-2: 85
I let out a ragged breath. Not from exhaustion, but from sheer nerves. "What. The fuck. Was that?"
It was definitely an Eva Unit. A mass-produced Eva Unit, but absolutely an Eva Unit.
And I could tell it was an Eva Unit because it had DEFINITELY used an A.T. Field.
The only reason I had managed to cut through was because the logic behind an A.T. Field was similar to a reality marble or domain expansion... and I had hard-coded physics into my mode of operation, so absolute barriers without a proper physical backing just broke against me.
Granted, I still needed to temporarily convert my weapon to a vibrating weapon to attack out of phase and cut through it, but...
No. Not important.
What WAS important was the fact that it was here in the first place.
I stared at the crater that the Eva Unit had definitely left behind. But there weren't any signs that it had been here otherwise.
Ark Ranger Black called out and said, "Comm- Ark Ranger Valiant. What WAS that?"
Oh, she was still playing up the bit. Right. Gotta keep it up until we were out of it to boost morale.
Hm...
I turned my weapon back into my usual Zweihander and said, "The forces of darkness are utilizing otherworldly powers. But even so, they are nothing in the face of the Hero of Omnipotent Powers Annihilated. Even a god will perish before my prowess."
I could feel a fierce side-eye from Shifty.
I ignored it, of course.
Instead, I looked up at the hole in the Dome of Eternity.
"...Victory is ours."
The tides of Raptures had stopped after the Eva Unit- Ah, no.
The Raptures hadn't stopped. Eternity had just simply flown up there to handle it, along with Marian.
...Huh.
Well, if it was Eternity, it would be fine. And they were probably headed to the surface anyway for reinforcements.
Now to-
"Marvelous."
A dreamy voice that appeared out of nowhere behind me.
But one I recognized.
Lightning crackled as Ark Ranger Black reflexively transformed again.
Shifty raised her gun, her eyes with in panic.
Ark Ranger Red and Ark Ranger Blue got ready as well...
But I just slowly turned around and smiled. "Hello again, Liberalio." I noticed the strange woman who... looked dragonoid?
Huh.
But I noticed the woman that Liberalio carried with her and said, "Did you come all this way just to say hi?"
Liberalio smiled and said, "I wanted to meet you again, Father. And I brought Sister along as well."
I could see Shifty mouth 'Father' and look between me, Liberalio, and Nihilister. Then her eyes started to tremble and she looked meaningfully at her gun, as if wondering if she should chance becoming a Nikke right now.
But I quickly spoke up and said, "Careful, Liberalio. You might cause people to misunderstand." I looked at Shifty and said, "This is Liberalio, Shifty. She's a member of Abnormal, the latest Nikke manufacturing line."
Shifty paused. "...What?"
Liberalio tilted her head. But then she smiled and said, "As Father stated. Hello there. Ah, and this is Nihilister, my dear sister. Sister, say hello."
Nihilister growled, and then crossed her arms. She shook her head, causing her crimson hair to shift, and she said, "I'm not a- Guh?!"
Liberalio jabbed Nihilister in the ribs and said, "Play nice, or I will deactivate you until Father reactivates you later."
"...I'm Nihilister. Hello."
...Okay.
Note to self: run a personal self-scan with Sophia first chance I get to figure out what the hell I am.
But for now...
I held my hand out to Nihilister and said, "Nice to meet you in person, Nihilister. Happy to see you made it out of the factory alright."
Nihilister looked amused and took my hand. "Factory, huh? That's a weird way to call-"
A violet spark erupted from where she shook my hand. Then her eyes widened before the crimson hue inside them faded to a royal violet hue. "...What the fuck just happened? ...It's quiet now."
Shifty immediately plugged her ears and shut her eyes. "LALALA! CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING! DEFINITELY DIDN'T SEE A HERETIC BE CONVERTED TO A NIKKE! NOPE! JUST A DREAM! IT WAS ONLY JUST A DREAM! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
I sighed. "Alright. Let's get out of here and re-"
*CLANG*
A lilac blur.
Liberalio let out a dreamy smile and said, "Careful, Father."
The violet blade of her jellyfish-styled weapon lowered to the ground, dropping the crumpled shell of a sniper round. "It's not safe here."
"...Okay. Yeah. No." I stared at the crumpled shell and said, "Playtime's over." I dissolved my armor, making sure to catch the tablet before it fell. Then I pulled out my multitool.
Ark Ranger Black noticed it and said, "Commander? What's that?"
"My 'in case of emergency break glass' card."
The multitool was a small and folded up thing of metal. It looked like just a pair of folded pliers along with miscellaneous bits and bobs attached.
But that was on purpose.
It still operated as a multi-tool of course. Knife, pliers, screwdriver, all of that.
But there was one more thing on it too.
A small antenna.
Shifty noticed it and lowered her hands. "...Uh. Commander Hoopa? What are you-"
"Beam us up, Sophia." I raised it to the sky and then pressed a small button on the side, expending all the Alva Particles that I'd been collecting since I first made it.
"YOU HAVE TELEPORTER TECHNOLOGY-!?"
Blue light flashed around us, and then me, Shifty, Nihilister, Liberalio, and the Ark Rangers vanished.
===
At the same time that Commander Hoopa vanished along with Shifty, Nihilister, Liberalio, and the Ark Rangers...
A beam of pure white light pierced down from above, making another hole in the Dome of Eternity.
White feathers scattered around as Dorothy slowly drifted down, holding Andersen in her arms.
And around her...
Snow White, descending with a jet pack.
Rapunzel, floating with a golden aura.
And Scarlet, descending on a floating sword.
Andersen swept his gaze around the area and said, "Looks like my kid handled the worst of it."
Dorothy rolled her eyes and said, "Please. If it weren't for us stopping the tide of Raptures at the doorstep, the Outpost and Ark would have been overrun by now."
Scarlet adjusted the brim of her hat, still adjusting to her flying sword. "...Indeed. Though, I must say that our nephew's artificial goddess is quite adept at fabrication. To think that the mythical flying sword from the murim and jianghu could be replicated as such..."
Snow White grumbled and said, "...Seven Dwarves is still better. I just need to find who took it so I can hand it back to Red Hood."
Andersen chuckled and said, "You can tell that to Red Hood when we get back up."
Dorothy kept a sharp gaze, assessing the situation in the Ark. Specifically, at how the streets were all empty despite being the middle of the day... and how there were three Heretics fast approaching, as well as what looked like a squad of corrupted Nikke approaching as well.
"Commander." Dorothy landed on a nearby building, staring right at a Nikke with short silver hair aiming a rocket launcher at them. "
Andersen hopped out of Dorothy's arms. Adjusting his hat and gloves, he stared right at the Nikke...
No.
At Vesti.
He looked at the corrupted member of Absolute and then adjusted his sunglasses. "Yeah. I know. Snow. You got the rounds?"
Snow White tossed Andersen a silver pistol with a white lily embossed on the side. "Six Vapaus bullets. Since it was a rushjob, it's 75% effective."
[Play: Kamen Rider Black RX]
"So 100% effective in incapacitating them. Good." Andersen cracked his neck. After that, he swiped his hand across his belt and said, "Time to one-up my kid and relive my childhood dreams. Kamen Rider! Hen..."
Vesti fired the rocket.
"Tai- I mean, shin!"
Dorothy let out a scandalized gasp. "COMMANDER!"
Andersen laughed.
Scarlet shook her head, casually stepping forward to deflect the rocket up and away from any buildings.
After that, black lightning crackled, striking Andersen. And when it faded, he stood there in a sleek black and green armor, reminiscent of an insect.
Moving his arms to strike a dramatic pose, he said, "As long as light continues to shine in this world, I will be reborn again! I am the Legendary Commander... Black RX!"
Dorothy groaned.
Rapunzel giggled.
Scarlet laughed.
And Snow White sighed. "...Can we just hurry up and deal with this situation so that we can go properly meet our nephew?"
"Goddess Squad..." Andersen stared at Vesti and at Eunhwa and Emma who had moved to join her. "...Encounter!"