And now, a short break from our scheduled MVP chapter...
"So… we were sent to find recruits…" Mick groaned, "And we're using propaganda to spread the word that multiverse domination is hip."
Cleats nodded, slowly. "That's the plan."
"Why were we sent HERE, of all places?" Mick bellyached.
"We don't have enough tough-looking troops to stand up to the 'mighty' MVPs. I don't know WHY Omega thinks we need to do this… but I suppose we both have our paychecks, so I'm not complaining."
Mick gave another townsfolk a glare through his goggles.
"None of these people look like what the boss asked us to find-" Cleats paused to watch a hooded girl duck into a nearby forest. "Hold that thought, trail her, okay?"
Mick huffed and left, silent.
Cleats, after a useless few minutes of wandering, began to move in Mick's direction. The tracker said Mick wandered WAY far off, so Cleats began to run.
Wherever Mick is…
"I wish we would have taken Gary." Mick complained, "At least he's not as boring as that Cleats guy… I hate my job."
He scanned the forests. "And I can't even find the stupid person I'm supposed to be findin-"
A gamma ship sat nearby. Mick slowly approached it.
That ain't my ship… He presumed, crouching down and getting closer.
Mick stopped moving when he heard nearby chatter between two people.
"You think they're here for us?"
"They have to be. That's what the other 2 came for…"
"We aren't in shape to fight any more of them. We have to get moving."
"Why can't we just see what they want?"
"They probably want YOU. A being more powerful than the Aegis? No way they don't want a taste of it."
"I thought-"
Mick blanched as mud squelched under his foot. Shit. His mind cursed.
"What the heck was that…?"
"They're back. We have to get out of here-"
Mick jumped up, a curious whim controlling his moves.
"Now, now, where are YOU going?" He chimed, sticking out his blade.
Two people halted in their tracks.
"And what's all this about a being more powerful than the Aegis, the most powerful being in this freaking universe?" Mick began to circle them, carefully observing the two of them. "It's really intriguing. So… which one of you is it? Who's the lucky gal, the perfect apple?"
Neither of them spoke. Both of them reacted to Mick's brilliant disappearing act. He vanished and materialized right behind them.
"Listen, sir, we don't want any trouble," The first one began, "I was just taking my friend here out of your way."
"You sure about that? Because it sounded like you've met my Gamma pals…" Mick held back a laugh, "And running from them. Is that right?"
"N-no, we weren't running, we were LEAVING before anything else tried to-"
Mick thought up a quick proposal and stuck out his blade quicker. "Hold it right there, you aren't going ANYWHERE. And I'll make sure of that."
"What do you want from us?"
Mick gave a small glance to the second person, behind his goggles. "First of all… you two are more powerful than the Aegis?"
"Who's asking?"
"I am. Trust me, this ain't gettin' out of me. Stays between us."
The first one pulled down their hood.
"Then yes. Yes we are."
Mick, remembering his courtesy, sheathed his blade. "So… Do you.. How do I say this… want something you can't legally get? Something you'll both be persecuted for doing?"
"...keep talking."
"Well, it just so happens that Gamma Corp, of whom I work for, has a business proposal for anyone willing. Number one, you gotta work for us. Number two, that's it. You do anything, ya get your paycheck, simple as that. And when we win the everlasting battle against our rivals, the MVPs, you will be free to do anything you want. Sounds like your cup of tea?"
The first one's face scrunched up. "Give us a sec."
The two ducked back inside.
"You really think trusting this two-faced weasel is a good idea?"
"What did you say? We wanted to be together, we wanted everything he's giving us. And then he proposes his deal and you don't like it?"
"I don't know how to feel about this… it doesn't feel right."
"The right thing to do isn't supposed to feel right until it's done. Anyway, we can't keep him waiting, are we taking it or not?"
"...your call."
"You really sure? I want both of us to be happy, so you're really making ME do the picking?"
"I know I like to talk. But he doesn't seem right in the head."
"Neither of us are right in the head. We just killed a man. If we're joining the bad side, the bad side's gonna win. And then we will finally get to be free. Together."
"Yeah…"
Mick sighed. Man. They have better chemistry than me and MY wife. That hurts.
"Hey, hood dude."
Mick's gaze snapped back their way. "So, do we have a choice?"
The first one held their hand out. "I'm Arris."
"Welcome to Gamma Corp, Arris. Mick's the codename!" He gave the second person a glance again. "And that is…"
"That's Marco. We were kinda thrown together under weird circumstances. Anyway, we'll join if we can get a safe passage out of this place and to… wherever you're taking us."
"Easy task. Leave it to me. You two can just kick back, relax, and let ol' Mickey kill everything real quick, alright?"
1 hour later…
A bunch of armored bodies littered the landscape.
"I think we overdid it." Cleats mumbled.
"Yeah. Wanna dump them in the cloud sea?" Mick pleaded.
"Yeah. They can go for a little swim-"
An MVP ship flew by.
"Scratch that, we gotta get outta here." Cleats demanded, "Take the girls to the ship, I got this."
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Somewhere else…
The captain's comms check rang in Simon's ears for the hundredth time.
"Can he STOP?!" Simon grumbled.
"Can YOU stop?" L snapped, "We're trying NOT to get caught here! We're looking for ONE person, then we've gotta go."
"I heard they were a nut job. Why are we looking for a-"
Luigi quickly interrupted Simon. "We're running low on members. By a longshot. We don't know when Gamma plans to strike again, and we aren't gonna get caught dead unprepared. That's what Alpha claims."
"Okay. But we aren't terrorists, so we shouldn't go looking for-" Simon looked around. "L? Where'd you go?" He called.
L hid nearby. "Cap," He whispered, "we said to leave him alone to do this training session… right?"
"Oh, I said we would do that to YOU." The captain laughed. "...wait, did you actually leave him alone?!"
"Uhh…"
"OH MY- L! I cut off his comms! You're gonna have to find him!"
L got up, realized Simon was probably years away by now, and sat back down.
"I wanna see what he does when he finds our target. I wanna see."
"We could get fired… but okay…"
Simon nearly tripped over his own feet again as he stumbled down roads, attempting NOT to be caught.
Simon nearly exited the mortal realm as a tall figure stepped into view. "Ah!" He paused. They locked eyes. OH NOOOOOOO-
Simon, out of instinct, turned and darted the other way as fast as he could run. His run jerked to a halt as something got a firm hold of his arm. He flew up, then hit the ground.
L watched from a distance. "He's been nabbed by the person we were looking for. Should I intervene?"
"Nah," The captain replied, "wait a few seconds…"
Simon finally gave up on trying to escape and tried getting a good look at his captor. He finally pried himself from their grip and slowly backed up.
I've been cornered by a lofty, reddish-orange inkling. Okay. How do you hurt one of those? Don't they just respawn nearby?!
"Oh, S." L nervously spoke over comms, "You're cornered. So… you kinda can't kill anybody on the job, the captain didn't bother to tell you that."
"You mean?"
"You have to use hand-to-hand combat to defeat this guy."
Simon choked out a forced laugh. "That's NO guy."
"That's definitely a dude. The legs, S. The legs."
"I see your point. Anyhow… how am I supposed to defeat… it?"
L laughed again. "You have to fight it, of course. Yeah, he is gonna get wrecked, we have mushrooms in the ship- I'm not muted? OH MY-"
Simon blanched and put his hands up in a pathetic stance.
The thing, presumably humoring the thought of Simon going hand to hand with them, laughed.
He threw a sad punch. It missed like a bird trying not to hit a glass skyscraper.
The thing grabbed Simon's outstretched fist.
"Have mercy?" He whimpered.
The glass pane Simon backed against shattered as he flew through it.
L stood over Simon, shaking in fear.
"...I think he's DEAD, cap…"
The captain nearly choked on coffee. "What in the-?! How do you know this?"
"He punched Simon in the gut. His nose is bleeding. He's not breathing. His eyes are rolled back. There's probably glass shards in his back."
"Oh. Oh no. Can you carry him?"
"I mean… I wouldn't get past that hulking beast in the doorway," L waved in their direction, in which they waved back, "so I'm either gonna fight it or leave Simon's corpse here."
"Do you know Inklish?"
"I know that it's drowning English. And it's hard to understand at times."
The captain sighed. "Then you can attempt a proposal? Make them carry him- or just shoot them. That might help."
L aimed and shot. He blanched as well.
"Cap."
"What?!"
"It… it's dodging me."
"What?"
L repeatedly fired, as the creature dodged and got closer.
"We're gonna die here. Also, Simon was right, it isn't a man. But that doesn't matter, she's probably gonna kill me anyway-"
He stopped crying and squinted his eyes. "Hi?" He reacted to it, patting his head.
"Hi!" It greeted, though hard to understand.
"AH!" L quailed, "It speaks!"
"Yeah, I saw that. What's next, you're giving her your phone number? Maybe meet up at that restaurant-"
"Y-you can understand me?" L stammered.
She, slowly taking time to comprehend his words, shook her head and tried pulling off L's mask.
"Hey! NO. Don't touch. Hands. Off."
L slapped her hand and got a return so hard, his hand nearly lost feeling.
"Ow!"
L scooped up Simon in his arms. "Cap, I'm coming back to you with Simon."
"Okay- wait. Is that… thing coming with you?"
"Yes." L replied, after a quick look behind him.
"Then I'll have the cell ready."
As they ventured, L felt his legs ache. He looked at the tall and presumably really strong character behind him and got an idea.
The captain opened the ship to L and Simon, both being carried.
"Just couldn't walk, couldya?"
"Mm… no."
A few minutes later…
"What do we name her?" Simon groaned, limping to the cell in which the new member sat.
"...hey, what if we named her agent 3?" L suggested.
"Like every other uncreatively named agent of this universe?" The captain chuckled.
All of them exchanged glances.
"It's perfect." The captain announced.
"Your name is 3. Alpha will probably not agree with that, but you will always be 3, in our hearts." L breathed.
They all watched, to each their own emotion felt as 3 licked the glass.
"...what have we done?" Simon asked himself.
"I dunno." Was the universal answer of the room.
A few fun-filled months later…
Alpha stumbled across the stage.
"Urgh… I wish those lumps would be more prepared next time- oops… I mean… HELLO, MVPs!"
A few people applauded.
"Still not the crowd pleaser. Don't be disheartened." He sighed, "We have new members! As the last time went, I call out the team name, you do whatever on or off stage, and there you are, a new member."
Less people reacted to his speech.
"Whatever. Just go label yourselves. I don't even care anymore."
He tossed the microphone and walked off.
Simon, who sat near the salad bar(where the captain conversed among other captains,) slowly watched another agent sit at the same table as him and L.
"Hi!" They stuck their (strangely large) hand out.
Simon shook it. "Hi…"
"I'm new here. The guy up there's MEAN. He's strange. We have to be intimidating, he said. So I said the most intimidating thing I could and he fainted!"
Simon squinted. "...do I know you? I've seen you somewhere…"
"That's why I sat here."
L quickly noticed the scowl forming on Simon's face and slapped it off.
"...you're Agent 3?" Simon guessed.
"Yeah, how'd you guess that?"
"You're that scab that punched me dead in the middle of a mall." Simon growled.
"Oh, that's YOU!" 3's eyes went wide, "Oh. That was YOU." She awkwardly laughed.
Simon felt another scowl slapped off his face.
"S-sorry! I thought you were trying to pick a fight, so I just threw the lightest jab I could throw… sorry!"
Simon got another scowl smacked off.
"It's fine. I started it, guess I deserved that."
They sat in silence for a second.
"...so, do you know any "Lucifer" guy? I'm supposed to find him before the teams are dismissed." 3 constantly looked around.
"That's OUR captain," L chimed in, "so you're technically with us."
"Oh… so I stay here?"
"Yes." L and Simon grumbled, simultaneously.
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Hehehehehehehehehehehhehehehheheheheheheheheehhehe
Continuing the trend of chapter 13 being a memory chapter, you get to see how 3 was hired!
Don't worry, Travis and Amber are season 3!
Also I added binary and Morse code instead of lines. I wonder if they reveal something?