The Next-Gen Nine

Chapter III: Black & BLU

BLU Base: Well, 11:15 AM

"I'm back," Soldier called, "and I brought us four more fighters!"

"Alright!" Scout cheered, spinning a baseball around on his fingertip.

"Excellent work, mein freund!" Medic praised, taking a look at the latest additions to their team.

"Now, we just need to find someone to teach them the ways of war. Dibs on the little guy." he rested a hand on Spike's recently aquired helmet.

"Line up, maggots!" seven of the other eight men stood in a straight formation.

"Now, go ahead and see who you wanna work with!"

"He looks happy today!" Pinkie remarked, rushing to the Pyro's side. It handed her a suit and a flamethrower, mumbling some form of instructions that she was seemingly able to understand.

"You seem like a man of strength," Heavy said to Big Macintosh, "why not come with me? Heavy could make you stronger than the rest of your tiny baby friends."

"Eeyup." the earth pony pounded a hoof against Heavy's open palm.

"Ah'll go with any a' y'all that're willin'!" Applejack joked, waiting for a response.

"C'mon." Engineer beckoned to her. "Ah'll teach ya a thing 'r two."

"Hey, where's Demoman?" Scout scratched his head in confusion.

"They're gonna bury what's left a' ya in a soup can!" a voice erupted from the basement, followed by multiple explosions.

"Someone's sappin' mah Sentry!" Engineer shoved them all aside, Applejack galloping beside him as they ran to the basement, finding Demoman standing over the corpse of a RED Spy.

"Thanks, pardner." Engineer said, removing the Sapper and repairing his Sentry Gun.

"T'was nothin'. I was glad t' get 'im out of our sights."

"This here's our new Assistant Engineer. Go on 'n introduce yerself, sugarcube."

"Guess Ah'll hafta find a new catchphrase." she turned her attention to Demoman.

"Name's Applejack, but ya c'n jus' call me AJ."

"Tavish McGroot. They call me Demoman. Technically, we're not supposed t' know each other's names, but things eventually get out in the open, y'know..."

RED Base: Well, 1:00 PM

"I see," the RED Spy replied to Rarity, "but how can I be sure that you actually killed him?"

"Well, his blood is on my coat, which I need to clean as soon as possible. If you won't let us join you, then could I at least use your shower?"

"Perhaps. But first, I have an assignment for you to carry out.

You, the blue thing!"

"My name is Rainbow Dash!"

"Did I ask for your name? You, the stripy one, and a group of us will head to the BLU base. Stripes, speak to Demoman. He will give you the necessary weaponry. Blue, find Scout. I'm not sure exactly where he went, but you seem fast enough to catch up with him. Whatever your name is, the white one, follow me. After that, come back here. We leave in an hour and a half."

"I will find the person of which you speak, and you will know that I am not that weak." Zecora saluted, trotting away to search for the Demoman.

"Before you leave," Spy aimed his revolver at her, "you'd better drop the rhyming, or you will never speak again."

"But there is no reason to my rhymes. They simply happen at the most constant of times."

"What did I just say?" the Frenchman pulled the hammer back.

"Yes, sir!"

"Good."

RED Base: Well, 2:30 PM

"Sniper, what can you see?" the RED Sniper held a mirror underneath the closed door in front of him.

"Second floor, one Sniper, a currently Level 1 Sentry Gun in the corner, and a Spy disguisin' himself. First floor, one Heavy and a Medic chargin' up, with a Pyro 'round the corner."

"Shouldn't be too hard. What kinda weapons they got?" Soldier began loading his rocket launcher, while Spike waited in place with his Black Box ready.

"Sniper's packin' a Machina and some Jar-Based Karate, so we might wanna send Spy in after 'im. Engineer's got a Jag and that dang Frontier Justice. I'll take out the Medic. He's got a Kritzkrieg, so he won't be invincible, but dangerous nonetheless. I think I saw an Ambassador on that Spy's belt. Go long for the Heavy, since he's bustin' out a Huo-Long Heater. Steer clear a' the Pyro altogether. Bloody Phlogistinator."

"How do you know all that?" Spike stared in awe at his briefing.

"A good assassin knows how t' observe his enemy's weakness and find their ace in the hole, so he c'n figure out a way t' counter it to the greatest effect. Speakin' a' which, ya might wanna switch that Black Box fer a Direct Hit, with an aim as good as yers. Scout, Winger and Atomizer, 'kay?"

"I'm hittin' this outta the park!"

"Rainbow, same fer you, 'cept I want ya takin' that Soda Popper."

"They're about t' get 20% Deader!"

"Pyro, I'm givin' ya one-time permission t' use yer Rainblower."

"Mmph..."

"Spy, give 'im Your Eternal Reward."

"Excellent idea."

"Hang on, there's a Demoman comin' in on the second floor. Spy, use yer Dead Ringer and that chunk a' sharpened ice."

"You mean... the Spy-Cicle?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, jus' get out there and kill 'em. Heavy, Medic, we're gonna need yer 'special delivery'."

"This is the curtain call." Heavy laughed, pulling out his Iron Curtain.

"The Iron Curtain call!" Medic corrected, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he switched his Medigun for a Quick-Fix.

"I'm gonna crack open the birthday present mum gave me and get up inta my usual perch.

Spike, on your call, we unleash hell. Got it?"

"You can count on me!"

BLU Base: Well, 2:15 PM

"Listen, AJ," Engineer started, "Ah'm about t' teach ya one a' the most important skills any Engineer worth his salt should know: how to remove a Sapper."

"Ya gonna tell me, or are ya gonna jus' sit there 'n wait fer me t' do it muhself?"

"Good idea.

Now, all ya gotta do is take yer wrench..."

"Eeyup."

"Then smack that Sapper hard as yer arm c'n hit!

After ya remove th' red 'n green wires, 'n tune the Sapper's frequency to KZQ-10z!"

"Huh?"

"Nah, Ah'm kiddin'. Jus' whack the dang thing, then take yer shotgun 'n blast the big mean Mother Hubbard that put it there in the first place."

"Y'know, Ah think Ah could get used t' this."

"Try tellin' me that when this mission's over." he replied darkly. "Now head down t' the Intel Room 'n set up that Sentry." there was a certain coldness to his voice that made her shiver a bit.

RED Base: Well, 2:20 PM

"Everyone ready?" Spike called, readying his weapons. A black pickaxe with a wooden handle dangled from his waist, clinking against a grenade and adding an edge to the eerie silence. The Demoman flipped up his grenade launcher's sight while the Medic absentmindedly turned the chamber on his syringe gun. In that moment, he realized that these men had been scarred by the horrors of war, and they could never recover or escape from it.

A set of eighteen people, all stuck in the middle of nowhere, fighting for a cause that had no true objective behind it, since it was known that nothing would ever change.

Their lives had become a living hell, and Spike was determined to save them, no matter what.

"On three." the doors began to lift up.

"One..." sunlight streamed through the doorway.

"Two..." the BLU Sniper gave them a warning shot.

"Three!" with a number of unintelligible shouts, the once strangely calm arena known as Well turned into a warzone. Rainbow Dash and the RED Scout leapt over trailers and into the base, while heads exploded from seemingly nonexistent bullets, thanks to the Snipers. Spike charged across a set of train tracks, allowing the BLU Pyro trailing him to be flattened by a passing train. He fired a rocket at the ground behind him, launching his body through the sky to blast the Sniper with his shotgun from point-blank range and tumble into the window. The young dragon rolled away as three stickybombs detonated. He tossed his Escape Plan at the wall, causing it to rebound through the hall and plant itself in the Demoman's functioning eye.

"Sorry, buddy, but your face was blocking my throw!" Spike pulled his weapon from the Demoman's skull, quietly walking up a short ramp with his shotgun ready. Luckily, all he found was a friendly Scout. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the Scout was moving slower than normal, and trying to get behind him.

"Spy!" he spun around with unbelievable speed, blowing the Spy's chest apart with a single pull of the trigger.

"Dude, you got blood between my scales! You know how hard that is to clean!?"

"Bombs away!" a jar filled with suspicious yellow liquid flew out of the doorway, completely missing Spike and landing outside the window.

"Dammit, Twi!" the BLU Scout shouted. "I told ya t' watch where ya throw that stuff!" Another jar filled with milk impacted against the glass in front of Spike's target.

"Twilight? You're working for them?"

"Spike? What happened to you?"

"Classified." the young drake muttered angrily, lunging after her with his pickaxe. Twilight wrapped Spike in her telekinetic grasp a moment before his attack succeeded.

"Let me go!"

Wait. The Mad Milk didn't break!

"Look! Your Jarate hit Princess Celestia!"

"What!?" he broke out of her grip, picking up the milk and dousing her with it.

"You ready to give up, Twi?"

"Nope. You might've gotten me just then, but I have a few advantages. First of all, I've got magic. If I wanted to, I could throw you out that window and be done with this. Or I could just toss you through this hole and splatter you against the floor. Furthermore...

I have a bigger gun." she aimed a highly decorated rifle at Spike's head. He recognized the weapon from the RED Sniper's explanation on the physics of Jarate.

A Sydney Sleeper? I thought he said there was only one in the world!

"You've got a gun, but I have a rocket launcher. How's that for an ace in the hole?"

"If you shoot me with that, you'll kill us both. I can't believe you didn't think about tha-" a bullet imbedded itself in her throat, courtesy of the Hitman's Heatmaker. A cyan pegasus skidded to a halt against the ledge.

"That was close! I didn't see the hole there." Rainbow noticed the body on the floor.

"Spike, what did you do to her!?"

"It wasn't me! It was the Sniper!"

"... Fine. But be careful. There's a Spy lurking around here."

"Not anymore. I just took him out a few minutes ago."

"Good. I'll be back in ten seconds flat."

"We have taken the enemy Intelligence!" Rainbow was back before the alert finished, a bright blue briefcase strapped to her back. The Scout followed her, diving through the pit and bolting across the field.

"Wave goodbye to your secret crap, dumbass!"

"We have secured the enemy Intelligence!"

"I'm not even winded!"

"I got it, I got it!"