//------------------------------// // Arena Mode // Story: Twilight's Experiments: The War of Mann Co. 2 // by MIKEANTHONY321 //------------------------------// Battle Arena #1: Granary (Arena) After giving Rainbow Dash a chance to recover from her hangover, team RED hopped the gate and entered Granary. They headed for their respective spawn-point, as team BLU did the same. The battle was to begin in 10 minutes. … Upon entering the BLU spawn-point, Blue Medic brushed his hair, and put on a professional-looking hat with an eagle symbol on the front. Fluttershy looked at him with confusion. “Um…Mr. Medic, where did you get that?” She asked. She looked around, and noticed everyone else putting hats on too. Blue Scout, for instance, was wearing a baseball helmet with Atomic Punch cans attached to the sides, and Blue Engineer was wearing a metal carpenter’s helmet with glowing red eyes. The other ponies were also looking on with confusion. Blue Medic looked down at her. “Oh, zis? It’s zee Team Captain.” He answered. Fluttershy looked away from him shyly. “Oh, um…it looks pretty.” “Do you wantz one too?” … Fluttershy looked up at him hopefully. “A Team Captain?” “Well…not exactly. But I can givez you a different hat.” He offered. Fluttershy shrugged her shoulders. Blue Medic pulled a strange-looking menu panel up in front of him. He tapped around on it, as if he was searching for something. “What are you doing?” She asked. “I’m checking my inventory to see if I have a hat for you.” He searched a little more, and shrugged disappointedly. “Did you find anything?” “All I have for you is zis hat right here.” He replied. He grabbed the panel with his hands, and extracted a black top hat. The top was peeled a bit, and it had a little ghost ornament hanging from the side. … “Hmm…” Fluttershy hummed. “It is zee Ghostly Gibus. It is zee only other hat I have.” She slowly reached her hooves up, and took the hat out of Blue Medic’s hands. She carefully set it atop her head. “Now see, it’s doesn’t look so bad!” Medic assured. … Fluttershy grinned slightly, and set up for battle. The rest of her team did the same. ……………………………………… Meanwhile, in the RED spawn point, a similar situation was happening. The ponies looked around confused as their teammates equipped hats on their heads. Rarity marveled at Red Spy’s hat, which appeared to be a type of fez…on fire. “Pardon me for asking, darling, but…why is your hat burning?” She asked. Red Spy looked down at her. “Oh, you see Madame, this is a very rare and special kind of hat. It is what you would call…” He stopped to twirl his fingers in search of a good word. “…Unusual.” Rarity observed the hat a little more, and shrugged. Just before gearing up for battle, she glanced over in Twilight’s direction. She saw her engaged in a tongue-battle with Red Sniper, which almost looked like two seals fighting over a grape. She shut her eyes, and looked away in disgust. …………………………………… Finally, the countdown began. Everyone got in their ready-positions, and prepared for the worst. The last one standing would win it for their team. “5…4…3…2…1…FIGHT!” A voice over the intercom boomed. ……………………………………… Music: Playing with Danger (Repeat if needed) ......................................................... The resupply locker room doors swung open, and both teams burst out with undeniable enthusiasm. The sun was shining, the air was still yet warm, and the birds chirped peacefully throughout the landscape. The perfect environment for some brutal murdering. Twilight separated from her team in search of a nice high-up battlement of sorts in which to lay down her bullet rain. After traveling through a few buildings from the spawn, a nice spiral stairway came into view off to the right side. She ascended them, walked over onto the ledge, and knelt down. Wiping the extra saliva off of her lips from the last few minutes’ events, Twilight prepared to begin her long-ranged combat. Finding a comfortable position, she set the nozzle of her rifle up through the rungs of the railing. No respawns occurred in this game mode, so Twilight had to keep it cool, and stay unnoticed. … She spanned the landscape with her eye up to the scope. With her intensely-magnified view, she was able to spot a fly on a dragon’s back from 500 yards away. However, the landscape was barren. “Hmm…now where’d you all go?” She mumbled to herself. After several minutes of indefinite patience on Twilight’s part, Fluttershy came into view, wearing a peculiar-looking dumpster hat, and wielding what looked like… “The Kritzkrieg? Oh ho, bad choice, my friend.” She chuckled as she began to take aim. Fluttershy was looking around desperately, calling out for a heal target. Twilight laughed as she became ready to add insult to injury. ……………………………………….. Fluttershy was rather frightened at the moment. Medics like her were practically marked for death without a strong heal target to keep them protected. She looked around in a flustered manner, looking hopelessly for someone to protect her in this brutal Arena battle. Over her headset, the announcer broadcasted the death of the first fighter. Blue Heavy had died at the hooves of Rarity, the savage assistant of Red Spy. This only added to Fluttershy’s fright. Her team’s most ideal pocket-target had just been permanently eliminated from the battle. Before she had time to say or do anything though, she noticed a red laser dot begin to travel up her body and toward her head. Without time to think before she could ‘think’ no more, Fluttershy shrieked, and leapt off to the side, nanoseconds before she got her head breezed off by a pellet of cold hard metal. Said pellet whizzed by her ear faster than her eyes could detect it, slamming into the wall behind her. Fluttershy was in full-blown panic mode. She began to breathe heavily as she ran back and forth in unpredictable movements, jumping around and ducking at random times. The red laser tried fruitlessly to get targeted on her body, while bullet after bullet flew by her shadow. … “Dang it, Flutters, stand still!” Twilight raged. Fluttershy glanced up at the ledge where her voice came from, and saw Twilight perched high up behind the railing in her treacherous Team RED uniform. The color of Fluttershy’s uniform would match that of Twilight’s if she didn’t get to safety quickly. However, something else caught her eye up on the railing. A blue silhouette appeared behind Twilight, which formed into Blue Spy. Immediately after, he plunged his knife into Twilight’s back. Twilight cried out, and toppled off of the ledge. Blue Spy then jumped right down off of the ledge, taking a little bit of fall damage when he hit the ground. Fluttershy ran forward, healed the damage with the Kritzkrieg, and threw her arms around Blue Spy, crying into his shoulder. Blue Spy patted her on the back. “Now now Madame, it’s okay. Your threat has been eliminated.” He assured. “It was so scary…she almost killed me…” Fluttershy replied in between sobs. “Yes yes, I know. But it is okay now.” Blue Spy repeated. He looked down, and noticed a big, bloody bullet hole puncturing through Fluttershy’s back right leg. Fluttershy followed his gaze, and noticed the wound. Once she saw that it was there, the pain began to set in. She gasped. “Ah! Wh…what should I do?!” “I’m sorry, but there is naught that I can do. Call for a Medic. I’m sure Blue Medic will be here to assist you right away.” Blue Spy suggested. Fluttershy nodded in understanding. She and Blue Spy went their separate ways to continue the Arena battle. ………………………………………… Over his headset, Red Sniper received word of Twilight’s death. He slammed his fist on the wall. “Dang it, Twily. Always check for the presence of Spies! I told you that before!” He raved. He didn’t stay angry for long, though. He still loved Twilight, and he was sure she loved him back. In fact, she was probably spectating him right now from the death cam. He heard a very familiar uncloaking noise. He tipped his hat and winked, signaling for Twilight, if she was spectating, to watch and learn. Then, he threw jarate behind him from over his shoulder, and gave a quick swing-around with the Bushwacka. Blue Spy was quickly eradicated. Red Sniper took his hat off, and held it at his chest respectfully. He still held his knife in the other hand. “You’d best keep lying down.” He whispered softly. ……………………………………………… Although Spike was small, he quickly managed to get the hang of using his rocket launcher. He started getting good during the last Payload battle, which took place at Upward Mountain. Since then, he’s been a brutal explosive machine. He launched a rocket at his feet, propelling him a few dozen feet into the air. This granted him quick access to the battlement railing, which was quite high off the ground. From here, he walked around the corner into the building while reloading his launcher. He began to run inside, but was quickly stopped by a sentry gun built by Red Engineer. By the time he realized and stepped back for protection, he had taken much damage from the bullets. He jumped down off of the battlements, causing more damage. His uniform was being stained the enemy color from the beating he took. He called for a Medic with his high-pitched baby-dragon voice. … Hiding in a corner to remain undetected, Spike waited patiently for Blue Medic to arrive. Just a few seconds later, he came bursting around the corner with his Quick-Fix ready. Blue Medic opened healing on him, which did not take long due to the weapon’s increased healing rate. “Move, schnell!” He ordered. Obeying the Medic, Spike took off running, with his healer close behind. As he approached the battlements, he let off another rocket at his feet, which sent him back up onto the ledge. Due to Blue Medic’s use of the Quick-Fix, he went flying up with him. “Woohoo! Oktoberfest!” He cheered. … As they approached the corner, Spike ordered Blue Medic to use his Ubercharge. Blue Medic obliged, and deployed it with the latch on his pack. Spike’s face turned to one of frightened yet defiant determination. He hoisted up his rocket launcher, and dove into the building. The sentry gun immediately opened fire on him and Blue Medic. Spike began to shoot rockets at it in an intense effort to destroy it. Red Engineer knelt behind it though, keeping it alive with the wrench. As this was happening, the sentry was injecting clouds of bullets and rockets into the two BLU fighters. However, the Quick-Fix uber being used by Blue Medic was healing them both at monstrous speed. Their health remained stable, which gave Spike enough time to destroy Red Engineer and his sentry gun. … “Stupendous! Amazing vork, comrade!” Blue Medic beamed. Spike smiled. He then reloaded his launcher, and advanced out of the building to kill more fighters. Blue Medic turned the other way, and separated from Spike to heal other nearby teammates. On his way out of the building, Rarity leapt down off of the stairs, and managed to lunge her knife around the corner and into Blue Medic’s back just before he made it out of the building. She dropped everything, doubled over onto the ground, and laughed heartily in his face. … Just moments after leaving the building, Spike was notified of this kill. He stopped moving, and balled up his fist. How in Equestria did his Medic get killed seconds after an Ubercharge, and seconds after he left his sight? He was about to go back in the building to avenge his healer, but decided against it. “Oh Rarity, if I didn’t have a crush on you…” He mumbled through clenched teeth. ……………………………………… At this point, Team BLU was down three fighters, and Team RED was down two. On Team BLU, Medic, Heavy, and Spy were dead. On Team RED, Twilight and Engineer were dead. The kills came in slowly, but surely. Red Heavy poked his head out from around the corner of a crate, and scanned his surroundings. All seemed crystal clear on this side of the battlefield. He chuckled a little to himself. “Time for Heavy to enjoy some lunch!” He announced. He reached around in his storage pack, and pulled out a lunch box. Inside was one of those most savory and delicious gourmet treats a Russian assassin like himself would be privileged to consume. The Sandvich. Red Heavy stared at it with glistening eyes and a smiling, watering mouth. Nothing could stop him from eating this…most beautiful thing in the known universe. He opened his mouth, and took the first juicy, taste-tacular bite. It was pure heaven on whole-grain bread and an olive-pick on top. … Red Medic came running around the corner when he heard moans of ecstasy coming from the spawn-point area. He looked behind the crate, and found his bald, hearty companion eagerly munching down his most prized “weapon” in the war of TF2. Red Medic sighed. “Heavy, you know vee should be out zere in battle right now. Not over here eating zis…brilliant sandvich. Now come on.” Red Heavy wiped his mouth, and looked up at Red Medic. After staring at him for an awkward five seconds, he held up his sandvich. “Vould most favorite Medic in whole vide vorld share lunch vith Heavy?” He offered. Red Medic jumped up and down, and clapped his hands together. “Oh boy, vould I!!” … Later, just as they took the last bite, Red Medic heard a noise. He got up on his knees, and turned around to look up over the crate. Instead of looking straight up and over, he touched noses with Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was sprawled out across the crate, looking like she had been there all day. She held her baseball bat in her right hoof, and slapped it on her left hoof in a threatening way. A bead of sweat rolled down Red Medic’s face. “Oh hey, eggheads. I kind of lost track of how long I was sitting here. Thought maybe you would share some of that sandwich with me, but I guess I was wrong. Well, at least I get to return the favor.” Red Medic and Red Heavy shared nervous glances. Red Heavy gulped. …………………………………………… Applejack sat in a chair that she had found in a pile of scrap over by the far wall with her hooves propped up against her dispenser. Her hat was tipped down over her face, and she had a bit of straw sticking out of her mouth. She had miraculously managed to set up a nest for Team BLU right at the central Control Point. This nest included a level 3 sentry and dispenser for her teammates to return to in times of need. Once the Control Point became active, her team would be able to capture it easily. Her only worries were Spies, and Red Medic. If that guy managed to send out an uber, her plans would completely fall apart. … She tipped her hat back up when she heard an announcement over her headset. A double kill had just been performed by Rainbow Dash. Apparently, Red Medic and Red Heavy were killed by a baseball-bat-beating. Applejack sat up in her chair, and laughed gleefully, slapping her knee. The straw fell out of her mouth. “Ha ha, ‘atta boy, Rainbow!” She beamed. … Still smiling, she fell back into her chair. A sudden voice from beside her startled her a bit. “I know. It’s pretty fantastic kill.” Applejack turned to the sound of the voice, and saw Blue Spy lighting a cigarette with his lighter. He was standing next to Applejack’s dispenser, getting some extra health. She merely shrugged, and lied back down against the chair. She closed her eyes, and tipped her hat back over her head. …..................................................................... Music: Right Behind You (Repeat if needed) ......................................................................... Suddenly, her eyes shot open again. Blue Spy was supposed to be dead. She sat up immediately, pulled out her Frontier Justice, and pointed at her dispenser. Surprisingly, there was no one there anymore. She scanned the room with her weapon in-hoof. She snarled, angry that she had been fooled for even a second. “Show yourself!” She ordered. She didn’t know if her intruder was Rarity or Red Spy. Either way, she was determined to eliminate them before things got ugly. “I know you’re in here, and I’m only gonna say this once. If you lay one hand, or hoof, on my buildings, you’re gonna be sorry you was ever born! Do I make myself clear?!” She exclaimed. She realized that it was a stupid question to ask, since no Spy in their right mind was going to answer at that point. … After scanning the room for another few seconds, Applejack slowly put her weapon down. She sat back slowly in her chair, and prepared to lean back again. At this point, she was going to be wary of every last noise that entered her upright ears. The moment she closed her eyes, the alarm device on her arm went off. Her sentry was being electro-sapped. “Dag-nab it!” She yelled. She quickly got up out of her chair, and grabbed her wrench. Before she could start making repairs, a pair of hooves grabbed her from behind and shoved her back into her chair. She tried to struggle free, but was held down tight by her attacker. Applejack watched in horror as her sentry slowly lost power, and exploded. “Damn it Rarity, let go of me!” Applejack demanded, immediately identifying her attacker. “Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary, Applejack. You’re not going anywhere.” Rarity answered back. Applejack used her mouth to activate her headset. Just as she was beginning to call for backup, Rarity used her free hoof to tug the device off of Applejack’s head. She then used her back hoof to stomp it to the ground. “What the hell was that for?! Let me go so I can beat the livin’ crap outta ya!” Applejack screamed. … As Applejack kicked and thrashed in her seat, Red Spy uncloaked in front of her. The cigarette that he had lit was still in his mouth, which moved along with his lips as he laughed. “Greetings, Applejack. My, what an unfortunate way to meet.” He marveled. Applejack snarled up at him. She tugged for freedom, but remained captive by Rarity’s hooves. “Coward! Why don’t you come right over here and let me take you out, too?” “I’d love to, you see, but I cannot at the moment. I need you.” “Pfft, please. Why would I wanna help you?” Red Spy smiled, and walked slowly up to Applejack until he was right in front of her. He knelt down, and got very close to her face. “Because you have no choice.” He whispered. Rarity took out her knife, and held it at Applejack’s throat as Red Spy continued his monologue. … “You see, I need some information. I know that killing you will bring me great joy, but not the victory of the battle. For that, I need the life of your timid yellow friend.” Red Spy explained. “Fluttershy? Forget it. I don’t know where she is, and I’m sure she’s strong enough to take care of herself.” Applejack responded. Red Spy and Rarity burst into laughter. Red Spy looked at Applejack like she was crazy. “Please, that creature can’t stay composed at the sight of her own shadow. Now, here’s where she’s dangerous. She wields the Kritzkrieg. I cannot, for the sake of my team, allow her to use an Ubercharge with a weapon like that.” “Forget it. Flutters is gonna tear all you people apart with that uber, and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Applejack snapped. … Red Spy looked over at Rarity, and nodded. Rarity gripped her knife, and slashed Applejack right in the cheek. Applejack cried out in pain, and tried to grip her cheek, but was stopped by Rarity’s imprisoning hoof. Red Spy knew this was going to take a while. He just worried someone might come wandering into the room to disrupt his torture session. Rarity slashed Applejack again, causing her to scream some more. Applejack, out of impulse, called loudly for a Medic. … Red Spy and Rarity both grinned ear-to-ear. “Oh my, look who’s on their way now?” Red Spy smirked. Rarity chuckled. Applejack’s ears dropped as she realized what she had done. She tried once again to break free from Rarity, but failed. … Red Spy and Rarity waited patiently for the answering of Applejack’s call. Applejack stopped trying to struggle, and lowered her head in shame. Suddenly, Fluttershy came bursting around the corner of the building with her Kritzkrieg ready. She gasped when she took in the scene before her. “Applejack? What’s going on…” Applejack’s head jolted back up. “Run Fluttershy, run! Leave me alone; just run away as fast as you can! Find Spike or Blue Pyro!” She begged. Fluttershy was startled and frightened by her friend’s sudden desperate pleas. She stood there, discombobulated for a few seconds. Rarity slit Applejack’s throat with her knife. Applejack coughed and sputtered as blood squirted out from the wound. Just seconds later, she died painfully. ….......................................................................... Music: Intruder Alert .............................................................................. Rarity and Red Spy then lunged at her. She screamed, and broke into a dead run. The two assassins chased after her. “Come on Miss Rarity, run! Our target is escaping!” Red Spy ordered. “I’m running…as fast…as I can!” Rarity replied between breaths. … Tears formed in Fluttershy’s eyes as she ran with all of her might. During the high-speed chase, her Ghostly Gibus flew off of her head. Several teammates called for a Medic, but she did not oblige. Right now, she was literally running for her team’s survival. As she ran past the building on Team RED’s side, she passed Red Scout, who got a clear visual of her. He watched as his two Spy comrades blew past him at the same speed. He shrugged his shoulders, and got his bat out. “Yo, batter up!” He shouted, throwing a baseball in the air and hitting it with all his strength. As Red Spy and Rarity ran after Fluttershy, they noticed the baseball fly over their heads, and land right down on top of Fluttershy’s. A loud clonk was heard throughout the map, and the baseball bounced to the ground. Fluttershy lost her senses. She threw her hooves up in the air, and began to totter around like a drunkard. Stars flew around her head, and her eyes went all loopy. … … Red Spy and Rarity quickly caught up to Fluttershy in her half-asleep state. They jumped on top of her and tackled her to the ground, slashing their knives at her like psychopaths until she finally stopped breathing. She never uttered a noise. Immediately after, the announcer declared the Control Point active. It all depended on who could capture it first. ……………………………………… Everyone on the battlefield was notified of the kill. Team RED fighters cheered, while Team BLU fighters gasped. Rainbow Dash was especially angry. She switched on her headset, and made an announcement to her team. “’K everyone, get to the Control Point! No time for killing anymore, since we lost our source of crits!” … By the time the remainder of her entire team had received this information and traveled to the Point, Team RED had done the same. Pinkie Pie, Red Pyro, Red Soldier, Red Scout, Red Demoman, Zecora, Big Mac, Red Spy, and Rarity were already standing on the Control Point, eagerly ready to greet them. All was silent between the two teams. Team BLU stared in horror at how badly they were outnumbered. … Red Spy quietly whispered one word: “…Fire.” All hell broke loose on Team BLU. Fire, rockets, bullets, bombs, knives and clubs rained down on the unsuspecting team until they were obliterated into nothing. With the loss of only a few fighters, Team RED had won the battle. …………………………………………… No one cheered. No one clapped. They all just stood proudly on the Control Point, waiting for Team BLU to return and meet them for the team exchange. … All of Team BLU respawned in their resupply locker. Fluttershy had spawned on the ground, curled up in a ball and shaking. The equipment on her back rattled loudly with the vibration. It literally took half of Team BLU to comfort her and get her to stand up. Blue Medic even had to carry her over to the Control Point to meet Team RED. …………………………………… Once Team BLU had arrived, and everyone had gathered, the conditions and team scrambling began. “Okay, would all four-legged mercenaries please step forward? All except Twilight, that is.” Red Soldier ordered. Twilight and Red Sniper smiled lovingly at each other. The ponies did as they were told. Team RED got first pick, and the scramble began. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Zecora were on Team RED. Spike, Pinkie Pie, Big Mac, and Applejack were on Team BLU. … “Alright men, that was a pretty epic battle, wasn’t it?” Blue Soldier asked. Everyone on both teams nodded their heads in agreement. Several small comments could be heard in the crowd. Fluttershy, however, was not amused. Now in Red Medic’s arms and still shaking, she shook her head several times. Her eyes were wide with trauma. Red Spy and Rarity scratched the back of their heads awkwardly. Applejack glared over at them angrily. … “And now we will meet tomorrow at 5Gorge for a Control Points battle!” Red Soldier announced. The teams agreed on the terms, and walked off in their separate directions. Red Medic tried his best to relax Fluttershy before she had a heart attack. After all, they needed her for the next battle and all the battles after that. To be Continued…