I do not own RvB or RWBY
"Woaaaahhh!" Sarge yelled as he finally crashed into solid ground. Ruby soon followed, landing on top of him.
"Ugghh," Ruby groaned as she got back up. "Sarge. Are you okay?"
"Of course," Sarge said, standing up as well. "It's gonna take more than few feet of dirt to keep me down. Say, where are we anyways?"
The two of them looked around and saw that they were in some sort of underground cave system.
"I think I should be asking you that question," Ruby said, seeing as Sarge should know more about Blood Gulch.
"I've never seen this place before in my life," Sarge said. "Which leads me to conclude that we both died from that fall and are now in the afterlife."
Ruby gave Sarge a disbelieving look regarding his logic. "Sarge, I don't think this is the afterlife..."
"You're telling me, this place is wreck," Sarge said, not getting what Ruby meant. "Where're the puffy white clouds and angels? And the big tall golden gates? Heaven sure is a let down in terms of appearance."
"That's not what I meant," Ruby tried to explain.
"Well then what did you-" Sarge stopped speaking and had a realization. "Wait a minute. Afterlife!? Underground cave!? What if this isn't Heaven! What if it's... noh, it couldn't be. Could it?"
"Oh hey Sarge. What're you doin' down here?"
Ruby turned around to see another soldier behind them. This one was wearing pink armor.
"It is!" Sarge yelled out in despair as he hung his head. "Oh, it is."
Back above Blood Gulch, Simmons, who was carrying Sarge's shotgun after Sarge had dropped it when he fell, was inspecting one of the other holes that was made due to the recent battle. Once he finished, he told Grif and Yang his findings.
"So, what's the nerd word?" Grif asked.
"Ignoring that insult," Simmons said. "From what I could tell, the hole goes down further and seems to lead to some sort of cavern."
"And that's where Sarge and my sister are?" Yang asked.
"Most likely," Simmons said.
"Wait a minute, a cavern? A cavern like a cave? Like a cave with bats?" Grif asked, his tone becoming fearful.
"I don't know," Simmons said. "Why, are you afraid of bats or something?"
"What, no!" Grif denied. "Why would I be afraid of bats? And why would you even ask that question? Were there bats or something? That's kind of a weird thing to ask just for no reason."
"Yeah, you're afraid of bats," Yang said, trying to stifle a laugh.
"I didn't see any bats," Simmons said.
"Did you hear any bats?" Grif asked. "Did you smell any bats?"
"No," Simmons said. "And I don't know what bats smell like!"
"And let's hope you never do," Grif said.
"Anyway," Yang said. "Let's head down this hole and find my sister."
"Why do we have to go down the hole?" Grif asked. "We should get Blue team to do it."
"They went back to their base along with Weiss and Blake to do some clean up because of the Grimm's attack and the teleporter malfunction," Simmons said. "And besides, Sarge fell down the hole, so it's our job as Red team to find him."
"Why?" Grif asked. "What do we really need Sarge for anyway? All he ever did was yell at us a bunch and tell us we suck. We'll just split up his duties. You yell at me and I'll tell you you suck."
"Shut up and get in the hole Grif!" Simmons yelled.
"You suck Simmons," Grif replied. "See, the new system is already working. There's no need to go down a hole full of evil baaaaaats!"
Those were Grif's last words as Yang pushed him down the hole.
"Thank you," Simmons said as he jumped in the hole next.
"Hold on Ruby. We're coming," Yang said as she jumped in.
Back at Blue base, Weiss and Blake were busy helping the Blues clean up the debris left from the Grimm attack. They both preferred to help find Ruby, but Yang insisted that a small group would be enough and she could handle finding her sister. Eventually, Weiss and Blake agreed to leave it up to Yang.
So that left the two of them to supervise the Blues with their activities, which would be easier if they all helped. But Tex had decided to start installing Sheila's mind into the ship and left them to do the cleaning. Church and Caboose followed Tex; Caboose because Tex needed an extra hand, and Church because he didn't want to carry heavy rocks around. Blake had told Weiss to keep an eye on them, not wanting any more mishaps like the teleporter. Weiss agreed and followed the others.
This left Blake and Tucker to handle clean up, which wouldn't have been so bad if Tucker would stop complaining
"This is bullshit," Tucker said as he dragged a chunk of rock towards a pile in the base. "I'm sooo tired."
"That's only your third rock," Blake pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's sooo heavy," Tucker said. "Why can't the others help?"
"I told you, they're fixing Sheila and dealing with O'Malley," Blake explained. "That just leaves the two of us."
"Actually you also have me."
Blake and Tucker turned to see that Doc was standing behind them.
"Well, look who finally decided to come out of the base," Tucker snapped.
"I told you, the power went out in there," Doc reminded him. "Luckily, after a while, the power came back on suddenly and it only took a few minutes before the system came back on."
Blake realized the power must have returned after the teleporter was destroyed.
"Hey, what happened out here?" Doc asked, seeing the state of the canyon.
"Only like the most badass fight that ever happened in this place," Tucker said.
Blake then explained to Doc what happened outside and what he missed.
"Man, that sounded dangerous," Doc said. "Was anyone hurt?"
"A few bruises, but we'll be fine," Blake said.
"Well, the least I can do is give a hand in cleaning this place up," Doc said.
"Wait," Blake said. "Sister was in the base with you. Is she alright?"
"Oh, she's fine. Perfect bill of health," Doc said.
"Wait, you examined her while we were under attack?" Tucker said.
"Yeah," Doc said. "Just because there was no power in the base doesn't mean I should leave a naked woman standing around without doing a checkup."
"Okay, we get it, don't rub it in," Tucker said dejectedly.
"Oh, well look who's helping," Doc said.
Tucker and Blake saw Junior lifting three rocks over his head and bringing them back to the base.
"I'm guessing he doesn't get that strength from you," Blake said.
"Shut up," Tucker said. He then continued dragging his single rock.
"Noooo. Moooan," Sarge wailed.
After thinking they were in Hell, he was in a state of self-pity and was now moaning. While he was doing that, Ruby had started a conversation with the other soldier, who was apparently named Donut, and was the soldier from Red team they all thought died. Donut had been talking to Ruby and telling her everything that he had been doing since he ended up down here.
"So anyway," Donut said. "After I fell down here, I did a bit of exploring around these caves. Got lost a couple of times and had no idea if anyone was gonna find me. Then I ran into you and Sarge. Who are you again?"
"Oh, I'm Ruby," Ruby introduced herself. She then gave him the short version of who she was, her team, and what had happened since they arrived.
"Wow, that sounds crazy, being from a different universe and going through all that stuff," Donut said.
"Yeah, pretty crazy," Ruby said. "But it's been fine. I mean, Sarge's been a great help."
"Sorrowful sounds. Pleas for forgiveness." They heard Sarge say.
"Well, now that Sarge is here, we can get out and reunite with everyone else," Donut said. "I wonder if Grif and Simmons miss me. I know I miss having two guys in my front and back."
Ruby just smiled at Donut, his innuendo flying over her head.
"Ruby, Donut! Don't interrupt my repentful moaning," Sarge said. "If I want God to forgive me, I need to be as miserable as possible. He loves that stuff."
"This isn't Hell, Sarge!" Donut said. "And you're not dead."
"That's what I've been trying to tell him," Ruby said.
"Repent! Repent!" Sarge continued to say.
"Come on Sarge, snap out of it," Ruby said.
"Ruby's right," Donut said. "Listen, I've been exploring down here and I've found some really crazy stuff. Look!"
Sarge and Ruby looked to where Donut pointed and saw a base across them.
"Why that fort looks like a Blue Base," Sarge observed. "And just when I thought Hell couldn't get any worse."
"Again, not dead," Ruby corrected.
"Donut, you've been down here all this time, why didn't you report any of this?" Sarge asked.
"I couldn't," Donut said. "My radio broke when I fell."
Suddenly, Sarge heard a radio frequency in his helmet. Sarge answered his radio and began to hear Simmons' voice.
"Come in Sarge," Simmons said over the radio. "Are you there?"
"Hello," Sarge answered, unaware that he was the only one hearing the radio. "Is that you Simmons?"
"No, that's Ruby," Donut said as he saw Sarge looking straight at Ruby as he spoke. "Did you get amnesia form your fall or something?"
"Shut up, Donut," Sarge said.
"Uh, okay?" Donut said, confused.
"Sarge, are you okay?" Ruby asked, confused as well.
"Shh," Sarge said again.
"'Sup," Sarge heard Yang's voice in the radio as well.
"What the-. Yang, what're you doing on this military line," Sarge said.
"Yang's not here either," Ruby said.
"I told you to shush," Sarge said, leaving Ruby and Donut to give each other confused looks.
"Simmons fixed my Scroll with the radios, so now I can talk in radio with you guys," Yang said. "Is Ruby okay?"
"She's fine, a little hard to keep quiet, but fine" Sarge assured. "What's your location?"
"We're standing right here, next to you!" Donut said.
"Shut up!" Sarge shouted.
Ruby began to wonder if Sarge did hit his head and lost it.
"We're looking for you right now, this place is huge!" Simmons continued. "Grif and Yang are with me and we're up on top of some kind of peninsular outcropping."
"...You and Yang are on top of Grif's what?" Sarge said, confused.
"Grif isn't anywhere around here," Donut said.
"You mentioned my sister again," Ruby said. "Sarge, what's going on?"
"Donut, Ruby, I told you two to be quiet," Sarge said.
"Well stop asking us stuff then," Donut said.
"No, we're on a peninsular ledge trying to find you," Simmons clarified.
"Roger that, I've got Donut and Ruby here with me," Sarge said. "You sit tight and we'll find you."
"Roger that," Simmons said. "Simmons out."
"Tell Ruby we'll be right here," Yang said. The radio then switched off.
Sarge now turned his attention back to Donut and Ruby. "I just talked to Simmons and Yang on the radio."
"Oooh," Donut said, understanding now who Sarge was talking with. "The radio."
"Yang called you," Ruby said. "Where is she?"
"They're down here somewhere looking for us," Sarge explained. "I told them to hold still, we'll come to them."
"Now that's a plan we can do," Ruby said in agreement.
"Guys, I don't think the two of you realize how big this place is," Donut said. "There's no landmarks or anything, just one rock after another that all look the same. Finding them will be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Simmons said they were standing on something," Sarge said, trying to recall the word Simmons used. "Some kind of a penis-"
"Oh, I know where that is," Donut said almost immediately. "Let's go."
Sarge and Ruby just looked at each other, confused at how Donut knew where to look and just followed him.
As Simmons and Yang ended their calls, they saw Grif panicking again.
"Did you hear that?" Grif asked in a panic.
"There's no sound Grif," Yang said. There was then the sound of a drop of water that echoed in the cave.
"There, did you hear that?" Grif asked again.
"Yes, that's the sound of water dripping," Simmons said.
"Sounds like bats!" Grif said.
"Simmons just said it's water dripping," Yang said. "Bats don't drip."
"Bat-water!" Grif shouted.
"What the heck does that even mean?" Yang asked.
"There are no bats!" Simmons said. "Even if there were, so what? You're wearing state of the art, biomechanical body-armor. It's designed to deflect bullets, and absorb explosions. What can a five ounce flying rodent possibly do?"
"...So basically you're saying you think there's bats," Grif concluded.
Yang facepalmed at Grif irrational fear and logic.
"Okay, no problem, let's just go stand by the light," Grif suggested.
"No we won't Grif," Simmons said. "I told Sarge we wouldn't move, and we're not moving. Standing by the light would be moving, and thus a violation of our 'no moving' policy."
"But-" Grif tried to protest.
"No," Simmons said.
"The light can help see the bats-"
"Grif, just suck it up," Yang said.
"Hey, you know what else might be in the cave, Simmons," Grif said. "Snakes."
"You're an asshole Grif," Simmons said, whose voice now had slight fear. "You know I don't like snakes."
"I'm just saying," Grif continued. "Snakes do live in caves, and we're in a cave, and snakes like to crawl right up next to people in caves..."
Yang shook her head, she knew what Grif was doing. She also had no doubt that it was working.
"Screw it!" Simmons shouted, his fear giving way. "We're standing by the light."
As Sarge and Ruby followed Donut, they saw that he stopped first beside two propped up sticks with a blue and black helmet on them.
"Donut, why're we stopping?" Sarge asked.
"Oh right," Donut said. "Since we're leaving, I decided to get a few things first."
"What are these?" Ruby asked, referring to the two helmets.
"Well, since I was stuck down here a while with no one to talk with, I decided to make myself a couple dummies to pretend to be people," Donut said.
"Riiight," Ruby said, slightly creeped out by Donut's actions. "Where did you get the helmets?"
"I pulled them off two dead bodies I found," Donut said nonchalantly. "At first I thought they were sleeping, then I realized they were dead."
"Blues never sleep, they're too busy plotting to destroy our way of life!" Sarge shouted. "That's how you can always spot a Blue, Donut. They're always the ones conniving and scheming. Sometimes they do both! I call that 'scheniving'."
"You can also tell they're blue because of their color," Ruby said, pointing out the blue color of the helmet.
"Oh, right," Sarge said.
"Hey, Ruby, can you help me carry these helmets? I wanna keep 'em as souvenirs" Donut asked. "I just want something to remember by when we leave this place."
"Oh sure," Ruby then took the blue helmet off the stick.
"I don't know about that," Sarge said. "I thought this cave was pretty dismal at first, but it's amazing how a couple o' Blue corpses can really spruce up the place, make it feel like home."
"Yeah," Dout said in agreement. "We could put up some drapes, get some wicker chairs, and this place will be fantastic.
Suddenly, Sarge turned around. Ruby saw that he was staring at a rock behind them.
"Everything okay Sarge?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, you seem a little spooked," Donut said.
"What?" Sarge said, turning back to the two. "It's just that I can't shake this feeling. The feeling that we're beinnnggg watched-" He then swiftly turned around. "Ha, got ya! D'aw, son of a-"
"That was a weird thing to do," Ruby said.
"And pretty dramatic," Donut added.
"Yeah," Sarge said, facing them again. "It usually works better if someone's standing behind us when I do that. Kind of like now-" He turned around again. Still nothing. "Dammit, I'm normally not wrong about this kind of thing."
"Is it some kind of military instinct?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, do you have a good sixth sense?" Donut asked as well.
"No, dummies, motion-activated proximity radar," Sarge said. "It's standard issue. I guess I need to get mine calibrated."
"Let's just keep moving," Ruby said. She put the helmet under her arm as the three of them continued moving.
Back at the ledge, Simmons, Grif, and Yang, who were all now standing beside the light, continued to wait for Sarge, Ruby, and Donut to find them.
As they waited, Grif asked a surprisingly significant question.
"Hey guys, I was thinking," Grif began, as he looked up.
"That already means it's a useless thought," Simmons said.
"I'm serious," Grif said. "I was thinking, if we're in a cave, why are there lights down here?"
Yang looked up and saw that there were built-in lights above. "Good point."
They were busy looking upward that they failed to see a glowing purple dart pass through them.
"That is a pretty good point Griiiiifff," Simmons said.
Grif and Yang heard Simmons' voice become slow and slurred and as they looked down, they saw the purple dart stuck on his neck.
"Whoa!" Yang said, taking a step back.
"What the-. Are you okay?" Grif asked.
"Yeah," Simmons said, still speaking slowly. "Why do you ask?
"There's something on your neck," Yang said.
"What?" Simmons slurred. "Like a snake? Get it off..." Simmons then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"Simmons!" Yang shouted. She then went to him, trying to shake him awake, to no avail. "What the heck was-"
Yang failed to finish speaking as another dart hit her from behind. Due to her weakened Aura, she dart made its way through her skin.
"Ow," Yang yelped. "That...huuuurt." She then saw her vision becoming blurry as Grif's appearance began to become all wavey before everything went black as she collapsed as well.
"Yang? Simmons?" Grif said, seeing both of them knocked out.
Before he could process what happened, he was then shot with a purple dart in the neck as well. "Ow." Nine more darts were fired, hitting him all over his body. "OW!" Finally, one final dart was fired, hitting Grif right at his crotch. Grif then collapsed.
"Oh look, bat-people," Grif mumbled and slurred. "Please don't eat me bat-people."