Mothman630 Gentlemen, I'm really disappointed in you! Not only did you fail to capture the subjects, but you also risked exposure, attracted unwanted media attention, caused unnecessary collateral damage and caused unacceptable causalities amongst the civilians! What do you have to say for yourself?
GhostHunter633 Hey, don't blame me!
The mission was going all according to plan, until Denzel here run out of the van yelling "FAIRIES! FAIRIES!" and started shooting everything in sight!
DoctorCroctopus632 So typical of you Ms. Gray to push the blame on somebody else. We clearly know that it was your reckless driving that caused the subjects to notice our presence! I was merely trying to save the situation!
Mothman630 How many times have I told you? No real names on the forum!
monsterhunter659 And this is why I suggested my self to lead the operation
DoctorCroctopus632 Shut up Simon!
GhostHunter633 Shut Up Simon!
monsterhunter659 It was MY van!
GhostHunter633 Emphasis on "was"
DoctorCroctopus632 lol Good one Val!
monsterhunter659 THIS IS NOT FUNNY!
Mothman630 You people are impossible! It's because of the likes of you that our quest is advancing at such a slow pace!
DoctorCroctopus632 We are the reason why we make any advance at all! If it were you, we would just sit around all day talking about how we should do something
Mothman630 Strategy is required! We are supposed to seek knowledge about these phenomena, not blowing them up!
DoctorCroctopus632 I think they should all just burn
GhostHunter633 Me too
monsterhunter659 I don't
GhostHunter633 Shut-up!
Mothman630 You people are really impossible
Mothman630 - Logged Out
GhostHunter633 What a douche!
DoctorCroctopus632 You said something different when he gave us our allowances
GhostHunter633 Go to hell!
GhostHunter633 - Logged Out
DoctorCroctopus632 - Logged Out
monsterhunter659 hello?
***
DIB logged off and erased his history.
He released a sigh of frustration. This wasn't the fist time something like this happened. Alto to be fair, his associates weren't always the ones to blame. Mr. Crocker and Ms. Grey despite their 'quirks' were both very skilled hunters. Who most of the time knew what they were doing. Most of the time. But even if one of them didn't butcher-up the mission by going in all Rambo, the success rate of capturing a live specimen was pretty-much non-existent. He was lucky if he could at least do an autopsy, and he felt he already gathered all the data he could get from those. It didn't help that some of the creatures upon being slain disintegrated or reverted into a different form. His secret lab was full of these and a few more useful samples. He needed a living specimen to advance in his research, no matter what the cost. "Ehm, Mr. Membrane sir?" his secretary entered the room. "Yes Zita?"
"It's already past working hours, sir."
"Of course, you may go. I'll stay a few more hours."
His secretary left the office and went home. "Man, that guy is crazy" she thought to herself.
Meanwhile in a completely different office. "I assume you watch the news Mr. Fenton."
"I do madam."
"Then you probably know about yesterday's disaster in Hillwood." "Yes, the police suspects a gang-war that grew out of proportion, alto I also heard of the possibility of a terrorist attack. Are you suggesting that..."
"Not at all. Lets just say that someone has a huge interest in finding the culprit and he does not think the police can do the job."
"Aha, so a standard investigation mission?"
"Pretty much. You go there, question the witnesses, maybe take some photos and return for further instructions."
"Sounds simple enough."
"Since Hillwood is too remote for a standard procedure, you'll get a transport. Your partner is already waiting for you in the garage. Approach your work as you see fit, just don't cause too much of an uproar."
"Yes madam!" he replied "I'll be on my way."
He turned around and started exiting the office. "Oh, and Danny? "
"Yes?"
"Put some warm clothes on, they say it's quite cold in Hillwood at the moment."
"Yes mom." He exited the office and walked down the corridor. The building of Amity Park's Orpheus division was half empty. The reason for this was no mystery, it was late and most employees were at home. But for the Fentons there was no time-off. His parents loved the job way too much. That and they lived in the building. The only people in the building besides his family at the moment was the night watch and a few technicians in the basement looking after the Sleepers. He wasn't sure if the Sleepers themselves count, they were there but in a way also weren't if that makes any sense. He entered the company's garage. His partner was already waiting. "Good evening Jazz."
"Good evening Danny." "So another all-nighter with my dear big sister."
"Actually this mission is going to be night and day, we won't get to Hillwood before sunrise."
"Sometimes I wonder how your body can take it."
"That's simple, it can't. I've been running on coffee and amphetamines for two days by now. The question isn't whether it will kill me, but when."
"Should you be even driving?"
"Should you?"
"Touch "
They took the company's black Humvee in case Jazz would get her long awaited heart-attack. That way the causalities in the ensuing traffic accident won't be as big, at least not on their side. The car's interior was rather comfortable with black leather seats, which was a good thing because they had a long way ahead of them. They sat into the car, Jazz turned-on the engine and they drove out of the underground garage into the night. They drove trough the streets of Amity Park heading for the highway. Danny watched the people in the streets, the city's night-life. He couldn't remember when was the last time he got to do something outside of his job. Not to say that his job was boring. Oh no, in fact it was the exact opposite. But too much excitement is bad for your health if you don't have the time to chill. The last time he can remember doing something like that was when they were stuck in an elevator together. He loosened up and turned-on the radio. Queen wason. "Jazz?"
"Yes?"
"You know, when we arrive in Hillwood we don't need to hurry too much with the mission. There isn't exactly a time-limit, perhaps we could..."
"I'd rather not, I don't want to appear shiftless in the eyes of our employee."
"Our parents are our employees!"
"That's no reason for us to have any privilege!"
"Privilege?" Danny replied with a strongly irritated voice "we are already working overtime on a daily basis!"
"That's just a small price for a stable and well-paid job!"
"What's money worth if you can't spend it?"
"Don't be ungrateful!"
"I'm being ungrateful? I put my neck on the line on a daily basis! I often work 24 hours without eating or sleeping and I never even asked for a damn vacation! I'm not sure who's the ungrateful one here!"
"Don't talk about our parents this way!"
"Who mentioned our parents?"
An awkward silence spread throughout the vehicle. The two silently stared in front of themselves. They stayed silent as the car left the city and went out on the highway. "I'm sorry" Jazz was the first one to brake the silence. "No problem" Danny replied "I should have known better."
"No, I'm being too strict on us all. I promise that after we finish our work in Hillwood we'll do something for ourselves."
"As long as it doesn't involve chains..."
"I told you that I have no idea where that tape came from!"
The two laughed.
It was always like this. The following few hours they spent in friendly bickering and joking. Enough to make them forget that they should be tired. This little past-time was however interrupted when Danny noticed something near the road. It was a gas station, but what was going-on in there was what caught his attention. "Could you pull-over?"
"You know what happened last time..."
"I know, that's why I want you to pull-over."
The gas station was in an uproar, some pasty teen was running around like a headless chicken and rambling nonsense. "What's going on?" asked Danny politely after exiting the car.
"I have no idea" said one of the employees "this kid just suddenly arrived and started rambling about someone wanting to eat him."
"He's after me! Why the fuck doesn't anyone listen to me?" yelled the teen.
"Who's after you?"
"That guy!"
"What guy?"
"That stinking ugly dude! He's been chasing me for three day now!"
"Why is he chasing you?"
"I called him an ugly fart!"
"And?"
"I took his bag."
Danny and the gas station workers looked blankly at each other.
"Did you call the police?"
"The sheriff is already on his way."
"OK, I may as well tank here while I'm at it."
Moments later Danny was back in the car and they continued in their journey leaving the pale greasy teen screaming behind. "Now that was pointless" Jazz commented. Danny shrugged "you can't always be the hero."
The rest of the journey passed without any significant events. They arrived in Hillwood around 5 o'clock in the morning. They got to the site of the accident rather quick since there wasn't any traffic. Even in the faint light you could see the disastrous effects. "Let's get this over with" said Jazz while taking out the cameras and exiting the car. The two crossed the yellow bands, there was no-one guarding the place. They started snapping pictures. Yes, the police and the media probably did that too before them, but they may not have the right hardware to capture all the important details.
Danny heard that the accident was probably the result of a gang war that went out of hand, but seeing the site of the incident he had problems believing that. The only way a gang could have done that would be if they had some heavy military equipment. Where the mall once stood, there were just smouldering remains. Anything that was of any worth was ransacked and looted long ago. The ground was covered with craters.
It must have been a really strong blast too. The surrounding area was partially evacuated. The windows on some of the surrounding buildings were broken, as were the windows on the cars. The two carefully photographed the whole area, they were slowly loosing faith of there being anything useful in it, but those were the orders.
Now comes the hard part.
It was obvious they wouldn't get any more info from the mundane witnesses than the police and media already did. The information was really scarce. Here is what pretty much everyone knows, two customers were leaving the mall, a Caucasian man and woman, the man dressed conservatively, the woman dressed in the fashion of the British 70s Punk movement. Upon exiting the mall, a van suddenly drove in front of them only to crash into a container. A middle-aged Caucasian man run out of the van screaming loudly and then opening fire with a shotgun. Some witnesses claim that he was screaming something about faeries. The two returned fire with handguns. By this point most of the witnesses were running for their lives, so further testimonies are nearly non-existent. Footage taken by a helicopter that was called to the place of the shoot-out managed to take the footage of a second assailant, apparently a young woman of African descent. Afterwards under yet unknown circumstances it crashed. The crew is currently held in the city hospital and are said to be at the brink of death. Now when he thought about it, it was kind of strange that the helicopter was there so soon. Did someone tip them off? The people living close weren't much of a help, most noticed something was happening only after the helicopter crashed and then spent the rest of the day hiding under their couches. Approximately 5 minutes after the helicopter's crash, the gas-pump near the mall blew-up which resulted in the windows braking and rubble falling on the site's surroundings. The only witnesses who can be of any further help were those that got stuck inside the mall, and to his knowledge they were all dead. Time for phase 2. "OK Jazz, let's get this over with!"
"Are you sure you can do this now? Don't you want to rest first?"
"Nah, the sooner the better."
The two returned to the car, Danny lay down on the back-seat while Jazz sat next to him. Danny closed his eyes and relaxed his body. Silently he started muttering to himself "going ghost, going ghost, going ghost..." he repeated to himself like some sort of mantra. The words themselves didn't matter, the rhythm did. His mind slowly went numb and his body gave-up. He felt as one half slowly slipped out of the other. Soon he felt as if he was floating. He stood up. Underneath he saw his unconscious body and Jazz sitting next to it. She looked his direction and nodded. Of course she couldn't see him, but after a few years in this job you develop another sense that serves you just as good. He tried to open the car's door. Then he face-palmed, he kept doing the same mistake over and over. He exited the car without opening the door just as he was meant to. While the place looked terrible to living eyes, it was even worse when seen without them. He tried to ignore this and went straight to business. He entered the ruins. He carefully looked around until he saw him sitting there. He approached. "Hello there" said Danny. The figure just looked at him sadly and didn't reply. "Is there anyone else here with you?" he continued.
"No, they all left. It's just me now."
"Left?"
"They went away, to fix their own stuff."
"Why did you stay?"
"I can't remember."
Danny sighed and sat besides him. The person, if you could still call him that way, was a man in his early 20s. Emphasis on was. With greasy hair and skin, dressed in an equally greasy uniform of a mall employee. "I'd offer you a cigarette" said Danny "but I don't have any in this form."
"Not that it matters any-more" said the person "even I realise I don't have lungs any more."
"At least you can't get any cancer."
"Back then I'd be glad to get some! My entire life was a failure, just fitting to end this way."
"Hey, I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
"I was a drop-out. I had no friends. I lived in my mothers basement and had to listen to her nagging about what a failure I was. I worked minimum wage in a job I hated and I died forgotten without doing a single noteworthy deed."
"Ouch."
"You can say that right."
"Well, at least it seems that your death was quite a blast" Danny attempted a lame joke. The guy grinned. "Yes, looking at it now, it seems like it must have been quite a spectacle. Just typical that I didn't get to see the best parts."
"And what did you see?"
"Well, I was just doing my boring job at the cash counter, when I suddenly heard gunshots. I did what everyone else, I threw my self to the ground hiding my head like some retarded ostrich. The shots became louder and more rapid. I heard someone screaming like a pig being raped. Then the glass-shards started flying as they blasted the entrance door to pieces. People started running in circles like headless chicken, trampling each other to death or catching themselves a bullet bill of their own. I just did the reasonable thing like the pussy I was and hid behind the counter. But I still got to peek!"
He looked at Danny. He listened with obvious interest. "Man, this is what I call irony."
"What's so ironic?"
"The first interesting thing I can tell anyone is my freaking death account."
"Fate works in mysterious ways."
"Fate is an ass hole, that's what it's all about!"
"Well anyway" he continued "if I lived to tell anyone about this they wouldn't believe me. From all the uproar you'd expect the god-damn military, but it were just four guys shooting each other. Some punker and a suit were hiding behind what was left of the entrance and blasting with their revolvers as if it was some western flick. The other two were hiding between containers and a van they apparently crashed into them. It was some black chick with an Uzi and some creepy guy with a shotgun who looked like my grade-school teacher after a sniff of crack. And all those morons just run into the rain of bullets."
"And then?"
"You won't believe it."
"I'm talking to a dead man, of course I'll believe you."
"Well, the containers suddenly went on fire. No reason, just poof. The two tried to run from behind them, but then the pushcarts ambushed them."
"Pushcarts?"
"Yes, they were ramming them at full speed like a kamikaze squad. The two were trapped and left to burn. Then however the van moved aside and left the two out. Apparently they had a buddy driving it. The van speeded up and prepared to ram in into the two punks, but they did something and the van stopped. Then they threw a helicopter at them."
"Who did what?"
"I don't know, the suit did some weird things with his arms and suddenly a helicopter fell from the sky."
Danny froze in terror, if this ghost is telling the truth then this is much bigger than they thought. "But even that didn't stop them. They probably hit behind the van or something, because right after the dust settled the two just rushed in on those other two. But then those two did something again and wires started ripping themselves out of the walls and the floor and started lashing at them like tentacles! Thought someone's going to get raped."
Danny just stare with confusion. Not because he would have problems believing the things he heard, but because how incomprehensible the narration was.
"And of course people were panicking and some got electrocuted and the two realised things have gotten out of hands and so they ran away, but not before that creepy guy threw two or three hand grenades into the building. The two panicked and the punker-chick punched the floor and it cracked open and the grenades fell into the chasm. But the wall cracked as well and the whole ceiling started falling down and I noticed something and I jumped and then the whole thing collapsed and then I was dead! Oh my god! Now I know!"
"Know what?"
"Why I stayed behind! Why I jumped!" He quickly stood up and ran towards the ruins of the mall. Danny ran after him. He stopped by a pile of rubble and phased through it "Still not late! It's still not late!" Danny phased right after him and he immediately knew what was going on. He pulled at his silver cord, no time to walk back. His soul was pulled back into his body. He didn't even fully recover and immediately yelled "Jazz, open the door! Quick!"
Confused, she did as he said. He immediately jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards the ruins. Jazz ran after him. He threw himself near a pile of rubble and started digging furiously. "What are you doing?" "Shut up and help me!" he yelled frantically "We both took the course, now make use of it!"
Jazz joined the effort. After a few minutes they cleared enough rubble. Underneath they found the crushed dead body of a young man. There was no mistake, it was the same guy Danny just spoke to. Without a moment of hesitation Danny pulled the body out only the reveal another body underneath. It was a young girl around her teens. Hew face was covered with blood and bruises and her broken glasses were hanging from her left ear. She was still alive.
"Quick! Call an ambulance! Damn! Those lazy bastards didn't even look through the rubble orderly! They just tuck away the corpses that were visible and called it a day!"
Jazz just finished her call "They are on their way" she said.
Danny felt the guys presence. He turned around. He noticed that Jazz looked the same direction. The man smiled. They didn't see him but they had their way of knowing. Then he vanished.