-2: 69
"I'm here, Master!" Neon slid into the recycling center, her emerald eyes blazing with excitement... literally.
I paused and did a doubletake. "Neon?!"
She was different now. A bit taller. Her face had sharpened a bit too, like she'd grown up. Although she was still short, it looked like she'd gone through a growth spurt. But not only that, her outfit was different, now a black and gold military coat over a white blouse and black skirt instead of the school girl outfit she had before.
Neon adjusted her glasses and let out a smug look. "It's NOVA Neon now!"
Endless walked in behind Neon and nodded. "Neon's frame has been overspecced. She can now emit plasma and possesses an inviolable body, like Commander theorized. No harm may befall her."
"Wait, what?" I blinked, looking up from the CAD model that Maxwell was prototyping in realtime with the Baemax microbots.
Neon winked and then punched a fist into her open palm. When she did, white flames- No, pure plasma erupted around her in a haze, perfectly controlled to not even damage the floor beneath her. "Behold! The power of the sun in the palm of my hands!" After that, she held out her right hand, causing the white light to swirl into...
Is that a goddamned Bijudama?! A tailed beast bomb?!
Neon giggled and held up the glowing negative light orb and said, "Cool, right?!"
"Neon." I said calmly. "Please put away the very much anti-matter material energy weapon you just manifested. We do not play with those anywhere that matters."
"Awww.... but the firepower!"
"The firepower can be used when we start hunting for secret bosses on secret floating islands in a few months."
"DEAL!"
Neon snapped her fingers and the glowing orb vanished.
When it did, I let out a deep sigh of relief. But then I paused and said, "Wait. Since when can you do THAT?! Did we have the tech for it? Endless?" I looked over at her. "Did you pull that from Enikk's files?"
Endless shook her head. "No. The Ark does not possess this level of technology. However, it appears V.T.C. did, once upon a time. And Neon's glasses were a repository of information and plans from the V.T.C."
"...What?"
Neon adjusted her glasses, making them flash a UI in the lenses, and let out a smug look. "I TOLD you I was a spy!"
Red Hood (still a monitor in a rolling red box) drifted to a stop in front of me and said, "Yep! We triple-checked, Lil Boss! For some reason, Neon's glasses were full of goodies. Sofi over there cracked it all wide open though! But maaan, if Snow was here... she'd be salivating all over this stuff."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I have, SO many questions. But I guess they aren't really time relevant, so later."
The implications of V.T.C. having this tech implied SO much...
But it was also not relevant right now.
What WAS relevant...
"Anyway. Behold!" I spun around and waved at the model that Maxwell had. "This is the VALIANT Suit MK I... or at least a miniature scale model. We're going to make it improve my strength, dampen attacks, passively sharpen the blades I use in case the monomolecular edge fails... All sorts of fun stuff."
Neon gasped. "MASTER!" She looked at me and said, "Does this mean you can finally use REAL firepower?! Can you fire our guns now?!"
"Oh, HELL yeah. Even that giant bullet you brought back last time from Elysion."
"ARE WE MAKING A MEGA RAIL CANNON?! YES YES YES YES YES!"
I laughed.
===
The days ticked by as research went into full gear.
Since I'd paved a proper(ish) road back from the 5th Weapons Depot, and since the new tech we were designing required boatloads of Goddessium, I led a caravan to and from the place to transport goods.
As for who went along with me...
Rapi and Marian were both swamped with paperwork, so they stayed behind.
Anis and Nami were in the Ark already with Mustang working on a Pop Concert of all things...
It seemed like Mustang hadn't been joking about that musical number with Anis.
Neon, Endless, and Maxwell were all working on the VALIANT Kamen Rider- I mean, 'Power Armor' suit. And since Drake and Laplace were back up to full power, they were sticking around to help pressure test any prototypes.
...By that, I meant they were taking turns wearing versions of the armor and blasting each other with their weapons to see how much it could take.
I mean, it WAS useful data...
Hana had started a literature club for some of the mass produced Nikke who couldn't fight anymore and was supervising that.
...Which was a bit ironic considering who she looked like.
Suri was in full drill-sergeant mode and teaching the new recruits my method of taking down Raptures by utilizing their morphology flaws...
Which left me with two Nikke.
Well, *technically* two Nikke.
Rose and Red Hood.
Red Hood laughed on the monitor of the hovering Helper Bot body she was logged into and said, "You know, Lil Boss. I might just prefer hopping into things like this from now on. Even if you get me a normal body again, this is kinda too fun to pass up, you know? And I can blare country music whenever I want!"
As soon as she said that, 'Last Night' by Morgan Wallen started to play from the helper bot's speakers.
Rose chuckled as she rested her hands on the two swords sheathed on her left and right side. Refined versions of the blades I personally used. "Well, it's good to see that Scarlet made such a fun-loving friend after I died."
Red Hood zoomed around Rose, zipping through the air, and said, "Hell yeah she did! Though, she mostly kept challenging Lilith to spars. Never won, of course."
Rose snorted. "If Liliweiss was even half as ridiculous as her son here, then that's no wonder."
"Hey." I started up the jeep for our latest trip to the 5th Weapons Depot and said, "I resent that statement."
Rose chuckled and slipped into the passenger seat. "You mean 'resemble,' Commander. Because believe me, you are FAR from an ordinary human."
Red Hood nodded on her monitor display. "Yeah, Lil Boss. I mean, Boss was already kinda superhuman from how he could keep up with sprinting with us on the battlefield and shouting orders. But you?" She let out a warm smile and said, "It's like seeing Lilith and Boss at the same time. His crazy antics and Lilith's crazy fighting abilities. Did you know she punched an Ultra to death once?"
Rose's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yep! Boss was super pissed at her after that since she used up a lot of energy..."
I sighed and said, "As much fun as I'm having hearing you two connect over the heydays of the Goddess Squad and talking up my biological mother..."
Rose interjected and said, "As we should! Liliweiss was the greatest Goddess of Victory there ever was."
"...Could we back up a bit to the part where Red Hood mentioned something about Anachiro and Heretic-Class Raptures?"
Red Hood had glossed it over, but I definitely hadn't.
As I started driving down the road with the jeep and leading the way for the mass produced Nikkes driving in semi-trucks behind us, I said, "You said you guys fought her? And that there's apparently a goddamned space elevator leading to a space station?"
"Oh yeah, the Lift." Red Hood nodded... Well, she nodded in the monitor. The helper bot didn't move, just laying still in the backseat.
"Yeah." I glanced back. "THE LIFT. The one that supposedly leads to the goddamned Queen of Raptures who is IN SPACE APPARENTLY?! ON A SPACESHIP?!"
Goddammit, I KNEW that reference to Dead Space when I was at the 5th Weapons Depot was gonna bite me...!
Red Hood shrugged and said, "Dunno what to tell you, Lil Boss. I mean, Cinderella was supposed to be the strongest Nikke next to Lilith. She got corrupted somehow and went rogue."
"No, not that. I have a solution for Heretics."
Because if Liberalio's reaction to me last time was any indication, as well as the fact that Wolfie and his friends called me 'King,' then I could definitely factory reset or at least hijack the absolute command the Rapture Queen had over them.
"No, what I wanted to know was... How the hell are we going to fight the Queen if she's in space on a goddamned space station?"
Red Hood shrugged. "Dunno. You're the genius here, Lil Boss."
Rose laughed and said, "What's the matter, Commander? Upset that your sword won't be able to reach the Queen?"
"Yes! Do you know how hard it is to fight with melee weapons in space, even with propulsion methods? It's 3D combat! 3D!" I paused. "Wait. If we know where the Queen is, why don't we just blast her out of the sky?"
Rose paused and looked at Red Hood. "Yes. Why didn't we just do that, Red Hood?"
"Well, Raptures like Gluttony exist, you know? Things that eat energy beams and hunks of metal launched at them." Red Hood sighed. "The Queen isn't stupid. And the United Forces of Humanity threw everything and the kitchen sink at her. Nikkes were actually the last resort. Well, apparently. That's what Lilith and Boss said."
I groaned. "...This is karma, isn't it?"
I was joking about Jenova. But apparently... I HAD TO FIGHT JENOVA.
Or at least, something like her.
I paused and said, "...The Queen wouldn't happen to be able to direct a meteor from outer galactic range to destroy a sun and induce a supernova, would it?"
"Uh... Probably not?" Red Hood blinked. "I mean, if she could, she wouldn't bother with Earth, right?"
"...Does the lifestream exist?"
"Lifestream?"
"Never mind. Probably not."
I paused.
"...Wait. I don't know that for sure though. Alva particles exist... and that map that Raptilion sent me the other day had a region with crystals that looked an awful lot like materia..."
Rose tilted her head. "Materia?"
"...Let's not jinx things." I sighed. "One step at a time. First, turn me into a real Kamen Rider/Power Ranger with all this Goddessium. Next, when Rapi and Marian finish the paperwork, head to the Ark to report to Burningum. After that, check on Syuen."
...I was pretty sure that I'd missed the timing to save her. But at the same time, I was ALSO sure that Syuen was a real genius.
If I was right, she should have put down countermeasures and uploaded her consciousness to like a soul translation cube somewhere.
But ALSO if I was right, I'd be getting swarmed by people and a fake Syuen the moment I returned to the Ark, so...
I need a get out of jail card first.
And by get out of jail, I mean burst a whole through the ceiling of the Ark to fly away while Enikk buys time card.
Just in case.