Antique Legend - Artists and Assassins 2

[bakemonoremy]

Location: Inside the Night Club



Kohaku: Oh well. I know you ain’t got nothing to do, but that’s no good reason ta try an’ do Double Face activities just ta kill some time.

Not sure I should be sayin’ this myself, but Double Face’s a potent poison. When we spring inta action, there’ll definitely be victims. Nah, in fact there wouldn’t even be a point ta it if there weren’t any.

Ya don’t seriously believe that our unit could partake in the same kinda sparkly idol activities as other units, do ya?

Madara: Of course not. A bomb can’t do anything but explode violently — That’s the kind of unit we are.

It goes without saying that I didn’t come here just to kill some time.

The only time Double Face takes action is when there’s an unforgivable evil in this world and we’re entrusted with its execution.

Kohaku: So what yer tellin’ me is, our vice prez or someone of his caliber’s sent us another commission, tellin’ us to erase a certain someone — Not that we’re a handy-dandy eraser straight outta some pencil case, though.

Madara: Nah, our client this time isn’t Ibara-san.

For one thing, Double Face isn’t signed with CosPro, but with NewDi, and for another, we should consider the Marble Cast affair an exception rather than the rule.

We’ll take commissions from any client. I don’t want us to turn into something like Ibara-san’s private army — and in fact, that’s exactly why this commission is worth accepting.

Kohaku: ? Whaddaya tryna say?

Madara: I can’t tell you our client’s identity, but our target this time is our old friend Ibara-san, you see.

Kohaku: So we’re gonna kill him, huh. Well, I already reckoned we’d hafta off that guy sooner or later anyhow.

Madara: Nah, taking his life is only the last resort. For now, we’ve gotta investigate and figure out what to charge Ibara-san with — We’ve gotta determine whether he’s evil or not.

Kohaku: That’s what this is all about? That fella’s obviously evil, case closed.

Madara: Hahaha. Kohaku-san, could it be that you hate Ibara-san? I actually like him pretty well. And as long as someone like him is playing the bad guy, the heroes can put their best foot forward, too ♪

Kohaku: I’d prefer if there weren’t any bad guys around, then the two of us could take it easy.

But I reckon as long as human nature remains less than virtuous, we won’t run outta jobs ta do. Ugh, what a pain it is ta live in such a crapsack world.

Madara: Hahaha! Double Face, going into overtime…!

Kohaku: I don’t wannaaa. There’s corrupt business every which where — Maybe that’s what they call “inheritin’ yer parents’ sins”, although that’s probably our own fault for havin’ such crappy everyday behaviour.*

Location: Saison Avenue (Night)



Madara: Mhmhmh~mh ♪ We’ll expose it~ with our unclouded~, mhmhmhhh ♪**

Kohaku: ...Didn’t expect ya to get such a kick outta doin’ Double Face activities.

Madara: Doing fun stuff is always a good time! It may have been voluntary, but I still spent sooo long doing activities all by myself, right? That’s why I’m simply happy to get to do stuff together with someone else for once!



Kohaku: ‘S that so? Ya went an’ chose a thorny path fer yourself there —  humans are herd animals after all.

Well, whatever. Ya said there was a need for us ta head to the scene of the crime on the double, so, left with no other choice, I went an’ got on the back of yer bike with you.

But I’ve gotta say, I still don’t have the slightest idea what all this is about.

I’m not askin’ ya to tell me absolutely all that ya know without keepin’ any secrets, but the least ya could do is give me a summary here. I’m not gonna run off anymore, promise.

Madara: Sure. The premise is as follows — We, as Double Face, are a scandal disposal service. Like the Producer Association, we’re here to resolve conflicts across all agencies.

I guess you could say that the Producer Association deals with what’s on the surface, and Double Face is the other side of the same coin.

Kohaku: Yeah, at least that’s the public stance on why our unit was formed. Reckon our role’s something in the vein of an internal audit or secret police.

Madara: Uh-huh. But as of right now, we’ve only shown ourselves at Marble Cast so far.

And it seems like, based on only that single case, people are starting to think of us as Ibara-san’s chess pieces to use as he sees fit.

Kohaku: Back then that guy basically had Crazy:B under his thumb, after all…

So the deal at the time was, if I did as I was told by Ibara-han just that once, he was gonna help us break outta the dilemma we were in.

Madara: From an impartial observer’s perspective, all we did was get rid of GFK on Ibara-san’s orders because he was a thorn in his side.

And since we aren’t about to leak the actual details of our activities to the public, there’s no way for us to dispel this misunderstanding.

Anyway. Due to how far this interpretation of the events spread, Ibara-san is actually being watched rather carefully from all sides himself right now — 

And there are credible-sounding rumors making their rounds that hint at Ibara-san trying to use Double Face to establish a reign of terror.

Kohaku: What bullcrap. He ain’t got what it takes fer that.

Madara: You’re so harsh towards Ibara-san… In any case, it’s not hatred or ambition that starts wars.

It’s terror. The fear of being assaulted, of being killed. Once in the clutches of this fear, humans will abandon all reason and become mere animals that kill before they’re killed.

And right now, the source of this fear in the industry is Double Face — and by extension, Ibara-san, who is believed to be the one controlling us.

Of course we know what he’s really like, so it’s obvious to us that this is all complete crock.

But there seem to be many people in the industry, especially outside of ES, who are beside themselves with fear and vigilance right now.

Kohaku: So what yer sayin’ is, one of ‘em folks who’re shakin’ in fear wants Ibara-han obliterated?

Madara: That’s not entirely accurate, but you get the general gist of the situation.

There are people who want to somehow cause the fall and elimination of Ibara-san for wielding the tyrannical, lethal weapon that is Double Face.

Kohaku: No need to hire a pro fer that, I reckon if ya leave that fella to his own devices he’s gonna self-destruct in due time anyway.

Didn’tcha see how disgraceful he was durin’ Bogie Time? I just about split my sides watchin’ that go down.

Madara: Hahaha. Actually, I was more worried that incident might’ve caused Ibara-san to develop radically.

The moment one is stripped of their armor, and one’s flesh and blood is exposed to the world for the first time — that’s when one’s true worth and strength comes to light.

And judging from what I saw, Ibara-san is probably much stronger than we thought.

That said, Kohaku-san’s impression is the one shared by the majority of the public. And thanks to that, people currently think of Ibara-san as a small fry that’s easy to overthrow.

And that’s why they’re going after him now. That’s what all this is about.

Kohaku: Hmm. Well, it’s normal for those who’ve shown weakness to find themselves at the receivin’ end of harassment.

No matter how much we pride ourselves on developin’ civilization an’ enlightenment as mankind, we haven’t actually evolved that much since back when we were animals.

Madara: Yup. Anyhow, Ibara-san’s only being targeted because people think this is a good chance to bring him down. And unfortunately for him, he has his own little problem to deal with right now, too.

And that’s where we’re gonna strike. Because it’s our duty as Double Face to get rid of evil, no matter what despicable measures we have to resort to to accomplish that.

Kohaku: So, what’s this problem of his all about? I had the impression that Ibara-han was the type to skillfully deal with anything that may get in his way, y’know — 

He managed ta push all the blame fer the turmoil back in summer on us Crazy:B too, leavin’ us ta deal with the fall-out on our own.

Madara: True. But there’s something even Ibara-san can’t handle. And it erupted at the worst possible time for him.

The problem itself is a singularity from Ibara-san’s CosPro — the personified, difficult-to-handle work of art that is Valkyrie.


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* Kohaku is using a phrase he used before in the Double Face unit event. This is only my personal guess, but it could be that this is a line he heard from his parents a lot and now he’s parroting it: “(X is your own fault because) you always misbehave.”

** Madara is humming =EYE=.