It's Still Rock And Roll To Me (Marvel/Goddess of Victory NIKKE)

[Stimpak Medic]

Prologue: Strange Mad Man

Marian opened her eyes. What she saw made her want to keep them open forever, due to how beautiful it was. The infinite depths of space spread around her. It was not cold as she had been taught, nor did radiation bite on her skin. Her body felt slow and sluggish for a short moment before she remembered she was a Nikke, and that her body should not be so slow and sluggish. Then, as if reality had given way to her intent, her body worked as it should. She walked, floated, and flew through the infinite space, as stars twinkled in the distance. It was a massive twinkling foreverness.

She traveled at speeds she could not comprehend as she flew to the nearest star, its size quickly turning her into nothing but a speck in front of it. Still, it did not burn her.

"It's wonderful." She said with some awe. Bringing her hand up to the burning fires and the light of the star's surface. Massive planet-sized flares shot out from it before fading out, washing over her in red and gold, yet it did not hurt or burn her.

She flew around the star, twirling, twisting, and looping as she flew. It was so surreal that it must have been a dream.

She flew away from the star, her speed making everything naught but bright flashes as she sped through the universe. Stars, planets, galaxies, and galaxy clusters sped by her as she flew; then she slowed down to catch her breath.

This was the most realistic but also fantastical, vivid dream she had ever had. It really felt like she was in space, but she should have died from being in space. However, she didn't. Therefore, it had to have been a dream.

Then, as she floated in a sea of stars, a plain white door appeared before her. It was somewhat larger and wider than her, and other than it, there was seemingly nothing it was connected to.

She floated around it, and there was nothing but the door on the other side.

"Well? You coming in?" A slightly sharp, thin, but calm man's voice sounded from within wherever this door was connected to.

She reached for the door, but her hand hesitated mere centimeters from the white knob.

Did she really want to open it? She felt like everything would change if she opened it. She breathed in a deep breath, then let it out and opened the door.

Through the door was an equal infinity, but it was completely white, as if it were the set of some television advertisement without anything in it.

She stepped forward and heard a voice to her left. The same voice that invited her in.

"Hey."

The man who said so was rather absurd. He had medium-length chestnut brown hair that was slightly frilly, and even when slicked back, it stood slightly upward, making it look like he had just been shocked with electricity.

He had light skin that was slightly taut over his face, giving it the impression that it was somewhat pulled tight over his face. His chin was somewhat round and a little pointed. His outfit, which looked to be completely green pajamas with large purple cloth lightning bolts that went from his shoulders, connecting at his chest.

He was comfortably resting on a soft green couch. A television sat on a glass table about four meters in front of him, and several open, half-eaten pizzas sat near him on a wooden table, along with a dozen soda cans he had not drunk yet.

"Where is this? Who are you?" Marian asked, taking another step closer and looking around.

"Questions questions. Take a seat first." The man said, and instantly, to the man's right, a short distance away, another couch appeared, this one blue and exceptionally soft.

Marian hesitated. Seeing someone just create a couch out of thin air gave her hesitation. Even if it was just a dream.

"It's just a dream, so whatever." She said, letting out her tension with an exhale and sitting down.

"This is no dream, Sweetums. You asked me where this was, right? This is a quasi-reality I created to put my stuff. I like stuff. I like making it and having it." The man said, creating a Rubik's cube, then releasing it into the air, and watching it float away.

Seeing Marian tense up, the man gave her a little smile.

"Don't worry, Miss, you're not 'stuff', and I'm not keeping you here long. I just have to confirm a few things, then I'll send you on your merry way."

She slightly relaxed...Slightly.

"Then what do you need from me?" She asked, suddenly feeling very exposed and weak without her rifle.

"Nothing in particular. But I did want to help you. I like helping people. I also like alliteration. You asked who I was, right? I'm Molecule Man. I mean, technically, I worked with Atoms. But 'Atom Man'? Ughh. Even Atoms seem big and clunky to me...I should be Proton Man...Quark Man...Superstring Man...Information Man.." He paused, turning to her and giving her a wide smile, his white teeth glinting in the white light.

"Editing and arranging the base information of Reality. Owen Reece, the Narrative man. Heh." He let out a little chuckle before speaking again.

"What do I want with you, you ask? I want to give you a second chance...Since if things went the way they should, you're going to die tomorrow."

"What? Marian's eyes went wide.

"Is it really that surprising, given that you've been infected. I'll put it in a way that's simple for you. You're going to be sent to be Rapture food. All packaged up nice and ready to eat." Owen Reece said, taking a big bite out of his pepperoni pizza. He flicked his fingers, and a box of pizza appeared to her right with a can of cola.

"Eat, it might be one of your last meals after all." He said.

Marian felt conflicted with all the emotions filling her at the moment. Anger. Who was this man playing god, and just leaving Humanity to its fate with the raptures? Why hadn't he done anything? Why?

Sorrow. She was going to die, according to him. She didn't want to die, even if she was a Nikke.

Pain. She wanted to do something. To force this man to help.

Trepidation. Trepidation stopped her hands from trying to strangle this strange 'Owen Reece' man. Thinking he might put an end to Humanity himself if she did anything rash.

Exhaustion. If she really was going to die, then all her fighting, all her times trying to protect the various commanders, had finally come to their conclusion.

Fear. Was she going to become Rapture food? How? How did this man know the future? Also, how was she feeling fear? The NYMPH in her brain should not allow for that. Then again, if this man was what he said he was, he could easily remove, recreate, or negate said NYMPH as easily as breathing.

Marian just looked at the Pizza and Cola, not touching them.

"You don't trust me?" Molecule Man asked her, his smile not leaving his face.

"No," Marian answered after a second's pause.

"That's Good. You can't trust anyone. The Ark, the Government, the Companies, and other Nikkes. So play it close. Be a little Cagey...Heh. I'll explain more." He said, wringing his hands. It was creepy, and the more Marian sat with this Godlike being, the more disgusted she felt. This man seemed, in the nicest way she could put it, insane.

"You're a sacrificial pawn...No, not even a pawn. A sacrifice. A meal. You're going to be sent to the surface for the Rapture Blacksmith to devour. Your parts to be studied and reused by the Raptures. You don't like that, do you?" He said, putting a fist to his chin, looking up in thought.

"But say, for no reason at all, a higher dimensional being such as myself decides to step in and help you? Wouldn't that change everything?" He finished, his glinting green eyes turning to her.

Marian had been kind up until now, but this man clearly would not listen to kindness and soft speaking.

"No, I will not play along with your games. If you really wanted to save me, you would get rid of all the Raptures, and return the planet to how it was before the Raptures descended." Marian stood up, hands on her hips, giving her best intimidating look.

"But that's boring, and well, I've kind of retired from the heroics Biz. I'm kind of just here enjoying my stuff. I mean. If I set a wheel in motion for you, I guess I could do that. But if you're asking me to pick a side...Well, take a look at this."

He reached his hand out as if there was a remote in his hand.

Click.

The television ballooned wide, becoming like that of a theatre.

"Do you know the myth of Sisyphus?"

The image of a man pushing a boulder up the side of a mountain appeared on the screen.

"The legend of the impossible task?" Marian answered hesitantly.

"The legend of the man pushing a rock against a terrible cosmic gravity. A gravity strong enough to warp the currents of time."

"I don't understand..." Marian trailed off.

"Right, right. What I'm saying is, how many 'Yous' do you think have shown up here from the infinite realities you exist in? Adding on top of that, how many other people and beings do you think have come here to ask similar favors?"

"But, you can just fix this, it's not that hard for you? Right?"

"I don't want to keep pushing that boulder, Ms. Marian; it's always been the same old story. But if you gave me a reason, perhaps things could be arranged."

"What do you mean?" Marian asked, hoping it wasn't what she was thinking about. She didn't want to offer herself or anyone else as a sacrifice to him.

"Come now. I'm not some barbaric God that you're thinking of. What I want is to see the spark of Humanity that I once had, that has long since left me. I want to see you struggle, and win, and overcome. Perhaps then, it will give me back some of what I lack."

"That's it?" Marian asked, relief flooding her.

"Whilst detached, I am not so unreasonable as to ignore your plight. Show me you can win, even just the little things, and then I can say in good conscience that you have me as an ally. But for now, let's just end our talk here. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Marian. Think on what I have said, and when you have decided your answer, I will have decided mine."

With that said, Marian felt herself spinning and falling before she opened her eyes.

She was lying in her bed, and it wasn't long before she had to arise for her work.

She shook her head to clear her racing mind.

"Weirdest dream I ever had." She mumbled, only to look to the table next to her bed to see a half-open pizza box and a cola can next to it.

"Oh no." She murmured.

Things were not going how she would have liked them to.

 

[Stimpak Medic]

Chapter One: Corruption Destroyed

Marian rolled off her bed and looked around her quarters. They were small, being just a small bedroom connected to a bathroom and shower. The regular metal walls and single window overlooking the military base's street below were dull, and the ever-present lights of the Ark reminded her of the very tiny world she lived in.

She had flown through the universe, or, well, the quasi-reality that Molecule Man made. It was truly large. Infinite even. Here, everything felt so tiny. So minute. She had flown to the edge of a star, and nothing in the Ark could compare.

Thinking of Molecule Man. Who was he?

None of the intel or training spoke of him, and she had never heard of him before, yet he was so powerful. So much higher than everyone or everything she knew. He had brought her to him, offering her a chance at living.

He had said she would be offered up as a sacrifice to the Raptures. That was yet to be known, yet she could not find a reason why he would lie to her about such a thing. Especially with only a day between her finding out. Well, it was morning now, so there would be mere hours between what was supposed to happen and what he had said.

Could she trust him? No, not until she learned her deployment orders today. Even then, he had told her to trust no one, and presumably, that also extended to him as well.

Knock Knock Knock.

The rapping of metal on her metal quarter sliding door.

"Nikke Marian. You're being deployed to the surface today. Come to Center S-14 within 2 hours for your briefing." The sound of a woman's voice could be heard through the thin metal.

"Understood," Marian said, and the woman walked further down the hall and she knocked on another door.

Marian sighed, stripped, and went to the shower to wash off. It was mostly pointless, as she didn't sweat much, but for Marian, sleeping, washing, eating, and drinking made her feel somewhat human. It was little comforts like that that made her existence somewhat more bearable.

She washed off, then shut off the water, taking a towel and drying off, then taking her blow dryer and other supplies, taking time to make sure she was presentable. Then, she changed into her military uniform. Another thing that made her feel human. The schedule and little rituals she did were one more thing that made her feel not so much like what she was. A brain in a human-shaped jar.

Picking up her weapons and everything else she needed for her deployment, she left, beelining toward Center S-14.

Then, as she sat down in a transport vehicle next to a dozen other Nikkes like her, she started thinking.

Should she report this Owen Reece fellow? What if he was a secret weapon of The Ark? Would her mind be wiped upon reporting him? Would she be imprisoned, or worse, executed for this knowledge? But what if Owen was a threat to the world? What if he had created the Raptures himself, and was playing her? It wasn't like she could force the information out of him.

The knowledge was harrowing.

To him, who could create entire realities on a whim, the Raptures could really just be 'Stuff' as he had called it. What was one world to a universe full of planets, stars, galaxies, and more?

Only then did she begin to realize the scale on which this man operated. What was the fate of one planet among quintillions? For that matter, what was one universe among infinite?

Nothing..That's what it was.

She was starting to understand the Molecule Man's perspective.

Trillions of alternate universe Marians had likely come to him that week alone. No wonder he invoked Sisyphus to her. He likely had dealt with the Raptures on billions of other worlds that day alone.

It wasn't because he didn't care about her...It was that he had already done so much that he had grown very detached. He had seen how all this ended more times than she could count.

Gods truly looked at the world from different perspectives.

Marian thought to herself about how many times she had put on her shoes and boots. It was habitual. She no longer thought about it. It was just so normal to her, she didn't put any thought into it. Now, if she did it trillions of times over, wouldn't she want to change shoes for something else eventually?

When the transport stopped, Marian and the other Nikkes filed out of the transport towards the center.

Marian was directed to the entrance with thirty other Nikkes from other transports while other Nikkes walked into nearby centers. Flying transport ships landed, and Nikkes went in and out. Several hours later, Marian, a team of Nikkes, and a New commander had boarded another transport.

Later that day, things had begun to fit into place. What the Molecule Man had said seemed to begin to happen.

"Commander! Stay with me!" Marian's panicked shouts could be heard as she knelt over the Commander that had been in the transport with her before it got shot down.

The Commander opened his eyes, seeing her right above him.

"Smile if you can hear me." She said with deep relief, leaning closer to him. Something about him was so appealing, so attractive. She could barely hold herself back from jumping him then and there, but she held herself back. She was a Nikke, and he was a Commander. They were two completely different statuses of being. Her desires and attraction would go unrequited.

"Alright, alright. I'm smiling." He said, with his perfect smile and his suave demeanor. He was just too perfect for her.

She let out a sigh of relief before asking something.

"Where are you from?" She asked excitedly, her eyes flashing red for a fraction of a second.

"Central Government. Nikke management division." The man said, his corded muscles expanding and contracting on his chest as he got up next to her.

"Understood. From this point on, you will be my Commander. Can you do it?" Marian asked him, supporting him gently as he rose. His human body was oh so fragile, yet at the same time, to her, it was completely indestructible, as if there was nothing more stable and secure in all the universe.

"I'll do it." The Commander said with vigor not matching his injured body, and his voice was firm and determined.

Seeing him having a hard time walking, Marian spoke up.

"That explosion has brought the attention of every rapture for miles. We have to get out of here fast. If you're having a hard time, I can carry you." She said gently, but there was some restrained urgency in her tone.

"No, I'll manage. I'm okay." The Commander said, but his limp was pretty bad. It was obvious that his leg had been fractured or worse in the crash, which he was very lucky to have survived. Needless to say, the other passengers and pilots were not so lucky.

"Don't worry about me, lifting you is as light as lifting a feather for me," Marian explained, but the Commander was resolute.

"No. I'm fine. Really." He said, but his wince right after spoke of other truths.

Marian frowned deeply, but she respected the Commander's wishes.

"I understand, but at least hold onto me," she said, taking his hand and putting it over her shoulder.

"Thanks." He smiled a bitter smile.

"You don't need to thank me, Commander. I'll do anything to protect you." She responded instantly, with a haze of affection in her eyes and voice. Almost as if she was aware her end was nearing, but not consciously.

The two trudged through the rubble and shattered concrete of the dead city before Marian quickly exclaimed her worry.

"Raptures are approaching. Take cover, Commander. Marian combat mode activate." She exclaimed, placing the Commander behind a tall wall near her before taking cover across the street, in order to distract the approaching Raptures.

Flying through the air and skittering sideways across the ground were mechanical monstrosities that had pushed Humanity deep underground, unable to reclaim the land that was once theirs.

Marian was a good shot, and with the support of the Commander, things were going well. Almost too well.

The assault of the Raptures was quickly dealt with, with only minor damage to Marian's right leg from a stray laser beam that burned through the synthetic skin..

However, she had missed one Rapture in the fighting.

One had silently floated around them, flanking them from behind, and was quickly approaching the Commander.

Marian's eyes widened, and she jumped up, ignoring all the fire coming towards her. There was only one thought on her mind.

Save the Commander.

Raising her rifle, she began to pull the trigger, sending her shots towards the Rapture that was now hovering mere meters from the Commander, cannons priming.

The rapture was turned into Swiss cheese, but something happened that she did not intend.

Boom!

The remains of the Rapture exploded. Metal spread out like an explosion of blades. Shards of the rapture embedded themselves into everything near it. This included Marian, who jumped forward with all her speed.

"Nooo!" She shouted as she hugged the commander, holding him close to shield his body.

The metal shards tore into her synthetic skin, lacerating her all over her body. One shard embedding itself in her cheek.

"Marian!" The Commander choked out as well, not wanting her to sacrifice herself.

She looked down at the Commander's face, and her fear turned to horror.

Commander...Nooo." She said, her voice trailing off.

The commander's face had been shredded open, and shards of metal that had pierced through her were embedded in his flesh.

"Commander! Stay with me!" She shouted, sitting up and placing the Commander's quickly dying form on her lap. She was panicking. If she pulled the shads out of his face and body, he would die even faster.

She closed her eyes.

"Commander. You'll be okay," she said softly, gripping his hand in hers.

Looking up to the sky, she shouted the only name she knew that could help them.

"Molecule Man!" She shouted, tears flowing from her face. Her eyes flashed red, as her voice seemed to corrupt.

With a buzzing like an electrical charge, purple sparks and lightning bolts struck the ground next to her, and with a flash of purple, the Molecule Man appeared next to her.

"You called?" He asked, looking at her and the commander with a slight smile.

"Please, save the Commander!" She wailed, holding the commander close.

"So, you agree to my terms?" He asked, stepping closer to them.

"Yes. I'll do anything. Just, please, save the Commander." She cried, lifting the Commander's now-dead body.

"I knew you'd come around. Just because this situation is difficult, I'll also fix your body, with a little gift, or as you'll soon learn, a revelation on the Ark you trust so much." Owen said, snapping his fingers on his right hand, and the shards in her and the Commander's body were scrubbed out like an eraser had removed them from reality, replaced by clear, clean, healthy skin.

The Commander jerked upwards, looking around quickly. Life returned to him.

Owen knelt down next to him.

"Be glad your Nikke friend is here, else you would be dead now." He said before standing up and looking around with his hands on his hips.

"Well, there are two Nikkes nearby to the east. You should go see them." He said, before disappearing in a brilliant flash of purple lightning.

Her eyes returned to their normal state, and her normal voice returned to her. The corruption was deftly removed by the Molecule Man. But would it remain that way?

Only time would tell.