Crystalline Universe: Team Fortress 2/ Overwatch

As the energy charge made its way toward her, Azur closed her eyes. She had already accepted her fate. This is who she truly is, not an egocentric jerk but a truly colourful person. She displayed her courage and determination to save the ones that needed her help. She was ready to go, she was ready to show others that she is worth their respect, that she is not their enemy but their friend.

[Azur] - "Thank you for giving me a second chance, Mike. I've learned so much during this time and I hope that in the next life, I could do more. "

As she closed her eyes, the attack reached her feet but instead of killing her, the energy charge passed right under her.

[Mergiann] - "Not today, Azur, we fight on! "

Azur, surprised, looked under her feet to see Mergiann's bubbles lifting her off the ground. She turned her head around in delight to see the rest of her team giving her the thumb up.

Angered by the fact that Azur is still well and alive, Walter charged toward Azur with his palm in the air but before she could land a hit, Karson jumped in and blocked his hand. Meanwhile, as Albert watched in pain from his bleeding wounds, 2 grenades suddenly rolled to his feet.

[Mergiann] - "Explosion, asshole! "

[Albert] - "Agh! "

Seeing the catastrophe that was unfolding behind him, Walter dashed back to save his wounded brother but just as he moved away, Darlynn's rapier abruptly pierced through his shoulder and sliced his clavicle bone in half. Shocked, Walter failed to reach his brother in time but as the grenades were about to go off, Rudolf jumped in at the last second and sent the explosives away from Albert.

[Rudolf] - "Damn it, you two! How did you get both so injured? "

[Walter] - "Don't worry, bro, I got this... "

Walter slowly crouched down moved his fingers around Albert's wounds. Upon contact, the flesh around Albert's injuries rapidly merged together and sealed off the holes, then with a single touch to his shoulder, Walter merged his bone back together.

[Carl-E] - " *gasp* "

[Azur] - "Carl, step back! "

The four brothers now looked good as new with no apparent sign of their previous injuries. The situation was tense. A drop of sweat dripped from Azur's head and hit the ground. On the other hand, Karson tightened his fists in readiness while staring at the brothers with his sharp eyes.

Confidently, Rudolf stepped forward out of the group with a murderous look on his face. His killer expression filled the soul of his enemies with intimidation as he advanced steadily toward Azur. Azur stared at him back with the fire of the blue flame inside her eyes, she was fearless, she's planning on dying today.

[Rudolf] - "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap! "

Without a warning, Rudolf's fist was almost colliding with Karson's face but luckily, Azur was quick to react and saved him at the last second by moving her sapphires in front of him. The shockwave created by the punch was so strong that Karson was knocked back to everyone's shock despite Azur's formidable defence. To support Azur, Mergiann rapidly created bubbles against the sapphires but it was clear to them that it's not enough to stop Rudolf.

After quickly recovering from his fall, Karson got up and added his power to the mix but just as everything appeared to balance out, Rudolf started to barrage them with his attacks.

[Azur] - "Karson! His attacks! "

Karson didn't have the time to react before Azur jumped on him and pushed him away. All they could hear is a bone-shattering sound echoing through the wagon before Azur flew and smashed against the wall. Blood poured from nose and mouth and slowly tainted the floor with a crimson red.

[Karson] (in a panicked scream) - "Aaaaaaargh! "

Karson quickly rushed to Azur's lifeless body but as he stared at her, he was helpless. Karson's hands shook along with his entire body, he didn't know what to do. She just saved him without saying anything despite how bad he treated her.

The blue flow in her eyes slowly faded away as her breathing shortened. The blow on her left side completely destroyed her ribs and damaged many of her internal organs, she was in critical condition. Carefully and gently, Karson lifted Azur off the ground and rushed back behind friendly lines.

[Carl-E] - "Hey, hey, don't you die on me, Azur! "

[Karson] (in a panicked voice) - "It's my fault, I didn't see his attack. "

[Mergiann] - "It's not your fault, Karson! "

[Karson] - "It is my bloody fault! For f.u.c.k sake! God! Why did she save me? "

Mergiann grabbed Karson by the collar and pulled his face toward hers.

[Mergiann] - "Pull yourself together, we need to focus on the enemy! "

[Karson] - "Oh, f.u.c.k! Oh, f.u.c.k! She's bleeding out! "

Mergiann slapped Karson on his face out of frustration and stared him right in the eyes.

[Mergiann] - "Calm yourself, dummkopf! "

[Karson] - " *heavy breathing* I'm sorry! Sigh! I'm sorry I lost my composure. "

Carl rapidly pulled a syringe from his back pocket and stabbed Azur in the arm with it.

[Carl] - "This should temporarily hold the bleeding. "

Karson turned back to see Azur unconscious on the floor.

[Karson] - "Azur... you mad lad, you better stay alive! "

[Darlynn] - "Watch out! "

Mergiann and Karson both moved out of the way, just in time to evade Rudolf's punch.

[Karson] - "Now! Mergiann! "

Mergiann rapidly nodded and threw 2 grenades toward Rudolf from his left while simultaneously, Karson moved to the right and launched his set of attacks. Rudolf extended his palm out and blocked Karson's punch while the energy from his ability went the other way and blew the grenades out of the window.

[Rudolf] - "How simple of a combo is that... is this your best? "

[Karson] - "That's not all of course! "

Karson's secondary ability soon activated and the second energy shock came from his fist but Rudolf was calm and ready. The blast was absorbed by the shield and redirected toward Karson but it is at this time that Darlynn jumped in and in a kneeling position, stabbed her rapier in the ground in front of Karson. The energy, unable to pass through her ability, was sent flying toward her sides.

[Rudolf] - "Hm! "

To Darlynn's shock, the energy rippled through the wall and suddenly caused an explosion which sent the wagon into a burning blaze.

[Karson] - " *cough* Mergiann, we need to retreat! *cough* "

While Mergiann ran toward the back to help Carl carry Azur, Karson and Darlynn maintained their defensive positions while slowly moving back.

[Rudolf] (in a cold stare) - "You are only trying to evade the inevitable! "

[Karson] - "Darlynn, be careful, his attack can come from the opposite direction of what you see! "

[Darlynn] - "I know... we need to find a way to hurt him, he is invincible! "

Side by side, Karson and Darlynn made their slow retreat while defending themselves against the countless attacks of Rudolf. Every hit he threw toward them is a throw of a coin, it can rather come from his fist or come from an opposite direction. They both know well that if one hit manages to land on them, they may not be able to walk out alive.

That moment soon came when Darlynn, who predicted that the attack would come from her left, got hit by a frontal attack. The shockwave sent her to the ground and crushed her c.h.e.s.t armour.

[Karson] - "Darlynn! "

[Darlynn] - "I'm fine! The armour saved me! "

In a swift move, Darlynn jumped back up and placed herself right behind Karson.

[Darlynn] - "We need to formulate a plan! At this rate, one of us is gonna guess his attack wrong! "

[Karson] - "Well, f.u.c.k, don't ask me, damn it!

"2 hands, 4 attack directions... There is a way... but would I be fast enough? "

Darlynn was snapped back into reality by one of Rudolf's punch and it was apparent, she had to go through with her plan.

[Darlynn] - "Karson! Place yourself right behind me and defend only my sides! "

[Karson] - "Alright! "

Karson quickly moved behind Darlynn and moved his fist around Darlynn's waist in readiness.

[Karson] - "What is the plan? "

[Darlynn] - "I can deflect the frontal attacks and you can defend my side. It theoretically makes us invulnerable to his attacks! "

The formation soon proved its effectiveness against Rudolf's attack as Darlynn deflected the frontal attacks with Karson covering her sides. But Darlynn was worryingly getting weaker as the wound on her c.h.e.s.t and the fatigue slowly took their toll on her stamina.

Luckily, the train soon came to a stop by a wooded area of the forest due to the damage done to the wagon. Seeing the opportunity, Carl and Mergiann carried Azur out of the wagon and into the woods. Meanwhile, the 2 parties fought to a standstill with Rudolf unable to break the duo's defence and the 2 of them left with no way to counterattack.

[Karson] - "You might have strength but you lack mobility. "

[Rudolf] - "I make up for my lack of mobility by allowing no escape for my enemy. "

Looking around, Karson and Darlynn realized that they are encircled with one of the 4 brothers on each of their sides.

[Darlynn] - "I gave you an idea before, now it's your turn to think of something creative. "

[Karson] - "I'm a no-brainer, mate. All I know is how to beat others into a bloody pulp. "

[Darlynn] - "Oh, please, don't be a sissy. Use your brain muscle for once instead of the few muscle cells you have in your arm. "

[Karson] - "Don't bloody call me a sissy, I thought you are the brain of this team! "

[Darlynn] - "Is now the appropriate time to hold this kind of conversation, Karson? "

[Karson] - "I'm just telling you that we are f.u.c.k.e.d if you don't... "

[Darlynn] - "For the love of Saint-Peter, Karson, you don't need to state the f.u.c.k.i.n.g obvious- "

[Karson] - "Shhh! I think I got an idea so crazy it will blow your mind. "

[Darlynn] - "What is it? "

[Karson] - "I wasn't joking, it will blow and I need you to take another hit. "

[Darlynn] - "For the love Saint Mary, Karson, what the f.u.c.k is with you and shit ideas? "

[Karson] - "Why are you suddenly so religious? "

[Darlynn] - "I will require prayers to all the damn Saints if I wanna stay alive with your accursed ideas! "

[Karson] - "Turn your back to the ground and pray as hard as you can cause I'm counting on it! "

Upon noticing their unusual behaviour, Rudolf knew that the game was up and didn't lose a second to rush in to finish them off.

[Karson] - "Too late, you bloody wanker! "

Rudolf suddenly saw the crater created by Karson's punch on the floor behind Darlynn. Before Rudolf could act, the secondary energy blast blew Darlynn and Karson high into the air. As Rudolf watched helplessly in frustration, they landed in a wooded area far from view.

Rudolf's anger was felt amongst his brother as the furious man marched toward Ritter to see that Azur and the rest were also missing.

[Rudolf] (in a grim voice) - "Where are they? "

[Ritter] - "They were already gone when I arrived back here. "

In a fit of rage, Rudolf smashed the roof off the wagon and let out a thundering scream of anger.

In the forest, Mergiann and Carl moved Azur under a tree where, after making sure that no one's around, they gently lied her down. Carl quickly pulled a medical kit out of his bag and proceeded to wash Azur's side for surgery.

[Mergiann] - "What are you doing? We can't cut her open here, it's too risky. "

[Carl-E] - "Severe internal hemorrhage. If we don't operate her right away, she'll die from blood loss. "

[Mergiann] - " *silence* Eh... How can I help? "

[Carl-E] - "Hold these tools for me. "

[Mergiann] - "Alright. "

As Carl carefully operated inside Azur's abdomen, Mergiann looked back at where they came from and sighed.

[Mergiann] - "If it wasn't for him, we would have been doomed. "

[Carl-E] - " *Wiping the sweat off his head* Yeah... "

*FLASHBACK*

As Carl and Mergiann carefully moved Azur off the train, they were suddenly halted by Ritter. Mergiann moved forward to engage the executioner but to their surprise, Ritter stepped aside and allowed them to pass.

Without wasting a second, the 2 of them dragged Azur's broken body across the forest without saying a word. Meanwhile, Ritter cleaned off the bloodstain left behind by Azur's wounds. As they disappeared into the woods, Ritter took one last look at them.

[Ritter] - "Good luck. "

To be continued... Next Chapter: [My Way (part 4)]

*EXTRA

-Profile: Rudolf Valentine

-Affiliation: Talon, head of the V-Squad, crystal executioner 2nd class.

-Role: Minor Antagonist

-Ability: [The Mist]: "The ability allows Rudolf to deliver empowered punches toward his enemies but he can choose to rather have the real energy of his attack go sideways to strike his enemy in the opposite direction of his fist or to have the energy stay on his fist. Rudolf's ability can vary between super-speed punches like Karson's attacks or to have each strike deliver enormous damage that, if not blocked, could cause fatal injury no matter where it hits. "

-Backstory: "Since Rudolf's the firstborn of the 4 brothers (early by a few seconds), he always viewed himself as the leading figure among them. With a cold expression on his face, he strikes terror to whoever crosses him. The terror he causes amongst his allies and foes is well justified since Rudolf is known to have studied his opponent deeply. So anyone going against him would be read by him like an open book. His tactic is simple and deadly: land a single strike on his enemy which is enough to cripple them to the point of no return. "

ABILITY STATS:

Power - A

Speed granted by the ability - D

Speed of the ability - A

Range - D

Durability granted by the ability - B

Durability of the ability - A

Precision - B

Potential - C