Clove had successfully retreated backwards out of the pincer. So at least that's a plus. It felt kind of odd to be so calm as I saw my riddled body fall. I guess now I know the root of Clove's Devil may care attitude.
And Chamber turned around; I drew out a plan of action and pulled.
My body rose and regenerated as I came back to life. But instead of going for a fight, my left hand went for the bullets in my pocket and the right to the Sheriff.
Maybe it was the chaos of the battle and the alarms blaring on the street, maybe it was just me defying his expectations, whatever happened, but Chamber didn't turn around immediately.
I flipped open the Cylinder and began loading bullets while simultaneously liquefying shards to use.
The snap of the cylinder clicking in was what alerted him. But at point-blank, it didn't matter. No draw is faster than the barrel aimed at you.
2 shots to the chest and one into the arm. Blood ballooned out of his wounds, and the gun fell from his hands.
Shwwhhhh.
The strange static rang like a war drum in my adrenaline-fueled ears.
I spun around and fired right in time for Yoru to duck and Gatecrash again.
In panic, I ran to the side to get a wall behind me. I could not cover 360 degrees. But as it turned out, I didn't need to. He appeared beside Chamber, abandoned the pack he was carrying, and disappeared into a portal again.
And just like that, there was silence on my corner of the battlefield.
I did not move for a few seconds till I was really sure that Yoru was really gone. Then I cautiously scrambled to the bag and prodded it open.
Radianite.
Gunfire erupted behind me on my right.
Well. Itadakimasu.
STATUS
Code - Mirror
Name - Not Set
Core - Iron 1
Shield - Iron 1
Radiance - 100/100
Power - Mirror
Trait - Undying
Abilities
Crest - Shrouded Step(Charged)(Charged)
Quell - None
Echeleon - Healing Orb(Charged)
Xenith - Not Dead Yet (0/10000)
Shards - 500/500
Shards - 4576
Book - Not Dead Yet (Clove)
Healing Orb (Sage)
Shrouded Step (Omen)
Good news? I was back to full.
Bad news? My nose was bleeding again. Meaning no more charges for this battle.
Plus, Not Dead Yet could not be charged anytime soon. So I was basically just like every other soldier out there. If I die. That's it.
I had seen Viper and Phoenix push in to my right. And I planned to trap them in a pincer with Clove, just like they had done us instead.
But then I paused.
My Clove sense went off.
These guys were clearly communicating. Then why leave such an obvious weak point? Something was fishy.
I used one shrouded step to get up on the roofs instead.
(I did try to take Chamber's Headhunter, but it zapped me with an electric shock.)
I parkoured to the place I had last seen explosions at.
Plus the giant green wall of poison gas helped mark the fighting zones.
I ran while I calculated.
If they have a Sage here, then there is a full squad in operation. But if they don't, then Chamber is down for the count. Yoru must be busy administering first aid or retreating. This was reality after all. Valorant-level agents were far more valuable than a bit of radianite.
So at max we will be facing three agents if Yoru does come back. Or maybe there's another agent somewhere out there, and we just don't know it yet.
The phone rang.
Click.
"Hey kid, the jet's in the air. Reinforcements ETA is 5 minutes."
"Great. I fucked up their chamber pretty bad, but their Yoru took him."
"You did?"
I did not like the disbelief in his voice one damn bit.
I found Clove and Viper in a firefight while Phoenix was planting the spike in the middle of the damn intersection. Did these guys really secure the site so fast?
The wall to my right blew up, and I dived flat on the ground.
Dammit!
Before I could understand, the railing I was hiding behind exploded in a cloud of dust, and a bullet grazed my cheek.
Sparks exploded as the remnants of my broken shield disintegrated.
Stupid! Useless shield. I need to upgrade this thing soon.
I rapidly crawled as several more shots rang out.
It was a fucking Sniper.
That's when a wave erupted from the intersection, and for a second the world slowed.
An odd sensation settled over me, as if I was suddenly walking in water.
I could still breathe, though. But it felt like I had been somehow restrained. Each step felt harder. The Sheriff felt heavier.
I decided to check up on Shrouded Step.
Huh.
I could feel like I could use it, just not to the same range as before.
An odd doubt came to my mind, and I fired a test shot at a wall.
Bang!
The bullet behaved like an actual bullet. It dug a hole through the wall but didn't completely destroy it like the last time. I peeked for a second to find my doubts confirmed. The Spike had been planted, and something had gone really, really wrong.
BANG!
Fuck!
Another Sniper shot.
But now I at least had a general direction.
But charging a Sniper through the open rooftops was still suicide.
So I picked the only option available to me. I shot the lock on the building's gate and ran down the stairs.
It took me a while to emerge onto the street, but I saved a Shrouded step charge.
Right as I emerged, I got shot at.
I dived back in as pain blossomed in my gut. At least it was not as bad as Chamber, who had sprayed me at point-blank. I focused on the healing orb and immediately splashed it on myself. I limped to the far wall and broke a window. The pain was still there, but at least it wasn't as sharp.
I tried to vault over the broken window and winced in pain. Dammit. I might as well be fighting without a shield.
I peeked around the corner to see that Phoenix and Viper had made that intersection into a makeshift fort with the cars spread around. And someone was sniping on the rooftops.
2v3 it is.
I fired two or three shots to distract them from ganging up on Clove.
They fired back.
But now that the buildings were behaving as proper cover. Movement was really restricted.
Then I saw Yoru Gate crash into the site.
My heart sank.
But then the Yoru opened fire on Phoenix.
And I screamed.
"Fuck Yes!"
Finally.
I hadn't noticed the time in all this chaos. The gunfire that had been as loud as a drum was now a fucking orchestra.
I peeked around the corner to find a jet hovering in the air and the invaders retreating.
Finally!
I smiled and air-bumped.
Reinforcements.
I saw a hostile Yoru appear and vanish with his teammates in tow.
Good.
Time to go. I hadn't forgotten that I was still a damn fugitive.
I was about to move turn and leave when an Omen appeared behind me and I felt a sharp strike hit my neck.
FML