Kain fired. The sound of his rifle was sharp and brutal in the confined plaza. The Blue Team player standing next to me crumpled to the ground without a sound.
A notification flashed in my vision, cold and damning. [BLUE TEAMMATE ELIMINATED BY KAIN (TRAITOR)]. The system itself had marked him. The word "TRAITOR" now glowed a violent red next to his name on my HUD.
The betrayal was the signal. The world erupted in gunfire.
From every direction, the Red Team opened fire. Muzzle flashes lit up the dark alleys and the balconies above us. Bullets ripped through the air, sparking off the walls and the broken fountain. It was a slaughterhouse. Another Blue teammate fell, crying out as a burst of rifle fire cut him down.
In the space of five seconds, our team was cut in half. It was now just me, Anya, and one other terrified player against Kain and the entire Red Team. We were surrounded. We were going to die.
But I was expecting it. I was ready.
The moment Kain turned his rifle on our teammate, I was already moving. I had known this was a trap. I had been planning for it.
"NOW!" I roared.
My voice was a signal for Anya. Just moments before we entered the plaza, while Kain was boasting about his map knowledge, I had sent her a private message. Just three words.
[TRAP. WATCH MY SIGNAL.]
I did not have time to use a gun. I used my body. I turned and slammed my shoulder into a large, flickering neon sign on the wall of the plaza. It was a cheap, flimsy piece of decoration. I knew from my time in the game that these walls were destructible.
The sign shattered. The thin wall behind it splintered and broke. I had created our own exit. A new path where there was none before. "This way!" I yelled to Anya and our last remaining teammate. I created our escape.
My "offensive" strategy had been a complete lie. It was a test. A way to force Kain to show his hand, to lead us into a trap. But I had chosen the location of the trap. I had picked a spot with a weakness I could exploit.
We dove through the hole I had made. We landed in a narrow, dark maintenance corridor on the other side. For a moment, we were out of the killzone. We were safe from the crossfire.
The kill on our teammate, as brutal as it was, had given me an advantage. My [ADRENALINE RUSH] skill triggered. A surge of energy flooded my body. My HUD showed a small icon: [SPEED BOOST +10%]. I was faster.
I used the speed immediately. I did not wait. I turned back to the hole we had just created. One of the Red Team members was already trying to climb through, to chase us.
BOOM.
My shotgun roared. The blast caught him mid-climb. The adrenaline-fueled speed made my movements fast and fluid. I eliminated him before he even knew I was there.
Anya was right behind me. She laid down covering fire through the hole, the chatter of her assault rifle holding back the other enemies, preventing them from following us. "Go, Leo! Move!" she shouted.
The combat was a chaotic blur of noise and light. Bullets sparked in the narrow corridor. A grenade bounced through the hole and landed near my feet.
My new skill saved me. [REACTIVE PLATING ACTIVATED]. A shimmering, hexagonal shield of blue energy materialized around my body just as the grenade exploded. The blast wave hit the shield, and I felt the force of it, but the damage was cut in half. My HUD flashed [HP: 100 -> 65]. A survivable hit. Without the shield, I would have been critically injured, or worse. The shield flickered and died. It was a one-time use, and I had already spent it.
Kain was furious. His perfect trap had failed. He was screaming at his teammates on the other side of the wall. I heard his voice, filled with rage. "Forget them! I'll get the VIP!"
He abandoned the fight in the plaza. He wanted me for himself. He wanted the glory of killing the Marked Man.
His red dot disappeared from the plaza on my minimap and reappeared in a corridor that would intersect with ours. He was coming for me.
"Anya, I've got Kain," I said. "Hold them here."
"Just don't die," she replied, not taking her eyes off the breach point.
I ran. The corridors were a maze. I used my Ghost skill, my footsteps quieter now, muffled by the hum of the building's machinery. I was hunting the traitor. This was different from my duel with Viper. That had been a battle of patience and precision from a distance. This was a close, brutal affair of reflexes and instinct.
Kain was good. He knew the map, just as he had claimed. He tried to ambush me around a corner. But my Acoustic Sensor was better. I saw his red dot waiting for me. I tossed a grenade of my own around the corner. The explosion forced him to move.
We traded shotgun blasts and rifle fire. We used the environment, ducking behind pipes, shattering lights to create darkness. He was fast and aggressive. But I was fueled by adrenaline and a cold, burning anger. He had betrayed us. He had killed our teammates.
I finally got the upper hand. I faked a move to the left, then spun to the right. He fell for it. I landed a solid hit with my shotgun. Not a killing blow, but it was enough. He was wounded. I saw his red dot on the minimap retreat, moving into a small, dark room at the end of the hallway. A server room.
I had him. He was cornered. Trapped.
I ran to the door, my shotgun raised. I was ready to end this. There would be no more tricks. No more running.
I kicked the door open with all my strength. It flew open, slamming against the inside wall. I stormed in, my shotgun sweeping the room.
The room was empty.
Kain was gone.
I frowned, my mind racing. How? I checked my minimap. His red dot had vanished. It was impossible. He could not have just disappeared. The room had no other exits.
Then, I heard it.
A soft, electronic beep. It was quiet, almost lost in the hum of the servers.
It came from behind me.
I spun around. My eyes fell on the back of the door I had just kicked open. Attached to the metal surface was a small, black device. A block of C4. A tiny red light on it was blinking. Fast.
A hidden speaker on the device crackled to life. It was Kain's voice. Calm, mocking, and victorious.
"Checkmate, VIP."