"Damn, I got nothing up here, Winter Melon!" Alexei yelled from the first floor. "You find anything?"
Nada. Well, not exactly—Alexei snagged a blue armor, some ammo, and a big blue canister for shield repairs.
But no gun.
He bolted upstairs!
A wave of pure menace hit him like a truck!
He looked up, stunned!
On the second floor, Winter Melon, rocking Wraith, gripped a massive revolver, aiming forward!
Across the room?
Another Wraith, also packing a revolver!
Behind the enemy Wraith, a teammate—unarmed, just landed. A beefy dude named Gibraltar.
In a split second!
Four sets of eyes locked!
Both Wraiths aimed at each other's heads!
Alexei and Gibraltar, empty-handed, stared, dumbfounded!
The air in the cabin froze for half a second!
Then!
Winter Melon and the enemy Wraith pulled their triggers!
BANG!
BANG!
Gunshots echoed in the tiny room!
Both Wraiths dodged sideways, mirror images!
They aimed again, unloading a flurry of shots!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Dodging, sliding, jumping!
Both Wraiths flexed, thinking they were slick, weaving through bullets and firing back!
The cramped cabin erupted—flames flashed, shots rang out!
The Wraiths wall-ran, darted across the room, putting on a show!
But to Alexei and Gibraltar?
They looked like two chimps going wild.
Or, more like two huskies chasing their tails…
BANG BANG BANG!
WHOOSH WHOOSH!
Bullets sprayed walls, floors, tables, windows—everything but their targets!
In a flash, both Wraiths emptied their clips!
Out of ammo, a lightbulb went off in their heads!
They lunged, swinging fists at each other's faces!
BAM!
They split apart!
Both raised two fingers, shouting:
"Into the Void!"
"Into the Void!"
Poof! Both Wraiths turned into light, zipping around the cabin!
Wraith's tactical skill, Into the Void, made them vanish from the game world briefly.
Downside? They couldn't see enemies either, just charging blind on instinct.
Two Wraiths, phasing through the room—pure chaos!
But Alexei and Gibraltar? Same vibe:
Alexei: "Winter Melon, you're embarrassing us…"
Gibraltar: "Chill with the showboating, man. Let's bounce…"
Chat was dying:
'Hahahaha, this is GOLD!!!'
'I'm crying!'
"Fierce as a tiger, but dealing 25 damage."
"Two clips, one skill, and they barely scratched each other!"
'Never thought this game'd be THIS wild!'
"Take it to a dance studio, y'all!"
'Hahaha, I'm wheezing!'
"Isn't this an FPS? Why's it a dance-off?"
'Shooter (X) Comedy (√)'
'…'
Just as Alexei and Gibraltar were about to grab popcorn and watch the circus—
A broadcast blared from the sky!
[Warning! Safe zone countdown starting!]
[Safe zone shrinking…]
[59… 58… 57…]
"Yo, Winter Melon, STOP!" Alexei jumped up. "The circle's closing!"
BAM!
One last punch swapped, then both Wraiths backed off!
Winter Melon clasped his fists: "Guess we're evenly matched, bro. Same school, same moves…"
"For real!" the enemy Wraith replied, also clasping fists. "Next time, I'm switching it up!"
"Bet! Catch you in the finals!" Winter Melon nodded, all serious.
"Deal! Finals it is!" the other Wraith said, like some knightly vow.
Alexei yanked Winter Melon: "Enough with the kung-fu movie crap! Your aim's trash—you're not making the finals!"
"Finals? Let's survive the circle first, dude…"
He pinged Eggplant in team chat: "Eggplant! You good? Circle's shrinking! We gotta move!"
Eggplant's voice roared back: "I got jumped by a mob! I'm in a box, and you're just now asking?!"
"Y'all are the worst!"
Eggplant's rage cracked up Winter Melon and Alexei!
But!
Just as they were about to ditch Eggplant and run—
Eggplant shouted: "Grab my rez card! You can bring me back!"
Turns out!
After Eggplant got pummeled by fans, he was ready to spectate.
But a prompt popped on his HUD.
In APEX, death ain't final. If a teammate grabs your resurrection card from your death box, they can revive you at a respawn beacon!
Chat went nuts:
"This is SICK!"
'No wonder Crow Mask Bloodhound got sniped in the trailer but came back!'
"Genius design! Keeps the game packed despite the fast pace!"
"That's Gus Harper for ya—thinking three steps ahead."
"Supernova ain't just a name!"
"Harper's a madman—slick moves, sweet talk, total psycho."
'Dagger's out!'
'Harper: Got me in the first half, not gonna lie.'
'Hahaha…'
Hearing Eggplant's plea, Winter Melon and Alexei were shook.
Learning the rez card had a timer, they sprinted to Eggplant's box:
"Eggplant, hold tight!"
"We're comin' for ya!"
…
"Got it!"
Meanwhile, another battlefield!
Click! Ethan "Piggie" Vance snagged Marcus "MadDog" Reed's rez card.
Chat erupted:
'Item acquired: MadDog's USB drive!'
"What's with 'MadDog's USB'? Hahaha!"
'Eggplant's missing this!'
"MadDog, my man!"
'Why's your comment got sound effects…?'
"Sliding off a cliff—classic MadDog."
"Yo, MadDog, we'll crowdfund you a cheat code."
'Hahaha, good luck finding a hack for an X2 cabin!'
"X2's too real for cheats, but I'd still sponsor MadDog."
'…'
Chat was eating it up!
On the battlefield, Piggie asked, "Got the card, but where's the rez spot?"
Daisy "Dizzy" Lane piped up: "Here! Marked it on the map! Closest beacon's that way. Let's bring back MadDog."
Piggie checked the map.
A green icon glowed due north.
He closed the map, looking up.
A green beam pierced the sky at the valley's exit, marking their target.
"Bet," Piggie said, clipping MadDog's card to his arm. "Let's rez him."
He waved Dizzy over.
But!
CRACK! CRACK!
Two shots rang out behind!
Piggie ducked on instinct, spinning around!
Below the hillside!
An enemy charged, gun blazing, full aggro!
Windproof goggles, oxygen mask, prosthetic legs—dude was fast, leaving a green blur!
"Oh, snap! It's him!" Piggie gasped.
"That's the locked Legend—Speed Freak!"
"He's cocky as hell!" Dizzy growled, ready to throw down.
"Do we clap him?"
Normally, Dizzy's not this bold.
Piggie, Dizzy, and MadDog? Their aim's… rough.
Like, real rough.
Their strat? Swarm lone wolves with numbers.
With MadDog down, it's just the two of them.
Per their playbook, if the enemy's got more than two, Dizzy's out the door.
But now?
Just one guy!
Piggie and Dizzy locked eyes, hyped.
"Too cocky!"
"Let's do this!"
BANG! WHOOSH!
Dizzy, playing Bangalore, popped a smoke bomb.
A smokescreen rolled out, blinding Speed Freak.
Piggie and Dizzy flanked, left and right!
Perfect anti-lone-wolf move.
WHOOSH!
They burst through the smoke, closing the gap!
"Now! Light him up!" Piggie yelled.
They raised guns, unloading on Speed Freak!
But then—
"WHAT THE?!"
"RED ARMOR?!"
APEX's armor system is wild.
Four tiers: white (50 damage resist), blue (75), purple (100), red (125).
You can grab armor from loot or airdrops, or evolve it by dealing damage to enemies without knocking them.
Yup!
Start with white armor, but with cracked aim or smart plays, you can level it up!
White to blue: 150 damage. Blue to purple: 300. Purple to red: 700.
This Speed Freak's red armor? If he evolved it, he's dealt 1150 damage!
With average health at 100 and armor at 50, that's seven or eight kills!
A lone wolf wiping two-plus squads solo!
No wonder he's charging alone!
This dude's a beast Piggie and Dizzy can't touch!
Panic set in, but too late to bail.
SNAP!
Speed Freak, eating bullets, jammed a green syringe into his chest—speed spiked!
The burst caught Piggie and Dizzy off guard. Their shaky aim couldn't keep up!
In a flash!
BOOM! CRACK! BOOM!
A Peacekeeper shotgun roared. Speed Freak's wild moves dropped Dizzy before she could blink!
Next second, he spun mid-air!
Dodging Piggie's frantic shots, he slammed a jump pad down!
One big step, and he launched off it!
The switch-up threw Piggie. He fired, but couldn't track Speed Freak's speed!
Speed Freak swapped to a Wingman revolver.
Mid-air shots!
BANG! BANG!
Two bullets, Piggie's down!
[Squad Eliminated]
Lightning fast!
Speed Freak soared, moved like a blur, and landed two headshots!
Piggie's squad—wiped in under ten seconds!
"No way!"
"What?!"
"HUH?!"
In the black-and-white death screen, Piggie watched Speed Freak loot their boxes, scalp tingling!
"This ain't right!"
"His movement, his aim… that's gotta be hacks, right?"
Piggie squinted at the ID: [Octane]
"Holy—!" Piggie gasped.
"That name… I know it!"
He thought hard.
Then—SLAP!—he smacked his leg!
"Got it!"
"This guy's the Titanfall parkour trial world champ!"
"No freakin' way!"
"Not Speed Freak!"
"This dude's the Speed King!"
Chat lost it:
'It's HIM?!'