Hiding in my Skin, Broken from Within

Chapter 14: Over Night

Good lord writing Bayonetta and my perceived Cloud and Bayonetta dynamic is fun

Also, these next few chapters take place just after chapter 7 of Xenoblade X, and the events of chapter 8 will happen soon. There is spoilers for chapter 4 of X (all the more reason we NEED a port of Xenoblade X for Switch... it's a game that made a really positive impact in my life). Cross isn't present, however. I'm kinda putting my own spin on the events that follow, as after all, Elma is considered the true protagonist of X. She's even a DLC Blade in Xenoblade 2.

Content warnings for this chapter: blood, and a spoiler for an over 20 year old PS1 JRPG. namely the one Cloud's from, not that it really counts as a spoiler anymore tbh with how everyone and their mom knows it

Also, Bayonetta leans on the fourth wall at one point, and there's some possibly hinted Cloutena. Maybe even one-sided Bayotena and BayoPit if you squint. Some of the events Cloud and Bayonetta discuss are tied to my first Snakus oneshot, "Don't go away, I will stay for you". Which reminds me, soon I'll write a follow up to that. Probably.

Title based on "Over Night" by Aya/CruelSHE, ending theme to the anime "Le Chevalier D'Eon"

Hiding in my Skin, Broken from Within

Chapter 14 - Over Night

A gentle breeze blew through the grasslands of the outskirts of New Los Angeles, on the Primordia continent, as the afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky. About five miles from the West Gate, the former AVALANCHE mercenary Cloud Strife got to work calibrating the off world teleporter that connected Planet Mira to Smash City. Bayonetta, the Umbran witch, was in charge of keeping Primordia's wildlife away from the machine, especially the bloodthirsty ones. Naturally, being a witch of immense power, taking care of the monsters was a walk in the park for her, and the two were fortunate enough to be situated in a location where the stronger enemies, or as Lin called them, "Tyrants", wouldn't find and ambush them.

"What do you think of NLA, Bayonetta?" Cloud asked his partner as he performed the necessary calibrations on the machine.

"A little too technologically advanced for my tastes, but it's good to see humankind thriving like this." Seeing a hostile creature rushing to them, Bayonetta aimed her Love is Blue pistols at the monster as she asked, "And you? Does it remind you of your Midgar?"

"It's better, actually," Cloud said. "Back in Midgar I had to deal with Shinra soldiers, pollution, government corruption, and practically everyone below the plate lived in poverty. NLA is miles better in comparison." He heard shots ring and the sound of an animal corpse limply hitting the ground before continuing his work.

"Pardon me, Cloud?" Bayonetta asked the swordsman after blowing the smoke from her pistols, getting bored of her duty.

Temporarily ceasing his mechanical tinkering to sigh and pinch the bridge of his eyebrows, Cloud stated, "This is the second time you've asked to trade places, Bayonetta. I already told you: I'm the only one with the technological know-how to calibrate this thing, and after Master Hand sent us here for that purpose, it's imperative I get it done so we can return without any problems and Snake can arrive here to interview the candidate, Elma."

"But," Bayonetta began with a somewhat desperate sounding sigh, "You wield a sword that's almost half your body's bloody size, not to mention the weight of that thing! I can't be doing this alone all day!"

"Gonna say it again, Bayonetta. Not. Interested." Resuming his work on the machinery, Cloud commented, "You may be a witch who's been around for almost five centuries, but I have the experience necessary to gauge decision-making in situations like these. I'm the one who saved my world from both a greedy organization destroying the planet with their Mako Reactors AND a giant meteor threatening to do the job for 'em, after all."