#battleofthemarshmallows

“Tis true yond i has't nay soul! t wast taken from me many years ago at which hour battling the most wondrous dragon of the n'rth! i doth not spew lies, i only speaketh the sooth! t is thee who is't is on the wrong path! we m'rely seeketh to free thee from the ancient chains yond bindeth thee! breaketh free of the lies and joineth us mine own cousin!” Owl shouts, a figure comes up beside her, dressed in forest green armor with Violet highlights.

“How dare thee call thyne fellow creator a coward! That alone is such an act of cowardice! Take yourself and thou’s distasteful marshmallows away!” Danica-118 shouts to Nerd, who almost seems taken aback by her words.

“Do not confuse cowardice with defending my honor child!! They struck the first blow, laid the grounds, antagonize this battle... and thou have fallen just as far.... go back to the shadow of thine burnt mellows and ponder thy path…” Nerd says ominously. Both groups look at one another, stare each other down as the fire rages higher until they cannot see one another.

———-

Danica-118 quickly gets to work digging her own tunnels and planting burnt marshmallow explosive under the enemy base and trenches, chipping away at the surrounding dirt, she misses the burnt sugar that lands on her radio transmitter and corrupts the feed. Above the ground flashes of light appear- warp portals- bringing in Toasted and Burnt ones alike.

———-

Into the flickering firelight of the Burnt Ones camp steps Cameron-409, white armor smeared black with soot to resemble the superior marshmallow. "Stealth op is a no-go Chief." he reports, "The Bird was spotted among Toasted ranks, I'd be had as soon as I got within a hundred yards." Kelly claps him on the shoulder in consolation, before walking up to scout the perimeter. Cameron sits by the fire as Samriah stands up from where she sat by the fire, metal leg catching on the firelight. She nods, looking towards Cameron, “We knew this was a possibility. The Bird can see, but she can’t catch Kelly. Wolf knows the ground. Sam’s still in no man’s land.” She grabs a rifle, offering it to Cameron. “What’s our plan?”

———-

In the ranks of the Toasted, Nerd, X and Linda begin running their simulations of their meticulous strategy. "Our best bet is to snipe them from the trees, X and I are the best here, which gives us a distinct advantage." Linda comments, and Nerd looks towards her, firelight catching on Nerd’s gold dusted armor as she walks around the table they planned on.

"But they have Kelly and John, that's two more Spartans than we have... no offense Linda." Nerd mumbled as she looked down at the plan. A voice comes out of the shadows and they all look around, Linda quickly pulling her sniper off her back and pointing around at the possible foe.

"Hey kids, got room for two more??"

———-

Underground, Danica-118 continues to set charges, her armor getting smeared in melted sugar and mud, taps her coms and tries hailing out to the Burnt group, “I’ve managed to dig the tunnels and set the charges, but I can hear what sounds like digging. I either set them off now and dig upwards and try to not get caught, or try to get back and risk getting caught anyways. Your call Chief.”

———-

Nerd, Linda, and X look up to see a camouflaged Spartan land gracefully on the ground, her feet barely making a sound, she wore mark V armor; it was sage green with burnt orange on the gauntlets and knees, "Dove, get out from behind the tree... your not exactly sneaky" the unknown Spartan said. ‘Dove’ dropped out from behind the tree.

"I was invisible until you gave me away..." Dove grumbled, poking the female Spartans side playfully. "Meanie."

"Glad you could make it Eagle..." Linda greeted, relaxing slightly. Eagle nodded, and stood near their ‘war table’.

"I came as soon as I heard what was happening... I wouldn't miss the chance to gang up on John." Eagle said and Dove nodded. She glanced over to the map, ready to give input.

———-

At Burnt base Wolf pops up seemingly out of nowhere looking to be covered in dirt. She was short, only about 5 foot, and had a mohawk style hair with bright green eyes. She wore Spec Op armor that was redesigned for a human, the deep grey color contrasted with her eyes, making them seem brighter as she stepped into the light of the fires, "I was scooping around their perimeter looking for any weak spots, while their defenses may be very tight I think I managed to find a slight opening we might be able to use to our advantage." She said, Samriah looked up at Wolf, calculating the options in her head.

“What’s the opening?” She tapped at the dirt with a charred stick, glancing at Chief. “Any word from Danica?” She questioned, and received a slight shake of the head from the Chief. Samriah let out a breath, “How are our defenses looking? Toasted ranks may be small, but if they have the Bird…” Samriah trailed off. Wolf drew a crude drawing of the toasted base sketching it out in charcoal on the war table.

"The defenses on the north, east and west sides are highly reinforced with dirt and hardened, sticky marshmallow, but they got a little sloppy on the south wall. A mile or so down the south side there's a small crack about an inch from the ground up the wall. If we could get an explosive in there we might be able to make a hole." Wolf then realizes she hasn't seen Danica in a while and turns towards the group.

"Didn't Danica say she was gonna go set some charges near the toasted base? It's been almost an hour and she isn't back yet. Do you think she's okay?”

———-

Danica takes a breath attempting to remain calm as she attempts to make contact with the Burnt Ones again.

“Chief? Samriah? Wolf? This is Danica-118 do you read me? I have set the charges. I repeat I have set the charges. There’s the sound of digging getting closer, either I set them off now and dig upwards and try to avoid getting caught or I crawl back and risk getting caught anyways.” No response. Danica shakes her head as she notices it’s been an hour that she’s been gone. “Well since coms don’t want to work, I guess it’s up to me… please let my luck hold out…” she mumbled to herself. Danica starts to crawl back to the Burnt Ones bunker as quietly as possible and pokes her head out from the entry of the tunnel and looks at everyone. “I guess coms don’t work underground. They’re starting to dig tunnels of their own. It won’t be long til the charges are found”

———-

As Eagle surveys the perimeter, she can hear what sounds like scraping and smiles, "Have fun running back to base... it's a long walk home." She says to herself, she radios Linda, reporting her findings.

"Eagle says that they have tunnels, which more than likely means they have charges of some kind." Linda began, watching as Dove placed another golden toasted grenade.

"Then that means we have to force their hand.... destroy their tunnels before they can take advantage of them." Nerd stated, drawing a line across the projection.

Eagle returned from her perimeter scans, walking over to their war table she joined the others, "I'll make an insertion here..." Eagle said, pointing at what appeared to be a random patch of ground. "My thermal scanners indicate one of the charges is there... a flash grenade will be hot enough to detonate and send a chain reaction, causing the tunnels to collapse."

———-

At Burnt base Samriah frowned at Wolf's comment, but spoke “Danica is smart. She knows what she’s doing.” Samraih leaned over Wolf’s drawing she tapped the south side where the crack was. “Good thinking. If we-“ she was cut off as the radio crackled “This- Danica- charges- set- caught.” The feed was distorted and Samriah pulled up a screen. “Danica, this is Samriah. Do you read?” The radio crackled and went silent. She looked at Wolf, “Wolf, see if you can find an explosive for the hole. Something small. Remote detonation.” Samriah turned towards Cameron, “Cameron, check our defenses, If they have Linda there, and they made a mistake, we probably have one too.” She turned to Chief, who seemed to be deep in thought, “Chief, see if you can get ahold of Sam. I don’t want him getting caught in the cross fire if this gets messy.” Still looking towards him she asked “Cortana, do we have a head count for the Toasted? If they are starting to warp in others…” she hesitated, “This could go very badly. Very quickly.”

"You got it boss," Wolf said and saluted Samriah. She put on a midnight black cloak, changing in appearance as she did so. In her place was now a wolf with midnight black fur. She had one black and white eye and the other was gold. Three scars ran down her face, marring the otherwise fluid coloration. It will be easier to sniff any type of explosive no matter the size in this form. She says mostly to herself before disappearing into the shadows. The radio crackles and all the team can hear is the sound of explosions and rubble falling, Samriah looks grim.

“It has begun.” She says, and gets to work.

———-

As the Toasted prepare for another confrontation, Dove sighs heavily.

"We're gonna get our butts kicked if we don't get some more help... I mean, we have an equal number of Spartans... but extra people? Not many..."

Nerd thinks for a moment before she and Dove glance at each other wickedly.

"Perhaps...." Nerd remarks, picking up her phone, "All we need, is a little.... divine intervention..."

———-

On the field, a woman with scarlet hair sat perched in a tree. She wore light black and bluer armor, maximizing flexibility and mobility. She was a pyrokinetic, and went by Catherine, she found herself in a nice sniper position tucked in one of the trees, with a whole bag of marshmallows. One by one she lights them on fire because that’s what miss pyro does best. This is a free for all for her. No loyalties. Everyone is a target. Catherine purposely aims for Fred because he stole her chocolate that was supposed to go on her s’mores. The night is lit up with fires and chaos as the Toasted and the Burnt collide into battle.

———-

"Eagle..." Nerd called out, and the female Spartan nodded, grabbing the detonator and hovering her thumb over the button.

"Detonating in 3, 2, 1.... ADIOS!!!" Eagle shouted, pressing the button as the world lit up in explosions of flying marshmallows and dirt.

“YOU ALL BETTER TAKE COVER” Cathriene yells as she rains the mini fruit flavored marshmallows down on everyone. As Cathrine unleashed her onslaught on minis mellows, the Toasted were covered by a rather mystical and divine field of protection.

"It took you three long enough..." Dove pointed at the goddesses, Divine Intervention shooting her a somewhat irate glare. Waving her hand a cannon ball of burnt mellows dissolved into flakes of shimmering gold.

"Two actually... Destiny decided the opposing side fit better..." Fate pointed out, as from across the field a smokey figure hurled another ball of burnt marshmallows at Fate, who sighed and snapped, the ball of fire stopping in its tracks to plummet to the ground.

———-

As the battle rages a shadowy figure stalks through the night barely making a sound as if she has become one with the shadows. Her head darts up as an explosion flashes in the field, coloring the sky with fire and destruction. Dismissing it she continues looking for anything to help her team. She stays away from the Toasted base, but keeps close enough to to keep it in sight. The onyx colored wolf sniffs around on the ground, looking for any type of explosive that she could use to help, she finds nothing and lets out a low growl to herself. Damn those toasted guys sure know how to clean up after them… She says to herself, as she is about to turn back, an explosion shakes the earth. It throws Wolf to the grounds and her ears ring, chunks of earth and stone pelt the ground. Darkness descends on her vision, turning everything into blackness.

———-

Danica crawled through the tunnel system, with more urgency now as the ground shook above her, the battle had begun “Now or never…” she told herself, and set off all of the charges. She was only halfway through the tunnel system, and was buried in the rubble. Armor-locked she was frozen, hoping her luck held out and someone from Burnt found her. Behind her, half of Toasted base was covered in burnt marshmallow, walls either cracked or destroyed, anyone still left in the base was covered in burnt marshmallow. Danica’s radio crackled as she heard Samriah come through distorted, “Dan- this i- Sam- read?”

———-

Wolf’s eyes shot open, she shakely stands, dust and debris falling off her coat, now dusted in white ash and soot. Shaking herself off, pieces of earth and rock fell off her. She sniffs the air and perks up, the distinct smell of explosives and the sharp small of pine, a person. She trots off in the direction of the smell, getting closer to Toasted base. As she nears the base she slows walking over about a few feet carefully still sniffing the air and keeping a lookout for any traps that might be placed. As she gets closer the smell gets stronger until the earth seems to break open, revealing a long tunnel underneath the ground. Wolf starts to dig, large paws making quick work of the torn-up soil, she carefully digs around armed but not set off devices, picking them up carefully and setting them aside for later use. After a few minutes of digging her paws hit something hard. She leans forwards and gives it a tentative sniff, metal and pine. Danica! Wolf starts digging with renewed vigor as the Spartan is slowly uncovered. Once Wolf has most of the rubble cleared her form shifts, turning back into her human form as she reaches for Danica. The Spartan’s armor is locked but with a quick command into a tablet she was able to unlock the Spartans armor.

Master list (Includes all previous parts)

“I have the power of the Chaos goblin and adorable innocence!! Thou canst never hope to defeat me!!! Golden ‘mellows shall prevail!!!!!” Nerd yells back, pacing back along the gap in the field separated by the raging fire.

“Thou think thou hath innocence? Thoust art a coward! Thou say nay to completing thy roasting of thine ‘mellow!”

“Thou art the coward!! Thou disrespecteth the ancient paths, spewing lies to those that follow you in this path of destruction! Have you no soul???”

“Tis true yond i has't nay soul! t wast taken from me many years ago at which hour battling the most wondrous dragon of the n'rth! i doth not spew lies, i only speaketh the sooth! t is thee who is't is on the wrong path! we m'rely seeketh to free thee from the ancient chains yond bindeth thee! breaketh free of the lies and joineth us mine own cousin!” Owl shouts, a figure comes up beside her, dressed in forest green armor with Violet highlights.

“How dare thee call thyne fellow creator a coward! That alone is such an act of cowardice! Take yourself and thou’s distasteful marshmallows away!” Danica-118 shouts to Nerd, who almost seems taken aback by her words.

“Do not confuse cowardice with defending my honor child!! They struck the first blow, laid the grounds, antagonize this battle... and thou have fallen just as far.... go back to the shadow of thine burnt mellows and ponder thy path…” Nerd says ominously. Both groups look at one another, staring each other down as the fire rages higher until they cannot see one another.

“Poor Fred.” Danica said, noticing the spray of sand that kept hitting Fred.

Fred looked up from where he was reading a book.

“Indeed. Samriah, stop with the sand.” Samriah laughed and shook her head, purposely kicking over some sand at Fred. Danica shook her head and threw a patch of seaweed at Samriah.

“Come on, I thought we were building a sand castle? Be nice to Fred!” She scolded.

“Not the seaweed!” Samriah shrieked and scrambled away, falling into the “moat” John and Sam were digging. It easily was deeper than Cathrine’s height, and when asked why it was so deep they shrugged, and kept digging. A group of young children approach the giant sand creation and curiously peer and the strange group of people. Danica waves to the small children and laughs at Samriah.

“You okay over there Fred?” She calls.

Fred was fast asleep and Samaria, having jumped up and down repeatedly, had a wicked grin. Looking towards Cathrine she whispers, “Let's make him into a Mer-Fred.” Danica just shakes her head and upon looking around sees a quiet space under some shade and slips away to set up her towel and umbrella and relax. Samriah used John as a ladder to get out of the moat. It was really just now a pit, and nearing the Spartans height. Samriah bounced over to the ocean and started to collect sand to make the Mer-Fred. Catherine eagerly grabs buckets of sand and approaches the sleeping Fred with Samriah and begins gently packing sand around his legs.

“Let me see some of that seaweed, yeah?” She whispered and Samriah passed the seaweed to her and noticed the children’s numbers growing, so she beckoned them over.

“We’re turning him into a merman, but we’ve got to be quiet so he doesn’t wake up okay?” She told them quietly, the children nodded and started grabbing sand. Danica, now feeling a little anxious, sinks a little farther into the shadows and starts chatting with Athena, her AI. The children help Catherine turn Fred into a very pretty mermaid, decorating his tail with shells while Catherine gently lays the seaweed on his head as hair. As they finish, Samriah notices Danica’s silence, as ever the responsible one she leaves Cathrine with the children. Wandering over as she picks up a pretty violet shell, offering it to Danica as a sort of peace offering. “Everything okay?” She asks, and Danica jumps slightly as Athena disappears, yet she smiles up at Samriah and gently takes the shell.

Yeah, I’m just not really in my element. I’m not used to being out of armor for so long. I’m used to long drawn out battles, not quiet beach days…” Samriah can tell she’s not saying everything.

“We all have scars, some visible, some not. I lost my squad on my first drop, I tried covering it up for a long time, it only made it worse.” Samriah pauses before looking more closely at Danica “Say hi to your AI for me.”

Danica just nods sadly at Samriah’s first comment, “I lost my first team in a fire fight. The enemy got the upper hand, knocked me out, tied me up and I woke up to seeing my entire team without a single glint to their eyes. After that I just went on a spree and took out any enemy I came across. I got a lot of scars that way… when evac finally came I was the only one there… Pilot asked what happened and all I could manage was holding up all of their dog tags after I brought them onto the ship. I wasn’t going to leave them behind… not after everything they did for me. They watched my back day in and day out… I failed to protect them…”

“It’s not your fault. And I know many people have told you that, but I won’t lie to you, it still hurts. It takes a long time to get better, but opening up, and telling someone. Thats the key.” Samriah gives Danica a smile. “You should come try the water, it’s nice. I promise. If your makeup wears off, they won’t mention it. If they do, I'll whack them.”

Danica fidgets nervously, “I-I don’t know… I haven’t had a true team in a while and I just don’t want people staring…”

“JOHN!!” Fred yells as he wakes. Both Samriah and Dancia jump at Fred’s shout. The children scatter and Catherine bursts into a fit of giggles as she takes a picture, before scurrying to hide next to John where she is safe. Fred grumbles as he tries to brush the sand off his body.

“This is why I can never relax.” He muttered.

“This is why we love messing with you!” Catherine calls to Fred, only for John to pick her up and toss her into the moat, which is too deep for her to escape, “Hey!” She protested, John snickers at her.

“You’re in timeout for picking on poor Fred” he says. Sam looks at Catherine for a moment, and promptly jumps out of the moat, leaving her no room for escape.

“You get back here! I will not be caged!” Catherine flails her arms trying to find a way out of the sand pit. There is no escape for her. Her best bet is for someone to take pity on her. However, for Miss Pyro, it is not likely. Catherine grumbles about mean Spartans and begins digging a tunnel through the sand.

“You a Zir now Cathrine??” Dove calls, having recently warped in to watch the growing chaos. Catherine tunnels her way out of prison and runs to Dove, wrapping her arms around her.

“Dove, look at the injustice they’ve done to me! And it was Samriah’s idea!” Catherine exclaims dramatically and sticks her tongue out at John and Sam, before joining Samirah and Danica in the shade. For the moment they relax, with Dove chatting with Sam and John, Fred going back to reading his book and with Kelly and Linda still in the water. Finally, Samriah sands, and offers her hand to Danica, pointing to a rocky outcropping a little ways down the beach. “There, that will be secluded. And if anyone is there and has a problem with it…. Well a shark might just appear in the water to scare them off.”

“Alright, I’ll tag along” Danica says, and snickers.

“Sounds like we’re going exploring!” Catherine grins broadly.

“Miss pyro here can also singe their eyebrows off.” Samriah ads, snickering. Danica just laughs a little harder.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure where to keep my sunglasses” Danica says, before being cut off by Cathrine.

“Chief! I’ve been given permission to light people on fire!” At this, John quickly joins the group.

“Absolutely not.” He says and pats her on the head. Danica goes silent as soon as the Chief had shown up

“Just put your sunglasses by our stuff, no one will steal it. That's what our dear Spartan body guards are for!” Samriah says, jabbing John in the side. He shakes his head, and looks towards Danica.

“Everything alright?” John asks. Danica stiffens at the mention of just leaving the sunglasses behind.

“You know I’m a Spartan too right?” She jests, trying to cover it up, “Never better Chief!” An obvious lie. John puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes, offering silent support in the way that he does. Samriah notices Danica’s tense form.

“You know what? This should be a girls trip! No John, Sam, or Fred!” She says, and links her arms with Cathrine and Danica. John sees the makeup on his hand and the scars on Danica’s shoulder and she internally panics. Samriah notices this reaction and quickly hustles the girls away. “Let’s go! Bye boys!” John shakes his head as the group leaves.

“Don’t burn anything to the ground,” he calls after them.

“We will!” Samriah shouts back, passing Danica a towel to cover her shoulders. “I’ve got some semi-waterproof makeup, I can give it to you later.” She murmurs to Danica. Danica keeps up with the group as her arms are linked with theirs.

“Thanks…” she says and she drapes it over her shoulder. “So to the water I guess?” Still sounding slightly uneasy but more relaxed than the moments prior.

“Yep!” Samriah said brightly, and they walked along the beach. When they arrived at the spot it was secluded. Cathrine frowned. No one to set on fire. She told the trio such.

Danica chuckles slightly, “That’s good for them I suppose.” Athena appears on Danica’s left shoulder.

“Hi…” Athena says Danica is stunned that Athena is being this bold. “I’m Athena, Danica’s AI.” Catherine smiles softly, remembering her long lost AI Felicity.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Catherine says, she cups her hands in the water and splashes it onto her body. There are faint scars that start at her wrists and end at her elbows, the water makes them shimmer in the sunlight. Catherine does not think of them often. Danica sighs as she drags water up her arm to the exposed part of her shoulder. There are two long scars running parallel to each other going down from her shoulder to the tips of each of her fingers. Tons of small and medium length scars littering the rest of her arm, some looking deeper than others. It’s obvious that they bother Danica a great deal. “Combat or training? Or both?” Catherine asks Danica carefully.

“Both… and augmentation.” Danica replies solemnly. Samriah joins them in the water a moment later, hopping into the water with a splash, metal leg left on the beach it just rusted to easily in saltwater. She hopped/swam over to the duo and kneeled on the seafloor, the water only came up to her shoulder and she smiled up at the duo. Catherine nodded in understanding.

“I was kidnapped by insurrectionists when project Pyro was leaked. I’d still be their lab rat if John hadn’t come for me. Although I wasn’t exactly in one piece by then…”

“Funny story-“ Danica starts, but is cut off by Athena.

“John had come for her too. She was a child at the time at a lab facility. An experiment of their own using his DNA. He still doesn’t know she’s technically his kid. Even when she went through the Spartan program, Halsey put it under lock and key.”

Danica looked panicked.

“Athena! We talked about this! No one can know!” Catherine blinks in surprise, before nodding as she processes the information. She concludes that it is now her solemn duty to unofficially adopt Danica. Danica just sighs, “I am biologically his. However the original died when she couldn’t handle the testing so they stored her memories in me. So I’m her but built to better withstand testing…” Samriah ducks under the water and comes back up a moment later, effectively clearing her thoughts. Then she Looks up at the duo.

“You're not her.” She addresses Danica, “You’re you. You may have a few added memories. But you’re still you”

“I am… I’m an altered copy is what I’m saying…” Danica says, butt Cathrine cuts in.

“Nothing wrong with a few extra memories, I don’t have any about where I came from or who my family was. Halsey rescued me from the streets when I was a teen, and I’m still not sure if it was for better or worse, but I have a good life now” Catherine plays with the sand between her toes and smiles.

“I just don’t want Chief to find out. I didn’t want anyone really finding out.” She steps closer to the water as it washes the makeup off of her feet exposing more scars, Catherine smiles softly.

“If I know John he’d be ecstatic, but it’s your decision” she says, and Samirah nods.

Danica smiles back, “Maybe after we hit the water?” As she wades farther in so the sea meets her waist.

“We’ve got your back,” Catherine winks at her and dives into the waves. Danica smiles and takes a deep breath, takes her sunglasses off exposing her freckles and her two mismatched eyes, and throws her glasses onto the sand diving down. Catherine splashes Samriah and Danica as she resurfaces, “I challenge thee to a wave battle!” Danica splashes back, not caring for the scars now exposed on her face as well as the rest of her body.

“Thou shall regret challenging me to a battle!” She calls as Catherine engages in the splashing, causing little bubble heat explosions under the water in order to send more force with her waves. Danica smirks as there’s a mischievous glint to her eyes as she dives and sets small, pocket sized, pressurized air canisters on the sand below and taps one as it sets off a chain creating a slightly bigger wave. Samriah dives into the shallows, careful to stay where she could touch the ground if needed. She splashes Cathrine with a laugh, and then gets drenched by Danica's waves. Danica resurfaces and laughs as she comes closer to shore to accommodate for the distance and to make sure Samriah was included. Catherine warms the water around her, making it more like a hot tub as the battle dies down a bit. As the sun starts to set the trio relaxes in the water, their worries at rest for a moment and silent as the waves lap at the shore. Samirah breaks the silence, “if you had the choice to change how your life has been, would you?”

Danica looks at Samirah stunned at the question, “Before meeting everyone here my answer would’ve been yes, but after all of this? Not a chance. You guys are my team. More to the family if you will. There’s not a chance I’m missing out on meeting you all.”

“Awww I knew you’d open up, just had to get you out of the old tin can,” Catherine sends a wink in her direction, and Danica smiles.

“Maybe I spend too much time in my armor. Thanks again, this has been pretty fun!” She says as she winks back. Samriah nodded, looking towards Danica and Cathrine.

“We’re a bunch of misfits, broken but healing. Each weird and unique in our own way. Our own little family.” She comments.

“We’re not misfits if we’re a family. Not any more” Danica says, and smiles softly. Samriah nods, and they walk and rejoin the group with Danica and Cathrine, as Cathrine pulls out a package of hotdogs to roast over the fire. “Who’s hungry?”

Part II

Master list