In a small airplane, 10,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean, Prince is gazing out a window next to Wade
Prince
I spy with my little eye, something that is blue and rhymes with "pie"
Wade looks dazed out the window
Wade
Is it the sky?
Prince
Yup…
Wade
Sigh, I spy with my little eye, something that is white and rhymes with "loud"
Prince
The wing of the plane?
Wade looks disappointed as he turns towards Prince
Wade
Do any of those words rhyme with "loud"
Prince
I thought it was a trick question…
Alright then, I spy–
Ford
Can you two please stop whatever you're doing back there?!
Prince
C'mon, what else do you want us to do during this flight?
It's been hours
Ford
My point exactly.
Do you know how many hours I've had to sit here and listen to you two do that?
Far too many.
Didn't the two of you bring anything to keep yourselves entertained?
Prince
I tried to, but someone said I couldn't.
Wade
I'm sorry, if you had the option, you probably would have brought a sock puppet.
Prince
…
Wade
Say you're joking…
Prince
Uh…
You know how I told you I'm good at changing my voice?
Ford
I really hope the King isn't as dumb as him…
Wade
Trust me, he's not.
This thing is just an exception.
Prince
Hey, I can hear you, you know!
Ford
Whatever, we're nearing Paris.
Get ready for descent.
Prince
Finally!
The land of fine art, culture, and cheese: France!
This is my first time outside the country!
Ford
You guys met me in Canada, doesn't that count?
Prince
Of course not, Canada is basically America with maple syrup.
Ford
Ugh, I can't believe you're the same person from earlier…
Maybe I was too quick to accept you…
Wade
Join the club.
But, we've come this far.
Might as well just leave him be and get our mission done.
Ford
Smart thinking.
Prince frowns as Wade and Ford shake hands
Prince
So Ford, what's our new member like?
Ford
I wasn't given too many details other than we were meant to meet him at some fancy cafe in Paris.
He apparently is a tall, old guy with a distinct moustache.
Prince
They really were serious about trying to stop information from leaking.
But who would want to stop us?
Wade
A lot of people.
The biggest would be the KGB, the Soviet's secret service, but there are also a few extremists who would want to take us down to gain favour with the Soviets.
Prince
Revolutionaries?
Wade
Yeah, remember those two from the train?
According to an interrogation done by the Knightmares, they were communists who wanted to use the train to make a political statement in Washington.
They were apparently part of a larger organization, but they wouldn't give us any names.
Ford
I'd be willing to guess their friends know about how they were defeated and taken in by the feds by now.
They're definitely gonna be on edge.
Wade
That's right, which is why we need to be careful.
Another big problem is one of them had the ability to project things to people's vision, meaning its possible our faces were shown to the rest of the organization.
Prince
No way, how could his Manifesto have that wide a range?
Wade
That's the problem, because it's an enemy, we have no way of knowing the limits of the ability or even if we correctly guessed what his power was in the first place.
The first step of combat with Manifestos is determining the most likely ability of your opponent.
The second rule is to always be cautious in case you were wrong.
Never be too confident in your deduction ability.
Prince
I think I'm pretty good at figuring out Manifestos though…
Ford
Sure, sure.
Anyways, get off my plane.
Welcome to France.
The three step out of the airport as they're met with large roads packed with taxis and cars
Wade
Ford, what was the cafe we were meant to go to?
Ford
I don't remember, it's been a few weeks.
It was somewhere downtown.
Wade hails a taxi as the three get in
Taxi driver
Où est-ce que vous voulez aller?
Wade & Ford
…
Wade
You wouldn't happen to speak French, would you?
Ford
Nope, you?
Wade
Not at all, I'm pretty good at Spanish though…
Aren't you Canadian, shouldn't you know French?
Ford
No, I'm American, I was just waiting in Canada.
What should we do about this?
We can't even get a taxi–
Prince
Le meilleur café dans la ville que vous connaissez, s'il vous plaît.
Ford and Wade look at Prince in shock as the driver starts towards downtown
Prince
What?
Wade
Prince, how come you know French?
Prince
I had a lot of time when I was younger, and so I just listened to music from a bunch of different countries in different languages.
Ford
No, but, you sounded fluent?
Prince
I mean, speaking is just sounds, and once I learned the patterns, Devil's Trill does all the pronunciation for me.
Wade
I underestimated you…
Prince looks smug as he starts to laugh to himself
Prince
Hehe, don't worry about it.
Anyways, I hope one of you is paying cause I don't have a cent on me.
Ford
Ah, I have a few Francs left from my last time here.
After some time, the three exit the car outside a large outdoor cafe, with many tables situated on a large balcony, with a garden next to it
Prince
Are we sure this is the place?
Ford
They said a fancy cafe, so I guess that tracks…
Wade
Still, won't we be out of place in a place like this?
Ford
I-it should be fine, just let Prince do the talking…
The three meekly enter the cafe, Prince walks forward and awkwardly talks to the cashier
Prince
Cashier
Prince
Cashier
Prince
This way, he's just outside.
The three leave as the cashier sits confused
Cashier
(I could have sworn the man said he was only expecting two guests…)
(Oh well, his accent was so bad, I couldn't be sure)
Outside, the three look around and in the centre of the balcony is a man with a thin imperial moustache sits sipping on his coffee
Wade
Excuse me, are you our connection
The man stops and looks up at them, analyzing each of them
???
Considering you have an American accent, I'm fairly certain I am.
My name Is George, pleasure to meet you.
Wade
It's nice to meet you too.
I'm Wade, the man with the messy blonde hair is Ford, and the boy in the raincoat is Prince.
George
Prince…
You wouldn't happen to be Prince Spectre, would you?
Prince
Uh, yes…
George
It's so nice to meet the son of the king.
The man goes to shake the hands of the three, however, Prince hesitates before shaking his hand
As Wade and George talk, Prince taps Ford's soldier and whispers to him
Prince
Something's off with him…
Ford
What do you mean?
Is his heartbeat off, like a lie detector?
Prince
No, I'm not sure how to say it, I'm getting a bad vibe from him…
It's not as ominous as when I met the president, but something is telling me we shouldn't get involved with him…
Ford
Maybe it's because you're just nervous since we finally made it to Europe.
Don't worry, I'm sure it will be fine.
George
Would you boys like to take a seat before we leave?
I was just finishing my coffee, feel free to order something for yourselves as well.
Wade
Thank you very much, mr. George.
The three take a seat, with Prince sitting opposite George
Prince
So, mr. George, do you know where we could find the next member of our team?
George
…yes, but I'd rather not discuss it here where someone might overhear…
I'm sure you know about how those two captured revolutionaries were already confirmed to have been communists.
Wouldn't want one of their allies to attack us.
Prince
Right…
Mr. George, I'll be frank with you, I don't trust you.
Wade
?!
Prince?
What are you saying?
George
It's fine, we'll be risking our lives for each other, so it's better to make sure we feel comfortable around each other first.
So tell me, Prince, what can I do to make you trust me?
Prince
Show me your Manifesto.
You don't need to say what it does since you think there might be a spy around here.
So instead, just show it.
That way, we won't cause a fuss.
George pauses for a moment before nodding
George
Alright, this is my–
The man is cut off as a lightning bolt crashes on the table and the sky begins to rumble
Ford
What's that?!
Wade, you didn't activate your Manifesto, did you?
Wade
No, this isn't me!
Prince
!
Prince turns his head towards the sounds of electricity crackling from a large Manifesto crouching above the entrance to the balcony