Chapter 217: Oh, Shit!

From the broken, manmade entrance of the Sierra Madre casino, the group stood in rigid silence—Rebecca, Boone, Raul, Twig, Cassidy, Rex, ED-E, Veronica, and Roger—all staring down at the surreal, apocalyptic display unfolding below.

Six moved like a demon unchained, his garnet-red form wreathed in crackling black and crimson energy. Each swing of his Zweih?nder left afterimages that sliced the air itself, and every motion was an execution. Fire danced from his footsteps, and the ground cracked beneath him as if reality was struggling to contain his presence.

The Ghost People stood no chance.

What had once been a deadly swarm was now scattered ash in the wind. The crimson flames of Cruel Sun still lingered, burning across the plaza, devouring the toxic cloud and warping the very architecture of the Sierra Madre. The air shimmered with residual heat—an unholy silence overtaking the echoing screams of moments prior.

Even the cloud—ever-present, clinging, alive—was gone. Incinerated. Purged. Erased.

Boone, normally unreadable, clenched his jaw.

"That’s no longer Six anymore."

Raul gave a low whistle.

"He’s got the firepower of a god and the fashion sense of a damn comic book villain."

Cassidy wiped sweat off her brow.

"Never thought I’d be thankful the Ghost People wore those damn suits... at least they didn’t scream when they were vaporized."

Twig, crouched beside a singed chunk of debris for cover he clearly didn’t need anymore, peeked up.

"That’s it. I’m filing for disability. We’ve clearly crossed into cosmic horror territory. I’m just here to bottle soda and flirt with nurses, not bear witness to apocalyptic red demon Six."

Veronica stepped forward slightly, eyes sharp.

"He’s still fighting like himself. Strategic. Efficient. Controlled... but whatever this form is—it’s feeding on him too."

Rebecca leaned against the ruined archway, one hand braced against her abdomen, the other clenching the railing hard enough to turn her knuckles white. Her lips trembled as she whispered his name.

"Six..."

Roger looked at her, worried.

"Is he still in there, missy?"

A beat.

"I don’t know."

Rebecca said quietly, her voice cracked.

"But I hope to hell he doesn’t forget who he is before that power does."

Below, Six’s burning silhouette stood alone in the cleared battlefield, the Ghost People dwindling, the toxic mist nearly all obliterated. And still, his sword crackled with fire, thirsting for more.

"Where’s Maine? Where is that cock sucker? I’m going to stick Gut’s up his ass, and make him into a sockpuppet, then after I had my fun, I’ma going to blow his brains out."

The sharp silence shattered like glass at the sound of her voice.

Everyone turned—Boone instinctively going for his rifle, Raul raising an eyebrow, and Veronica blinking hard as if trying to verify what her eyes were seeing. Even Rex let out a low confused whuff.

The second Rebecca, battered and wrapped in bandages like a street-punk mummy, limped into the broken entryway of the Sierra Madre casino, favoring her remaining arm and leaning heavily against the ruined stone. Her missing limb ended in a freshly sealed medical wrap, blood having soaked through in a few spots. The damage Maine had left on her was still fresh.

But her wide, star-struck eyes were locked on the crimson figure tearing through the battlefield below.

"Holy shit he’s hot."

She said, breathless, almost drooling.

"Didn’t know a choomba could pull off a demon daddy look."

Then her gaze snapped to the side—and locked onto Rebecca.

Her lips curled into a crooked, half-sarcastic grin.

"Hey... what the hell’s with the fat bimbo version of me?"

A painful silence slammed over the group.

The first Rebecca—the Original Rebecca, slowly turned her head toward her double. Her pink eyes, usually soft and expressive, were narrowed to slits, twitching slightly. Cassidy audibly stepped back.

Boone muttered.

"Oh no."

Even Rex instinctively took cover behind ED-E.

Pregnancy or not, rage burned hotter than the remnants of Six’s Cruel Sun in her veins.

"...Fat?"

The word came out like a death sentence.

Raul cleared his throat.

"Alright, time to place bets, amigos. Who’s dying first—Original recipe or Cyberpunk idiot number two?"

"Twenty caps on Bandage Becca."

Twig whispered.

"I’m going to fucking kill her."

Rebecca snarled, struggling against Cassidy and Veronica’s attempts to hold her back.

"Missing arm or not, I will end her life for that—"

"She’s pregnant!"

Cassidy shouted, grabbing her waist. trying to clear the second Rebecca’s mistake.

"EVEN PREGNANT I’M STILL FASTER THAN HER!"

Roger facepalmed, groaning.

"This is what we’re doing now? We just watched Six vaporize a city block, and now it’s ’who can be more unhinged: demon husband or the double’s fight club?’"

Bandaged Rebecca just smirked wider.

"Damn, she really is me. Hormones got your tits huge and your fuse short. Gotta admit though—props on locking that monster down. And I mean your input, not your gut."

A scream of fury echoed through the casino. Rebecca broke free.

"Oh, Shit!"

Cassidy tackled her before she could reach the edge, with Veronica pinning her legs.

"TWIG, GET A MEDIC—OR A NET!"

Roger shouted.

"Already on it! Should I get a priest too?!"

Below them, Six’s crimson form paused mid-slaughter. Slowly, he tilted his head toward the noise, the demon red form flaring faintly as his instincts flared again.

Rebecca growled low, rage curling from his teeth.

"...You call me fat again, and I swear I’ll eat you."

A silence dropped like a bomb over the casino—so heavy it seemed to bend time.

Second Rebecca blinked.

"Wait... Eat me? Like... cannibal eat, or—"

BOOM.

Rebecca—original, enraged, glowing with wrath despite Cassidy and Veronica doing their best to contain her—broke through their grip in a wild lunge.

"I’LL DECIDE THAT AFTER I PUNT YOUR HEAD OFF, YOU CHIBBY VERSION OF ME!"

"MEDIC!"

Twig screamed again, halfway through dragging a first aid kit and a rolled-up net with a ’Not for Tyrants or Hormonal Moms’ sticker on it.

"Fucking hell."

Boone muttered, aiming down his rifle just in case he needed to tranquilize somebody.

"This is why I’m going to start drinking."

Raul just cackled.

"Hehehe. This is better than the time I saw two Super Mutants argue about fashion."

Up above, the chaos spiraled.Down below, Six moved.

With a powerful leap that cracked the stone beneath him, he cleared the shattered railings and landed between them—BOOM! The floor splintered beneath his feet, and heat curled around him like steam from a boiler.

Both Rebeccas froze, mid-lunge and mid-smirk.

His eyes blazed with heat, rage, and confusion. His sword dragged across the floor like a predator sniffing for the next target.