Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Rebecca Pov. – September 21 Pov.
I just hummed as I lay on the ground while we waited. My foot tapped anxiously. Honestly, this was the part I hated most about a gig. The waiting. I hated waiting. It was a waste of time. I preferred the noise, the gunfire, the shouting, my finger on the cannons, and the recoil of my weapons against my shoulder as some Gonk got blown to bits.
Unfortunately, if Night City taught you anything, it was that dreams don't come true. Which was ironic, since Night City sold the slogan "the city of dreams" and all that crap. That was too stupid for the gonks to believe, and there were plenty of them, but Night City proved them terribly wrong all too quickly.
But yeah, dreams don't come true. Or well, most of them don't. Honestly, I had nothing to complain about in my current life. I loved Serena, I loved my life, and I had plenty of gonks to shoot, so everything was good except for the waiting. I hated waiting. It made my head spin in places it shouldn't. I wanted the waiting to end so I could kill that stupid dog.
…
Hmm, should I get a dog?
Serena was adapting and modifying that Lovecraftian dog, straight out of a horror movie, into the most adorable son of a bitch I'd ever seen, for Enid. I understood, I respected it, and Enid claimed it first. The rules said it was hers.
It reminded me of Cup-Cup. It was the cutest, most obedient pug in the world. Well, when it wanted to be. I'd adopted it after killing its owner, Gonk, in the middle of a gig. I was too soft to finish it off or even leave it alone. So I'd decided it was mine now. And it was for a while.
Until Night City taught me you can't have nice things.
Rot in hell, Night City.
I wasn't in Night City anymore. Now I was in Pentagram City, living with Sera. If I wanted a dog, I'd get one. Maybe a lot of them!
A whole bunch of them! And then I'd train them to attack any idiot Gonks who try to be too clever! I'd have to teach them how to bite off dicks to castrate the Gonks. Nothing like blowing a Gonk's dick off to lift our spirits.
Should I get a cute dog? No, maybe a killing machine like Enid's? Or maybe another animal? I don't know… I've always wanted lots of dogs, and now that I could, I would. I didn't have to hold back.
I doubted Sera would complain. She never does when we ask her for things. So I'd lick her pussy and make her eyes cross in thanks when she said yes.
Yes… That's a good idea. I would definitely have lots of dogs. Or maybe dragons! Like those dragons from the movie Enid showed us. They were enormous killing machines with the personalities of adorable dogs! The best of both worlds! Well, not quite. Those dragons didn't have fur to cuddle with, but Toothless is adorable!
Or should I ask for one of those Pokémon? I think I already gave away that super-powerful rabbit; I'm almost certain there would be several dog-like ones.
Mmm, why settle for just one? Bella could have her army of souls, GLaDOS her army of robots, and Sera could create an army of anything if she really wanted to. I deserve my damn army!
Yes! I just needed-
"Rebecca." Lucy interrupted me abruptly, and I looked up.
"What?" I asked sullenly. Lucy just smiled amusedly.
"I've come to interrupt you before you actually decide to get that army. Which, by the way, if you want it, Sera will take care of, and that includes feeding them and cleaning up their mess." Lucy said dryly. I paused briefly before shuddering slightly.
"We can hire people for that. Or create them." I said with a pout. Lucy raised an eyebrow, and I groaned loudly. " Fine. Although I'm only getting one or two." I huffed reluctantly. Lucy just smiled.
"Do whatever you want. But wait. I came to let you know we're ready to leave," Lucy said playfully. My eyes widened, and I left without hesitation.
"Why didn't you start there, Lucy!" I said cheerfully. Finally! I would finally fight that damned dog. The last few days had been terribly boring, filled with everyone else's preparations.
Between visiting that giant serpent, Loki's son, and getting that lightning hammer that could grow, plus some magic chains to restrain Fenrir and everything else, it had taken time. And none of it necessarily involved me, so I hadn't had any fun at all over the last few days.
On top of that, most of the group still had to go to that fancy school in Kuoh while the others were busy, so I had nothing to do to entertain myself. Even Lucy had been busy most of the time preparing for the fight.
But now I was ready. I put my armor back on, or most of it. Even though I liked the armor and the benefits paracausal armor would grant me, I found the chest armor restrictive.
So I put on the rest, leaving my torso bare. I wore armor only below the waist, including a titan emblem on my hip and on my arms.
I smiled as I prepared the rest of my weapons. The best thing about the real world was that there were no limits on what I could carry. And that was excellent. I laughed, savoring it as I got everything ready.
Then I met up with the rest of them.
"Rebecca, are you really okay with this?" Rias asked, worried. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, Choom, I've only died once. Stop worrying and let's go beat the shit out of those sons of bitches!" I growled in annoyance. Really. That was the other part of what annoyed me these last few days. They'd decided I was made of fragile glass after dying once. Idiots.
With that said, although several tried to argue, no one said anything, so we finally left. We headed towards the rooftop of a building at night. The wind was blowing hard, and I just smiled. It reminded me of Arasaka Tower. Well, I guess I could enjoy this fight just the same.
After a few minutes, the sky and space distorted, and a large hole was created as Loki and Fenrir emerged from it.
"Well, well, somehow you survived? I suppose this time I'll have to make sure you all die." Loki said, almost amused, as he looked at me.
"Go fuck a horse, you fucking Gonk!" I yelled at him, raising my middle finger in his direction. Loki's eye twitched slightly.
"Target confirmed. Mission begins." I heard the second fallen angel speak, and a gigantic barrier was created around the building. I prepared to be teleported while I watched Loki just smile, doing nothing.
We were all teleported to a wide-open battlefield full of rocks and nothing interesting so that we could fight without worry. I stayed back while Red and White went first. They both charged at Loki in their armor.
I watched the brief confrontation until Loki commanded Fenrir to move. Then the others moved. The magical chains of Gleipnir, I believe, emerged from their dimension and enveloped Fenrir. Many of them grabbed his hips and restrained him.
I watched as the magic chains successfully captured Fenrir, and the wolf let out a howl of pain. I resisted the urge to go and strike him hard; no, Lucy and I had another objective. As much as I wanted revenge on Fenrir, our true goal was something else. I watched Loki laugh uproariously as he spread his arms wide.
"Skoll! Hati!" Loki shouted as space distorted once more, and two smaller wolves emerged—the children of Fenrir. I grinned wildly as they both howled.
"Lucy and I will take care of them!" I exclaimed with a wide smile.
"Ha!? They may be weaker than Fenrir, but they're still strong. You two want to take them on?!" Rias asked, almost panicking. I burst out laughing.
"You have to keep Loki entertained! Especially the red and white ones! And half of you are holding off Fenrir! So we're stuck with the little ones!" I yelled at them. The others seemed conflicted.
"Trust us. We have a plan," Lucy said easily. Everyone looked at us before nodding.
"Go, Skoll and Hati, the enemies are those who captured your father; tear them apart with your claws and fangs!" Loki exclaimed savagely. The wolves disappeared and pounced on Vali and Rias's group.
I threw my hammer at one of them while Lucy shot at the other. Neither of us damaged them, but we got their attention. We both attacked them again just in case.
Finally, Lucy and I caught Skoll and Hati's attention, so we moved away while both wolves chased us, practically stepping on our toes. They were too fast to escape effectively, but we didn't need to flee; we just needed to put some distance between ourselves and the main group.
We were a few hundred meters from the main group, but that should be enough.
"I need a minute!" Lucy shouted as she turned invisible. I clicked my tongue as I watched both wolves focus on me. I growled, raised my hand, and expelled bursts of solar energy as a sword formed in my hand; then I plunged it into the ground.
I wasn't skilled with the Light manifestations the Warlocks used, but I could use a Well of Radiance well enough. I felt the Well's power envelop me, boosting my regeneration and stamina to new heights. At the same time, I used Sera's medallions to further enhance my physical abilities.
And for the next few seconds, it was more than necessary. One of the wolves moved quickly; I barely dodged it before drawing a shotgun and firing at point-blank range. The bullets, empowered by both paracausality and the Well, barely scratched the wolves, yet I kept firing without any problem.
I burst out laughing as I dodged the wolves; they were damn fast, especially with two of them. I'd dodge one, and the other would attack me from the other side, tearing off one of my arms.
The Well of Radiance regenerated my arm instantly, and I kept attacking. Sometimes I'd shoot it with one of my weapons before discarding it when the bullets ran out and pulling out another. Other times I'd start throwing grenades in droves at both wolves. In one instance, I even held several while I let the damned dog eat my arm, and the grenades exploded inside it. Still, I only had to hold it off for a few seconds while it reoriented itself.
Then I shifted between manifestations of Light. I began hurling Hammers of Sol at them and crushing them with arc energy. I was barely tickling them as they tore me to pieces. The only saving grace was that they weren't clever enough to realize they had to lure me out of the Well of Radiance to actually kill me.
Until now, I had been able to avoid the completely lethal blows that would have killed me instantly; all others were healed almost immediately by the Well.
"I'm ready!" Lucy exclaimed. I just burst out laughing. I could see Lucy in the air. She had a huge arrow of void light—an extremely powerful Shadowshot. The arrow flew through the air and lodged in the ground between us.
Instantly, a massive sphere, like a black hole, formed from the void's light. A void anchor. This anchor extended its energy, and void whips enveloped both wolves, slowing, weakening, and suppressing them.
After that, Lucy moved again and activated dozens of Quickhacks on both wolves. She had been working on this for the past few days, trying to find and understand Fenrir's code so she could hack into his existence. And apparently, it worked on Fenrir's offspring because they were similar.
I could see the debuffs starting to appear on both wolves, slowing them down and weakening them even more. And the one I was most looking forward to, the one that significantly reduced their resistance.
I burst out laughing and didn't even hesitate to pull out the Tractor Cannon. The very nice and beloved shotgun that looked more like GLaDOS's portal gun. Even so, the Tractor Cannon was a shotgun despite its name, and although it certainly wasn't the strongest, it had a very cool effect.
The weapon's repulsor force could suppress abilities and, more importantly, make them more vulnerable to incoming damage. I didn't know how it worked or how its effect translated to the real world, but it worked.
So I didn't even hesitate to shoot each wolf with one of their own. Then I tossed my Tractor Cannon aside before summoning my Burning Maul. A massive maul, its handle longer than me and its head as big as my torso.
I drew in all the Solar Light, down to the last drop in my body, then drew more from Serena. I lowered the hammer and struck one of the suppressed wolves on the head.
My enormous maul exploded against the wolf. I let out a satisfied laugh as I watched it recoil and howl in pain. I didn't stop to assess the damage; I simply jumped up and brought my hammer down again, driving more solar energy into it.
Fire engulfed me as I struck the wolf again and again. I could hear the wolf's howls of pain beneath me, trying to fight back, but being so suppressed and weakened, it couldn't escape.
I burst out laughing and raised the maul once more. I pushed harder, and the maul grew once again. My body tensed under the maul's weight, but I didn't care. I pushed harder and dropped the maul again.
The wolf's howl of pain continued as it struck again and again. And I quickly heard a second howl of pain from the second wolf. I didn't look away; I simply focused mentally on Lucy and could see what she was doing.
Lucy had summoned the Celestial Nighthawk helmet and put it on. This transformed Lucy's Golden Gun into an all-or-nothing weapon, channeling all the gathered Solar Light into a single, extremely powerful shot.
Lucy raised her hand, and a Solar Light revolver formed between her fingers. Solar Light gushed from Lucy, concentrating into the revolver. She aimed at the second wolf and fired into its head. A powerful Solar Light bullet sliced through the air, leaving an orange trail. The wolf howled in pain, but Lucy didn't stop.
She raised her hand again. I could feel her draw light from the endless well that was Sera and fire bullet after bullet—each time with less time between shots. The Solar Light recharged instantly, and she kept firing again and again at the same spot, the wolf's head.
I burst out laughing as I kept crushing the wolf in front of me. We both kept hitting without stopping. Either they resisted, or we ran out of energy. But since we were drawing Light from Sera, the primordial source of Light, the wolves gave way first.
The satisfying crunch of the wolf's crushed skull made me burst out laughing. The whimper of pain before it died told me it was over, but I kept hitting it several more times anyway.
At the same time, Lucy's bullets finally pierced the wolf's defenses and went through its skull, burning everything inside. Its entire brain turned to ash, killing the wolf even before it could howl in pain.
Finally, we both stopped and looked down. The wolf beneath me no longer had a head; the rest of it had exploded, scattering like a watermelon. Lucy's seemed more intact, except that its head was burned, and smoke came from its orifices, especially its melted eyes.
But both were undoubtedly dead. Lucy approached me, still holding her golden gun. Lucy moved her hands, and both wolf corpses were sent back to the mansion. Those stupid wolves had better be useful.
"Hahaha! Great fight, Luce!" I laughed gleefully as I raised my fist to her height. Lucy just looked at it, laughed slightly, and then playfully bumped my fist while shaking her head.
"Let's go help the others," she said playfully. I smiled and laughed. I glanced at the fight where Loki and the others were. Some of them stared at us in surprise and disbelief before returning to the fray, still standing in the middle. I guess we could still have some fun a little longer.