O'Malley: Previously, on RvBvRWBY: Incursion...
"Ship the Dust where it could be used, then when General Ironwood figured it all out, we got to visit their Earth. That's when that Grimm attacked our ship, and brought us here."
"Well, look on the bright side, at least you found us!" Donut said cheerfully.
"Yeah, it could've been a lot worse ya," Sarge agreed. "Besides, as far as I'm concerned, now you're honorary members of the Red army! Glad to have ya here. And don't worry about that hellhound. We'll send it back to kingdom come, and help you girls all get back home! Got that?"
"Memory's a bit fuzzy, but there was the weird thing and another guy talking about some kid and a sword, some kind of deal they made."
"Oh, wait! I forgot about the bomb! The bomb!" Grif exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's a good way to prove you aren't insane; Just start screaming 'the bomb! The bomb!'". Simmons remarked.
"The bomb was there! That's how we could understand what was being said!" Grif clarified.
"He means Andy, the talking bomb Tex built.
"A kid and a sword…" Ruby repeated out loud. "That sounds like Tucker to me."
"So?" Simmons questioned.
"So if they were asking about him, I think Tucker's in trouble."
"Caboose! The omega A.I has been missing, and everyone has been attempting to find him. If you continue to act erratically, they may mistakenly think he is inside of you, and take drastic measures against you," Sheila warned.
"Oh. I wouldn't want them to do that," Caboose said.
"Exactly! Luckily, I know where Omega is."
"What do you think, Tex, can we turn her back on again? Disable her guns or something?"
"Not a chance, she's a wreck back here. I'm not even sure how she was operational anyway," Tex answered.
"She could only be moved over if we had a similar class of vehicle," Tex explained.
"Similar how?" Blake asked.
"It'd have to be military hardware with sophisticated enough onboard computers," Tex replied.
"Like, say, a UNSC ship that just so happened to crash-land?" Blake suggested. "We could transfer Sheila into there."
"It looks like a camera feed showing different parts of the canyon. Look, there's our base!" Grif said.
"Ah, yes, another incredible observation from the Stating the Obvious Department. Thanks for nothing, numbnuts
"Um… are we sure we want to put her in this ship?" Church questioned.
"It's still flyable, but I'm gonna remove the ignition coil just to be sure," Tex said. "If O'Malley is in her somewhere, they aren't going anywhere without it."
"You want me to hold it?" Church asked.
"Are you kidding?"
"Well, thought it was worth a try."
"So every freelancer has a special equipment and A.I?" Blake asked.
"Mostly, yeah," Tex answered.
"Wait a minute," Church said. "Your armor was invisibility and your A.I was Omega."
"Right."
"What was Wyoming's A.I?" Church asked.
"Gamma," Tex answered.
"Hello. This is Church, Gary. Or should I call you Gamma?"
Vic called and said we should attack Red base right away, and for some reason he thinks it's a good idea for some of us to go through the caves," he explained.
"Why would we do that?" Weiss questioned.
"That's just it. We know the Reds are underground looking for Sarge and Ruby, and the timing of this is just… weird. Something's going on, and I don't like it."
RvBvRWBY: Incursion
Chapter 18: Deja Vu
The forward group walked along a fairly precarious path alongside the wall of the canyon, slowly making their way out to Red Base and, hopefully, spot a possible trap from a distance. No dice, though. As Church scanned the entire Red side of the canyon with his sniper, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No movement, no obvious traps, nothing. He let out a sigh. "I don't see anything."
"Weiss and I will move up. You two stay here," Tex said.
"You want us to cover you?" Tucker asked.
Weiss scoffed. "Oh, please…" She rolled her eyes and immediately started forward as if it was the stupidest question she'd ever heard.
"Just don't run away," Tex added before joining her.
"You don't have to be bitches about it!" Tucker snapped back. Church aimed his scope back at Red Base, giving it another careful scan.
"I don't see anything at all. With Red Team underground, who else could even be here?" Church questioned.
"Man, I hate that I never get the fucking sniper rifle!" Tucker whined.
"Oh yeah, boo hoo. All you got is your stupid awesome sword, I feel so sorry for you."
"Come on, dude, just once! Let me use it just one time! I won't ever ask again! Pleeaaasee! Please please please please!"
"Can I use the sword?" Church asked.
"Oh, hell yes!" Tucker replied.
"Alright, fine, here." The two traded weapons, with Church dropping the heavy rifle into Tucker's hands while Tucker gave up the sword hilt to his leader.
"Oh, kickass! Heh heh! Okay, no, wait. How do I zoom? Wait, I'm zoomed!" Tucker said. He looked through the scope of the rifle unsteadily while Church struggled to activate the sword.
"Hey Tucker, this sword doesn't even work! What a fuckin gip!" Church cursed.
"Now how do I- wait, what is this thing?" Tucker asked, completely ignoring Church's complaints.
"Okay, whatever dude, just don't-" Church tried to warn.
BANG! BANG!
"OW!" Tex exclaimed.
"What the-?!" Weiss shrieked. Tucker had accidentally pulled the trigger twice, shooting Tex in her back end and nearly taking off Weiss's head, the round instead going through her off-center ponytail.
"The fuck?! Did you just fire that thing?!" Church yelled.
"Oops! That was an accident!" Tucker said. Through the scope, he could see both Tex and Weiss turn around with infuriated looks about both of them, then begin to come back towards the two Blues.
"We're supposed to be sneaking, dumbass! Gimme it back!" Church ordered.
"Umm, yeah, okay. Take it back," Tucker agreed. He gave the rifle back to Church and took his sword back as well, clipping the handle onto his belt.
"I knew there was a reason I didn't let you use this thing all these years." Church turned around as Tex and Weiss approached. "Hey guys, what're you doing back?" Tex brought her fist smashing down on the top of his head, then the pommel of Myrtenaster caught his jaw. "OW! What the fuck did I do?!"
"Asshole!" Tex cursed.
"I told him to be careful with that thing. He's just not very good with it," Tucker said.
"What? They're invading our base! And we're not even there to defend it! Oh the humiliation!" Sarge exclaimed. The Reds, Ruby and Yang saw as the Blues and Weiss moved onto the grounds of Red Base.
"I don't think it's an invasion, Sarge," Yang said. "They could just be looking for us. We wouldn't know if they've been trying to call us down here, we have no signal!"
"Or they're being lured into a trap," Ruby added. "We need to find a way back to the surface, warn them that they're after Tucker."
"The youngin's right. If anybody's gonna kill those Blues, it's gonna be me!" Sarge proclaimed.
"I guess that's the spirit," Ruby nervously chuckled. "Let's find a way out of here."
"I'm sure Simmons knows a way. Right, Simmons? Simmons?" She glanced over to the Red lieutenant who was staring intently at the monitor.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, I agree…" He said absently.
"Dude, you're not gonna be seeing any more naked girls on there," Yang said.
"Shut up! You don't know that! Stop saying that! She doesn't know what she's talking about…" Simmons growled and grumbled.
"We still need to find a way out. I'm all turned around down here," Grif said.
"I have an idea. Follow me," Donut said before moving out. The others followed him back across the precarious chasm and all throughout the cavern back to the spot where they started, just outside the abandoned underground Blue Base, and to two lifeless bodies that he had mentioned before. Ruby kept a distance between herself and the bodies though. "See? These are dead Blues."
"Yes, Donut, we're all very happy about the corpses," Sarge said. "Sicko."
"So these are Church and Tex's original bodies, huh? I'm surprised they don't reek of rot yet,"
Yang noted.
"Don't you get it? When you guys fell, you fell down here. When the Blues buried these two guys, they fell down too,' Donut explained.
"So we must be right under the Blue base!" Ruby deduced.
"So any exits around here would lead back to the surface outside the base," Simmons added.
"Then onward, men, to victory!" Sarge cried.
"Ugh, this war sucks…" Grif sighed as the Reds and Yang quickly ran on to find the nearest exit tunnel. Ruby, though, stopped to glance at the dead bodies. A small thought crossed her mind, as well as the image of the mismatched eyes again. Before she could dwell on it, though, her sister called her forward, and she ran to catch up with the others.
The Blues and Weiss scanned the entire exterior to the base, finding nothing awaiting them. If it was a trap, so far it wasn't a very good one. They regrouped atop Red Base to discuss their next steps.
"Alright, well, I guess let's break up into teams and search the base," Church suggested.
"Got it," Tex nodded. Then her radio whirred to life, followed by the unpleasant sound of Caboose's voice.
"Tex! Tex, are you there, Tex? I know who O'Malley is!" He said.
"Is it even worth checking inside? There's no one here," Weiss said.
"Yeah, probably. Just Command screwing up again. What else is new?" Church said.
"Does that mean we win?" Tucker asked.
"I suppose so. I guess we have two bases in the middle of a boxed canyon now," Church said.
"Whoopdie-fucking-doo," Tucker remarked.
"Right Tex?" Church turned around to find Tex aiming the barrel of her Battle Rifle right at his head.
"Don't move, O'Malley," Tex said coldly.
"Oh, crap…"
"Don't. Move," Tex stressed her words individually.
"Ooh, busted! Kill him, Tex! I got fifty-to-one odds if his next death is caused by anyone but Caboose!" Tucker said almost too enthusiastically.
"Tex, what are you doing?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Tex, I am not O'Malley," Church said.
"Bullshit, it all makes sense now! You were the one who told Gary where we were, and you wanted the ignition coil for the ship after we uploaded Sheila!"
"That's all coincidental. That doesn't make me evil, that just makes me a bad leader," Church reflected.
"As much as I surprise myself by saying this, I agree with Church. He is an awful leader-" Weiss started.
"Gee, thanks," Church deadpanned.
"- and a resounding idiot, but he isn't O'Malley. If he were, we would've known by now."
"Yeah, I wouldn't have exactly had time to cook up an evil plan dealing with monsters and morons all week," Church added.
"Why would Caboose tell me it was you?" Tex questioned.
"You're trusting that dolt's word?" Weiss raised a curious eyebrow.
"That's right," Caboose said as he came on everyone's radio signals.
"Dude, I'll tell you what, if you get me killed again, I gotta tell ya, this time I'm gonna be a little pissed," Church said.
"Sheila told me that O'Malley might be inside Blue Leader," Caboose said.
"And that's you," Tex said.
"I'd hardly trust the words of a malfunctioning tank either," Weiss crossed her arms.
Church nodded. "Yeah, she's not exactly batting a thousand recently. Besides, I was never officially promoted to Blue Leader anyways. That's-..." Church's voice suddenly trailed off as a realization hit him. "Oh no…"
"So by the time I got home it was four AM, and when my mom asked where i was, I told her I was riding around on the train all night, which I guess is technically true-" Sister was regailing Doc and Blake about one of many stories she had decided to retell while they started searching the caves, stories that would haunt the back of their memories for as long as they lived. It was at this point that Doc cut her off.
"Uh, yeah, we don't have to talk about stuff any more. Let's just walk, and not talk. Ever again," he said uncomfortably. Blake silently agreed with the sentiment, holding herself uncomfortably as she tried to cleanse her mind of every mental image Sister had given her.
Sister stopped as Blake and Doc moved ahead and looked back to the trailing Junior who was a ways back down the path, trying to catch up. "C'mon, little guy, hurry up!" She urged the grub.
"Hrnk!" Junior squealed as his large, inhuman feet trotted in the dirt to catch up.
Looking for some kind of distraction, Blake absentmindedly looked around the tunnel until her eyes fell on a very familiar robotic head sitting in a corner collecting dirt and dust. "Lopez?"
"[Hola]," Lopez greeted in his robotic Spanish.
"Oh, it's you," Doc said with barely contained unenthusiasm.
"[Whatever. Some way to treat your sidekick. Gone for days and you don't even look for me,]" Lopez replied.
"You know him?" Sister said.
"You speak Spanish?" Doc asked.
"Uh, of course I do. It's the year twenty-five-hundred and I'm from America."
"Oh, cool," Doc said, only half listening. "Tell him O'Malley's gone." Sister spoke the language, which Blake didn't understand a word of, but clearly she messed something up if Lopez's tone and reaction were anything to go by.
"[Your Spanish sucks]," The robot said.
Blake was so distracted by the situation, she didn't hear the footsteps behind them until the two others were already upon them. "Hi there. I don't think we've met," A man said. Blake snapped around with Gambol Shroud already in its firearm form, aiming the barrel directly at the newcomers' heads. One of them was a human man in standard dark blue armor like Caboose's holding a Battle Rifle in his hands. The second was another fully grown alien like Crunchbite was, who wore golden armor plates instead of blue. "I'm Captain Butch Flowers and this is my friend."
"Hi, nice to meet you!" Sister greeted cheerfully. "Hey, wait… wasn't I sent here to replace you?"
"Honk?" Junior let out a curious sound as it peered at his kin and the supposedly dead Blue captain.
Flowers looked back down at the young grub. "Hey there, little guy." His voice quickly became distorted, switching between a normal pitch and a low, bassy register, glitching between the to like his own voice was corrupted audio. "I've been waiting a very, very long time to meet you."
"O'Malley," Blake furrowed her brow.
"The one and only. Gotta say, puppeteering a dead body is something new for me, but I'm kinda liking it. Plus it's creative. I gotta hand it to that slimy dog, he's original. I almost feel bad copying him like this."
"What are you-?" Blake started to question.
"Oh, come on, Blake, none of you have figured it out yet?" Flowers burst out into a fit of mad laughter. "Oh, you are in for a big surprise. I took a glance around in that head of his without him realizing it, and oh boy, the stories I could tell. Unfortunately, little faunus, we're on a bit of a tight schedule, so we're just gonna have to move this along quickly."
Blake was focused on O'Malley, aiming her reticle right at his head, that she only knew the alien had fired a needle from its weapon when it hit her side, shattering on her aura. "Agh!" She quickly took aim at the alien next, but the brief change of attention was all that was needed. O'Malley took the chance to rush forward and slam her into the wall, blasting the air from her lungs. She hacked out a harsh cough as she slid to the ground, but switched her weapon to its blade form and drove it through O'Malley's torso as he stood over her. He just chuckled, however.
"Did you forget this body is already dead?" He chuckled darkly. He bashed the side of her skull with the butt of his rifle, sending her to the ground and putting a harsh ringing in her ears. Before she could even recover, he stomped his foot down on her head, knocking her out cold. The alien quickly corralled Doc, Sister and Junior on its own. O'Malley pulled the short blade from his torso and let the weapon hit the dirt. "Grab her. We have to be on time."
"Blarg," the alien replied with a confirming nod.
"I am not O'Malley, I'm telling you, it's Flowers!" Church exclaimed. At this point, Tucker had his weapon aimed at his leader as well.
"Liar! Flowers is dead!" Tucker said.
"When would I have had time to make some kind of evil plan when I've been too busy dealing with you, Tex, the fucking boogeymen monsters, these four teenagers, that new yellow freak, and that stupid disgusting kid of yours?!" Church yelled, losing his temper on everybody who seemed to have not even a modicum of common sense.
"Okay, okay," Tucker relented, lowering his gun. "Man, I hope if Flowers is alive that he doesn't want this armor back."
"You're wearing your dead captain's armor?" Weiss questioned.
"He wasn't exactly using it," Tucker said.
"You are unbelievable…" Weiss sighed in disappointment.
"So wait, what the hell is going on?" Tucker questioned.
"I think we've just walked into a-" Tex started.
"Trap?" Another voice said.
Tex sighed. "Wyoming." The other three saw Wyoming standing right behind Tex with the barrel of his rifle aimed right at her head.
"Now, if I was O'Malley, I would've known that was gonna happen," Church said.
"How comforting," Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Yes, hello," Wyoming said. "So sorry to sneak up on you when you were busy quarreling about… well whatever it is exactly you people do here. I'm guessing some kind of ditch digging or something."
"Blue team doesn't even have shovels," Tucker said. "Which kinda sucks cause our guys are the ones who keep dying."
"And it looks like that trend is going to continue," Wyoming threatened.
"Oh what, you're here for Tex?" Church asked. "Because if you are, she's right here. All yours buddy, go for it."
"Not at all. I'm here for both the alien child and all the little huntresses-to-be. They're very important to certain people."
"Do you really think I'll just give up without a fight?" Weiss questioned. Then suddenly she was pinned to the ground by two Beowolves, their massive forms forcing her smaller frame down. One of them bit her arm harshly. She let out a pained yell and lost her hold on Myrtenaster. The weapon rolled from her fingers onto the floor. One of the Beowolves picked it up and tossed it across the roof to Wyoming, who caught the rapier and attached it to his belt.
"No, Miss Schnee, so we had to take precautions. Not that fighting you would even be difficult, mind you. You're the weakest link in your team. You haven't had a single victory in your time here. You let O'Malley hold you captive, and the Grimm has been able to defeat easily twice now, stealing the Dust from right under your feet every time. Your teammates have had to save you consistently. You can't even summon echoes to your aid like your sister can," Wyoming said. One of the wolves smashed its fists into her back, taking all of the air from her lungs, leaving her a hacking, coughing mess for a few moments, crumpled on the ground. The two Beowolves then backed away, standing guard around the Blues and her, as if waiting for their next command. "No, you're not a threat at all, Miss Schnee."
Church furrowed his brow under his helmet and subtly turned on his radio, creating a direct channel between him and Caboose. C'mon, Caboose, pick up… He thought to himself.
After a few rings, Caboose's voice finally filled his eardrum. "Yes! Hello evil Church. What can I do for you?"
"So, Wyoming," Church said, "You just showed up here and decided to attack us."
"Uh, my name is Caboose," Caboose said confusingly.
Church continued, hoping Caboose would eventually pick up on the message. "And now you've caught us at gunpoint, and it looks like we're in big trouble."
"That doesn't sound like something I would do. I think you have the wrong number."
"Here at Red Base. Wyoming. You found us and took us prisoner." Church stressed. "At the Red Base. Wyoming."
"Red base, no, uh, I'm on the ship. The shiiip. Sheila, i think O'Malley has driven him crazy, um, he's talking nonsense."
God dammit, Church cursed in his mind. Where's Ruby when you need her? Still, he continued. "If only someone nearby, someone with access to a tank, somehow knew what was going on and could help us. Someone for instance, in blue armor. Who somehow knew about the situation, and figured out what the fuck other people were talking about, and tried to fucking help us."
"Yeah, he's definitely crazy," Caboose said.
"Why do you keep explaining things to me?" Wyoming questioned. "I understand the situation perfectly. I ambushed you, you're quivering in fear."
"Yeah, what are you, the narrator now or something?" Tucker added.
"I just want everyone to be on the same page about Wyoming, ambushing us, at the Red base," Church repeated.
"We know," Tucker said impatiently.
"Wyoming. The bad guy."
"We know!"
"And we're here at the Red Base. Which isn't the Blue Base, or the caves, or the cliffs, or that weird tree, or the windmill."
"We get it, dude, we're standing right here," Tucker said. As Weiss struggled to get up, Tucker cautiously went over to help her to her feet, seeing the Beowolves watch the two of them intently, drooling as if waiting on a meal. Tucker got Weiss to her feet and helped her stand as she recovered. Without her weapon, she was just as exposed as the others.
"Maybe we should take this from the top," Church said impatiently, but he tried to keep himself calm. Just do what Ruby said, be patient with him, don't treat him like an idiot… He mentally groaned as he tried to get Caboose to the conclusion he needed. "Do you want to write this down?"
"No!" Tucker exclaimed.
"I think your friend here has lost his marbles," Wyoming remarked.
"Oh, you want to see crazy, wait until you try to take my fucking kid!" Tucker threatened. "What do you want with him anyway? He never did anything to you!"
"It's not what he did, it's what he's going to do," Wyoming corrected. "That child is very special."
"Yeah, I know. I guess I should've read to him more, or something," Tucker said.
"Not that kind of special, you half-wit. I mean he's important."
"Red base. No one is in the state of Wyoming!" Church said angrily.
"Shouldn't we rethink this plan?" Grif asked as they continued to search for a way out, getting closer and closer to the surface.
"Why?" Sarge asked.
"We could be walking right into a trap just like the Blues, and we're just gonna roll up on them? Haven't we learned the hard way that doing that is a bad idea?" Grif questioned. "They could know exactly what we're doing and be ready for us."
"Grif's right," Ruby said. "So far, we've gotten out of bad situations by either luck or outside help. Crunchbite and his ship helped clear out the Grimm back at the snow base. We've barely held out against that talking Grimm. I only beat him last time because I used the Dust power cell to hurt him. We need a better plan."
"Exactly! Winging it has gotten us this far!" Sarge said. "Our enemy can't know what we're doing if we don't know what we're doing!"
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! If we go out there without a plan, we're gonna die!" Grif exclaimed.
"Will you all shut up? You're giving me a headache!"
The group turned to the new voice to find a very familiar metal ball sitting in a murky puddle in the cave. "Andy? Is that you?" Yang asked.
"No, I'm the other talking bomb, Francis," Andy sarcastically replied. "Pleased to meet ya, ya bimbo."
"Wow, I did not miss you at all," Yang crossed her arms.
"I thought you were busy helping the enemy," Simmons said.
"Nah, they didn't need me anymore. Apparently, that revived guy learned enough alien language to get by, and then it was 'what have you done for me lately'?"
"Hey, what was that deal they were talking about when I was all drugged out?" Grif asked.
Donut cut in, "Grif, I'm proud of you. Admitting you have a problem is the first step."
"Fuck off, Donut," Grif said.
"Baby steps, Grif. Baby steps."
Andy, meanwhile, went on to answer Grif's question. "That new alien is here to find the old one, and he revived the blue guy to help him. But then something happened to him. I don't know what, started actin' all funky."
"O'Malley," Ruby deduced.
"The alien revived him?" Simmons questioned.
"Yeah, they don't treat life and death the same way we do. Fact, that little guy that everyone think-" Andy started.
"We don't have time for this! Let's go!" Sarge said. Everyone started to move for the exit.
"Wait, take me with you!" Andy cried.
"Andy, we're going into battle unprepared, low on ammo and with no support. What use could we possibly have for a bomb?" Sarge asked before he and the others all quickly left him behind.
"I could always act as a lookout! Or a spy…! Or a chef… or, y'know… you could always use me as a bomb…" Andy whined, once again being left behind by the others. It was then that he noticed the robotic head sitting on the ledge above him to his left. "Oh, hey Lopez!"
"[Up yours]."
The others followed the tunnel until they finally reached the surface, and sunlight. "Oh, sun, how I missed you," Yang smirked. Everyone quickly ran ahead until Red Base was within sight.
"There's our base!" Sarge said.
"Looks like they're in trouble!" Simmons added.
Ruby peered closer until she recognized the white armor of the only other freelancer she knew. "It's Wyoming, and a couple of Beowolves. They captured the Blues and Weiss!" Ruby cried.
"Why aren't the Beowolves tearing him apart?" Yang questioned.
"Doesn't matter. We need to get across the canyon before they tear them apart," Ruby said.
"Tank!" Donut exclaimed.
"Huh?" Ruby turned around to see the Blues' tank roll through. She let out a cry and dove out of the way just before its treads ran her over. The vehicle continued as if nothing was in its way. "Sheila! Sheila, hold on!" She called after the tank, but it did not heed. She furrowed her brow and sped forward with her semblance, using what little aura she had recovered to propel herself forward.
"Ruby, wait!" Yang called after her.
"That little alien of yours has a very important destiny to fulfill, and we're going to make sure he does it," Wyoming said.
"Well he's not here, so guess what? You're shit outta luck," Tucker said.
"I'm well aware, one of my partners is taking care of that little acquisition right now. I'm just here to tidy up a bit," Wyoming said.
"How'd you sneak up on us anyway? Tex, I thought you were supposed to be good at this stealth stuff."
"I am," Tex said before she was enveloped by a shimmer and disappeared.
"Oh no, Tex has gone invisible. Whatever shall I do? Fret. Worry," Wyoming said sarcastically.
"Dude, I wouldn't sound so smug," Church warned. Then he saw the tank approach and park right in front of Blue Base, the main cannon pointed right at the roof. "Haha, yeah! Hey, it worked! I can't believe Caboose came through! How you like that, Wyoming? We even have our tank now. Boo yeah, motherfucker!"
"Ho ho ho ho, your tank?" Wyoming chuckled.
"Knock Knock, Church," Gamma greeted from the tank.
"Oh, shit…" Church muttered.
"Dolt," Weiss grumbled.
"Why is it that something dramatic seems to happen every five minutes? I mean, I can't possibly be the only one out here noticing this trend."
"You know, I really can't thank you enough for leaving your tank completely unattended. It was very kind of you, old chap. Makes your defeat and humiliation so much easier," Wyoming said.
"Yeah? Well, great, glad we could help. I'm sure if you give us enough time we'll just kill ourselves, save you some ammo," Church said.
"If it makes you feel any better, your death is for a very noble cause. Well, somewhat noble at least," Wyoming said.
"What do you want with Tucker's kid anyway?" Church asked.
Before Wyoming could answer, Tucker suddenly interrupted, loudly saying, "What? How did we get here?! What?!"
"What's wrong with you?" Church asked.
"With me?! What's happening?!"
"Please stop screaming in my ear…" Weiss groaned, still holding her stomach and using Tucker for support.
"Um, we're being held prisoner? Where the hell have you been?" Church questioned.
"What?! How?! I'm so confused!" Tucker exclaimed.
"What do you mean 'how'? Are you retarded?!" Church replied.
"Guns, Grimm and a tank jog your memory?" Weiss added.
"But Tex! She-!" Tucker started.
"I know. Tex'll take him out," Church said quietly.
"Oh, right, Tex. You mean… her?!" Wyoming swung the butt of his weapon outward, smashing it into Tex's face, knocking her out cold and uncloaking her. "Poor Tex. Never could figure out when she'd been beaten."
"But… how did he know where she was?" Weiss questioned.
"What do you mean? That's where she was before!" Tucker said.
"Before what?! Tucker, have you gone insane?!" Church cried.
"Wait a minute, what's going on?" Wyoming said.
"I think he knows," Gary said.
"I think you're right," Wyoming agreed.
"Church! I am coming to help!" They heard Caboose's voice down the canyon, and could see the blue soldier sprinting their way. "Don't start without me!"
"It's the idiot. Take care of him. Quickly," Wyoming ordered.
"Right," Gamma replied. The tank's turret swiveled to aim right at the Blue private.
"Caboose, no! Stay back! Don't get near the tank!" Tucker yelled. Too late, though. The machine gun turret opened fire, and countless bullets tore through Caboose's body, splashing his blood onto the dirt a thousand times over. There was already a puddle by the time the body hit the ground.
"Caboose! Nooo!" Church cried.
Ruby stopped as soon as she saw it, the gunfire and the crumpling body falling to the ground. Her eyes rounded and tears threatened to flow as they built up in her eyes. "Caboose!" She shrieked. She sped over to his body quickly. "Caboose, please be alright!"
"Go! Move!' Tucker exclaimed. He pushed Church forward and heaved Weiss up and carried her as both he and Church sprinted off the roof just before the tank's main cannon fired on their position, killing both Beowolves instead. The two sprinted for the nearest boulder jutting from the ground to use as cover. "Look out!" The tank fired again just as they got into cover. Church glanced around the corner to see Ruby at Caboose's body.
"Dammit… dammit!" He cursed. Losing Caboose was something in itself. But he could see Ruby's tears falling from her eyes. She didn't need to see that.
"I'm telling you, he's dead. Just like last time," Tucker said with almost no surprise, as if one of his own teammates wasn't just gunned down in front of him.
"Tucker, start making sense, right now," Weiss growled.
"This already happened. Wyoming shot Caboose, Tex jumped Wyoming and killed those Grimm, and then-"
"Tex is unconscious!" Church exclaimed over the gun and cannonfire.
"Fucking A, I know! That's what I'm saying!" Tucker said. Church peered out from cover again to see Wyoming shooting at them with his rifle. When the freelancer stopped to reload, Church snapped his rifle out and fired a round right into Wyoming's head. His body fell back and slammed onto the roof of Blue base instantly.
"Oh! I hit him! I hit him! I can't believe I hit- I mean- I knew this sniper rifle was awesome!"
"This is just like last time! Once Wyoming lost, everything seemed to-"
Suddenly, Tucker was back atop Blue Base, with Wyoming and Church bantering and Weiss leaning on him to stay on her feet, just as if nothing had even happened. "...reset."
Ruby was crying over Caboose's body one moment, then before she knew it, she was back in the middle of the canyon, halfway across just as the tank she was chasing reached Red Base. "W-What…?" She was confused, and even a little stunned. Had Caboose not died? What was going on? It was then she felt vibrations from her backpack. She quickly threw the bag of her shoulder and peered inside to find that the Cosmic Dust crystals were glowing, active in some way. Whatever it was, she didn't know. But she quickly threw the bag back over her shoulders before speeding forward again, hoping to stop what she saw from coming true. _
"You know, I really can't thank you enough for leaving your tank completely unattended. It was very kind of you, old chap. Makes your defeat and humiliation so much easier," Wyoming said.
"Yeah? Well, great, glad we could help. I'm sure if you give us enough time we'll just kill ourselves, save you some ammo," Church said.
"If it makes you feel any better, your death is for a very noble cause. Well, somewhat noble at least," Wyoming said.
"What do you want with Tucker's kid anyway?" Church asked.
"What is going on?!" Tucker cried out yet again.
"Uh, we're being held prisoner? Where the hell have you been?" Church questioned.
"Church, don't you remember any of this?!"
"Tucker, what the fuck are you talking about?" Church asked.
"He knows," Gamma warned.
"How the devil is he keeping up with us?!" Wyoming exclaimed.
"Irrelevant. Eliminate him," Gamma said. Both he and Wyoming took aim, and Tucker moved just as he did before, picking up Weiss and urging Church forward.
"Go, move! Tex, look out! He knows where you are!" Tucker warned.
"What?!" Tex uncloaked and ran off with the others.
Just as before, Caboose began his sprint across the canyon as well. "Church! I am coming to help! Don't start without me!" He called out.
"Shit, I forgot about Caboose!" Tucker cursed. Wyoming turned to see Caboose approaching, but as he took aim, a burst of rose petals collided into Caboose, moving him out of the way just before the shots were fired. As soon as Ruby got Caboose out of the way, she switched Crescent Rose into sniper form and in a single half of a second, took a shot that tore through Wyoming's armor and sent him sprawling onto the roof of Blue Base.
"Oh shit! Nice, Ruby!" Church congratulated.
"Aw, crap!" Tucker said.
"What do you mean 'aw crap'? Ruby just saved Caboose and took down Wyoming!" Weiss questioned.
"Yeah, I know, but somehow Wyoming keeps looping us through the same events over and over again, and no one but me seems to remember! I don't know how, but any time he gets hurt, thing just start-"
And he was back. Blue Base. Wyoming being a dick. Church none the wiser.
"Yeah? Well, great, glad we could help. I'm sure if you give us enough time we'll just kill ourselves, save you some ammo," Church said.
Damn. I gotta think smarter than this. I know! Just play along… Tucker thought to himself. "Yeah, and what do you want with me kid, anyway?" he asked the freelancer, stealing the same line he knew Church was going to ask.
"You don't… remember?" Wyoming asked.
"Remember? You never told me anything!" Tucker replied, playing dumb.
"I think it worked that time," Gamma said.
"Apparently," Wyoming agreed. "Keep your eye on him next time."
"The fuck are you guys talking about?" Church asked. "Oh, you know what, nevermind, keep talking. Waste time until Tex kills you."
"Oh right, dear Tex. You mean… her?!" Wyoming swung the butt of his weapon outward, smashing it into Tex's face, knocking her out cold and uncloaking her. He walked over and stood above her unconscious form. "Oh, poor Tex. Never could understand when she'd been-"
Wyoming was cut off as pure plasma tore through his torso, the twin blades of Tucker's energy sword burning like a flame in his body. "Beaten?!" Tucker finished for the freelancer.
"Reggie!" Gamma exclaimed.
"Ruby, I'm serving you up here!" Tucker exclaimed. Down the canyon, Ruby smirked and slid one of the Cosmic Dust crystals into her magazine, then took aim. Wyoming panicked when he realized what was happening.
"Wait, no-!" The freelancer begged. Ruby took aim, dead center on Wyoming's torso, right between where Tucker's blades were protruding now.
"Gotcha," She said before pulling the trigger. With a blinding flash of white light, the Cosmic Dust crystal sped across the canyon until it found a home lodged inside Wyoming's chest. Tucker pulled his blade out and shoved Wyoming aside before picking up Weiss again. "Everyone, move!" Tucker exclaimed. He took Wyoming's sniper rifle with one hand and helped Weiss to her feet with the other, then the two followed him off the roof of Blue base.
Wyoming pulled himself up to his feet, then looked at the crystal embedded deep in his torso. It began to emanate a bright, almost harsh, white light. Both his armor and body began to develop cracks and fractures emanating the same light. He could feel the energy flowing through him, tearing him apart from the inside out. "No… nooooo!" As the energy built up and up, and Wyoming's body could no longer contain it, a massive surge of it blasted out in a single, massive explosion that consumed his body. As the blast subsided, his half-scorched white helmet dropped from the sky into the dirt, wafting smoke as the heat and energy dissipated, serving as the one, the only, the last reminder of Agent Wyoming.
Ruby, meanwhile, quickly sped off to where Caboose would be. She caught him just before he started calling out. "Caboose, wait! Other way!" She pushed the blue soldier back and the two ran back just before the first of the tank's shells landed. They hid behind another one of the massive rocks jutting from the dirt of Blood Gulch, letting them catch their breath.
"That… was close…" Caboose panted. After a few moments of recovering the needed air for their lungs, Ruby quickly hugged Caboose tightly.
"Glad you're alright, Caboose…" She said. It felt like a weight was off her shoulders. She then let go of him. "Alright, Caboose. I'm gonna need you to do something for me."
Tucker started leading Weiss and Church to the backside of the base. "Tucker, how did you know what was happening?" Weiss asked.
"Cause of Wyoming! You know how Tex said every Freelancer had an A.I and a special ability? Well I think Wyoming can loop us through little segments of time, and he just keeps doing it over and over again until he wins."
"Wait, what? How many times did we loop?" Church asked.
"Too many. I thought about what you said with the copies when you traveled back in time, Church, so I thought of something to fix that," Tucker said. He led them around the corner where multiple versions of Wyoming stood, but they weren't exactly all together. They were pulling apart and fading away, one by one. A small army of them, turning into nothing.
"Wha… but- how?" Church questioned.
"Somewhere in those loops, I found out Ruby was aware of it too, because of the Dust. So we figured, if it helps resist the time bullshit, it can end the time bullshit, copies and all," Tucker explained.
"You know what, I kinda like this all knowing badass Tucker. He's certainly a lot better than the old one," Church said.
"I guess a warrior's look fits you after all," Weiss said with a small smile.
"See? I'm not all bad," Tucker replied.
As the tank kept firing on the Blue Team's approximate position, a few bullets hit its side. Gamma stopped firing and turned to see Caboose standing in the open. "Hey! Big mean tank jerk! Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Yeah, that's more like it!" He called out. Gamma immediately began to give chase, and Caboose sprinted away, back towards the ship. He ended up stopping just a few dozen feet from the ship and turned around to see that the tank had almost already caught up with him.
"Uh oh. Uh-okay, uh, Ruby… uh, here it comes… Ruby? Ruby…." Caboose began to stammer nervously as the tank approached. The tank then stopped just a short distance away and Gamma aimed its cannon right at Caboose. "Uh, yeah, I-I didn't really mean anything, I-I just wanted to say, um… hi?"
Ruby burst from a cloud of petals holding a large metal jack connected to a thick cable, then plugged it into the tank's back control panel. "Now, Sheila!" She exclaimed.
"What?! NOOooooo…." Gamma tried to yell out, but his voice slowly died out and the tank's turret lowered.
"Did you get him, Sheila?" Ruby asked.
"I have him! He is currently isolated behind a firewall. He is attempting to get through, but it will take some time. He is not that smart," Sheila reported over comms.
"Great, Sheila! You're the best!" Ruby smiled.
"Gamma is trapped, Tucker!" Ruby reported.
"Great job, Ruby. Get everyone and meet up at Blue Base. We still need to find O'Malley," Tucker said, then cut the comm.
"Look, one of em's still alive," Weiss said. She gestured to one of the last remaining Wyoming copies, already half-faded from existence, but still clinging on to life.
"What's your plan, Wyoming? Why are you here, and what do you want with the kids?" Church questioned.
"He already told me," Tucker said. "My kid is the last part of that big prophecy we thought failed, he's supposed to become some big religious savior for their whole race. And he's only getting Team RWBY for that Grimm!"
"You were working with the Grimm?" Weiss questioned.
"Enemy of my enemy, I suppose," the Wyoming weakly said.
"There's still more to that prophecy?" Tex asked.
"Yeah, so they wanna make Junior fulfill that prophecy and have O'Malley infect him. Then they can use him to enslave all the aliens by corrupting their religion from the inside," Tucker said.
"That's horrible…" Weiss shuddered.
"No, that's our job… to win the war, rrrg.. At any cost.." Wyoming said.
"Yeah, well good luck. I'm pretty sure the Grimm would backstab you, and your plan failed. Now that we have you, all we need to do is stop the other two, and Tex will be more than happy to do that," Church said.
"Oh, on the contrary, my friend… now that she knows our plan, not only will she not stop us; our dear Tex is going to help us."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure she'd be happy to help O'malley," Church said sarcastically. "Ain't that right, Tex?" No immediate response came. "Tex?"
"He's right," Tex said.
"What?!" Weiss exclaimed.
Tex immediately clicked on her radio. "This is Freelancer Tex, broadcasting on an open channel!"
"Tex, what are you doing?!" Church yelled.
"You want me, O'Malley? Come and get me. I repeat, this Freelancer Tex broadcasting on an open channel!"
Church quickly turned on his radio as well. "This is Private Church, broadcasting on an open channel!"
Ruby finally caught up with the Reds and her sister, the latter of whom quickly brought her into a tight embrace. "Ruby! What were you thinking?" Yang said in a panic.
"Don't worry. Wyoming's taken care of and Sheila's trapped Gamma. All that's left are the Grimm and O'Malley," Ruby informed. "Have you seen Blake?"
"I thought she'd be with you," Yang replied.
"Then we need to find her next," Ruby said.
The warthog pulled up with Sarge, Simmons and Grif inside. Donut caught up on foot. "When I connected your scrolls to our radio frequencies, I added tracking functions like I did to Grif's armor. You could probably find Blake that way," Simmons said.
"Thanks, Simmons. Yang, you should take Donut to find Blake. The Reds and I will help the Blues wrap things up here," Ruby said. Yang seemed hesitant, but nodded. She and Donut ran the other way.
That's when the radio filled with the comm chatter back with the Blues. "This is Freelancer Tex, broadcasting on an open channel!"
"This is Private Church, broadcasting on an open channel!"
"This is Weiss Schnee on an open channel!"
"Why are the Blues on the radio?" Grif questioned.
"I don't know," Simmons said.
"Well get them off! We can't have anyone getting infected by O'Malley!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Hey, Blues! Shut the fuck up!" Simmons cursed as soon as he joined the frequency. "Get off the radios and quit running our batteries down!" He then paused and le tout a deep chuckle. "Do it now, or I will kill every last one of you, and then everyone els where as well - just to prove a point!"
Everyone stared at Simmons as soon as he finished speaking.
"Simmons just got infected, didn't he?" Grif asked.
"Yep…" Ruby replied.
"Fuck."