Dark Deceptions

Sinking

Yeaha sorry for the wait, Ive been focusing on AO3 more :P)

Brandon sat next to Lienna on a bench inside the medic's office, shirtless and grunting in pain as she bandaged the knife wound on his chest that he had gotten towards the end of the match.

She finished after a while and gently kissed him on the cheek, he returned the kiss with a blush and slowly stood up, putting his shirt and jacket on.

"Thank you again Lienna, I appreciate it."

"No problem dummy, I'm happy that you're okay!"

Lienna hugged Brandon and the two smiled at each other, then walking out of the office to go for a walk in the light snow. The two were very close now and it was very obvious to everybody there.

Hours later, the two were now walking through the forest, picking berries and watching the wildlife roam around if they were lucky enough to encounter any without scaring them off, or the two would goof off, giggling at each other's antics.

Eventually, Brandon had created a small fire and had dragged a log over for him and Lienna to sit on as they soaked in the warmth from the fire. he also went Ice fishing and caught a couple of fish to cook over the fire.

It was quite peaceful and the two leaned against each other, enjoying the forest and each other's company... Made him wonder about what Kazimir had told him... It was a grim thought, he didn't want to dwell on it any longer.
_________________________________________

He was thrown back, hitting a wall and getting the wind knocked out of him. Any more and surely he'd be dead. Acting quickly, he scrambled across the floor, hoping to reach the doorway and duck through.

3
2
1

Jumping over with all his strength snd rolling inside, he quickly hid amonst the stack of boxes and took out a medkit to heal himself, the enemy walked in and started scanning for him. Unarmed in terms of ranged weapons, against a very angry blue Rookie, he had no choice but to use the knife.

And as the unsuspecting Rookie peered over to where he was, Brandon unsheathed the knife and sliced the poor guy in half, blood spilling out everywhere and pooling all over the floor. He cleaned the blade of his knife on his pants before putting it back into its makeshift sheath, already breaking from how sharp the blade is.

He healed a bit more before he left, recieving his new weapon, the mp5K. He wasn't the best at using the mp5 but he had no other choice sadly. Trudging through the hallways of Rolve station, he ran across something... the Red Flanker, angry and ready to kill Brandon with his golden bat at the ready, the win was in his hands.

Brandon and the Flanker charged each other at the same time, he took a deep breath and let loose a barrage of bullets at the Flanker. He died, not shocking, really. Brandon in return got the Mosin and went back to work, now in his natural habitat with his sniper rifle.

A headshot onto the blue Wendigo, Brandon then realized something...
That Flanker he had killed prior was a RED Flanker... it was on his team... and he could've also sworn that said Red Flanker was also snarling at him, like a wild animal.

Worrisome... It reminded him of his nemesis, a sorcerer with the ability to turn his victims into mindless, bloodsucking creatures that craved violence more than they craved blood. Was he really losing it? He could feel his world crumble and collapse. the ground opened up and swallowed him whole... But there's no ground here...

He passed out on the ground, fatigue and headache hitting him like a semitruck. He was wide open...
_________________________________________

Now here was a room he was familiar with... the infirmary of Arsenal, laying on a hospital bed. He sat up and examined himself... Something didn't feel right... He didn't feel right. He knew where he was, and some minor pieces here and there, but he couldn't remember who he was or what he was doing apart from the fact that he was a shitty sorcerer with a useless power.

He grumbled to himself and realized that he didn't even look human either. He was some sort of bear-wolf creature. Some sort of weird freak of nature he assumed... probably the work of some other sorcerer, why am I so nonchalant about it?? Standing up out of the bed, his world crumbled around him and he was plunged into darkness again, shrieking out for help.

He woke up for real this time, in a hospital bed, examining himself, he was as normal as could be, no animal features, no fur, just pale skin and the scars along his arms. Brandon sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling a mild headache coming on. He yanked out thr IVs from his arm and walked out, any protest from medic fell on dead ears as Brandon wanted nothing more than to either figure out what the hell happened to him or find Lienna.

His thoughts took him to TDS. Specifically how it started. At the time, Tower Battles was huge, capturing monsters to fight in a monster of the week type engagement as a sort of alternative show to Arsenal. TDS started out because of the true nature of Tower Battles rearing its ugly head.

Below and a team from the Phantom mercenaries got unlucky enough to directly witness the first of a severe zombie outbreak that led to worse and worse monsters coming out to play against the small team, eventually Below and Raz tamed it all and turned it into something similar to Tower Battles.

Point being is that the zombies came out of nowhere. Brandon knew it was a matter of time before something major came up. The zombies reminded him of that brute he faced off against with Rookie and the others.

After all, TDS started with one. and that one became many, until it was an effort to stay alive against the mob. And sometimes the mob wins... There was also the mystery of Kazimir and the Phantoms being here. They probably sense it too.

Nothing seemed right to him anymore, the sorcerers he fought nothing more than an old nightmare, but why were they coming back?? what did they stand to get from this in any way??

Dripping down his cheeks, jolting him from his thoughts, he didn't even realize he was crying, as pathetic as it was from him, as pathetic as it was for him to not even consider himself human after years of murderering humans just because they had special powers, as pathetic as running away from it all, leaving all he’s ever known and being stuck in some bloodsport.

He'd run away in shame, but now he had no choice but to face his future full bore and the consequences that followed. Maybe this all was because of his actions.

Brandon didn't care about himself, he hadn't for years. he lived quietly and mobed in silence, yet now, Lienna gave him reason to keep living, to finally take his own life back, as strange and cliche as it was.