Here we go again! This time, the story takes us back to what Tavish and Jane are up to... ______________________________ Out on the island's main road, the tropical air was thick with the stench of death. Although the slain mercenaries began vanishing from where they had fallen, spirited off to distant respawn chambers by the miracles of science, there were scars on the land that would take longer to heal. The RED team's Soldier and Engineer were lying amidst the settling rubble, but they could have been en route to Teufort for all Demoman knew. Someone was going to pay for all this. For Tavish DeGroot, it was bad enough being stranded in this filthy, treacherous jungle, pitted against a man that used to be his best friend – the BLU soldier called Jane Doe. Things were worse now that he was injured and faced with a second soldier, a near-unstoppable maniac who killed RED and BLU fighters indiscriminately. With no teammates left who could help him, Tavish had no choice but to side with Jane against the maverick Soldier, knowing his former buddy could turn on him at any moment. Demoman took a vengeful pot-shot at his enemy: the renegade Soldier with Colonel's wings. His first attack was imprecise, but pain, rage and his missing eye had never kept him from lobbing around high explosives before. Already on his feet after that dive in the mud, the maverick Soldier reacted immediately. He aimed his weapon at the ground. Demoman’s grenade went off at the same moment his Black Box did, launching him off the road and clear over the two other combatants. Mud and blood rained down on them. They turned quickly, both acting with their reflexes on a hair-trigger. Somewhere in the jungle beyond the pathway, their foe crashed down among trees and foliage. Jane was incensed. “Running away?! THAT is not how a REAL Soldier fights, you chicken-shit BASTARD! Come back here and DIE like a MAN!†From the darkness of the forest came a roar more rattling than one ever uttered by any lion. “You call yourself a Soldier, you wet-behind-the-ears private? I’ll teach you to fight, son, but you probably won’t live long enough to learn much. Lesson number ONE! Can you see me right now, private? Because I can sure as hell see you and your buddy! BOTH OF YOU ARE SITTING DUCKS OUT THERE!†Tavish was less familiar with the sounds a rocket launcher made during regular handling, but when the Black Box’s rattle and click came through the trees, he was already throwing himself to the ground. Jane took a moment longer to realize they were in trouble, but when he did, he dove into the mud with his friend. Instead of deadly rockets, a rough-sounding cackle was the only thing that came their way. The rogue soldier spoke again. “Lesson number TWO, BOYS! Do you know how many rounds you’ve got left? I do, and I wouldn’t waste them. Neither of you has the faintest fucking idea where you might restock, but it’s NOT going to be at a DISPENSER!†He laughed again, and Demoman seethed quietly; he was pretty certain the guy was gloating over the teams’ slain engineers. “THAT’S IT! I’m going in there, and I’M going to tear YOU a new ASSHOLE!†BLU Soldier’s lip curled back in a furious sneer. He slung the launcher over his shoulder, then began scrabbling into the undergrowth. His one good eye widening in alarm, Demoman hurried after him. “Wait! Fer the love of God, would you bloody think?†he hissed, grabbing at Jane’s pant-leg. The BLU mercenary glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes bulging with rage. “What the hell do you want me to wait for, an air-strike? I’m going to go kill that son of a bitch!†Their argument was cut short as a metal pick whipped from behind a bush, glancing off Jane’s helmet with a sharp “clang!†Both men flinched in alarm. Before Jane could swing his shovel at the attacker, he had disappeared again in the thick foliage. Clearly rattled, BLU Soldier scooted back alongside Demoman, and shakily wiped away a trickle of fresh blood from his scalp. “Lesson number THREE! Hiding and lying in ambush are two VERY different THINGS! I know this territory, maggots, and the ONLY reason you are still ALIVE is because I’ve been merciful! So let’s make this interesting.†There was a low, hissing cackle that seemed to circle the two men from all directions. “Run or hide, boys, it won't make a difference. You can try to hunt me down, or I'll find where your cowardly asses have fled to, and I WILL MAKE YOU DEAD!†Tavish and Jane glanced at each other and listened as the faint sounds of movement faded amidst the trees. When the BLU Soldier spoke, his voice was low and gravelly. “Cowardly son of a bitch... there's no difference between hiding and lying in ambush. OR between fleeing and making a tactical retreat. REAL men go headlong into danger!†Demoman knit his brow in irritation, tentatively rising to a crouch and fishing a kerchief out from one of his satchels. There was no doubt in the Scotsman’s mind that their enemy intended to make good on his threat. At the same time, he didn’t know what sort booby-traps might be in the rainforest. Almost all of his experience was limited to explosive traps, in urban or otherwise man-made settings. He groaned dismally as he realized the only antiseptic agent he had was that volatile rum. His heart was heavy with regret as he pulled the bottle out of his pack and slopped some onto the cloth, then tried to clean the wounds on his face. It did nothing for the pain of his torn cartilage, lacerations and embedded shrapnel, but Demoman felt a little better knowing he wouldn't get blood poisoning as well. As he gingerly rubbed encrustations of dried blood off of his shredded ear, he found his mind wandering to the task ahead. “Ah wonder how well Sniper made out in this stinkin’ banana farm... I know that him an’ Spy were still here this mornin’. Maybe those bastards dinnae bother with so many traps in the jungle. It’d be a waste tryin’ tae rig so many acres of rainforest, aye?†Blinking, Jane lifted his helmet a little and glanced at his companion. “Wait, bastards? As in, more than one of them?†The blue-clad Soldier grumbled, pulling himself to his feet and looking around. “Aye, there’s more’n one of them. Could be a whole team, minus their Heavy Weapons Guy. We killed him soon as we landed, but the Doc’ said there was a halt-pint wi' him who got away.†He tossed the bloody scrap of clothe away, and reached for his canteen. After taking a long drink of his stale-tasting grog, he began studying his surroundings in the desperate hope that it might make him better informed in the search for traps. Inconsistencies in the terrain would be a sign of enemy activity, provided he could spot them. “Maybe it was the Colonel’s whole team that stayed here, not just him. That would make sense. They did follow him around like they were tied to his ass. I’ve never fought any other bunch of REDs who actually seemed to have a leader...†As they began their cautious trek into the jungle, Demoman decided it was time to see if he could get some answers. “When was it that you were on this island, exactly? And why the hell is this madman’s team still here? ...would’ve been nice o’ them tae let me own cohort know we’d be fightin’ other REDs.†Jane frowned, using his shovel to prod suspiciously at a tree stump. It was a relief to the Scotsman that his companion was also wary, even if it did nothing to hasten their progress. Tavish imagined himself and Jane as two scared little kids in the deep, dark woods; it was a dishearteningly accurate picture. Giving up on the stump, the American moved on. After a few minutes of quiet slinking through the underbrush, he suddenly said, “Two years ago.†“What?†“Two years ago,†Jane repeated, flashing Tavish an annoyed look. “That’s when my team was stationed on this island. I don’t know why they sent us here, and I don’t care. I’m paid to fight for the BLU company, and that’s what my team did! The RED cohort we were up against was a weird bunch. That Soldier – they called him “The Colonelâ€. I don’t know if he ever fought in the army, but he did wear that badge. They all took orders from him, anyhow.†Tavish froze as he spotted what appeared to be a tripwire, but on closer inspection was just a liana. He sighed. “Why’d ye leave? Did the REDs here drive your people off?†“Are you trying to provoke me, you one-eyed, smart-mouthed...†The BLU mercenary bristled, but seemed to lose his train of thought as he noticed the lack of malice in Tavish’s countenance. “...no. We didn’t lose the island, the whole thing was called off. Technical difficulties. We packed up everything from our base here and shipped it back to the states. Even the kitchen sink! They told us the REDs had done the same. So a couple weeks ago, when we caught word that your company was planning to come back here, we hustled our butts down south as fast as—†The Scotsman cut in. “So ye dinnae have any idea why they’d be here, or why they’d be killin’ other REDs along wi’ your lot?†Tavish tugged his cap off, more to help himself cool off than anything else. He found himself scratching his head as he tried to make sense of it all. “There’s nothin’ of any real value here, is there? No plants wi' miraculous powers? Ancient ruins? Crashed U.F.O.s? That sorta thing? ...Ye think they’d be wantin’ tae develop it for rich tourists?†Jane looked mystified by these suggestions. “I sure as hell didn’t see any crap like that when I was here! We stuck to the plantation complex most of the time, though... There, and the big patch of land out behind our base. Me and the boys razed it so we’d have somewhere safe to stretch our legs and land supply choppers. There was a stretch of beachfront at the far end, but it was no good. The whole beach was rotten with these poison death-apple trees. Couldn’t even burn the Goddamned things. The smoke’d kill you too. Not like it was the biggest problem, but—†“What’d these trees look like?†Tavish asked, glancing uneasily around at the nearby foliage. Frowning, the other man waved his shovel dismissively. “They were only out on the sand-dunes. I didn’t see any inland. You’d know them if you see them, though- they drop little green apples everywhere. Nothing grows near ‘em. If any part of the damn thing so much as touches you, you get a horrible rash – almost a burn, really.†Jane chuckled and rubbed his chin, then added, “Some of the boys found that out the hard way. Thought they’d run out for some midnight skinny-dipping. Glad I’m not Medic, he had to deal with those numbskulls and their blistered privates.†When the dense forest was suddenly divided by a narrow footpath, the two men decided to follow it with mixed relief and concern. Although a few explosives had been planted along the route at some point, they had been detonated days ago, and no other traps made themselves apparent. As the afternoon sun began its slow descent, Demoman was too deep in contemplation to realize evening was fast approaching. He frowned as he thought long and hard about his companion. Working with his former best friend again? Win or lose, one of them was going to get fucked. After deep contemplation, he sighed and withdrew the shotgun— Jane’s shotgun— from his pack. “...here, mate. Ye might need this.†The BLU mercenary looked confounded as he took the weapon back. It seemed that in all the commotion, he'd forgotten about his shotgun entirely. “Oh! That's mine, isn't it? ...uh, thanks. You know, for not losing it or anything.†After studying the gun as though he wasn't sure of its purpose, Jane seemed to decide it gave him better odds than his shovel did, and stuffed the tool away before hurrying to keep up with his companion.