# Offworld

Title: Offworld
Status: Complete
Characters: Anon, Fang
Rating: SFW
Classification: One Shot
Author: F4L
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Falling leaves and an ever earlier setting sun mark the final days of Autumn. A bone-chilling breeze cuts through Lucy's feathers as she hurriedly makes her way to the open window. With a soft click, the cold wind is blocked from entering her home. Doing her best to not make a sound, Lucy leans over and checks on the occupant of the crib next to the room's doorway. Every time she lays eyes on Amber, her heart is filled with joy. After a few moments, Lucy breaks her reverie and heads to the bedroom. She needs to get at least some sleep tonight. Moments after getting under the covers and snuggling next to Anon, she can already feel herself dozing off. Lucy barely gets halfway through her checklist of things to do tomorrow before the sandman gets to her.
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Sun scorched sand dunes stretch from horizon to horizon. Weak winds pick up grains of sand before letting them fall back to their brethren. A lone ptero wearing nothing but her nightgown is scrambling up the scorching sand. One moment she's in the middle of such a nice dream. The next, she finds herself in this nightmare. Sand tumbles down behind her as she reaches the crest of the sand dune. The sudden exertion and blistering heat make her pant for air. Feeling the beginning of a heat stroke, Lucy desperately scans her surroundings for any kind of shelter. Not far away from her is something resembling the remains of a building after a devastating earthquake, but beggars can't be choosers. Even if it was just a pile of rubble, it would provide a much-needed reprieve from the oppressive sun. Examining the debris, Lucy finds a small hole, barely large enough to crawl through, as the only possible entrance. Emerging on the other side, Lucy discovers she wasn't the only one to seek shelter here. A single skeletal figure adorned in midnight black armor is clutching an oversized weapon to its chest.
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'This is all a bad dream. Soon I'll wake up and laugh at my overactive imagination.'
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Pinching herself on the arm does nothing besides eliciting a yelp. With every passing moment, the truth of the situation becomes harder and harder to ignore. Lucy finds herself on the verge of a breakdown. Why is she being punished? Was she not a good wife and a good mother? Thinking back to Anon keeping his promise and coming back, their marriage, the little bundle of joy they brought into the world made things even harder to bear. To think she was worried he wouldn't have made it back from that desert. Ironic, considering her current predicament. Lucy glances at the skeletal remains. The body was obscured by metallic plates, only the head being visible. The deceased being looked both alien and strangely familiar. If she didn't know any better, she'd think its skull was that of a pterodactyl.
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A gust of scorching air brings her out of her trance. Seems like her silent companion didn't have much hope in its situation either, despite being far better equipped by the looks of it. Lucy's focus returns to the weapon the being is clutching. Unlike the pure black of the being's armor, the color of its weapon shifted between blinding white and absolute darkness. Its long barred is adorned with short spikes, giving it a cruel look. Judging by the size of it, it must be some sort of sniper rifle. She tries to pry it from the being's grasp, but its powerful death grip makes the process hard. Unable to wrest the instrument of death from the body using only her hands, Lucy uses a leg to brace herself against the corpse and pulls.
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Preoccupied with looting the dead, Lucy doesn't notice the black tendrils crawling up her leg. Using the last bits of her energy, she pulls with all her might and finally frees the rifle from the corpse's grasp. Only then does the ptero notice the armor has, for the lack of a better word, melted off of the corpse and started snaking its way around her leg. Kicking, clawing, even hitting the crawling goop with the butt of the sniper rifle proves fruitless at delaying the black tide. Within seconds it covered her legs and arms, locking them in place. Lucy's imagination went wild with all the terrible things that could happen. She still clung to hope that this was just a nightmare and that she would wake up at any second.
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She did not wake up. The black mass covered and conformed to her entire body. In a matter of minutes, she was no longer exposed to the elements wearing only her nightgown. Instead, she is clad in the same midnight black armor that was on the corpse moments ago. On some parts of her body, the material is flush to Lucy's skin, allowing maximum possible mobility while still providing protection. Her most vulnerable areas, like her abdomen, back, and limbs, are reinforced with several interlocking or overlapping plates. The top of Lucy's wings are also covered in the material, with only her feathers remaining exposed. A visor forms in front of her eyes, a symbol momentarily appearing on it, no doubt signifying some unknown process. Although the armor should, by all accounts, be too heavy for her to wear, Lucy had no trouble getting back up on her feet. In fact, she barely feels the weight of the protective material as she moves around.
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Lucy quickly becomes accustomed to her second skin. With some minor assistance from the suit, she is moving around as gracefully as ever. The armor is proving to be full of surprises, providing not only protection but enhancing Lucy's strength, speed, reflexes, and senses. Within hours a sort of understanding is achieved between herself and the onboard intelligence. The visor covering Lucy's amber eyes lights up with information on the surroundings and her own physiology. Waypoints showing the location of food and water pepper the visors display, or so she surmised. The meaning of waypoints with a raindrop symbol next to them was clear. The others, cycling between icons of what looked like various forms of food, slightly less so. The ghost in the machine is evidently having trouble deciding what the universal symbol of food is supposed to be. The thought of eating something alien made Lucy feel queasy, but what other choice does she have when the alternative is starvation.
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Before setting out from the ruined structure, Lucy makes sure to give the skeleton a proper burial. Her newfound strength allows her to easily cover the remains with sand and put them to rest. A short prayer and genuflection later, Lucy slings the sniper rifle over her shoulder and makes her way outside. She doesn't make it far before a new type of marker appears in her vision. Blood red and overlaid over the location of a shambling monstrosity some distance away proved without a shadow of a doubt that it means enemy.
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The thing hasn't noticed her yet. Not used to handling weapons besides a handgun from when her father took her to the shooting range, Lucy struggles with the sniper rifle. While grappling with the cumbersome weapon, Lucy notices something strange. The armor covering her lithe body has melded into the background like the skin of a chameleon, making her practically invisible. Lucy sets the stock to her shoulder and peers through the scope. Even with the suit compensating, her aim is far too shaky for a shot to land. Lucy takes a few deep breaths to calm herself and thinks back on her father's advice. She holds her breath long enough to get the creature's head in her crosshairs. Slowly exhaling while simultaneously pulling the trigger allows her shot to hit true. The beast falls to the ground with the reverberating echo of the sniper rifle acting as a mournful dirge.
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Time passes. How much, the ptero couldn't say. All she knows is that she misses her family so much it hurts her soul. What did Anon think when he woke up and found her gone? He probably called the police to file a missing person report. She can imagine him, her father, and her brother searching everywhere for her. Who knows how many days have already passed since she was whisked away to this dead alien world. Or maybe this is Earth in the far future. Such intrusive thoughts have become increasingly common as she's gotten used to her new surroundings. A new marker appears on her heads-up display. If nothing else, it stops her from dwelling on these questions for a moment. Far away and unique in color, Lucy doesn't know, exactly, what the marker means, only that it must be important. Several symbols appear under it, the onboard intelligence of the suit trying to clarify. Several hours later, the alien patterns finally resolve into something Lucy could understand. [EXIT POINT] flashes on her visor. The fleeting spark of hope she's been nurturing erupts into a flame. Moments later, that same hope is replaced with panic. The marker promising freedom is replaced with several others dotted all around the land. Labeled simply [NEUTRALIZE], the suit has no more information to give her. Everything has a price, and if she has to do some quick tasks to appease whatever could send her back to her family, then so be it.
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Trekking towards the closest waypoint is exhausting and mind-numbing. Blistering heat by day, freezing cold by night, with a sprinkling of monstrosities to either eliminate or avoid is all Lucy knows. Ruined buildings with supplies have become an increasingly rare sight as she comes closer to her first objective marker. She tried passing the time by reliving all the good times she had with Anon. It worked for a while. Cresting the peak of the most recent sandy hill, Lucy finally catches a break. In the distance, she spots a gray monolith over which the location of the first waypoint is overlaid. Using the excitement of finally being a step closer to freedom, Lucy makes a mad dash towards to distant landmark.
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Sometime later, the armored ptero is sliding down a dune towards the imposing structure that fills her full view. Reaching the bottom of what looked like a crater, she almost plummets through the sand. Lucy frantically leaps from point to point, unable to stay in place for more than a second or risk getting swallowed by the unstable sand. She makes it to the structure's entrance, thoroughly shaken by the ordeal. The ground finally remains solid under her armor-clad feet, allowing her to catch her breath and calm down. A gust of wind momentarily reveals the reason behind the ground's instability. Countless skeletons are buried under a thin layer of sand. Lucy shudders at the thought of what could have done this before the sandy veil covers them once more. Turning her back to the mass grave, Lucy makes her way towards the opening in the colossal structure.
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A heavy blast door lays on the ground, torn off of its hinges. Lucy passes through the threshold and makes her way down a long winding hallway. Signs of carnage are evident all around as Lucy continues deeper inside the monolith. Skeletal remains of unknown beings lay strewn all over the corridor. Every so often, she passes something that might once have been a barricade, now only scrap metal mangled beyond recognition. Scorch marks and bullet holes cover the walls like a twisted form of graffiti. The signs of battle begin to diminish eventually. They completely vanish once Lucy reaches an imposing metal door blocking her path. On cue, a new marker appears, guiding her to a metal panel. She tears it off of its hinges with ease, revealing a tangle of wires and electronic components. The word [CONNECT] flashes on her visor, with a specific part becoming highlighted. Lucy places a hand on it and waits. Sure enough, a sliver of the material making up her armor pierces the component. Seconds later, the metal door blocking her way begins rising up.
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A small gap is all the motors can manage before seizing up. Thankfully it's enough space for Lucy to crawl under to the other side. Once through, the ptero discovers a cavernous room packed to the brim with electronics. Cables from countless server racks feed into a central pillar that reaches from the very top of the room, all the way down to ground level. Carefully approaching the nexus at the bottom, Lucy notices a large indented circle with a handle running through its diameter. [TURN] flashes on her visor. She obliges. A harsh hissing sound is heard after rotating the handle as far as it can go. [PULL]. Even with her enhanced strength, Lucy has to brace a leg against the metal housing to force the thing to move. With great effort, she manages to overpower whatever is holding the object in place, causing it to slowly slide outwards on its own accord. [RUN].
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Momentary confusion is overridden by instinct when the entire room begins shaking violently. Lucy scrambles to crawl underneath the metal door and runs as fast as she can once on the other side. She is out of the building and climbing the sand dune in less than a minute. Halfway up, Lucy hears a thunderous explosion behind her. Practically swimming upwards through the disturbed sand, she barely manages to crest the apex of the dune in time. Lucy sprints down the hill at full tilt, barely managing to go faster than the sand rushing the other way. No doubt to fill the newly formed void behind her. The dunes surrounding the monolith were tall, allowing her to create enough distance between herself and the abyss where the structure once stood. Only when Lucy is convinced she's no longer in danger of getting carried away by the sand tide does she risk stopping. Where once the monolith stood, there is now nothing but a flat expanse. Terror gives way to relief which gives way to excitement. She did it. She still can't understand how, but she did it, and she's still alive.
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Several toppled monoliths later, Lucy became quite confident in her abilities. The walking between markers was long, arduous, and worryingly grated on her psyche. Nevertheless, she was determined she would see the ordeal through. Shattering the next monolith would put her over the halfway mark of her quest. The air became noticeably hotter whenever she came close to one. Like the sun itself was trying to cauterize the festering wounds which the monoliths kept open. On the apex of the sand wall surrounding her next target, Lucy pauses for a moment. Downhill she spots a trio of shambling monstrosities.
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These creatures were relatively common in her travels. Thankfully, they were stupid and never gathered in large numbers, allowing her to easily pick them off from a safe distance or flat-out avoid. Seeing even three of them together was quite rare. No matter, she can easily handle them. Leaning against the sloping sand, Lucy takes aim while slowly sliding down the hill. Two of them are dispatched in quick succession. The second dies before the corpse of the first even hits the ground. The third would join them soon enough. Instead of a deep boom accompanying each shot, all Lucy could hear was a weak clicking noise. Followed by another. And another. No matter how many times she pulled the trigger, nothing happened.
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Troubleshooting had to wait as the third horror slammed into her, pinning the ptero to the ground. Lucy had to use both hands and a leg to keep the creature far enough away to not tear her head off. The suit's material groaned with strain, indicating she did not have much time. Using her wingtips, Lucy stabbed at the monster's chest in an attempt to get it to back off. Taking advantage of the creature rearing back in pain, Lucy leaned forward and slashed at the creature's throat with her razor-sharp claws. With its throat open, the horror began thrashing around wildly. Laying her palm and fingers flat, Lucy thrust her hand into the abomination's head. With a shudder, the creature finally stops moving and slumps onto the ptero.
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Heaving the creature off of her, Lucy shakily gets back on her two feet and retrieves the spent sniper rifle before heading towards the monoliths entrance. While her body suffered only minor cuts and bruises, the suit did not fare so well. The suit's visor was flooded with error messages and alarms indicating damaged sections. Ignoring the warnings, Lucy pressed on. Not like she had the materials or the know-how to enact repairs, even if she wanted to. Piles of scrap metal and debris litter the approach to the monolith. Each one she visited showed evidence of conflict, but this one was particularly pronounced. Next to the structure's entrance, Lucy discovers the reason for this being so. An armored form, just like her own, lay against the wall.
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Seems like the being made its last stand here, taking down scores of hostiles judging by the piles of junk all around it. A broken weapon, much like Lucy's own, lay next to the being. A shame. She could use a replacement. Seems like the suit agreed, as the word [SALVAGE] flashes on her visor. Trying to figure out how to do that proves unnecessary. The moment she touches the fallen being's suit, her own beings absorbing the material and starts repairing itself. In a few short minutes, the armor is as good as new. Disturbing the remains caused the bones inside the suit to crumble to dust and blow away in the wind. Lucy offers a short prayer all the same. Even the broken weapon proved to be of some use. Lucy did not completely understand how her weapon created ammunition, but slotting in a piece of metal from the damaged gun into her own once again allowed it to fire. Repaired and rearmed, Lucy resumes her quest and enters the awaiting monolith.
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Lucy isn't sure how much time has passed, only that it must have been ages. She desperately clung to her memories of Anon and Amber, but they were starting to get fuzzy. Whenever she wanted to give up, she'd remember Anon's words of encouragement. 'You're stronger than you think.' 'No matter what, you always try.' Spending so much time in this nightmare world did not leave her un-scarred. Intrusive thoughts became harder and harder to suppress. Amber must have grown up long ago, Anon must have remarried, her parents must be dead. Thinking about all the moments involving her daughter, husband, and parents she'd missed made the ptero want to cry. Not like she could, the horrors of this land forcing her to become numb or completely lose her mind. Monotonous trudging through sand that seemed to stretch to infinity, executing walking nightmares, and the occasional demolition work is all the ptero knows how to do anymore. Placing one foot in front of the other like an automaton, Lucy doesn't even notice she's reached the final monolith until her metal boot made contact with concrete.
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She is so close to her goal but also so tired. To say she hadn't thought about using the sniper rifle on herself on more than one occasion would be a lie. Her perseverance paid off. Salvation was within arm's reach. By now, she knew the layout of these concrete monoliths by heart. The final structure was particularly gigantic compared to the rest. It also differed by not having any signs of battle in or around the building. Crawling under the metal door at the end of the winding hallway, Lucy is suddenly yanked inside and thrown clear across the room. She sails through the air smashing through rows of electronics, which do little to slow her down. It isn't until she hits the far concrete wall that she stops and falls to the ground.
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Dazed and reeling, the armored ptero struggles to get back on her feet. Acting on instinct, Lucy readies her weapon and takes aim at where she thinks her assailant is coming from. Unsurprisingly, it's one of those abominations that wander the wasteland. Only this one is far larger, stronger, and charging her at breakneck speeds. If she is to die, it will be on her own terms, not at the hands of this thing. Lucy lands several shots on the freak before it reaches her. Brushing off hits that should have killed it ten times over, the monstrosity slams into the ptero. It grabs Lucy with an oversized hand, the abominations crushing grip almost causing her to faint. The monster opens its maw and screams with rage, its dripping saliva promising a gruesome end.
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The ptero uses her free hand to wedge her sniper rifle between the beast's jaw before it can bite down on her. It doesn't hold long, the crushing force of the horrors jaw already bending it. With a snap, the rifle breaks, followed by a sudden flash of light. Blinking away spots from her vision, Lucy finds herself down on the ground. All that is left of the beast is a smoldering pile of goo. Unable to stand up, Lucy resigns to crawling towards the final objective. She can't see the familiar indented circle anywhere. With her entire body aching, she slowly hauls herself up and faces the panel in front of her.
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First time in a long time, she is stumped at what to do. The intricate circuitry in front of her leaves her stumped at what to do. [TRANSFER] flashes on her cracked visor as her only clue. She reaches out with her hand and waits. Seconds pass with nothing happening, making her think the suit is damaged. As she's about to pull her hand away from the panel, her legs suddenly start to feel the weakest they've been in as long as she can remember. A sudden coldness around her legs causes the ptero to glance down. Before her very eyes, the armor she's been clad in for ages is disintegrating off of her body. Her armored carapace falls apart in seconds, a final [THANK YOU] appearing on her visor before that too crumbles to dust. Unable to hold herself up anymore, Lucy falls to her knees and slumps against the base of the panel. Tears fill her eyes for the first time in years as the room begins violently shaking. At least it will be quick and painless. Lucy closes her eyes and thinks of Amber and Anon in what are to be her final moments. Blinding light hits her eyes before losing consciousness.
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With a gasp, Lucy wakes up in her bed. It feels like her heart is going to burst through her chest. Slowly she raises herself up to a sitting position, unsure whether it was all a bad dream or something more. As her eyes become adjusted to the darkness, she can see Anon lying in bed next to her, sound asleep. She can't help but stare at him for several minutes, taking note of every detail of his admittedly vague-looking face. The moment she blinks, however, a vision of the terrible place she still hopes is only a nightmare that fills her mind's eye. Lucy grabs a pillow and buries her face in it to muffle her sobs. Minutes pass spent like this. A part of her wants to wake up Anon and tell him about it. Another is afraid he might think she has lost her mind. Lucy pulls off the covers and sits on the edge of the bed. Face buried in her hands, mind still plagued with visions of a place that hopefully was never real.
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A frigid gust of wind makes Lucy shiver. She could have sworn she closed the window before going to bed. Hurriedly she makes her way to the baby's room to close the window before the chill makes Amber catch a cold. After shutting the window, Lucy pauses at the baby's crib. Seeing her daughter safe and sound does help her calm down, at least a bit. Just as she's about to go back to bed and hopefully forget the nightmare come morning, something catches her eye. From the mobile above Amber's crib hangs a piece of midnight black material. Without thinking, Lucy reaches out a hand towards it. Inky tendrils shoot out from the fragment and snake their way up Lucy's hand all the way to her elbow. For a brief moment, a familiar piece of armor encases her lower arm. As quickly as it formed, the armor dissolves and makes its way higher up her body. It takes the shape of a spiked horn-band, a simple choker, a beautiful amber pendant, seemingly unable to decide what form it wants to be.
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It stays in the pendant form the longest, the edges slightly rippling. Lucy has to admit it looks beautiful, but how would she explain getting something like this. As if reading her mind, the pendant dissolves and makes its way down to her wrist. There it takes the form of a simple brown wristband. One which she used to wear back in her high school years. A simple inscription, [REWARD], appears on the headband before fading from sight. Her head spins, and her stomach churns at the mere thought of the experience not being just a nightmare. What if she gets taken there again? Lucy goes back to bed, but the dread of getting whisked away again keeps her up all night.
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Some nights she's too afraid to fall asleep and stays awake for as long as she can before passing out. With each passing day, she does feel ever so slightly more relaxed. More and more of the horrible memories are erased by the passage of time. At times, Anon does worry about her, but she manages to convince him it's just insomnia and that there's nothing to worry about. Her 'reward' doesn't seem to be of much use either. She can't will the thing to transform, and neither does it do anything on its own. Perhaps it's for the best.
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Weeks pass, and Lucy has managed to forget most of the horrible things she's seen. The wristband is a constant reminder of the ordeal, yet she is reluctant to take it off. Samantha is taking care of Amber, allowing Lucy to check up on Anon, who was in the midst of a recruitment drive. Inside the high school gymnasium were several tables showing off the kind of gear would-be recruits could expect to use. Anon was busy talking with one of his superiors, which left Lucy time before they could chat. While browsing the equipment, Lucy spots something familiar on display. While not the same, it does look similar enough. A hug from behind startles her for a moment.
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"Hey sweet tooth, see anything you like?"
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Realizing it's just Anon, the ptero calms down. She always feels safe in his arms. Lucy nods towards the rifle on display.
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"What's that thing?"
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"Oh, that. That's an anti-materiel rifle. Used to take out lightly armored vehicles."
Anon lets go on her and starts listing the specifications and uses of the weapon in front of her. When he's finally done explaining the fine details of the rifle, Lucy has almost picked up the gun before stopping herself and looks at Anon.
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"Can I?"
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"I mean if you want, but it's really-"
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Before Anon has finished speaking, Lucy already has her hands on the weapon. The wristband finally does something other than remain inert. In a matter of seconds, it transforms into an invisible lattice encompassing both of Lucy's arms and upper torso. The frame cannot amplify her strength as much as the complete suit. Nevertheless, it gives her the power to lift the weapon with ease. Anon can only stare as his wife effortlessly wields a gun almost as tall as she is. With a smirk, Lucy turns to her dumbfounded husband.
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"See anything you like?"