Before she left, she ordered the three of them to remain within her chambers. While Pikachu and Ness chafed at being told to so stay out of the way, Yoshi was fine with the command.
"Besides," he reasoned, "presently, none of us are capable of dealing with this."
"Yeah," replied Ness, "but it feels weird just sitting on the sidelines."
They waited, passing the time by going around her room, examining the various esoteric items. They tried to use the computer but found it was password protected. And guarded by a miniature gargoyle. And that gargoyle was not happy with Ness' proximity to the computer.
"Ah, shit!" screamed Ness. "Look, you flying rat, I'm moving away! See! See!"
The gargoyle glared balefully at him before curling up on the desktop keyboard.
They tried picking up the weapons but they were surrounded by a field of force.
"Please refrain from severing your own limbs."
The three jumped at the sound of her voice and spun to face her. She walked past all of them without uttering a reprimand. She laid her helmet upon the mantle and placed her sword on rack. She grabbed her heels and tapped her armor three times. The armor flared brightly before turning into bands light that retracted into the emerald. She was once again adorned in her business and attire. She settle into her seat and slipped on her high-heels.
"What did you discover?" asked Pikachu.
Natasha drummed her fingers on her desk angrily. The gargoyle cooed and draped itself around her neck. She stroked it by reflex. "We found nothing," she said. "The good news is that the cells are all secured. But this means that the possessed is outside the prison and is amongst the general populace."
"Who even cares?" said Yoshi. "Some of the people there are even worst the demons."
Everyone stared at him. Yoshi scoffed.
"Oh don't pretend to adhere to your altruistic bullshit," barked Yoshi. "Springfield is the worst city in America. Two weeks ago when there was an eclipse, they thought God abandoned them. Did they pray? No. Did they look after their fellow man? No. Did they repent? No. They started rioting and looting because obviously that's the only way back into God's good graces."
"Didn't they also rioted because they were out of toilet paper?" said Ness.
"They did," answered Pikachu. "They also rioted when they found out that Pi was not exactly three."
Natasha coughed politely. "Yes, well, despite the evidence, it is not my place to judge them."
Yoshi blew a raspberry. "Oh come on! Can you honestly say that if you were rendered amnesic in the middle of Springfield that you would not mistaken it for a congregation of demons?"
Natasha opened her mouth to answer, but thought better of it and then glared at Yoshi.
"I do not have time to banter about the moral bankruptcy of Springfield. I have a possessed to apprehend."
"How are you going to find this person?" asked Ness.
Natasha furrowed her brows. "I am not sure that I should divulge our tactics to you three. In fact, you should be all sequestered into a secured facility."
"Wait," pleaded Ness, "despite our youth and appearance, we're not unfamiliar to fighting the...abnormal. We can help."
She looked at each of them, sizing them up. Finally she pursed her lips and gave in to circumstance.
"We are working on a detection spell that will sweep the area and will allow us to immediately pinpoint the individual."
"That's great new," said Ness.
Natasha shook her head. "It is not entirely. We have hypothesized that the possessed is feeding off the pain and suffering of the institution due to its limitless abundance. That is why it has not killed anyone. Once the spell has been activated, it will know that it has been discovered and will begin killing the populace of the institution."
"Don't you have another option," asked Pikachu.
"That was considered as our option of last resort. We are considering others that will involve my men moving through the institution and screening each person."
"That would leave them open to be attacked," said Yoshi.
Natasha nodded grimly. "It is the risks of this vocation."
"Wait," said Ness. "We could look for the person ourselves."
Natasha looked at Ness in shock. That paled in comparison to Yoshi's look of outrage.
"What the f***, man!" yelled Yoshi. "Maybe you didn't notice, but we're out of our league here!"
"I agree with your friend," said Natasha. "You are not suited to fight a possessed especially without your powers."
"Not fight, just find," replied Ness. "I can detect him through passive sensory perception and we can call you in to do the rest."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You are capable of such a feat? Jacob said the collar should be wearing off in a month."
Ness looked at her in confusion. "Yeah, so?"
"No," said Natasha, "you do not understand. You should not be able to access any aspect of your abilities at all until the collar is spent."
She leaned forward on her desk and looked at Ness with a keen eye.
"What are you?"
He met her stare with equal intensity.
"I'm just a kid."
Moments past before Ness heard an odd sound. It was similar to the sound of a car trying to start. And then he realized that Natasha shaking. Finally she burst out laughing, clutching her sides. The trio watched in bewilderment. After a whole minute, she managed to settle down and composed herself.
"I will allow you to carry out this endeavor. Jacob will provide you with a cell phone to contact us."
"Can you get him to remove my collar? asked Pikachu.
"Of course," said Natasha.
"What about the orderlies?" asked Yoshi. "what if they search us?"
Natasha waved a hand dismissively. "They have neither the skill or motivation to find water in an ocean. I wish you the best of luck."
