Previously, on RvBvRWBY Incursion...

"Key? What key? I don't have a key!" Tucker replied.

Crunchbite roared, and Andy hastily translated, "Your sword! Use the sword!"

"Oh god, the sword is a key?"

"'The Ship'? What ship?! No one told me about a ship! Hey! Come back here you stink nugget!" Andy exclaimed.

"Well, a deal's a deal. He still owes me that ship, Andy!" Tex claimed. "Tell him to bring that thing down here, and-" A loud boom sounded as the alien ship erupted into flames and blew apart.

"Tex!" a voice called. They all looked up to see a man in white armor with a rocket launcher in his hands, smoke still wafting from one of the twin barrels, standing atop the highest ledge of the facility.

"Wyoming?!" Tex exclaimed.

"What are more Grimm doing in this universe? We need answers."

"Hell to that. I just got done fighting terrifying monsters, and that wasn't even part of the quest. The way I see it, we can either try and follow Tex, finish the quest, or we just call it quits and go back to Blood Gulch," Tucker suggested.

"You really are a coward," Blake frowned while crossing her arms.

"What do you want from me? I'm a lover, not a fighter," Tucker said. "Besides, if we go back to Blood Gulch, there's probably a chance you'll be back in radio range to call your friends."

"Now this is sick," Grif said proudly.

"Any ideas for a name?" Yang asked.

"I was thinking Blaze, because of the orange flames."

"I don't think piloting a speeder named Blaze inspires confidence. They might think it'll actually go up in flames," Yang crossed her arms.

"Got any better ideas?"

"Hmm… I was thinking… Firefly," Yang said.

"What? Vic? Is that you?!" Church exclaimed.

"And you- and you work with Blue Command?"

"Oh, right dude. Good one dude. 'Blue command'. Wink."

"What do you mean, what, wait, what does that mean?" Church questioned. "I-Is the war over? Did we win?"

"Dude, I gotta lot to catch ya up on," Vic Junior replied.

RvBvRWBY: Incursion

Chapter 11: Down with the Sickness

"Well, welcome to our little slice of hell," Tucker said as they looked out at Blood Gulch in front of them. "Can't believe I'm back here."

"I mean, it doesn't look that bad," Ruby said with a positive tone.

"Try living here a few years, and then tell me that," Tucker replied. The five of them were just outside Blue Base, where Church stepped out and saw them.

"Oh, look who's back, the conquering heroes. What's up, guys?" He greeted. "Hey, where's Tex?"

"Gone," Tucker answered.

"Where's the alien?"

"Dead," Blake said.

"How'd the quest go?"

"Failed," Ruby said, her positive tone quickly changed to a sadder one.

"Yeah, y'know, I probably didn't even need to ask that last question, did I?" Church said.

"Eh, I wouldn't say failed," Andy said while being held by Caboose. "But these guys definitely screwed everything up for us."

"What?! But we didn't even do anything!" Tucker said defensively.

"Exactly," Andy said. "You let the girls do all the work and got the alien killed!"

"Yeah, but doing nothing is what we do, so technically we didn't screw anything up," Tucker replied.

"It's true. I have a first place ribbon in doing nothing," Caboose said. "It's the same ribbon as last place. It's purple…"

"It's not all on them," Blake defended. "There were more Grimm, and another Freelancer that showed up, Wyoming. He killed Crunchbite, then Tex chased after him."

"Wyoming? Was Tex ok?" Church asked concerningly.

"She's fine. None of us are that lucky," Tucker remarked.

"Who's Wyoming, exactly?" Ruby asked the Blue Leader.

"One of Tex's old freelancer pals, kind of a douche. Look, anytime you guys have new information for me, just tell it to me as soon as possible, okay?" Church said.

"You got it," Ruby nodded.

"Thanks," Church said, somewhat relieved. "Look, I'm sure you guys are tired from the trip, so make yourselves at home. I'll see if I can pick up Tex on the radio."

"Are we done with this conversation? Cause I'm super hungry. Do we have any food?"

"Yeah. Show the girls the way to the mess hall too, I'm sure they have some kind of hankering," Church said. Tucker, Caboose and Blake entered Blue Base, but Ruby stayed with Church. "What, you're not hungry?"

"Not particularly, but I was also wanting to see how you were doing. We haven't seen you since the facility," Ruby said.

"I'm fine, made here all right. Showed up just in time to help your friends fight off that big bad wolf thing. We sent it packing," Church said.

"The Grimm was here?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Uh, yeah. It apparently chomped down on a couple of those crystals of yours, but after we shot it with a tank, it bitched out. Haven't seen it since."

"It ate the Dust?"

"Yeah, not exactly what I'd call a good snack, but it only got a couple crystals. The rest is over at Red Base." Church glanced over and saw the Firefly approaching. "Speaking of which…"

Ruby turned just as the Firefly came to a stop, and Yang hopped out of it. "Ruby!" she exclaimed. The elder sister sprinted up and hauled the younger into her arms, constricting her in a tight but warm embrace.

"I'm okay, Yang…" Ruby said through strained breaths.

"Yeah, touching family reunion," Church said with little energy. "I'm gonna see if I can reach Tex." Church then took the ramp up to the top of Blue Base, away from the two huntresses, out of sight.

"Man, he is such a buzzkill," Yang remarked. "So what's going on? Where's Blake?"

"Inside. Where's Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Back at Red Base with Simmons. They've been trying to figure us out a way back to Remnant for a couple days now."

"Any luck?" Ruby asked.

Yang shook her head. "I'm sure they'll figure it out though. They're both smart. So what did we miss?"

"We have quite a bit to catch you up on," Ruby said.

Weiss stood outside Red base, leaning herself against the wall in the shade. Just like she found herself doing often recently, she was gazing at the snowflake necklace hanging from her shoulders, thumbing the gems embedded in its design absent-mindedly. Her and Simmons had continued to create failure after failure trying to utilize the Cosmic Dust. But she felt they were gradually getting closer to answer was staying just out of reach, she could feel it. But at the moment, she was so frustrated she didn't even want to look at the Cosmic Dust right now. She needed a breather. She needed to focus, if they had any chance of getting home. And if she can learn how to create a universe-traveling device to get home, she could even then use it to visit his world. That was the hope, the promise she and her team were given upon accepting the mission to transport the Dust. That was why she was pushing herself so hard. That was her goal. And she refused to let anything stand between her and that goal, even whatever this new Grimm was.

He would know what to do. But what would he do…?

"Hey, Weiss?" Simmons said as he approached. Weiss's eyebrow twitched, but she took a deep breath, let go of the necklace, and glanced over.

"Yes, Simmons?"

"I have the lab set up for the next test, if you're ready."

"I'll be there in a moment," Weiss said.

"Are… you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I'll be there in a moment," Weiss assured.

"A-Alright. See you in a minute," Simmons said before returning inside Red Base. Weiss took another deep breath.

We'll be seeing you soon. I just know it, she thought to herself. She then followed the Red Lieutenant inside.

Church, Caboose, Ruby, Yang and Blake stood outside Blue Base as they could hear painful moans and groans coming from inside, those of Tucker, who lay down just inside. "Man, he sounds terrible," Yang said.

"Yeah, he's been like that since the swamp," Caboose said.

"Swamp? You guys were in a swamp?" Church asked.

"Yeah. It was dark and swampy," Caboose said. "I wasn't scared at all."

"Is this why you guys came home so fast?" Church questioned.

Blake shook her head. "We came here because the alien died and Tex ran off. Didn't exactly leave us with a lot of other options."

"Oh yeah. And the glowing sword turned out to be a glowing key," Ruby added.

"Yeah, a glowing key that could still stab people," Church said.

"So it's a sword that just happens to function as a key in very certain situations," Yang said.

"Or it's a key all the time, and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death," Caboose said. The three huntresses stared at him awkwardly while Church seemed mainly unaffected.

"God damn, I'd love to live in your world for about ten minutes," He remarked.

"Yeah. I have a really good time," Caboose said cheerfully.

"Sure seems like it," Yang slightly chuckled.

More of Tucker's pained groans could be heard from inside. Church glanced back at the doorway inside. "Hey Tucker, you okay?" He called.

"Ugh, why don't you guys come in here…?" Tucker replied.

"Because it might be a contagious disease?" Blake replied. "And if you're sick like this already, it means we don't already have it."

"Plus, he threw up right next to me ten minutes ago," Yang added. "I thought I was done with that after meeting Jaune… ugh."

"Hey, you don't suppose that sword is making him sick, do ya?" Church questioned.

"It's unlikely, but not impossible," Blake said.

"We don't know anything about it, though. Maybe it runs on radiation and it's poisoning him."

"Doesn't that give less of a reason for us to enter the base?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, fair point."

"On that note, I'm going to go check on Weiss, let her know we're back," Blake said.

"Here, I'll drive ya back. Be back soon, sis," Yang said before she and Blake headed for Firefly.

"Well, guess it's just us now," Ruby said.

"Eh, this stuff with Tucker is bugging with me. Do you have anything useful?" Church asked.

"We could always ask Andy. He seems to know a lot," Ruby suggested.

"Huh, good point. Let's ask him." The three then approached the bomb, which was set in the dirt behind base. "Hey, Andy, what the hell happened to Tucker on this little adventure you guys took?"

"How should I know?" Andy asked defensively. "Ask Little Red over there, she was on the journey too! So was Caboose!"

"Yeah, but they don't know anything. And he's acting way off."

"He ate all my food and threw it up. Could've just thrown it on the floor and cut out the middle man," Caboose said.

"Yeah, that was gross. Glad I didn't eat beforehand," Ruby remarked.

"Plus now he's moody as hell," Church added. "I went to ask him if he was feeling better earlier, and he practically bit my goddamn head off!"

"He was fine on the trip. Maybe he's allergic to you. I mean, I get nauseous when I look at ya" Andy rudely replied.

"Well, did he come into contact with anything weird? Like, any strange plants or animals, or… like super flu viruses, or…" Church paused and glanced at Ruby, unsure he should say the next thing to pop in his head. He turned back to Andy and said, "You get the idea."

"Oh, come on, you're surprised he's sick? I haven't seen the guy wash his hands, not once!" Andy said.

"We're just worried, Andy," Ruby said. "If it's something contagious, it could put all of us out of it. And if that Grimm ever came back around, we'd stand no chance."

"I'm gonna go take a vitamin," Caboose said.

"Oh, don't bother, it's too late for you anyway. We need to start thinking about me," Church said.

"Tell you what, send me in, and I'll run cleanup. Don't' worry about it, I'll take care of everything," Andy said. Church and Ruby traded unconvinced glances before looking back down at the metal orb before them.

"We're not letting you blow up the base," Church deadpanned.

"C'mon! Just a little explosion! Five, ten megatons tops! A-All your scary germs will be gone! Nothing left but the cockroaches! Germ free cockroaches!"

"No, but that does give me a good idea. Technically, you can't get sick," Church said.

"So we can send Andy in to check on Tucker, and he could tell us what's wrong!" Ruby smiled.

"I ain't no nurse," Andy replied. "I go in there, all you're gonna get is an explosion. If you want a medical diagnosis, go see a doctor."

Church paused for a moment. "Hold on, what did you just say?"

"I said you don't need me, you need a doctor," Andy repeated. The two blue soldiers traded glances, while Ruby scratched her head.

"Please don't do it," Caboose begged.

"Uh… is something wrong?"

"Uh, yeah. Kinda. I just realized who we need to call for this," Church said. "Do me a favor, don't tell Weiss."

Weiss stared angrily at the smoldering wreck of yet another attempt at utilizing the Cosmic Dust, with the melted metal and now shattered Dust crystal billowing smoke from their result of every attempt so far was the same. Their attempt at a machine to harness the Dust? Destroyed. Each Dust crystal they try to harness? Shattered to pieces alongside the experiment. The most they learned from all this was that failure to utilize the artificial Cosmic Dust results in the crystal's destruction. And when it came to her and Yang's share of the supply, they had used almost half at this point. Days of work wasted, and if they weren't careful, they might find themselves with no way home at all.

But what were they doing wrong? What was she doing wrong?

"Well… mark test twenty-three as a failure. But hey, we've gotta be making some progress, right?" Simmons said.

"In what way are we making progress?" Weiss replied flatly.

"We're narrowing down what kind of format of machine could work. Mimicking your guys' weapon blueprints or something similar isn't quite working, which means we're ruling out incompatible ideas," Simmons elaborated.

"And we could run out of Cosmic Dust before we find the correct one!"

"Hey, don't start yelling at me! I've spent the past few days doing nothing but helping you!" Simmons snapped back. "I could've been doing other things!"

"Like what, standing around and talking all day?!" Weiss frowned.

"No! Well… maybe?" Simmons replied nervously. Weiss groaned and threw her hands up. "Hey, in my defense, that's all we did until you guys showed up!"

"I need…" Weiss felt her anger start to build, but she refused to let out. She kept it in, taking a deep, strained breath. "I need more time away from this."

"Well good, 'cause you got it," Sarge said as he stood in the doorway, catching both Simmons' and Weiss's attention. "You're never gonna believe who just showed up in the canyon."

"Who?" Simmons asked.

"Come up top and see for yourself," Sarge said before leaving and heading up. Weiss and Simmons traded glances before following suit. When they reached the top of the base, Yang was peeking through the scope of a sniper rifle aimed towards Blue Base, and at her sides were Grif and Blake.

"Why do you have a sniper rifle?" Weiss asked her teammate.

"Cause we don't own any binoculars," Grif answered for her.

"You have access to military grade equipment and weapons, but there's not a single pair of binoculars in this base?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"You underestimate the mediocrity of our command," Simmons said.

"Here," Yang said while handing off the sniper rifle. "Take a look."

She dropped the rifle into Weiss's hands. Its weight caught Weiss off guard. She almost fell to the floor with it, but managed to keep it in her grip and haul it up high enough to look through its scope, aiming towards Blue Base. And through that scope she saw a familiar set of purple armor that only fed the fire of her anger at the moment.

"Now be careful. Don't give away our position with maniacal laughing," O'Malley said as he stood just outside the boundaries of Blue Base. "We don't know what to expect from these fools. This could all be an elaborate trap, and we don't want to be caught off guard."

"You mean get caught in a trap before we spring our trap," Doc corrected.

"Precisely, you fool, now shut up. At least we have a lookout." O'Malley turned his head to see Lopez's head resting on one of the rocks jutting from the sandy dirt of Blood Gulch. "Lopez, what do you see up there?"

"[Nothing much. Just like always]," Lopez replied in Spanish. "[Man, this place sucks.]"

O'Malley took a few steps closer to Blue Base, seeing for himself that no one seemed to be around. "Hmm… it's quiet. Too quiet," he remarked. Then a sniper shot zoomed right by his head. "Now suddenly, it's too loud. I preferred it when it was quiet."

"Alright, hold it right there!" Church exclaimed as he, Caboose and Ruby appeared atop blue base, weapons in hand. Ruby and Church had their snipers aimed right at O'Malley, the former having taken the shot.

"[I see people now. I think they have guns]," Lopez warned too late.

"Yes, I see that! Thank you for keeping us informed," O'Malley replied sarcastically. "Moron."

"Yeah, that was just a warning shot, O'Malley. You make any funny moves, the next one's gonna go right in the middle of your visor!" Church warned.

"You think you could make that shot from here?" Caboose asked.

"Uh, probably not. I was actually trying to hit him that time," Church muttered to reply. "I swear to god, I think somebody fucks with the sights on this thing when I'm not looking."

"Maybe I can help you with your aim sometime. I use a sniper too!" Ruby offered.

"Ruby, focus, crazy psycho in front of us. And my aim is fine."

"I knew it! This was just some elaborate scheme to lure us into an ambush!" O'Malley exclaimed.

"First of all, calling you on the phone and inviting you over…? I don't think that qualifies as an 'elaborate scheme'. And secondly, we're not ambushing you. We just wanna lay down some ground rules for your visit," Church said.

"I'm not very big on rules, you know," O'Malley said.

"It's true!" Doc agreed. "We have a system back at the evil lair where we each clean on different days, but I always end up doing it!"

"Shut up!"

"And he always leaves the milk out!"

"You fool, be quiet!"

"And don't even get me started on the phone bill."

"He Doc, I see you're still swimming around in that head somewhere too," Church greeted the medic. "

"Well, it's not the ideal situation, but any relationship requires work if you can-" Doc started.

"You fool! This isn't a relationship. I'm just using your body to fulfill my evil plans. When we're done, I'm going to throw your rotten carcass into a swamp and let the beasts feed on your injuries!" O'Malley cackled before feeling the tip of a blade poke into his back.

"I don't think so," Weiss said coldly.

"[Watch out. I think there is someone sneaking up on you,]" Lopez warned, again too late.

"Thanks for the update," O'Malley deadpanned.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss questioned, keeping Myrtenaster's sharp point pressed against O'Malley's back.

"We got a house call. Church invited us," Doc answered.

"He did what?!" Weiss exclaimed, an even larger frown forming on her face.

"Look, long story, we'll explain why here in a second. For now, just keep him there," Church said. "Look, O'malley, don't get any bright ideas about jumping into anyone else today. We've got our radios off, and if you try something, we now have two badass warrior chicks that can kick your ass. So here's how this is gonna work: you're gonna come in, gonna take a look at Tucker, you're gonna tell us what's wrong, and then you're gonna leave."

"Mmm… what do we get?" O'Malley asked.

"We can't seriously be trusting him?" Weiss asked.

"No, we don't, that's why we have guns on him," Church replied through gritted teeth, getting annoyed by Weiss. He then turned back to O'Malley. "What do you want? And I should warn you, Tex is not here. So if you have any cute ideas for her, don't bother."

"Well a standard physical usually requires a twenty dollar copay. Hey! Ask 'em what kinda health insurance plan they have!" Doc said.

"Shut up, let me negotiate," O'Malley hissed, but then Weiss pressed her blade against him more firmly.

"You won't negotiate anything," Weiss said.

"Oh, but we will. We want something from you, but we're not going to tell you what it is until we need it!" O'Malley cackled.

"Why would we agree to a condition when we don't even know what it is?" Ruby questioned.

"Yeah, we're not doing that," Church said.

"Oh yes you are, or your little friend Tucker will die, die a most horrible death, and you know his blood will be on your hands," O'Malley said threateningly. Ruby frowned and glanced over at Church. He returned her look, indecisiveness coming over him.

"You can't seriously be considering this!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I mean… do we have much of a choice?" Ruby asked Church.

Church sighed. "No, not really. Alright, fine, O'Malley."

"Yes! We've also been told a twenty dollar copay is standard."

"Fine," Church said tensely. "Weiss, bring him around."

"And we want the twenty dollars up front!" O'Malley added before Weiss jabbed him with her weapon, urging him forward.

"Fine!" Church said impatiently as he, Caboose and Ruby headed for the ramp.

"And in cash!"

"Ugh, whatever!"

"Aha, you moron! If you used the credit card, you could have gotten airline miles! Or at least the thirty day grace period with no interest. You fiscally irresponsible fools!"

"Caboose, gimme twenty dollars. Wait, give me thirty dollars," Church ordered.

"Today is going to be a long day," Weiss groaned.

"C'mon, double time it! That goes double for you, Grif!" Sarge ordered as he, Simmons, Grif, Yang and Blake.

"Why are we always double timing it anyway?" Grif asked through strained breaths. "Can't we ever half time? Or how about no time?"

"You would say or do anything to do less work, won't you?" Blake questioned. "How did you ever get assigned here?"

"I'm pretty sure that's why he was assigned here," Simmons said.

"Why are we even running again?" Grif questioned. Sarge, who was at the head of the group, stopped, making everyone else stop behind him. They all turned around to face Grif.

"Because Weiss ran off to O'Malley. Not only do we need to ensure her safety, but if O'Malley is here, that also means Lopez might be here," Sarge answered.

"You mean your foreign-speaking robot that ditched you?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"And then tried to kill you? Why would you want him?" Blake added.

"Because stored inside Lopez is information Command sent us for the next phase of the war," Sarge said.

"But how do we even know he still has the plans?" Simmons asked. "Last time we saw him, all that was left was a head. Maybe he stored the files in his legs, or his chest."

"You idiot, who stores memories in their chest? Don't you know anything about biology?" Sarge scolded. "The chest is strictly reserved for digestion."

"Maybe they'll send us more reinforcements like last time. Donut's arrival was a real turning point in the offensive," Grif said sarcastically.

"Where is Donut?" Yang questioned. Simmons glanced ahead of them to get the answer.

"There he is! Looks like he's talking to something." The group all looked forward to see Donut ahead of them, seemingly speaking to something propped up on one of the large rocks jutting from Blood Gulch's soil.

"I think… I think it's Lopez's head," Blake said.

"Lopez?!" Sarge exclaimed before running up to the pink-armored soldier. "Donut, where did you find him?"

"Right here," Donut answered.

"How were you two talking? Lopez, do you speak English now?" Simmons asked.

"[No]," Lopez answered.

"Well then why did he just say 'no' in English? Busted," Yang said.

Donut said, "I took four years of high-school Spanish. That's the best way to learn any language."

"What have you two been talking about exactly?" Blake asked.

"Oh, the usual Spanish fare. I told him my name, I asked him what his name was, I asked him if he knew where the bathroom was, how much the ticket for the train costs, and I asked him for the check."

"[Please make the pink one stop talking to me]," Lopez begged robotically.

"Ask him if he has the plans. And if he missed me." Sarge ordered.

"He did miss you. With turret rounds, remember?" Yang reminde,d earning a jab in the arm from Blake.

Donut took his order and turned back to the head of Lopez. "[Lopez, do you know what time it is? I am going to the beach with my cousin who likes to play tennis. I ate a pencil. Adios!]". Lopez seemingly stared at him, despite only being a robotic head.

"Something tells me he said nothing close to what he was supposed to," Blake said.

"Looks like he's not talking, Sarge."

"Alright, he wants to play tough, huh? I built an override code for just this event," Sarge said. "Lopez: give me root access. Priority: Delta one."

"[Priority Access requested. Please state the Access Code]."

"The access code is… Access Code!" Sarge stated.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me…" Simmons sighed.

"Ah, bitch about it later."

"[Access Code accepted. Greetings, Sarge, would you like to play a-]"

"Lopez! Replay the intel message from command," Sarge ordered.

"[Ok,]".

"He said 'ok'. Maybe Yang's right, he is faking," Grif said.

From Lopez's head then came Vic's voice, however, it also came through speaking Spanish. They all let out a collective groan. "Oh, come on, the recording is in Spanish? That doesn't even make any sense!"

"It kinda sounds like the guy Church was talking to, Vic Jr." Yang said.

"Eggs Benedict Arnold! Those dirty traitors!" Sarge exclaimed.

"Wait, how did Vic have kids? I thought he had a vasectomy," Donut said. Everyone stared at him blankly and silently, creating an awkward tension in the air. "Well that's just what I heard!"

Blake turned back to Lopez's head. "Well, if we really need to translate it, the Blues' bomb Andy is a translator. We could use him to figure out what Lopez is saying."

"Blake, are you actually getting involved?" Yang questioned with a smirk.

"We're already knee-deep in it. Besides, without Weiss working with Simmons to get us home right now, it's better than just sitting around," Blake said.

"Let me get this straight, we're going to steal a bomb from our enemies, a bomb that can be remotely detonated might I add, and then we're going to bring it back to our base and all huddle around it. What a great plan!" Grif said sarcastically.

"Well, sure, it sounds stupid when you put it like that," Simmons said.

"C'mon, let's move. Somebody grab Lopez's cabesa," Sarge ordered.