darkSpyro

The empath lifted his head to peek out at his surroundings. He couldn't tell which was worse - the actual tradegy that had occurred, or the pandemonium, the chaos, that had followed afterwards. He watched as ambulances took off with those who were injured in the panic. It was unsettling just how this event, which had been supposed to be one of joy and unity, had transformed so quickly into something monstrous. Something even dangerous.

Michael couldn't help but wonder who the deceased person was. Was it someone he had known? He wasn't sure he wanted to know, yet his mind kept pondering it. He looked over to Quake. He wasn't sure what he had expected from the man, but he wasn't expecting to find... what seemed like indifference. How could something so horrible be handled so well? Granted, Quake wasn't an empath, but one need not be an empath to feel the pain that had transpired here.

There was something beneath that indifference, though, but Michael wasn't sure just what it was. And to be honest, he didn't exactly feel like probing. Nor could he have if he'd wanted to. The aura of hundreds - if not thousands - of people's fear clouded out anything else, even his own feelings, to an extent. He wasn't about to go looking for emotions right now, not when they threatened to wash over him as it was. The evacuation of most of the people from the site had helped immensely, but fear and panic was still ingrained in the very stones beneath their feet. The empath wondered how long the murder's imprint would stain these streets.

He didn't want to think of it.

Vi just sat there on the lamppost in silence. She could hardly believe what had happened. Someone was murdered? In such a presumably safe place? Why? Why would anyone do such a thing? The body was left in such a poor condition, too, and displayed publicly for all to see. Did whoever killed the victim think this was some kind of sick joke? Certainly no one was left laughing. Vi definitely wasn't. Maybe it was some twisted game? A little murder mystery for the authorities to solve? Maybe the captain was right and it was really just a work of disgusting art? Vi wasn't sure, but either way, she didn't understand it. She didn't understand any of it. How could someone murder another person like that?

She finally managed to pry her eyes away from the display and noticed the others nearby. While a little unclear on what Quake's nod meant, she did take note of it. Maybe it didn't have much meaning behind it. Either way, Vi decided to go see them. She stretched out her rubber limbs and gently lowered herself down on the ground. Once she was off of the lamppost, she simply began walking over to the others.

She approached them with a sigh. "Hey, guys," she said, quietly, her voice devoid of her usual bubbly personality. She deactivated her powers, returning to normal, completely forgetting she had hit her head earlier. "Isn't what happened just hor--Ow! My head!" Vi groaned and held her head, waiting for the pain to die down. "What, why does my head hurt? What stupid thing did I do to make that happen? It feels like I rammed my head against a pol--Oh, the lamppost. Right. Okay. That makes sense. Ugh, me and my stupid ideas."

She shook off the pain and addressed the others again. "Uh, sorry about that. Anyway, this whole event's just awful. I can't believe someone could do something like this. Isn't it supposed to be peaceful here?"

Aileen's demeanor swiftly became stoic again when Digby transformed his fist and slammed it into lamp post, damaging it. She narrowed her gaze at the proposal. "Digby," she began sternly, as if she were scolding her little sisters, "we're not getting into things that don't involve us. We could get in trouble-- and waste the police's time when they should be handling the case right now."

The towering teen was always hard to convince when she had her mind set on lawfulness. But a certain few things had a way of swaying her, when put on the table. "Besides," she muttered, folding her arms and glancing aside, "how do you expect me to use stealth of all things? Anyone could see me a mile away, if they just happened to look." She was, of course, referring to her staggering height.

Quake had noticed the girl make her way over to the group. His serious and stoic demeanor pulsating through his entire being, this was a serious matter; this wasn't a coincidence, and the fact that it made the people of the Camp feel much less safe left a disgusting and bitter taste in his mouth. As Vi approached he noticed that her attitude was unlike his in regards to the spectacle, in fact her's seemed to be more vocal and concerned about the man and her safety, whereas Quake was more concerned with who was next.

"Vi." He greeted, not paying much regard to her...'issue' with her head. Despite his attraction to the young lady this was no time to linger upon it. "It is." He looked to Michael, wishing he could do something to comfort him but he knew that he was one of those causing him anguish, as his emotions were negative. "This Camp has not had a murder in years, I've done my research, the last murder was accidental, this was....This was Overkill." The large man stared towards the body, police had died down and it was easier to see, they had yet to conclude their crime scene analysis and didn't want to touch the body in fear of the same fate. "If this had been some sort of coincidence perhaps brought on by a disease, then I would assume we would have caught it and succumbed, but this was clearly done with malicious intent to stir fear and panic throughout the masses. All we can do is answer the police best we can and then be on our way and forget this happened for the time being. Don't you agree?"


-----

Digby clenched his teeth once more, his anger refused to subside as he boiled, his entire body glowing red in seething rage. He swiftly turned to face Aileen, a nasty scowl on his face. "You know I could be next. What if this was Directed at me, what if this was just a puzzle and I'm supposed to figure it out. Maybe that was left as a threat to me, I'm the only living blood relative of the Founder. Or maybe someone moved the body there as a sign, a signal for me to dig deeper." He shook his head. "Whatever it is, we have to get into that room. Are you with me or not because you can't stop me."

When Vi approached, Michael gave her a sympathetic look as she nursed her bonked head. Pain in the head was never fun. He would know. He wished he could offer her an ice pack or something, but such were things that he obviously didn't carry around with him on a regular basis. She didn't seem to be that deterred by her minor injury, however, so he supposed he shouldn't worry about it so much. Still, he didn't want her to be silently suffering. Tapping a forefinger to his temple, he raised a questioning brow at her. It was his way of asking if her head was alright. As much as he wanted to know if she was alright, there were admittedly other things to worry about as well. What he was more concerned about was the recent events, so when Vi brought up how terrible this whole thing had been, he gave a vigorous nod of agreement. Daring to glance back at what was supposed to be the statue of Deidicus Blair, he cringed inwardly at the sight of the corpse. The police could take the body away, but the emotional imprint this would leave could last months, if not longer. It was terrible that this murder had stained the place like this.

As Quake began to speak, the empath gave him his attention. Michael didn't know too much about the Camp's history. He hasn't lived here all of his life, nor has he been particularly studious when it came to the Camp's history, so Quake's information was news to him. He nodded in agreement with the larger man's assessment. This surely had been intentional, the corpse displayed as such to strike fear into all of those who would attend this gathering. But why would anyone want such a thing? Was it possible someone was trying to send a message? And if so, to whom? An individual? The entire camp? What had they done to warrant this...?

At Quake's insistence that all they could do was forget that this had happened, Michael shook his head sadly and tapped his temple. I can't forget.

"Huh?" Vi noticed Michael had made a hand gesture and took a moment to figure out what he was trying to say. "Oh, my head?" She made a guess since he tapped his temple. She hand-waved the issue with a quick, half-hearted smile. "It's fine. I do stupid stuff like that all the time. Don't worry about it, I'm tougher than I look." She forced a bigger smile just to try to prove everything was okay, or that at least her head was. While that may have been true, the recent events made it harder to put up that front.

Her smile immediately and completely vanished as she turned her attention to Quake and focused on what he was saying. Vi frowned. "Yeah, this definitely wasn't an accident... or any kind of disease..." She lowered her head. "It's just... Horrible..." She muttered. "How could anyone do something like this...? And why...? Just to scare us, like this is all part of some sick game...? I just... I don't think I could ever understand something like that..."

She looked back at them and gave a slight nod. "Yeah, we should just let the police handle this. I hope they catch that guy soon." Vi paused with a sigh. "But I don't think anyone is going to forget this anytime soon. I don't think they can. At least not until this guy is caught. After that... Hopefully things will start going back to normal..."

Hearing the conversation about this whole incident, I make myself visible to all of them. My eyes glisten in the light as I look at them. I am prepared to defend myself if I must.

"In life I dealt with the darkness in the world, until that time... Even now I continue to protect others from that which threatens us all. I will stop this man, on my own if I must. No one else will die, not if I can help it."

"I don't think things can really be normal here. It's true this place is impressive but if they can't get a hold of a murderer on the loose then I don't understand the point of all these background checks and psych evals they have to go through whenever someone wants to enter the Camp." This was personal for Quake, he had people he cared about in the Camp, and he also had trusted the Camp's systems up until not, but his entire opinion about the place was being crumbled to pieces.

Quake noticed the boy approach, he didn't quite fully understand what he was talking about, it baffled him to the core, but what he did understand was that he planned to take revenge, and just as Quake opened his mouth another voice spoke.

"There will be no such thing." The deep monotone voice said. Revealing itself to belong to the Captain himself. He approached the group and folded his arms firmly, his bald head being reflected off of by the sun. "Nobody will be taking this matter into their own hands, we will not be allowing any vigilantism. Unless you don't think my men can handle this? I have kept this Camp safe for four whole years, under my command crime rate is at an all time low, and therefore there will be absolutely no need for a vigilante in my Camp."

Quake, who seemed to be somewhat smiling now at the speech from the Captain, spoke up aswell. "I agree. This is a matter for you and your men. It's a horrible thing and I trust that you will catch this maniac.

"We will certainly do our very best, that you have my word on." The Captain replied as he looked onto Vi. "Young lady, do you mind if I ask you some questions? Please, follow me." With that, the Captain made his way over to a small grey plastic table with black metal feet and sat down at one of the chairs on either ends.

"Digby, you're taking this very--" Aileen began to scold, until she listened to what he had to say. She supposed she had to admit he had a point, but to her that didn't excuse the action he had in mind to take. However, she knew that when Digby said she couldn't stop her, that meant she really couldn't. Although, she didn't need to be told that to realize that; it wasn't like she could just pick him up and carrying the squirming, angry boy away from those records. Heck, she couldn't do that with her little sisters.

With an agitated sigh, she relented, "Fine, I'll go with you. But only to make sure you don't do anything ridiculous while you're at it."

"I will do as you desire,only because I chose to," I say as my original self returns. Then I vanish from sight as I become invisible again . Moving unseen I return to the bench from before and sit down alone. A small singularity swirls in the middle of the palm of my right hand as I contemplate what to do next . I alter the gravity around me to protect myself from harm, making it stronger to anyone other than myself .

//Wyrstel you gotta stop dude, I don't like being mean but your character doesnt make sense, the way you portray him he seems like a psychopath, the way he speaks to a police captain he would be taken in for questioning immediately. You can't just have this bipolar character who isn't solidified. Like I get you aren't as experienced as everyone. I can't keep trying to work around what your character says because it makes no sense and it's p psychopathic. I don't want to be rude and kick you out but you aren't contributing. You go up to characters, say some edgy **** and then you leave. I can't be allowing it if it doesn't further any story progression. I don't hate you, I don't dislike you, but I think your style just doesn't fit this roleplay. You don't follow the rules of my rp, you roleplay in first person, your character is insanely god-moddy, you can't just control a singularity that's insane, your character weaknesses aren't weaknesses. Your character is a ghost dude I never should have allowed it. This takes place in the real world ghosts can't just exist that's not an ability. Controlling gravity is insane.

It pains me typing this I hate being a dick but I think you're better suited in a different rp than this.//

Vi listened quietly to everything Quake had to say. She frowned, afraid he may be right, and especially afraid that the murderer may not be caught. What would happen if they couldn't get him? She was sure she didn't want to know the answer to that. Still, she had hope that he could be caught. After all, they should have records on this person somewhere, and there hadn't been any problems in years, right? Surely that meant that the system had been working well all this time. Still, a horrifying question nagged in her mind. If the system was so great, then how did this even happen in the first place? Vi wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer to that either.

She had heard the boy's speech about revenge, but wasn't really sure what to make of it, other than it sounded like an absolutely horrible idea. She didn't get this guy, did he want to be a raisin? What had made him so sure he could accomplish catching a criminal alone? Did he not get a good look at the body? Did he somehow think the same wouldn't happen to him?

Thankfully, the captain approached to put a stop to any such idea. Good, hopefully everyone would comply. She didn't want any civilians getting hurt, or worse, while trying to be a hero. This was best left to professionals. The captain's words also gave Vi a sense of relief. With his track record, she had faith that the criminal would be caught. She nodded in agreement with Quake.

However, being requested for interrogation first sort of made her a bit nervous, even though she had done nothing wrong. "Wha--me?" She asked with a shaky tone of voice. "Uh, I mean, of course you mean me. Yes--wait, I mean, no. I mean... I'm, uh, I'm coming, sir." Vi felt a little embarrassed for tripping over her words so much. Regardless, she followed the captain over to a table. "I'm guessing you want me to sit down, huh?" She took a seat across from him and averted her gaze, looking at pretty much anything else. She started fidgeting with her clothes and nervously tapping her feet. The whole situation just left Vi very much unsettled and she just wanted it all to be over with already.

OOC: I'm done. Have fun by yourself. GOODBYE!!!

*a-ok emoji*

OC: DON'T... Just don't.

//Don't think it's funny. Asked you to leave cuz you don't follow the rules and you're politely doing so. Thank you. *bows* さようなら <-- That means goodbye, thought I'd save you the trouble of google translating. See I was tryna be nice, but now I don't feel so bad since you went ****nut ballistic. So, once again: さようなら.//


Digby's usually lazy not-giving--a-****-but-having-a-good-time-while-doing-so attitude had been tossed out of a five story window and had landed in a truck full of bricks. "There's a building a couple acres from here. We can take the bus and make it there by sundown. There's a building there with all sorts of files and legal documents. We had to go once for a field trip during our Law class at the Camp School."

Digby nodded and made eye contact towards the bus stop sign that resided nearby. "I just hope I can think of plan..."

-----

Ray sat at the table, his hands held together with both index fingers together and pressed against his lips. He opened his mouth as if seeming to speak, but then closed it and placed his fingers once more in the familiar place. After another moment he spoke, his hands now separate and on top of the table. "Young lady." He began, his deep voice would shiver through even the bravest of men, he spoke with such intimidation, with such authority. "I must ask you..." It seemed that Vi was about to be question, as if being treated as a subject, but then, he continued speaking. "You resided up high during the revealing. I would like to know if you saw anything out of the ordinary."

He was straight and to the point, and it seemed that, thankfully for Vi, she wasn't suspected, how could she be? The thought of her even being remotely able to do...that. Not only would her powers not let her but the Captain could tell just by looking into her eyes that she was innocent. In fact, he was certain of it. He already knew who had committed this heinous crime but he still had to follow procedure, lest someone else get hurt.

Oc: Ignore what was said above, but you were being far from nice. As for being op I made weaknesses but I guess you don't care. Just do your stupid roleplay, why should I care. I'm just a loser after all. Who'd want to roleplay with me any way?!

Aileen wasn't exactly the last person anyone would ask regarding break-ins and stealth, but she was far from the first. However, that didn't stop her from making her demands. "Run me by anything you come up with before you decide to act on it. We can't afford to get caught during this. We could get listed as suspects... and waste the police's time." The more energy and resources spent on two ruffian kids who couldn't get their noses out of things, the less that would go to finding the actual murderer who was still lurking about, possibly even plotting his or her next kill.

Michael nodded when Vi said that her head was alright, or at least, that she was used to it. He gave her a rather skeptical look at her large smile, however. He didn't have to be an empath to guess that it was fake, plastered on her face only for the benefit of the people around her, and maybe herself, as well. So it was no surprise that it so quickly and completely vanished not a moment after it had formed. And who could blame her, all things considered? As Vi went on, trying to make sense of the killer's motives, the empath tilted his own head in consideration. The most logical answer---to him, anyways---is that someone was trying to strike fear into the hearts of everyone who had come to see the unveiling of the statue, nearly everyone in the Camp. But like Vi said, why? What purpose was there? Why was someone trying to scare everyone in the Camp? He couldn't wrap his head around it.

As Vi was led away by the Captain, Michael was left with Quake and Salem. He glanced up at the former gentleman with wide eyes, almost asking what they should do.

The moment of silence felt like it lasted forever. Vi twitched in her seat uncomfortably, nervously tugging at her clothes. She continuously glanced around at everything that wasn't the man sitting in front of her. When he finally began, she gulped and gave a brief, nervous glance. "I'm sorry!" She blurted out the words before she even had a chance to think. Vi immediately covered her mouth out of embarrassment. She lowered them before continuing, "I mean, I didn't do anything wrong! Not unless sitting on lampposts is a crime," she chuckled nervously. She abruptly stopped. "It's not, is it? I mean, I didn't know that, and I never saw a sign that said "please don't sit on the lampposts," but how big of a problem is that, really? I mean, I only got on it in the first place 'cause I'm so short, you know?" Vi rambled on until she covered her mouth out of embarrassment again. She was probably just wasting the man's time with all her unnecessary comments.

It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't actually being accused of anything. Once she registered that and considered the man's words, she realized she was essentially being asked for help. More specifically, if she had seen anything strange during the event. Vi took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves. She had enough trouble remembering things on a good day, so she really needed to focus and think back to the event. Envisioning the scene in her head, she tried to map out everything that she saw. "Well... I don't think I saw anything different from everybody else." Vi sighed. "I was just excited to see the statue, and then when it was supposed to be revealed--poof! No statue! Just a wire frame a-and..." She trailed off, shaking her head and wrapping her arms around herself. "H-he looked like he'd been there awhile... 'Cause of the maggots... It was just awful..." After a long pause, Vi met the man's gaze. "You're gonna catch this monster... Right?"

//Digby: let's break into an office filled with security and somehow read the files.
Digby you're a moron smh//

Digby tried to contain his rage, like a boiling pot with the lid beginning to shake erratically. Steam was practically pouring out of every orifice on his body. "We'll say we're journalists. That we're doing a story on the history of the statue. We'll say the murder is even more incentive to continue our story. We get in, fool the guards, get a look at the files and leave. I'm sure the police will take a look at the files but they'll keep it under wraps. They're too occupied with the murder to go there now. We've gotta...No the bus isn't fast enough. I'll have to try and morph for this...I can...How much do you trust me?"

-----

Quake tried to get his mind wrapped around the situation, he placed a finger up to his chin and began to softly rub it back and forth, his eyes now closed trying to imagine the words that would next slide out of his mouth. "Michael. I'm sure you feel fear. I know you can't help it. But stay close to me, I'll try to keep positive to try and ease your mind. But it is important we think about this event, a murder after four entire years, it just doesn't make sense. There are monthly mental checks, future-seers can detect crimes before they're even committed, and any murder that's even attempted is stopped...It doesn't make sense that the future-seers wouldn't realize this was going to happen...Four years. Four years they've stopped murders before they happened, but how. How could this happen." Quake wished Vi was there, she'd be able to crack some sort of joke to ease the building fire of tension that was growing. "Michael I have a feeling that the police may not be able to handle this. I'm going to look into this myself. I know someone at the Morgue, went on a date once, didn't end well...But I still consider it a connection. The body will be there in a few hours at most. You don't have to come, it might be safer here where the police are, I might ask Vi if she'd like to come with me, I have a feeling we should all keep together from now on." The gentle man sighed, he wanted Vi's company at the morgue, not because he needed any help per se but rather that he couldn't stand the thought of being with her alone in a room, that woman, that date, it was all so vivid in his mind still, but he'd still have to confront her if it meant seeing this body. "Michael, would you like to stay here?"

-----

Ray sat there and listened to the babbling Vi, one didn't need to be psychic to realize the poor girl was nervous and terrified until realizing that she wasn't being detained. "Your name is Viviana Lucas. Your power is Substance Mimicry. I know all about my camp members, I need to know everyone to do my job properly, understand?" There was clearly some sort of point he was trying to get at here, but it seemed null, he knew that Vi didn't do this, it was impossible, she didn't have the ability or the nerve to do something this heinous. "I'm telling you this because I know you know something, young lady. I know someone you know is tied to this." Quickly flicking his eyes back and forth to make sure no one was listening in the Captain leaned in closer towards Vi and began to whisper. "I need to keep up appearances. He may be watching. Your powers would suit his plans well, I just know it. You need to stay out of this do you understand? Talk to no strangers, engage in no activities out of school until this is solved do you understand me?" Nonchalantly Ray eased back into his chair, his perfect posture almost intimidating. "Are we in agreement?"

Digby's loosely constructed plan of break-in was accompanied by an immensely unamused stare from Aileen. She vehemently fought the urge to shake her head in disapproval, instead thinking of ways to fill the holes in his scheme. Try as she might, it didn't look promising regardless. Still, she was afraid of how bad things could get if she wasn't around to stop it in its tracks. Perhaps she was comparing this scenario a little too much to her little sisters. She didn't care.

She sighed. "I trust you not to kill me." She almost added, "That's about it," but his blood pressure was already skyrocketing as it was.

As Quake began to speak, a thoughtful look on his face, Michael listened very carefully. The terrakinetic gentleman looked just as perplexed as the empath felt. No part of this made sense, not one bit of it. Like Quake said, someone should have seen this coming to prevent it. Yet no one did. Either that, or no one simply decided to stop it. He wasn't sure which possibility was more terrifying, that something had managed to slip past the senses of all who kept this Camp safe, or that one---or all---of them simply did nothing to prevent disaster. In a way, Michael almost felt some degree of responsibility for this. He couldn't see the future, no, but he could feel the emotions of everyone in this camp and, to some extent, their intentions. While he knew logically that it would be impossible to monitor everyone's emotions in such a way to detect dangerous shifts of moods, he couldn't help but feel some measure of responsibility for the poor man's---if it was a man---death.

As Quake went on, speaking of visiting an old flame at the morgue, and more importantly, the body of the dead man, Michael took a few moments to consider his options. Well, he could sit here with the police officers, who would be unable to get anything out of him other than nods or shakes of the head. Or he could go with Quake to visit the body of a deceased individual. While he was not keen on spending time with someone who had been so brutally murdered---he could just imagine the emotional imprint attached to that corpse---he was also in agreement in that none of them should be on their own right now. So with that having been decided, he stood and made his way over to stand beside Quake, giving him a nod that seemed to say, I'm coming along.


Just coming back into town was Arthur who, thank heavens, had missed the drama at the town square. He probably would have passed out had he seen the terrible display. As it was, he was blissfully ignorant of anything that had gone wrong, and was making his way to the center of town. He figured the crowd must have died down by now, so hopefully he could view the statue in relative peace. What he arrived at, however, was not a public display, but a crime scene.

"Vat?" he murmured to himself, feeling uneasy already. The crowds had indeed dispersed, but what was left of them were filled with fright and despair. Feeling himself turn invisible from the implications of what had happened, he wandered in closer, not at all sure if he should even be here.

Vi just nervously stared at him while he talked. She gave a slow nod, unsure of why exactly he was stating simple facts about her like that. Sure, it made sense that he needed to know the camp members, but what did that have to do with her? He wasn't about to suggest that she had something to do with this, was he? She certainly hoped not. However, that's what it sounded like, especially when he continued. "I'm sorry! I really don't think I know anything! I-I'd like to help, honest, but I don't think I'm at all useful to you, I'm sorry!" Vi was about to ramble on about how she was new to camp and couldn't possibly know many people, when he began to whisper to her.

She just blinked in confusion while she listened. She didn't know what to think of all this. The murder itself was difficult enough to handle, she was sure she didn't want to know exactly who was watching or what they would want her powers for. It was probably best Vi didn't think about it too much. At the words of warning, she began nodding her head profusely. "O-oh, uh, y-yes, sir! Agreed! I-I'll just stay out of things and let you handle them!" She paused a moment. "Um... So then, i-if that's all... Maybe I could go home now?" Vi felt she had enough excitement for one day and just wanted to stay somewhere relatively safe. Plus, she knew where she could get a nice, warm hug to hopefully calm her nerves, with a friend who would surely watch her back for any potential threats.

Digby knew that Aileen disapproved of everything he was spouted from his enraged mouth, but to be fair what else was new? It seemed to always be the case, every farfetched plan he had, every hair brained scheme, every assassination plot to take out the men on the tv shows he watched who were dating the girls he had crushes on, Aileen always seemed to be there shaking her head. It was an odd thing him being friends with someone so polar opposite of himself, but they had known each other since childhood and their friendship had always been the way it was, one might think Digby should get more friends but people seemed to be intimidated by him for being related to the founder, that and everyone he met liked to shove him inside of lockers and call him 'Digpee'. At Aileen's somewhat agreeance of trust, Digby began to let out low grunting noises, as if trying with all his might to do something, and that something was transform, he wasn't sure if it was the practice paying off or his complete anger towards the desecration of the statue but the transformation went smoother than any he'd ever performed. His arms now giant wings, reminiscent of that of a bat but much larger in scale and hopefully power. "Get on my back."

-----

Ray didn't seem to even so much as breathe as Vi went on her worried babbling, instead he sat there calm and collective, he was serious about something but he wasn't cold, there was a kindness inside of him that one could sense but he certainly seemed cold in this moment in the way his face sat so still and emotionless. When Vi asked permission to vacate the interrogation Ray complied. "Of course. But remember what I asked of you. It's for your own safety." The Captain took his leave, getting up from the chair he sat in and dusting his white uniform off slightly before making his way over to a cluster of officers that were formed into a circle.

"Sir! I was just telling my men I want them to search the records for any extra forms signed off for this statue that were previously unseen! I have a feeling that someone else we aren't aware of influenced the making of this statue, but as you know even us at the department don't know who signed off on this, as I recall there was a large meeting eleven years ago full of random members of the camp and out of that meeting came this idea and any one of them could have signed off on this but we don't have any names. I think it would be best to-"

"Enough. I already have someone checking in on that." Of course, he didn't. He had no need, he knew who'd done this. There was just some reason why he couldn't do anything about it but he knew. He was at that meeting.

-----

Quake appreciated the offer that Michael gave, he knew it would be hard no matter the decision for the boy but he thought it kind that he would give his companionship like that even knowing the stakes of the emotions. Now having a party of two Quake decided to make an attempt to make the duo a trio, he'd set his sights on Vi. It was odd but Quake felt a sense of responsibility for the camp and protecting it felt like a duty of his, after all it had saved his life. As Ray left the table Quake approached, blissfully unaware of the warning the captain had given to Vi about staying away from anything relating to this murder. "Vi," the giant said as he approached the girl who was seated in the cold plastic chair. "Michael and I may have a lead on this body, I know...A friend at the morgue who might be willing to let us examine the body for any clues, maybe we can see something the police didn't. Would you like to come along?"

Vi nodded to the captain and watched him leave. She leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. At least the interrogation was over with. Before she could get up, she heard a voice, which startled her and caused her to jump, making her fall out of the chair. Vi's powers activated because of this, causing her to absorb the rubber-band she was wearing. She didn't seem to notice this, however, as she was staring up at Quake. She sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just you," she muttered. She rose to her feet and turned to face him.

After listening to what the man had to say, Vi began shaking her head profusely, and waving her hands to further emphasize how much she couldn't join them. "Uh, n-no, I-I can't! I have this thing, see, this thing I have to take care of." She gulped. "It's a, uh, a very important thing! Super important, like can't wait another second important! So, yeah, I really can't go look at dead bodies with you guys, sorry. Sucks, I know, like aww rats!" She gave a forced, nervous smile, and lightly swung her fist to show how disappointed she apparently was. "Like if only I didn't have this thing, then I could go with you, 'cause t-that s-sounds super... Fun... But darn it, I have a thing, so... Yeah..." Vi gave a quick shrug. She began walking backwards away from them. "So I'm just gonna go do that thing now, so... I'll see you guys later!" With that, she turned and bolted so fast that she could have left a Vi-shaped dust cloud right where she had previously been.

While it seemed that she was a terrible, nervous liar, and admittedly she was, there was at least some truth to what little she actually told them. She did have something at home to take care of, it just wasn't the full story. Vi honestly wasn't exactly sure why she didn't tell them the truth herself. Perhaps it was out of fear, but she wasn't necessarily afraid of Quake or Michael. Although, the situation and the captain's warning was scary enough. She didn't know what to do, but she figured going back to her cabin and locking the door was probably her safest bet. Maybe she could just wait there for this whole thing to be over with.

Aileen's brows furrowed in concern from under her bangs as Digby groaned and grunted as if he were experiencing painful stomach cramps from another food poisoning incident from the school lunches. "Don't hurt yourself," she warned. Yet, to her surprise, the payoff to his extreme concentration had been the quickest and smoothest transition she had ever seen from him. She seemed locked into position for a second, even after being prompted a command, wanting very much to say something. Instead, she eventually leaned down and loosely wrapped her arms around his neck, not entirely thrilled about the prospect of being in such an awkward position, let alone while above the ground.

Michael followed the larger man as he made his way towards the substance mimicker, silently staying by his side. When asked to come along, it was obvious that Vi had no intention of doing any such thing. He gave her a perplexed look at her near sputtering, more a look of questioning than disconcerting. He wasn't sure why she was so insistent on not coming along, nor did he pretend to understand why she was so jumpy. There was a certain degree of fear he could sense off of her, but this was no surprise, considering all that had happened in the last hour. Eyes following the captain, who had departed not moments before, he idly wondered if he had said something to upset her. He could sense a great deal of unease coming from the captain himself, though he wasn't entirely sure why, other than the obvious---that he had a murder on his hands that needed to be solved. There was also a sense of... almost a sense of knowing coming from the man, but he could not understand what this meant.

Turning back to Vi, who was just now making her hasty retreat, he then looked up at Quake with owlish eyes. He glanced back to the captain, then looked back to the towering man. Somehow Michael got the feeling that the captain would not appreciate their involvement. Were they really going to risk taking a look at the body? He tried to convey all of this and more in his simple look.


His skin was invisible, but the rest of him was not, his glasses seemingly suspended in the air above his shirt and bowtie. Arthur glanced around warily, not sure what he would find if he kept going further into the city. He should probably just go home to the relative safety of his cabin, but something made him trudge onward, as if some force was pushing him forward.

Digby thanked the gods that Aileen was so light, her frail bones made it easier to carry the giant. Although not under any specific time limit Digby wanted to get to the records room as fast as possible, something was up and so was he, into the sky that is, something he hadn't done much, he'd been able to glide short distances but he always landed into the dirt face first, this time however his adrenaline was pumping, he felt in complete control, something he'd never felt before, maybe that was the key, determination, a purpose, a drive, he'd never had any true reason to need his transformations and maybe that was it, maybe he'd finally cracked the case. "Hey, you hanging on alright up there? It might take a few minutes to get there." The wind made his voice sound choppy as whenever he spoke the high speeds of the air basically shoved the words right back into his mouth.

-----

Quake wasn't even able to get a word in before Vi had zoomed off, so fast it seemed to make the grass that had been below her start to smoke, Quake could have used a good smoke, a cigar and maybe some spiced rum in a chilled glass, lounging in a velvet maroon chair as he sat by a roaring fireplace, his legs kicked up on a leg rest as he listened to the sweet calming melodies of-No, wait, Quake had no time to fantasize, he had a place to be, and it seemed Vi wanted no part of that, which confused him greatly as he pegged Vi for the type of person who actually would enjoy surveying a dead body for clues.

"Well, it seems were on our lonesome for this. I would have liked for her to come along but...Hm?" He'd noticed Michael's doubt, and it was valid, to waltz into a morgue to investigate a body, after all Quake was no detective, how could he see something a police officer wouldn't? But he had to try. "I have to see this through. I need to get to that body, there aren't a lot of people in this camp I care about, but there are a few and those few are enough to make me feel like it's my duty to stop this. I'm going Michael, I'm heading for the bus now, feel free to follow behind." and with that he made his way towards the nearest bus stop.

Fighting against her faltering nerve enticing her to squeeze her twig-like arms around the boy's neck like a python, Aileen replied through gritted teeth, "I'll be fine as long as we get there." "And fast." She very much did not enjoy being in such a precarious position when flying through the air at such a dizzying height, something that struck her as comically ironic for a second when she considered how she towered over the rest of the folks around. She decided to take her mind off of her discomfort by paying attention to Digby's movements, monitoring the continuous beating of his large wings. This had been new too; the best the shapeshifter could ever do was glide, and that had been absent of any safe landings. A pang of dread made her gut tense at the realization that they might find themselves face-first into the ground. His controlled rage was assisting him in his flight, but would it when the time came to land?

During Quake's silence, Michael couldn't exactly tell what he was thinking. He was no telepath, to be sure, but he could usually pick up some form of intent or the like. All he could sense from the man was a sense of sheer determination. To protect the Camp, perhaps. When he spoke up, the empath simply blinked at him like an owl that wasn't sure what it was looking at. He didn't mind that they would be on their own. Heck, there could have been a large swarm of them coming with them and he would have felt the same. Would the Captain be there already? What would he think of two young men imposing on part of a crime scene? He wasn't too sure they would be entirely safe doing this, but for one, he didn't want to be left alone, and two, something nagged at him that this really wasn't something the local police would be able to handle. Maybe he's been listening to Quake too much and was getting affected by his emotions, but either way, Michael wasn't going anywhere but with Quake. So he followed behind him rather like a loyal puppy, sitting down at the bench at the bus stop.

Vi had quickly bounced on home in her rubber form and soon arrived at her cabin. She only paused outside long enough to stop herself from repeatedly bouncing and deactivate her powers. Not even a second after opening the door was she greeted by a small, blue bundle of furry joy, sounding off howls and barks of cheer, letting anyone within hearing distance know that Viviana Lucas had returned home to her cabin. The girl chuckled softly, feeling a little better already with the warm welcome. She bent over and picked up her Corgi companion. She held him close, snuggling her face up against his fur coat. Sensing that she needed a hug right now, the dog quieted down and nuzzled her.

"Oh, Arándano, something completely terrible happened today..." she muttered to him. Vi took a moment to lock the door behind her before going over to the couch to sit down. She continued to hug her furry friend. "There was a body where the statue should've been... A-And there's a murderer on the loose! It's all just really scary..." She paused before continuing, and whispered, "you'll protect me, won't you?" He gave a soft bark and nuzzled her again.

Digby could sense the 'slight' doubt in Aileen as she held on, hopefully tight, to the flying shifter. Soaring through the air it felt as if he could reach out and touch the glowing white clouds, but he didn't dare. Looking down he could see cabins for miles, the green grass turned to concrete buildings which turned into fields of flowers. "I can go higher!" His headstrong nature was a curse, there was no redeemable aspect of that trait and that showed, especially since he had another life in his hands to get to safety. He began to soar higher, his wings flapping every few seconds as he did, he felt like he could reach space and grab stars to rearrange them into whatever form of new constellation he wanted. His idiocy almost got him killed a few times in the past, falling out of trees while trying to climb to the top and digging holes to reach the core of the spinning Earth, but now he really was at the top, that's what he always wanted, he'd tamed his inner beast. "Hold on!" Digby screeched out in maniacal laughter as he dove diagonally towards the ground before tilting back up at the last moment, gaining more air. Unfortunately for him they had reached their destination and it was time to land, he didn't want to be stupid during this, which was a change. Digby began to flap his wings less and less, going down and then a little up in the process until he reached the ground below. His arms began to form back, bulging and changing in color until they were his regular arms again. "Well...I didn't kill us yet."

-----

Quake too did feel the breeze as it wafted through his dark brown hair in every direction as the wind seemed indecisive on its destination. His eyes stayed forward, not even looking over to Michael as he joined him on the bench. Emi. I pray you forgive me. He could hear the bus in the distance, its wheels grinding and bumping over a pile of gravel that had blown onto the road, its tires screeched to a halt followed by what sounded like air being release, that was the sound of the bus lowering. Quake took his leave towards the bus, his steps onto the two stairs that led up to the main level seemed to sink the bus even lower than it already was. The bus wasn't too bad and it was still day time so there probably wouldn't be anyone to make Michael feel uneasy which was good, of course if there were Quake could take him. He thought back to the shark boy and almost shivered. Quake seemed more quiet than usual, not giving Michael much attention as he took a seat in the very back row of the bus, the soft cushioned seats provided some warmth from the cool air conditioning blowing through the bus. "You're my trainee if anyone asks. Although not as if you could convey that but if anyone asks who you are don't panic. The morgue is its own separate area, still connected to the main precinct, but connected via long hallway, it's its own building so as long as we keep our cool and can punch in the correct key code somehow then we should be able to get in perfectly fine."

"I can go higher!" he says. "I can get us both killed no sweat!" he should be saying. However, after much strained grasping of Digby's shirt and desperate imaginations that the two were anywhere else but dangerously high above ground, Aileen felt her feet gently touch the ground. She released her grip and snapped away, as if fearing that the absolute maniac would have a change of heart and decide to take off again.

Sighing and stretching the tension out of her arms, she eyed the entrance of the law firm. Well, now she almost wished Digby would fly away. It couldn't be worse than trespassing on private property. "I hope you know what you're doing," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

After a quiet moment of cuddles, Vi set her furry companion down in her lap. However, he didn't stay there long. The Corgi jumped down and hurried to the door. He pawed at it with a soft whine before turning to Vi with a single bark.

The girl frowned. "Oh, you want out, don't you?" She heard him give a bark as a response. Vi sighed. "I did promise to take you for a walk when I got back..." She trailed off with uncertainty, hesitant on leaving the safety of her cabin.

The Corgi whined again and gave her the puppy dog eyes. "Dano, no! That's cheating!" He persisted in his adorable manipulation tactic. Vi tried to fight it, but she knew she was fighting a losing battle. She sighed. "Alright, alright, we'll go for a quick walk." She got up and headed for the door.

Dano barked excitedly. He jumped up on the door and wiggled with enthusiasm. He jumped down when Vi turned the knob, and was immediately out the door once it was open a crack. Vi chuckled softly. "Hey, wait for me!" She hurried outside to catch up to him, but he hadn't gone far. He gleefully circled her as she walked along. "So, where should we walk to today, Dano? I kind of don't want to go far."

As the bus drew near and Quake climbed aboard, the empath mutely followed him, joining him at the far back of the vehicle. He sat next to him, probably seeming like a dwarf in comparison to the young man's larger build. As the bus rolled down the road, Michael regarded his companion with an inquisitive eye. He was being quieter than usual, though given what they were about to do, the empath supposed he'd probably be quiet, too. Not that he made a noise to begin with. As Quake spoke up, Michael gave him a nod of understanding. It wasn't as if people could ask who he was. Well, they could, but they wouldn't be getting an answer out of him. Quake would be the one doing all the talking. So someone talking to him didn't concern him, as he couldn't answer anyways. What did concern him was how they were going to get in in the first place. According to his companion, a key code was required, and the mute boy hadn't the slightest idea how they were going to obtain that. Unless Quake's friend was willing to help them out, he didn't see how they were going to get access to the morgue.

Thoughts of the morgue itself were making him slightly uneasy. The dead did not have any emotions themselves, but they seemed to leave an emotional imprint. Either that, or the grief of the living who visited the dead seeped into the corpse and implanted itself there. Michael didn't pretend to understand it, though he did make a habit of avoiding graveyards. And hospitals. He can't say he's ever had to avoid a morgue before, but he was sure it wasn't going to be a thrilling experience. Still, they needed to find out what they could about the murder, so the empath was just going to have to deal with whatever emotions he might face in such a place.

"I never do." He said as he confidently trudged towards the doors, "and maybe that's a good thing." Wait that didn't make much sense...Well it sounded cool. It would be an understatement to say that Digby was afraid, but it would also be an incorrect assessment to assume he was afraid of getting caught, no, he was afraid of not finding the answers he sought or worse: finding answers that he didn't want to find.

The building couldn't have been more than a story, but Digby remembered fondly from his last time there that they kept millions of files underground in the sub-basement, alphabetized and constantly kept up to date. Weariness drifted into Digby like a ghost trying to possess a host, he had no idea who signed those documents, there would be no way he could just make a lucky guess, on the other hand those specific documents must have been kept somewhere else, like on a computer, digital copies. But how would they ever find it...

He stopped dead in his tracks in front of the black tinted glass doors, "I don't know if I can do this, I mean, I know I have to do this, but I don't know if I can, y'know? No. No I can do this. All my life I've been this slacker, nobody's ever held me on a pedestal or expected much of me, I guess that's my own fault but, now I guess I'm starting to realize things can't get done unless someone does them, and I gotta do this. We gotta do this. You still in? We might get in a loooot of trouble, last chance to back out."

-----

The bus ride itself was quiet, that much couldn't be helped considering the circumstances, even if Quake attempted to make conversation it wouldn't have gone anywhere, adversely the inner machinations of Quake's mind were formulating, it was a bit foolish to rush in like this head first into a camp government building with no credentials or plan of how to get in or out but in Quake's enraged mind it had to be done and so a plan had to be made, and yet nothing came.

It was Michael's own choice to come, Quake had to keep reassuring himself of that, he'd hate to get the little guy in danger but he'd known what he was signing up for the moment he stepped onto the creaky metallic staircase that led onto the bus. the hour went by quickly, at least to Quake it did, lost in thought and staring blankly out the window the entire ride as if in a trance. Hypnotized by the passing by of the trees all blending into one amalgamation of green and then warping into a distorted image of Quake himself, screaming, flames surrounding him and blocking his way two young girls, his arm extended over the blazing fire as far as he could reach, his age rapidly decreasing until he was a small child, the girls getting farther away as it happened. Finally they were gone and so went the flames, now replaced with darkness, not a light to be seen but Quake in full vision, no not Quake, Viridium. As the silence settled in just as quickly did it end as it was filled with the screams of the small child as a figure came out from the shadows, the gun in his hand pointed straight at the boys head, the screams became wailing sirens and then the sound of a screeching, tires screeching to be exact, the noise jolting Quake out of his nightmare. The giant was jarred by his experience but nonetheless he had a job to do and the past wasn't going to stop him. He stood from his cramped little seat, the bus creaking as his large boots stomped one after another. "Thank you." He said to the driver as he exited the bus and stood before the building in front of them.

That didn't make any sense. It didn't even sound cool. Be that as it may, Alieen supposed she had bitten off Digby's head enough times that day. If she wanted him to make it out in one piece, she'd have to keep him focused. As such, she remained quiet throughout those tense minutes of searching, ducking her head as they passed doorways and flicking her eyes here and there in the case of any silent pursuers.

When he halted in front of where she figured would be answers, she still said nothing save for, in a whisper, "I'll keep watch while you look." There was much more she wanted to respond with, however, given the things Digby had remarked about himself, but with their current predicament, it wasn't the time for it. If he was going to search through the room without being detected, they would have to wait for a lull in the corridor's activity. Soon enough, there was a window of opportunity. "There's no one looking. Be quick."

Michael looked to Quake with a concerned expression on his face. While he couldn't read thoughts, he could read feelings, and what he was feeling from Quake was... dark... foreboding. He didn't pry, however. Not that he could if he wanted to. Though his empathy itself was what could be considered invasive in terms of one's privacy, the empath himself was very considerate of others' confidentiality. So he kept silent as he normally would as the giant experienced whatever it was that was distressing him. He sensed it was... a memory, perhaps? A nightmare? He couldn't tell, nor did he particularly want to pry.

So when the bus came to a screeching halt, Michael simply stood and followed Quake off of the bus. As they stood in front of the building before them, the empath looked up questioningly at the giant, mutely asking if this was the place. He was also considering whether they should really be doing this, but he, obviously, said nothing on the matter. Would they get in trouble if they were caught here? Probably. And yet Michael felt that it was necessary. Perhaps it was arrogant of him, but he felt that, just maybe, empathic impressions left on the body would reveal something to him that would go unnoticed by the officials. He had to hope, right?


Arthur, oblivious to what had gone on in the city, was walking by himself. He was completely invisible, as was typical. He had with him his violin case. Perhaps he'd go play out where there was no one to spectate. Well, he could have just as easily done that at home, he supposed. But he wanted to get out, for a change. Dammit, he wanted to make friends, despite knowing that this really wasn't his strong suit. Maybe he'd bump into someone friendly?

Dano was just trotting along, happy as could be, while he looked around at all the sights and sniffed at everything he came across. Vi was close behind, occasionally looking around a bit nervously. Recent events caused her to be more alert and cautious of her surroundings than she otherwise would be.

It wasn't long before Dano caught the scent of something else, or rather someone else. He froze, hyper alert, surveying the scene like a protective little guard dog. However, he didn't see a person there. His nose refused to be fooled, though, so he followed the scent until he was right next to it. Then he let out a series of loud barks to alert his master to the danger.

"Ah!" The sudden loud noise practically made Vi jump out of her skin. "Dano! Don't do that! You startled me!" She looked around to see what her dog might be barking at, but she didn't see anything. Oh, great, he was barking at nothing again. Crazy dog. "Dano, there's nothing there, just hush already!"

However, Dano ignored her and continued to bark at this invisible something he had found, certain that he had discovered some kind of threat to his master.

Now normally nothing would have been able to sneak up on Arthur. Over the course of his life, he has learned that he needs to see someone before someone sees him. This obviously didn't work out 100% of the time, however, as was made abundantly clear when the dog managed to sneak up on him. The sudden barking from right beside him made him jump out of his skin, his grasp on his violin case slipping so that it toppled to the ground. No longer in contact with the rest of his body, it turned visible the moment he lost his hold on it. It thunked noisily onto the ground, a sound that distressed the musician more than the dog's sudden barking did.

"Oh no," he breathed. "No no no no no." Immediately stooping down, he opened the violin case to see if the instrument inside had been damaged. Thankfully, it hadn't been. His grandmother would kill him if he so much as scratched this violin. For once in his life, something had turned out alright, as his precious possession had not been damaged in the slightest.

He was brought out of his worries by the continued barking, and the sound of a girl's voice. Oh ****... In his startlement, his invisibility faltered, no longer extending to his clothes and instead only covering his body. He obviously noticed, for a sudden wave of terror washed over him.

"Oh mein Gott, I am so sorry!" he cried. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. It was practically ingrained in him at this point. Fumbling over his words, he sputtered, "I-I d-didn't see you! I vasn't... I vasn't lookink! I'm-I'm..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. Standing from his crouched position and hugging his violin case to his chest as if it could protect him, his body still invisible but his clothes moving seemingly on their own with a pair of glasses suspended in the air, he said, "I shoulden... I shoulden g-go now."

Vi jumped when the violin case seemed to appear out of nowhere and thunked on the ground. She was startled to the point where she bonded with the rubberband she was wearing on her wrist, absorbing the material and becoming rubber herself. Where did that case come from? How could it just appear like that? Even more surprising, a pair of clothes and glasses suddenly made themselves visible to her. "What the--?!" She didn't have time to finish that train of thought before she heard a voice. They talked?! Clothes don't talk! That would be ridiculous! Although, what was considered ridiculous in this camp? Maybe clothes could be sentient. Whose to say they couldn't be?

Finally registering what... The voice... Had said, Vi realized they sounded more frightened than she was. They also had an accent. Was it... German? She wasn't sure, but it was a little difficult to understand some of what they were saying. She did understand the fear, though. This helped her to calm down a little, since anyone, or anything, that sounds that afraid can't be a threat, right?

Dano hadn't stopped his barking, however, still intent on protecting his master. Finally, Vi snapped at him. "Dano! ¡Silencio!" At the command, Dano looked at her and gave a quiet whine before settling down. He sat there, staring down the floating pair of clothes, but remained quiet.

Vi sighed and addressed... Where that voice had come from. "Uh, hey! W-wait! You don't have to go... Listen, uh, sorry about my dog, Dano, he can be a little over-protective. He doesn't bite, though! I mean, he's a sweet dog once he gets used to you. He's just not too good with, uh... Strangers. We're sorry for startling you, though."

As the girl before him was seemingly turned into rubber, the musician jumped slightly, not at all expecting this development. Geez, what else could this person do that he wasn't aware of? Maybe coming to this Camp wasn't the best idea. At least back home, all he had to deal with was verbal abuse and punches being thrown. Here it was practically the world of Harry Potter in terms of how dangerous it seemed. Was he going to get zapped by lightning before the schoolyear even started? He certainly prayed not. All he wanted from this place was a new start, a chance to live peacefully as the freak of nature he was. But that might just not work out the way he'd hoped.

At the barked command at the dog, Arthur himself jumped again, though as his thoughts were more on the words themselves, he calmed slightly afterwards. Was that... Spanish? Maybe Latin? He wasn't entirely certain. He was lucky he spoke English well enough. Though he was fascinated by languages other than the two he knew, so he was bound to be curious. This curiosity did little to dilute the fear he felt right now, however. Even as the dog stood down, he was still nervous about the girl he had just run into.

Now that he wasn't completely engulfed by fear, it allowed him a better look at who he had happened to come across. Though it was hard to discern her features due to her rubbery composition, he could tell that she was a bit shorter than him and... was she his age? Give or take a few years? Now normally being larger than someone would make a person feel safer, but Arthur felt no such thing. He's been beaten by people who were dwarfed by him before, so it did little to calm his nerves. The fact that she was a girl didn't calm him down any, either. Girls could be vipers, he knew that very well.

Yet instead of berating him or something similar, Arthur was surprised to hear that the girl was apologizing to him about her dog. Ah, she hasn't yet realized how much of a dork he was. This happened from time to time. Someone, upon meeting him, would occasionally be decent to him, only to learn what he was really like over time and either stop interacting with him entirely or become one of the bullies that threatened him. He knew the routine by now. Yet some part of him dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, he had stumbled upon someone decent. He frowned at his train of thought. That sort of thinking got himself in more trouble than it did any good.

For several moments he stood there in awkward silence before he suddenly started berating himself again. What are you doing? Don't just stand there! Say something! Problem was, he didn't know what to say. So he said the first thing that came to mind. "D-Don't... don't be sorry." Okay, not bad. Not all that good, but not bad, either. Feeling he should say more, he stuttered, "I-I'm... You..." Dammit, could he speak articulately for once in his life?! Clearing his throat, he tried again. But all that came out was, "Sorry."

Vi waited in silence for a response, wondering if she had spooked him too much. Should she speak up? Should she just leave? She really wasn't sure. She gave a passing glance at Dano, who simply met her gaze and tilted his head. He seemed as confused as her. Maybe he didn't know what to do either, or maybe he was just wondering when they could continue their walk. Vi knew she had to keep her promise to him and let him get his daily exercise, but she was admittedly a little curious about the floating sentient clothes.

Finally, she got a response, however short and poorly thrown together it was. He still seemed scared. Did he have a fear of dogs, or was it because of something else? "Me?" She questioned, trying to figure out what he meant to say. Was he saying he was scared of her? Vi stole a quick glance at her hand and was reminded of the form she had previously taken. "Oh..." Probably not the best impression to make on someone who's already freaking out. "Uh, hold on," she said, before deactivating her powers. "There. Better? Sorry, it's a reflex when I'm startled."

She paused briefly. "Uh, sorry for apologizing?" Her voice sounded uncertain, "but I think I'm the one in the wrong here. I mean, we startled you first." Realizing she hadn't even introduced herself, she chuckled and gave herself a light smack on the side of her head. "Duh, manners," she muttered. "I'm Viviana, well Vi for short, and this is my dog, Arándano, but I just call him Dano. Say hi, Dano." The Corgi chimed in with a bark. Vi smiled, "it's nice to meet you."

Arthur saw the girl look down at her dog quizzically. Crap, he was screwing this up, wasn't he? Well of course he was, he knew that much. But what was he supposed to do in a situation like this? What was he supposed to say? He didn't know.

When she deactivated her power with a word of apology, however, he instantly felt bad. He was standing here half invisible, and she was concerned that her powers were unsettling him? With a great deal of effort, he deactivated his invisibility. He wasn't too keen on having her see what he looked like, but it only seemed fair, considering she'd returned to human form herself. Looking down at the ground and refusing to meet her eyes, he said, "S-Sank you." To be honest, the girl assuming her regular form did do much to put him at ease. But he was still nervous. What would happen when it became obvious to her, through his clothing or posture or manner of speaking, that he was a dork? He supposed there was only one way to find out.

As she went on, insisting that she was in the wrong, Arthur tilted his head confusedly. That's... probably the first time someone's ever said that to him. Usually people were more than willing to pit the blame on him. Why was now different? A glimmer of hope burned in his chest. Was it possible that things would be different here? He didn't let himself hope too much. Hoping tended to lead to disappointment in his experience. So instead of hoping, he simply kept his head lowered, not having the courage to meet her gaze.

At her next words, he nearly did look up at her, if only in shock. It was... nice to meet him? That's... definitely the first time someone's ever said that to him. Fighting back a goofy grin that threatened to take over his face, he nodded, saying, "I-It's nice to meet you, too." Suddenly remembering his own manners, he made eye contact with her for a brief moment while saying, "My name is Arsur." He winced at the pronunciation of his own name. "Arthur," he corrected himself, forcing himself to say the th sound. "My name is Arthur."

When the boy deactivated his powers, Vi could finally see him for what he really was. Oh, it's a person! She smacked her forehead. No kidding, of course it's a person! Having sentient clothes walking around would just be silly. Stupid Vi, you watch too many movies. She couldn't help but give an embarrassed chuckle at her own imagination and foolish ideas. Hopefully, he hadn't caught on to that and realized what a complete idiot she was.

Looking her new acquaintance over, she noticed he didn't quite tower over her as much as most people did. Well, that was a nice change. At least she wouldn't have to strain her neck to meet his gaze. Vi did notice that he sort of looked like a nerd, though. Was that why he was so timid and fearful, or was there more to it than that? She couldn't say for sure, but she sure remembered seeing her fair share of nerds being stuffed into lockers at school. Those poor kids didn't deserve to be bullied like that. If this kid was bullied, too, then it would explain his behavior.

Vi gave a bigger grin when he said it was nice to meet her. Okay, good, maybe he was getting more comfortable now. When he first said his name, Vi's expression changed to a more confused one and she tilted her head slightly. Ar... Sir? She hadn't heard of a name like that before. She was about to ask if she heard that right, but questioned if that would sound rude or not. Vi didn't want to seem like she was making fun of his name, no matter how different it may be.

However, the boy solved the issue when he corrected himself. Oh, Arthur! Okay, that made more sense. It was just his accent getting in the way of the pronunciation. "Arthur. Okay, I'll remember that," she nodded. "So where are you headed off to? Got any fun plans for the day?"

At Vi's embarrassed chuckle, Arthur misinterpreted it as one of amusement. Was she laughing at how nerdy he looked? He lowered his eyes even further, hugging his violin case self-consciously. He waited for the mocking and berating comments to come, but to his surprise, they never did. Instead, he was asked a simple question, on top of the promise that she would remember his name. He had to keep himself from chuckling. He somehow doubted she'd remember his name.

He didn't voice this, however. Instead, praying that this person might be different from literally everyone else he's met in his life, he answered, "I vas goink to das city center, to see das unveiling of das statue, but... somethink seemed wrong. Do you... do you know vat happened?"

At the mention of the statue, Vi's tan skin paled like that of a ghost, or as if she had seen one. Her eyes widened with a look of terror as she remembered the scene from earlier. She clasped her hands tightly together close to her chest, practically gripping her shirt for dear life. The image flashed again in her mind. The wire frame of the missing statue, the body lying in the middle of the stage, shriveled up like a raisin, maggots crawling out of the loose clothing. So devoid of life, of health, of any sense of peace. The sheer look of horror on his face was almost as disturbing as the state of the body itself. Vi was sure she would never be able to eat raisins again. No, she would never be able to sleep again. At least not until that murderer, that monster, was caught. She only hoped it would be soon.

A chorus of barks broke the silence, causing Vi to yelp and spring up high into the air. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she completely lost track of her surroundings. She didn't even realize that her fear caused her to absorb her rubberband again, or that the very same fear caused Dano to react the way he did. She noticed he was now barking at Arthur again, clearly blaming the innocent lad for Vi's change in mood. She didn't even feel like yelling at him now. She just wanted to curl up and disappear somewhere safe, so she rolled up into a ball and waited for her current rubber form to bounce to a sitting position on the ground.

Once the bouncing had slowed to a stop, she unraveled herself into a more natural sitting position, holding her knees close to her. Vi took a deep breath and deactivated her powers. "Dano," she whispered, clicking her tongue to get his attention. He stopped barking and walked over to her. With a soft whine, he nuzzled against her. She stretched out her legs a bit, picked him up and hugged him. She buried her face into his soft, warm fur for a moment.

After another deep breath, she lifted her head and glanced at Arthur briefly, before turning her gaze back to Dano. "Believe me... You don't want to know..." she said, softly. "I will probably have nightmares for the rest of my life from knowing..." Vi tried to force a laugh, or at least a chuckle, but it got caught in her throat and ended up sounding more like a cough.

//boy it's been too long...//

Digby took a deep breath, only problem was he sorta forgot how to breathe halfway through due to the nervousness he'd felt emanating from his chest, it was as if his heart was holding its breath aswell. This was no time to let the lack of oxygen flow get in the way however, there was a job to be done. Finally Digby remembered how to use his lungs and so the operation began. Years of watching action and heist movies finally were about to pay off, well not really because this wasn't a movie and Digby didn't have the money for grappling hooks and lasers for cutting holes in glass. Regardless, he entered the building, the hall was compact, very little space to move, Digby didn't mind small spaces and yet even he felt claustrophobic. Many doors lined the sides of the hallway, all with tinted glass and blue coloration, no labels just numbers, most of them must have been offices for government workers and all had key card readers accompanied by locks. Except for one. The stairs. This is insane what if I get caught...No, not this needs to be done. But wait why can't I just let the cops know I could be in danger, that maybe there's a target on my bloodline...You idiot you dragged Aileen into this and you could have just told the POLICE. Digby rubbed his palms aggressively against his forehead and began to head for the exit to abandon and tell the police until another thought popped into his indecisive noodle. What if the police are in on it. That one little thought. It was terrifying. Maybe a side effect of having watched all those action movies that had the police in on it with the bad guys and even in real life it was a real possibility. "Okay." He turned back around once more and heading down the stairs. This had to be done... Another door in the subbasement that led into the giant file room...Key card. Lock. Fingerprint scanner. Eye scanner. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" With reckless abandon Digby slammed his fists against the door...Someone had left it open as it swung in fully, hitting the wall on the other side and probably leaving a dent from the door handle. "...Whoa this really is like an action movie." Not a single thought about why the door had been left open crept into his mind, instead it was heave ho and ahead we go, that was his motto at this moment.

There were millions of cabinets, all alphabetized and all locked. Digby whispered to himself under his breath. "Must be on a computer, these files are too important...No...No wait a minute this was ten years ago, the systems weren't the way they were back then...Oh god I have to find it in ALL of these cabinets!?" So he started to look. Once again, the obvious thought of why were there no employees here at the time didn't creep into his head, but instead heave ho and ahead we go, and ahead he went, straight to 'S'

"God there must be billions of files here..." Every step Digby took on the hard cement floor created an echo throughout the large metallic basement, one could go insane living down there all by themselves. Luckily for Digby no key card was needed just a key and a simple shift into some long sharp claws fixed that easily. So he began to rifle and rifle and rifle until. "STATUE!" The word echoed throughout the basement like a firework exploding. A single folder marked 'Statue' Dated ten years ago. Digby grabbed the file and opened it up. There they were. All the documents. "Oh my god..." Digby's eyes grew wide as he saw what was on the papers, he flipped through every single page, his heart pounding faster and louder with every turn. "THEY'RE BLANK!" There was the second firework. Just blank pieces of paper. Digby threw the folder to the ground in anger, in rage, in despair. But from the pages of the folder came a newspaper clipping. The boy picked it up and read the headline. "11 gather to discuss plans for Founder memorial." A second newspaper clipping behind it. The Headline. "Mayor dies of Sudden Heart attack." and a third with the headline. "The Reaper: Morgue Misplacement or Mischief Afoot? 9 bodies have gone missing from the morgue in the past month, one of those bodies being the late Mayor. Police are dubbing this sick body snatcher as 'The Reaper'" and one final clipping reading. "Reaper Reaps what he Sows: Today Anton Jesk has been unmasked as the body stealing 'Reaper' and faces life in prison."

Before Digby's mind could even begin to try and wrap around what he'd found, he heard a noise. The door to the room slamming shut. A finale of firework noises came from his brain as it screamed, but his mouth made no such noise, he was too afraid and his mouth too dry. Quickly he pocketed the newspaper clippings and prepared for the worst.

-----

Quake stood at the front door of the morgue. This was it, time for Quake to face one of his biggest fears...Her. "Michael, we should be okay, this Morgue isn't connected to any police buildings, it's just a morgue in itself, there's different sectors inside the building but I know where we need to go and there should theoretically, unless she quit or was fired which is actually now that I think of if very likely, only be one person there. The body should have been dropped off and left for autopsy. We shall go in, I'll convince Emi to let us see the body and you can try to get some vibes off of it." He was very to the point, there was no use in not having a 100% solid plan, well, that is if Emi still worked there even. But as Quake entered the building and made his way to the door that they required to go through it became blatantly obvious by looking through the slightly tinted window that Emi still worked there. The way everything was meticulously organized and how even for a morgue it was scarily sanitary, you could even eat off the floor and not worry. Quake Knocked on the door and waited. A pair of eyes popped up and peered through the window. The sound of the door unlocking frantically preceded and a very small young woman opened the door, just barely. She had red hair and dimples, she must not have been taller than 4'10". "Go away." She slammed the door. "Emi! Please! This is important I need to talk to you!" The door opened once more and the petite young lady appeared once more. "Go **** yourself." The door slammed on them once again.

Quake signed and ran his large hands through his hair. "Well, Michael...Don't suppose you have the power to make people open doors?"

If Aileen had known what was going through that boy's head, she would have thought him an idiot. Even still, she thought him an idiot anyway, due his grand idea to trespass into a government building. She could only hope that he wouldn't get into trouble while she was-- Oh, for God's sake--

"Digby," she said through gritted teeth before turning to fly down the stairs, mentally preparing herself to save that dumb kid's skin. After nearly tripping on said stairs and earning herself a concussion, she skid to a halt upon finding that absolutely nothing was wrong, and that Digby had just screamed in rage at a door. Her mouth was agape in preparation of projecting the guidance that seemed to always bounce off his ears, but nothing came out. As she took in the sight of the door, which had swung back as if fleeing in fear of his sudden and extremely loud outburst, she noticed that it wasn't a simple lock-and-key barrier.

"Digby," she said again, the sharp edge in her tone having filed down from the wave of unease pressing on her mind. Ducking her head and striding behind him, she made a point of glancing behind at the gaping doorway every few seconds as he continued his search. "We shouldn't be here." Well, that much was obvious. "I mean, it's too easy. Who leaves a door with that much security just... open, like that?" It must have been said too quietly, nerves making her unable to mutter above the noise in Digby's head, as he ignored every plea to retreat from the underground room and continued to shout at inanimate objects for being inconvenient to his plans. Honestly, what did he expect, coming in here? That the answer to the statue dilemma would be resolved just by breaking into a--

"Wait." Aileen leaned over Digby's shoulder with narrowed eyes. "I remember that case." Vaguely so, however. It was a topic of discussion between her parents, and her naturally observant ears even at that age had caught some words regarding it. "But... what does that have to do with--"

Aileen's hand shot down to grip Digby's shoulder, eyes locking in the direction of the door. It was bound to happen eventually; now she could only wait and see if half-formulated sentences would be enough to save them both from a serious scolding. Or a fine.