Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

[Gato]

Damn Cliffhangers, man. All the homies hate Cliffhangers.

Okay, are we getting a happy reunion? Cause Dorothy seems really cool with all of them, no lingering resentment just wanting them to be better. I'm really down for a happy chapter. Surely, nothing bad will happen!

Spoiler: Totally happy!

She's gonna think Joe's a clone or imposter or some shit, right? Can't have shit in Nikke, games nothing but coomer bait and depression!

 

[JKD_666]

As long as Joe remebers to bring up the Doro, we should be good.

 

[Dsaeg]

Damn Cliffhangers, man. All the homies hate Cliffhangers.

Okay, are we getting a happy reunion? Cause Dorothy seems really cool with all of them, no lingering resentment just wanting them to be better. I'm really down for a happy chapter. Surely, nothing bad will happen!

Spoiler: Totally happy!

She's gonna think Joe's a clone or imposter or some shit, right? Can't have shit in Nikke, games nothing but coomer bait and depression!

Click to shrink...

I hope for turbulent with a lot of denial and pointed guns but in the end all will be fine. Not good because even if Dorothy joins them there is still an issue that Eden is a fully functional settlement with strong ideology and decent population. It can't be dismantled overnight or if there is even need to do that.
I won't delve into possible scenarious but almost none of them allows for Dorothy to directly join Outpost.

 

[DarkthShadow]

You got me on pins and needles, I need another chapter ASAP

Click to shrink...

Same here, I had chills go down my spine after that chapter. Things will either go very well, or VERY bad from here, but I'm hoping it goes well.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 85 - Goddess Squad
===

Joe paced about in the tent, lightly wringing his hands together in anticipation of what was to come. Rapi, meanwhile, had claimed a stool made of titanium to support a Nikke's weight, anxiously tapping her knees as she did her level best to keep her breathing even.

The blonde was not happy in the least to have had Joe inform her that she was being used as bait to draw Dorothy out, but she saw the strategic value in the plan. Not that understanding it didn't make her feel like she'd been pushed into the line of fire regardless.

She was remembering more and more of her time as Red Hood, enough that she'd recognize Dorothy and share at least a portion of memories and experiences with her… Though she was still uncomfortable with being put on centre stage. Not that she'd complain, this was her duty to protect Joe, stand between him and any dangers which may cause him harm.

But it was just so damn uncomfortable!

Regardless, Rapi fidgeted in place, now regretting that she'd left Wolf's Bane outside leaning on that tree, as she'd at least be able to busy her hands field stripping it if she had it on hand. She could ask a member of Pioneer to grab it for her, but she didn't want to be a bother to anyone. She'd have gone out of her way to make her anxiety everyone else's problem as Red Hood. Again, she had to do better.

But still, Dorothy had always been so short with her. Easily annoyed, openly aggravated by the way she'd encouraged Joe to lean more into his less gentlemanly tendencies. Was this really such a good idea? Much of the time, it seemed like Dorothy had barely tolerated her, and understandably so, given how it had all ended up…

Letting out a shuddering breath, Rapi closed her eyes and made an effort to gather herself. In the midst of this simple exercise, she felt Joe's hand settle on her shoulder. Shifting her attention up to him, she made note of the apologetic look on his face. Then considered how intensely close he and Dorothy had been, and how incredibly hard this all had to be on him, considering how he kept being informed of how dangerous Dorothy was.

Rapi recalled how Joe and Dorothy had been so close that initially, she—along with the rest of Goddess—was certain beyond a reasonable doubt that they were in a relationship. They had to be. The only reason Dorothy wasn't spending all of her time on his lap was because she, like all Nikkes besides Cinderella at the time, weighed about 800 pounds, or around 363 kilograms on average.

The blonde ruminated upon how she'd started probing to test if she could potentially get herself involved in a three-way relationship with them at the time, given how easy on the eye both of them were. Only to have it affirmed to her on no uncertain terms by both parties that they were not in a relationship to begin with.

She recalled how incredibly unbelievable that was, to the point of getting pushy with Joe at the time, under the belief that her aggression would cause him to relent and admit the obvious truth that he and Dorothy were together to dissuade her from pushing him towards being unfaithful.

What that instead got her was laid, caught by Dorothy barging into the room while they were in the middle of the act to talk to Joe about something, and cursing them both out for being 'exhibitionist perverts' for not locking the door before 'rutting like dogs in heat.'

By then, Rapi found it difficult to keep believing that Dorothy was Joe's girlfriend when she was only annoyed to have walked in on him inside of another woman. Doubly so when Rapi was then herself merely chastised for her lack of discretion, more than anything else.

Granted, Dorothy made no attempt to mask her jealousy afterwards, or her possessiveness of the man, but she still never pushed to get his attention using her obscenely curvaceous body, in particular those shockingly thick and shapely hips- Er, rather, her... 'Feminine wiles' and 'winning personality.'

It made it difficult to get a read on her. Dorothy would often attempt to monopolize Joe's time, jockey for his attention with both Rapi and Cinderella once she'd joined the squad as well, yet she simply never went anywhere near as far as either of them. She wanted to spend time with him, but never tried anything romantic or sexual.

Dorothy was a deeply confusing woman, needless to say, and Rapi wasn't sure of what to think of her: besides that the pinkette didn't like her much at all, by the end. Understandably so, of course. Yet still, that brought her back to the modern day. Where Joe was more concerned about the oncoming potential meeting with his former second-in-command than their old, complicated relationship.

Even still, Joe's anxiety had to be stronger, all things considered. So Rapi leaned forward, wrapped her arms around the man's waist, pulling him into a hug to offer him a measure of comfort—which had the benefit of pressing her face into his chest, but that wasn't the primary reason she did it.

Smiling at the show of affection, Joe lightly hugged Rapi back.

After a few minutes of wordless support between the pair, Scarlet could be heard calling out from the outside of the tent. "Cinderella approaches, with Dorothy accompanying."

Joe's heartbeat picked up right fucking quick at that, which Rapi very much noticed given her situation. Suddenly, she was all too aware of the fact that they were about to be reunited with Dorothy, and it was on her to determine if it was safe for Joe to meet her again, if forming an alliance with Eden was even on the table.

This could be bad, and Rapi wasn't sure she was cut out for it.

---

Heart pounding in her chest, Dorothy did her best to keep her expression level as she set eyes on the rest of Goddess for the first time in many, many years. They were all fine. They were all safe. All in good health, all strong.

But, noticeably, Red Hood was nowhere to be seen.

Touching down alongside Cinderella—paying little mind to the tent which they'd likely all been planning to sleep within that night—Dorothy's winged armour disappeared in a flash of light, returning her to that same fine white dress she wore back in the past, their long-lost Commander's jacket dangling from her shoulders as though it were a cloak, as it ever did. The pinkette gazed upon her sisters, all of whom-

"Dorothy!" Rapunzel immediately rushed her, arms outstretched and a relieved smile worn clear on her face. "It's so good to see you again!"

Despite herself, despite the situation and everything that had happened and what was going on, Dorothy couldn't help but feel the corners of her mouth stretch upwards and outwards. Reaching out, the rush of serotonin as Rapunzel encircled her arms around the smaller woman, drawing her into a tight, loving hug was intense.

Rapunzel, of course, would have been the first to affirm that despite everything, they were still comrades, friends, family. No matter what, Rapunzel still cherished their relationship, and if not for Snow White's bull-headed stubbornness, they'd all still be together. They'd all still be happy.

This was all Dorothy wanted. This was all she needed. To have Goddess back. To be Goddess again. A squad, standing together against the end, holding the tide, being the Goddesses of Victory that would break the flood of Raptures threatening to overtake all.

"I've missed you, Rapunzel," the white-clad pinkette said in a breathy, wistful voice, practically melting into the larger woman's arms. "I've missed all of you," she declared with a shuddering sigh.

"We've missed you too, Dorothy," Rapunzel answered back, squeezing the wayward Nikke with a longing, melancholy frown.

"Your rooms are just as you left them, you know," Dorothy declared as Scarlet couldn't help but purse her lips in a mild amount of sheepish guilt. "Waiting for you all to come back and reclaim them…"

Snow White, in contrast, averted her gaze and pursed her lips as well, though in distaste and aggravation.

Peeking over Rapunzel's shoulder, Dorothy noticed, and at once, wondered if this meeting really had any chance of being as fruitful as she was hoping. If after all this time, Snow White was still clinging to her resentment to the point of bristling at Rapunzel merely going to hug her…

After a few moments, Rapunzel backed off, releasing Dorothy and lightly sniffling as she wiped at her eyes. Perhaps, if nothing else, Rapunzel could be convinced to return to Eden. All the good she could do there, with her unique healing abilities that even Cecil could not manage to decode... So many risks they could afford to take if the healing light of Goddess was with them again.

Scarlet, for her part, seemed wary and uncertain, more than anything else. She spoke up next. "It seems that you have been fairing well, Dorothy," she remarked with a degree of forced casualness.

Smiling lightly at that, Dorothy replied, "Such conduct ill suits you, Scarlet," she noted. "Since when do you not speak your mind, regardless of the consequences of doing so?"

"I've not played the role of the squad's hellion in countless moons, I'll have you know," Scarlet shot back with an offended frown. "I dare say, I have yet been the adult of Pioneer for seasons upon seasons now!"

"Oh?" Dorothy cocked her head at Scarlet quizzically. "Meaning you've finally given up morning drinking, then?"

Scarlet sheepishly averted her gaze once more, pointedly not answering the question she knew she could not answer favourably. Dorothy, in turn, smirked at her easy victory. Even still, all these years later, she'd never lost a spar with the barbaric swordswoman.

Shifting her gaze aside, the angelic beauty settled her violet eyes upon Snow White, who, in turn, settled her eyes on the horizon rather than reciprocate Dorothy's attention. She said nothing, projecting little beyond resentment at their reunion.

Dorothy met the dismissal with the same, simply looking elsewhere at the affirmation that remarkably little had changed since the last time she'd interacted with the Squad's youngest.

Cinderella watched quietly, having already had an exchange with Dorothy within the borders of Eden. There wasn't much to say between them by way of greetings which would hold water before they'd determined if they were to reveal Joe to their former squadmate.

Thus, there was nothing to distract Dorothy when her eyes drifted over the tree against which Rapi had rested her weapon. Wolf's Bane, seen by the diminutive pinkette for the first time in one hundred years, Dorothy felt her heart leap into her throat, and she lightly gasped upon setting eyes on it again.

Pioneer noticed, followed her gaze, and the air between them all suddenly became charged and tense.

Dorothy remained where she was, heeled feet seeming rooted into the grassy earth, a long, shuddering breath slipping past her lips before her attention drifted, and she traced their surroundings, the horizon itself for a few moments. She closed her eyes, a second, far more pained sigh coming from the pinkette before she quietly started off towards the garishly decorated rifle.

Nobody stopped her, watching her drift to Wolf's Bane with palpable sadness, coming to a stop before the massive weapon, gingerly reaching out and settling the tips of her fingers on the anodized metallic surface of the firearm. The wind catching her hair, skirt, and Joe's old olive drab jacket, she remained quiet as she simply stood there in silence.

Nowhere in sight. Absolute silence falling over the group. A silence which would never have lasted more than a scant few seconds in Red Hood's cacophonous presence. It seemed obvious to Dorothy, the reason Cinderella would not entertain the notion of speaking of Red Hood apart from Pioneer.

"...Did she go as a hero?" Dorothy asked, her voice quiet, but clearly audible to all present, given little other to make sound beyond the wind and the distant songs of birds.

Nobody replied, Dorothy's back was turned to everyone to stand before Wolf's Bane now. While Rapunzel remained focused on the pinkette, Scarlet had turned around to look at the tent, wondering how long Rapi intended to torment Dorothy for.

"At least- At least tell me she was surrounded by an army of obliterated Raptures," Dorothy pleaded. "Don't you tell me she accomplished anything less in her last moments. Don't you say she didn't send a legion of them to Hell on her way out. Don't you tell me that."

Seemingly on cue, the tent's flap parted just enough for Rapi to quietly pass through, out into the open. The expression she wore was strained, to say the least. Dorothy, of course, did not have eyes on the back of her head, and so failed to notice that the presumed dead member of Goddess was, in fact, there, and alive.

The beat hung for a few long moments. Scarlet and Cinderella stared expectantly at Rapi, while Snow White looked intensely agitated by the entire situation. Rapunzel was deeply moved by Dorothy's clear care for her thought-dead comrade, holding her tongue regardless, given that this wasn't her moment.

"Please," Dorothy all but whimpered as Rapi started off towards the white-clad woman.

The blonde hesitated once she was within arm's reach of her once-comrade, lips parting as if to say something, only to freeze and visibly struggle to find words to actually speak.

Dorothy, however, continued to ramble. "Don't say she was anything less than a hero in her final moments, don't say she did anything less than casting down humanity's enemies, don't say she didn't make a difference in the end. Don't say she was anything less than a Goddess of Victory."

At that, Rapi, though with great hesitation, reached out, and gingerly settled a hand on Dorothy's shoulder.

Utterly hyper-fixated on Wolf's Bane, Dorothy only registered that someone had approached to offer her some meagre comfort, to which she responded by reaching across her chest with her free hand, to firmly take hold of that which was offered to her. "I-I was angry with her… I was so cross with her, for the way she treated Joe. How she turned on him, treated him so terribly after he let her in, after he accepted her…"

Her breath hitched in her throat as she continued.

"I wanted to make her pay. I wanted to make her regret treating him so badly, when he'd only ever offered us his love. When he gave us everything, when he elevated us from mere soldiers, into humanity's Goddesses of Victory, with his heart alone. But Joe, I knew he would never tolerate that. I knew he expected better from me. I knew he believed that I was better than that."

Dorothy's head fell, hanging low as tears began to fall from her cheeks, her shoulders beginning to tremble beneath Rapi's hand.

"But I still stayed angry. I still refused to forgive her. I clung to my resentment. I refused to set it aside. I refused to rise up to the expectations Joe had of me. I hated her. I hated Red Hood. I let myself hate her, I refused to set it aside. I refused to speak to her. I refused to acknowledge her… And I only realized the terrible depths of the mistake I was making after it was too late. A mistake I could never correct."

Unknowingly clutching Rapi's hand with mounting desperation, as absolute dismay overtook her, Dorothy began sobbing outright.

"I'll never be able to make it right. I'll never be able to apologize. I'll never be able to talk to her again. I'll never be able to look her in the eye, hug her, hold her hand, appreciate what we had, repair our bonds and cherish what we had. Red Hood-"

Gritting her teeth in open dismay, Dorothy pressed her hand into Wolf's Bane, gasping and tearfully whimpering.

"-I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please, please forgive me, Red Hood…!"

Nothing but the sounds of nature, and Dorothy's pitiful crying could be heard for over an entire minute. In that minute, nobody could gather themselves well enough to respond to Dorothy's spilling of her guts.

Least of all Rapi, who was the subject of this admission of abject guilt and sorrow. Rapi just stood there, mouth gaping like a fish out of water. She didn't know what to say or do. This was the exact opposite of what she'd expected. She'd thought that Dorothy would tear into her, let a hundred year's worth of disappointment and anger spill out and hit her like a tsunami.

Rapi was caught completely flat-footed, frozen in place, struck hopelessly dumb.

All the while, Dorothy calmed down, the flow of tears slowing, breath evening out, emotions smoothing. Her face rose again, and she stared at Wolf's Bane mournfully. "I'm sorry, Red Hood. I, I'll-" Squeezing Rapi's hand, she turned slightly to actually properly acknowledge her former squad member, halting sharply upon spotting Rapi's distinctive black glove with a neon red palm, framed by the brilliant red of her trademark leather jacket.

Time seemed to slow as Dorothy continued to turn, eyes trailing up the entire length of Rapi's arm, following the length of her limb before, with scarcely describable rapidity, her reddened, tearful gaze snapped up to meet Rapi's, pupils constricting into pinpricks as the pinkette Goddess produced a razor-sharp inhaling gasp, eyes widening like saucers.

Both women went statue-still. The pair stared at each other in dead silence, visibly overwhelmed by the direction this entire situation had gone.

Eventually, however, the quiet had to be broken, and it was Rapi that broke it. "...Dorothy-"

She was cut off by Dorothy spinning around to face her, and leaping at her long-lost comrade with a keen, clawing desperation.

After a miserable century of lingering regrets, a soul-deep pain which could never possibly be corrected, without a solitary ounce of hesitation, Dorothy dove on this miracle.

This opportunity to set things right.

 

[moonmoon]

Why are you cutting onions, author-san!?

 

[Valthorix]

Well, that's step one competed. Now to hopefully keep her mostly calm during the explanation of what happened in the past hundred years and stop her from flying into a rage and nuking the Ark after she learns the context behind Rapi's mind shift and Joe's near death.

 

[Gato]

Why is always Cliffhangers with you?! I'm holding on for dear life over here!

Glad we got that confirmation for Dorothy just doing things to help out in her own way. It's nice to see them get along without any added drama for dramas sake.

Join us next chapter for a new episode of MythBusters where we find out if a buff Canadian can survive being hit by a 200Kg Nikke going at roughly 300km/h.

 

[Grim Dark Fantasy]

Why is always Cliffhangers with you?! I'm holding on for dear life over here!

Glad we got that confirmation for Dorothy just doing things to help out in her own way. It's nice to see them get along without any added drama for dramas sake.

Join us next chapter for a new episode of MythBusters where we find out if a buff Canadian can survive being hit by a 200Kg Nikke going at roughly 300km/h.

Click to shrink...

Bump that to 800 pounds (about 350 kilograms) at supersonic speeds.
Because we know that Dorothy haven't lost a single pound since almost a hundred years ago. Haven't gained one as well, she is as perfect as she can possibly be.
And even a flight module cannot fully compensate for the sheer inertia she will make after hearing the news.

 

[BakaSmurf]

Join us next chapter for a new episode of MythBusters where we find out if a buff Canadian can survive being hit by a 200Kg Nikke going at roughly 300km/h.

Click to shrink...

Bump that to 800 pounds (about 350 kilograms) at supersonic speeds.
Because we know that Dorothy haven't lost a single pound since almost a hundred years ago. Haven't gained one as well, she is as perfect as she can possibly be.
And even a flight module cannot fully compensate for the sheer inertia she will make after hearing the news.

Click to shrink...

In OH, all flight-capable Nikkes have been either originally built or upgraded with featherweight frames to facilitate the functioning of their anti-gravity modules, actually. Meaning that Dorothy, like Cinderella, is only somewhat heavier than one would expect based on her outward appearance. She actually weighs less than Joe, who is 200lbs/90kg now. He could very easily pick her up and carry her around like Cinderella at this point.

 

[Fragment of Serenity]

In OH, all flight-capable Nikkes have been either originally built or upgraded with featherweight frames to facilitate the functioning of their anti-gravity modules, actually. Meaning that Dorothy, like Cinderella, is only somewhat heavier than one would expect based on her outward appearance. She actually weighs less than Joe, who is 200lbs/90kg now. He could very easily pick her up and carry her around like Cinderella at this point.

Click to shrink...

...oh. Oh no.

Doro is going to demand to be carted around, isn't she?

 

[Grim Dark Fantasy]

In OH, all flight-capable Nikkes have been either originally built or upgraded with featherweight frames to facilitate the functioning of their anti-gravity modules, actually. Meaning that Dorothy, like Cinderella, is only somewhat heavier than one would expect based on her outward appearance. She actually weighs less than Joe, who is 200lbs/90kg now. He could very easily pick her up and carry her around like Cinderella at this point.

Click to shrink...

Okay, so what's the downside of featherweight frames, aside from sheer cost and probably rare materials required, that all Nikkes weren't built with them?
800 pounds feels a bit overwhelming for terrain if we are talking about under 5 feet tall Nikkes. Not to mention needing extra sturdy furniture to support such weight.

 

[YoRHa_42s]

Okay, so what's the downside of featherweight frames, aside from sheer cost and probably rare materials required, that all Nikkes weren't built with them?
800 pounds feels a bit overwhelming for terrain if we are talking about under 5 feet tall Nikkes. Not to mention needing extra sturdy furniture to support such weight.

Click to shrink...

for your consideration.
Imagine the durability of a frame made out of Steel, Lead and Some Titanium.
Now imagine the durability of a frame made out of lighter stuff.

It's a trade off.
Standard Nikke can take several buckshots and barely notice, a lightweight will likely get an exit hole.

 

[BakaSmurf]

Okay, so what's the downside of featherweight frames, aside from sheer cost and probably rare materials required, that all Nikkes weren't built with them?
800 pounds feels a bit overwhelming for terrain if we are talking about under 5 feet tall Nikkes. Not to mention needing extra sturdy furniture to support such weight.

Click to shrink...

Featherweight frames were bleeding-edge next-generation technology with all the implied costs associated when it was invented for Cinderella. The Grimms facility that had developed this technology was attacked and destroyed by Rose shortly after Cinderella was recruited to Goddess, and featherweight frames had to effectively be re-invented afterwards.

Humanity then started losing the war so badly, so quickly, that they straight-up could not afford to create Nikkes with them by the time they had the remade the technology.

In the modern day, every Ark Nikke isn't built with a featherweight frame because the Ark is run by discriminatory asswipes that have no intention of reclaiming the surface, and actively want Nikkes to weigh close to a half-a-ton on average because that's one of the few reliable ways to sus one out in public, and Nikkes are an othered second class in the Ark.

Featherweight frames being practically unheard of in the Ark's society outside of specialist Nikke squads like Aegis—who need to be light enough to be able to swim—also makes it far and away easier for the Central Government to mask their unfettered secret police Nikkes like Privaty, who, weighing only a little more than one would expect a baseline human woman to weigh anyways, are legitimately unidentifiable as Nikkes before they start doing Nikke things without using specialized equipment that only exists in CentGov hands to begin with.

Nikkes function just fine as the frontline soldiers they are with classic heavyweight frames too, so there's no pressing, practical reason to standardize featherweight frames in the Ark either, on top of everything else.

Outside of the Ark, Eden has been standardizing featherweight frames so that every single one of their Nikkes can fly for the same reason they've developed cybernetic technology that can actually be reliably applied to men to make them viable combatants against Raptures—specifically because, in sharp contrast to the CentGov, Eden is actually actively trying to build up the means to reclaim the surface and win the war. Simple as.

 

[Gato]

Imma be real. The only thing I got from that info drop was that Eden doesn't only support Nikke socially but is actively working towards making them easy to hug and pick up for sake of convenience.

The elites of the CG know that the Nikke in the park are free but made it so you can't pick them up and carry them home.

I had some worries that both the CG and Eden were kinda screwed up but that's not even a thing anymore. I'm taking my fun sized Nikke, 5'10 all thighs minimum, and taking the fight to the surface.

Wonder how Edens infrastructure works with them having to power that huge mirage field. Don't think they ever explained where Splendamin came from either, huh?

 

[Ace of Scarabs]

Don't think they ever explained where Splendamin came from either, huh?

Click to shrink...

Bready's debut event covers some but not all the information about Splendamin.

 

[Gawain]

makes it far and away easier for the Central Government to mask their unfettered secret police Nikkes like Privaty, who, weighing only a little more than one would expect a baseline human woman to weigh anyways,

Click to shrink...

I wonder if that ever leads to some funny situations with privaty and her weight.

Something something 100kg

And yeah Admi, Yulha and Privaty have noncombat frames. I'm going to assume seige perilous and maybe underworld queen also have some

 

[RuberFF]

God forbid you have to be called to pick me up, because they found me trying to buy clothes at the soup store, or something!"

Click to shrink...

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 86 - The Light in Her Eyes
===

"Red Hood, Red Hood, Red Hood…!" Dorothy cried out, wrapping her arms around Rapi with palpable desperation. "It can't be, it can't be…!"

"Ah-" Rapi was overwhelmed, to say the least. "I- I'm here. It's me," she feebly asserted, attempting to calm the pinkette down. She didn't know what else to say.

Breath hitching, choking and sobbing, Dorothy squeezed Rapi hard, holding onto the smaller woman with a slight tremble.

They remained like that for a good minute, Rapi awkwardly returning Dorothy's hug. Eventually, however, the wayward Goddess did seem to gather herself. Pulling back, the woman clad in her beloved Commander's jacket kept her hands on the blonde's slim biceps, giving Rapi an intense look of palpable relief.

"It's… It's really you?" Dorothy inquired, leaning in and giving the blonde a distressed stare. "Red Hood…?"

"Y-yes," Rapi answered with no small amount of mounting discomfort over the intense scrutiny she was receiving. "I, um…" the blonde trailed off, visibly uncertain.

Dorothy harshly drew her into another, desperate hug. "Am I dreaming…? This… This can't really be happening… It can't, it can't…!" Choking on her own breath, she whined, "Red Hood, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-"

"I-I know," Rapi attempted to assure her, awkwardly patting her on the back. "I heard, I, um- it's okay, Dorothy, it's okay."

Dorothy's cries only intensified at that, digging her fingers into the thick red leather of Rapi's jacket.

"How? How!? How!?"

"A-ah," Rapi faltered, doing her best to keep it together as she tried to get a handle on the situation. "T-that, that's a long story…"

The pinkette pulled back once more, furrowing her brow as she lightly tilted her head at the blonde. "...I don't- Am I dreaming? I- I must be dreaming, this can't be happening. I'm going to wake up, I'm going to wake up, and this is all going to- Ow!" Her hand whipped over, scarcely missing Scarlet's extended limb, which had reached out to harshly pinch her cheek. "What do you think you're-!"

"Didst thou awake in thy Eden chambers?" Scarlet flatly asked the wayward Goddess past lidded eyes.

Dorothy blinked owlishly, reaching up and rubbing at the lightly smarting cheek before her gaze shifted back over to Rapi, who was still quite visibly overwhelmed. "...This… Is real?" She inquired as she removed her hand from her own face, to settle it on Rapi's intensely feminine jawline. "Red Hood, you're- you're really here?"

"Um," Rapunzel started as she too, approached with some wariness. "She actually hasn't gone by 'Red Hood' for a very long time. She just uses her real name now."

Acknowledging the techno-nun for a moment, Dorothy shifted her focus back to the black-and-red bedecked blonde. "Rapi?"

The woman in question just shallowly nodded in affirmation.

"Why?" Dorothy asked with no small amount of confusion. "Does Snow White now go by Aino? Rapunzel Sofia, Cinderella Ellie, and Scarlet Hongryeon?"

"Well, you do go by 'Dorothy' rather than 'Sleeping Beauty' yourself…" Rapunzel noted with some trepidation at hearing her own given name for the first time in a very long time. "But, no, it's just Rapi and yourself that no longer uses her Grimms title."

"I see," Dorothy remarked as her fingers traced up Rapi's head, settling on the spot where one of her horns once projected from her crown. "But, still, why?" She reiterated her more pressing question.

"It's… Complicated," Rapi asserted with bone-deep discomfort. "The specifics of which I would prefer we not focus on right now." Primarily because Joe should handle the topic of everything that had happened in the Ark after it was sealed behind himself and her. Dorothy would be less likely to fly off the handle if their Commander had obviously not died in the attempt to destroy the Central Government back then.

Staring at the smaller woman, Dorothy let out a small sigh, shallowly nodding as she replied. "I- Yes, okay. It's- it's more important that you're here now. For now, just- Let's just focus on this. On our reunion, after so long."

Pausing, she traced her fingers along the place where Rapi's horns had once been.

"You look so different now… What changed?" Dorothy asked.

Rapi attempted to mask her grimace, but did a poor job of it. It was growing increasingly obvious that she was incredibly uncomfortable and uncertain of how to handle this interaction.

At that, Dorothy looked confused. Brows furrowing, her lips parted ever-so-slightly in a minute frown. "...You are acting uncharacteristically skittish…" After considering the smaller Nikke, her gaze momentarily drifted to Snow White, only to refocus on Rapi with a look of mounting understanding. "You've experienced a Mind Switch," she observed darkly.

At that, Rapi's eyes widened in shock, given how quickly Dorothy made that deduction. It really was that obvious, wasn't it? "Yes," she made no attempt to avoid the uncomfortable topic. "But, I still remember some of our history together… Or, I've started to remember things…"

"'Started to?'" Dorothy's brow furrowed in a more pronounced manner. "I suppose that would explain why you only emerged a century later… Rapi, what happened? Where have you been?"

She glanced down, taking in Rapi's whole appearance.

"You still have your jacket and scarf, but, otherwise, you're almost- No, with even the way you carry yourself—even down to your expression being so stern now—I would have failed to recognize you at a glance without those articles of clothing. You're even wearing a skirt. I remember you crying bloody murder and 'abuse' when we tried to make you dress in a more feminine manner back then."

Rapi's face started to burn red at the reminder of how immature she could be, and often was. Such did little to dissuade Dorothy from continuing, however.

"You've even started brushing your hair, rather than bumbling about with that messy bedhead you'd insist upon 'being a key aspect of my charm.' You…" Dorothy leaned back, taking in Rapi's whole appearance again, blinking as her violet gaze drifted over her midsection. "Did your chest shrink?" She asked incredulously.

"She's wearing a compression bra," Rapunzel informed the pinkette matter-of-factually. "She's just as big as she ever was without it."

"Ah," Dorothy ignored how Rapi's embarrassment quickly mounted at the casual discussion of her assets. "Well, as I was saying…" She reached up, brushing her fingers through Rapi's silken locks with a satisfied smirk. "As always, I was right all along. You're gorgeous with your hair in order and in more feminine attire."

At that assertion, Rapi felt some very old embers flare up, remembering how she'd once rakishly leered at Dorothy just as much as she would Joe, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.

But, being far more mature and level-headed than she had been so long ago, she repressed that budding attraction both in consideration of the circumstances, and because she knew that Dorothy unequivocally didn't feel the same way regardless. The classy beauty was simply speaking from an objective, analytical point of view, as she ever did when she acknowledged anybody's looks.

Before Rapi could respond to Dorothy's words, Dorothy shook her head, the motion causing her flamingo pink locks to cascade around her comely figure like a cherry blossom cataract. "I'm allowing myself to get sidetracked. Red Hood, where have you been? What happened? Why have you only returned to us a century later?"

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Rapi really wanted Joe to be present for this talk, but, short of blowing Dorothy off outright, all she could do was reply. "The Ark. I've been in the Ark. During Operation Ark Guardian, while out on patrol, I- I was contacted over a closed comms channel by Central Government operatives the day I disappeared. They drew me to a secret secondary entrance to the Ark, and made me enter without allowing me to inform the rest of you…"

Dorothy's expression, despite remaining seemingly outwardly fixed, had become utterly stony. Her gaze became hyper-focused, and she went as still as a statue.

Rapi continued. "I was trapped within the Ark, cut off from the rest of you. I experienced a Mind Switch, and I only started to regain my memories… I think, a few weeks ago now."

Dorothy's lips parted slightly, her brow twitching as she considered that statement. "And, before then? What were you doing before you remembered… Us?"

"Dorothy," Scarlet interjected, aiming to take control of the discussion and push it away from topics that should have been discussed with Joe, if they were discussed at all. "We told her of Eden."

The spurned Goddess shot a quick glance towards Scarlet, her lips drawing into a thin line. "You're blatantly attempting to divert my attention and avoid the question," she noted with slightly furrowed brows before refocusing on Rapi. "Yet… What, exactly, did they tell you?"

Rapi was not having a good time, having all the attention placed squarely on her. But, she had to do this to determine if it would be safe to expose Joe to her. "That Eden is at war with the Ark. That you deliberately go out of your way to execute surrendered Commanders and kidnap Nikkes. That you have children fighting the Raptures, and force Human Ark dwellers trapped on the surface to fight Raptures to the death, to take the few survivors and convert them into Nikkes and Epilektoi."

"Eden has no non-combatants. All living within its borders are soldiers, without exception to their age or circumstances. Eden practices Social Darwinism, and you are its most ardent proponent." Rapi capped it off with a frown. Her reaction hadn't been as strong as Joe's when they'd been originally told all of this, but she was disgusted all the same.

Dorothy was quiet, just staring at Rapi for a few long moments. Eventually, her gaze shifted to Snow White, fixing the White Reaper with a deeply unimpressed stare. "Are there any other lies you would like to impress upon her, before I begin systematically dismantling your grave misrepresentations of mankind's best hope?"

"Lies!?" Snow White immediately started snarling, gnashing her teeth at Dorothy like a mad dog. "You are a murderer-"

"Snow White!" Cinderella tried to interject.

"-You take pride in your 'might makes right' bullshit-"

"Snow, stop-!" Rapunzel attempted to interrupt her as well, raising her hands in an attempt at a placating gesture.

"You are a traitor to mankind!"

Scarlet just rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she averted her gaze towards the arid distance.

As Snow White huffed through her teeth, Dorothy continued to simply stare at the stark-haired young woman wordlessly, her body language betraying little other than abject annoyance and disappointment. "Are you done?" She asked in her best unimpressed mom tone.

"You-!" Snow White began to advance upon Dorothy, only to have Fleetly Fading's flat come within a hair's breadth of striking her on the nose. Harshly halting, the poncho-bedecked Nikke's glower shifted to a thoroughly unamused Scarlet.

"You shall cease this tempestuous childishness at once," the ashen-haired swordswoman firmly commanded her junior. "Rapi is here because she wishes to hear Dorothy's own words, not just thine plainly ruinously biased opinion. You will not shout down anyone this day. This is far and away above thy feelings."

When Snow White growled and moved to step towards Scarlet, she found herself sharply retreating with a curse, as her nose was bloodied by Fleetly Fading's flat harshly striking her nose, drawing blood in doing so.

"I will not warn thee a second time," Scarlet forcefully dictated, recalling keenly that this discussion was as much for Joe's benefit as it was Rapi's. "Cease at once."

As Snow White growled even more like a pissed-off dog, a literal wall found itself blocking off Snow White from Scarlet and Dorothy alike. The Glass Slippers shifting to form a shield wall to stop the White Reaper from launching herself at anyone. Cinderella's expression was set in an uncharacteristically stern countenance, deeply unhappy with having been pressed to take personal action to allow an actual dialogue to happen between Rapi and Dorothy.

Cinderella was herself more than a little upset that Snow White defaulted to attempting to shout down any opinion she disagreed with again as well. This was what she always did. Even though they agreed with Snow on a foundational level, she took it way too far, hyperbolized the criticisms they all shared to the Nth degree, reducing their points against Eden to parody.

She knew that Joe was likely fuming in the tent too, hearing Snow White immediately attempt to escalate to a fight, when they had summoned Dorothy to try making amends, for the benefit of all mankind. Thus, best to do all she could to allow Rapi to continue to parlay with Dorothy, see if they could actually allow her to know that Joe was there.

As Snow White was sufficiently cowed into backing off and holding her tongue, Dorothy took a moment to give the other members of Pioneer a wary, if appreciative glance before refocusing on Rapi. "First off, yes, the Ark's policy of on-site hostility to all non-Ark affiliated forces has very much earned the Ark the status of being Eden's enemy. Given that you have been in the Ark this entire time, I'm sure that you yourself are well aware of the official Central Government policy that Pilgrims are to be captured to be dissected and decommissioned, or destroyed on the spot without exception."

Rapi's lips were drawn taut at that. She was right, categorically. The Ark absolutely had a firm policy of capturing or destroying Pilgrims on sight… What was Eden expected to do if not treat this unapologetic hostility as an open act of war?

"Secondly," Dorothy continued. "Commanders are not only enemy combatants actively hostile to us, it is remarkably rare to encounter one that doesn't swear to report Eden forces to the Central Government the moment they're freed regardless of what is said or done to them. They generally cannot be reasoned with, are obstinate and combative to a fault, and typically make a point to verbally abuse and curse the Nikkes under their command that failed to overcome our obscenely more powerful forces in combat on top of all of that. More than once, I've even borne witness to having a Commander demand that surviving Nikkes 'self-destruct' to kill us all on the spot."

"Are we to bring these hostile Commanders to Eden, feed and house them, expend valuable resources on keeping thoroughly indoctrinated zealots alive, when we know they are considered expendable even by the Central Government themselves? Those are resources better spent on improving the lives of Eden's citizens and bolstering our military, over rolling out the red carpet for enemies of mankind."

Snow White growled in the background, though, notably, the rest of Pioneer looked intensely displeased with Dorothy's logic as well. Though Rapi could herself understand the reasoning, it was still incredibly ruthless, and she could just as well see why everyone hated it. "...Snow White mentioned that you enjoy killing surrendered Commanders," the strawberry blonde added, because that point very much stuck out as well.

There was a beat. Dorothy allowed silence to hang before she leaned in towards Rapi, replying in a low, uncomfortably even tone. "Correct. I do enjoy ending the miserable lives of monsters that, to reiterate myself, actively verbally abuse and denigrate the Nikkes under their malefic command we've captured."

"Do you know how often those poor girls are reduced to tears in the wake of their failure to overcome a foe they could have never hoped to defeat, only to be treated as though they were lower than dirt by the Commander they were trying to protect? How often I've personally witnessed Nikkes just give up, and actively beg for death, as such would be a release from their service to the Ark; the constant abuse, mistreatment, and degradation after everything they'd sacrificed to become a Goddess of Victory?"

"You are a Nikke. You have been in the Ark this entire time," Dorothy noted, her expression firm, eyes unblinking. "Have you been serving the Central Government, Rapi? Have you found yourself beneath the thumb of Ark Commanders? Are they kind, competent, considerate and caring? "

"Or have they actively abused you, perhaps even sexually, given the well-established fact that, as a Nikke, you are sub-Human, and therefore, would not be believed even if you reported them for defiling you—nor would they care to begin with—all the while you could do nothing to stop it, given that the Ark uses the NIMPH and its programming which prevents Nikkes from ever fighting back against Human assailants?"

Rapi went very quiet at that. Her expression twisted in disgust and intense discomfort as she replied. "...I haven't been personally touched. Just… Leered at, obscenely catcalled. But- I, I have heard of other Nikkes being abused like that."

Dorothy slightly tilted her head at that. "Yet it's to be held against me, when I take pleasure in bringing these wretches to justice? When you yourself know that it happens, and our fellow Nikkes are forced to simply endure it? Or did Snow White conveniently leave out the part where every Ark Commander I've ever personally executed in the field, I've done so because I trust the word of put-upon Nikkes over consistently cretinous and degenerate Commanders?"

"Did she also leave out how incredibly rare it is for Nikkes to die by Eden's hands, as well?" Dorothy pressed. "How almost every single Nikke we have ever captured in the field, has willingly joined us in some capacity afterwards? A point which inconveniently runs contrary to her slander against what we've created in the interest of reclaiming our world?"

Rapi rather felt as though she were on the back foot, despite the fact that these were Snow White's accusations, rather than hers.

After a pause, Dorothy continued. "Thirdly, Eden has never, does not, and never will deploy children into combat."

Snow White stomped her foot and cried, "Liar-!"

"Bringing eager cadets into scouting exercises so that they may learn valuable wilderness survival skills up to and including how to sustain themselves off of the land via hunting and gathering—much like how you learned from Joe in your youth—does not equate to sending them into combat against Raptures you simpleton!" Dorothy actually snapped back outright, brow furrowing heavily and nostrils flaring.

"And furthermore!" The pinkette continued, rounding on Rapi once more, now visibly agitated. "We have an intense vetting process to determine the worthiness of Humans to join Eden, of which has caused many deaths, yes, but such is the cost of demanding basic competence of those who take up arms to stand against extinction."

"We do not accept excuses from citizens of Eden. Everyone is a soldier, because everyone must be given our holdings, and the constant risk of being discovered by the Raptures! Everyone must be capable of pushing through extreme hardship, emerging from the darkness stronger than before, ready and willing to keep fighting against an innumerable foe with no desires beyond the end of our species!"

"Men and women must demonstrate basic competence against the commonality of the surface's dangers to prove that augmenting them would not be a waste of precious resources. We have no non-combatants because Eden exists in the real world, not the false, discriminatory degenerate weakling-producing 'utopia' that is the Ark!"

"The young must be prepared for the reality that is a world dominated by Raptures! A world wherein they must learn to fight, for the hope of a chance that their children may have the luxury of learning to make art, study the sun and stars, and build infrastructure on a national scale!"

Rapi had actually taken a step back as Dorothy advanced upon her, the violet-eyed woman's chest heaving as her breath came in hot and heavy.

"'Social Darwinism,'" Dorothy pressed on, now actually grimacing outright as her hands were balled into fists at her side. "I know precisely what she means by that. Because the infirm and disabled are augmented to make them productive members of Eden again. Because Eden ensures that none are left to wallow with disabilities which render them a millstone around the neck of the force which is the spear that strikes back against the Raptures which brought ruination upon our world."

"Because she clings to an infantile view of innocence and weakness. Because she would see the young, elderly, and disabled coddled over being taught, trained, prepared, readied, armed and elevated to the ranks of Goddesses and their Chosen, as she once was."

Dorothy leaned in close to Rapi, her voice lowering as a harsh glint shone through clear in her eyes.

"Because in a hard world, Snow White would see the weak left soft, hopelessly dependent on others and their generosity for their daily bread and protection. This, despite the fact that Eden takes the soft, and tempers them to thrive in a world which would see our species rendered extinct. We fight in the today that is here, Rapi. She fights for a past and outdated ideals that are dead and gone."

"I fight for a world worth fighting for!" Snow White shot back with a furious snarl. "A world Joe fights for as well!"

Dorothy's nose crinkled in abject anger as she rounded on Snow White, raising her voice as well. "Joe would have come to the same conclusions I have! He'd have agreed with me, he'd have seen the reason in my words, he'd have understood and agreed that we cannot afford anything less than absolute commitment to victory!"

"He's disgusted by your callous disregard for innocence and kindness!" Snow White shouted back, baring her teeth at the Inherit Nikke, ignoring Rapunzel as her eyes went wide and she started to rush to her side, attempting to hush her with mounting distress shared by Cinderella. "Your crimes against defenceless foes! Your unapologetic murder of those who you have defeated-!"

"You've gaslit yourself into forgetting that Joe had more in common with me than you'd care to admit!" Dorothy snarled back, nearly cursing through clenched teeth. "All that I've done, he'd have done the same, for the same reasons, and he'd have-"

"You disgust him-!"

"He'd be leading Eden with pride if he-!"

"The Commander can speak for himself!" Scarlet harshly declared, cutting the air between the two squabbling Goddesses for emphasis, causing a pregnant pause to overtake the campsite.

Silence reigned as Snow White realized too late how she'd lost control of her temper, and that the only reason Dorothy hadn't noticed was because she herself had grown so incensed as to become uncharacteristically imperceptive herself. A point emphasized by how Rapunzel had closed the distance and firmly clapped her hand over Snow White's mouth just before Scarlet decided to rip the bandage off and be done with it.

As Dorothy blinked owlishly once, then twice, then shook her head as her eyes fluttered and rapidly attempted to blink away her mounting confusion, her gaze drifted onto each of the Pioneers, to settle on Rapi.

It seemed to be time, regardless of whether or not Rapi felt that the interaction had gone well or not. She took a bracing breath, and declared, "Joe is alive, Dorothy."

Dorothy's eyes widened, becoming unto dinner plates. Her breath became shaky, she trembled head-to-toe. Reaching out, gradually, as though moving in slow motion, she took a hold of Rapi's wrist, latching on, and squeezing in stupefied shock.

Cinderella decided that she wouldn't force Rapi to bear this entire weight on her own. "Oswald lied, Dorothy," the blue-eyed beauty began. "The Central Government didn't kill him. He has been in the Ark this entire time, hidden away. They don't know he's still alive."

Dorothy was very nearly hyperventilating, reaching across her chest and drawing the Commander's jacket more tightly over her shoulder, even as she continued to cling to Rapi. Her lips parted, but no words came out. She just stared, stared, and stared at Rapi. Shock. She seemed to actually be in shock. After a laboured silence, she eventually managed to all but whimper out a pitiful "Joe's… Alive?"

Finally, throwing caution to the wind entirely, Joe reached out and pushed the door flap of the tent aside, stepping out into the open, his chest and heart feeling as though it were a vice to have been forced to quietly lurk and listen to Dorothy, just outside, right there, believing he was long dead and gone. That, with such palpable anger and resentment bubbling beneath the surface, a kettle ready to explode from the pressure which had little to no release.

Her large, amethyst eyes locked on him with superhuman quickness. Lips parting and staring in unequivocal shock. The light in her eyes that had once been an ever-present beacon in the dark, dulled and tarnished, reduced to fading embers barely clinging to life.

Joe felt his heart break, to see her staring in such open non-comprehension, as though she couldn't process his presence at all. Dorothy had always been there for him. She'd been an unmoving rock, refusing to be anything less than an eternally reliable anchor for him.

With a purpose, the man started off, moving straight for Dorothy even as he began to reach out for her.

She didn't initially react as he approached, she stared ahead blankly, so ruinously overwhelmed that she almost looked the part of a mannequin.

Joe would give her all the time she needed. No matter how long it took, he'd hold her and wait. The moment Dorothy realized what was going on, once she began to process this development, he'd be right there, holding her, ready to finally-

"...Joe?" Dorothy whimpered as awareness, and a small spark seemed to return to her eyes, relenting her grip on Rapi's wrist. "Commander…?"

Smiling forlornly as he paused his approach, he replied the only way he could. "Hey, Dorothy..."

He lightly smirked like a complete idiot.

"Kept you waiting, huh?"

What followed was a not-so-gentle reminder that desperate Goddesses had a tendency to forget their own strength, as Dorothy charged and rather worryingly, jumped on him.

After a moment of absolute, winded confusion, having a blubbering Goddess dangle from his neck like a pendulum without causing his knees to buckle and break, a single, borderline suicidal thought ran through his head after a moment of shocked consideration.

Holy shit, she's lost a lot of weight.

 

[JKD_666]

Phew. I was worried she'd go for denial and attack, espescially with how Snow White accidentally primed her. Glad it didn't go that way.

 

[palacesound]

He lightly smirked like a complete idiot.

Click to shrink...

That's how she knew it was really him.

 

[YoRHa_42s]

Still, big questions is...

How would Doro react to the grand plan to un-heretic a heretic using Vapaus.

Runion is all nice and happy, and Snow White definitely needs to eat a snickers, she's not herself when she's hungry (which is always) and so nice of Scarlet to so... bluntly... break the ice.

 

[Chaldean]

Phew. I was worried she'd go for denial and attack, espescially with how Snow White accidentally primed her. Glad it didn't go that way.

Click to shrink...

I'm glad too. And so relieved.

And given Joe's observation, Dorothy upgraded to a flight model. Good thing she did. If she didn't, she probably would have killed him with that jump.

 

[Nehef]

It's him, with new content for us to feast.

Baka one chapter per event Smurf, hanger of cliffs.

 

[Gato]

Good evening, my fellow Nikkers.

I humbly greet you with tremendous news. Tonight, we feast on no cliff hangers. Tonight, we dine as kings!

Pretty darn good prose in this chapter, first of all. Cherry blossom cataract was something I never heard used but I like it quite a bit. The chapter really flowed like silk and I think I'd like to see this style continue.

I'm still unsure about how Eden actually is, we really only got the most extreme opinions from both sides so here's hoping we get Joe's pov as a moderate take.

Cause I trust that dork. Decades spent in cryo sleep, loves gained and lost, so much pain experienced not to mention the crushing despair; and the first words for her are a damn MGS reference. He's just like fr fr!

This story will go wild once Nikke introduces the sex update. See you guys in a couple weeks!

 

[Tenno]

===
Chapter 86 - The Light in Her Eyes
===

After a moment of absolute, winded confusion, having a blubbering Goddess dangle from his neck like a pendulum without causing his knees to buckle and break, a single, borderline suicidal thought ran through his head after a moment of shocked consideration.

Holy shit, she's lost a lot of weight.

Click to shrink...

Mofo, really? First thing you think of is her weight? Your lucky you just thought of that and didnt say it out loud

 

[YoRHa_42s]

Mofo, really? First thing you think of is her weight? Your lucky you just thought of that and didnt say it out loud

Click to shrink...

I mena, to be fair, if you expect a combat cyborg, who from experience know are heavy enough that the presence of NORMAL CHAIRS can be used as a means to discriminate against them, rush towards you full speed and jump onto you, wouldn't you yourself worry about the weight?

 

[Stove]

I dropped off from posting my art for this outside of SB, but it was a crime to never post my greatest masterpiece...!

there's still like ten pics left unposted but that would basically fill up a page on its own lmao

 

[NooneImportant]

Smurf and Priest are back, maybe this is the good timeline after all.

 

[RavenSnake317]

Is it bad that I think Dorothy genuinely has a good point in her rant at Rapi? I mean she genuinely makes a lot of sense, particularly in regard to just executing captured commanders and how EVERYONE in Eden is a soldier in at least some capacity.