Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, I'm not dead! I really, REALLY apologize for the long wait. I've had to deal with not only writer's block but also a job I had gotten over the summer. Even though it's part time, it always takes a lot out of me by the end of the day. Anyway, I'm hoping that I'll be able to work on this in the free time I do have since I am starting to regain some traction with the story and my interest in it. I've also gotten a couple watches and faves of this story over the past few weeks which kind of inspired me to at least try to get it done.

Guest: I know nothing about Warhammer 40k nor do I have any particular interest in it, so I can't really do a crossover or indeed any story involving it, sorry.

General Slime: I am glad you are liking this story, and to answer your question about exactly when this story takes place, I place it about 9 months after the end of BGC and 3 months after the events of Halo 4. The reason why Doc isn't around is because he had been transferred out of Blood Gulch before the others would have been. And about Tucker and Caboose's abilities, well this chapter answers that for you I hope. X3

To all other reviewers and readers: Thank you so much for your input and support! I am happy that there are people who are actually enjoying this crazy story of mine. I really appreciate it.

Anyhow, enjoy this late chapter!

Chapter 7: First Encounters

Back in Blood Gulch, it had only been ten minutes and Grif slept on door of the wrecked and smoking jeep. He felt very tired, as always, and thought that nothing would disturb his slumber which would deepen as the sun set. That is until Simmons came back with something covered by a blanket in his hands. "Hey Grif! I've come back with the-" He stopped when he saw the orange clad man lying there against the warthog as if he was dead. However, he was not dead or there would have been blood or some of other sign like Sarge being the first to know and throwing a party over it. Simmons sighed with frustration and walked up to him, firmly kicking him in the side.

"HEY GRIF! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

He shot up and flinched like a meerkat, quickly turning his head in different directions before seeing Simmons standing there in front of him. "Wh-what?! What the?"

"Sleeping on the job again?!"

Grif shook his head and attempted to stand, seemingly confused. "Uhh… I was kind of tired."

Simmons blinked and shook his head. "I was gone for like five minutes!"

The other soldier shrugged as he finally managed to get up, though he was leaning against the warthog that was still smoking. "Five minutes can be a long time depending on perspective."

"Jesus…"

Shrugging again, Grif peered over to Simmons and whatever he was holding in his hands though it remained covered by a light blanket and he could see a small solid object underneath and it weighed his hands down a bit. "So, uh… What's going on? What's that?"

Simmons looked around to see if anyone would be watching or listening in before walking over to his companion and speaking in a hushed tone, "Well, you know that thing I told you to forget about?" He then pulled the cover off the object in his hand, revealing a very familiar glass orb. Unlike the last time, however, it seems inert and no strange symbol or flashy lights could be seen. "Well, we're remembering it now."

Grif stared at the thing for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Simmons blinked, unsure how to respond to that. "What?"

"I have no idea what that thing is or why you're holding it in front of me."

"What?! No, this is that thing we saw earlier, remember? It put us into a trance and made us see animals and stuff?"

"Nope." Grif repeated. "Not at all."

"Grif! Stop fucking around! You remember what happened."

"No." He insisted, avoiding eye contact with the orb and Simmons' glare. "I don't remember that thing you told me not to remember, so I don't remember."

If he could, Simmons would bang his head against a wall in response to what he perceived as a ridiculous answer. Instead, he craned his head back and sighed, "Well, you don't have to forget it anymore because we're following the Blues and we're taking this with us."

Grif stared at him dumbfounded. "What? Why?"

"Don't tell Sarge," Simmons turned his head back to Red base for a second. "But I think this belongs to Amaterasu and I think we should give it back to her."

"Huh? Why would you want to do that?"

"Think about it Grif," he replied. "This is a goddess we're talking about here. Think of the rewards she could give us if we give this back to her."

Shaking his head, Grif said, "You really are a kissass aren't you?"

Simmons quickly covered the object with the blanket again and walked over to the jeep, tossing it into a hidden compartment under the passenger seat and closing it up. "Oh shut up. Sarge is coming."

Right at that moment, Sarge ran up to them followed by the familiar forms of Lopez and Donut. Sarge stopped in front of the two. "Simmons, Grif, there you are!" Donut stood right beside him but Lopez stared at the wrecked jeep.

As angry as a robot could be, Lopez yelled, "¿Qué demonios ha pasado aquí? ¿Cómo pudiste idiotas volar el jabalí nuevo?!"
What the fuck happened here? How could you idiots blow up the warthog again?!

"Long story, Lopez," Sarge replied. "Those dastardly Blues have recruited a dog-"

"Wolf…" A sigh from Simmons could be barely heard, though Sarge ignored it and continued on.

"-and destroyed it with her mystical powers of nature!"

Donut then piped in. "That's the power of Mother Nature, Sarge. She will always trump technology."

"Ustedes no tienen ningún sentido ..."
You people never make any sense…

They then looked at the smoldering wreck of the jeep and Simmons turned to Sarge. "So how are you going to fix the jeep? It's been hit pretty bad." A small bang went off deep inside the smoking engine as if to emphasize his point. A few chips of glass from the windshield fell on to the open hood as well as into the engine below it. Even though these things are designed to be tough, the sheer force of the impact would have been enough to break some rather sensitive parts.

Sarge turned to the jeep and nodded, pulling out a big red monkey wrench from the toolbox which Lopez had brought in with him and he crawled under the vehicle. He grunted a bit from the small space and began what looked like nothing more than just lay there and make a few metallic noises. "Now we just take apart this doohickey and put on the thingamabob so the weirdly-shaped thingy goes-"

As Simmons and Grif watched, Lopez ducked his head under the jeep to see what the crazy old man was up to down there, asking what he was doing.

"Oh hey, Lopez. Could you pass me the crescent wrench?"

Unenthusiastically, he complied. "Aquí."

With a rough chuckle, Sarge took it and made some more banging noises below and grunting some more. "Gracias, señior El Roboto! Now we just screw this big metal thing with the other big metal thing and we should be all set!" His helmet popped out and looked over to Grif. "Hey Grif, turn on the ignition and see if this works."

"Fine," Grif sighed as he entered the driver's seat and noticing that the keys are already in the ignition. "But I don't think it would-" Once he turned the key, the engine stalled for a few seconds before sputtering to life once again. "-work."

Sarge rolls out from under the warthog and stands up, raising his hands in triumph. "Aw yeah! Score one for my mechanical ingenuity!"

"Todo lo que hizo fue golpear la línea de combustible con la llave inglesa un par de veces."
All you did was hit the fuel line with the monkey wrench a few times.

"Now that the jeep is fixed," Sarge continued. "We'll be ready for the Blues when they get back."

"But sir," Simmons stepped forward. "What if the Blues don't come back?"

"What do you mean, Simmons?"

"I mean, what if they don't come back from this trip at all. What if they died or something?"

Sarge grinned under his helmet. "It would mean that the Blue Team has been defeated and we win!"

Simmons shook his head. "Not exactly. You see, if the Blues die out there and we're still in here, that means someone else would've killed them and get the credit; not us."

Though unseen, the other Reds could imagine that smile slowly disappear from their leader's face. "Yeah…"

"So," Simmons continued. "That means that us Reds would still lose, even though they would still die because there would be no one left for us to fight." He glanced over at Grif. "And we don't win wars by doing nothing. It's a no-win scenario."

Grif sighed, shuffling a bit nervously. "Uh, no it's not! We would still be alive and they wouldn't!"

"Hotdamn…" Sarge uttered as he lowered his head, paying no attention to Grif like usual. Watching him expectantly, Simmons asked the question that he knew the answer to.

"So are you rethinking your strategy, sir?"

Slowly, the Red leader nodded with slight disappointment after a moment of deep thought. "Yes. How could I have not realized such a huge hole my ingenious plan?"

"It's okay, sir." Simmons replied. "We all have brain farts on occasion."

"Yeah, you're right Simmons. How could we have victory if neither the Blues nor Grif die by my hand? Or by my shotgun if you want to be literal." He glanced over at the overweight man, who then glared at Simmons next to him before turning back to Sarge.

"Okay," Grif said. "Ignoring the fact that Sarge is going to get us killed just so he could insult me, I would just like to know who it was that came up with the term 'brain fart'. That has to be the stupidest thing to ever say about someone's mind."

Sarge turned to Grif, chuckling as he hoisted his shotgun. "Which is what makes it so fitting considering that's all your brain ever does. It's the perfect insult!"

"Ugh…" With that sigh, he slightly glared at Simmons and nudged his side. "I am going to burn your stupid collection when this is over," he whispered.

Simmons hardly paid attention to his companion's comment and smiled with an almost child-like glee, even though it was hidden behind his gold-plated visor. "Just think of what Ammy would give us," he quietly answered.

"So it's settled then," Sarge said, not noticing what the two were talking about. "We're going after them!" He then jumped into the driver's side of the jeep, barely hearing Grif's sigh of frustration. "Come on, you two! It shouldn't take long to catch up with them." Shrugging, Simmons and Grif hastily ran over to the passenger seat; Grif got there first and laid back on the seat lazily, saying "Shotgun!"

"Shotg- FUCK! Why do I even bother anymore?" Simmons angrily stared at the other soldier for beating him before walking to the back and manning the gun turret, groaning. Sarge was just about to hit the gas pedal when a certain private in pink armor ran over to the driver's side.

"Wait! What about me and Lopez?! What are we supposed to do all alone out here?"

Looking up at him, Sarge quickly replied, "You two stand guard and watch for any sign of those dastardly Blues if they ever come back. If they do, assume that all of us have died in glorious battle and it will be up to you to finish the fight!"

Lopez just stood there without a word as Donut nodded. "Sure thing, Sarge! I'm sure to finish my fight in a glorious way like you would! I would ram this rifle right up their asse-"

"Okay, come on sir! Let's go!" Simmons blurted out, turning his chain gun to the cave that was their way out of here. Lopez would have rolled his eyes if he had them and he turned to gaze upon the canyon in which he was stuck in. He hated this place and the people in it. Everything from the dry grassy hills to the intimidating walls that surrounded them were constant reminders of how trapped he was in this place. He looked up at the walls while the others talked to each other, and caught something on top of the cliff wall. Since he was a robot, he was equipped with superior vision compared to his peers and could make out details many orders of magnitude better than them and using a zoom function on his visor, Lopez could now see the object in detail.

A pure black wolf stood at the edge of the clifftop, looking down with icy blue eyes and staring coldly at the canyon below. Stranger than the fact that it was the first wolf he had seen in his entire existence and such things should not even exist on this planet, was the fact that it was looking directly at him.

A machine could not easily feel fear, and a tough one like Lopez would never expect to feel it but at this very moment, he felt a twinge of it as the dark beast stared him down from such a great distance. With only the slightest hint of concern, he turned to his compatriots and spoke up.

"Chicos. Hay algo allá arriba que necesita ver."
Guys. There's something up there you need to see.

Sarge tested the accelerator pedal for a second before Donut answered. "Damn straight, Lopez! We're going to fuck those Blues up if they manage to get by us!"

Rolling his eyes, Simmons sighed as the jeep started move. "We didn't need to hear that."

"Yeah, uh, that's the spirit Donut!" Sarge quickly said as he began to drive the jeep away, away from this box canyon in the middle of nowhere and its remaining inhabitants with the same small sense of relief the Blues felt. It only took a few seconds before they disappeared into the dark cave and the sound of the engine could no longer be heard.

Lopez called out "No!" and tried to point to the black wolf he saw, before turning back to see that it was no longer there. Confused, he zoomed back to its exact position that he saw it, but only tall grass remained.

"¿Qué demonios? Hubiera jurado que había algo allí."
What the hell? I could have sworn there was something there.

Donut looked up there as well and replied cheerfully. "Great idea, Lopez! We need to fortify both bases so we could get ready like Sarge said!"

"Llamo dibs en la base azul. Parece que hay una gran cantidad de radiación electromagnética allí. Debo investigarlos."
I call dibs on Blue base. There seems to be a great amount of electromagnetic radiation there. I must investigate them.

Donut hung his head, disappointed. "Aww… How come you get to have all the fun? And I was just going to decorate the cherry blossom Mother Nature gave us, too."

"Los cerezos en flor? ¿Qué flor de cerezo?"
Cherry blossom? What cherry blossom?

Perking his head up, the pink rookie raised his hand and pointed at the tree that Amaterasu had created a few hours ago. It seemed more alive since the last time he looked at it and even a few small birds were perched upon its branches. Lopez looked on, surprised that he had not noticed it before.

"Eso no estaba ahí antes. Realmente debo investigar esto. Y puede que por fin me entiende ahora?"
That wasn't there before. I must really investigate this. And can you finally understand me now?

"I agree, Lopez. 'Ammy' is a funny name," Donut answered, much to Lopez's chagrin and he muttered "Damn it" in Spanish as he headed for the blue base and Donut went back home. Lopez would then go on to start setting up monitoring equipment to examine the strange tree and occasionally looked back up at the cliff to find the creature he thought he saw. There was only nothing. As for Donut, he would probably do something involving colorful wallpaper and flashing lights to go with his guns. No pun intended there.

However, watching with unseen eyes from the top of the cliff stood the shadowy wolf which had kept itself out of sight behind the tall grass. The creature had been watching them for quite some time now, at least since shortly after Ammy came here and encountered these people. The wolf subtly smirked at the thought of those men. They were very interesting group of misfits and certainly the most amusing by far but they were not his concern. The black wolf slightly perked its ears and blinked when one of them just mentioned the goddess by name. It repeated it in a hushed tone yet with some sense of respect and reverence. The very name made the creature feel uneasy with a wave of mixed emotions.

Shaking its head, the wolf turned away from the box canyon and towards the forested valley which waited on the other side of the caves they entered. It would not take long to get to them as it felt no need to hide as much. The coming night would provide more than enough cover. With a huff, the black wolf bounded off, leaving behind a short trail of black mist in its wake that dissipated into the air.

By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, the Blues decided settle down for the night. After wandering the dark and spooky caves and listening to Tucker complaining about spiders, they soon found a way out and stopped in a forest at least ten miles away from Blood Gulch, but many times farther than where the Ark supposedly landed. To their own amazement, they had managed to set up a decent campsite. They were even able to pitch their own tents since Caboose was smart enough to bring the necessary equipment. How Caboose was able to do this when he couldn't even plan for as much as a trip to the bathroom was a mystery to his companions.

When the air began to cool and the whole forest brought into total darkness, the four bantered with each other around a fire Amaterasu had set up. Even after learning of the Celestial Brush Gods ("Sounds like a rock band," Tucker commented) and her ability to wield their powers, Church and Tucker were still befuddled by how she was able to cut a tree down and set it ablaze from thin air. In their experience, such powers didn't seem physically possible. However, the strange wolf god was not the subject of their chatter and instead they recounted their own misadventures. Everything from the day Caboose killed Church the first time was told in as much detail as they could remember and Ammy listened intently.

Considering how unusual and plain absurd their stories were, the wolf felt that there was more to it than what they told her. She did not think they were withholding information from her, not like they could anyway, but something just did not add up. They lived in a canyon where they waged a fake war fought only by complete imbeciles and spent months or even years without anything happening to them as if forgotten. And when the time came for something to happen, it was usually something started by "calls from command" or the Freelancers. From what Church had told her, Amaterasu felt a hint of suspicion towards them. From Church's outright disdain for them to the way they had treated her new friends, she knew that she would not like them. She did find it peculiar that Church would fall for a woman who was a complete bitch when he told her about Tex.

After discussing some of these concerns, she then asked about Tucker's pregnancy. Even for a goddess who understood the strange ways of nature, Amaterasu was utterly awestruck by that story of how he was impregnated by an alien and actually gave birth to one. His calmness about it was just as surprising.

"Are you really that shocked?" Tucker asked Ammy, who was sitting on her haunches at the other side of the fire. Church and Caboose were sitting at his sides listening.

"Why wouldn't I? A man getting pregnant is not something I'm used to."

"So says the magic wolf that could control the elements and the freakin' sun. A dude having an alien baby is pretty normal compared to that."

She chuckled and gave a lupine smile where her teeth glinted in the firelight, "You people seem to find yourselves in the strangest situations."

"Tell me about it."

Caboose then said, "This is exactly like what happened when we went with the Alien on his awesome quest!"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Church replied as he fiddled with his sniper rifle. He tried not to think too much of what he had gotten himself into lest he would lose his mind, though he probably already has as far as he was concerned. Looking at some distant tree through the scope, he sighed in frustration. This was a hell of a lot to take in.

With a chuckle, Tucker turned to him. "Heh, maybe you get pregnant this time."

Church responded with a simple facepalm, though helmetpalm might be more accurate. "You're not helping." He groaned. "And that's not even physically possible since... you know, I'm a robot."

"A gay robot," Caboose chimed in.

"Oh don't start with that!"

The white wolf who sat at the other side of the fire merely listened to them as they spoke, taking it in with relative ease now. She could see that all three of them were still wearing their helmets and suits, which she found intriguing. Perhaps these men have gotten so used to wearing them that taking them off would be for very rare occasions. Shaking her head slightly at the random though, she continued to listen to their minor squabbles and chatter, idly chewing on a bone that Caboose had given her. Supposedly he had ordered it online "just in case Church is nice enough to get a dog." How lucky he was to get his wish, except for the Church being nice part, but Caboose remained oblivious to that fact as always. It did make Church wonder why Caboose had grown so attached to her. It had to be more than just some childish desire for a pet. Sure, he had bonded with Sheila who had been unfortunately destroyed after experiencing so many adventures together, but the blue leader could not help but wonder if this "Ammy" were different.

He then shook his head and groaned quietly to himself. What a crazy thought to have! Caboose could not be that insane to bond with an animal. A very unique and powerful creature, he knew this for certain, but how would something like that even work?

Church raised his head to get another look at her. He noticed how much she was panting heavily, her chest expanding and contracting quickly and at a constant rate. Her eyes squinted often and she would yawn frequently, showing off those intimidating jaws.

She looked very exhausted. Possibly from the long walk, he thought. Some god she is. Then he began to rest again when he saw the wolf's ears suddenly prick forward and she lifted up her head, growling quietly.

"Uh, you didn't hear that, did you?" Church asked nervously.

"Be quiet," the wolf said sternly. The other two Blues stopped their mindless pandering and glanced over to her. Then they turned to Church who had kept an anxious eye on her.

"What," he flatly asked. She responded by turning away from him and towards the surrounding forest. They were in a fairly thick area of the forest where the various low-growing shrubs and plants made it difficult to see a fair distance; and make it easy for anyone, or anything to hide. The wolf narrowed her eyes when she saw some rustling bushes in the distance. It could have been the wind, but she felt it was something else. Upon looking out toward that direction, Tucker slowly stood up.

"Yo, wolf! What's going on?"

"Something is out there."

"What kind of something? Something that is friendly or something that wants to kill us?"

Church looked around, turning his flashlight on, but he saw nothing but trees. He then looked to his comrades, seeing Caboose into the same direction as Amaterasu was and his legs trembled a bit. Ammy herself seemed strangely off. As far as the Blues could tell, she always seemed rather serious and careful. It made sense considering her position. Here, though, she appeared more than cautious as she bared her teeth and growled at what could easily be nothing. Tucker could hear a faint voice from her direction. "It can't be you. Kurai…"

He did not know if Caboose heard that and knew for certain that Church didn't, but that was definitely not a figment of his imagination. She spoke the last word in a slightly venomous tone and she seemed even more tense. But before he could even ask, Tucker heard a whimper next to him and turned his head to the source.

Holding his blanket in front of his face, Caboose whispered, "Uhh, Church? I-I think there are scary things out there…"

"Oh don't be a baby," Church scoffed. "It's probably just a squirrel or something."

As if on cue, a loud and terrifying screeching noise cried out from the darkness around them, lasting a few seconds before dying down to silence. It sounded like it came from an animal, but nothing they had ever heard before and it sounded close. A bit too close. They all looked around again before Tucker glared back at Church. "That is one big fucking squirrel."

"A ROUS," Caboose piped in, peeking out from his blanket.

"What the hell is a ROUS?" Church asked, facing away from the others and towards the blackness of the forest, not really caring about what he said. Probably something Caboose made up himself, he figured. At least until Tucker answered that question to his surprise.

"Rodent of Unusual Size," he replied in a matter-of-factly way. Seeing Church giving a blank and probably a confused look, Tucker added, "Come on, Church, don't want you watch movies? They really do exist."

"I said be quiet!" Amaterasu snarled once more, but at the humans this time before moving between them and a small area clear of shrubs and trees. Then, quite to the surprise of the Blues, the wolf's back erupted into a sea of red and green flames which caused them to reel back in from shock. Upon the bed of flames rested a large red stone disc with stylistic flames engraved upon its flat surface. It slowly spun in retrograde to the colorful flames that danced and rotated around it. Unknown to her human friends, it was her most powerful Instrument: Solar Flare. Despite the heat and light of this strange new power, the Blues were surprised to see that the fire did not sear or burn the wolf's hide and she stood there in an attacking position towards an unseen being hidden not too far in front of them. Now facing the same direction with flashlights on, the men could now see something emerging from behind a tree.

It was a huge animal, comparable in size and shape with Ammy, though considerably longer and more slender. Its forward pricked long ears towards their direction, obviously denoting very sensitive sense of hearing and it bared its sharp teeth along the whole of its long and triangular muzzle. A set of horns were also present on the creature's head, growing just behind the ears and curving back and downwards. The group stared at the red-eyed creature, now even more shocked as they aimed their guns at it. Then they heard another low screech and two similar creatures entered the light. Amaterasu returned the gesture with an aggressive snarl of her own, not even speaking telepathically this time.

Still staring in shock at both Ammy and the really deadly looking predators, Church said, "What. The fuck. Are those?"

"Oh crap…" Tucker added.

"OH MY GOD!" Caboose shouted as loud as he could, causing everyone including the scary-looking animals to look at him. "IT'S THE BIGGEST RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE EVER! QUICK! WE NEED A REALLY BIG MOUSE TRAP!"

His screaming did not seem to go well with their hearing as the canines pulled their ears back and responded to him with cat-like hissing though still retaining their distance. The Blues jumped and frantically looked around, standing closer to each other as more screeching and hissing accompanied by more leaves rustling were heard in from every other directions. Their light beams revealed dark forms and glowing eyes circling around them.

Still aiming his battle rifle at them, Tucker said rather nervously, "Uh, what do we do?"

No one answered as Ammy stepped forward with a ferocious glare in her eyes, raised hackles, and fully bared teeth accompanied by a low growl. Her attempt of intimidation did not seem to faze them as the half-dozen pairs of eyes suddenly charged at the group from all directions, their otherworldly hissing and snarling filling the air. Before any of the men could even fire off a shot, Amaterasu dashed to the side to avoid one such creature and she immediately counterattacked by swinging her instrument at it. A loud yelp was heard as the animal flew out and away, disappearing into the darkness. The wolf huffed in frustration just as the two that followed the first one engaged her.

"What the fuck was- HOLY SHIT!" Church yelled out as he raised his sniper rifle at the charging creatures before he could even process what he just saw.

Tucker pulled out his energy sword and activated it, brandishing the weapon before he cried out, "Let's get 'em!"

All the humans then shouted and screamed as loud as they could, firing their weapons at anything and everything while the creatures continued their charge through the hail of bullets. Unsurprisingly, only a few were even hit and they were soon right on top of them, lashing and biting with teeth and claws that proved rather ineffectual against their armor. Despite that, it still increased their profanity quotient by 4; and most of that would attributed to Church dealing with his famous aiming skills as he fired at them at almost point-blank range. He had better luck just bashing them with the butt of the rifle.

"FUCK! Why do I keep missing?!" He shot once and missed. "FUCK!"

Tucker, however, had the advantage of a sword as he swung and slashed at two predators that were trying to knock him over. "Swish! Swish, stab! No, you ain't getting me fuckers!"

Beside them, Caboose just stood there screaming "Oh my god! They're ignoring me!"

Then there was another yell. "AH! Get off me!" Unable able to hold them off, Church quickly found himself pinned by one of them, staring into its bright red eyes and gnashing teeth that he could barely push away with his all of his strength. The weight of the animal was so heavy, even for his robot body to handle.

"Church!" Tucker heard him and he managed to push one off as he started to run over to his leader's aid. "Get the fuck out of my way!"

Before he could even get close, a white blur whooshed right in front of him which almost made him trip. It had to be Ammy, though she was moving impossibly fast. Church looked up to see that she head butted the dark creature with great force and knocking it from on top of him. She then proceeded to leap over him and wail at the creature with her instrument while Church managed to stand and take a few steps back. He could see two more of them that had kept their distance before quickly go after her and she faced them in kind, fighting three of them at once.

Grudgingly, he nodded to her. "Yeah. Thanks mutt."

Moments later when the opportunity presented itself and she dispatched them with ease, the wolf took a moment to glare at him. "You're welcome…"

Church continued on as he was trying to regain his footing and raise his weapon, hearing the gunfire and the sword whooshing from his compatriots and the constant growling and snarling around him. "Thought I was a goner for a secon- HOLY SHIT!"

A white blur whizzed passed him, realizing it was Ammy who moved insanely and almost impossibly fast towards another creature and outmaneuvering the animal in a dizzying manner. Strangely enough to him and to the others as well, everything around them from the creatures to the trees seemed blurry. It felt as if they all suddenly just had a few shots of strong liquor. However, it only lasted a few seconds and everything seemed clear and crisp again. Before they could even comment on it, a sudden flash of light made them turn to see the most bizarre sight yet.

A stream of hot plasma suddenly erupted from the campfire and it surrounded itself between the Blues and the creatures that were just about to attack them again. The barrier of the searing flames caused the creatures to jump back in fear and shock and the Blues did the same. There was absolutely no wind or no sign of anything that could've caused that, and it appeared as it if were intelligently directed and they all knew that the wolf somehow did it. In fact, it looked like exactly the same power she used to light the fire in the first place, though this time it looked more powerful and they never actually saw her use it the first time. Church could just glimpse the Ammy's tail dropping down the moment the barrier fell. He found this quite strange as he noticed her raising her tail when the fire went up. He did not have time to think about this long, as the apparent "miracle" in front of him seemed to have defied the laws of physics yet again.

"Whoa."

"Whoa!"

As she fought with unrivaled ferocity that made the humans stare in awe without much regard to their surroundings, Caboose slowly turned around after hearing a breaking twig. When he did, one of the fierce creatures had already leapt up into the air, attempting to sneak up on him from behind. "They're attacking me!" He shouted as he punched the animal in the face, which knocked it back a good ten feet away. Then, two more surrounded him and he kicked the nearest one with his foot, punting it high into the air. "Bad! Bad aliens! Don't make me angry!" Without even looking, Caboose grabbed at something that rustled right next to him, which was a beast's neck.

He raised the creature high above his head with both hands before throwing it away like it was an oversized stuffed toy. In a rather cliché evil voice, he said, "You will not like me when I'm angry!"

"Caboose!" Church raised his rifle upon sighting something approaching the blue armored man from behind and he took aim. "Look out!" Before he could let off a shot, however, a bright flash of light streaked past him. For a moment, he thought it was Amaterasu, but then realized it was far too small and being more of a projectile which struck at the attacker. With a pained yelp, it fell and tumbled to the ground far short of Caboose, whining from the gash in its leg. He turned to face the source of the flash to see the wolf with her head lowered and snarling at the injured animal. He had no idea what she did, and he did not have the time to ponder what sort of strange weapon or fancy power caused it. Instead, he just yelled out at her. "Hey! I almost had that!"

"Yeah, right!" Tucker shouted as he had emerged from cover behind a tree, probably from finishing one such creature off as he had his sword still up. "You probably would've missed anyway." He then joined his leader and Amaterasu. They all then ducked as they saw Caboose running towards them with his assault rifle blazing and firing indiscriminately at random directions still screaming in his fake evil voice, "I AM CABOOSE, THE BEAST SLAYER!"

Stepping aside for Caboose, the wolf turned her head to see the Blue soldier join them. He panted heavily as he kept his finger on the trigger even after expending his ammunition. Even if there were any left, it would have been a waste considering that there were no beasts standing. A few were scattered out here and there along the path of destruction Caboose and the others made. All of them dead or dying from bullet holes or the burns and cuts from the strange powerful weapons Amaterasu had struck them with. The wolf gave a labored huff, sounding more upset than tired. At that moment, however, her ears perked up and she turned to see a dark shape pounce upon her with claws outstretched. Ammy barely had time to react and she yelped when the sharp claws pierced her flesh and shed her blood, causing her to leap back right up against her friends with an angry snarl. She readied to swing Solar Flare back at it in retaliation when a gunshot behind her went off and at that instant, the creature fell.

She looked up at her companions who stood in a line with her, unable to tell who fired. They were unharmed with no visible injuries or even as much as a scratch on their armored suits. She grinned and then suddenly fell to the ground and onto her side, exhaustion overtaking her.

Caboose, unsurprisingly, became the first to notice and he immediately kneeled down to her, petting her on the head. "Oh no! Ammy! Are you okay?!"

The other two turned to her as well and they joined him, now noticing several cuts and bruises on her body and her pristine fur stained with blood and dirt. No one could tell how much of it was her own.

She gazed upon them with tired eyes, her mental voice a little hoarse. "I-I am fine. I-" she panted once. "…am just a little tired. One of them got me somehow. This isn't right."

"Hey, is it too late to say that you fought like badass?" Tucker asked, watching Caboose stroke her fur and brood over her worryingly. Despite the adrenaline coursing through his blood, he stayed rather calm and a glance at his leader showed the same composure. Though, that was most likely because Church lacked blood and adrenaline. The blue leader glanced at the injured wolf in front of him and asked with concern, "Is she going to be alright?"

"She's fine," Tucker replied, shrugging off the concern. "She's obviously tired from all that fighting. Like a badass."

"Yeah, well it doesn't look like she's going to be fighting again anytime soon. Let's head back to the light where we can actually see anything."

He nodded to Caboose, who looked back at the fire that still blazed about ten feet away and he decided to pick her up, hefting the wolf's heavy body in his arms and carrying her back to the fire. The others followed, watching their motion trackers and the surrounding darkness for any movement or noise. Once Amaterasu was laid back down upon a soft patch of grass near the fire, Caboose looked at the pile of camping equipment next to her. "Oh, oh! Ammy, do you need a blanket? Or maybe some warm soup with letters in them?"

She opened her eyes with a confused expression on her face. "Wh-what? No, I'm not hungry."

"Do you need soup letters with a blanket?" Caboose continued to ask.

The other two sat down next to them and Tucker shook his head slightly. "I don't think it's a good idea to accept food from him, Ammy. He'll end up feeding you crayons or spilling mustard on you." Church quietly agreed from experience while a part of him tried to make sense of what had happened, mentally replaying the short yet intense fight in his head. He thought of how she fought with invisible forces, seeing no obvious way of how she was able to fight those creatures with devastating effect. Unlike his companions, he did not see the strange and powerful instruments that she wielded, leaving him more puzzled than before. There were too many questions about this wolf swirling around in his head to focus on asking, so he chose to ask the next most important one on his mind.

"What the hell where those things?"

Tucker shrugged as he gently stroked the wolf's back like Caboose did a minute ago. "Hell if I know. They're probably the local predators, but why did they attack us?"

"Maybe we intruded on their territory," Church suggested.

"This forest doesn't belong to them!" Caboose said. "I didn't see any signs. There were no mailboxes with their address and name on them!"

All present momentarily stared at him incredulously before Tucker replied, "That's not how that works, dude."

Church turned to his fellow as a thought came to him and said, "No wait, he may be on to something. I don't think we've ever seen any animals around here."

"Well, that's mostly because we rarely left our little box canyon for years," Tucker replied as he looked up at the darkness around them, still feeling uneasy especially with Amaterasu being injured. Inwardly though, he knew Church had a point. In all their time on this planet, they had never run into any wildlife besides birds. Until their adventure started and the caves were discovered nine months ago, they had never left Blood Gulch. Since then, both teams had occasionally left just to see what was out there beyond the dull stone walls that had become too familiar. They never lasted long, as they always returned back to their bases with little information of interest to share. They may have explored so little of this planet they call home, but as far as the Reds and Blues were concerned, this region is as devoid of life as the canyon itself.

A low grunt shook the men from their thoughts and they saw Amaterasu looking back up at them, more specifically at Church. She was still curious about him, and the nagging thought of what he even is kept coming up. He was a robot, they told her, but there had to be something more that she could not quite explain. The idea of artificial beings with their own wills were not alien to her, as experiences with giant mechanical owls and, to some extent, the Lord of Darkness Yami, were anything to go by. But this one was so human. Though she could not see underneath the helmet, she could tell that he was a little uneasy from her glare and a part of her was mildly amused by it. She then turned to the other two and said, "There was something wrong with them. I felt something terrible inhabit them. I have seen it before and I should've prepared myself better for it- AY!" She suddenly yelped as she tried to crane her head up, a sharp pain running through her body from one of the deeper cuts.

From the moment he heard her pained cry; Caboose suddenly got up and went for the pile of stuff. "I'll get a blanket!" The others also jumped at the sound, looking at her now.

"You sure she's going to be okay?" Church asked with concern. She then began to stand up again while facing them, this time not collapsing to the ground. Then she suddenly growled and bared her teeth. Church gripped his sniper rifle a little tight, not noticing the others' reactions. At that point, anger started set in after a few moments of confusion.

"What? Oh what is it now? I know we didn't exactly beat the living shit out of those things like you just did, but we're not exactly super magic beings that came straight out of some stupid old myths! And I hate it when I keep missing with the-"

"Church," Tucker interrupted out of the blue.

Turning to him, Church asked, "What?" He then heard a clicking noise, followed by similar sounds all around and he looked up to find himself and his men facing four men and the business ends of their rifles. They were all wearing blue armor that was similar to theirs but the aesthetic designs differed. Their helmets looked much like the ones the ODSTs wore back at training many years ago, but they wore the same sort of armor Church and his team did. His pondering was quickly interrupted when the lead man who could only be distinguished from the others with the white trim on the armor spoke up in a deep Southern accent.

"Well, what do we have here, boys? Looks like we got ourselves a buncha spies."

Church stared at the armed men while his own team pointed their own weapons back in defense. He said the only thing that came to mind. "Fuck…"

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