//------------------------------// // Meanwhile, at Ascension // Story: Of Vodka and Cider // by UglyTurnip //------------------------------// Meanwhile, at Ascension Tank Dempsey stood at the control scheme shortly after Takeo left. He debated momentarily to just launch the rocket before the two would make it, but he shook it off. If they really wanted to leave him, then they could. Fuck it, he didn't need them anyway. After all, Richtofen was batshit insane and Takeo was known to hate Nikolai. He would find Nikolai, bring him home, and the two of them could fortify some rural place and resist Samantha's onslaught. He wondered how they would even signal him to launch the rocket. Neither had informed him just how he was supposed to know when they were ready. He sighed and rubbed his temples, gleaming with sweat. He stayed in that position for what seemed like hours, thinking, planning, until a voice suddenly came from a nearby speaker. "OK, Dempshey, we are ready," came Richtofen's high-pitched voice. Dempsey sighed and pressed the button, removing restrictions on the rocket to launch. "Ooooohhhhh, wunderbar!" Richtofen exclaimed like a happy child. "I still hate you, Dempsey." "Are you fuckers leaving or not!?" Dempsey allowed his inner anger to take over. Richtofen then roared into laughter at the suffering of his enemy. "Doctor, we really should get going," Takeo was heard in the background. He probably shouldn't have spoken up, because it only rubbed salt in Dempsey's figurative wound. "GET THE FUCK OUT!" Dempsey bellowed so loudly that he probably could be heard without the speaker. From the rocket, Richtofen sighed and typed away on the thousands of buttons in the cockpit. "Alright, Dempsey. It's been horrible knowing you. See you in hell." Launch sequence initiated! The automated loudspeaker sounded. 5. . . 4. . . The rocket's engines roared to life. 3. . . The ground began to shake viscously. Dempsey clung to the wall nearby just to keep from falling over. 2. . . Richtofen formed a fist and moved to bump Takeo's. The samurai frowned and shook his head, still feeling upset from about betraying Dempsey. He just hoped that his own plan would be enough to stop Richtofen. 1. . . The rocket began to lift itself off the ground, and Dempsey struggled with all his might to stay standing. As the shaking died down, Dempsey took one last look at the rocket as it soared high in the sky. "Fuck you, Richtofen," He grumbled. "I hope your rocket smashes into a meteor." He set his gun on the ground and pondered on his next move, but before he could get a solid plan nailed down, he heard a voice in his head. "Dempseyyyyyyyy," it whispered, startling the American out of his thoughts. He instinctively reached for his weapon. "Don't be silly," it giggled. "You can't shoot me." "Samantha?" Dempsey instinctively thought. "Oh, you're so smart," Sam uttered sarcastically. "Have you come to rub this all in my face?" Dempsey rolled his eyes. Without warning, a bright light filled the room with the intensity of a flashbang, causing Dempsey to cover his eyes and stumble for a second. When he opened his eyes again, Samantha stood in front of him, her physical form smiling. "No, of course not. Believe it or not, I'm actually here to help you." "Help?" Dempsey raised an eyebrow. "You've been trying to kill us since Shi no Numa." Samantha smirked. "Oh, no. It was never anything personal, Tank. I only want Richtofen dead." "Just Richtofen?" Tank frowned, raising his eyebrow. "But you sent the zombies after us, too." "Well, maybe I wouldn't have had to if you weren't helping him," Samantha defended. Dempsey rolled his eyes. "Well, why didn't you try to talk to us earlier? We don't exactly like him, you know!" "Well. . ." Dempsey smirked, knowing he won the argument. "Alright," Samantha conceded. "Maybe I got carried away and didn't think things through. That's not why I'm here, though." "Then why exactly are you here?" Dempsey questioned as he leaned against the wall. Samantha gave a devious smile. "It's about Richtofen." Dempsey grew impatient. "I figured, now can you maybe tell me what that plan is?" "Alright, alright. Anyway, Richtofen is too blind to see what he is doing. He left you behind to launch the rocket when he should have left Takeo behind." Dempsey cocked his head. "And why is that? Richtofen hates me, he doesn't hate Takeo." Samantha walked up to Dempsey and poked his forehead. "It's because you're stupid." "Hey!" he pouted. "I'm not stupid." "Yes you are." "No I'm not." Samantha slapped him with the force of a grown man. "Focus!" She screamed in her demonic voice. "OK, sorry." "Well," Samantha continued, her voice back to a sweet, childish one. "Richtofen does hate you, but Takeo isn't exactly bowing to Richtofen himself. He's our ally, even if he did leave you." "So, what's our plan to actually stop Richtofen? And what about Nikolai?" Samantha put a finger to Dempsey's lips. "Patience. I can assure you that Nikolai is safe and sound, but you cannot see him yet." Dempsey became angry. "Why not?" Samantha frowned. "You see, he is in another world. Remember when you shot the DG-2 at the teleporter?" "Of course." "Well, the power of the Wunderwaffe combined with an active teleporter has the ability to manipulate time and dimensions. Using my god-like powers, I was able to send him to this new world, away from conflict. He was like you, too stupid to notice Richtofen's true motives. It just happened that he was the one in the teleporter." "So, you can control the teleporters?" Samantha facepalmed. "Only when they have been overloaded with 115. Geez, you're so slow. Just don't put too much in there, or else it will overload to a point where I can't control it." Dempsey thought about the time he and Richtofen put Craig the crawler into the teleporter and wondered if that had any effect. He then shrugged it off. "So, what's our first move, little girl?" Samantha snapped her fingers, and they teleported back to Der Reise. The power was once again off and the doors were closed. "Why are we here now?" Samantha pointed at the blue beacon in the sky that indicated where the mystery box was. "If you want to see Nikolai again, you need to get a Wunderwaffe and relink the teleporters. I have an idea that can kill two birds with one stone." "And can you actually tell me it, little girl?" Dempsey groaned in frustration. Samantha, who had begun to walk away, turned back to him. "All in good time, Dempsey, all in good time." She then vanished into thin air before Dempsey could say anything else, leaving him alone as the first zombies began to break down the windows. "Sam! You're going to go easy on me, right?" Dempsey called out. No response. "Sam? Sam!? SAM!" Dempsey shouted as the zombies approached.