Chapter 1: The Mayor
Author's note: School sucks. Sorry for the delay, but I have been wrapped up both in the production of future chapters and the overbearing amount of schoolwork. Hopefully I can upload more frequently than once in a blue moon soon enough, but for now, here's the next chapter!
Minato's car drove towards the gate of the Shang Mu Royal Palace. While the building was designed for the residence of the Mayor of Shang Mu, and alongside any family they may have, a few exceptions have been made in the past in regards to civilians meeting the Mayor. It was typically a huge honor to be invited to such a building, feasting with a leader of one of the three Origin Kingdoms, but Minato was here on business. She couldn't afford to stop and admire the gilded décor of the building.
Her grey car stopped in front of a guard gate, the panda rolling down her window. A large wolf was in the guard gate, reading a magazine. He seemed to be distracted.
"Excuse me?" Minato asked the guard. "I'm Minato Hashimoto. I'm here to see Mayor Zao."
The wolf grumbled as he barely even glanced above the magazine to look over Minato. "What's your business, ma'am?" He asked the panda.
"I need to meet with Mayor Zao. He should've made an appointment for today." Minato responded. "It's important business."
"Eh, whatever." The wolf shrugged, stretching out his hand to Minato's car. "Now, ID?"
"Y-Yes sir." Minato replied, bringing him her driver's license. He barely glanced it over before handing it back to the panda.
"Enjoy your visit. Or whatever." The wolf yawned, stretching in his seat. Minato looked on in some confusion before driving to the palace, parking her car, and walking to the front entrance.
As to be expected of the one and only Royal Palace in all of Shang Mu, the palace was lavishly decorated, with gold decorations of the Ancient Dragons on a red wooden backdrop. The roof was tiled with several hand-carved stones into a pagoda, golden horns jutting out of the corners of the roof. Several guards patrolled around the building, standing guard for any intruders. As Minato entered the palace, it was almost as if the size dramatically increased from the outside. Wide, open space, with a marble floor and intricate décor around the building's interior gave an air of luxury, one that simply couldn't be matched by other official buildings within the region.
"Hey, Minato!" A voice greeted Minato from behind her. The panda turned to greet the Mayor, but…
"Hi, Mayor Zao…" Minato nervously spoke. Wow… He really is shorter than the TV appearances… "So, are you ready to-"
"Yes yes yes, come on!" Zao impatiently responded as he walked away. Minato was simply dumbfounded by the lack of tact displayed by the head figure of all of Shang Mu, but she hurriedly followed the diminutive red panda.
"So, where are we going?" Minato asked the Mayor, continuing to follow behind him.
"Where else do you think we're going?" Zao asked Minato as he turned left to enter the administrative hall of the building, and straight across the hall was Zao's very own administrative office, with a doorknob placed both at Zao's height and the height of a normal Avalician.
"Yeah, alright." Minato responded as the duo entered the office, Zao hopping on his chair and pumping himself higher on the chair jus to he could be looking Minato in the eyes… While still having some height to spare.
Minato sat down and took out a notebook and pen, clicking it as she prepared to take notes from Zao's perspective. "Alright, Mayor, did you have anything to do with Kyushei's death?" Minato asked the red panda.
"WHAT?! No!" Zao denied. "He may be a charismatic jerk but I didn't have anything to do with it! I swear!"
Minato looked at Zao before scribbling in her notebook. Denies he did it rather vehemently. That isn't unexpected, but I'm not seeing any suggestion he's lying. "Did you hire anyone to kill Kyushei?" Minato continued.
"Look, no one affiliated with me has done it! I'm telling you!" Zao spoke. "At the time of death, I was taking a bath! In fact, what the heck was he even doing there in the first place, huh?"
Minato blinked before scribbling in the notebook. He denies he hired anyone too, stating that he was taking a bath at the time of death, but he does make a good point. It was brought up some times in the several investigations, yet the supposed alibi was that he was trying to fight the Kakuchu directly. That also doesn't explain why earlier, several people left the building not too long prior to the warehouse's destruction. Like there was somehow advanced warning…
"So? Got any other questions?" Zao asked Minato.
Minato thought about it for a second. "I still have several questions. In fact, you have actually piqued my curiosity of the whole situation." Minato spoke. "Are you aware that several people left the building prior to Kyushei's death?"
"Yes, I have been made very aware of that." Mayor Zao responded. "What are you getting at?"
"Well, thing is that a truck crashed in there…" Minato reasoned. "And that no one in there seems to have left because of the truck… I believe they left because of something else."
"Go on…" Mayor Zao spoke, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, there might have been a larger threat than Kyushei approaching their base." Minato noted. "On the day of Kyushei's death, three of the four members of his Court died on the exact same day, with Lavender Doctor and the Crimson King himself being unaccounted for in the body count. Two of them, Marigold Mandarin and Cerulean Samurai, died while attacking a truck, being guarded by what witnesses describe as a black cat, white bird, and…" Minato squinted at her notes. "…Large mechanical bear?"
"Okay, and what does that have to do with anything?" Zao asked.
"Well, it just… It simply doesn't add up…" Minato spoke. "Two of the members of the Court died trying to attack a truck, one died in the warehouse, and the other two are unaccounted for. And then there's that whole incident just before the warehouse collapse…"
"Yeah, you mean that whole fight that erupted out of nowhere in the middle of the street?" Mayor Zao asked. "That's something else."
"There's a whole bunch about this case I simply don't get…" Minato spoke. "Do you know who any of the people I mentioned are?"
"Nope." Mayor Zao denied. "I mean, if I knew who they were, you'd think I would've told you already!"
Minato then scribbled more in her notes. Has nothing to do with the incidents that occurred prior to the collapse of the warehouse either. Might actually be completely innocent in the whole incident, but I'm not ruling him out just yet.
"Alright, Mayor Zao. I'll leave you alone now." Minato spoke, standing up. "I got all that I need."
"So am I innocent? I am, but do you at least believe I am?" Zao asked the panda.
Minato looked at the mayor as she gathered her belongings. "If there is one thing I have learned, it's that I shouldn't rule out any suspects." Minato noted. "You may not be the person who did it, but I'm not putting you out of the realm of possibility."
Zao sighed. "Fair enough, I guess." The red panda shrugged. "But you are going to find out just who or what did this, right?"
Minato smiled at Zao. "Of course I am." The panda promised. "I never failed in a single inves-"
Suddenly a crashing noise was heard outside, drawing the attention of both Zao and Mminato. Mayor Zao yelped in surprise at the noise, while Minato simply narrowed her eyes.
"Wh-what was that?!" Mayor Zao gasped.
"No idea, but I'm about to find out!" Minato spoke, rushing out of the office…
When Minato emerged, the scene was plain as day. A car had crashed into a nearby light pole, the car's engine on fire with the light pole toppled over the vehicle. An ambulance had come by to get the unfortunate victim to the hospital.
Minato rushed over to the car and took a look over it. Traffic wasn't that bad. Either this was intentional, or… But no… No one would be drunk driving at this time…
"Excuse me, ma'am, get out of the way!" A voice shouted at Minato, a police officer rushing to her. "This is a-"
"And you're mistaking me for someone else." Minato responded, flashing her detective badge at the officer, stopping him in his tracks. "What happened?"
"The car's tire suddenly popped and caused it to crash into the light pole. I'm afraid Senator Bao was in the wreck."
"Wait, what?" Minato responded, raising an eyebrow. It was then that several medical personnel extracted a figure from the car. The figure was a white canine, but blood covered his entire body from the crash. His head was caved in practically all the way, and it was almost certain that the poor senator was killed on site.
"Yeah. What a tragedy." The police officer spoke. "This is the, what, sixth time a Senator died this year alone?"
"Yeah…" Minato spoke, then sighing. "Get someone else from the Shang Mu Investigative Offices to help, I can't necessarily do anything about it as of now."
"But wait, you just got here! Can't you help us with this case?" The police officer asked.
"I'm doing the whole Kyushei case. I can't necessarily afford to divide my attention as of now." Minato spoke. "Trust me, if I could, I'd find out just what happened in a heartbeat."
The officer sighed. "Alright, I guess. Whatever floats your boat." He shrugged as Minato left the scene to go back to her car.
As Minato entered her car, her phone rang. Taking out her phone, she placed it against her ear.
"Detective Hashimoto speaking, how may I help you?" Minato greeted the other end.
"Minato, did you get anything on Mayor Zao?" Mr. Wang asked on the other end. "Or is he continuing to deny he had anything to do with it?"
Minato sighed. "Yes, Mr. Wang. He states he had absolutely nothing to do with it. No one was even hired. In fact, he states he had nothing to do with the incidents that occurred prior to the warehouse collapse."
Mr. Wang's growl could be heard on the other line, sending chills down Minato's spine. "So when are you finally going to pin him down? The bastard has gone scot-free from the whole investigation!"
"Mr. Wang, have you considered that someone else might be responsible?" Minato noted. "After all, believing that someone else committed a crime than the actual perpetrator is only going to put innocent men behind bars."
"Yes, but Zao has the most reason to do it outside of the Crimson King or the Red Scarves!" Mr. Wang noted. "So unless you-"
Minato perked up. "That's it! The Red Scarves!" Minato exclaimed. "They might have had something to do with the whole incident!"
Mr. Wang chuckled slightly. "Well, then that might be the way to go. Now there's only one problem: Finding out where they are." Mr. Wang spoke. "So, got any ideas on how to find them?"
Minato smiled. "Don't worry, Mr. Wang. I think I know exactly how to find them." Minato smiled. "I'll be sure to get something from them before the day ends."
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't get yourself killed." Mr. Wang spoke. "You know they're a criminal organization, right? Or did you somehow forget?"
Minato shook her head. "No, sir." Minato responded.
"Good. Just be safe, alright? I don't want you getting killed like some sort of dumbass, okay?" Mr. Wang spoke, then hanging up on Minato. The panda then took her car keys and turn the ignition, driving slowly and carefully out of the Royal Palace to a nearby parking lot, paying the toll for an hour's worth of parking.
"Alright, now to kick back, relax…" Minato sighed, reclining her chair. "And to find out where the Red Scarves are."
…And so Minato slept, at least to an outsider's perspective. However, to the panda, this is little more than procedure. Something regular. In fact, it was the very technique that allowed her to be so successful throughout her whole career...
Minato woke up in a blue landscape within her car. Her body was left behind her, as a ghostly silhouette of Minato rose up and got out of the vehicle. She looked around, stretching before sighing.
"Alright… Rewind." Minato spoke. And with that, her car backed out of the parking lot, returning to the Royal Palace. However, Minato was walking out of the parking lot calmly. People were walking backwards, words were spoken backwards, everything was moving backwards. Minato was rewinding the very flow of time around her, until…
"October 5th. 2001. 10:53 PM." Minato spoke. Suddenly, everything stopped at a specific state. Almost everything was unfamiliar to her by that point, with several blobs of light representing people she simply did not know. Some buildings were also different, if not outright absent. She then went to the Central Shang Mu Bank nearby the Royal Palace, where a large van was parked outside. Minato then entered the van… And time soon resumed to normal, bringing Minato along for the ride as soon as two of the blobs of light entered the vehicle.
"Alright, let's go!" One of the blobs shouted in a completely neutral voice, not suggesting gender, age, or any sort of detail. "The Scarves are waiting!"
"Then it looks like I'm exactly where I have to be." Minato spoke, as she reclined back and relaxed. "It'll be a while, but it should be enough for me to find out where it is…"
The van then revved away from the bank, and it wasn't until a half an hour later from her perspective that the van stopped at the Red Scarves base. Being a gate near several backroads in Shang Mu, nearby what would later become Phoenix Highway, it was enough for Minato to get a perspective of where she is.
"Alright. Now to retrace…" Minato spoke as she walked back to her car several miles away, Rewinding time as the van slowly followed her from behind in order to verify her assumption…
Meanwhile…
A black, feminine, hooded figure was waiting at the Royal Shang Mu Café, a small restaurant close to the Royal Palace. She wasn't an assuming figure. In fact, she blended in rather well to her surroundings, given the brisk temperature of the surrounding area. Almost everyone was burdened with rather heavy clothing in order to better withstand the late autumn temperatures. Eventually, a wolf soon entered the restaurant, sitting across the hooded figure.
"Did you do it?" The wolf asked.
"Yeah. Give me the money." The figure bluntly responded. "Don't waste my time."
"Alright, fine." The wolf shrugged, handing the figure a large bag of shining Gems. The figure took the gems and placed them in a backpack.
"Nice doing business with you." The figure spoke, getting up.
"Hey, wait a sec." The wolf spoke. "You really think you're gonna get awa-"
Suddenly, he went stiff. The figure turned and quickly swiped a wallet from the wolf's pocket, placing it in her own.
"Thank you for your patronage." The figure simply spoke, leaving the wolf behind. The figure didn't even bother turning back to look at the wolf, who was still frozen in place. And soon… He collapsed back on his chair, his eyes rolling back into his head as he died on the spot…
And so, the first real chapter of Frosted Wings 2 is finally complete! Is Mayor Zao really guilty? Did the Red Scarves have anything to do with the death of Kyushei? And just who, or what is that figure who took the Gems? Find out next chapter, coming soon!