Not this again... (A Cayde-6 love story)

Seventh, The Marksman.

I bet you're wondering, 'what about the other four?' Well, there wasn't much to be said. More short-lived taunting that only sped up their demise. But this next one.. this is something.

The one that Gwen has saved for last. Second to last, really. But nonetheless, she was looking forward to bringing him down. He's the one who killed Cayde's ghost... the one who killed sundance... maybe there's hope Gwen can at least bring her shell back home.

Speaking of, Gwen is still a raging fire of destruction. But now, this fire has more kindling and passion. The closer she gets to the end of this hell, the happier and more confident she gets. Because after this ends, she will get her idiot back, no matter the cost. Or at least, that's what she's telling herself.

"Alright, so one of spider's fallen spotted a sort of sniper's nest, and he believes that the Marksman has been hiding out there!" He yells over the sound of the sparrow, the music, and Gwen's singing.

"Well mark it, bob!" She yells back cheerfully as she floors it. "We've got a schedule we're on! Dawning is in a few days!"

"Gotcha." He replies happily and sets the waypoint for her. "You know, it's good to see you so upbeat, after all of this! Although, I'm still worried about you!"

"Relax, Bobby! It's not like we haven't done this countless times already! The only difference here is avenging a friend! Well, more than a friend for me!" She admits happily.

"Yeah.. but that's what worries me." He admits to himself, but lets her go back to her singing.

After a lot of singing and drifting, they finally get to the sniper's nest. Gwen hops in through the window and looks around, finding empty crates and a few smaller boxes on the ground.

"Well, he was definitely- oh hell." She says and throws the box she was holding to the side and looks out the window. In the distance, she sees her target on a ledge, watching over a battle in the distance.

She grabs her gun and jumps out the window, lands with a tumble, but keeps running. She runs until she gets close enough to be in range for her rocket launcher. Then she crouches behind the nearest rock, aiming her launcher at him. She knows she's strong, but that guy's gun is no joke. More than one shot from him, you're done-zo.

"Almost.. got it.." she whispers, but just as she locks onto her target, he catches eye of her and quickly fires.

She fires back as she ducks behind the rock, barely missing getting hit. Her shot also missed, but not completely. It hit the ledge he was standing on and he still got damaged from the blast. Apparently that was just enough to make him run.

"I THINK THE **** NOT!" She screams and stands up when she sees him run, gaining full attention of the surrounding scorn and cabal. Without hesitation, she pulls out her speeder.

"You're going to let me go or just waste my time, and you BETTER choose wisely!" She yells at them, just before taking off. Needless to say, they went back to their fight and let her go.

She rides full speed through the tangled shore as bob tracks the Marksman. This a-hole wasn't getting away from her again. He could run, but he's meeting his end. Today.

Bob tracks him all the way over to the Jetsam of Saturn, and Gwen quickly spots him and doesn't even stop. She ploughs through the hive that get in her way with the speeder, and jumps off when she can't ride it any longer. She charges at her enemy, but he teleports to another ledge nearby. She runs over there, and he teleports again, and again, and again. Finally, she takes out her cannon and lands a shot. He groans and growls at her.

"Oh, you think that's going to end me? You think you're going to survive this? All because your friends are dead? Hmph. Well, you'll have to find me first." He says and teleports again, and all around, figures of him appear.

"Decoys." She groans and shoots the nearest one, then picks up the actual unit it was produced by. "Why does it always have to be decoys?!"

"Careful, Gwen. They may be decoys, but they can still hurt you as bad as he can." Bob warns.

"Copy." She says and dodges a shot from another decoy. She then hops from ledge to ledge, shooting the next decoy while picking up the remains of the previous.

Finally, the last one goes down and she doesn't see another figure.

"Bob... where did he go?" She asks wearily, looking around as she reloads.

"It seems he went down there." He says and places a marker. "But I'm catching.. woah... a lot of energy signatures down there. You better have the good ammo. And the good music."

"Well then you know what playlist." She says happily and jumps from the ledge she was on, and starts running for the objective.

Now we all know what comes next. All the scorn in this weird lair are gonna get their behinds handed to them, as usual. No matter how big, or how small. They're gonna fall.

After the last scorn disintegrates, she walks over to what looks to be a giant hole in the ground. She smiles and shrugs, then steps off of the ledge and lands at the bottom safely on two feet. She looks around, and sees him again.

"Give it up, Piranha. Or whatever your name is, I know I at least got the P right. Anyway, hands up. You're not leaving this weird cave alive." Gwen says with a gun at the ready, knowing all too well that he's not going to surrender.

"No, you're the one who's not leaving. And after I kill you, your ghost can hang next to your friend's on my wall." He says and laughs, but Gwen is far from laughter.

She tightens her grip on her gun, and clenches her teeth.

"Tell me where she is." She growls at him, finger on the trigger.

"Excuse me?" He says, aiming at her.

"You heard me. TELL ME. WHERE. SHE. IS." With each word screamed, a shot is fired from her Gun. Each hits its target, leaving her enemy riddled with wounds, now hunched over and groaning.

"Never." He barks, and teleports away, leaving behind decoys.

Gwen looks around the room as she dodges the fire from his decoys yet again, while also taking out the scorn trying to ambush her. Finally she spots him hiding and runs to him, catching him off guard enough to grab his gun and throw it before pinning him to the wall, knife at the ready.

"Tell me. TELL ME YOU COWARD!" She says and pushes him against the wall, her knee in a very vulnerable spot of his.

"W-why would I t-ell you? You're just going to kill me anyway." He growls, and she switches her knife to a gun.

"Because I can make this a lot less painful for you. But I can't promise that for wherever you're going, asshole." She says and pushes the handcannon against his head. "So what's it going to be? Tell me and make it quick, or make me go find her and let you suffer?"

He scowls at her in thought, then grins. She raises an eyebrow and a loud bang rings through the cave, earning a scream from Bob since he didn't expect the shot.

"What was that for?! He didn't tell you yet!" He exclaims, now appearing on her shoulder. "Now we'll never get to bring her home.." he says softly and sadly.

"Relax, he told me all I needed to know." Gwen says to him, now checking the pouches of the downed baron. After a minute, she stands up with one, and holds it close.

"Got her." She tells Bob with tears in her eyes, in barely a whisper. He hovers over to the bag in her hands and looks at it sadly.

"Can I see her..?" He asks, sounding as if he's about to cry.

"You don't need to see her like that, Bob... trust me." She says and pulls him into a hug, then starts walking with him and Sundance in her arms. "Let's get out of here."

Seven down. One to go.