But here's the question, did griff even graduate?
My gut says no.
A Worm in the Gulch (Worm/Red vs. Blue)
- Thread starter SkyRig
- Start date
- Crossover
My gut says no.
I think your gut might just be jealous of Grif's
I think so. It's very jealous of Grif's.
SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
So! It is currently 11:20 PM here in California. In forty minutes, it will be 12:00 AM, which means May 1st. Buuuuut I wager it's May 1st SOMEWHERE!
Which means...perfect time for an update! Sadly, only got two chapters done. Xenoblade Chronicles 3, writing my next book, and getting sick has REALLY put a damper on my plans. Oh well.
Which means...perfect time for an update! Sadly, only got two chapters done. Xenoblade Chronicles 3, writing my next book, and getting sick has REALLY put a damper on my plans. Oh well.
#13 - Medical Malpractice (AKA Taylor Experiences First-Aid The Blood Gulch Way)
SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
#13
Medical Malpractice
(AKA Taylor Experiences First-Aid The Blood Gulch Way)
Medical Malpractice
(AKA Taylor Experiences First-Aid The Blood Gulch Way)
I nodded grimly. "Lopez and Sheila said there were only four people at Red Base. There were supposed to be five! DuFresne wasn't there!"
"Who?"
"The medic! Doc!"
"Oooh, yeah, the shitty doctor guy," Tucker recalled. "I was wondering what happened to him. I thought he went back to the Reds."
Church swore angrily. "God dammit, that's why Tex hasn't shown back up yet! The A.I. must have jumped into Doc when Tex and I killed him in Caboose's head!"
"Is that really something to be worried about?" Tucker asked. "I mean, what's one A.I. gonna do? Besides, Doc's pretty harmless. He's only got that weird green-glowing thingie."
"Not the point, Tucker!" Church snapped at him, then rounded on me. "Okay, change in plans! Hebert, take Caboose and Sheila and start searching the perimeter. You see Doc, you shoot him. No questions asked."
A chill ran down my back. "Shoot him? W-why? Wouldn't it just be better to tie him up?"
"I am not taking any chances with this. You have your orders, Private. Now get to it!"
Really? He was choosing now of all times to want to kill someone?
"…fine," I bit out, turning on my heel and leaving. I heard Tucker getting into some kind of argument with Church as I left. What about, I didn't know nor care. If Church thought I was going to kill someone, he was clearly delusional. I'm not a soldier. I'm not even part of this freaking army. Why would I need to do something I don't want to?
No, the better idea here is to just detain DuFresne. Caboose is strong enough to hold him down, and I'm sure we still have some leftover Gorilla tape to bind him. I just need to convince Sheila and Caboose to follow my lead. Caboose shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the tank…
I'm well aware she's just a computer program, but she has thoughts and feelings. Same as Lopez. She may as well be her own person. I don't want to force her to do anything. Speaking of Lopez, I'll have to find a way to convince Church not to possess Lopez again. I'm sure the robot will appreciate it.
I found Church waiting over by Sheila, doing some light maintenance. Or at least I hoped it was maintenance.
"Hey, Caboose," I waved.
Caboose stopped what he was doing and looked up from Sheila's internal circuitry. "Hi, Mom!"
"Hola," Lopez greeted me half-heartedly.
Sheila bobbed her turret. "Hello, Taylor. Is something the matter? You seem…distressed."
"That's one word for it…"
I explained the situation to them; how DuFresne might have the Omega A.I. stuck in his head, how Church wants him gone, and how I want to simply restrain him.
"Oh my. That does sound serious."
"I don't want him to die," I said somberly. "All we have to do is keep our radios off, and there shouldn't be any real problems. I hope, at least." And now for the hard part. "Sheila, um, I know you're still in the middle of being repaired, but are you well enough to help? I can fib to Church and say Lopez is still giving you a look over."
I'm not entirely sure why, but for some reason, Lopez was flustered and saying something in Spanish that Sheila chose not to translate.
"Can I help?" Caboose asked innocently.
"Yes, Caboose. Just, erm… Don't get too enthusiastic about helping, please?"
"Okay!"
"I am able to assist," Sheila said. "I do not mind helping!"
I sighed with relief. Convincing Sheila turned out to be easy. As for Lopez…
"Did you want to come along?" I asked the robot. Sadly, Lopez shook his head and replied in the negative. "You sure?"
"I'm sure," Sheila translated. "Though if you see my creators while you're out there… Feel free to run them over."
Well, he's certainly not bitter about what happened…
Our patrol across Blood Gulch was uneventful by the time we reached the "border" between Blue Base and Red Base. There was no sign of the Reds whatsoever, which was kind of a good thing. I didn't want to deal with them at the moment, especially when O'Malley was still running around.
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. Caboose was…okay, he had his moodswings, but otherwise, he was a lovable dork most of the time. I had no idea what to expect from DuFresne being possessed, but I was half certain it was not anything good.
"See anything, Sheila?" I asked from outside the cockpit. Caboose was the only one in the army who knew how to drive, so it made sense for him to ride shotgun in Sheila.
"I do not detect any hostile threats in the viscinity," the tank replied.
"Alright, then. Keep looking."
"Hey, Mom?" Caboose suddenly spoke up. "What do we do when we find doc?"
I…wasn't completely sure, to be honest. Ideally, the best thing to do is contact Vic, let him know we have a compromised soldier running around with a murderous A.I. riding shotgun in his head, but that required using the radio. I didn't want DuFresne to die just because of the A.I., so keeping him away from Church was top priority.
There had to be some kind of way to remove the A.I. from DuFresne without Church or Tex. If I remember right, Church mentioned that their armor had slots for A.I. to occupy. Assuming the A.I. wasn't just stuck inside his head, we would just have to…eugh…strip DuFresne, then restrain him.
Easy enough, or so I thought.
"We find him, we tie him up, then hand him over to Command," I told him. "Why?"
"Won't Church get mad?"
"What Church doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Church is gonna get maaad…"
I snorted. "Sounds like a Church problem, then."
Our patrol eventually reached the northwestern side, where I first met the Reds and Blues. The high clifftops stared down almost mockingly at me. I glared back in turn, thinking how I got here. I still don't quite understand how I ended up in Blood Gulch. I'm almost positive a parahuman was involved, but for the life of me, I couldn't understand why. What could have happened? Was Sophia a cape and decided to one-up herself? Did a cape attack the school and transport everyone they came across to parts unknown? Each theory I came up with sounded more outlandish than the last.
I wanted to believe that, maybe, I had powers of my own, but that was stupid. There was no way I was a cape.
"Taylor?" Sheila's voice called out to me, knocking me out of my thoughts. "Is everything alright? You have been quiet for the last ten minutes. Is something bothering you?"
"I'm fine," I lied. "Just…thinking is all." I took a quick look around the area. I didn't find any sign of the Reds. "Okay… Caboose, you come with me for a bit. Sheila, do you have an auto-pilot mode?'
"Affirmative."
"Okay, switch to that. If you see the Reds, just…scare them off with a few shells. And if you see DuFresne, just…try not to hurt him too badly?"
"Affirmative."
Caboose hopped out of the cockpit and joined me as we ventured into the clifftops. I hadn't really had a good chance to explore the gulch in its entirety, so there was no telling what sorts of hiding places there were. I knew of one place, at least. The cave system where I woke up was as safe a bet as any.
"Are we there yet?"
"Almost, Caboose," I sighed. "Just keep an eye out for DuFresne, okay?"
"Okay! ………are we there yet?"
Lord help me…
We did not have to venture in very far into the caves. We found DuFresne quickly. The purple-clad "medic" was lying prone on the ground as if passed out. Next to him was…something. It was metal and purple, with a seat and handle bars in the center. It looked like a bike, but it wasn't anything I saw before. I had half a mind to think it was tinker tech.
"Found him!" Caboose yelled. His voice bounced off the walls of the cave, creating an echo.
"Why is he passed out?" I wondered aloud with a frown. He didn't look to be injured. Aside from the dust and grime on his armor, he looked fine. Maybe the A.I. did something to him? I shook my head and focused. I pulled the Gorilla tape from my pouch, handing one roll to Caboose. "Wrap this around his ankles. I'll handle the wrists."
"Okay, Mom!"
I walked over to DuFresne, gently rolling him onto his back. His orange visor stared back impassively. I reached for his wrists—
"No touching."
DuFresne's voice was cold and harsh, almost guttural. He snatched my wrist, yanked me forward, and slammed his helmet into mine. The exchange caused my head to rattle, bouncing off the insides of my helm. Caboose cried out in concern, yelling "Mom!" right as something grabbed me by the neck and threw me toward him. Our bodies collided, becoming a pile of tangled limbs.
"Owwie…" Caboose murmured under me.
"Oh, gosh, I am so sorry about that," DuFresne stammered behind us. "I-I don't know what came over me. I just…"
"I just want you all to taste oblivion!" O'Malley cackled.
"…we're in trouble, aren't we?" I groaned in response to Caboose's question.
Why can't things be simple…?
#14 - The First Ripples (AKA Taylor Kicks Canon In the Gonads)
SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
#14:
The First Ripples
(AKA Taylor Kick Canon In The Gonads)
The First Ripples
(AKA Taylor Kick Canon In The Gonads)
Then Caboose gave him the report. Naturally, he swore up a storm.
"So, this is pretty bad, huh?" Tucker remarked awkwardly.
"Pretty bad? Pretty bad?" Church growled. "How about really fucking bad? Of all the pig-headed, stupid, idiotic things that stupid girl could've done!"
Taylor followed her orders, but not to the letter. Honestly, he should have realized it. He kept forgetting that Taylor wasn't a soldier. She was a civilian who led a normal life before getting dumped in Blood Gulch. Asking her to kill someone was like asking her to cut open her hand with a knife for no reason at all. Because he failed to remember this fact, Taylor was now in the hands of a crazed doctor.
They tried to apprehend Doc instead of killing him, which proved to be the worst mistake she could have made. Just as they suspected, O'Malley had taken up residence inside Doc's head, only instead of being a mood-swinging idiot like Caboose, the A.I. had much better control over the so-called medic. Then again, Doc did seem like the wet blanket type, so it was possible he just folded and didn't try to resist Omega.
Between that and Taylor's lack of experience, O'Malley easily captured her. Why he left Caboose alone, Church did not know. He supposed it was a good thing since it allowed Caboose to inform them of Taylor's kidnapping. That said, he wished the A.I. killed the idiot. For reasons that he didn't need to explain.
"So, what do we do?" Tucker asked. "We're not just gonna leave her, are we?"
Church wasn't surprised Tucker was worried about the angsty teenage girl. At first, he thought his co-worker was into jailbait (seriously, a girl that tall could not be fifteen), but it turned out Tucker genuinely cared for the girl's wellbeing. A little weird, but far be it for him to judge. Still, Tucker's concerns were valid. Hell, Church found himself growing a little attached to the girl, even if she could be a bitch.
"We won't, assuming O'Malley hasn't used her for target practice," Church told him. "Caboose, did O'Malley say what he wanted in exchange for us getting Hebert back?"
"Oh, um, the mean doctor person said he wanted the robot."
Church stared. "He wants who?"
"Why the heck would he want Lopez?" Tucker questioned. "I don't think anyone other than Sheila knows what the hell he says."
"Maybe he wants Lopez to repair something for him," Church surmised. "But what?"
"…uuum, Church?"
"Maybe he wants to build his own personal robot army?" Tucker offered. "I mean, isn't that, like, the first thing evil supervillains do in comics? Build an army?"
"Nah, no way. He's an A.I. I don't think he'd do something really stupid and cliché like that."
"Um, Church? You, uh, might want to turn around."
"He also possessed Caboose. I'm pretty sure he lost, like, half his digital braincells."
"Touché. But if he has Lopez build his army, wouldn't they all be speaking in Spanish too? How would he even get them to…"
"Church," Caboose called out again with urgency. "We have a problem."
Oh, for fuck's sake! Church threw mental hands into the air and whirled around on Caboose, just about ready to choke the life out of him. "WHAT?! What is so goddamn important that you…"
A shotgun stared down his visor. "Put your hands in the air, Blue scum! I hope you have your wallet on ya, because the rent in hell gets paid in advance!"
"Oh, how the hell are you even here?!"
Church glared in Sheila and Caboose's direction. The latter looked down dejectedly while the tank…okay, he had no idea what the hell he was even supposed to be looking at, but he assumed she was feiling guilty. Or maybe she wasn't' and was secretly laughing about his new predicament.
"Hey, Sarge!" Simmons called out from the other side of the base. "I found Lopez! I think! He's all covered in blue!"
"Nicely done, Simmons!" Sarge shouted back. "Bring him back to Red Base, and get him debriefed! Now, if you'll excuse me…" He pumped his shotgun, aiming it square in Church's helmet. "I have Red Justice to dispense!"
Tucker groaned. "Caboose, why didn't you say anything?"
"He did say something," Sheila interjected. "You two refused to listen."
"And why, exactly, are you not blowing them up?" Church growled.
"I attempted to do so, but it would seem all my mortar shells have been dispensed. I'm terribly sorry."
"Oh, for fuck's sake…"
"You know, this was a lot easier than I thought it'd be," Grif commented. He was the only Red not doing anything other than lounging against the side of the base, his gun nowhere on his person. "Maybe it's payback for all the times you assholes blew up our jeep."
Church scoffed. "That was your own damn fault. Also, we really don't have time for this crap."
"Yeah, so if you assholes could hurry this up so we can rescue Taylor, that'd be great."
The pink-armored soldier cocked their head. "Oh, is that the civilian you guys recruited?"
Oh, holy shit, it really was a dude. Church almost wanted to laugh. He never thought he'd see the day when someone willingly put on pink armor. Or maybe the poor guy lost a bet and didn't have much choice. Maybe Tex would be less inclined to beat the shit out of him. Or maybe not. It was hard to tell with her.
Speaking of, where the hell was she? If Omega was still up and running, Texas would be around somewhere too.
"God dammit, you are a guy," Tucker groaned, obviously disappointed. "I was seriously hoping you were a chick. It really is a fucking sausage fest in this canyon!"
Grif sighed. "Tell me about it."
"What about Tex?" Caboose asked.
"Puh-lease. She's no chick. She's half shark and half silverback gorilla on steroids!"
"You are so lucky Tex isn't here to hear you say that," Church remarked.
"Hey!" Sarge snapped. "Do you idjits not see my shotgun?! In case you haven't realized it, you are outnumbered and outgunned! We have the advantage! Now hands behind your—OHGEEGABABUCKA!" The red army leader cried out in gibberish, collapsing to the ground in an unmoving heap. Above him stood Lopez, holding a rifle as though it were a baseball bat. Behind him was a badly beaten Simmons if the dents in his armor were any indication.
Grif and Donut were startled. "Lopez!" the latter stammered in confusion. "What are you doing?! That's Sarge!"
"Cierra la puta boca," Lopez said. "Idiotas intentaron matarme. Al menos estas bolsas de carne son decentes." The robot leaned down and picked up the shotgun, disassembling it in record time. "Bien, entonces, ¿dónde está la mujer enojada?"
"You do realize none of us still don't know any Spanish, right?" Grif asked.
Church sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm his helmet. "Give me a break…"
Thanks to Lopez subduing Sarge and Simmons, apprehending the Reds proved an easy affair. Grif gave up on the spot while Donut was easily cowtowed when the two more combat capable members of Red Team were defeated. Their weapons were taken from them, leaving them defenseless. Caboose and Sheila stood guard, though just to be on the safe side, Church told Caboose to "help" the Reds in case they needed anything.
Church hoped they would die by way of Caboose, but it was wishful thinking.
"Okay, so let me get this straight," Grif began after Tucker explained the situation to them. "That medic guy who showed up here is being possessed by some crazy A.I. that belonged to your bitch of an ex, and kidnapped Taylor."
"Yep," Church said, popping the 'p' for emphasis. "And he wants your robot buddy in exchange for her safety."
"What does he want Lopez for? He can't build an evil army all by himself?"
"Knowing our luck, they'd all probably speak in Spanish," Simmons sighed.
Lopez huffed. "Oh por favor. Los robots son superiores a ustedes, bolsas de carne."
"Hey now, Lopez!" Donut exclaimed. "That's rude! Just because Grif is a little overweight…"
"Wait, you understand him?" Church asked in surprise.
The pink-armored soldier nodded. "Yep! I took high school Spanish!"
"No, no lo hiciste," Lopez said before sighing. "Ya extraño a la mujer enojada..."
"And you're telling us all this, why?" Simmons asked suspiciously. "I can understand wanting to look after Taylor, but what's this got to do with us?"
"Besides the fact we have you hostage?" Church pointed out to him. Sarge grumbled something under his breathe, no doubt some sort of insult or disparaging remark against him. "Look, as much as I'd love to just kick your guys' ass and take your flag, the fact is this A.I. is really fucking dangerous, even if it is inside the head of a quack medic. So here's how this is gonna go. You idiots are going to help us."
"How?"
"First, you're gonna build two robots."
"What the heck do we need robots for?" Tucker asked. "We already have Lopez, don't we?"
"I mean for me and Tex," Church explained irately. "I don't want her stealing from me again. You build us those robots and help us rescue Hebert, and you guys can go along your mosey little way…and then we can resume kicking the shit out of each other."
"And what do we get?" Grif asked.
Church and Tucker shared a look, then turned back to the Reds. "Well, what do you guys want?"
"…hold on a sec."
The Reds huddled around each other and began whispering. While Church couldn't quite make out what they were saying, he heard a few suggestions being thrown around, the most frequent being "lasers and robots". Not sure why, but Church heard worse. Actually, laser-shooting robots sounded cool. Maybe he could convince the Reds to outfit his new robot body with a laser-shooter in the face? That would be awesome.
After a minute or so of talking, the Reds separated. "Alright, Blue," Sarge said. "We talked it over and figured out what we wanted."
"Alright, what do you want?"
Sarge told him. Church's reaction was to just stare at the soldier and ponder whether or not to shove his sniper rifle up his ass.
SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
The usual shill. If you wanna help support me financially, please consider giving Chase Ryder and the City of Lost Memories a looksie over on Amazon. I recommend paperback and kindle as they're the cheapest options.
Alternatively, and holy shit does it hurt to type this...I also now have Patreon. Subscription is only five bucks, but I highly advise against that since I don't have anything up that is Patreon exclusive. Instead, I would welcome any and all help you can give by way of pledge or humble donations. Just...nothing too outrageous, please? I know I'm begging, but for the love of god, no hundred dollar pledges or anything like that. Just simple shit like a dollar.
Alternatively, and holy shit does it hurt to type this...I also now have Patreon. Subscription is only five bucks, but I highly advise against that since I don't have anything up that is Patreon exclusive. Instead, I would welcome any and all help you can give by way of pledge or humble donations. Just...nothing too outrageous, please? I know I'm begging, but for the love of god, no hundred dollar pledges or anything like that. Just simple shit like a dollar.
Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
Oh now I'm curious. What does the Reds want?
- Location
- marble Minnesota USA
They want there flag.... to stay right where it is and for the blues to admit that they suck
Tenno Drifter
IT WAS ALREADY ON FIRE WHEN I GOT HERE
I'm kinda curious, has O'Malley been in Tay's head yet?
alexfal21q
Do I have better things to do? Nope.
Thus is the way of Red vs Blue.
- Location
- Internet
She doesn't have the implant for it. Her armor has the hardware, but without the matching wetware that would normally be installed in a soldiers head, she's theoretically the safest person in the Gulch.
TheStranger
Of course you realize, this means war.
- Location
- Take a Guess!
- Pronouns
- Who
Probably for the best. Even if Taylor doesn't have QA in this fanfic, I don't imagine Omega meeting a passenger is good for ANYONE in that situation.
- Location
- Internet
That said, she is currently being held by a (theoretically) trained medical professional controlled by a deranged AI who might try to put said implant in her head.
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I believe there has been an error here.
good to see this story back. now to wait & see what what Operation: Civilian Rescue will be like.
He would have to have an implant to install. Even if command supplied spare brain implants to the teams when they weren't willing to supply an actual doctor, Doc hasn't been to either base since being taken over.
That said, there is maybe one implant that's not in use around. Church died complaining after all so it could be intact.
- Location
- Within the Without
Honestly I like that. It may have been a while since then, but at least around this time of the Blood Gulch Chronicles, the episodes also tended to be really short, covering about the same amount of time you captured here. It really makes it feel like I'm back watching another of those episodes again, only Taylor's present now and the plot's been changed!
infinityDivided
Prince Of Doom
- Location
- USA
Should be "vicinity".
Unneeded apostrophe.
Shouldn't these all be Omega, since they know that's his name at this point?
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Steakthedog
Verified Pedant
Who's Omega, there's only O'Malley, the crazy rouge AI that wants to like in your head and kill everyone.
infinityDivided
Prince Of Doom
- Location
- USA
Ever since then, he's consistently been referred to as "Omega".
- Location
- Michigan
I kind of hope that Taylor gets Omega to jump into her system and shuts off her radio to trap him when he realizes she lack the implants for him to take over, especially if he starts to actually get along with her, and he would probably be a good source to teach her to make most if not all the super tech the freelancer project had/has given that the tech being built by his host is clearly not in DuFrense's skill set to produce.
- Location
- new york
That would make her one of the deadliest people in the gulch. that is terrifying
infinityDivided
Prince Of Doom
- Location
- USA
She's a parahuman. She's already the most dangerous person in Bloodgulch, she just doesn't know it yet.
Tenno Drifter
IT WAS ALREADY ON FIRE WHEN I GOT HERE
I assumed that she had one due to using the Mjolnir armor (somehow)
Edit: Also, realized that this is likely the closest we'll ever get to Spartan Tay, since no one's made that fic yet unfortunately
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- Location
- Internet
I think it's remarked on in an earlier chapter. Getting the implant is part of basic training IIRC for Red vs Blue. Taylor never went through basic, and was just given a set of armor, not getting the implant because at the time, there was no one on Blue Team who could perform the required surgery (lack of medical specialists).