Part 2: I Hate Personal Inspections!
And if Autumn doesn't drain their morale...
-MADE IN MEXICO, ONTARIO PROVINCE-
"Please tell me you're not just staring at that hideous back wall, Tatenashi..." Cecilia sipped from her glass of champagne.
"I'm not just staring at that hideous back wall..." a woman with blue hair, blue fan, and a rather attractive physique mumbled, chin rested on her palm, fanning herself.
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence..." Cecilia ate her salad and sirloin, "I mean, what else could happen besides...THIS?!" She pulled up an article at the very bottom right corner of the paper she printed earlier:
HOUKI SHINONONO TO BECOME HOUKI ORIMURA BY END OF SCHOOL YEAR
"Yeah, I know," Tatenashi smuggly wagged her fan at Cecilia, "But wasn't it you...and Laura...and Charlotte...and Kanzashi, come to think of it...everyone except me and Houki that pressured him into choosing his bride without giving him any breathing room?"
"Don't remind me..." Cecilia felled her head on her meal. That remark caused her to remember that one pivotal moment midway through their third year at the Academy, when Maya of all people popped the girlfriend question on him and everyone heaved the entire galaxy on his shoulders, and he begged them to stop but they wouldn't, even put more than was necessary on him. They made him lose it. The school fountain, anyway. So, he looked for an escape, and Houki was the only person not hellbent on making a partner out of him.
And that's when he made his choice and learned of the truth about female instincts.
"Why'd he have to pick the tomboy ribbon-head?" she sighed.
"Are you seriously pondering that?" Tatenashi said, "They're childhood friends, for starters."
"But we're BEST friends, mind you," Cecilia propped her head up and blurted out, which Tatenashi muttered incoherently 'LIE' but let her ramble on, "Plus, I clearly outrank her in skill, and in beauty and charms." Give a side wink.
"Well, I won't call you out on that," Tatenashi admitted, "but I think you forgot about her manners, heritage, cooking abilities, personality, non-pervertedness, humility, initial relationship-"
"Ok, can we change topics now?" Cecilia got annoyed.
"Oh, and did you give him any choice?" Tatenashi asked, "Like, did he get the opportunity to make his own decision?"
"Of course, I did," Cecilia bragged(?), "I offered him the choice to live lavishly in my homeland, or to rot away at his stale tradition."
"Get the FanFiction ready..." Tatenashi whispered before saying, "Still, it's your first time in Canada. What brings you here?"
"I have a mission from the Queen to intercept the renegade. But enough about me..." Cecilia resumed her usual routine, "What about you?"
"I just got a tip that the renegade is coming to Canada, so I wanted to get ready," the instant her response finished, she got hit from behind with a fanatical scream.
"Is he really coming here?!" A teenager...gleefully asked...uhhhhhhhh...
"Well, I heard," Tatenashi engaged, "Is he a hero around here?"
"Only the cutest little thing ever!" Why does she have a giant pillow with his face on it? "I'd give anything to see his adorable little face..."
"It's only been around four months," Tatenashi said, "Maybe give him a little more time?"
"Oh, I'll give him some of my free time," another fan girl? "I think he'll do much better with me than those freaks."
"But we can't use an IS, though..." the other girl said.
"Doesn't matter!" What the-
"Well, you can make up his past apparently," Tatenashi said, "he ain't in the Japanese registry. He's got the Japanese genes, but they don't know if they're legit."
"Sucks to be them, huh?" The girl said.
"I guess they can't handle a zombie with an actual brain. And a sharp one at that..." Oh give me a f-*CLANK*
Cecilia broke a stainless steel knife out of pure rage. The three looked at her with curious eyes.
"He's a thorn..." she slowly bent her fork in half, "If it weren't for him, I'd be loftily escorted by my dearly beloved to our condominium by now..."
"I see that you went off to LaLa Land for a quick counseling session," Tatenashi quipped, with the other girls chuckling, "I assume no progress was made?"
"Rgh...I'm gonna split..." Cecilia slammed her tab on the table and stormed out of the restaurant.
"Wow...what got into her?" The fan girl scrubbed.
"She got rejected," Tatenashi winked.
Cecilia stepped to the beat of her iPod, running through Coldplay's Ghost Stories album. She needed to get her mind away from everything. Ever since she abandoned her allies and fled back home, far too many loose ends have come unraveled. First, she lost her inheritance due to her breaking her deal with Parliament and Rachel's interference (despite her being able to recover 2 billion, and the Queen's insistence that it was a ruse to allow absolute cover). Then, the eruption happened. By then, she could not help but sink to her low point. Had she remained, she could've stopped him from detonating the already unstable climate. And then, the ultimate avalanche. Right after the UN Resolutions were announced, the EU declared their departure from the World Alliance and opted to form the European Commission, an entity much like the WA, but serving European and Russian interests. And that's when the Queen contacted her and directed her to Canada to rendezvous with the sleeper agent, which turned out to be Tatenashi. Which she would gladly accept over having to deal with Chelsea again.
She stopped at a corner store. She wandered inside just to see the little snacks and goodies dangling from the racks on the shelves. Simple stuff she had to stomach since her cooking abilities have only slightly improved.
"How does anyone digest this?" she muttered, "I'll bet the renegade is having a horrid time in the wild."
Well, yeah...but for a completely different reason...
-EAST OF WHITEHORSE, YUKON TERRITORY-
"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DRIVE THIS SHITBULL?!" Sokoto struggled to keep the truck steady. He was shorter than Madoka, so he dropped a heavy teapot on the gas pedal and let himself flow.
"I THOUGHT YOU KNEW!" Madoka screamed as she tried to keep a very enraged Autumn moth at bay.
"I LUCKED OUT WITH THAT CAR, OK?!" Sokoto frantically shrieked. He freaked out even more when Madoka's shield bits shattered and she slammed into the back of the truck, almost sending him careening off the freeway.
Madoka fired her lance blast and generated enough impact to keep them steady.
"You suck, you know that?!" She screamed.
"Shut up!" Sokoto threw her the bird.
"REEEEEEEEENEEEEEEEEEEEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE!" Autumn's bone-rattling cry shunted them both into a state of genuine terror.
"The pagans are coming! THE PAGANS ARE COMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~~~..." and that was the last the Yukon Territory ever heard of the renegade.
-FAIRY LAKE, ONTARIO PROVINCE-
Cecilia soaked her feet in the blistering cold water. She kicked around a bit before stopping to look at her faded reflection. Faded indeed. She can't remember the last time she looked in the mirror. The kerfuffle with the renegade made her forget everything about her personal cares. Without makeup, she still maintained her natural youthful complexion, but her eyes and cheeks could tell anyone who looked at her that she has seen some major shit. Her mother's words suddenly invaded her mind, and unfortunately, hers.
"You must remember, the makeup you choose will determine what face you will show."
"Why's that? I thought makeup is for making you look beautiful."
"That's only half of it. In front of millions of people, you must be strong. You cannot show any weakness, even if it's part of your own composition. Each piece contributes to the kind of woman you want to be. And in turn, the makeup will tell the story of you."
"But, what if I wanted to be strong, but with a kind heart?"
"That, I'm afraid, will be a sign of weakness. I will teach you when you're ready. For now, get yourself ready."
Hearing those words now, she couldn't help but scoff at them. She lost all respect for makeup because it can be easily washed away. Her true face has shown one way or another. What's the point of putting makeup on if it won't stay? Even more so if everyone knows your true face anyhow.
She had to know how bad the situation was. She opened a connection with the Black Rabbit Division and linked to the Schwarzer Regen.
"Alcott...?" Laura sleepily responded, "What are you doing calling me at this hour...?"
"Sorry...were you about to sleep?" Cecilia asked.
"Jaaaaaaaaa..." that was a yawn, "it's nighttime compared to where you are...what are you doing in Canada?"
"I needed to get away from the chaos of the EU..." Cecilia grunted, "seems like they all have a bone to pick with Japan... and Canada hates them..."
"I know. After the...disturbing news of the wedding... I signed Germany onto the European Alliance. It's the least I can do before I formulate a more proper counter measure."
"How did you find out? Did you read the article?"
"No. He told me after I took his second time."
"Second-you...did that with him?!" Cecilia shouted.
"Uh...yeah..."
"How was it..." Cecilia tried to hold back her anger.
"It hurt! Every time he thrust into me, it felt like he was kicking me out of his personal life more and more!"
Cecilia quivered. Either it was that big, wrong entry point, or Laura did not hit her growth spurt at all, "That's not quite what I was-wait, his second? Who was his first?!"
"Who do you think...?"
"Of course...I thought he was joking when he said it during graduation..." Bad memory once more.
"We all thought so..."
"Anyway, how do you plan to kickstart the alliance?"
"I heard Japan and China can now copy IS cores, but they're unstable, so I'm rallying other European countries to a separate department to develop our-"
"Whoa whoa whoa! Didn't you break away from the army?!"
"Temporarily. I couldn't risk my own men, so I needed absolute cover."
"Oh."
"Anyway, I'm rallying other European countries to a separate department to develop our own cores based on the resonance between the Is and the pilot. A reverse of process, if you will. I have gathered memberships from Belgium, France, Italy, and Sweden."
"What about the United Kingdom?"
"They rejected. They didn't give me a reason."
"Dammit... I see...They think that it's a competition..."
"In a way, yes. Soon, I'll amass an IS unit so powerful, Ichika will regret the day he rejected me."
"What about the gorilla who coerced him into deception?"
"I'll deal with her later. Ichika's my priority."
"Uh...huh..." Cecilia immediately thought back to the Academy days when they were all together. No trivial arguments, just a rip-roaring good time.
"You seem troubled. Did something go wrong?"
"No..." she quickly lied, "It's just...I'd love to get my hands on the renegade and strangle him with his own hair."
"Me too. Unfortunately, we've been so focused on him that we literally forgot about everything else. I have to bring everything back to order before I can...*YAAWWWNNNN*...move forward."
"Sorry...probably should let you get back to sleep..."
"Right...Good night, Cecilia..."
"Best of luck on your revenge plot..." Connection terminated.
Cecilia's mind was somewhat relieved now that she heard someone would get payback on her behalf. She leaned back against the tree and stretched her body. But then, she saw some girls looking at a cellphone showing a live news segment and jumping for joy. The news anchor reminded Ontario of the renegade's exploits and confirmed his presence in Canada, just seen entering British Columbia from the Yukon.
"Oh, bother..." Cecilia looked disgusted, "Why are they even cheering for that little troll?"
"Probably for the same reason you were captivated by Orimura's demeanor," Tatenashi literally poked her head out of the tree.
"HOLY-What is wrong with you, woman?!" Cecilia jolted, "And when did you get up there?!"
"Same time you got lost in thought."
"Uuuuu..."
"Anyhow," Tatenashi slid down the trunk to meet Cecilia, "Isn't it about time you let go of this massive grudge? Last time someone held onto their unrequited love, it almost cost us DisneySea."
Cecilia thought back to when she first heard the news about his choice, and how Laura easily convinced everyone to team up to make him pay. Pay meaning rage out a second time.
"Right..." and she just now remembered.
"Not to mention," Tatenashi touched foreheads with Cecilia, "you're already developing unnecessary wrinkles in your brow." PUNCH-BLOCK! "Come now. You should know better."
"You started it!" Cecilia blushed.
"I know!" Uh...Tatenashi? "And you'll thank me for it!" She pointed behind Cecilia, and a few more girls that saw her gauntlets were mesmerized.
"Are you Cecilia Alcott?" One of them asked.
"Uh, well I-" she turned back but Tatenashi was gone. She was left to deal with the craze of being the only Representative Candidate to willingly visit Canada. She showed off her composure, "Yes I am."
"Aaaaaaaa!" They all jumped for joy. "We got so many questions to ask you! You have to come with us!"
And she was dragged into the offbeat pace. She went exploring the Ontario cityscape, stopping once in a while for autographs from people who recognize her as both a Representative Contender and a pilot who fought the renegade. At first, Cecilia had to watch it while she abused her celebrity status to enormous degrees. She couldn't help but lavish in their love, but when she thought they would suspect something out of the ordinary, she had to either tone down her selfishness, or pay for an entire load herself. Thankfully, she was able to adjust to her humble arrogance. She gave them quite a show, since her strict upbringing required knowledge of makeup, accessories, clothing, etc., as well as the occasional IS demonstration. She made quite the fan base when she said she was besties with Ichika.
-UPPER CANADA MALL FOODCOURT-
Even more so when describing her first encounter with the renegade.
"Uggggggggggh...why did you have to bring that up?..."
"Come on! We wanna know!" A fan girl begged.
"It wasn't a romantic experience, I can tell you that much!" Cecilia crossed her arms and wore her grumpy face, "It was downright asinine molestation, and he knew it!" She got mad again, "He is the very reason that my lips and my heart are forever soiled!"
"Whoa, TMI," someone said.
"Quite bold of him, if you ask me," another girl said.
"You mean you're fine with him doing that to you?!" Oh god here it comes!
"Yeah, I mean if only to feel the strength and the raw power seeping into my body." CRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGE!
"You have got to be kidding me..." Nope. She is not. Not when three other girls hyped her up as a daring young stagette. "Is this real life?" she asked the mother who was chaperoning them, "Like, is this really happening in front of me?"
"Well, can you blame them?" the mother said, "Canada hasn't had a pilot since the Second Generation ISs were released."
"Seriously?" Cecilia was surprised, "This is news to me. I thought they were hiding them somewhere else, in another facility..."
"Nope...no one has been able to move an IS at all. That's why they're overly curious about the outside world..." the mother said as she looked on to her daughter and friends gawking over the footage of the renegade in action, "But boy do I wish we had one..."
"It's not the end of the world," Cecilia blurted, "They do have IS they can at least show off, don't they?"
"Yes, but it's only for RD purposes."
"Oh, that's ridiculous!" Cecilia piped, "I can requisition a test unit right here for them to try out!"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," and ego woman, "Canadaand England are on good terms after the attack on the Third Mondo Grosso. It'll be no problem to bring a unit for showcasing."
"Oh would you?" The mother was grateful, "Thank you, Miss Alcott! I'll go tell the-"
"Ahhhhh, I have a slight problem with getting the word out," Cecilia hushed, "You know, publicity and broken promises and all that."
"Tell my daughter that," the mother pointed directly behind Cecilia, who absolutely lost her shit at the random ARE YOU REALLY BRINGING AN IS OVER?! shouting match between the teenagers.
"WILL YOU STOP WITH THE JUMPSCARES?!" She screamed.
"Sorry!" They said in unison, which freaked her out even more.
"For crying out-ok," Cecilia managed to calm down, "I'll bring an IS over for showcasing. The European Alliance should have something by this time next week. Then, we can really find out whether or not Canada has some competent pilots. No, don't scream don't scream-"
Too late. She was so loud, the whole foodcourt heard her. And it was so loud, the entire goddamn mall could hear it.
"Oh, what have I done..." she sighed.
"You don't look so good," the mother gave her a handkerchief.
"I swear, my big premature mouth will be the death of me..." she wiped her brow.
"It's ok," the mother said, "I think we all need a little more bombastic surprise feeling, eh?"
"I suppose so..." she looked around at the excitement she caused in the mall as she struggled to get everyone out. The recognition she received for saving the world was absolute peanuts compared to this. Not once had she ever encountered something like this. All her public appearances with her mother were for business or a show of force. All her public appearances with her friends were for heroics and showboating.
But this was hope. She was giving hope to a people who had been set aside since the introduction of the Second Generation of ISs. They have never been able to generate so much as a murmur from any unit.
This wasn't just a big plate for her. Given her current status, it was a mall with nothing but buffets. Dear god.
She was completely drained by the time they all made it out. She spread herself out under the parking lot lights.
"Are you ok?" One of the girls giggled.
"No..." Cecilia wheezed, "My buns are roasted..."
"I can help you with that!" A girl actually tried massaging her buns-
"Eep! Nope!" Cecilia sprouted herself on her feet, "I am perfectly fine! I have stamina to go for worse than this! This is nothing!"
More giggles, This time, she laughed with them because of how winded she was before she was groped into an energy shot. And the funny thing is, she was never so glad to be so embarrassed by friends she made day one.
"Gotta admit," she said, "this was a fun day for me."
"Same here! So, where are you staying at?"
"Dunno. I'll probably look for a hotel and bunk there until I can...SOMEHOW... get an IS across the pond..." she just now envisioned the stress of the transport.
"Ok," one of the girls was a bit disappointed, "Are you sure you don't want to stay with us?"
"She can't," the mother said, "She has a lot of work to do now that she was shoehorned into this little plot of yours."
"Yeah, a lot of planning, a lot of protection," Cecilia tried to rack through her mind of how to even start.
"Ok, everyone!" The mother said, "Time to go!"
The group shouted their goodbyes to her and threw one last song as they left. She kept smiling and waving until they were out of sight.
"Fucking bullocks.." she slumped down and unconsciously deployed her IS to float her to whatever hotel was in the vicinity, either due to arrogance and showboating, or just plain exhaustion.
A sudden connection link burst through her private comms shield, and Tatenashi's voice pierced her slipping mind, "AWAKE POPPINS!"
"Yeet!" She freaked out, "I TOLD YOU NO MORE JUMPSCARES!"
"Hehehe," yes. Tatenashi meant to do that, "You ok?"
"I guess..." Cecilia was irritated, "just so tired..."
"Good. Come to the Novotel in Newmarket, southwest of you."
"What?! But there's an inn over there! And it looks so cozy!"
"If you got the energy to lug an IS all the way over here, you got the energy to lug your lazy ass to there. I'll be waiting!" Connection terminated.
"How?!" Cecilia's stomach churned. Tatenashi now knows that she promised to find a worthy Canadian pilot to end the drought. But if she knows, then who else has been listening in on that litter number at the mall in front of a hundred people-GODDAMMIT, WOMAN! "Me and my big mouth..." Exactly.
Not because of Tatenashi, but because of two inconspicuous men in a black car.
"That's her, alright..."
"Yep. Let's move."
-NOVOTEL NORTH AMERICA; NEWMARKET, ONTARIO; TWO HOURS LATER-
Tatenashi was sipping tea by the balcony while Cecilia wasted half an hour in the hot bath. When Cecilia finally found the will and clarity of mind to escape the escape and confront Tatenashi, she wasn't in a good mood.
"Ok, what's up?
"Well, I've been thinking..." with just a sip of the teacup.
"Stop playing around," Cecilia plopped down on the chair and sprung her legs on the rail, "I know you long enough to know that you don't pop in on my business without some ulterior motive."
"You know, you've been without makeup since you got here," Tatenashi flipped her fan open and revealed the kanji for "truth", "Is it because someone ordered you against your will?"
"Wha-uh...where did you get that idea?!" Cecilia stammered, "I'm here of my own volition-"
"Volition given to you by someone very high in power, I assume?" Tatenashi teased her.
"No! I'm here because I wanted to get away from the chaos of my homeland!"
"You could've easily chosen Paris," Tatenashi egged on Cecilia's apparent weakpoint, and enjoyed every last drop of imaginary sweat dripping from her eyebrows, "Or Dubai. Or even Rio de Janeiro. But why Ontario?"
"Wha-Uh..." Cecilia gave up, "Ok, yes. I am here under orders..."
"From the Queen," Tatenashi confidently said, eyes closed-showing off, basically, "and you're here for the renegade's head."
"Yes..." Cecilia admitted defeat.
"Hmmhmmhmmhmmhmm..." Nothing gets past Tatenashi, "Just as I figured. I wondered why the U.K. was so angsty since Phantom Task's eruption heist."
"Your powers of perception are as frightening as ever," Cecilia winced.
"Yeah, but that's not why I called you here," Tatenashi's fan now showed the kanji for "friend." Uh oh, "I can help you get an IS over here."
"You can?"
"Yep. Just convince the Queen that it'll lure the renegade straight over here," Tatenashi brought up a series of holographic screens, depicting a direct transport of an IS via Royal Air Force, "This is quite literally the only method, given the conditions you set. Only problem is that it is commanded by..." A tall man, in a red and brown general's uniform...locking arms with Chelsea, "...her father."
Cecilia slammed her cup to the ground, "Oh, hell no! Hell no! I'm not going anywhere NEAR that bitch!"
"You have to..." Tatenashi muttered with a goofy sleepy face.
"But I don't..." In trying to clarify her muddled thoughts into coherent words, Cecilia unconsciously let these words slip by, "...want... to..."
"It's either this," Tatenashi pulled up a screen of the March to Parliament, which got a ton of attention from EU media, "or face hell on Earth."
Cecilia clammed up. Staring down the prospects of either unnecessary pariah cacophony or a kingdom of wigs and politically hypersensitive nut jobs. She was about to choose the nut jobs when she reached into her pocket. She still has the charm bracelet Chelsea made for her. It is a literal wonder why she still has it. Maybe because her pride was molded by her maid and friendshi-
"I cannot believe I am making the call!" Cecilia stomped her way to the hotel room phone, scrambling for permission to make an international call.
"Are you truly making the call?" Tatenashi teased.
"No! I'm working my way up!" Cecilia snapped, hoping to run into a problem that will delay the process.
Tatenashi giggled behind her fan, which now bore the kanji for healing. She was going to have so much fun teaching Cecilia the ways of humility and not being an ass. She looked to the sky, as the sun began its slow descent into the night. She was always three moves ahead when it came to this sort of teaching. It felt like the days when she was assigned to observe and protect Ichika. Only here, the renegade will play second fiddle to the very real threat hidden in the shadows.
And while she looked back at the bumbling Duchess wrecking her nerves over a simple phone call...
"Oh...What are we but tiny boulders in the grand design..." she texted to Chelsea and Kanzashi.