Tundra Psycho Meltdown

Ep. 5: Tutorial to Kill The Strongest

Jones leaned back on the tree, puffing a smoke from his cigarette.

"Don't get too comfy," warned Carmine, "And kill the smoke. I'm sure other psychos have an ability that could detect us by smell."

"Let 'em come," boasted Jones.

Carmine scoffed, holding the orb out, "The idea is not to attract attention. We're here to kill Patent, not entertain the others."

"How are we supposed to do that?" glared Jones, looking up at the sky, "Even with this pokéball, we'd have to actually catch him to begin with! Look at him up there!"

Patent was above the swamp, floating around in a spaced-out manner, just as he was back in the waiting room.

"That guy," mumbled Jones, "He really doesn't have a care in the world. Just waiting for one of us to show vulnerability so he can swoop in and steal the kill..."

"Stay focused. Be on lookout for any other psychos for now."

"Hard to do that when this guy's basically taunting us. He's just swimming around up there... doing backflips... is that a fucking barrel roll?"

"Jones!" glared Carmine.

"A'ight, fine," he grumbled, bouncing off the tree and making his hands as binoculars in an exaggerated manner.

Carmine looked over at the orb, inspecting each nook and cranny to ensure he would use it correctly. The orb had a see-through material, similar to glass, but it felt stronger. Surrounding it were metal supports that seemed to be fueled by energy to hold what goes inside the orb. On the front of the orb was a button, with a small hole the size of a needle in the center. Upon pressing this button, a vacuum would appear surrounding the ball after a few seconds pass. No one, not even a psycho going up to speeds of Mach 4, could escape from this vacuum. When the deed is done, all it takes is a needle of some sort to push into the small hole opening, guaranteeing the destruction of the core.

"You seeing anyone?" asked Carmine.

"Yeah... some woman," mentioned Jones, still looking in the direction, "She and this other guy are approaching some samurai. Looks lost."

"Let's move. Chances are they're going to fight. Wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire."

—

Grandpa Niko sighed a breath of relief. He smiled faintly.

"Thank you... you survived your first fight," he thought.

"Another teammate!" exclaimed Avery.

"I knew the two of them could work together fine," smiled Melinda in excitement, "And to even gain another teammate! They've excelled beyond my expectations!"

"Don't get so excited," glared a bald man with some orange hair around his ears, "Vega is clearly mistaken."

"Simon Kowitz," Melinda said, "You've only got your programming to blame. Vega's too innocent that he can't even distinguish a simple lie!"

"ToyCo. designs toys, not weapons, Miss Wagoner. Course they'd be innocent, are you stupid?"

"Ah... guess you're right on that."

"You're as idiotic as your psycho."

"Don't talk to her like that!" glared Avery.

"The moment Vega finds out his relationship with them is a lie," scowled Simon, "He'll finally return to his original goal of demonstrating the protective capabilities it has."

"I'm afraid that fight has made me too excited," groaned Niko.

"Don't get so happy," Simon instantly replied, "You only survived because it was Vega. Any other psycho would've killed you on the spot. Ichiraku is weak, and Santa can't support herself. From looking at this entire battle royale, it's not hard to find out who the weakest link are."

"Gosh," glared Avery, hissing at Simon, "Who woke you up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Common sense," said Simon as he prepared to leave the room, "Good luck. You'll need it."

Melinda still at stared at the screen, "I'm afraid he might be right. Ichiraku at this point isn't too skilled. He may have the techniques, but the force he applies on his swords... it wasn't enough to slice Vega's armor on the first attempt. Not only that... but he missed crucial vital points."

"Ichiraku's creativity exceeds his skill," Grandpa Niko mentioned, "I trust that he can use it well."

"Besides," smiled Avery, "He still has that trick up his sleeve. The one we supplied him with, remember?"

Niko nodded, "As long as Ichiraku has that, I'm sure he'll be able to make it out."

—

"So how are we getting that guy down?" asked Jones, leaning by a tree once again, "It's not like he'll go down by himself, right? Not unless to kill a guy."

"Our tools can't do anything against him right now," explained Carmine, "We'll have to wait until somebody targets him."

"You're kidding, right?"

Carmine looked at Jones with a dead stare. They were going up against the most powerful psycho in the battle royale. Assuredly, it cannot be beaten by just the two of them.

"Chances are no one might even go after him at all," mentioned Carmine, "Too busy trying to save their own skins."

Rustle.

Carmine immediately pointed his pistol towards the sound, with Jones pointing his cigarette right after.

"We've both already heard you," announced Jones, "Jus' get out already. Save yourself the trouble."

Rustle.

"Not getting out?" asked Jones, "We won't hesitate to shoot you know."

Rustle.

"We'll give the count of three," he continued, "One... two—"

BANG!

Carmine immediately shot at the bush. The laser blast seemingly stopped in place, moving slowly towards the rustling, as if it was stuck in slow-motion. As a man slowly emerged, an idea popped into Carmine's head.