[Spy-rivalry, with a smack of Spy-cest. Mostly Spy-rivalry, though.] The Grudge ------------------------- Eight seconds. It is more than enough time for him to get to the Intel Room undetected, if he did not slow down, did not get caught by an errant puff of flame or a sentry’s bullet. But he would not get caught; he had seen to the obstacles, even setting two of them up for the Heavy to mow down and the Sniper to pick off. For the next eight seconds, his path through the BLU base would be clear. Then out of nowhere, quite on accident, he bumps into the enemy Spy. Their cloaking devices crackle simultaneously, sparking blue and red before either one recovers from the surprise. In a flash, the RED Spy strikes out with his dagger, sliding to the side on slick soles as his opponent slashes wildly at his eyes. He takes an elbow to the midsection, but his extended leg neatly trips the BLU, causing him to stumble. Taking advantage of the enemy’s misstep, he breaks away in attempt to continue his mission, but he hears the keen of a blade cutting through air behind him and barely, just barely, dodges a knife to his hamstring. Twisting as he falls to the ground, he kicks out and catches the BLU Spy on the face somewhere, hears a crunch of bone, a grunt of pain, the clatter of a dropped knife. But the other man promptly charges at him, tackling him to the ground in a cloud of dust and disarming him as well. Both of their cloaks short out and reset erratically as they grapple in silence, their forms flickering in and out of sight like shadows in a freak thunderstorm. This close, they do not think to pull out a gun, even if they had any chance to use them. The RED Spy quickly realizes that while it is easy to fight your double, it is not that easy to actually win against him. No doubt the BLU Spy has realized this as well. Each punch is blocked, every jab immediately countered, neither Spy getting the upper hand despite their skill and experience in unarmed combat. Seconds slip by, too many, and only a sense of stubbornness compels him to at least beat back his enemy and keep him from returning to his own team, as he is too delayed now to continue the mission with any hope of success. Teeth clenched tight, the RED Spy heaves up suddenly and finally throws off his attacker. The BLU Spy lands flat on his back with a thump, his cloaking device run down at last. Furiously, the RED Spy scrabbles to his knees and latches onto the other’s throat to pin him down. “Just my luck, that I had to run into you,†he hisses. “Trust me, I didn’t enjoy it either,†the other Spy snarls, but as the gloved hand tightens around his windpipe, he stills and submits under the RED Spy’s grip. “What must I do to keep you away?†The recollection of those incriminating photographs still rankle at what remains of his soul; he resents that his enemy had escaped his notice until after the fact. He hates that such an obviously inferior spy could hold something so powerful over him, hates even more that this useless and unfashionable man had thwarted him by simply walking around. The BLU laughs sharply, a thin, high-pitched wheeze that sounded chilling nevertheless. “Nothing. There is nothing you nor anyone can do. I am your shadow. And not even the devil himself can escape his shadow, don’t you see?†He glances down, and reads the unspoken taunt behind that cruel smirk as if he had spoken it out loud. They had called him the Devil once, long ago, in half a dozen languages, but most of all in his own. For the red about his throat he had worn in defiance, for the blood he had spilled in vengeance. He thought he had left that name behind after the war, buried in the underground tunnels beneath Paris, but if anyone had the skill to discover his past and also the stupidity to tell him so, it would be this man. There wasn’t much his enemies could do with this piece of outdated information, but the threat was clear – his secrets were no longer guaranteed safe while his rival remained employed with BLU. “I do see. And I would commend you for your intelligence gathering, but…†He takes the Ambassador out and shoves the muzzle into the BLU Spy’s mouth. “You talk too much for your own good.†The RED Spy pulls the trigger before the other man could even scream. He continues emptying his revolver, shot after shot, until there is nothing but a red, pulpy smear of flesh on the ground where the BLU Spy’s head used to be, and wobbly bits of brain are scattered all over his maroon suit. Gently, the RED Spy adjusts his opponent’s silk tie and murmurs, “That is a good look on you, Le Bleu.†Shadow. If he had a shadow, he would have hoped it would have been a little more intelligent.
This will sound like the world's tiniest nitpick, but... Spies cannot attack while cloaked in-game, and this is something that I feel should carry into plot as well. Otherwise, what's to stop the Spy from just going on an invisible killing spree?
Oh crap, thanks for pointing that out, I think I might have known that deep down inside, but I clearly forgot while writing. The fact has little to do with the rest of the story and I suppose it could be fixed, but now I feel that everyone will suspect me as one of those rookies who only plays as Soldier and no other class, which is 100% true, so I will wrap this up and start fresh with something that either requires no detail or is about Soldier and only Soldier. ----- In the end, it was only a dream. Or was it?
Oh, come the eff on. Dotchan's criticism was completely fair, but to terminate a story with good potential just because you can't be bothered to make a tiny fix is ridiculous. It would take you less than a minute to make an edit so that the Spies drop their cloak before attacking, and repost the newly-edited story in this thread. If you want to write about Soldier because you love the character and have good ideas about a Soldier-centered story, that's awesome. But if your reason is just that you are afraid and/or too lazy to write about other classes, that's pretty damn sad.