//------------------------------// // Payload Mode // Story: Twilight's Experiments: The War of Mann Co. 2 // by MIKEANTHONY321 //------------------------------// Battle Arena #4: Badwater Basin (Payload) Rainbow Dash stood leaning against the wall of the BLU resupply room, twirling her bat on her hoof. Her expression seemed grim, and somewhat unamused. This lack of amusement befuddled the majority of her team. Rarity approached her angry-looking teammate. Rainbow Dash looked up at her, and crossed her arms. “What seems to be bothering you, dear?” Rarity asked. Rainbow Dash looked down grimly. Her face tensed. She didn’t answer immediately. “…wl…frkn…sct mn…” She mumbled. “You’re going to have to speak up, darling. I can’t hear you at all.” Rarity replied. Rainbow Dash leaned in toward Rarity’s ear. “It’s freaking Blue Scout, man! He treated Fluttershy like crap a couple battles ago, and then he still goes and stares me down like I’m some hot piece of ass or something. I feel ashamed for being so targeted by…such a dick.” Rarity gasped, and put a hoof to her mouth. “Rainbow, my dear, watch your language!” “Oh Rarity, what’s the point? Look around you. We’re not in Equestria anymore, and we haven’t been for the last month or so. This is the life we now know.” “Rainbow Dash, it doesn’t have to be that bad! We have a lot of great new friends here as well. In fact, I think Red Spy likes me somewhat.” Rarity mentioned, giggling softly to herself. “Yeah, but…the only one I actually kind of liked was a total douchebag to my best friend. It just feels…so conflicting.” “Oh Dash, don’t make everything seem so difficult. Maybe after this battle, you’ll feel a bit better.” Blue Scout, overhearing the conversation, rolled his eyes and sighed. ………………………………………. Meanwhile, in the RED resupply, tensions were a lot calmer. Many of the mercenaries spoke quietly to their companions, while others just lied around and napped before battle. Applejack and Red Engineer were some of them. As Spike struggled to adjust the belt on his uniform, Red Soldier approached him. Spike looked up, and met his companion face-to-face. “Spike, I need to ask you something real fast.” He started. Spike shrugged; surprised that he was addressed by his actual name from Red Soldier. He nodded his head. “What current load-out are you using?” Red Soldier asked. “Well…not anything, really. I have a rocket launcher, a shotgun, and a shovel. Why do you ask?” Spike replied. “I am really proud of your work, soldier. I have seen your fast reflexes, your pinpoint accuracy, and your spectacular rocket-jumping skills. Personally, I want to see what else you can do.” Spike raised an eyebrow. His heartbeat sped up a little as he became anxious of what was to come. Red Soldier had four things to give to Spike. He started by giving him a new rocket launcher called the Direct Hit. Spike took it slowly, marveling at its exquisite design. “The new rocket launcher that you have received is known as the Strange Direct Hit. I found this in a supply crate a while back. Its Strange quality allows for you to keep record of all the kills you have made with it. As you do so, it’ll rank up, and gain new levels.” Spike broke out in excited laughter. He couldn’t control his desire to try the new weapon out. “The Direct Hit deals far more damage than your stock rocket launcher. However, it has a much smaller blast radius, so in order to maximize your fatality output, you need to hit your target directly. I’m confident you’ll be able to handle this because of your phenomenal accuracy.” “Wow…I…I don’t know what to say.” … After this, Red Soldier gave Spike an odd-looking radio backpack and a trumpet. “This is the Battalion’s Backup. With it, after dealing enough damage, you’ll be able to blow on the trumpet to create a powerful defensive buff to all of your nearby teammates. It’s great against sentries, and various other defensive lineups.” Spike took the backpack, and put it on swiftly. He then took the trumpet from Red Soldier. … Next, Red Soldier gave Spike another shovel that looked different than the original. “With your amazing rocket-jumping skills, I found it best to present you with the Strange Market Gardener. This shovel will keep track of kills, just like the Direct Hit. It’ll deal a guaranteed critical hit if you hit your target while rocket-jumping through the air.” Spike received the last component of his new load-out. With all of his new weapons put together, he felt like a next-level Soldier class. He chuckled lightly to himself, content with his new items. … “Wait…what was that last thing you were going to give me?” He asked. Red Soldier smiled. “I wanted to present this publicly. I figured you deserved it more than I.” Red Soldier raised up his right hand. All of the team RED members turned from their trivial activities, and looked at Red Soldier and Spike. “Now that I have your attention, I’d like to bestow this new Unusual to my incredible comrade. Take it with pride!” Red Soldier announced. He bent over, and set the new hat upon Spike’s head. It was the Unusual Defiant Spartan with a vivid plasma effect. Spike gasped. He now looked like a true knight as the helmet covered most of his face. Vivid plasma seared around the hat, creating a fierce effect to his enemies. … Everyone in the room applauded. Spike was now the third of his Equestrian friends to receive an Unusual from the mercenaries. Nothing further could be said or done, however, as the announcer began the countdown for the battle to begin. …………………………………………… “5…4…3…2…1…PREP!” The announcer called. Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Wait…prep? What the f…” “Don’t you remember last time we fought a Payload battle? Team RED gets a minute to prepare their defenses.” Blue Scout mentioned, cutting her off. Rainbow Dash turned slowly and angrily toward Blue Scout. Blue Scout smiled confidently, pretending to look cool. He lifted his hat, and ran his hand through his hair. “What; why are you looking at ME like that? Did I just…stand out in front of my other teammates? Natural selection wins, I suppose.” He flaunted, waving his hair around. “Don’t cut me off like that again, prick.” Rainbow Dash growled. Blue Scout’s smile disappeared. He awkwardly put his hat back on, and stepped away from the angry pegasus. … Half of team BLU rolled their eyes. Blue Sniper put a hand over his face. “Bloody hell…is this Team Fortress, or DRAMA Fortress?” He mumbled. “Good question, mate.” Red Sniper replied. Surprised, Blue Sniper looked up to see Red Sniper standing right outside the gate to his spawn room. He stood with the rest of his team, waiting for the gate to open and for the battle to begin. He had his arm down, rubbing Twilight’s head. “Ah, piss…” Blue Sniper grumbled. He turned, and walked away from their sight. ………………………………………… “Mission begins in 5…4…3…2…1…” The announcer began. Right on ‘0’, the gates to the BLU spawn room swung open, and the battle began. Right off the bat, Applejack and Blue Spy were blown up by a random crit rocket. …………………………………………… Music: Playing With Danger (Repeat if needed) …………………………………………… “Watch out, men! Team RED seems to be starting off lucky this time!” Blue Soldier announced to his team. Just after saying this, however, Blue Soldier discovered that it wasn’t just luck that killed two of his fighters. After the previous battle, Red Medic had convinced Fluttershy to join back into the fight, and somehow even got her to use the Kritzkrieg again. Now she and Spike were charged with critical hits, and he had just annihilated two fighters right from the start. … Blue Engineer noticed this as well, and gasped in surprise. “Ey y’all, watch out! Kritzkrieg on the loose!” He called. Team BLU retreated into their spawn again once they had received the message. They remained there for just a few seconds, waiting for Fluttershy’s lethal Ubercharge to cease. After that, they charged back out. Defense and support classes spread out, seeking to eliminate their team’s opposition. The offensive classes sprinted forward to begin pushing the bomb. Blue Scout and Rainbow Dash burst forward simultaneously, and threw their weight into the bomb cart. It immediately began to inch along its tracks. … Blue Scout grinned. “Gee Skittles, this cart is lighter than I thought! It doesn’t take much of my awesome muscle power to move it along!” A sweat rolled down Rainbow Dash’s face. She grimaced as she continued to push the cart. “Just shut up Scout, and push the cart.” She ordered. … Rainbow Dash looked off toward the hill. She gasped suddenly, and ducked her head down. Right at that moment, a bullet flew over her head, and went right through Blue Scout’s. He crashed to the ground. …………………………………… The two Snipers were standing hidden behind the hill in front of the BLU base when the kill was made. The cart moved very slowly now, with only Rainbow Dash trying to push it. It sat right past the first left turn, and right before a big tunnel. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself about her near-death. Pinkie Pie jogged up next to Rainbow Dash with her fire axe in-hoof. Blood covered her fire-retardant uniform. “Hi, Dashie! Ooh, you’re pushing the bomb cart? I’ll join you! Let’s do this!” She exclaimed. She stepped aside, and pushed Blue Scout’s dead body away from the cart. She then stood in place, and began assisting Rainbow Dash. … Rainbow Dash rubbed her nose. “Geez, Pinkie…you smell like burnt flesh and rotten meat. What happened to you?” Pinkie giggled. “Oh, that was just Red Heavy. After I finished with him, Fluttershy ran away like she saw a timberwolf or something. I let her go.” Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “You have one messed up soul, Pink.” … Blue Sniper ran down next to the two cart-pushers, and held up his rifle. “As you two push the cart, I’ll fight off any attackers before they even get here.” He explained. …………………………………………. “Hurry partner, build a sentry! The cart’s approaching fast!” Red Engineer ordered Applejack. Following his orders, Applejack ran quickly to the first checkpoint location. She then used the Jag to begin building a sentry at rapid speed. “Good. Now ta get more metal, come over here to my dispenser.” Red Engineer instructed. As Red Engineer jogged away from the battlefront, Applejack followed him. At the second checkpoint location, Red Engineer’s buildings sat, ready to defend at the right time. His dispenser sat near his sentry. … Applejack stood near the dispenser to replenish her metal supply, and then ran back to her sentry to begin making upgrades. “Thanks, partner!” She called. … As she was working, Red Spy uncloaked in front of her. Applejack whacked him a couple times with her wrench to make sure he wasn’t an enemy. “The bomb cart will be emerging from the tunnel any second now. None of our defenders have been able to engage the cart-pushers, because they have a Sniper there to protect them. We need you to be on top guard when your sentry begins firing.” He explained. “Can do, partner! Just don’t get yerself killed out there with all yer slinking around and such.” Applejack replied. Red Spy nodded once. He then disguised as Blue Medic, cloaked out of sight, and disappeared. …………………………………………… As the cart progressed through the tunnel, more and more BLU fighters stepped in to help push it along. It was moving at a very steady pace now. As RED defenders surged in from the back of the tunnel to stop them, Blue Sniper picked them off one by one before they could get close enough to do some damage. “Great job, Sniper. Now we’re able to take this place by force!” Blue Soldier raved. Rainbow Dash smiled proudly to herself. Her face covered in sweat, her legs trembling, she continued to push the cart along. … At this point, Applejack began to get nervous. The sounds of footsteps and rusty wheels began to get louder and louder as the cart neared her sentry gun. Her sentry could either save the day, or be torn to shreds in a matter of seconds. If that happened, she would go along with it. Suddenly, her sentry beeped, and began to fire. The intruders arrived from the tunnel, which the sentry had noticed. The first checkpoint lay just in front of it. “Alert! The cart is nearing a checkpoint!” The announcer cried. Blue Pyro, Blue Scout, and Blue Sniper were easy pickings as the sentry killed them in a matter of seconds. For a moment, Applejack felt like her sentry would successfully do its job. However, right at that moment, Blue Medic emerged with Pinkie Pie. He deployed an Ubercharge, which plunged them both into total invulnerability. Applejack gasped in surprise as Pinkie mowed through her sentry gun with her flamethrower. Applejack tried to repair the damage, but the force of the fire was too much. Her sentry gun literally melted, followed by her just seconds after. … Once his Ubercharge was gone, Blue Medic gave overheals to all of the remaining cart-pushers: Blue Soldier, Blue Engineer, and Rainbow Dash. He then pressed on to help any other stray teammates that were scattered throughout the map. …………………………………………………. “The enemy has received additional time…” The announcer rasped to team RED. The cart had reached the first checkpoint. Red Soldier hid around the corner to the second checkpoint, reloading his rocket launcher. Fluttershy stood behind him, overhealing him with the Kritzkrieg. “Are you ready for this, Medic?” He asked her. “Um…I guess. My Ubercharge is ready.” She replied timidly. As the sentry gun massacre happened at the first checkpoint just prior, Fluttershy and Red Soldier had been hiding out by the second point to build an Ubercharge. As a result, many RED defenders had died, being left in the hands of Red Medic alone. Red Engineer’s buildings sat guarding the second checkpoint, waiting indefinitely for the arrival of the BLU attackers. Red Soldier and Fluttershy began final preparations to launch a little attack of their own. … “Let’s show these maggots that destroying a sentry does not mean victory.” Red Soldier muttered. “You got it.” Fluttershy responded. “…Charge!!!” Red Soldier cried. He burst out from behind the corner, greeting the BLU attackers with a rather pleasant surprise. Fluttershy deployed her Ubercharge, granting critical hits to Red Soldier’s rocket launcher. He fired one rocket, which obliterated the majority of the cart-pushers. Blood sprayed in all directions, covering Red Soldier and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was thrown to the side, hitting a wall. She gasped for air, but her collapsed lungs would not allow it. Blood poured out of her mouth. … “The power of crits…” Red Soldier chuckled evilly to himself. “Ack…ugh…M…Medic……I need…a Medic!” Rainbow Dash wheezed. Red Soldier walked calmly up to Rainbow Dash, and pointed his crit-boosted rocket launcher down at her. He smiled wickedly. “Prepare to meet your maker, unicorn.” He rasped. … Suddenly, Blue Medic leapt onto the scene, silhouetted by the sun behind him. In midair, he aimed his medi-gun down at his battered teammate, and released. Red Soldier stood frozen, shocked as Rainbow Dash’s fatal wounds suddenly began to heal. She picked herself up off the ground with a defiant grunt, wiping any excess blood off of her lips. Red Soldier’s mouth hung open. His crits ran out just then as Rainbow Dash became fully recovered. … “Oh, and by the way…I’m a pegasus.” She whispered. Taking her bat out, she backed up about a hundred feet, and launched a baseball at him. The projectile hit him right in the head, which paralyzed him. … … She then threw the Flying Guillotine at him, which registered as an automatic critical hit. Red Soldier was down for the count. Fluttershy began to quiver nervously. Her heal buddy was terminated now, and she stood vulnerable in front of two BLU attackers. Rainbow Dash walked back up to where Fluttershy was standing, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “There’s no need to worry, Flutters. I have no intention to kill you at all. I’m going to let you retreat now, and find a new heal partner. If they manage to die as well, I’ll still ignore you. Sound good?” Fluttershy cradled her Kritzkrieg tightly in her arms. She nodded nervously. … Just as she was beginning to retreat, a fully-charged bullet flew through her right hip. She yelped loudly like an injured dog. Blue Sniper, the firer of the bullet, was standing far back toward the BLU base. He reloaded, and scoped up for the final kill-shot. Rainbow Dash quickly flipped on her headset microphone, and told Blue Sniper to hold his fire. Blue Sniper was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed to stop. … Before Rainbow Dash could turn back around toward Fluttershy, she was already gone. …………………………………………… Fluttershy ran, leaving Rainbow Dash and Blue Medic standing confused behind her. The wound in her hip was bleeding badly. Although Blue Sniper’s shot was not to the head, it left her with a small amount of health left. She bolted around the corner, up a flight of stairs, and into a small observation deck that overlooked two upcoming checkpoints. There was no one to be seen currently in this part of the map. Off in the distance, she could faintly hear the sound of Red Engineer’s sentry gun as it began to fire at team BLU. She sat down against the wall of the room, and put a hoof on her wounded hip. As soon as she did so, pain surged up through her body. She yelped a bit. The bullet appeared to have torn through her lab coat, went into her skin, and lodged in her pelvis. Blood was leaking everywhere. ............................................................ Music: A Little Heart to Heart (Repeat if needed) ............................................................ Amongst all the thoughts of pain that floated through her mind, Fluttershy remembered something that Red Medic had told her before. It was something to do with the Kritzkrieg……something that you could only do with the Kritzkrieg… Taking her hoof off of her wound for a moment, she picked up the Kritzkrieg that was sitting on the floor. Holding it delicately, she stared at it for a few moments. Then, she held the nozzle toward her face. Instinctively, she pulled the lever on the device. A steady stream of the healing smoke began to fill the air around her face, which she involuntarily breathed in. It smelled somewhat of car exhaust and air freshener at the same time. It was rather conflicting to her nostrils, and it made her slightly dizzy. However, as she inhaled the medical smoke, she found that her bullet wound began to heal a little bit. She gasped at the result, excited that she was actually managing to heal herself. Eagerly, she put the nozzle of the Kritzkrieg up to her mouth, and continued to suck more of the smoke in. At this point, she had the Kritzkrieg nozzle up to her mouth like a nebulizer, taking in plumes of the smoke as she lied back against the wall. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her body became more relaxed. ………………………………………………… Music: Playing With Danger (Repeat if needed) .......................................................................... As soon as Red Engineer had the chance, he rushed to his sentry gun. BLU fighters began to arrive in groups now, itching to push the cart further along its tracks. His sentry was firing furiously, injuring enemies and taking considerable damage. As he viciously whacked his creation with his wrench, he looked up to see the damage he was causing. Several BLU attackers were lying dead on the ground, while others remained mortally wounded. Blue Medic had his hands full as he tirelessly healed the teammates pushing the cart. Rainbow Dash was even missing an entire arm, yet she continued to push the cart with great effort. … “Five minutes left in the mission! Five minutes!” The announcer warned. Red Demoman rushed in beside Red Engineer, and began placing stickies all over the ground in front of the checkpoint. If team BLU managed to get the bomb cart past the checkpoint, the timer would be reset back to ten minutes, and they’d lose hope. Applejack, Red Heavy, and various other classes approached from the same direction as Red Demoman did. Applejack climbed the stairs that led to the roof to make a new sentry gun that would push team BLU back even further. Defenders that resided near the front lines, such as Red Scout, Red Pyro, and Red Heavy, took intense damage from team BLU’s brute forces. Calls for a Medic rang through the air as teammates started getting close to death. Red Medic, newly equipped with the Quick Fix, sprinted in from the RED base. Teammates began to line up in front of him, get quick health, and charge back into battle. He found quickly, however, that the line kept getting indefinitely longer. … “Hey guys, it’d be mighty efficient if y’all would start using my dispenser for health as well. Poor Medic can only do so much.” Red Engineer called. Many teammates obliged to Red Engineer’s offer, moving out of the line to get their health from Red Engineer’s buildings. With a shorter line, the remaining teammates could quickly get their health and be back out to fighting. Red Medic, between teammates, began to migrate over to Red Engineer. As Red Engineer repaired his constantly-firing sentry, he looked up to engage conversation. “Vhere is Ms. Fluttershy? Vith her crits and her healing power, zis vould be a lot easier.” Red Medic complained. Red Soldier spoke up. “Last time I saw Fluttershy, she was with me giving me crits. That was about four minutes ago!” He explained. He shot a rocket, and finished off Zecora. “Maggots!” … Red Medic rubbed his chin. “Hmm…if Ms. Fluttershy had died somehow, she vould’ve respawned a vhile ago. Vhy vouldn’t she be here?” All the nearby RED defenders shrugged their shoulders. Red Engineer ignored the question, continuing to repair his sentry. As the question rang through the minds of the RED defenders, they found that the bomb cart began to move backwards. Applejack’s sentry had been built and upgraded, which pushed the no-man’s land further back for the BLU team. Time was running short for them. … Suddenly, Red Heavy was headshot by Blue Sniper. At the same time, Red Scout got shot down by Blue Engineer. As team RED’s defenses thinned, the cart managed to inch forward bit by bit. However, it was kept a safe distance away by Applejack’s sentry. Red Engineer turned, and saw that Red Medic had disappeared. He shrugged, assuming that the Medic had gone off to find his comrade. Just after, he looked up toward the roof to see how Applejack was doing. To his shock, he saw Rarity appear behind her with her knife raised. “Applejack, look out!!!” Red Engineer cried out. Unfortunately, Applejack was too slow to respond. Rarity backstabbed his comrade, and placed a sapper on her sentry. … “Dammit!” Red Engineer cursed. He left his sentry, and bolted into the building nearby. He climbed the stairs, turned the corner, sprinted across the roof, and reached Applejack’s dying sentry as fast as he was able to. He whacked it furiously with his wrench, saving it from the sapper just in time. Just as Rarity was appearing behind him to finish him off, he turned around, and beat her with his wrench as well. So far, his defense system was safe. ……………………………………………… At this point, only a minute remained of the battle. Team BLU never got the bomb cart past the second checkpoint. Red Medic hoped that his team could hold off the last minute without him. Frantically, he searched the areas around the RED base for his beloved comrade. After all, there was no way in the observable universe that she could be behind enemy lines on the BLU side. He started his search in the RED spawn room, and planned to work his way outward toward the battlefront. … Initially, she was nowhere to be found near the final hatch. None of the nooks, crannies, rooms, and hallways contained his butter-yellow friend. He moved up a little bit, and began to check the area near the third checkpoint. She was nowhere on the ground; not in a corner, not in a building, and not on a ledge. … He jogged up the stairs that sat against the wall. They led him up to the observation deck, where he was immediately greeted by a musty garage smell. He fanned his nose with his hand. No matter how much Red Medic tried to circulate the air around his nose, he couldn’t shake the industrialized smell that plagued the cramped atmosphere of the deck. The air near the roof of the room was clouded heavily with red smoke. Red Medic looked down against the wall, and saw Fluttershy half-passed out with the Kritzkrieg pressed against her face. Her bullet wound was completely healed, and the Kritzkrieg had a full Ubercharge ready. … “Dear Lord, Ms. Fluttershy. Vhat have you done to yourself?” He marveled. He picked Fluttershy up off the ground, and held her in his arms. Her Kritzkrieg fell out of her hooves, and hung aimlessly at her side by the cord connecting her backpack. She giggled a little bit as her eyes trailed off throughout the room. “M…medicine……it…it healed my wound…” She murmured quietly. As she spoke, clouds of the red smoke billowed out of her mouth and her nose. “Forgive me for asking, Ms. Fluttershy, but…are you…high?” He asked uncertainly. Fluttershy giggled again. “What’s that?” Red Medic scrunched his face up as more clouds of red smoke sailed out of the pegasus’s mouth. He was starting to find himself dizzy in the closed room with all of the medical smoke. … “Come on; let’s get you to some cleaner air.” Red Medic suggested. Fluttershy threw her hooves around Red Medic’s neck, and cuddled him closely. Red Medic began to feel uncomfortable, as he had never felt a sensation like this before. He carried Fluttershy out of the observation deck and into some fresh air. As her Kritzkrieg hung below her from the cord, steady streams of the smoke continued to leak out of it. “Ugh…I sink you vore out zee valve on zee Kritzkrieg’s outtake port. Zee smoke von’t stop coming out.” Red Medic observed. … “Time has ceased. Victory to team RED!” The announcer blared. The RED defenders standing at the front lines cheered wildly at their victory. After two consecutive failures, victory felt good. “Vell, vhat do you know? Vee actually von zee battle.” Red Medic stated. … Not thinking from her “escalated” state, Fluttershy leaned up, and kissed Red Medic. Shocked, Red Medic tried to pull away, but Fluttershy wouldn’t let him go. Now that the battle was completed, the RED defenders began to walk away from the battlefront. All of them were stunned and frozen in place when they caught a glance at Red Medic and Fluttershy. A crowd of both teams began to form around the two. Even thirty seconds later, Fluttershy showed no signs of pulling away from Red Medic. She even began to get more into it; moving her hooves around and caressing the back of his neck. … “Um…Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash spoke up from the crowd. “…” “Fluttershy?” “…” “Fluttershy!!!” She finally yelled. Suddenly, the loud noise from Rainbow Dash’s call snapped Fluttershy out of her high. She gasped as soon as she awoke from her state. She pulled away from Red Medic’s mouth, and turned around towards Rainbow Dash in surprise. When she saw the crowd standing there, she cried out. “Oh…oh my gosh……” She stuttered anxiously. … Realizing that she had just made out with Red Medic in front of two-dozen observers, Fluttershy climbed out of Red Medic’s grasp, picked up her broken Kritzkrieg, and ran away crying. Everyone stood around silent for another minute or so, dumbfounded at the evening’s recent events. Quietly and awkwardly, the team scramble commenced. … Twilight and Fluttershy remained on team RED. Also on team RED were Big Mac, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Zecora were on team BLU. “Alright men, our next battle will be Hightower for a Payload RACE battle!” Red Soldier announced. The ponies gasped, oblivious to the new battle mode. This was going to be interesting. … “I’m going to go comfort Ms. Fluttershy.” Red Medic stated, walking off toward the RED base. To be Continued…