Sly (An Apex Legends Fanfic)

Chapter 70

I woke up in a hospital bed. Blinking to adjust my eyes to the brightness of the room, I slowly sat up. There was a bit of pain in my shoulder that caused me to wince.

"Gently now, Elskan," a voice spoke from beside me. I nodded and allowed Bloodhound to help me sit up, they then took my hands into theirs. The window was open, revealing a dark night sky. As I sat up, I noticed Mirage fast asleep in a chair in the room as well, giving me a few memories back to the first time I had met him.

"What happened?" I asked Bloodhound, quiet enough to not disturb Mirage.

"You got shot." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I realize that! But what about after?"

"That thing... the robot got away. They immediately brought you back to the mainland. They had to do minor surgery on your shoulder to repair some ligaments, but you're important to the games, so they gave you the best healing supplies." I grinned a little,

"Aww, they think I'm important?"

"More like it would be a P.R. disaster if you died." A new voice said. I looked to the door to see Jacob Young walking into my room, startling Mirage awake while he did so.

"Kid!" Mirage exclaimed, jumping out of his chair. "Don't worry! It's okay!" All three of us looked at him. "Sorry."

"What happened to the other guy? Forge?" I asked no one in particular. Jacob sighed, and upon further inspection, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes was even more prominent. "Shit," I muttered.

"We're trying to figure out who, or rather what, it was that killed him," Jacob said to me. "And since you had a one-on-one meeting with him..." Now it was my turn to sigh. I felt Bloodhound squeeze my hands.

"I, uh," I started. "I'm still trying to figure out what happened for myself."

"Well, right now, the only other intel I have is the robot claiming to have met an eviler version of the robot in a different dimension, so I'll take whatever you have."

"I'm sorry, Path went where now?" Mirage shook his head.

"Last Halloween, before you got here, Path kept going on about some 'shadow realm' or something. Went little nuts till we convinced him they were just dreams."

"Well, were they?!" Mirage shrugged,

"I was pretty sure he just got a virus in his systems. It went away after a while."

"Riight."

"So?" Jacob pressed. I thought for a second.

"I think I know him."

"You what?" Mirage interrupted.

"I don't know. Like I've never seen him before, but...." I paused, unsure if I should be telling the head of P.R. that the company that was sponsoring the games had experimented on me three hundred years ago. Finally, I sighed, "I think he is or was project Red Skull." I saw Mirage's eyes go wide.

"You don't-" Bloodhound started. I nodded.

"I'm going to need you to fill in some blanks for me," Jacob interrupted.

"It was a secret Hammond project like three hundred years ago."

"How the Hell do you know what Hammond did three hundred years ago?!"

"That's not important. I can't say for sure, but" I looked between Bloodhound and Mirage. "It's him. I don't know how I know, but whatever that robot is, he used to be a person."

"Are you suggesting Forge's attacker is a simulacrum?" Jacob cut in again.

"If that is a person that is now inside a robot, then I guess so." I heard Jacob curse a dozen times under his breath before standing up.

"Okay. Thank you for your help Sly. I'm glad you are recovering," and with that, he left the room.

"That poor dude needs a vacation," I said, causing Bloodhound and Mirage to laugh a little. "Can we go home?" I asked a second later.

"I'm afraid not, Elskan," Bloodhound cooed. "They want to keep you here till tomorrow evening for observation."

"But, there's a game in the afternoon!" Mirage shot me a look that I could tell meant 'suck it up,' and I sighed, crossing my good arm over the other. "Stupid person robot from my past."

"You'll be good as new in a few days, my love," Bloodhound said. "The games will still be here."

"Until murder robot comes back."

"You should get some more rest." Bloodhound went on.

"So should you two," I replied, looking between Hound and Mirage. Neither of them moved. "It's two in the morning!"

"And?" Mirage asked.

"Go home. Both of you. Sleep. In a real bed. I'll be fine. Promise."

"Fine," Mirage was the first to cave. "Only because I need my beauty sleep to look good for tomorrow's match."

"That's the spirit."

"C'mon Houndy," Mirage said, looping one of his arms through Bloodhound's. I could see the hesitation behind their mask.

"I'm not going anywhere," I told them. "Sleep and come back in the morning." Finally, they nodded.

"I'll send a nurse to check on you on our way out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Bloodhound was back in my room before I had even woken up. After the nurse came in after they left, I was given some more painkillers that involved making me sleep till nearly noon. Already my shoulder was feeling much better, even more so than it did when I had first woken. The doctors told me I would be back to normal soon, but no matter how much pleading, they still wouldn't let me into today's game—something about the bloodsport being to 'dangerous' for someone recovering from surgery.

"Win for me today, will you?" I said to Bloodhound as they were leaving my room.

"Anything for you, my love." The door to my small room closed, and I lay back on my bed; still a little upset they wouldn't let me participate in today's match. God knew I could use the distraction, since the encounter with that thing the night before my mind couldn't stop spinning. What had he meant by he had saved me just a couple years too late? Did he unfreeze me back on Earth? And if he did... that only left me with more questions.

I decided to turn on the little T.V.. in my room to try and distract myself. Only when I turned it on, instead of seeing the pregame interviews...

"A Hammond Robotics employee was killed early this morning on Talos," a reporter was saying. "The man was said to be working on the new Planet Harvester that is going to be introduced into the Apex Games Arena. The games and Hammond have released a small video captured by a security camera asking anyone who knows anything to come forward." The screen played a very short clip where a figure could be seen running past a door frame.

My face went wide. It was him. Again. The simulacrum. What the hell was he doing? I shook my head and looked back at the T.V.,

"This comes one night after the murder of Hyperfighting Champion, Jimmy' Forge' McCormick." the reporter went on. "Forge had been interviewing about his upcoming position in the Apex Games when he was attacked. Reports say people at the event had tried to catch the assailant who put Apex Legend, Sly, into the hospital before making off. Sly is now in recovery. No other injuries were reported." I turned off the T.V. and looked around the empty room,

"I made the news!"