Chapter Five: Far from Home
Year: 2278
Location: The Citadel, Capital Wasteland
Elder Owyn Lyons, the leader of this branch of the Brotherhood, was dying. He had lived a long life and had faced many dangers of the wastes during his service, but he was mortal just like anyone else. Anyone not equipped with cybernetics or mutated beyond recognition, that is.
Some things don't last forever.
He laid on a hospital bed, draped under a white, clean blanket. His left arm was attached to a multi-armed Auto-Doc via an IV tube, the monitor on the machine showing his fading life signs. Next to him was his blond-haired daughter, Sarah, weeping silently as she held his hand tightly. It was unusual for Sarah to be out of her power armor and only wearing her orange-and-gray uniform, Jocelyn noted as she sat on a chair nearby sturdy enough to hold her weight.
The Elder smiled back at her. It was a weak, wrinkled smile, but it was the thought that counted. He slowly turned his head toward Jocelyn. "I want to speak with you one last time, child." With a free hand, he beckoned her to come closer.
"Okay." Jocelyn took a sharp, deep breath before standing. She kept her composure, even as her lips started quivering and her eyes watering up. She stepped closer to the two without rancor.
"I'm proud of you. Both of you," Elder Lyons said. Jocelyn knelt and held his hand as well. "Sarah, you've made the Brotherhood proud. I'm more than certain you'll do great things as my successor."
"Thank you, Father. I won't let you down," Sarah replied, holding back tears.
"And you, Wanderer. If only your parents could see you now." He coughed harshly. "The… the Project had been successful. The Enclave had all but been eradicated. People now have a source of clean and plentiful water, all thanks to you and your father."
Jocelyn smiled. She was proud she could help, but deep down, she wished he could see her father, many years from now, resting on his deathbed. But she knew why he had to do what he did, sacrificing his life not only for her own sake but for everybody else's.
"For my final command as Elder, I shall grant you the title of Sentinel. You'll be placed as my daughter's second-in-command as well as her advisor." It was getting difficult for him to breathe. "If only… if only… there were more people like you… helping out… fighting the good fight, then the world would surely be a better place."
The Elder drew his last breath and closed his eyes with relief. The monitor was flatlined.
"Time of death: October 23, 2278. Hell of a date, if you ask me," Sawbones, the Mr. Gutsy doctor, remarked. "I'll inform the others of his passing. May God watch over him."
Neither Sarah nor Jocelyn said anything as the multi-armed, multi-eyed robot left the infirmary.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," said Jocelyn. "If there's anything you need from me, just ask. I'm here for you."
Sarah shook her head and gently placed her father's hand on the bed. She stood and said, "Thank you but no need. It's fine. I'm all right." By the tone of her voice, she wasn't.
Year: 1607
Location: Somewhere
The Time Lord and the renegade Cyberman looked on as the shard disintegrated right in front of their eyes.
"Well, then…" The Doctor had no idea what to say about this.
"That was unexpected," Kroton finished. "Do you think that's supposed to do that?"
The Doctor shrugged. "How should I know? It's not like I know how to use this for navigating parallel universes." He looked around the still-lit console room. "Though I am mostly surprised everything here is intact."
"Half the time neither of us knows what we're doing," Kroton pointed out. He and the Time Lord leaned against the console, careful not to hit any buttons or levers.
The Doctor gave the Cyberman a strange look. "Were you always like this before? I don't quite remember…"
"It has been several lifetimes for you since we last saw each other, Doctor. I don't blame you for not remembering everything." Kroton stood up straight. "Anyway, where are we? Better yet, when are we? I believe it said 1607, right?"
The Time Lord turned back to the console and pressed a few buttons. As he spun the screen to their spot, it flashed a confirmation and a location: Hungary. "Huh," he muttered. "Shakespeare's still around. Ten years before his death. Dealt with a coven of witches one time."
He swore he heard a chuckle in that metal head Kroton had. "Oh, how I would love to hear more, but maybe we should check and see where we are."
"Indeed," the Doctor agreed.
When they stepped out of the time machine, the Doctor was met with a gentle but cool breeze. The sun was high in the cloudless sky. Looking around, the two found the TARDIS had landed by a flagstone road. It led to a town by a narrow river that stretched on for miles. From where they stood, it would take less than an hour to get to the town on foot.
The time traveler wished Kroton would smell the scent of fresh water, feel the wind against his skin. While Kroton was able to retain his humanity, the Cyberman had stripped these little moments away from him. He wondered if Kroton had gotten used to it by now or had he always wanted to crave them.
"So, we just landed by a quaint little Hungarian town," the Doctor commented. He knew he was stating the obvious, but he had nothing else to go on. "Not too far south from Szolnok. Pretty popular town, rich with a history like the rest of Hungary. Been there once or twice."
"But why here? Why this time period?" Kroton wondered. "You'd think the TARDIS would've landed near your friend."
The Doctor pursed his lips. He sighed, embarrassed. "Navigation system's a bit knackered."
"Of course."
A caw from behind surprised them. The Doctor and Kroton turned and found a raven resting on top of the TARDIS. The Doctor stepped in closer, his arms parted and his eyes squinting. The raven stared back at the Time Lord with glowing red eyes. It was obvious this was no ordinary raven.
The raven took off, flying for the town ahead.
"Okay, we should definitely find out what's going on," Kroton suggested. "Do you think we can find our friend over there?"
"Perhaps," the Doctor replied. He smiled as he let out a small chuckle. "At least you still have your sense of optimism."
At first, everything was enveloped in a bright light. Then Jocelyn's eyes adjusted as everything around her took shape and form. The first thing she saw was that she was wearing her old Vault 101 jumpsuit. The second was that she was on the dirt with the morning light basking on her body.
She sat up from her sleeping mat, finding her father sitting by the now burnt-out campfire.
"Good morning, sweetie." Her father looked up at her with a smile. Many of his facial features had a similarity to her's. The broad jawline and the narrow brown eyes came from him, but the wide nose and darker skin compared to his came from her mother.
Her father's Vault jumpsuit was dirtier than hers, the sleeves rolled up and the torso was partially unzipped, showing a black t-shirt underneath.
"Morning, Dad," Jocelyn replied. "How's Mom doing?"
Her father stood up. "Your mother, ah… she misses you."
"I know." He said this before, she noted.
His hands on his hips, he surveyed their surroundings. There was nothing that stretched on for miles, apart from the scant hill or a burnt-out tree sticking out like a sore thumb. He frowned. "Why here? You always picked some desolate spot in the middle of nowhere."
She wondered if she picked this spot because in isolation, even with friends and allies, it was when she felt the safest. Or perhaps it would represent a crossroads of some sort, deciding on what she would do next in her life. Still, she couldn't bring herself to answer. Why would she?
Her father looked at her. "Never mind that. So… what's on your mind this time? You can talk to me, sweetie."
Jocelyn stepped toward the campfire with her arms folded in front of her. "I... I have no idea what to say. Even you wouldn't believe what I went through today. It'll sound like it came out of a bad comic book story."
Her father shook his head as he let out a small chuckle. "Try me. I was a dog in a simulation run by a madman before you brought in a simulated squad of Chinese soldiers."
"Okay…" She curled her mouth. Where to begin? "Do you remember that Brotherhood emergency signal in Baltimore?"
"Yes, but you haven't told me why you followed that signal to begin with," her father replied. "Still, it's a shame they're not what they used to be. But they're good people. They still have good people in them."
"I know," she said. "The people who sent out the signal, they died. Killed by some glass creatures called the Ania."
Her father nodded, not showing any judgment. "Go on."
"But I did meet someone else, though. He's a time traveler from another universe who called himself the Doctor."
"Doctor who?" he asked.
She shrugged. "No idea. I don't think I could get a straight answer out of him," she answered. "So we went to the basement, where this… orb brought us to his time machine. Not only that, but it brought us to his universe on a space station, far into the future.
"You're right, it does sound like it came out of a comic book. Or those cheesy sci-fi flicks!" he laughed.
"I did warn you," she remarked, giving him a dirty look before continuing. "Turns out, that's where the Ania came from, and a pair of shards caused them to go berserk. The Doctor took care of the queen while I took care of an army of cyborgs called the Cybermen."
"Sounds like there were some complications," her father remarked.
"Of course there are." She scoffed. "There will always be complications, problems to take care of." She paused for a moment. "I am so, so tired. There's so much I can do before…"
Her father placed a hand on her shoulder. "Before someone, like a friend, picks you up to your feet and dust you off. I know you're in a rough spot."
"But—"
"Think of all the lives you've affected, the lives you've saved. Of all the things you did to make the wasteland a better place. Yes, bad things happen. They always happen. You can't always predict how people will act. The only thing you can control is how you respond. Sometimes that's all it matters in the end."
She nodded. "Yeah. You know, talking to you always makes me feel a little bit better."
"I know. And you know what, sweetie? I want you to know that I'm proud of you."
She smiled. There was a warm feeling now lingering in her chest. She needed it. "I miss you, Dad."
"I miss you too. I love you."
She sighed, closing her eyes. "But I can't stay here any longer. I have to go now."
Her father nodded as he parted, understanding what she meant. "Come see me again when this is all over, okay? Maybe we can talk about happier things."
And before she knew it, everything had enveloped in a bright light once more…
Sunlight. Golden rays of light went through the drapes of a tent as Jocelyn's eyes fluttered and opened.
"Hey, Maxi! I think she's waking up!" a girl exclaimed. Before the Wanderer could glance at who it was, the girl was already out, apparently quick on her feet.
Jocelyn laid on a simple bed, draped underneath a thick red blanket. While it was warm to the touch, she also found it to be rather itchy. After tossing it aside as she sat up, she scratched that itch away on the side of her neck. Why did she feel lighter suddenly?
She stopped in shock as she checked and patted herself. All she had on her now were her denim shirt, her jeans and boots, and her Pip-Boy.
She bolted off the bed and looked around. The tent she found herself in was small and circular, with only the bed she laid one with a wide wooden chest in front of it. Gentle winds brushed against the linen walls, and sing-song chirps had filled out the silence. They didn't sound like the ravens that occupied her world. Rather, they sounded like… birds? Real, actual birds like from shows and movies she watched back at Vault 101.
She opened the chest. Her armor, backpack, pouches, laser RCW, plasma pistol, Holorifle, even her super sledge managed to fit inside... all her stuff was here, much to her relief as she sighed. At least whoever brought her here was courteous enough to not steal her stuff.
Digging through more of her stuff, she frowned when she couldn't find any of her food and water. She took it back; they were not that courteous.
She moved around a bit as she put each piece of her armor, along with the belt that was part of her waistcloth. As she slipped her scarf and hood on, one thought lingered in her mind.
Where's that crystal? Did I get it?
"Hey. Glad to see you up," someone called out.
She turned around, seeing a swarthy man of medium height appearing to be in his late-20s, his fur-collared white jacket showing off his rather toned chest. What caught her attention was his unusual hairstyle. The bang of his black hair was longer than the rest, hanging at the side of his head. She couldn't help but stare at it with a confused yet curious look.
"Um… hello? You here?" The man waved his hand in front of her face, causing her to step back with a flinch. He sighed as he crossed his arms. "Lemme guess, it's the hair, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It's… it's a hairstyle," she admitted. For some reason, she had to stop herself from smiling, if only to not embarrass herself to the first person she had seen here.
The man laughed. "I get that a lot, trust me. Don't worry about it." With a wipe of his nose, he took on a confident posture, his back straight with his hands folded on his hips. "The name's Maxi. What'd you go by?"
"My name's Jocelyn Song. Most people used to call me the Lone Wanderer, or Wanderer for short," Jocelyn answered.
"Wanderer, huh? Gotta admit, that's a catchy nickname you have," said Maxi. "We found you unconscious while we were setting up camp. Didn't take your stuff. Wouldn't feel right stealing from you."
Jocelyn nodded before curling her lips. "Well, thanks. I guess. What year is this?"
Maxi gave her a strange look. "1607. What, you live under a rock or something?"
Jocelyn scoffed. "Technically. I was raised in an underground shelter."
Right as she said that, they heard someone retching outside the tent. "Oh." Maxi sighed, rubbing his temples together. "Guess Xiba ate something that disagreed with him."
"The water bottles should be fine, but he might have to be careful with the food. Some of them are old, maybe even radioactive," Jocelyn pointed out.
Maxi froze with a shocked look on his face. "Wait, what? Radioactive? What'd you mean? Is it bad? Should I be worried?"
"Only in large doses. Your body can absorb them easily in tiny amounts, but…"
Maxi left the tent in a hurry, and the Lone Wanderer followed soon after. She was then greeted with a forest, green and vibrant. And nearby were… horses? She couldn't believe her eyes. Real, breathing horses, though tied to a carriage. By her was a campfire with a slab of cooked meat hoisted above. Surrounding it were two other tents of similar fashion. Jocelyn hadn't seen this much green since her visit to the Oasis in the Capital Wasteland. Ever since she accelerated Harold's growth, the trees and the plants expanded beyond, and more parts of the wasteland thrived.
The two followed the unusual noises and found a teenage boy sitting by a tree, empty bottles and boxes surrounding him. He groaned as he rubbed his belly.
The boy with a similar skin tone to Maxi's had messy red hair and brown eyes. Barefooted, he wore a black vest and a pair of yellow trousers, with an ordinary-looking pendant around his neck. Despite eating practically all her food, his mouth caked in powdered milk, he somehow still maintained a well-built body.
"You're Xiba, right? Ate too much?" Jocelyn asked with an internal sigh.
The boy nodded. "Yeah. Wasn't so sure about the taste at first, but man, they're so good!" He burped loudly, which lasted for several seconds, and licked his lips.
Jocelyn groaned, resisting the urge to bring her hands up to her face. The stench of vomit lingered in the air, and she did not want to know where he threw up, nor would she want to know what else he ate.
"Dammit! We just ate lunch!" Jocelyn looked to her right to find a short teenage girl with her blond hair tied in a ponytail, wearing garments that strangely reminded her of that Japanese samurai on Mothership Zeta years ago, with her pants being red. She swore that girl was not there seconds ago.
"Xiba, you're such a piggy!" another teenage girl complained, this one with black hair and more obvious Asian facial features, as she ran up to the rest of them. By the looks of it, none of the girls nor the boy couldn't be more than half of Jocelyn's age. The Asian girl's hair was decorated with flowers while she wore a blue, elegant outfit that gave the impression that she was a Chinese noblewoman.
What caught Jocelyn's eyes, however, was a tiny blue stone attached to her necklace. "Is that… what's that on your neck?" she asked, pointing at the necklace.
"Oh, this? My mother gave this to me. It's a piece of an artifact called the Dvapara-Yuga." The girl smiled, giggling playfully. "Do you like it?"
"What's the Dvapara-Yuga?"
"One of the three treasures from the Ling Shen-Su Temple," Maxi answered. He tried to get Xiba, the young man, up to his feet. "It was a mirror that can purify pretty much anything of corrupted energy. My old buddy, Kilik, used to wear it back about… twenty, twenty-one years ago. It shattered." He sighed after Xiba got up to his feet. "Ah, sorry. I got ahead of myself. The ninja with blond hair? That's Natsu. And the girl with the pendant's Leixia. She's the daughter of another friend of mine, Xianghua."
The blond-haired ninja lazily waved her hand as she now leaned against a tree nearby. "Yo."
"Hi there, nice to meet you!" Leixia shook the Wanderer's hand excitedly, all the while the Wanderer just stood there, dumbfounded at how… quirky these kids were. Not even Fawkes nor Charon could match up to them, she reckoned.
"Hiya, lady. Name's Xiba," the boy said before grabbing a red staff with golden tips on both ends nearby.
Jocelyn turned toward Leixia. "I saw something like that before I got here. Another piece of this Dvapara-Yuga. Has anybody seen it?"
"What? This?" Between Natsu's thumb and index finger was a blue stone, which gleamed brightly under the sunlight. "You can have it." She tossed it over to the Wanderer.
"Yeah, that's it!" Jocelyn exclaimed, looking at it in her palm. "There's another thing I had. A shard of something called Soul Edge."
Everybody's eyes were all on her now. As if she had reached down into her pocket and pulled it out, the red, flesh-like object appeared in her other hand. Then, she felt something was close. Like if someone was whispering into her ear. Some part of her wanted to bring the shard back, make this Soul Edge whole again. In return, it would grant whatever she desired.
Her thoughts turned to her father, her friend Sarah Lyons, and others she cared about. It had been years since they passed away. Would they be the same if they were brought back? Would that be possible?
The expression on Maxi's was filled with dread, his eyes wide with shock. "Look, to put it one way, that thing's bad news. You might wanna tell us where you get it. Like, right now."
Jocelyn had to agree. It wasn't like she had a viable alternative in mind.
They gathered around the campfire, the heat still permeating from the embers. Maxi grabbed a plate, sliced up a few pieces of the meat with a hunting knife, and offered the plate to her. "Before we get this sorted out, you hungry?" he asked.
"Yeah." It felt like Jocelyn hadn't eaten anything all day. She could feel her stomach twisting, yearning for something to fill it up. "What's this?"
"Eh, some deer," Maxi answered. "You can thank Natsu for getting some game."
"Can I have some more?" Xiba asked, his eyes now wide like a puppy's while watching the plate being passed along.
Almost immediately, Maxi glared at Xiba. "You just ate her food!" he called out.
And it was then Leixia and Natsu started a spirited argument with Xiba about his eating habits. Jocelyn sighed. It wasn't worth getting involved as she cut up a piece and placed it in her mouth. Upon chewing and swallowing it, she found the taste to be rich, earthy, not like the juiciness of a brahmin steak. Especially if it was well made. She cut up another part, not saying a word.
"At a loss for words?" Maxi asked.
"Yeah, give me a moment," Jocelyn replied. She told them everything that transpired, from her perspective, over a day. The teenagers stopped their arguments and joined Maxi in listening. She told them about her home universe, where she encountered the Ania and the Doctor, and her brief adventure in his universe.
"Huh, that sounds like this white-haired guy I keep hearing about twenty years back," Maxi commented. "And that other guy with a hammer who can shoot lightning a couple years later. People say he was a god of thunder or something. If I'm talking to you, then I guess these rumors are true."
Jocelyn's eyes perked up. So she wasn't the only one who arrived on this Earth. Still, there was something that bothered her this entire time.
"So you two," she asked, pointing to Maxi and Natsu, "are Japanese, right?" Natsu and Maxi nodded. "And you two are Chinese?" she asked Leixia and Xiba.
"Yeah. Something wrong?" Xiba asked. "Is it food?"
Jocelyn blinked as she gave Xiba a strange look. "What is with you and food?"
Xiba looked away meekly, as if in shame. "I just like food," he whined and muttered.
Jocelyn sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, so how come all of you are speaking English?"
Maxi gave her a strange look as if he had no idea that he could do that. Xiba and Natsu exchanged looks before Leixia looked around in confusion, her mouth agape. "Huh? What? What do you mean?" Maxi asked.
"What I mean is—"
Before the Wanderer could finish, she heard the unmistakable boom of a gunshot. A hail of pellets slammed into the ground nearby, dirt spreading everywhere when they narrowly missed her and Leixia. The Chinese princess gasped and scrambled to her feet, grabbing her thin sword as her eyes darted around for the source of the shot.
The others followed suit immediately. Jocelyn unholstered her laser RCW while Xiba already had his staff out. Natsu leaped onto her feet and assumed a combat stance, her hands on the hilts of her blades as she drew them.
"C'mon! Show yourself!" Maxi demanded as he swung around a pair of nunchucks.
Jocelyn looked at where the pellets had landed, which incidentally extinguished the campfire. Her eyes followed where she believed the trajectory led to and set her sight on the forest with evergreen trees and bushes upfront.
Four people stepped out of the trees and approached them.
"Well, well, well! It looks like Le Bello has found quite the opportunity," said a lanky, light-skinned man in a top hat as he tugged on his ridiculously long mustache with a smug, toothy smile on his face. Underneath his frivolous, yellow-sleeved jacket was a striped jumpsuit and a blue bowtie, with a gambling-themed necklace underneath it.
"Thought my aim was good. Ah well, maybe next time, huh?" Following behind the man in a top hat was a burly man with a jaw full of beard, his bellow a burst of loud laughter. His potbelly strained heavily against his green shirt and black vest. In his right hand was a short blunderbuss, smoke trailing out of the barrel.
"No need to get ahead of yourself, Alphard," said a pale, red-haired woman in a somewhat revealing purple dress as she cocked her hand crossbow and placed a dart in it. Somehow, her petite frame was able to hold up her ample breasts.
"As you wish, Gisele," the burly man, Alphard, replied.
The man in the top hat turned around to a thin man with a long-angular face and a blond bob cut, his purple-gloved hands on his hips. "My dear Ludovigo, Le Bello would surely be disappointed that you haven't grown that spine. If there is a time for it, this is it!"
Ludovigo nodded, the shyness on his face faded as he adjusted his red cap and dusted off his puffy light shirt. Not determined, he readied himself, his sword at the front. "Yeah, you're right, boss. I can do this," he muttered.
The top hat-wearing man turned back to Maxi and the others. "Now then…"
"What, Dampierre?" Maxi smirked. "Running out of schemes?"
"Oh, come now!" Dampierre, the man in the top hat, scoffed and chuckled. He spread his arms wide, still maintaining that smug grin on his face. "Le Bello always has a plan, even after you and these meddling brats have foiled Le Bello at every turn! You, on the other hand…" He set his eyes on Jocelyn as he tiptoed his way toward her, his hand rubbing his chin. "Le Bello has not seen you around here before. Perhaps you must be… some unplanned variable. Hm… Yes…"
Jocelyn frowned and pointed her gun at Dampierre. His eyes bulged in surprise, the smugness on his face faded away. Alphard and Gisele pointed their weapons at her in return, the smirk on the burly man's face turned into a gnashing sneer, while Ludovigo's legs shook underneath him at the sudden turn of events. Xiba and Leixia took a step, their weapons still at the front.
"What do you want?" Jocelyn growled.
"Let us be reasonable here." Dampierre chuckled, shrugging as he stepped back. "Le Bello here is with a proposition."
"Yeah? What's that?" Natsu inquired.
"Le Bello is so glad you asked, little girl." Dampierre grinned as he rubbed his hands together. "Instead of Le Bello and his friends killing you, how about Le Bello, eh…" He shrugged, a smug smirk still on his face. "…put you all into indentured servitude. It would surely put Le Bello and his friends back in their place!"
"That sounds like slavery," Jocelyn replied.
"What an improper word, having many volunteers at Le Bello's disposal. Slavery!" the man in the top hat scoffed. "Though Le Bello must say, you would—"
Jocelyn fired a burst at his feet, causing him to yelp and jolt up. She had trouble not laughing after seeing him dancing around in a flamboyant manner. "I've been through that hell years ago. I'm gonna make sure no one else would be bound by your chains," she retorted.
Dampierre stopped what he was doing and shifted his twitching eyes straight at her, a wild, angry look on his face. "How dare you speak to Le Bello that way!" His teeth started gnashing together. "You shall pay for your insolence!" He turned his attention to his henchmen and woman, motioning them aggressively. "Friends of Le Bello… attend!"
Alphard and Gisele could barely react before Natsu lunged forward, putting one of her blades on the stout man's throat. Ludovigo had to fend off Leixia by parrying her blows, and yet he couldn't get a hit on her. Despite him seeming to be older than her, the noble seemed to be more skillful, more graceful with every step she took.
Xiba charged, deflecting a bolt from Gisele's hand crossbow with a swing of his staff. She stepped out of the way on the first strike from him, but he managed to pin her down with the tip. As she struggled to get up, a grinning Xiba balanced on top of the staff and slid down. His head collided with hers, and a grunt escaped her lips as her eyes rolled up, now unconscious.
Dampierre raised and rolled his fists in front of him.
"Careful, he may look like an idiot, but he knows how to fight dirty, like the fact that he has daggers in his sleeves," Maxi warned Jocelyn.
"Now would you go out and ruin the surprise for her? That's rather rude!" Dampierre pouted, but he recovered quickly. "But enough talk. Have at thee!" A pair of wrist blades emerged from his sleeves, just as Maxi had predicted, and charged at him and Jocelyn.
He thrust several times at Maxi, but each of them had deflected his strike. A few of them landed on his face for good measure, and he stumbled about. Jocelyn used VATS and fired another shot, grazing his head. Not only did it leave behind a vicious burn mark on his face, but it also nicked the right side of his mustache.
"My face!" he wailed out in pain, holding it tight. "You ruined Le Bello's beautiful face!"
"Boss!" Alphard exclaimed. Using his stout strength, he twisted Natsu's arm. Through gritted teeth, Natsu struggled to maintain her hold on him, but he grabbed her and tossed her at the tree. She landed with a thud, and she could barely get on her knees.
Alphard whipped out another pistol with an ax head attached to the barrel and fired. The pellet landed on Jocelyn's shoulder pad, denting it. Jocelyn aimed her laser RCW at him and fired. The beams pierced through the stout man, and immediately he collapsed, writhing in pain with ragged breaths escaping his lips.
Ludovigo stopped locking blades with Leixia before dropping his sword in shock. The Chinese princess stepped back, prepared to strike with fury in her eyes as she pulled her sword back.
The man with the bob cut raised his hands. "Whoa whoa whoa! I surrender, I surrender!" Ludovigo pleaded. "Please don't hurt me!"
Leixia lowered her blade as he fell to his knees. She grinned and giggled, placing her finger on her chip. "Stay out of trouble."
"Coward," Dampierre murmured as he stood up, his face red with fury. "That… is… it! This has gone long enough! Do you have any idea who you are dealing with!?"
"Someone who got knocked down several pegs, that's what." Maxi grinned.
Dampierre said nothing, even as he went straight at them. Jocelyn pulled the trigger, but no burst of lasers came out of her rifle. Instead, the gun clicked and hummed. She lowered her weapon, incredulous. Great. Fusion cell died at a time like this…
She barely had enough time to replace a cell when the con artist was right upon her, his arms pulled back to carry the momentum.
"Watch out!" Maxi called out.
Dampierre, with a yelp, thrust his blades and plunged them into Jocelyn. Though she defected one of the blades with her rifle's stock, the other managed to find itself into the left side of her torso, barely able to get past the plating. He barely had enough time to pull it out before she snapped it in two with her elbow.
The con artist reeled back; a look of terror etched across his face as Jocelyn headbutted him. When he tumbled to the ground, she hung her rifle at her side and rested her super sledge on her shoulders
"N-no! Please! Stay back! Stay back!" the con artist screeched. With every inch he feebly crawled away from the Lone Wanderer, she only stepped closer.
As she raised her weapon above her head, ready to deliver the killing blow, she hesitated.
She felt uneasy, like her heart throbbed in pain. She knew a part of her wanted to make the con man suffer. Slowly and painfully. Break his bones one by one, shoot his knees out, watch him bleed. There were so many ways a person could experience pain. It was tempting to inflict such sadism but after everything she went through, was this really her?
"Hey, that shard you're carrying is corrupting you!" Maxi called out. "Don't let it control you!"
Jocelyn lowered her hammer slowly as if some invisible force was struggling to keep it up. She turned around, looking over her shoulder at Maxi. "And that changes the fact that what he did, what he admitted to, is unforgivable?" she asked, gritting her teeth.
"Look, lady, I want to kick that guy's ass as much as you do, but if you kill him, Soul Edge'll start taking a hold on you," Maxi explained. "You don't want that. I know what it's like, wanting to kill someone for revenge or justice. Mostly revenge in my case. I've been there. I…" He sighed as he craned the back of his head. "Oh man, where do I begin with this?"
"I went after someone, a monstrous creature named Astaroth," he began. "He killed my friends, my crew, so I joined Kilik all these years ago so I could find the bastard who did. I killed him for it, but I got hurt in the process. Someone healed me, but he used a shard of Soul Edge to do it, erased my memories, and changed me. You can say I was lost and lonely and on the brink of becoming yet another monster. But there was this old guy who was Kilik's teacher, Edge Master. He showed me that there's a light at the end of a tunnel."
"Where are you going with this?" Jocelyn demanded as she approached him.
"All I'm saying is that he brought me out of the brink," Maxi answered. "So can you."
"Then how do I…?" She trailed off as the world suddenly started spinning around her.
"Fight it!" Maxi spoke. "Try using that piece of the Dvapara-Yuga."
Jocelyn pulled the piece of the Dvapara-Yuga, the blue stone gleaming once more under the fading sunlight. As she focused her attention on the stone, it shone more brightly. She blinked, shaking her head to fight off the temptation gnawing at the back of her head.
She blinked once more, and she felt like a great weight was lifted off her shoulders. She felt the fogs of her mind fade away and she sighed, closing her eyes in contentment.
"Watch out!" Xiba called out.
Jocelyn opened her eyes and whipped around, turning to see the con man lunching at her with his daggers, desperation palpable in his eyes. She lifted her hammer to deflect the strike, only for one of the blades to scratch her cheek. In response, as their weapons locked, she yanked the con man closer, using the momentum to headbutt him over her weapon. A crack and a brief flash of white, and he fell backward toward the ground, dazed, his hat landing right beside him. The lack of that fancy hat revealed balding brown hair.
"Yeah, we showed 'em!" Leixia cheered as she pumped her fist, with Xiba joining in the celebration.
With a sigh, Maxi relaxed his shoulders before holstering his nunchucks. "Gotta admit, I was worried for a minute there that you'd turn into a malfested."
"A what?" Jocelyn asked as she rubbed her cheek, the cut closing in by itself. The Monocyte Breeder implant she bought from Pinkerton all these years ago was ungodly expensive, but it was worth it.
It's someone that's been corrupted by Soul edge," Maxi answered. "Its power makes them stronger, amplifies their fighting ability. But their humanity, their soul? Well, they can kiss goodbye to 'em."
She let in a few deep breaths, panic beginning to settle in. "And this piece of the Davapara-Yuga?"
"Don't lose it or you're gonna lose yourself," Maxi stated rather pointedly. "'Specially if you're keen on carrying that shard of the sword with you."
Jocelyn pulled the shard of Soul Edge out of one of her pouches. She could feel something was close yet again, with the temptation gnawing at the back of her head, but it was like someone was pushing it back. If this piece of the sword were that dangerous, who knew how much more powerful a complete form would be?
She knew what to do.
"Wait, that—" Maxi raised a finger but stopped when Jocelyn dropped the shard to the ground, pulled her pistol out, and began firing. Each shot rang out an echo as multiple plasma bolts slammed against the shard. Through gritted teeth, she continued firing until her pistol clicked, the plasma cartridge completely drained.
She sighed, dropped her shoulders, and closed her eyes for a moment. She hoped that would be the end of it. But when she opened her eyes again, her heart dropped like a bag of rocks as she saw the shard untouched and unharmed.
"—wouldn't do anything," Maxi finished, meekly dropping his finger.
"Right. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy." She rolled her eyes, exasperated, as she removed and replaced the plasma cartridge. She doubted her other weapons would do the trick. And she couldn't bear to just leave this thing lying around. Who knew someone else would pick it up on a whim and succumb to it? As she picked it up, she glanced at the shard. She wondered if there was another way…
"We're supposed to be heading off to this town called Veres to meet someone from a group called Schwarzwind," said Maxi. "Guess you can call them a resistance because they're protecting innocent people from a witch hunt. You know how that goes. I heard they got people who can help someone like you. And hey, maybe you can find your friends in the town while we find our contact, no?"
Jocelyn's eyes shot up to Maxi. Things may be looking up after all. "Yeah, that's not a bad idea. When will we head out?" she asked.
"Tomorrow," Maxi answered. "But we'll find a way to help you get rid of that shard for good. You have my word on that." Jocelyn glanced down to see Maxi had touched her shoulder. At that moment, she was reassured by it, as if she were at peace, if only for a moment.
"Thanks. So what will you be doing in the meantime?"
"I'll help the others tie these jerk-offs up, assuming they're still alive, and turn 'em in for a bounty," Maxi answered. The groans from Dampierre and his henchmen instantly told them they were alive. Hurt, bleeding, bruised, with the one with the bob hair being tied up by Natsu, but alive. "Well, guess that answers that."
With that, Maxi parted with her and walked toward the others, bringing the would-be bandits to a carriage parked nearby. The Lone Wanderer joined soon after, picking up the bandits and placing them next to each other by the carriage, each bound by ropes.
"Hey, I call dibs on the hat!" Jocelyn heard Leixia called out.
"Nope, I saw it first!" said Natsu, who yanked the hat before anyone could do or say anything. At least the rest of the day and the journey would be bearable.
For the rest of the day, she said nothing, lost in her thoughts. Even with the shard of the Dvapara-Yuga, she could still feel this… presence. She hoped she could hold on as long as she could before it was too late.
I apologize for how it initially ended with a cliffhanger. Originally, this chapter had scenes that are out of order, with the Doctor and Kroton meeting Bernice Summerfield, with the following chapter then have Patroklos from Soulcalibur V meeting the Lone Wanderer around the same time, then back to the Wanderer resolving her fight with Dampierre. I now realize that it would be confusing. It was mostly because I had trouble coming up with a satisfactory way to end that scene at first.