OH MY GOD! Season 13! The Counselor's name! Not even two episodes and I can already tell that something will happen! *sucks in breath sharply and coughs* Anyway... here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own no one but my OCs.

I stared at the teleporter before me. I looked back at the three men. "There's no way I'm going through that."

"We have to!" Simmons said. "This is the quickest way to get to Sidewinder."

I looked back at the teleporter. I looked back at them. "You know what? I'm with Lav; I'm walking to Sidewinder. I'd rather do that than to go through my weird experience with it again."

After we managed to get away from the corridor where that woman came in, we quickly tracked down the signal of the bomb activated inside of Church. Well, mostly Simmons. But anyway, after we found it and Simmons working on the teleporter (along with working Frankie through it) and we're here – though I had to repress my giggle at Sarge's antics on going through the wrong portal.

But now as we stood in front of one that leads to Sidewinder… seriously, I don't want to go through it again. It was… I'm not even sure how to describe it. It was… I don't know… weird?

It's the best I could describe it.

"But how are you going to get to Sidewinder from here?" Simmons asked me, his tone bored.

"Uh… I'll think of something."

Mikey tapped his chin in thought. "Wow… that would probably take a long time for you to get to Sidewinder."

"Um, I'm sure I'll be fine." Even I don't feel convinced.

"Listen little lady," Sarge began, "We don't have time for lollygagging – the bomb could explode at any minute!"

On some parts, I have to agree – for all we know, the bomb could be ticking down faster than we thought… but still…

"I want to be there to see O'Malley and Grif get destroyed by it!" Ah, there it is; that's the OTHER reason.

"But what about Lopez?" Simmons pointed out.

"Oh, right, and maybe find him as well," the red soldier added sheepishly. He cleared his throat. "So hop to it, missy!"

"Yeah, uh, I don't think so," I said, turning around. "I'm not sure how you guys got used to it, but I'm not-"

I felt something shove me forward and I let out a startled yelp.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground.

"Uh…" I groaned out before I pushed myself up-

And then something landed on my back, and my face planted onto the ground (but thank God for the helmets). Gawd! What's on my back-?

"Oh! Sorry Erica!" Oh. Mikey. I felt him getting off of me. "Uh, are you okay?"

I laid there for a moment. "…Who pushed me?"

"Oh, it was Red Sargent," Mikey answered. "When you turned away, he went and shoved you in the teleporter."

Oh, yeah, sure. He can't hurt females, but he certainly has no qualms pushing them into frickin'-!

Wait. I pushed myself up again, and this time, I took in my surroundings.

We seem to be in a building of sorts. But there is dust and cobwebs around… like it hadn't been used. Plus, even through the Kelvar under-suit, I can feel the cold seeping in.

So…this is Sidewinder. "…Huh," I murmured as I stood up.

"Oh, hi guys," Mikey suddenly spoke up.

I turned to Sarge and Simmons. The former crossed his arms. "Just so you know, I don't regret that."

I just deadpanned at him. "…If we weren't chasing O'Malley, I would have hit you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Meh, too much effort." For some odd reason, I have a feeling that I might hit him – for real.

Sarge grunted a bit, as if pleased on his deed.

As I pushed myself up, Sarge asked Simmons, "So how long until the others arrive?"

"Well, sir, after we arrived here, they should be here any minute now," Simmons replied.

I hope so – it would be bad that they did end up in the middle of nowhere in outer space and lose oxygen in a matter of minutes…

After a few minutes, the teleporter glowed again. "Okay, here they come," Simmons said. "Hopefully…"

Either them or that woman. I have to agree with him on that.

I let out a sigh of relieve when Tex came out of the teleporter, followed by Frankie. "Yeah-ha, I knew I could fix a teleporter!" He said, sounding pleased with himself. He looked over his hands. "I guess these hands aren't just for manicuring after all."

"Hi Frankie," I said – at least Frankie isn't an asshole like Simmons and Sarge.

"Oh, hey guys! How's it going?" Frankie asked.

"Oh, not much," I shrugged. "We got separated, went through some things I don't want to describe, saw someone scary come out of the teleporter, and I was shoved by Sarge to get here."

Frankie stared at me. "That sucks."

"Yeah, tell me about it," I sighed.

At that moment, Lav tumbled out of the teleporter, covered in soot and did a rather graceful face-plant onto the ground, yelping in pain.

"Hi Tucker/Lav," Mikey and I said in unison.

"Ugh…" Lav groaned before pushing himself up. "Damn, that hurts like a bitch!"

"What's all that black stuff on your armor?" Simmons asked in confusion.

"Wha?" Lav looked over at himself then at Frankie and groaned. "What the fuck? How come it's just me that's affected!?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it's your armor?" I asked. Now that I thought about it, how come Mikey's armor didn't have the soot on him the last few times?

Do the teleporters hate him?

…Nah, that's stupid – technology can't be racist- well, they can, but…

I better not over think it.

I looked around. "Where's Tex?"

"Didn't you notice?" Simmons asked me. "She took off ahead when she came out."

"Oh." Most likely out looking for Wyoming… wait. "Oh shit…" I murmured.

"What?" Simmons asked.

"We need to warn her about what we saw back there," I said to him.

"Saw what?" Lav and Frankie asked, confused.

I turned to them. "Guys… we saw someone else in that weird nexus," I said. "It was a woman."

"Oh! Is she hot?" Of course, Lav had to ask that.

I gawked at him. "Lav, this is not the time!" I shouted at him. He stepped back a bit. "She has some advanced tech on her, and not only that… she could be much more dangerous than Tex."

Lav stared at me. "…Oh shit, you're actually serious," he breathed out.

"Of course I am," I nodded. "Simmons, Sarge and Mikey saw her as well!"

"She was really scary…" Mikey whimpered.

An air of uncertainty is over us. I didn't mean to bring it down but… I don't think we can ignore that woman forever. She could be a potential threat to us, and… there's something about her that just… unnerves me.

I can't really describe the feeling, really.

"Uh… L-Look," Simmons piped up after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "The teleporter messed up her motion sensor. It'll take her a while to try to find this Zero person and by then, we would be LONG gone."

"Yeah, I mean, that person named Zero could be anywhere!" Frankie agreed, also trying to help bring the optimistic atmosphere up.

I bit my lip. As much as I wanted to agree… a part of me just can't get over the fact about that woman. I don't think it'll be that easy.

But I can't bring myself to damper their moods with my pessimist-nature. Most likely, we won't see her again.

…I hope.

I nodded. "Yeah… you're right. Sorry to bring up the doom and gloom…"

"Try not to make a habit of it, okay?" I can hear the smirk in Lav's voice.

"I can't make any promises, but I can try."

"You better."

I frowned a bit. There was a voice that hadn't spoken up in a while. I glanced over at Sarge. He's… staring at me.

I blinked. "…What?"

He turned his head. "Its nuthin'."

Oooo…kay…?

"Anyway, can you guys help me clean this off?" Lav then changed the subject. "I'm kind of sick of walking around in this stuff."

"Soot," I corrected him. "And…why don't you roll around in the snow? It's just frozen water."

"Fuck that," Lav shook his head.

I sighed. "Okay you big baby, let's clean you off," I said. "Do we have something to clean you off with?"

"Oh! I brought some with me!" Frankie exclaimed and- huh, how come I didn't notice that case the first time. "Tex suggested that I bring this with me."

I let out a hum. I guess in the original universe, they had to look around Blue Base to find some cleaning supplies. But…are there openings in the Blue Base that Wyoming can try to snipe us from? Ugh, stupid plot devices… Why are you so confusing?

"Well, okay," I shrugged. "Let's go."

"Okay!" Mikey and Frankie nodded and they headed out.

Lav and I followed them, but I glanced back at Sarge and Simmons – the former looking thoughtful, while the latter looked over at him. "Sarge…?" Simmons asked.

I stared at them for a moment, but then I shrugged and went into the same pace as Lav.

It's probably something not important – it may not have something to do with me.

~o~

Not long after we cleaned Lav's armor, the six of us set out to try to locate not only O'Malley, but also for any sign of Church and Grif.

And Church isn't kidding. Sidewinder is cold as FUCK!

There are a few times where it was just as cold at the college AND at home (well, generally, everywhere else) but… GOD! How cold is it?

I looked up at the thermostat on my HUD. It took me reading a few times for it to register.

-15 degrees.

… SHIT!

That's-! Oh my god that is fucking cold! Water would've frozen up by now if we had any!

Or maybe US if we took off our armor and Kevlar (and helmets too)!

Ugh! I just HAD to be born in winter! I HATE the cold! I HATE IT! !

Just my freaking luck…

"Hey."

I blinked and looked over at Lav. "Yeah?

"You doing all right?" He asked, concerned.

I let out a sigh. "Cold."

"Yeah," Lav nodded. "Church isn't kidding when he said that it's cold."

"And I hate the fucking cold…" I glowered under my breath.

Lav chuckled. "Don't we all?"

"Wait, how the hell can you even feel the cold?" Simmons questioned me. "Not only are you wearing armor that is heated but also the Kevlar!"

"Hey, don't underestimate the cold!" I retorted. "No matter what you wear, it somehow goes right through it and to the skin!"

"Wimp," Sarge said to me.

"Yes, I'm a wimp, shut up," I grumbled.

"Where the hell are we going, anyway?" Lav then asked.

"We're heading to Red Base," Simmons answered. "It's the only other place where Church and Grif are."

"That and the Blue base is empty," Frankie added.

"Huh, I guess Church wasn't kidding when he said Tex killed off all of the Blues," Lav said.

"Yeah, she-" Simmons cut himself off. "Wait, what? Tex killed off the blues? But- Isn't she a Blue?"

"She's actually hired by us to get our flag back," I said, trying to warm my arms. "She owes us for breaking her out of you guys' jail."

"Hiring a mercenary, huh?" Sarge muttered. "That's a dirty trick with you Blues."

"So? You could've done the same," I pointed out.

Simmons went silent. "…How come we didn't think of that?" He pondered.

"Because you guys suck," Lav said.

"Yeah, and I don't think there are enough Freelancers you can hire," I added. "Some of them are assholes."

Sarge grumbled to himself.

I looked around the snow covered canyon warily. O'Malley and Lopez can be anywhere… along with Wyoming. And there are multiple Churchs out there, and Tex is all tied up. Still… I can't lower my guard. That nearly got me killed (a few times), and I'm not planning on doing that again-

A sinister laughter rang out.

I sighed. "Spoke too soon…" I muttered as the men looked around. I looked up at the icy cliffs, and sure enough, I saw Doc's possessed body and Lopez. "Uh… I think we just landed in a trap, you guys," I announced.

"Aw hell!" Lav cried out.

O'Malley laughed loudly. "You fools have fallen right into my trap!" I just said that. "Only now do you realize the folly of your follies! Prepare for an oblivion, for which there is no preparation!" He laughed evilly some more.

Hmm… that could get annoying pretty quickly. The laughing I mean.

The other men pointed their weapons at O'Malley. "O'Malley, the Reds and Blues are working together now!" Simmons called out, his voice confident. "You can't hope to beat us!"

"Ha HA! You are a fool!" O'Malley shouted. "You cannot do anything even when you team up!" Hmm, that's new; but the Reds and Blues surprisingly do pretty well together. I mean, look at their battle with the Meta. They just gotta cooperate is all-

Then the possessed medic looked over at me. "Well, now, what's this?" He let out. "The sole female of the group? Well, I'm surprised you survived that blast."

"Uh…" I muttered, uncomfortable.

"Well, she has a fucking power!" …God…dammit, Lav. "Even if you take us down, at least she can!" I doubt that. I only have small training, but it's not enough…!

O'Malley stared down at us for a bit…then he cackled. "You fools! It does not matter what type of power you have! You are no match for me… and my robotic ally!" He turned to Lopez. "Lopez, activate weather control routines!"

"Okay," Lopez nodded (and I half expected him to add 'master'), before he raised his arms. As soon as he did, his body began to glow and beams of light shout out from his hands into the sky. There was lightning coming out of him, the clouds rolled in into a windstorm, the falling snow whipping at our faces (not that we can feel it, with us wearing helmets and all). Not only that, Lopez was soon surrounded by mystic runes.

…If that thing wasn't about to kill us, and me being horribly frightened by all of this, I would have chalked this down as the most badass thing I've ever witnessed.

"Whoa!" Simmons cried out, amazed. "Are those runic symbols as a sign of some ancient technology?"

"Actually, I used to draw them on my binder during study hall," oh, there's Doc. He's still hanging in there.

He chuckled. "I always wanted to use them for something," he admitted. "Aren't they cool?"

"If we aren't about to die, yes!" Hey, I might as well get that out before we die.

"Shut up!" And O'Malley's back.

"Oh, Sampson's back hair!" Sarge cried out, distressed. "They found our secret weapon!"

"Secret weapon? What secret weapon!?" Lav shouted as the wind got stronger.

"I developed a weather control device," Sarge explained, "but I was missing one critical piece of technology to make it work!"

"Ha, yes," O'Malley chuckled. "And now that I've located those 'D' batteries, the universe will be mine!" He then proceeded to do his evil laugh.

Oh yeah, it got annoying. "God dammit! Shut up with the laughing!" I shouted up at him, ignoring Sarge and Lav bickering behind me.

"Never!" The AI shouted down at me.

Prick.

Tick-tick-tick…

I blinked at the sound. A clock?

…It's getting louder…

Oh, wait. Duh.

I looked back in time to see Church running at us. "What the hell is going on?!" He exclaimed over the wind.

"You want the long version or the short version?" Sarge asked. "Basically, you've got a fifty megaton bomb in your gut-"

"Ten, sir," Simmons corrected.

"And Lopez is about to kill us all."

Church stared at him. "…That didn't make any sense," he said. "What's the long version?"

"That WAS the long version!" Lav shouted. "The short version is 'we're boned'!"

"…Well, I could have said anything else, but that basically describes our problem very well," I admitted. "So yeah, we're pretty boned here."

"Then whose bright idea was it to chase him?" Church exclaimed.

"Do you want me to say anything?" I asked with a bored tone.

He looks like he was about to retort but then a rocket shot over our heads and hit the ground behind us. "Oh shit!" Lav shouted as we all scattered in fear.

"You foolish fools will never defeat me!" O'Malley shouted as rockets were launched at us. "You're far too busy being foolish!" He cackled. "Oblivion is at hand!"

In the chaos, I somehow got separated from the others and I found myself hiding at the cliff. The other spots were taken.

But at least I'm at O'Malley's blind spot.

Though, how long would that last? And there's also Wyoming and the bomb to worry about as well. And where the hell is Tex during all of this? She was untied a while ago…was she?

I looked back at the others, all of them hiding. O'Malley jumped down and silently crept up to Sarge and Grif.

I looked over at Simmons, who's trying to get the portal to work.

Who knows how long it would take for Simmons to get the portal ready for the Battle Creek Reds and Blues to come through.

I looked back at O'Malley. He's getting closer to Sarge and Grif.

Unconsciously, I took in a weary breath.

I'm going to die.

I'm going to fucking die.

I charged at the possessed medic.

~o~

For the most part, Grif was slightly amazed that he wasn't done with Sarge's shit (yet). But, it was not surprising that Sarge would come up with a plan that ridiculous in an effort to try to kill him. Again.

"You're kidding," Grif deadpanned.

"It's a remote chance," Sarge said, ignoring his deadpan. "But it's worth a shot."

Before Grif can say anything, O'Malley suddenly appeared behind Sarge, aiming his rocket launcher at them. "OOOOOBLIVION IS AT HAND!" He shouted with a mad cackle.

"Oh shit!" Grif exclaimed in horror.

"Cover your ears, guys," Doc's voice called out. "This thing is really loud!"

Shit. Being blown up by an enemy; what a way to go. He half expected his death to be at the hands of aliens, starvation, poison… or well, anything really with Sarge always threatening to kill him (crazy old fool) but… Well, at least Kaikaina is safe.

Despite himself, he held onto Sarge. "This is it!" he cried out. If there's one thing he wanted to say…

This army sucks-

"OOF!"

Huh?

Grif wearily opened his eyes and looked at the scene – the chick in indigo armor tackled O'Malley and the two of them tumbled and rolled onto the snow, and the possessed medic lost his grip on his larger, more dangerous weapon.

O'Malley shoved the woman off, who tumbled a bit before picking herself up.

The possessed medic pushed himself up as well. "Little bitch!" He cursed.

The woman sighed and got into a stance. "At least this bitch will attempt to stop you," she stated.

Grif wasn't sure what expression O'Malley was making but the next moment, he charged at her. And then all hell broke loose.

The woman barely dodged the punches, but she was kicked down. She quickly got back up before she tried to do punches of her own, but O'Malley managed to dodge them expertly before grabbing her by the head and brutally kneed her on the chin. Her head jerked up but O'Malley wasn't done yet. He grabbed her by the helmet and PUNCHED her, sending her flying and tumbling- and are those orange shards in the snow?

The woman shakily pushed herself up before she pried off her helmet. She has some glass on her face, and blood is drippling down, but she quickly tugged them off before standing up. "God they hurt…" she murmured.

Then suddenly O'Malley punched her again, and she fell to the snow again. "How pathetic," he sneered. "I will admit, it was a good attempt, but you are weak and pathetic!"

She pushed herself up again – hey, her glasses are gone – to glare at him. But she didn't say anything.

"Aw, what's wrong?" O'Malley asked, mockingly. "Nothing witty to say?"

She simply stood up and took a stance.

O'Malley chuckled. "Oh, this is adorable," he said, shaking his head.

"…She's got balls, that's for sure," Sarge said.

Grif could only nod before she attempted to fight him again. "Crazy… but she's got balls."

…He never thought he'd agree with Sarge on that one.

~o~

Ow. Ow.

Okay, that fucking hurt.

The punch to the face, the visor shards on my face… and not to mention the beat down I'm getting…

…And here I thought I got used to it from a few…incidents in my past.

I guess not.

The snow burns on my skin, and dammit, I lost my glasses! It doesn't help that my face stings… and my hair is out of its ponytail. Great.

I tried to push myself up again- only for me to be pushed back onto the ground by a foot. "Ugh!"

"Well, now I'm getting bored," O'Malley spoke up and I heard a gun click. I froze. How did he-?

Fuck. He has my gun.

I managed to move my head (and trying to ignore the snow under my face) to look up at O'Malley. He has my gun pointed right at my face. And since he had me pinned…

I'm fucked.

"I was hoping for a bit more fun with you," O'Malley spoke up, "You with your unusual power she told me-" wait, 'she'? "- but it seems that she was bluffing. What a shame." He cocked the gun. "There will be no way for you to survive this shot. I'll be sure to let you loved ones see you again… in hell!" He cackled.

"Or may in another place," Doc piped in. "If… well, I don't like to talk about this stuff."

"Shut up!" O'Malley shouted at the medic. "Now…DIE!"

I braced myself. 'This is the end…!'

"Not so fast, O'Malley!" I have never been so relieved to hear Simmons' voice. I tried to look over at where Simmons is, in the middle of the field and he has something in his hand. "Maybe we can't stop you… but I know who can!"

A green doorway appeared and soon-

Wait a minute. Didn't… Didn't Mikey slaughter them?

How are they alive!? This isn't possible!

I flinched when I heard gunfire. But it wasn't O'Malley.

In fact, I felt his foot get off of my back and screaming. I pushed myself up to see the Reds and Blues of Battle Creek chasing after the possessed medic, shooting at him. Slowly, I pushed myself up, watching O'Malley screaming like a little bitch.

Serves him right.

I looked over to the ground and picked up my pistol. "Okay, now that's what I call a 'deux es machina'…. Or whatever the hell it's called…"

Strapping the gun to my hip, I quickly followed the Reds. Ugh, the others further ahead are freakin' blurs! My eyesight is so shitty!

A streak of light came out of nowhere and struck the cobalt blur. That must be Church.

And now this will end horribly.

Sarge got to Church and knelt down. "Hold still, son, this'll just take a second."

He then pried off Church's codpiece…and I really can't see because I was standing with the others. But I figured that's where the bomb is located at.

"Goddammit, don't you ever install anything above the waist?" Church sounds really upset. Or angry. Any of the negative emotions.

There was a moment…and then Sarge jumped back. "Oh no!" He shouted (and oh shit, that sounds bad). "That last lightning bolt fused the detonator! There's no way to turn this thing off!"

"WHAT?!" I jumped at the multiple panicked shouts from the men.

"Can't you just turn it off manually?" Simmons asked.

"Impossible," Sarge shook his head. "I specifically designed it so that not even I would be able to defuse it."

"What-?" Grif stuttered and fumbled with his words before he finally spat out, "WHY?"

"It was just in case I fell into the wrong hands, and was brainwashed to help the Blues."

"Huh, well, uh, nice thinking sir." I gawked at Simmons. Seriously? SERIOUSLY!?

"NICE THINKING?!" I shouted hysterically. "BECAUSE OF THAT SHEER ACT OF STUPIDITY, WE'RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE!"

They all stared at me (and Mikey hid behind Lav)…before Grif said, "Yeah, I gotta agree with her."

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU AGREEING WITH OUR ENEMY?!" Simmons shouted at him.

"At least she knows that this was a bad idea!"

"WHY ARE YOU SO CALM?!" Simmons yelled. "YOU'RE NOT REACTING AT ALL!"

"And that's a bad thing?"

"YES!" This time, Lav, Church, and I joined Simmons.

"…Oh," Grif muttered. "Well fuck."

Sarge shook his head. "Lazy until the end, huh? Can't say that I'm not surprised."

Lav then sighed and- hey, since when did Simmons snag the rocket launcher? "Church, there's only one thing I can do," he said, pointing it at the cobalt soldier.

"Hey, what the hell?"

"There's only twenty seconds left!" Simmons yelled. Really? Where did the time go?

"Look, if I blow you up before the bomb goes off, there's at least a small chance the rest of us will live," Tucker explained.

"But the rocket will kill me!" Church protested.

"Ten seconds!"

I then thought about it. "…Actually, if Lac did shot you, it'll case the bomb to explode quicker and take us all out." They stared at me. I shrugged. "What? It's logic?"

"…That's actually a good point," Lav admitted- but he loaded it anyway. "But, it's a risk we're about to take."

Seriously?

"Five seconds!"

"Sorry, Church."

Church grumbled. "Man this blows. You guys suck."

Suddenly, a shot rang out- and I wasn't the only one surprised to see the rocket launcher ripped out of Lav's hands. "What the hell?" He yelped out.

I looked up and… I see a white blur holding something black. "Sorry, Private Tucker," oh, it's Wyoming, "but I always get my man. Say goodbye, mate."

Well, at least I (technically) met a British man- wait.

A loud beeping noise rang out. "Uh guys, I hate to interrupt but… zero seconds."

…Shit.

I looked over at Church as the being got faster…and is that the internet dialup sound? "Oh, son of a-"

There was a bright – very bright – light, and I felt intense pain…

…and then nothing.

~o~

All was quiet after the great explosion.

The wind silently blew, kicking up some snow that didn't stick before someone came in.

Tex looked over the group that are lying some feet away from the blast radius. She went over to one of them, a female in indigo armor.

Like the others, her armor was badly damaged. Tex crouched down and used a bio-comm. to check her stats.

Alive. Hurt, but still alive.

She looked over the others. So are they.

"Son of a bitch…" she muttered, slightly impressed.

Most likely, the shields protected them from the brunt of the explosion, but it still did a lot of damage to them. They need medical treatment.

She looked around and cursed. Wyoming, and O'Malley aren't around. They most likely escaped or took cover to avoid the explosion.

Tex had a feeling this might happen, so she took her time before getting here. No way is she going to let this new body get damaged.

Still… where the hell did Church go? Did he really go back to the past?

As unbelievable as that sounds…most likely Gamma took Wyoming's Time Distortion enhancement and used that to save Church. That could explain those clones.

She looked over at the woman passed out in the snow. What should she do? Leave her here?

…Well, she could get some medical treatment with them. And some new armor. Because there is no way she'll continue to use it-

She noticed a bleep on her motion tracker. Behind her.

Tex turned swiftly and brought out her gun-

And blinked. She lowered her gun. "…Who the hell are you…?"

And…cliffhanger! Sorry, but I wanted to get this chapter out pretty damn quick. On the bright side, we're in the Halo 2 engine next chapter! Exciting, isn't it?

What will happen to these idiots now? Who is the person that confronted Tex? I know who, but I am not spoiling it! And that would be no fun.

Look forward to the next chapter, and leave a review! (or criticism – gimme your best shot)