Part 4: Limo Languishing

And once again, we're taken away to a whole other planet without any warning!



This guy looks like a popsicle.





And that is someone's Digimon OC.

So, I have to ask. Was the evidence real?

It doesn't matter. It helped us. Means to an end -- I believe they say. We have everything we need to take him out.

I doubt Plair will go down without a fight. It won't be pleasant for Caylen or Kabu. What do you think he'll do, Endymion?

They'll be put into interrogation, I think. But this doesn't cause me much concern. Caylen has been trained to resist torture.



I'm pretty sure Tiger Trump wouldn't allow mail to or from the person he just had arrested.



Evidence such as a hastily-written note that reads "GET ME OUT OF HERE YOU HOT TOPIC-LOOKING FUCKS"

So Caylen can resist torture, eh? He looks pretty frail to me. And Kabu? He'll probably face the brunt of this.

It's a worthy sacrifice, isn't it? Kabu did this willingly.

I guess. I can see it now: "Assassin's Guild ousts corrupt politician". It's gotta help our reputation, right?



Forming a straight-up Assassin's Guild seems like a pretty good way to draw attention.

I guess. Just trying to make conversation.

...If people found out about us...They'd quickly find that the King funds us. Then -he'd- be the one getting ousted.

Fine. So what do we do now?



Once again, how is Caylen gonna be able to contact these two when he's being constantly held under guard?



In the meantime, Plair's running a private prison in his house. Also, how did he have the authority to arrest Caylen? Why was he giving a speech in a courtroom?

With that said, the "ritual" is our goal. It helps us on both fronts, Konrad.

The ritual? Again? You sound like you're stuck on a loop. Our track record of failure is demotivating. You know how Velasquez feels about failure.

But we get an offworlder no matter what. If that happens, we bring them to Plair. We gain his trust through these "failures". It's symbiotic, Konrad.

It's cold, Endymion.

Yes. It gives me chills.



I probably couldn't stand to look at Konrad for more than a few minutes either.



Who hasn't used the Assassin's Guild as a springboard into the Accountant's Guild?



These two are supposed to be professional assassins. Remember that.



Back to Earth Prime!



From what I understand, Chapter One has gone through at least two rewrites but there's still typos everywhere.



Where's the bar? Rabies refuses to be around Rook and Kila at the same time without being smashed.



How is Rook 'witty'? That is not a personality trait that has been established with him at fucking all. All he's done is repeat the dictionary at us and get pissy when things don't go his way.



Hey Rook, what's your favorite color? I bet I'll never guess it.



Can't have a visual novel without some kind of hamfisted romance.





You mean the asylum they keep Hideo Kojima locked in most of the year?





Looking at Kila objectively, yeah I actually can believe that.





C'mon Rook, I won't blame you for manning up to pointing out Kila's creepiness.



Well okay if you say so. B̲̘̳̬̗̈ͮ̽̋͆͊̓͠E͎͓̖͍͎ͩ͡G͙̗̒͊͊̂͊͞I͇͋ͬ̌ͤ̔̍N͇͓̯̪͈̼͍ͭͥ͌͠ ̬͈͍͚̦͚̦ͮ͞T̛͉͉͆̂͗̚H͏͍E̕ ̧̣̹̣͖ͥͧ̽̈ͬ̚F̩́͑Ų͈̣̬͔̻̚Ŝ̨̘̯̙͇ͨͯͭ͛I̧̊̓̾O͇̥̱̰̾́̑̂ͤ͌ͭN̷̋ ̯̜̞ͩŎ̗͕̞̽̍̐̍̓͂F̝̆͛̆̿̓̃̉ ͎͇F̑̾́L̶͎̫̗̖̐̃̅E̺̩̺̦͚ͦS̭͙ͣH̶̹͇̥̼

He cringes as he says the word "bond". Instead of acknowledging that, I notice something else. I can hear some noise coming up from the passenger seat. Was somebody up there with Jade? I ask Rook about this.

Oh, you noticed huh? Inumi -- do you want to say hey?





Is there any particular reason he's wearing a fishnet shirt under his hoodie?

That was Klace's brother, Inumi.

Klace's brother? But he looks nothing--

It's Klace's brother, Inumi!



I posted a picture of Klace earlier, but keep in mind that he still hasn't shown up in the game. I would otherwise have no idea what Klace looks like, and would just have to take the game's word for it that Inumi doesn't look like him.

Well, that's cool!

Very cool indeed.

I can't tell if he's sincere or not...

Well, moving on...I should go over the basics with you two. Just stuff to know before I let you wander. Make sure you're paying attention, alright? Feel free to take notes if you need to.

Kila and I lean forward and listen intently.



Eh, Rabies is American. He will punch everyone in the face and make them apologize.





I'm no speaker of Japanese, but I know 'Gaijin' is a mild pejorative at best. Maybe Rook is being sarcastic here, but for some reason I doubt it.

It's nice to know Rook can be civil and polite. For once he's actually helping us. I assumed his default mode was "condescend everyone".

He hands each of us a book. I put mine in my pocket. It's definitely travel sized -- I'm sure it'd help. That was one of the things I was actually worried about. If someone tried to talk to me and I couldn't talk back.

Oh, I almost forgot. There's one last thing you should know. It relates to the current events in Tokyo.

It's mostly superstition, of course. But it's got everyone up in arms. So it's better that you hear it from me.

What is it?





Klace doesn't take inspiration from his favorite games so much as he rips them off wholesale. While this is the part where we rip off Persona 4, we'll be taking a long winding path where you can plainly tell what media Klace had most recently consumed that affected his writing. We'll be seeing stolen shit from Undertale to Danganronpa.

Tokyo's been hit by suicide and murder. More and more cases with each passing day. But it gets a little weirder than that. All of the cases happen at midnight...Like clockwork -- right on the dot.

Are you serious?

Of course I'm serious. The deaths have been mysterious in nature. No culprit for the murders -- no evidence. That's why it has everybody talking. The "crime scenes" don't add up at all. What happened is physically impossible.

But to us -- that's not really important. There's something far more noteworthy...And that's when the deaths first started.

What do you mean?

I know it's coincidence, but...These deaths started a month ago. On the night of our arrival in Tokyo.



Question: how do people know they're dying exactly at midnight? Is the killer leaving a sticky note on the corpse saying "I COMMITTED THIS MURDER AT 12:00 AM" ?

Some people think the tour is an ill omen. That perhaps being here is the cause of it.

What!? That's not nice!

Indeed. I hope that explains some things. Especially why we kept your arrival quiet. We didn't need any more fanfare around us. Restrictions are even being put upon Klace. So don't feel singled out in all of this. Everyone is being affected equally here.

So to that end, please stay quiet. Don't let anybody know why you're here. At least not for the next little while.



HEY RANDOM PEDESTRIAN, YOU'RE NEVER GONNA GUESS WHO JUST CONFESSED TO THE MIDNIGHT MURDERS



For those playing at home, yes, Singe is a dragon.



If it's all the same to you, Rabies would prefer an express ticket back to the States.



Stay quiet and sew Kila's mouth shut, got it

Yes, of course. Don't want to make things worse. Klace must be under enough stress as it is.

Yeah -- I can tell it's affecting him. It's good that you heard this from me. You know how rumors and grapevines can be. People are even saying he's the killer. They're connecting totally unrelated events. Our arrival has nothing to do with this.

But you know how it works, right? People always need something to blame. A figurehead for all of their problems.

I suppose that's true. But they should focus on the real culprit. Klace is harmless -- he couldn't do that!

You're telling me. But it's still odd. Suicides are happening at midnight, too...

It's not just a killer. It's something else. And whatever it is -- we have no idea. Some people are blaming the supernatural. But I never really believed in that stuff.



So, how about them Cubs?



This writing is so obtuse it's actually kind of impressive.



I bet Rabies could scare Kila to death by putting on a bedsheet ghost costume and going ooga booga booga.





Actually, now that I think of it, I believe the contest winners actually go on the whole tour with Klace. Does that have any actual precedent in real life? Like at all?



THOUSANDS DEAD IN OTAKU STAMPEDE





I hope they have Inuyasha on VHS!