Chapter 2: The Rabbit Hole
By PangusMan
Twisted Fate sat on the bench outside of the office of the head of LSMI6, absently twirling a card in his hand. Max had led him here through a complicated series of underground tunnels with a high-tech tram system. It was clear that they were not playing around about this whole situation.
MI6 was a powerful sight. When he first entered, he was taken aback by the bright white walls, the efficient design, the sight of agents milling about, others doing their work energetically. He was shocked at the scene, disbelieving. Max took him through the brightly lit halls, greeting some of the agents he passed, some eyeing Fate cautiously. He recalled being uncomfortable there.
Finally, Max had brought him in front of the door to the office of M, the head of LSMI6. The two approached the receptionist's desk, where Ahri sat back in her chair, legs lifted and reading. When she saw them, a grin played across her face.
"Hello, boys. Here to see her?" she asked sweetly.
"Yes, thank you," Max replied.
Ahri picked up the phone, while at the same time eyeing Twisted Fate closely. She was intrigued as to why he of all people was here.
"Yes?" came the voice on the other side of the line.
"M, there's two boys here to see you. Should I let them in?" she asked, twirling the cord absently.
"Who are they?" asked M.
"It's Max and... Twisted Fate," Ahri replied, chuckling lightly.
"Send them in." The order came out and Ahri put the phone down. She leaned forward onto the desk, propping herself up on her elbows and looking up at the two. "You two can go on in. I'm glad to see you here, handsome," she added with a wink.
Fate grinned. "Yeah. You know, I might come to like this job after all," he said, flashing Ahri one of his wild grins.
He followed Maximillian into M's office, and he was impressed by the austerity of the room: a fully stocked bookshelf behind a finely crafted wooden desk, two expensive-looking leather chairs lying in front of it, complete with a small table in between them. The woman sitting there was perusing a file, which lay open on her desk. When she noticed them come in, she put down a paper she was reading, setting it back onto the file.
"Twisted Fate. It's good that you're here." M was an older woman, wrinkles throughout her face, but her features retaining a sharp look of experience and alertness. She stood up from her chair and took a good look at Twisted Fate, scanning every detail of his appearance, sizing him up.
"Yeah, heard y'all needed my help. So I'm here to find out what you want from me," Fate replied, stepping forward towards the desk.
M gestured to a seat and sat down herself, pulling the chair forward to be sitting upright facing the two sitting opposite her.
"Now, before we begin, I'd like to mention that if there were literally any other option, I would never in my right mind have thought of contacting you. Do I make this clear?" She said bluntly, with a harsh look in her eye. "You are notorious for being a shifty conman, and I would never willingly associate myself with the likes of you." M looked down, then back up into his eyes. "But there was no other choice."
Twisted Fate grinned, leaning back in his chair and tipping his hat down. "So then why'd you come after me?" he asked, crossing his arms.
M ruffled through a few papers on her desk. "I'm sure you've been made aware of the problem we've been faced with." She put them down. "Our agents are being compromised. Their cover is being blown all over the map, all of our moles being captured and drawing more suspicion. And to top it all off, there's a tremendous issue that we have no available bodies to investigate. We need someone who no one would suspect of being in line with us. Someone like you."
The Card Master shook his head. "I can't believe this. It's like this is a movie or somethin'." He let out a small chuckle. "Well, what can I do to help, then?"
The head nodded. "You will be given further briefing shortly. But before you go, I want you to hear something."
Her face grew darkly threatening. "I don't trust you. If you do anything at all to damage this organization, I will have you hunted down and executed. I will not hesitate to use every available resource to find you. Do you understand?"
Twisted Fate sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you."
M frowned, then reached into a drawer on her desk, pulling out a pair of keys. She put them on the desk in front of her and leaned back in the chair. "These are the keys for your vehicle. We can't have you simply walking the streets. I hope you have a fine taste in cars," she said, gesturing for him to pick them up.
Fate reached out to do so and eyed the insignia on the key: Bastion Martin XIII. He couldn't hold back a grin. This job really might be what it seems like after all, huh?
M picked the file back up. "Now that that's done, you're to report to debriefing to be instructed on your assignment. Go quickly: we're fighting against the clock."
Twisted Fate nodded. "Yes ma'am. You can count on me."
As he left, the woman rubbed her temples, muttering under her breath to Maximillian. "I'm afraid of that."
A few minutes later, he was walking down the hall towards the debriefing room when a man with a cocky demeanor stopped him.
"Well, this is quite the surprise. Twisted Fate, secret agent?" the man said, crossing his arms. "I can't believe what I'm seeing."
Fate rolled his eyes. "Yeah, what about it? Who are you, anyway? he retorted.
The man chuckled. "I'm Agent 007, or the Summoner if you prefer," he introduced. "I'm the best agent we have, but we've had a break-in and now it's too dangerous for me to go out into the field. Is that why you're here?"
Twisted Fate tipped his hat downwards with a scowl. "That ain't none of your business. Go bother someone else."
The Summoner furrowed his brow. "I only wanted to get to know you, Fate. I guess you want to go lone wolf, then. We'll see if you end up being worth it," he spat, walking off down the hall proudly.
Fate angrily barged into the debriefing room, where there was a chair and a table in front of a man standing up by the back wall.
"Ah, Agent Fate. Now that you're here, we can begin."
The man was tall and thin, with jet black hair that was slicked back very professionally. He had a no-nonsense look about him, and he always seemed to be looking down at whoever he was addressing. Twisted Fate slumped into the seat on the far wall and looked up with a surly expression.
"Good evening, Agent Fate. I am Agent K, and I will be debreifing you on your assignment. I'm sure all of this is quite a shock to you, but we have full confidence that you'll be capable of handling it," the man began.
Twisted Fate sighed. "Yeah, yeah, get on with it."
Agent K narrowed his eyes, somewhat taken aback by his rudeness. He cleared his throat and went on. "Very well then. We'll begin." He clicked a button on a small remote in his hand and a projector displayed what appeared to be blueprints of some sort Techmaturgical generator.
"Three days ago, LSMI6 intelligence picked up a distress signal from a top-secret Bandle City research facility that specialized in Techmaturgical energy weapons. Apparently, whoever was responsible for the break-in stole a very volatile device that can supposedly create energy. Needless to say, the researchers of this device are very worried about what it can do in the wrong hands, and unfortunately, we have no leads as to who it was that might have stolen it."
Fate chuckled to himself. "So what the hell am I here for? Shouldn't we know who we're going after first?"
Agent K frowned. "Well, that is why you're here, Mr. Fate. Our prime suspect in the thefts is ORDER, an organization founded on, paradoxically, ruining the order that we have worked so hard to establish. It would only make sense that they would try to use technology like this, most likely to pin some catastrophe on one of the major city-states and reignite another Rune War to plunge Valoran into chaos."
Twisted Fate nodded. "Alright, alright, but where do I fit in to all this?"
The man pressed another button on the remote and the projector displayed a dossier file on the board. "This, as I'm sure you're aware, is Sarah Fortune. She is a known operative of ORDER, and likely the best chance we have of getting to the bottom of this."
Fate's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "Miss Fortune? Really?" He was taken aback, and despite his attempts at staying aloof, he sat up a little in his chair.
Agent K ignored this. "Before the breach in security here at LSMI6, we managed to get wind of a rendezvous between Agent Fortune and one of her contacts from ORDER at the Grand Bazaar of Shurima. You are to find her before she reaches this contact and extract whatever information about the thefts as you can from her. Use any means necessary," he added with a dark tone.
Twisted Fate crossed his arms, trying to go back to his normal demeanor. "And what if she doesn't wanna talk to me about her super secret plans?" he asked.
The man's expression did not change. "Any means necessary."
Fate smirked at the man in front of him. "Well, what if I don't wanna talk to her?" he challenged.
Agent K frowned. "It's not up to you."
He turned off the projector and stepped forward. "Now, I know that you haven't been trained properly, but we have little choice but to send you out into the field. You are not to draw any unnecessary attention to yourself. Absolutely no civilian casualties. And most importantly: if you're captured, you are not to reveal anything about our organization. Do you understand?"
Twisted Fate sighed, looking away from him. "Yeah, yeah. When do I go?"
Agent K narrowed his eyes. "Immediately. The car is parked on Sublevel C."
Fate stood up and began to leave before Agent K stopped him to say one word.
"Before you leave, Agent Fate," he started, with concern, "I do hope that you have no personal stake in this mission, for the good of all of us."
Fate looked back with a wry smile.
"Keep on hopin'."
The blazing Shurima sun beat down on the Grand Bazaar, and harsh winds of desert sand blew through the streets where vendors and customers milled about, haggling, arguing, buying and selling. There was a commotion in every corner of the bazaar, a crowd that anyone could hide in.
Twisted Fate stepped out of the Bastion Martin XIII and into the oppressive heat of the desert. He knew right away that he hated this place. The heat was unbearable to him, and he could feel sweat forming rapidly almost as soon as he left the car.
"Gods damn it," he muttered under his breath, tipping his hat up to wipe the sweat from his brow. "I can't believe I'm here in this hellhole just to find... her."
His hand balled up into a fist and his chest tightened for a moment at the thought of her. After a moment, he sighed and the tension left him. Those powerful memories came flooding back to him of the past, of Sarah. Maybe it was the heat, reminding him of the stifling cargo hold of her ship, or maybe the sand of the beach where they said their hasty goodbyes. He wanted only to forget, put it out of his mind.
Only one thing to do about that, he thought, looking up to the busy streets of the Bazaar. "Now where's the bar around here?"
Fate pushed his way through the crowd, in between loud desert dwellers and armed peacekeepers. He thought nothing of them, he seemed to look right through them, searching for the nearest tavern to get a drink. His mouth was completely dry, his throat scratchy, and every time he opened his mouth, sand filled it immediately.
But just then, looking up tiredly among the dense crowd, he saw her. She was wearing a beautiful dark blue dress, her hair flowing in the scalding desert wind. Fate was taken aback at the sight of her after so long. The last time he saw her, she was in her captain's uniform, barking orders at her crew. Now here she was, working for a secret intelligence organization trying to ignite another Rune War.
Miss Fortune was looking around through the crowd, apparently trying to find someone. Fate ducked behind a merchant's booth and tipped his hat down over his eyes as she scanned over where he was. He leaned back against the wall of the structure and took a breath, then turned the corner to see her walking away through the crowd.
Fate followed her, pushing through the people to keep her in his sight. She moved quickly, as if she didn't want to be out in the open for long. Suddenly, she raised a hand to her ear, stopping in her tracks. Fate couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could guess who she was talking to. As quickly as she had begun talking, she moved purposefully to a tavern named The Desert Rose, striding inside.
Fate slipped in after her and saw her take a seat at the bar, looking around with what seemed like a troubled expression. He leaned against the wall, watching her for a few minutes before finally mustering the courage to step off the wall towards the bar.
"This seat taken?"
Sarah turned around immediately, gasping when she saw him.
"T-Twisted-" she tried to compose herself, and lowered her voice- "Fate."
The agent smiled roguishly and sat down next to her, calling the bartender over.
"Can I help you sir?" the man asked.
"Get me a whiskey, and whatever the lady wants." He looked over to her with a smirk.
She sighed. "Socardi Seabreeze," she muttered.
"Dack Janiels and a Socardi, very good."
The barman walked off, leaving the two alone for the moment. As soon as he was gone, Sarah turned to glare at Twisted Fate.
"What are you doing here, Fate? I thought you said we were never supposed to see eachother again," she hissed.
Fate grinned. "Aw, come on, now, darlin', don't tell me you ain't happy to see me again. Whatchu doin' in this musty old place anyway?"
"What are you doing here? Why would you ever even be in Shurima, anyway? Don't you have card games to cheat at?" she retorted.
The barman returned with the drinks, and Twisted Fate picked up the glass, looking at the dark liquid silently for a moment before taking a big sip. Feeling the warmth trickle down his throat and heat up his stomach, he turned to face Sarah, this time without a smile.
"I ain't here to catch up, Sarah," he began, his tone becoming much more serious. "I was sent here after you."
She blinked, trying to fit it all together. "Wait a minute... You were sent here? Who sent you?"
Before Fate could respond, however, a man in a dark suit came up to the bar with them. He was pale white, with matching hair, and a scar running the whole side of his face. The man was smiling, as if about to meet up with old friends.
"Hello, darling," he said in a very polite tone, putting a hand on Sarah's back, who went from her stare of disbelief into a sudden attempt to return to her normal posture. "How are you, dear? Having a drink, then? Very good."
The man then turned to face Twisted Fate, and being able to see his face more clearly, he could see that his left eye was quite noticeably fake. It shined much brighter than the other, and it gazed coldly at him.
"And who's this? Ah... The infamous Twisted Fate, I see! Quite the company for a lady such as yourself to keep."
Fate's eyes narrowed at the man. He knew right away who this was, and for some reason, his body tensed up.
"Yeah, pleased to meet ya," he responded, taking up his glass. "How you two know each other?"
The man smiled even more broadly. "Business associates. In fact, I was just going to ask the lady to come with me for a meeting. You don't mind, do you?"
Fate downed the rest of his glass, wiping his lips and putting it forcefully down on the table.
"Yeah, I mind."
He stood up now, kicking his stool back and grabbing Sarah's arm. The man burst into movement, grabbing Fate's wrist and throwing him across the room, sending him stumbling backwards into two other men, who forced him to turn around to face them. Their faces were masks of unbridled aggression, both about a head taller and half a foot wider than he was.
Fate turned around to see the man taking Sarah out the door with him, pulling her by the arm.
However, there were bigger problems at hand right now. He turned now to face the thugs, who were beginning to bear down on him. Out of the corner of his eyes he could also see other patrons beginning to rise and draw out their weapons.
Fate rolled his eyes.
"Alright, then. Let's get this over with," he said, letting the ace up his sleeve fall out into his hand.
