Free Heart

Ch 62 - I am Her Opponent.

"Hey! Look over there! The rebel army is coming into view! There's so many of them. How fabulous!" Mr. 2 gushed as he batted his mascara laden lashes towards the cloud of sand lining the horizon. Baroque Works' top numbered agents and their respective partners were all waiting patiently outside the West Gate of Alubarna. They all had the same mission and none of them expected to fail.

"Indeed," his partner agreed. Miss Cultural Day was perched on top of a boulder while playing a serene melody on a violin. Her legs were crossed and her ponytail swayed with every movement of her bow. The sharp metal tip of her bow gleamed against the desert sun with every upwards stroke. It was all quite graceful and elegant if not for the jarring fact that there was actually no instrument in her hand. The bow was stroking right on her white shirt sleeve yet music was still being played.

"The princess is really a nincompoop if she thinks she can stop them. But then again...is the nincompoop really coming?" Mr. 2 wondered as he moved into an arabesque with his arms and leg outstretched, "Or...isn't she coming? Is she coming? Isn't she coming? It's so vague!"

"Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy!" Miss Merry Christmas huffed and stamped her feet with every syllable, "Are we sure about this? Are we sure about this? The princess and the pirates are really coming, right? At this rate, the rebel army is going to get here first!"

The music stopped short. Miss Cultural Day kept her arm bent and her bow posed right next to the crook of her elbow. Only her black eyes moved to the edge so that she could look coldly at the rotund woman. "Must you be so crude and noisy, Miss Merry Christmas?"

"Me?! Me?! Me?! Me?! Me?!" Miss Merry Christmas shrieked and then pointed at Mr. 2, who was beginning to pirouette, "Look at who you're partnered up with! What about him? Huh? What about him? What about him?!"

"At least he does it with grace," Miss Cultural Day sniffed and restarted the song again.

"Don't get all worked up, Miss Merry Christmas," Miss Doublefinger suggested next to her partner, Mr. 1, "There is a slight chance that they don't get here in time. After all, they did lose a good deal of time at Rainbase.

"What? They did?!"

Miss Cultural Day's neatly tweezed eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "Maybe if you talked less and listened more, you'd be able to remember the details of our briefing, Miss Merry Christmas."

"You wanna fight me? Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"Enough, you two!" Miss Doublefinger lectured.

"Jyo! Suppose the rebellion starts before they get here, what are we supposed to deux?" Mr. 2 interjected.

"We don't have to deux anything, do we?" Miss Doublefinger replied, "Once the war starts, not even the princess will be able to do anything about it."

"We just need to get rid of whoever we're told to get rid of," Mr. 1 spoke up, "Can't you even determine that for yourself?"

Mr. 2 glared at his rival. "It sounds like you're just dying for a taste of my kenpo!"

Miss Cultural Day stopped her music again but this time she flicked her bow out and held it in front of Mr. 2's chest, blocking him should he attempt to move any further. "One performance at a time, Mr. 2. We must put on a good show for our audience."

"They...are...coming..." The slow drawl of Mr. 4 grabbed everyone's attention. Miss Cultural Day lowered her bow while Miss Merry Christmas ran up to her partner, who held a pair of binoculars.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner, you dim-witted daruma doll?!" she yelled and grabbed the eyewear out of his hands. She fitted it to her eyes and stared ahead, "Ah! Ducks?"