Note: How is everybody doing? Good? No? Okay, I'm kind of a rambler, and, for that, I apologize. Before we move on, I want to say something to three reviewers.
EmpressLoveSiren23: Yeah, Zadavia did a good thing by assembling a new team of Loonatics. Chances are, there might be other heroes in the universe who could act as potential Loonatics. We'll just have to wait and see.
King Tutenfoxenkhamen III: Well, so far, Diane, Lori and Simon are the only Star Fox references. I don't know if there will be more, but stay tuned. Thanks for the review, by the way.
Ron: Uh, thanks for that, I guess. I hope that you like this chapter as well.
Alright, now that I've done that, it's time for chapter nine.
Chapter 9: Murder in the Museum
It was only a few days before Tech and Rev's turn was up, so the Mighty Loonatics decided to take them to the Acmetropolis History Museum. Said option was Klara's idea, as she said it was good to take a break from crime fighting. Once they got to the door, the team was greeted by a young woman.
"Tech E. Coyote and Rev Runner?" She spoke. "Wow, I never thought that I would meet you in person!"
"Neither did we!" Jack stated.
"Now we're the new members of the team." Simon said.
"New members?" The young woman asked.
"Yeah, Ace and Zadavia had us gather them." Tech said, referring to the Mighty Loonatics. "With our blessing, they became a team, but each of us has to take turns watching after them and keeping them in check."
"We-haven't-gotten-one-of-them-killed-so-we're-okay!" Rev happily stated.
"Not to mention that we've bagged two criminals in our time as the Loonatics." Lori added.
"Oh, okay." The young woman said. "I'll talk to you guys later."
"I have a feeling this won't be the only time you'll see us." Jack stated.
The young woman then walked away from the Mighty Loonatics, Tech and Rev, allowing them to head inside the Museum. In front of them was the curator, who was holding a device in his hand. The curator had dark hair and green eyes. He was wearing a tan uniform with a white undershirt, a red tie and sneakers.
"Good afternoon, friends, and welcome to the Acmetropolis History Museum." He greeted.
"Hello, Mr. Curator." Jack greeted.
"We're just here for a visit." Tech stated.
"Do you have a pass?" The Curator asked.
Tech took a key card out of his pocket and handed it to the Curator, who inserted it into the device that he was holding. After that, the Curator handed the key card back to Tech.
"Go on in, guys!" The Curator said as he stepped to the side.
After that, Tech, Rev and the Mighty Loonatics entered the Museum's main hallway. Once there, the nine decided to split up: Tech and Rev went to the space exhibits with Klara, Jack and Lori went to the prehistoric exhibits, Diane and John went to the crime exhibits and Simon and Teagan went to the human history exhibits. They all agreed to meet back in the main hallway in the next hour. However, the day would take a bloody turn. In fact, the Mighty Loonatics would find something gruesome.
At the space exhibits, Tech and Rev were looking at the models of spaceships, while Klara was looking at footage taken from space voyages. The three were occupied, given how it was a good day, so far. However, when Klara decided to walk over to Tech and Rev, she nearly slipped on something. Much to the girl's shock, there were bloody footprints on the floor.
"Tech, Rev, come see this!" Klara yelled over to them.
Hearing her voice, Tech and Rev went over to the preteen, where they saw the bloody footprints.
"Yuck!" Rev said. "Did-the-janitor-forget-to-clean-these-up?"
"The footprints must be recent, meaning that we arrived minutes, possibly an hour, later than the person was either stabbed, or killed someone." Tech surmised.
"Looks like we'll have to follow them." Klara stated.
Looking forward, the three Loonatics saw that the footprints led to the room with the human history exhibits. Without hesitation, they began to follow them to said room, secretly hoping that Teagan and Simon hadn't left. If whoever the footprints belonged to was nearby, he or she needed to be interrogated.
At the human history exhibits, Simon was looking at an exhibit that shown men in the Stone Age while Teagan was looking at models of famous inventors, such as Thomas Edison and Samuel Morse. Simon then turned around and saw Tech, Rev and Klara walking into the room.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked.
"Boy, are we glad you're still here!" Tech said.
"We're following bloody footprints, did you see any?" Klara asked.
"Do I look like the kind of guy who goes to a museum to look at bloody footprints?" Simon asked.
"Just look, okay?" Tech sighed.
Simon looked down, only to see a trail of footprints. Tech, Rev and Klara only took observation of where they led to: the prehistoric exhibits room. However, there were more footprints than before. Teagan then came up to the four, looking at the footprints.
"Gross." She said.
"Looks like we know where the suspect, or intended victim, might be." Klara said.
The five Loonatics followed the footprints to the prehistoric exhibits, where they hoped Jack and Lori hadn't left.
At the prehistoric exhibits, Jack was looking at the model of a T. Rex, while Lori was examining fossils that belonged to animals such as trilobites. When he looked down, Jack saw blood on the floor near the model, complete with footprints that were drenched in blood.
"Were these here before?" He asked.
"Was what there before?" Lori asked as she walked up to him.
"These footprints and the blood near them." Jack said.
Tech, Rev, Klara, Simon and Teagan came into the room, where they saw Jack and Lori looking at the bloody footprints and the blood on the floor.
"You guys found them quicker than I thought you would." Tech said.
"And it looks like the footprints end here." Klara added.
"But-why?" Rev asked. "Why-do-they-end-here? And-why-is-there-more-blood-than-usual?"
Something wet dropped onto Jack, which caused him to look up. To his surprise, blood had dropped onto his head. The blood in question was leaking out of the T. Rex model's mouth.
"Guys, I think I know why the footprints end." Jack said.
The others looked up, seeing the blood leaking out of the fake dinosaur. In response, Tech went to call the police while Rev told Diane and John to come to the prehistoric exhibits. Once they got there, the Arctic vixen and the stag saw that the police were inspecting the area. One of the officers was even trying to pry open the T. Rex model's mouth. Jack came up to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"I can help you, sir." The young man kindly said, beginning to use his psychokinesis.
All of a sudden, the T. Rex model's mouth opened up. Out from it came the body of a man with blonde hair. He had been nearly decapitated, his head tilting off of his sliced neck. In addition to that, there were various knife wounds in his chest. The man was almost completely naked, being stripped down to his undergarments. The police took photos of the corpse, with one officer even putting police tape around it.
"What could have been used to kill him?" One of the officers asked.
"I think I know what was used." John walked up to the officers.
"You do?" The chief spoke. "Well, spill the beans, stag boy!"
"A machete was used to stab the man to death." The deer stated. "See you see how he has been stripped almost completely naked? That means either the murderer tried to sexually assault him, or that the man removed his clothes to ease the search for the wounds on his body."
"Rather smart for an anthro." An officer spoke.
"Do you have a problem with that?" John spoke. "I've seen many crime drama shows and forensic programs, so I know what certain wounds look like. In fact, I felt like joining the police in order to find him: the man who killed my little sister."
"You think that your sister's rapist and killer killed this man?" The Chief asked.
"I can't be sure," the stag stated, "but I remember hearing about someone being chopped up with a machete by a man with a Taurus birthmark."
The Chief looked at his fellow officers.
"Gentlemen," he spoke, "I think that we should let the Loonatics look for the murderer. Given what the stag has told us, it's better for some of our proudest heroes to save the day."
Walking out of the Museum, the Mighty Loonatics decided to head back to HQ.
"I wonder," Jack spoke, "how come Diane didn't sense for the murderer?"
"I couldn't detect anyone who might have been the murderer." Diane said. "He's in Acmetropolis, but he left shortly before we arrived. However, somehow, my telepathy got distorted when I tried to trace his location."
"Then we need to go look for him!" Simon stated.
"No," John said, "it would be suicide for all of us to go after him at the moment."
"Then what are going to do?" Klara asked.
"We'll just wait for him to resurface." Tech said. "Chances are, he'll commit another crime. But, we have surveillance cameras, so we'll be able to catch him in the act."
Meanwhile, an unknown figure was watching the Mighty Loonatics head back to their HQ.
"That stag has been trying to catch one of my new allies since his sister's death." He spoke. "With the Loonatics backing him up, he might succeed. However, there's no need to panic, as my ally can do stuff that not even the Loonatics would be prepared for. I'll have to send him out, then those crime fighters won't be a threat anymore!"
Note: Oh boy, this might get bad. However, we'll just have to hope for the best. Fun fact: this chapter is meant to be part one of a series of four chapters. Stay tuned for them. Until next time guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!