Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV.
"Welcome, my Pawn." I said with a playful smile as I watched Rebecca happily fly around the apartment.
Rebecca(T5) from Cyberpunk 2077 +14 [394]
Added Potential [Rebecca has Pack's telepathic connection (Twilight)] -5 [389]
Paper Trail [Rebecca] -1 [388]
"This is so Preem!!" Rebecca squealed happily, laughing uproariously. The penthouse, though spacious, wasn't big enough for Rebecca to fly freely, and with the terrible control that came with her newly acquired wings, Rebecca crashed into the walls and ceiling, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest.
It took me much longer than I expected to convince them both, so much so that I had to put a time bubble around the apartment. Even after demonstrating some pretty basic things, they tried to convince themselves that somehow GLaDOS had hacked them or that they were inside a simulation or something.
The only thing I could think of was to give the Pawn piece to Rebecca so she could experience it herself. It wasn't like I minded; after all, it was something I was going to do anyway, and luckily it had worked perfectly.
"I still don't believe this is all a hoax," Lucy said suspiciously. Or rather, it had mostly worked. I rolled my eyes.
"Rebecca, let's go for a walk!" I said as I opened a portal behind me. A vast black fog appeared behind me. I quickly grabbed Lucy by the wrist and threw her through the portal as she squealed in surprise. Rebecca didn't even hesitate as she grabbed the nearest wall and threw herself forcefully into the portal.
I smiled slightly as I cast magic on both of them before stepping through the portal. The sight that awaited me made me smile slightly.
The Moon.
The lunar surface.
I could see Lucy and Rebecca, in shock, to one side, both with bubble heads to breathe. I also placed large amounts of defensive enchantments on Lucy.
The lack of pressure, the extreme cold, the excessive amounts of solar radiation, and several other things unsuitable for a normal human being would have decomposed Lucy's body in a few minutes.
Then I placed a few on Rebecca and me; we both had better constitutions as devils, but even so, they weren't made for extreme environments like space. I'd also placed a bubble head on myself, even though I didn't really need to breathe thanks to my feruchemy.
But without air, I couldn't speak, so I needed the bubble head. And to finish, I placed a huge time bubble and a cloak so we'd be wholly ignored. I'd chosen an empty spot, but there might still be cameras somewhere.
" This... this is incredible," Lucy finally murmured.
"It is." I said, gazing at the image of planet Earth in the distance. I really hadn't expected to be able to create a portal to the moon; I'm glad I was wrong. Lucy let out a small smile—the most genuine smile I'd ever seen.
"Let's go!" Rebecca chirped as she grabbed Lucy's arm and began flapping her new wings. I smiled slightly. Rebecca was lucky the devil wings worked magically, because otherwise, that movement would have been pretty useless without air.
I let my wings sprout from my back once more and approached the pair, mostly to stay close in case Rebecca decided to wander off and leave both magic bubbles. Lucy was squealing, first in panic and then joyfully, while Rebecca was laughing uproariously.
"This is fantastic!!" Lucy shouted happily as she let herself be led by Rebecca.
"Come on! Join us! " Rebecca laughed as she came closer and grabbed my wrist too. I smiled slightly and let myself be led. The three of us flew in circles laughing happily for the next half hour, but nobody seemed to mind.
Finally, when we finished, Lucy slumped contentedly against the moon, Rebecca happily imitated her, and I sat down beside her.
"Why do you have several wings, and I only have two?" Rebecca asked curiously, looking at my wings. I hummed as I looked at my wings.
Just as Rebecca had asked, I now had four pairs of wings, eight in total. And that was due to the Luciferian bloodline that now ran through my veins.
The reward for objective 9, for defeating Vali, was an Added Potential Lucifer bloodline. Unfortunately, it could only be the Lucifer from DxD. I'd forgotten about using it until I was checking things for Rebecca.
I used it immediately; as an Added Potential, it was an addition of power in T0, and I could already feel the difference in the regeneration and density of my demonic power. Still, nothing more, so there really wasn't any noticeable difference at the moment, other than that now, as a direct lineage of Lucifer, I could manifest several devil wings to demonstrate my power.
Even though I shouldn't have, my La Verita transformation didn't have any wings, and I hadn't needed them in a while, but I guess Lucifer's lineage won out in the end. I was a little surprised to see eight wings, though I shouldn't have been.
"It's not important, I'll explain later, it's just devil stuff." I said playfully. Rebecca shrugged, and I finally looked at Lucy. "So? Is that proof enough? " I asked with a satisfied smile. Lucy looked at me, completely satisfied.
"I have no idea if this is still a dream or not, but... It's an excellent dream," Lucy said calmly.
"Do you want to stay here? I can get you a place in the nearby space colony." I said simply. Lucy remained silent as she gazed into space.
"…no. It's not necessary. Knowing you can bring me back here anytime is more than enough," Lucy said, sounding almost peaceful. "Besides… if you are telling the truth and you can go to other worlds, are they… as peaceful as up here?" she asked gently. I hummed softly.
"Honestly... it depends. You could choose a utopian world if you really wanted to, but some worlds and universes are much worse than Night City." I said honestly. Honestly, I wasn't planning on touching universes like Warhammer 40k or those several dimensions away.
"Tell us about your worlds," Rebecca said suddenly.
"You could see it if you wanted to." I said directly, Rebecca shook her head.
"We're comfortable here, just talk about it," Rebecca said simply. I shrugged and lay down next to them and started talking about the magical world and DxD for quite a while.
When I was done with them, I started talking about the world of Danmachi. They didn't stop me, so I kept talking. Finally, I got to the world of Cyberpunk 2077, where we are now.
It was challenging to explain to them that different series and works depicted this world and everything it implied, but none of them seemed to care.
They were actually taking it pretty well while I kept talking about all that, but I guess most of it wasn't important to them. Edgerunners was the only show they were actually in.
Rebecca didn't even seem upset about supposedly being crushed to death by Smasher, and Lucy didn't seem surprised by how it all ended; if anything, she was somewhat incredulous and resigned to the fact that she would be the only one of the crew to survive, not counting Falco.
"Really... Gloria's son?" Rebecca asked, sounding almost incredulous. It was the only thing that seemed to bother her. I chuckled.
"Hey, I guess things happened differently here," I said playfully.
"Uh... I guess it's not so crazy then that Maine is actually thinking about recruiting him," Rebecca hummed. I blinked a couple of times.
"Wait, what?" I asked, confused.
"Oh yeah, the gonk keeps showing up at our lair and all that. Maine's been refusing until Dimples gets permission from Gloria, which I really don't think is going to happen."
"But if he really has that... potential, well, it could be good for the crew when Maine finally gives way," Rebecca hummed.
"Finally?" I asked, frowning; it was Lucy who snorted.
"Oh yes, Maine is seeing himself projected onto David in some way and really seems to want to take him under his wing and all that, really, the only thing holding him back is that Gloria would get angry with him."
"But... with Rebecca leaving, and possibly me, Maine will want to fill the crew positions, and David is a very willing person," Lucy said dryly.
"Actually, I think it's partly our fault for killing Doc. I think he was complaining that he couldn't reach him. He's almost certainly having a relapse from not being able to watch his Edgerunners xBDs, and now he's trying to find the real thing." Rebecca scoffed.
"Did you kill Doc? Eliminating the competition? " Lucy asked, sounding more curious than judgmental.
"Something like that? GLaDOS wanted the memories of a Ripperdoc and his experiences, so I stole the memories from a Ripperdoc named Fingers in Japantown. You know, Doc, really, neither of them was a good person, especially Fingers." I said honestly.
"I believe you about Fingers. I've heard some shady things about him myself, but Doc?" Lucy asked curiously. I hummed softly.
"I mean, he's not the worst person in Night City, definitely, but he definitely wasn't a good person. Like I said, if David had gotten the Sandy, he would have asked Doc for it, and Doc gave it to him without any painkillers, hoping he'd turn into a psycho sooner rather than later." I said with a grimace.
"Uh... then I guess it doesn't matter." Lucy said casually. I hummed softly while wrinkling my nose; it would have been annoying if it really mattered.
Even when his mother is alive, and they have no money problems thanks to the pay GLaDOS gives Gloria, David still gravitates towards the Edgerunner life; it seems that, in one way or another, he wants to waste his life and die in a blaze of glory.
Night City really does glorify Edgerunners more than it should, but then again… considering how cheap life was in Night City, I guess I could see how many people would find dying in a meaningful way appealing.
It's a way of… showing that they lived and leaving a part of themselves somewhere.
A waste. If David wanted to waste his life, I wouldn't interfere. I wasn't bothered by Lucy's instant capture or the 20 credits for the side mission to prevent David from becoming an Edgerunner. It's too much work trying to correct David's behaviour, and it was already practically obvious he'd join the Edgerunners the moment I looked the other way.
I suppose the only thing holding all this back was Gloria, but even that would have its limits, especially if his life at Arasaka Academy continued the same or worse than what was shown in the canon.
So yes, it was just a matter of time before David joined the crew with Maine.
"Alright, although it's a shame to lose that side mission, there's nothing to be done, it's time to go?" I asked casually.
"Secondary mission?" Rebecca asked, confused.
"Oh, right. I told you my mission was to kill Adam Smasher, my contractor. He's someone from The Company." I said casually as I pulled out my phone and sent the mission to both of them.
"People created a mission to mass-kill thousands of Adam Smashers just because they like me?" Rebecca asked incredulously before bursting into laughter. "It's so freaking Preem!! I wish I could tell that metal asshole that!! " Rebecca laughed out loud.
"Rebecca... read objective 2." Lucy said, her voice tense. Rebecca let out a slight, curious noise that died in her throat as she finished reading.
"'Free capture of Sasha Yakovleva'!?!" Rebecca shrieked in disbelief.
"Oh... yes, that's exactly what it says." I confirmed what they were thinking. "If I complete that objective, Sasha will return to life as one of my captures." I confirmed as they both stared at me, almost furiously.
"You're completing that damn objective." Rebecca growled, word by word.
"Wow, wow, wow, several things, I'm already doing it, there's a reason I forced Maine to be treated by GLaDOS to lower his Cyberpsycho levels, I had to keep him alive somehow." I pointed, and they both froze, remembering what happened two weeks ago.
"That... now it all makes damn sense," Lucy murmured incredulously. "It always seemed strange that you made such a big deal about Maine just because you liked Rebecca after only one day," Lucy said, surprised.
"That..." Rebecca tried to say awkwardly, looking at me with a grateful expression. I just shrugged.
"Don't worry, as I said, I liked you. I was planning to meet you, and if everything went well, invite you to all this. I guess we're a couple of weeks ahead of schedule, but I would have done it sooner or later anyway, and I wanted to do something nice for you, and bringing Sasha back is one of those things." I said casually. Rebecca stared at me before awkwardly turning and straddling my hip.
Then she leaned in, her bubble joined mine, and she began to kiss me eagerly, something I returned with the same intensity.
"Please don't have sex here, you'll ruin the moon for me." Lucy moaned in pain. Rebecca snorted against my lips before reluctantly pulling away. The air bubble split in two again.
"You can always join in." Rebecca teased, yet she pulled away slightly.
"No thanks," Lucy grumbled. "By the way, if Sasha comes back, with... I don't really have the slightest idea about the mechanics or how it works, but wouldn't she join your group? Or what's the idea or excuse for her suddenly appearing?" Lucy asked.
"I can release her from the seal, which I will do once she returns to life. I will erase everything related to me from her memory and then simply say that we found her in a laboratory in Arasaka or some Corp."
"I'm pretty sure it's almost normal for the Corps to steal corpses from morgues without anyone noticing," I said casually. In the worst-case scenario, I'd use Paper Trail before releasing her; that would ensure all records are maintained, and all information is traceable.
"Don't remind me," Lucy grumbled. "But it's a good plan, I suppose. I don't know Sasha; she was the netrunner whose place I took. She can retake her position while David takes Rebecca's when we both leave the crew," Lucy said.
"Wait, so you're joining us?" Rebecca asked, slightly excited. Lucy sighed without taking her eyes off the space.
"Still? I'm not sure. I... I need to see more. I need to know I'm not just replacing one prison with another. This seems wonderful, but I need more," Lucy said firmly. I hummed, but said nothing. After a few silent minutes, I finally sat down.
"Then let's go see more," I said as I stood up. "I still have to go find my wayward wife who's causing trouble, and as I said, she's in another world. You agreed to come, so let's go." I said, extending my hand toward Lucy. Lucy looked at me for a few seconds before taking it and standing up.
"Very well, show me more," Lucy said as she stood up, then helped Rebecca to her feet.
"You still haven't told us exactly what she did," Rebecca asked. I grunted slightly.
"She got me another wife." I said with a grimace. Rebecca and Lucy looked at me strangely.
"You're so lucky bitch." Rebecca grumbled as Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Is that really that bad?" Lucy asked dryly.
"Yes, when I didn't mention any of this to her." I sighed. Lucy nodded.
"Alright, let's go, I'm sure it's been a few hours," Lucy said simply.
"Don't worry, it's just time manipulation. I placed a bubble that made us go faster. Barely a few seconds passed outside the bubble." I said casually, which froze them both, and they stared at me in disbelief.
"You can do that too?" Rebecca asked incredulously, then looked me up and down. "Wait! I've been wondering about that for weeks. I thought it was well hidden, but your body was too smooth all over. Was everything you've done so far magic? You don't have any chrome on your body?!" Rebecca asked, surprised. My eyes twinkled slightly, and I winked at her.
"It took you a while to realise, but most of us did, and I held back a lot," I said playfully. Rebecca's eyes locked on me once more; she looked like she was about to leap at me again.
"Becca." Lucy grumbled once more.
"It's not my fault!" Rebecca defended herself, calming down. I chuckled.
"Okay, I'll show you everything I can do later, for now—" I said as I opened a new portal. "We have to go to another world." I said, pointing at the portal.
This time, Rebecca's eyes weren't the only ones that sparkled with excitement; Lucy's also seemed genuinely curious. They both stepped forward almost immediately and crossed through the portal.
I followed them immediately.
"Welcome to Orario." I chirped. We had appeared a couple of kilometres away on the outskirts of Orario, so the city was obvious from where we were.
"Oh my god, we really are in another world," Rebecca murmured, impressed. "Lucy! They have carriages! It's like being in prehistory!" Rebecca squealed as she pointed towards one of the gates of Orario.
"There's no connection to any network, it's completely dead, even the moon of our world had more signal than this," Lucy murmured incredulously.
"It's normal, fantasy worlds rarely have scientific advances, and even less so comparable to the level you're used to." I said jokingly.
"It's so strange," Rebecca murmured. "Are they all houses made of brick and wood? There isn't a single building or skyscraper. The only thing taller than a couple of stories is that tower, and it's not even that tall? It looks about the same size as a Megabuilding, barely half the height of Arasaka Tower." Rebecca murmured incredulously.
"Well, I'm sure that for those who live in Orario, it's the tallest tower they'll ever see in their lives. Besides, the tower isn't what matters; what's below it is. I told you, didn't I? A dungeon full of monsters. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun down there." I said playfully. Rebecca froze, trembling with excitement.
"So what are we waiting for?! Let's go!! " Rebecca exclaimed with a vast, eager smile. I chuckled slightly.
"Very well, but before that, I have to go find my wife." I said casually and opened another portal.
My eyes glowed slightly; it was time to face the Loki Familia.