21Chapter 26: The End
A/N: Welcome to the final chapter. Church's disappearance will not be explained in this chapter, but in the sequel. Yes, there is going to be a sequel. I had a sequel planned around the time this story was halfway over. Cortana will be leaving in this chapter, the Blood Gulch Crew will be saying it's good-byes (for a short time anyway) and the Chief will be in a pretty sour mood. I don't want to give away anything else, so I'll let you read away! Also, this will be a very short chapter. Read on!
John-117
Blood Gulch
Fifteen Minutes Later...
The Chief stared at Cortana and Doctor Halsey, as both of them had grim looks on their faces. "No. No. No, you can't leave!" he said. "It doesn't make any sense!" Cortana sighed. "John, it doesn't have to make sense. All you need to know is that I'm slowing going insane, a byproduct of Doctor Halsey implanting my second half into the nervous system of her younger flash clone. The second half of the AI is slowly going rampant. She can fix me with therapy and a few surgical operations maybe, but I have to go. I can't stay or else I could go rampant like my first half did when we defeated the Didact." she said. "No." he said, taking Cortana's hands. "Please stay." Cortana let out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry, John. I can't risk it. Doctor Halsey says she can fix me. But look on the bright side, it's only for a few months to a year." Cortana said. "I'll be back before you know it. It's not forever." He sighed and nodded. "Hey. Just remember something." Cortana said. "What's that?" he said, as he took off his helmet, to face her. "Don't you forget about me." she said, before kissing him on the lips. They didn't have long to savor the feeling of their lips being together, as Cortana pulled away after about ten seconds. He felt his lips with his gloved hand, as they tingled long after they had parted. "Cortana. It's time." Doctor Halsey said, as she waited by the Pelican Dropship that had arrived not too long ago. "Good-bye, John." Cortana said in a sad tone, as one lone tear rolled down her cheek.
She turned around and boarded with Doctor Halsey. "Wait!" he said, stepping forward. Cortana looked back at him, with a sad look on her face. "Good-bye." she said in a gentle, but sad tone. Just then, he thought he saw a blur of something go by. Like an Elite using Active Camo, but due to the traumatic events he was experiencing, he gave it no thought. He stared as the Pelican lifted off of the ground and slowly rose out of the canyon. He just stared at the Pelican as it drifted off into the sky until finally, it disappeared. "Boo, no explosion!" Grif yelled. Just then the Chief heard the sound of the pin of a grenade being pulled, followed by an explosion. "Ow!" Grif howled in pain. "That's not what I meant!" He just heard Sarge chuckle. "Oh, suck it up you big baby. You wanted an explosion and I gave you an explosion!" The Chief let out a sigh as he put his helmet back on and walked back to Blue Base. He walked past Caboose, Carolina, Tex, and Washington, as their heads turned in a synchronized manner to watch him go. "Chief, what should we do?" Carolina asked. He turned to face her. "Do whatever you want. I'm going home." he said, before continuing on the path to Blue Base. "Yeah, fuck this! We just lost someone a week ago! We didn't need to lose two others!" Tex exclaimed. Everyone except the Chief and Caboose let out a sigh following Tucker's reply. "I don't get it. Sarge, are we fighting?" Simmons asked. " No Simmons, I think the Chief and his Blues have had enough for one day. Let's save a few for tomorrow!"
Roses are Red and Violets are Blue. One day we'll cruise down Blood Gluch Avenue. It's Red Vs. Red and Blue Vs. Blue, it's I against I and me against you...
John-117
Blue Base
Several Days Later...
It had been almost a week since Cortana left in the Pelican. There was still no sign of Church. Tomorrow, Tucker was scheduled to be cleared for active duty again. He had been MIA for two weeks now. John-117 stood atop Blue Base keeping a lookout for anything interesting. Unfortunately, nothing interesting ever happened in Blood Gulch. Carolina stood at his side, while she held a Battle Rifle and in his hand, a Sniper Rifle. He felt like something was wrong. She had just volunteered to be his partner for the day and they had never really worked together. He was just waiting for Carolina to speak, he knew she would eventually. And she did. "Chief?" she finally asked, breaking the three long hours of ackward silence between the two. "Hmm? Oh, what is it Carolina?" he asked, turning to face her. "Do you ever wonder why you're here?" she asked. The Chief placed his Rifle on his back and sighed.
"Carolina, I used to not care. I just went with the flow of protecting an AI construct, trying to assassinate a Prophet, fighting the Flood, going to war with the Prometheans and many other experiences that life has offered me. And I've had my fair share of adventures while with you and your friends. I fell in love with Cortana once we found out 'Cassie' was just a young flash-clone of Doctor Halsey, with the second half of Cortana placed in the nervous system. I made my own path when I joined you and your crew here in, well, wherever here is." he said. "But that was before I discovered my entire military career was a lie from the start when Doctor Halsey told be about Project Resurgence. Then, it was up to me to decide my destiny. They couldn't write my story any longer after that. The files that Doctor Halsey let me read before they left said that one day, I was supposed to meet all of you here. But then what? Nothing else was written. We set out on a grand adventure. And I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
"And one thing else, everyone may or may not understand how I fell in love with a former AI. Well, it's not rocket science. And you can't just love someone or fuck them, even if Tucker begs to differ. You have to know them. You have to spend every day with them, you have to have similar chemistry with them, they have to have the same feelings as you do, they have to want to be with you. Not only that, but we were paired together and we ended up falling in love. Those are reasons to truely love someone. Not because they're sexy or because you really want to sleep with them. You have to know them on a personal level, you have to see them everyday. And that's ok, because you wouldn't rather do anything else than just be beside them, because they have the same interests and you truely, truely, truely love them." the Chief finished his little speech, leaving Carolina staring at him. "What?" he asked. "I meant why are you here when you could be over at Red Base?" Carolina said. "Oh. Ok, I'll go to Red Base." he said, before turning around. "Wait." she said. He turned back around. "What?" he asked. "I just want to say you're right." she said. "But, you forgot to mention loosening up. Tucker is loosening up all the time. The first time I ever saw him as being serious is when he was afraid of dying in the final battle with the Flood. And he almost did die! I'm not saying that we should all be like Tucker, but perhaps we should all loosen up a bit in our own little ways. I mean, we have nothing to worry about! And... Tucker is kinda cute when he's serious. He can actually be put up with when he is serious, it seems!" The Chief chuckled. "Ok, I'll try to loosen up a little. Thank's Carolina!" And with that, he jumped off the roof of the Base, running towards Red Base.
Grif
Cliffs at Red Base
Two Minutes Earlier...
Grif looked through the scope of the Rifle at the Chief and Carolina. He and Simmons were standing up on the cliff areas around Red Base, doing their rounds as guards. "What are they doing now?" Simmons asked. "What?" Grif asked, turning to face Simmons. "I said, 'What are they doing now?'." he said. "God damn it! I'm sick of answering that question! I answered that question five minutes ago! They're just standing there talking! That's all the Blues ever do is stand around and talk. They did it yesterday, they even did it at the beginning of the week! I mean, we even stand around and talk! So, what do you think they'll be doing tomorrow?" Grif said. Simmons didn't speak for a minute. "What do you think they are talking about?" Simmons asked. "You know what? I fucking hate you." Grif said. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I hate you too, buddy." Simmons replied in a calm tone. "Oh shit." Grif said, as he noticed the Chief jogging towards them. "We are about to get company."
John-117
Cliffs at Red Base...
Five Minutes Later...
"Hey, guys. What are you up to?" the Chief asked once he reached them, out of breath. "Just keeping watch Sir." Grif said. "Kiss ass." Simmons muttered. "How have you been doing lately, since, you know-" Simmons was speaking, but the Chief interrupted him. "Let's not talk about that." he said. "Ok. Whatever you say Chief." Simmons said. "You can call me John if you want. You know, since my whole career has been a lie." he said. "Alright, Ch- I mean, John." Grif said. "Hey, ladies get down here!" Sarge called. "Lopez and I built a new vehicle out of old Tank and Warthog parts we had laying around!" They all exchanged looks, before heading down the hill that led up to the cliff. Lopez still spoke perfect English. "Old man, you mean I built a new vehicle." Lopez said. As he and Sarge began to argue, Simmons spoke. "Coming Sarge!" he called called. "It's a helicopter, it's awesome!" Donut said. "Hey, Chief! Grab a Mongoose!" Doc said, as he got onto a Ghost. "Let's all race around the Canyon!" We should all loosen up in our own ways. Carolina's voice echoed in his head. "Ok, I'll be right down!" he said, following Simmons and Grif down the hill. "I get to name this one!" Grif said. "Why?" Simmons asked. "Because you named the ATV that Sarge built all those years ago!" Grif said. "Oh, yeah. Good times. Or not." Simmons said. Just then, of all the shenanigans he had seen these two pull, the Chief thought of the perfect word. "Hey guys? Just one thing." he said. "What?" they both said. "Shotgun!" the Chief said. "Fuck!" Simmons and Grif said.
Violets are Blue, Roses are Red. Living like this we were already dead. Hop in my car, it don't have any doors. It's built like a cat, it lands on all fours. My car's like a puma, it drives on all fours.
A/N: I originally planned to end the chapter here, but I feel like I shouldn't end it here. Don't get me wrong, this is the last chapter of the story. But, I have a few things I want to say. One, the sequel will be coming very soon! It will probably drop before the end of the month. Two, the Flood will be involved in the plot again, but it won't be mainly a "Flood-Only" plot. Church will be coming back (but who said he will come back as Epsilon...?), alongside Church, we will also see multiple characters, including Sister, Junior and the Arbiter (YES, THE FRIGGIN' ARBITER!). If I don't remember to update this author's note once the sequel has dropped, I will say now, that it will be called "HaloRed Vs Blue: The Great Flood War". And the last thing I want to say, is thank you. I thank the readers who have stuck around for the story since it's very first day: April 13th, 2015. Thank you all for reading this and even those who will read this after this final chapter is posted. Thank you, too! This is by far the most popular Fanfiction I have ever written. With over 21,000 views, 19 reviews, 44 favorites and 43 followers. Thank you all. Thank you for joining me on this fantastic adventure, and I hope you all join me again for the sequel. Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic day and bye!
UPDATE: The sequel is now up to read! As I said before, search for HaloRed Vs. Blue: The Great Flood War. Or, another thing you can do is just go to my page and find it with the rest of my stories. Have a good day!
