There was silence from both groups as Caboose and Tucker got to their feet, while the other members of the Reds and Blues approached Church's hologram. A continued stare of disbelief went from both sides to the other.

And then, the moment was interrupted by none other than an estatic Caboose.

"CHURCH!"

"Hello, Caboose…" Church said in greeting.

"CHURCH!"

"it's nice to see you…" Church continued.

"CHURCH IS ALIVE!"

"Damn it!" Church groaned. "Caboose, I know you're happy to see me, but can you PLEASE for the love of God,calm down!?"

"BUT I'M SO HAPPY!" Caboose yelled as if he'd never beed more glad in his life. "YOU'RE ALIVE! IT WORKED!"

"Umm...what worked?" Church asked.

"That's a long story." Carolina said, coming forward. "Hey there, Epsilon."

"'Sup." Church replied. "You doing okay, Carolina?"

"As I'll ever be." the former Freelancer replied. "Who are your friends?"

Carolina's visor turned to Asuna and Kazuto, whose astounded expressions supportted their general mood of complete shock and disbelief.

"Oh, right." Church rubbed the back of his holographic head awkwardly. "This is Kazuto Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki. I've sort of been chilling with them for about five months...also a really long story on my part."

"Anyway, Asuna, Kazuto, these are my friends, the completely idiotic and somehow heroic Sim-Troopers of Blood Gulch, the Reds and Blues. Starting from the Reds…"

"We have Grif in yellow, Simmons in maroon, Sarge in red, Donut in pink…"

"Lightish Red!" Donut interjected, to Asuna and Kazuto's confusion.

"And….where's Lopez?" Church said.

"He and Doc stayed behind." Simmons said. "Didn't know why in Lopez's case, but Doc wanted to get some actual medic training from Dr. Grey back on Chorus."

"I see." Church replied. "Anyway, the Blues are Tucker in teal, Caboose in the dark blue, and then there's Carolina and…wait, where's Wash?"

"Wash also had to stay behind." Carolina replied. "He got...injured pretty badly recently."

"How bad are we talking here?" Church asked.

"Shot in the head bad." Caboose said, a little downcast.

"Oh." Church said. "How'd Wash get shot in the head?"

"We'll tell you later." Carolina said as she looked at Church. "But we should go somewhere more private. I think those are news vans coming up."

True to the Freelancer's word, several Tokyo-based news vans were driving up. Asuna and Kazuto headed back to the Yuuki's car, while the Reds and Blues prepared an alternate method of transportation for themselves.

=RVB=

It wasn't long after the Yuukis and Kazuto reached the Yuuki's expansive house that the Reds and Blues arrived via one of Carolina's spare teleporter grenades. As they all managed to fit into the Yuuki's family room, Church cleared his throat.

"So, what've I missed?"

"Lots of bullshit." Grif moaned. "I mean, I thought our quiet retirement would be just that, a quiet retirement, but no. Our evil dopplegangers just had to show up."

"Evil dopplegangers?" Church sounded surprised.

"A group of Sim troopers who were pissed at the UNSC started making trouble for them. And by trouble, I mean stealing, hijacking, and robbing." Carolina said. "That's also around the time all the remaining Freelancers vanished and were later killed by those same Sim troopers."

"We first got wind of that from some reporters who were searching for us." Simmons added. "And then they faked a message from Church asking for help so they could lure us to them."

"And then things went from bad to worse." Donut added. "I mean, these guys were going to blow up Earth using this really strange machine. Luckily Locus and VIC were able to help us out and we managed to save the day and the planet."

"Again." Sarge piped up.

"Wow." Church said. "That is impressive. Really."

"You being serious?" Grif asked.

"Actually, yes." Church replied. "Now, how exactly did you find me."

"The same machine that the Sim troopers were using to blow up Earth created a portal to the past." Carolina said. "We saw you during our first days in Blood Gulch, and Caboose said goodbye before we packed up and were about to head home."

"Then, we got an idea!" Sarge chimed up. "We figured we could use the same machine to go even further back and find you for real!"

"How'd you manage to do that?" Asuna asked.

"Eh, techno-time-travel doohickey stuff." Sarge replied. "We're really not sure ourselves."

"So...what have you been up to?" Tucker asked Church, who told them about his saving Asuna and Kazuto from ALO.

"Woah." Simmons said. "This Sugou guy had issues."

"You're telling me…" Asuna whispered tersely under her breath.

"Anyway…" Church continued. "So, now that we're here for the time being, what's the plan?"

"We're not sure." Grif replied. "I mean, the device Loco made that we used to time travel's being stored at a secure area on Chorus, and it'll reactivate in about a week. We've got plenty of time. Speaking of, anyone hungry?"

"That''s all you're thinking about right now? Food?" Church groaned, but he chuckled after that. "You haven't changed at all, Grif. Still lazy and hungry as ever."

"Eat your heart out." Grif replied proudly, to which everyone responded with groans.

After managing to find enough ingredients and materials to make a sizeable lunch for everyone, Asuna and Grif started cooking while everyone else sat down at the kitchen table or the coffee table in the living room.

"You're a good cook, Grif." Asuna said as he checked the dishes on the stove for any sign of burning or overcooking.

"Thanks, Asuna." Grif replied. "You know, back on the moon we were living on after the war on Chorus, Donut managed to burn down our bases. Both of them."

"How'd he do that?" Asuna asked.

"He said it was a mishap with his "vanilla-satin scented candles", but that's not important. We lost a good amount of our food in the fire, so I started going around and eating native plants."

"That probably didn't go well, I take it?" Asuna raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the mushrooms on that planet, once you ate them, were llike crystal meth on crystal meth." Grif replied. "I had some fun spiking Simmons's couscous with them one day. Entertaining like you wouldn't believe."

"I'll take your word for it." Asuna replied, as Grif got out various spices and seasonings out of their cabinet. Soon, lunch was served, and everyone sat down. Somehow, the Reds and Blues managed to eat while they kept their helmets most of the way on, with only their mouths exposed from under their helmets.

"How do you even eat like that?" Kazuto asked.

"Don't ask." Simmons replied.

Kazuto raised an eyebrow, but he eventually shrugged and continued to eat. Then, Church gave a sigh, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"What's wrong?" Asuna asked.

"Just thinking." Church replied. "I mean, if you guys managed to come back in time to find me...could someone else do the same?"

"Like who?" Grif asked. "Or what?"

"Not sure." Church said. "But I've got a hunch we'll find out soon enough."

=RvB=

Meanwhile, in an alley a good distance from the Yuuki's house, another Slipspace rupture appeared in an abandoned alley courtyarad behind a building. As soon as it appeared, it disappeared, leaving behind a figure in white and orange armor with a globe like helmet, who carried a bladed grenade launcher.

The figure looked around for a few moments, before giving off an animalistic growl and vanishing into thin air, using an active camo module, once again on the prowl.