Chapter 1: Meet them All!

1970, September 23, 12:47pm

Location: The Badlands, New Mexico

The desert wastelands of New Mexico; this land was harsh, brutal and full of despair. The Badlands, as the natives called it, is a dead, broken and shattered world that is cruel and unmerciful to its residents; for the few that remained anyway. The only thing that occupied the terrain was dirt and gravel, nothing but gravel and dirt as far as the eye could see. Not a plant, tree, animal or living soul resided here; just gravel and dirt. Nothing lived here, nothing, except for nine individuals living in an old nuclear power plant.

Nestled tight within the many canyons that made the bulk of the Badlands was an old industrial building built near an old Mann Co. nuclear power plant that met an unfortunate meltdown back in 1950. Some say you can still hear the muted cries of the poor souls who weren't lucky enough to die in the blast or from the radiation poisoning. These 'cries' were just ghost stories; the truth is that the current residents had killed the survivors. The cries heard today though were those of the current residents' test subjects.

Residing in the nuclear plant was a mercenary group known as the Reliable Excavation Demolition team, better known as RED Team.

A minor faction within TF Industries, also known as Team Fortress, the team was formed and hired by Redmond Mann as his main force to quell his opposition, his brother, Blutarch. The RED Team are in constant battle against their sworn enemy: the BLU Team, Blutarch's own mercenary unit.

On top of the roof of a grey building was a metal lawn chair, the Rancho Relaxo, with a small red and orange umbrella keeping its occupant shaded from the harsh New Mexico sun. The occupant reached over to the shelf next to him, a row of refreshments ripe for his pickings. He reached for an ice-cold beer, smacking the lid of the bottle on the metal chair, sending the seal flying. He brought the brew to his mouth and took a thirsty gulp.

The man stood at only 167 centimetres tall. He wore a red buttoned shirt accompanied by a black tie, to break the monotonous sea of red, with a symbol of a wrench atop his shoulders. Gun holsters ran down both his sides, each holding a Lugermorph pistol underneath his arms; Holstered Heaters was the name of this fashion choice. He wore baggy, oil stained maroon pants with old, yellow peeling knee caps strapped tightly to his legs. One foot, the left, was flesh and bone and the other was metal and gears: The Roboot, a prosthetic foot to replace the one that he had lost. Holding up his pants was a set of black braces and a belt full of gadgets. Among these gadgets was the Eureka Effect, a giant wrench with a futuristic style; the red and silver polished design of the atomic symbol looked pristine next to the electrical coil and antenna on the top which sparked randomly. Beside the wrench was a small radar dish with a grip and joy-stick, a weapon known as the Wrangler. Across his belt was a repurposed calculator-turn-Construction PDA and another pad with one big red button and a screen; a Destruction PDA.

The man's face was as rugged as his clothes. A few tiny, nearly invisible scars dotted his face. He has a hooked nose and was sporting the Gold Digger: a long, bushy light brown beard that ran all along the lower half of his face. His eyes were covered by eyewear; orange tinted welding goggles to be exact. To top it all off, he dons the Texas Tin-Gallon, a metal "cowboy" hat that was terribly bolted together in uneven places.

He was known to his fellow comrades as The Engineer. A man of science, engineering and premium, well-done steak.

Engineer had nothing really important to do today, so he thought he might as well kill time on his Rancho Relaxo while he waited patiently for his delivery.

Beep

Engineer reached for his Construction PDA and saw that something triggered the perimeter defence matrix, apparently a friendly vehicle had activated it. "'Bout time" Engineer mumbled to himself before jumping to his feet, the Rancho Relaxo folding into a tool-box as soon as he left it.

He sprinted over to the nearby railing, trying his best to contain his excitement and also to remember where parts of the roof were less stable; he did not want to fall through the roof again. His excitement stemmed from the fact that after countless times asking and receiving denials every time, The Administrator had granted him permission to order and use the ultimate element: Australium.

Ever since the discovery of the powerful element of Australium and its many properties and uses, the world's collective engineers, scientists and men and women within the technology world all strived to unlock further uses for the element. The element was a true enigma, it performed anything imaginable. From teleportation and tissue regeneration to toasting bread in under ten seconds, the element was more destructive than uranium yet more stable than iron. It was a gas, liquid and solid all at the same time.

Australium was a scientist's dream and an ethical nightmare rolled into one.

With its discovery, it turned the weak nation of Australia into a utopia of science, engineering and gladiator sports. Other nations of the world, besides the country of New Zealand which had disappeared years ago, fell behind in technological development. Now Australia holds a technological monopoly over the world, all because of a golden rock.

This golden rock was going to help Engineer construct his magnum opus: An Australium-powered teleporter.

Looking down, Engineer saw two of his team-mates mucking around on the nearby shipping containers in the main driveway.

The tallest of the two, standing at about 193 centimetres tall, was the most powerful and dangerous one of the team. This man could easily be mistaken as a bear due to his size, bulk and excessive facial hair which was currently groomed following the new facial trend going around in Australia called the Cuban Bristle Crisis. He had a messy mop of dark brown hair on top of his head, which he dubbed the Coupe D'saster. His torso stood firm as the thick metal plating called the Die Regime-Panzerung kept a constant weight on the bear-man's chest. To match the armour plating, he wore giant metal gauntlets ironically called Fists of Steel. Underneath the metal plating was a chin belt filled with 5mm custom tool cartridges, costing around five thousand dollars if they were fired for twelve seconds. Attached to his back was his trusty double-barrelled shotgun: Family Business.

The man was the giant mercenary known as The Heavy Weapons Guy or, to his team-mates and clients, Heavy.

"Would you like more lemonade Sasha?" Heavy spoke in a soft voice as he placed a glass of lemonade by a lawn chair. Positioned on the lawn chair was a minigun, polished to perfection to reflect 'her' metallic grey body. She was Sasha, the love of Heavy's life and favourite weapon.

Across from Heavy and Sasha the remaining mercenary was making shadow puppets using an assortment of technical finger movements, along with conjuring up a small fire-ball. This mercenary may look cold on the outside, but on the inside housed a pure cold-blooded, deadly and frightening pyromaniac. He stood at 175 centimetres and was covered head-to-toe in fire-proof gear: black rubber boots, a full red rubber suit and a black gas-mask with lenses that bore into your soul to consume you from the inside. This heartless monstrosity had decorated his suit in an assortment of terrifying items of clothing, reminding Engineer of a clown from hell. His gas-mask was modified by Engineer himself, the Beast from Below as Engineer so lovingly called it. Replacing the filters that stuck out with a faceplate with tubes connecting to an air-tank located on the monstrosity's back. The Pyromaniac also wore the DethKapp, a black cap adorned with a wig of flowing red locks. Over his rubber suit he wore the Trickster's Turnout Gear, a fireman's coat that he managed to find while grave robbing. Strapped to his back was the Thermal Thruster jetpack, Mann co.'s newest weapon for 'self-inflicting harm'. The jetpack has two rocket thrusters, one on each side and an enclosed yellow light on the top. Attached to the jetpack was his primary and melee weapons, the Phlogistinator and the Powerjack. The Phlogistinator is a weapon from unknown origins, the machine was comprised of an assortment of patterned pipes and metal rings. The Powerjack however was a weapon with origins, Mann co. making the weapon by stealing employees' car batteries and strapping them to an automobile jack with tan leather straps.

This beast was the RED Team's wildcard, the pyromaniac, simply dubbed The Pyro, who could ignite enemies by simply looking at them.

"Yo' Fellas!" Engineer waved to get their attention, which he succeeded given Heavy's annoyed glance and Pyro's curious look towards him.

"I'm gonna need your help with my delivery. It's gonna be coming in, in just a second" Engineer explained, "And I need you boys to greet it".

As soon as the words left his mouth, Heavy grabbed Sasha from the lawn chair and Pryo readied his Phlogistinator; both of them equipped for combat. "No! You damned idiots! Not that 'greet', the other 'greet'" Engineer relaxed as both Mercs dropped their weapons with a disappointed 'oh'.

"OK Engineer/Mmpph!". The three Mercs parted ways, with Heavy and Pyro waiting by the driveway and Engineer making his way back into the building. On the way, he stopped where he had left his folded Rancho Relaxo and went to retrieve a gun leaning by an air-conditioning vent.

Much like his own wrench, the weapon had a futuristic style with the nozzle sparking electricity. It was an impossibly high quality polished silver weapon with red marks on the majority of the body, nose and handle. The weapon had dials and radars all along the side of its impressive body. Picking up the weapon, Engineer gave it a look over before he holstered the weapon, the Pomson 6000, on his back.

Heavy stood tall and proud while Pyro was hunched over with a menacing aura surrounding him, both mercenaries staring at the truck that had arrived into their domain. The truck, a Peterbilt 359, hulling a large semi-trailer, came to a slow crawl around the entrance, turning to its right to show the truck's shipping brand to the Mercs: FED-UP. The FED-UP delivery truck came to a stop with a loud crack of the handbrake. The engine stopped its rumble and everything was silent. Heavy and Pyro looked on in interest as the back and cockpit doors of the delivery truck opened to let out several overweight, blue collar shipping workers, some of whom let out groans of pain as they stretched their aching muscles, while some more perceptive workers paled at the sight of the two Mercs. One of the workers pushed the younger one of the group, who held a clipboard, towards Pyro and Heavy. He was beyond shaken, yet he continued towards the pair. "Mmh, we got a delivery for a 'Mr. Conagher'" the young shipper announced to the two.

Heavy and Pyro looked at each other in question, then nodded as they remembered Engineer's orders. "Let us greet them Pyro" Heavy grinned as Pyro chuckled.

Engineer ran through the endless hallways that made his home, hightailing it so he could meet his delivery on time. However, he came to a stop as he heard explosions and screams coming from outside. 'Oh Hell' he grumbled as his run turned into a full blown mad rush down the endless damp grey corridors.

By the time he made it through the front doors, he was met with a blood-bath; limbs blown from bodies, burnt and broken corpses and only one dishevelled survivor of the delivery service. Engineer was speechless, though not surprised. "Sheesh" he grumbled.

"I told you boys to greet them! Like 'hello' and 'how are you'. Not 'shoot first then greet them'" Engineer vented his anger towards his now bloodied team mates, one grumbled while the other whimpered.

"That doesn't matter anymore" Engineer sighed, "What's done is done".

Engineer walked through the bloodied field to the lone survivor, who still held the clipboard tightly; to the point where his fingers punctured through the board and his fingernails were cracked and bloodied.

Prying the clipboard from the shaken blue-collar worker, Engineer proceeded to read over the flyer. He pulled a red pen from his pocket and began to sign the required fields. While he did this, Heavy and Pyro started to wipe the bits and pieces of delivery men off of themselves. Heavy cringed as he flicked a stray piece of kidney from his shoulder, "'Gah' Heavy hates this part-" Heavy grumbled.

Pyro mumbled a response and began to collect the many shredded body pieces scattered around the driveway. Someone had to clean it up.

As Engineer finalised the paperwork and Heavy and Pyro got to work cleaning, the doors of the building flew open and Heavy, Pyro and Engineer turned to see the rest of RED Team wander out of the building and onto the scene.

"What ze hell was all zat racket?" The gentleman with the French accent walked through the red gravel, trying his best not to step on the chunks of stray flesh, doing his best not to ruin his pristine shoes.

He stood at 181.6 centimetres tall and wore a ravishing red suit, a dark maroon vest and an equally dark red bow-tie with a black cowl: the Frenchman's Formals and the Foul Cowl from the Mann Co.'s 'manly-men' catalogue. To top off this over saturation of gentlemanliness was the Harmburg, a fedora that matched the colour tone of his suit, and the Reader's Choice, a pair of half-moon spectacles.

The gentleman that hailed from the land of baguettes and croissants and the twenty-five-time winner of Mann Co.'s 'most handsome man in the privacy of his own home' was the RED team's personal backstabber; the Spy.

Heavy gave a shrug towards the French man, "We greeted shipping babies/Mmwp hm smmh" Heavy and Pyro grumbled.

"A lil' bit overboard on the whole 'Greetin'' thing hey?" the youngest member of the RED Team enquired as he took a watch from a dismembered arm.

The young buck was 177.8 centimetres in height, most of which stemmed from his long, powerful legs. His outfit was mainly comprised of the colours red, black and grey within the style of a greaser. He wore a jacket known as the Flapjack; a red motorcycle jacket with the front flap open, exposing his black undershirt. He donned grey pants that bagged under the knees and teamed white socks and running shoes with metallic braces known as the Long Fall Loafers around his ankles, the braces stolen from Aperture Laboratories . His face was young and clean shaven. His dark brown hair was greased back at the sides and back with his fringe combed in a curl; the hair style known as Greased Lightning.

The boy was the RED Team's 'Shoot-and-Scoot' trooper known as the Scout. He is the youngest of the Mercenary group, as well as the weakest since he could barely take on a sandwich with his skinny frame.

Scout shifted around, avoiding the puddles of gore with nimble ease, only to be stopped mid-way as a large gust of wind flew past him and all the money stuffed in his bag started to fly around the Mercs. Scout began to franticly jump around after the notes, jumping in the air and trying to catch any stray notes that came out of his large brown duffel bag: The Dillinger's Duffel. That bag housed Scout's recent income and lifesavings. It also contained his weapons, a sawn-off doubled barrelled shotgun known as The Force-A-Nature, a can of his favourite drink, Bonk! Atomic Punch, and his lucky baseball and bat combo, The Sandman.

"Crapcrapcrapcrap!" Scout repeatedly cursed as he leaped after his money, much to the amusement of his fellow Mercs.

Another of the RED Team reached down and picked a $100 note that landed on the ground. "Ooh, I won't mind hav'n this" He chuckled while he flicked the blood off of it.

This man's 184 centimetre stature was unbalanced, his head swaying left to right as he struggled to stand upright; a clear indication that he was as drunk as a skunk. His clothing choices also supported that claim as he was dressed as a Robotic Scottish Pirate. Perched atop his head was the Bolted Bicorne, a metal pirate hat with red strips of metal resembling feathers branching from atop with a skull and cross bones painted on the front. An eye patch covered his left eye, and an eerie green light glowed from under the patch. He had a smoking pipe in his mouth and a big white bushy beard around his face that contrasted against his dark brown skin. The Bearded Bombardier was this style's name. His torso consisted of a black explosive-proof vest housing an alignment of grenades. Underneath the bulky armour was a red shirt and under that a white undershirt. He wore no pants, only a Scottish kilt that showed his toned brown legs; it was cleverly called the Cool Breeze. Strapped to his back was the Melody of Misery, a set of bagpipes with five reeds decorated in a traditional tartan pattern.

This drunken oaf was the Demo-Man! The infamous demolition expert from Scotland and fabled inventor of the first cocktail to be banned in Australia!

Demo kept the note out of Scout's reach as he tried desperately to retrieve the bill from his hands. "Calm down ya' bloody idiot" Demo slurred.

"Mein betrunkener Probanden! Please give ze boy his money back" the tall man beside Demo requested in a thick German accent.

This 182 centimetre tall RED mercenary was holding the head of a deceased delivery worker. His clothes were unsurprisingly red, with a few blood stains sprayed here and there over his maroon red pants and some on his high black boots. Covering his torso was a nice white robe-looking trench coat called the Angel of Death by the Mann Co. clothing store. Covering his head was a white hood called the Nunhood, with golden trimming much like his robe, and rays of light beaming from it, giving him an almost angelic appearance. Perching on his master's right shoulder was a little white dove. Archimedes's fine white feathers were smattered with blood. Attached to a vest under his robe were his weapons: the Crusader's Crossbow, A syringe propelling crossbow and the Übersaw; a melee weapon with a cleaver-like blade fixed into a Bonesaw grip, with a large blood-filled glowing syringe and needle protruding from it.

This was the RED Team's medic and doctor. His name: Medic.

"Aye doc, just playn' a'round" Demo slurred, stopping his hand movements to allow Scout to snatch his note back.

"Yeah, thanks doc" Scout saluted Medic before retrieving the last of his money from the ground. The sound of heavy footsteps emanated from behind the demolitions expert and the medical officer. "You keep babying him like that Sally and he'll grow up to be a spineless wimp" a gruff, gravelly voice suddenly appeared next to the Demo Man and Medic.

The brutish looking man stood with a broad frame of 180 centimetres with a straight back. His lower-torso was completely covered with the Patriot's Pouches; a zip-up vest with pouches held by two straps, that held an abundance of ammunition and copies of the Declaration of Independence. While his upper-torso had The Strap Chest Pain, a brown leather strap holding a large combat knife, the lower left side of the strap held a small pouch, attached to the back of the strap was the Rocket Launcher, painted to resemble the flag of the United States of America. Next to the rocket launcher was the Panic Attack; a shotgun with a drum magazine. Underneath was a red shirt and a white singlet. His lower-half consisted of grey pants and shin-high combat boots. Clipped onto his belt was the Market Gardener, a foldable military shovel. His face was very rough, with a few deep scars along his jawline, which was constantly covered by a five o'clock shadow. Coving his head and slightly obscuring his vision was a military helmet known as the Head Hedge. With leaves glued in an attempt to camouflage itI., the Head Hedge was used for tactical and stealth advantages, even though the rest of the Merc's wardrobe stood out and he spent most of his time fighting in urban or industrial areas.

This man was the deranged, highly explosive and volatile patriotic Soldier. The true blooded American trooper! Be warned Communists, for this insane fellow is skilled in the many ways of fighting and shouting!

"Real men break the spines and spirits of those who steal from them!" Soldier shook his fist in rage.

"Calm down Boy Scout" a gruff Australian voice came from the last RED member who stood furthest from the group.

His lanky body stood at 185 centimetres, his clothing matching the same colours as the rest of his team. His forearms and legs were covered with spacesuit gloves and padded overalls, the look called the Final Frontiersman. Along with the Down Under Duster, a brown leather coat with long flaps that covered the rest of his body, he wore a red shirt and white singlet. A leather belt with a holster held up his pants and his weapons; an SMG and a Bowie knife known as the Bushwacka. Attached to his back was the weapon of his namesake; a wood stock, single-shot bolt-action sniper rifle with a massive telescopic scope and laser sight attachment to boot. His face was set in a permanent scowl, with a pair of yellow aviators to shield his eyes from the Badlands' scorching sun. Perched atop his head was the hat, the Trophy Belt; a light brown slouch hat with five crocodile teeth wrapped around the crown.

The camper and sharp-shooter from the great land of Australia, The Sniper! A professional at his challenging work, he always has the high-ground and never faces his enemies unless they are 10 metres away.

Together, these nine mercenaries are the RED Team of Team Fortress!

"There we go" Engineer stacked the papers and pen back together with the clipboard and handed it back to the surviving delivery worker.

Instead of grabbing the clipboard and wishing Engineer a good day, the worker decided to scream at the board before bolting towards the gates of the compound. Engineer was left gobsmacked at the dust trail left by the survivor. "Oh' Hell! Boy! Stop! You don't have the-"

Beep-Beep

What followed after was a beautiful display of ammunitions firing, fragmentation rounds exploding and gore flying, partnered with a chorus of deafening explosions and a blood curdling cry as the worker was torn to shreds by Engineer's turrets.

By the end of it all, what remained were bullet holes, craters and a single foot. The RED Team glanced at the carnage, shrugged and moved to either help Heavy and Pyro clean or to inspect the truck. Engineer looked at the clipboard in his hand before throwing it over his shoulder. "…Clarence Chip" Engineer shrugged his shoulders "Well…That's one job Admin and Pauling don't need to worry 'bout".

"Say somethin' about Miss Pauling?" Scout quickly chimed at the mention of the woman.

"Nothin' boy" Engineer waved him off "Mind helpin' me with moving this truck into the garage?" he asked.

Scout gave a shrug to the hard-hat wearer and helped him with the truck. As Engineer and Scout made their way towards the parked truck, Spy and Sniper joined them. "So, Engineer-" Spy lit a cigarette before continuing "- would you mind enlightening us on the contents of the vehicle? Is it what made you all giddy ever since last month?" Spy questioned as they arrived at the trailer door.

Engineer fished his wrench from his belt, "The latter? Yes". With a mighty swing Engineer struck the handle and lock of the trailer door, releasing the doors in one smooth action.

He grabbed hold of the broken handle and yanked the door upwards, exposing the contents within. Stacks upon stacks of wooden crates labelled 'Mann Co.: exclusive merchandise' were stacked along the walls of the trailer, all except one crate that laid just before the trailer's exit. Engineer and the other three Mercs leaped into the compartment. "As for the former-" Engineer smirked "….well let me show ya'" with a 'heya!', he wedged his wrench under the lid of the crate in front of him.

Standing next to him, Scout snickered. "What is it? Your collection of Johnny Cash albums? Or maybe-"

Crack

Smash

As soon as the lid fell to the floor of the trailer, the compartment was lit with a vibrant golden light; silencing Scout and forcing everyone to cover their eyes. Sniper winced, slowly opening his eyes as they adjusted to the sudden glow. "Bloody Nora! Is that what I think it is?!" Sniper exclaimed at the sight before him.

"Oh bon sang!"

"Oooohhhh man!"

Engineer grinned ear to ear as he grabbed hold of a bar of pure Australium, the damn thing so heavy it almost dislocated his shoulder. He traced his finger over the top of the glowing bar, feeling the engraved the iconic Australian boxing a Kangaroo emblem. "Yal guessed right fellas', this here is Australium".

It was at this time when the other RED Team members saw the golden light emanating from the trailer and came to investigate. When they reached the entrance, they witnessed their teammates' flabbergasted response at the golden bars each of them caressed. "Dear Mother of God…" Soldier was breathless, enchanted by the warm, bright glow, "a solid brick of honey!"

"No Soldier! Zis is Australium!" Medic squealed at the sight of it, while Soldier groaned, disheartened with the discovery.

Medic's face twisted into a sadistic smile as he snatched a bar from Scout's hands. "I've only seen a bar zis size once, when I extracted 250ml out of a Koala's anu-"

"Oh man…" Scout looked around "damn! These-these crates must be full of them"

This comment made everyone raise an eyebrow. There had to be at least twenty to forty crates in the trailer. Spy rubbed his chin in thought, "Still, to zink zat ze Administrator would allow you zis much" Spy looked to Engineer for an answer.

He was meet with a mischievous grin from the Engineer. "Our dear old Admin gave me permission to build a prototype teleporter using this here Australium".

"Really?! I- Wait!" Medic's smile was quickly turned into a scowl. "Why would she allow you to use Australium for your teleporter, when my request for Australium to produce super-whales keeps getting denied!?"

"mmh…Why is zat ze case?"

"Maybe Old Hag don't want whales" Heavy chimed in.

The entire team, minus Medic, found that the logic was sound and had a good chuckle at the thought of super whales. Engineer shook his head to clear the nonsense around him. "Now-now, let's not fight over who got what granted and denied, and let's just get this stuff inside and-" Engineer glanced outside towards the bloodied ground "-and clean up this mess".

1970, September 30, 9:49 am

Location: The Badlands, New Mexico

A week after the delivery, another morning bought the scorching sun to the Badlands, burning anything under its rays and raising temperatures above the fifties. Luckily for the REDs nestled within the canyons, the blazing light and heat from the sun was bearable thanks to the massive overhanging rocks that provided shade to the industrial structure.

Within the main complex, beyond the many storage rooms and crumbling hallways, was the REDs' communal kitchen. The kitchen reflected the RED team perfectly: messy, unorganised and overall chaotic, yet at the same time all of the mismatched appliances worked well together. The massive bile of dishes worked as a makeshift curtain, the broken cabinet doubled as a seat and all the unused pots and pans kept the fridge from falling over

Seated at the large industrial steel table were four of the nine REDs, all of them doing activities to pass the time.

Soldier's face showed a mix of concentration and pure joy as he used his crayons and glitter to work on his 'Animals Around the World' colouring book, He had already burned through several blue, red and white crayons in the process of covering a hedgehog in the American flag and he was doing everything in his power not to colour outside the lines.

Scout was on the other side of the table, blushing at the magazine in his hands. He was reading the Caster Quarterly's 'Witches of the Year' article, gawking at the women of magic photographed in very… risqué poses. 'Holy hoot!' Scout's eyes skimmed over an advertisement to the left of the page, 'there's a spell for breast enlargements!'.

His excitement aroused the attention of everyone else in the room, who all looked concerned and confused. Scout sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze. "Ahh, sorry fellas'. Um... interestin' read" Scout pointed to the cover of the magazine he had replaced, so as to deter the other men away from his precious reading material.

Scout went back to reading his lewd material, trying to ignore the looks he was receiving. The other REDs were all considering getting him to Medic, because if Scout was blushing and giggling like a girl to 'Prostate Exams for Dummies', then he needed help.

The only person not bothered by Scout's disturbing laughter was the chef at the helm of the stove; Demoman. With a spring in his step and a bottle of liquor in his hand, he cooked up a storm of assorted breakfast foods. Despite Demo's constant drunken state and limited coordination, Demo knew how to cook some fine meals. He was the only thing keeping half of the REDs from eating straight out of cans of bland, cold food.

Across the kitchen was Sniper, who was busy utilising the coffee machine, quietly brewing his morning caffeine hit. His dishevelled state and sluggish movement made it seem like he was possessed by one of Merasmus' spells. He wasn't in a thinking state yet, but he would be once he consumed the sweet nectar of straight-black caffeine.

A rumbling noise came from the machine as it spewed the thick black sludge that was coffee into his '#1 Sniper' mug. The steaming liquid slushed around unnaturally as Sniper brought his mug to his lips. He took a testing sip and, as if he used a medkit when he was on fire, his expression changed. Gone was the walking corpse and instead rose a happy camper, however something still seemed off. His usually grumpy demeanour changed to a look of frustration. His brow knitted in confusion as he looked around. He took another sip. Flexing his muscles and running his hands through his messy hair before donning his hat, Sniper grumbled his first sentence for the day, "Som' thing weird's gon' on".

"Yup! Somp'n is wrong" Demo slurred, swinging his bottle around while the eggs he was cooking cracked and popped, "We's runn' out of me favourite Moonshine!"

With surprising speed, Demoman produced 'Sunny-side up' eggs on two pieces of toast; each piece of toast burnt to resemble the national flag of the USA. Demo lifted the steaming plate of food and placed it on top of Soldier's colouring book. "YYYAAYY!" Soldier cheered, throwing his crayon away and attaching his bib.

"Soldier, after breakie, why don't we head out back and make us som' Moonshine?" Demo asked as he leaned towards Soldier.

"Of course maggot! I'll show you how to make true AMERICAN Moonshine. That Moonshine will gleam like the naked polished head of a bald eagle in the warm American skies" Soldier said as he wiped a tender tear from his eye.

"Aye! As long as I get some good brew in me. Now eat up" Demo patted soldier's back.

Sniper shook his head at their antics, "No lads, that's not it. Think about it for a sec'. When was the last time we went on a mission? Jumped into my trailer and rolled down the road or got shipped off to some other country?"

Silence filled the small kitchen, the only sound the burning stove and Soldier mumbling some numbers as he counted on his fingers. Tired of the silence from his team, Sniper was about to give the answer when Scout butted in. "Ahhh…. I think that was…five? No! Eight days…ago?" Scout shrugged at the end, unsure of his answer.

Sniper shook his head side-to-side, "Our last mission was two weeks ago! TWO! We never get ONE week off, let alone TWO!" Sniper said exasperated, peering down into the black sludge in his cup. Deep in thought he said "Something's happening".

Sniper fell silent, letting the others absorb what he said. He wasn't wrong, the others thought. They normally had missions daily, jumping from place-to-place, satisfying the Administrator and Redmond with their swift and exact action.

One of them however might have had a clue to lean on; Scout happened to eavesdrop on Miss Pauling during one of her conversations with the Men in Black with the TVs tapped to their chests. She and another woman were talking about something big coming up. Something about the future of , Australium and some operation called Merge? Was that it? Perhaps, however Scout lost interest halfway through the conversation and stopped listening after he heard discussions about robots being modelled after him and his team sounded pleasant to him. Just the thought of the world being graced by a beautiful, though inferior, version of himself made him giddy. How the ladies would bask their desire and want on his metallic doppelganger and dream about climbing into the arms of the real man.

Scout's dreams of grandeur were cut short by the garbled voice of Demo, "Could it be w'at Engie is doin'?" he asked.

Sniper took another sip of his coffee before pondering further. "Hhmmm. Might be" he thought out loud.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

The whine of the building's PA system brought the team to a standstill. Everyone, including Spy in his personal library and Medic subduing his latest test subject, paid attention to the small speakers located in the ceiling of each room.

'Attention yal'" Engineer's cheerful voice flooded the entire facility.

"My little experiment is almost ready for a demonstration and I won't mind if yal' wanna come down to the garage and have a front row seat to history in the makin'".

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Silence fell over the kitchen. It was so quiet that Sniper swore he heard the screams of the prisoners from the basement again. "So-" Scout sliced through the silence "Anyone gonna go?".

"No" everyone collectively answered before resuming the tasks they were doing before Engineer had interrupted them.

Ten minutes went by before a familiar whine returned.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

"Com' on fellas! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity over here! Not only will this revolutionise teleportation, makin' it faster and easier to build a teleporter, but this might even pave the way to something beautiful. Space travel! Time travel! Interdimensional travel! Fellas, the possibilities are endless".

The Mercs could hear Engineer salivating at the other end of the line.

"…So, who's gonna be takin' this next step with me?".

…

…

…

Again, no one moved nor said a thing. Everyone continued with their own activities, until several seconds of silence later, the PA crackled to life again with Engineer's sombre tone.

"If this thing works, we'll be able to kill people faster".

At the words 'killing people', Soldier flew into a fit of rage and excitement, jumping out of his chair and tipping the table over. "AAARRRGGHH! Let's go maggots! We got some Commie bastards to kill!" Soldier screamed as he charged through the door with blinding speed, as if he drank Scout's collection of Bonk!

The remaining Mercs stood speechless at the scene, all while letting Engineer's words sink in. "Heh, I'm in" Scout nonchalantly shrugged as he wondered out of the kitchen towards the garage.

Sniper quickly downed the remnants of his coffee. "'Mmm, sure. Why not?".

With that, Sniper and Demoman exited the kitchen and entered the maze of hallways in order to attend Engineer's experiment

1970, September 30, 10:00 am

Location: The Badlands, New Mexico

Of the many rooms and hallways that comprised the bulk of the RED complex, the garage was the largest and most structurally unstable of them all. With dimensions of 30mx25m, it wouldn't be a stretch to call it a warehouse rather than a garage. Row upon row of rusted steel support beams were the only things holding the massive chamber together. Between each row of supports were parking spaces for trucks to unload their cargo, some spaces contained cranes, lifts or dugouts, allowing engineers and mechanics to tune-up or fix any vehicle. Only three of these spaces were occupied; one housed Sniper's camper; an old camper van with the hideous colour palette of dusty brown and sickly green, the second contained the teams communal ride; a white van with a state of the art vault, but no doors or bonnet, and their civilian logo on the side: Red Bread.

Lastly, at the far end of the garage was their newest addition; the FED-UP truck, currently being painted by Pyro who had decided to colour the truck and its trailer in every colour imaginable.

"What ze hell did I tell you Pyro?! Paint ze damn truck RED!" the frustrated French man yelled at the Pyromaniac, who in return flicked his paint brush at the man.

Spy, accustomed to dodging lethal projectiles throughout his career, jumped back just in time to avoid the splatter of paint hitting his suit. He glared at Pyro, and Pyro returned his gaze with soulless eyes. This stalemate went on for several minutes, creating an atmosphere of deepening anger and rage. The air between them was thick enough to be cut. Eventually the stalemate ended with a giggle from Pyro. The two went about their ways, Pyro continuing to paint the truck while Spy turned to face the four new arrivals, Soldier, Demo Man, Scout and Sniper, with a scowl.

"Well, everyone is here" the scowl on his face was replaced with a forced smile. "Welcome to ze demonstration of a lifetime" Spy declared with open arms in a deadpan tone. "Ze Australium Teleporter, created by Dell- a-de-a-d-a-, somezing-somezing-somezing- will be available for your viewing pleasure in just a few moments".

"Oi', good' morn' to ya' too snake" Demo snickered at the Frenchman, much to his annoyance. "Backstabber, crossdresser and now spokes-person!", sarcasm dripping heavily from Demo, "So, what'cha gonna sell me next? Ya' bloody cheap wine? French baglets? Miniature Eiffel Towers? Hemmoroid cream?". That was all Demo was able to say before Spy put his knife, Black Rose, to the arrogant yank's throat.

"Now for a limited time offer, free of charge - one knife to ze throat!".

Before the two of them killed each other, Scout leaped between them, "Whoa-whoa! OK, that's enough!". Scout's plead stopped Spy from digging his knife further into Demo's neck and Demo from drawing the Eyelander from its scarab. "Com'on guys! I know we haven't stabbed or beheaded anyone in over two weeks, but can we please not stab or behead each other now?!".

The silence between the

It was a long time, but finally the two broke their stalemate. Their weapons were holstered and apologies were swapped. "Aye, Sorry mate" Demo spoke.

"Apologies" Spy said

Scout let out a sigh of relief. It was at this time that Sniper decided to come from the shadows and state his presence. "Gotta say mate, hadn't seen you this grumpy since the BLU Sniper covered you in a jar of Jarate then the BLU Pyro set you on fire".

Spy gave a grumble as he lit a cigarette. "Hmm', if you what to know, Engineer made me do zis shit".

"Really? How much did Engie pay you to do that?" Sniper asked.

Spy looked down in shame "He threatened my entire wine collection".

"Blackmail aye?" Sniper hummed.

Spy let out an amusing hum, "A man after my own heart".

Behind them, Scout shuffled in silence, trying his best not to breathe in too much air. Scout always hated it in the garage; the stench of oil, gas and stale air permeated the air and stung his nose every time he inhaled.

Further away from the group Soldier was frantically searching around. "'Gar' Dammit! Where in the blue and white stripes is that damned teleporter! I've got BLUs and Commies to kill!" Soldier screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Soldier", Soldier shot his blood-shot eyes towards Spy "-if you would please wait for a few minutes-".

Zztz

The walkie-talkie within Spy's jacket crackled to life with the voice of Engineer. "Spy, I'm ready to present the teleporter! Bring the guests over"

Zztz

Spy just stared at his chest with a scowl before turning back to Soldier. "- or where can head over zere now" Spy then gestured towards the FED-UP truck and started walking towards it.

The rest of the Mercs followed suit. A few steps later, Demo asked a question of the backstabber, "Why t' hell does he want all this for?".

Spy took another drag of his cigarette before answering, "Zis fanfare? He wants to feel like he's presenting to a real board-of-directors, engineer or scientist community? or a crowd of onlookers- somezing like zat" he took another lazy drag, "Might as well entertain him. For the sake of my wine".

As they walked towards the trailer, Heavy decided to make his appearance, stepping out of the trailer holding a crate of, what is assumed to be, Australium. "Yoh! Big Guy! I see Engie's got you workin'" Scout greeted Heavy.

Heavy grunted in return. "Working is understatement. Slavery is more like. Heavy, here for week, Engineer order: 'Move dis here', 'move dat here', 'set-up here'-" Heavy tried to imitate Engineer with a poor Texas accent, "- stupid Engineer keep telling Heavy to move crates! Orders Heavy not to leave! Stupid Baby does not know that Heavy needs plenty of rest, time with Sasha and Sandvich! But no, he says dis is important! Future for humanity! Now I am stuck here! All because of stupid Teleporter!"

"Well tons-of-fun…" Scout gave a goodhearted knock to Heavy's gut, almost ending his life then and there considering he was in arms reach of the angry giant, "…today's the lucky day. Engie looks like he's finished with his teleporter".

"Speaking of the teleporter, where is it?!" Soldier demanded from Heavy, involuntarily saving Scout's life.

"I believe it is furzer down, just on ze ozer side of ze truck" said Medic, who appeared out of nowhere and headed to the other side of the truck, his torso and hands covered in blood.

No one questioned how Medic managed to sneak up on them, especially Spy and Sniper, the two most perceptive people in the RED Team, Instead the RED Team shrugged it off and followed the bloody Medic and with all eight members present, the Mercenaries stood in front of Engineer's latest invention, one that caused them to gasp at the display.

Occupying four truck ports and standing over a litany of electric cables entwining each other to look like a bile of rope, was a large golden teleporter. It was a mirror image of Engineer's common teleporter; the only difference being its size and the golden framework. The more investigative members of the REDs followed the cables connected to the teleporter, tracing them back to two locations. One group was connected to the building's main generator; a bunch of gas generators biled onto each other and jerry-rigged to a silo filled with gasoline. The other group of cables tracked over to a makeshift computer setup, equipped with several monitors and a portable server. Standing behind one of the monitors was the hard-hat himself.

"Welcome!" Engineer greeted the men with open arms, "I would ask you boys to take a seat-" his happy demeaner vanished as he glared at Spy "- but my assistant forgot to set up the chairs for yall". Ignoring the 'fuck you' Spy gave back, Engineer's smile came back just as fast as it had left seconds ago, "Now don't let that denture you boys, just…stand there and enjoy the show".

"This better be worth it Engie! If not I'll personally remove that hat on your head and shove it up your-"…

"It'll be worth it Soldier boy!" Engineer replied, quickly working to start the teleporter.

The last thing Engineer wanted was an angry American, with serval restriction notices from various mental institutions all around the United States, attacking him.

As the entire team got as comfortable as they could, with some taking a seat on the ground and others leaning against something, Engineer started the system. Engineer typed on the console like a mad man, his fingers nothing but a blur as he typed command prompts. For the rest of the RED members, who were worried about missing important details about the start-up sequence, Engineer talked through his steps. "Startin' the rotors".

With a quick prompt and a loud groan from the giant teleporter, the machine came to life. Slowly, the rotors started to spin, the spinning action gradually gaining speed. It wasn't long before the familiar hum of Engineer's teleporter echoed in the room. It was going at such incredible speeds that, to the REDs, reduced the sight of the rotors to fuzziness. "Teleporter at 80 percent and holding" Engineer stated, right before he moved to power the teleporter, "power to stage 1 emitters in three, two, one"

With a confirmed press on the keyboard, Austrailum was pumped into the teleporter's 'veins'. The whine of the teleporter increased ten-fold and the sound was climbing. Engineer looked back at the computer screen. "Seeing predictable phase arrays" Engineer hummed, happy to see everything going as planned.

He started the next sequence. "Stage 2 emitters activating...now.".

Crackling electricity was heard from the teleporter, followed by a deeper hum and a high whine of the machine. It was at this point that everyone started to panic a little, what with the stand of the teleporter rocking side to side violently, the noise coming from it reaching deafening levels, the wind it was generating and what looked like duct tape flying off of it. The only one heedless of this was Engineer. "Capacitors to one-oh-five percent. Uh, it's probably not a problem, probably, but it's showin' a small discrepancy in...God, I'm hopin' it ain't gonna blow…" Engineer looked back and met the scared faces of the REDs, who had been listening to Engineer's monologue and were now regretting it. "…well, no, it's well within acceptable bounds again. Nothin' to worry about! No exploding! Sustaining sequence!" Engineer quickly recovered and continued to monitor the teleporter.

Engineer took to the computer keyboard again and the sequence came to the final stage. "Stage three in three, two…" Engineer looked at the violent light that came from his wonderful invention; dread racked his being but his mind was full of hope. Hope that this teleporter would bring a new age of technology, the evolution of everything. This was it! The anticipation was over, it's now or nothing. "…one!".

Beeb!

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

BBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Everyone shielded their eyes from the blinding light of crimson red and gold, the familiar sounding hum of Engineer's regular teleporter echoing around the garage. Once the blinding light dimmed, everyone bore witness to the most amazing thing they had ever witnessed.

Above the large golden teleporter was a giant orb of pure light. Not an intense blinding light, but a soft dim glow, like the light coming from a cosy camp-fire. The light was a mix of red, gold and white, with each colour swirling around the other in harmony. The orb of light gave a low relaxing hum, almost like the smooth base from a guitar; everyone felt the teleporter sing to them. "Dear Mother of God" Soldier voiced everyone's reaction to the glowing teleporter, mesmerising them all.

Several minutes passed as the Mercs were hypnotised by the teleporter's beautiful light. Only two people dared move and disrupted the show; Engineer and Spy. Engineer moved to take his hardhat off and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He had done it, his prototype worked. The world was ready for the Conagher's to strike yet again with a brilliant new invention.

Spy moved to stand before the Mercs, slowly clapping as he did so. With a final, loud clap, he caught the attention of everyone. "Gentlemen-" Spy gestured towards Engineer, "Dell Conagher! And his marvelous invention, named after his late mother, The Mable: a pure Australium Teleporter!".

With this conclusion, the whole RED Team stood and clapped and cheered Engineer. Everyone congratulating Engineer in their own way, from Demoman swinging his bottle around chanting his name in praise, to Soldier firing a few rounds of his shotgun into the roof. Engineer's smiled beamed with as much brightness as his teleporter's glow. "Fellas'-Fellas'! Thank you! Thank you! I couldn't have done it with-"

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Engineer's speech ended abruptly when the console started to sound an alarm. His smile disappeared in an instant as he rushed to the screen. The console's screen flashed with an urgent message. Engineer tapped it, bringing up lines and lines of code. Engineer skimmed through a few lines. A lot of them were fluff, just the computer recording energy spikes and other sorts of readings that were wasting Engineer's precious time. No, those were ones that Engineer didn't bother with; however there was one line that got Engineer's attention…

Alert! Anti-Mass Spectrometer overheating. Resonance level of Element Australium reaching critical levels

Failure to shut down would result in the Particle Shield collapsing and the Anti-Mass Spectrometer collapsing on itself. This can result in a Resonance Cascade.

Engineer gave a sigh, depressed that the experiment ended so early, yet again it was just the first trial. Still, all that Australium down the drain for a measly five-minute presentation. "Sorry boys, gota' shut it down".

Several groans came from behind him, "We do not get to jump in big teleport?" Heavy question was doused in disappointment.

"Sorry Heavy, but no. This Teleporter is kinda' unstable and in the prototype phase. Plus, I ain't got an exit port set" Engineer explained as he pressed the shut-down button.

A beep was heard from the console, right before it emitted a loud snap. Everyone's attention was drawn to the white sphere slowly becoming visible. Its milky body encasing the golden red light in the centre of the teleporter, said the golden red light flaring and sparking as it was encased. Low hums were heard and vibrations were felt as the white sphere, the shielding, was bubbling and braking apart. "Oh hell" Engineer cursed just as the shield vaporised into nothing.

There was a sudden shift in the air, something pulled the Mercs towards the teleporter, dragging them with little resistance at first. A few of them lost almost lost their balance as Engineer was forced to the console by the phantom forces. Looking towards his experimental Teleporter, he could see the violent sphere of red and gold pulsating and flaring, its pulling forces increasing with each pulse.

Waves of panic flooded the Mercs "Engineer! What's happening!?" Medic's panicked voice shrieked over the loud whine of the Australium Teleporter.

Engineer held onto the console for dear life, the force of the Teleporter's portal dragging everything in the room into it. Iron barrels of nuclear waste, empty shipping crates and even the steel beams that supported the roof were bent and pulled as the force of the Teleporter grew. "ENGINEER! STOP THIS NOW!" The Heavy-Weapons Guy roared as the large man dug his fingers into the side of the truck.

The other REDs were holding on to anything heavy or bolted on the floor. Sniper and Medic ran into the cockpit of the truck, slamming the doors shut and locking them for safe measure. Scout grabbed hold of the nearby railing, interlocking both his arms around it. Pyro dove behind Heavy in the trailer, while Demo, Soldier and Spy leaned upon one of the steel pillars situated around the garage. Engineer was forced against the screen on the console as another wave of power pulled again, the screen cracking with the pressure of Engineer against it. The screen flashed error and warning messages. "Shit! Abort! Abort!", Engineer rushed to type 'disconnect power' on the console to shut down the Teleporter.

A deafening whine sounded after he entered the command, as the large wires connecting the Teleporter to the facility's main generator stopped their glow. The cracked screen signalled a successful disconnect and Engineer looked up at the giant orb of gold and red, hoping the gravity-well would subside or at least the blinding light would disappear; but nothing happened.

It didn't work, the Teleporter was still dragging them towards it.

He looked down and tried to retype 'disconnect power', but a prompt appeared on the screen, stating that it was already disconnected from the power source. Panicking, Engineer drew his pistol out of his holster and fired a full clip into the generator that was powering the Teleporter. Arcs of electricity exploded from the bullet holes made in the generator. The power was cut, yet the Teleporter was still going. Engineer watched in horror as the energy was dragged into the vortex, creating more power that seemed to be feeding the Teleporter. Engineer groaned in pain as he felt the force of the Teleporter increase tenfold.

He struggled as he continued to punch in more commands and tap on icons. The computer gave him the current diagnostics of the Teleporter. Not only was the Teleporter still active despite being disconnected, the amount of power running through it was increasing. It seemed the Austalium was regulating the electric charge from the generator, , letting the energy bounce around at a molecule level and allowing the electricity to take its own electrons while recovering them by using the static that generated from the electricity running through it. It was doing this so it never lost its power. It was self-regulating, creating and increasing its own power.

Engineer looked at the glowing light of gold hovering above the Teleport structure. Shutting it down from the computer didn't work nor did disconnecting the power from it. It was time for a little old-fashioned practicality. He drew the shotgun from under his desk and started to fire at the Teleporter's main structure. Hopefully without its body, the Teleporter's vortex would run out of energy and disintegrate. The console he was pressed against flared with warnings displaying the damage Engineer was doing. "FELLAS! SHOOT THE DAMN THING!" Engineer yelled over the droning Teleporter.

The Mercs who heard Engineer and were able to reach their weapons, drew them and opened fire. Heavy had the Panic Attack at hand and blasted the rotating structure with pellets. Sniper struggled to aim as he fired his sniper. Pyro tried his best when shooting his flares at the Teleporter. Pyro saw that his projectiles were veering way off course, instead disappearing through the golden vortex. Regardless of the Mercs' best efforts, the gravity of the Teleporter continued to grow, to the point where the Mercs who were standing began to get dragged towards the vortex with inexplicable force. The Mercs dropped their weapons in favour of holding whatever was going to keep them grounded.

Heavy let out a growl as he dug his fingers deep into the truck's trailer, the metal bending in the form of his hands. Sniper and Medic quickly pulled the seat-belt over themselves as the windows in the truck's cockpit blew open; taking everything that wasn't secured. Scout, still holding onto a nearby railing, let out a panicked scream when he felt his legs being pulled from under him. Using all of his upper-body strength, Scout tried his best to not get sucked into the portal and end up God only knows where. Spy, Demo and Soldier, leaving their pillar, ran towards the exit, hoping that a door and a few metres of concrete and hardened mold would save them from the vortex. Pyro ran past Heavy and into the trailer itself, however, it didn't get any further as the crates stored in the trailer flew about with the force and pinned him to the side of the trailer wall.

Some of the crates broke open and the contents on the floor of the trailer; more Australium. The Australium rolled across the length of the trailer's interior before flying out the back, past Heavy and into the golden red vortex. "Oh my God" Engineer paled as the orb absorbed the added Australium and grew larger, swallowing more of the garage and even the Teleporter's structure itself.

Engineer and the rest of the Mercs holding onto something gave a pained cry as the gravity-well of the Teleporter crushed them painfully against whatever they were holding. Demoman, who was just millimetres away from grabbing the door knob to the garage, felt an incredible yank on his britches. "Demo! Help!" Soldier screamed as both he and Spy were hanging onto his pants, their legs flailing in the air in the direction of the vortex.

Before Demo could pry their hands off of his only pair of pants, another wave of power was emitted, knocking Demo clean off his feet. All three men let out a cry of horror as they were drawn across the room towards the vortex before slamming painfully against the side of the truck.

With the force of the impact and the added weight of the three men, the chocks that were under the truck's wheels gave way and were sucked into the void. Now free from its restraints, the truck lurched sideways and started to move. The tyres of the truck screeched in protest as the vehicle slid sideways, the truck was slowly being dragged with immense force towards the vortex. All of the Mercs panicked. "CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!" Scout, who was still holding onto the railing, squealed as the truck's massive trailer slid straight towards him.

"SCOUT!" Heavy's booming voice called out to the young man, the large man hanging out of the back of the trailer.

Heavy pried his hand out of the depressed metal and extended it to collect Scout as the truck slid forward. "GRAB ON!" he ordered, stretching his hand out as far as he could.

Scout quickly weighed his options: he could either leap from his current place to reach for Heavy and run the risk of being sucked into the golden vortex behind him, or he could let the squealing truck crush him. Fight or Flight kicked in and the young Boston boy, used all the power in his legs to leap off of the railing as the trailer's tyres smashed through it. Luckily for him, he landed near Heavy, who's iron-clad hand snatched Scout's entire arm. Scout's body was in the air as the suction of the vortex pulled everything in the room towards it. "DON'T LET GO! DON'T LET GO!" Scout screamed and begged of Heavy.

"DO NOT WORRY LITTLE BABY! HEAVY WON'T".

Meanwhile on the other side of the truck's trailer, Spy, Demo and Soldier were stuck, their bodies painfully plastered on the metal. Soldier, who had been grinning the entire time, commented on their current predicament, raising his voice considerably to overcome the sound of the Teleporter and the items being pulled into the vortex, "YOU KNOW BOYS, THIS REMINDS ME OF THE TIME-"

"MERDE VOUS SOLDAT! MERDE INGENIEUR! MERDE VOUS TOUS A LENFER ET DE RETOUR!" Spy screamed in his native tongue as the wind howled louder and louder as the force of the Teleporter grew.

"Sh'top speakn' 'n tongues S'py! I hadn't had me Scrumpy yet!" Demo tried in vain to bring the bottle of booze to his mouth, only for the bottle to slip from his grasp and get sucked into the golden void.

Pyro screamed inside the trailer, trying its best to warn Heavy and Engineer about the massive amounts of Australium that was pouring out of the trailer.

Indeed, more and more Australium was flooding out of the truck and into the vortex. The gravity-well was too great for the building to handle and the steel beams that held the place together began to snap and bend; chunks of roof and wall crumbling and heading into the vortex. The whole building was falling around Engineer and there was an eighty-tonne truck on its way to smash through the command console he was currently holding on to. "NONONONONO!" Engineer screamed as the truck screeched further towards him and the Mercs' only way to shut down the Teleporter.

Engineer did not want to die by the oncoming truck, yet he did want to go through an unstable prototype Teleporter, running on an experimental element and without an Exit Teleporter. If he and his team went through that, there was no guarantee that they would come out of it alive - if they came out of it at all.

With the odds stacked against him, Engineer came to the decision that he hoped would ultimately save his, and his teams life.

Engineer took the greatest gamble of his life and leaped from the console. Kicking off of the desk, he launched himself backwards towards the truck. Engineer hit the side of the truck with painful force while the console below him was smashed to pieces as the truck barrelled through. He rolled upwards along the trailer's side before grabbing hold of the trailer's edge.

Despite his efforts to shut down and even destroy the Teleporter, Engineer came to the realisation that he was going to be dragged into the Australium Teleporter. Making eye contact with his team, they gave a collective cry of fear as they were drawn into the Teleporter. Engineer knew it was a fifty-fifty chance that they may or may not die a quick death or be placed in purgatory for all eternity.

As they were sucked into the vortex, each of them were blinded by the intense light and felt as though their insides were being mauled by an incredibly ferocious beast. One by one, the Mercs lost consciousness and with a flash of golden light, both the RED Team and the Teleporter with its vortex were gone. All that was left of their existence was the crumbled remains of their base.