Chapter Text
“Say… if you didn't make that choice all those years ago, would you have been in my place instead?” The figure raised a baseball bat, pointing at another shadow that stood right across the room.
In his two short years of being an intergalactic criminal, Caelus had never failed a mission.
Silver Wolf woke him from his artificially imposed coma early. An accident with diagnostics. She was about to put him back into it, but Kafka, of all people, interjected.
She didn’t have the chance to teach Firefly, Silverwolf and Blade because they were experts in their own fields. They had their own fighting style and muscle memory that would be hard to overwrite. But Caelus?
He was a blank slate.
No personality to write home about and no skills to show. Kafka was here to fix that.
She gave him a mask to put on, the metaphorical kind. The kind that makes others think that you are normal until they look a little too close. The kind that unnerves people around you just a bit, enough to keep them on their toes but not enough to deem you a threat. He spoke in small smiles and golden eyes that had a dull sheen to them. He gambled, taking risky chances while keeping his cards close to his chest. He chased the rush without actually rushing towards it.
She gave him weapons. A gun and a sword, enough to get the job done. She gave him the skills; efficiency and speed to accomplish his objective quickly. The baseball bat that he had picked up from one of his targets was something out of his own violation.
She taught him how to disguise himself. She showed him how to apply hair dye, make-up, eyeliner and how to dress properly. He sat through hours of lectures and demonstrations on people’s mannerisms and body language. He was even wearing a disguise right now; acting like a journalist.
Kafka taught him everything he needed to blend in. All except for one single thing. How to talk to pretty people other than herself. Which, in hindsight, was something she should’ve covered.
Because right now, in the heart of Kasbelina-VIII, Caelus found himself sitting across a badly disguised Robin in a coffee shop.
Yes, that Robin.
The whole point of coming to this cafe was to avoid people. He wanted to drop his mask for a few minutes but seeing Robin ruined his plans. He could’ve ignored her altogether but his table had been the only empty one.
Now, here was the important question.
How does one not recognise an intergalactic superstar as soon as she throws on a trenchcoat and a pair of shades?
The wings on her head weren’t even covered, for heaven’s sake. Her hair was tied in a bun and covered by a brown artist cap that made it look more like a Sherlock Holmes’ cosplay more than a disguise. Said cap was also floating slightly off her head, probably because of her halo. Caelus had to sit through long makeup sessions every time for his disguise to be even remotely effective. Speaking of makeup, she still had her makeup on her face as well as her signature three dots under her left eye. Hell, he could see her concert dress’ collar underneath the coat.
Should he call her out on it or-
“Your order is here, good sir.” A cup of coffee and a slice of pastry was served right in front him. He watched the Halovian exchange pleasantries with the barista.
How did the barista not recognise Robin? He was this close to calling it quits.
He watched as the singer’s hat slowly slid off the halo and dropped on the ground with a sad little ‘plop’ sound when she eagerly nodded at the barista for some reason. She then turned her attention to the cup of coffee that she gingerly wrapped her fingers around, eager to take a sip.
“Uh miss…?”
Robin’s attention snapped to him, “Yes? May I help you?”
“Your hat is on the ground.” Stricken with panic, she quickly picked it up and secured it on top of her head.
Caelus looked at her incredulously, “You really don’t know how to disguise yourself, do you?”
“H-huh? At least you don’t know who I am, so I guess it’s working well enough.”
“Your name starts with ‘R’ and ends with ‘obin’. Your concert dress is peeking out of your trench coat. I knew who you were from a distance.”
Robin sighed in exasperation, her face red like a strawberry. “I thought my disguise was good enough…”
“No offense, but it looks like you went to a mall and grabbed the first thing your hand found in each category of clothing.”
“Okay, I think you got the point across the first time around. Please don’t rub it in…” Robin hid her face in her hands, avoiding his gaze. Caelus wrapped his fingers around the cup’s handle and took a sip of his coffee.
After a while, Robin calmed down enough to drink her own beverage. “Since you know who I am, wouldn’t it be fair for me to know who you are?” She asked.
‘Might as well throw her a bone.’ Caelus thought to himself before redirecting his attention to the singer in front of him. “Miss, I’m not the one who messed up their disguise. Mine is good enough to hide my identity.”
Robin looked at him with stars in her eyes, “You have a disguise on, too? It looks so natural.”
Caelus pushed his glasses upwards and shot a small smile at her. “Yes, ma’am,” He confirmed, “All it takes is a little bit of practice.”
“And some natural skill, I’d assume?” His golden eyes met Robin’s green orbs, his smile turning a little sharper.
“I just have a good deal of experience. However…” Caelus looked at his wristwatch, realizing that he had spent more time than he had intended to. “For now, I must depart. See you around.” Caelus stood up from his chair, gathering his camera and journal from the table and turned around to leave the premises. However, Robin called out to him.
“You forgot to give me a name!”
Caelus shot her a sly wink, “Stewgurt Jaztoggie. Might wanna write that down, miss~”
Robin frowned just as she was about to actually commit that name to memory. “That is really not a real name, is it?” She deadpanned, only getting a chuckle as a response as he slowly walked away while holding his satchel.
Robin focused back on her coffee and the untouched pastry that she had ordered. She noticed that the man who sat across from her had forgotten about his dessert as well.
“Huh, he forgot about this.” A paper slip under the plate caught her attention just as she muttered to herself.
‘For you~
P.S think about making a fake name for yourself, would do you wonders after you fix your wardrobe choices.’
She didn’t eat it, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.
As well as the advice.
The civil war is reaching a boiling point.
Following the recent murder case in Galva Medical College and the subsequent attempt to erase all evidence, the medical students across the planet started a protest that started off peacefully initially.
‘Initially’ being the keyword.
In turn, the affiliated pharmaceutical companies decided to stop supplying their products to pharmacies. This led to people from all walks of life beginning to join hands in support of the students. Meanwhile, some of the political powers began to back the culprits for reasons unknown. It wasn’t long until someone amidst the peaceful protest threw a pebble at someone.
Unfortunately, the exchange of words and morals turned into one of hateful speech and violence.
Robin knew that she probably couldn’t make that big of a difference but she tried her best to bring the cosmos’ attention to the matter. What good was her fame if she couldn’t use it to help the people?
She spent months gathering supporters, starting fundraisers and sharing posts to spread awareness. Of course, people reposted them and commented, demanding change. If a conflict could’ve been resolved with mere words, then the cosmos would’ve been a much safer place. All of those efforts did nothing since nothing tackled the actual source of conflict.
That led to her visit.
Right now? She was sitting right across from none other than ‘Stewgurt Jaztoggie’, the journalist she met a few days ago. Was he even a journalist? He did admit to wearing a disguise…
…whatever the case may be, as long as he was here to help them, she wouldn’t make a fuss about it.
“So here’s the plan. We’ll lead a team into the manor at the end of the city. This is a two pronged attack.
Mr.Jazztoggie and a ten-man team would wait hundred metres away from the mansion, waiting for Robin and her crew to start a riot in front of Galvo Pharma Tower, the heart of Kasbelina-VII’s economy…” Robin was pretty sure that the last part wasn't necessary.
“...As soon as the riot starts, they will smash through the gates and take out the guards. Mr.Jaztoggie, you’ll be helping us collect evidence, right?” A well-dressed man at the end of the table spoke to the people that had gathered in the conference room. His black hair was slicked back and he held a cigar in his non-dominant hand while he used his right hand to motion to Caelus.
Caelus took off his beret and pressed it against his chest as he bowed lightly, “Indeed. I just need a few people to help me enter. I’ll collect the evidence to the best of my abilities.”
“Whatever evidence you find, make sure to come back to us alive.” Once the man shifted to the other people in the room, Caelus schooled his blonde dyed hair to its prior state and donned his beret again.
The meeting went on for another hour and frankly, Robin was getting slightly bored. Her gaze shifted to ‘Stewgurt’, who was standing there with a perfectly schooled expression and looking ahead.
Funnily enough, he looked more like a bodyguard than a journalist.
Maybe she’ll ask him to be her bodyguard as a joke.
Slowly, she began to tune the noises out and stared at the piece of paper in front of her with a blank expression.
“So we will strike in three days. Be ready everyone.”
With that, everyone began filtering out of the meeting room with light chatter filling the atmosphere. Alone once again, Robin looked towards the Journalist but he wasn’t where she saw him literal moments ago. Where could he have pos—
“Miss?”
She jumped with a shriek, drawing the attention of several passersby as she quickly turned to see the ‘journalist’. An amused smile broke on the man’s face as he stared at Robin with mirth filling his eyes.
“A-Ah! Hello!”
“Looking for someone? I can help you with that, if you want?”
“N-no need! I’ll be okay.”
“But it clearly seemed like you were looking for someone,” Caelus’s grin sharpened into a smirk, “Perhaps someone with blonde hair? Maybe a devilishly handsome looking man such as myself?” He shot her a wink.
Robin giggled, her momentary panic now forgotten. “How did you know?”
“You were staring at me.”
Robin’s face flushed at the fact that she had been caught staring at the blonde.
“Just wondering if you would be okay with the role you’ve been given. This is a big task, after all.”
“I think I'll be fine. Sure, it's a big deal but I'm used to snooping around big places.”
“Oh?” The Halovian squinted her eyes and pointed at him, “That makes you sound like a paparazzi, mister.”
“Comes with my job. And I’m very good at the things that I do.”
“Oh? We’ll see. Right, before I forget…” Robin stepped forward and handed him a small candy. “For you.”
Caelus tore the wrapper and popped the small confectionery in his mouth, humming in delight as he savored the strawberry flavor on his tongue. “Thank you, it is just as sweet as you are.”
“You’re not earning any brownie points with me, Mister Jazztoggie.”
“I tried.”
When did it all go to shit? Caelus didn't exactly keep track of it.
He took the chance to sneak into the mansion as soon as the fight started. He had his role to fulfill, worrying about his companions would've only served to distract him from his mission.
The first few floors were fine. He quietly took down the guards patrolling in the hallways, either by blunt force or by choking them, along with the occasional neck snapping.
But then there were cameras on the next floor. Navigating around them and the guards would've been very difficult but for once, the universe was on his side.
“Caelus, can you hear me?” Silverwolf asked through his earpiece, using the camera in his glasses to see his point of view.
“Yeah, I can. Perfect timing, Wolfie.” Whispered Caelus, peeking over the edge of the wall to look at the surveillance camera, retreating back as soon as it began moving again.
“Quickhack’s been uploaded, the entire hallway is yours. There’s an elevator at the end, should take you to the top floor.”
“Tha—” “Who’s that?!” A voice came from somewhere behind him. Scratch that, the universe was not on his side.
“Fuck stealth, you gotta take them down!”
Caelus turned around and whipped his pistol out, its metal body gleamed under the dying sunlight coming through the windows. One shot to the head was all it took for the guard to crumple on the floor. Unfortunately, the call out from the guard that he just killed and the gunshot that echoed through the hallway had alerted everyone of his presence.
Caelus quickly sprinted towards the end of the hallway. A large guard was also rushing towards him, rearing his fist for a strike.
“YOU’RE DEAD M- ARGHHH!” Caelus shot a bullet at his leg, causing him to stumble and fall towards the Stellaron Hunter who was ready to bash the guard’s face with a crystal black baseball bat.
The impact of the hit sent the guard tumbling until he hit the wall, knocked out cold.
A few more guards rushed towards him, weapons in hand while a few of them set their guns in position.
Caelus smirked, “Looks like it's gonna be a fine evening.” The baseball bat in his hand glowed dangerously and blue sparks jumped off it erratically, the power engine inside the bat humming with energy.
The first guard that rushed forward had a baton in hand. Caelus swung his bat, meeting his assailant’s attack halfway through. However, the Stellaron Hunter was stronger, overpowering the guard and hitting him with a right hook to the head.
Three more rushed at him, eager to take him down. “You guys must’ve never heard of a fair fight.” Caelus picked up the guard that he just took down and threw him at the first guy, catching him at the chest and knocking him back. The second one went for a strike, with his club raised high, he swung downwards. Caelus waited till the last second and then struck low, hitting his bat against the man’s shin and shattering his kneecap instantly. He crumpled to the ground and howled loudly, clutching his leg.
A bullet ripped through the air, narrowly missing Caelus as it embedded itself in the wall at the end of the hallway behind him. Another shot soon followed and the Stellaron Hunter found himself blocking the bullet with his bat. He could faintly hear footsteps from the floor behind him.
He didn’t have the luxury to check whether they were his allies or not, the longer he stayed here the worse it would be for him. Ignoring the footsteps, he shot out like a snake and charged his bat to the maximum, throwing it at one gunner while grabbing a vase off the ground and hitting the second gunner over the head.
The footsteps were getting louder, he had to leave soon.
“Elevator, Now!” The Punklorde hacker called out. Caelus sprinted to the elevator and quickly shuffled inside. The door closed behind him quickly, stopping him from verifying the people who were behind him.
With a small chime, the elevator shook before going upwards, giving Caelus a moment to take a breather.
“Do you think they're okay?”
“The NPCs or the party members?”
“You know what I'm talking about.”
The door slid open, leading to the room at the end of the floor. Caelus slowly strolled in, eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.
“You should be worried about yourself.” The floor was empty, eerily so.
After double checking everything, Caelus carefully opened the door, revealing an antique but luxurious looking office, with bookshelves lined against the walls.
“You can look at the room later, go to the table, I see some papers there.” After fixing his gaze at the aforementioned table, Caelus walked over to it and set his bat against the foot of the table.
The table was a cluttered mess with papers haphazardly strewn across the surface. A half drank glass of beer was used as a paperweight; Caelus set it aside and picked the papers up, eyes darting between them as he read them aloud.
“Organ trafficking, integration of machinery with humans, breeding humans with non-human beings for specific features…
…what the fuck am I looking at?” Caelus asked himself as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, already taking several pictures.
“Wolfie, can you take backup copies of these? This is some serious violation of New Human Rights.”
His earpiece crackled to life, Silverwolf’s voice filtering through moments later. “Already done and dusted. The IPC would blow a fuse when they see this shit. Also, re— Caelus, you've got company.” With that, Silverwolf cut off her comms but was still listening, most likely.
Several footsteps came to a stop behind Caelus as he sent all of the pictures through the messaging app one by one. “Fucking hell! Gave us quite a run, didn't ya? Fucker looks thinner than my bicep!” A gruff voice spoke behind him and several chuckles accompanied it. Caelus didn’t look at them, still taking pictures quietly.
“Man, I thought he’d look stronger!” Another voice came from behind him.
“Since you guys are here, I'm assuming that my friends are dead?” Caelus asked them with his back still turned towards them.
“Yeah! They were small fry, so we handled them easily.” Someone from the group said, “Now turn around slowly and walk up to us, and no funny games unless you want a bullet in your skull!”
Complying with his request, Caelus turned around, but instead of walking towards the man, he pulled his gun out and shot a bullet straight at his head. The man dropped to the ground, blood pouring out of the hole in his head. The figure standing next to him let out a bloodcurdling scream but was silenced by a sword going through his neck.
Caelus swung the sword through the air, shaking the blood off the blade and smirked at the rest of the occupants of the room.
The seven other armed men were shocked by the sequence of events that took place just now, forgetting that their enemy was standing right in front of them. What brought them out of their stupor was the sound of a body falling next to them and Caelus standing next to another person with a gun under the thug’s chin.
“Bang.”
Blood sprayed from the hired man’s head as the bullet went through his skull and the body dropped to the ground lifelessly, the red liquid pooling beneath their feet. It was clear to the Stellaron Hunter that most of these people were just amateurs, mere cannon fodder picked up from the streets but no skills to show. They couldn’t even stand their ground as the remaining five men staggered backwards out of fear.
“If you would be kind enough to tell me,” Caelus drawled out; their heads snapped up to look at him, listening attentively. “Do you know where the grand vault is? I’m in a hurry so I’d love it to end this quickly.”
A man with a mohawk stepped forward, “H-Hey asshole! We ain’t telling you shi—” His speech got cut off by a bullet that found its new residence in the man’s cranium.
“Wrong answer, anyone else? One more chance before I kill everyone in the room.” A blue haired man glaring daggers at him moved his right hand in a way that Caelus did not like.
Caelus’ arm snapped upwards, the pistol discharged again, and the man crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
“What did he do!?”
“I just felt like checking his bullet resistance,” Caelus lied, “He failed. Now, start talking.”
A beat passes between them and one of them says, “Th- The Vault’s not in this building!”
Turning to the source of the voice, Caelus presses his gun against the man’s forehead, “Oh? Go ahead. Where is it?”
“G-Galvo Pharma Tower! All of their soldiers are highly trained! Please let me go!”
Caelus holstered the gun back and said, “I’m locking this room from the outside, don't try to escape, I'll be back.”
With that, he picked his bat up and strode out of the room, locking the door behind him.
The earpiece crackled to life once more, “You’re not gonna be back, are you?”
“Nah, I'm getting outta here. My job’s done. They'll handle the rest.”
“I’m talking about the NPCs you just locked.”
“That too. Not my problem. The info I grabbed should be more than enough. My script ends here.”
Silverwolf hummed, “Does it?”
“Yeah, you have access to my script.” Caelus said, sending a picture of his script to his hacker companion and started retracing his way back to the entrance.
“Normally, Elio would include everything up to the part where we return to our base, but your script doesn't mention that. Also, isn't Galvo Pharma Tower where Robin's party is?” Now that made Caelus freeze.
“Caelus, I have a bad feeling.”