Darkness Acsending

TeuFort, Halloween Night

The sun had just set on the battlefield, taking with it the sounds of war and cries of Medic!. After a while, the moon began to rise, but it wasn't its usual white and grey. No, the moon was red. Blood Red. And it couldn't come on a better night. It was Halloween and the two rival teams of TeuFort had retired to the basements of their bases to celebrate the night. And they knew exactly how to celebrate it:

With lots of beer, scary movies, and a prank on the Blu Team by the Red Team.

Over at Red base, the nine Mercenaries were getting into their costumes to get the party kicked off before returning to combat the next day. As they dressed, they chatted amongst themselves and told stories of the day's combat experiences.

"I'm tellin' ya' mate, that damn Spook of theirs keeps findin' me no matta' where I hide." Sniper told Heavy as he put on his Camper Van Helsing outfit.

"Heavy agrees with Sniper. Heavy is tired of sneaky Spy always taking his Sandvich." Heavy said as he put on the hat to his Franken-Heavy outfit.

"What we outta' do is lure the creep into a trap-" Sniper snapped his fingers. "And take care of 'Im."

"I sure hope you two are not talking about me." Said Spy as he came up to them in his Invisible Rouge outfit.

"Nah, talkin' about the Blu Spook." Sniper replied.

"I'm tellin' ya' guys. Dat Spy is a pain in my ass." Scout said as he applied the mummy wrappings to his Cure-A-Nature outfit.

"Has everyone else been having issues with zhe enemy Spy also?" Medic asked as he spiked the hair to his Mad Doktor outfit.

"Will you ladies shut up your gossip and get ready to party? That is an order!" Soldier said poking his cardboard Tin Soldier head in.

"Aye, quit yer' whinin'!" Demoman said from behind his Highland Hound mask as he took a swig of Scottish Handshake.

"Pyro, Engie, back me up here!" Soldier said looking to his two teammates. Pyro gave a shrug as he put on the wings to his Infernal Imp outfit as Engineer gave a chuckle from behind his Buzz Killer mask. Spy cleared his throat as Soldier grumbled beneath his breath.

"Ahem. Gentlemen, shall we?" He asked. Calls of approval came from the others as Spy led them all into the basement meeting room of the Red Base. On the large table sat plates upon plates of Halloween themed food and drinks. The booze was off in a cooler in a corner and music was playing over the bases' intercom. The music was some Halloween Hardstyle, and it sounded actually pretty good to Scout.

"Eh yeah. This music ain't half bad." He said walking in. As the mercs gathered their food and drink, Sniper was plotting with Medic and Demoman,

"Alright, how are we gonna do this?" He asked taking a bite of food.

"I zhink Demo should place confetti sticky-bombs at their base exits and Scout will lead them out of the base right into Sniper's range of fire. Once their in, you hit them with your sniper rifle and cover them in paintballs. Got it?" Medic asked. The others all nodded and they disbanded to go enjoy the party. Sniper approached Scout.

"Be ready to move here in a bit." He told the young Bostonian.

"Way ahead of ya' Snippey." Scout said as he stood up and popped his back.

"When we give the signal, you run off. Got it?" Sniper asked.

"Yeah yeah. I know what to do." Scout said a bit too cockily.

"Just makin' sure." Sniper said as he turned and walked off.

About twenty minutes later, Sniper, Medic, Demoman, and Scout were all outside of their base in the Blood Moon's red glow. The surrounding area looked a bit eerie to Scout as he went over the path he had in his head. Demoman was busy prepping his Sticky-Bomb launcher to get ready to fire. Sniper was loading paintballs into his rifle as he turned to the others.

"Alright, shall we go over it one more time?"

"Aye. Scout goes in an' creates a disturb'nce to draw the rotten Blu Team from their little cozy base. Once they're out, I detonate me bombs and they get hit with confetti." Demo summarized.

"At which point I open fire and hit them with paint." Sniper said.

"And aftervards I shall hit zhem with a sedative that makes zhem fall asleep. And when zhey wake, zhey will all zhink it vas a dream!" Medic said with a small evil giggle.

"Easy Doc. No need to get too excited." Scout said.

"I'm sorry, I just can't vait!" the German doctor said in reply. The four men walked across the wooden bridge and stood in front of Blu Base.

"Alright Scout, get movin'!" Sniper said. The Bostonian took off like a bolt of lightning into the Blu Base.

"Fire Demo." Medic said as Sniper ran back to Red Base to take up his sniping position. Demo fired the confetti bombs and they stuck to the frame of the doorway, glowing faintly, signaling that they were ready to be detonated. From within the base came sounds of anger and Scout laughing like his cocky self.

"Here they come fellas!" He called. Scout exited Blu Base with a rather livid Blu team hot on his heels. They too were all dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Demo detonated the Sticky-Bombs and confetti exploded from the eight bombs, at which shots could he heard as Sniper hit each one with a couple paintballs. Cries of surprise and shock could be heard as Medic shot nine needles into the nine Blu mercs and the sedative took action immediately. Like heavy potato sacks, the nine members of Blu team fell into a deep sleep and the four Reds started moving their unconscious bodies back into Blu Base, clean off the paint, and left the base quickly.

Upon entering the basement meeting room, the four men were bursting out with laughter as they wiped tears of joy from their eyes.

"The look on their faces was priceless!" Scout said as he clenched his sides.

"Aye!" Demo said taking a swig of Scottish Handshake.

"I vas surprised at how quickly zhe sedative took action." Medic said.

"Now they'll think it was all a dream!" Sniper said as he sat down and took a swig of beer.

"I'm assuming your little childish prank went well?" Spy asked.

"Couldn't have gone better, laddy!" Demo said.

"Well that's good to hear-" Engineer started, but he was cut off when wind rushed into the room and the sound of nails against a chalkboard could be heard. All nine Red mercs grabbed the sides of their heads as the sound went on. Then, as suddenly as it came, it vanished. On the wall at the foot of the table was a white oval. The inner part of the oval was a spiraling light grey. The mercs all looked up at the new anomaly.

"What is that?" Engineer asked.

"Is it from Merasmus?!" Soldier asked as he hopped onto the table, knocking some food and drink off. "COME ON OUT, YOU SPINELESS MAGICIAN!" He yelled.

"Soldier, laddy, if it were Merasmus, wouldn't he be here by now?" Demo asked. Soldier looked at the Scotsman and grumbled. He stepped off the table and looked at the portal.

"Besides, it ain't puke green." Demo added. Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere.

"Hello!? Is anypony there!? We're in dire need of assistance! We have multiple...dead...and we need help!"

The voice sounded young and feminine. Scout looked at the others with a small smirk.

"Well fella's, it's been good knowin' ya', but some dame needs a knight in shinin' armor!" Scout said as he started to step forward, but was held back by Heavy. "Hey, off me big guy!"

"Heavy is not sure voice can be trusted." The Russian said.

"Sure sounded like whoever that is was in a serious spot of bad luck." Sniper said. Silence fell around them all. Finally, Soldier broke the silence.

"What are we going to do then?" He asked.

"Let's try and communicate vith zhem." Medic said taking a step forward. "Eh, hello? Iz anybody zhere?" He asked. Silence came back and he tried again. "Hello?" Again, silence. Medic turned to his teammates and shrugged. Suddenly, the same voice from before came back through.

"Hello?! Oh thank goodness somepony responded! Are you still there?"

"Yes, ve are still here. Vhat is is you need help with?" Medic asked.

"We've been attacked and many of the townspeople are dead! None of us can fight back against his powers! He's too strong!"

"Mind telling us who 'He' is, toots?" Scout asked.

"His name's Discord. Now hurry, enter the portal, there isn't much time!"

Medic turned to the others.

"Sounds like they really need help." Engineer said.

"Heavy is willing to help." Heavy said.

"All zhose in favor of helping?" Medic asked. Everyone raised their hands. "Zhen lock and load. Miss, we'll be with you shortly." Medic said.

"Oh thank goodness! Thank you all so much!"

In about five minutes, the mercenaries of Red Team were out of their Halloween costumes and in their combat gear, weapons at the ready. They stood in front of the portal, nerves getting to them.

"Ready boys?" Soldier asked.

"Medic, Ready!"

"Mhmm, Hmmh!"

"Ye' bet'cha!

"Don't have ta ask twice!"

"Heeyaw!"

"But of course."

"Heavy and Sasha are ready!"

"It's be nice to get outta' here."

"Alright, Miss? We're ready to go through zhe portal." Medic said. Silence came back and it became palpable.

"Eh, hello?" Scout asked. Suddenly, a bright flash of light sparked and the nine Red mercs were whisked away into the portal. The portal blinked into nothing, leaving no trace of its presence there.