Silent Orders

by corpsvette

Summary:

The Commander has been assassinated. The government isn't digging deeper. Every squad will have a different reaction, some will be more violent than others.

Notes:

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH EVENTS AND CURRENT STORY (Chapter 38).

Chapter 1: An Empty Desk

Counters had just finished their yearly inspection, what would also normally include a scan of their NIMPH was thankfully passed thanks to the Commander’s high security level.

On their way back to the Commander’s room the usual suspects were arguing while Rapi tried to ignore them

“Thankfully we didn’t have to stay longer like we usually do because of my spy connections!”

“Yeah because you and your ‘firepower’ have been so helpful to us thus far, you dragged it out even longer wanting to take those poor researchers to the firing range! Because of you we had to stand out in the heat, my throat is so dry, if we get back to the Commander’s room and you drank my sodas again we’re gonna fight.”

Rapi sighed, this was typical for these two, but she also agreed with Anis, they could’ve been back a long time ago in the Commander’s AC filled office.

Rapi chimed into the conversation, “It doesn’t help that the M.M.R. Research building is out in The Ark. Makes the walk to the outpost such a pain, the simulated summer heat from the Dome of Eternity really isn’t necessary, we get enough of this on the surface”. She groaned squinting up at the virtual sky.

As they walked through the roads of the outpost they began seeing more familiar faces and other squads. They passed by each building glancing inside, it seems that most squads off-duty were enjoying snow cones and ice cream.

Anis broke the silence of humid misery, “We should go see Crust with the Commander and get something cold to enjoy”.

Not wanting to speak because of the oppressive heat, Rapi and Neon simply nodded and kept along their way.

As they approached the command center it seemed eerily empty. Despite the heat, Rapi felt a chill up her spine. The other two didn’t notice much, their minds being focused on getting out of the heat.

They walk through the automatic doors and the usual desk attendant is seemingly missing, normally they’d wait for her to return but Rapi’s intuition is screaming at her.

She sprints down the hallway leaving Anis and Neon in the lobby.

“Rapi wait up! What’s wrong!?” Anis yells after her with Neon in tow.

The stench of blood stings Rapi’s nose, she turns the corner and sees one of the doors forced open.

Her heart sinks, she tries to push thoughts of a worst-case scenario out of her head, but they seem to have their grip over her emotions.

She reaches the broken-in door and freezes.

Anis and Neon finally catch up, “What’s your problem Rapi!? It’s hot enough as is out-,“ Anis can’t even finish her thought looking into what they once considered their safe haven.

Blood.
Fresh blood.

Red coats the couch where they would receive advisements from the Commander.
Everything on his desk has been thrown to the floor.
There are dents in the fridge and his desk.

The blood trails into his bathroom…

Rapi snaps out of her initial shock and runs into the room to the bathroom.

There he is, ‘The Ark’s Final Hope’…
Surrounded by shattered glass
Drenched in blood
Slumped against the wall next to the shower

Perfectly… still… like he’s just sleeping.

Rapi drops to her knees with tears in her eyes, the pain in her chest so much worse than that of the glass slicing her leg.

She gently cups the Commander's pained face.
He’s come back from so much worse, he’s just unconscious.

Though it was only a moment, it felt like ages before Anis and Neon arrived at the bathroom door.

Anis’ mouth was open as if she wanted to call out for him, but no sound came out. And for the first time, Neon couldn’t think of a way to reassure them.

Rapi pressed her head to his chest to listen

Silence…

“Call Seraphim…,” Rapi choked out. Anis and Neon had never seen her breakdown like this, it made the situation feel too real. They couldn’t move, all they could do was stare at the man who had given them the worth they felt they had each lost in life.

“CALL SERAPHIM!” Rapi nearly screamed at them with tears streaming down her cheeks

Anis and Neon sprinted out of the room in search of help while dialing the emergency number of the outpost

Rapi pulled the Commander from a sitting position to lying on his back and roughly pushed on his chest trying to perform CPR all while begging between tears, “Please… please…”

She felt the dead weight of his body and clutched his body in her arms desperately, minutes felt like hours in the silence of cradling him, the shards of glass may as well have not been there, she felt numb.

Why was it so quiet in the command center…? Where was everyone…? They had only stepped out for their inspection briefly… Why…? Why…?

Eventually the rush of questions in her head simply stopped, she could only look at his face and try to memorize it before they took him.

…

…

…

After what felt like days, she heard sirens.

Chapter 2: Silence from the Watchtower

Summary:

A.C.P.U. and Seraphim arrive on the scene.

“A.C.P.U. Freeze!”

Rapi looked up, Poli flinched, hard. She had never seen Rapi with such, empty eyes, tear streaks stained her face. She had a hard enough time restricting Anis and Neon from reentering the command center, but good god she might not be able to get Rapi to separate from him.

Poli felt pity, it strangled her heart, but she had to remain professional. “Mary! Room is clear!” Poli lowered her rifle and exited the room before she could no longer hold her composure.

Mary entered with Pepper, they hadn’t been told who it was, but they couldn’t move from the doorway once they realized. Pepper’s eyes welled, Mary covered her mouth. For the first time in their careers they had truly made the mistake no doctors should, they became attached.

The Commander had survived holes punched through his torso, so why? He had been in the emergency room so many times being rushed from the elevator to the surface, with his incredible ability to regenerate, they figured it would take a true catastrophe to kill such a man, but this..? This wasn’t how he was supposed to go out, he was a hero, but he had been killed like someone down on their luck in the Outer Rim.

They did their best to stifle their feelings and moved toward the two on the floor. It was only upon closer inspection did they see that Rapi was bleeding, quite heavily at that. “Rapi!” Mary called out to her trying to pry her off the Commander, she didn’t put up much of a fight surprisingly, she accounted this to the large amount of blood it seemed she had lost.

The two pulled her onto a stretcher and all Rapi could do is watch as she was carried away from him, out of his room, into the hallway as more medics went into the room, and then she gave out on trying to remain conscious.

Outside Anis and Neon were trying to fight their way in past Miranda and Quiry who were about as clueless as could be. Quiry was attempting to tape off the area when the medics came out with the body.

Quiry glanced down and thought her eyesight truly had been the worst it had ever been, it looked just like… the Commander. She saw before anyone else, she couldn’t speak, the lump in her throat was immediate as she continued trying to tape off the building. Her eyesight becoming nearly completely debilitating… things were blurry enough as is without the tears.

Miranda grew concerned with those around her becoming so silent and grim looking, this was a hard enough job, but she had never seen Poli react this way. As she continued to try and block the able bodied members of Counters, she turned to see the identity of the body. Poli looked over too late to stop Miranda.

“Miranda don’t!” she cried from across the closed off area, but there was nothing she could have done.

All strength in her arms she had for blocking Anis and Neon was lost seeing his blood covered face.

Her voice broke as she called to him quietly, “Commander?”

She gave up any semblance she had of trying to stop Anis and Neon and stopped the medics from pulling him away, shaking him desperately.

“Commander!” she sobbed “Commander!”

Poli struggled to pull Miranda away with tears in her own eyes while other officers attempted to pull away the members of Counters.

Anis couldn’t stop crying out to the officers “Stop please!” while Neon thrashed around “Not yet! Just a bit longer!”

Finally restrained, the medics were able to send the ambulance to the hospital, where the two would eventually be escorted. Other officers had to attend the actual scene of the crime as the nikkes of A.C.P.U. were unable to control their emotions at the time.

Due to the extreme nature of the event and the high standing of the victim, the squad Protocol was called in from the official government to begin an investigation.

Chapter 3: The Curtain Never Lifted

Summary:

Counters arrive in the hospital. Andersen delivers the news.

Sharp pain. Bandages. The burning smell of sterile air.

 

Rapi shot up in the hospital bed breathing heavily.  Wait, she just woke up… Thank god it was a nightmare . Suddenly two sets of arms shot up to her shoulders to hold her down. She looked side to side to see her teammates both with red eyes. She didn’t exactly have pleasant memories from her human life, she tried to avoid the hospital if possible.

 

Of course not, life isn’t that fair, life is cruel.  

 

She teared up again looking at them, and though she had never thought of it being necessary, all she wanted was a hug. Anis and Neon moved closer and squeezed her. Rapi did her best to do the same but she felt weak, both emotionally and physically. Her legs ached horribly, she broke away from the hug to look under the bed sheets and saw her legs thoroughly bandaged.

 

Figures, that’s what I get for being frantic.

 

She looks to Anis, whose eyes look dead, she’s got a thousand yard stare that seems to be trying to escape where we are now. She looks to Neon, there’s no smile, no awkward laugh, she still has tears in her eyes but she’s fighting desperately not to let them fall as she stares to the floor.

 

Mary enters looking grim, she checks her vitals and doesn’t say much to the three. What could she say? 

 

The silence was unbearable but none dared to break it, nothing could be said that would be of any meaning. Long seconds turned into long minutes, long minutes turned into long hours. They wouldn’t dare leave one another at this point.

 

Suddenly heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway, boots, military boots. As the sound entered the room, Anis and Neon stood to salute as Rapi sat as straight as she could to do the same, Andersen had finally arrived and the air was thick with anticipation and anxiousness.

 

“At ease” he calmly breathed out. The three relaxed in their respective seats, eyes desperately looking to him for some good news that he very likely didn’t have.

 

He sat across from Rapi’s hospital bed struggling to find the words. “Rapi, what information have your squadmates filled you in on?”

 

She shook her head, “Nothing, I think we’re all in the dark.” If they did know anything, they weren’t going to be the ones to say it.

 

Andersen swallowed and now had a grim look on his face, “I… see. First and foremost…,” he took a deep breath, “the Commander of Counters nicknamed The Ark’s Final Hope… has been murdered.”

 

Rapi gritted her teeth, Anis looked like she emotionally had been gone since they first entered that bloodied office, and all Neon could do was grimace while her chest tightened.

 

“An investigation is underway, but the evidence is sparse and the leads are not looking promising.”

 

This can’t be happening, this couldn’t have HAPPENED. With every word her heart felt like it was being squeezed.

 

“As it stands, you each have two choices. First, you can be reassigned to a new command-”

 

Anis suddenly shot up with so much hate in her eyes you think she would strangle Andersen, “Who the HELL do you think you are-!?”

 

Andersen held up a hand stopping her, “Or… you can retire.”

 

Shock spreads across their faces.

 

What in the hell? Nikkes getting to retire?

 

Andersen waits a moment as if seeing if they would interject before continuing, “You three have arguably contributed more to the reclamation of the surface than any other squad has aside from the Goddesses. While Nikkephobia will always remain rampant, we would provide you with the most comfortable lives we can provide. As it stands, you all have the permissions that your Commander held for thirty days before the government and Enikk will have you make your choice.”

 

Anis sat down in disbelief. 

 

Again. Silence filled the air. It felt like the weight of the world had just been placed on their shoulders. 

 

Andersen could tell the state they were in, but more than that, he knew the next thing they were feeling aside from despair…

 

Anger.

 

He couldn’t save the Commander from those that wanted him gone, and while he was powerless as a Deputy Chief, he had connections and he knew that they would be able to get the revenge they wanted.

 

Rapi could see something under the grim look that the Deputy Chief was wearing… his knuckles were white and he was gritting his teeth.

 

Andersen stood up and handed Rapi a small card, “This is my contact number, if you need anything contact me, I’ll take care of you three.” But there was an anger in his eyes, not towards them, but someone else. “Oh and, I will also take care of informing the other squads he was associated with of the incident.”

 

Rapi could tell he was reading off a script, so why?

 

Suddenly as she went to read the card her eyes went wide, Anis and Neon looked to her in confusion.

 

Andersen stepped out the door before anything more could be said, Rapi had a feeling that something was out of place with this visit and as she read the card she realized there was a third option that Andersen had given them and it involved those remaining 30 days they had left in the military systems.

 

Written over his contact information in big black writing

They're listening. Visit the Queens.
Trust no one above.

Chapter 4: We Saved Him a Slice

Summary:

Maid for You is having a day with an unusual influx of depressed customers.

Notes:

Chapters from this point on will be split between "filler" chapters where individual squads will be experiencing the news and "plot" chapters will continue following more of a continued y from primarily the POV of counters as they investigate the conspiracy. This will be one of those "filler" chapters so let me know which squads you'd like to see for these and what you think. No worries though, as it currently stands I will primarily be writing the Plot chapters and when I need a break from the main plot, I'll be doing these.

 

The Maid Cafe was always a great comfort for those in the Ark. Comforting nikkes, tasty food, and likeminded people. The room was bustling like usual, but there was an almost crushing atmosphere. What was normally a quite warm and loud atmosphere with talkative customers was nearly dead silent.

 

“Welcome home, Master!” Soda greeted another depressed looking man into the cafe leading him to his table. She was used to those crushed by everyday life and cheering them up, but even still there would be customers who would show a smile to her or looked forward to having their spirits lifted. Today of all days was much rougher than usual, however.

 

Ade observed the room, something must have happened today, but it was their job to take these customer’s minds off of whatever was plaguing them. She served tea to her tables with a warm smile, but received weak, sad smiles in return. Forced to not seem rude to the kind women who were trying to make them feel better.

 

Even Cocoa was seeming to struggle quite a bit.

 

She drew a perfect heart on the omurice in ketchup with a big smiley face, “Ready for the magic spell to make this omurice delicious?” she exclaimed in her usual upbeat voice.

 

“...oh um, if possible, it’s fine if we just… skip the spell for today…,” the customer seemed almost distracted, not wanting to speak more than necessary.

 

“O-of course! Please enjoy your meal!” Cocoa had never had such a hard time with trying to make someone smile, especially since those who came to the cafe would come with the intention to feel better.

 

As she stepped away she caught the eye of the other two maids and gestured for them to follow her to the back.

 

Ade began to prepare a slice of cake from the flavor the commander usually enjoyed, it helped calm them all down to think of him and his positive attitude. Besides, he usually stopped by this time of day after he finished his paperwork, might as well prepare a slice for him as well.

 

Soda takes the plates that she had picked up from a table to the sink, Cocoa prepares tea at a small table, and Ade brings a small plate with the slice of cake and three forks. 

 

As they all settle down for a quick break before returning to work, they all have the same burning question, what has happened?

 

The head maid speaks first, “I assume you both have seen the same thing I have..?”

 

Both Ade and Soda nod their heads quietly. “It’s like something really bad happened today… did we perhaps miss an announcement or something on the news?” Soda nervously asked, as if she felt that she should also be worried

 

Ade shook her head, “I’m quite thorough with checking the Ark daily news when I can,” she looks down at her tablet scrolling through new articles, “Even now I don’t see anything that would have everyone in such a depressing mood…”

 

The three looked down at the barely picked at cake and their nearly untouched cups of tea, the grim mood was infectious and it was killing their appetites.

 

“Well… no one out there is going to start feeling better if we stay moping around back here. Let’s go bring some smiles to our masters!” Cocoa looked more optimistic than before and it encouraged her teammates, they stood up with newfound determination to finish the day out on a positive note, leaving their table set to enjoy after work.

 

More hours pass by without much progress being made, a comforted smile here, a weak laugh there. It wasn’t the best that could be done, but even if one person was feeling better then it meant the world to them.

 

They had made a point of trying to eavesdrop on conversations, and while it wasn’t a very maid-like thing to do, if it meant they could help at all, they would do it. A particularly loud conversation started, however, while they were each attending different tables, making it hard not to listen in.

 

“...Yeah it’s a goddamn shame…”

 

The customers seemed they were in the same boat as all the others, so maybe this was what had been circulating.

 

“And you’re sure?”

“Yeah, I saw them take his still body into the ambulance, there was too much blood, he couldn’t have survived that…”

“...so the last hope of the Ark is just… gone? I thought that commander had taken on even the raptures that spilled in here a while back.”

“I’m sure, I saw that squad of his hunched over his body, you know the ones from the commercials?”

 

The patrons at the time said you could see the moment that their hearts shattered

 

Soda dropped the plates she was carrying, shattering them… but there were no apologies from her, she was frozen. It took several seconds before she could start picking up the pieces, but she struggled with the tears in her eyes blocking her vision

 

Ade didn’t even realize the tea cup was overflowing from her pouring, her precise movements and attention to small details had vanished. The table cloth was stained, she quickly apologized to those dining at the table before beginning to clean up. She blinked several times with a blank face while wiping down the table

 

Cocoa had squeezed the ketchup bottle too tightly, ruining the customer’s omurice. They would never return it though, eating it ketchup and all, trying to make her feel better, besides she was known for putting too much ketchup on them anyways right?

 

The maids moved differently after this. If there was a gloomy air in the room before, it was now downright suffocating.

 

A fake smile and fake happy greeting from Cocoa at the entrance

Several shattered plates from a shaken Soda, too stubborn to take a seat

Trembling hands pouring a glass of black tea from Ade, whose eyes seemed just a bit puffy and a bit red

 

Customers coming in had noticed two things crossed out on the menu for the day

 

“The Commander Special” named after a certain Nikke commander

 

And a certain flavor of cake…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

After enough forced greetings, enough shattered plates, and enough spilt tea… the cafe is closed early for the day. 

 

Not out of obligation of the news, but because the pretending could no longer be kept up.

 

As the last customer for the day leaves, the sign is flipped to “Closed”

 

Their table isn’t cleaned up, a plate with crumbs left with an empty teacup in an otherwise empty dining room.

 

In the back of the cafe three maids gathered around a table

 

Where they had previously in the day made the vow to fix their patrons smiles

 

They were now staining their faces with tears

 

Ade leaning into her handkerchief after putting her glasses on the table

 

Soda was sobbing hysterically into her arms as she leaned onto the table

 

Cocoa stood straight, tears freely rolling down her face as she tried to choke back her whimpers

 

The Maid Cafe wouldn’t be open for some time, how could they bring smiles to anyone else if they couldn’t smile themselves.

 

And so Maid for You remained around that small table, silently sharing the same feelings through their tears

 

With their teacups now cold, their slice of cake barely touched, and a slice of cake that never would be.

Notes:

Thank you so much for all of the comments for the first couple of chapters, I'll definitely be updating this at least every other night unless something gets in the way. This chapter almost didn't come out since I got stung on the hand by a wasp, thankfully it was on the back of my hand, but I definitely would have been bummed if I had to wait a bit to keep writing. Look forward to more main plot in the next chapter and seeing the Queens.

Chapter 5: Dead Ends and Open Eyes

Summary:

Counters follows their first lead

After much insisting from Rapi, Mary finally discharged her from the hospital which meant that their timer had just started ticking. 

 

The members of Counters stood outside of the hospital debating, what should be done next? They all contemplated for a while, this choice could be devastating if they start down the wrong path.

 

“Should we wait for Protocol to get back to us?” Neon broke the silence with her suggestion

 

“Forget who they work for numb nuts?” Anis was already letting her frustration show before Rapi flashed a glare that’d put the pilgrims to shame.

 

“Anis is right, we shouldn’t approach government centered squads unless it’s to interrogate them, last thing we need is Triangle to be tailing us because they found out we’re digging where we shouldn’t be,” even with this said Rapi felt herself wanting to trust their only lead so far, Andersen.

 

She pulled the card with the scribblings on it and stared at it in contemplation. Andersen had always been good to them including pulling strings for them even early on, it wouldn’t make sense for him to pull the rug out from under them, there would have been easier and cleaner ways to do so. 

 

Anis and Neon watched her quietly, they would trust her judgement even if they disagreed. They had to be there for each other now more than ever.

 

“We need discreet streetwear.” Rapi looked towards the other two

 

Anis’ eyes shot to the top of her head in thought while Neon put her hand to her chin when the latter seemed to have an idea.

 

“Master always kept some shady looking clothes in his closet behind his uniforms…” she mentions somewhat offhandedly

 

“Figures, with all the Nikkes he had to see in the Outer Rim, he had to have something to wear out there, his uniform isn’t exactly discreet. He’d probably get jumped otherwise, not that it would have been a problem for him.” Anis says with a smile. The thought brings a funny image to each of them of his strangely superhuman strength, maybe Grave was onto something with that nickname…

 

They make their way up to the Command Center after some much needed mental preparation. On the outside it looked just as it always does, but none of them wanted to take the first step inside.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Minutes pass before Neon takes a breath, and takes the first step forward.

 

Rapi and Anis soon follow suit until the three are inside the building making their way to the commander’s room.

 

They reach his door and open it 

 

The room is spotless, it’s like nothing ever happened. 

 

His ranking nameplate remains on his desk along with some scattered papers, but the room has been scrubbed clean of any crimson or glass shards, even the furniture.

 

Anis and Neon grit their teeth and move towards the closet and begin digging. They find some large trenchcoats, these would work to conceal their weapons and hopefully the fact that they’re Nikkes.

 

When the two turn around they find Rapi at the Commander’s desk. 

 

Stacking and organizing papers, moving them into their respective completed and uncompleted piles. 

 

She didn’t mean anything by it, just habit. They could see a small sad smile on her face, as if this was comforting to her, like he would come back and finish up his work.

 

Anis and Neon wouldn’t make a comment on this, we all grieve in our own ways, and though they would never admit it, they knew she was the closest to the commander.

 

Rapi without another thought grabs a coat of her own.

 

A last look was taken by Counters, this once sanctuary would now be left abandoned.

 

It was no home to them without answers anyhow.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

The Outer Rim wasn’t exactly a short walk away, it took them quite some time on foot to get there, especially while trying to be discreet.

 

The entrance was sturdy and dark and rusted. It was eerily representative of where they were going, and was a grim reminder of the kind of attitude they’d have to hold while here.

 

The trio begin down the gloomy street, the only lights being those from barrel fires and flickering neon lights. 

 

Without the Dome of Eternity, the Outer Rim was a very real and grim reminder that this was not the surface, humanity was deep underground, and now? They very well may stay there without him…

 

The streets are sparse, but not empty. Those unfortunate enough to not get citizenship to the Ark ended up here, and they didn’t exactly have any legal way of making that change anytime soon.

 

The alleyways have shadowy figures that are better left ignored, lest eye contact be made with someone who’s had just a little too bad of a day

 

Anis and Neon were following Rapi assuming that she knew the way to the Queens, but in reality, she was hoping the Queens would find them.

 

A cackle is heard, guess the Queens weren’t the first ones to get to them.

 

Rapi speeds up before she hears a squeak from Anis. A lanky man with scraggly teeth and goggles has grabbed Anis’ sleeve.

 

“Hey hey, where are you pretty ladies going in such a hurry?” He sneers with breath that is a clear indicator of his lack of hygiene. “Wanna come back with me to my place? The three of us can have a real good time, I can tell you’ve got some nice figures even under those big ass coats. You should be flaunting those bodies not hiding them…” he licks his lips looking Anis and Neon up and down.

 

Neon visibly shudders as his eyes feel like they lick her up and down.

 

Anis had a much simpler response, “You wanna get frisky with us..?” The man’s eyes light up as Anis also grabs his arm. But she squeezes a bit hard until something crunches.

 

“Gahhhh! What the fuck!?” Anis then promptly follows up by slamming her leg as hard as she can between his legs. He lets out a pathetic groan before falling to the ground.

 

Anis readjusts her coat and starts walking to wear Rapi was stopped watching the encounter, Neon decided that he needed a proper send off before kicking him in the chest and spitting on him. Realizing the scene they could’ve made for anyone who was watching, they hurried into more long shadows down the street.

 

Rapi looked back at the two, “You’re lucky that NIMPH only limits us from fatally injuring humans, that could’ve been dangerous otherwise.”

 

Anis shrugged, “You don’t exactly have NIMPH… you could have done something if you weren’t just standing there. Besides I’m not so sure, that kick to the jewels damn well looked fatal the way he dropped”

 

Neon snickered which gave Anis a smile. 

 

“Didn’t seem like our disguises hid much from him…” Rapi seemed lost in thought, could others also tell? Her thoughts then drifted to those goggles he was wearing, maybe it was those.

 

Neon and Anis’ smiles faded very quickly as they passed by an alleyway which almost made them puke. 

 

Black Market full of organ vendors. Rapi scrunched her face and pinched her nose while Anis and Neon tried to pull their coats over their noses. If it wouldn’t contribute to a possible mind switch, they gladly would have turned off their olfactory senses.

 

Struggling through the shady streets they avoid the merchant’s eyes, god knows what they’d do to them if they looked at the wrong person.

 

Finally, after going down a few blocks they each took deep breaths.

 

“Never thought this rancid air would smell so refreshing” Neon still had a frown on her face from their last encounter.

 

While moving through an alleyway they heard shouting from the street, they moved closer but stayed hidden.

 

A man dressed as some sort of sick preacher was standing on top of warehouse boxes shouting to a crowd “You feel safe with these dolls walking our streets? They were built to die for you! Who’s to say when they might decide that you should be the ones dying instead!?” The crowd cheered back. “Don’t let their faces fool you! Every smile of theirs is soldered on!” 

 

“Tch.” Anis looked about as pissed could be, but before she could go out there Neon grabbed her arm and pointed a bit past the crowd.

 

A squad of mass produced Nikkes are moving towards the crowd. They’ve got mismatched clothing and makeshift gear, and look like they’ve been through hell. Whether they’re irregulars or something else, the trio realized they needed to get out of there as fast as possible.

 

Once again quickly turning to run down an alleyway, they begin making their way around the dimly lit streets and walkways. Suddenly a big arm shoots out from behind a corner. The girls freeze getting ready for another squabble, when a familiar face shows up.

 

“Jin?” Rapi speaks up first. She had seen this man before contacting the Commander on behalf of one of the Queens.

He nodded quietly and gestured to follow. They each looked at one another before following him into what seemed to be an abandoned building.

 

“Before anything happens next, I just want to say… my condolences to you three. I’d spoken to him outside of business and he was a good man, wanted the best for all of you…” Jin had a grim look on his face when he turned to speak to them, but didn’t say another word the rest of the way.

 

How he knew his way around this maze of dimly lit corridors and dark rooms none of them could know.

 

Eventually he reached an inconspicuous metal door, he knocked on it in a strange rhythm and clearly spoke, “Three thorns draw blood before the bloom.”

 

The door slowly opened, and he left their side.

 

Counters entered the room to find it dimly lit by candles and three women with their eyes lowered to the table below, but something dangerous in each of their eyes.

 

To their left was a tall muscular woman with black and white hair in an elegant fur coat leaning back on her hand, the leader of Hedonia, Rosanna.

 

To their right was a shorter woman with round sunglasses sitting cross-legged wearing a long floral dress with a black overcoat detailing a golden dragon, the leader of Peony, Moran.

 

Between them both sat seiza style a woman with flowers adorning her hair and a black kimono detailing cherry blossoms and a piercing red stare, the leader of the Seimeikai, Sakura.

 

Behind Moran stood Jin, her right hand man. Behind Rosanna stood a woman handsomely dressed in a striped shirt and dress pants behind her, Consigliere, her right hand woman.

 

Rosanna snapped loudly, “Consigliere, search them.” The finely dressed woman walked up to the trio, Rapi made the realization that this wasn’t the time to resist and removed her coat along with placing her rifle down. Anis and Neon followed suit.

 

After being pat down and searched thoroughly, Consigliere said sternly, “No bugs,” and retook her place behind Rosanna. 

 

Sakura spoke clearly and firmly, “Sit,” the girls sat at the large table before them next to one another.

 

Suddenly, the Queens all looked up at them, Sakura spoke,

 

“Were it anyone else, we wouldn’t have opened the door. Be very careful not to waste the chance he bought you.”

 

30 DAYS REMAIN

Notes:

Thanks so much for reading. That wasp sting that I mentioned in the notes of last chapter swelled up really bad lol, I might be allergic. My hand was so swollen I couldn't bend my fingers to type on my left hand, but it's feeling better now! So we should be back on schedule, I'm curious what squads/characters you all would like to see either as filler chapters or part of the main plot. Much love.

Chapter 6: Sanctioned by Sin

Summary:

Counters is now at the mercy of the Underworld Queens.

Had the circumstances been any different Neon probably would’ve taunted the person in front of them, she had no problems doing it to Dorothy.

 

Yet despite the gap in strength between Dorothy and Sakura, the latter sitting so calmly in front of her was infinitely more intimidating.

 

Rosanna broke the silence with an almost sad look in her eyes, “So is it true? If anyone would know first it’d be you three, so before we go any further, spit it out… Is he really dead?”

 

“Yeah… murdered in his office. There was a struggle, a long one. It was messy,” Rapi grimaced as she recollected those thoughts.

 

The queens noticeably shifted. Rosanna grit her teeth, almost grinding them, Moran clenched her fists tight until her knuckles were quite pale, and Sakura took a sharp intake of air, almost as if she wanted to scream out at the world. But the table remained in silence.

 

“Then we don’t have to worry about hiding him anywhere assuming he faked his own death. Then let us talk business.” Sakura spoke in a calm tone, but it was the kind that a mother has before an outburst. “He never liked serious discussions despite his position, said it left a bitter taste in his mouth. But, here we are in his place, sitting in the silence he left behind, doing what he hated.”

 

Rosanna spoke up in an angry or maybe frustrated tone, “Tch. Mister thinks he can go and die and suddenly half the Ark starts crawling out of their holes like they even give a damn!” She slams her fist on the table before receiving a glare from Sakura, rare but telling. “At least you three showed your faces. That’s worth more than most.”

 

Moran spoke quietly, out of character for her usual upbeat attitude, “You three don’t have to worry. We’re not here to start anything. Not with you.” There was some venom in that last comment. “He’s saved us each more than we can count, the least we can do is help who he worked with the longest. We won’t give you special treatment, but we will treat you how you deserve.”

 

“You’ve got three pairs of boots walking into a flood. Hope you all know how to swim.” Rosanna cautioned briefly, “We’ll let you go first, but we want you three to know that if it means cutting off this loose end, we’ll do whatever we can in our power…”

 

If only she had Red Hood’s charisma she could probably handle this better, that much didn’t change when they fused but she gave it a shot anyways, “Andersen told us to come to you. Said not to trust anyone of the higher ups…” she looked up towards the three, they returned with an expectant look, she sighed knowing what they really wanted from her, “It’s hard to say if what was done was by an expert or not, I think we all know how absurdly resilient the Commander was, but there was too much resistance and nothing was cleaned up.”

 

“That leaves a few options then,” Rosanna was most familiar with dealing with hits so the other two allowed her to take this, “They either ran out of time for cleaning things up, or knew evidence wouldn’t lead us anywhere. Were you three away from him long?”

 

Rapi and Neon turned to Anis, she had been watching the clock constantly that day because there was a performance from a pop group she was intent on seeing after the check ups, “We couldn’t have been gone for more than maybe two hours? I remember being peeved because Neon held us up a bit with something dumb.”

 

Neon desperately wanted to refute, but knew there was a time and place.

 

Rosanna continued, “They had plenty of time then, so this was someone high up or important in the government that either thinks that they’re untouchable… or they are…” she pinches the bridge of her nose, “Moran if you would…”

 

“We had a mid-level Missilis handler killed out here in the streets. Professionally done as far as we could tell. No prints, no witnesses, no noise. That ain’t exactly a local thing.”

 

“Think someone from the government is taking care of people who are too involved or something?” Neon wagered a guess in the conversation

 

Moran grimly nodded, “Someone up high is making the rounds, and it seems Cadet had gotten involved in one too many spots he shouldn’t have been in. The CEO’s can overlook a lot, especially with someone who’s accomplished so much, both in reclaiming the surface, and helping the Ark and those who work within it. But, some won’t look past things…”

 

“So what? Some sheltered dick with a strict sense of justice decided that was it for the commander…?” Anis asked in an irritated tone

 

A silence filled the room when Rapi’s hair started to glow a familiar crimson. Neon and Anis began crawling backwards putting distance between themselves and her. Rapi clenched her fists tightly and her face contorted in anger, through gritted teeth she muttered, “I can think of a few suspects.”

 

Rosanna’s eyes sparked with curiosity at this new side of the otherwise docile Rapi, “Hey kid, what do you plan to do if you find who did this?”

 

Rapi’s eyes which had previously been aimed down at the table were now glaring at Rosanna, her eyes now a bright red that would put the mafia boss to shame.

 

She flashes a wicked smile, “That’s the response I was hoping for. Sakura, we going with the original plan?” Sakura sighs, “Yes, given this new information it seems we should…”

 

Rapi closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, the color in her hair grew less intense, but the look in her eyes was still furious. She had some strong suspicions about a few squads that had made it clear in the past, they would follow orders no matter what. 

 

Anis asked the question they were waiting to hear the answer for, “What exactly do you have planned for us…?”

 

Sakura closed her eyes and gently spoke, “We were going to split up into groups. Moran as reconnaissance, Rosanna as… ahem interrogation, and I was going to pay a visit to our dear CEO.”

 

Neon was the first to raise her hand, “As a designated spy myself-” Jin and Consigliere quickly pulled pistols on her. Rapi was quick to jump up and wave them down, “Not anymore!” 

 

The two looked at each other before putting away their weapons. Neon let out her bated breath and continued “...I would be good at recon, I think going with Moran would be helpful for all of us!”

 

Rosanna and Sakura looked to Moran who nodded. Rosanna then spoke up, “I think I’ll take little Red over here to do some questioning, seems she’s got some people in mind.” Rapi still was furious, but it wasn’t at Rosanna, who met her expression with a wicked smile.

 

Sakura then turned to Anis who responded, “I suppose as the only member of Counters who’s Tetra, I should accompany you. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the boss.”

Sakura nodded, “Then it’s settled, we’ll use burner phones on a secure channel. Last thing we need is texts on Blabla or calls being tracked or traced.”

 

The three queens stood up gracefully in one fluid motion and dusted themselves off.

 

Sakura stated, “We’re offering more than most would. Don’t make us regret it.”

 

Rosanna followed up with her typical sneer, “You fail, and the next body in the street won’t be ours.”

 

Moran finished, “And again, we’re doing this for him. Not for Andersen. Not the Ark. Just him.”

 

Counters stood the same and split off towards their respective ladies. They knew the weight this mission would have and that there was no room for failure.

Sakura gave some last parting words before they split off,

 

“You three are walking a trail soaked in blood. Don’t slip.”

Notes:

Thanks for reading! There may be a delay in the release of the next chapter as the 28th will be my Birthday! Then we should be consistently having chapters posted every other night, or would you all prefer two days in between each chapter in return for longer chapters? Let me know who your favorite Nikkes are, I'm curious. My favorite is Frima!

Chapter 7: The Silence Between Sips

Summary:

Cafe Sweety has gotten the news, and for once there isn't any fighting.

Cafe Sweety was a common stop for Nikkes, Commanders, and general workers alike in the morning, no one had better coffee. The aroma, the vibe immaculate, the chatter in the air was vibrant, and yet there was a stillness, something that was missing, that to a new patron would make the environment belligerent or uncomfortable even.

 

The three baristas behind the counter were quietly and diligently working, each with an unreadable expression. They were still preparing all of their orders perfectly, but not a single glance towards one another.

 

To any one of their regulars this was unsettling to say the least. Part of the fun of going to Cafe Sweety was seeing the bickering between the girls, even over the smallest things. They got along better than any squad and the regulars knew that better than anyone, so the lack of communication was a bit hard to watch, did something happen? Did they have a fight or something?

 

The girls split up to different parts of the shop following the initial rush hour of the morning. A regular figured he would try to cheer up Sugar.

 

He sat near the bar where she was washing glasses and tried cracking some jokes. She flashed a polite smile that didn’t exactly reach her eyes and worked with precision. Her flirtiness that she had with the customers was absent and left the man feeling a bit sad. She worked still, just quiet efficiency.

 

In a different corner was an old couch that everyone recognized as Frima’s, when she wasn’t immediately needed she could typically be found there. Though she had her eye mask on, she was tossing and turning, mumbling to herself. What was looking like a struggle to get comfortable would normally have been her resting in almost three seconds flat. 

 

After cleaning up some tables, Milk returned behind the bar with some mugs and glasses, the thump of her boots just a bit more aggressive than usual. Just then a customer exclaimed to his friend, “No way! Cream coffee is way better than milk!” and immediately froze waiting for a scolding from Milk. On any other day Milk would have exploded, thrown a rag at them, or picked a fight just for fun, but today, not even a glance their way. She had a slight frown, more than her usual resting face, but it wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular, just like she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. 

 

The customer that had tried joking with Sugar looked sick to his stomach.

 

Why aren’t they bickering?

 

They’re always bickering. Even if just for fun…

 

He continued staring at his coffee, not drinking, but stirring, lost in his own thoughts. He stared as if it held the answer for the mood of his favorite baristas. He looked back up to Sugar, hoping that she would have a smile suddenly or something of the sort.

 

Instead, he caught her staring at a fourth stool behind the counter. No one ever sat in it, but it always remained open, as if for an old friend they expected to stop by someday.

 

She caught herself and looked away quickly.

 

The man didn’t say anything, just slowly drank his sickly sweet coffee in silence.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

He ended up leaving a generous tip, more out of guilt than gratitude, as if it was his fault or that he could make their day just a little better with it. He threw his jacket on and stepped out into the gray morning haze, the bell on the door jingled as he disappeared.

 

Inside, the coffee grinder churned once more.

 

The “Closed” sign was flipped over their door as the three went on break.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

In the back room they called a break room, they girls sat in silence… or at least, what used to feel like silence.

 

Frima was on her old beat up couch, eye mask half-on half-off. She wasn’t asleep. Hadn’t been for quite some time. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw a warm smile, kind eyes, and heard a soothing low voice, keeping a mug warm in his hand and a fluffy pillow made for her under his arm.

 

For something so warm, it felt like a nightmare to her. Her hand hanging off the couch, fingers twitching with the indecision, to reach out, or let go.

 

In another corner of the room, Sugar was “working” on Black Typhoon as she would say. There wasn’t anything to fix, not really. She just kept wiping down the same bolt again and again, wearing down the cloth that she was using. She’d already tuned the engine. Replaced the oil. Recalibrated the shocks. Aired up her tires. There was nothing left for her to take her mind off things.

 

The other two noticed that she wasn’t looking at the bike anymore, she was staring through it. Searching for answers in her own mind like if she thought long enough she could remember something once forgotten.

 

And then the loud pummeling coming from the last corner, Milk was slamming her fists into the hanging bag with a slow but heavy tempo. It was the only thing filling the air besides the tension.

 

Thump. Thump. Thump.

 

Her hands were taped and sweat poured down her face, but she punched harder, and harder. Her shoulders were tight and her jaw was clenched, she wanted to say something but didn’t want to be the one to start this talk.

 

“Pal wouldn’t want us to look like this, moping around,” she growled between hits.

 

Not a single response.

 

The hits grew louder and louder. It couldn’t take much more from the boxer. Sugar didn’t flinch. Frima didn’t move.

 

Silence.

 

The punches grew heavier with her grunting until she nearly punched a hole through the bag, tearing it open as sand poured out onto their floor.

 

Milk’s hands went to her hair squeezing a fistful in each hand, “GAAAAAH!” she cried out in frustration as tears formed in her eyes. She wouldn’t dare let them fall.

 

She let go, her fists trembling at her side as she breathed heavily, chest heaving. She couldn’t take looking at her squadmates right now, just stared at the bag like it had done something to her personally. “He was right there… I just thought that-” she got choked up, then bit her tongue, “Why didn’t we do something?” she said softly.

 

Sugar stood from her crouching position, throwing the cleaning rag over her shoulder. She kept her voice low, and it was softer, maybe even gentler than usual. “Cause he didn’t need us. Not back then.” She glanced over at Milk who was still avoiding eye contact, “Now? I’d burn the whole damn Outer Rim to just find one of ‘em.”

 

Milk didn’t respond, her breathing steadied as she released her fists and closed her eyes looking down.

Frima pulled off her eye mask sluggishly, more so than usual. The lack of sleep was obvious in the dark bags under her eyes. The eye mask hung from a single one of her fingers as she stared at the ceiling, “Once a week. His visits. Never said much.”

 

Sugar leaned against her workbench organizing her tools for the hundredth time, “Would always ask for milk coffee, said it tasted better when we made it.”

“‘Too much sugar’, he’d say”, Milk added bitterly, fists rubbing her eyes.

 

The other two thought they could hear Frima chuckle, a rare sound, “Drank it anyway.”

 

There was silence again, but this time it wasn’t hollow at all, they felt like some sort of progress was being made.

 

Sugar exhaled through her nose, almost like a sigh, “I… kept waiting for him to walk through that door.” Her eyes drifted towards the door that led to the front of the Cafe. “Always came to us with some lead, acted like he was too dumb to find it on his own. Ask us for help, knowing we’d always get more out of it than him.”

“He knew we’d help…” Milk muttered.

 

“Knew we cared.” Frima said, strangely direct.

 

Frima sat up with the kind of determination she only had on personal jobs.

 

Milk turned around, eyes red, but no tears to be seen. She had the kind of look she wore before her bouts.

 

Sugar wore a weak smile, the first one she’d had in quite some time that wasn’t forced.

 

The three stood still for a moment longer, the weight of what needn’t be said hanging in the air.

 

The moment was interrupted by a loud tone that made all three of them turn to the main screen in the room and in big letters read:

 

[MUSTANG - DIRECT LINE]

 

The name pulsed like a heartbeat, the same heartbeats that were filling the three’s ears.

 

Sugar grabbed her leather jacket and revved up Black Typhoon, “Ladies?”

 

Milk cracked her knuckles and her neck before sliding her hat on, “‘Bout damn time.”

 

Frima stood up and threw her mask to the side, fire in her eyes.

“One last favor.”

Notes:

Thanks a ton for the support guys. I am reading every comment even if I'm not responding to all of them. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, I put a lot more effort into it so I hope the wait was worth it. Hope everyone has enjoyed the summer event as well, crazy that it's been 1000 days since the game released. Are there any squads you're looking forward to seeing written about?

Chapter 8: Flair for the Forbidden

Summary:

Anis and Sakura make their way to the CEO of Tetra for assistance.

They set out that night after finalizing their plans.

 

The wall separating the Outer Rim and the Ark was as imposing as ever, but standing on the darker side made it feel heavier. Though she spent most of her time in the Outer Rim, Sakura still saw it as a bit intimidating. It wasn’t just a border or a checkpoint. It was a declaration to those who weren’t born lucky that they’d remain there.

 

At the checkpoint, the workers that normally would have patted them down, quickly turned a blind eye to Sakura of the Seimeikai and Anis of Counters. Their status granted them privileges a majority of the people in the Ark didn’t have.

 

“Funny, huh?” Anis muttered, unimpressed. “When you're some scrap on the ground, they’d strip-search you a dozen times over before even considering letting you by. But when you’re a known menace, they just roll out the red carpet.”

 

Sakura shrugged as she propped open her parasol to account for the nearly blinding artificial light from the Dome of Eternity. “They fear the noise, not the silence. And after living in the Outer Rim long enough…”

 

“You know it’s the other way around…” Anis finished her thought with a grim face. “I didn’t take you for a poet.”

 

“I’m not,” Sakura clarified, “Just observant.”

 

Stepping out onto the streets of the Ark was a stark contrast to the dark world they were just in. People walking around in the bright streets without any worries, frankly the disgust they felt about the situation was shared and it wasn’t exactly hidden. Thankfully, they weren’t walking around under the pretense of being discreet.

 

They walked briefly in silence on their way to the large tower where the CEOs resided, taking in the bright scenery with sour faces. Sakura had opted to unveil her fan to hide her expression while walking through the streets.

 

If they’d tried to avoid attention before, they were failing now. Sakura looked like a modern day Geisha roaming the Ark streets, catching more than a few eyes. Anis almost felt a bit jealous at all the attention she was getting, guess this was the life of being a Tetra Nikke though.

 

“So, we didn’t go into much detail before about this plan, but since we’ve got time, what exactly is each ‘team’ doing?” Anis was curious if she had made the right decision to split up with her squadmates.

 

Sakura’s eyes sharpened in delight it seemed, her face still hidden behind her fan, now to cover her mouth from any lip readers, “When we first heard the news the room was quiet but there was one very clear shared emotion between the three of us, anger. There wasn’t one of us who didn’t want revenge, though we all felt differently about how to go about the situation. Rosanna figured it best to go after the main suspects and… ahem , entice the truth out of them. Moran wanted to take a more roundabout path to find clues on her own with those in Peony, whether through spying or digging, but she wanted to remain non-confrontational. I wanted to take it to the most trusted person I know.” She stated that last bit with dead seriousness.

 

Anis looked skeptical, though she kept her eyes on the sidewalk below her. Andersen had told us not to trust anyone above… wouldn’t that mean the boss? Sakura could read her expression plainly.

 

“Tell me, is there anyone else aside from the Commander or the Boss that has done as much for you?” Sakura knew she could say this in confidence, no one else had saved the two Nikkes from such depths like those men.

 

Anis swallowed hard, Mustang had been everything to her, even getting her old life, he gave her a way out. She had to have trust in him, she had to repay the kindness he’d shown her so many times before with the trust he deserved.

 

Sakura closed her eyes and behind her fan her lips curled into a smile. 

 

“Do… you think the other teams will be successful?” Anis asked somewhat sheepishly, trying to shake her doubt about Mustang.

 

Sakura sighed, not in frustration, almost the relief of thinking of her squadmates. “We’ve squabbled too many times to count, but if there’s anyone I’d trust with this job it’s those girls. We value family dearly, and the Commander had the respect of each of ours. This isn’t a simple job that we can mess up and move on from, Rosanna and Moran are moving with purpose, and while you may know it from Rosanna already, Moran doesn’t take lightly to these sorts of things. I’ve seen her remove entire criminal factions overnight because they over stepped with her.”

 

Anis’ eyes grew wide. She had known about Rosanna using force to get what she wanted before, but Moran always seemed like the odd one out of the three. The way Sakura spoke of Moran just now sent chills down her spine.

 

She thought of Neon and hoped that her goofy teammate would be able to keep up if Moran showed that side of herself again. She also thought of Rapi, but if anything, Rosanna may be having more trouble with her than the other way around. She’d only seen Rapi look like that a couple of times, and that was before her complete fusion with Red Hood.

 

If she could put multiple heretics in the ground when Red Hood had activated before, then she felt for any of the poor bastards that had to deal with her now.

 

“We’re here.” Sakura spoke softly, but it quickly snapped Anis out of her thoughts.

Anis took a deep breath, “Let’s see what Tetra’s top dog is doing.” and stepped into the intimidating building.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

After some clarification of who they were and the repeated explanations of their urgent business with Mustang, they finally had arrived at his room.

 

After a light knock at the door, they heard a familiar flamboyant voice, “Enter~!”

 

As the automatic doors opened for the two girls, their eyes were immediately overwhelmed by his office, before their ears were filled with the apparent continuation of his statement…

“rrrrrrTAINMENT!!!!” he exclaimed while hitting an extravagant pose. Even in such dire circumstances as they were in, the girls couldn’t help but smile at their CEO’s energy.

 

He was working on an outfit that was currently being worn by one of the many mannequins in his room, the tag Rushae could be seen on it, must have been helping Rupee with a new design, “Ah! Mes chéries, surely I have left this mortal coil, for only in paradise would such radiant beauties come to call! Bienvenue, my darlings!”

 

For all of the fake and frustrating smiles in the Ark, the two felt comforted by this man’s radiant grin. His love for his Nikkes were genuine, and he was always happy to help them. He held up a finger as he gestured for them to sit in front of his desk as he finished what he was sewing on. 

 

The girls quietly took their seats watching their boss so excitedly work on a new project and waited patiently.

 

“Now then!” he stepped away from the mannequin with enthusiasm, “What brings you to my stage this fine day, hmm? Something tells me this isn’t just a social call.”

 

Sakura held her fan over her face, “Boss, is there anything recording us in the room at the moment? Or anything that could be used without us knowing?” Her tone was stern and serious.

 

Mustang glanced around the room, then pulled the power cable from the wall that powered his computer. He then clasped his hands together, crossed his legs, and leaned back in his chair, “Non, not any more.”

 

Sakura lowered her fan from her face,“The Commander.” She stated quietly. Suddenly, all of the energy that had filled the room previously, had been sucked out with two words.

 

The boss’s expression changed to the one he held whenever someone in Tetra was being threatened, the stark contrast to his bright smile is enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

 

Anis and Sakura had seen it very rarely before, it wasn’t a look he liked to show.

 

“So I was the first stop, huh?” Mustang removed his sunglasses, folding them with uncharacteristic care, and placed them on his desk, “ Mon dieu … it must be worse than I thought”

 

Anis became a bit choked up at how serious he had looked about this, the Commander was important to him too.

 

“I assume Andersen came to you first though?” He continued.

 

Anis nodded solemnly. “You tell no one, mes chéries. Not any officials, not a soul. If this leaks… we lose more than just control.” The authority was potent with every word he spoke to them.

 

Sakura spoke up to him as Anis was seeming to struggle to herself, “Boss, we need anything, any sort of lead or thoughts you may be able to share. We know we’re asking an incredible thing of you, but you know as well as I do that if this man goes free without retribution, there will be a lot of unhappy Nikkes out there looking for an excuse to snap.”

 

Mustang looked unhappy, he knew that despite the love he showed his Nikkes, the mistreatment of them had already pushed many to the limit, if it got out that the biggest activist for equality was murdered, that was wraps.

 

He sighed, “Moi? I know nothing . But if a pair of clever girls happened to find themselves poking around where they shouldn’t… with the right tools…” he looked away while sliding them a security card of extremely high clearance, “with the right company… Well, who could stop them?”

 

The duo’s eyes had gone wide at the power they now held to access databases, but then confusion. Anis questioned Mustang, “Company?”

 

Mustang reached for his direct line and typed something in. “Mes baristas! I need a private reservation , an order was placed by one of our old regulars before he left his table, make sure to clean it up. And mes chéries? Pour the truth strong, and serve it hot.” He promptly hung up the phone and turned back to the stunned Anis and a pleased looking Sakura.

 

Mustang answered her question, “The best I have to offer of course! They will meet you at his last place.”

 

He then stood up and placed his sunglasses back on, seemingly changing back to his over-the-top happy attitude. “Now mon radiant ravissantes! Is there anything else your ever-devoted maestro can do for you today?”

 

Tears welled in Anis’, grateful beyond words. She couldn’t stop herself from hugging her boss, no matter how unprofessional it may have seemed to anyone else. “Thank you, thank you so much…”

 

“S'il te plaît, be safe, bring him justice.” He whispered as he held her like she was his own daughter.

 

As they separated, his smile returned while Anis wiped her tears. “Ah, one more thing.” Mustang moved close to her ear, “I do not believe this shadow dances underneath artificial lights…”

 

Anis committed that statement to memory as she left his office with Sakura. 

 

“Looks like we’ve got a lead. Time to see if the Scavs earned their spot as number one in Tetra.”

29 DAYS REMAIN

Notes:

Thanks for the support like usual! I won't say what in particular, but something most of the comments have been wanting to see will get to happen. Writing Mustang was very difficult to do for this chapter so I hope he doesn't sound too wonky or OOC. Question for this chapter is: Who's your favorite Underworld Queen? Personally, I'm a big fan of Moran. Writing her and planning stuff out for what she does in the story made me like her a ton more. My schedule may become a bit inconsistent soon, so I may not be uploading every other day like I originally planned, but I will be actively writing when I get time and will try to stick to around every other day or every three days. Much love to everyone supporting, I'm having a ton of fun writing this, so I hope you're enjoying reading.

Chapter 9: Through a Door Unwatched

Summary:

Anis meets with Cafe Sweety for anything left behind.

Standing near the massive border where the shadows grow larger, the Ark’s light would become faint. For once, neither Anis nor Sakura decided anything needed to be said, the walk was one full of understanding and hope.

 

Sakura readjusted her overcoat, gaze looking back over the Ark’s streets. “I’ll keep my ear to the wall out here. The Rim has a way of remembering that which the Ark tries to forget.”

 

Anis nodded, not quite looking at her. “You sure you’re alright alone?”

 

“I’m never alone,” Sakura replied with a sad smile. Then, softer. “Not anymore.”

 

After a moment of understanding, Sakura then reached into her sleeve and handed Anis a small flip phone. “Burner phone, won’t track numbers or locations both ways. Use it if you need to contact me or the other Queens, I’ll play support from a hidden location.”

 

Anis pocketed the phone after inspecting it for a moment. “Thanks”

 

Sakura looked at her with a mix of emotions. Sharp, calculating, and a bit of worry? “Be careful out there. Dig too deep, and the walls start whispering.”

 

Anis gave a dry smile. “Yeah, well… I don’t mind a little noise.”

 

Sakura closed her eyes with a wry smile before turning and walking towards the border between the Ark and the Outer Rim. Anis did the same, returning to the loud hum of the Ark, she glanced behind herself, but Sakura had already melted back into the shadows of the Rim.

 

Anis sighed as she realized what was coming up next, her return to the scene of the crime.

 

She took a moment to herself to compose herself. “Let’s get this over with.”

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Standing outside of the Command Center Anis found herself hesitant to enter. The Command Center is back to running how it usually does… the Ark doesn’t stop for anybody it seemed.

 

Taking a deep breath Anis walked in past the main office to the back of the building where the Commander’s room was.

 

She slowly walked up to the automated door which opened to the sight of the three top Nikkes of Tetra. 

 

Before she could say a word, Milk and Sugar and their fingers to their lips looking at her. The confusion being clear on her face the two pointed over to the old couch the commander kept for advisements.

 

Sleeping there was an exhausted looking Frima that seemed more peaceful than ever. Sugar waved her over before quietly speaking, “Sorry about this, Frima hasn’t been able to sleep ever since… well you know. But when we came here to check for anything, she laid down and for the first time in days she was able to sleep.” Sugar looked tired herself, but sounded more worried about her squad leader. “If she had gone much more without she might have gone under a mind switch… for now please just let her sleep?”

 

Anis nodded. “Everyone is struggling right now, if this is what she needs then let’s leave her be.”

Sugar smiled gratefully. “Besides her, we’ve been searching the room for anything that wasn't taken for the investigation, or… evidence the murderer left behind.”

 

A surprised expression spread across Anis’ face, she had never seen Cafe Sweety as focused and working together since the first go about with Marian, granted even then, Sugar dumped her teammates in favor of getting the Commander closer to the objective. 

 

Milk had her usual unapproachable expression. “What? Think we can’t get real work done?”

 

“Can you blame me?” Anis responded bluntly

 

“Hmph.” Milk went back to digging in the Commander’s filing cabinet.

 

“So what exactly are you looking for?” Anis started going around behind his desk looking for anything that could have fallen underneath

Milk continued in her usual gruff tone, “Literally anything about stuff someone would want him gone for. Government secrets, Nikke secrets, or things about the Outer Rim. Fortunately, we know for sure that he had a part in each of these. Unfortunately, he knew how to hide his stuff well, and it’d be our only lead on what to do next.” 

 

“Speaking of leads,” Anis continued, “Mustang theorizes whoever did this isn’t from under the Ark, he was vague though…”

 

“The Outer Rim?” Sugar put her hand to her chin thinking, “That’d make the most sense, it wasn’t exactly clean enough to be done by anyone in the Central Government based on how messy it was described.”

 

“Got it, Sugar make sure you look over documents you already checked just in case.” Milk thought it would be important to be thorough.

 

“Already ahead of you.” Sugar said pulling back out a pile of documents she had searched through.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Nearly three hours had passed and the three were exhausted. Nothing. They had found nothing but old paperwork detailing official expeditions on the surface and the Commander’s assistance with some requests from the CEOs. 

 

“Damn it! Pal clearly kept his junk organized, so where would he have kept confidential files?” Milk laid out on the floor exasperated. “There’s no way they managed to find everything he had…”

 

Anis sat against a wall with her eyes closed and a pained expression on her face. “Maybe we should just move on to somewhere else, we’re wasting time here.” She then glanced over to the still sleeping Frima. “Well, at least she’s getting something out of this.”

 

The three sighed in defeat.

 

Suddenly, Frima rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Any luck?” She yawned out.

 

Milk and Sugar shook their heads dejected.

 

Frima stood up sluggishly. “Idea.” She walked over to his desk and pulled out the drawers.

 

Anis sighed like she was having to explain something to an ignoring child. “We’ve already checked his desk, Frima.”

 

She flashes one of her rare smirks, “Poorly.” Suddenly, whatever Frima was messing with made a click sound, and the sound of a board moving could be heard.

 

The other three suddenly jumped up and crowded around her bewildered. Inside of the drawers that they had pulled open and checked at least what felt like over a hundred times, there was what seemed to be another level to it?

 

“How is this possible?” Sugar asked bewildered, “We did everything we could reaching around in these drawers, how could we have missed this?”

 

“False bottom.” Frima said, still smirking, clearly quite happy with herself, “Taught him.”

 

“Is that we can never find our squad documents!?” Milk yelled making a realization, “Ohoho, we are having a long talk once we get back to the shop-”

 

Anis quickly grabbed the files stored under the false bottom and began shuffling through them. “We need to search these for anything that we can find, anything that might relate to what Mustang said.” She then passed out the files to the other three who began looking through the papers and notes.

 

Most of what they find ends up either being more obscure or too vague for anything to potentially go off of.

 

“Woah, didn’t think there was so much he knew on Goddess squad…” Milk was staring incredulously at her papers.

 

“And this Forbidden Library? Poor Arcana…” Sugar was wincing as she shuffled through her papers. She then covered her mouth like she was going to be sick, “What in the hell are they doing to those kids at the M.M.R. Vocational School…”

 

“Perilous Siege? Judges? Assassins? Hmmmmm….” Frima was laying back on the couch more interested in her documents than the others. “Possible leads.”

 

Anis was also struggling to dig through these files… How much did the commander know? How deep does this all go? Was this why someone came after him?

 

Just as Anis was about to discard the file on their encounter with Over the Horizon when she realized it went farther than the moments Counters were with the Commander.

 

She read about the message implying she was the smuggler, the Commander’s attempts to catch her, her catching him and leading him to a… functional elevator in the Outer Rim?

 

If this is true, then this wouldn’t be known by the government at all, especially if it was unofficially repaired.

 

“I think I found something!” Anis called out.

 

The three surrounded her reading the same documents she just had.

 

Between the three who had previously been part of the underworld of the Outer Rim, none of them had heard of such an elevator and furrowed their brows in annoyance. Resulting in a bunch of muttering from the scavengers.

 

“Never heard.” “Would have been nice for doing deliveries…” “I guess I wouldn’t have known while boxing.”

 

“So none of you have any idea where this could be?” Anis asked hesitantly

 

A mix of shrugs and avoided eye contact was her answer.

“Damn it!” Anis was ready to break something

 

“Don’t forget who you’re working with, Blondie.” Milk said with a confident smirk. “If there’s anything we’re good at it’s search and retrieval, we’ll find this thing in no time.”

 

“We can even take you on Black Typhoon, I’d just need to grab the side car.” Sugar chimes in with confidence

 

Frima yawns, “One last stop.”

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

After a quick addition to Sugar’s sleek motorcycle, the four were on their way to the Outer Rim. 

 

While Anis waited however, she made use of the burner phone that Sakura had given her. She passed on the knowledge of all the documents they had read together to relay to the other teams. It may help them with leads or where to go next.

 

The walk Anis had previously made going from the Outer Rim seemed much shorter going sixty miles per hour on the back of Black Typhoon. It was a miracle she didn’t fall off, and even more impressive that Frima was comfortably laying down in the sidecar. Anis believed that under different circumstances, Frima would have been sleeping the whole ride there.

 

Making it past security at the border, they began cruising down the blackened streets. They were going much slower now, but the atmosphere felt different. They were in a much sketchier part of the Rim if one could believe that.

 

Their cruising went uninterrupted thankfully, probably helpful that Sugar was a bit notorious with her boisterous bike, reminding anyone with any common sense to steer clear. Finally, they seemed to reach something of a clearing with a towering elevator shaft in front of them.

 

Sugar parked Black Typhoon and the girls all got out to inspect the elevator.

 

“We sure this thing actually works? Looks like it’s still a hunk of junk to me.” Milk kicked the elevator while sounding unimpressed.

 

“Looks broken.” Frima was staring up towards the extent of the elevator shaft.

 

“Hold on, there’s a panel over here.” Anis tapped it a few times and to their surprise it lit up. “Looks like we’re in business…”

 

“First we should check if it works, any volunteers?” Anis says, looking at each of the three.

 

Surprisingly, Frima raised a hand. “Stay still?”

 

“Uh yeah, you don’t have to do anything, just sit there and let us know if it really takes you to the surface.” Anis was a bit surprised at her willingness to try something so rickety looking.

 

Frima stepped onto the dank platform, yawning as she pressed the button and taking out her rifle in the case of an encounter. She seemingly went up without issue.

 

“In the meantime, check if there are any logs on here for previous uses.” Sugar suggested as Milk was walking around watching the surrounding area for anyone trying to sneak up on them.

 

Anis began digging around in the UI before finding something akin to logs, unfortunately it required either a password or some sort of clearance. 

 

“Damn, stuck already?” Sugar asked disappointedly. “Maybe we could call up someone from Electric Shock or Protocol? No, that’d be too sketchy to trust someone outside of Tetra as it stands right now-”

 

“Wait!” Anis begins digging in her jacket pockets and pulls out a card, “I’ve gotta thank the boss later, he’s a life saver”

 

After plugging the card into the terminal, suddenly the message that was previously blocking access disappeared, and was replaced by a long spreadsheet of automated logs for the elevators. It detailed dates, times, and weight of what was being lifted. 

 

The most recent read: Today’s date, around 10:04 P.M., and a weight of around 250 lbs. 

 

Sugar checked her watch and the time was just a few minutes after Frima was sent up.

 

“The weight matches the average weight of a standard Nikke body, so that matches up as well.” Anis notes.

 

Suddenly another log is added. Today’s date, 10:08 P.M., and a weight of around 250 lbs.

 

“Guess Frima’s on her way down.” Sugar said, seeing the log over Anis’ shoulder. “Anything significant we can find out from this?”

 

Anis scanned through what seemed like months of logs, it wasn’t used daily, or even weekly. Most of the weights were pretty significant, which would match up with the smuggling that Sora was doing for resources. Although there were a few logs that stuck out.

 

The elevator finally returned, Frima was in one piece if not just more tired coming back than when we sent her. “Just surface. No encounter.”

 

That had confirmed it for Anis, she called Milk and Frima over to see the logs that her and Sugar had been reading for the past few minutes. Anis pointed at two lines right next to each other.

 

The day of the Commander’s death, two entries. 

 

One in the morning, one in the afternoon. The first was empty. The next was 210 lbs.

 

Too little for a standard body Nikke, too much for a recreational body. 

 

The times were before Counters had left for their inspection, back to back. 

 

Anis couldn’t believe what she was reading, her eyes frantically rereading the numbers to confirm what she was really reading. 

Someone had used the elevator that day.
And if the logs were right…

They were still inside the Ark.

 

Notes:

Thank you for reading! This is just a little bit longer than usual, so I hope it's enjoyable. It gave a few big hints for those who are also trying to solve this mystery as I write it. I would like to write a disclaimer that while new banners will come out, that doesn't exactly mean I will be writing about them unless it would heavily influence, affect, or change the plot in a significant way. With the new main story chapters coming out, the same will likely apply, but I would recommend reading, watching, or playing the new chapters when they come out as any new information that can be used for this story will be used. So spoilers for anyone who won't be immediately caught up!

Question for this chapter: Do you have a favorite event? Mine personally was Sea You Again. Great vibes and was one of my first major events I got to be part of as a new player.

Please feel free to continue commenting theories or thoughts about the fic, I do read all the comments on these chapters!

Chapter 10: No Clean Hands

Summary:

Rapi and Rosanna interrogate the CEO of Missilis.

In the backstreets of the Ark, the Queen of Hedonia and the Red of Counters moved inconspicuously. For their goals to work in their favor, they needed to go as unnoticed as possible. And while the Ark is a lot more lit up than the Outer Rim, even it had its dark corners for lurking.

 

The two quietly walked next to each other, they had already had their planning done the previous day. While Anis and Sakura went immediately to Mustang, Rapi and Rosanna had to be a bit more deliberate if they were to get a bit messy. Setting out a day later, Hedonia members have been posted around the Ark in case they are needed.

 

Rosanna gets off the burner phone with Sakura. She had a pleased smirk on her face. “Seems like the boss came through. We’ve got a free backdoor entry into secure areas.”

 

Rapi looked doubtful, “You’re kidding. Just like that?”

 

Rosanna shrugged with a smile, “Seems blondie won him over to get a near max security pass. Best part? It also has a code in case scanners aren’t working, meaning we won’t have to pick it up to get in.”

 

Rapi just realized there really wasn’t any stalling left to do now. The first up on her list was Syuen. 

 

“You think she did it?” Rosanna glanced at Rapi, seemingly to ask not out of curiosity of an answer, but how Rapi would react.

 

“She’s done worse for much less.” There was bite in Rapi’s voice, and her response was more than pleasing to someone like Rosanna

 

It was no secret that the commander was on her shit list. From day one, she treated him like he was another brick in the wall. She even had sicced Mihara and Yuni on him. Though there’s no chance she would do anything herself, that’s not to say she wouldn’t use someone more disposable in a heartbeat.

 

While the erasure of NIMPH gave Nikkes gave them more free will, it also made them able to harm humans. Who’s to say the head of Missilis couldn’t have contacted M.M.R. to restore the function that required them to listen to her.

 

While these would be insane accusations against any of the other CEO… Syuen hadn’t exactly earned herself a good reputation over the years. Not to mention Enikk’s decision that she be turned into a Nikke at the Commander’s discretion. She had to suck up to him like nothing else, but if he was gone? What then?

 

And so, the first and most likely suspect of something happening to the Commander, was her.

 

Despite the good standing Counters had with Matis, they had to go behind their backs for this. They had their problems with Syuen too, but they would defend her with their lives. So this had to be done without their knowledge.

 

Rosanna led the way, despite her mostly dwelling within the Outer Rim, she seemed to know the shadows as if they were an old friend. She lit a cigarette she didn’t need, and exhaled smoke through her nose. The only thing that could be heard in the alley way aside from the muffle of the hustle and bustle of the city, was Rosanna’s heels clicking rhythmically.

 

“You ever get used to the deaths?” Rapi asked the mafia boss

 

Rosanna inhaled the smoke before blowing out a cloud, “Nope.” 

 

The silence was uncomfortable, but necessary, neither needed to be comforted by the other. Mutual interests led them to the same goal.

 

Rosanna stopped, “No matter what we learn in there, you understand the consequences that will await us if we go through with interrogating a CEO, and worse if we get physical?” She looked over her shoulder just enough to see Rapi’s response.

 

Rapi had a fire in her eyes, if this was going to give her answers, she wouldn’t care if they had to put her in rehabilitation or if they called Extrinsic on her, she would do what she had to. A single nod to Rosanna was all that was needed to convey that she was ready.

 

The two walked towards the main building of Missilis, full of spite and determination for answers.

 

Navigating the building wasn’t as difficult as one might think, Rapi was famous enough as is, so seeing her in one of the main manufacturer’s buildings wasn’t an unexpected sight. It was simply thought that she was answering a request for Counters.

 

The code tied to Mustang’s security card also got them past the typically permitted floors on the elevator. The only thing that could be heard was Rosanna’s impatient tapping of her heel into the ground. 

 

They had arrived, the top floor. The two exchanged glances, neither smiling, both with clenched teeth. They walked out of the elevator.

 

“You sure she’s in there?” Rosanna’s voice was low, and her lips were almost curled into a smile that wasn’t there

 

“No doubt, she never leaves there unless it’s for a CEO meeting, not even emergencies.” Rapi said flatly, “She’s not going to cooperate”.

 

“We aren’t going to kidnap her,” Rosanna rolled her eyes

 

“No, but this isn’t exactly going to be resolved with a simple conversation.” Rapi gave her a side eye.

“What a shame, I brought my manners today, let me demonstrate.” Rosanna said sarcastically as if speaking to a princess.

 

…

 

A small knock came from the other side of Syuen’s door, she’d had too many people bother her today. She was still trying to figure out how Enikk was going to deal with her now that the person in charge of her fate just got offed. “Scram! I don’t have time for your bull-” She was cut off by her door slamming open.

 

Ah shit.

 

Rapi and Rosanna enter the room, Rosanna closes the door behind her, and locks it .

 

Syuen remains sitting behind her desk, looking up from her tablet with heavy disdain filling her eyes, “The hell do you two want? How’d you get up here anyways?”

 

“Nice to see you too, sweetheart.” Rosanna had a sick smile on her face, like she was already imagining everything she was going to do to Syuen.

 

“We’re not here for conversation.” Rapi said sharply, moving closer to her slowly

 

“But you are here to accuse me of something. So what? Think I did something? Messed with your precious friends or something?” Syuen had an annoyed look on her face as she leaned on her hand.

 

Rapi knew talking to her was going to be rough, but she was quickly losing her patience. “You act as though you haven’t tried this before. Those poor girls who look up to you, adore you . And what do you ever give them back? You throw them on billboards, and use them to advertise your goddamn company, not any of their accomplishments. The only reason Matis is your top unit is because they were so desperate to prove that they could do something for some of your love or attention. So who’s to say you didn’t try to control Laplace again?”

 

Syuen scoffed, “You mean when she had a panic attack and gave up not even ten seconds into a fight? Yeah some real intimidating mind control huh? You morons think that anything that goes wrong is my fault for some reason.”

 

Rosanna’s smile was lost now, “So you’re saying you’d never kill Mister? You never had anything against him?”

 

“Haah? Is that what this is about? You think I was the one who offed the chump?” Syuen was now cackling to herself

 

Rapi knew that talking to Syuen was going to be frustrating, but even her patience had limits.

 

Rosanna grabbed the CEO’s desk and threw it hard to the side, seemed she was about done too. Rapi grabbed Syuen by the collar and pulled her close to her face. “Don’t act like you’re a goddamn saint, we both know damn well that if it weren’t for the Commander, you’d be thrown out on the street like you deserve.”

 

Syuen was struggling to breathe in her position, but kept a smirk, “And what are two Nikkes throwing a fit going to do? Trash my office? We both know your NIMPH will restrain you from-”

 

A sudden red glow cut her off before she was dropped to the ground, and nearly simultaneously punched in the stomach.

 

Syuen’s eyes went wide as she keeled over gasping for air. The struggle for air made it clear Rapi had knocked nearly all the air out of her, Syuen sounded like she had been choked out.

 

Rapi looked down on her with a furious look in her eyes, her red hair now flaring behind her, Red Hood’s temper had clearly had an impact on her. 

 

Rosanna squatted down next to Syuen, taking a drag from her cigarette before blowing the smoke in her face while she was trying to breathe. Syuen got caught in a coughing fit while she was trying to catch her breath, but the cloud of nicotine wasn’t doing her any favors.

 

She then lifted her up by grabbing a fistful of Syuen’s hair, “Hey, brat. In case it hasn’t clicked yet, we don’t have limiters.” She had a sinister smile on her face as she removed the cigarette from her mouth and pressed the end of it into her chest, just low enough so that any mark left could reasonably be covered up with a shirt.

 

Syuen breathed in to scream, but before any sound could get out, Rapi covered her mouth. 

 

“Let’s choose our words carefully from now on, hm girly?” Rosanna said with a smile like she was comforting a hurt child

 

“You… gasp sick bitches…” Syuen managed to spit out

 

Rapi rolled her eyes, she waited for this pathetic mess to be able to make a full sentence.

 

After a minute or so of her catching her breath reasonably, she looked up to the two, furious and with tears in her eyes, but no longer acting like she was in a position to speak to them as though they were below her. 

 

“Let’s try this again. What do you know about the murder, if we have to get physical again, we aren’t going to try hiding the bruises.” Rapi growled at her.

 

Syuen remained on her hands and knees, avoiding eye contact when possible, “Yeah alright fine! Obviously, I had problems with the Commander in the past. Maybe a year or two ago I would have considered hiring a hit on him or something through someone in the backstreets, or maybe influenced a suicide mission here and there. But at this point, as much as I hate to admit it, he was our one chance at getting out of this hell hole…”

 

Rapi shot a glance towards Rosanna, Rosanna just shrugged and nodded. It seemed to add up  at least.

 

“So you’re saying you didn’t have Matis do anything to the Commander or Command Center. They don’t have their NIMPH anymore, they could have easily-” Rapi was cut off while staring down at the CEO at her feet.

 

“Are you kidding? We’ve had to stop any Matis centered operations since the news got out. Maxwell won’t leave her lab and the other two are holed up in their rooms thinking they failed some life goal of theirs.” Syuen said with a bit of surprise, “They haven’t talked to me since, I’ve tried, trust me…”

 

Rapi was taken aback. Was that… a tone of loneliness? “Tch. Rosanna?” Rapi turned to the Queen.

 

“I wouldn’t push our luck here, she’s down on her luck as is, we need to think of someone who’s higher in position. More untouchable.” Rosanna says casually while staring up at the ceiling lost in thought.

 

“So she’s clean?” Rapi said incredulously

 

“Let’s not call her that, but she doesn’t seem to have anything to gain from something like this.” Rosanna tapped her feet impatiently.

 

“Then if we need someone who thinks they’re doing the Ark a favor, I’ve got a certain duo in mind that has stained hands.” Rapi began walking out of the office, Rosanna kicked off the wall to follow her.

 

Syuen was left on the floor humiliated and her office in shambles, but she knew better than to report this incident, she’d just gotten a look at what they were willing to do.

 

As they approached the elevator Rosanna’s heels clicked like a clock ticking down the seconds.

 

Rosanna whistled a somber tune down the hallway. “So who’re you thinkin’, red?”

 

“The ones with the strongest sense of justice in the Ark.

And their so-called Judge, Jury, 

and most importantly executioners.”

Notes:

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is enjoying!

Chapter 11: In the Company of Killers

Summary:

Rapi and Rosanna break into their local library.

After a swift exit from their most recent failed excursion, Rapi and Rosanna made their way back into the shadows of the Ark, almost an oxymoron to anyone who lived here. Their preparation for a secure route had led them to taking up too much of the day, it was leaning more so towards sunset now, and options were waning if they wanted to be optimal with their usage of time.

 

Rosanna’s heels clicked as she now followed Rapi down an alleyway. “You mentioned some enactors of justice back there, surely you don’t mean the A.C.P.U.?” 

Rapi shot her an unamused look, “As if. None of those girls would have the heart to do something like that. Surely you’re aware of the Nikkes that make people disappear overnight?”

 

A sour expression covered Rosanna’s face. “Tch. Perilous. So how do you plan on finding them? They aren’t exactly the type to make themselves known.”

 

“Fortunately for us, I used to read the Commander’s classified documents after his random disappearances to help different Nikkes. I doubt the other two were aware, but losing my NIMPH had the benefit of no longer allowing people to peek at my memories.” Rapi tapped her temple with a small smirk. “He had a run-in with Best Seller a bit ago, Phantom had called him for help because apparently Arcana was having memory issues after one of her routine wipes. That aside, they cover a pretty confidential area in the Ark, and had a run-in with D and K after sounding an alarm.”

 

Rosanna’s eyes widened with an impressed look, “Good find, guess it pays to be nosey, huh? So what, do we just break into our local library?”

 

Rapi thinks for a moment then shrugs.

 

…

 

…

 

After waiting until the sun had fully set in the fake sky, the two made their way to break into their local library.

 

“You’ve gotta be kidding.” Rosanna was whispering as they slinked their way over to the front entrance.

“Do you have a better idea?” Rapi looked at her exasperated while still whispering. “I assume you know how to pick locks.”

 

“What? Because I’m a big criminal I know how to do petty crimes like breaking and entering?” Rosanna looked at Rapi for her accusations

 

Rapi just gave her a blank stare.

 

“Whatever, lucky guess, move.” Rosanna pushed Rapi aside to start working on the door.

 

After a minute or two of fiddling there was a solid click, they both quietly entered the door into the silent library. The two tried to feel their way around the darkness, hoping their eyes would adjust to pitch black that surrounded them. Rapi tried to recall where the Commander detailed the entrance to the so-called ‘Forbidden Library’.  

 

Suddenly light footsteps could be heard approaching them. Very quickly the two leaned up behind a bookshelf to let the footsteps pass by.

 

As soon as the individual was a few feet in front of them, Rapi took a huge gamble. She lunged out and quickly covered their mouth and restrained them. Rosanna thankfully caught on and helped hold the person in place. Eventually, the person stopped struggling. Rapi could recognize this azure hair anywhere.

 

“Sorry, Arcana. Show us the Forbidden Library, this isn’t on you.” Rapi tried to say to her hostage as calmly as she could in the situation

 

Even in the dark she could see the immediate panic in Arcana’s eyes as she shook her head in fear. 

 

“Just work with us, do this for him.” Rapi said desperately

 

Arcana teared up, despite her memory issues she knew who was being referred to. She nodded and pointed over to a nearby photo on the wall. Rosanna ran her fingers along the wall until she felt the lever disguised as a picture frame. She looked back at Rapi and gave her a solemn nod.

 

“Thank you, Arcana. I’m gonna let you go so please just go silently.” Rapi had a sympathetic look in her eyes before she slowly let go of Arcana, who took off into the darkness of the library.

 

After a sigh, the red head turned her attention towards the now opening secret entrance. Her and Rosanna took both sides of the doorway and waited patiently for their targets.

 

The minutes they spent waiting felt like an eternity, in near complete darkness, with bated breaths they listened. Rapi almost started to doubt that this would work when they heard quiet footsteps cautiously approaching.

 

Suddenly two silhouettes could barely be made out in front of them. In near perfect sync, Rapi and Rosanna restrained and pinned the assassins to the ground. There were a few moments where there was just the sound of grunting and some swearing until the darkness was only accompanied by the feeling of bodies below theirs, and the sound of heavy breathing.

 

“For assassins, you two aren’t very sneaky, are you?” Rosanna felt the need to taunt them now that the situation was under her control.

 

“We weren’t expecting retaliation or full on combat Nikkes.” The voice below Rapi was calm and collected, seemingly D.

 

“Get a lot of visitors, you two?” Rapi tightened her grip before kicking away D’s axe to the side.

 

“Tch. Last time we were interrupted for this it was because of the Commander, so what are the odds we’d be seeing someone so close to him pulling this.” The voice coming from below Rosanna was full of vexation, so probably K.

 

“We’ve got some questions for you two. Your track record doesn’t exactly help yourselves out here, so let’s try to cooperate, capiche?” Seems her time as a mafia boss has given her some experience with these sorts of situations.

 

“D?” K seemed to be asking for directions.

 

“Fine, speak.” D lay limp and resigned, she knew when she was beaten.

 

“The Commander. What did you do to him?” Rapi said sternly. “You’re one of the few squads that don’t have limiters, and you’ve had encounters with the Commander as well that nearly ended up with him dead and swept under the rug.”

 

K practically snarled at this proposition. “So what? Would you take it out on us if we had done it? If we followed orders or if he had done something he shouldn’t have? You know as well as I do that he gets himself into some shady relationships with certain Nikkes. Tell me would you really still blame us? Or would you take it further? Where would this witch hunt end?”

 

Rapi’s grip on D loosened, she hadn’t considered this. Perilous Siege of all squads wouldn’t have the right reasons to kill the Commander, and despite everything, he was still doing what was best for humanity, so the Judges shouldn’t have been going after him…

 

D felt Rapi’s grip loosen and took the opportunity to throw the girl off of her. Face to face, D was on top of Rapi pinning her wrists to the ground.

 

Rosanna focused on keeping K pinned and hoped Rapi could hold her own.

 

“Tell me, do you truly believe that we would have killed him? Or that we would have any reason to?” D had a blank face as she questioned her pursuer.

 

Rapi had tears forming in her eyes, she didn’t even try to fight back. This was becoming frustrating as they chased people down because they had the means, but not the reasons. It wasn’t fair to Matis, and it wasn’t fair to Perilous Siege.

 

“We’re running out of leads, and we’re… desperate. This was never personal.” Rapi had let her emotions slip and she closed her eyes waiting for some sort of retribution. 

 

None came.

 

Instead a deep breath came from D as she stood up from Rapi, letting her go. Rapi was bewildered, “W-why?”

 

“If you knew about this place then you clearly knew a lot, but you didn’t know nearly enough if you think that we would go after him.” D explained as Rosanna also released K.

 

K was rubbing her wrists with an angry look on her face, “I doubt we’d even get orders after him, last time he saved my ass, he got quite a lot of respect from the Judges.”

 

Rapi stepped back a bit. On one hand, she was relieved that again, the Commander was so well appreciated. On the other hand, another dead end. And at this point? Was it really fair to keep going around to every squad with their limiters removed? What if she accused the Queens next?

 

Rosanna could read the expression on Rapi’s face, “I guess, we’ve hit another wall then. And we’re probably going to be on your hit list now, huh?” Rosanna shot the two assassins an exhausted smile.

 

D touched her ear, K seemed to do the same, it looked like they had some sort of communication device equipped. After a few moments the two looked at Rapi and Rosanna with their usual blank faces.

 

“The Judges have excused this, they’ve deemed what your current goals are as just. We’ve also been granted permission to share with you some information that we’ve heard from some of the upper echelons that we’ve had to hide within. It may be helpful for you.” D stated in a monotone voice.

 

Rapi’s ears perked up at this and Rosanna’s head suddenly snapped up from the floor to level with D.

 

D continued, “A new group has been making its ways around the talks of the Ark, seems they only work with absolute top of the line clients. No one knows where they go, but no matter who the target is, it seems they can make them disappear. Sound familiar?”

 

The two listening glanced at one another before looking back to D. This could be it, anything more definitive than placing random blame on old teammates and allies of the Commander would be better. 

 

D almost looked like she had a pleased look on her face watching the two exchange looks. “The only reason we haven’t been sent out for them is because of their whereabouts. They seem to have a way in and out of the Ark which leads to some… difficulties.”

 

Rapi narrowed her eyes at D and K, “I have a distinct memory of you two coming to the surface before on account of trying to snatch Marian.”

 

K waved her hand as if to dismiss the claim, “Different circumstances, we knew our targets, our mission, and their routing. These guys? We have a general idea, but our investigations are only for tying up loose ends of stories, not discovering the entirety of them.” 

 

Rapi huffed before closing her eyes, “Then what can you tell us?”

 

D pulled up a small document on what seemed like a specialized tablet. “Looking through the small bit we have on their file: They work with higher ranking or high class clients, can pull off tasks otherwise unreasonable, seem to be able to go between the Ark and the Surface, and we have a name…

 

Devil’s Advocate.”

 

27 DAYS REMAIN

 

Chapter 12: Whatever remains, However improbable

Summary:

Neon and Moran find someone scrounging around in the Commander's room and decide to investigate.

Immediately following the meeting between the Queen’s, Neon and Moran set straight out of the suffocating walls of the Outer Rim to the blinding lights of the Ark.

 

Moran had stride in her step, she looked determined and confident. Next to her, however, was the textbook definition of lost. Neon figured her spy skills would come in handy at the mention of reconnaissance, but Moran had not told the poor girl what the plan was.

 

Neon tried not to be rude, but they also seemed like they were going in circles…

 

“Ahem,” Neon tried to get Moran’s attention. 

 

The queen looked over with a smile, “Yes?”

 

“Any chance I could get filled in on what your plan is?” Neon asked cautiously, she hadn’t really had any interactions with Moran before, and wasn’t aware if she was more like Rosanna or Sakura. Not that the Commander’s stories of anyone ever helped, everyone treated him very differently from how they treat others.

 

Moran’s face grew crimson as she made an embarrassed face, “I… I didn’t tell you?”

Neon then thought to herself, “ Ah, she’s a ditz…”

 

After several apologies they began through the streets again, this time with a more thorough explanation.

 

“As the teams are currently split up, Sakura is going to visit the boss, hopefully she’ll be able to get some insight or help on the situation. Mustang tends to be a lot easier to work with than most of the CEOs so we’ll have to depend on their team to get some insider info. Rosanna is going to go use her… methods, to get information out of a few suspects. Even if they aren’t the perpetrators, they sure as hell will spit anything up that they can to get away from her. As for us, we’re doing some recon and information gathering where we can, our first stop is the Commander’s office.”

 

Neon was perplexed, ‘Wouldn’t they have already picked his room clean for anything?

 

Moran shrugged as they approached the elevator to the outpost, “Probably, but it’s also the most likely spot to have anything, if anything was left behind then we’ll have a huge advantage and can share it with the others.”

 

The elevator ride up gave a great view of the Ark and its bright lights.

 

Neon felt a bit alone despite being with Moran. It felt a lot lonelier without being able to bicker with Anis, having Rapi trying to get them to be quiet while the Commander chuckled to himself. She wore a sad smile on her face reminiscing about the past few years and the many trips they’d taken up and down this elevator. Moran noticed her expression, but decided not to comment on it, there wasn’t any need really.

 

The short elevator ride was silent, but it also felt necessary. Gave the two girls time to collect their thoughts for a moment about what their next steps could be. Neon knew she wasn’t seen as all that reliable on the team, more lately than usual. Wasn’t helping that Rapi had fused with one of the literal Goddesses of Victory and Anis was taking the steps to confront her past as well.

 

She had to make a point of getting something out of this, and she’d do whatever it takes to get back for the Commander.

 

They walked down the streets of the Outpost, it was much quieter than usual. The news had probably gotten out by now, it was likely that most places nearby were in mourning or at the very least had no reason to be cheery.

 

The two made their way to the Command Center. It still made Neon’s knees buckle a little walking down that hallway but she grit her teeth and continued forward, that was until Moran put her hand to Neon’s chest stopping her in place.

 

Before Neon could ask what was wrong, a finger was at both her lips and Moran’s. Moran had heard something and was signaling her to remain stealthy.

 

Outside of the Commander’s room, there was sound coming from within. Someone digging around? Looking for something?

 

Moran flattened her body against the wall and pressed her ear against the door lightly, Neon scanned for a get away and thankfully there was a nearby janitor’s closet. Neon then tapped Moran’s shoulder gesturing towards the closet, she responded with an understanding nod.

 

Moran closed her eyes to really try and focus on who was on the other side…

 

A female voice…

 

Higher pitched, almost upbeat sounding…

 

Sounds like she’s talking to someone else? But not someone else in the room, so she’s speaking remotely…

 

Loud steps, but they aren’t getting closer. She must’ve been standing on top of something to get high up…?

 

Moran quickly realized that the person was about to exit the room, and they were standing about as conspicuously as they could be with their ears to the wall. She quickly turned with Neon on her heels to hide in the storage closet.

 

The Commander’s door opens. The two wait a second to make sure the individual is facing the opposite direction, then silently open the door and peer around the door. 

 

A black skirt, a beige plaid jacket, and a yellow hat. 

 

Moran had a look of confusion on her face while Neon muttered something under her breath, 

“Novel?”

 

As the detective walked around the corner out of sight Moran quickly jumped out. She looked in the direction that their suspect had just walked in and back at the Commander’s room before putting her hands on Neon’s shoulders,  “We need to make a decision quick. We can either try to find what she was digging around for in the Commander’s room, or we can trail her and find out who she was talking to.”

 

Neon panicked for a moment, the seconds that she looked back and forth felt like hours. She looked back with determination, “We’ll get our information from her.”

 

Moran smiled at her with an almost smug look on her face before quickly and quietly taking several strides in the direction that Novel went.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Tailing her wasn’t easy. Despite finding her so soon after beginning their search, she never seemed to stop at anywhere important for very long. She almost seemed like she was lost. It was hard enough keeping up with her going between the Outpost and the Ark and also doing it without drawing attention. Thankfully despite her title, Novel has never been a great detective.

 

Moran was glancing at the burner phone and saw a message from Sakura and Anis, seems like they had hit the jackpot.

 

“So how do you know her?” Moran asked curiously, “She the type?”

 

Neon shook her head looking confused, “No definitely not her. She’s from Protocol which is a government oriented squad for information based stuff. Commander used to game with her squadmate Exia all the time, but this is… weird. I think it’s best to err on the side that they are likely more government focused at the moment, they might be taking orders from someone higher up if you catch my drift.”

 

A grim look was given in response. “Normally, we’d be out of luck up a creek right now, but since our ‘brilliant’ detective has taken so long, one of the other groups has found something by now. Seems Sakura and Anis got some pretty high ranking passcodes, if they really are more government oriented, seems we’ll have a way in. Or at least that’s an option.” Moran was deliberating to herself as she kept her eyes glued to their target.

 

“Or… and this might be a bit extreme… we nab her, and take her to a secure location where the government won’t come after us, and then we have Exia meet us there.” Neon mused to herself, it wasn’t the cleanest plan, but if things went well enough then it would be contained with little evidence.

 

Moran stopped suddenly and looked at Neon with a much darker look than Neon thought she was capable of. “Are you sure this is the route we want to take? If this goes wrong, we’re painting a huge target on our back and we might not have many people who can cover for us… you still game?”

 

Neon nodded, she had to see this through. Moran flipped open the burner phone, “Jin, prepare our special discussion room, make sure you set up a television in there as well, thanks.” She looked towards Neon, “Any chance you’d know how to contact Novel?”

 

Neon thought for a second before looking up with a sign of remembrance, “Oh wait! Back during that one Halloween event for the Ark, she practically forced us to put her number in our phones in case we had something to report.” She passed her phone over to Moran, who subsequently began plugging in the numbers into the burner phone, “Detective, you have 2 hours to arrive at the Liar’s Bar in the Outer Rim and solve the crime. Do not tell anyone and come alone.” Moran promptly hung up the burner.

 

She looked up to see Novel panicking and now making her way towards the Outer Rim’s wall.

 

“Guess that solves one part of this problem.” Moran said deadpan as she snapped the burner phone in half. “You ready kiddo?” 

 

Neon got a chill up her back, this was a very different Moran than the one she had been talking to all day. Her tone was ice cold. She swallowed hard, “Let’s get going.”

 

They tail Novel slowly as she makes her way through the Ark and to the Outer Rim, she stops outside of a run down abandoned bar, as soon as she steps in, she’s gagged with a bag over head by Jin. He pats her down for bugs and wires.

 

Moran and Neon weren’t far behind. When they walked into the small empty bar, they saw Novel with a bag over her head and tied up into a chair. 

 

Moran patted Jin on the shoulder, “Much appreciated, you can standby for now.” 

 

He smiled, “Yes, ma’am,” then moved to a corner of the room where he leaned against the wall.

 

“Neon, I’m going to ask you to stand next to Jin and leave this bit to me, got it?” Moran had that grim look on her face again.

 

“Moran?” Neon asked a bit nervously before continuing, “We don’t need to kill her, right?”

 

Moran’s eyes grew dark, “That’s entirely up to her.” She ripped the bag off of Novel’s face, there was a dazed look for a moment which was quickly overtaken by fear. She began thrashing around while bound to the chair trying to escape.

 

Moran sighed before firmly grabbing Novel’s shoulders and pushing her down into place, moving just a few inches away from her face. “Good evening, detective. I have a few questions for you.”

 

Though her face was still filled with terror, and she couldn’t restrain her trembling, she nodded wide-eyed at the queen.

 

“Good then let’s get started.” She held up a phone and what looked like some sort of thumb drive. “What do we have here?” Moran then ripped off the duct tape that covered her mouth.

 

Novel yelped at the force of the tape being ripped off, “Th-that’s my phone, and…” She hesitated when Moran tossed the phone to Jin and gripped both sides of the thumbdrive like she was about to snap it in half.

 

“PLEASE DON’T!” Novel cried out desperately with tears in her eyes, she struggled against the rope

 

Moran raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Seems important to you. Want to use your words now or do I have to encourage you a bit more?”

 

Tears streamed down Novel’s eyes, she almost seemed hysterical. “Please, we just want to know the truth…”

 

Moran frowned at her, “Who’s we? And what truth exactly?”

 

Novel tried to speak between sobs, “Exia and I, she said she could find out what happened to W-Watson…”

 

Moran’s patience was growing thin, she grabbed her face, “Bullshit, you work for the government’s top brass don’t you? You’re just another one of their dogs.”

 

Novel couldn’t speak with her face being squished so she tried shaking her head, Moran let go. “We do, but we’ve been kept in the dark on this. Exia’s gotten in trouble for doing illegal stuff for Watson before, so they probably didn’t trust us again.”

 

Neon and Moran exchanged glances, Neon had an expression that Moran read as the story adding up. 

 

Novel continued, “Exia said that while most of the database stuff for recordings had been wiped by someone, the physical files should still be intact in the model of security camera he had. She said we could find the truth if we looked through it.”

 

Moran examined the thumb drive, “Jin, see if you can get anything out of this.”

Novel was hanging her head down with her eyes closed, “There’s no point, there’s some sort of encryption on it, it’s why Exia wanted me to bring it to her.”

 

The room was silent except for the sound of Novel’s quiet sobbing. Jin had his eyes closed, Neon had her eyes trained on Moran for what she would choose to do next, Moran had a hand to her chin while she contemplated.

 

The atmosphere was heavy, until the silence was broken with Moran sighing, “Can you contact Exia to get her to come down here?”

 

Novel looked like she had been completely filled with despair, “Please leave her out of this,” she mumbled quietly.

 

“Relax,” Moran pinched the bridge of her nose, “If all you wanted to know was what happened and it was for personal reasons, then we share a common goal. We’ll untie you, but only on the condition that you get Exia down here.”

 

She sniffled and nodded silently. “Her number is in my phone,” Novel quietly said. Moran looked at Jin, signaling him to pass her a phone identical to the one she snapped earlier.

 

After a quick call to Exia, and a long wait, there was a near silent knock at the door, Moran nodded towards it and Jin opened the door slowly, only to be met with a small quivering girl in an oversized t-shirt with a small laptop under one of her arms.

 

After stepping aside, she quickly ran over to Novel and hugged her gently. While Novel often got on her nerves, she also covered for her a lot, she still cared about her and she was caught up in this because of her.

 

Jin untied the rope releasing Novel who was still quivering pretty badly. Neon stepped forward to Moran, “Let me take it from here, if you do anymore you might break the poor girls.” Moran’s fierce expression softened up as she realized there was no need to be as harsh as she was.

 

Neon walked over to Exia, “Exia, is it true? Is this the recording of… when it happened? Can you pull it up for us to see?”

 

Exia opened her laptop and took the thumbdrive from Neon. She began rapidly typing and working through the different layers of security within the recording. Finally, she opened up a video file that was nearly twelve hours long. She skimmed around to around the time that Neon said they had initially gathered that morning. Everyone in the room had gathered around Exia and her laptop at this point

 

“Time to put a face to the knife.” Exia pressed play.

Notes:

Jeeeeeeez, it took me a while to get this one out. Apologies if chapters are about once a week now. Between enjoying writing longer chapters and starting up my classes and a job again, I'll be spread a bit thin writing this, but it will continue coming! Thank you for your patience, and I hope you anticipate next chapter greatly.

Chapter 13: Ashes of the Unbreakable

Summary:

The recording of the altercation.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

 

The incessant sound of my alarm clock finally ceases thanks to muscle memory slapping the top of the device. Unfortunately, it knocks me awake enough to know that the day has started.

 

I groggily get out of bed, sitting on the edge, I glance over at the time, 5:00 A.M.

 

Figures I barely got five hours of sleep given all of that paperwork I’ve been trying to get through. I’m still tired, and though there’s the allure of the bed, I know I have important things to get to today. Maybe I’ll stop at Cafe Sweety for a pick-me-up.

 

I stand up and head to the bathroom, morning breath is never nice. I look in the mirror at my horrible scarred body, crazy to think this has all accumulated from just three years of fighting on the surface, even crazier to think that a quarter of these should have killed him outright.

 

After I clean myself up, I grab a clean uniform from my closet and get dressed. Like usual, I don’t bother with my hat, it’s only for formalities anyways.

 

After sitting at my desk, it’s a relief to have so much of it cleared off after staying up so late tackling all of the paperwork from the past month or so. I breathe a sigh of relief, means I might get a chance to get a nap before anyone gets here.

 

“Master! Anis is challenging me to a duel in firepower! We need you to act as ref!” 

“Shut up! I did not! Commander, tell her to chill out for once?”

“Sorry Commander, I tried to stop them, or at least slow them down.”

 

Well if there’s anyone I don’t mind having my day interrupted if it’s by these three. I see the girls file into my office, blue then yellow then red. Anis starts digging in the fridge for her sodas I keep cold for her, Rapi stands next to me sighing as Neon runs up to the front of my desk yelling about the argument they had. 

 

After waving her off with a smile, everyone of them eventually settles down to relax. Rapi looks a bit worried, “Have you been sleeping well, Commander?” she was leaning down to get a look at my face.

 

I must have had bags under my eyes or maybe even just a look in my eyes, she could pick up on things like that. “Ah you know how it is sometimes with paperwork, just a late night…”

 

“Why do we even need to write so many reports on all this stuff that we do? It’s not as if they’ll ever get read.” Neon chimed in

 

Anis continued her thought, “Yeah for how much you’ve done for them it’s absurd they haven’t given you an assistant or something,” she said while pointing at me with the same hand that was holding her soda can.

 

I glanced at Rapi nervously with a smile on my face, she was typically the one who helped me with paperwork, but I couldn’t bother her with the work all the time. She’d never admit it, but she needs her sleep too.

 

Rapi had an expression on her face that seemed to be a cross between concern and… pouting? That’s a new one for her, I make a mental note to tease her about it later.

 

“Do you girls have anything planned for today? Any assignments? I know we don’t have to go to the surface today at least.” I asked them in a still somewhat sleepy voice

 

They all simultaneously groaned, my eyebrows rose from surprise.

 

Rapi spoke up from beside me with a perturbed look on her face, “Yearly inspections…” her voice was full of bitterness.

 

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Really you guys? What’s so bad about it?”

 

And at that moment it felt like I had made the wrong choice in a dating sim, three eyes were locked onto me and they were all upset.

 

“You don’t even know, Master???” Neon asked in disbelief

 

Anis’ eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance, “They strip us down and scan our bodies over and over… it’s creepy, there’s a lot of eyes on us.”

 

Rapi then spoke up next to me, “It’s normally procedure to also get NIMPH scanned while there, but thanks to Counter’s achievements and my… ahem unique makeup, we’ve been granted permission by the big three to bypass that part.”

 

Anis now had a pained expression on her face thinking about the whole ordeal while looking at the ceiling, “Not to mention it’s summer right now, even in the Ark, they simulate the weather for a more realistic experience, which means we’re all drenched from the long walk down to the M.M.R. center”

 

Snickering to myself, I drew more annoyed looks but I followed it up with, “How about this then, you all come back with no issues, I’ll treat you all to some ice cream splendamin, maybe the maid cafe has some.”

 

The three girls all lit up at this, “Really!?” “You mean it?” “That sounds nice”. I hadn’t expected such a resounding response full of excitement, so I decided to run with it.

“Then I want all three of you to look forward to that instead of being so bummed, alright ladies?” 

 

I was met with smiles and nods, and just like that I know I’ll be able to work through the day.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

A few hours had passed when the girls had to leave to make it to their inspection in time. I waved them off with a smile before pulling out a piece of paper and writing in marker in big bold letters, “DO NOT ENTER. DAY OFF.” I walked outside my room and taped the message to the front of my door.

 

Finally, some alone time. I sit down in my chair with a sigh of relief and lean back, I lay a magazine on my face to block out the light in the room and kick back. 

 

I think I’ll catch up on some sleep until they’re back…

 

…

 

BANG BANG BANG

 

I groggily open my eyes, it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes since I tried to sleep. Ugh. Must be another Nikke in need of my help, not today though, I need my sleep…

 

BANG BANG BANG

 

Who in the hell? I decide to sit up, whoever this is, is angry or in an emergency.

 

I don’t have enough time to grab my hand gun from my bedroom. Shit, let’s hope it’s just one of the girls…

 

“Come in.”

 

The door opens and I see a man dressed in a black suit and black dress pants, but when I try to look at his face it feels like something is wrong with my eyes. His face is almost constantly shifting, moving, swirling, I can’t make out any details on him except for his tan skin tone.

 

“Hello, Commander.” he speaks, a deep, low, and heavy tone, one I don’t recognize.

 

I frown at this disfigured figure, “Who might you be?” I start acting like I’m stacking my documents while actually grabbing some of my more confidential ones to put into my secret spot.

 

He takes a deep sigh, almost sounding regretful? “Not the exact person who wants to be here, but the one who could do it best. You could say I’m the Contractor of sorts…” He takes a few steps towards me.

 

Despite my previous weariness, adrenaline has started shooting through my veins. I’m wide awake and looking for options, ways out, things to defend myself…

 

He must’ve noticed my eyes darting around the room, his low voices spoke softly but sternly, “Don’t try it big shot, just let me take care of this nice and easy, I’ll even make it painless for you if you work with me.” 

 

I can only chuckle, “Sorry, but it seems I never really do know when to quit.” In that moment, I threw a stack of those papers into the air to obscure my movements even if just for a second, the CQC Johan taught me should be more than enough. 

 

I throw a feint, then a punch. He reads me and blocks the punch, in an instant I see a white bladed knife being shoved towards my face.

 

With a last second dodge, I get off with a cut through my ear, stings like a bitch even with the adrenaline. I take in a sharp breath of air from the pain.

 

I grab his arm which is now next to my head and grip it with both hands, I throw him over my shoulder into the couch against the wall, the legs of the couch shatter under the weight, that’s going to suck to replace. 

 

I threw a punch towards his face but he manages to throw my arm to the side and slams his pale knife in between my Radius and Ulna. Without being able to twist my right arm, I reach for him with my left hand, but he rolls off the couch underneath my grasp. 

 

I turn around and put up my fists while getting lower to the ground as he stands up and takes up a stance at the same time. I’m bleeding heavily, worse than I should be, somethings up with that knife.

 

He switches to a reverse grip and begins stepping in and out towards me, finally lunging towards me, but not aiming for vitals, for my other arm maybe? He grazes it barely, but the splatter of blood on the fridge is much larger than it should be for such a shallow wound. 

 

As he passes by from the lunge, I manage to slam him into the fridge, I hear several cracks, I hope it fuckin hurt. He falls down with a groan, sounds like it did. My arms feel numb, but also like they’re burning. 

I grit my teeth and get a solid elbow drop on around the spot his chin would be if his face made any sense.

 

“Son of a bitch!” he spits out at me before I feel a solid blow to my stomach as he kicks me off.

 

I stumble back trying to breathe in, but he knocked the air out of me pretty damn good. Gives him enough time to pull himself back to his feet.

 

We’re both breathing pretty heavy, normally I wouldn’t be so tired, Johan’s drills damn near broke me back then, but I came out with so much more stamina, so what the hell is going on?

 

I make note of my surroundings, desk to my left, bathroom to my right, my bedroom is to his left, as I back up I feel something familiar that gives me pause, Red Hood’s tapes. A damn bad mistake on my part, the thought that something so precious might get smashed up in this little altercation distracted me, and damn if the Contractor didn’t take advantage of it.

 

I don’t know if it was the worry of the tapes being destroyed or the strange weariness filling my body from my arms, but I was too slow.

 

His knife easily pierces into my stomach. Shit. Shit, shit, shit! I put my hands around his wrists and pull as hard as I can. My hands and arms are covered in crimson dripping from the wounds on my arms, I can’t believe how much is spilling out. I try to turn to redirect away from the tapes, he pulls and pulls but I’m gripping his arms with as much as I can muster, not here, this will NOT BE WHERE I DIE.

 

I scream at him, blood beginning to spill from the corners of my mouth, “GET OFF OF ME GODDAMN IT!” I continue pushing from him while gripping the knife, but then he kicks me backwards into the bathroom. 

 

I fall backwards through the glass shower door, I feel several shards going into my legs.

 

I sit up against the wall and realize how drained I feel, like I just ran a full marathon. It takes all my effort to look up at him and put a hand over my wound. I still can’t make out his face, but two things I do notice a tattoo on his knife wielding hand…

 

A claw? It almost looked like three 6’s but the bases were combined to make a three toed claw?

 

And his pale blade was not only completely void of my blood on it, but I could read an engraving on it,

 

“ Vankeus?” I mumbled weakly

 

He cackled, then crouched down to me, “Sound familiar, bud? Like your little Vapaus?”

 

My eyes went wide. How in the hell? What the hell? Another version of Vapaus? Or something completely different?

 

He stood up and began walking away, “Been a pleasure, nothing personal.” 

 

I hear the door close and I’m left alone in a growing puddle of blood with my own heavy breathing. Guess my regenerative ability wasn’t saving me this time. At least the tapes weren’t messed up at all.

 

Ah shit, my mind is getting hazy.

I’m getting colder. 

 

 

That’s weird, it’s supposed to be pretty hot out…

 

 

 

 

 

Oh right, I promised the girls some treats when they got back…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope they didn’t have too rough of a time… before they get back though…

I think… I’ll catch up on some sleep.

Notes:

WOOOOOOOOO finally got this out. I've been workshopping how to write this scene out for a while to make everything match up and I think it turned out pretty well. I apologize for the wonky uploads, chapters may be coming out more like weekly now as I am caught up with my job and school now, but I'm still enjoying writing so don't worry chapters will continue coming! I'm looking forward to playing Silksong tomorrow, so this will be my hoping that everyone enjoys this chapter just as much. Much love readers!