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The Director explained it simply. Get in the wedding venue, be in disguise as a guest; they’d have to present a fake invitation, good thing part of the dress code was to wear masks. Get the cake, fish outta it the supposed, “long lost top secret Nexus 6 VCR tape”, and get outta there. Easy peasy. Easier than other missions anyway, at least this time their boss wasn’t trying to eat them whole. They shook off their busy mind. Right, focus. They were currently trying to figure out where exactly they’d left their mask, damn it, he knew he should’ve kept it in his suitcase. He looked under his pillow, mattress, hell, even under his carpet, only to find it on top of the kitchen counter. They rolled their eyes and mentally slapped themself, right, they left it there so they could grab a snack and start heading out.
They took the mask and headed towards the entrance, taking a pill of missionyl once there. As the numbers went down in front of him, he looked at himself in the mirror next to the door. He was wearing a nice dark blue long frock coat, having a pretty white petticoat with a white undershirt and a light yellow bow, the mask coloured yellow as well with hints of blue around it. He found himself quite dashing, honestly. The wedding’s theme was 1910s Edwardian-romance clothing, interesting.
His vision blanked, suddenly now standing next to a brick building, said building emitting R&B and colorful lights. The wedding took place in some sort of building he heard once was a fire station, very interesting. The wedding was actually made by Nexus 6 people too, so he’d been told. But, the Director and his sector of Nexus 6 had been suspecting for a while that the wedding couple had been traitors, trying to blackmail Nexus 6 to rival organizations, so his sector has been tasked for the past few weeks to keep an eye on them. If they found any dirt on them on this mission, they’d be able to fully kick them from Nexus 6 and turn them in to the police.
Focus Polyblank, focus. It sighed, cleaning off invisible dust off its suit before adjusting the mask, starting to head into the wedding reception area, hands clasped behind its back.
“Invitation, Sir?” The receptionist asked, extending her hand out, the other holding a clipboard with a long list of names in it. Polyblank nodded, giving her the fake invitation. She stared at it for a bit before signaling with her head for it to come in. Bingo. Stage one completed. It just next had to wait until the first dance in recessional, it’d be the perfect time to get the cake, since everyone would be too busy dancing and singing. It walked into the main area of the prelude, friends and family could be seen gathered around, talking and cheering about the couples marriage, some friends connecting. It could recognize a few fellow Nexus 6 agents around as well, they must’ve been informed about it’s own mission he assumed, considering how he passed them they fully ignored it as if it weren’t there. As it moved around people, he accidentally bumped into someone. They were wearing a gray frock coat with an orange petticoat, an orange and yellow patterned bow and an orange rose pin on the lapels of the jacket. This guy must really like orange huh. His mask was also a gold domino mask with yellow engravings and light orange feathers on the front.
The man huffed, “Watch your step, will you?” He dramatically turned around, arms crossed as his shoes clacked against the tiled floor loudly, walking over to a desolate table, sitting down and taking a sip of his drink. He seemed oddly familiar… Polyblank simply couldn’t put a finger on who it’d be. They walked towards the man, signing in apology.
‘I apologize, I seem to have not noticed you were in the way.’ Their mouth flattened, shoulders hunched to show they were truly sorry. Hey, whoever this man was could be one of his friends and he might not know due to the mask. The man seemed reluctantly patted the seat next to him for Polyblank to sit. Polyblank, seeing as they had nowhere else to go for the next few hours, sat down next to the man. The man pulled out from his breast pocket a thin business card reading…
Wait.
‘The Editor’?
Like… The Antagonist Editor?
Polyblank took the card, probably the 10th they’ve gotten of it considering how much Editor just loves shoving it into people’s faces. Yes, we know who you are, can you put the bat down now, please?
‘Editor? I thought by now you’d recognize my disguises.’ They grinned, waving a hand at him. Editor looked dumbfounded for a second, raising a brow in genuine confusion before it clicked. He looked around them for a second, then leaned into Polyblank, a hand covering his mouth to whisper into Polyblanks ear, “Polyblank? Wh- What the bloody hell are you of all people doing here? A wedding? Really?” He then recoiled back into his chair with crossed arms.
“Well, you’re a syndicate man in a Nexus 6 wedding, you can’t really say much, can you?” The Editor sputtered before stomping his foot lightly on the ground. “That information doesn’t concern you-” He tsked, clearly annoyed. ‘So doesn’t you needing to know my business here. Are you friends with the groom or simply spying on us?’ They questioned, taking a fruit from a nearby waiter. Ah, he sure did love oranges.
“Let’s just say, I was looking for someone.” He said, taking a sip of his drink and swirling the liquid around with a gentle flick of his wrist, his pinky raised like a true Englishman. Polyblank hummed, they felt they already knew who he was speaking of, but decided not to pry further knowing that’s probably the most they’ll get out of the man.
“You look… Presentable enough. By the way, your bow’s a bit too off-center and your hair’s a mess but that’s beside the point.”
‘You flatter me.’
“It was an insult, actually.”
‘Thank you anyway. :)’
They chatted for a long while, talking about each other’s day (though that was mostly Polyblank) and what they’ll be doing after the wedding (also Polyblank… Editor’s not too keen on chit-chat, huh?) among other things. A bell rang, a man in black signaling for people to start taking their seats. Coincidentally, his and the Editor's were right next to each other, amazing.
“Of course I have to be seated next to you.”
‘You love me.’
“I hope you get chased by wild dogs.”
After everyone got seated in their respective places, the officiant and groom got on the altar, opening the book in which the script was in. Editor leaned into Polyblank’s ear once more, whispering about how the style of the Edwardian clothing went horrible with the officiant's facial structure, poking fun at them. Polyblank snickered as quietly as they could at it, it was admittedly a little funny. They got a few stares for it but they didn’t mind all that much. Next, the groomsmen went up, all bearing fox domino masks. Next the bridesmaids who wore rabbit domino masks. The ring bearers went next to the bridesmaids, the rings were silver and copper. ‘I’m pretty sure those rings are cheap considering how barely they sparkle, wouldn’t be surprised honestly knowing the grooms and bride's reputation.’ They signed slowly at Editor, who tried containing in a chuckle; ending in him shaking his shoulders with a grin. He made him laugh! Yes!! That’s an important achievement right there. the flower girl, a teenage-looking girl walked down the aisle, throwing yellow begonias onto the ground. And at last, the bride walked down the aisle, a bouquet of begonias, aconites and cyclamen in hand. She smiled, her beautiful white wig curled perfectly.
The wedding went smoothly, vows were exchanged, applause roared across the place, some whistling even, soft music playing as the bells rang. Polyblank suddenly remembered the plan. Right! The cake! They had to wait for everyone to circle around the bride and groom as they danced, sneakily getting behind the cake, the place around it desolate. Perfect! Now the tricky part was going to be getting the whole thing out without anyone noticing. Great. He suddenly remembered…
Editor doesn’t use missionyl so he probably got here via vehicle… He can ask him to hitch them a ride somewhere far enough from the wedding venue to open the thing up, get the VCR and let the missionyl take him unconscious!
They looked around for the man, finding him instantly due to the feathered mask. They tapped his shoulder gently, so as to not scare him. He turned around rather suddenly. “Yes? Did you need some-” He got cut-off as Polyblank took his hand, an action of which he definitely did not get a tad bit red at, and led him towards the cake, pointing it, then themself, at him and then at the exit.
“Are you insane!?” He yelled-whispered.
‘Medically, yes!’
Editor rubbed the bridge of his nose with his left hand, as the other one was still holding Polyblank’s hand. “You know what? Fine. If it’ll get you to leave me be for at least a few days, I’ll do it. But, uhm, how exactly are we getting the whole thing out of here unnoticed-”
‘You’ll see!’ They gave him a thumbs up and a smile. He got nervous very quickly.
Polyblank had rolled up their sleeves, grabbed onto the cake and ran outta there as fast as they could. Editor caught up with them as best as they could. On their way out, Editor shot the receptionist and guards with sleeping darts so as to not alert the guests and bride and groom of their now stolen cake and guests. Polyblank hurriedly got into the man’s car, Editor turning the car on as quickly as he could and hit the gas pedal, following the road to his apartment. Meanwhile in the back, Polyblank took a few bites out of the cake. Vanilla with strawberry icing, delicious. They took a small chunk out of it with their hand and put it near the Editor's mouth.
“Want some?”
“With that filthy hand of yours? Absolutely not.”
They shrugged, “More for me then.” They ate some of the cake, only a few minutes after small-talk and window glancing they got to the man’s apartment. Polyblank had absolutely torn the cake, barely any pieces left. There, on the bottom of the plate sat the VCR, the label reading ‘NEXUS 6: THE REAL DIRECTORS.” Exactly what he needed. “I guess this is my leave then.”
“Wait-” The Editor put a hand on their forearm, retreating it a little upon realizing it was covered in a bit of residue cake. “Uhm- If- Ugh. How do I say this? If you ever need a smoke or help getting rid of a pesky target, you know where to find me. That’s if I’m in the mood, though. Whatever, just get out of my car.” They chuckled, nodding and giving him a thumbs up, feeling the missionyl starting to fade out, the tune that always played after finishing his mission playing out as his vision fully blurred, passing out shortly after.
They re-appeared in the Director’s office in Darlington Station, shaking their head a little to clear up his dizziness. “Ah, Blanks. You’re back. Got the VCR alright, finally gotten enough proof for them traitors to be kicked out, ‘ey. Already sent the VCR you got us to the big bosses. Your next mission script will get t’ ya in’a few day’s, take a’bit of a rest in those free days, you deserve ‘em, Blanks.” They nodded, not really paying attention but still appreciating the man’s words. They sat up, nodded goodbye to his boss, ignoring how the croc head still made their skin crawl and feel the phantom feeling of fangs biting into their skin. As they left they patted IX’s shoulder, smiling to her in sympathy noticing her tired posture.
He loved his job, alright.