With Squad Bastards officially inside the fortress, each member splits up.
On the northeast side of the base, Axel and Leon dash toward two separate buildings.
"Aye, kid! You take the one on the left. I'll handle the right," Axel orders, pointing.
"Got it!" Leon responds.
The two rush off toward their respective buildings.
"Try not to die, kid! Been a while since a rookie lasted this long!" Axel calls out.
"Yeah, and maybe you could try not blowing anything up this time!" Leon snaps back. "And stop saying that! It's freaking me out!"
"Haha! Just listen for the boom, kid!"
"Aren't we supposed to be stealthy?!" Leon shouts to himself.
***
Leon slips through the back of the four-story building and spots a staircase.
Alright, the heartless mission: find Tony Sparrow's wife and grandson and kill them. Their mission… not mine. My mission is to never find them.
He flashes back to his first mission with Axel—blood everywhere, the screaming, the smell. Leon shakes his head violently, trying to banish the memory.
"I'm already sick of the bloodshed… so it's time to do what I do best: procrastinate to avoid responsibility!" he announces to no one.
Reaching the top floor, he bolts down the hallway.
I can do this. If I don't find the targets, I don't have to kill them. I don't have to see it happen… and I can keep my family safe.
"There's one of the intruders!" a voice calls out.
"Huh?"
Leon freezes. Down the hall, a group of soldiers spots him, rifles aimed.
"I'm dead!" Leon squeals.
He dives behind a corner just as bullets tear through the hallway.
"Crap! Crap! If I get caught, I'm toast!" he panics, scrambling to his feet and sprinting blindly.
"Get him!"
***
Meanwhile, outside the fortress on the southern wall, Roxie runs full-speed.
I need to find that hacker fast. Going in blind is the worst feeling in the world.
She suddenly skids to a stop—two groups of guards approach from both sides.
"And let me guess…"
She glances left and right, sizing up the pincer attack.
"Thought so. But you do realize I can just run sideways, right?"
"Then you'll get filled with lead, bitch!" one of the soldiers screams.
"Oh really?" Roxie grins, a strange blush rising to her cheeks.
She rushes the group in front.
"Then go ahead—fill me up!" she shouts, voice dripping with twisted excitement.
"SHOOT HER!"
Before they can fire, Roxie flips over them. Both squads unload their clips—into each other.
While in the air, she flings two knives into the heads of the last two survivors. She lands smoothly, brushing blood off her face.
"A bunch of sweaty men who get scared of a frail women. Pathetic," she mutters, taking off again.
***
Inside the fortress, on the bottom floor of a four-story building in the northwest corner, Victor walks cautiously through a narrow hallway.
A strange door catches his eye.
"Hmm. Judging by the angle…"
He opens it to find a staircase leading downward.
"Looks like I found the basement."
Victor steps inside. Dust clouds rise around crates of weapons and stacked ammo boxes.
"What degenerate clutter. Is this how Norway operates? Or is their base as trash as ours? Putrid," Victor mutters in a deep tone.
A voice echoes from above.
"You break into our base and start talking shit? You sure you're not the putrid one?"
Victor slowly turns. A woman hovers above him, standing effortlessly on thin lines of string.
"Ah. You're standing on reinforced string… a cheap parlor trick," he says, unimpressed.
"Sorry to disappoint. I'll make sure to kill you with a little flair to make up for it!" the woman shouts as she leaps down.
With a flick of her fingers, two bladed yo-yos swing out from the walls, gleaming with steel edges.
"My name's Isabella, from Brazil. Member of Echelon Four. You're intruding—so just surrender, and we can make this quick."
"Hmm. So you're one of the Four… or three, now. One of your members died recently, correct?"
At that, Isabella's eyes flare open.
"You—! You killed Ligard!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, girl. I've barely said anything."
Victor turns and begins walking away.
"You think you can say that and just leave?!"
Isabella throws a yo-yo, aiming for his back.
Victor tosses two small capsules at the approaching weapons. They burst on impact—melting the yo-yos instantly.
"Acid!"
"Oh, is the fool surprised?" Victor smirks.
"Keep talking like that, you fat fuck. Just makes me wanna kill you faster!" Isabella growls, pulling out two fresh yo-yos.
She squeezes them—blades snap outward. She begins swinging wildly.
"You know what they call me in Brazil? The Spider. Know why?"
"Because you have the face of one?" Victor replies dryly.
"No! Because once you're in my web… there's no escape!"
Isabella lunges.
He's huge, slow—barely looks like he can move. I'll trap him and gut him.
She throws both yo-yos. Victor barely moves his shoulder to dodge the first, but the second wraps around his arm, blades digging into his flesh.
"What a weird toy. I wonder who designed such a thing," he murmurs, unfazed.
"Stop spacing out when I'm right here!"
She yanks the second yo-yo, launching a crate toward him.
The crate slams into Victor's head.
"Hmm. Empty. I was wondering how you swung it so easily," he says calmly.
The crate shatters. Isabella jumps off her string and follows up with a roundhouse kick to his neck—his head barely turns.
She lands and punches him in the gut. Her fist rebounds like rubber.
What the hell? He's like a wall of jelly!
"You should know, girl," Victor says, brushing his coat. "You're far too fragile for a physical fight. I can see your bones through your clothes. You won't make a scratch."
"Tch! Stop trying to lecture me! You haven't even moved! Can you even walk without a heart attack, you asshole?!"
Isabella stomps, dragging a string with her toes. Hidden threads tighten around Victor—binding him.
"Ha! I told you—I'm the Spider of Brazil!"
Victor examines the strings.
"Pathetic. No poison. Not even sharp. What good is a trap if it has no bite?"
"They're not meant to—"
"You've already lost," Victor interrupts coldly.
"IWAS TALKING!" Isabella screams, scratching her arm in frustration.
Then she freezes. Blood trickles from her fingers.
She looks down.
Her arm has a gaping hole — clean through the muscle, down to the bone.
"Aaaahhhh!!!"
Blood gushes from the wound.
"Oh, you're just now noticing?" Victor says, grinning darkly. "And here I thought I was getting old… but no. You would have never seen it coming."