| “ | In Japanese, you don't come, you go. And I am definitely going. | „ |
| ~ Rapunzel |
"The Hidden Kingdom, Chapter Two: Hard-Boiled Wonderland" is the ninth issue of spin-off series Fairest.
Publisher's summary
We look back to Rapunzel's first fateful steps as she's shipwrecked on the shores of the Hidden Kingdom. She's charmed by the Celestial Court, but there is political intrigue afoot and a forbidden love affair when Rapunzel falls in love with Tomoko, a kitsune fox spirit. Meanwhile Joel Crow and Jack of Fables get more than they bargained for in a seedy pachinko parlor and karaoke club. And when Rapunzel is reunited with her former lover, she's shocked at the monster Tomoko has become.
Plot
Nine hundred years ago, Rapunzel had planned to die at sea, but instead was found by the citizens of the Hidden Kingdom. She was welcomed into the celestial palace by the Heika, but his general Ryogan was suspicious. Soon after arriving, she met Tomoko, and felt that the two of them were destined to fall in love. By day, she partook of the amusements the palace had to offer, and by night, she partook of the amusements that Tomoko had to offer, surrendering to the Kitsune woman's bite and sex. However, Ryogan had begun to bend the Heika's ear to his puritanical beliefs, and was soon convinced of his plan to exile all of the monsters, ghosts, and altogether Fable-like residents of the castle.
Now, Rapunzel has been back in Tokyo for less than four hours, and already, someone's been shot. A homeless man who had been there to help her was killed by a woman with a horrible mouth of sharp teeth. Fortunately, a woman drives up to rescue Rapunzel and her friends: Tomoko. Rapunzel is surprised to see her former lover alive, since the Adversary closed off the gate to the Homelands. Tomoko warns that Rapunzel shouldn't have returned. She has arrived in the middle of a war, and once again, she is at the heart of it.
Tomoko is now the proprietress of the Celestial Entertainment Group, something of a front for her role as a Yakuza Obadan. The upstairs apartments of her building have been designated for Japan's Fables, its own version of Fabletown.
Three years after arriving in the Hidden Kingdom, Ryogan had begun to take aim on the fantastic citizens of the palace. First, he exiled the Tanuki, then the Kappa. Eventually, they came for Tomoko's Fox Fire, an object which held her soul outside of her body. Her true nature as a fox-woman was revealed, and she too was exiled. As Tomoko was escorted out, Rapunzel promised to get the Fox Fire back.
Meanwhile, in present day Tokyo, some Sumos retrieve the homeless man's corpse, and fill his empty head with water again. He is a Kappa named Katagiri, whose life returns to him once the water is returned to him. Angrily, he curses Tomoko for leading Rapunzel astray. It is only with the Fable woman's help that they can get back to the Homelands, by reuniting her with her children. However, Tomoko will not allow that, because it would jeopardize her Yakuza empire. This is why she has sent Mayumi, the toothy assassin to stop Katagiri and his co-conspirators.
Tomoko's Yakuza empire pays for the safe-housing of all Japanese fables, and though Rapunzel disapproves, she accepts it. She wonders whether it was Tomoko who sent the message about her children, but when she asks, Tomoko seems annoyed, explaining that Katagiri sent the origami birds to lure Rapunzel to Japan as a pawn in his plan to destroy everything that she has built. Meanwhile, Jack Horner and Joel Crow get drunk on Tomoko's generosity, and on the way home, Joel admits that he is in love with Rapunzel, who brushes it off.
At their private apartments, Rapunzel tries to steel herself against Tomoko's temptations to merely stay with her and give up the search for her children and the old gate back to the Homelands. She is interrupted from her reverie by Joel, who also happened to be trying to get some fresh air on the balcony. Knowing she will soon have to confront her past, Rapunzel invites him to bed with her, and they make love.
Meanwhile, Jack breaks into the penthouse floor of the building, looking for something worth stealing, and his eye is caught by Tomoko's Fox Fire. She appears, and suggests that he turn his attention to the money in her safe instead, as she drops her robe to the floor, naked. At first, Jack thinks they're going to have sex, but she explains that she is going to eat him.
The act of sex with Joel causes Rapunzel's hair to grow exceptionally long, and after a second round, she finally breaks it to Joel that her plan is to use her long hair to escape the building unnoticed. Tomoko would never simply let them walk out. Meanwhile, Tomoko feeds on Jack's neck.
Appearances in this issue
Featured Characters
- Rapunzel
Supporting Characters
- Tomoko (Flashback and main story)
- Joel Crow
- Jack Horner
- Totenkinder
Antagonists
- Seii Taishogun Ryogan (Flashback only)
- Mayumi
Other Characters
- Sumos
- Kappas
- Katagiri
- Neko
Locations
- Japan
- Hidden Kingdom (Flashback only)
- Fabletown
Items
- Fox Fire
Trivia
- The issue's title is a reference to the Japanese novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
- This issue features a 5-page preview of Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland.