The neon pink glow of the Vday arena pulsed as roaring crowds and other flashes of light erupted. Svetlana's heart was hammering against her ribs as she was crouched behind a shattered concrete pillar. With the scent of gunpowder amongst her and Shelly, they gripped their weapons tight and tried to catch their breath.

Round 8

Both her and Shelly had survived the ongoing onslaught and relentless waves of shooting, as they were the last two members from Chicago. Being the last two in the event for the round, really was a testament to their combined skill and ruthlessness. 

"They're closing in," Svetlana whispered. "They just closed New York, lets go hide in Las Vegas."

They took the short flight to Las Vegas in unison and decided to camp out. There was a single straggler in the city and they needed to remove this threat. This alliance between her and Shelly wasn't a new one but it was surely united on their desire to win and prove themselves in the crucible of the Vday event. As they reached a tower on the Strip in Las Vegas, they started to open fire on the lone ranger in the city of sin. 

ELIMINATED

They fought as one and were good together. They were even a force to be reckoned with, a testament of their strength. As the round continued a few more stragglers would dare to enter the city. Each time, one by one, they were met with their demise. With little competition remaining, they were faced with an important decision; to stay in Las Vegas and let those who remained come to them, or fly out and try to hide out in another city...

Svetlana knew how Shelly would respond... "Sit tight and wait for them to come, we'll have the jump on them".

They weren't exactly sure how many people remained in the event but what was clear was that flighting had continued. Both her and Shelly were listening to the announcer as people continued to be eliminated. As they continued to wait and listened for further announcements, a lone gunman entered the city. He was battered and bruised... blood all over himself but both Svetlana and Shelly knew they had to remove him. 

BANG! BANG!

They both started firing at in the intruder and wounded him each time. He was still up after two shots and returned fire in Shelly's direction. Shelly took a hit from the culprit, which prompted both of them to reload their weapons as soon as possible. As they reloaded, Svetlana noticed the wounded man was really struggling and barely able to stay on their feet. She figured the next shot on him would be the end of his time in the event.

ELIMINATED 

It was another notch in their belts as they eliminated another opponent. They heard the mention from the announcer as their ears began to stop ringing with so much shooting occurring. 

"6 participants remain.", they both heard.

Svetlana looked at Shelly with a grin on her a face. She knew winning anything from this moment on would be an instant success. Being from Chicago, she understood they were the little 'guy' in this event. She overheard the mention of other cities combining resources to participate but those from Chicago just played the event amongst each other. Once again, Svetlana asked Shelly how to proceed in their current predicament. Knowing that they more than likely outnumbered 2 to 1, they were happy to just finish in the top 6. Representing Chicago was all they wanted to do.

Shelly had responded to her how she imagined; guns blazing. With them being outnumbered, they predetermined a target based their remaining health. The idea was to close the gap between them in hopes to perhaps win. As the seconds felt like they turned into minutes, they stalked their surroundings and waited for their enemy to make landing in Las Vegas. 

BANG!

They were caught off guard and were overwhelmed by their opponents. They had arrived in Las Vegas and quickly turned their weapons on Shelly. It had seemed they had their plan of attack as well. Shelly and Svetlana started to execute their plan but they just couldn't do enough damage. The damage the other team was doing was heavily outdoing her and Shelly's. Shelly was taking more damage than they were able to throw at them. 

BAILOUT!

Shelly decided to abandon Svetlana in effort to regain some health and hopefully live longer. And out of nowhere as she had just fired her weapon, she was immediately shot at. Her four attackers seemed more like six or eight with the amount of damage she was taking. Immediately, she decided to leave Las Vegas and regroup with Shelly. A few moments later and their attackers had followed them. They continued their relentless attacks and soon, Shelly was eliminated. 

TOP FIVE

From this point onward, Svetlana wanted to try to get top four. She knew their original target was still low in health and she decided to focus on him. 

"Let's rock!", she screamed violently, trying to stay hopeful for a decent finish in the event. Shortly after she let out her mighty roar, she too was eliminated. Svetlana and Shelly were just no match for the outnumbered and more powerful group.

"Shelly, I'm happy we finished what we started and most of all had a blast in round 8. I couldn't have asked for a better partner!"

The dust from the Vday event had finally settled, but Svetlana's adrenaline was still pumping throughout her body. Finishing the event with Shelly, she felt a great bond of camaraderie with him. Sharing and understanding the unspoken language of those who lived on the edge, forged their bond with the near victory. Their relationship born in the neon trenches of the Vday arena, was an unlikely one which fused Svetlana's cunningness with Shelly's cutting edge tech savvy. 

Despite Svetlana's attempts to to distance herself from the criminal underworld, she always found herself back in it one way or another. Recognizing Shelly's unique skills, his ability to manipulate digital security systems or even infiltrate networks, he was a proven asset to have near her... especially after knowing that he could handle himself well under pressure. 

"You know Shelly, your skills could be... useful."

Shelly raised an eyebrow and asked "useful how?"

"Information, access even to banks and other places that hold valuables..."

Shelly despite his initial skepticism was intrigued on the though of working with Svetlana again. 

"And whats in it for me?" Shelly asked with curiosity.

"You mean besides the money? Protection, resources, a network, you know the kind of things you can't get one your own." she replied.

Shelly started to consider the offer but took a pause before responding...

Shelly considered the offer and understood the risks. He nodded his head and Svetlana extended her hand for a handshake.

A few weeks later...

Svetlana and Shelly found themselves outside of the First National Bank in the Loop. It was dark, early morning, and the chrome exterior of the bank shined under the street lights. The rumor was this was a bank where a rival faction had kept millions of it's money stashed away. Svetlana was patrolling the perimeter of the bank as Shelly was ensuring his tools were in his kit for this job. The job was simple, to get into the main vault of the bank and take as much money as possible, as quickly as possible.

"We're good Shell", Svetlana let him know.

No one was insight of bank. Inside was only the security guard as the employees still had a couple hours before it opened. Svetlana had a plan for getting the guard to open the front door... she figured she could pretend to be looking for a job and ask the guard if he knew if the bank was hiring. 

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Svetlana knocked on the door loud enough to wake up the guard. At first he tried to shoo her away and yelled, "we're closed" through the door. She continued to knock to try to get his attention... eventually the guard opened the door. As he opened the front door, she removed the pistol from her breast pocket as she grabbed him and the door. She managed to leverage her foot in the doorway.

"If you want to make it home tonight, I suggest you back up and let us in".

Shelly jumped out from behind the corner and rushed the guard and both of them made their way into the bank. Immediately Svetlana started to tie up the guard and Shelly went to the back of the bank to where the vault was. 

The only other system that Shelly was aware of, was the mechanical button on the vault's spoke that needed to be compressed or else the vault wouldn't open. This was a fail safe that the rival faction put in place to ensure no one was messing with their money. Shelly removed a few tools from his bad and started to get to work. Svetlana continued to monitor the bank's floor to ensure nothing was going to interrupt their plan. She started to make her way towards where the guard was sleeping at this desk. As she approached it, she heard a voice and removed her pistol.

"This is your 4:45 news update...", she exhaled as she determined the fat out of shape guard was sleeping with the radio on.

As Svetlana walked back towards the front of the bank where Shelly was working on the vault, she heard a couple thumps and various objects hit the floor. She picked up her pace and ran towards the tied up guard. The tied up fat man had managed to maneuver his body towards a desk. When Svetlana got closer to him, it was clear he was attempting to hit a panic button with his fat head. She went over to him and pistol whipped him straight in the chin, it immediately knocked him out unconscious. 

"What was that?", Shelly asked over his shoulder as he heard the loud thud.

"Oh nothing, this dumb fat guard tried to hit the panic button. He's asleep now though. I'll pull him away and just lock him in an office.", Svetlana answered to reassure Shelly. "How is it coming along?"

Svetlana could tell Shelly was working hard on the vault. She continued to hear him rummage through his bag of tools and pull out different ones.

"I think I'm nearly done."

A sigh of relief came over her as she heard that. Their first job together was about to be a successful one. 

CLICK!

A loud click was heard and the vault door was finally able to be opened. As Shelly pulled the door open, they gave to hear faint voices. It was as if people were in the vault waiting, expecting for them to be robbed. But no one knew about their plan... neither of them had spoken to anyone else after the Vday event. Svetlana heard three voices and then a sudden push came from the men inside the vault to rush her and Shelly...

GET THEM!

GET THEM!

Three men pushed the vault door open as quickly as they could, with their guns drawn. Svetlana didn't know what to do but fire a couple rounds at the three men. She hit her shot and one of the men dropped dead on the floor. Shelly got behind Svetlana and they retreated to the nearest desk. They flipped the desk over from the front and created some cover to get behind. The men hiding in the vault started to shoot at them as they continued rushing them. A few shots went into the desk Svetlana and Shelly were hiding behind. Svetlana poked her pistol out and shot a couple of rounds, trying to get their assailant's heads down.

"You messed with the wrong bank! You know who's bank this is?", screamed one of the unidentified men.

"Yes, why do you think we decided to rob it!", Svetlana answered trying to mock the man.

BANG BANG!

Two more rounds were fired from the rival gangsters. Svetlana and Shelly kept their heads down behind their make shift concealment. They weren't exactly sure what to do. They couldn't break from the desk with the risk of being shot, and Svetlana only had one other bullet clip on her. Svetlana looked around the corner of the desk and one of the two men had started to move closer to them. She picked up her pistol and aimed it at his chest and fired.

OOMPH!

Svetlana hit the man in the chest and he was down. Only one rival gangster remained...