RED vs. BLUE

REVIVE

CHAPTER 3: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" screamed Grif as he ran around in circles. "I knew it! I just knew this was a trap!"
"Don't take us! Take Grif instead!" cried out Sarge as he waved his shotgun around. "I'm too young and good looking to die!"
"Guys, calm down!" ordered Wash. "Let's… just continue on down the tunnel." Wash walked ahead of everyone, keeping his gun up and ready, just in case.

"Son of a bitch!" cursed Carolina.
"Well, who saw that coming?" said Tucker.
"Shut it," warned Carolina.
"Maybe this is some kind of sex dungeon!" hoped Kaikana.
"One can only hope." Tucker said as he continued to walk.
"Oh boy, I wonder if they have shackles?!" cried out Donut as he followed in pursuit of Tucker and the rest of the group.
"Yes. I hope they have snacks, too," said Caboose with a nod.
"Not snacks. Shackles," corrected Donut. "It's for bondage!"
"Oh lord, change the subject!" begged Carolina.

As Wash and his team continued down the rocky tunnel, he began to notice random decorative patterns along the wall.
"Are these… cave paintings?" Simmons wondered out loud as he examined one closely. Grif looked up at the ceiling, examining a drawing when he felt the ground shift under his foot.
"Uh oh."
"What do you mean 'Uh oh'?" asked Wash as he looked back at Grif, then followed his gaze down to his foot. Underneath Grif's foot was a cobblestone that was indented into the earth.
"I think you just stepped on a—," Simmons began to say, when out of the walls came sharp spears that shot at them from both side.
"DODGE!" Sarge rolled forward and up to his feet again. Grif was yanked backwards by Simmons, nearly missing a spear that was aimed at his ribs.
Lopez swore in Spanish as a spear splintered against his helmet.
"Is everyone okay?!" Wash tried to hide the panic in his voice. Grif sat on his rear before Simmons helped him to his feet.
"This is like some 'Raiders of the Lost Arc' shit. I swear to God, we better not have to outrun a giant boulder." Grif said as he brushed the dirt off his armor.
"Well, you could always sacrifice yourself. Maybe, just maybe, your body could get wedged under the boulder, leaving it stuck in its tracks," said Sarge.
"What I think Sarge is trying to say," chimed in Simmons. "That your fat ass would be too much to roll over."
"Mmm hmmm. Got it. Thanks," said Grif sarcastically.
"Guys, we got to keep moving forward. Everyone, be cautious. Don't touch anything. This place is obviously b—," Wash began to say.

"Booby trapped!" yelled Kaikana. Tucker grabbed Kaikana by the arm and pulled her forward as a wall of spikes came crashing down through the ceiling. The spikes embedded itself into the earth where she was previously standing.
"Oh boy, that was close! Thanks, Tucker!" said Kaikana as she tried to catch her breath.
"Great, I knew this was too easy," said Carolina as she looked around the tunnel. "Everyone, stay close. Don't touch anything that looks out of place. Be on guard!"
Everyone walked cautiously as one; stepping lightly on the rocky path before them. Their heads moved on a swivel as their eyes casted over the walls and ceiling.
Carolina squinted her eyes when she noticed something peculiar up ahead. As she grew closer, she began to curse in her head.

"Are these… fun house mirrors?" Donut asked.
"Wait, what?" asked Carolina.
"You know, a mirror maze, like they have at amusement parks. It's just a bunch of mirrors to make it more difficult to get out," explained Donut.
"He's right! I remember we had one at my Mom's circus!" chimed in Kaikana. Carolina sighed.
"Well… I can either try to riddle it with bullets and shoot our way through, or we take the risk and walk through," she suggested.
"Where's Caboose?" Tucker suddenly asked.
"I'm in the maze!" called out Caboose from inside the maze.
"When the hell did he sneak in?!" cried out Carolina.
"Caboose is sneaky," sighed Tucker. Carolina groaned, knowing she couldn't risk shooting up the maze with Caboose on the inside.
"Caboose! Don't move. We're coming to you!" Carolina looked at everyone. "Everyone, hold on to the person in front of you! I will lead!" Carolina gingerly stepped into the maze, cautious of her movements. Tucker held the back of her neck, with Kaikana behind him, and then followed by Donut. Carolina kept her hand out; carefully touching each mirror in front of her.
"Brings back memories," said Kaikana. "I wonder if Bro and the others are going through this."

Wash looked at the ditch that laid before them. Within the ditch, several feet down, were pointy spikes that pointed upwards towards them.

"Yep. This is some bullshit," whined Grif.
"Look!" said Wash as he pointed towards the wall. Hanging on the side of the ditch was a single rope. "There's just enough of a lip for us to shuffle our way across and use that rope to hold on to."
"Nu uh. We go half way across and that rope breaks, we're falling in and becoming a pin cushion. No thanks." Grif crossed his arms, defiantly.
"It's the only route option we have!" explained Simmons.
"Then you go first!" pointed out Grif.
"I will go first!" jumped in Wash. Everyone watched as Wash placed a single foot on the landing and checked to make sure it was sturdy. He grabbed hold of the rope and slowly began to inch his way across. His heart began to pick up pace, but he kept reminding himself to not look back or down into the ditch.
His foot finally touched the other side and a wave of relief came over him as he was able to release the rope and stand firmly.
"See?! It's not so bad! Who's next?" Sarge placed his shotgun on his back and took hold of the rope and began to make his way across. Simmons could be heard whimpering to himself. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared of falling, too.
"Good job, Sarge!" Wash grabbed Sarge and pulled him to him as he got close enough.
"That wasn't so bad! Come on, men! Time's a wasting!" Sarge said as he waved for the rest of his team to come across.
Simmons and Grif looked at each other, reluctantly. Lopez walked by them and made his way across, making it look simple.
"Damn it, even the robot is showing you guys up! Don't be chicken!" barked Sarge. Simmons sighed, sensing that Grif wouldn't be going next, so he made his way to the ledge and began to slowly inch his way across.
"Don't look down, Simmons!" called out Wash from the other side. Simmons kneed felt like they were going to buckle, but he gulped down his fear and continued his way across. He prayed in his head to make it to the other side. As soon as he got close enough, both Wash and Sarge grabbed hold of him and yanked him to solid ground.
"Oh, thank God!" cried out Simmons, falling to his knees.
"Alright Grif, you got this!" said Wash in an encouraging tone. Grif groaned and took one last look down into the ditch. The spears looked back at him; ready to puncture.
"Fuck me," he grumbled and grabbed hold of the rope.

Carolina turned the corner of the maze; smiling to herself as she saw Caboose. She reached out to grab him, only to have her fingertips bounce off a mirror.
"Dammit!" she growled. She turned around and found herself able to walk. This time, she was able to walk right into Caboose.
"Oh! You found me!" Caboose cheered.
"And you're not running off again!" ordered Carolina. She locked her fingertips around the back of his armor. "Lead the way out of here."
Caboose hummed happily as he made his way through the maze; not running into any of the reflections.
Within seconds, they came out to the exit of the maze and Caboose turned to his friends.
"That was fun! Can we do that again?"
"No!" Carolina said, making sure that everyone exited the maze safely. Everyone pulled out their weapons again and looked at what laid before them.
"Someone has gone through a lot of trouble setting this up. Are we sure we want to continue?" asked Tucker hesitantly. Carolina couldn't help but agree with Tucker, but she sighed.
"There's no way to turn back. We have to." She pulled her gun up and made sure the clip was loaded. "Besides, I want to see who and what's on the other side."

The team walked along the tunnel, shifting their eyes to the walls, floor and ceiling, making sure that nothing else will surprise them. They noticed the tunnel began to curve, and as they began to go around the circle, everyone jumped in surprise.
"What the hell?!" Sarge screamed, nearly pulling the trigger on his shotgun.
"It's… you guys?" Donut said, coming face to face with the rest of the team. Wash and Carolina looked at each other, dumbfounded.

"So we got separated, only to meet up again." Simmons pondered out loud. "Did you guys go through a series of booby traps?"

"Hehe. Booby," snickered Tucker. Simmons rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you guys did, too?" said Carolina.
"Yeah. This place was set up like an obstacle course. A challenge." Wash said, looking over everyone's shoulders to the tunnel they had endured.
"Well, at least we're all together again!" Caboose put his hand on the wall, only to suddenly feel the rock shift underneath his weight. "Uh oh."
The rock embedded itself into the wall and a rumbling was heard overhead. Carolina and Wash were the first to react – jumping out of the way as a cage dropped on top of the Red and Blues.
"Aw, what the hell!" cried out Tucker.
"Good job, Caboose!" snapped Grif as he grabbed hold of the bars.
"Sorry." Caboose murmured.
Wash and Carolina looked at their friends, and began to chuckle.
"You know, that's a good look for you all." Carolina stifled her laughter.
"Very funny. Now let us out." Tucker sighed.
"This reminds me of that one time I was in jail…," Kaikana began to say.
"One time? I'm pretty sure you were in several times," corrected Grif. Carolina began to approach the bars, when a shadow shifted over her head and she found herself rolling backwards on the ground.
"Watch out!" Wash cried out as he found himself kicked in the gut and thrown against the wall.
"Wash!" Carolina cried out and climbed to her feet. Her eyes casted upon the figure that stood between her and her partner.
Her eyes slowly moved up the backside of familiar armor. Before Carolina could finish looking at the figure, her arm moved upward to point the gun at the back of the person's head.
The figure before her, had a gun pointed at Wash. Wash had his hand up, pointing a gun at the face of the figure before him.
They all breathed heavily, staring at each other for mere seconds, before Wash broke the silence.
"Wait a second, I recognize that armor." Wash examined the silver armor, with sapphire and violet markings. "Agent… Virginia?"
Carolina lowered her arm slowly as the realization came to her.
"Oh my God…," she gasped.
The figure before them dropped her gun to the floor.
"….Washington?" The head shifted back to Carolina. "Carolina?! It is you two!" The voice said, as she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Carolina.
Carolina was taken back, wondering why people thought it was okay to hug her so much recently.
"I'm so happy to see that you're both alive!" Agent Virginia sniffled.
"Virginia… I… how?" Carolina said, slowly pushing Virginia off of her. Virginia turned and hugged Wash, who was still in shock.
"I can't believe this…," whispered Wash as he accepted the hug. "How'd you survive?" Agent Virginia stepped back, releasing her hug from Wash. On her armor was a crescent moon – sapphire blue. Her visor was light blue instead of the standard yellow/orange.
"I hate to break up this touching reunion, but can we please get out of here?" asked Sarge. He was cramped against the bars, with everyone else squeezed against his body.
"Oh! My apologies!" said Agent Virginia, before she pressed a button in her palm and the cage rose and disappeared into the ceiling – as if it were never there to begin with. "Please, follow me! I'll explain everything." Agent Virginia said as she ushered everyone to follow her down the tunnel.