Casefile #4- Framed

Hailey:"Alright, rookie!"

Katie:"Stop calling me that! It's kinda patronizing.."

Hailey:"Welcome to profiling 101, Katie!"

Nate:"I think I got some of it stuck in my teeth.."

Nate muttered as he was sitting back on the couch while sharing a bag of potato chips with Jibanyan.

Whisper:"You actually enjoy sour cream and onion flavoured potato chips?"

Jibanyan:"You don't?"

Whisper:"Well, It's really not for me, I prefer it plain, I don't like the sting of flavoured potato chips on my taste buds."

Nate:"Well, you've always had lame taste.."

Whisper scoffed in annoyance at Nate's joke.

Hailey:"So, let's start with the basics. If you wanna profile a criminal, first, you need to look at what they've left behind.. Y'know, evidence, photographs, testimonies, the whole shebang."

Hailey explained.

Hailey:"Then, we decide whether they're organized or disorganized. To keep it simple, organized criminals are usually very well-planned and sophisticated whereas disorganized ones are all willy-nilly and mostly opportunistic."

She said as Katie jotted it down in her little notebook.

Nate:"Woah, you're actually taking notes? I guess you really are serious about this.."

Katie:"I just couldn't help but feel… useless yesterday, I mean you guys did all the work."

Nate:"Well, I really appreciate you working hard for this, Katie. I'm sure you'll be really useful when you get the hang of it! Right, Hailey?"

Hailey:"Yeah! Totally!"

Katie:"I mean, I hope so.."

Nate:"Plus, It's… Nice having you around, at least I won't be the only weirdo in class, huh."

Nate said with a sincere smile which made her heart skip a beat.

Katie:"I-I… Yeah, I guess!"

Katie laughed it off to try to calm herself down.

Hailey:"So, back to the subject at hand, there's also one other thing we look out for, and it's called a signature. It's basically something they do at the crime scene that's unique. It can tell you what satisfies their needs in committing the crime, it might even show you a possible stressor."

Katie:"Stressor?"

Hailey:"Oh, a stressor is just an event that pushes an unsub to do what they do."

Katie:"Oh, okay, I got it."

Katie continued to write it down in her notebook. Not long after, the doorbell to the office rang.

Whisper:"Oop, I'll get it."

Whisper floated over to the door and opened it to reveal 2 Yo-Kai PD officers.

Officer 1:"Good morning Sir, we're looking for- wait is that?"

One of them pulled up a picture and held it next to Whisper.

Officer 2:"Yeah, that's him alright."

Officer 2:"Ahem, I'm afraid you're coming with us to the station."

Whisper:"Pardon?"

Officer 1:"Well, You're under arrest for petty theft and second degree murder, come along now."

Whisper:"Say what now?"

Nate:"Wait, wh-what's going on?! There's gotta be some sorta mistake here!"

Officer 2:"I'm afraid there's no mistake here, we have evidence to believe so, If you'll excuse us, we would like to take our prime suspect."

Both officers then proceeded to grab Whisper and take him away to the patrol car.

Whisper:"Wait what?! You can't just take me away like this! I haven't done anything! C-can't we just talk about this?!"

Whisper continued to yell as he was stuffed inside the car.

Officer 1:"Stop resisting. If you give back the poor lady's soul, maybe the judge will go easy on you."

Katie:"Hey! What happened?"

Nate:"I-I don't know, Whisper just got arrested for something he probably didn't do.."

Nate said, sounding distressed.

Hailey:"What?! How?!"

Nate:"They said they had.. evidence or whatever, what are we gonna do?"

-hard cut-

Whisper was being held in custody at the station, he was sitting in a locked room, separated by bars, with other detained Yo-Kai.

Whisper:"How did it end up like this? And why did it have to happen to ME?! Of all Yo-Kai! I don't deserve this at all!"

Whisper said full of woe and despair loudly and unintentionally making a scene in front of all the other detained Yo-Kai. In the midst of Whisper's rant, an officer opened the cell to say something.

Officer:" Hey! You! White guy!"

Whisper:"M-Me?"

Officer:"Your lawyer's here."

Whisper:"I-I have a lawyer?... Haha! Yes!"

Whisper said triumphantly before going up and facing all the other Yo-Kai in police custody.

Whisper:"When my lawyer proves my innocence, I'll be out of here in no time! Well then, farewell, I hope I don't have to see any of you ever again!"

He said proudly.

-hard cut-

Whisper was escorted to the interrogation room where his supposed lawyer was waiting, he went inside to find a young boy with side swept brown hair wearing a white shirt, a gray vest, a red necktie, and a pair of semi-rimless framed glasses.

?:"Ah, Mr. Whisper, I presume? You must be my client, I'm your lawyer!"

Whisper's 'lawyer' then turned to look at the officers.

?:"If you don't mind, I'd like some privacy with my client. I'd like to discuss some things.. Alone."

Officer:"Oh, sure thing!"

The officers then opened the door to the interrogation room and left. After that, there was an awkward moment of silence between Whisper and his 'lawyer'.

Whisper:"Nate."

?:"What?."

Whisper:"YOU'RE MY LAWYER?!"

Nate:"Whoa, hey! Keep it down! Y-yeah… I am.."

Whisper:"What?! Why did you think this was a good idea!?"

Nate:"I-I can explain!"

-transition to flashback-

Hailey was walking back and forth around the office, looking uneasy.

Hailey:"Aw man, what are we gonna do? The officer mentioned that they have some kind of evidence... Blizzie, can you get that for us by any chance?"

Blizzie:"Well heck if I can, this thing's pretty new, there's no way I can get my hands on a report this early."

Nate:"Darn. He's not gonna stand a chance if we can't do anything."

Jibanyan:"Do we have to? I mean, personyally I don't have a problem with Whisper being in jail."

Jibanyan added.

Nate:"Yeah but, It's just wrong to leave him like that.."

Jibanyan:"Well how do you propose we help him when we have literally nyothing?"

Katie:"What's gonna happen to him?"

USApyon:"Well, he's gotta go to court first, and since none of us have anything to put on the table, I'd say his chances are pretty bad.. I don't think we even have enough to hire a decent lawyer."

Hailey:"Lawyer?..."

Hailey muttered.

Hailey:"Hey, that's it! Nate, you're coming with me!"

She said as she grabbed Nate's wrist and dragged him into the warp door.

Nate:"Hey! Wh-what gives?!"

-Time skip-

Hailey and Nate went back through the warp door into the office in Youmakai. Nate was wearing a white shirt, gray vest, and a red necktie.

Hailey:"Introducing Whisper's new lawyer!"

Nate:"Hailey, are you really sure about this?"

Hailey:"Yeah, I mean, you know him better than anyone here, who better to do it than you? Alright, so-"

Hailey put both her index fingers up.

Hailey:"-the plan is, you head on over to the station, find out what you can about Whisper, and then we'll do the investigation here."

Katie:"You sure they're just gonna let him in like that?"

Hailey:"Hmm… You're right, it's missing a little something…"

She said while stroking her chin.

Hailey:"Ooh! I got it."

She then walked over to one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of glasses.

Hailey:"Put these on, they should definitely help sell your look!"

Nate put them on, the glasses made his vision get a little blurry, causing him to blink repeatedly, trying to adjust himself to it.

Hailey:"We still gotta do something about your hair…"

Nate:"What do you mean?"

Hailey pulled out a hair trimmer in a suddenly menacing demeanor.

Hailey:"The bedhead, Nathan. It has to go."

She said in a dead serious tone.

Nate:"Wait what?"

Hailey:"Hold still!"

Without warning, she lunged at Nate, hair trimmer in hand, and tried to cut off his bedhead. Nate caught both her hands and tried to push them away from him, which resulted in a back and forth battle between the two.

Nate:"W-wait, no! C'mon! You can't just do this, you're gonna ruin it!"

Hailey:"We need the plan work, Nate! Your hair is too conspicuous!"

Nate:"Well, what if it doesn't work?!"

Hailey:"It'll work! I'm like… 60% sure!"

There was a collective sweatdrop at their fight. Katie let out a sigh and walked over to her bag that she placed at one of the chairs.

Katie:"Or, y'know, you could just comb it."

She said as she pulled out a comb that she brought in her bag. The two abruptly stopped fighting and Katie threw her comb to Nate.

Nate:"Oh, uh, thanks."

He then proceeded to comb his hair to the right, his bed head was still there, but it wasn't as apparent as before.

Nate:"So.. How do I look?"

Hailey:"Huh, not bad.."

Katie:"I think it suits you!"

Hailey:"Ooh! Before I forget, you're gonna need one of these to seal the deal."

Hailey then gave Nate a brown briefcase.

Hailey:"I found it when I was cleaning up the office, dunno who it belongs to but, you should carry it for good measure. Just say it has um.. Important lawyer stuff."

Nate:"Wait, you found an old abandoned briefcase in our Springdale office?"

Hailey:"Yeah, it was behind a shelf, just pretend It's an important briefcase."

Nate:"It's locked… You don't actually know the combination lock, do you?"

Nate asked in a monotone voice.

Hailey:"Nope! I don't even know what's in it."

Nate sighed.

Nate:"Right.. Still though, you're asking me to go to a police station, pretend to be a lawyer to get past security and talk to someone in custody, I mean.. It can't be that easy."

-Abrupt end of flashback-

Nate:"It was that easy."

Whisper groaned and dragged his palms down his face.

Whisper:"So, you made it here, what's your plan now?"

Nate:"Well, being on the inside, I needed to find out what they have on you in this case."

Whisper:"And?"

Nate:"I did. It was CCTV footage from a convenience store. Apparently you killed a store owner.."

Whisper:"What?!"

Nate:"Yeah, go figure. Look, they're only gonna reduce your sentence if you give up her soul... which you don't have. Which is why I'm here."

Whisper:"This is still a horrible plan, Nate. You don't even know the first thing about the criminal justice system! And you do know that impersonating a lawyer is a serious crime, right?"

Nate:"Eh, we'll solve that problem when we get to it.."

Whisper:"Wonderful."

He replied sarcastically

-hard cut-

Hailey and Katie were on their way to the convenience store in the middle of the night market which was the location Nate gave them. While walking, both of them were talking to Blizzie on speakerphone.

Blizzie:"Woah, can't believe it actually worked. Nice going, boy wonder. So, did you get anything from him?"

Hailey:"Yeah he sent us this CCTV footage they used as evidence, I don't really know what to think of it."

The footage showed an old lady Yo-Kai (the store owner getting thrown and slammed into the wall of the store, causing her soul to float out. Soon after, a figure that looked exactly like Whisper came in from the edge of the frame to observe the body closer, looked left and right, stole money from the cash register and darted off.

Hailey:"Y'know, you can only see the cash register and a few shelves, It's a pretty poorly placed camera if you ask me."

She said in a confused tone.

Hailey:"I mean that is Whisper but there's no way he could've pulled something like that, I-I don't know how we could defend him, you think there was anyway this footage coulda been tampered with?"

Katie:"Y'know.. I've heard stories of ghosts and monsters that try to trick you by shapeshifting into the form of your loved ones. Do you think shapeshifting is a plausible theory? Hold on, Blizzie, how many Yo-Kai in general have the ability to shapeshift?"

Blizzie:"Uh… Statistically, 1 in 1000, but most of the time, some keep it secret, and some might not know they have these powers, I just looked it up for you."

Hailey:"It's not a bad theory.. Well, we gotta go, Blizzie, I'll let you know we find anything."

Blizzie:"Ciao. I'll be here if you need me."

She said before Hailey hung up the phone. Soon, they arrived at the convenience store where the crime took place, it was already patched with police lines and even had a few officers and crime scene investigators taking photos.

Hailey:"Darn! I forgot this was a fresh crime scene. It's already crawling with cops.. We can't get a proper look at it like this.."

-hard cut-

Nate:"So you were at the convenience store that night."

Whisper:"Yes, I-I just ate dinner at one of the stalls and I wanted to use the bathroom in the convenience store."

Nate:"So you just... got in and got out?"

Whisper:"Exactly! I couldn't have done such a thing!"

Nate:"Do you… Remember anything out of the ordinary at least?"

Whisper:"I just did my business and left, how was I supposed to pay attention to anything?"

Nate:"Hmm, hold on, there's an easier way."

Nate then pulled out a medal and flipped it up into the air like he usually does.

Nate:"Come on out my friend! Calling Whapir!"

Summoning Charming: Whapir!

Whapir:"Ah, I see you require my assistance again?"

Nate:"Uh, yeah, I need to look at Whisper's memory, specifically last night, when he was shopping around the night market. If it's not too much to ask."

Whapir then inhaled the shards of Whisper's memory and blew them out into a vision. It showed Whisper floating into the store, passing a few employees and going to the bathroom to do his business.

Nate:"Uh, W-we don't need to see this, Whapir-"

Nate said, disconcerted. After a fast forward of his memory, Whisper went back from the bathroom, and saw the store owner who appeared to be arguing with another Yo-Kai, before Whisper exited the store, he had a brief moment of eye contact with that particular Yo-Kai.

Nate:"Wait wait wait, pause right there."

Nate moved closer to inspect the figure, It seemed to be a thin grey shifty-eyed fox wearing a blue scarf that covered half his face.

Nate:"There you are."

He muttered.

Nate:"Some fox Yo-Kai do have the ability to shapeshift, right?"

Whisper:"Well, yes, Kyubi would be the first example that comes to mind."

Nate:"Then this guy could be our UnSub. He saw you as an opportunity and took his chance."

He said as he hastily took out his phone from his pocket and dialed Hailey.

-hard cut-

Hailey, Katie, and USApyon were crouched down, sneaking in the convenience store when suddenly, her phone rang, which caught her off guard. She hastily and angrily tried to pull it out of her pocket without making too much noise and answered her phone.

Hailey:"Hey Nate, not a good time!"

She whispered aggressively.

Nate:"Huh?"

Hailey:"Look, right now, we're sneaking through the crime scene, and It's crawling with cops!"

Nate:"Sneaking? Wait, what are you doing?"

Hailey:"We needed to check employee records for a possible suspect, Blizzie couldn't get it for us since this is a small private business."

Nate:"Wait, how did you even get in there? Surely they would've seen you.."

Hailey:"I-I know, I summoned Blandon to make sure we wouldn't get caught.."

Shady Tribe: Blandon

Nate:"Ah, right, I'll um.. I'll call you later."

He said before he hung up.

They kept sneaking forward until they reached the office at the back of the store. They slowly got up and gently opened the door.

USApyon:"It's gotta be in here somewhere.."

Katie:"I'll look in the filing cabinets."

Hailey:"Great, I'll look at the table."

They searched for a while until Katie noticed a messy small stack of papers on top of one of the cabinets. She decided to take one of them and have a closer look.

Hailey:"Geez lady, you really need to clean up your office.."

Katie:"Hey look at this.. It looks like she put a stack of fired employees here, getting fired would be a good stressor, right?"

Hailey:"Yeah! Good job, rookie!"

Katie:"I told you not to call me that."

She said, slightly annoyed. Suddenly, a crime scene investigator came in through the door. Everyone instinctively huddled in a corner along with Blandon to avoid detection.

Katie:"Can you guys just move an inch? It's kinda cramped here."

Hailey:"Shhh…"

Everyone held their breath until the investigator left the room. They collectively breathed a sigh of relief when she did.

Hailey:"Darn. Whisper's first trial is gonna start soon, we gotta get back to Nate. The list of fired employees should be a good suspect pool to start with."

-hard cut to waiting room-

Nate and Blizzie were sitting in the waiting room, looking at the files of fired employees from the convenience store.

Blizzie:"Hoo boy, these are a lot, Hailey was right, lady really needs to be more organized… Hey, do we even know if they're capable of shapeshifting?"

Nate:"I mean.. What other possibilities do we have?"

They both kept examining the papers until Nate stumbled upon a name that stood out to him.

Nate:"Jack Kitsuneford… The guy I saw in the vision was a fox, it's gotta be him, right?"

Blizzie:"Huh, You sure?"

Upon seeing the picture in the file, Nate was assured he was the culprit.

Nate:"It's him. He's the one I saw."

-hard cut-

Judge:"All rise, court is now in session. Is the prosecution and the defense ready?"

Prosecutor:"Yes, your honor."

Nate:"Yeah."

Whisper:"Say 'your honor'!"

Whisper said as he elbowed Nate on the abdomen.

Nate:"Y-Your honor!"

Judge:"Good, do you both have any witnesses?"

Prosecutor:"Yes, your honor."

Nate:"Um, yes, your honor."

Judge:"You may begin with the prosecution, Mr. Wickle."

Prosecutor:"Yes, your honor. The defendant was found committing the crime in the security footage of the convenience store, which was the evidence used to put the defendant in custody. First of all, I'd like to call Daniel Ghoulkowski to the stand."

The eyewitness, who was a seemingly young humanoid Yo-Kai, went up to the stand.

Prosecutor:"So, you were at the scene that night, correct?"

Witness:"Yeah, I sell ramen there every night."

Prosecutor:"And you saw the defendant."

Witness:"Yes, I was just finishing up with my ramen stall, and I was walking home when I saw him walk into the store, I was really tired so… I didn't think much of it and went back to my apartment. The next morning, I found out there was a murder at the convenience store so naturally, I rushed down to the station."

Prosecutor:"Well, with that coupled with the security footage, It should be enough to convict him, nothing further your honor."

Judge:"Very well, Mr. Adams, you may begin your cross-examination."

Nate:"My what now?"

Whisper:"Cross examination! Your turn to ask him questions! Just how poorly thought out was this plan?!"

Nate:"Right so uh.. You work at a… Ramen stall?"

Witness:"Yes?"

Nate:"How close was it to the store, exactly?"

Witness:"Well, It was on the opposite side, a few blocks down… But still, I saw him go into that store."

Nate:"Right, and you didn't know about the murder until morning today?"

Witness:"That's right."

Nate:"Well, what time did you hear about it and rush to the station?"

Witness:"I think it was somewhere about.. 08:30?"

Nate:"Well uh, nothing further… I guess."

Judge:"Very well. Mr. Adams, you may call in your first witness."

Nate:"Right, um.. I'd like to call Whapir of the charming tribe to the stand."

Whapir then got up on the stand.

Nate:"So uh, I decided to do an investigation of my own, and I had Whapir help me with her powers."

Judge:"And what are they, exactly?"

Whapir:"I'm able to peer into a person's memory and display it however needed, but I'm only able to see memories that that person isn't hiding."

Judge:"I assume you did so with the defendant?"

Whapir:"Well yes."

Nate:"Well uh.. Do the thing, I guess.."

Whapir then used her powers to display Whisper's memories to the entire court.

Nate:"By having her help me, I was able to find another suspect that the footage wasn't able to see."

Prosecutor:"Objection. That Yo-Kai looks nothing like the one in the security footage that committed the murder."

Nate:"Well... W-We came up with a shapeshifter theory... Look, we don't have.. much but, I asked my associates to dig up employee records for a suspect pool and we found that same Yo-kai."

Judge:"Very well.. Go on."

Nate:"Well, we found out that he was fired 1 week prior, we haven't done a lot of digging into him, but revenge is a possible motive, and it would be unfair to convict Whisper when there's another possible suspect."

Prosecutor:"Objection. Mr. Adams, I dug into the employee records as well, and Kitsuneford couldn't have committed that murder since he's actually in jail."

Nate:"Wait what? how?"

Prosecutor:"I'm afraid he was arrested for DUI last wednesday, I believe. He's still in custody, today."

The team sitting on the spectator's bench were shocked apart from Jibanyan who was sleeping through the entirety of the trial. Hailey turned to Blizzie and firmly grabbed her on the shoulders.

Hailey:"How did you not know about this?!"

Blizzie:"S-sorry chief, I-I must've forgotten to do a background search!"

Nate:"Well, if anything, It makes the shapeshifter theory more compatible, he must've seen Whisper and tried to frame him!"

Prosecutor:"Mr Adams, from what I know, you work for a private detective agency as well? I believe It's with a Miss… Hailey-Ann Thomas?"

Nate:"Objection! My other job is irrelevant!"

Prosecutor:"Oh is it now? I found out that the defendant AND your witness both work in the same agency. I know your choice to represent the defendant was a personal one, but that's no excuse to present forged evidence."

Nate:"I-I didn't make any of this!"

He slammed his fists on the table.

Nate:"I can prove my friend didn't commit that crime, just gimme more time!"

Judge:"Very well, the court is adjourned until 4 PM today."

Nate let out a long sigh and hung his head.

-hard cut-

Nate:"Dammit, what did we miss?"

Hailey:"Well, there's gotta be something!"

Hailey said while nervously shuffling around the office.

Katie:"Maybe we should go back to the store again."

Hailey:"Right! We should check it out again."

USApyon:"Wait, where's Whisper now?"

Nate:"He's at the station, I wouldn't be much help there, so I decided to come here."

Nate then put down a paper file on the table.

Nate:"I managed to snatch a copy of the report when I was at the station. Apparently, the body was found by one of the employees this morning when they were about to open, I might try to ask them a few questions.. Blizzie, you think you can trace the number for me?"

Blizzie:"Is that even a question? I can do that in a few minutes, free of charge, hotshot."

Nate:"Great, I'll stay here then. See you guys later?"

Katie:"Yeah."

-hard cut-

Katie and Hailey were standing outside the store which was still sealed with police lines, glancing around the market.

USApyon:"Coulda sworn we looked at everything, I don't know what we're missin' here."

Katie:"Hmm.."

Katie crossed her arms and looked at the store.

Katie:"Hey look at that.. The sign says it's open from 09:00 AM sharp, didn't the witness say he left for the station around 08:30?"

Hailey:"Hey wait a minute, you're right.."

Katie:"What else did he say?"

Hailey:"Uhm.. Something about seeing Whisper go into the store from his ramen stall when he was "

Katie:"He's definitely lying about something."

Katie then took out her phone and called Blizzie who she put on speed dial and put her on speakerphone.

Katie:"Hello?"

Blizzie:"Well, looks like this is the first time you're calling me, what can I do for you, Kitten?"

Katie:"I need a last known address on Daniel Ghoulkowski, I don't trust that guy."

Blizzie:"Coming right up, hold tight, my lovelies."

She typed away at her laptop with impressive speed until she found it.

Blizzie:"352 Downry road, that's around the night market as well. Huh, apparently his ramen place is registered at the same address.."

Katie:"Wait, so he works at home?"

Hailey:"That means he wouldn't need to walk at all, he's clearly lying!"

Katie:"How's Nate doing?"

Blizzie:"Well, at the moment he's trying to talk to the employee that found the body, he's really struggling though."

Hailey:"Anyway, thanks Blizz, we'll be on our way."

Blizzie:"You're very welcome. Wait, have you guys been using speakerphone in public?! What's wrong with yo-"

Unfortunately, Katie hung up before Blizzie could finish her sentence.

Blizzie:"Oh for god's sake-"

She let out a sigh, Nate on the other hand, was talking on the phone with the store employee that supposedly discovered the body of the store owner. He tried his best to sound polite and apologetic, since they traced her phone number and called without any warning whatsoever.

Nate:"Look, I am… Really sorry for the sudden intrusion, I really am, but I just need to ask you a few questions about this morning… No no, I know the police have already questioned you, the um.. The thing is, I'm not a cop, I'm a… Private investigator."

After Nate said that, Blizzie could only hear what sounded like angry muffled yelling from Nate's phone, she sounded genuinely mad when she found out Nate wasn't a cop.

Nate:"Ma'am, I just… really wanna solve this murder, it won't take more than a few minutes, I promise…Whew, thanks."

Nate then put the phone on speaker mode so Blizzie could hear her too.

Nate:"So, um.. When did you find… her, exactly."

Employee:"Well, It was 09:00 AM so, I was gonna open the store and um… I found her on the ground so I immediately called an ambulance. When they arrived, they said it was no good since her soul wasn't with her anymore. Yo-Kai PD asked me to give them the security footage, so I did."

Nate:"Was she doing anything the night before?"

Employee:"Um, yeah, when I was going home, she stayed to manage some paperwork since Jack got fired."

Nate:"Jack Kitsuneford? Actually, I-I wanna talk about him real quick.. He was fired last week, right?"

Employee:"Yeah but he doesn't know that yet."

Nate:"What do you mean?"

Employee:"Well, he was often skipping work. I mean, he was always pretty reckless and kind of a stuck-up.. so I guess it was inevitable."

Nate:"No, I mean, how does he not know he's been fired?"

Employee:"He was arrested for DUI, right? So we haven't had the chance to tell him..

Nate:"Did you all know about this?"

Employee:"No, only the owner.. She told me that night before… Y'know."

Nate:"Um.. Was there ever anyone who walked into the store often without buying anything? Or just.. Looking around?"

Employee:"Let me think… I think there was one guy, he was really tall and lanky. Y'know he always wore like a really long trench coat and a hat, I couldn't see his face.. I can't tell but.. I think he was hiding more than 2 arms.."

Nate:"Huh.."

Employee:"So uh.. Can I… Go now?"

Nate:"Oh, um..Yeah, yeah, thanks."

Nate hung up the phone and set it on the table.

Blizzie:"So uh, what do you make of that?"

Nate:"I mean.. It changes a lot of things.."

Blizzie:"Hm?"

Nate:"So.. He's definitely been watching this store for a really long time, he knew Kitsuneford was fired so he took that opportunity as a cover.. He knew the CCTV's blindspots so he tried to stay there when the owner argued with him.."

Nate put his hand on his chin.

Nate:"When the owner confronted him, she probably asked him about his supposed arrest."

Blizzie:"And he didn't know about that.."

Nate:"He was scared that might've blown his cover so he panicked and lashed out, and he transformed into the last thing he saw… Whisper."

Blizzie:"Y'know, I was on the phone with the others a few minutes ago.. I think they said something about-"

Hailey:"It's Ghoulkowski!"

Hailey shouted as she suddenly bursted the door open which caused Jibanyan to wake up from his nap in shock and caused Blizzie to flinch, spilling her drink.

Blizzie:"Geez Hailey!"

Hailey:"Aha, sorry.."

Katie:"Hailey, slow down!"

USApyon:"You always run ahead of us!"

Both Katie and USApyon followed, huffing and puffing with their hands on their knees.

Nate:"Ghoulkowski? Wasn't he the prosecutor's witness? You sure?"

Hailey:"Yeah! I mean, I dunno but he's definitely lying about something!"

Hailey then turned to look at Blizzie.

Hailey:"Screw it, Blizzie can you get me a full background search on Daniel Ghoulkowski."

Blizzie:"Consider it done, Hailstorm."

After a few minutes of searching on her laptop using Robonyan's port, she found something that stuck up.

Blizzie:"Okay, so.. Before, I've told you that his home is actually on top of his ramen stall, right? I checked his financial records and apparently, he just started to rent it last month"

Hailey:"Huh, that's interesting.. So he just moved in there not too long ago."

Blizzie:"Now, what I've just discovered is going to dazzle you. Apparently he was expelled from school and sent to juvenile detention for, drum roll please.. Several offenses involving changing forms.."

Katie:"Ha! I knew it!"

Blizzie:"I also cross-referenced his name with national court records, and.. He was a witness in several store robbery cases, I did a quick read of all of those case reports and apparently the convicts were all recently fired employees. Ohoo, The sneaky little bastard has been all over the map playing this ruse for a long time."

Hailey:"You've done it again, Blizzie you're a genius!"

She said in an enthusiastic and cheerful tone,

Blizzie:"Aww, you're just saying that cause it's true."

She joked.

Nate:"This is great! That should be enough to prove Whisper innocent for the-"

Nate then glanced at the clock on the wall

Nate:"Ah shoot! I'm gonna be late for the second trial, I need to be there early, see you guys there!"

He said as he darted through the door.

-hard cut-

Nate:"Hey! There you are!"

Nate greeted Whisper in the waiting room.

Nate:"How you holdin' up?"

Whisper:"Well.. I've seen better days, so uh… did you manage to get anything?"

Nate:"Oh yeah, we're gonna get you outta here for sure, this time!"

Whisper:"That's.. What you said last time."

Nate:"Just trust me, okay?.. I'm not gonna let you rot in jail for a few years."

Whisper:"This can only go well…"

Whisper sighed.

Whisper:"Hey Nathan."

Nate:"Hm?"

Whisper:"If this doesn't work in the end… I uh, I still want to thank you for sticking up for me."

Nate:"Well, y-yeah of course! We're friends… aren't we?"

Whisper:"Well yes but, nobody's ever gone this far just for me… It's actually one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me."

Nate:"Oh.. You're welcome, It was a team effort y'know, It wasn't just me.. Hailey, Katie, Blizzie, USApyon, Whapir, Jibanyan- er- more or less.."

Whisper:"Well uh.. Whatever happens in there.. Good luck."

Nate:"You too."

They said while giving each other a genuine smile.

-hard cut to the second trial-

Prosecutor:"I rest my case, your honor, there's really no way the defendant is innocent. I'm afraid the defense has no sufficient evidence to counter the evidence that we do have, unless they find some mind blowing breakthrough, I doubt he'll be going home today."

Judge:"Hm, very well. Mr. Adams, do you have anything to offer to the table?"

Nate:"Yeah, actually… I'd like to call.. Daniel Ghoulkowski to the stand.. You're still here, aren't you?"

The prosecutor looked confused at Nate's request. Ghoulkowski, on the other hand, flinched at the sound of his name.

Judge:"Go on, Mr. Ghoulkowski, please head to the stand."

The witness eventually got up and reluctantly walked up to the stand.

Witness:"I already gave my testimony, what do you want?"

Nate:"Yeah yeah, I just wanted to ask you a few more questions, y'know?"

Witness:"Fine."

Nate:"So, uh.. You own a ramen stall, right? How long have you worked there?"

Witness:"A few years or so.. It's the family business."

Nate:"It is, huh? Well, I hope you didn't mind, but we took the liberty of digging into your financial records and apparently you only just rented this property for a month… Other than that, the stall registered under your name was at the same address, you didn't walk past the store every time you went home, you were already home.. You lied, Dan."

Witness:"F-fine, maybe I did! That doesn't change the fact that I saw him go into that store!"

Nate:"Oh yeah, you did, when you were arguing with the store owner?"

Witness:"What are you talking about?"

Nate:"You took the form of Kitsuneford who was fired recently as a ruse. What's more interesting is that you've been doing this all across the country.. There's court records for store burglary cases everywhere you've lived for 3 years, and you testified as a witness for all of them."

Witness:"Well what does that prove?!"

Nate:"Well, I mean… old habits die hard, don't they? After all, you've been a troublemaking shapeshifter since juvy."

Witness:"I-"

For the first time, Ghoulkowski was speechless in court.

Nate:"When the owner confronted you, she threw you off your game and you had to change into someone else, the last person you saw was the defendant… I know you didn't mean to kill her... but she saw you transform and you just couldn't take that risk, could you?"

Ghoulkowski growled in anger and in a fury, he transformed into a tall large dark figure with red piercing eyes that was mostly covered by a trench coat and a large fedora.

Shady Tribe: ShopShifter

6 long arms with white gloves extended from his coat, shortly after, he threw the judge off the bench and stood up on it. He swung his arms to the left and right trying to hit the lawyers, he hit the prosecutor but Nate was able to grab Whisper and vault over the counsel table to the middle of the courtroom before the Yo-Kai's arm hit him.

Nate:"This isn't gonna help you, Daniel! Just give it up!"

He tried to reason.

Shopshifter then jumped over his head and crawled freakishly fast on all sixes toward the exit. However Blizzie was able to react fast enough and shoot an icy blast to freeze up all the exits.

Hailey:"Hey! Catch!"

Hailey said as she took out Nate's blaster and threw it in his direction. Nate caught it with one hand and cocked it up against ShopShifter.

Nate:"You know exactly how this is going to end. Do you really wanna go this way?"

He said as his blaster powered up with the sound of a high-pitched electric whine. However, without warning, one of the yo-kai's arms stretched out and wrapped around Nate's blaster and both his hands and yanked him down to the ground making him hit the floor.

Nate:"Woaho- Ow.."

Panicking and running out of options, he started whipping his long rubbery arms at the spectator benches. Causing the whole room to panic. Hailey and Katie had to walk over the spectator benches to get to the front of the room whilst Blizzie flew over to help Nate get up.

Katie:"Sorry! Excuse me! Comin' through!"

She said as they had to walk over the benches and barge through everyone that was cowering on the floor.

Hailey:"Hey, are you okay?"

Nate:"Yeah.. I think so.. Was I cool? That felt really cool!"

Hailey:"Yeah! Totally! Aw man, you broke my spare glasses-"

USApyon:"Heads up!"

Suddenly a bench flew towards them but fortunately they were able to duck in time.

Katie:"So.. You guys got a game plan, or?"

Nate:"Nope. No idea."

Nate said as he tossed Jibanyan's medal into the air.

Nate:"Come on out, my friend! Calling Jibanyan!"

Summoning Charming: Jibanyan!

Jibanyan:"Alright you glorified rubberhose, let's see what you got! Paws of Fury!"

Jibanyan lunged at the Yo-Kai with a barrage of punches. One of ShopShifter's free hands quickly tried to hit him, but instead it grazed off Jibanyan, causing Jibanyan to lose his balance, but he quickly regained and started punching him again from a different angle. The hand that grazed Jibanyan didn't retract but instead it continued going around his body towards Jibanyan and hit him back."

Jibanyan:"Nyaow!"

Nate:"Jibanyan! You alright?"

After seeing how he got rid of Jibanyan, Hailey remembered something.

Hailey:"Hey, this is just like Sailor Cuties season 3 episode 7!"

Everyone apart from Hailey looked at each other in confusion and then back at Hailey and responded with a collective:"huh?"

Hailey:*sigh* "Look, the girls were fighting a space squid with like, really long tentacles. If we can get this guy to wrap himself up with his own arms like they did in the episode, It could work.."

USApyon:"Wait, are you basing this plan off of a television show?"

Hailey:"USApyon, this is no time to argue! There's one of him and a lot of us, we can overwhelm him!"

Blizzie:"Well, It's not like we have any other ideas."

Hailey:"Just.. Go! Get them to follow you!"

Everyone ran towards the yo-kai and went around him in circles with his hands tailing them. They dodged the hands that shot at them and kept running around him while giving him a few punches on his back and stomach for good measure. ShopShifter eventually got angrier and moved his hands faster which resulted in him wrapping himself up and unable to move.

Hailey:"Haha! It actually worked!"

USApyon:"Huh, it did work.."

Katie:"So.. What now?"

Blizzie:"Surely at least someone here's called the police.."

Nate:"So I guess we just wait, huh? Man, I can't wait to get outta this monkey suit.."

-time skip-

Hailey was talking to the Yo-Kai while Nate was melting the exits that Blizzie froze using his blaster and Blazion's medal.

Hailey:"Last chance, Ghoulkowski, you sure you don't wanna hand me your medal?"

ShopShifter:"Oh what's it to you, wise guy?"

Hailey:"Well, I mean, giving your medal for service would take some time off your sentence… You don't really have any other choice, y'know.."

ShopShifter gave a defeated sigh and groaned.

ShopShifter:"Eh, fine. If it'll help me then what the heck."

A medal appeared from thin air and dropped into Hailey's hands.

Hailey:"Sweet! I'll be sure to be there for your trial. So uh, you still have the store owner's soul.. Right?"

ShopShifter:"Yeah, I think it's in my left side top left second row pocket, no wait.. it's in my right side.. bottom right pocket- wait no, it's…. Eh they'll find it eventually."

-hard cut-

Nate:"Man, that was a rough day, I could really use some rest."

Katie:"Y'know… I think I can get used to this.."

Whisper:"Hey um.. This is hard for me to say but.. Thanks for sticking your necks out for me, It really means a lot…"

Hailey:"No problem."

She chuckled.

Whisper:"Even if it was… you know, very poorly planned, I.. I appreciate the gesture, I really do.

Katie:"Man, It's getting late, we should really get back home.."

Hailey:"I'll race ya!"

Without warning, Hailey took off running through the streets.

Nate:"Hey! No fair! You got a head start!"

Katie:"Get back here!"

Both of them followed suit.

Author's Notes

-Okay, this was definitely the longest one yet, I had fun writing this one if I'm honest but it got tricky at times so sorry this one took a decent while.

-I wanted to make this easier for me to write so I made up the idea that Yo-Kai have both a first name and a surname, and then a unique Yo-Kai name. For example I made Daniel Ghoulkowski as ShopShifter. It also saved me the trouble of having to come up with a unique Yo-Kai name for Kitsuneford.

-ShopShifter is basically 'shapeshifter' and 'shoplifter' I mean at this point you can't expect me to come up with anything better.

-I know that most of this could've probably been avoided by summoning Tattletell but that's just not fun at all.

-In order to make the story short and compact enough I had to skip out some court and arrest procedures that would happen irl so hopefully that doesn't change the quality of the story.

-Okay so, for this chapter, i wanted to do something very different, and i think I bit off a lot more than I can chew for this one, so it's probably not as good as it could've been, and i'm sorry.