Profile[]
Bay is the captain of Rewind, the Ark's cheerleading squad.
Nikke Backstory[]
Ark's Cheerleading Squad — Captain of Rewind. Suffers from scopophobia, but becomes very enthusiastic when it comes to cheering someone on.
Personality[]
Victory! Let's hear it for victory (V-I-C-T-O-R-Y)! ... Hold up, how long you been staring at me? Quit (it) with the staring!
As the leader of Rewind, Bay is both tough and fair. She is considerate to her teammates, however is known to be stern should any of them make a mistake or for their wellbeing, within reason. She's willing to help her friends whenever they're in trouble. She suffers from scopophobia, or the fear of being looked at. Though this makes performing in front of others much harder, usually leading to her having panic attacks in the worst cases, she is excellent at holding a crowd's attention and staying upbeat so long as her audience is lively enough. Bay's dream is to restore her squad's reputation.
Story[]
Background[]
Event Story[]
One More Time[]
With the new recruit Clay, Bay is ready to get back onstage and show everyone that Rewind can overcome their fall from grace...only for her to immediately hit a stumbling block and get the lowest score in the squad's career...
Clay, More![]
Excessive practices and performances have resulted in Bay being hospitalized to prevent Mind Switch risk. While indisposed, she has little choice but to leave everything to Clay, as worried as she is at the thought of her teammate also overdoing it.
Coins In Rush[]
Bond story[]
Canonically set before the events of One More Time
Episode 1 - Scopophobia[]
In the Sports Stadium, Bay and the other members of Rewind are shaking their pom poms and spreading cheer to a massive crowd. She manages to get the audience to create a huge wave and everyone is enjoying themselves. Bay herself is the team's main attraction. The performance goes smoothly until they reach the climax. For this stunt, some of the cheerleaders will somersault across the stage with the rest providing support. In practice however, one of the cheerleaders loses their balance, resulting in everyone in the squad (minus Bay) falling on to each other. Most were unharmed, but one was unable to move and needed medical attention.
After the squad's disastrous performance, Bay went to check on her injured teammate. Other than a scraped knee, she was fine thanks to Bay catching her. She apologizes profusely for messing up and while she had routinely practiced that stunt before, her vision became blurry, resulting in the calamity before. Even though she was glad her teammate was safe, Bay was less than pleased she ruined the performance for them. She tells her to practice harder so she can return to her good graces, but assures her that one of the core tenets of cheerleading is to learn from one's mistakes. For this reason, she doesn't have to beat herself up about her tumble. Bay pats her teammate on the back and she promises to follow her leader's advice. After Bay hands her a bandage, she leaves.
A few days later, Rewind was in the midst of another performance, but it was clear to them the audience wasn't responding to their cheering. Though the others had their concerns, Bay was confident that things will liven up so long as they continue.
After their show came to an end, the squad prepared themselves for their next performance. The group were confused as to why their normally adoring public was so indifferent to them when one member looked shocked due to something on her phone. Turns out, several smear pieces about Bay and her conduct with the injured squad-mate have spread across the internet. While the others wanted to take action against these libalist claims, Bay knew the show must go on. She's certain no one will fall for these lies and that they should focus on their next performance so as to not complicate matters.
The team heads on stage for their next show, only to be greeted by silence. Despite this, Bay was still eager to put on a grand performance as usual and broke into a full-throated cheer. She tries to make eye contact with several observers, but their stark neutrality quickly causes her to lose steam. She wobbles and falls over, causing her team to come to her aid. When it becomes clear how many eyes are on her now, she starts to have a panic attack. She tries to get ahold of herself, but the fear of everyone watching her prevents her from moving. As her squad-mates try their best to tend to their leader, Bay collapses and stays in a motionless state.
Episode 2 - Overcoming Your Fears[]
A few days later, the protagonist has cleared his work backlog and was about to take it easy until Bay enters his room. She has some matters that she wants his help dealing with, but before she can explain anything, she looks towards her shoes after locking eyes with him. She tells him to not stare at her and while Coach was confused, she tries to rationalize him looking at her to having her brain turned to mush and preventing her from concentrating. He teases her about maybe having feelings for him from how she's acting, but as that didn't help matters, he looks elsewhere to make Bay more comfortable.
Bay believes she has scopophobia, or the fear of being stared at. From what happened at her last show to interacting with others in normal conversations, she can't help but feel uneasy when others have their eyes on her. This wasn't always an issue and she now chooses to share with him what happened a few days ago. Because of the incident, Bay is unable to perform and now no one wants to hire Rewind. Since there hasn't been any work for them, the other cheerleaders had quit the squad and now only Bay remains. Thanks to her former teammate, the scandals surrounding her were quashed, but her phobia is still a major issue. She has tried everything she could to try to cure herself of it from seeing a doctor, to visiting the Repair Center, to consuming some of Folkwang's vitamins, and nothing has worked so far. The commander was the last person she could think of who may be able to help her alleviate this and though she worries she may be putting a rather heavy burden on him, he is willing to aid her as best as he can.
In order to better understand Bay's condition, he wants to look at her directly. Though she thought he got a good look at her once she arrived, she allowed him to direct his gaze towards her. Not even five seconds after this happens, the cheerleader starts to freak out and covers her face with her pom poms. It now becomes clear that Bay's fears are going to be very difficult to overcome, but Coach is still willing to help her through it. Starting tomorrow, the two will work on ways to help her overcome her phobia. Once she leaves, he will look into potential solutions that can treat this matter.
Episode 3 - Eye Contact[]
The next day, Bay arrives in the Commander's Room with news to share, but was surprised to see him... wearing shades? He shares he wanted to look cooler, but Bay was more miffed than anything. In reality, he decided to wear sunglasses to cover his eyes when they interact so she won't know what he's staring at. Apparently, even the thought of him looking at her was enough to cause her to sweat, even if he isn't actually doing so. Fortunately for her, the protagonist has discovered some methods that can help her overcome her fears.
As to what she was going to share before, Bay was asked to perform thanks to a call from a small team. Unfortunately, she will only have one week to prepare. Under normal circumstances, this would be no issue for her. Her scopophobia won't make this easy for her. Turns out, there was another cheerleading team set to perform before Rewind, but they canceled at the last minute. Despite this strict time constraint, Bay believes this opportunity may help restore the squad's reputation. Coach had some concerns about her doing the show by herself, but she's capable enough of holding a crowd's attention. The two agree to deal with this fear before Bay takes the stage again.
The commander has learned of several ways of dealing with scopophobia and while they might not be able to fully cure her, they can at least help her cope with it to some extent. He then proceeds to take out a mirror and informs her that her first task will be to look at herself for ten seconds. This will allow her to practice reacting to strangers while she's doing her routine. As she grows more comfortable with her reflection, she will have to stare at herself for longer and longer. Bay feels this is something she can manage and is also pleasantly surprised he would do so much for her.
After taking a deep breath, Bay is ready to look at herself in the mirror. She's able to do so for about four seconds before she covers her face again. The two then decide to start at two seconds before adding more time after each successful attempt. Whenever her nerves start to get the best of her, the two can hold hands to help relieve her stress. Just like during her shows, Coach will be cheering her on through this ordeal. She is grateful to have him in her corner.
Two seconds go by and Bay feels relatively normal. She has trouble looking at herself for longer periods of time, but with her commander by her side, she's able to do it for ten seconds. Though she's barely maintaining her composure, he's certain she's doing much better than yesterday. He assures her that she will feel much better if they keep at it. Bay admits that she didn't entirely believe he knew what he was doing, but is glad his method has paid off, at least a bit. Since she feels she's at her limit for the day, to the point she might throw up, they agree to resume their training tomorrow.
Episode 4 - The Power of Cheer[]
For their next exercise, the two travel to the Toy Store so Bay can get some practice done. She was stumped as to why they were here, but as usual, the commander had a plan.
Once inside, it was apparent that the two of them were the only ones present. Coach had rented this place so they won't have any interruptions. For this performance, she won't be viewed by a living audience. He then takes many dolls and lines then up so they can serve as Bay's moral support. They even have some pre-recorded messages to help liven her spirits even further, although some of the dolls have rather "unique" things to say. Though this situation is rather unorthodox for her, Bay is willing to give the toys a show.
Bay begins her routine and things seem to be going well. Her concentration starts to fade when locking eyes with one of the dolls, but she manages to recover shortly after. In the end, she was able to get through the whole set with minimal issues, a vast improvement. Despite her success, she's still a bit anxious. Feeling she's ready for the next step, the protagonist wants Bay to purposely make mistakes in front of her miniature audience. He believes her phobia manifested from the accident before and helping her deal with failures may be the key to getting her back to normal. She sees his reasoning, but in order for this to work, Bay needs his help (given the dolls won't be able to do more than cheer them on). She wants him to do a somersault and then to fall over. Despite not knowing what he's getting into, he agrees to try his best. Upon hearing that Bay will have to hold his waste for this stunt to work, Coach starts getting excited nervous. He's very ticklish and after composing himself, the two get to work.
The two try out the trick and as expected, the end result is them on top of each other on the ground. Before Bay can say anything, she starts to have another panic attack and begins to sweat. The commander manages to get her to breathe, which helps he relax. Her memories from that day still linger in her mind. The two are uncertain about whether Bay will be able to perform, but are startled to see... the toys acting on their own? After reading the manual, the two learn they will activate automatically every 30 minutes so long as they're powered on. Determined to overcome this, the two get back up and once again perform her routine. Each and every time ends with the two landing on top of each other and Bay's memories resurfacing.
Though practice has its peaks and valleys, the day eventually comes to an end. In no time, the day of Bay's solo show arrives.
Episode 5 - One Last Step to Overcome[]
Bay is ready to get on stage, but admits she is nervous since it's been some time since she last performed. Since she's been practicing a lot, the protagonist assures her she will be fine. She thanks him for all of his support and he reminds her he will be in the stands cheering her on. Since the time has come, Bay heads out to start the show.
Once on stage, the cheerleader notices her audience (aside from the commander) is giving her no attention as soon as she makes herself known. The crowd was confused as to why she was alone and figured the rest of her team bailed on her. Some thought their posts absolving her of the scandals were also fabricated. As the viewers gossip amongst themselves, Bay begins her routine. She follows the beat of the music and manages to pull off some moves while locking eyes with several bystanders. She tries to start a wave, but only some of the audience join in. She was not deterred and gave it another shot, with slightly more success.
As things were starting to pick up, Bay began to hyperventilate and slumped to the floor. Everyone was starting to worry for her, but she lacked the strength to get back up. Needing to intervene, the protagonist decides cheering her on would be her best hope. His calls startle everyone in attendance, but they get Bay's attention and the two make eye contact. The others follow suit and in a matter of moments, the arena is filled with screams and cheers. After being overwhelmed by so much support, Bay picks herself back up and resumes her routine. Though she was anxious the entire time, some of her personal strength was able to shine.
Once Bay was finished, the protagonist wanted to congratulate her for doing so well. Before he could utter a full sentence to her, she wraps her arms around him and embraces him while still trembling herself. He helps her relieve the last of her stress. She thanks Coach for giving her the motivation to keep going, but he's certain Bay's tenacity got her to this point. After the two let go of each other, it's clear that despite how red her face is, the two can look at each other again. Though she still has trouble making eye contact, she's going to keep practicing so she can look at her fans like she's doing with him now. He's confident she can do it.
Not long after her performance, videos of Bay's show along with the revelation of her scopophobia are shared across social media. Opinions are mixed from those who can empathize with her situation, to those who believe she's acting for publicity, to those who admire her courage, to those who think she needs thicker skin. Overall though, the public has a slightly more positive view of her and many are happy to see her perform again. Though she has a way to go before Rewind reclaims its former prestige, the protagonist is certain things will work out for her.
A few days go by and Bay visits Coach again. The two are glad that the other is doing well and the latter has noticed Bay isn't averting her gaze while they talk. Though she still has difficulties looking at others, she's trying as best as she can. As for why she came to see him, there is someone she wants him to meet. He thought she wanted to introduce him to another man who claimed her love before he could, but that was not the case, to his relief. In reality, a blonde-haired girl wearing a cheerleader outfit enters the room. Her name is Clay and she's Rewind's newest member. After her last show, Bay has been getting more offers to perform, few as they are. Seeing as things could get more interesting with more members, Clay was recruited and that means the three of them will be working closely with each other in the future. They also have another show coming up. The two will be training until then and hope their Coach will come and watch, something he will try his best to attend.
The three are looking forward to seeing more of each other as time progresses.
Story appearances[]
Main story[]
Events[]
Bond story[]
Brief encounters[]
- Notes
- References