deception and lies - sniper x spy

seventeen

brace yourselves for a long chapter

-atomic
---
battle time.

it was finally the day of the last battle, where everything would be decided, once and for all.

the mercenaries could either go back home or all be killed, just like a sadistic game of life board game.

everyone was excited, but worried at the same time.

already one of their friends had been killed, and the same fate might happen to them too.

nevertheless, they held their heads up high, and marched into battle proudly.

because who else but them had to fight a pointless war against robots?

---
willy sat beside lucien in the respawn room, who was twisting his butterfly knife continuously in his gloved hands.

he knew everyone was worried for their own lives, and he was too. but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of hope for the future.

after all, he had lucien.

"well, time to go." he stood up and was about to follow the line of mercenaries striding out the door when lucien whirled him around and kissed him full on the lips.

"what's wrong?" willy asked once lucien had pulled away.

"i just...i'm afraid."

"all of us are. but everything will be fine, you'll see."

"yeah, alright..." there was an unreadable expression on his face that willy couldn't decipher. anger? fear? guilt? it was impossible to read his emotions sometimes.

they all gathered in their assigned positions, according to what jane had told them.

once again, the administrator's voice rang out over the loudspeaker.

"this is the final battle. do not fail me this time."

when it was a normal battle, willy found her voice to be rather irritating. why find the need to announce every battle they've been through when it would be over in a matter of minutes?
but now, it was almost comforting. it was like a crowd of spectators watching them fight for their lives, both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

willy checked his sniper rifle one last time. he'd chosen a different one that could shoot through metal more easily, compared to his old one. it was the machina, or so how other people tried to name it. he, on the other hand, didn't think weapons needed names so long as they served their purpose.

his heart was hammering in his chest and his hands were shaking. he felt as though something bad were about to happen, a sort of premonition.

"wait, guys...where's the robots?" mick pointed towards the flat space of land and the giant machine far off in the distance, but so far no robots were sighted.

"hold on." jane rocket-jumped into the air, his eyes widening.

"what did you see?"

"brace yourselves, maggots. there will be no robots."

"what?!"

"the only thing that's coming is a tank."

everyone shouted in surprise, and there were a flurry of voices.

jane shushed the entire group of mercenaries and tried to think of ways to destroy the tank.

"if we can't kill robots, we'll have to kill the tank instead."