"Haven't seen you guys in a minute."
"Why do I have to do this?" Nikku whined. She had a comlink on, Solazar on the other line upstairs, hidden in the HQ.
"You are the only one who can cordially speak to those people." Solazar said.
S was around, inside the comlink and Nikku's phone. He was ordered to keep quiet. He was there for emotional support and to help Nikku.
"Why can't Theo do this?" Her chest hurt. Not for any particular reason, but the anxiety was making her feel things there weren't. Much to her horror, Tabi spoke to her privately before, telling her of the 'sick and twisted' things that Family did.
"Theo is too old and would only raise questions as why the sudden interest in them."
She sighed. All this because she got caught way back when. And it was their fault she got caught! All because they thought singing a song would cheer her up. Well it didn't work and blew her cover then got her arrested then got her in the middle of an IRIS-TGG conflict then-
"Pfft. You'll be fine. They give you any issues, I'll drain their bank account. I'll put 'em on a government watchlist." S chimed in.
Curiously, you had already tried to get S to look into their bank accounts. Just in case you needed that card against them. S found the accounts, though each carried a little more than a grand per person. Updike explained the reasoning.
"Because demons are materialistic. They want to see the money there instead of a number on a bank account. What is the point of horde of gold unless you can see each bar?"
Regardless, the threat made her feel just a little better. The party this time was just Nikku and S. Updike suggested using some TGG agents as watchers though Solazar refused. "This needs to feel authentic. No watchers."
"Thanks." Nikku took a deep breath. She looked up. In front of her was the Compound. A dainty black fence surrounded it, trees and hills obscuring the compound further. Several buildings stood in front of her, each foreboding in its own way.
She was here to see the Family's youngest daughter and her boyfriend. Rosie was familiar enough with them and called them up asking to come by. Apparently they had some history of drumming up business and despite Rosie's general attitude, were still on good terms.
Nikku expected the parent's to be aware of the meeting, likely assuming themselves the Belladonnas were going to kidnap and ransom the girl.
S gave Solazar access to nearby cameras, giving a near perfect picture of the compound's entrance. With a large bank to it's southwest and a university nearby foot traffic was heavy. Aside from the usual demon's patrolling the interior of the Compound, Solazar couldn't find anyone watching outside.
Nikku was to meet the two lovebirds prior, introducing herself as one of Rosie's people. Sol hoped they would remember her from their previous 'confrontation'. He hoped it would further add to Nikku's innocence and prove she wasn't part of any sketchy organization. She currently loitered at the front gate, worrying that she would be abducted at any moment.
With May entering its final week summer had begun to arrive. It measured about 20°C. Not too hot, but enough that it was t-shirt weather. It didn't help Nikku at all, wearing her regular black clothes. Self-conscious she felt as if she were a cat burglar, guessing she appeared way more suspicious than she actually did.
"Is that them?" S asked. He watched from a hidden camera on Nikku's person.
They were just as Nikku remembered them, possibly even wearing the same clothes from that showdown.
Though her memory still erased, she recalled that night she got arrested by Updike. She didn't like to think about it, though until her memory fully came back that would be one of the earliest things she could recall. Shaking her head she waved at the couple.
Two young adults, both short. The girl wore a mahogany-coloured dress just ending past her knees. The dress was the same colour as her high heels. It was close in colour to her maroon-coloured hair, something Tabi frequently referred to when describing her.
Nikku described her as happy and plain.
The other one, a boy.
Whether unintentional or not his clothing matched hers. He had a red baseball cap with a blue flip, worn backwards. It matched his red sneakers, white laces and rim, which looked a little too big for him. And then a basic white shirt, a stop symbol in the centre.
He had the same almost-excited, possibly snarky, possibly arrogant look form before. He knew he was the best; he knew his girl was the best kind of look. Under his hat, sticking out in a lick was light blue hair. He carried a microphone, something she had noticed when she first met them.
There was much discussion to their name. Tabi insisted, even swearing on it her name was just Girlfriend and not 'Cherry'. On the other Rosie insisted the boys name was just Boyfriend and not 'Keith'. This contradicted Updike's claims though he relented, saying he didn't care what they were called.
Nikku chose to settle on Boyfriend and Girlfriend.
They walked happily together, hand in hand, emerging from somewhere in the compound. Walking down the trail they both had the same puppy-love expression on, content at each other's presence.
Girlfriend was much happier to see Nikku, remembering her instantly.
"It's you!" She said cheerily. "From that abandoned mall!"
Nikku gulped. "Y-yeah. I remember you. You, uh, sung for me."
"Did you end up getting caught? I thought about it later, got worried."
"Beep?" Boyfriend asked.
"Remember when we went exploring in that mall. Thought it would be all cool to take photos in? We sang for her?"
"Beep!" Boyfriend nodded.
"N-no, I wasn't caught. Er. Not by them. I found Rosie. She's been helping me." Nikku said, temporarily forgetting her cover story.
"Boop?" Boyfriend asked, speaking with a high-pitched voice. Though he spoke in sound, Nikku found she could understand him just fine.
"Not really. I'm just, uh using a friends voice."
"Well I think it fits, er, sorry what your name again?" Girlfriend spoke with a light voice, lots of cheer in it.
"Nikku Moriaka." She said, trying best to hide her nervousness.
"You have such a cool name! And I'm sure you remember me, Girlfriend and my boyfriend, Boyfriend." Girlfriend said with a small bow.
"God, this is so boring. I know! You should just kill them. We all want revenge anyways." S said into Nikku's earpiece. She pretended not to hear him.
"Rosie asked me to get you guys, said she needed help at the restaurant." Nikku said.
"Sure! We had a great time last, didn't we hun?"
Boyfriend nodded.
The three of them went off, talking and chatting in the direction of the nearest bus stop.
"How strange." Solazar commented as he watched some nearby security cameras.
You, still likely a major enemy in that Family's eyes were off duty today. You were to be present in the control room, though weren't paying much attention. This was Solazar and S' plan. From his office, Updike was listening in though couldn't speak to anyone but you directly.
"What is?" You ask, looking up from your book. "I've been scanning the surrounding pedestrians for any possible bodyguards or watchers but cannot find any. Unless everyone around them is aligned I cannot see anyone tracking their movements."
"Well during my investigation we never really found that girl to be part of the 'family business'. They probably don't have anyone watching them." You get up and go to the monitor's looking them over. "Hell Tabi's really the only who claims she's outright evil."
"I may have misjudged their vigilance."
You chuckle. "Either that or they really don't care about her." You said in jest.
"It is possible."
Nikku had been informed to 'make small talk' with them. She wasn't sure exactly what to say other than questions about the Family (which was a no-go), Mobius (which was evident they knew nothing about) or the Carnival (which Solazar advised against). S in particular said not to discuss Mobius. He wouldn't explain what but was apparently very upset about something that happened there last night.
"D-do you guys know Kapi?" Nikku blurted out. She covered her mouth, realizing she may have blown his cover. "Ohmygod, what are you doing?!" S demanded from the comlink.
"Oh yeah! We know him. He's BF's best friend."
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"Beep bop." BF nodded in agreement.
"Haven't seen him in a while though." GF said sombrely. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah! He's fine. He's really good at arcades. Like, really good at DDR. Just really busy at work I guess."
"Beeep!"
"Haha, I'm sure he'd like a rematch." GF said.
"Oh, well, well he started working at Rosie's recently actually. Maybe we'll see him."
"Wow, what a coincidence!" GF remarked. "I hope he's there. He was pretty funny last time."
"Bop!"
"Well, second best~" She said lovingly.
Solazar had been listening in, not really caring much about the dialogue. Despite S' insistence that this be the perfect time to take them out or abduct + ransom, Solazar didn't have much to say. Nikku was doing good.
As you listened it there wasn't much to learn. All their baseless conversation showed was that they barely had an idea what her parents did and that she really wasn't in the 'game'. At least Nikku looked to be having a good time, finding her voice.
They continued chatting all the way to the cafe, finding much more to speak about on the way. Much to S' annoyance she kept talking about Kapi and the arcade. He only relaxed when Nikku 'hyped' S up as some new nemesis in the arcade that was better than Kapi. She stylized him as an insane computer hacker and genius.
"That sounds fun! This S sounds pretty cool."
"Damn straight. Alright, no need to kill them now." S chimed in, unheard.
All in all, things were moving smoothly. Only once did a hiccup occur. Girlfriend received a phone call. Listening in you thought it would have been some warning but no, it was one of her friends.
"You're in the city?" Girlfriend was ecstatic. Nikku and BF listened in.
"Who's that?" Nikku whispered to BF.
"bebop." He said quietly.
"Her sister?"
BF nodded.
Feeling confident, Nikku asked further, "Is she, y'know, okay?"
BF nodded. "Beep boop bop."
"That's cool."
"Hey, Nikku, can my sister come?"
"I, uh, don't know. Is she like your, uh-"
"Parents?"" She asked, a little downcast. "No. She's nothing like them. Doesn't even use her powers. I promise she's fine! Even went to college far away cause of it. Hey, how do you know about them?"
"Tell them Kapi spoke about it." S interjected.
"Y-yeah. Kapi said they were tough."
Boyfriend laughed.
"Tough...is a word for them haha. You don't mind if my sister comes though?"
Nikku awaited instruction from Solazar. He replied quickly. "It's fine."
"Sure! The more the merrier." She said happily. A bus ride later they made it to Rosie's.
The cafe was ablaze with activity. Mid-morning lots of customers fluttered about. Just before lunch many in the neighborhood considering getting it early, filling up the cafe. Despite all, Rosie made sure their table was empty, even if it was costing her some business.
They arrived on time at Rosie's, the queen belladonna re-introducing herself to them. She had them seated at one of the centre tables, telling each one that it was on the house today.
"Hi guys!" She said, carrying a covered tray. Placing it on the table she smirked happily.
"Bop!" "Hi Rosie!"
She gave them both a hug.
"How are you all? Haven't seen you guys in a minute."
"We're good. Same old, same old. Oh! My sister's coming. Is it okay if she joins us?"
Boyfriend nodded in agreement.
"Huh? Which sister? N-not Cassandra, right?"
"My older sister. She's just like me, not like the rest of us. No, Cassandra's uh, not here right now. Nasty stuff."
Rosie shot Nikku a look of 'why didn't you tell me'.
"Sure...I'll get an extra chair. As long as she isn't like the rest-"
"Boop beep!"
"Haha, I'll take your word for it."
"So what's this about?" Girlfriend asked.
Rosie had purposefully kept Nikku in the dark regarding the treats. She felt it would have been better if Nikku was just as surprised as the rest of them.
"Well, I hired a new chef recently, Russian guy." Rosie leaned in. "Between you and me, he's a little ghastly."
"But!" Rosie got up and lifted the cover off the tray. "He made all these 'Russian' treats. Says they'll sell better than our current stuff. Who else to try than my favourite customers?"
"Beep!"
"Omg we'd love to!" Girlfriend said ecstatically.
"Names on the cards in front. Lemme know which ones are the best. You too Nikku." Rosie said.
"We haven't seen you at the forest lately. Did you guys move?" Girlfriend asked.
Though unexpected, Rosie kept a straight face, smiling through it. "We just moved, that's all." She knew better than to complicate matters. Girlfriend knew nothing of her and the battles of the Fae.
"Well. I have plenty other customers to deal with." Rosie said, straightening herself out. "I'll come back in a bit. You three dig in now."
In front of the three of them stood a large tray, covered in assorted goods. Tabi had given basic recipes to Rosie and names though he had done so in verbally. With no knowledge on how they were actually spelled, Rosie wrote it how it sounded.
Tabi baked a few though Rosie intervened, not trusting Tabi to not poison the treats off some twisted revenge fantasy. Tabi argued that though tempting, he would never do such a thing. In the end Tabi gave you hist treats, them now sitting on a platter in HQ.
Most of them were gone, you having to admit. Goatboy can bake.
Atop the tray in the cafe were Sirniki's, some kind of filled pancake treat with a cream cheese. A Zafer, a confectionary made with hardened whipping cream and dried fruit puree. A Chak-chak, a cake covered in hazelnuts, looking like a mound from a desert. Pastila, some kind of coloured fruit square, pressed fruit paste of apples and other assorted fruits. There were some chocolate-covered fruits as well. Finally, there was a bunch of 'torpedos' as Tabi had called them. Some sort of rolled flaky pastry with a cream filling.
Nikku's diet since she crash landed had consisted of whatever was served to IRIS agents and leftovers. Prior to that it had been whatever slop was served in Updike's prison. When she was romping with S that turned to chili dogs and veggies, S insisting it was what the real Sonic ate. And then when Updike re-took her in, it was back to what the agents ate, this time TGG instead of IRIS.
She had never seen such strange names and deserts. She hardly knew where to begin. Even moreso she couldn't wait to begin, even getting her question out of the way.
"So who built your compound?"
Girlfriend reached for one of the squares. "Hmm. I can't remember. It was built before me I think. Or...I'm not sure. My sister would know though!"
"Bebop."
"Sure. I'll ask her." Nikku replied.
As they sampled the treats, Solazar watched from the camera. S had left Nikku and ported into your phone, venting at Nikku's inaction. "If we just kill them that's one less demon to worry about!" He demanded. You were arguing with him. You shook the phone, temporarily dazing S.
"We can't just kill them."
"Pftt. I bet if Tabi were commanding he'd give me the okay."
"...Even so." You say, chuckling at the thought. Tabi would do something so gung-ho.
As Sol watched he saw a few more customers enter. Wearing all black and sunglasses they clearly weren't some random crew. Three of them and demonic in appearance they did little to hide their intention. They were clearly there to watch over Girlfriend.
He guessed they must have been around to make sure she wasn't abducted. After all, Rosie was an enemy now, even if Girlfriend didn't know.
The three found the treats exquisite and though crushingly European found them unique enough to contend against the North American pastries they were used to. For Nikku and not being an expert in any of this, she enjoyed them. S too returned to Nikku doing his own takes on the deserts and eating them virtually, guessing how they tasted. He had to admit, they were good.
It didn't take long for the next guest of honour to arrive. "Hey Sis!" Girlfriend shouted as her sister arrived.
She was much taller than Girlfriend and more mature too. She had the same kind of brown-coloured hair as Girlfriend and matched it with a red scarf and red plaid coat. The lips of her shoes matched the same red. Underneath she wore plain white jeans and a black tank-top. It matched with the black and red beanie, currently covering parts of her luscious hair.
She spotted the group quickly, striding up to them. She also spotted the watchers, giving one of them a small nod. Whether planned or not, they understood it was time to leave. Paying for their coffees they quickly dispersed.
"That's Sister Searest." Girlfriend said to Nikku. "Isn't she so cool!?"
Nikku was in agreement.
"Bebop!" Boyfriend said, handing Sister one of the 'torpedos'. "Wow! This is really good! What is it?" Sister asked.
"Bop?"
"Huh. I don't know either." Girlfriend said. In their 'sampling' the papers had gotten mixed up. Sister took a seat, Girlfriend filling her in on everything; as well as exchanging some pleasantries.
With Sister present and some of the treats eaten, Nikku felt far more confident in asking her question. "So who built your guys property? You have a whole castle there!"
Sister laughed. "Thanks. I can't remember her full name but her first name was Lila. Nice woman, she had lovely purple hair."
"That's who it was!" Girlfriend proclaimed. "I wonder what happened to her."
"Beats me." Sister said.
Kapi had missed the last meeting where this was set up and nobody saw fit to fill him in. He was currently slaving away in the back, getting various pastries up and going. Feeling ready for a break he stepped into the cafe proper, only to rush back inside, doubting what he saw was even real.
Sitting at a table were none other than Boyfriend, Girlfriend and a larger Girlfriend! He didn't even notice Nikku, instead practically bolting up the stairs to the hideout room, hoping someone was present. He narrowly had a panic attack; it wasn't until you filled him in that he calmed down.
"You could go down there; say hello." You say.
"No way! They probably got snipers watching all around. Screw that!"
"Gosh, shut up! Stop being such a worrywart!" S declared. He ported into Kapi's phone, secretly thinking he could get Kapi to take out BF and GF.
"I do think that would be a good idea. Show them we mean no harm." Solazar said. He had already passed Updike the name and description of 'Lila' and was just observing now. In the end, Kapi refused, stating he wasn't ready and that it would be suspicious. You agreed, feeling Kapi deserved a break anyways. No need to force him into something he didn't want to do. He stayed in the HQ, silently watching the computer and listening in.
As Nikku and company chatted the topic of music game up.
"Do you think we could play here?" Sister asked. "I brought my trumpet." She was eyeing the stage, it catching her curiosity.
"I'm sure we can improvise something." Girlfriend said.
"Beeep booop!"
"Let's ask Rosie." Nikku said enthusiastically.
At this point Solazar had tuned out the conversation and called you over.
"We got her."
Updike was on the line, phoning directly into MALLEUS. Lila was an architect with purple hair. It wasn't much to go on, but Updike searched. He had his people look up every Lila that was known as an architect, taking him far less time than anticipated.
"She is a single mother living in a small town just west of Newgrounds City, member of the Senor Pelo Architectural Firm. And they specialize in large complexes." It was also there that Updike dug more into Lila's past.
"Just as I thought!" He proclaimed from the computer. "I knew that Velseb character wasn't some random mark!" He sounded triumphant, as if all his actions justified.
"A little over two years ago she was almost murdered in an attack by a certain Bob Vesleb!" He slammed his desk, the mic picking up the crash. "I knew it! The report here says Velseb was killed by cops in that city. The Family must have known Velseb through Lila and since he was slain by police figured he would especially hate you."
There was little time to rest on the revelation, however. Updike already put into motion to get the floor plans. You were immediately pulled into it, as was Tess.
Tess was present in the cafe too, zipping by. She didn't pay Boyfriend and Girlfriend much mind, instead focusing on other tables. She didn't want to speak to them, still silently blaming them for what happened to her restaurant, and Displo.
As she passed by Girlfriend a few times, the brown-haired girl couldn't help by feel she recognized Tess. As she passed by Girlfriend stopped her.
"Tess right?"
"Oh, um, yes. Y-you're Girlfriend right?"
"Yea! What are you doing here? I thought you had your own diner." Girlfriend asked happily. Tess could hear no malice in her voice. She meant no offense by the comment, though Tess couldn't help but swallow hard at it. "Uh just, um getting experience here." Tess lied. Girlfriend didn't know anything about the bombing did she? And she shouldn't be made aware that Tess joined the Carnival. Tess decided it best if she just lied.
"Oh well Rosie's a good cook! You'll learn a lot. Cool to see you. Do you want to join our show?"
Tess shook her head. "Sorry. I'm just really swamped with orders. You guys got this though. I'll uh see ya later." She said as she finished another table. Flustered she retired to the HQ room, a combination of anger and sadness hitting her. She wanted to get mad at Girlfriend for what happened, but also knew not to blow anyone's cover.
Once there Updike assigned her and you the plan.
"You two will go to this architectural firm tomorrow and get the floor plans." Updike said. "More details to follow."
"Uhh. Okay?" Tess said, unsure.
The next chapter will be called Take Your Kid to Work Day.