Musings of a Captain-Commander

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Atomyk

The Janitor Bear of Iwaku
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Writing Levels
  1. Give-No-Fucks
  2. Adept
  3. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Horror, Modern, Modern Fantasy, Multiverse/Panfandom, Mystery, Paranormal, Scifi, Survival
The story can alternatively be viewed at this blog post.


Locked away in the Observatory of the Coalition's Headquarters was one Captain-Commander Kieran. A man who had somehow not stopped moving since the defeat of their group's mortal enemy. A man who had just gone to a party and ended up embroiled in a convoluted murder mystery where no one had any idea what they were doing. A man who just needed a moment to himself to relax.

Up above, images of Husky puppies slowly faded in and out on the Observatory's screens. Nothing better than Husky puppies to calm one's nerves.

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There was always just so much stuff happening. So many incidents, one after another, as if some cosmic force just wanted to put some multiverse through as much hardship as possible. Not that a single force was causing all these-- Or at least, that's what Kieran hoped wasn't the case.

They called them incidents internally. Some were named a bit differently, but generally the Coalition and the United Nations tried to downplay the severity of these incidents. Most of them revolved around the latest craze spreading across the multiverse: Murder Games. Kieran couldn't say who came up with the name in the first place, but it was pretty obvious that these games revolved around people murdering other people. The Captain-Commander was sure the exact rules were written down somewhere around here, but it seemed to him the concept was kept pretty fast and loose. Not entirely surprising with so many people trying their hands at them.

Jeez, Kieran wasn't even sure if he could name them all! Albert Wesker. Bane. Claudia Wolf. Ghirahim. Kirei Kotomine. The list went on and on. Kieran knew some of them had been enticed by greater forces to carry out these games, but he had to seriously question if these games were really as valuable as people thought they were. Sure, the Arch Demon fed off people's despair, but the others? Kieran could only imagine future practitioners of these death games only just wanted a little fun. Wasn't that what Junko Enoshima was all about?

Or was that Makoto? Ugh, why did universes always have to have alternates?

In any case, Kieran knew that people were still going to cause some trouble, whether or not that trouble involved Murder Games. It was for primarily that reason he and Makoto (the good one) had wanted to keep the Coalition going. They'd practically run themselves into the ground just to get rid of the Arch Demon, so deciding not to disband had not been an easy decision. New alliances had to be made and the Coalition had to change up its structure.

... It had taken some time to adjust.

The Coalition had started independent from the United Nations. In fact, they hadn't even been aware of the peacekeeper's existence at first. The United Nations had known about the Arch Demon, but hadn't been sure what to do about him. They'd been content to watch until the Coalition had done the bulk of the job. Once it was over, they strong-armed the Coalition into handing over all the info they had. The multiversal United Nations was far larger than the Coalition, even at its peak, so they hadn't had much choice but to comply. Not that Kieran or Makoto had any interest in causing a stir, but it had never sat right with the Captain-Commander.

They demanded report after report, and Kieran was starting to worry what they would do if they felt the Coalition wasn't up to their standards. They could absorb the Coalition into them or even force the group to disband. It'd be a real shame if either were to happen, especially given all the work the Coalition had done...

"Captain-Commander."

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"... Huh?"

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Stirring from his thoughts, Kieran blinked up at the latest image of a Husky puppy. He then lazily looked down at his wrist to find Ludger Will Kresnik staring back at him. Kieran suppressed a sigh and tried to put on a serious expression.

"You have a report?"

"Yes. But..." The dimensional traveler looked weary as his gaze drifted off to the side. Kieran stared at his image intently, hoping this wasn't about to be some bad news. "... Julius. I need to know you still haven't contacted him."

"What?" Kieran tried not to grow annoyed, He wasn't in the business of going back on deals and he'd hoped people realized that. "Of course not. As long as you continue to assist us, your brother will be forbidden from getting involved."

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Ludger's brother, Julius, had originally been the one set to assist the Coalition during what would become the Arch Demon's downfall. He'd actually contacted the group before Leia Rolando had clued them into Ludger's existence. It seemed Julius wanted to be the one to protect his brother, but Ludger managed to pull one over on his brother and took his place. He made a deal that they would keep Julius out of it, and Kieran had stuck to it.

No matter how insistent Julius got.

"Thank you. I just-- I've managed to tail Revan to some degree. He's hard to keep track of, but your lead about the Fuse Facility managed to get me on the right track. As you suspected, he's producing Fuse, but where he's funneling it should be real interesting to you."

Ludger paused. It seemed he was feeling dramatic.

"The Reapers. I mean, the creatures that... Elliot was using?"

Right. Elliot. Kieran wasn't sure how Elliot managed to gain the power he did. He was certainly the most pathetic excuse for a megalomaniac the former knight had ever come across. The fact that Revan was supplying the kid Fuse explained a whole lot.

"If you have a lead on the Reapers, I'll need you to focus on them instead. They are the more pressing problem right now. I'll contact the UN and get you talking to them-- they'll definitely want to hear what you have to say."

On screen, Ludger nodded. "Yes. Uh, sir."

Halting the communication, Kieran groaned as he got to his feet. He reluctantly spoke the command that turned off the slideshow of Husky puppies and established a new communication with Jennifer. Holding the device up to his mouth, he said, "Jennifer, gonna need you to get in touch with the UN. Don't need to tell them much, just that an agent of ours has a lead on the Reapers. It's Ludger. Tell them they'll be able to use him as they see fit. I'm sure they'll love that."

He began to leave the Observatory, his footfalls echoing across the still room. "But that's all. Don't say any more. I still haven't gotten around to giving them that report on the hotel."

Cutting off communications with Jennifer, Kieran winced. He really should have sent that report by now. He knew the United Nations would be on his ass otherwise. Captain-Commander Kieran didn't need to abide by their deadlines! He really didn't want to say much about what occurred at Jade's hotel... the whole incident had been nothing but a botch on his part. He had no proof that Jade had been up to anything, nor a prisoner he suspected had anything to do with the murder. They'd done some light questioning on the girl, but everyone knew it didn't matter. Mary would be let go soon.

As Kieran entered his office, he found Makoto Naegi standing inside. The boy turned to him quickly once he noticed his arrival, panic apparent on his face. "We have an issue," he whispered.

Within a few minutes, Kieran had been brought to the prison cells, where only one prisoner was supposed to be withheld inside at the time. Makoto's grim expression never waned the whole walk there. The boy led Kieran to Mary's cell, which was curiously left open. Had she gotten out? Instead of stepping inside, Makoto simply gestured within, waiting for Kieran to take a look.

He... wasn't sure what he'd been expecting.

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A noose and a girl, swinging from the cieling.

Not a sound to be heard.

This was not happening. How could this happen?

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"Weren't we watching her?! Tell me someone was watching her...!"

...

"How did she get the rope?"

No. The United Nations would not be getting their report. They couldn't know how much the Coalition had fucked up. How much Kieran had fucked up.

There had to be a way to fix this.

***

Across the computers of the Coalition's messaging systems appeared the UNCED's logo.

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"This is a message from the United Nations. You have not complied with Directive Orders. An investigation into your practices is being organized. Please respond..."
 
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