Crystalline Universe: Team Fortress 2/ Overwatch

Azur looked through the holes in the vent to see one of the Valentine brothers passing by her face. There was an atmosphere of calm but not the usual relaxing calm, more like the calm that unnerves most people. There was a sensation of danger and worry in the air. Azur observed as one per one, the brothers left for their respective chambers until there is only one of them left.

As the last brother got up, Azur's breathing hastens as this is her chance to come out and confront him. Carl-E gently gave her a tap on the shoulder and assured her that all the other brothers are already far away from them.

[Carl-E] - "Don't worry. I'll try my best to help you if things go south. "

[Azur] - "It's not that I worry about... Everyone's lives are in my hands and if I mess up... "

[Carl-E] - "Hey, you are thinking too much. I put all my hopes on you for a reason, because I know you can do it! "

As Paxton walked, Azur silently sneaked up behind him before suddenly grabbed him by the neck. Two of her sapphires quickly formed a circle around his neck and before he knows it, he was her prisoner.

[Azur] - "Listen here, Albert, one wrong move and your head is leaving your neck. "

[Albert] - "Oh, my dear Azur, did you miss me? Did you come back to visit me? "

[Azur] - "I want the truth, asshole, and only the truth or I'll slit your throat! "

[Albert] - "I'll answer faithfully to your questions, don't worry about me lying. "

[Carl-E] (in his mind) - ("He isn't afraid at all... this isn't good, he must have a plan. ")

[Azur] - "Did you seduce me only for me to lead you to my teammates? "

[Albert] - "It's subjective, my dear Azur, just like art. You can see it as that I did what I had to do or that everything is a simple misunderstanding. "

[Azur] - "I want straight answers, I don't want your shitty sideway philosophy. "

[Albert] - "The truth is... It's only business, Azur, I loved you. I never wanted this to happen but there are things that I can't control. "

[Azur] - "But... I thought we were meant for each other... I thought you are willing to make this work between us. "

[Albert] - "Listen, Azur, come back to me and I'll find a way. I made a mistake and I promise that this time, I'll make the right decisions. Please forgive me. "

[Azur] - "I want to... but I can't let you kill my teammates. "

[Albert] - "I'll find a way for them too, I promise. No one will die here, you have my words for it. "

[Azur] - "Then prove it to me, prove to me that I was the one that's wrong. "

[Albert] - "I will but before that, I wanna know how did you find out about my real name? "

[Azur] - "Why? Is strange that I know your real name? "

Both of them stared at each other with suspicious eyes while unbeknownst to Azur, Albert's crystals hidden in his palms activated.

[Azur] - "Hey, Albert, what about another date? "

[Albert] - "I know just the place... "

All of a sudden, Albert intentionally collided his neck with Azur's sapphires around him but instead of a gruesome decapitation, the energy is instead redirected through his body toward Azur.

[Albert] - "The food there will make you lose your mind. "

But to Albert's surprise, his attack did no damage to Azur. The energy glowed under her feet but refused to climb up her body or deal any damage.

[Azur] (with eyes of anger) - "Let's be honest, you are not a real artist, all your talent comes from a plug-in inside your robotic arm. The only thing you ever did around me is painting a pretty face to your pathetic self. "

Albert, confused about how Azur was able to keep his attack contained, backed a few steps in precaution. But Azur stood still. Her eyes were filled with tears that dripped onto the floor like tiny raindrops.

[Azur] - "This is how is it huh? I thought what I was told were lies, I wanted to believe you, I wanted to believe that there is someone that cared about me in this world but in the end, there is only the ugly truth about us, the miserable of society. "

[Albert] - "How did you manage to block my attack? "

[Azur] - "Tell me, you don't give a single f.u.c.k about me, don't you? I'm just a tool for you to murder the people around me? "

[Albert] - "Azur... this is business, it's nothing personal. "

[Azur] - "Quit your stupid cliché. Nothing personal, you just made it more personal than ever. You betrayed my heart and my feelings... I should've known... "

Albert reached his hand toward Azur but before he could reach her, one of the sapphires returned and hit him on the arm. The energy was rapidly driven from his arm toward the floor and before Azur knows it, the ground, after absorbing the shock, exploded under her feet.

Her crystals quickly shielded her from the impact and landed her safely back onto steady grounds.

[Albert] - "Look, Azur, cruelty is part of the world and if you can't accept certain things as they are, you can't survive for long. You sure are an exquisite girl and the moments we spend together were undeniably delightful, but I must come to terms with my duty as executioner. It's a survival game and empathy is what will make you lose. "

Azur was suddenly startled by the screams of agony coming behind her and after turning her head, she saw Carl being held prisoner on the floor by another one of the Valentines.

[Albert] - "It was clever of you to doubt me. You used your crystals to stay afloat from the ground so the energy conducted by my ability won't reach you. But now, it's time to test you... about your survival skills. "

[Azur] - "Carl! "

[Albert] - "You can choose empathy by surrendering yourself and we'll let him live or you can preserve your life by letting him die. "

[Carl] - "Hey, Azur, don't mind me. Kill that mother f.u.c.ker, I'll be fine. "

[Albert] - "You gotta be quick, Azur. Save a man you barely know using your life or make the smart choice and live to fight another day. "

Right away, Walter started to fuse pieces of razor blades into Carl's skin. The screams of agony deranged Azur's nerves to the point of breaking. Azur didn't know what to do, she knew full well that she is unable to defeat the Valentine brothers by herself alone.

But despite the conundrum in front of her, the voice of reason is still calling for her to act.

Without losing another second, Azur laid down her sapphires on the ground and raised her hands in the air. With a sign of hand, Albert called for Walter to stop the torture.

[Albert] - "Foolish girl! "

Albert immediately knocked Azur out onto the floor with a swift kick to her head.

[Carl-E] - "Noooo! What have you done? I told you to not mind me! "

[Walter] - "Ay, shut the f.u.c.k up, mother f.u.c.ker. "

As Carl panicked, he suddenly noticed Azur's eyes opening and closing. With a few discreet hand signs, Azur told Carl to find a way to distract Albert and Walter.

[Albert] - "Come on, Walter, let's get her lock up before anything happens. "

[Carl-E] - "Look me in the eyes, asshole! "

As Albert's and Walter's attention turned to Carl, Azur slowly stood up, fire burning in her eyes. Albert angrily gave a kick into Carl's abdomen and grabbed him by his cheeks.

[Albert] - "Do I even know you? "

Walter abruptly grabbed Carl by the neck and smashed his face against the floor.

[Walter] - "Why don't you have a passionate kiss with the concrete... forever? "

[Azur] (in whispers) - "Sapphire element... "

Before anyone of them could react, the wall surrounding them violently exploded into rubbles of varying sizes toward Walter and Albert. Dust soon filled the air surrounding them and in the chaos, Azur grabbed Carl by the arm and rushed out of the building.

Once outside, Azur and Carl tried to make their getaway but were suddenly stopped by the other 2 of the Valentine brothers. It was obvious that they'll be going nowhere without a fight as behind them, the 2 others climbed out of the rubbles.

[Azur] - "Shit, we are cornered! "

[Carl-E] - "You can defeat them all, right? I heard you are pretty damn strong. "

[Azur] - "From what you told me, only 2 of them are vulnerable to my attacks, right? "

[Carl-E] - "Yeah, we gotta figure out who amongst them are the weakest ones and even if we manage to kill them both, we'll have 2 other left to deal with. "

[Azur] - "Leave it to me, I have an idea I'd like to try. "

[Albert] - "Surrender now, Azur, you are surrounded! "

[Azur] - "Not before I reshape your ugly face, Albert, I won't consider mercy as an option before I f.u.c.k.i.n.g rip your lying a.s.s a second asshole! "

As the crystals on Azur's forearms glowed, four of her sapphires appeared one behind each of the Valentines. As one of the sapphires approached Walter, Albert had to physically block the attack for him as Walter's ability has no defensive properties. On the other side, Rudolf quickly jumped in front of Ritter and deflected Azur's gems with a few swift punches.

[Carl-E] - "It's these two, they are the defenceless ones in their team. "

The two remaining sapphires in Azur's arsenal immediately made the second attack run before the brothers could properly defend themselves. On Ritter's side, he was saved when, thanks to Rudolf's fast ability speed, Rudolf's punch barely managed to deviate the gem's trajectory to hit his ear instead of his head.

On the other hand, on Walter's side, due to the slow speed of Albert's ability, the sapphire hit him right in the head. The impact knocked him to the ground but surprisingly, Azur soon realized that Walter was unharmed.

[Walter] - "Ughhh... Dirty Deed... "

Walter leaped from the ground into the air and with a single punch, smashed Azur's sapphire into pieces.

[Walter] - "Done Dirt Cheap! "

Shocked, Azur and Carl backed off from Walter who stood in front of them.

[Carl-E] - "Is this bad? "

[Azur] - "I don't know what the hell happened but the fact that he can break my sapphire mean that we are no match against him. "

"Where did this surge in power comes from? How was he able to because so strong all of a sudden? There must be an explanation! " Thought Azur as she stared at Walter.

[Carl-E] - "Tell me you still have one last trick up your sleeve. "

[Azur] - "Yes I do but you won't like it. It announces a very high chance of raining... explosions. "

[Carl-E] - "Yeah, I'm a tank commander, I've seen and been in explosions. Just do it! "

All the sapphires quickly returned to Azur as the four brothers made their approach toward the two. Rudolf charged in first with a punch but just as he was about to hit the two, Azur's sapphires interfered.

[Azur] - "Grab on! "

the gems suddenly pulled both Azur and Carl into the sky and acting fast, before the two of them falls back down, Azur formed the 3D rectangle with 4 of her crystals.

[Azur] (in whispers) - "Come on, you gotta work! "

The pattern of the golden ratio materialized in her eyes as she rapidly spun the last sapphire. This is her only shot and also her last. No one knows what secrets hide behind the power of the golden rectangle and the passage of an object through the golden ratio.

[Carl-E] - "What is this power? "

[Azur] - "It needs to succeed or we'll be dead! "

[Carl-E] - "Are you sure this is what will save us? "

As she channelled the rotation, she saw Albert's eyes staring at her from below. For a moment, she hesitated about attacking him as memories of her time with him popped into her head.

[Carl-E] - "Come on, you can do it, our lives and those of your teammates depend on it! "

Azur suddenly remembered how it all came to this, it was her fault all along. She brought Albert to her teammates, she was the one responsible for their capture and she alone was responsible for all this mess.

[Mergiann] - "You are nothing but a selfish bitch who cares about yourself. "

[Karson] - "All this trouble is because of you, you brought the enemy to us with your carelessness! "

Azur suddenly remembered back then that she was the one who left droplets of her blood on the scenes of her fights. Droplets that gave clues to the executioners about her team's involvement in many of the missions assigned by Mike.

[Azur] - "It was all me... I lead them to us... it was my fault. "

[Carl-E] - "Come on, Azur, shoot at them! "

Carl's voice suddenly snapped her back to reality but despite regaining the initiative and executing the ratio like intended, the final result was the same as before. An explosion ensued the execution of her attack and in the process, one of her sapphires was shattered by the shared power trapped in the rectangle.

But at least, the blast created a distraction big enough for the two of them to escape the Valentine brothers. Hopping back into the camping van, Carl quickly drove the vehicle amidst the busy traffic on the highway. Azur sat on the floor and sobbed with both of her hands on her face. A few hours passed and as the sun started to set, Carl found refuge in a nearby forest by the main road.

Azur looked at the shattered and almost powdered sapphire in her hand and as a drop of tear ran down her cheek, she slowly closed her palm.

To be continued... Next Chapter: [My Way (part 2)]

BONUS:

-Profile: Paxton Valentine (2)

-Real name: Albert Valentine

-Ability: [Butterfly effect]: "The ability allows Albert to coat himself in an invisible protective layer that can redirect any attack's energy to a direction or a place of his choosing. The limit of his ability's redirection power is unknown but it's known that his ability can absorb an extremely large amount of punishment without the user taking any damage. On top of that, the only disadvantage of his ability is the fact that once activated, his movement will be slightly restricted. "

-Affiliation: Undercover XX agency, executioner member of V squad.

-Role: Minor antagonist

-Backstory: "Being the third brother of the family, he went largely unnoticed by his parent and brother. He was the more silent of the 4 brothers and also the most charming. He was not shy to interact with people and make connections. Despite his calm exterior, he can adapt himself to other's liking such as acting like someone with a personality more fitting to Azur's taste. But unnervingly to his brothers, he was also very cold-hearted, often choosing to favour himself over others. "

ABILITY STATS:

Power - None

Speed granted by the ability - E

Speed of the ability - A

Range - C

Durability granted by the ability - S

Durability of the ability - S

Precision - C

Potential - D