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As Sage and Viper ascended the ramp, they could hear the sounds of a spike being activated on the site next to them.
With her wall, Sage boosted both herself and Viper up to a neighboring rooftop, which gave them a clear view of the entire spike-site. Viper crouched on top of the wall and assessed the situation.
Unfortunately for the pair of them, all they could see was a giant cloud of poison.
“Mirrors…” Viper murmured, “Shit.”
“We should call for help,” Sage suggested.
“There’s no time, we have to defuse the spike as soon as possible.”
Viper glanced to the side as she considered what the best course of action was. Soon after, she stood back up to face Sage.
“We’ll rush in together,” she said as she detached her own face mask and placed it in Sage’s hand. “I can withstand the toxins for a while. You can use this to protect yourself.”
Sage looked down at the mask, then back at Viper.
“Those toxins are deadly, Viper, even for you. I don’t think-“
“There’s no time, Sage, this is the only way!”
Suddenly, Viper leaned in close, her maskless face just inches away from Sage’s, and her hands clutching at Sage’s shoulders.
“Do you trust me?”
As much as Sage wanted to protest against the idea, she knew Viper was right. Time was short, and there were no other options.
“I do,” Sage replied softly as she placed the sides of the mask on her ears. Once secured, the mask closed itself up, covering Sage’s mouth and nose.
Immediately after, the two felt a bullet fly past them. They turned to see a reflection of Jett with an Operator. “AGH, I WHIFFED,” they could hear her say.
“Go!” Viper shouted. The two jumped off the wall and landed in the poison cloud.
Once they landed on the site, Sage was quick to get up and cover Viper’s back. Meanwhile, Viper did her best to resist the stinging sensation of the poison vapor as she inched forward slowly, scanning for the spike.
Little fits of laughter could be heard, and eventually, they could see Reyna charging at them with a Phantom. Sage shoved Viper aside and used only a single bullet to dispose of the duelist.
“No!” A voice shouted from behind them. It sounded like Viper’s, but the real Viper was right beside Sage.
Sage’s shove had brought Viper to the ground, though it enabled her to spot the spike directly across from her. She quickly scrambled to her feet.
“There! Defuse the spike! I’ll cover you,” she ordered as she tossed a poison orb on the spike for cover and activated it. Sage rushed into the orb and started to defuse.
Viper could feel a sting in her throat as she spoke. It had to be the toxins from the large gas cloud taking their effect. Despite this, she still managed to turn around in time to see the enemy Viper charging at her with a knife. In an instant, the steel of the knife clashed with the metal of the Vandal. Viper had used her rifle to block the attacker’s swing. With one hand still on the weapon, Viper managed to prime the vial of snake bite on her wrist, which was in the form of a dart. She aimed for the mirrored Viper’s shoulder and launched the dart, which caused the enemy to stumble back and collapse to the floor.
Viper suppressed some coughs as she turned back around to approach Sage, who was still crouched by the spike.
“How much longer?”
“Nearly there,” she said as she raised her Sheriff up with her free hand and shot once, all without taking her eyes off the spike. What followed were the sounds of both a heavy weapon and a body falling to the ground. The Jett that had tried to pick off both Sage and Viper with an Operator was no more.
Eventually, Sage finished defusing the spike. Shortly after, the gas cloud dissipated, revealing the rest of the spike-site. Jett’s body lay next to her, and behind her, it appeared as though the reflection of Viper had used whatever life she had left to crawl over to Reyna. Viper had tried to reach a hand out to Reyna’s, but had succumbed to the snake bite in the process. Despite the fact that these were members of a Valorant protocol from another dimension, Sage couldn’t help but feel saddened at this sight.
“It’s done,” Sage said, sighing. She turned around and caught a glimpse of Viper collapsing to the ground and coughing nonstop. The effects of the toxins were getting more severe. Thankfully, Sage was able to summon an orb to heal Viper instantly as she knelt down beside the controller.
Sage removed the mask and placed it on the ground. As she let go of it, she felt Viper’s trembling hand grab onto hers. Sage looked back at Viper, who was still staring into the ground as she caught her breath.
“You’ll be alright, Sabine. Just give yourself a minute.”
Sage placed her other hand on Viper’s in an effort to comfort her, though she was caught off guard when Viper’s free hand grabbed onto her collar and pulled her in for a kiss. The healer reciprocated the act, but pulled away just as quickly.
“I said give yourself a minute!” She yelled while blushing.
“Oh relax, woman,” Viper replied. “I’m fine now. Let’s get to the extraction point.”
Before the two could stand, Viper picked the mask back up and put it on Sage’s face again.
“You look cute in it.” Viper gave Sage one more kiss through the mask before picking up the defused spike and standing up.
Sage’s voice was soft as she replied.
“…so do you.”