(uh, it's complicated. Let's just say implications of death)

Blood pounded in EX's ears and sweat ran down his face as he ran. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't even know where he was. The broken column he had passed looked so familiar, but maybe that was because all the rubble had started to blend together in his mind.

He heard yelling and ducked behind a wall, his breath coming in gasps. There was a loud smack somewhere nearby and a scream of pain. He clutched his gun, which cast a red glow on his surroundings.

EX ran through his team in his head. Zed was down. So were Etho, Gem, Keralis, and the cry had sounded like Bdubs. As for the others...

Well, he hadn't seen them in a long time. As far as he knew, he was the last man standing.

He poked his head around the edge of the wall and looked up at the bridge, maybe a dozen meters away, just in time to see someone fall off of it and out of sight. He didn't have time to see who it was, but he saw the other person on the bridge, who had pushed them, as well as the faint blue glow that came off of their armor.

Moving quickly but careful not to make any sound, EX raised his gun, aimed, and fired. The explosion of light just before he ducked back out of sight confirmed that he had hit his mark.

But the encounter made him wonder, how many if the others were there? He strained his ears, but it was unusually silent. That only meant he didn't know where they were.

He saw a flash of movement as something, or someone, darted behind a singed pile of earth and bricks. EX's heart leapt in his throat. Whoever that had been, they could easily hit him from where he stood. 

Not bothering to look back, not even to see if he was being followed, EX ran. He swerved around mounds of dirt and a wooden door with only part of a wall attached to it. His boots thudding against the hard-packed earth was barely audible over his harsh breathing. He thought he heard voices behind him, and ran faster.

The empty shell of some building was just visible ahead, and through the missing wall EX could see a staircase. The higher up he could get, the better.

Had he been paying attention, he might have noticed the shin-level obstacle sticking out around the corner he had just turned. And had he been paying attention, he might have noticed it was a boot.

But instead he fell hard, face first in the dirt, his gun knocked from his grip by the impact.

"I can't believe you fell for that."

EX looked up at the voice and saw Xisuma, gun in hand, walking up to him. He just glared up at his brother in response, but out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a flash of blonde.

"Sorry it has to end this way," Xisuma continued, his voice devoid of any remorse. "You know how it is."

"Wait!" EX tried to back away, but there was nowhere he could go. "You forgot something."

Xisuma raised his gun, aimed at his brother.

"I don't think so."

<~~~>

A bright flash of light. Xisuma lowered the gun, but his moment of triumph didn't last long. It was quiet. It wasn't supposed to be quiet.

"What's going on?" 

EX didn't respond. Of course he didn't.

"What did you do?" Xisuma demanded, growing more suspicious by the second.

He stepped back, scanning the area in front of him. Where were his teammates? He had seen them just a minute ago. Something was wrong. Something-

Something hard pressed against his back and he froze. How had someone snuck up behind him without him noticing?

EX laughed and grinned up at him from his dramatic death pose on the ground. "You forgot False is on my team."

The blue lights on the armor Xisuma wore flashed white before going dark. An airhorn sound echoed through the arena followed by a robotic voice from somewhere.

"Game over! Red team wins!" 

Xisuma gave EX an offended look as his brother got to his feet, still giggling. "Jerk."

"What? Did you think I'd tell you she was right behind you?" EX rolled his eyes. "I was dead."

"Good game," False said, slapping Xisuma on the shoulder. "You almost had it. And you," she glanced at EX, "are way too dramatic to have lasted that long."

EX gasped in mock offense. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing!"

"You literally gave Hels this whole speech before we started about how you were going off to fight, and to remember you if you didn't come back," Xisuma pointed out. False nodded in agreement.

EX was silent for a moment. "... I did not realize you two heard that."

"Oh it wasn't just us," False said casually. "In fact, I think Cleo videoed it." 

"She what?" EX suddenly ran towards the exit of the arena, where the others were

already filing out. Xisuma glanced at False.

"Did she?"

False shrugged and started walking in the same direction EX had gone. "But we should probably warn her before your brother breaks her phone."

When they exited the doors, False went to help Cleo, who EX was currently chasing around the room, and Bdubs ran up to Xisuma, rubbing a bruise on his forehead.

"X, Tango is crazy!"

"I said I was sorry!" Tango shouted from halfway across the room, hanging his laser tag armor back on the rack.

Bdubs turned to him. "The gun is not a melee weapon!"

"You startled me!" 

Xisuma backed away from the two as they continued to argue. But unfortunately, he encountered yet another argument

"But why did you throw me off the bridge?" Mumbo demanded. "I was already dead."

"I had to hide the body somehow," Grian(of course it was Grian) said as if that justified everything. "Besides, it was only a two meter drop."

"I was on your team!"

Grian shrugged. "No witnesses."

Xisuma pulled Iskall aside from where he was checking all the laser guns to make sure none of them had been damaged (especially Tango's).

"Do you think we should consider a different weekly event?" he asked. "I mean, laser tag seems to be getting out of hand." 

Iskall frowned. "If by 'out of hand' you mean Scar and Cub had seven bets going about that last round?"

"No, I- Of course they do." Xisuma sighed. "I mean everyone's getting way into it. Grian nearly started a fist fight with Doc halfway through despite being on the same team as him and half his height."

"What about bowling?" Iskall suggested. "That rarely goes South."

Xisuma thought for a moment. "Maybe... I mean at this rate someone might lose a toe-"

"SUMA!" EX interrupted. "CLEO WON'T DELETE IT."

Xisuma pinched the bridge of his nose. "Exavier, I'm not solving your problems for you. Try bribing her or something."

He watched as EX ran off again and sighed. "Yeah, maybe we should do bowling..."

(yeah, the ending was a bit rushed)