26

Alex woke up the next morning.

For a moment, he began to panic. He could not feel his legs. Thinking the worse, he looked down. He saw a mop of blond hair on his chest.

Her eyes slowly open as she finds herself staring into Alex's eyes. Antiope felt herself getting lost in those eyes. She leaned forward. Her lips puckered up.

Alex took the invitation and leaned forward. They both kissed each other.

"I don't think I will be walking straight any time soon," Antiope said as she separated from the kiss. "It's nice to know that I don't need to walk straight when I can just fly." She shone a golden light as she began to float. Her arms enveloped him as she floated, taking him with her. The sheets slipped off both of their bodies. She turned around, and Alex was on top of her. His face was cushioned by her breasts.

"So, about the children," Alex asked tentatively.

Antiope laughed. "Don't worry. It is not yet time." But her hands went to his ass as she began to stroke. "Soon, it will be, stud, and I will expect some children."

"Will we marry," Alex said as his hand went to her breasts.

Antiope's face turned red as she answered. "It won't be fair to monopolize you, Alex. Even if I want to take you to another world and live with you there eternally." An obsessive light had entered her eyes as she held Alex.

"I need to go to work. Open the shop, you know." He was making circles around her nipples.

"The others will be furious with me if I don't show up." She gave a few squeezes to his ass.

"I guess we should leave," Alex said.

"Yeah." Antiope agreed.

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Alex stretched out. He was back in the shop and boy, were there a lot of customers.

"One more Krabby patty, boss," Meowth yelled out.

"Just give me a moment, and here. " Alex flipped a patty onto a bun. He completed the set meal for the Krabby patties for the table.

"Here meowth, take this." He handed them to Meowth, who went into the restaurant part of the shop, which was stylized as a pub.

Right now, the place was in full swing. Almost every table was full as Amazonians of all kinds were sitting and eating food. Some others were chatting with each other as it was lunchtime. \

Alex wiped the sweat from his head. It was only for another half an hour. After which he could end the lunchtime. The pub will then only serve beer, something that Meowth can handle on his own. In fact, he was turning out to prove himself to be a very good bartender. Mixing drinks and serving clients with a smile. It also helped that the Amazonians were not that wary of him, so he could listen to their problems with a smile and provide them some new perspective.

Alex smiled. The Amazonians were advancing at Horizon Zero Dawn at a very fast pace. It also helped that most of them learned archery from a very young age. Donna was still ahead of everyone else. She had gone to her first cauldron and finally managed to ride a machine. In fact, Donna took great glee in running down other machines with her mount. Having them chase her or circle around them as she pelted them with arrows. Her arsenal had also grown by a lot, and she was discovering a lot more of the reality of that world.

He looked at the system store and saw his credits slowly stacking up. There was a smile on his face. Another big order of twenty burgers was ready. He flipped them onto a large plate, forming a pyramid. He placed them at the counter, after which Meowth would pick them up and take them to their final destination.

Speaking about Donna. She was still playing the game and on the hunt for Elizabeth Sobek and any information she could find. She had seen the reality of the world. About how the world once ended. While he was sure that the other Amazonians were not aware. He was sure that Diana was at least aware. Or she may have gotten enough of a hint about what may have happened, all due to her interactions with the modern world. He wondered when she would make the league aware of this situation.

Alex relaxed. This was not something that he needed to deal with for the moment. This was something that the queen would need to deal with in the future.

Alex stretched and made his way outside. Lunchtime was over, and he could close the kitchen. He stepped out and saw the live-streaming screen where Donna was still playing. Artemis and Diana had joined her, and they were also playing the game.

Right now, he looked at Donna's live screen. She had reached Faro's main company. The place which heralded the world towards its first end.

Alex settled down. He added a lot more graphic details about how the world was stripped of all of its resources. He looked at his side and saw that Diana was out, and she was looking at the scene with wide eyes. The deeper she moved into the facility, the more information she got.

The truth about how the Faro's peacekeeping robots turned against them. About how all life was systemically wiped out.

The robots, which could self-replicate by consuming biomass, increased in number. In turn, consuming more resources, the process slowly snowballed out until it was under no one's control. The entire world was slowly consumed, its biosphere wiped out. Earth was left a barren, lifeless rock.

Alex saw looks of fear around him. "Then how could life have survived." He heard a mutter from Diana.

Soon, the truth of Zero Dawn was revealed. A project led by Elizabeth Sobek meant to terraform the entire planet. A meeting between Sobek and Faro.

She sees a slow process where life is created once more. It was a miracle by the hands of Sobek, yet it was not without problems. Sabotaged by a paranoid man, and all knowledge is lost. Humans start anew in this world, devolving back into tribes and making do with what they can.

Aloy(Donna) replays the message and sees Sobek walking around her. Finding herself looking at a mirror image.

She sighs as she leaves. There was much to do.

Her focus pops up once more, and Sylens is talking with her.

That message is, however, interrupted as she hears an enormous roar outside. Crouching and moving quitely outside. While hiding in the grass, she moved outside and saw a giant Thunderjaw. Black miasma leeks out of it as it roars at the building.

"A corrupted Thunderjaw." She looks around and tries to find an avenue of escape but can find none. A large plane of ice and snow surrounds her. Her hold tightens on her bow. "It seems that I must fight." She had been avoiding going after a Thunderjaw until now, but it seems she has no choice now.

She activates her focus in order to come up with a plan of attack. She would also need to find its weak points as well. Maybe even disable a few weapons in the first volley. She feels all the extra weapons that she had gathered till now. There is her elemental bow as well as a sharpshooter bow. A tripcaster as well as ropecaster.

She would first need to take care of the radar. It was, at present, the most significant danger to her. She loads three arrows with tearblast in her bow to take care of the radar. Taking a deep breath, she calms herself as she brings her target into focus.

She lets go, and three arrows fly true toward the radar mounted on the Thunderjaw.