Welcome back, Sinners, to the next stop on our Magic Hellbus ride - Canto II: The Unloving! A little longer, a little harder, and a little more story-dense than the last. It's unclear just how long it takes the bus to head to its next destination, but it's certainly not long enough for the heightened emotions of LCB's failure at District 4 to fade.
Narration: The bus wasn't all that lively. I could hear Rodya's occasional quips, or Heathcliff starting pointless quarrels with someone - probably Don Quixote or Sinclair. And Ryoshu demanding a source of heat to light her cigarette, having run out of lighter fluid. Amidst the gripes and disorder, Gregor was pretty much the only Sinner I could rely on to willingly turn the mood around...
Narration: But now, he was one of the quietest. He was just staring out through the window, seemingly lost in deep thought.
Man. How f*cked it must feel for Dante that All Of That sh*t happened to the one guy out of the bus crew that they built a rapid rapport with. You just know things have been extra strained between them over the <Cut it now, Gregor!> incident right before Hermann and the Gang showed up too - clearly only Gregor saw those cutaway flashbacks down in the branch facility so it's not like Dante knew but it all must've been so much fresher in his mind because of it.
Iced out of talking to Gregor, Dante instead turns their attention and ire to Vergilius. The road to the Golden Boughs has already been treacherous enough, putting them all on the brink of death (and past it, repeatedly, much to their chagrin) and yet their 'guide' offers them no sympathy. As far as Dante is concerned, the fault lies with Vergilius for so thoroughly harshing the vibes.
Not that they can really say that to him, because he
can't understand them, and Faust wouldn't translate that, and Vergilius would tell Dante to put the fries in the bag even if they did. But eventually Ishmael does get tired of the silent treatment and pipes up to ask if he won't at least tell us the next stop.
This smug f*ck things he got jokes.
Rodion: "Pah, you're hurting me with your cold shoulder. Don't you know that kids falling behind need more love?"
Vergilius: "And let me plead you not to embarrass me this time. I sure don't want to look like a teacher taking a bunch of gradeschoolers out for a picnic."
He is quick with it, though, you gotta give him that.
Vergilius: "I have high hopes for you in particular, Rodion. You might just make a good guide for this tour."
Uh-oh.
Rodion: "Huh? I know I'm a big deal, but I don't think I can be a guide for a place I don't know..."
Vergilius: "No worries. We're heading to a location you should be more than familiar with. A Nest of hedonism where you can drown in money or be drained of everything you have."
Vergilius: "J Corp's."
Now it's her turn to freeze up and go quiet, much to Dante's chagrin. Perhaps the previous discussion in the Backstreets of District 4, Vergilius hustling Gregor out to meet the old soldiers, is already replaying in her mind. But what ghosts and regrets could a social butterfly like Rodion have left behind?
Heathcliff, who you'll remember is seated multiple rows behind Rodion and so probably can't see her reaction so we'll forgive him an oblivious momento, decides that winning it big at the craps table on top of grabbing the Golden Bough sounds peak before announcing his intent to nap the rest of the way. But there shall be no napping, no snoozing, no honk shoo nor mimimimi. The bus won't be able to take them straight to the branch building this time, whatever that means, and so Vergilius tells Charon to park.
Charon asks what parking is.
No, really.
Vergilius: "It means stop."
Charon: "Stops are red. Red tastes bad to Charon."
Canto I was about Project Moon punching you in the face with how dark it's willing to go. Canto II is about sinking the next one into your gut while your hands are still up so you laugh until you piss yourself.
Vergilius, who of course was the only one who did not ragdoll like he tried to climb a 12-degree incline in a Rockstar game, tells everyone to get the f*ck off the bus-
Hong Lu: "Hmm... The destination still seemed rather far... Ah! Will you call a taxi for us?"
Vergilius: "... as Ms Faust will explain in detail, this mission is going to be quite different from our last, Dante."
-after fully sandbagging another oblivious comment from Hong Lu, because the next part's going to take some legwork. Why?
We're robbing a casino, baby!
The Sinners are initially more preoccupied about the fact the target destination is still inhabited at all, clearly having hoped it'd be dungeon crawls in the ass-end of nowhere every time. If District 4's was the exception, then this whole trip just got a lot more complicated.
Vergilius: "See, it's times like this that remind me our team doesn't necessarily lack critical thinkers... It really does make me wonder how you managed to blunder your previous mission even more."
Ishmael: "..."
Oh you know her ass was ready to go with a quick 'kill yourself' before she remembered it's The Red Gaze she's talking to.
Vergilius does elaborate that the Golden Boughs are potent energy sources, such that the rewards for tapping into their potential would be astronomical, and it only stands to reason that such a thing would attract wealth and people. The further afield they go, the more competing interests and aspects of the City's seedy, selfish underbelly they'll have to contend with. Robbing a casino's only going to be the beginning.
Bro got the whole squad laughing.
The Sinners catching a fresh stray, at least, leads to a cute scene of Dante commiserating about Vergilius' horrid vibes with Gregor and Rodion. For one, it serves to answer my unspoken question as to the state of LCB before the incident in Selva Oscura - the Sinners haven't known him much longer than Dante has.
Rodion: "What'd he say again? Something like, 'Welcome to Limbus Company. I'm your guide, Vergilius' and all that..."
Yoon A-young's gruff Vergilius voice is pretty funny, but it's missing the trademark 'Danteeeeh...'
Gregor: "You got his authoritative tone down to a tee, I'll give you that. I had to hold myself back from asking if I could resign right after joining."
Dante: <I get the feeling the rest of you thought the same.>
Don Quixote getting hired by Limbus Company be like "bait used to be believab- HOLY sh*t IS THAT THE RED GAZE!?"
Gregor remarks that Vergilius has a fan after all, he and Rodion sharing a chuckle. It's a sweet moment - as @Squirtodyle pointed out Rodion was fairly active back in Canto I, calling Gregor 'babe' and trying to cheer him up with bantz even if she was clearly stuck at 0 SP the way her coins kept coming up tails. His hardships are over for now, hers seem to just be beginning if Vergilius' pointed comments are any indication, and this moment almost serves as a passing of the narrative torch as much as an affirming of their bond over Being Normal.
Vergilius: "That's more talking than necessary. I really do not wish for there to be impetus behind a third rule for this bus ride."
Rodion: "C'mon, give the employees some room to badmouth their boss. You're being totally petty."
Vergilius: "Next time, do it out of earshot."
God, no I still love Vergilius. He plays the field of being a hater as a switch-hitter. He doesn't even care that they're doing it he just wants them to do it behind his back, so this Mads Mikkelsen motherf*cker deadpan drawls "but i'm just a little guy, danteeeh. a little small guy. it is also my birthday, dantehh."
Vergilius: "Right, time to get up and at it. I sure hope you come back with a Golden Bough in your hands this time."
Heathcliff: "And if we bugger it twice?"
Vergilius: "Who knows? Charon might suddenly forget what button to press to open the door for you."
Cursed to vividly imagine Vergilius sitting up the front in his seat, reading a magazine (potentially with Old Man Reading Glasses on) and studiously ignoring literally a dozen people frantically banging on the door to the bus. Heathcliff is incensed by the sardonic threat because of course he is, but Ryoshu instead reiterates that "UITGAAN".
Narration: Heathcliff glared at Ryoshu, insults welling up in his throat, only to then expel a loud sigh. He resigned uncharacteristically, as if he came to the realisation that killing her wouldn't solve anything.
I don't know what I love more, Ryoshu's subtle sh*t-eating grin when providing the translation or Heathcliff being so completely fed up with her already that he truly cannot even stay angry about it. The gang debarks and makes its way into the cramped and shadowy backstreets (that may or may not be the Backstreets) of District 10, where Faust provides more details.
Faust: "According to the information we've acquired, the casino has three entrances. One for ordinary visitors, one reserved for VIPs, and lastly a backdoor used by employees. We'll split into three groups of four Sinners to cover each entrance... Four of us will disguise as croupiers, four will pose as guests, and four will play the role of VIPs."
Outis and Yi Sang both approve of the plan to split their unwieldy dirty dozen up into smaller groups - that is to say, Yi Sang's wording of "it is wiser to divide rather than unite" seems kinda sus but nobody wants to get into that right now so instead Faust passes out envelopes containing everyone's assignment briefings. On top of that, the Sinners botched it so disastrously in Canto I that the higher echelons of Limbus Company have started getting cold feet, and to ensure the success of this sophmore outing they're sending LCCB personnel to work with the Sinners directly. Ishmael correctly points out that the party is already big enough at 12 combatants plus Dante.
Hong Lu instead starts looking around like he's waiting for an LCCB operative to pop out of a bin. Babygirl.
There's a completely throwaway battle with some more Rats here (so it is the capital-B Backstreets, in fact it's safe to assume this whole Canto takes place outside of the Nest itself for reasons we'll get into much later) as the gang make their way towards their rendezvous point, a particular pawnbroker's shop.
Pawnbroker: "Y'all prefer your luck of the draw from trumps or mahjong?"
The moment they step inside they are accosted by the proprieter asking them if they want to play mahjong, which is of course authorises the use of deadly force, quick Heathcliff kill him now-!
I kid, it's something much worse. You see, Vergilius handed out a pamphlet about J Corp (offscreen, in the gravitational abyss between Ishmael asking where they were going but before everyone got off the bus, due to this joke not quite panning out with the timeline) and being a Homework Girlie only Ishmael read it. They're big into fortunes here at J Corp, you see. How big? If you come here to sell your grandfather's prized pocketwatch to cover rent for the month and the cards decide you have bad vibes you'll get scammed on top of your scam and get paid a pitiful fraction of its worth.
Hong Lu promptly makes it all about him by reminiscing that his family employed dedicated fortunetellers, who drew a "greater boon" for him shortly before he left home.
Hong Lu:L "That must've been a sign that I would join all of you wonderful people on our journey."
And on that day the vibes aligned, for there was someone they could both bully.
Hong Lu: "You might be right. I didn't like to get along with my younger sibling in childhood. Always trying to cheat and grouch if things didn't go as desired."
Hysterical, doubly so when we recall just how chummy Heathcliff was with a certain Hindley Earnshaw in his source material.
Meanwhile the pawnbroker, clearly sensing he's losing the room, again prompts the Sinners to either draw and prove their luck or else prove they have any damn thing worth selling on them. He scans the Sinners in turn, diagnosing them with Broke one by one until his eyes at last alight on Dante. The pawnbroker observes that their clockhead might fetch a good sum, and Rodion asks how much.
It's important to me you know that in this moment Dante reveals a new sound they can make - a f*cking cash register noise.
Faust makes an effort to redirect the conversation back toward the plans already made with Limbus company, but she's 1-4 speed and can't redirect for sh*t so it's time for the unherded cats to scatter and make mischief.
Pawnbroker: "Oho... A dragon embroidered on silk. That's some meticulous needlework, which might net... let's see, seven million... Ahn?"
Heathcliff: "A crummy piece of cloth is worth that much? Have your eyes rotted out, old geezer?!"
Pawnbroker: "Wha? You don't recognise the value of this quality - Beh, now I see. You're wearing a shabby ring like it's true treasure... Tsk-tsk."
Heathcliff: "... What did you just say."
Rodion: "Geez, cut it out! Dante~ Please shut them up~"
This seems on the surface to be no more than another epic 'Heathcliff becomes murderous over nothing' prank, but like Ishmael's use of 'refinement' back in Canto I he's actually getting triggered by something quite specific here. Remember the ring he wears (on his right index finger, hidden by perspective in his talksprite but sometimes visible in combat or on other IDs), it's a surprise tool that'll help us later.
The penis music cuts out, replaced by something more tense and mysterious.
Faust: "Certainly not. There was little I could do to alter the driver of the bus."
Faust seems to know these two personally - take note not just of how the first announced herself to Faust by name, but how Faust is using her smiling sprite as she greets them.
Grumpy Dante.
Dante's words of course fall on deaf ears where non-Sinners are concerned.
??? (Man on the Right): "Oh, so it was you? You guys are the team that botched the Golden Bough retrieval last time? Folks had high expectations for your team, what with some of the smartest people in the City being on it."
??? (Woman on the Left): "No wonder... Ms Faust wasn't looking very pleased."
Faust said, lying like a rug.
Heathcliff: "Eym what're you standing around for? Go on now. This fellow here is also the brainy sort. Don't brush him off."
Yi Sang: "I shall not, as that would be a hollow vaunt."
Heathcliff: "But you were a lot more talkative down in that basem*nt? Who are you and what did you do with Yi Sang?"
Yi Sang: "I am and have always been whom I match in the mirror."
I f*cking lost it at this long-forgotten exchange while taking the screenshots. Heathcliff was honestly trying to be nice and gas Yi Sang up, only to get sandbagged hardcore by the man himself. Who knew Heathcliff wasn't as much of an unremitting asshole in Cantos I-III as I remembered?
Anyway Faust follows up with "our first mission was designed with failure in mind" because they "needed an opportunity to see what potential our Sinners held", a statement so staggering that Gregor and Outis start hammering X to Doubt instantly. It seems even the two newcomers aren't buying it, as the one on the l- you know what f*ck it, from left to right that's Saude and Effie, they're about to introduce themselves anyway.
Anyway Saude asks where Vergilius is because she signed up for this mainly to meet him and Effie (correctly) assumes he was too f*cking embarrassed to be seen with these losers.
Mood, Ishmael.
Saude and Effie at last introduce themselves properly, announcing that they're the LCCB contacts the group were waiting for. Heathcliff, still smarting over Effie's comment about Vergilius being embarrassed to be seen with them, asks if the two are waiting for a round of applause. Hong Lu nearly provides one, presumably stopped by Dante before Heathcliff stopped it for him by hitting a home run with his occipital lobe.
Saude: "Check the documents in this envelope, and do exactly, preciiiiiiisely as the papers say."
Effie may be active-aggressive but Saude is being passive-aggressive to the point of using 'preschool educational program host voice' and it's so obvious even Dante can tell. Gregor observes that this is less a 'joint operation' and more of a 'Saude and Effie tell us what to do' operation, to which Ishmael insists they put their foot down and-
Heathcliff reading over Ishmael's shoulder with a distressed grimace is giving me life, did these two traumabond last Canto.
Ishmael: "Look at this. It has routes drawn out and everything. It's been ages since I saw a plan this clear and meticulous."
Outis: "Mhm, surely. This is certainly indicative of their knowledge in writing up proper plans of operation."
Outis: "Ah, this isn't to say that it holds a candle to the level of forethought you display, Manager."
Dante: <Outis I'll be honest I just hit Win Rate.>
Outis: "And in doing so you ensure we perform what is most mathematically optimal at all times, excellent strategy Executive Manager."
Dante opens their own copy of the instructions and takes a gander at the briefing. To put it briefly, the goal is to make it to the top floor of the casino. There they'll find a private elevator straight down into the buried L Corp branch facility where the Golden Bough lies. To reach this goal on any other day would be a tall order, but today a high-stakes game of poker will be taking place on that very top floor, held between the four major Syndicates (here meaning any kind of defined organised crime outfit operating in the Backstreets) who hold stake in the casino for the right to take the Golden Bough. Of those four the Sinners will infiltrate in the guise of the Tingtang Gang.
Dante: <Tingtang Gang?>
Faust: "A name doesn't necessarily reflect the nature of an organisation. That's a shallow prejudice."
Yi Sang: "It is unideal for one to choose to see things through the tinted lens that is bias."
Dante: <... Right.>
This of course elides the question of how they're supposed to guarantee a win once they make it to the table, but Saude and Effie brush past that with more talk about just how good their croupier disguises are, I suppose implying that one of them intends to replace the real dealer at the high-stakes game and ensure the Sinners win. Effie even mutters an acerbic comment about the Sinners only needing a pair of functioning eyes to take the pot. The Tingtang boss, too, will be disposed of by Effie and Saude via sedatives in his food.
Why does Yi Sang seem so troubled at the idea of drugging someone's food? Don't worry about it!
Effie and Saude take control of the pawnbroker's with nary a whisper of resistance, having already made arrangements with him to provide the necessary pieces for the Sinners' disguises. The pawnbroker switches from snide to simping in a heartbeat, eagerly showing everyone around.
Hong Lu: "Oh my! This is a Guppcha Designer Brooch, isn't it?"
Pawnbroker: "Hyah~ What discerning eyes you have there, sir. This beaut is the mainstay of our shop's catalogue. Only 10 of those were ever made, so its worth is positively un-"
Hong Lu: "My dog used to have one of these on its collar whenever we took it out for walkies. It's so nice to see something that brings back pleasant memories!"
Pawnbroker: "..."
The Sinners, having the collective target prioritisation ability of a hyperactive cat, naturally get sidetracked. Rodion tries to select some fine cowhide gloves for her 'disguise' before getting passive-aggressively slapped down by Saude, Don Quixote seems genuinely pressed to be stuck with the role of 'Janitor' for the infiltration, and Gregor asks how the LCCB duo plan to afford all these bits and bobs from a Backstreets bilker. Effie retorts to the latter that they are no mere low-rank hirelings, and everything comes out of the company Black Card.
Pictured: Rodion genuinely about to start going lumberjack mode on some skulls because the A5 Wagyu she's been long-denied was within reach all along.
Unfortunately, Mr. 'Sets Prices Based On Luck' is about to run out of his very shortly.
