1x1 Crooked Supernova

[Yun Lee]

Peace. A beautiful ideal, that. Something that can never truly be for long, but something sought after by everyone. Definitions of peace vary from person to person, but for those involved or even just aware of the recent defeat of the Arch Demon Akibahara, peace meant a few things. One, stability of the Multiverse, which would probably never happen for a long stretch of time, if ever, and the more realistic meaning: an end to Murder Games, ancient sadistic rituals put into place to cultivate dark energy known as Malevolence, an energy that powered black magic and evil beings throughout the Multiverse. As it was the Arch Demon's power source, it was highly unlikely that such rituals would be seen for a very long time.

That was not to say that everyome would forget and idly sit by until then, however. In tbe hopes of ensuring no threat like the Arch Demon ever returned, the Coalition took in new recruits, transforming them into official members, heroes who could hold their own against troublemakers hoping to put lives of innocents in jeopardy for their own twisted goals.

Two such members were now preparing for what would be their first mission together, and, on Kaito Momota's case, at least, his first mission ever as a full-fledged Coalition member. As with his astronaut training, Kaito had proven exceptional within the Coalition, taking his training seriously and proving himself passionate about defending the Multiverse and the people in it. Of course, also as with his astronaut training, his magnetic personality may have had a larger hand in his selection for this missiom than he let on. But either way, here he was, in a small conference room, waiting for a mission debriefing with another-who, coincidentally enough, happened to be a classmate of his. It was hard to tell what she was thinking at this moment...or at all, really. But Kaito wasn't the kind of guy who enjoyed being idle, especially right before something big as this. Turning to Maki, he gave her his best smile.

"Hey! This your first mission too, right, Maki? You as excited as I am?"

...could Maki even get excited, ever? He had no clue, but this was one way to find out.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Calm down; you're way too excited about this. Be careful not to say or do anything stupid like you usually would," Maki Harukawa said coldly without even really answering the question, instead scolding Kaito somewhat like she were talking to a child, perhaps fitting for the so-called "Ultimate Child Caregiver."

Maki was one who tended to feel restless during times that many could describe as "peaceful," but she couldn't help it, considering the kind of person she really was. Good times meant that no one needed to be... taken out of the equation, for better or for worse. Of course, either way, Maki generally had little to worry from all that. Peace was such a fleeting thing; there was little worrying that it would ever stick around, knowing how people tended to be. Of course, at least this time, Maki felt like she could do something good, even if it wouldn't begin to make up for everything exactly.

The girl imagined that whatever mission they would be assigned to, Kaito would just end up getting in her way, though that seemed to be off-set by the Ultimate Astronaut boasting about how much he'd been excelling so far. She didn't really believe him, but she didn't care enough to speak enough about it. At least it was someone she was familiar with, and not one of those other weirdos, like those annoying girls who either called themselves "Witches" or "Huntresses."

With a sigh, Maki crossed her arms, her expression softening slightly. "I'd ask if you have any idea concerning what the mission is, but I suppose if I don't know, then..." She trailed off.

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

Eesh. Kaito was pretty sure the room had been warm enough, but Maki's tone and glare both gave him a chill. But it wasn't like he would let that get him down! A Luminary of the Multiverse like him refused to let a sour girl like her ruin his first mission. Besides, he could probably get her to warm up on this trip. Who knows? She might have potential as a sidekick...if she'd just smile every now and then.

So, Kaito chose to brush off her snide remarks-or rather, flat-out ignore them. As she asked her question, he puffed out his chest. "Ha! You better believe it! Gonta asked me to give him a few pointers before the debriefing-ran through his little speech for me and everything! Not surprised he wanted my help, considering he's still a trainee!"

"...now, if only I can actually remember what he said..."

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"A swing and a miss. And you were so close, too..." Maki only said in response. There went that. The red-eyed girl cared too little to comment on the act of Kaito hyping himself up the way he did; that shtick would get old fast, but then, so would continuously calling him an idiot as well. Still, when things happened like clockwork...

"I suppose we'll just see for ourselves soon enough then," she sighed, leaving it at that for now, before she went on to further wait for Gonta or whoever would handle the debriefing from here on. Maki could only wish they'd arrive soon, lest she would have to suffer through more of Kaito's inane attempts at conversation, try as she might to shut him down. It was a wonder to her that he of all people managed to climb the Coalition's ranks faster than her or, well, God forbid, Gonta. She'd have to ask Commander Naegi about that some time, though... for some reason, something about his appearance felt off to her.

Maybe it was the ahoge in his hair. Who knew?

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

Fortunately, thry didn't have to wait long, as the door opened, and two men walked in. Maki and Kaito would easily be able to recognize one of them.

"Maki! Kaito! Hello! Gonta is very happy to see you both!"

"Hey, Gonta!" Kaito greeted their classmate with a big grin. "You ready to debrief us?"

Gonta nodded, getting his notes in order. "Uh-huh! Mister Lang is going to be observing, since this is part of Gonta's training."

The man Gonta referred to as Lang took a seat and nodded a greeting.

"The name's Shi-Long Lang, but feel free to call me Lang. And thanks again for taking on this mission, you two. Things are still a bit hectic after we took down Akibahara, so the fact you guys have finished your training is a huge help."

"Yeah, man! I wish I'd have been there to take on that Arch Demon myself!" Before Kaito could brag further, Gonta cleared his throat.

"Is everybody ready? Gonta has all his notes."

Lang nodded. "Go on, Gonta. Just like we practiced."

Gonta held his papers up. "As you know, there are many worlds out there in the Multiverse," he read. It was clear he wouldn't be ad-libbing this, which was for the best. "There are worlds where Hope's Peak suffered a big bad event, and some that did not. Like our world, there is also many worlds in other places, and more grow after Murder Games, which was seen in the Arch Demon's Downfall. One world that had this change was the world of Bigby Wolf, who was in the Crossed Incident. A world exists where he lived, and one exists where he died."

Gonta took a moment to switch to his next paper. "Bigby was sent into the Incident in order to protect Fables. None were from his world, but they were Elsa and Ariel. From this, it appears Fables in Bigby's world may know a little about the Multiverse, at least relating to other Fables. That is okay. What is not okay is that there is a bad guy there named the Crooked Man. He has a gang of bad guys who cause problems for everyone. There is someone in the world where Bigby died that has been working undercover for the Crooked Man since Bigby's passing, and has information that he passed along to Snow White, who runs Fabletown. Apparently, the Crooked Man has plans to host a Murder Game of his own. We don't know why, or how he even learned of Murder Games, but luckily we found out about it while it's just in planning."

Next page. "That is where Maki and Kaiti come in. You two will be posing as Fables and heading into Fabletown. With help from the insider, you'll infiltrate the Crooked Man's lair and put a stop to his plans. Use any means necessary-as long as they're legal, of course. The Coalition prides itself on its integrity."

Gonta looked up from his papers, smiling at the three before him. "How was that, Mister Lang? Did Gonta do good?"

"Well, Gonta. Did you do well. And yes, you did. You're shaping up to be a wonderful gentleman."

"Really???"

Kaito gave Gonta a thumbs-up. "Yeah! Nice going, man! I didn't know you knew all those words."

"Well...Gonta didn't, at first. Mister Lang helped edit some of Gonta's notes."

"I'm glad you did well and learned some, Gonta, but we need to get back to business here." Lang turned to face Maki and Kaito. "If either of you have any questions, now's the time to ask. Then we'll give you the materials for this mission and get you ready to go."

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

Maki remained silent, only courteously nodding when Gonta appeared and Lang introduced himself, letting the two of them go on with their exposition, mostly Gonta himself. It was quite a bit to take in, but the girl was able to get the basic gist of it. In the land of Fables, do and dress as the Fables do, all in order to confront the so-called Crooked Man and put a stop to his plans of orchestrating a Murder Game, and dispatch anyone who got in their way. Ethically, at least. Simple enough. On paper, it wasn't even really something Maki hadn't done before. Deceit, infiltration, confrontation. It was all the same wherever she went.

When it was all said and done and Lang asked if there were any questions, only then did Maki speak.

"Even if I imagine this Crooked Man doesn't know who we are, I assume we'll be getting costumes to disguise ourselves in? In which case, which Fables are we going to disguise ourselves as? Little Red Riding Hood?" She inquired, wondering who she could possibly pass herself off as, "And what about Kaito? He's not quite Big Bad Wolf material... but he's also the furthest thing from anyone's Prince Charming..." Maki continued, speaking calmly as though she weren't even trying to be mean to Kaito, but rather, like she was just stating plain, hard fact.

Honestly, she didn't even really know why she asked. Most other jobs, she was able to make do with what she had and improvise from there if needed, but for this... She wondered why such an inane detail lingered in her mind. Maybe it was just the idea of having to pass oneself off as a Fable alongside someone like Kaito, but... No, that was too simplistic.

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

"Maki's right! I can't pass as either of those! If I were playing any fable, it'd be some hero like Ali Baba or Sinbad!"

"Glad to see the two of you have such active imaginations," Lang said. "But posing as famous Fables would be far too suspect. We looked into things, and it seems Eastern Fables are underrepresented in Fabletown. Gonta?"

Gonta placed two files before each of the pair. "Gonta talked to Korekiyo back home, and Korekiyo had good ideas about who you could be. Kaito will be Momotaro, the Peach Boy!"

"Hell yeah! I was born to play that part. It's even in the name!" Kaito picked his file up and eagerly scanned through it.

"And Maki, Korekiyo chose Kiyohime for you. Quiet Princess...Gonta is sure it's a pretty story!"

"Kiyohime, huh?" Kaito nodded in approval. "That's a good role for ya!" There was no malice in his comment whatsoever. Maki being some cheerful princess or something would be...wrong.

If Maki were to look in her file, it would give a brief refresher on Kiyohime's story, as well as a few pointers on blending in properly (more for Kaito's sake than anything): Dress in modern clothes and be yourself...just with a different name. Many Fables try to move past their histories and live like normal people. Your insider is named Gren, and has a hard time trusting the higher-ups as it is. Don't make his opinion worse to the point that he actually joins Crooked Man.

The Crooked Man prides himself as a hero and savior to the destitute. Convince him you dislike the situation in the city well enough and you shouldn't have any problems.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

Maki would have also disagreed with Kaito's belief that he was any sort of swashbuckler type of hero, which would have caused her to wonder if the Ultimate Astronaut was just fundamentally not a person who could take after any fairy tale figure, but "Peach Boy" seemed to be flattering enough for him. Maki didn't even mind when she was assigned to the role of a "quiet princess," even when Gonta gave his two cents on the story Kiyo gave. At least, until Kaito seemed to happily affirm that it was a role that fit her. For some reason, the girl found that him saying that bothered her in some manner, but Maki couldn't quite put it into words as to how or why.

By instinct, Maki pouted and fiddled with her hair a bit, try as she might in vain to hide any sign of being some sort of flustered, before speaking again.

"Well, anyway... Moving on..." She simply said, before going on to read the file provided for her and easily comprehending the information. Disguise as someone in disguise. Meet with Gren. Sell a sentiment of dissatisfaction. Get inside the lair. Maki didn't anticipate this to be any sort of challenge, but of course, plans rarely went as expected, so she kept from growing confident needlessly.

"Thank you, Mister Lang. I don't have any further questions," Maki continued, nodding toward the older man, ready to move on if Kaito was on the same page.

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

Kaito seemed totally oblivious to Maki's flustered behavior. It would be hard for him to focus on anything but this mission at the moment, really. Getting to show off his skills, even in something small like this...it was huge! Maki probably wouldn't slow him down, either.

"Yeah, I'm all set! Let's get a move on!"

"Ahaha! Love the enthusiasm. All right, let's get you two out on the field. I'd wish you both good luck, but considering how quickly you two got through training, I doubt you'll need it."

"Goodbye, Maki! Goodbye, Kaito! Gonta believes in you!"

In just under an hour, the two were placed on a transporter and sent off to their destination. For once, Kaito was actually pretty quiet on the ride, sticking to going over his file over trying to strike up a conversation with Maki for the time being. This wasn't something he was going to take lightly-something like this could spell big trouble for a lot of folks if left unchecked. Killing games...anyone who would run one was a sick, sick person. Whoever this Crooked Guy was, Kaito would be more than happy to finish him off.

The ride wasn't very long either way, and they would arrive just outside New York City, a bit of a way out in order to stay out of civilian's notice. Fortunately their destination was only a short walk out of the woods, but it wasn't Fabletown.

"...Chicken Barn, huh?"

It was a little fast food place on the outskirts of the city, where Gren apparently worked. According to the file, he had a job outside of Fabletown to afford "Glamours" or something. They needed to meet him outside in order to get into the district, since they would be found out right away otherwise.

Kaito entered the establishment, holding the door for Maki (as a man should do) and approached the counter.

"Hey there!" The teen girl working the register greeted. "Welcome to Chicken Barn, what can I get you today?"

"You can get me Gren!" Kaito responded. "We need to talk to him!"

"Uh...you mean Glenn? He's the manager, and he's on lunch. If you guys wait, I can get him when he comes back."

"Sounds good! In the meantime...I'll have the number five! Large!"

She typed it into the system. "The crispy chicken club meal, okay...anything else?"

Kaito glanced at Maki. "You want anything? My treat!"

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"No," Maki only curtly said to the employee, in a manner that one could even consider rude.

The girl felt out of place in a place that would dare call itself "Chicken Barn." Like Kaito, she had been silent during the ride. It wasn't any sort of awkward silence (not that it would have bothered her even so), but just, there was little to actually say. They were both thinking the same thing, at least hopefully, and while Kaito was busy reading over the file, Maki had already perfectly memorized the contents. When the two of them finally did get to this Chicken Barn, the girl had to purse her lips slightly. So "Gren" was actually "Glenn" then? Perhaps that made sense, since she'd never heard a name like "Gren" before anyway, and considering the fundamental barriers between the Japanese language and English names, though... the multiverse does strange things when it comes to translating themselves.

Paradox Resistance Effect indeed.

Back to the present, Maki resisted the urge to give a judgmental, sidelong glance to Kaito at the prospect of eating on the job. Fast food wasn't Maki's style anyway. Slowed down the body. She would have considered getting something grilled, but she turned down the idea. Even if she admittedly hadn't eaten anything since breakfast way earlier, she was sure that she could handle things just fine.

"Excuse me. I'll find us some seats," she eventually said as Kaito handled the girl, turning around from there and picking out a booth nearby the window, where she gazed outside, alone with her thoughts. So then, it seemed like their operation had hit a small dead end for now, but if luck was on their side, they'd be able to go through it soon enough. No choice but to be patient...

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

"Sheesh." Who the heck would turn down free food? Kaito sure wouldn't. Maki was really a piece of work, wasn't she? How someone like that could take care of kids he would never know. "Uhhh...just the number five, then." He got himself a root beer to drink and sat down where Maki chose for them...

...right next to her. Why not? When Gren (or Glenn?) showed up, sitting next to him would just be weird. Not because they were both guys, of course, but because he didn't know the guy. Common sense!

The spaceman-in-training took a sip of soda, flipping his file open. "It's weird. It says Gren in here, but he goes by Glenn at work? I dunno Maki, does that sound weird to you?"

@Ver
​

 

[Ver]

"..."

Maki seemed to give Kaito an openly irritated look as he sat down next to her. From his perspective, either her frowns would have been nothing out of the ordinary for him or she would have just been extra-frowning at him for no reason, but from Maki's, she felt somewhat trapped and inconvenienced like this. It wouldn't be impossible to maneuver around like this, but in the off-chance that this "Glenn" or whatever he was called (or whoever they ended up meeting) turned out to be violently hostile, Maki would have a wider space to move around and protect both herself and Kaito if she sat on the edge, though at this point, even the girl herself had to wonder if she was too fixated on things like this. Of course, such idle thoughts were undermined by her thoughts on the possible consequences of carelessness.

Also... Just to plainly put it, Kaito was too close for comfort's sake. But she said nothing. That part... wasn't a big deal or anything.

When the Ultimate Astronaut spoke again, her distasteful expression shifted to a more neutral, normal one.

"Glenn sounds correct; I wouldn't put it past whoever wrote up the dossier to make some sort of typo, all things considered. After all, they sound similar when you say both names aloud. It isn't so weird when you consider pronunciation rules of different languages, even if I suppose some of that goes out the window in our line of business, traveling through the multiverse and all that," Maki replied calmly.

"I think you're thinking too deeply about this, really."

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

"Heh...what kind of dumbass typos on a government file, anyway...even my buddy's counterfeits look better than that!" But Kaito decided to drop it for now. He could just ask the guy what his name is, when he got there. Maki had some good theories about it all, though... You know, if she was going to be his sidekick, he really needed to get to know her better. All he knew about her was her talent and her icy demeanor, and he knew about pretty much anyone in their class. And hey, they had all this free time, so...

"Hey, Maki. So, I was wonderin'...why'd you join up with the Coalition, anyway? I'll be honest, this doesn't seem like your kind of work. A guy like me, Kaito Momota, it's obvious why I'd be here, defending and exploring the Multiverse...but what about you?"

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

For a good second or two, Maki didn't respond to Kaito's question. One could only wonder what was going on through her mind. Did she simply dislike the question? Was she trying to really think about it? It was difficult to tell from just her face alone, but eventually, she did come around to uttering her response, speaking in a voice that almost sounded like it was softer than how she usually spoke.

"You can just call it... a needed change of pace. Honest work for once," Maki said curtly, perhaps even cryptically, if Kaito was dense enough to not understand what she was getting at. She averted her gaze from Kaito, as though far from proud of her former line of work and disliking even talking about it. Despite that, she went on. "And besides... with an idiot like you wanting to do so much, I pretty much had to come along just to make sure you don't go and do anything stupid. I certainly don't trust Gonta or Kiyo to keep you in line, after all."

She let that statement sit for a good second, before sighing. "Or... maybe I am stepping up to save the multiverse out of the goodness of my heart. What would you say to that? And does it matter at the end of the day? I'm here, for better or for worse, stuck with you..."

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

Kaito thought about Maki's comments for a second. "Well, if you were doing this out of the goodness of your heart, then..."

"I guess I'd say you're not as cold as you like to act, huh?"

He would have said more, had it not been for a tray of food placed right in front of him. "Number Five, large combo." The man who dropped the tray off looked down at the pair, giving off a rather menacing aura, even with his best attempt to smile at him. Maybe it was his hair, styled like some 50s-era biker, or the fact that one eye was milky white. Whatever it was, this guy certainly didn't seem too friendly.

His name tag read, "Glenn," with his title of Manager underneath. "How can I help you two today?" he asked in his best customer service voice. "I hear you wanted to speak with me?"

Kaito had just taken a bite of his sandwich, so anything that came out of his mouth was just mumbling and bits of chicken flying about. Glenn tried his best to ignore it.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"..."

Maki only pouted again, saying nothing initially as she found herself fidgeting uncomfortably with her hands in response to Kaito's response to her words. She'd only meant to speak facetiously, but for Kaito to so easily accept that kind of response... He really was an idiot. The more she thought about it in silence, she could even feel a sort of heat boiling, welling up inside of her. What was this strange, fluttery feeling? Kaito was so adept at pushing these buttons of hers, rising a strange emotion from her, but what was it? What was it called?

...

Probably just irritation, really. It was the only logical answer.

"!"

With that, as "Glenn" suddenly appeared before the two of them, Maki's expression suddenly shifted, her eyes narrowing and her face darkening, definitely feeling the menace behind the man's benign smile. The way he moved, spoke, and even just looked... It was totally obvious he was a man of many secrets. Someone who specialized in the shadows just as well as he did in broad daylight, hidden in plain sight.

To that end, he reminded her of herself a little. Perhaps that was why she took a dislike to him. Still, she kept her voice tempered as she finally mustered a response to him, despite her wary eyes, imagining that this was probably going to be the best they were going to get as far as a private venue went.

"Let's just say that... we were told you could help us with something, I hope you understand," Maki only said curtly, clearing her throat and briefly elbowing Kaito's side in order to get him to behave, before going on, "It's quite lovely... inside, isn't it?" She inquired, emphasizing the word "inside" like it was supposed to be a code word.

As in, "insider." Who said Maki couldn't be cute with these things?

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

"Inside? What are you-" In an instant, Glenn's "friendly" demeanor soured, a snarl appearing on his face that seemed far more in tune with his true self. "Are you fu..." He paused mid-expletive, lowering his voice as he leaned forward, hands on the table. "...reaking kidding me? You guys are not the guys they sent."

"Tha'sh whewe ya w'ong, pahw," Kaito said, attempting to simultaneously eat and get a word in edgewise.

"I don't believe this. My home's in more danger than ever before, and they send me children?!" Glenn's attempts to keep his voice low made it crack on the last word. "H-How old are you two? You even graduate from high school yet?"

"Ah'm Kai'o Mohmoh-"

"Oh for fuck's sake, stop talking with your damn mouth full! You're spittling all over me!" He turned to Maki. "Who the fuck are you guys?!" So much for his attempts at censoring himself.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"A bit quick to pass down judgment, aren't you? Simmer down. We're professio--" Maki paused, looked over at Kaito, then looked back toward Glenn, "I'm a professional," she said, lightly elbowing Kaito's side to get him to mind his manners. Evading the question about her age, she went on from there.

"My name is Maki Harukawa, and this is Kaito Momota. I assure you, we have the best interests in mind for your people, and we will do everything in our power to secure it. You're in good hands," the young woman said, ever level-headed in tone, but also hushed, given where they were, also leaning forward as she spoke.

"So let's not waste any time wondering whether or not we can help you."

...

Maki then held up a napkin for Kaito, not saying anything more.

@Yun Lee​

 

[Yun Lee]

"....."

Maki's professionalism was clearly not what Glenn had expected, so she had at least succeeded in talking him down. But he still kept his eyes narrowed, clearly dubious about having these two on his side. "...I'll believe it when I see it." That was all he said as he took a seat at the opposite side of the booth.

At least Kaito finally swallowed. "Mmh? Oh, thanks." Wiping his mouth with the offered napkin, he started speaking. "Yeah, what Maki said. We-"

"Hey, hold on! I'm a professional too!"

Glenn grinned and tapped on the corner of his own lip. "Missed a spot, Mister Professional." Clearly determining who the more rational of the duo was, he turned his attention to Maki, glancing at the file a moment as he did. "So...you guys have been told by your higher-ups what's going on, yeah?"

"Yeah," Kaito replied, getting the spot he missed with the back of his hand. "Go in, complain about the situation, stop the Crooked Man."

"Good. Makes my job easier." Glenn leaned back, seeming to relax a bit more. "This shouldn't take more than one night, if you guys are as 'professional' as you say. We'll head out once we finish our little powwow here."

"Aren't you working, though?"

"Hm...Hey, Becky!" Glenn turned towards the register. "I'm takin' the rest of the day off. You're in charge till Lucas gets here, got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

He gave the pair a smug grin. "Ain't a problem now. That little folder skimp out on any details? This'll be the only time I can fill you in."

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"How convenient," Maki only remarked as Glenn easily enough took the rest of the day off. Guess that was a little demonstration of the perks of upper management. Letting out a lightly impatient breath, the red-clad girl shook her head slightly. "But no. As far as I'm aware, I know all that I need to know. In any case, we shouldn't lull about if we have the opportunity to carry out the mission. Let's--"

Rrrrrrrr.

The girl, usually so calm and cool-headed, stopped in her tracks when a soft sound was heard. It was almost like the soft purring of a cat, though in reality, it was Maki's own stomach. Though she kept a completely deadpan expression, it was easy to imagine that she was a bit abashed. Letting out a sigh, she reached over and took one of Kaito's fries, popping it into her mouth.

"... Fine, then. We can use the time now to gather our bearings and prepare ourselves for what's to come next," she said, giving Kaito a sidelong glance as she spoke, as if to communicate that she would do something drastic if the Ultimate Astronaut dare speak about what just happened.

@Yun Lee​