”This is our dungeon?” Rena looks upon the entrance of broken glass from a three story abandoned mall. It’s snowing from the outside but it appears that snow has also got into the ruined mall in front of them. The entrance is grand with golden arches, glass planes or what’s left them of give Rena’s squad a view of the inside which would had been a magnificent lobby with a large area for kiosks, spiral stair cases, broken elevators, and escalators leading up to the balconies on the second and third floor, and various store fronts that would had housed various brand stores, all of which have been completely stripped of their merchandise and branding, save for a couple of empty shelves, naked mannequins, and painted walls of white and light cyan colors which have faded with age. Very few of the lights inside the mall are on as most of the lighting has completely deteriorated but somehow the mall is still receiving power from a grid somewhere. The only other light coming in is from the glass ceiling which has been shattered at multiple spots and is letting piles of snow, water, and broken glass inside. One thing is certainly still working is the mall’s audio system which plays a hauntingly old pop and smooth jazz style songs, longing of a time when this place would had been filled with life instead of decay. The dying palm trees which were used to decorate the mall aren't helping make the scenery feel any better to be in.
”Actually, the correct term would be a battlefield map.” Trisha quotes with her hands on her hips. “You got to admit, this place would make a great setting for a role playing dungeon. I wonder what kind of mobs we might come across other than the Armadillo and Longhorn combatants? Zombies?”
”More likely we’ll run into drug addicts.” Kaz mentions in a dry sarcastic tone.
”What’s the difference?” Rena shrugs.
”Good point. Nothing my blade couldn’t handle.” Kaz chuckles as he inspects his Katana.
”Save the cool sword play for later, Kaz.” Kael interjected as he walks towards the mall’s map in front of them as he tries to take a picture with his tactical tablet. “We’re going against armed fellas. So we fight firepower with firepower, just like last time.”
”Can we hit them spells too?” Rena asks as she brings up her bag full of specialty grenades.
”Precisely! Everyone get your preferred spells from Rena while you can.” Kael goes to Rena and sticks his hand into the bag. He takes one of each type, a flash bang grenade with the label “Deus Light”, and incendiary grenade labeled “Hades’ Wall”, another tactical grenade labeled “Tesla’s Wraith”, and a standard M67 Fragment Grenade which has been humorously labeled as “Earth Splitter.” As the squad gears up, Kael checks his radio to check in on Vampire Squad.
”Asura! This is Kael! Squad is all ready to go! We are coming in form the east entrance on the ground floor. Over!”
”Kael...you don’t have to say over when you’re done relaying a radio message. How new are you?” He can hear Asura’s frustrated sigh across his radio. “My squad is starting off at the South Entrance. We’ll be going up the third floor so we can have our height advantage. You should do the same and stick the second floor. There’s no way you’re going tossing your grenades up if you stay grounded like idiots.”
”Ha...of course!” Kael answers cheerfully. “Brilliant as always, Asura!” His other squad mates quietly shake their heads in disbelief.
”For fuck sakes, keep your flattery in the trash where it belongs. All you have to do is find them and wipe them out. No prisoners. Tear them to shreds if you have to. Don’t bother contacting me while you are at it. My squad and I will attack them exactly when they least expected. Now get to it!” Asura closes communications with Kael’s radio.
”Alright everyone, you heard the Miss.” Kael addresses his squad with a confident grin on his face. “No prisoners, shoot or blow up anything that moves that isn’t Asura or her squad mates.”
”Why are we taking orders from that psychotic creep?” Rena whines. “We’re not part of vampire squad. We’re nothing like them.”
”Because they are pretty good at what they do, Rena. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner in this tournament.”
”Vampire Squad got their ass handed to them by Flamingo Squad in the last tournament.” Kaz reminded Kael as they ascend up to the second floor balcony.
”Yeah, but this time it’s going to be different. They’ve been training and improving, just like we had. You gotta grind to beat the big bosses you know.”
”Kael, they just got more sadistic with their tactics.” Rena is getting more infuriated as she speaks. “They shot every NPC civilian we came across in the last match. They hung the bodies of our adversaries out in the open. They are going to give our squad a bad name.” Rena’s voice starts to get more emotionally serious. “We’re supposed to be heroes, Kael”
”Oh Rena Rena Rena…” Kael playfully disregards her squad mates concerns. We’re still morally aligned with good on the alignment scale. Just chaotically good for just this time being. If I have to guess, Vampire Squad is probably...chaotic neutral.”
Trisha ends up bursting in laughter. “Oh my god, Kael, you got to be kidding me right?”
”Shh...everyone shut up.” Kaz whispers seriously as he loads a bolt onto his tactical crossbow. “We got company up ahead.”
Chiara, Mai, and Hikari walk through the broken glass of the entrance into the abandoned mall. Chiara doesn’t look so certain herself which is obvious to Mai. “Scared Chiara? It’s just a big empty mall. Don’t tell me liminal spaces creep you out.”
”No...it’s not that. I’m just...well...nervous...about everything.”
”I wouldn’t worry about it. You have two of the best squad mates anyone could ever ask for.” She pats Hikari’s back which causes her to recoil a bit. “Heh, you’re scared too?”
”Of course not.” Hikari pouts as she looks at the mall’s map stand in the entrance lobby. “You just hit my back too rough.”
”Hm. I figured. It’s a 2v2 map.” Mai makes note of the layout on the map. “Two squads going up against two other squads that in theory will all meet up in the center for one big….nah...I’m not going to go there.” Mai shakes her head and smirks.
”Yeah, we’ve spawned in from the North Side.” Ramirez mentions over the squad’s radio. “It seems like it’s going to be one linear path towards the food court.” Chiara sees all four paths leading towards a circular area labeled as the food court which is detailed with multiple floors and features a Merry-Go-Round ride at the food court. “I don’t think it would be smart to rush to the center. That would be too obvious for the enemy squads. I bet they are thinking the same.”
”Is it even possible to navigate the mall another way that isn’t linear.?” Chiara asks over the radio.
”You have Mai.” Fio responds over the radio. “She’s a sapper like me. What’s stopping any of us from making our own route. This mall is cooked. Just knock some walls with a hammer and move from outlet to outlet.”
”Mmm…Good thinking, Fio.” Mai pulls out a hammer from her rucksack. “I should had invested in a sledge hammer, but this will do.”
A couple of gunshots suddenly echo through the mall, startling the girls. “Rami! We’re hearing some gunfire up ahead!”
”Nobody’s getting shot over here, Chiara.” Rami replies. “I’m just as clueless as you are.”
”If they aren’t shooting at us, then who else would they be shooting.”
”More than likely NPCs.” Kimberly suggests over their comms. “Knowing our opponents, they could be unarmed but some maps might have some hostiles. I don’t think we’re going to be alone here. Stay vigilant, girls.”
”Understood.” Emi readies her MP5SD by loading a magazine and slapping the charging handle. “We’ll try to keep a low profile as we move. If I have to guess the enemy squads are still at their spawn point. We’ll try to stick to the second floor and move through the shops discretely.” Chiara closes communication with Longhorn Squad to address her squad mates. “We’re going to...um….try to be a bit conservative with our shots this time around. I don’t think we should engage any hostile NPCs we come across unless we have no choice.”
”I think the term you’re looking for is “Rules of Engagement”, Chiara.” Mai proudly informs Chiara. “So in our case, we don’t open fire until given the order. We’re gonna be sneaky sneaky.”
”That’s the idea. Stealthy is my specialty so I figured I may as well lead by that strategy.”
”I suppose that makes sense, Chiara.” Hikari further adds. “It’ll be different from the way we fought last time. I’m sure our adversaries have seen how we fight. It would be better if they didn’t see us coming.”
”That’s the idea. But worst case, if we or longhorn squad run into trouble, we have to regroup and try to fight our way out. We are short of two people so we’re going to be disadvantaged for now.
”All the more reason for us to fight harder.” Mai pats Chiara on the back. “I don’t like that vampire bitch one bit. The sooner we put her down, the better.”
”So...is everyone ready?” Hikari and Mai nod their heads to which Chiara proceeds with her first order. “Alright. Everyone. Line formation. I’ll take lead. Mai, you’ll protect our rear. Hikari will be our life line if any of us receive injuries so she must be protected at all costs.”
”I appreciate your concern, Chiara.” Hikari says confidentially. “But I won’t be a liability. You can count on me.”
”You’re welcome. Now let’s get moving.” Chiara takes point and her two squad mates follow behind as they make their way up the spiral stairs to the second floor. The music playing over the mall’s loud speaker has changed into another nostalgic and hauntingly sad melody of an old pop song featuring a singer of a deep male voice. The girls are careful not to make any noise as they ascend the spiral stairs to the second floor. Once they reach the balcony on the second floor, they have a better view of the ground level as well as a bit of perspective of the third floor balcony above them. The second floor, much like the ground floor, is lined up with storefronts and outlets that have long since been abandoned for what seemed like ages. Some of them are inaccessible with closed metal gates and boarded up windows but a few store fronts are completely open as the glass windows from the exterior appear to been broken in. Chiara can make a choice of either continuing going down the linear path towards the food court or go into one of the empty stores and finding another way to the food court. She insists on the latter as she motions her squad to move towards one of the abandoned storefronts on their right. The girls cautiously move in unison, rifles at the ready as they move towards the empty storefront.
Inside the empty storefront, the painted cyan walls are deteriorating with mold. Just like other parts in the mall, the ceiling is dripping with water droplets and some areas of the floor have puddles forming up on the carpet. It’s almost completely pitch black as no light is penetrating the interior. Chiara has to use her pocket light which is being held by her left hand over the hand guard of her MP5. She doesn’t have any helmet or weapon mounted lights. Hikari and Mai don’t have any either. There’s a few scattered clothing racks completely devoid of any articles of clothing and there’s a mannequin that’s broken into pieces on the floor with the head decapitated from the torso. “My God, it’s absolutely miserable here.” Hikari whispers. “The ceiling is leaking water all over my uniform.”
”This is war Hikari. Nothing about this is supposed to be pleasant.” Mai retorts with her voice down. “Although if this weren’t a battlefield and if I were ever homeless, I wouldn’t mind hanging out in an abandoned mall like this.”
”Of course you would.” Hikari chuckles quietly. “You sleep at the library.”
”Mai, do you think we can make an entrance on this wall over here?” Chiara pats her hand on the north side of the wall in the store.”
”Hang on. We can’t just knock down walls so carelessly. I need to check something first.” Mai walks up to the wall and presses the side of her head against the wall. She is attempting to listen to the other side of the wall. “Seems clear. I guess it’s safe to go ahead.” She takes out her knife and carves an oval shape that would be ideally large enough for them to get through. She puts her knife on one of the corners of the etching she made as she prepares her hammer. “Let’s hope this doesn’t break my knife.” She starts giving light taps on the pommel of her combat knife as it sinks into the drywall. Once the knife is deep enough, she pulls it out and puts it on another corner to repeat the same process. “It’s a good think this is soft drywall.” Mai comments as she works her way around the corners of the outline. Once she gets all the corners, Mai sheathes her knife and prepares to smash her hammer in the center. “One…..two…..” and with a couple of wacks with her hammer, the outline on the wall is knocked out leaving a hole just large enough for the girls to crouch through to another outlet.
”Well that took longer than expected.” Hikari complained.
”Next time, I’ll just blow up the wall with a grenade.” Mai sarcastically suggests. “We’re already making enough noise as it is.”
Chiara maneuvers through the hole in the wall with Hikari and Mai behind her. Rather than ending up in another storefront, the girls find themselves in a long narrow hallway with a bunch of doors on the side. The hallway is completely devoid of light except for what little light is being projected from Chiara’s pocket flashlight.
”I don’t like this….I don’t like this…” Hikari mumbles nervously as the girls walk through the empty narrow hallways.
”It’s the employee’s hallway. Seems like Chiara knows what she’s doing. Most of the wage slaves must have used these halls to traverse the mall between storefronts.”
”CREEAK.” a door up ahead beyond the girl’s vision can be heard being open and the girls instinctively break into a wing formation and aim their rifles ahead of them. Chiara’s legs begin to tremble as everyone seems to be afraid to move forward. Even Mai. It’s quite for a moment...until footsteps.
Chiara cuts power to her flashlight and the hallway goes pitch black.
”Chiara! Turn on the light! Turn on the light!” Hikari whispers frantically.
”Shhh….b...be quiet!” Mai snaps nervously. Everyone is on the edge as their start to hear slow footsteps coming up to approach them from up ahead. Very slow footsteps
Chiara feels her finger move the fire selector on her MP5 to full auto. “H...hold your fire...when they get close, I’ll count to three and turn on my flashlight on whoever is approaching. Don't shoot unless we know who they are.” She whispers as quietly as she can to the girls as the footsteps slowly get closer and closer. “One….two….three.”
Chiara turns on her flashlight and without warning, Mai screams in terror and reacts instantly. “BANG BANG BANG!” Chiara doesn’t even get a second to see the body drop in front of her the moment she turns on her flashlight. But it’s too late. The person in front of them is on the floor. It’s not one of the opposing squad members. The individual in question is a man in a blue jacket with a hoodie over his head and gray cargo pants. He appears to be holding something on his hand. Chiara moves the ragdoll’s hand with her boot to see what it is, expecting some kind of weapon. It’s just his cellphone with the camera app open and still recording some kind of video. He appears to be some kind of urban explorer. The three of them look down at the dead NPC in utter despair.
”I….I….I….killed him.” Mai grumbles sadly before getting irate and collapsing onto her knees and bangs the floor with her hands. “Why the hell didn’t he say anything?! Who walks around an empty mall like this in the middle of the battle?!”
”Mai...I’m sorry.” Chiara softly tries comfort Mai.
”No...you don’t get it! We’re going to get penalized when this match is over. I never once shot any unarmed NPC in all my time playing this game! I...I….failed you Chiara.”
”Mai, this is just a practice match.” Hikari reaffirms Mai. “We can’t stand her and sulk over your mistake. You got scared and you reacted without following Chiara’s orders. You have to do better next time.”
”I...I know that now.” Mai wipes her eyes before getting back up reluctantly. “God, I am glad this is just all a simulation. I can’t imagine how my dad would had felt in a situation like this.”
”Your dad’s a soldier?” Chiara asked.
”W….was.”
”It’s best we don’t discuss that right now.” Hikari suggests to Chiara. “Mai will explain it to you later. Right now, we have try to get to the food court and fight our adversaries.
Chiara nods as she motions her hand to her squad mate to keep moving with her. Hikari follows with Mai right behind her. Mai looks back at the dead NPC and whispers: “I’m so sorry.” before catching up with Hikari and Mai.
Ramirez and his squad haven’t made much progress towards the food court. They are hiding behind an empty stall, knives ready in their hands as they prepare to lunge at an incoming patrol. They are NPC raiders, armed with shotguns and handguns. Their faces are masked, concealing their identity. Unfortunately for Longhorn Squad, their side of the mall is populated with looters and bandit NPCs. Two bandits are about to walk past them before Ramirez lunges at one with his knife. He thrusts it into the bandits chest before reaching for his 870 shotgun and blunting the bandit in to his face. Kimberly tackles the other bandit and wraps her grappling hook rope around the bandit’s neck as she attempts to silence and suffocate the hostile. The bandit struggles get the rope off his neck and tries to reach for his SIG P320 side arm. Fio jumps into action to try to prevent this by running up to the bandit to smack his hand away but not before causing the bandit to jolt and accidentally discharging his firearm into his own leg. “Oh crap!” Fio shouts as suddenly the other bandits are alerted by the gunshots.
Ramirez quickly falls back into cover with Kimberly and Fio as they ready their firearms. “The game is up. They are onto us now.” He racks his shotgun, loaded with 00 Buckshot. “Weapons hot, return fire!”
Just as they are about to open fire on the bandits, they start to the bandits being fired up by another group. Ramirez hears a strange call out: “Deus Light!” before a loud bang blinds the bandits before they are all completely shot down. It seems like the bandits are taken care of but whoever took them out is planning on taking Longhorn Squad out too.
“Look alive. We’re about to face off against JarPig Squad!”