Vaudevillain

Chapter 141: Who Needs to Aim Anyways?

Rampart cursed as Hellzone's battery of pistols finished off Psy-Ops. They needed him to track the enemy command center! Now, Rampart would have to try and keep Shizuka interested in tracking the enemy, which was not something he wanted to spend energy on.

A green appendage interrupted Rampart's thoughts, forcing the player to focus back on the fight at hand. As he deflected Cayman's tail with a barrier, Rampart resolved to finish this fight quickly. That meant he needed to take out the healer, which meant he needed to get past the two tanks in front of him.

Rampart had to admit; It was a good setup. The crocodile man could stop most attacks coming at him, and the space marine behind him was good at getting between people. Their DPS at the back had a great way to deal damage, even if it was indiscriminate, and the bard added a variety of buffs that rounded out any possible weaknesses. Topped off with the healer, the composition made for good PVP.

It was a shame Rampart had to ruin it.

"Yuppie! Shizuka!" Rampart called out. "Focus on taking out their DPS! The healer can't do anything."

Yuppie waved to show he understood, but Shizuka was lost in her own world. It was okay, though. Rampart expected that to happen. Even without his instruction, the ninja did an excellent job of acting as an assassin. In fact, her wildcard nature might give them the edge they needed. Rampart doubted the healer could come up with an answer for everything Shizuka did.

"Fursation, I need you to hold this guy off on your own. It should be okay. We'll make sure their healer can't focus on their tank."

"Got it," the hero replied. "But if you can buy me a second, I can switch to something more effective against this guy. I think."

Rampart looked over at the hero's bear form, wondering what he could have that worked better than that. He didn't wonder for long. Action spoke louder than words.

"Go!" Rampart said as Fursation and Cayman broke apart for a second.

Fursation hopped backward and grabbed at the totems lining his belt. Cayman tried to push forward, but Rampart conjured three barriers in front of the player. Cayman ran face-first into the initial shield as Fursation started to shift. Earth fell away from the bear, only for droplets of water to swirl around and collect on his pelt. Cayman, not one to ignore the transformation sequence, tried to smash through Rampart's protection. Still, three barriers were too much for the crocodilian man.

Rampart couldn't help but whistle at Fursation's new form as the player finished transforming. The earthy layer over the bear's fur was now a shimmering film of water that refracted the light around it. Rainbows jumped over the man's figure like skaters performing tricks, creating a fey-like image. Rampart dropped his barrier as Fursation ran forward.

The two tanks clashed once more, Cayman once again tackling Fursation like a football player. This time, Fursation didn't retreat under the pressure. As he ran forward, the player pulled his layers of water before him to create a shield. Cayman crashed into it, bursting straight through the barrier but slowing his charge in the process. The reduced momentum was all Fursation needed to match the player, and the two collided in a spray of water.

Rampart skirted past the two's fight, taking a roundabout route to reach Hellzone. The enemy's leader, noticing the possible triple-threat, dashed behind the bullet-hell player and readied their gun.

"Space, get ready to clear! We're doing the scorched earth tactic!"

"Got it," Space responded.

The space marine backpedaled away from Shizuka's clones and made a beeline for Hellzone.

"Hey! Get back here!" the ninja cried. "We were about to have our epic showdown."

"Sorry I'll play with you later!" Space called back.

Shizuka huffed in annoyance and chased after the player, not wanting her new toy to escape. Yuppie, seeing the enemy team group up, readied an attack with his missile launcher.

"Time for some indirect fire!" the hero whooped, unleashing a salvo of rockets in the process. Fire rained down on the group, missiles exploding all around to create a cloud of fire.

"Yeah! That's what you get!" Yuppie yelled, only for his face to fall as the cloud cleared.

A shimmering shield surrounded the three enemy players, which the space marine seemed to have deployed as he entered Hellzone's range. The man held the protection up like an umbrella, closing it only when he was sure the missiles finished. Yuppie prepared to fire another blast but had to dive out of the way when Space's umbrella shield transformed into a glassy rifle. Blue energy lanced out of the weapon, splitting into smaller beams as it traveled. Some of it pierced Yuppie's armor, eliciting a wince from the player.

Rampart kept up his sprint, preparing his spinning shield as he did. His new power held a charge function, and he'd been keeping it charging since after his first attack. He wasn't sure how much it would do, but it was going to be another surprise on his list. A Shizuka clone fell into step next to him, Rampart able to tell the difference because the titular ninja was swearing up a storm.

As Rampart neared the enemy, the leader spoke, "Fire it up, H*llzone."

Hellzone whooped in excitement. The player placed a hand at either end of his line of guns and pulled. The rack elongated, looping around Hellzone to complete a full circle. Space and the medic both ducked under the string of guns, appearing inside the player's ring.

"Sh*t!" Rampart shouted as he saw the deadly weapons. "Scatter!"

"Too f*cking late!" laughed Hellzone as he pulled the trigger.

Bullets, small explosives, lasers, and anything else that could possibly be a projectile erupted from Hellzone's loop of guns. The resulting shots pinged against the road like angry hornets, hitting everything in their path. Multiple Shizuka's went down in seconds and forcing Rampart to a stop as he threw up all of his shields. Fursation and Cayman received a few shots as well, Hellzone's indiscriminate fire leaving no one out. Yuppie got off the easiest, his flight letting him move out of range before his health dropped too low. The attack still ate through a lot of his armor and almost half his health bar, leaving Yuppie wincing in pain as he flew up.

Rampart set his face as he watched his already battered shields shatter one by one. His first three, the ones with the lowest health, fell in the first half-second. His fourth shield, the one at full health, held out for the next half-second, which was all the time needed for Hellzone's guns to overload and stop firing. Rampart didn't even take a second to breathe. He whipped his last shield, the one he'd charged with a spin since his fight with Cayman, at the medic with a grunt.

Space saw the motion and caught a glimpse of the spinning barrier as it raced toward his leader. With no hesitation, the marine transformed his gun back into a protective umbrella and jumped in front of Rampart's attack. Shield met shield, and Space grunted in surprise at the force of Rampart's blow. Sparks flew off the umbrella of protection, the small fires skipping across the chipped pavement like grasshoppers.

Rampart mentally urged his attack to break through. Yuppie was still in the sky, and Rampart couldn't see Shizuka nearby. Fearing the worst, Rampart resumed his charge at the three enemies. If he could keep them occupied, Yuppie might get off a shot that took out one or two.

Space pushed against Rampart's attack, fending off the blow as it kept slicing against the player's shield. He could feel it slowing down, and it was only a matter of time until the attack stopped completely. From the look of it, Hellzone's attack had taken out that ninja and wounded the rest of their foes in the process. The bear player had a few marks where lasers and explosives hit, though Cayman had the same. But their team had Medikus to heal them up. It was clear to Space who would win.

As Rampart's attack finished, Space transformed his shield back into a gun and aimed it at the incoming monk. He took a second to line up his shot. A few good hits should take him out.

"F*ck!" Hellzone cried.

Space whipped his head around, concerned that the other hero flying around had done something. Instead, Space saw a black-garbed ninja standing over the disappearing body of Medikus, polishing a throwing knife on her shirt like she was removing a bit of dirt from silverware.

"Everyone always forgets ninjas can teleport," Shizuka quipped.

Hellzone cursed again and tried to jump away from the woman, but he was too slow. Her knives flashed, and Hellzone found himself with three metal piercings along his face. The player winced in pain for a short second before another group of knives sent him to the death screen.

"F*ck," Space cursed. They'd all gotten complacent after the scorched earth tactic. Next time, he would have to remember to keep his eyes and ears peeled. But right now, Space resolved to take at least one of them down with him. Lucky for him a player was charging straight at him. The player quickly aimed his rifle at the incoming hero, pulling the trigger two times in quick succession.

Blue lasers raced to meet Rampart, who had started taking evasive action as soon as Space aimed at him, which was easier said than done when the lasers split apart. He conjured his last shield as he ran, using it to stop anything that got too close. He grimaced as his shield health shrank, then depleted to zero. With nothing left between him and his enemy, Rampart steeled himself to take a blow.

It didn't come. Shizuka had thrown her knives after taking out Hellzone, striking Space's fingers as he shot at Rampart. The steel blades knocked his shots off course and pulled his attention toward the ninja.

"I got this guy," Shizuka said to Rampart. "You go finish off the tank."