Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

[VH777Dragon]

this chapter had me laughing, glad to see this updated! And yeah, missed opportunity, hope Anderson tells Joe about what could've been. Thanks for the update! Also, I can almost feel the timer counting down for when Joe loses all self control. He's got a Large group of gorgeous women who want him emotionally and carnally... and he's running out of excuses...

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure that's part of the problem, didn't baka say this isn't a harem story , so it kinda looks like Joe is leading those girls on unintentionally by innocently flirting slash teasing which might be excused except these are nikke who tend to have some pretty shit prospects romantically for the straight women.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 97 - Clear the Air
===

The elevator stopped at the officer's quarters with little aplomb, which elicited a little 'oooh' from Emma, who stepped out with a small smile on her face. "Look Vesti, Rapi's living it up in the penthouse suites. No wonder we never see her in the Ark, she probably gets maid services and food delivery up here too." She turned to give Joe a sly little grin. "Have you been trying to seduce our little Rapi with kindness and generosity since she joined your team, Commander?"

While Vesti blushed with wide eyes at that inquisition, the man in question just kept his eyes locked forward as he took a deep breath-

"E-Emma!" Vesti started in a nervous tone, leaning forward with her hands curled up into little anxiety balls. "I-Ingrid told you to behave yourself and not be 'weird' with other teams!"

Emma shifted her attention to Vesti with a deeply amused expression on her face, smiling lovingly down at her diminutive squadmate. "Ingrid instructed me to keep my hands to myself, Vesti, and look!" She suddenly held her hands up, presented her palms to the pair with a wide, innocent smile. "I'm not touching the Commander at all!" She then… "No matter how enticing the fact that you can see his chest hair even though he's wearing a crew neck is." …Said while blatantly ogling Joe's collarbone, right before she started making grabby motions with her hands.

"E-Emma!" Vesti cried out in horror and mortified embarrassment, planting her face firmly in both of her hands, now trembling where she stood in her impressively tall thigh-high boots.

Joe took a very deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. It was one thing to be faced with a woman that looked like Emma. It was another for a woman that looked like Emma to just say that she wanted to grope you. And here the man thought that she couldn't be anything like Rapunzel when she was activated… He prayed that the two titty monsters would never meet, if this was the way Emma would flagrantly behave with nary a hint of shame, entirely unprompted.

"Ingrid never said that I can't feast with my eyes, Vesti!" Emma outright chortled, god damn near sounding like a dirty old man trapped in a gorgeous young woman's body. "Mmm, and what a feast-"

"So Rapi's room is right over here this way!" Joe started out the elevator with a purpose, marching onward and pointedly not looking in the direction of a gorgeous blonde built like a fertility goddess that was stopping just short of invading his personal space while he was already suffering from the gaze and intentions of both Rapi and Cinderella as it was and now he was thinking about the fact that the only reason he hadn't gone to town on Rapi earlier was because of that concussion-

"Awww, look, the Commander's shy~!" Emma nearly sing-songed in a very husky tone. "Rapi must be having so much fun with you-"

"Rapi!" Joe cut the vivacious bombshell off, barging into his second's room with desperation. Get away from it get away from it get away from it get away from it-

Rapi's eyes snapped up to focus on the intruder, wide and shocked. She had been sitting on one of the packable Nikke-grade field stools they were supposed to bring out on operations, in front of an out-of-place mirror set atop one of the inexplicably fancy crates that their Tetra Line rations came in. Her hair was tied up in a long, trailing high ponytail that looked wonderful on her, and was being lightly brushed with exacting precision.

Not by Rapi herself, but by Cinderella, who too stopped to acknowledge Joe's sudden appearance with no small degree of surprise. "Prince?" She started, as she ever did. "Is something wrong-?"

Only for Emma and Vesti to slide into view behind the Commander and take in the sight with wide, even sparkling eyes. It was Emma that spoke up first. "What's this? Rapi! Who's your gorgeous friend?" She inquired as she stepped into the depressingly sparse room, given how Rapi furnished her quarters with the absolute bare minimum—hence the mention of glorified camping equipment.

"E-Emma?" Rapi looked more than a little bushwhacked, glancing past the comparatively towering blonde to spot Vesti quietly ambling in after her partner. "Vesti? What're-"

Attention was stolen, however, by Cinderella—who started preening intensely at Emma's passing compliment, even as she was mid-stroke through brushing Rapi's hair. As the silverette reflexively posed—however minutely—at having her looks acknowledged, Emma stopped and openly leered. Cinderella was back in her perilously tiny summer dress, which was more modest than her battle suit, but only at a glance, considering the very bottom of her posterior peeked out from behind the high-cut bottom hem when she was standing. It was, regardless, more suited for everyday wear.

At any rate, Joe looked between the four gathered women, then blinked as something occurred to him. Rapi had just told him that she was working on her gun, which was nowhere in sight as Cinderella was combing her hair-

"R-Rapi," Vesti started, looking at her former squadmate with wide eyes. "You… you look so… Cool!" She declared, gazed fixed on her old bright red pleather jacket and scarf combined with her ponytail. "You, you've changed how you dress, huh?"

Emma tore her eyes from Cinderella's shockingly exposed bosom to take in Rapi's new outfit, lightly cocking her head as she contemplated the change in attire. "Red suits you, Rapi. You've decided to stop wearing the squad uniform, then?"

Well, she wasn't wearing the beret or jacket, but she was still wearing the rest of it- Ah, sans the necktie as well. She was indeed shifting just a bit more towards outfitting herself as she used to as Red Hood—even using that ponytail she very occasionally wore back then.

Joe wondered how long it was going to be before he found Rapi wearing a cowboy hat and spurred cowboy boots again, given how she liked occasionally repping the American Southwest back then, Arizona girl that she was.

Unaware of the Commander's internal musings, Rapi's eyes widened ever-so-slightly further in response to Emma's inquiry, before averting her gaze with a self-critical expression now painted across her features. "I…" the ruby-eyed blonde halted, seeming to need to steel herself before continuing. "...Yes. I'm staying with Counters. I'm… I'm not coming back to Absolute."

While Vesti did look more than a little heartbroken at that declaration, Emma presented more of an aura of resigned relief. The tall blonde hummed before she replied. "I see. It's good to know, finally." Letting out a deep sigh, she continued. "You should tell Eunwha. She really needs closure."

"Um," Vesti awkwardly started. "Y-yeah…" She nervously agreed with her squadmate.

Rapi's brow fell along with her lips, and she remained silent. That made sense to Joe, given how virulently hostile Eunwha was to Rapi. He wouldn't want to have to interact with her unnecessarily either, frankly.

After a few moments of silence that rapidly grew uncomfortable, it was Cinderella that spoke up next. "Rapi?" She started, shifting her position to lean over the blonde's shoulder. "Are you at odds with your former squadmate?"

Rapi's frown deepened, it took her a few moments to reply. "...I-it's not that. I just…" She trailed off, the room finding itself overtaken by quiet.

Expression growing pensive, Cinderella leaned just a little closer in towards her fellow. "Rapi, were you not estranged from Joe and I for many, many years? If such a divide could not truly sever the bonds we share, surely, that which you'd formed with your new friends can be restored in short order as well?"

While Emma and Vesti's eyes went wide and sharply locked on Joe, the man just smiled faintly at the sight of Cinderella being a good friend. He adored it whenever the girls helped each other like this.

Rapi started to fidget uncomfortably in her seat. "I-I…" She stammered out, deeply warily.

"Rapi," Cinderella continued, her tone taking on a degree of firmness usually not present. "You stop that. You are surrounded by friends. Friends that want what's best for you and only want to see you happy. If Eunwha is your friend, you should be doing everything you can to mend the bond you share."

"Y-yeah!" Vesti piped up, momentarily showing a degree of certainty before she just as quickly shrunk in on herself again.

Emma, meanwhile, lightly stroked Vesti's back in a comforting display before she interjected as well. "She's right, Rapi. And it's not like you'd be talking to Eunwha alone. We'll be there with you, you know. Just like always."

Closing her eyes, Rapi took a deep, bracing breath. For as much as she didn't want to have to deal with such an uncomfortable situation, she was surrounded and overwhelmed. As it was, she was going to be forced to confront Eunwha over everything, and for what? What difference would it make? She'd still left Absolute. She'd still run away and refused to interact with her former squadmates. She'd still been broken by what they'd done together. She'd still lied to them about who she was…

"E-Eunwha said she'd be at the armoury…" Vesti noted in that tiny voice of hers, anxious little bean that she seemed to be.

"Come, Rapi," Emma beckoned the smaller blonde with an encouraging smile. "Eunwha doesn't want to be mad. She just misses our friend and comrade. We're going to be deploying on this next mission together, so it would be best if we're all on the same page with the air cleared between us. Professional as Eunwha prefers to be, she's… More emotional than she'd like to believe, as you're well aware."

Rapi was quiet for several long moments, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath. With a pained grimace, she eventually replied. "...This is so sudden…" She noted with some hesitation.

"The operation isn't happening quite right now today," Emma noted with a warm smile. "By the end of today, or even tomorrow morning is all we're asking for. Come with us to talk to Eunwha when you're ready, just, don't take so long that we have to deploy with Eunwha still mad at you."

Letting out a deep breath through her nose, Rapi took a bit to eventually give her answer by way of a single, shallow nod.

The relief on Emma's face was palpable, while Vesti just looked happy to potentially see her trusted comrades become friendly again.

Cinderella hummed in satisfaction, continuing to brush Rapi's hair with exacting precision as the situation seemed to be adequately resolved.

After a few moments of quiet, Emma glanced around the room before settling on her fellow blonde again. "The more things change, the more they stay the same though, huh? You still refuse to spend any of your paycheque on yourself, or a proper chair, or a proper table, or nice decorations, Rapi?"

While Rapi's lips curled down into a little frown at the observation of her… Ascetic living conditions, it was actually Cinderella that spoke up next. "This is fine, my own quarters are much the same way. Such is perfectly acceptable for the time being, seeing as how our current living situation is only temporary until we move into the Commander's Suite with Joe regardless."

It took a few moments for the man in question to actually process what he'd just heard. When he did, his brain froze along with his face, expression locked into a wide-eyed but otherwise blank visage. What did- Did she- Wait a minute, hold on what did she just- 'WE?'

As Cinderella continued to idly brush Rapi's hair, with the strawberry blonde notably sharing Joe's expression, Emma's attention gradually shifted to focus on the man, her smile gradually growing to reach her ears, even as Vesti's face turned cherry red in accordance with her eyes becoming unto dinner plates.

"Co-mman-der~!" Emma started, her voice pitching up several octaves as she cupped her own cheeks in excitement. "I knew it! I knew it from the moment I set eyes on you! An insatiable hunger, a lust for the perfection of womanhood! You could never hide from your own kind, Commander!"

HOLD UP, WAIT A MINUTE MAN- WHAT?

As Joe remained frozen in place, his pupils snapping about as he struggled to process what was happening, Vesti was once more hiding behind her hands while now whistling like a kettle, and Cinderella was looking at Emma out of the corner of her eye, lips pursed as she seemed to be considering something.

Emma, not noticing the twintailed platinumette's attention, focused her own on Rapi. "Is that why we've never heard about these two before now, Rapi? To be 'estranged' from two you're so close to—a lover's spat only recently mended, perhaps?" She asked, clearly high on the entire notion and speaking without thinking first.

Thus, Emma was likely not quite expecting the resulting wave of ice water that washed over the room, how intensely awkward the air between Joe, Rapi, and Cinderella suddenly became as the three's expressions shifted to utter embarrassed horror, as Emma just unknowingly stepped on a landmine, and everyone heard the 'click.'

With the three now averting their gaze from anyone else in the room, it quickly became clear to Emma that she'd just made a mistake, even as Vesti stared up at her in abject horror. With the air now being charged in the worst way, it became very clear to Joe that there was probably a reason Ingrid apparently had to try ordering Emma to reign herself in around others.

"...O-oh, oh shit, I uh," Emma's eyes snapped between Joe, Rapi and Cinderella, a teeth-clenched grimace finding purchase on her face as it registered that yeah, she had just unintentionally jammed her thumb into a sore wound—there was probably a reason Absolute never heard about Joe or Cinderella in the decades they'd been comrades with Rapi, it only just occurred to her.

"H-hey!" Vesti stepped forward, face burning with horror at the situation, yet still, she steeled herself as she valiantly put herself in the midst of the burning room. "Rapi, can we go talk? We- we've really missed you, and it'll help you, um, right, ease into talking to Eunwha later!"

Though Rapi was clearly still mortified by the unintentional reminder of how awful she'd been to Joe back during the days of Goddess, after they'd been such happy lovers for so long no less, it wasn't intentional on Emma's part, and, she had to admit, Rapi did miss her friends. "...O-okay," Rapi started as she stood from her seat. "Cinderella, we can spend more time together later, since you live in the Outpost too, while Absolute-"

"I understand," Cinderella replied, reaching over and lightly pressing on Rapi's shoulder to push her towards Emma and Vesti. "Go on, we'll have all the time in the world once your upcoming mission is over and done with."

Rapi couldn't help but smile appreciatively at her fellow's understanding, and she moved for her black-and-red clad former companions, cutting a distinctive figure that stood apart from her previous appearance, with her hair done up like that and her neon red jacket announcing her presence like a flare in the dark.

Walking past Joe, Rapi looked up at him, their eyes meeting for a moment. Her expression was painfully apologetic, which the man didn't care for in the least, but they could talk about… How their previous relationship had ended later. Cinderella was right, Rapi should take the opportunity to clear the air with Absolute before deploying into a Heretic combat zone with them.

So, he didn't stop her. She stood before her old squadmates for a moment before they started off out the hallway door, Emma and Vesti both hesitating only to shoot Joe apologetic looks of their own, with Emma's being much more guilty than Vesti's for obvious reasons.

After a moment, it was just Joe and Cinderella left in Rapi's depressingly spartan room. The two remained quiet for a time, until the pair's gazes met, and Joe was suddenly hit by the reminder of Cinderella's use of 'we,' in the context of… "'W-we?'" He asked with no small amount of uncertain wariness.

"Hm?" Cinderella vocalized her confusion, tilting her head at the man in a display that was too damned cute.

"E-Ellie…" Joe tugged at the collar of his shirt, pausing to clear his throat. "You said, until 'we' move in with me?"

"Yes?" The blue-eyed beauty replied, brow lightly furrowing. "What are you-?" She paused, stared for a moment, then her eyes widened as awareness hit her. "Oh- Joe, what in all of creation are you confused by? You and Rapi are, and always have been an item. I am no fool, I have always seen the manner in which you two gaze upon each other, both back then, and still now, how you each steal longing glances at the other when the other thinks they aren't looking."

Wait, Rapi was longingly looking at him too-

"In acknowledging you two as an item… My Prince, did you think I sought to usurp Rapi's place at your side all this time?" Cinderella inquired, her expression falling into a very slightly hurt one.

The Commander blinked, lightly cocked his head, and stared as he struggled to process what was being said. She- she didn't mean, there was no way-

His thoughts were interrupted as, being alone and at no risk of being seen doing so, Cinderella took a step towards him, lifting off mid-step to meet his gaze with a stable hover. Now eye-level with the significantly taller man, she reached out with both hands to cup his face, letting out a small sigh with a slightly disappointed tilt to her voice and expression. "You and Rapi belong together. Any and all could and can see it clear as day. Never did I operate under the impression that I would replace her in your heart. No, you two… One would have to be a truly delusional fool to not understand that you are both a package deal. One does not come without the other. And besides…"

She smiled lightly while stroking the man's cheek with her deceptively delicate-seeming finger.

"A bird does not fly with just one wing, my Prince," she lovingly stated with resolute certainty.

…Oh.

Oh.

Now smiling more broadly, Cinderella lightly squeezed Joe's cheeks as she held her position, just staring into his eyes with those big blue sapphires of hers.

It took a few moments, which included Joe clenching his eyes shut as he took a very deep, bracing breath. He did, eventually, manage a reply. "Ellie, I- This needs to be set aside. I don't… I don't want to save Marian, only for her to see—after she spent what she thought were her last moments and words telling me she loved me—how quickly I moved on from her. She… She deserves better than that, when she helped me and was so resolutely a protector even in the short time I was the Commander of Silver Gun."

Though Cinderella's expression fell, it only fell into one of neutrality, which itself quickly became understanding. "That is why you and Rapi haven't truly reignited your torches for each other. Because you cannot bear the thought of hurting Marian after all she's been through."

Emitting a shuddering breath, he replied. "It's as I said: I just don't want her to be released from the Corruption, only to find that I'd moved on, so soon after she passed. That's all. After that, after I've had the chance to talk to her…"

"I understand," Cinderella cut him off, relenting her, however soft, grip on his face. "I've waited a hundred years for you already. A few weeks, or even months longer-?" She stopped, her breath hitched, and she settled a hand over her chest as she closed her eyes. "No, it is not the same. Because you're right here. I can see you. I can touch you. I can feel you… I will not seek to deceive you and say that it will not be torturous, yet, Marian did so much for you in the short time you knew her, that I at least owe her this courtesy."

Opening her eyes again, Joe saw that arresting resolute diamond sparkle once more, as she spoke with certainty.

"However, after that… I would see you soaring like an angel through the Heavens upon wings of promised victory. Just as you once did for me." She allowed her hand to fall by her side once more, still meeting the man's gaze without faltering. "Do we have an understanding?"

Joe, however, did falter. Not because he didn't understand, or because he disagreed, but because he was stunned.

"...Joe?" Cinderella spoke once more to break him from his reprieve.

"-Ah!" He shook his head and slapped himself on the forehead, grimacing at the display. "I-I'm sorry I-" Taking a deep breath, he answered her. "Yes. Understood." Cinderella, at her best, always had that damned tendency to just… Make his heart ache. Why did she have to be so damned pretty?

Nodding lightly in turn, Cinderella let out a small sigh. "Then we shall set this topic aside… For now. Otherwise," she took a shallow breath before continuing. "Is there anything else?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Joe nodded once before noting: "As soon as Snow's back from the Arctic, Andersen said to let him know. He's going to come up to actually reunite with everyone once we're all back in Shangri-La together."

Cinderella's breath hitched again, this time, she looked intensely relieved. "...Okay. Good. I'm glad." Her brow then furrowed in naked frustration. "Stupid old man, making his daughter wait so long…"

Joe snorted at that. "Yeah, he's terrible, isn't he?"

"Just the absolute worst," she declared, pursing her lips in a small display of petulant anger. "...As soon as we're all here together?"

"The very moment," Joe nodded.

"Very well then," Cinderella lowered herself back to the ground, settling her toes then her tall heels on the undecorated floor with preternatural grace. "...You likely have much to do in preparation for your next mission?"

He nodded in affirmation.

"Then I shall leave you to your duties," Cinderella declared as she started out the door herself. "I believe I will collect Rapunzel, and we will go visit the church being built here. It has been so long since we've set eyes on one which wasn't in ruins… Such will doubtlessly lift each of our spirits." Stopping at the door, she turned around to look over her shoulder, presenting the Commander with a broad, loving smile. "I will wait diligently, my Prince."

With that, she took her leave. Joe, in turn, grasped his heart with nobody around to see it, before registering that, while Rapi didn't exactly seem to really consider this room hers so much as just the place where she slept… It would be weird for him to just stand around in her room alone.

Regardless, though he did so with affection, the man did ponder as he departed from the officer's suites himself, how these two Goddesses were just as liable to be the death of him as they could be his salvation. They were so much more than mere women, while he was only human, after all.

 

[Dsaeg]

No, it is not the same. Because you're right here. I can see you. I can touch you. I can feel you… I will not seek to deceive you and say that it will not be torturous,

Click to shrink...

Huh, thats a new one.

 

[Earl Silver]

Cinderella really do be proving why she's so fucking awesome, huh?
Don't get me wrong Red Hood is still my favorite Nikke girl, if only Shift Up would give her a cowgirl fit that wasn't effectively assless chaps because I'd pay so much money for that, but Cinderella is not lagging far behind in this fic.

 

[NooneImportant]

while he was only human, after all.

Click to shrink...

Roll credits (to the backdrop of Joe slowly spinning on a turntable).

 

[The 17th Immortal]

Roll credits (to the backdrop of Joe slowly spinning on a turntable).

Click to shrink...

~You spin me right 'round
Baby, right 'round~

 

[NooneImportant]

~You spin me right 'round
Baby, right 'round~

Click to shrink...

No-no.
~Some people got the real problems
Some people out of luck
Some people think I can solve them
Lord heavens above~

Spoiler: Pretend this is a cute anime girl or Joe or something

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kssvj_RF1E&pp=0gcJCUABo7VqN5tD

 

[Ace of Scarabs]

Ellie really pushing hard for being Best Girl.

 

[Blackhart]

Oh hey, long time no see! Hope life is going okay.
Damn, of course Emma summons emotional tension so thick you could barely cut through it with Nikke grade chainsaw, classic
Thanks for the chapter!

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 98 - A Leaking Dam and A Commander's Burden
===

"It'll be fine, Rapi," Emma attempted to assure the smaller blonde as the trio made their way out the front door of the Command Centre to make way for the dedicated Armoury. "Eunwha just needs to hear from you that your time with Absolute is done. Then, we can move on and stop feeling stuck in this awkward fugue state."

Vesti spoke up next. "Ingrid has a big upgrade package for us ready to go, but Eunwha has been refusing to accept it… I think she's been hoping to wait until you come back, so we could all undergo the upgrades at once, together."

The strawberry blonde's gaze fell, her lips drawing into a taut line. That made Rapi feel even more guilty than she already did. But, it would have only made it worse if she'd said anything.

After a few moments of silence—only the sounds accompanying their travel being the three women's heeled feet click-clacking against the sidewalk alongside the distant sounds of constant construction work happening—Emma let out a sigh before continuing.

"Rapi, please stop clamming up and locking us out," the comparatively towering woman pleaded. "You've always been so explosively expressive. Loud, proud, so eager to excite and hype us up, make us feel like champions and heroes before, in the middle of, and after every successful operation…"

"Even though it was always you that did the most work at the end of them…" Vesti added quietly, wringing her little hands together. "I'll never forget that first time you got Eunwha to start actually accepting your fist bumps. How even she couldn't help but start smiling and laughing along with you."

Emma lit up like a Christmas tree at that. "Grumpy Eunwha, smiling, laughing, cheering and pumping her fist when she broke her own record! Bragging about how 'Absolute means nothing less than perfection…'" Smiling broadly, she set her cheek on the palm of her hand. "She hasn't smiled since you left. She's been so prickly, so standoffish… And you've changed so much too, Rapi," she noted, turning to face the smaller woman with a concerned frown.

Rapi's frown deepened exponentially at that. The way she'd behaved back then—like Red Hood. Like… Herself, in retrospect. Flippant, unserious, treating everything like a joke even as she ran ahead of everyone else to lead the charge. The type of behaviour that caused Goddess so many headaches, that culminated in her mistreating Joe the way she had. That ultimately wound up resulting in her… Killing a civilian, and not caring. Because she'd grown arrogant, and tired. Sick of everything, sick and tired and weighed down by the knowledge that she'd been a monster in her past life.

Yet, that knowledge had been a lie. The entire time, she had saved both the Ark and mankind alongside Joe in performing the actions that resulted in her Mind Switch. That knowledge, it had resulted in her breaking a second time, presenting a mask to Absolute to hide who she thought she really was, only to discover… The mask she'd been wearing, that personality, was who she really was, and always had been.

All of this was the result of that initial lie. If not for that lie, she… Could have just been. She'd still have been with Absolute. She'd have never been put in the position to hurt Eunwha in the first place. She wouldn't have been worn down, had her mindset broken to the point of being annoyed at her killing a human, even if unintentionally.

That lie. That damned lie. If not for that damned lie, she'd have just been herself, but not conditioned herself into believing that she was wearing a mask, a mask that weighed heavy with a lie that she'd done some great evil she had to repent for. Decades. Decades she'd carried that weight. Decades that lie coloured the way she'd thought…

But, even still, what was she supposed to say? Apologizing, trying to explain her point of view, it only made things worse. It would only make things worse.

"Rapi…" Emma continued in a saddened tone. "Please, talk to us. Why did you leave? Why did you grow so cold, so distant, so gloomy? You used to light up the room with your presence alone, that little lopsided grin you'd wear everywhere you went. So cocksure, but with the skills to back that self-assurance up. You just… left one day. We only found out when Eunwha asked Ingrid where you were, and picking you and your new squad up in the city was the first time since then we'd seen you at all."

"You were even still wearing the squad uniform too…" Vesti added quietly, a forlorn expression finding purchase on her features. "I thought that maybe you meant to come back after… Whatever it was you were doing. But, now I don't know what to think. I don't know why you left. I don't know why you stopped wearing our uniform. I don't know why you aren't coming back…"

Rapi grimaced outright at that point. She couldn't apologize, it would just make everything worse. But… She didn't know what she could do to make it up to Absolute. It was actions that mattered, but what action could she take here?

Emma sighed heavily, frustration growing in her chest, but gentle soul that she was, that frustration would never manifest or show in open anger. Instead her voice merely hardened, even then, only ever-so-slightly. "Rapi, say something. Anything. We don't want to assume the worst, but when you seem to just refuse to even offer so much as an explanation…"

After a few moments, feeling her chest tighten exponentially, Rapi, before she could logic her way into stopping before she started, blurted out: "I couldn't stay," in a strained voice.

While Emma perked up, sharply turning to Rapi with rapt attention, Vesti spoke up again. "W-wait," she interjected somewhat guiltily. "E-Eunwha should hear this too…"

Though that did cause Emma's frustration to spike, given that it seemed like they'd just made a breakthrough with Rapi… Vesti had a point, and Emma recognized that she was probably pushing a bit too hard without Eunwha present, given that she was the most terribly affected by Rapi's sudden and unexplained departure.

Thus, the far larger blonde sighed and relented. "You're right, you're right. Rapi, please, once we're with Eunwha, just… Talk. Just like you did right there. Just, please, stop holding it in. Just let it out. Please, just let it out."

Rapi's heart was going like a jackhammer. Just, let it out? Speak without thinking, like she used to? Like when she was Red Hood? Like when she was still back home with her mother-?

Rapi's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, her breath hitched for a moment even as her legs carried her forward, seemingly on autopilot.

Her mother. Her mother. Her life, her life before she was a Nikke, a piece of it, however small, however fleeting and almost phantasmal, had returned to her.

Her name, her face, her voice, all were still gone, she still couldn't see or hear them in her mind's eye… But a flash of the feelings, the emotions all came rushing back at once. Rapi had a mother. A mother she'd cherished, loved more than life itself. A mother that had given her everything. A mother that had taught her to read, to be brave, to be strong, to fend for herself in a cruel world, to be honest and loyal to those who earned her loyalty, to never tolerate disrespect from those who dared to disrespect her when she put her best foot forward. To respect those who were deserving of respect…

A mother that had loved her, picked her up when she was at her absolute lowest, whispered 'my little baby girl' in a voice Rapi couldn't remember as she clutched a helpless little girl that had been left behind into her chest when she was still so small and so slight, almost weightless…

Pressure started to build up in the back of her throat, and behind her eyes. Rapi fought to keep her composure, to control her emotions. She remembered that she had a mother. She remembered that she loved her mother, and was loved in turn. But she could remember nothing more than that. She couldn't remember the face or the voice of the woman she owed everything to. The woman that gave her a life she'd thought she'd never get to live, even if it had wound up briefer than it should have been…

And here she was, being marched right into a confrontation with Eunwha.

Why, Rapi wondered, did every emotional interaction she had with the people around her have to go like this? All the time, no matter the life she was living…

No matter what, it seemed, no matter how far she travelled, even a million miles away, after becoming an entirely different person, there, waiting for her so terribly persistently, she'd find herself. Just as broken and malfunctioning as she had ever been.

What a terribly cruel world.

---

Joe stared blankly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, already feeling utterly exhausted by the situation as it was. "Why?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"Why what?" Drake inquired in turn, brow furrowing in confusion. "Wait, no, I'm the one asking the questions here! So again: can you drive?"

"Yes, I can drive," he answered honestly. "So again, why- AH!" the Commander yelped, hand shooting out and barely managing to catch the keys that were whipped right at his face by the so-called villainess.

"Then you drive!" Drake declared, already marching around the fancy bright red high-speed low drag supercar adorned with a carbon fibre roof and white racing stripes on the sides she'd led him to upon arriving in the Ark proper. The thing only came up to her waist. Quite the departure from the big ol' pick-up trucks you had to climb onto and into the backwoods country Canadian boy was used to, to say the least.

"Why do I need to be the one to drive your car?" He asked, examining the keys engraved with the Missilis logo.

"Because I'm not allowed to drive anymore!" Drake declared as she popped open the passenger side door of the low-profile two-seater. "Court order," she added matter-of-factually in a way that totally wasn't incredibly concerning. "Also, Maxwell's busy doing stuff in the armoury, so she can't drive, and Laplace can't drive because she can't see over the dash, or can't reach the pedals when she uses a booster seat and she doesn't like platform boots for 'being dishonest.' So come on!" she said as she slapped the roof of the car before climbing in. "Those family-sized Mustang Fried Chicken buckets aren't going to go and order themselves!"

Indeed, everyone rooming in the Command Centre barracks wound up unanimously deciding that they wanted chicken (or simulated chicken, at least, not that one could tell on account of how stupidly malleable Nutrium was) for dinner. Given that Tetra Line was hilariously over-represented in the Outpost, the girls all wound up talking about how long it had been since they'd had apparently beloved Mustang Fried Chicken…

Long story short, Joe wound up being saddled with travelling down to the Ark to place the order and bring it back. The reason being that Drake affirmed that she had a car in the Ark, so they could save on delivery fees, on top of Joe's being a Commander meaning they'd get the much venerated Commander's discount by having him go in and work his magic. Which was to say, be recognized and surely have the benefit foisted upon him without his consent.

Joe wasn't Andersen; he didn't much care for special treatment and would rather remain generally anonymous if possible. Yet, Drake had a point about saving money. Even if they were kind of swimming in credits right then and there on account of Shangri-La's general absurd output in terms of mission performance—even regarding automated dispatches Joe wasn't really involved in setting up or overseeing—Lord only knew when they'd find themselves short on cash. Best to save wherever they could.

Thus, the man found himself fumbling with the controls of the vehicle, though only momentarily, considering Drake was quick to point out to him where everything was and all that. It was rather remarkably like something out of Cyberpunk 2077, meaning that it was sick, even if Joe didn't understand how the thing worked under the hood, aside from being electric and having a big radiation hazard symbol printed on the engine block, visible through the rear window that only seemed to be there to give a view of the engine.

"You don't look very confident for someone that knows how to drive," Drake mused while giving Joe a wary stare with her beady eyes. "What, you never driven a car like this before?"

"No," the man flatly declared as he hit the power button, which produced an underwhelming thush-whirr rather than the roar that accompanied most gasoline-powered vehicles back home. All automobiles in the Ark were electric, after all. Some electric engines were just more powerful than others. "This thing is a bit beyond what I'm used to driving."

"Heh. Well get ready to get impressed! You should see the airtime this thing can get when you ramp it off of something juuuust right!" Drake pantomimed a car hitting a ramp and soaring through the air with her hand, producing an explosion when it hit… Something indistinct.

Joe just stared blankly at the white-haired woman. It suddenly made sense why she wasn't allowed to-

"Oh, don't worry," Drake started, waving off some perceived concern. "That wasn't this car going 'boom' when it hit the thing. You wouldn't believe how sturdy Missilis built the Drakemobile to be! I've slammed right into the side of those Armoured Personnel Carriers the Ark Central Police Unit parks around the Government district before. Barely even got a scratch! You'd think that the car was totalled with the way Syuen and Maxwell reacted, though," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

-It suddenly made sense why she wasn't allowed to drive anymore. "And why, exactly, were you driving in a way that facilitated you crashing into an APC in the middle of the Ark in the first place?"

"Chasing down Heavenly Ascension with Laplace," Drake replied bluntly. "Infinity Rail only just caught them trying to blow up another train. Wasn't going to let them get away with that, trying to hurt civilians again."

'…Heavenly Ascension.' That was a name Joe hadn't heard in a while. Since his first and only mission to the surface with Marian, in fact. Terrorists that use the mistreatment of Nikkes as an excuse to hurt people, while not actually doing anything to help Nikkes achieve the same rights that everyone else had, to his understanding. "Did you catch them?"

"Not me," Drake shrugged. "Laplace kept going though. Was launched right at them when the car suddenly stopped, and she crashed through the back of their getaway vehicle like a brick. Whole dang thing wound up rolling down the street when she went at them while the van was still moving. It was kind of gnarly."

Joe blinked very slowly, taking a deep breath with both hands gripping the wheel of the unmoving car. "This happened in the middle of the street of the Government Sector?"

"Yeah, crazy they went there of all places, right? Apparently they started panicking the moment they recognized us, as they well should have! I'd be terrified to know that the Villain of Villains Drake had my number too!" She leaned back, chortling upwards into the roof of the vehicle's cabin.

Holy shit, Joe couldn't believe how irresponsible that was. Yet, somehow, he knew that his words would fall upon deaf ears were he to vocalize such thoughts, and so he just took a deep breath, focusing his gaze forwards as he prepared to drive-

The man yelped in shock when the entire vehicle jostled with a loud thump emerging from the roof, along with- "Onwards! Towards the dastardly villains that infest the Ark!" Laplace declared from the top of the car.

Joe did respond to that. "Are you out of your damn mind!?" He called out, reaching up and smacking the underside of his fist against the ceiling. "Get off the damned car!"

"What is she supposed to do then?" Drake inquired, leaning over and giving the Commander a dubious look. "There's only two seats in the Drakemobile, and Laplace always rides on the roof anyway!"

The man turned aside to give the stark-haired woman an aghast look. Then he paused, glanced backwards, and- Yeah. There were indeed only two seats. Yet… "So have her like, sit on your lap or something!"

"Hey! She's not that small!" Drake declared. "Plus, the last time we tried to fit everyone in here at once, we wound up flipping the car in front of the main police station. It's safer if she rides on top of the cabin. Plus, she enjoys doing it anyway!"

The Commander pursed his lips, and after pondering the situation for a moment, inquired: "If you have a car of your own, why doesn't Laplace? If Missilis is custom building these things for you, her size shouldn't even be an issue to begin with, right?"

"They did build something for Laplace," Drake started matter-of-factually. "The Laplacecycle got built so that she would fit on it properly and everything! But they forgot to ask if Laplace actually knew how to ride a motorcycle the first time it was ready to ride, and she shotgunned the throttle all the way open and rocketed full-force into the wall on the far end of the engineering bay back at Missilis HQ, so it's currently in the shop being overhauled and rebuilt to be tougher while she takes motorcycle driving courses in the meantime."

Joe just stared blankly at Drake, his horror reaching new heights as he just knew somehow that she wasn't fucking with him, and was telling him the God's honest truth. Jesus Christ, how terrifying. But, in an attempt to get his mind off of that particular thing… "First, the 'Drakemobile,' then the 'Laplacecycle…'" the man paused and clicked his tongue. "What next? The Maxwelltruck?"

"Maxwellcopter," Drake corrected him without missing a beat. "When the eggheads at the Missilis Engineering Corps asked us all what sorts of personal vehicles we wanted, I asked for the Drakemobile, Laplace asked for the Laplacecycle so she could 'get around anywhere and everywhere a car couldn't so evil doers could never get away,' and Maxwell really sarcastically asked for a helicopter with her face on it."

Drake rubbed her nose with a light sniffle as she continued.

"I don't think the head engineer understands sarcasm, though, because they actually went and built it for her. The whole cabin is built to look just like her face, and the inside of it is panoramic with a damn near three-hundred-sixty degree view of everything around it! It's wicked sick! Maxwell doesn't actually know how to fly a helicopter though, so Syuen is making her train in her time off using Missilis Flight Simulator until she's competent enough that we can deploy in it. She's almost there, but I don't think we'll be able to like, take it to the surface for this current mission or anything like that, so don't go getting your hopes up just yet."

Again, Joe just stared at Drake, who stared back at him, though she was casually blinking, in stark contrast to him.

"What?" The black-bedecked woman asked after a few moments. "I got something on my face or something?"

He was getting increasingly worried about the notion of actually going out into the field with these girls, he had to be honest-

"Hey!" A voice in Joe's left ear caused him to jump. Whipping his gaze around, he was met with Laplace's upside-down visage, the diminutive woman having dropped to her belly to hang her head over the side of the vehicle and peer into the driver's side window, her golden blonde hair streaming off of her head with her twintails in particular likely actually touching the ground at the base of the car. "What's taking so long? Didn't we order the chicken ahead of time? It's gonna get cold before we get there at this rate!"

"Yeah, the chicken's gonna get cold at this rate!" Drake asserted, harshly pointing at the steering wheel. "So move it or lose it! Nobody wants to have to eat cold chicken!"

Taking a deep, bracing breath, Joe clicked on the racing-style full safety harness, adjusted his grip on the wheel- Or, was it still called a wheel when it had spade grips? Bah, he adjusted his grip on the controls before moving to shift out of park.

Notably, doing this caused the entire cabin to suddenly seem to disappear, which caused Joe to jump as he could suddenly see Laplace leaping to stand on thin air above them, dramatically posing like a Sentai character on top of the about-to-move automobile. The whole damn vehicle's roof was evidently covered in micro-cameras that projected onto the massive screen the entire ceiling was made of, thus granting the visual advantages of a convertible, without actually needing to withdraw the vehicle's hard, protective roof.

It was sometimes shocking how easily Joe forgot that he was living in a bone-fide cyberpunk future, apocalyptic war or no. He'd also never driven a car like this before. The only thing he could remember driving lately (relatively speaking, from his admittedly skewed perspective) was those ruggedized military vehicles back when he'd started working for Andersen Solutions and Andersen didn't quite know what to do with him yet, beyond assigning him to logistics work.

At any rate, with a sigh, the car started to back up out of its parking space with a loud recurring 'beep' once the brake was released as Joe kept his eye on the rear view camera. Thus, the Drakemobile, currently decorated with a dramatically posing wannabe Sentai superhero on its roof, started off to fulfill its noble duty of providing hot fried chicken to a small army's worth of emotionally neglected cyborg super soldiers.

What a heavy burden he bore.

 

[LordAxel20]

>Rapi: Being really close to have an emotional breakdown
>Joe: Slapstick comedy on his way to get their order of (NOT!) KFC

 

[VH777Dragon]

>Rapi: Being really close to have an emotional breakdown
>Joe: Slapstick comedy on his way to get their order of (NOT!) KFC

Click to shrink...

God Almighty help Rapi and Joe , they both are taking sanity damage from two different directions yet the end result is still suffering for both of them,yet rapi might still take Joes place if she could maybe.