When Alpha learns that they have some “guests” from the MCA in the form of the elite Clovers, she prepares to send Nu to “welcome” them. But Gamma volunteers, and when she’s ignored she volunteers again. So Alpha sends her, along with Kai and Omega.
She does so fully aware that Gamma is the clumsiest person alive, but who can refuse that cute determined face? They get a jump on the Clovers, but while her escorts take care of two of the three, their leader manages to bop Gamma on the head.
If she were an ordinary human, she’d have died instantly. But she’s Gamma, and she’s back in action tonight, baby! Things go about as well as you’d expect for someone with ridiculous magical power but is made entirely out of thumbs. And yet, Alpha still gave her a chance, bless her.
Mind you, what makes Gamma so goshdarn endearing and fun to watch is that she never makes excuses and is never discouraged by her setbacks. Indeed, while she ends up blasting a giant hole in the department store, she manages to accidentally take out the top Clover when he tries to flee. No one is better at claiming the accidental as intentional.
When Garter gives Gettan a report on the Clovers’ failure, Gettan laments the Cult’s current deficit of resources, and makes clear he only needs the MCA to stay afloat long enough to serve his particular purposes. In a flashback we see him witness what looks like Cid in a paper bag mask massacring his village.
Meanwhile, Cid takes some time out of his busy schedule to spar with Alexia, who makes her season two debut. Alexia was one of my favorite characters from the first season so I’m glad to see her again, even it it’s only briefly. Driven by a desire not to be a passive bystander, she’s determined to get stronger for her sake as well as Rose’s, and Cid can’t deny she has gotten stronger.
That night he’s back in his John Smith persona, meeting with Yukime, who has a fresh sample of counterfeit MCA bills for him to inspect. And while you and I both know he can’t tell the real bill from the fake, he still pretends he does and manages to convince Yukime he does. The reality is that the counterfeits are actually of higher quality than the real thing.
Word soon gets to both Alpha and Gettan that the counterfeit bills are circulating in the capital. It occurs to Alpha that their rivals may be trying to tank their paper currency on purpose, since it will hurt Mitsugoshi as well. She’s actually spot-on in that assessment, even if Gettan is the only one who knows of the plan to inflate the MCA credit well beyond its means.
But here’s the thing: that Cult plan shouldn’t have been implemented yet…and indeed we know it hasn’t, because Cid—er, Mr. Smith unknowingly copied the Cult’s plan and beat them to the punch.
Gamma sends 664, 665, and 666 (AKA Rose) to intercept a cargo train out of the Lawless City carrying the counterfeit bills. 664 warns Rose to obey her orders and not improvise. However, like all members of Shadow Garden, 664 probably expected less resistance in this mission.
Shortly after boarding the suspiciously unoccupied train, 664 and 665 end up tangled up in webs of magical thread Rose manages to dodge. The producer of those threads reveals himself: it’s John Smith. Now Cid is officially actively working at cross purposes with his Shadows.
That said, he has no intention of harming them. When Rose rushes at him, demonstrating her power, he suspends her in webs with ease, then tosses all three of them off the train. By the time they gather themselves, it’s too far off to catch, but even if they did, they don’t have a plan to beat that masked man.
Rose curses herself for being “so weak”, not knowing that she was up against the strongest freakin’ guy in the world—and definitely not knowing that’s the same guy who gave her a cheeseburger a lifetime ago. The tragic irony is that Rose is extremely powerful; both back when Alexia could only stand by and watch, and even moreso now that she’s with Shadow Garden. She’s just no match for Shadow.
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