Artificial Willpower

One Normal (Halloween) Night -bonus chapter-

This isn't really part of the plot or anything, I just had the mental image of them celebrating Halloween and may or may not have focused on that instead of a real new chapter. This oneshot chapter is just for goofs, I'm not even gonna call it cannon, so feel free to skip it if you're not in the Halloween mood

"Huh. It's Halloween. Time flies when you're on the run" Illinois said with a small chuckle as he saw the date in the corner of his computer. Yancy looked over his shoulder at the date.

"Really? I'll be honest I even forgot what month is was"

"I did too for a little bit there... Do you like Halloween, Yancy?"

"Yeah. It's always a good excuse to dress up. We usually had a little party at the prison. Just some cookies and some music but still, it was always nice"

Illinois smiled "Well how about we have a little party? I think we deserve a little break and fun"

Yancy sat on the arm of the sofa, thinking "Youse think we could do that?"

"Of course. Here, I'll go out and find us some pumpkins. You work on making us a playlist, and maybe we could watch a horror movie or something" Illinois said, getting up and pushing his laptop towards the cyborg.

Yancy set the laptop in his lap and opened Illinois' music app. He hadn't used a computer in so long, he realized. It felt odd "Alright" Yancy said with a little smile. For one night they could forget everything. They could pretend like they weren't on the run from the government. They could pretend they met each other under normal circumstances. One night of just celebrating a holiday with a friend... they really did deserve it.

—

Illinois came back a few hours later with two pumpkins "Alright Yancy I got the pumpkins, you got some Halloween spirit ready for us?"

"Yup, got a playlist ready here. I even found a few new Halloween songs! Well, new to me. I ain't listened to most of the stuff that came out in the last decade yet."

Illinois chuckled and set the laptop on the table, playing the music Yancy had set up "I didn't think about that. I'll have to introduce you to some of my favorites then" He said as he got started on clearing off the kitchenette counter for their pumpkins "Have you ever carved one before?"

"When I was a kid, yeah. I can't remember if I was any good though" Yancy responded, coming over.

Despite the fact that they were just in the bunker they had spent the past few weeks in, it was already starting to feel... lighter. The typical Halloween party music drifting from Illinois' laptop, the light conversation, the large festive-looking pumpkins.

Illinois found a knife but seemed to be struggling to find a second one. Yancy opened the switchblade on one of his mechanical fingers "I don't need one" He said.

"Oh yeah! I forgot"

"You designed it" Yancy snickered out as he started to cut open the top of his pumpkin.

"Wait, are you teasing me, Yanc' ?" Illinois asked, looking almost proud of the cyborg.

Yancy pried off the top of his pumpkin before looking at the mechanic with a grin "Maybe I am. What of it?"

"Nothing, I just didn't think you had it in you" Illinois playfully retorted as he worked on his own pumpkin and got them both bags and spoons to clean out the inside "Make sure you save the seeds. We can roast them. I'm getting sick of the snacks in the pantry to be honest"

"Yeah, sure thing. But don't think we's gonna gloss over that first comment." Yancy said, squinting at Illinois " Youse' watched me take down several officers and youse think I don't have it in me?" Yancy asked with a small laugh as he started to empty out his pumpkin.

"Well yeah, but teasing someone takes way more guts than taking down several armed officers, obviou-"

Illinois' own tease was cut off as Yancy used his spoon to fling some of the insides of the pumpkin that hit Illinois' shirt with a wet plop. The two stared at each other for a moment, as Yancy's shoulders shook in a silent laugh he seemed to be trying to hold back.

"This means war," Illinois said, getting a mischievous glint in his eyes as he grabbed his own spoon.

"And I'm literally a weapon of war," Yancy said with a grin, getting another scoop of pumpkin guts.

The two stared at each other for a long moment, waiting for the other to make the first move, before Illinois quickly flung the bits of pumpkin inside his bag at Yancy, grabbed his own pumpkin for amo, and ran off while Yancy was distracted with the amount of pumpkin that had just been thrown at him.

Yancy huffed when he processed what just happened. He grabbed his own pumpkin to make sure he had enough pumpkin insides to throw at Illinois and ran out after him.

He wasn't surprised to see the survival enthusiast had taken to hiding in the woods right outside the bunker, no doubt waiting to ambush him with pumpkin.

However, there was something Illinois failed to take into account. It was dark out, giving Yancy an instant upper hand with his night vision. It wasn't long before he spotted Illinois waiting up in a tree, ready to dump the insides of the pumpkin on Yancy when he walked by. But Illinois wasn't able to see as clearly as Yancy was in the dark, and didn't seem to know exactly where Yancy was at the moment. He was just focusing on the ground and waiting for Yancy to walk by.

The cyborg scooped out some more pumpkin and snuck closer, making sure he was close enough to land the hit. He pulled back the spoon head, aimed, and catapulted the bit of pumpkin at Illinois.

The mechanic almost fell, but was able to catch himself just in time. However, he ended up dumping the contents of his pumpkin on himself during his frantic scramble.

"Youse surrender?" Yancy asked with a snicker "Am I good enough at teasing yet?

"Fine fine, you win," Illinois said, regaining himself and climbing back down the tree with an exasperated laugh "Let's go wash up"

—

Of course, the next morning they would have to focus on their dangerous mission again. They would get back to training, planning, finding answers to uncomfortable questions, digging up memories Yancy would rather leave dead.

But for tonight, just one night, they enjoyed Halloween. Just for tonight, their jack-o-lanterns sat on the table, flickering a comforting glow across the room. Just for tonight, they stayed up late, watching Halloween movies and swapping scary stories that helped them forget the real horror stories they've witnessed.

Just for tonight, the two enjoyed something that resembled a normal Halloween night.

Authors Note: Happy Spooky Season everyone!