"Is it really the end of the first quarter already?" Cobalt questioned as he stretched at the end of his bed and yawned. "I should not have stayed up so late last night."

"Yvonne?" Tawney asked without trying to seem too interested.

"No," Cobalt replied flatly. "We're done. There is no more us."

"How'd that go over?" Lykos questioned, sitting at his laptop.

"Not much to say, really," he yawned again. "I told her and she said that was too bad, but to please leave because she had a date she needed to get to in a few hours." He sighed. "That girl was an eleven and I'm just like a seven… maybe an eight if you squint hard enough."

"I'm sure you'll find someone," Bái assured him. "Right, Tawney?" Tawney's mind went back to the kiss at the dance. Nothing had come of it. He was either that dense or wasn't interested. She scoffed.

"If anyone can put up with his ass," Tawney guffawed. Lykos shook his head and Bái glanced between the two of them.

"Okay then…" Bái offered.

"She's right, I am the odd one out," Cobalt admitted. Bái walked over and gave him a hug.

"But you're our odd one out," Bái insisted. He patted her head and smiled.

"Thanks," he replied. The door of their room was thrown open to reveal Ari, she struck a pose and pointed at Cobalt.

"Big brother!" She declared.

"Ari!" Cobalt replied, running and hugging her, giving her head pats as he looked back at his team, noting that Tawney shook her head in disapproval. "What?"

"Nothing," Tawney sighed.

"What's going on, Ari?" Cobalt asked her.

"I had a day off from classes at Signal, so I thought I'd come visit you!" She declared.

"Awesome!" Cobalt announced.

"Can this be awesome somewhere else?" Lykos questioned. "Trying to work on school work."

"Pfft, you'd almost think you were the one that didn't get enough sleep last night," Cobalt jested.

"You didn't sleep well last night?" Ari asked, concerned.

"I was working on a new OS," Cobalt told her. Her eyes lit up.

"Sounds awesome!" She exclaimed.

"It is," he puffed out his chest before Tawney stood and hit him in the stomach taking the wind out of his sails.

"Go, so we can study," she demanded.

"Fine," Cobalt wheezed. He stepped into the hall and Ari followed him out, closing the door behind as they headed for somewhere to talk. Tawney stared at the door for a long moment before throwing her shoes on and opening it.

"Thought you had to study," Lykos noted.

"I'll be back," Tawney insisted. The door slammed behind her and Lykos sighed.

"Really hope we don't have another Neela on our hands," Lykos groaned.

"What do you mean?" Bái questioned. Lykos chuckled.

"Nothing," he beamed at her and she smiled back.

"So, any ideas for what we can do while I'm here today?" Ari asked as she sat down across from Cobalt in the library and he took a seat at the table across from her. "Something exciting maybe? Oh! Maybe you could tell me about one of your missions! Or you could show me around town? Those all sound like great ideas, right?" Cobalt nodded his head, folding his arms and smiling as he leaned back.

"I have a better idea," Cobalt stated smoothly. Ari's eyes lit up as she scooted forward.

"What?!" She declared, drawing a hushing gesture from Neo who sat at the desk across the way. Ari chuckled and waved nervously. She asked again more quietly. "What?"

"I'll tell you about a dream I had a few days ago," Cobalt replied, impressed with his idea.

"Huh?" She gawked, less amused at the idea than he was. "Run that by me again?"

"A dream I had, I have to tell you about it since no one else ever wants to hear about them," Cobalt explained.

"Alright, but then what?" She inquired.

"You haven't heard one of my fantasies before," he noted.

"Is it a dream, or a fantasy?" Ari questioned for clarification. "I'm not sure I want to hear the latter."

"Same difference," he offered. "Close your eyes."

"Do I have to?" She asked. He nodded and so she obliged. "Now what?"

"Okay, so it goes something like this…" Cobalt began…

Imagine that it's black and white.

Really?

It's a mood thing, trust me.

Oh, I am.

Good. Now, how about we begin?

It was a dark and stormy night along the busy main street of Vale that was made up of small shops and eateries, all of them suffering in unison on what would normally be a bustling and overly crowded Saturday evening, but the torrential downpour that beat down upon the cityscape deterred many of the usual customers and would-be tourists. I took another long drag of my cigarette and stared out into the tempest, one which seemed to taint the streetlights and glow of the buildings adjacent and opposite of my own, a darkness that seemed to defy nature itself, and I only caught glimpses of people running for cover down the sidewalk as lightning flashed, replacing the moonlight absent of the night sky. I couldn't recall the last time we'd gotten so much rain.

That's when she graced my doorstep. I had locked up for the night, the clock had already chimed at the eleventh hour, reminding me that it was maybe for the best that I slept on the case and came back to work on it the next day with a fresh mind and rested body. The rapping that tapped out on my glass door was hardly audible over the thunder that relentlessly pounded in my ears, but as she called out and pulled against the handle, rattling the frame, the sound resonated. Alarmed I scrambled with haste but collected myself as I unlocked it and let her step in, the dame was without an umbrella, the parts of her body that weren't covered by her cocktail dress, which wasn't much, was soaked to the bone and after giving her the once over I let the door close behind her, the bell which normally notified me of a client nothing more than white noise in my ear as I took my seat once more.

If looks could kill this doll would have killed me well before she walked in the door, the legs that extended from the bottom of her dress would have been enough to drop the jaw of a lesser man, and if any more of her cleavage had been showing I would have found myself immediately weak at the knees. Another drag of my cigarette and she finally seemed to have regained her bearings, taking the seat across from me before looking me dead in the eyes, making it obvious that she wasn't in the mood for small talk and intended to get straight to the point. My current case could wait, whatever she was about to say to me was far and away more important than finding that old man's stone mask. I waited for her to begin, ready to take one final drag of my fag before hearing her out, but she snatched it out of my fingers and finished it off for me, burying the end of it in the ashtray on my desk corner, smoke rolling out of her rose red-lips as she smirked.

"Mr. Thénard," she said, her voice dripping with so much desperation I could have confused it for the downpour outside. Something was wrong and it was clear to me that I needed to get to the bottom of this and fast. "I'm sorry. You were probably just about to head home for the night, weren't you? I should have gotten here earlier, but I was hoping that the rain would have stopped by now. I really hope you can help me." I had no reason to deny her request, and with as panicked as she seemed, I wasn't going to drag her along like I typically did. It was time to get straight to the point.

"It's no trouble at all, Miss…?" I started. She hadn't given me her name yet, but I made it a policy long ago to find out my client's namesake before getting down to business, whether that business is conventional or otherwise. She waved me off carelessly with her hand, unimpressed by my inquiry, as though I already should have known the answer.

"Ilia. Ilia Cherny," she feigned. She was right to be insulted, her face had been plastered on every newspaper, magazine, and tabloid throughout the kingdom, one of which was sitting unread in the middle of my desk, staring back up at me out of my peripheral vision. She and this Vin kid had just gotten engaged, and seeing as her father owned the largest Dust deposit around that wasn't the SDC, the town was abuzz with news about the largest merger in the history of Remnant. I usually stayed out of that sort of thing, politics and the economy couldn't matter less to me as long as people kept coming to me for investigations and I kept getting paid. Was it something her fiancé had done? The prospect excited me, as it meant my payment might come in the form of cold, hard lien, or her warm, soft body.

"What seems to be the trouble?" I questioned, anticipating her response with bated breath. She leaned forward to convey her answer quietly, the dress a gift from Oum himself as I got more of an eyeful than I ever could have asked for, with the exception of a centerfold. Her eyes attempted in vain to meet my own before I finally broke free of her bosom's spell.

"I have reason to believe that Vin's been kidnapped," she noted in a whisper. It was hardly cheating, but I held my breath as I leaned back once more as nodded to her slowly in understanding.

"Anyone with a motive to do so?" I pried, hoping she'd give me something to go off of.

"Could be one of my exes, but more than likely it was his best friend, Rowan," she explained to me as she looked her nails over. "That guy has been jealous of us since the day we first started talking to each other." I was a bit put off at the idea that it wasn't a case of cheating, but lien was just as good as anything else, and I knew that she had a lot of it…

When does this get good?

What?

Sounds like a snore-fest so far. Let me guess. You go to a club, vibe a bit, find Vin, and he's cheating on her with Rowan.

… How… How did you know?

Too predictable.

People love these.

Who?

The readers.

Who…?

… Nevermind. Anyway, it was a dream I had so, I guess we can head into Vale now…

Oh no. I can fix this story of yours.

Sure you can… wait, what?!

Cobalt entered his home and hung up his fedora and jacket on the hook in the doorway, placing his keys in a bowl near the door as he closed it behind him and slipped off his shoes, calling out into the quiet apartment.

"Sis! I'm home!" He shouted, listening again for any sign that she was there, though she typically was on the nights that he was out longer than he anticipated. After a moment of receiving no response he headed into the dining room, finding Ari who had dinner waiting for him on the table already, she'd already eaten hers and was pounding away on a laptop that obscured her face.

"Found him!" She announced looking over the top of it at him, a thin black cloth was fashioned across her head, covering little more than her eyes, like a terrible Halloween superhero mask. "And I think we're going to have to go in guns blazing!"

"Woah, calm down," Cobalt chuckled as he took his seat.

"Someone spotted him at a club down the street, and the place is armed to the teeth," Ari exclaimed, closing the computer and leaping to her feet.

"I'm just a detective, not a hero," Cobalt noted as she tossed a mask at him.

"Come on! You can be just like that guy who dresses up like a bat!" Ari informed him.

"Hey! Breaking the fourth wall is my schtick," Cobalt griped as he took another bite of his food. She groaned.

"Can't you wait to eat until later?" Ari pled as she paced impatiently.

"You're serious?" Cobalt questioned. Ari leapt up and down.

"Yes!" She declared. "I've got brass knuckles and you have your sword."

"Do I?" Cobalt inquired.

"This is my story now, yes you do," Ari answered with a nod. Just like that, his dinner plate was replaced with his sword and he glanced over at her.

"Okay, now what?" Cobalt asked.

"We're outside the club," Ari shrugged. The scene changed and they stood outside the club.

"I'm looking for Vincent? Engaged to Ilia Cherny? The author is too lazy to look back through the story and find his last name?" Cobalt probed.

"Yeah, he's inside," the bouncer concurred.

"Can we go in?" Cobalt pried.

"Sure," the bouncer allowed.

"No," Ari interrupted. "They won't just let us in."

"No?" Cobalt asked.

"No," the bouncer parroted.

"So we sneak in while he's talking to someone else," Cobalt suggested. Ari sighed.

"Where's your sense of action?!" Ari demanded.

"This was a noir dream!" Cobalt reminded her.

"And now it's a vigilante hero movie!" Ari claimed, punching the bouncer in the stomach and he stared blankly at her.

"Was that meant to hurt?!" He shouted before being thrown back a moment later.

"Time to move!" Ari demanded. The two of them headed in, Ari's eye scanning the sea of people raving to the music and pointing towards the middle of the floor.

"He's in there?" Cobalt asked.

"Yeah, with Rowan!" Ari said. "Time to go all in!" Ari swung at a larger man close to the bar, setting in motion a brawl that Cobalt refused to partake in but stood back and watched the beauty of. The delayed blow caused the man to turn around violently and deck the closest gang member to him, laying him completely out as people were jostled and began tussling about, fighting each other without the slightest clue why.

"Vin!" Cobalt shouted. Vin looked him in the eyes and smirked, stepping slightly to the left to reveal Ilia behind him.

"What?" Ari shouted.

"What?" Cobalt repeated.

"Surprised?" Ilia questioned. "We were expecting you, Cobalt."

"How do they know it's you, that mask is on point," Ari noted.

"Ari…" Cobalt began. He sighed. "Nevermind."

"I hired you to find Vin, even though I already knew where he was and all of this is just the beginning of a perfect crime," Ilia explained. "You're going to kill my father and we're going to kill you. I'll state that my father kidnapped Vin to keep him from taking me away from him and that he killed you for investigating and Vin killed my father in self-defense."

"I… I follow but it's not airtight," Cobalt stated.

"Why's that?" Vin questioned.

"There are a lot of people here," Cobalt pointed out, gesturing around them. "Like a crazy amount of witnesses."

"Yes! Got them!" Ari exclaimed.

"If they were real?" Ilia stated.

"Huh?" A bewildered Cobalt stammered.

"Your dinner was drugged thanks to Ari," Ilia remarked. "You're asleep on your dinner plate."

Okay, great plot twist, but this is all a little out of hand now.

Ari folded her arms and chuckled as she stood up.

"Can we go into Vale and get some ice cream now?" Ari requested. Cobalt sighed and nodded.

"Sure," Cobalt agreed. "Do I… am I annoying?" Ari stared at him for a long moment.

"No?" Ari replied.

"Just… I've gotten a feeling this year that I'm just not leader material because of how different I am," Cobalt admitted. "All these strange things I like and putting up with Yvonne for so long."

"You're not annoying," Ari growled at him. She smiled and put her hands on her hips. "You and I just march to the beat of a different drum. Be who you are! There's nobody else out there who is! So what if your stories get a bit crazy and your fantasies border on plagiarism! Just be you!"

"Again, breaking the fourth wall is my thing," he repeated again with a laugh patting her on the head.

"Is Tawney coming with us?" Ari questioned.

"You can come out!" Cobalt called. Tawney looked around as if she hadn't been outed and came out from around the corner as Neo hushed them and pointed them towards the door.

"How did you know I wasn't just browsing?" Tawney inquired.

"Don't you know the Dewey decimal system?!" Cobalt shouted.

"The what?" Tawney stammered.

"You were in by the biographies," Ari pointed out.

"Maybe I have a report to do," Tawney offered.

"You don't," Cobalt answered.

Maybe we'll soon see a more confident Cobalt. Next week, Chapter 34: Krygore!

A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!