Chapter 641 - Puppeteering

Pain rips through Afton's body as Macka laughs and clasps his plant arm with both hands. He could feel his flesh rippling beneath his skin, as if a puppeteer was forcing strings through his body. From his arm, through his chest to the rest of his body, he quickly lost all control and slump limply to his knees.

Afton tries to resist whatever Macka was doing to him, but no amount of willpower was able to free him from his hold. Even his Perks like [Grit] didn't seem to do anything... Eventually, he'd lost complete control of his body.

Macka relaxes at this but continues to hold Afton's arm with a tight grip... Perhaps he needed to be in contact to maintain this hold?

Damn... Is Nyx even able to detect what's happening? She's hooked up to his body so she must be... Unfortunately, he wasn't even able to move his mouth, let alone warn Nyx about what was happening.

Slowly, Afton's body gets to its feet and stands over Macka, "You- Are- Coming- With- Me." his mouth says in a strong tone... His body picks Macka up in a princess carry while the man maintains a grip on his arm. Once secure, he forces Afton to march out of the facility with the man in hand.

Afton makes his way through the floors and eventually steps outside of the facility where the Supermutant group and Usanagi are waiting. Marcus steps forwards with a curious glance at Macka, "Did you kill that thing?" he asks.

Afton's body robotically nods in response, "It is dead. I, captured its creator." he states while raising Macka's body slightly to display his 'catch'.

Marcus slowly nods, "Good, I have no idea what it was, but I doubt any of us could have dealt with it... We'd have probably had to bury it under the facility to stop it." he admits.

Usanagi steps forwards and glares at Macka, "So you caught him? Good, this piece of shit deserves everything that's coming to him." she glowers.

Again, Afton's body nods, this time more smoothly than before, "I, will make sure that happens."

Usanagi quirks a brow momentarily but shrugs it off, "Good... Hey, do you mind if I stay with you for a bit? I doubt my Clinic is in any usable state right now, especially with how long I've been gone..." she flashes a smile, "I'll make it worth your while." she offers.

Afton's body slowly smiles, "That, sounds fun." his mouth says, and Afton can only inwardly sigh at how awkward this is gonna be when Josie finds out... To be honest, he wasn't all that worried about what Macka might do, it was obvious that he didn't possess Afton's knowledge, and so would slip up on just about every defence in Big Mt. Even if he somehow managed to get past them, Glados would undoubtedly notice him acting strange.

His body slowly turns and looks at Marcus, "Let us, head home." he states, somewhat differentially which confuses the mutant for a moment.

"Ah-uh, right, I should get everyone ready to leave... Should we head to where we arrived?" Marcus asks.

Afton's body nods, and follows Marcus in a strange fashion as he begins commanding his men. They make their way back to the place they teleported in and everyone looks expectantly at Afton.

...

"Er, Afton? Is something wrong?"

His head shakes, "No, I, I hit my head earlier... Things are fuzzy... What were we doing again?"

"Oh, that makes sense." Marcus mutters, finding his strange posture and manner of speaking weird. "We were going to teleport back to base, I don't know how you usually do it, but..." he shrugs.

"Would you like to teleport home, Sir?" a voice coming from his Power armour audibly asks.

"Yes." Afton's body confirms,

*Crack!*

With that, a crack of thunder signals their departure. Macka was astounded to find himself in a high-tech bustling town area. The group stepped off of the teleportation platform and but Marcus stopped and looked to Afton.

"We never did ask but nows a good time I think, what will you do with our equipment?" the Supermutant asks as his group had clearly gotten attached to their new weaponry and armour.

Afton's body blankly stares at Marcus for a moment before awkwardly shrugging, "Take them, for now. I will think about it." he states while taking his helmet off and resting it on Macka's lap as he carries him.

Marcus nods, "Alright, though, it might be difficult to take my men's weapons away from them now..." he shakes his head, "We'll deal with that issue when it arrives I suppose. Do you mind if we use your medical facilities to heal our injured? After that, we'll return home to Jacobstown."

Afton's body gives a nod but before it's able to say anything some arms wrap around his shoulders, "Afton, you're back!" Josie's voice chirps.

Afton rigidly turns to face her, Josie only now noticing Macka in his arms. "Er, you know I was joking about that whole 'turning gay' thing... Right?" she mutters semi-sarcastically. Though, becomes confused at his face's lack of expression.

"You still out of it Afton?" Marcus comments from the side with slight worry in his voice.

"Out of it?" Josie asks.

Marcus nods, "Took a hit to the head apparently, considering that creature he killed, it doesn't surprise me." he shrugs.

She hums, "Are you really alright Afton? It's strange to see you so quiet... No offence." she jokes.

"I, captured this man. He might be able to heal my father, Zachary." Afton's mouth states somewhat awkwardly.

Josie nods, "Should we put him in the cells?" she offers.

Afton's head shakes, "No. Take me to my father, I, may be able to heal him."

...

"I mean, if you say so..." she mutters but before she starts leading him to the Think Tank they're stopped by Doctor Usanagi.

"Wow, Afton, this place is amazing!" she mutters in awe of the incredibly advanced town she's found herself in. "You never told me you had anything like this!"

"Usanagi?" Josie asks from the side, "So you did manage to rescue her. Thank god." she mutters, though, is somewhat unsure how to act around the woman.