With Echelon Four member Isabella — the Brazilian Spider — now humiliated and killed by Victor, Squad Bastards continue their mission in the fortress.
***
In Leon's building, a male soldier walks into a storage closet.
"Where's the damn intruder? I know I saw him go this way!"
The soldier looks around at the cleaning supplies, plastic coolers, and a mess of other items.
"Fuck! Should've known nobody would be dumb enough to hide in a damn storage closet," he yells, slamming the door shut.
Suddenly, the lid of a big cooler pops open and Leon slowly rises out, exhaling in disgust.
"Eww… that cooler smelled like fish!" Leon spits multiple times as he rolls out.
But as he knocks over a basket of mops and brooms—CLATTER!—he immediately slaps a hand over his mouth and dives back inside the cooler, shivering.
After a full minute of silence…
"Oh. I guess he's already gone," Leon whispers, standing up.
Suddenly, bullets rip through the door.
"AHHH!" Leon screams in pure terror.
About thirty rounds blast through the door—but somehow, none of them hit. Leon glances to his right.
"Oh, I'm not even in front of the door," he realizes. I think I peed my pants a little…
"Aye, intruder! You dead in there?" a soldier yells from the other side.
Leon's brain spirals.
Oh man, he did hear me! Did he unload the entire mag? Wait, why is he asking if I'm dead? Does he expect me to answer if I'm alive? Wait—what would I even say if I were dead?! Wait—stop thinking about that, what the hell do I do?!
As he panics, a memory flashes:
"You can even do the one-two with one hand, or even with a kick! It's a basic attack that even a weak-ass scrawny kid like you can do." – Axel
Right! Remember my training! Leon grits his teeth. I put so many days into this one move… It's time to put it to use. Like Axel said—even I can do it!
The soldier from earlier suddenly kicks the half-destroyed door open, assault rifle in hand.
Leon leaps forward. "This is my chance!"
The soldier blinks. "What the hell?"
Leon gets in front of him, fists raised awkwardly.
"Take this! One-two!" he yells.
He swings a right hook… then a left.
The guard doesn't flinch.
"…Bitch?" the soldier says, deeply offended.
Leon looks up and sees the guard glaring. He immediately drops to his knees, tears welling up.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to punch you! Please don't shoot!"
"This is one of the intruders? We hired way too much security," the soldier mutters. He lifts the back of his rifle and slams it down on Leon's head.
"AHH! FUCK! Axel, you damn liar! It didn't fucking work!" Leon cries out, gripping his scalp.
"Ugh, your voice is so annoying. How about this—come in peacefully, and I won't kill you."
Leon winces, shutting one eye in pain.
You know what? I do have a move that works no matter what…
He quickly stands up and pulls back his left leg.
"Hey! What are you doing?! I'm giving you a chance to live, dumbass!" the soldier yells, reaching for his weapon.
Too late.
"NUT CRUSHER!" Leon shouts, delivering a full-force kick to the crotch.
"ARRKKK!" the soldier squeals, collapsing to his knees.
"Out!" Leon yells, sprinting out of the closet and down the hall.
"Get the intruder! Damn it, he kicked me in my fucking jugulars!" the soldier screams behind him, still crawling on the floor.
***
While Leon causes chaos in his own way, across the fortress on the second floor of the next building, Axel stands face-to-face with Echelon Four member Talon.
Talon plants his riot shield firmly in front of him, taking a strong stance.
"Lay down your weapons, intruder! You don't want a fight with me. Let's both leave here with no regrets," Talon demands.
Axel tilts his head, unimpressed.
"So… dude, you got like a pistol hidden somewhere? Or a shank?"
"No! This shield is my weapon! I'm Talon the Armadillo, hailing from America! I have an unmovable defense! Put some respect on my name!"
Axel covers his mouth, struggling not to laugh.
"HAHAHAHA! Who the fuck do you think you are? Motherfucking Captain America? Man, if you don't get your I-don't-know-if-I-wanna-be-military-or-in-a-punk-band headass on! Bitch, no way you're from America—where the fuck is your Glock?!"
Axel wheezes with laughter while Talon grits his teeth.
"Hey, could you quit laughing?! You're not that funny. Are you going to surrender or not?"
"Haha! Hell no I'm not surrendering! Wanna-be Reinhardt face ass!"
Talon's patience snaps.
"Fine then. You've made your decision!"
He rushes forward at full speed, shield raised.
"Oh no! He's gonna ram me with that fat-ass shield!" Axel mocks.
He quickly pulls out two grenades, his thumbs on the pins.
"Let's get this eruption started! You better help me locate the boom, asshole, because the ticking's already begun!"
Axel tosses both grenades—boom! They explode on Talon's shield but barely slow him down.
"I told you—I'm Talon the Armadillo! Grenades mean nothing to me!"
Talon slams Axel with the shield, knocking him back.
"Damn… I guess grenades won't work," Axel mutters, rolling back to his feet.
He draws his submachine guns and unloads both mags.
"You roasted my weapon choice, but you don't even realize how dumb you look!" Talon shouts, blocking every bullet with his shield.
"Nothing gets through my enhanced ballistic shield—not even bullets!"
Talon rushes forward again, throwing a left jab that Axel blocks—but then smacks him with the shield from the side.
Axel stumbles but catches his footing.
"Alright! We get it—you got a shield!" he snaps.
He tosses his SMGs aside and grabs the rocket launchers off his back.
"Eat rockets, bitch!"
BOOM BOOM! Two rockets slam into Talon's shield. Again—no effect.
"Tch. That was the biggest boom I had… I wish Magnus would just let me carry nukes already. But fuck it."
Axel puts the launchers away and cracks his knuckles.
Alright… he loves that shield so damn much… I'll tear it from his arms and find a boom big enough to send him rocketing to hell.