Quick facts
Campaign: Campaign 2 · Session: 70 of 83 · Arc: North City and the Cell Games · Where: North City, the Coliseum; the harbor
With the fate of Arlia riding on The Cell Games, Bulma Briefs invited Wilbur and the rest of the FAM to her private suite overlooking the Coliseum. It came with full-course meals, a buffet that Ellery immediately abandoned the party for, and Bulma’s newest invention: air conditioning. Away from the crowd, Bulma confided in Wilbur about the ethical weight of her fortune. She admitted she could not track where all her money went and feared it was ending up in shady hands through the companies she did business with. Wilbur suggested they take stock and start small, then half-proposed that they get married and give a share of their combined wealth to charity. The moment was cut short when Bulma’s daughter ran into the suite, followed by Reginald Barqs. The awkward reunion made it clear that Reginald was the girl’s father, though Bulma said they had never married, and Reginald quickly excused himself.
The Cell Games ended in victory for Arlia’s homegrown heroes. The announcer declared Cell defeated, with Terra Misu, Sophie, Greene, and Elyon left standing. The fate of the other fighters was unknown after they vanished from the battlefield. (The fight itself, and the Cacklers’ wish afterward, is told in C1.5 Chapter 03.) When a reporter shoved a microphone in their faces, Terra answered with a punch. Meanwhile, Escher noticed he was being followed by Scuzz, the Pale Fang handler who had hired Fable to kill Bulma. After a short chase through the alleys, they talked somewhere quieter, and Escher declared that his and Fable’s business with the Pale Fang was finished. Scuzz said he was only a handler who reported to “the circle,” which would decide their fate, and warned that one morning they might simply not wake up. He offered one way out: walk into the Coliseum and finish the job on Bulma. When the talk turned to threats, Scuzz threw blinding powder into Fable’s eyes and escaped. Escher realized the organization that had paid them so much would now be coming to kill them both, while a dazed Fable insisted that what he really wanted was to go to school and apply himself.
The party returned to their ship in the harbor, where the one-armed Lopen greeted them and Captain Teft reminded them they owed seventeen days of wages. In a family huddle, Escher came clean about everything: he had defied the Pale Fang, he and Fable were now targets, and Fable would be safest at CAGS. The FAM refused Escher’s offer to leave, deciding to stick together and make his survival their top priority. They went over their remaining threads, including the dragon, Arghen’s whereabouts, and Wilbur’s need to return to the Saline Coast to find out what had happened to Catman. They settled on traveling through The Underdark before heading to the Saline Coast. Wilbur asked Bulma whether their ship could be turned into an airship. Such a ship would normally need brumestone, but Bulma revealed she had been looking to prototype an alternative and agreed to start work while they were away.
Before they left, Nelda got a message from her former classmate Mia asking to meet. Ellery went with her, and Escher followed invisibly in case things went wrong. Mia chatted as if they were just catching up after school while quietly warning Nelda that they were being watched. She revealed that her father, Cadbury Vex, was one of the three highest-ranking officials in the Velvet Truffle Company, second only to the owner, and that she had been ordered to plant a tracking device, Asset Songbird, on Nelda with a goodbye hug. Mia confessed she was only playing along because she didn’t believe Nelda had done anything to deserve it. After the meeting, Mia’s father headed up to the Cackler Barrel’s private suite with twelve to fifteen others. Escher slipped in just before the door clicked shut. He watched the man prop his feet on the desk, light a cigar, and boast to a room of VTC officials, “See? I told you. She can handle it. I raised her well.” Escher was now trapped in a room full of the company’s leadership as their strategy meeting began.
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