Amy vs Helena - 11

Amy's POV

("Match will start in 5…") Aqua-chan's voice chimed through the comms as I checked myself one last time. Sensors, check. Thermal systems, check. Weapons… I cycled my nanoswarm to manifest my laser Uzi, sniper rifle, and assault rifle. All operational. Check.

I settled on my loadout: grappling hook, jump pack, and sniper rifle. My comfy hoodie felt snug, but… wait. This isn't combat gear! I glanced down and realized I was still in Aqua-chan's hoodie. Definitely not suitable for a battlefield.

Quickly, I willed my nanoswarm to materialize plate armor, a generic military uniform, and combat boots.

All set. Hopefully, my position near the top floor of a random skyscraper—on the edge of the map—gives me a decent vantage point.

("2…") Aqua-chan's voice echoed again, snapping me out of my thoughts. How many seconds had I missed while prepping my outfit? I willed my sniper rifle into my hands and lay prone near the window, scanning the surroundings. No need for a scope yet; my enhanced sensors were more than capable of detecting movement.

("1…") I did a final check. The nearby buildings and several floors of my skyscraper were thoroughly trapped with tripwires and corrosive grenades. Against another T-Doll's sensors, one trap wouldn't cut it. I'd doubled—no, tripled—the amount and layered them at different angles.

("Match start!") Aqua-chan's voice signaled the beginning of the battle.

I calmly surveyed the city blocks through my sensors, cycling through different optics to ensure I didn't miss any movement. Nothing. Yet.

"Where are you…?" I muttered to myself.

A sudden bright flash to the west caught my attention. A Graviton sniper shot—its trajectory unmistakable—pierced through a skyscraper on the far east side, triggering a chain reaction of corrosive bombs and causing the entire building to collapse toward the center of the map.

BOOM!

Found her.

I swung my sniper rifle toward the origin of the shot, zooming in with my scope to enhance my sensors. Helena was grappling to another building still in her default hoodie but with city cameo. She had the same loadout as me—grappling hook, sniper rifle, jump pack—and, as a T-Doll, the same super strength and speed. I needed to move the moment I fired as she will counter snipe me.

I lined up the shot. Laser precision. The beam pierced through her midsection. "Wait, what?" I gasped as her body scattered into nanoswarm particles. A decoy!

Before I could react, a laser streaked toward my position.

"Shit!" I rolled across the floor, narrowly avoiding the beam as it burned through the ceiling above and the floors below. Helena was closer than I'd thought, using her nanoswarm to create fricking decoys.

Two can play at this game.

I bolted to the opposite side of the building, ramming through a wall with my enhanced strength. Glass shattered as I leapt out into open air.

Glass breaking sfx.

While in free fall, I created a decoy with my nanoswarm. It mimicked me perfectly, grappling hook and all. I commanded it to fire the hook at a nearby building corner and swing to the side, hoping to mislead Helena.

Meanwhile, I tossed a corrosive grenade into the building below, shattering more glass as it descended. The grenade detonated, destabilizing the structure's lower supports.

The decoy was hit by another laser. I traced its trajectory—Helena was nearby, but something felt off.

A second laser shot streaked toward me from a different angle. I activated my jump pack, propelling myself upward just in time to dodge. The leftover momentum carried me into the lower floor of a skyscraper. I returned fire blindly with my sniper rifle, the laser piercing through walls toward the origin of the shot.

No time to confirm a hit. I tossed three more corrosive grenades at the skyscraper's support pillars.

BOOM!

Helena's POV

That was fun.

I still couldn't believe I'd managed to create a remote weapon control system using my nanoswarm. Hidden cameras and guns, all working together. Too bad Remote Control #12 had been destroyed by Amy's counter-snipe.

"Let's see what you've got next," I muttered, watching live feeds from eleven different cameras scattered around the arena. My sniper rifle rested in my hands, though I was safely hidden inside a random house far from the action. Master~ had given us plenty of toys to play and tinker with.

No movement from the collapsed building. Where did she go?

I cycled through the camera feeds, scanning for any signs of her. Suddenly, the ground shook, and my feeds from four cameras closest to the collapsed skyscraper went offline simultaneously.

"What the…" I whispered, switching to a camera with a clearer view. The entire block had been obliterated. A massive graviton explosion, judging by the lingering corrosive sphere.

Before I could process the devastation, Amy's voice came through the comms.

("That was a neat trick,") Amy said.

I barely had time to react. I felt a tingling sensation and instinctively dodged sideways. A laser shot pierced the ground where I'd been standing, melting my sniper rifle in the process.

"What?!" I exclaimed, summoning an assault rifle as I sprinted through the building. More lasers erupted from the ground, forcing me to keep moving.

I fired back, aiming blindly below as I broke through a wall and leapt out with my jump pack, landing on a nearby rooftop. The lasers ceased momentarily, giving me a brief reprieve.

I glanced up, only to see Amy standing on a three-story building, assault rifle trained on me. She unleashed a barrage of laser fire.

"Oh, shit!" I willed my nanoswarm to form a titanium alloy barrier. It wasn't even halfway constructed before her lasers shredded it to dust. It bought me a precious second to return fire with my Graviton assault rifle, trying to keep her pinned down as I evaded.

Desperate to escape, I darted into a narrow alley I'd trapped earlier. Amy's relentless fire followed me, lasers slicing through the walls. Using my enhanced agility, I wall-jumped side to side, narrowly avoiding her shots.

A metallic clink from above caught my attention.

"Wait, is that—"

A corrosive grenade exploded, obliterating the alley's ceiling. I dropped to the ground, sprinting toward my next safehouse. Remote Control guns waited there, ready for an ambush.

As soon as I reached the alley where I had two remote-controlled guns set up, I prepared to spring my trap. With a flick of my controls, I unleashed a barrage of fire at Amy.

She swiftly summoned a titanium-alloy barrier to shield herself and hurled another grenade at the turrets. Realizing the turrets would be destroyed, I abandoned their controls, leaving them to their fate.

I turned and ran toward the next safe house I had prepared, my heart pounding in my chest. As I rushed forward, a glint from the side caught my eye. Acting on instinct, I slammed my foot into the ground, using the force to propel myself backward just in time to evade a searing laser that scorched the air where I had just been. More lasers followed, forcing me to retreat while dodging frantically.

'That angle…?' I thought, my mind racing. 'She's coming from the side? Then the one chasing me earlier must've been a decoy!'

I whipped out my Uzi and fired in her direction, the high rate of fire sending a spray of lasers toward her. Amy nimbly leaped over the incoming barrage, her movements almost graceful, and aimed her Graviton Assault Rifle at me. She unleashed a burst of lasers, and I barely managed to queue up my nanoswarms to dig a hole for cover while evading her attack using my jump pack to side step. I returned fire, but she countered with a double jump, shooting a grappling hook to snatch my Uzi from my hands.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. Desperately, I fired my grappling hook sideways, swinging it toward Amy. The hook connected, slamming her into the side of a building. As she crashed through the wall, I quickly dropped into the hole my nanoswarms had dug, slipping into the sewers below. The gamble had paid off, giving me a moment.

In the safety of the sewers system, I summoned another Uzi, now that my nanoswarms had returned. 'I need to set up traps and secure an exit point,' I thought, already planning my next move.

Amy's POV

"Ouch…" I muttered, rubbing my chest as I stood amidst the rubble of the collapsed building. The impact hadn't been pleasant, but thanks to our enhanced durability, I was still standing. 'So that's our super strength at work,' I mused, brushing off the dust.

My eyes scanned the area. Helena had vanished, but the hole leading to the sewers was a dead giveaway. 'She's probably setting traps down there. I'll need to flush her out.'

An idea began to form. Combining 8 grenades into a single package, I created a large Graviton Bomb Pack. This was similar to the device I had used earlier to level the building, but with less destructive power. I recalled the underground layout as I been inside the sewer when I blow up the skyscraper to escape detection. I began planting the bomb packs at key sewer intersections beneath the city.

One by one, the bombs detonated, shaking the ground above and collapsing large sections of the sewer.

Boom!

The sound reverberated through the city, mingling with the occasional whir of Helena's remote laser turrets firing at me from various vantage points. I quickly destroyed them with well-placed shots from my assault rifle. 'Annoying,' I thought as I continued planting and detonating the bombs. The city block was soon reduced to a landscape of craters, rubble, and debris. Only one skyscraper remained intact amidst the destruction.

To finish the job, I summoned two corrosive grenades and tossed them into the remaining sewer junctions. The acidic explosions ensured no safe passage remained below ground.

"Now, where are you..." I muttered under my breath, watching as the rubble around me slowly shifted, revealing fewer and fewer places to hide.

A sudden flash of light caught my eye—laser fire from below. I dodged instinctively, the beam grazing past me. A Graviton laser sniper rifle.

"Found you."

Without hesitation, I swapped my assault rifle for a sniper rifle. My nanoswarm worked seamlessly, reshaping the weapon in seconds. I aimed and fired toward the origin of the beam, sending a volley of precise shots before dashing toward the sewer entrance where my opponent was hiding.

As I closed the distance, I fired another shot straight into the ground, creating an opening in the rubble. Wasting no time, I lobbed a corrosive bomb into the hole.

BOOM!

The explosion sent debris flying as I quickly swapped back to my assault rifle. My senses flared—a warning. Four laser beams converged on me from different angles, annoying remote control. I vaulted into the air, returning fire with a volley of lasers while activating a decoy drone equipped with a hidden camera.

The decoy dropped to the ground, drawing fire, as I used my jump pack to retreat. Then, she emerged—Helena—bursting from the ruined sewer in a blur of movement. Her jump pack aided her agile dodges, weaving side to side as my bullets missed by inches.

The decoy retaliated, tossing a corrosive grenade as Helena swung a grappling hook at it.

"Not again," I thought, willing the decoy to react. It dropped its weapon and grabbed the hook as if it had weight. The illusion worked—Helena committed to the attack—until I noticed another hook flying at me from the opposite direction.

I aimed my sniper rifle through the decoy and fired at Helena while simultaneously grabbing the second hook with my free hand.

BOOM!

Both the decoy and Helena's apparent body exploded into nanoswarm particles.

"A decoy?" I muttered, annoyed. As the smoke cleared, it became evident that her form had been a distraction all along. Her nanoswarm dispersed, leaving no trace of the real Helena.

There was no match-ending announcement. She was still out there.

Swapping to dual laser Uzis, I grinned. "More fun then."

Helena POV

"That was terrifying," I whispered, catching my breath beneath the rubble. My hiding spot felt fragile, but it was reinforced for now. "Who in their right mind destroys an entire city block just to hunt one person?"

Thankfully, my last gamble had paid off. I'd escaped, but barely. From my concealed position, I monitored the scene through four cameras I'd set up earlier.

Summoning my assault rifle, I prepared for mid-range combat. There wasn't time to lay traps or form a backup plan—most of the battlefield was already reduced to ruins.

BOOM!

The last skyscraper in the distance collapsed, sending dust and debris cascading over everything. "Does she not know where I am?" I muttered hopefully.

A sudden hail of laser fire tore through the rubble near me. I dove aside, returning fire blindly.

"Nope. She knows."

Cycling through the camera feeds, I spotted her—a figure dual-wielding laser Uzis. No, wait—there were four of her now none of them seem real though.

Before I could react, all four figures destroyed the cameras simultaneously, then began spraying lasers in my direction. I cursed under my breath. This part of the battlefield had no sewer access, and the house above me was already a pile of rubble.

I willed my nanoswarm to construct a reinforced barrier around me as I crouched behind it. The barrier should hold against the Uzis—unless she swapped to her sniper rifle.

And knowing Amy, that's exactly what she would do.

I summoned a corrosive grenade, tossing it over the barrier to open the way for me to escape.

("Checkmate,") her voice echoed coldly in the comm.

The grenade never reached its target. A precise laser shot detonated it mid-air, the explosion melting my reinforced barrier instantly.

I scrambled to react, but the blast radius caught me. My nanoswarm struggled to form a new titanium alloy barrier in time, as my right arm was already gone, disintegrated in the corrosive wave. Gritting my teeth, I aimed my assault rifle with my remaining arm and fired a desperate volley toward one of Amy's clones.

My legs moved instinctively to dodge incoming laser fire from Uzi, but it wasn't enough. A piercing laser shot from her sniper rifle severed my remaining arm.

I collapsed, defenseless.

"I've lost, huh..." I whispered.

[Match End! Participant 'Helena' have been disabled!]

[Participant 'Amy' is the winner!]

Aqua's POV

"Well, that was a match and a half," I said, observing the aftermath of the battle. The destruction was impressive—entire city blocks wiped out, rubble everywhere, and Helena in rough shape.

Good thing this was a controlled environment. The nanoswarms were already at work, destroying the damaged terrain, roads, and structures to their original state. The white floor beneath the battlefield began to reappear as the material was recycled and all building and roads reduce to nothing.

I walked toward the two competitors. Amy was helping Helena to her feet, her expression calm as ever.

"How are you two feeling?" I asked as I approached.

"I want a rematch," Helena grumbled, clearly frustrated. She pouted, glaring at Amy. "If a certain maniac didn't resort to blowing everything up..."

Amy smirked. "Well, you shouldn't have started with remote-controlled turrets, then."

Helena rolled her eyes, but the faintest smile tugged at her lips.

I willed my nanoswarm to begin healing Helena's injuries. Her arms were in rough shape but nothing the swarm couldn't fix. As I worked, I couldn't help but grin.

"So, any feedback?" I asked eagerly. "I mean, we really need to talk about all those improvisations. The bombs, the decoys, the—"

"Your simulated destruction is a bit too realistic," Helena interrupted, still sulking.

Amy simply chuckled, clearly pleased with herself as I just smile in response.