The Past's Messenger

 WHALESTRAND POINT

Another day, another meeting for Beck Gold. His benefactor had a vision in mind for the Neo Neo Kobbers - knowing they couldn't match the size of the Kobbers, they aimed to form a tight group, one that had a variety of skills and experiences. Beck was the one with his ear to the ground, finding member after member who would help them achieve that goal.

"...So that's the idea." Beck says, leaning in close to the woman who he'd found. She'd been to Vegas a few times, involved in the occasional incident, only to leave again. Apparently, she was quite the traveler - he had lucked out with learning that she had been in Whalestrand at the right time. 

"I assume I'll get paid for helping with this? Even if it's only to mess with the Kobbers, I'm not going up against them without hazard pay."

"Of course! Generously and handsomely. Our benefactor throws money around like he only has days left to use it." 

"...Fine. But I'm not getting myself killed over it."

"Anything starts going wrong, I'm out. First train out of here." states the woman. She only had one name - nobody even knew if she had a surname. All anyone had ever known her as was Alex the Traveler. Not that Beck cared, because as long as he could round up the right Neo Neo Kobbers, he could count on enough money to be loaded for the rest of his life.

"Excellent, excellent. Thank you very much!"

And so, Beck Gold's first meeting that day concluded without a hitch.

His second one, though, was at a diner in Whalestrand, and far more annoying.

"I'm telling you. The fandom consensus on Season 4 is all wrong."

The man, name of Edgar Markus, keeps gesturing his fork at Beck, alternating between taking massive bites of pancakes and rambling on about some anime Beck had never even heard of, much less cared about. "The nerd club arc in Season 4 might seem, on the surface, an obvious time-filling ploy, especially after Season 3's attempt at a grand finale. But! When you actually go back and review it as a whole season, it's clear that they really made the effort to make it work-"

Rolling his eyes, Beck sips from his soda. He really didn't want to have to listen to this pointless nerdy babble more than he needed to.

Unfortunately, that was the price of working with his benefactor - the deep-pocketed man with a grudge about the Neo Kobbers, the one who had contacted Beck to organize the Neo Neo Kobbers in the first place, was also a huge dweeb. At least he seemed to be running out of steam now, allowing Beck to turn the conversation to their latest recruitment.

As they finish up the meal, Edgar looks at the bill. Between the two of them, they'd run up a moderate sum, but nothing too unreasonable. The buff man stands up, dropping several bills on the table and grinning to the waitress on his way out. "Keep the change - it's a tip!"

The waitress picks up the bills and starts to shake as she realizes Edgar had paid about ten times what the bill was, but by then, he's already out the door, followed by a grumbling Beck. As useful as it was to have a man who seemed to spend money like it was water, there were times Beck wondered if even Edgar's pockets would run dry - and what would he do then?

The two men walk out into the cold air of Whalestrand, Edgar throwing on a coat while Beck had refused to take his off in the diner. With a bit of a melancholy look, Edgar sighs. "...I miss ol' Rex. If I hadn't watched his style for a few years, I don't think I could have ever pulled all of those stock tricks off."

"Oh? You knew him?" Beck asks, curious. Edgar hadn't talked much about his own experience with the Neo Kobbers, only how driven he was to have them be remembered.

"Yeah. I joined the Neo Kobbers in... it was 2013. A decade ago. Stuck around that year and through the next year, had some great times... heck, I always had an eye for Sniper Wolf. She never had eyes for anyone except Master Chief, though. Then I decided to make my own fortune with Rex's teachings.

Got back in 2017, and, well... You know what I found. An empty bar, the Kobbers gone and left, and a few people on the street who remembered the Neo Kobbers as more than just a ramshackle opposition. 

I don't know if the Neo Neo Kobbers will make a large dent in the Kobbers. But if it brings the name Neo Kobbers back to their minds, and leaves it there so they can never forget it... that's all I need."

Edgar's melancholy air lingers for a minute, before he brightens up. "So! Beck. Do you like mecha anime?"

"Huh?" Beck replies, puzzled, thrown off by the abrupt change of topic. "I guess. The real things are far more impressive."

"Great! I got a couple films in the mail today. Come on, let's watch!" 

"...You don't pay me to watch anime with you." Beck says, before Edgar shoves a couple high-denomination bills at him. "I do now!"

Beck sighs, takes the bills, and walks along with Edgar, aiming for the man's apartment. The things he did for this paycheck... but he had big plans in his future. A lot bigger than the Neo Neo Kobbers. 

One way or another, everything would come up Beck.