Work Text:
__
N was sent tumbling out of the chapel's doors as the whole planet seemed to rumble a low growl.
His systems went offline for a moment at the impact.
Quickly booting back up and shaking his head, N took in his surroundings; breathing quickening, before wobbling up to stand on his one foot.
Sword hand supporting his weight; while his other leg was still severed at the knee from when Uzi had cut it off.
Uzi.
The planet's core tremored again, and N was thrown backwards off of his precarious balance back down to the ground.
Uzi had thrown him out of the pit. And in doing so, she had thrown herself into the pit.
N's breathing quickened further as his head snapped up to stare at the chapel's doors with wide, panicked eyes.
*Clumsy, helpless N!* His mind screamed, as his shaking hands reached aimlessly towards the building.
His brows furrowed, and his hands instead made their way to his head to tug on his hair; his stare remained blank on the chapel several feet in front of him.
Despite his panicked breathing, N couldn't suppress a short scream of pure frustration, finally breaking his stare to shut his eyes and duck his head.
His hands stayed on his head, and he curled in on himself; his breathing remained fast as his mind raced.
He was so. Unbelievably. Angry. Probably the angriest he had ever been.
But at who? Surely not Uzi.
Definitely not Uzi. Not to the level of anger that he was feeling.
Letting out another shorter and quieter cry, N confirmed who the anger was directed at.
Himself.
He had frozen when the Solver attacked. Allowed himself to be knocked out and dragged. The only reason that Uzi had to sacrifice herself at all, was because he was too *useless* to catch his own dumb self in time.
N nearly heaved. His hands left his hair to land a punch towards the ground, lashing out. The ground cracked a little at the impact.
"G- AH!" He yelled. "GOD- DAMN IT!"
His breathing picked up even more, and he slumped to rest his forehead on the palms of his hands, elbows on the ground.
After a moment, he took a few deep breaths. Still hitched, but significantly slowed.
His leg was nearly regenerated now.
He was angry at Uzi too, that much was clear to him. She had sacrificed herself. Didn't even allow for N to have a say in where he wanted to go.
He so desperately wanted to go with her. Anywhere.
But she was gone.
Uzi was gone.
With this thought, he had to shut his eyes. Tears finally made their way onto his visor, and his next exhale was a sob.
What was the deal with first V, and now Uzi sacrificing themselves? What was the use of any sacrifice at all, if N was the only one left?
He was helpless. Completely useless. Here he was, head resting in his hands as he could do nothing more but cry on the ground. He had failed.
N lifted his head to glance back up to the chapel doors. He clenched his teeth as his system forced out another hitched sob.
With a final fizzling sound, his leg had finished regenerating.
He exhaled once, more tears breaking out as he did, and got to his feet on shaky legs.
Absolutely not, he thought, with another shaky sob as he glanced around.
There had to be a way to save them. To save Uzi, and to find V. He would get them back, or die trying.
Despite the continuous tears running down his visor and his shaky breathing, N furrowed his brows, taking on a determined expression.
Wiping his visor and making a decision as another planetary tremor nearly knocked him back down, N swiftly deployed his wings and took off, leaving a small shockwave from the force of the speed.
He made quick work of the chapel's doors with a couple of missiles, and N burst through into the chapel once again.
He slowed his descent as he neared the Solver pit.
Hovering as high as he could directly above, N activated every optical sensor enhancement he had.
Thermal vision showed him no heat signatures, which was concerning. He cycled through other sensor settings at near-light-speed trying to get a lock on something; anything at all.
Before he got a proper look at the bottom of the pit using an extreme zoom.
Was he starting to hallucinate, or were there stars at the bottom of the pit?
Another rushed glance confirmed that yes, stars and distant planets could be seen at the very far bottom of the Solver pit.
N had to flail back suddenly as a Solver tentacle wormed its way out of the pit aimlessly. It didn't seem to detect his presence, and after a moment, it disappeared. Checking for stragglers, perhaps.
N glanced to his side after this. He could have sworn he had heard a slight jingle?
His eyelights hollowed as they landed on the set of keys clipped to the side of his jacket.
In hindsight, he had originally registered that Uzi had given him the keys. But in his panic and anger, he had completely forgotten.
And now Uzi had fallen into that pit. That (most likely) led to outer space. And he had the keys to what may have been the only working spaceship on the planet.
His breathing quickened again as he considered all of this for a split second. Not out of panic, but of hope.
N frowned in complete determination. He was going to get her back.
Likewise to the minute before, N burst through the chapel doors at top speed. The planet below rumbled again, and deep cracks started etching their way across the ground.
N paid it no mind as his visor changed to the signature X shape known to Disassembly Drones.
He needed to focus all of his energy, all of his power on speed. All for saving Uzi. Now.
The force of his takeoff created a small sonic boom, and he shot far upwards towards the entrance of the lab.
__
As he reached the top of the lab area, N took note of the sounds of a battle.
As he approached and landed next to the ship in question, he spotted J locked in battle, surprisingly, with Thad and Lizzy; wielding Uzi's railgun.
N had to smile at this as he watched the two worker drones dodge and weave, looking to line up the best shot on J.
The perfect distraction. N moved to get into the spaceship, remembering the urgency at hand. However, just as he did so, he heard the signature sound of the railgun firing. A quick glance out the window confirmed that it had been a missed shot.
And now J was coming back.
Thinking quickly, N opened a drawer that very conveniently contained a stack of papers and some crayons.
N concentrated as he scribbled out the quickest "IOU 1 Spaceship" card.
The quality wasn't his best work admittedly, and he ran out of room to write the entire word "Spaceship" on the card. But hey, he was in a rush. And if J wanted some nice drawings from him, maybe she could have been a little nicer in the past.
Maybe he could make Uzi some more nice drawings after this.
N let out a proud giggle as he opened the door and tossed the card towards J, who was currently flying towards him at an alarming rate.
The trajectory of the card was bang on, and J had to halt in the air to prevent it from smacking her in the face.
(Admittedly, it wouldn't have hurt at all; but it certainly would have inhibited her vision temporarily. Who knew drones also had the instinct to catch objects flying at them- no matter how light?)
In her confusion, J stared down at the card for a moment, reading the message.
Having bought himself mere seconds, N wasted no time in starting up the ship and initiating the launch.
A part of him was impressed with himself at how naturally this came; he really was the pilot, he supposed.
Just as J shook off her confusion and angrily began flying towards the ship, N hit one last button, and the ship shot straight up into the stratosphere.
__
Bringing up a scanner on one of the monitors of the ship, N began to scan the surrounding areas for heat signatures.
He frowned as his thoughts began to spiral a little again.
What if he just *thought* he saw outer space at the bottom of the pit? What if it had just opened up *after* Uzi fell in, and the Solver had already consumed her entirely? What if-
His worries were cut off by a ping on the ship's scanner.
He gasped, and programmed the scanner to zero in on the signature and its location.
As the ship rushed closer, N's face broke out in an elated, relieved smile as the scanner revealed a very much Uzi-shaped heat signature.
There was also a much smaller signature near her, but that didn't matter to N in the moment.
Uzi was there.
He increased the ship's speed to go retrieve her as quickly as possible.
If he calculated the trajectory right, the ship would come up right beside her. His plan was to open the door, grab her with his tail, and they would both be safe, together again.
He prepared to do so, and the ship met Uzi's exact location.
A great *SLAM!* sounded out through the hollow ship.
Okay, he may have been a little off on the calculations.
Regardless, N was still able to grab Uzi with his tail, and as he shut the door of the ship, he couldn't stop the relieved, proud, and downright excited smile on his face.
"Spaceship pilot!!" He exclaimed as he turned in his seat to look at Uzi with a salute and that same proud smile.
__