A Mismagius and a man wearing a green suit and a large mask covering his eyes sat in a side booth to a typical 90's café. The room was almost empty save for a few people drinking coffee, with the masked man having already drunk five cups. A waitress moved about the booths and tables serving customers, the writing on her apron reading 'Justinian's Pompeii Café'.
"…But it's not Halloween anymore," the Mismagius pointed out to the man. "So why are you still wearing that costume?"
Before the masked man could reply, the door to the restaurant opened as a man wearing regal robes and a large crown stepped in. The royal man briefly questioned why he had had a café built right next to his palace before pushing the thought out of his head and walking over to the two characters in the booth.
"Greetings, Grool, Niro," the man said to two, the masked man grinning and saluting while the Mismagius tipped his hat, saying "S'up, Justinian?"
"So, what'd you need us here for?" the masked man, Niro, asked the Leader as he slid into the seat next to Grool the Mismagius. Justinian put on a somber expression as he folded his hands and placed his elbows on the table.
"Well, as you both know, our 'League of Critics', if you will, has created a rather large number of collaborations that have reached reasonable success. It was due to this that I began wondering how we could push the boundaries on these collaborations to create something truly spectacular," Niro sipped his coffee before setting it down on the table, seemingly to look straight at Justinian (hard to tell, given the mask on his face).
"So, what did you have in mind?" Niro asked the Leader, who couldn't help but give a small smile.
"I am suggesting that we do a Three-Way Review," Justinian said, causing the other two author's eyes to widen (presumably, in Niro's case). "Three reviewers will review one story, each one giving their own commentary."
"That's crazy talk," Niro said dismissively, putting down his coffee and frowning at Justinian, who gave a serious nod.
"Indeed. But if we were to pull off such an elaborate scheme, we'd need a plot device so contrived that it just might work. And that's where I need your help," as Justinian finished, the room came to a dead silence, only broken by the Mismagius at his side.
"Are you nuts?!" Grool cried, staring at Justinian incredulously. "Has that lead piping finally caught up with you?! No reviewer's ever managed the Three-Way Review! Nobod-" the Ghost type was interrupted by Justinian slamming his fist on the table.
"Well if neither of you have the guts for this then you can get out now!" he yelled, causing both of them to flinch. "And I will go in alone. But if not, you can get on board and we can get to work."
The Byzantine Leader folded his arms as Niro and Grool glanced at each other before looking back at him.
"Alright," the two said together, holding their hands out. "We're in."
Justinian smiled and shook both of them. "I couldn't do it without you."
As smooth jazz began playing, the three spent the rest of the day sitting at their booth, discussing some way to make their suicide mission work. After many ideas and even more coffee, the three left the café (putting it all on Justinian's tab) and walked back to the Emperor's palace, still creating the perfect plan. Several hours later Niro groggily stood up from an overstuffed chair, rubbing his tinted visor.
"Okay, that's enough for today," he groaned as Justinian sighed in defeat.
"It's hopeless," he admitted from his seat, crumpling up a paper he was writing on. "There's no way to do it. We'll just have to stick with two-way collaborations."
"Don't worry about it," Grool encouraged, shrugging his tattered arms.
"We'll start fresh again tomorrow," The three authors exchanged farewells and Niro and Grool stepped into the hallway. Just as they were about to leave the room, however, the door to Justinian's living room burst open, the Leader sliding in behind them and holding his hands in the air in victory with a grin.
"I'VE GOT IT!"