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Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

Reader mode
At this point I expect Joe to apologize to Doro for not returning like he promised, and for failing to RIP and TEAR to the full conclusion.

While at the same time assuring her that this time he'll make sure to end it.

I mean this time he will have an army at his back and call simply due to the fact that he seems to seduce like 90% of the Nikke he interacts with. So that should help.
 
BakaSmurf said:
Joe had forgotten how very fucking much he hated snow.
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why Joe dissing on the snow I love the snow/ cold easy to warm up then it is to cool down cuz it takes effort to cool down. I guess Imma weird like that must be cuz I live in Michigan
 
Chapter 42 - A Light Shining in Darkness
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    Chapter 42 - A Light Shining in Darkness
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    Boots hitting ancient tiles, Joe's eyes scanned the dimly-lit hallway even as his cheeks burned from the frigid cold despite the balaclava and goggles shielding his face. With the blizzard just outside of the ancient building raging, he stepped further in to allow Counters the room to enter the building themselves; clambering in through a second story window as they were.

    Headlamp on and set to flood everything in front of him as a lantern might, three distinctly heavy thumps and one last harsh 'thunk' along with a sudden muting of the raging wind's scream signposted the window's firm sealing behind them. "I hate snow," Anis proclaimed as she shook her head vigorously, innumerable flakes of white soaring from her thick, messy blonde locks.

    "Welcome to the club," Joe bitterly agreed with the blonde as he pulled his mask back to reveal his reddened face and adjusted the rifle slung across his chest, making an effort to stomp the snow packed into the treads of his heavy-duty footwear free before heading deeper into the building, resenting the reminder of how much he detested Northern Canadian winters by their little adventure.

    He also couldn't find words to convey how jealous he was of the Nikkes and their ability to just tank the arctic freeze.

    With a heavy sigh of commiseration, Anis continued on a lighter note, "Good thing this house is all intact and junk, though."

    Indeed, a good day's travel into their journey to reach the Northern Base, and Counters were caught in a blizzard just as they reached a small, desolate northern community that had been bereft of life for nearly a century. Luckily, one of the larger homes present seemed to be intact, and given that Joe had no intentions of wandering around in a whiteout as the sun was quickly setting, they made their way inside.

    Given the amount of snow piled up around the base of the building, as previously mentioned, that meant necessitating surmounting a snow drift to clamber into an upper window rather than the wholly buried front door.

    "Commander," Rapi started, moving to step ahead as she shouldered her assault rifle. "I'll take point and sweep the building for hostiles, then-"

    "Oh come off it, Rapi!" Anis demanded of the smaller blonde, still shaking the snow from her hair. "We haven't seen any signs of Raptures since we set off, and this building has obviously not been touched since, like, the invasion started! There aren't gonna be any Raptures in here!"

    "Unless they're hibernating through the winter here!" Neon 'helpfully' added as she secured an actual electric lantern to her hip, giving the group two sets of light.

    "Raptures don't hibernate, idiot!" Anis shot back, sharply turning back to face Neon with a small glower.

    "Raptures could hibernate," Neon attempted to assert in a faux-sagely voice, adjusting her glasses as she did so.

    "No they-" Anis' teeth clicked together, brows knitting as she turned to Rapi and Joe. "Raptures can't hibernate, right?"

    The two brain cell-sharing members of the squad just flatly stared at Anis and Neon for a few moments, turning back down the hallway without bothering to acknowledge the inquiry directed at them. "Well," Rapi continued, "if there were Raptures in here, they'd have been alerted by Anis and Neon's bickering-"

    "Hey!" Anis protested, not that Rapi acknowledged it.

    "-And have attacked us by now, so we're probably safe in here," Rapi finished. "Orders, Commander?"

    "We look for the living room," Joe declared as he began down the hauntingly familiar, frost-laden hallway. Disused, but strangely intact after a century of neglect. "That's where the fireplace or wood stove would be."

    "Understood," Rapi dryly acknowledged the order, following him in as Anis grumbled about being ignored and Neon muttered about Rapture hibernation logistics to herself.

    The building was on the bigger side as far as residential homes went, probably meant for a larger family, and the group descended a stairwell lined with photos that protested very heavily when Rapi set foot on it, necessitating that everyone descend to the ground floor one at a time. All the while, Joe did his level best to not let the achingly familiar building get to him. He'd grown up living in houses like this his whole life, and in fact, until just recently, he was living in a building that at least had the same vibes. That old country feel wherein most everything in the building was functional, well-used and often well-loved rather than state-of-the-art and pristine to keep up with all the other city folk that had to have the newest, most impressive tech.

    So, of course, there was a smart TV in the living room that wouldn't have otherwise looked out of place in a picture taken in the late 80's. Country folk didn't spend their money on brand new designer furniture and fancy showers connected to the internet, they spent it on their entertainment boxes and vehicles. Gotta have the newest Playstation to play God of War and all that.

    Joe really missed his custom-built computer back home...

    Nevertheless, looking around the large, hauntingly familiar living room, Joe's eyes settled on the real prize: the cast iron wood-burning stove, topped with a large, flat surface for old-timey cooking. Marching to the wood stove, Joe opened it up with a long, drawn-out metallic creak, peering inside to find century-old ashes and the remnants of the last fire to burn within, blackened charcoal chunks that would contribute to the first flame to kindle in this iron belly in decades upon decades.

    Taking the palm top scouting drone, Joe switched it and its integrated flashlight on and, while holding onto it, held it at a right angle while sticking his arm into the stove. Using the camera feed, he confirmed that the chimney was clear of obstructions. "Stove's safe to use. Look around for a wood pile."

    "...Would old wood even burn?" Anis asked with genuine incredulity, head tilted to the side as she tried to puzzle out what Joe was doing.

    That damn near made Joe snort aloud, but she couldn't be expected to know that, given that she grew up in a cyberpunk arcology, so he bit his tongue before responding. "The older the wood is, the drier it is, the better it burns."

    "...Oh," Anis sheepishly replied as she glanced around the room. "...How do you even know so much about this kind of stuff?"

    "Old pre-invasion media," Joe matter-of-factually declared, lying easily given that he'd time to consider how to justify his knowledge of shit like this. "Survivalist shows and stuff like that."

    "...Oh," Anis replied again, shifting her weight a bit as her gaze settled on the large, L-shaped couch and accompanying recliners set before the TV. "Weird to think that this is how people used to live, all isolated in big buildings all to themselves… Could probably fit a dozen average Ark apartments in the same space this whole house is taking up."

    "I think it's kinda cozy," Neon asserted as she ambled up to the TV, stooping over at and peering into the dark screen as though it would reveal some secret to her. "It's crazy that you can find this kinda stuff still intact on the surface at all, though! Why is it that back in the city, everything's all busted up, but this building seems like it'd be totally livable?"

    To be frank, Joe was more shocked that the building was still standing at all, almost as though it had been forgotten in Antarctica; preserved by the cold where any other wooden structure in any other part of the world would have long since collapsed and rotted away. Hell… it almost made Joe wonder if maybe winters had become eternal in the North, given how the planet's climate had apparently gone haywire at some point after the Ark was sealed.

    Something to look into once they were back at the Outpost.

    Not privy to the Commander's internal thoughts, Rapi replied to Neon's question. "Raptures mostly assaulted high-populated areas, at first," she asserted from the spot in the middle of the wood-laden room where she'd taken up sentry. "The more remote a location was, the more likely it was that rather than being directly destroyed by the Raptures, the people there just… faded away."

    Indeed, from what they'd seen, the buildings that were overtly damaged here, had obviously burned down in man-made accidents. Vancouver, in contrast, looked like the outright war zone that it was. Having grown up in a community like this… yeah. Surviving up here in the long term without support from the South was a deeply dubious prospect.

    To note: that was before the climate went out of control and winters regularly hit lows of -65c/-85f. Without support? Surviving entire winters in temperatures like that, where it was winter most of the year, if not all of the year if Joe's suspicion was correct… Was just not doable. Were it not for the super-tech cold weather survival gear they had, Joe would have doubtlessly been in the midst of severe hypothermia, rather than just unpleasantly chilled as he went about sparking up a warming fire.

    "...Man," Anis grimaced, looking about the shockingly intact home with a forlorn expression. "I'm not sure which is worse. Getting killed by the Raptures, or just… freezing, or starving out here while the rest of the world burns off in the distance, and there's nothing you can do about it."

    "Even if there were people that managed to survive in the most remote regions of the world," Rapi continued, "Eventually, once the cities were all cleared out… well, then the Raptures would start scouring the countryside and wilderness for stragglers."

    "That… yeah, that sounds about right," Anis replied, looking increasingly deflated as she noticed and approached a number of hanging pictures of the family that had once lived there. "I suppose that you can sometimes find old buildings like this still standing way out in the middle of nowhere, because the people that lived in them, by the time the Raptures started poking around…"

    "Were already dead," Rapi bluntly finished Anis' sentence. "Raptures don't seem interested in destroying buildings and infrastructure for its own sake. Usually it happens incidentally as they're trying to get to the humans inside of or near them."

    At that, Anis just deflated, gazing at the ancient pictures with rising despondency. Meanwhile, Joe had opened the door to what turned out to be a sealed-off porch, which housed a huge pile of pre-cut wood, all ready for burning, complete with kindling for starting. Thus, he'd already begun the process of coaxing a fire to life in the stove, both so they'd spend the night warm, and so they could eat hot food that night.

    All the while pointedly not dwelling on Rapi and Anis' conversation. It was bad enough that he was trying to not look at the pictures hanging on the walls of the family that once lived here himself - who had died in the midst of the apocalypse - without needing to hear the details and logistics of how they probably went.

    Quickly enough, given that Joe was simply pulling on past experiences to get the job done - the only hitch coming when he had to figure out how exactly to use the electric 'sparker' to ignite the tinder, given that liquid fuel was at something of a premium in the Ark, to say the least - he had a small flame crackling to life. Keeping the door slightly open to draw oxygen in and quicken its growth. A familiar little ritual, one which had a grounding effect on him, brought him back from the post-apocalyptic future and back to what was now another life. For just a fleeting moment, he wasn't among the precious few fighting to reclaim the world for mankind.

    He'd have preferred to have not experienced that little moment, given that it meant he got to go through the sensation of having the literal weight of the world dumped on his shoulders all over again. Like a dog having its chain yanked.

    At any rate… "Fire's going. We'll be sleeping on bellies full of hot food tonight, if nothing else."

    "Hot food, and hot chocolate!" Anis declared with a cheery little (and ruinously attention-grabbing, given her generous assets) bounce, immediately rebounding at the mention of eating. "I remembered reading about how people would drink lots of hot chocolate in the winter back before the Raptures invaded, so I went through our home supplies and packed along a bunch of the good stuff!"

    While Neon pumped her fists in anticipation of the coming 'feast,' the corner of Joe's lips quirked upwards in amusement. He sure wouldn't complain about decent hot drinks on a cold winter's night.

    "Ooh, I have an idea!" Neon declared as she dug into her bag, withdrawing her phone as she did so and setting it on the coffee table set before the TV. "Set to project, aaaaand… Booyah!" she cried out in victory as her phone's screen was projected out as a hologram… roughly over the ancient TV screen. "Look! We can have a slumber party in the living room and sit around like we're watching TV all old-fashioned like!"

    Joe's smile became a bit melancholic. It almost felt like this entire set-up was meant to remind him of what was forever out of his reach now. Echoes of an old life, a time that he'd never experience again… Or maybe it was instead some providence granting him the opportunity to savour one last taste of that life, even a facsimile, before it well and truly slipped away for the rest of his life.

    "We're still on a mission," Rapi dryly pointed out to the rest of the group. "We should be settling on a lookout schedule, not treating this like a vacation."

    At that, Anis groaned in bitter befuddlement. "Are you being serious right now? Lookout? Look out to what? It's literally a wall of white if you haven't actually glanced out the windows yet, Rapi!" the largest of the gathered Nikkes asserted, harshly gesturing towards the large window which would have once been overlooking the building's yard.

    Notably, she was right. To reiterate: they'd entered the building by clambering up a snow drift to climb in through a second story window; on the ground floor, with the windows literally buried in the snow, Raptures wouldn't see them even if they threw an outright party in the house.

    Beyond even that: when Joe said 'whiteout,' he meant fucking whiteout. As in, the blizzard had grown so intense, the wind kicking up and blowing so much snow around, that you couldn't see your own damned hand if you held it out at arm's length. There was nothing to see outside, and if there were Raptures out there, they sure as shit wouldn't have been able to see Counters either.

    "Rapi," Joe started tiredly, "if you want to stand at attention all night, then be my guest. But the windows are completely blocked off, we aren't going to be spotted here. And I'm of the opinion that we should take any chance we can get to relax on the surface."

    Rapi's lips drew into a taut line at Joe's assertion, clearly disliking the lack of military professionalism in their Commander's assessment. Anis and Neon, meanwhile, cheered and dropped their bags to start ripping out their sleeping equipment in preparation for the 'slumber party' they'd spend there, watching whatever shows or movies the two had on their phones. Joe couldn't really contribute in that regard: he hadn't had time to really get into any Ark media. Hell, he usually just tuned into the Ark's 'radio' that was clearly just a streaming service, and passively listened to whatever came on for background noise while working. And Rapi just didn't strike him as the type to be into that sort of thing in the first place.

    But, regardless, the night was young: and Joe wasn't about to turn down the opportunity to enjoy a relatively comfortable night on the surface, spent in a sort of memoriam of the life he'd left behind.


    A fair few hours later, the living room warmed by a lively fire, with bellies full of hot, high-quality Tetra Line MRE's and hot chocolate, Neon and Anis were laid out. The pair contented and out like a set of lights in their sleeping bags on the carpeted floor - the ancient couch and recliners obviously having no chance in Hell of being able to support their extreme weight.

    Conveniently, this meant that it was just Joe and Rapi, sitting there in the living room. The space was initially lit by little more than the holographic projection of the fantasy anime Anis had them watching, before Rapi switched the phone off following her squad mate's slipping into unconsciousness; then by the fire on the other side of the room casting a dim, faded glow from the transparent front door of the stove.

    While Joe had claimed the couch, seeing as how it wouldn't collapse under his weight, he shifted forward and set his rear on the floor as Rapi had, using the base of the seat as a backrest next to her.

    The little blonde gave him a bit of a weary look, clearly seeing where this was going. "...I suppose we're going to take this as an opportunity to talk more about… us?" she inquired quietly.

    Joe looked at Anis and Neon's sleeping forms before inquiring: "Should we take this elsewhere first?"

    "They aren't waking up unless we do something like kick them," Rapi dryly uttered past lidded eyes. "They both sleep like rocks. It'll be fine as long as we're quiet."

    Nodding in acknowledgement of her assertion, Joe sighed before refocusing on the matter at hand. "Then, yeah. We really should continue where we left off last time, before we track down Snow White. Lest things get… awkward."

    It was Rapi's turn to sigh, visibly weighed down by the topic before motioning for Joe to go on.

    "Right, much as this'll suck… we have to assume that Snow White'll be just around the corner from here on out, and she'll want answers. Answers I don't think she'll be keen on waiting for at this point. Answers about… how this all came to be, what happened to us…"

    "...You know what happened, then?" Rapi asked. "How… we wound up separated?"

    "It… involves your Mind Switch, yeah," Joe answered, the room's dim lighting seeming to set the mood pretty appropriately, given the dark subject matter they were set to discuss.

    "...The slaughter I committed," the little Goddess sourly acknowledged, not bothering to dance around the subject as she had the previous times it had come up between herself and Joe. "The sin I work to atone for to this day..."

    "It's a lot more complicated than you've been led to believe, Rapi," Joe assured her gently.

    That earned a dubious look from her. "...How could it possibly be 'complicated?'" she asked, near-accusingly.

    Well… yeah, time to rip that particular bandage off. "As the Ark was being sealed," Joe began, "We'd been called to the Central Government Headquarters, leaving the rest of the squad to hold the line with little more than some mass-produced Nikkes to support them. Once we were there… the CG informed us that Goddess, all of you, were to be put down and dissected in an attempt to reverse-engineer the technology that went into your creation."

    Joe continued without missing a beat.

    "For all that you did for mankind, your reward was to be murdered and your bodies torn apart. Because the CG's incompetence, even back then, led to the total loss of all information on the creation of the Grimms series, and to ensure none of you might ever be able to oppose them. All to create more Grimms. Grimms that would be loyal to the fascist Government they aimed to create to rule over the Ark with an iron fist."

    Rapi's expression had grown increasingly stony, her gaze utterly hyper fixated on Joe as he remained seated right next to her. She didn't say anything, she just listened intensely.

    Meeting her gaze, Joe continued. "I wasn't about to let those would-be tyrants lay a goddamned finger on my girls. To say nothing of their intent to turn the Ark into a brutal police state, where dissenters would be gunned down in the street by unfettered Nikkes, to serve as examples to anyone else that would question their rule. A rule they expected me to loyally and unquestioningly be the face of. You followed me, into the Central Government HQ, that day."

    "...The Sealing Day Massacre," Rapi's gaze fell, realization dawning on her. "That… that was us."

    "And Enikk was our handler throughout the mission," Joe declared, to which Rapi sharply looked at Joe with genuine shock. "Had we not done what we did, Enikk's own calculations stated that mankind would have gone extinct ninety years ago. Elysion's director at the time you were brought back… Ingrid told me about it. I don't know why they said what they did to you, but we bought mankind at least a century to recover, fix the Ark, get our collective shit together. Your 'massacre…' is the only reason mankind is still alive to fight today."

    After a few moments, Rapi slowly leaned back into the base of the couch, eyes seeming to glaze over as she stared into the aether, and she let out a long, drawn-out sigh as she went limp. The tension in her entire form which had been ever-present since Joe had met her and Anis seemingly dissipating all at once. "...Okay," was all she managed to get out, closing her eyes and shuddering heavily. "...Okay."

    Joe wasn't quite sure if that was relief, or something else that was overwhelming her, but… she didn't seem to be breaking down, so…

    "So," Rapi continued in a strained, but still quiet voice. "All those people I killed… the CG's council, I suppose. They were… By Enikk's own edict, enemies of mankind after all…"

    "...You actually only took out two of the CG's councilmen," Joe clarified. "It… I was the one that pulled the trigger on most of them. You mostly put down their loyalist black shirts."

    There was a beat before Rapi replied in a quiet, uncharacteristically breathy voice. "I- we were protecting mankind, regardless. We saved the Ark…" Though she wore no smile, something in her demeanour, her vibe had obviously shifted, and Joe could tell that Rapi was relieved. Deeply, truly relieved. "...Commander- Joe. Can we… leave it there, for now?" the blonde asked, leaning over and resting her head on the burly man's shoulder - a startling display of intimate comfort from her. "Let me just… let me have this tonight. Let me go to sleep feeling like this. Just like this."

    Joe was caught off-guard by this reaction from Rapi. Somehow, he hadn't expected her to just… believe him, take him at his word. He hadn't even needed to convince her. She just accepted what he'd told her, and seemingly, however quietly, revelled in it.

    Although, it made sense, didn't it? If she'd come to trust Joe, and he assured her that such a terrible fact about herself wasn't true, was never true, that her supposed great sin was actually one of the greatest acts of heroism ever committed, an act that single-handedly earned mankind a future it would otherwise not have today… yeah. If their positions were switched, Joe would've wanted to believe it too. He would want to be assured by someone he trusted that he wasn't a monster just the same.

    So, instead of pressing to present more details about their shared history together, Joe just leaned lightly into Rapi himself, reaching up and wrapping his arm around her slim shoulder to draw her into a gentle one-armed hug, which she wordlessly accepted by leaning even harder into his side.

    Somehow, where the room that echoed a time long since past had previously felt oppressively inadequately lit by the century-old wood stove, the shadows all-encompassing… Suddenly, the fire's dim glow granting just enough sight to make Rapi's softly contented face visible, instead felt like a light shining in darkness. Just enough by which to see that which was most important in the dark: the dawn finally breaking the bleakest night which seemed as though it would be everlasting just moments before.

    For once, seeing Rapi so relieved, so content… Joe had to admit, that maybe, if he could give this to all the Nikkes that might come to rely on him in the coming days, he just might be worthy of leading these Goddesses of Victory.
     
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    • Jekyll said:
    Part of me is hoping that one of the two lovable knuckleheads was actually awake to hear that.
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    I'm still hoping that after meeting and getting to know Joe after a while privaty learns who he is or eunhwa just imagine any of the nikkes learning that the legendary commander himself is alive and in the flesh is Joe.
     
    Ace of Scarabs said:
    I bet Neon's smartglasses caught their conversation.

    Yes, she has smartglasses, Elegg is able to run Boom on them.
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    Man, if that's a thing then it's going to be both hilarious and concerning when they play it back if the other two haven't already been listening to their conversation. Might probably need some more convincin' in Anis' case but the fact that the Legendary Commander himself is here with who would almost certainly be Red Hood herself? Now that's Class!
     
    BakaSmurf said:
    So, instead of pressing to present more details about their shared history together, Joe just leaned lightly into Rapi himself, reaching up and wrapping his arm around her slim shoulder to draw her into a gentle one-armed hug, which she wordlessly accepted by leaning even harder into his side.
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    rapi needs all the hugs and headpats a girl needs. Also on a another note is it bad that I check this fic daily to see if it's updated.
     
    Chapter 43 - A Fine Morning
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    Chapter 43 - A Fine Morning
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    Stirring with a low sigh, Joe immediately groaned in displeasure - a kink having formed in his neck from having evidently fallen asleep sitting up. Eyes flitting, he grimaced and-

    "Sleep well?" The familiar, continuously shockingly girly voice of Anis cut through the musty, wood fire-scented air of the ancient home. Notably, there was an audible… edge, a bitterness present that usually wasn't.

    Shifting about as the Commander forced his eyes open, a low, protesting groan from a still-sleeping Rapi sounded out from Joe's shoulder. Eyes snapping open, indeed, he saw that he and Rapi had both fallen asleep where they'd been sitting together the night previous. As beatific as the gentle, peaceful expression worn on the woman's typically stern, and in retrospect, haunted visage was - it quickly became apparent that Anis was glowering over at the pair from where she was seated with her back against the wall.

    Chowing down on a cold Tetra Line MRE steak right out of the bag, the yellow-and-black-clad Nikke was visibly displeased by the sight of Joe and Rapi having fallen asleep together in such a… close position.

    Neon's sleeping bag was wide open, the little platinum-haired wacko nowhere to be seen. Glancing over at the stove, it was clear to see that the fire had died at some point in the night - though the building was insulated enough that the ambient temperature in the living room was still at least lukewarm, which combined with their coldsuits meant that they all felt comfortably warm.

    Still, bad showing from Joe, not keeping the fire going all throughout the night. "...Cold food this morning, I see," he mused with a small grimace.

    "Yeah, it's definitely the cold food that's the problem here," Anis replied in a bitter tone, continuing to glower at the pair as she chewed on her unheated packaged steak.

    Man, she was really upset that the fire went out. Best to try changing the subject.

    "So how's it looking outside?" Joe asked as Rapi fidgeted, shifting to unconsciously make herself more comfortable on the Commander's shoulder with a contented sigh.

    Anis just glowered with intense annoyance, lips drawn in a taut line as she stopped chewing on her food and went still.

    There was a beat in which the messy-haired blonde didn't answer, just leaving the pair just sitting in silence.

    As Joe started to glance around uncomfortably, Neon descended the stairs to declare: "The weather's totally cleared up, and there are no Raptures outside! We should be fine to keep making our way to the Northern Base!"

    At Neon's cacophonous announcement, Rapi lightly jumped, eyes going wide as she let out a tiny little 'eep' only Joe heard. There was a beat, wherein the long-haired blonde confirmed that there was no danger - then she blinked, and seemed to notice where she was. Shifting her attention around, it registered, with a widening of her eyes, just where she'd been resting her head.

    In a chastising tone with her hands set upon her hips, Neon called out: "Commander, you and Rapi can be all lovey-dovey later! Get up and eat so we can get a move on!" the little silverette demanded of the seemingly lazy pair.

    Rapi, cheeks tinged with embarrassment, launched to her feet and in a rock-solid, clipped tone, declared: "I'll prepare something quick that will-" mid-step, she halted, eyes on the rapidly cooling stove. "-not require heating," she immediately pivoted to the group's bags, pointedly not acknowledging the awkward situation she'd woken into.

    Meanwhile, Joe was caught under Anis' withering gaze for a few long, laboured moments. Eventually finding the willpower to stand and stretch, doing his best to ignore how miffed Anis seemed to be about needing to eat a cold steak, given that he'd let the fire die. This after the previous night's downright cozy atmosphere… Right capricious, that one.

    "Anything of note, Neon?" Joe called out, not particularly feeling up to trying to engage with an increasingly aggravated Anis, or a disassociating Rapi.

    "There's a cool old cowboy gun on a gun rack thingie over there!" Neon excitedly proclaimed as she pointed across the room, shining her lantern upon a section of the living room they'd not looked into before. Indeed, there was an old lever-action rifle on a gun rack on display there.

    Immediately intrigued, Joe ambled over to the antiquated firearm with raised eyebrows. Taking the weapon in hand, he couldn't help but crack a grin upon feeling the familiar weight in his hands. A .30-30 Marlin - an incredibly common sight around his neck of the woods. The gun was in really good condition, especially considering it had been just sitting out on a rack for a hundred years…

    Opening the lever with a surprising amount of ease given the object's age - Joe shouldered it while in a state wherein it couldn't fire, even if it had been loaded.

    "You…" Neon started, "Seem really familiar with such an old gun, Commander," she noted as she shot an aside look Anis' way, which was met with a degree of uncertain hesitation.

    "I'm into antiques," Joe asserted without missing a beat, again, having actually put some thought into how he'd hand-wave his apparently inexplicable old-world knowledge to modern folks. "These kinds of rifles were really popular around here, even up to the years before the Rapture Invasion for hunting and general animal control. Didn't expect to find one just laying around in such good condition…"

    "Yeah…" Neon trailed off, the notion seeming to interest her. "It's a shame that it's illegal to bring salvage from the surface back to the Ark."

    With a small beat preceding it, a small, crooked smile cracked on Joe's face as he declared in response: "Yeah. It's a good thing that the Outpost isn't considered a part of the Ark, then."

    Blinking owlishly, Neon's eyes lit up at Joe's statement, even as he set the gun down and started digging around for a sling. "Yeah, yeah! The Outpost isn't the Ark! That means we can bring back souvenirs, right?"

    Rapi had stopped preparing whatever she was and turned back to gaze reproachfully over her shoulder at the pair. Yet, wet blanket that she was, there was a point to be made that it would be in poor taste to outright loot this building which had once been a family's home.

    Thus, Joe, with a sigh, shook his head. "Let's just take this along," he said as he attached the old, synthetic, but still functional sling he'd found to the equally old Marlin. "It'd be pretty distasteful to dig through this house in search of jewellery or something."

    "Oh," Neon deflated for a moment before her eyes lit back up upon settling on the gun. "Well, a prime example of classic firepower really is the greatest treasure we could hope to find anyways!"

    Anis, who hadn't moved from her grump spot where she was chewing on a cold steak, piped up herself, "So… we're not grabbing anything that's not nailed down, then?"

    "No," Rapi pointedly answered, otherwise focusing on preparing what looked like some MRE cereal for two.

    Anis just shrugged, not seeming too invested in the idea either way, while Neon was mostly interested in the Marlin itself, much like Joe. Regardless, the morning there in this small pit stop before they made their way to the Northern Base passed them by in relative peace and quiet. A luxury rarely afforded to those who had the misfortune of scouring the Earth's forsaken surface.


    "Still no signal, huh?" Joe inquired as Counters formed up at the base of the snow drift they'd used to enter the once-again abandoned house in the first place. Absolute silence being the squad's only companion, as even the wind settled down and seemed to cash in a vacation day after the crunch that was last night's blizzard.

    Luckily, the temperature had spiked enough compared to the previous day's deep freeze that Joe could get away with keeping his face uncovered, at least briefly. A well-insulated balaclava would keep you warm just as surely as it would feel incredibly stuffy in short order.

    "Alva Particle density is too high," Rapi informed the Commander as she adjusted the assault rifle slung over her shoulder. "Ongoing total comms blackout. We can't contact the Ark if anything happens to us out here. Or each other if we wind up separated somehow."

    "How reassuring," Anis dryly mused as she shifted her weight, glowering down at the snow at her feet. "Out in the middle of nowhere, where no one can hear you scream…"

    "Isn't that what our flare guns are for?" Neon asked, checking her harness to confirm that she still had her pen launcher. Smaller than the flare guns that resembled old revolvers in form, thus better for ease of carry. Joe had kept one on him at all times back home, owing to the simple fact that you never knew when an emergency would occur, and so he knew that these compact launchers were about as inconvenient to hoist about as a pen was. "If we get separated somehow, just blast a flare into the sky and we'll all know where to find each other lickity-split!"

    "Wouldn't that also let all the Raptures nearby know exactly where we all are?" Anis asked past heavily lidded eyes.

    "Then just get to the source of the flare quickly so nobody has to fight alone, dummy!" Neon commanded the larger blonde.

    "I'd rather not have to fight Raptures at all, you idiot!" Anis shot back with a withering glare, pivoting towards Neon on the balls of her feet.

    Having long since learned to tune out Neon and Anis' fuckery once they started on their shit, Joe just started off with Rapi. "So… you seem like you slept well," he observed of the keenly alert little blonde.

    Expression softening in response, Rapi let out a small sigh before replying. "I did… the best rest I've had for as long as I can remember," she wistfully noted, a contented smile finding purchase on her features.

    Considering they had spent the night leaning against each other, using the foot of an old couch as a backrest, while fully dressed… that said a damned lot. The weight that had been taken off her shoulders by the assurance that her greatest sin simply wasn't likely couldn't be understated.

    That was nice. Rapi really deserved all the best in the world, given all she'd done for mankind.

    "Mission's been going pretty damn smoothly so far in general," the Commander declared with a smile as he rolled his shoulder, adjusting the sling which he'd used to lash the old lever gun to his backpack.

    "It's nice that we haven't had to combat any Raptures so far, yes," Rapi agreed, far more at ease than was usual for her. The pair moving to drift past a large pile of snow - likely an ancient truck going off the sheer scale of it. "I'd honestly assumed that the Pilgrim had been pursuing Chatterbox, and that we'd have had the misfortune of encountering it by now…"

    "Well," Joe began with a shrug and a lop-sided grin. "Maybe our luck is finally turning around-"

    With an explosion of white, the world violently turned sideways. Pain overtook Joe's entire torso, and at once, he felt the unexpected weight of incredible g-forces acting upon his body. Disoriented, struggling to breathe, confused beyond belief, it was all the Commander could do to process that he was being hefted off the ground and-

    "I cannot believe that actually worked!" Chatterbox's impossibly bassy voice cried out as the Tyrant made off with Joe in hand, thunderously bounding down the snow-covered streets of the small northern community at the very same breakneck speeds with which it had previously escaped Snow White. "Allowing myself to be buried in snow, and waiting for you to come into grasping distance- I actually thought at least one of you would have thought twice about such a massive, out-of-place snow pile! Considered that a pillar of smoke would stand out in such a frigid climate once the blizzard settled! For one who bears the title of 'Legendary Commander' you seem rather remarkably imperceptive and short-sighted, Commander Pholus!"

    Chatterbox laughed uproariously, bolting off with its prey held high, glancing over its shoulder only to confirm that the Goddess was still recovering from the surprise full-forced backhand ambush. A blow which had sent her flying into one of the diminutive ancient human dwellings. The imposters which had been lagging behind the Legendary Commander and his Goddess had no chance of catching the Tyrant, would not risk opening fire for risk of hitting the Commander, and given how even the White Reaper could not catch him even at her higher operational standard than Red Hood's…

    "What a fine morning, if I do say so myself!" Chatterbox continued to laugh while Joe helplessly flailed, clawing at the Tyrant's gargantuan hand even as he desperately attempted to fumble for his knife - fruitless as drawing it even on a smaller Rapture would have been. "Now, it would be wise to be on your best behaviour, Commander! I'm taking you to meet someone very important, someone who has been dying to see you again!"

    In one ear, and out the other. Joe was in no position to be actually listening to a word coming out of Chatterbox's mouth. Blind panic, and helpless desperation.

    Needless to say, as a whole, Counters had fucked up.


    Sprinting at a full-tilt, the Tyrant left the Legendary Commander's squad in the distance as the edge of the town drew near. Holding the Commander close to its chest, Chatterbox couldn't believe the luck it was experiencing. Passing through a point wherein the streets intersected, even if the other Goddesses caught them now-

    With a terrible thunder crack, an enormous bullet deflected off of Chatterbox's helmet, on the opposite side it was holding the Commander. The suddenness of the impact startled the Tyrant and caused it to stumble and slow for a moment.

    "Found you!" Snow White called out with a furious cry from where she'd taken an instinctual snap-shot as it sprinted into view, shockingly closer than expected from around a corner to slow it down just enough. "Judgment has come, vile abomination!"

    "Face thy end with an honour which ill-befits thy ill-begotten kind, wretched cur!" Scarlet haughtily shouted, gracefully charging in with Fleetly Fading drawn back, ready to bring the sword down upon the Tyrant's neck.

    Neither had noticed Chatterbox's 'passenger,' it seemed. Best to announce his presence, given that his orders were to bring the Commander in alive, with the understanding that it would follow the Commander to the underworld shortly afterwards as a consequence of failure. It wouldn't do to have the man catch a stray bullet or blade now. To say nothing of the fact that Chatterbox itself, as was the case with most Raptures, was nigh-on bulletproof, but had little meaningful resistance to blades, given that but a single Nikke in all of existence used a sword in the first place.

    "Commander Pholus!" the great, cartoonishly muscular ebon monster exuberantly called out, projecting its voice as loudly as it could as it pivoted in place so that the man in question would be in full view of his long-lost subordinates. The swordswoman, with a downright comical expression of shock, very nearly wiped out and face planted upon setting eyes on him. To say nothing of the white-hot fury on the rage-driven sniper's features - a nearly berserk rictus taking hold upon seeing her Commander in her quarry's hand. "Rejoice! It seems that we have stumbled into a regular family reunion-!"

    The beast was cut off as, in the same motion in which it drew the Commander in close in an intimidation play, said Commander revealed in a blind, panicked desperation, that he had managed to reach and unsheathe his sizable survival knife by embedding it up to the hilt in one of Chatterbox's many eyes in a gory display.

    With a horrific, bone-rattling roar, Joe went flying. An attack of pure, unthinking reptile brain survival instincts, one which shouldn't have worked. Yet in pure, unfiltered and wholly unexpected agony, Chatterbox had flailed and let its grip on the centennial Canadian slip.

    Still in horrible pain, terribly disoriented, and wholly unprepared for the desperate stab to work, Joe crashed into the snow-covered street like a ragdoll. This redoubled the agony and confusion he was experiencing. A calm, downright gentle morning having suddenly become Hellish in mere moments.

    Gasping for breath, struggling to get off his back, Joe hacked, wheezed, and coughed as he tried to scramble away from the direction he thought the danger was in.

    "You damned-!" Chatterbox began, only to be firmly cut off by a crimson blitz crashing down onto it from above barrel-first - Rapi announced her presence by driving the muzzle of her anti-Tyrant rifle two entire feet into its obsidian hide like a spear.

    Fury and hatred were writ large on her normally placid, stern features. With a ruinous snarl, Rapi unloaded the entire magazine right into the Rapture's back - the high-explosive rounds causing a nightmarish series of horrific bursts of gore and ichor. "Don't you dare touch him!" the enraged super soldier sharply screamed, her voice actually audible over Chatterbox's blindsided wails.

    Enormous fingers momentarily wrapped around Rapi's form - the little blonde Nikke was bodily torn from Chatterbox's back and flung off - towards Joe rather than away from him - a small stroke of luck given the Tyrant's own disorientation given the sudden assault it was barely processing.

    Catching herself easily, Rapi came to a three-point sliding halt, punctuating the stop of her backwards momentum by reloading her massive .50 Ultra with preternatural speed and grace, already shouldering the monstrously over-powered cannon with a murderous glower.

    The scream of a blade cleaving through air sung out between Rapi and Chatterbox; the Tyrant just barely skipping back in time to avoid Fleetly Fading's edge, Scarlet pointedly placing herself between them. Glancing back over her shoulder, the swordswoman cried out: "Snow White, Red Hood! Get the Commander to safety!" the grey-haired Nikke directed the blonde. "I shall cover thee!"

    Snow White indeed came to a crashing stop next to Joe, throwing him into a fireman's carry over her shoulders without missing a beat even as he wheezed in agony - attempting to tend to him while Chatterbox was right there would be idiotic and suicidal in the extreme. "Red Hood!" the monochromatic Nikke commanded the red-clad blonde. "Cover us!"

    Without missing a beat, Rapi all but jumped to her feet and launched herself after the rapidly retreating Snow White and Joe; smoothly swapping her anti-Tyrant rifle for her assault rifle, she was prepared if Chatterbox propelled itself after them. If it could manage to slip past a Scarlet who at once seemed to be possessed by the Devil himself, the edge of her sword crying out with a deftness scarcely imaginable, the metal of her weapon repeatedly clashing with the Tyrant's own great, winding, bladed tail in a display of speed and dexterity which would hopelessly overwhelm the senses of an unaugmented human.

    In a heroic display, with each metallic cry, the Tyrant was actively pushed back, the pressure of perhaps the one Nikke perfectly poised as a Tyrant killer rapidly overwhelming the abominable creature.

    Just when Chatterbox thought its luck was finally turning around too.
     
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    • BakaSmurf said:
    If it could manage to slip past a Scarlet who at once seemed to be possessed by the Devil himself, the edge of her sword crying out with a deftness scarcely imaginable, the metal of her weapon repeatedly clashing with the Tyrant's own great, winding, bladed tail in a display of speed and dexterity which would hopelessly overwhelm the senses of an unaugmented human.
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    Rules of nature!
     
    The parallel of Joe and Chucklefuck mocking Murphy by thinking their luck has changed is just so funny to me. And of course Joe continues to be denser than a black hole with Anis feelings.

    Whoo Goddess squad reunion! Now we just need a side chapter of chatterbox running away only to get stomped by Dorothy
     
    Uwoooooogghhh!!! Reunion time! ;-;

    My little Snow so adorable and hungry. *pat pat*



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