-Line Break-
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
-Various, Red vs Blue
-Line Break-
As one would probably expect given the situation, there was immediate chaos, which meant lots of shouting. York and Tex took one look at Wyoming and Maine respectively and fell into fighting stances. North was surprised to see South, and even more surprised when she ran over to him and hugged him tight while crying. Although both were very wary about seeing Maine again. Maine and Wyoming had also gotten into fighting stances after seeing York and Tex do so. As for Connie and Florida, they were just trying to figure out how they weren't dead. Well, in Florida's case it would actually be more correct to say that he was trying to figure out if he was dead for real this time. Meanwhile, the mysterious boy was trying to restore order calmly before he gave up and went with the most effective method he knew, shout at a volume higher than most humans could reach.
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN AND SHUT THE HELL UP!" he boomed. That made them stop alright, it's not every day that you hear a kid who looks like he's barely old enough to vote scream louder than a rock concert after all. Seeing he had everyone's attention, the boy composed himself once more, and continued to speak.
"Now that we all have that out of our system, about the off-"
"Who are you?"
"Where are we?"
"What the hell is The Meta doing here?"
"How am I not dead?"
"You said you had an offer, what do want us to do and how much are you paying?"
"Grrrrrrrrrrr?"
Only to be cut off by questions from Connie, Flowers, South, North and York and Wyoming, Tex, and Maine in that order. Before answering, the boy simply looked at all of them.
"Am I ever going to actually tell you guys anything or are you all just going to keep interrupting?" After hearing 'sorry' mumbled a few times he continued.
"Now, I told you all that I have an offer, we'll be getting to that shortly. First things first, introductions. I am Ivan."
After hearing his name, the Freelancer gave him a once-over. He had straight black hair that was cut short. He had fair skin with some freckles on his face, and he wore glasses. His eyes were red, but not blood red, he didn't look like a vampire or something. He was tall and seemed to have an average build, and his outfit wasn't anything interesting. Although, he did wear a cape, like something a fairytale prince would wear.
"Now, before we get to my offer, I'm sure you have many questions. Possibly more than you've already asked, so I will answer those first. To start, you all are in the underworld. Second, that man is no longer 'The Meta' but is Agent Maine once more. Third, you are dead. Fourth, I will get to the offer very soon, but I can tell you right now you're not getting paid. Fifth… I have no idea what you were trying to ask."
Tex decided to take charge and step forward.
"Alright 'Ivan', you may have answered some of our questions, but I don't care about the offer anymore if I'm not getting paid." This statement caused some of the other Freelancers to look at her in surprise, they had always remembered her as a soldier that followed orders, not a mercenary that worked for the highest bidder. The rest were just trying to make sense of what Ivan had said. What did he mean by 'Underworld'? They were all dead? Maine was just happy he was free from Sigma's brainwashing, even if no one else could tell because of his helmet.
"Are you sure?" asked Ivan, breaking everyone from their thoughts.
"Because as I said before, you all are dead. So what else are you going to do exactly? It's not like you can force me to let you go, none of you have any weapons, and I promise you that I am the most powerful person here."
That actually gave Tex some pause. She hadn't exactly thought that far ahead.
"Look, why don't you just hear me out, and you all give my offer a try? What do you all say?"
Looking between themselves, the Freelancers tried to weigh their options as best they could.
"Why not." said Connie. She wanted to ask Tex if she had found the data chip, but that could wait until after they were done with this Ivan kid. One by one the other Freelancers agreed as well, seeing how they were a bit low on options. Ivan smiled in response.
"In that case, why don't you all take a seat?" he said as he gestured around the room. The Freelancers actually looked at the room they were in for the first time. It had wooden walls, on the back wall there was a fridge, some cabinets, a sink and a dishwasher. On the opposite wall was a large television. There was also a large sofa, as well as some beanbag chairs and recliners. Tex, York, North and South sat on the Sofa. Connie and Florida each took a beanbag chair. Maine and Wyoming each took a recliner. All in all, the room looked like it belonged in a cozy little cabin.
"You can all take off your helmets by the way." explained Ivan, pointing to his head. Looking at each other, the Freelancers shrugged and took off their helmets. They were all particularly interested in Tex taking off her helmet, since they had never seen her face. As she took it off, she revealed long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, and green eyes. The only two Freelancers that opted not to remove their helmets were Connie and Maine. Connie chose not too because she didn't have it on to begin with, and Maine kept his helmet on because… moving on. The Freelancers all took their seats and Ivan looked over them, making sure they were comfy.
"Now, what I want you people to do is: I want you to watch some videos." That 'offer' could not have come farther out of left field. The agents had been expecting him to ask them to retrieve or steal something, or perform an assassination. They were expecting something military.
"What exactly do we get out of this?" asked Tex. Ivan sighed.
"You see," he explained, "You all died. You are in Hades. The Underworld. The Land of the Dead. Normally, you would be judged for your actions in life and you would be assigned to one of three places. The Fields of Asphodel, which is essentially limbo. Elysium, which is where you go if you die a hero's death to feast and celebrate for eternity, and possibly be selected for reincarnation. Or the Fields of Punishment, which is pretty self-explanatory, if you were evil in life you are sent there to pay for your crimes." Hearing this, the Freelancers looked at each other nervously, most of them had the feeling that they would probably be sentenced to the Fields of Asphodel at best, or Fields of Punishment at worst. Maine wondered whether he himself would be held accountable for what Sigma made him do.
"Now what I did," continued Ivan, "What I did is I pulled some strings, instead of receiving judgement, you all would watch these videos I have for you. Now looking at your faces, you all can probably guess that I may have saved some of you from eternal damnation. With that out of the way, let's get to what the readers are here for, shall we?"
"Wait, what was that last part?" asked Connie. Ivan ignored her and pulled out stack of DVD cases from thin air and popped open the tray to the DVD player underneath the TV. Opening one of the cases he placed the disc into the DVD player and moved back to sit in an unoccupied recliner. He then pulled out a remote and hit the play button.
*Begin Episode 1*
Roosterteeth Presents:
*guitar*
The scene fades in and lowers into a canyon, showing a military base with four soldiers and a Warthog jeep beside it. 'RED' scrolls across the screen behind the group of soldiers.
Roses are red
And Violets are blue
The camera zooms in on a soldier wearing bright red armor and holding a shotgun. 'Sarge' scrolls across the screen behind him.
One day we'll cruise down Blood Gulch Avenue
The camera switches to a soldier who is wearing orange armor and driving the Warthog. 'Grif' scrolls behind him.
It's red versus red
And blue versus blue
The camera switches to a maroon wearing soldier who is manning the Warthog's mounted turret. 'Simmons' scrolls behind him.
It's I against I
And me against you
The camera switches to another soldier wearing bright red armor, only this one has a magnum instead of a shotgun. 'Donut' scrolls across the screen. The camera then zooms across the canyon to another base. This one with three soldiers and a tank, this time 'BLUE' lowers onto the screen behind the new group.
Violets are blue
Roses are red
The camera zooms in on a soldier wearing aqua-colored armor wearing a magnum. 'Tucker' scrolls behind him.
Living like this we were already dead
The camera switches to a soldier standing on top of the base, holding a sniper rifle and wearing sky blue armor. 'Church' scrolls behind him.
*slight techno music*
The camera then switches to a soldier wearing black armor holding an assault rifle. The soldier temporarily activates a cloaking device as 'Tex' scrolls across the screen.
Hop in my car, it don't have any do~ors
A fourth soldier hops out of the tank wearing bright blue armor. 'Caboose' scrolls behind him. The camera then switches to the tank's headlights, 'Sheila' scrolls across the screen.
It's built like a cat, it lands on all fo~urs
The camera zooms across the canyon again to focus on a soldier wearing brown armor. 'Lopez' scrolls behind him. The camera than zooms towards a cave before different scenes are shown. First, a wide shot of the canyon is shown. Then, the warthog speeds across the ground. 'Sarge' and 'Grif' are shown standing next to each other talking to someone off-screen. 'Church' and 'Tucker' are standing on a cliff, and 'Church' is aiming the sniper rifle at something. 'Donut' is shown standing on top of a base holding a blue flag. 'Sheila's' main cannon is fired at something. Another shot of Tex's face is shown before the camera switches to a view of a space station.
My car's like a puma, it drives on all fo~urs
The camera then switches to a man sitting at a desk. 'Vic' scrolls behind him. The camera then shows a top-down view of the canyon. An alien vehicle flies towards the screen. 'Caboose' and 'Church' are standing on top of a base, 'Church' fires his sniper rifle at something. 'Sarge' and 'Grif' are standing on top of the other base, 'Sarge' fires his shotgun at something. 'Caboose' is shown piloting 'Sheila'. 'Simmons' is shown firing the Warthog's mounted turret. 'Sheila' is driven towards the camera. The Warthog is jumped off of a hill Dukes of Hazzard style. Then, the screen switches to pitch black with 'Red vs Blue: Season 1' in the middle.
"Catchy tune." York comments.
"Yeah." agreed Ivan.
"Uh, something wrong old chap?" Wyoming asked Maine. Maine was too busy glaring at the screen, those were those damn sims that killed him on Sidewinder! He would admit that he had tried to kill him, so they had every right to fight back. That didn't mean that getting stabbed and shot multiple times, and then being tied to a car that was then pushed off a cliff didn't still hurt like hell.
"Wait a minute." demanded South. Ivan paused the video.
"Are we going to be watching a bunch of damn Sims?"
"Uhhhh… I guess?" answered Ivan.
"What do you mean 'you guess'? Also, I'm pretty sure I recognize two of those blue sims!"
"I recognize more than two of them." said Wyoming, "And I'm sure Tex does as well."
"What?" asked North.
"Care to explain?" Tex asked Ivan.
"Well, um, you see… the thing is," Ivan answered sheepishly, "I haven't watched these myself. So, um, if any of you are familiar with these events, keep it to yourself."
"Why?" asked Tex.
"Like I said, I haven't watched this stuff myself, and you all died at different points in time in relation to these events. I'm trying to make sure nothing gets spoiled for anyone is what I'm trying to say."
The Freelancers just kind of looked at him.
"Can we just watch the damn video?" asked Ivan with a hint of irritation in his voice. He pressed the resume button as he was answered with multiple 'Fine's.
After a fade-in, the camera pans upwards to show Grif and Simmons standing on top of Red Base. Simmons then turns to Grif.
"Hey."
"Yeah?" answered Grif.
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
York snorted, "How philosophical."
"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it?" answered Grif, "Why ARE we here? I mean, are we the product of… some cosmic coincidence or… is there really a God? Watching everything? Y'know, with a plan for us, and stuff? I dunno, man. But it keeps me up at night."
"That was deep." said North. Florida nodded in agreement.
"I wouldn't say anything just yet." said Tex.
"Why?"
"You'll see."
The two soldiers stared at each other until Simmons broke the silence.
"What? I meant why are we out here, in this canyon?"
"Told ya." Tex said to North.
"Oh, uh… yeah."
"What was all that stuff about God?" asked Simmons
"Uhhhh… hmm? Nothing." answered Grif.
"You wanna talk about it?" asked Simmons.
"No." Grif said quickly.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." came the response just as quickly. Simmons decided to just let that topic drop.
"Seriously though, why are we out here?" Simmons asked, continuing his initial train of thought, "As far as I can tell, it's just a box canyon in the middle of nowhere, no way in or out."
Do they not know? Thought the Freelancers.
"Mm-hmm." Grif responded.
"The only reason that we set up a Red base here is because they have a Blue base over there. And the only reason they have a Blue base over there is because we have a Red base here." continued Simmons.
"Yeah, that's because we're fighting each other." answered Grif.
"No, no, I mean, even if we pulled out today, and they were to come take our base, they would have two bases in the middle of a box canyon. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo."
"What's up with that anyway?" agreed Grif, "I mean, I signed on to fight some aliens. Next thing I know, Master Chief blows up the whole Covenant armada, and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere, fighting a bunch a blue guys."
Holy shit, they actually don't know that it's all fake! the Freelancers realized.
The camera switches to a cliffside, where Church is using a sniper rifle to spy on Grif and Simmons, with Tucker standing behind him.
"What are they doing?" asked Tucker. This causes Church to lower the sniper rifle and turn towards that aqua-colored soldier.
"What?" responded, with irritation evident in his tone.
"Something tells me that isn't the first time…" Connie started, before realizing that she hadn't fully paid attention to the names during the opening, "um… Tucker?" she guessed turning towards the others to see if they knew.
"Tucker." confirmed Tex, Wyoming, and Florida simultaneously.
"Tucker has asked that" she finished, the video then confirming her suspicions.
"I said, what are they doing now?" repeated Tucker.
"God damn, I'm getting so sick of answering that question." Church snapped.
"You have the fucking rifle, I can't see shit!" Tucker shot back, "Don't bitch at me because I'm not going to just sit up here and play with my dic-"
"Classy." muttered South.
"Classic Tucker." Tex said, with almost a hint of nostalgia, earning her a look from South and a few of the others.
"Okay, okay, look." Church said, cutting off Tucker, "They're just standing there and talking okay? That's all they're doing. That's all they ever do, is just stand there and talk. That's what they were doing last week. That's what they were doing when you asked me five minutes ago. So five minutes from now, when you ask me, 'What are they doing?', my answer's gonna be, 'They're still just talking, and they're still just standing there.'" Tucker turns to look down the cliff at Red base before turning back to Church.
"What are they talking about?" he asked. Church looked at him for a moment.
"You know what?" he finally said, "I fucking hate you."
"Oh Church," said Florida, "Don't be like that. At least he asked a different question."
The camera switches back to Grif and Simmons' conversation at Red base.
"Talk about a waste of resources." said Grif, "I mean, we should be out there finding new and intelligent forms of life. Y'know, fight them."
"Yeah, no shit." agreed Simmons, "That's why they should put us in charge."
The camera cuts to a shot of a soldier standing in front of the base as he shouts at Grif and Simmons with a southern accent.
"Ladies! Front and centre on the double!"
"Fuck." mutters Simmons.
"Yes, sir!" Grif calls back.
*End Episode 1*
"That's it?" asked North, "That was only a few minutes."
"Well, it was only the first one. There are a lot more to go through." Ivan pointed out, lifting the remote to play the next episode.
"Hold it." said South, "We only agreed to watch the first one."
"Indeed," agreed Wyoming, "We never said anything about accepting your offer." Ivan just looked at the two.
"We've already been over this, you all are dead. You aren't going to be doing anything else. Besides, in exchange for watching and reacting to these, you all don't have to worry about being judged."
"Yeah, about that whole 'judgment' thing. Say we refused your offer and got judged, where would we end up?" questioned York.
"I can't say for sure, I made sure I was only told the bare minimum details of your deaths to try and avoid spoilers." answered Ivan, "I can say that I'm pretty sure most of you would end up in Asphodel. Except for you three." He said, pointing at North, Connie, and Wyoming.
"You two," he continued pointing to North and Connie again, "would have the best chances of making it into Elysium given the circumstances of your deaths."
"You however," he said as he turned to Wyoming, "Would be sent to the Fields of Punishment, no doubt." These revelations gave the Freelancers pause, they were still kind of trying to wrap their heads around the fact that they were all dead. Not to mention there were still questions.
"Wait," began North, "Does it have to be a unanimous decision?"
"It's not necessary but it would be preferable if you all said yes, why?" Ivan responded, studying the older man's face.
"And you have a lot of pull in the afterlife, right?"
"I'm not the final authority, but yes."
"If I agree to watch these videos," North started slowly, "Would you be able to make sure that my sister can take my place in that Elysium place?" This caused South's eyes to widen.
"North! No!" she shouted, startling everyone, "You already sacrificed yourself to save me when…" she trailed off, looking at Maine, who in turn looked away in… shame?
"I'm your older brother, I'm supposed to protect you."
"By three fucking minutes!"
"It wouldn't be possible regardless." Ivan cut in, making the twins pause to look at him.
"I wouldn't be able to overrule a judgement like that."
"Why not?" demanded North.
"Yeah," Connie chimed in, "You seem to have a lot of pull here."
"Doesn't matter. I still can't do that."
"But why not?" insisted North.
"Because the whole point of being judged is that it has to be fair and just. If I could just put the newly dead wherever I wanted, there would be no point in judging them."
"I would like to ask how you even have any pull in this place anyway." Florida said.
"Yeah, you said we were in hell or something right?" York asked.
"I never said that." replied Ivan, "I said you were in the underworld. Are any of you familiar with Greek mythology? Let me explain, Hades is the God of the Underworld, which is where people go when they die."
"What about heaven or hell?" Wyoming interrupted, "are they just fake?"
"They're real, in a way. However, that's not important right now. When people die, they go to the underworld, and after crossing the River Styx, they are judged based on their actions in life. You all have died, and I got permission to allow you to bypass being judged and instead watch these videos if you so choose."
"How?" asked Tex.
"What?"
"How did you get that kind of permission, how do you even have any pull here in the underworld? Are you this Hades guy in disguise?"
"No, no, you see…" Ivan started before scratching the back of his head, "You see, Hades is the king of the underworld, and… I am the prince." That was something none of the Freelancers were expecting.
"So you're this Hades chap's son?" asked Wyoming.
"Not exactly," Ivan began, before stopping to think about it, "I mean, I guess I'm technically his adopted son…"
"How did you become prince of the underworld anyway?" asked York.
"That's a long story, and without context it's a story that will raise more questions than it answers. And giving context is an even longer story that no one wants to hear." answered Ivan before sighing in frustration.
"Look, your options are either watch these videos with me, or be judged and sentenced. The decision does not have to be unanimous. Unfortunately, there's no way for any of you to really haggle or barter your way into more options. That is my final offer, take it or leave it." Now the Freelancers were faced with this decision that would decide their fates, at least they only really had to worry about themselves. Connecticut wasn't sure what to choose, if she watched the videos, she might learn what happened after she died, if she was judged then she had a chance at paradise. York didn't mind watching the videos as much as some of the others, and Greek limbo sounded boring. Florida was more than happy to watch these videos starring Church and Tucker, as well as the Red team he picked out for Blood Gulch. Maine didn't really want much to do with the videos involving those pesky Sims, but he also didn't want to risk Greek hell for something he couldn't control. Wyoming thought similarly, with the exception of that he knew that if he got sentenced to these 'Fields of Punishment' he absolutely deserved it. Tex didn't really care either way. The twins were a bit torn, North was a little sad that he hadn't been able to get South into Elysium, but if she ended up agreeing to watch then he would too. South was tempted to ask Ivan if he could guarantee North getting into paradise if she agreed to stay, but she knew that if she stayed then North would stay. She also did not want to risk North trying to haggle with Ivan into getting him sentenced to Asphodel alongside her. So if staying here meant North wouldn't try to do that, then she would stay. Even if it meant watching a bunch of Sims, at least she would be able to repay North for sacrificing himself to save her from The Meta. Speaking of him, she was actually pretty glad Maine was back to normal, even if she didn't show it. All the Freelancers turned to Ivan, who looked up from a handheld game device he had pulled out from… wherever he got the discs from probably.
"I'm guessing you all have made your decisions?" he asked, seeing everyone nod he put the game device in his pocket.
"So, who wants to go first?"
"I'm staying." said York.
"Me too," agreed Florida.
"Well, seeing as my choices are either watching the misadventures of a bunch of Sim Troopers, or eternal damnation. I believe my decision is clear." stated Wyoming.
"I guess I'll stay," said Connie, "It could be fun." she wasn't going to admit it just yet, but she thought that these videos looked like they could be funny. Maine responded by making himself more comfy in his recliner. North and South looked at each other.
"You staying?" asked South.
"Depends." answered North, "Are you?"
"What if I wasn't a factor? You can stay if you want, or go to your Elysium paradise thingy. I don't care, I've caused you enough trouble in the past."
"I just want to make sure you're safe." South rolled her eyes at that response.
"I just said stop worrying about me. Look, worst case scenario, I get stuck in Greek limbo. It'll be boring, but that's it."
"I'm your brother, it's my job to worry about you." North countered.
"Whatever, I'm staying." This surprised North.
"Really? I thought you wouldn't want to since these guys are Sim Troopers."
"I'm only staying because I know if I don't, you'll give up your spot in paradise to get stuck in Asphodel with me. I'm not letting you do that to yourself because of me."
"But-" North was going to argue, but was cut off by South.
"End of discussion," she said as she turned to Ivan, "You heard my answer kid, I'm staying. And despite what I told my idiot brother, he's going to end up staying because I'm staying." Ivan looked at North, checking to see if he was okay with his sister speaking for him.
"At least I'll know she's okay." Seeing no argument from the male twin, Ivan turned to Tex.
"And you?" His question was met with a shrug from the armored woman.
"I got nothing better to do." Ivan smiled at this.
"Perfect, this couldn't have gone any better. Now then to seal the deal." He walked over to Tex and stuck out his hand. Tex smirked as she stood up from the sofa, and shook his outstretched hand.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's start the next episode." Ivan walked back to his recliner and picked up the remote, but paused before hitting 'play' and turned to the Freelancers.
"I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but the fridge and cabinets are enchanted to have as many snacks and drinks as you want."
"But I thought we were dead?" asked Florida.
"Hmm? OH! No, what's going on is that since you all died, you no longer need to eat and drink, but you can still do so if you want to." Satisfied with this explanation, a few of the Freelancers got up to make use of these enchanted cabinets and fridge. York grabbed a few beers and gave one to Maine, Connie got a large bag of chips from the cabinet and a few bowls of dip from the fridge, as well as a soda. Ivan helped Florida get some popcorn by summoning a stove and a microwave. Ivan then summoned a few coffee tables so people had places to put the snacks and drinks. Now that everyone was settled Ivan picked up the remote, got comfortable, and played the next episode.
Author's Notes
Okay, I gotta admit, my first real story got more positive feedback than I was expecting. I guess I might as well respond to reviews that I got on the Prologue Chapter, which will also explain how this is going to work.
Boggie445:
Yup, Season 1. Gotta start somewhere.
BrickBerserker:
Thank you.
Anonymous Guest:
North's death is never actually shown, so I took some… creative liberties. I hope I made the death sad enough.
Tristin:
Thank you very much, I hope I live up to your expectations.
Shiranai Atsune:
As I explained, they died. They are in the Greek underworld. The events of this reaction fic will have no effect on the events of Red vs Blue.
No one really knows what Florida was going to say, but considering his goal was to keep the Alpha from being discovered or damaged, most people theorize that he was going to make sure the Reds and Blues remained in a stalemate.
That is exactly what I plan on doing.
Season 15 is nearing it's close so I'll have some time to catch up.
Unfortunately, I guess I didn't make it clear last chapter that I am not skipping straight to Season 6. I wrote this Fic because of the fact that I felt there were too many fics that did that. I hope you can still enjoy what I intend to do. If you don't like it, then I'm sorry, but keep in mind that no one is forcing you to read this. So please don't start to bash my fic, I would rather have one less person following the story than having someone posting hate on it.
RWBYSTRQ
I might end up doing two per chapter depending on the length of the episode. We'll have to see.
All in all, I hope you enjoy my Fic. If you haven't already, I would really appreciate it if you followed and favorited this story. One last thing, is that I am open to constructive criticism, so please post a review while you're at it. Until next time!
-Finch Daemon