Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Fifteen:
Things happened remarkably fast following South's surprise attack against both Grif and Washington. Truth be told, Lavernius Tucker's first instinctual reaction had been to spin around and yell at the pale blonde until his throat was raw. But, that would have been an action that Washington would no doubt describe as "ill-advised" with the giant, crab-like Plague Beast in their midst.
The monster was currently tossing some of their fellow competitors out of the arena like they were balled up pieces of paper, and they crumpled just as easily. Tucker groaned at the sight. This whole tournament thing was complete and utter bullshit, but like fuck was he going to mess up the chance that they had been given.
So, naturally, the Beast Folk did what was expected of him: he began kicking ass and taking charge.
"Lopez, get Grif and Wash off to the sidelines." Tucker quickly told the artificially constructed man over the roar of their extremely agitated opponent.
"En eso." {"On it."}
The teal-wearing man had no idea what Lopez had said in response to his order, but he assumed that it must have been some kind of affirmative since Lopez began to drag the two prone forms closer to the relative safety of the audience stands.
"Sarge, Caboose!" Tucker called out over his shoulder, noting that the older Guildsman in red was already laying down suppressive fire with his shotgun, "Keep pelting that thing with bullets!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Sarge practically sounded ecstatic at Tucker's particular tactic, having already been doing just that.
"Let's go and help the red sergeant, Freckles!" Caboose told his gun.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
…Tucker supposed he should be fucking grateful that it wasn't confetti that exploded out of Freckles just then. Besides, keeping the younger man in the back ranks with Sarge meant that he didn't have to worry about the dwarf stumbling into a bad spot later on.
"Andersmith, you're strong, right?" Tucker asked the dark-haired human, trying to remember exactly what the other man's Magic User ability was.
"Yes, sir!" As if it was an ingrained response to having received attention, Andersmith actually saluted.
Tucker was never going to get used to that action being directed towards him, even with all of his time with the Guild.
"When Doc has Crabby here distracted, move in!"
The purple-wearing man grimaced at his inclusion into the plan, "Gee, guys, again…I'm really not—" Doc tried to stammer out in protest, clearly resenting his implementation in this strategy.
"Doc!" Tucker cut him off, "You're the only one of us with an actual long-range ability here. We fucking need you!"
Doc swallowed nervously before shakily nodding his head. His tan skin was pale though, as if the purple-wearing man was fighting a wave of nausea. For a brief moment, Tucker wondered if it was possible for the Plague Beast to slip on a pile of vomit and take itself out. Stranger things have happened!
Just as the crab monster began forcing its way past the hail of bullets coming from Sarge and Caboose-carrying-Freckles, Doc held his arms out in front of him. A look of absolute concentration crossed over his features, and Tucker swore that his flower crown actually glowed.
Then, just as suddenly, a beam of green light filtered through the space between Doc's hands, hitting the Plague Beast right in the center of its creepy head. The thing roared again, turning black beady eyes on Doc. But, it seemed at a loss as to which direction to go in considering that Sarge and Caboose were still shooting at it.
"G—guys?" Doc called out fearfully now that the beast's attention was at least partially on him, "Any…any day now would be great!"
True enough. Who knew how long Doc's literal "flower power" would last, or how many bullets magical weapons really held?
The energy sword was in Tucker's hand in a moment, the familiar heat seeping up the Beast Folk's arm with its appearance, "Now!"
He was calling out to Andersmith and Lopez, both of whom raced forward towards the distracted target. South joined the fray as well, a gigantic broadsword in her hands.
Without a word, both she and Tucker hacked at the weak spots in the creature's armored legs while it was held in place by bullets and beams of energy. Both Lopez and Andersmith came in from the sides, hands pulled back into fists as they jumped—impacting the skull.
The combined punches and loss of balance provided by the others' assaults caused the Plague Beast to stagger back, head tilting downwards…
…Just enough for South's blade to slide right into the soft spot where Lopez and Andersmith's blows had landed before. There was a wet, crunching sound as she pulled the weapon out, now covered in blood. Tucker didn't even notice as the familiar red mist covered the vanishing corpse, a crimson Relic taking its place on the ground where it had collapsed.
No, he was seeing red for an entirely different reason altogether. Said reason was currently smirking at him like everything was fucking peachy.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Tucker growled out to South as the others cautiously approached now that the fight was over.
"What the fuck's got you so worked up?" The former Freelancer demanded in turn, before flicking her eyes disinterestedly over to where it looked as if Washington and Grif were beginning to stir, "Oh, I get it."
"You get it?" Tucker was about to launch himself at her but Sarge's hand rested heavily on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"I think you have some explaining to do, missy." Sarge told South gravely, the red-wearing man's voice as pissed as Tucker had ever heard him be.
Her eyes narrowed, "Try calling me that again, old man."
"Red sergeant is right." Caboose spoke up quietly, "Hurting friends is bad. Unless you are trying to help, and then everyone agrees that it was most definitely not your fault."
"Por favor, no intentes nunca ayudarme." {"Please, don't ever try to help me."}
With all eyes on her, South stood even straighter in outright defiance.
"Look, it wasn't anything personal. All right?" She finally got out, clearly annoyed that she even had to waste time explaining herself at all, "Tournaments are all about survival of the fittest. I was helping to ensure that I was one of the winners by thinning out the competition."
"That's bullshit!" Tucker said, shrugging Sarge's hand off of his shoulder.
"Technically, it is within the rules of the tournament." Washington muttered from behind the group, the Seas barely standing upright on what appeared to be rather shaky feet. Tucker had to fight the urge to run over and ask if he was all right.
"Besides, it's best not to get too chummy with everyone. Right, Washy?" South said as she openly mocked her former teammate, "We're competing in this thing."
Tucker turned back around to face her again, a cutting retort on his lips, when Washington reached out and gripped him tightly by the shoulder. He shook his head when the Beast Folk turned to stare at him questioningly. Tucker held back for that reason alone. But, only barely.
"Look on the fucking bright side." South continued when it was apparent that she was not about to be interrupted, "Now two of your fighters can be justifiably spared to go with your support group. Isn't that a good thing, strategically speaking?"
No matter how she tried justifying it now, it had still been a pretty shitty thing for her to do. From the frowns on everyone's faces, they were all thinking along the same lines. Tucker was just about to tell her so in his own colorful way when Washington squeezed his shoulder once more, "It's all right, Tucker." The blond told him reassuringly.
Tucker could only look into his gray eyes and nod, even though a part of him knew the whole thing still fucking sucked. Still, the Seas was right. Causing more of a scene with South would not help anyone.
A slow, rather patronizing clapping sound made its way over to their ears. They turned to see the mercenary Felix sauntering over to their group. He bowed his brown-haired head somewhat as he reached down to retrieve the Relic from the ground, pointed ears even more visible as he did so.
"Congratulations are in order for our winners, I suppose." Felix finally said, grinning sardonically, "Ready to have that grand tour?"
The mercenary turned and promptly began walking in the other direction, clearly expecting the group to follow. Sarge shrugged towards Washington and Tucker's direction, his silent comment about how they couldn't afford to miss this opportunity not lost on either of them.
Tucker glanced over at Washington again, who nodded once more before Tucker frowned and headed after the already calmly moving South. The others who had actively participated in the tournament moved along in step with him. Tucker could feel Washington's eyes on his back as they left the area.
It was something of a chaotic mess following Tucker and the others' departure with the mercenary from the tournament grounds. People were entering into the field from the stands, either to get a better look at all of the carnage or to check on those competitors who had not made it through the round.
That group, naturally, included Richard "Dick" Simmons and those from their traveling party who had been in the stands with him. All of their group were a bit shaken by the unforeseen change in plans, although a certain dark-haired Beast Folk almost seemed amusedly giddy at the turn of events.
"Well, there was always a strong likelihood of potential injury considering the circumstances…" Doctor Grey said in a sing-song tone as she tilted Washington's head slightly to get a better look at the damage that had been done to his skull, "But who could have guessed it would have come from an ally?"
"I could." Church said glumly as he stood nearby his cousin, who was busy putting his healing aura to good use even as Doctor Grey sped along her examination of the fading evidence, "South was fucking extreme even back during the project, and that's putting it mildly."
"It isn't all that shocking, given some of her previous actions." Washington replied, nodding his head at Church's words. The action earned him a frustrated finger poke from Doctor Grey, who was still trying to examine him for signs of a concussion.
There was silence all around the group as they processed Washington and Church's words. "You guys have awesome friends." Grif finally said, letting out a low whistle as Simmons fussed at him to remain still, "Seriously. The best."
"Hey, I never called her a friend!" Church tried to say in his defense, "We didn't exactly talk much. At all."
"Why?" Grif asked as he raised a dark eyebrow, "You were too busy dealing with two other women who could kick your ass instead?"
Church gave the Orc the finger, but didn't do or say anything else to disprove his comment. Grif grinned triumphantly over towards Simmons, who could only sigh and shake his head at the extreme level of immaturity currently going on around him.
"All right!" Doctor Grey called out, clapping her hands rather loudly together to draw everyone's attention towards her, "The good news is that there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage, so there's really nothing here that Simmons' power can't heal by itself."
Simmons let out a tiny breath of relief that he had not realized he had been holding until just then. Church shoved him playfully in the shoulder, "See? You're good for something after all!"
Now it was Simmons' turn to give his cousin the finger, which Church promptly and expectantly ignored.
"Man, it's a good thing you weren't one of the competitors, Sheila." Donut whispered conversationally to the crystalline woman, "We might have been in real trouble if it had been your head that she'd used!"
Sheila nodded solemnly in agreement, "A guard at the Magic Division once tried to headbutt me out of curiosity." She recalled with a slight frown on her features, "It did not end well."
"That is so rude!" The dirty blond exclaimed, downright seething on behalf of his friend, "And I'm usually all for giving someone a hard head!"
"Can someone else please start talking?" Church groaned, "Any fucking day now, really."
"As much as her methods left something to be desired," Washington spoke out, acting as though Donut and Sheila's conversation had never even occurred, "South was right about one thing."
"The correct way to apply blunt force trauma to the skull without inducing a concussion?" Grey asked seriously. When all eyes landed on her, she coughed, her fox ears twitching slightly in embarrassment atop her head, "Not that blunt force trauma of any kind should be encouraged, mind you."
"See, I feel like anything that needs that type of disclaimer following it probably shouldn't even be said." Grif muttered to the redhead standing next to him, and Simmons couldn't help but nod his head slightly in agreement.
"No." Washington was quite eager to move this conversation along, so he continued very quickly before anyone else could interrupt him, "She was right in that we now have two fighters tagging along with the investigative group. That should at least help increase our odds of sneaking into the fortress."
"That actually does make a strategic sort of sense." Sheila conceded, the others nodding in agreement.
"Though a heads up would have been the polite thing to do." Donut added, nodding along with his own sense of social etiquette.
"Considering my current headache," Washington said, almost smiling at the pink-wearing younger man, "I really can't argue with you there."
Simmons couldn't stop himself from frowning all the same as he quietly spoke to Grif, "I'm just glad that the two of you will be all right."
"That makes two of us," the orange-wearing man smirked back in response, "And it's not like I can really complain too much about getting to hang out more with you."
It took the Orc a few seconds to process what he had just said, and then his tanned face took on a rather reddish hue. The maroon-wearing redhead felt the pangs of someone else's awkwardness mixed in with his own. Damn Linking Magic! Grif coughed awkwardly, looking off to the side as an equally blushing Simmons promptly did the same.
…Only for the two to be met with the sight of a gleefully gushing Donut, his brown eyes large and enormous as he beamed knowingly at the both of them.
The awkward and slightly uncomfortable exchange only mercifully lasted for a moment before the younger man turned his head in the direction that the others had gone in, a look of concern suddenly suffusing his normally joyful features.
"I really hope that Doc and everyone else will be all right." Donut murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.
The Seas in their midst had heard him, however, and reached out to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder, "I am sure that they will be fine." Washington told him in a consoling sort of voice, "Tucker actually proved himself to be a fairly capable leader back there."
From behind them, Church made a very obvious fake gagging noise in the back of his throat, "All right, let's get moving ourselves. Hopefully before things get any more goddamned mushy around here and I am forced to kill you all for the sake of my continued sanity."
"Even though these arrangements are meant to be only temporary at best, I will try to do what I can to make them more comfortable." Filss told Four Seven Niner during one of her assigned checkups of the detention cells.
"Well, gee. Thanks for that." The dwarven pilot couldn't help but mutter sarcastically, though Four Seven Niner winced a moment later herself when the diamond woman remained standing at her cell door. The pilot rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "Sorry. I know you and the guy with the bad dye job are trying to help us."
"The apology is not necessary." Filss assured her politely, "I just wish that I could do more."
The tan-skinned woman regarded the Magic User carefully then, having picked up on the hidden meaning behind her words, "You're something of a prisoner yourself, aren't you?"
Filss nodded briefly, "My sister and I…our magic abilities manifested quite early on." She held out her hand in front of her, examining her spread out fingers carefully. They gleamed even in what dim lighting there was down in the cells, "As you can imagine, it was hard for our parents to conceal them. We were both taken into Unsc custody as a result." The diamond woman shrugged her shoulders as if trying to downplay her next words, "I've been with them ever since."
"No way!" Jensen exclaimed from her cell not too far away, "These guys have connections to the empire?"
"At least to the Magic Division in some way." Filss informed her, "That was the division I was taken in by. Price is a researcher for them."
"Price?" Palomo tilted his head curiously at the unknown name.
"Some asshole with a super creepy smile." Kaikaina informed the dark-haired man bluntly.
While he said nothing during this conversation, Matthews suddenly shivered and hugged himself even tighter at the mention of Price.
"Having your freedom cut off so much sucks." Four Seven Niner noted to Filss' earlier remarks as a wry, sort-of smile graced her lips, "I felt something similar during my stint in an orphanage. It's the main reason why I wanted so badly to become an airship pilot."
Filss smiled herself, a rather faraway look in her clear eyes, "Flying must be very lovely."
"I'll be sure to show you sometime, once we get out of here."
"Hey, you two." Kaikaina suddenly cut in with a serious note in her voice, "Can you maybe keep the flirting to a minimum? We need to figure out how to get out of here on our own in case this rescue plan sucks major ass. Plus, I want to see what my chances are with this hottie here."
She gestured over to Volleyball at that last comment. The blonde was still in the process of nodding at what the half-Orc, half-Beast Folk had said earlier, "Yeah, yeah…" It took a moment for Kaikaina's last comment to sink in, a blush suddenly appearing on her face, "Wait…what?!"
Dexter Grif, Simmons, and the others were standing on top of a forested hill overlooking the back of the ruins that Charon had refitted into their fortress for the time being. It seemed oddly peaceful at the moment, and not at all sinister and menacing.
From where the group was currently standing, the noise from the celebration and festivities going on currently in town sounded far off in the distance. The wind gently blew the long blades of grass towards their target, as if trying to beckon them entrance.
In any other situation? Grif would be sorely tempted to just sit down and try to take a nap. Maybe even pull Simmons down along with him since the nerdy human could always use the rest, after all. But, this was a different type of situation altogether. In the Orc's mind, it was always a fucking bad sign when napping wasn't the best course of action.
After all, they were here to save Kai and the other Magic Users who had been kidnapped. Thanks to Simmons' healing magic, definitely a convenient power if ever there was one, he was back in top form to do so. Sleep could come later.
"There do appear to be less guards now." Sheila noted quietly, as if she was afraid that speaking up any louder would alert the seemingly absent Charon forces to their presence.
Doctor Grey nodded her head in agreement, "This would probably be the ideal time to sneak in."
"Just how are we going to go about it?" Donut queried, a hand over his eyes as he carefully scanned the area around them, "I mean, I'm an expert at finding holes! But, we'll need a large one or it will be a tight squeeze all around once we get deep in there!"
Church made a disgruntled noise and a lowly muttered comment about phrasing, but they all ignored him.
"Can't you teleport us in, Donut?" Simmons questioned, remembering the dirty blond's powers.
"I could," Donut replied, looking thoughtful at the question, "But it's always a big risk if I don't know the area."
Right. Grif couldn't speak for the others, but he would personally hate to get stuck in a wall or appear right in the middle of a group of Charon guards. That would definitely belong in the category of "hassles rather avoided."
"Well, now is your best bet for getting into the place undetected. So, it looks like you're in quite the pickle if you can't figure this part out."
The group spun around at the new voice, surprised to see a man dressed in blue standing directly behind them. The stranger's hands were clasped behind his back and a gentle, friendly expression was on his face.
Washington stiffened at the sight, as did Church. Their expressions suddenly became unreadable in a way that did not speak of good things. Freelancer shit, Tucker would likely say.
"…Florida." Washington finally said, hesitating as if in the presence of a ghost.
"Seriously," Grif questioned irritably, as his last encounter with a new Freelancer was still very much fresh in his mind even if the pain had long since faded away to memory, "How many of you Freelancer assholes are there?"
"Oh, not as many as there used to be. Now," Florida informed the chubby orange-wearing man in that still oddly pleasant tone of voice before he stepped forward and gestured again towards the facility their group was currently surveilling, "The real question you should be asking yourselves is just what it is that you plan on doing with this opportunity that you've been given."
Author's Notes: Kai obviously has the right priorities, plus Florida appears! :) Next chapter is when the rescue mission really gets underway, and there are a few surprising twists and reveals in store too! We're actually about six chapters or so away from the conclusion to Volume I, and I'm starting to get excited with all the things I have planned for the second part of this series! :D
I would also like to give out a HUGE thank you to the incredibly talented and wonderful blankslate101, who has made some phenomenal artwork for this story. It's seriously amazing, and I can't stop gushing every time I see it. Please be sure to check out their work over at DeviantArt yourself! :D Thank you so much, again! :)
Also, I have a Canon Divergent AU that I will be posting in a few weeks, as was requested by the awesome Shiranai Atsune! :) I know that I have a lot of WIPs in the air right now, but I still plan on doing my best to finish them all. I hope that you will bear with me and enjoy the ride! XD
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story! :D