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"Infiltrate Herta's Space Station and spread the rumours about the planet [__]'s dying Stellaron."
It was by far one of the most simplest orders Elio's ever given them. The only slightly complicated part about this bit was managing to sneak three universally wanted hunters into the famed station with making as little to no noise as possible but so long as the script dictates it to be this way, the Stellaron Hunters will find a way to do it one way or the other, even if some things don't go according to plan.
Elio's plans have always banked on luck and the idea of destiny falling into the right places for it to work out seamlessly. Of course, as destiny's slaves, Kafka and the other hunters would always make sure to nudge others on to the right path if they do ever consider stepping on to a different road. But as flawless as his plans are, there are just some variables that they don't always account for.
Like today, for instance.
"Woooo!"
Kafka and Blade glanced at each other before looking back at Silver Wolf.
"Woo..?" Kafka placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"Woo! Woo! Woooo!" Silver Wolf giggles as she runs around the space ship.
"Ah it seems like someone's quite hyper today," Kafka smiles as she watches Silver Wolf do... not-so-Silver-Wolf things.
"Seems like an anomaly has infiltrated our plans," Blade mutters, his eyes follow every action she does with a mix of disdain, curiosity and intrigue.
"Hmm, it seems so," her heels clicked loudly against the floor as she walked over to where Silver Wolf was about to graffiti a blank wall on the ship.
"Paint, paint, colour! Wooo!!!" she chants to herself as she takes the lid off.
"No can do darling," Kafka takes the bottle from Silver Wolf.
Kafka glances over at Blade who in turn, grabs Silver Wolf and slings her over his shoulder.
"W-what!? W-Wooo!" Silver Wolf flails around in his grasp trying to worm her way out. Kafka and Blade knew something was amiss with her but they would have to explore the reason behind it a little while later as suspicions and tensions were beginning to rise within the Space Station.
"Let's go Bladie~"
"Mhm."
And with that, the Stellaron Hunter trio set off back to their headquarters.
It's been two hours since they've arrived back at headquarters and in the span of those two hours, they've received complaints after complaints about Silver Wolf's unusual behaviour. Kafka and Blade were barely able to keep her in her seat on the ride back but she was much more talkative than usual and seemed to have forgotten a lot of things such as the basic controls and functions of their space craft. Aside from her sudden memory loss though, she barely touched her video games and whenever she did spare a glance at them, she did so horribly that Kafka knew she plummeted down the in-game leaderboard.
If that wasn't enough, all the graffiti that she did do was of art she would've never done, at least willingly. She had spray painted lots of rainbows, candy and cute teddy bears all over the walls, much to the utter horror and dismay of its members. Silver Wolf spared no one in her wild pursuit for chaos and had turned the majority of their rooms into places akin to a carnival or kid's bedroom.
"Go deal with whatever is causing Silver Wolf to act this way," Elio says before hopping off the couch to go and write their next script.
Kafka sighed. She supposed it was about time they got it done and over with. She turned the television off before glancing over at her dearest Bladie who was leaning against her shoulder, his eyes shut.
"Bladie~" she coos. "Wake up. Our little Silver Wolf is acting up again."
He hums in acknowledgement but still refuses to open his eyes. Kafka played with the strands of his hair.
"I know you're tired but I'll need all the help I can get," she gently tapped his forehead.
"Mhm..." he finally opened his eyes.
"Good boy," Kafka gets up from the couch, followed by a half awake Bladie.
They walked around aimlessly for a bit till Blade heard a familiar 'woo' coming from one of the rooms to his left. He gestured for Kafka to follow him into the room where the sound came from. Kafka knocked on the door.
"Oh Silvie," she says, adding a few more knocks in between. "Are you there?"
The 'woos' immediately dissipated. Kafka could hear Blade sigh behind her, it seems like their little Silver Wolf didn't want to get caught.
"Darling~" she sings. She could feel Blade's gaze pierce through her skull, she knew well that he was more or less judging her that moment but wouldn't dare to ever say it.
Surprisingly there was no response from Silver Wolf. Normally Silver Wolf would groan and go on a tangent about how she doesn't appreciate Kafka babying her like this but for once, there were no retorts from her. This left Kafka with a wide smile on her face.
"Don't let it get to your head," Blade mumbles. "You know well that there's more to what meets the eye."
"Oh I know Bladie but even so, this is quite entertaining," Kafka giggles. "It's not everyday that an anomaly interrupts our plans especially in this sort of manner."
Kafka places a hand on his shoulder.
"So relax a little, won't you?" she whispers. "Whatever this may be, it's not something we couldn't possibly handle."
" . . . " he places his hand on the door's handle. "If you say so."
The door creaks open. The room wasn't anything special, just another dusty storage room which housed multiple old items belonging to Kafka and Silver Wolf, the result of all their endless steals and shopping sprees from different planets. Huddled in a dark corner, Kafka cough see the familiar sight of a spotty black and blue ribbon just peeking out from behind a stack of crates. She nudged Blade with her shoulder and walked over to intercept her, as they were doing some they could briefly catch a glimpse of something fast zooming past them and into the maze of items stacked on to each other.
"Bladie."
"Hmph," he walked off. Kafka continued to walk over to where Silver Wolf was.
"Darling, wake up," she bends over to poke her sleepy face.
Despite all the chaos she caused earlier, the ash-coloured cyber criminal was now peacefully sleeping amongst a dusty pile of scraps in the storage room, it was a peculiar sight. Elio hadn't foretold such events happening today besides their original mission but it seemed like today would be the firsts for many things, like Silver Wolf's new personality.
"Silvie-."
"Ugh, go away!" she groans, pushing Kafka's finger aside.
" . . . " she still had a smile on her face. Alas, it seems like that new personality of hers was nothing but a fleeting moment of change. "Darling~"
"Wha-, what is it?" Silver Wolf groaned as she tried to fend against Kafka's impending poke attacks.
"Wake up."
"I am," she mutters. "How can I not be awake when you keep poking me???"
"Heh," Kafka lent her a hand and helped her pick herself off the ground.
"So what is it?" she asks, adjusting her sunglasses. "Did Elio already send out our script?"
"Script?" Kafka chuckles. "Oh no sweetie, his new order was for Bladie and I to come and put an end to your... glittery ways."
"...Excuse me?"
Just as Silver Wolf was about to add on more questions, the sound of a crate toppling over and a high pitch screech could be heard coming from across the room. Silver Wolf looked over at Kafka with a confused expression on her face. Kafka's grin grew wider.
"Let's go take a look sweetie," she says as she fixes her gloves. "It seems Bladie has finally caught the anomaly we've all been searching for."
"What?" but Kafka didn't say anything, so with not much of a choice, Silver Wolf tailed behind her to see what was happening.
"W-Woo!"
"So those are your final words huh?" he brandishes his sword and puts his hand dangerously close to its edge. "A peculiar but fitting choice of words."
"Bladie listen to me, stop."
It was as if time had stopped, his body had instantly froze up, he could feel his heart palpitating in his chest. The next thing he felt was the soft and tender fingers gracing his shoulders and drawing circles on his back.
"Good boy," she whispers, leaning in close to his ear. He could feel her breath tickle his face.
"...Mhm," he withdrew his sword.
"That's my boy," she smiles.
"...Gross," Silver Wolf imitates a puking gesture.
Kafka laughs before turning her attention back on to their little guest. "Now come on my darlings. We can't just forget about our little guest like that, that would be rude."
"You mean stowaway," Blade remarks.
"What the heck is this cloud thing doing on our craft?" Silver Wolf asks. "Did you seriously have to wake me up just for this? I still don't see how this is related to my quote on quote, glittery ways."
"Aha... For the sake of your sanity deary, I wouldn't go look at the leaderboard if I were you," she says as she pats her shoulder. "Also this cloud thing is called a Wubbaboo."
"Eh?"
Kafka looks over at Blade who instinctively turns away, she chuckles. It seemed like he knew what she was about to ask of him, no matter.
"In short, this wubbaboo possessed you.
"Huh?" she raises an eyebrow before glancing over at the terrified little ghost. "That thing did?"
"Yup and you've been causing havoc ever since and if you don't believe me then well.. there's more than enough evidence to go around for you to see for yourself."
Kafka walked over to the wubbaboo cowering in the corner, looking down at its terrified face.
"Why hello there."
"W-wooooo!!!" it shrieks, the wubbaboo tries to zoom off to someplace else but with the snap of Kafka's fingers, the remaining two Stellaron hunters blocked off all the potential exits. Seeing this, the little wubbaboo burst into tears... well ghostly tears.
"Aw, there, there," Kafka coos as she pats its back. "Don't worry, we may be big bad guys but we won't hurt you."
"We won't?" Silver Wolf asks with genuine surprise.
"Why would we?" Blade sighs. "It's just some pathetic ghost."
"Aw don't say that guys," Kafka looks over at her comrades. "Sure this little guy may have caused us quite some trouble - ."
"It ruined mine and the other's rooms."
"The little guy you are talking about possessed my body."
"...Quite a lot of trouble then," Kafka coughs. "But look at how cute they are! Aren't they just adorable?"
"Uhh..." Blade awkwardly glances over at Silver Wolf.
"I suppose so..?" Silver Wolf mutters.
"Aw c'mon Bladie. Doesn't the wubbaboo look like Silver Wolf when she cries over a cutscene in her videogames?" Kafka adds.
"Wait what."
"I... I guess so," Blade mutters. "I somewhat see the resemblance."
"I take everything back," Silver Wolf angrily mumbles. "That thing is not cute at all!"
"Hahahaha."
Whilst the three of them were chatting, the little Wubbaboo snuck a little closer to Kafka, with a mischievous look in their eyes. Just as the ghost was about to possess her, Kafka steps aside in the nick of time.
"W-woo..?"
"Think you can catch me that easily?" Kafka smiles. "The IPC didn't put up those bounties for nothing. If it were that easy to take advantage of me, I would've been arrested a long time ago."
"W-Woo..!" the wubbaboo appeared sad again.
"Aw, don't look so sad cutie," Kafka says. "Your attempt may have failed but it was quite a good plan... in theory."
"Woo!!!"
"Can't we just kill them???"
"Nope!"
"Ugh! then what do you propose we do?" Silver Wolf asked with an exasperated look on her face.
"Bring them back to the Space Station of course," Kafka replies. "I'm a Stellaron Hunter, not a barbarian."
"Tell that to the disintegrated corpses of the antimatter legion," Silver Wolf mutters as she pops a stick of gum in her mouth.
"Well I can't exactly do that if their corpses no longer exist."
Silver Wolf rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
Kafka turns back to the wubbaboo. "Elio's orders were to deal with whatever was bothering our dear Silver Wolf. His orders were not specific enough to tell us how we should handle it. Therefore I propose we sneak back on to the Space Station once again and send our guest back home."
"It's a reasonable idea," Blade murmurs. "However we've already made a scene there just recently. Their defences will be more uptight than usual. None of this is dictated in our script so.."
"Right," Kafka she says, interrupting him. "But we won't go down so easily. It'll be quicker than our original mission. You two won't even have to come with me inside the station, you could just sit in the space ship and watch over security from afar."
"Hmm... alright I'm down," Silver Wolf blows a bubble.
"Bladie?"
He slowly nods. Kafka looks down at their new ghosty acquaintance.
"Do you hear that little buddy? It looks like you'll live to see another day after all."
The wubbaboo smiles.
"Woo!"
"Come back soon or I'm going to ditch you both," Silver Wolf says as she opens a tab for a video-game she's about to play.
"Don't worry darling, we'll make it back soon," she replies back as Blade and her step off the space ship, with the wubbaboo in her arms.
"Hmm.. we'll see about that," the ship quickly closed it's doors and zoomed off just before anyone else could notice.
Kafka and Blade race into the station, knocking out whoever came their way, be it a worker or a member of the antimatter legion. They quickly dove into a storage room to avoid making too much of a ruckus. Kafka looks down at the wubbaboo.
"Which way?"
The wubbaboo leaps off her arms and starts to float off in a specific direction.
"Well then, let's go," she says.
"Must we have to?" Blade asks. "The creature seems to know it's way back now. It'll be wiser for us to leave now while we still can."
"I know but it feels quite... unfulfilling if you will," she says, walking behind the wubbaboo. "It's like seeing my child off. I must make sure they are safe and sound."
" . . . " he sighs. "Your maternal instincts never cease to surprise me."
Not that Kafka was a really ideal mother to begin with. She has her few motherly moments, usually opting to use words of endearment to address those she sees as precious or her 'children' in this case. But those moments were usually only reserved for people like Silver Wolf and the trailblazer. Of course, she had her own ways of addressing him too but those were different, he knew they meant something else. Something that was meant and made just for him but was never once spoken of.
With that aside, being by her side for the most part was a short and unstable path to thread on. She would be so quick to push others away just as she were to catch their attention and lure them in, like a spider in her element. Her 'parenting' style being no different, opting to act like a mother one moment before treating them as a mere stranger the next. That's just how she was. Someone willing to play the role to any script handed to her.
And yet here she was again, treating a wubbaboo of all things like it were her own. Blade could see it in her eyes, devoid of any life but somewhere in them a small emotion seemed to be seeping from her soul. Perhaps worry? It was hard to say. As intriguing as she was, Kafka is an anomaly he doesn't think he'll ever understand.
"And we are here~" she says in a sing-song tone.
... Nevertheless, as usual. He followed her anyways.
"Woo!!!" the little wubbaboo made a lot of presumably happy noises upon seeing a huge wubbaboo in the center.
The little wubbaboo turns around.
"Thank you woo!"
"No problem," Kafka laughs. "Just don't try to possess one of us again, okay? We are busy people, we don't have time to take care of creatures like you."
The wubbaboo makes another sound, as if agreeing to what she was saying. There was an aura of contentedness surrounding the both of them that tugged the corner of Blade's mouth. Kafka looks up at him.
"Heh, look at you," she says. "You're smiling."
"Am I now?" he mutters, he feels the side of his cheek. It feels no different from usual.
"Not anymore," she says. "But you were."
"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it then."
The two of them look at the little wubbaboo who makes one last 'woo' sound before zooming off to join the other wubbaboos lingering around the area.
"What a cute sight," Kafka remarks. "Makes me wonder how our cutie is doing."
Blade makes a humming noise.
"Hmm, do you think she saw it already?"
"Probably," he mutters. "We should head back now. Elio's probably finished his script by now."
"Oh alright," she says. "I suppose it is about time for our next mission."
Blade huffs as Kafka turns around and walks through the door. Surprisingly there were no researchers or staff members standing in their way but that didn't matter much to them. At some point of their journey, their hands interlocked with each other as they made their way to where Silver Wolf should be waiting for them.
""DAMMIT!" Silver Wolf yells. "DAMMIT! DAMMIT ALL!!!"
She frantically opens up a bunch of other tabs and nearly fainted in shock once she saw what had happened to all her items and positions on the server rankings. She shrieks and in typical angry gamer kid fashion, she tosses her ipad aside.
"SCREW YOU WUBBABOO!"