Third Person
Cody let out hefty breaths as his sides heaved and ached with pain. His arms held on for dear life to his weapon- not his trusty Spear, though he wished he had it- but the specially made gun from Professor.

Red was splattered over his back and shoulders, but he ignored the pain he received and instead focused on the entrance to the base.

He aimed the gun up to it, and waited expectantly, unsure if the next person who would enter that door next would be friend or foe. His paranoia kept his finger on the trigger, and his eyes fixated on it. His heart pounded.

As he waited, Cody's mind wandered back to the scientist, then remembered Pikalus shooting him in his shoulder and grimaced. The sides were so jumbled now that his old friend was now one of his biggest threats.

Stumbling footsteps brought him back to reality and he raised his gun, ready to fire, but then sighed in relief once he actually saw who entered. Then, concern filled his mind.

"Cannibal..." He said breathlessly, glancing over his shoulder just to make sure he wasn't followed. "What happened?"

CannibalCrab looked exhausted, his eyes drooped and his body, though had armor on, still was splattered with red all over. He groaned, stepping into the base and began to get the barricades ready.

"Pikalus happened." The crab told him with a grunt. "He jumped us without warning, I barely even got out of there once his partner backed him up."

Cody nodded, then a breath hitched in his throat. "Partner..." CannibalCrab suddenly froze in his tracks, then avoided Cody's gaze. A sick feeling spread through Cody's stomach.

"...Professor has a deadly shot." He mumbled. "I did manage to take him out," He told him, getting the closest he could to joy in his voice, then grimaced. "But not before..."

He was silent. Shame was plastered on his face for all to see. Cody put his face in his hands, sighing. "Oh no... Tanith... Did she-"

CannibalCrab nodded. "Went down exactly how we all knew she would: Protecting her partner. Too bad her partner is lousy, I couldn't even move out of the way from Pikalus' shot! That would've fixed everything!"

He shook his head again. His grip tightened around the wood he planned to use to block the main door. "Professor got a headshot on her. There was no recovering from that."

"But you got him at least?" Cody asked, his voice uncertain. CannibalCrab nodded. "Then there's still hope. Professor was their deadliest sniper, they won't have him anymore. Maybe we can get through this battle without losing anyone else..."

Movement came from outside and rapidly approached the pair. They raised their guns, fully intending to fire upon whoever walked through that door, but luckily didn't once they saw their ally.

"It's just me." Sam huffed. Unlike the other two, she didn't take as many hits, but unlike they last saw her, now had a fresh set all across her dominate arm. "But they know we're here. We need to get this place boarded up. Now!" She urged them.

They both sped up, Cody now ignoring the pain in his body as he took care of the broken windows. "You lost your partner too?" He guessed.

Sam closed her eyes and nodded slowly, then shook it off. "We were so close too. Then just a mile back, they jumped us. Selena was with them, she took Blooper out before I could even blink. I didn't take her out fully, but she's got some injuries that sure as hell slowed her down."

Cody flashed a smile at her, then glanced at her shoulder. CannibalCrab beat him to the question. "Who got the drop on you?"

Sam grumbled to herself, finishing up with a window and moving onto the next. "Your leader." She wiped as much as she could away, though it didn't soothe the pain she still felt. "KrakenKid is a ruthless man." Her eyes trailed over to the crab. "I wonder, will he show you mercy?"

CannibalCrab sighed, finally finishing up with the door. "I wish I could say yes but... I think he took it as a personal offense that I'm with you guys."

Cody began to slow as his end was boarded up the best he could. The walls that protected them suddenly seemed less secure as he thought about everyone against them. "...Did any of you see him? Is he still-... You know."

Sam and CannibalCrab exchanged glances. "Yes." Sam admitted. "He's with KrakenKid."

Cody huffed. "Right... Gonna have to face him... We're screwed aren't we?"

"They do have the upper hand." CannibalCrab nodded. "They've only lost Pikalus. Any last ideas? Anything that can get us out of this?"

Sam hummed to herself for a while. "Our best chance is to use this place." She gestured towards the wide open base. "Maybe we can-"

She was cut off as the window just behind her was smashed open and as she moved to get out of the way, Sam was shot down. Red now covered the back of her head. She barely got a cry of pain out before she hit the ground, now motionless.

In the window, Cody caught the glowing, blue eyes and aimed to go after him, but he was gone as quickly as he came.

Other entrances were busted open, and in poured Selena and KrakenKid. The pairs began to shoot at each other, though Cody knew he was running low on ammo.

Then, once the other two entered, Cody knew it was over. CannibalCrab took hit after hit from Selena and Ace, and soon just collapsed. Cody tried to help but KrakenKid was hot on his tail. Then, a shot that came from someone else knocked his gun clean out of his hands. He was defenseless.

Cody looked into the eyes of his brother, and sighed. "Okay. I give up, there's no way I'm getting away from this one." He raised his arms to surrender.

KrakenKid grinned, but kept his gun raised. "Chickenman? Want to join me as we finish the leader off?"

Cody's face grew panicked. "H-hey! I surrendered! That means this all stops! It ends!"

"Only ends with your blood." KrakenKid sang.

Behind him, Joe laughed. "Why yes, Squidboy, I'll join you."

Cody looked at the both of them. "You don't have to do this! Selena? Ace? Please, I don't deserve this! Remember any good times we had? Any at all?" Neither of them spoke up, nor moved to do anything. They just watched.

"Joe?" Cody gave a nervous smile. "C'mon man! It's me! Your favorite brother!"

"On the count of three?" KrakenKid asked the chicken, completely ignoring the penguin king. Joe nodded.

Cody drooped, but closed his eyes. He waited for the countdown, then tumbled to the ground as he was bombarded with shots.

His eyes creeped open as pain flourish all around him. He groaned.

"Why does paint hurt so much?" He mumbled as KrakenKid and Joe high fived.

"RED TEAM WINS!" KrakenKid cheered, getting laughs from Joe. "SUCK IT! RED TEAM RULES, BLUE TEAM DROOLS!"

Ace and Selena both settled on a thumbs up to each other. From outside, Blooper, Tanith and Professor Pikalus all stumbled inside. Professor looked the worst, blue paintballs all over his body, though Tanith was wiping some off her head and Blooper didn't seem to mind at all.

Selena moved to Blooper, laughing how she got him then squeaking as he hugged her, purposely so all that paint got on her. Ace helped Sam up. "Nice shot." She told him, rubbing the back of her head. "You caught me totally off guard."

Cody laid on the floor for a while until Joe helped him up. "Sorry, Cody." He told him, smiling. "But I wasn't going to lose to you, and how many excuses do you get to shoot your brother with paint?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "Not enough apparently. Professor!" He called, getting the scientist attention. "Can you make them hurt less next time? I feel like I actually got shot!"

"Awww," Pikalus smirked. "But that's what makes it so fun."

*******************

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