CounterTale: Chapter 22!

CHAPTER 22: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST MEANS I CAN RIP YOU A NEW ONE IF I WANT TO!

 

A lot happened in a short amount of time. I was given a temporary – Frisk assured me – place to live and a job to do – to keep up the disguise for other residents. However, according to these assholes who live in the olden days of Earth’s history, women are only good for housework and such. So, while there were jobs that required heavy lifting or more fun things like strategizing and more, women – except for Frisk, who was biologically female and called as such despite their protests – weren’t allowed to perform any of these tasks.

 

And unfortunately for me, the only availability was in the bar, working as a waitress, host, and cleaning crew. Frisk was deeply sorry and had even tried to find another post, but the man in charge of calculating everything assured them there was nothing else. All the women who had worked there first had transferred out to avoid the men, most of whom were condescending and occasionally did minor sexual assaults on the women working, who came to have a drink when they were on break or when night came.

 

I had never wanted to break a man so badly. And with my new strength, I was certain I could do so if I didn’t hold back. But I held on and used the negative side of my personality as well as physical defense to my advantage…

 

I stepped out wearing a surprisingly well made frilly dress dipped low to show cleavage and had a high skirt. Luckily, it came with black tights and I wore cute shoes. On my head was a little hat. It was a degrading outfit and left the entire bar hushed and all the men blushing. With my body weight trimmed down from my training, which Mother graciously transferred into my physical form, and my large breast size still a factor, I was fully aware what this job would entail.

 

“Oooooh, we finally have someone fully filled out. Mmmmm, you look good enough to eat!”

 

“Try anything, sir, and I will cut off your genitals.” I replied. The only response the man gave was a few choking noises and the sounds of chairs as a couple men backed up. “Keep your hands to yourself, do not treat me like an object, and everything will be fine. I will rip you a new one if you refuse to be respectful.”

 

“Who the hell do you think you are, bitch?” A brave one asked, clearly a regular who has gotten away with shameful acts in the past.

 

“I’m an outsider to your ways, but just because I’m here does not mean I will bend to your sexist desires. You want me to be kind and treat you with respect, you better be willing to do the same for me. So, if you act like you are superior and can get away with assault, see what happens. I fucking dare you.”

 

I met the man – a human between the ages of thirty and forty-five by the looks of it who gave off a vibe that he had had a few romantic partners who he either ditched or who left him – head on, returning his scowl with a determined, unafraid glared. While his chin was held up to show superiority, I kept mine down to show that he would not get his way with me.

 

“You’ll regret that, little bitch.” He stood and strode over to me. “I’ll personally see to it that you become my toy.” He rested his hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t let him go any further.

 

One moment, the cocky bastard was above me acting like the king of the bar, the next he was kissing the ground in front of my feet.

 

“I’m no one’s bitch. But if you wanna play like that, I’ll make sure that the one with the collar is you.” I cracked my knuckles. “Two can play this game, and I don’t need anyone’s permission to rip you or any other sexist bastard a new one. Wanna know why? It’s survival of the fittest, and I sure as hell have what it takes to prove where I stand. And you bet you sorry ass that if it’s not at the top, it’s nearer to it than any scumbags like you.”

 

I turned to the rest of the room, everyone shocked into silence. “You wanna have a go at me, go ahead. I’ll even do you a favor and land you on top of this dumbass so that you have a cushion. You have been warned, men. Treat me and all the other women here like equals and there won’t be any problems from me. I’m a fighter. If I don’t like something, I will do something about it.”

 

I walked towards the bartender. “Well, seeing as I have a job to do…who’s first?”

 

After everything was said and done, the man was carted off to his room and the men were more than happy to be respectful to me and the other women working here. With only a little bit of my airbending, I managed to do an amazing job balancing everything. And after a while, everyone settled down and both the patrons and the workers seemed content.

 

“Thank you so much for what you did, Miss Rachel.” One of my co-worker, a girl of sixteen years named Abigail sniffed. “The men are so much nicer now. How old are you? Where did you come from? Where have you been all this time?”

 

“Ha, ha! Well, I’m twenty-four!”

 

“Oh my, you’re the second oldest. Bonnie is twenty-eight, but the rest of us are between fourteen and twenty-two. Mia was twenty-six, but she transferred.”

 

“Cool. As for where I’m from. I came from the monster kingdom. I have no memories of before that.”

 

“Oh my god! What did they do you to?”

 

“Nothing! I was hurt…I don’t remember…but they saved me.”

 

“What? Really?”

 

“Yeah. And as for your last question, I don’t know. All I know is they saved me. But I wanted to learn about the world, so I left. That made them sad.”

 

They all seemed to like my company and we talked more. The girl Bonnie seemed sad, and she was the only one who didn’t want to talk.

 

“What’s up?” I asked when the others had to get back to work.

 

“It’s nothing.” Her arms that were folded across her chest and hiding her cleavage tightened to the point of trembling. “I’m fine. But I do thank you for what you did.”

 

“No problem. Considering it was gonna be an issue for me, too, I wasn’t gonna take their crap.” She smiled shyly.

 

“But seriously, I can tell you’re upset. Please tell me and I’ll try to help.”

 

She sighed. “That man you beat up has gone through twenty-six known women. Three of them he married, but the others were flings, occasionally during when he was married. In this society, women cannot refuse a man. He is forty-two now and recently has shown interest in me. And I cannot refuse.”

 

“Why not?” I grunted in disgust.

 

“Two reasons. The first is because ‘the only thing women are good for are housework and breeding’ and second is because the assholes in charge have proclaimed that a woman cannot refuse a man with anything.”

 

“They do realize that their leader is biologically a woman, don’t they? Even if Frisk prefers no gender.”

 

She laughed bitterly, “Yeah…” She sniffed. “And her – I mean their – legacy is the only thing saving them. I’m going to be forced into a relationship I don’t want and will make babies for him and other men.”

 

I gaze hardened and my eyes flashed briefly before regaining their lackluster blue-green. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

 

That night, on the way to my room, I was stopped by the same two guards who were rude to me when I initially came.

 

“We heard what happened at the bar. If you think you can come here pretending to be innocent and start messing around with superiors, you have another thing coming.”

 

“What makes them or you superior?” I asked unflinching, daring them.

 

“Men are around to lead. Women are around to follow and help the cycle continue. That is all you are good for. You aren’t nearly as strong as men.”

 

My attacks were precise, a jab here, and kick to this muscle at this angle, and three punches to specific pressure points. It took less than half a minute for both men to be incapacitated.

 

“Don’t fool yourself. You are pathetic and the only reason you can get away with the shit you do is because women have to deal with more than crap like you. You don’t deal with nearly as much pain. And don’t worry…I’ll show you your place every time if that’s what you need to understand how insignificant you really are. Men who think they own the opposite sex are the dumbest of them all. You are weak because of that shitty disposition. And I just proved it without breaking a sweat. Night, hope your nightmares are a good enough reminder that you aren’t anywhere near as strong as you think you are.”

 

It took a week of constantly beating the shit of out stupid men before the council in charge of the goings on decided to try to stop me. Having seen them coming via vision, I had just arrived at the bar in the attire I left the monsters in when men wearing regal attire came waltzing in.

 

“Rachel, come with us.”

 

“Why?”

 

“You have created a disturbance in our society and are being sent to the prison to await a trial.”

 

“Oh, so you don’t like that I am proving your ideals about men being better than women wrong. Wow, you are a sorry bunch. And I’m sure you’re embarrassed that you have come to me and are basically implying that because I put your men in their place, that you want to remove me so I can’t keep ruining your image. It’s so hilarious!” I giggled.

 

“If you won’t come quietly, we will use force.”

 

“Y’know what, just to humor you, I’ll come quietly and bust out later.” I turned to the crowd watching the encounter. “Hey, yeah! Let’s make a bet! If I can successfully escape from your prison, every man has to pay each lady one gold piece each.”

 

“Why would we allow that?”

 

“It’s on your honor, sire.” I taunted. “How about this? If I can successfully free myself and whatever prisoners you have down there, then will you do it? Each man must pay each woman one gold piece? Oh, and treat all women with respect from then on, of course. Equal rights for all!”

 

“How ridiculous?”

 

“Ha, ha! You’re that scared? You men are so spineless that you won’t take a bet that given the circumstances, could easily fail!”

 

“Yeah, do it! I doubt she’ll pull it off! She’s a woman!” A drunkard laughed.

 

“Yeah, I’m a woman.” I grinned smugly, batting my eyes provocatively.

 

Soon, everyone was chanting, “Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!”

 

“Chairman, I find this acceptable.” Frisk announced from beside the women watching.

 

“Very well, but if you fail, the women must kneel before the men and subject themselves to whatever is in store.”

 

The girls flinched, and Frisk immediately went to soothe them.

 

“Trust me, ladies!” I called without turning. “These idiots don’t stand a chance!”