Chapter 10- A Shadow of his Former Self

Due to reviews and Dm's(I will answer any questions and consider any requests you make be it a review or Dm) due to reviews and Dm's I will do the Chorus trilogy when I get to it because again it will take a long, long time. I'm busy during weekdays so I can only write at most one or two stories then but weekends I can write a lot but this is a hobby, I want to finish this I really do but it will take a while. Anyway thanks for the support and enjoy!

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"Go ahead and play it." Weiss ordered.

"A Shadow of his former self" appeared on the screen.

"Hmm, dark title." Blake said.

Tucker in front of Caboose, in front of the blue base

Tucker: "(on radio) Come in Blue Command. This is Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha. Do you read me?"

"Outpost Alpha?" Ren said to himself mostly while grabbing his notebook.

"What is it?" Jaune asked.

"Red base is outpost number one, Blue base is outpost Alpha? Thats strange." Ren muttered.

"How?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know, it just seems weird that both of their commands call their bases prime. If Red base is number one whats base number two? And whats base beta?" Ren asked.

"Maybe thats just what blue command calls red base, beta base because its not theres." Jaune suggested.

"Calling it Beta base would mean that it is a part of Blue command which it isn't." Ren said.

"Maybe its because its the only base, meaning its the most important" Weiss explained. "Thats how the Atlas military works, its the only blue base in Blood Gulch so it's Alpha just like Red base is the only Red base in Blood Gulch so it's Number One."

"You're probably right." Ren acknowledged.

Caboose: "Okay, that is the last of it, your armor is clean now."

Tucker: "Did you get all the black stuff off?"

Blue Command: "This is Blue Command, come in Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha."

"Thats the man in grey." Ren commented.

"What? He's in yellow." Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah, he's wearing yellow but thats the man from The intro, the one in space." Ren said pulling out his notebook and pencil.

"Starting your notes again?" Weiss asked.

"Well this seems important." Ren said.

"But we already know its not from another uni-"

"We don't know that." Ruby said. "And did you hear back from Winter?"

"No, she likely won't respond until tomorrow, unless she's on a mission." Weiss said downcast.

"It'll be ok Weiss." Yang said patting her shoulder. "Older sisters always have time for their sister."

"Aww Yang!" Ruby said hugging her.

Tucker: "Hello! Command! We need help."

Blue Command: "Roger that, Blood Gulch, what is your request?"

Tucker: "I don't know what the technical military term is for it, but uh, we're pretty fucked up down here. We need men!"

"I don't know the technical military term for the Atlas military but Winter taught me some military slang." Weiss explained. "SNAFU, meaning Situation Normal, All fucked up, or FUBAR, Fucked up beyond any repair."

"That's the first time I ever heard you curse." Pyrrha said.

"It's strange." Blake said.

"Awww you're being corrupted!" Yang yelled.

"One of us! One of us!" Nora yelled.

"What? No! I'm not a child I can curse, I just choose not to, it is immature and informal." Weiss explained.

"Boo!" Nora screamed.

Blue command: "Dude, how long have you guys been down there?"

Yang laughed at that. "I love this show! Whoever wrote it is a genius! Its funny."

"I will admit, the dialogue is great." Blake said.

"I still think it's immature, but it is...innovative with the way they made it." Weiss conceded.

"Aww Weiss is coming around!" Nora yelled.

Tucker: "No, no no, naw, it- not like that. we need more men to help us."

Blue Command: "Roger that. Did you get the tank we sent?"

Tucker: "Yeah, that got blown up too.

Blue Command: Wow. Sucks to be you."

Tucker: "Yeah, we know."

Blue Command: "Okay, here's what I can do. The nearest blue forces can be there in sixteen days, or I-"

Tucker: "Sixteen days!? That's almost two weeks!"

"It's over a week" Weiss corrected automatically.

"We know." Yang said.

Blue Command: "Or I can hire a nearby freelancer and get him there within a few hours."

"Freelancer? Like freelancer huntsmen that don't serve any kingdom and just go around taking jobs?" Ruby asked.

"Likely." Ren responded.

Caboose: "I like the 'in an hour' one."

Tucker: "Yeah, me too. Roger that Command, we prefer the quicker solution."

Blue Command: "10-4 Blood Gulch, we will contact freelancer Tex, and have him there post-haste. Command out."

"10-4?" Nora asked looking at Ren who shrugged.

"Military term, it means Okay or Affirmative." Weiss explained.

"Cool." Ruby said.

"Freelancer Tex? He was in the intro too." Ren explained.

Tucker: "Whoever he is, make sure he can fix a tank."

Caboose: "What's a freelancer?"

Tucker: "Freelancers are independant, they're not red or blue. They're just guns for hire, who'll fight for whoever has the most money."

"So just like freelance Hunters." Blake commented.

"Why would huntsmen pick a side?" Ruby asked.

"Well, between kingdoms and stuff." Yang explained.

"No, not what I meant." Blake said. "Some Huntsmen are a little less honorable than most and fight for criminals, or the White Fang." Blake explained. "Roman Torchwick has hunter training, remember?"

"But that doesn't matter now! We kicked his butt and he's locked away in prison!" Ruby shouted.

"Yeah!" Yang yelled happily.

Blake smiled but she couldn't keep down her suspicions.

"Teeeaaammm RWBY!" Ruby shouted.

"Hey we helped too!" Nora yelled.

"Aaaaaaannd JNPR!" Ruby yelled.

"Yeah!" Nora yelled. Jaune raised a fist while Pyrrha laughed.

Caboose: "Like a mercenary."

Tucker: "Right. Or like your mom, when the rent's due."

"Mean." Blake commented.

Caboose: "oh, that's funny."

Tucker: "Yeah, you didn't think that was too obvious?"

"I don't get it." Ruby said.

"Its uh, well like a mercenary, they get payed you know? So when the rent is due, she gets fights for whichever side has the most money. Or in this case, has sex with whoever has the most money." Yang explained. "I think."

"Oh...mean." Ruby said agreeing with Blake.

Caboose: "No no, no no, that was, that was good."

Church in white armor starts fading in in the background

Church: "(spooky voice) Tucker... Tuuuckerrr..."

"What!?" Weiss yelled.

"It's Church! Dads back yay!" Yang yelled.

Ruby was happy for a moment before getting a look on her face Yang knew all too well. Yang silently hugged Ruby for a second, Ruby didn't let out a sound but when they stopped hugging she sniffled a little bit before going back to her usual happy self.

"Really? They brought back a dead character!" Weiss yelled angrily. "Stupid show."

"Why? It's clearly just a comedy show." Jaune explained.

"Just play it." Weiss said.

Tucker: "Who the hell are you?"

Church: "(spooky voice) I am the ghost of Chuuuurch... and I've come back with a waaarniiing..."

Caboose: "You're not Church... Church is blue. You're white."

Church: "(normal voice) Rookie, shut up, man. I'm a freakin' ghost! Have you ever seen a blue ghost before?"

Tucker: "Yeah, that's definitely him."

Church: "Now I gotta start all over again... (ahem) (spooky voice) Tucker... Tuuuckerrr... I've come back with a waaarniiing..."

Tucker: "Is it really necessary to do the voice?"

"It makes no sense! He was dead for one episode!" Weiss complained.

Caboose: "Yeah, it's kinda annoying."

Church: "Fine. Okay, here's the deal. I've come back from the dead to give you a warning about Tex. Don't let -"

Caboose: "What's the warning?"

Church: "Shut up for one second, and I'll tell you."

Caboose: "Oh, sorry."

Church: "Seriously, man, I mean, I'm coming back from the great beyond here. You think this is easy? It's not. It's not like I just, you know just pop in and out whenever I feel like it, it takes a lot of concentration."

"I like how they aren't going with the typical movie cliche of dead people being better off now that they're dead because now they have all cool powers." Jaune said.

"Do you watch a lot of movies Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, me and my sisters always had movie night friday." Jaune explained.

Caboose: "Sorry."

Church: "I mean, it's bad enough that you killed me to begin with, but now I come back and I can't even get a word in edgewise, man. ... (exhales) Okay. Here's the deal."

Caboose: "Is this the warning?"

Church: "Alright, that's it, I swear to God, Caboose, your ass is haunted. When we're done here, I'm gonna haunt you."

Yang and Ruby laughed.

Tucker: "Yeah, you're even starting to bug me."

Church: "Okay, Tucker. You remember that I told you I was stationed on Sidewinder before they transfered me here to Blood Gulch, right?"

Tucker: "No."

Caboose: "Sidewinder, isn't that the ice planet?"

Church: "Yes."

Caboose: "Cool, what was that like?"

Church: "Um... it was cold."

"Is that how Atlas was like?" Ruby asked.

"Well yeah, but dust heating kept things warm and eventually you get used to it. Its especially cold on the floating island." Weiss explained.

Caboose: "That's it? Just cold?"

Church: "What do you want from me, a poem? It's a planet made entirely out of ice. It's really, fuckin', cold."

Tucker: "Would you just let him talk?"

Cut to the blue base on Sidewinder

"Woah is this a different map?" Ruby asked.

"Cool! Looks a lot bigger than Blood Gulch." Yang said.

Church: "Alright, well, one day when I was there, everything was just like normal. I remember, I was out on patrol with my partner Jimmy. That Jimmy was a real good kid, everybody liked him."

Tucker: "Do you think I was a good kid Church?"

Church: "Tucker, don't get jealous man, just listen to the story, okay? Like I said, guys were hanging around, waitin' for some action, bitching about the cold..."

Camera zooms past three blue guys around a fire

Blue guy 1: "Man, it's fucking cold."

Blue guy 2: "I hope we get some action."

Church: "Anyway, Jimmy was in the middle of telling me all about this girlfriend he had back home."

Camera stops on Church in his light blue armor, and Jimmy

Jimmy: "Yep, soon as I get back, I'm gonna get down on one knee and ask her to marry me."

Church: "And that's when Tex showed up."

Camera angle changes to a distant shot, and Tex in transparent armor crosses the screen in the foreground

Church: "Private Mickey was the first to go. He was halfway across the base when all of a sudden he just started screaming bloody murder."

Mickey: "(turning around firing at the ground) Bloody murder! Bloody murder!"

Church: "The whole thing was over before it even started."

Tex hits another blue soldier in the back of the head with the butt-end of the gun, then runs across to get the third one the same way

Church and Jimmy firing at something, Tex runs up behind them

Church: "Poor Jimmy was the last one to go. Tex walked up to him, pulled Jimmy's skull right out of his head and beat him to death with it."

"What? That doesn't make any sense!" Weiss yelled.

"Why are you so mad?" Pyrrha asked.

"The show is getting even worse!" Weiss yelled.

"It's getting better!" Yang and Ruby yelled.

Cut to Tucker

Tucker: "Wait a second... how do you beat someone to death with their own skull? That doesn't seem physically possible."

"Exactly." Weiss said.

Church: "That's exactly what Jimmy kept screaming."

Cut to Tex, in black armor, beating Jimmy to death with his own skull

Jimmy: "This doesn't seem physically possible! (dies) Eeeeggh, blehhhhh."

Cut back to Church in Blood Gulch

Church: "Bottom line is: these freelancers, they're bad news, and Tex is one of the worst."

Caboose: "If he's such a badass, why didn't he kill you?"

Cut to Church on Sidewinder, surrounded by dead blues

Church: "To tell you I don't know why I'm not dead. Could've killed me at any point. But maybe it's because Tex and I have run in to each other once before."

Cut back to Tucker

Tucker: "Where?"

Church: "You uh, you remember that girl I told you about back home? Well, let's just say that Tex is the real reason why we never got married. Guys, I'm fading fast and I don't know when I'll be back. Just listen to my warning: don't let Tex get involved here."

Tucker: "Okay."

Church: "I mean it Tucker. No fighting, no scouting, nothing. You'll regret it (fades out)"

Camera angle changes to a long shot of Tucker and Caboose, slowly panning left

Tucker: "So, Tex and Church were after the same girl."

"Wouldn't that be a reason to kill Church?" Jaune asked.

Caboose: "I told you his girlfriend was a slut."

Tex's leg and arm come in to the camera angle, within earshot, and then the rest of the armor. Bass guitar music plays the episode out

"The show is getting so good! Next one next one!" Ruby yelled.

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Welp, that concludes the chapters I needed to update. Remember my PM's are always open, if you see a mistake please let me know which chapter its in and I'll fix it.