Montag gritted his teeth as he lunged backward, barely evading Omicron's blade. He could hear the blade sing as it sliced through the air without hitting its intended target.
Montag knew John Wilkes, just as Wilkes knew Montag. The two had never met... but that didn't mean either was incapable of reading. Grissom had read John Wilkes' (a.k.a. Johnny Omicron's) dossier from the Vanguard Files shortly after having joined the team, while Wilkes (as well as the rest of the Strikeforce) had obviously been given plenty of time to read up on the members of Vanguard International.
And, since Grissom knew Omicron so well, he knew that the two of them were about as evenly matched as they could get.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Wilkes' voice rang out over the din of the battle. He lunged with his shoulder out and head down as he talked. "I'm no mind reader... but I am absolutely certain you are thinking of how evenly matched we are..."
"Oh, yeah?" Grissom countered, leaping into a somersault over the man's head, landing perfectly on his feet, facing the former Project Omicron leader. "And how do you figure?"
"Because I was thinking the same thing," he said with a smile. "You and I are cut from the same cloth, Montag!" As he spoke, the entrepreneur sliced the air with his blade, advancing toward Montag as he spoke.
"Y'sure 'bout that?" Montag asked, turning his hunting knife slowly in his hand as he slowly backed his way against a small dirt cliff.
"Quite," Omicron's eyes flashed as he spoke. "The only difference between you and me?"
Lashing out with sudden fury, Wilkes swung his blade at Montag who had little other choice but to counter with a block from his own knife...
...which Omicron was easily able to lop in two.
"You've gone soft," the Strikeforcer finished, holding his blade straight out at Montag.
"Bloody 'ell," Montag groaned, looking down at his knife. "You know how much a custom blade like that costs?"
"You can afford it," Wilkes said, pressing the tip of his blade to Montag's throat. "Or you could at least. If I weren't going to kill you."
Grissom closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he felt the cold, sharp prick of Wilkes' blade scraping ever so carefully across his Adam's apple. Omicron smiled, his armor gleaming in the light of the battle raging all around.
"Any last words, Sandcrawler?" he sneered, spitting out the last word with disdain and disgust.
"Yeah," Montag said, holding his head high. "Bye-bye."
A slight beep sounded from an object in Montag's right hand. Omicron's attention was immediately diverted to the source of the sound. That's when he realized that Grissom Montag was holding a gauntlet he'd teleported from Omicron's armor... and had just pressed the self-destruct button.
"You idiot!" Johnny screamed, his eyes widening. "You'll kill us both!"
Immediately, he took off in a sprint across the beach towards the spot where Rama and Banshee fought off the ever-mutating T5 robot. Grissom smiled as the man ran, tossing the gauntlet up into the air...
...only to have it magically reappear on Omicron's wrist. The beeping continued as the man looked down, shrieking, desperately pawing at it with his good hand.
"No! It can't end like this! It can't --"
An explosion rocked the T5 droid, sending pieces of the metallic creature all over the beach where the Vanguardians and Strikeforcers made war. Rocked by the explosion, Rama Avatar and Brianna Finula slowly rose from the ground, a bit battered, but none the worse for wear.
Bri coughed as she pulled herself up. She stopped, however, as she noticed a pair of familiar boots. Looking up, she was met with the scarred yet smiling face of...
"Grissom," she said with severity, "warn a girl next time you pull something like that!"
Offering her a hand, Grissom helped the bird lady to her feet, running his hand through her red hair. "And ruin all the fun?" he said with a wink.
"What happened to Omicron?" Banshee said, looking around.
"See that crater?" Grissom said, pointing at the spot where Omicron had detonated. Banshee's eyes widened as Grissom spoke on. "He said I'd gone soft. Guess I showed him a thing or two about softness..."
"Not to ruin what may potentially be a romantic and heroic moment," Rama Avatar shouted, Caliburn clutched in his hand, "but the metallic beast rises again!"
Looking up, Grissom and Brianna beheld as pieces of circuitry, metal, and even some pieces of Omicron's armor were knitted together to make a new T5 robot.
"What's the matter?" Grissom said, looking over at the Indian. "You haven't taken his down yet?"
Avatar shot his teammate a look before turning back to the alien machinery and charging with a scream of defiance.
Grissom pulled Brianna close and kissed her again. The two stared into each others eyes for just a moment... before a small laser blast flew right in between their gaze.
"Oh no, he didn't!" Brianna shouted, pulling out her crossbow and taking off into the sky.
Grissom smiled as two guns 'ported into his hands. "Right behind ya, luv!" he shouted, running into the fray.
