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The Board of Directors, in association with Eden Burger, presents, live from Megacity 2: The Eden Late Show! With your host, Raaaymaaan!
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Rayman looks at the applauding audience giving him a warm welcome before sitting down at his desk. “However, I’ve got some bad news for today.” He dropped his enthusiasm as his thumbs twiddled against each other on the table. “Recently, the terrorist Bullfrog, who was meant to be executed a few days ago, had escaped containment during the repair of the retribution machine.”
The Directors had gone completely radio silent since that day. And no matter how many calls he made, they never picked up.
The viewers let out gasps, then whispered and murmured to each other. “But do not worry! The Niji 6 are searching in every nook and cranny to-” A sudden explosion behind him scared him half to death.
The glass shatters. Black smoke intrudes the studio. Rayman’s eyes sting, his ears ring and his lungs ache from the smoke. He tries to cough it out until something clicks right next to his head and cold metal presses itself on his temple.
He’s at gun point.
Rayman freezes. He opens his eyes and cautiously glances at whoever is threatening him. The smoke clears to reveal…another thing-a-majig.
“Don’t. Make. A fucking. Move.”
Ramon ordered his doppelgänger while he glared daggers at him.
The showhost quickly turned his gaze to his television crew…they were all terrified just like him, and the cameraman was on the floor and held hostage by the aforementioned Bullfrog, holding one of his wrist-mounted daggers at the cameraman’s neck. The clone repeatedly pressed the emergency button under the desk.
“Wh- …what are y-”
“I’m going to clean my name.”
Ramon gave a nod to Bullfrog, to which he pulled the cameraman to their feet and pointed at the camera. “Go live.”
“…I-”
Ramon shot a few bullets into the ceiling. “Start a live broadcast. Or else.”
“O-Okay- I’m on it…”
News report music plays as The Eden Report logo with a live sign suddenly shows up on all TV screens around Megacity.
“Greetings, citizens of Eden.”
Ramon sat on the desk, gun still pointed at his trembling fake counterpart.
“What you are about to witness is not murder, or exploitation, I don’t want money or my old job back, I only want to tell the world the truth .”
Ramon stared deeply into the camera.
“Yes, Eden might have saved my life back then by offering to be their ‘poster boy’-”
Bullfrog quietly snickered.
“-but that was then. Now, it’s slowly but surely making Megacity into a state of mass surveillance…and it’s all because of me.”
Ramon turns his head to Rayman.
“Because of my friendly face delivering Eden’s propaganda. Spreading their lies without even knowing.”
Rayman hyperventilated under his cold stare.
“They used me. And when I refused to be silent, I’ve been replaced…by THIS…imposter.”
Ramon raised a single eyebrow. “…who are you, really?”
The imposter’s trembling slowly dissolved. “Who am I…?” Rayman whispered to himself.
“THIS IS THE EDEN POLICE, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!” Cops kicked the doors open.
“WATCH OUT MON AMI!” Bullfrog leaped to the desk and pulled both of the thing-a-majigs behind it to shelter them from the gunfire.
“PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND YOU WILL BE UNHARMED.”
“Sacrebleu, we’re outnumbered.”
“How the hell did they get here so quickly?!”
“We need to get out of this mess. Dolph is still on that antigravity road, we’ll have to take a trust fall.” Bullfrog looked down the broken E-shaped window they came from moments ago…
“You.” Ramon grabbed Rayman by the collar. “Our little chit-chat isn’t over just yet.” “H-Huh?”
The trio jumped out of the tall building, Bullfrog was free falling head first, Ramon was practically standing in the air while Rayman was screaming and flailing his body parts around. And eventually they all landed on carseats. In a flying car.
“Hmph- Mission accomplie!- Er-” Bullfrog crawled out from under his seat.
Dolph Laserhawk turned around in the driver’s seat. “Ramon…we didn’t agree on having an extra passenger.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”
The stowaway stayed silent as he took in his surroundings and tried to make sense of everything that just happened mere minutes ago.
“The Board of Directors will not let you get away with this.” He finally said.
“Oh yeah? Fat chance. I killed every single one of them.”