Welcome to the next chapter of Love, Friendship and Revenge! And I would like to thank my friends for all the revie-
Nikki: Cut the crap, you only got one review.
It's better than nothing! Besides he's one of my most loyal friends when it comes to my drawing and…-
Nikki: Blah blah blah whatever, I couldn't care less. Where's Kai I'm bored out of my skull.
Well why don't we bring him in? Let's welcome the ever-gorgeous stud Kai Rodgericks!
Nikki: (glares) Don't call him that! That's my boyfriend!
Kai: Hey everyone, nice to be here.
(Ignores Nikki) Welcome Kai! How do you feel about the story so far?
Kai: Rather intense if you ask me. I'm curious to know what happens next.
Nikki: (wraps arms around Kai) Hey
Kai: (smiles at her) Hey yourself
(Sweat drops) Ok…let's get on with the story before those two start... Aaawww come on guys! Can't you get a room or something?
Everything was quiet; the silence after the explosion was tense as people barely dared to believe what had just happened. On the Eternal, Lacus had crumbled and was crying freely in Kira's arms. Kira did his best to comfort her, but even he couldn't stop a single tear from rolling down his face. The air in the room was tense; no one said a word. But what everyone was most scared of was the reaction of the young pilot in the Vengeance. All they could do was sit and wait.
Sitting in the Independence, Jason stared in shock at the space where the ship once was. His hands starting shaking as he thought of Jenny, the girl that he loved more than anything was taken away him. Although he was hurting, Jason was more worried about Nikki and how she was taking this loss. As much as he loved Jenny, he knew the bond between Kai and Nikki was unbreakable, and after watching both of their loved ones die, he was scared of the state that she would be in.
Quietly he flew his machine over to where Nikki was. The Vengeance was completely still, almost as if both machine and pilot were paralysed. Jason knew he had to be careful, he was aware of how vulnerable she could be, especially after everything she had been through. "So why does fate have be so cruel as to take her true love away as well? What did Nikki do to deserve this?" Placing his machine next to hers, he sent her a communication, dreading what he might see.
After the explosion, Nikki couldn't move. She stared at the empty space, her eyes wide and full of fear and sadness. Her hands remained on the controls, her whole body frozen. She was so deep in shock, that she didn't notice the Independence come up behind her. It was Jason's voice that finally snapped her out of it.
Jason did his best to be cautious with what he said, Nikki was a volcano waiting to erupt and he knew that if he said the wrong thing, she would go on a unstoppable enraging rampage.
"Nikki…lets go back to the ship."
He saw slight movement from the Vengeance, but heard no response. Jason sighed.
"Come on, everyone's waiting, Lacus and Kira would be worried about us."
It was silent again. He was about to go and grab her machines hand when he heard a cold, dark voice respond back.
The more Jason spoke, the angrier she became. How could he think that she would just float casually back to the Eternal when those murderers were still out there?
Tightening her grip on the controls she spoke back to him. "No…I'm not going anywhere"
Jason stared incredulously at her. "And what are you going to do, wait here and pray for Kai to come back? Well guess what Nikki that's not going to happen!"
As soon as the words left his mouth he instantly regretted it. The Vengeance violently turned on the spot facing him; a screen appeared and he could see Nikki's more than enraged expression.
"I know that, bastard! But that stupid fleet is still out there! I'm going to send the whole lot of them straight to hell!"
Just when she was about to head to the fleet, the Independence moved in front of her, blocking her way.
"Move Jason! I'm going to teach those murderers a lesson!"
Jason gazed sadly at his friend, he no longer recognised her. Her eyes were dull blue, almost grey, her pupils were no more than small dots and lines were etched around her eyes giving the sign of insanity. He knew that she had reached her peak, her highest berserker mode. If he let her go, the fleet wouldn't stand a chance and Jason didn't want her to have more blood on her hands.
Nikki became more and more angry when it became obvious that Jason wasn't going to get out of her way.
"I SAID MOVE! Don't make me attack you! Let me do this, I need to do this! I can't let them get away with killing Kai! MOOVEE!"
Normally Jason would've stood his ground, but his resolve crumbled when he saw angry tears pour down her face. He understood now, she wasn't just angry; she was hurt and heart broken. Kai was the one person that kept her happy and kept Nikki herself. Now that he was gone, she wanted to show the world just how much pain she was feeling. Reluctantly he moved aside and started flying for the Eternal, but right before he left her, he gave her one final message.
"Come back to the Eternal when you're done".
Nikki watched with angry eyes as Jason finally flew away, she nodded at him in acknowledgement that she had heard his message. After he flew away, she made sure to cut off all communications with everyone around her…she did not want any interruptions. She unsheathed her machines blade, and sped for the fleet, the enraged expression never leaving her face.
On the leading warship of the enemy fleet, the bridge crew were alerted by a sudden arrival.
"Captain, we've picked something up on radar, its coming straight from the battle that we retreated from."
The ships commanding officer stared at the screen as the radar was shown to him. It showed one machine heading their way.
"Strange, only one…no matter, they've chosen they're own foolish defeat, whoever this person is. Prepare all canons! I want that thing shot down!"
"Yes Captain!"
Nikki noticed the small fleet moving into formation, she smirked knowing that this was what they would do. Stepping more on the pedal, she moved forward getting ready for her assault.
A group of mobile suits advanced on her first, which was a bad mistake on their part. Nikki remembered that it was the mobile suits that tore apart Kai's ship; this just fuelled her anger even more.
She drove straight into the middle of the smaller machines, all of them shooting for her at once. She skilfully avoided them, slicing through the army, each one taking not even a second to destroy. Just as quickly as it started, all the machines from the fleet had been defeated. All anyone could see was a purple and black Gundam surrounded by pieces of debris, its blue eyes glowing in space.
The fleet's Captain stared with big eyes at the battle. "Who is this soldier? What is that machine? Someone tell me what the hell is happening here!"
"Sir, they're heading straight for us, none of the ships canons can hit it! It's too fast!"
The Captain was now starting to get scared. "Retreat, turn this ship around, get us out of here!"
But it was too late, the last thing he saw, was black and purple metal glinting at him and glowing blue eyes glaring.
Back on the Eternal, Jason had landed the Independence in the hanger before heading straight for the bridge. Once arriving there, Lacus immediately confronted him.
"Jason!" Where's Nikki? Is she alright?"
Jason sighed and stared out the front of the ship before looking at Kira and Lacus.
"She went to finish off the fleet, she wanted revenge on those that took Kai from her."
Lacus stared at him with concerned eyes. "But…that's not like her, Nikki's not the type of person to go looking for bloodshed and revenge, why is she doing this?
Jason stared intently at her. "Because they killed Kai, that's why. Nikki loved him more than anyone, and after seeing him die like that she just fell apart! Besides I couldn't stop her anyway! She threatened to attack me if I didn't move!"
He breathed in heavily, not realizing just how angry he had sounded to everyone in the room. He glanced at Kira and Lacus and saw them wearing sympathetic expressions.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Lacus walked forward and touched his arm. "What about you? They killed Jenny as well…are you going to be ok?"
Her stare made him feel uncomfortable and he looked away. "Of course I'm not, my girlfriend was just killed, but no matter how bad I may seem to be, it's nothing compared to the state Nikki will be in when she returns."
Right after saying that, a girl spoke up. "Miss Lacus, the Vengeance is returning"
Lacus looked over at her. "Very well, let her in" She heard the door open and turned to see Jason walking out, he glanced back at her, " I'm going down to the hanger; I'll do my best to calm her down before anyone sees her. I'll try not to be long".
The door closed and the room was once again silent. Lacus gazed sadly at the door before walking back and sitting in her chair. Kira walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look at him.
"Lacus, why don't we go and get some rest, the crew needs it especially after what just happened." Lacus nodded and stood up.
"I want everyone to take this opportunity to relax, the fighting is over. Please all get some well deserved rest, thank you all for your help and support."
The bridge crew stood up and saluted as her and Kira walked out, the door closing behind them.
Jason entered the hanger to see the Vengeance settling into an empty space. For a minute nothing happened, then the cockpit opened and Nikki emerged. She was still for a moment before she kicked off her machine and floated to the ground. Jason went over to her just as she landed. He stared at her, hesitating for a moment.
"Nikki…what happened? Did you confront them?"
Nikki walked forward, not once looking at him or showing her face, but she spoke as she went past him. "They're all dead."
Jason's eyes widened before he turned around just to see the door close behind her. He gazed sadly at the closed door, Nikki was closing herself off…and there was nothing he could do. The only person that could help her…was gone.
Nikki walked quickly down the ships corridors, ignoring anyone that she encountered. She knew that people would be talking about her, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to get to her room and never leave it.
She came to her door and when she was about to walk in, a voice stopped her.
"Nikki, are you ok?"
She turned and saw Lacus standing there; gazing at her with what Nikki thought was the saddest expression she'd ever seen on her sister. But she just couldn't bring herself to care. Her pain was so great that she wasn't able to reach out to her sister. Heavy with guilt, she turned back to the door and muttered, "I'm sorry", before entering her room and the door sliding shut behind her.
Out in the corridor, Lacus sadly turned away and slowly walked back to her own room where Kira was waiting.
In her room, Nikki stripped out of her pilot suit and lay down in her bed. Finally with time to herself, she reflected back on everything that happened. Reaching up to her neck, she lifted up the necklace that Kai had given her.
Kai had necklaces custom made for them, each one held both initials of their first names. The initials were intertwined with each other, a sure sign of their strong love.
Nikki stared at her necklace, thinking about the man she loved. She gripped it tightly as the reality of the battle finally sunk in and the weight of the sorrow from losing her beloved finally took its toll on the young coordinator. Tears flowed down her face as she muttered Kai's name to herself.
No one heard her desperate cries, No one saw the pain she was in. And the only person that could comfort her…was lost. So she could do nothing but continue to let out her pain and grief as she curled into a ball, and cried in the darkness, calling out desperately to her love.
End of Chapter
Aaaawww, poor Nikki.
Nikki: Hey I'm right here you idiot
Finally pulled your lips away from Kai then? It's like you two are magnets or something!
Nikki: Well excuse me for being in love!
Kai: Hey come on ladies settle down
It's thanks to my and my brilliant imagination that you even have a boyfriend so be grateful!
Nikki: You think I care? He's still my boyfriend!
Kai: Girls… hey let's talk about this..
Girls: SHUT UP!
Kai: (flinches) Well…they'll be at each other's throats for a while. Why don't we move onto the preview for the next chapter before these two kill each other? See you all in the next chapter!
"Nikki, please…I hate seeing you like this, you know I'm feeling hurt as well, you're not alone in this time of grief."
It was like she didn't even hear him. She continued to stare emotionless at the wall opposite her. Jason was starting to get frustrated.
"You can't do this to me! You're all I have left! Please! Nikki! Don't shut me out!"