attacker. It lingered, blocking sight.
Han stood on one side of Marielle, John to the other side. “I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to dieeee,” Marielle was singing, and she blew some hair out of her sweaty face.
“You’re all dead if you don’t get it done in time,” Vincent taunted. “No running away from this one,” he whispered.
Austin was pointed up, aiming down the sights, looking left, right, nothing… He whirled, aimed again. Caught sight, fired. Jerked the rifle back. “Freaking down, baby!” he cried, with a triumphant grin, and a moment later, the box stopped beeping, and all four sides slowly expanded, and opened with a hiss. “Bomb defused, Captain!” Austin said to Vincent, nodding upward.
Marielle stood with a relieved sigh.
Vincent teleported down among them and he slowly clapped as he approached. Liam and Tala were standing above, clapping as well. Their hands echoed off the walls, giving the impression that there were more people applauding. “You all won…” He looked over to Sabine, narrowing his eyes. “I wonder why.” Sabine swallowed as she stood from the ground where she’d been laying. He smirked. “Sometimes,” he began again, “you find a weak link.” Sabine glared at him, abhorrently. He took a step toward her, “If I can find it… You’d better believe that your enemies can find it, too.”