The walk back to his teammates was oddly silent. Aside from the occasional cracks of gunfire off in the distance, the frequency of the staccatos had decreased. Dan assumed that the number of other teams had dwindled and that meant fewer battles going on elsewhere in this forest. Still, Dan continued to keep his guard up, constantly checking his surroundings and looking over his shoulder from time to time.
His HUD thankfully kept active by marking Angie’s location as a floating blue dot. Otherwise, regrouping with his teammates would prove to be more annoying.
Dan stepped over a dead or unconscious Genesis Talon lying with scorch marks on his armor. He noticed the ground and the trees and bushes nearby were either charred black or straight up blown away, most likely from Angie’s trap. He spotted the same tree where he had hidden Li’s unconscious body. His two teammates weren’t anywhere in sight.
Then an incoming call came through.
“On your right,” a familiar and dry voice said.
Dan glanced over in that directio and saw two forms peer out from some trees. He recognized the strawberry blond hair of Angie as the few sources of color in this forest and the silver scaled sleeves of Li’s coat.
Dan kept his guard up as he approached his two teammates who both waved at him. As he approached closer, Angie stepped away from the tree and ran over to hug him. Li remained where he was while looking around with a handgun raised in the air.
“Looks like we’re all accounted for,” Dan said, briefly wrapping his arm around Angie’s waist before letting go.
“So the situation isn’t so bleak for us,” Li said. “Just checked out our team’s score. We’re still in a stable place right now.”
“So… how do you feel?” Dan said. “And did you see anything in your dreams?”
“I’m fine, but the dream I had wasn’t anything I would call ordinary,” the stealth specialist said. “I was in that greyscale landscape again. That demonic voice you speak of spoke to me.”
“And?”
Li stared off into the distance. “I was put through a tutorial of some sort for a new ability. I killed a few fake aberrations of Kodak agents and then the voice taunted me about being another disciple of his. He refused to elaborate further and then the dream ended.”
“What did you unlock?” Angie said.
The stealth specialist looked down at his hand and stretched out his fingers a few times. “I think it would be more useful if I demonstrated it in combat. The voice warned me that as I am now, this ability takes a lot out of you.”
“Yeah, that sounds like him,” Dan said, recalling previous meetings with the cryptic voice in his dreams.
“I have an idea, but it’s bold,” Li said. “Rachel and her Prime Swords are currently number one in the ranks. I’d say I have a worthy opponent to demonstrate my abilities on.”
Dan and Angie exchanged confused glances.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Dan asked.
“Well, I’ll need backup of course,” Li assured. “But I think I have something that will help turn the tide for us against those three. Though, it would depend on if we have the time. We only have four minutes left to reach a facility and end this round.”
“Alright then, let’s get going,” Dan said.
The trio moved forward. While Li took point, Dan pulled up the rankings of the current teams out there.
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#1 Rachel Cutter’s team (Prime)
#2 Sean Turing’s team (Genesis)
#3 Dan Orion’s team (Alpha)
#4 Miles Venator’s team (Alpha)
#5 Holly Arcane’s team (Hellhound)
As Dan and Angie continued following the stealth specialist, Dan wondered if Li was taking them in the right direction. Dan realized he had just simply trusted Li and followed him without question, almost like a current in a river naturally flowing in a particular direction.
“Hey Li, do we know where we’re going?”
“Yes, we do. Or at least I do. You two can simply follow my lead,” Li said. “Remember the topographic map they allowed us to view to determine our starting positions? You can have you HUD simply download it and you can pull it up whenever you need it.”
“Holy shit, I didn’t know we could do that,” Dan said. Now he felt like a fool since Dan was merely recalling vague landmarks on the map through memory.
“Better late than never. I’ll share the downloaded map with you and Angie. You should be getting it…now.”
Dan saw a spinning icon floating in front of him and then the map popped up and then shrunk to fit the right side of his peripheral vision. The small green arrow marked their current location while the red dot indicated the nearest facility they had to reach to complete the round.
“Now I’m super grateful you’re back in action,” Dan said. “I feel like an idiot now.”
“It’s all part of the process unfortunately,” Li stated. “I made a few noteworthy screw ups in my early years fighting at the border.”
According to the map, Dan and his team were about three hundred fifty meters away from the facility. The ambient sounds of distance gunfire grew louder as they approached closer toward the facility. Since Li was leading the way, Dan willed the map away from his peripheral vision with a simple thought.
Dan focused on staying in the middle of the group, constantly scanning the sides for other teams or hostile wildlife while Angie brought up the rear about ten meters behind him. The scenery around them still remained as desolate and lacking in color the further they progressed. The sounds of combat gradually grew until Li raised his fist in the air, signalling them to stop.
Dan and Angie immediately rushed to the nearest tree and kept themselves out of sight. Dan leaned out slightly and saw Li crawling along the ground towards him. The stealth specialist then rolled next to a low bush beside another tree across from Dan.
“What did you see?” Dan asked.
“Our rivals, Rachel and her team. Their engaged in a shootout with another team,” Li responded.
“Then we should wait it out and let them go on ahead. We’ll catch up and get to the facility when the coast is clear.”
“Our biggest problem is our time crunch. We got less than two minutes left. Teams don’t earn any bonus points based on who arrives at the facility first. We don’t have to be the first ones there, but we can’t just sit around and hope the heavens shine on us with a clear path.”
The gun battle between Rachel’s team and the other squad Dan couldn’t see still raged on and it wasn’t letting up.
“So what the hell do we do?” Dan said.
“We have to push forward. It’s no secret at this point that we’re part of Jane Sunheiser’s squad. That means the judges and by extension the viewers have their eyes fixated on us. I think now is the time to be aggressive so that we don’t come across as weaklings or embarassments to Ms. Sunheiser.”
Dan stared blankly at the stealth specialist then he glanced at Angie who hid behind a tree not to far behind him. Him and the strawberry blond just stared at each other, dumbfounded by Li’s suggestion.
“Are you feeling alright?” Dan said.
“I’m aware that being this aggressive isn’t my usual approach.” Li slowly stodd up and was now on his knees beside the bush. “But I believe I have something that will tip the scales. I’m going to get the drop on those fools with this new ability I unlocked. Observe and wait for my signal through the private channels.”
Dan’s ear picked up rustling along the ground behind him before a hand slapped him on the shoulder. He jerked his head and sighed when he saw Angie.
She looked at Dan while giving side eye towards Li. “Okay, what crazy plan do you guys have now?”
“Don’t look at me,” Dan said, pointing his finger at the stealth specialist. “This time, it’s all him.”
Li held a silenced PX300 handgun in his right hand while his left hand had his palm facing upward and his fingers curled. The stealth specialist also had his eyes closed which Dan found unusual.
Then Dan saw strange bolts of electricity coursing in between Li’s fingers.
Angie stared at Li’s hand with wide eyes. “What the hell…”
Whatever Li was doing with his hand, he abruptly stopped and the process was interrupted. “Oh wait, got carried away. I need a bit more setup for this to work. Then we’ll execute the plan.”
Dan and Angie exchanged glances once again before Dan said, “Alright buddy. Take the lead and lets finish this round.”