Okay so a heads up, this chapter is going into detail of some very graphic fight scenes, so if you're not into that- be warned.
Rick watched in surprise as Joy jumped down from the balcony below him easily, watched as she threw the gates open without touching them and opened the door to the balcony. "Baby!" he shouted above the sound of the machine, but Joy didn't look back.
Turning around he ran to the door only to find it stuck. Elio moved over and tried to help him open the door, they could turn the handle but it was like the door was being held closed by some sort of force.
"God damnit," Rick growled as he turned away from the door, knowing it was Joy.
"I guess she found her way," Elio said as he tried to use his own lesser ability to open the door.
"Yeah well- good thing magic never stopped me." Rick said as he drew the portal gun from his pocket and shot a portal into the floor, jumping through it he ended up just outside of the temple gates and seeing people running away from something he started to move towards it.
Joy got to the site of the crash, her hands glowing as were her eyes. She could see some debris covering the front of the ship and swinging her hand to the side it flew away from the ship, smashing into a building.
She could see that the craft was horribly damaged and part of it was smoking, but she didn't care, grabbing the door she ripped it off the hinges and looked into the craft, frowning when she saw no one there, and turning around only to get hit in the face with a club of some sort.
Falling into the craft she gasped as she felt a pair of hands reach out and grab her, wrapping their hands around her throat.
"No-" she gasped, clawing at Gordon's hands before she put her hands against his chest and with all her might shot him off of her, sending him flying across the cobblestone street and into the side of a house.
Stepping out of the craft, she shoved the desperate hands of one of the members of the public away from her. "Don't touch me." she growled, the person trying desperately to touch her before she shoved him away as well, he skidded a few feet before getting to his feet slightly disoriented.
Turning and looking back at Gordon, Joy was surprised to see him standing, brushing himself off before something seemed to click in her mind. "You're one of us?" she said softly, narrowing her eyes.
"No," he shook his head. "Not a true god."
"What are you?" she stepped away from the craft, watching him as he took a step towards her.
"I'm the one who will absorb you," he told her before someone grabbed her from behind, Joy struggled as they forced her to her knees before looking up, seeing the familiar red hair of her father.
"Castor," she struggled against his strong grip. "You traitor."
"No," he said as he held her tightly, "No you are the traitor, you turned your back on your own people, you turned your back on our ways!"
"I am the new way," Joy gasped before there was the sound of a shot ringing out and Castor fell to the ground with a scream of pain.
Gasping for air, Joy turned and looked, seeing Rick standing there with a plasma pistol aimed at Castor who held his shoulder, blood spilling from the wound.
He turned then, pointing the gun at Gordon before Joy stumbled to her feet, holding her throat. "Don't!" she shouted at Rick who looked at her in surprise. "He's mine," she told him, reaching out and grabbing Gordon by the shirt. Gordon retaliated by laying his hands on Joy's arms, Joy kicking him hard between the legs.
Gordon gasped in pain, clutching himself there as his knees started to buckle before Joy let go of him again, swinging her leg back and kicking him in the stomach.
The sound of air leaving his lungs gave Joy another chance to kick him again before Gordon grabbed her leg, pulling and knocking her off balance. As she fell to the ground he got on top of her, legs on either side of her frame and he raised a fist, punching her in the face.
Joy could feel blood fill her mouth which she spit onto Gordon before she cupped her hands and brought them up, clapping them over Gordon's ears. He screamed in pain and brought his hands up to cover his ears and Joy shoved him off of her, getting to her feet a little unsteadily, still seeing stars from the blow to the face.
She felt someone grab her leg and turning she saw Castor gripping her right leg, she used her other foot to stomp onto his face, once, twice, three times before he finally let go and she stomped onto his arm, feeling his wrist snap under her food, another scream ripping through the air.
Rick stood to the side, watching as Joy kicked Castor again as he screamed in pain before she turned back to Gordon, her whole body glowing with power, her eyes that fierce gold color that came when she was tapping into her abilities as a level so deep he was sometimes unsure if she was able to control it.
Lightning struck the ground near them and Joy inhaled deeply as Gordon started to back away, still clutching his stomach.
"I don't know what you are," she said as she stepped closer, her feet no longer touching the ground as air moved around her in a furious fashion. "I don't know who you are, but you are an enemy of these people and an enemy of the gods," as she spoke her voice echoed and boomed loud enough for anyone nearby to hear it. "You are a murderer and I find you guilty. Your reign of terror is over Gordon," she said as she reached out, holding him in one place, her fist slowly clenching.
Rick watched as Gordon seemed to be squeezed where he stood, his face turning red, his eyes bulging, and then she stepped forward with such a speed it was impossible to track with the naked eye, plunging her fist into Gordon's chest, the flesh parting as if her hand was hot steel and his flesh was warm butter.
Gordon screamed in pain and horror as Joy shoved her second hand into his chest and with an inhuman strength ripped his chest open, blood covering her arms, chest, and splattering her face as she stared Gordon in the eye the entire time.
"You will never touch a god again," her hand closed around his heart and she pulled, ripping it from his chest cavity and threw it on the ground, her foot coming down to crush it beneath her heel.
Gordon died with Joy's hands still in his chest, and when she let go of him his body fell to the ground with a sickening thud, Joy brought a hand up to brush the loose hairs from her face, spreading Gordon's blood across her face before she turned on Castor who was watching in horror and pain, tears spilling down his face as she turned on him.
"You," her voice was dark with hate and rage.
"J-Joy I am your father-"
"You are no father of mine," she told him, lifting him and then slamming him into the ground, Castor wheezing as he hit the ground, Rick was sure he had broken his back and possibly his ribs. "A father doesn't let people like that try to kill their daughters, a father protects and loves their little girl, a father doesn't-"
"A father doesn't order the people who raised his daughter to be killed." Rick interjected and she turned, looking at him and he stepped forward. "Do they Castor?"
"It- it wasn't- I didn't- it was only because he ordered me to!" Castor scrambled for the words through his pain.
"He didn't do it Baby," he said. "But he may as well have."
Joy turned back to Castor, listing him and slamming him into the ground, each hit of the ground bringing screams of pain until the screams were replaced by a sick wet slapping sound as blood splattered over Joy.
"He's dead Baby," Rick finally said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Joy turned and looked at him sharply, Rick staring back at her silently before he brought his hand from her shoulder to grip the back of her neck. "Rick-"
"Let me help you," Rick said softly.
She blinked before hearing a few shouts and calls from down the street, turning and seeing a crowd of people converging Joy looked back to Rick before nodding as she lifted herself into the air.
"Unless you all want to die, you go on back to your houses and stay the fuck inside," Rick ordered the people who were still coming forward. "I'm warning you!"
The crowd still moved forward, all of them older people, the generation who couldn't just accept that things were changing, they couldn't accept the fact that they were changing, they were evolving and they still wanted to take the easy way out, laying hands on Joy would be easy, it would be what they were used to, they deserved not to have to work to understand their feelings and it was Joy's fault they had to try and understand their feelings now and they were angry about it.
One of the people threw a piece of the rubble from the fight, it hit Rick in the cheek and he lifted a hand to touch the cut before it was immediately healed by his nanobots. "All right, fuck it!" Rick shouted. "You sons of bitches want to lay hands, let's lay hands."
Rick moved forward, shooting a few people with the plasma pistol before grabbing the pitchfork from one person's hand, slamming it through the skull of another who had come forward, Joy using her powers to rip a man who had tried to sneak out at Rick in half and throwing the pieces into the crowd, knocking some people over.
"Baby, think you can quarantine this?" Rick shouted to her and she thought for a moment before reaching into the sky, the electrical field that surrounded the sky suddenly bending and forming an electrical dome around them and the crowd.
"I did promise you some fun in the blood dome," Rick pointed out as he looked over at Joy who gave him a wide grin before grabbing two people and slamming them together, their heads exploding at the force.
Someone grabbed her from behind and before she had the chance to react he was thrown off, his hand slowly disintegrating, a scream of horror drawing Joy's attention as his whole body started to disintegrate before she lifted her hand, touching the back of her neck.
"Defense mesh!" Rick shouted as he grabbed the flower box off of a window and used it to beat someone's head in.
"Thank you!" Joy said as she twisted the head off of a woman and threw the head at her furious and horrified husband.
"Anything for you Baby," Rick replied as the window box broke and he used one of the pieces of wood to impale the next man coming at him.
Joy ripped a lamppost out of the ground and turned it on its side, slamming it through a line of people as Rick grabbed a woman and threw her against the electrical field, the woman roasting and then turning into dust.
"Jesus Christ, nice Baby!" Rick shouted when he saw the line of people impaled on the lamppost.
"Rick!" Joy shouted when she saw two men grab Rick and a third punch him in the face, she grabbed the two from where she was floating and flung them into the electrical field, both men exploding when they hit it because of the force used to fling them.
When the two weren't holding Rick anymore he got up, wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand before he punched the man who had punched him, before Rick slapped a small disc onto the man and jumped away, ducking behind the corner of a building, the man shooting out sparks and taking three men with him as he exploded.
Joy quickly lifted the rest of the people into the air, all of them gasping as she did before she brought them close, squeezing them, Rick shooting them crowd as Joy made their hearts stop, made them start hemorrhaging and blood flow from their eyes and mouths before dropping them all.
"Is that all of them?" Rick asked as Joy stepped onto the ground and nodded.
"That's all of them so far," she told him and he nodded before turning to her, grabbing her by the back of the neck and pulling the small metallic disc off of her neck, slipping it into his pocket before he leaned in and kissed her deeply.
Joy kissed him back just as deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled one of her legs over his hip, his hand moving from her leg to her ass and holding her firmly against him.
When the kiss broke neither moved away from each other, but he did look into her eyes as he traced her bottom lip with his thumb. "Would it be wrong to-"
"Fuck on the corpses of those who wanted to kill me?" she asked before shaking her head. "I'd like to see any of them try and stop me."
"Good Girl," Rick replied, Joy smiling as if she wasn't a vengeful god who had just helped slaughter dozens of people on her own planet, and more like a girl who desperately needed Rick's approval.
When the electrical field lifted and Joy and Rick walked out the area was surrounded by temple keepers, Elio, and people who had come to see what the commotion was, Joy looked at them all before holding up the head of Gordon and looking around at the people around who gasped.
"Joy," Elio said softly, Joy turning her eyes to him before he moved, getting down on one knee, the people around him, the temple keepers, the city people, everyone doing the same, kneeling to her.
Joy looked down at them all before she started to walk to the temple, Rick followed and behind Rick Elio and the rest of the people, new people joining the crowd as Joy moved down the street, walking up the steps of the temple, temple keepers opening the doors and more still opening the doors to the throne room, Joy moving to the throne and sitting down on it, Rick sitting on the seat to her side, and Elio moving to stand to Joy's side.
She looked up at him and he leaned forward as she whispered to him before he took the head of Gordon from her.
Stepping forward to address the crowd he looked over his shoulder at Joy and Rick before he lifted the head up to the crowd, letting the people in the crowd see the head of the ex head of the church.
"Tonight our living God Joy felt the presence of a new god be born, and then the new god was subjected to the old ways, Gordon laid hands on the god, he killed the infant and our living Joy felt every moment of their death. Tonight our living Joy showed those who cling to the old ways that the old ways are dead." Elio said the assemblage who listened with rapt attention. "Tonight our living Joy found out her father, Castor, a man we have all known had her adopted family murdered so Gordon might try to lay hands on our Joy!" he continued. "Joy has made the ultimate sacrifice- she has severed the familial bonds with Castor to bring us into the future, to help up evolved and to ensure our survival!" Elio spoke passionately as he held the head of Gordon. "Tonight, our Joy has given us more than Joy, she has given us hope, hope for the future, hope for the future gods, and hope that we will continue to survive without the oppressive nature of Gordon, without the toxic ties of Castor, and without those who demand a turn to the old ways. Tonight, our Joy has set us free of the old ways, Our Joy has saved us!" he finished his speech by throwing the head of Gordon to the ground, and the people cheered as he threw up his hands. "All bow down to Our Joy!"
With that everyone fell to their knees as they cheered looking at Joy who looked at Rick. "Join me," she whispered as she touched his hand. Rick smiled softly before shaking his head. "You helped me, join me."
"I'll always be there to help you Baby," he told her. "But this is your thing. You need to do this yourself."
With that Joy stood, and the cheers from the crowd grew louder, people looking up at Joy with tears rolling down their faces as she stood there, closing her eyes and letting the cheers wash over her before she opened her eyes and held up a hand.
"This is not going to be an easy time," she told them. "There are still those who would lay hands, there are still those who would see me dead for their own gratification, and we will find those." she told them. "We have a lot of work to do, but let us remember this day as the day our planet found freedom from the old ways. Let us remember this as our Independence Day."
People cheered as Joy stepped back to Rick who drew the nano mesh from his pocket and stood up, pressing it to the back of her neck again. "I set it so it won't disintegrate anyone who touches you, but they won't be able to absorb you," he explained lowly before kissing her temple. "I love you,"
"I love you too," Joy smiled at Rick, taking his hand and holding it tightly before he gave her a gentle push.
"Go. Your people are waiting for you." as she turned around he gave her ass a firm slap, Joy turning and looking at him as he winked before she smiled and walked out into the crowd, accepting fealty from those around her who offered it.
Over the next week people celebrated, more people who resisted the new way were found and were given the choice, get with the program or don't. Most chose to get with the new program, though some chose not to, and those were people Joy dealt with personally, the front steps to the temple were washed of blood every day as people chose their death.
While Joy did that Rick was helping with the creation of a university of science for those who wanted to help bring the world forward to learn, and Elio seemed to really come into his own as the head of the church.
The planet was scanned and when all members of Castor's family were found to believe deeply in the old ways, Joy ended the family forever, but no matter how hard they tried, they still couldn't find Ursa.
No one else on the planet had Joy's DNA- aside from distant relatives who were more than happy to join the new way, and wanted nothing to do with the old ways, and who were equally happy to find out they were related to the living god.
One day as Joy walked the streets with a few temple keepers and Elio she looked over at him. "How would you like to be President?" she asked and he looked at her.
"Excuse me?"
"The head of the church is a great title, but there's more that you can do for this planet than give sermons," she told him. "I'd like you to be the President. You'd answer to the people. I would be an advisor, but I don't want to run a planet for the rest of my life," she explained. "And I think you could help them,"
"What about the church?"
"Delta is more than capable of running the church," she assured him, Elio looking at her in surprise.
"Delta?" he asked. "Have- Have I done something wrong, do you not like the way I've done this for you?"
"No," Joy assured him. "No not at all- I just think you can do so much more," she told him.
"I can do both," he offered and she smiled softly.
"I know how much the temple means to you," she said gently, taking his hand in both of hers. "If you don't want the job, I understand, you're just the only person I'd trust to do it."
"Can I think about it?" he asked and she nodded.
"Of course," she said and he leaned down, kissing her knuckles before turning and smiling at a group of children.
"Our Joy," he said, turning her to see the children. "These are children in your youth class," he told her and Joy smiled at them.
"Hi guys," she grinned. "What have you got there?"
The kids then spend the next ten minutes each showing their drawins they had done in their class while Joy cooed over them appropriately before she was given the drawings by each of the kids, she thanked them all and promised that she would treasure them forever before the kids dispersed and she handed the drawings to a temple keeper to hold onto while they continued their walk.
"Do you ever consider having children?" Elio asked and she sighed.
"Sometimes," she admitted. "But Rick already has a daughter, he doesn't want to do the kid thing again,"
"You would make a fierce warrior of a mother," he smiled and she smiled back.
"Honestly, I'd love a kid," she smiled. "With my power and Rick's intelligence- that child would be unstoppable," she told Elio who laughed before nodding.
"Gods help us," he said before they started back to the temple, Joy laying her hand over her lower stomach in thought as they walked.
Okay! So Joy is officially in control of her planet, she no longer has to worry about Castor or Gordon, and Ursa is not on the planet! Things are starting to look up for Rick and Joy right? Right?! Who knows!