Okay, it's this story's One year aniversery!
Nothing special, like I explained in 'Fresher Start' and 'Miraculous: Tales of the Twilight Fighter.'
Check out the latest chapters on them if you haven't seen why not.
Anyway, let's get into it!
Buddy and I went up the hill, entered the code for the door, and we walked into the lab.
Not a bad looking place, but it almost puts Roxie's station to shame.
Someone then said, "Hm. It appears we have some guests." before she took some notes that were on a computer.
When we went down the stairs, I got a look at her. She has dark skin like mine, purple hair in a ponytail[that's what the wiki says; I don't see a ponytail], an orange headband, brown eyes, glasses, and a lab coat under a shirt with a bunny on it. She has on a grey skirt and some plaid leggings and some brown shoes.
When we got on the bottom floor, the man who I assumed was the guy in charge noticed us and came over. He has wild white hair, round glasses, a white lab coat with red gloves and a pair of black work boots.
He then said to Buddy and I, "You there. Are you delivering more squirrels?"
"Uh...no?" I said.
"Then you are welcome here! How can I help you fine humans?"
"...Are you Mr. F. by any chance?" I keep pausing because I think this guy's been around chemicals and computers for too long.
"Mr. F. is my father's name. I am the incomparable Dr. F.!"
"Can I assume that you're not a medical doctor...?" Buddy said.
"You can!" Dr. F. answered.
The woman I mentioned earlier said, "He holds Ph.D.'s in robotology and robotonomy."
Out of nowhere, Dr. F. started inspecting Buddy's head, touching it and taking careful looks, making Buddy a little uncomfortable.
After finishing, he said to him, "You there! You have a magnificent skull. I must study you."
Buddy looked nervous then at me as if to ask for help. I got between the two and said, "Actually, we just came to ask a few questions."
He then tried reaching for Buddy saying, "Give me your skull!" Luckily, I was blocking him.
"Maybe when he's done with it Dr. F.." the woman said, looking over the ledge to see us, "We're on a pretty tight schedule here guys, so what's your question?"
"We were sent here by your old roommate, Paul." I said.
The doctor stopped trying to reach for Buddy's head and said as we both moved back to where we originally were, "Paul was a wonderful man and a dear friend! Whatever happened to him?"
"He turned into a yeti." Buddy simply said.
"Good for him!" Yeah, he's got a screw loose.
I continued, "We think that Morcubus is trying to reproduce some of Paul's research. Paul thought you might be able to help us stop him."
"...What research?"
"Something called the Crown of Nightmares." I answered him.
Hearing that, the doc went by the ladder to upper floor where the woman was and said, "Alexa! Cancel all of my experiments immediately!"
She was shocked and turned to face him.
"What?! But our schedule-" "Crackers to your schedule! This is the science of the most serious kind!"
He then went back to us and said, "Paul told me about that research. It inspired my own pursuit of the mad sciences!" You don't say.
"How much do you know about the Nightmare Crown?" I asked.
"Pnly that Morcubus shouldn't have it. But if he's trying to create his own, he would have to fabricate both parts."
"The crown's made of two parts?"
"Indeed! The crown itself is very important, but it is powered by an extremely rare crystal!"
Alexa then came down to this floor and followed, "If Morcubus wants to manufacture something like that, he'll need a ton of raw resources."
"That Assistant is correct! Running a project like that would have to leave clues.
Search the area and let me know if you see anything that ties Morcubus to heavy machinery or natural resources."
"If you can find clues about Morcubus' activities, we might be able to tell you what he's really up to."
"Sure thing." I answered Alexa, "We'll look for cases in the industrial district and get back to you."
we were about to leave when-
"Hey!"
Dr. F swiped my magnifying glass when it was sticking from out of my pocket. He inspected it before taking it to a workbench and started working on it.
After he was done, he said, "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this."
He then gave me a device of some kind.
"Neat. What am I looking at?" I asked.
"It's your old magnifying glass mixed with the awesome flavor of technology!" he answered, "I call it the detector because of all the things it can detect."
"Makes sense. Thanks! C'mon, Buddy."
We then made our way to the door and I heard Dr. F. say, "Go forth now! For science!"
Buddy and I were walking down the street of the industrial district.
Not a lot going on to be honest.
That's when we noticed two people next to a van, trying to plant trees in the area.
One has brown hair with bunny ears on her head, and the other has dark skin and is wearing an eyepatch and has black and purple hair.
I'd go up to them and speak, if I didn't recognize the uniforms they had on. They work for MorcuCorp.
As we walked past them, really hoping they didn't see us, I heard one of them say, "Hey, you!"
I sighed in my head as I turned around to face one of them. It was the one with the eyepatch.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I've heard about you. You're a detective right?" "Used to be. Special Agent now." "Oh right. We're having some plant issues...Do you think you can help?"
I looked at Buddy who looked back.
On one hand, we don't know what we're getting into, and this could get us in trouble. On the other hand, this could be connected to Morcubus somehow.
We shrugged our shoulders.
"Alright, we'll bite. What's the problem, miss?"
"Brandi. I'm happy to know you just in the neighborhood."
That doesn't make a lotta sense. Shouldn't people in MorcuCorp know I'm somewhere in the enemy section? Or at least somewhere near it?
"You're happy to see me?" I asked.
"Everyone's happy thanks to the city beautification project from MorcuCorp." she said with a smile, "We're planting trees because of how much we care."
Is that right?
"So, what's the 'problem' then?" I said, a little skeptical.
Brandi pointed to a building at the end of the street and said, "D.J. Candy over there is trying to stop us from spreading beautiful nature all over the city."
Alright, I know D.J. Candy, and I know she'd never do something like that intentionally.
"If you don't mind, Brandi, I'm gonna be a hundred percent skeptical about this whole operation."
She then laughed as if I told a bad joke then called her co-worker. "Boss!"
She then came over and it look like she recognized me and I swear I saw a scowl on her face for a hot second before she had a neutral look on her face.
"What is it, peasant?" she said to Brandi.
I then said, "Brandi said you were having a problem with D.J. Candy?"
"Problem?! BAH! I do not have problems! I am Esma, colonel of operations for MorcuCorp. I am Morcubus' right hand! All are beneath me!" She then cackled.
"Except for Morcubus." Brandi said.
"...Except for Morcubus.
But yes, we are having a small problem. That D.J. girl is foiling our attempts to plant trees. She should be destroyed!"
Brandi cleared her throat. "Of course MorcuCorp would never condone murder, but it is sad that D.J. Candy hates nature."
Tell that to the island she owns and hosts concerts on sometimes.
"What did those poor trees ever do to her?"
"I command you to save these trees!" Esma said.
"What's Candy doing to these trees again?" I asked.
"She has giant sonic amplifiers on the roof of her club. Their vibrations are stunting the growth of our trees and killing them."
"She hates nature! It's so sad!" Brandi said.
"We cannot plant trees as long as the D.J. girl insists on using those sonic amplifiers."
"Okay...You think Candy's towers are killing trees. Gotcha. I'll find out what's really going on."
Brandi and Esma: "MorcuCorp cares!"
New mystery: Who is killing the plants?
I turned to Buddy and said, "Huddle."
We then huddled.
"(whisper tone) What do you think, Buddy?" "(whisper tone) Well, they work for MorcuCorp, but don't look too mean. They're planting trees after all." "We don't know if it's a cover or not. Besides, remember Derek mention someone named Esma? Saying how bossy she was?" "Oh yeah." "That has to be her. I'm telling you, there's something suspicious going on. I'm gonna start by checking out those trees, see what's killing them."
We stopped huddling and saw that Esma and Brandi went back to work.
I then used the analyzer on my phone to scan the trees. When the result came back, Roxie said, "Analysis shows that the plants are dying. Something in the environment is causing their cells to break down."
"(normal tone)Thanks, Roxie. *hangs up* (to Buddy) So Candy's towers are killing the trees. We'll need to check each one. But, I'll need to modify the analyzer to read the frequencies."
"How are you gonna do that?" "Easy."
Long story short, I went to Dr. F.'s lab and got permission to modify the analyzer with the equipment he had.
Now that the analyzer was upgraded, we headed to Club Candy to tell D.J. Candy that we're in the middle of some work and that we need to get on her roof to some investigating.
When I opened the door, we stepped back because of the sudden loud music that reached our ears. Music's good though.
When we walked in, we saw bright lights and three people on the dance floor, and the person we needed to talk to at the turntables onstage.
Two people on the floor I know, the third I don't know.
She's about our age like everyone else here, looks Japanese, has dark hair, and has on a school uniform and bag over her should like you would see in anime or in manga. And I don't know what it is, but there's something...off about her.
But let's move that out of the way for a second. On to the others.
The next is a dude with blond spiky hair, with tan skin. He has on red baggy trousers, a grey-brown tank top and brown shoes with green flames. He's also carrying a bright orange shoulder bag.
That's Zack, one of D.J. Candy's roadies, and the president of her fan club. If you asked if he was a roadie or fan, he'd say both. Zack's cool like that.
Next up is a girl with brown hair in pigtails. She has on a white visor, a green top under a short blue jacket, a lot of wristbands on each wrist, some darker blue shorts, some warmers on her legs, and a pair of white shoes.
That girl's name matches her sapphire blue eyes: Sapphire. She's Candy's other roadie who's hyper most of the time. My guess? It's those energy drink brand that she owns and drinks: Sapphire Blu-Energy Burstz. Great drink, just a little too energetic if you ask me.
Now for the reason we came here in the first place.
At the turntables, was a girl with short blonde hair, and like always she's never seen without her favorite green headphones that match her eyes. She's in an orange turtleneck sweater with a zipper that runs across that bares her midriff, along with a light blue and white striped wristband on her right wrist that matches her shoes, and baggy green pants with star belt.
That my dear readers, is D.J. Candy 'Supergroove', one of the best D.J.s on this planet. She travels around D.J.'ing a lot, has her own island named Candypalooza, and when she's not traveling around on tour, she, Sapphire, and Zack are hanging out here at Club Candy.
Even though she's playing loud music, I whistled then shouted, "Yo! Candy!"
I saw her look my way and she said, "Aaron! Long time no see!"
That got Zack and Sapphire's attention too.
"Hey, Aaron!" "Omigosh! Aaron!"
I saw the look of confusion on Buddy's face as I fist bumped Zack and before hugging Sapphire.
"Guys, this is Buddy. Buddy this is Zack," "Hey." "and Sapphire." "Hi!" "They're Candy's roadies, biggest fans, and best friends."
"Nice to meet you." Buddy said.
"So, how's special agent life, Aaron?" "Pretty good, Zack. We're actually on a case right now. Do you mind if we tell Candy that we need to get on her roof to check something out?" "Sure, go ahead. She, like, totally won't mind." Sapphire said.
"Thanks guys." After I said that, Buddy and I went onstage and spoke to Candy.
"Sup, Supergroove?" "Aaron!"
We did this long handshake that ended with us leaning against each other's backs.
After we were done, I said, "Candy, this is Buddy. My partner and best friend." "Hello."
"Nice to meet you, Buddy. Welcome to Club Candy. The hottest spot in the city."
"Hey, Candy, we have a case to solve. Would you mind if we got on your roof to see something?"
"Sure thing. You can go up the ladder, and head to the door up there." "Thanks, Candy. See ya."
I headed up the ladder next to Candy first, and Buddy was hesitant about it because of how high it looked.
It took a bit to give him some courage, then some balancing on some planks across the rafters, but we made it in the end.
When we went through the door on the roof, I pulled out my phone and we checked the frequencies on each of the four towers.
On the last one I said, "Okay, wow, this one reads three thousand-eight hundred femtohertz! Something's pumping a ton of plant killing energy into this tower."
"Where's it coming from?"
"Let's find out."
I pulled out my new detector and on it I could see the electrical current through the wires! Huh. Dr. F. might be a little...weird, but his work is no joke.
We followed the current across the building, all the way to the far end of it, across a long wire, onto another building and it led us to a weird electrical thing.
"What's that?" "No idea, Buddy. But what I do know is that Candy's satellite dishes aren't doing any harm to the plants, it's this thing pumping energy into one of the towers. Candy might be an electrical wiz, but she wouldn't purposely turbocharge one of her radio towers without knowing what it could do to the plants nearby.
Especially not with something that looks like this."
"So now what?" "Now, we go to the one person who can tell us what this device is."
Later, at Dr. F.'s Lab...
"Hahahaha! Interesting you should ask! I've been working on such an invention!"
"Naturally." I said, not surprised at this point.
Dr. F. went on, "It's outside on the platform above my roof! I call it the Foliage Fusion Drive!"
"Uh, thanks..."
Buddy and I left to see if there was anything like that on Dr. F.'s roof.
We didn't see anything at first. I had to climb on top of it to check if there really was anything. When I got to the place where it should be, I didn't see anything but a wire that I think connects to it.
"Nothing." I said before hopping down next to Buddy.
"I thought Dr. F. said it was on the roof." he said.
I then thought about something. "...I don't think he even knows it's gone." I think someone took it.
We went back in the lab and we went to tell Dr. F..
"So, you're F.F.D. is gone." I said, going straight to the point.
He replied, "WHAT?! That must have weighed at least eighteen thousand six hundred seventy-five point ninety-eight kilograms! It could only have been moved by my super-powerful human-likeness robot, Unit 5668 X Sigma!"
"Uh...What?" Buddy asked.
"It will be difficult to locate, because it looks just like a normal person! It's only weakness is conversation." "Well, thanks anyway, doc."
As Buddy and I exited the lab, I explained, "So Dr. F. created a super-robot that looks like a human, but has trouble speaking. We find the robot, we find out why the F.F.D.'s connected to Candy's towers, and who set them to do this."
"How do we find the robot?" "I have a small hunch."
Later, at Club Candy...
Remember that Japanese girl I saw? I don't know why, but there's something that I can't shake about her.
I went up to her and asked, "Hi, I'm Aaron. What's your name?"
"I am Makoto. Greetings."
"Nice to meet you, Makoto. This might sound crazy, but are you a robot?" Again, right to the point.
"My processes are running smoothly. And you?"
"Perfectly. Excuse me for a moment. (to Buddy) Huddle."
We huddled.
"(whisper tone) Her speech is weird and she didn't exactly answer my question." "(whisper tone) You think she might be Dr. F.'s super-robot?" "It's possible. The only way we can get that answer is to get her to admit it." "How can we do that?" "Easy. We talk to her."
We broke the huddle, then I asked Makoto, "(normal tone) So, Makoto, what do you like to do?"
"I enjoy participating in many activities. Please use more specific terms."
Buddy and I then chatted with Makoto to get her to tell us what we need to know.
Buddy brought up shopping, which didn't work out. I asked if she played with dolls or anything, which made her say that she didn't have any need to do that.
Then I asked if she likes slumber parties.
"Slumber party? My memory banks show the need to 'gossip' about partitioned data. Is this accurate?"
"Mhm. At slumber parties you gossip and share secrets."
"Then I will share my secret. I am...a robot."
I was right! So, that's why I had that feeling about her. I was because Makoto wasn't human!
I smiled at Buddy who smiled back, and I said Makoto, "Good secret. Question: Were you the one who hooked the F.F.D. to Candy's radio towers?"
"Affirmative, that was a task that was given to me."
So someone gave Makoto the order to take the F.F.D., and hook it to Candy's towers.
"Can you tell us who?" Buddy asked.
"Negative. Those memory files have been sealed by Friendship Patch Version 8.443.99B."
"Ah, so someone told you to keep it a secret." I said.
"I cannot access the files directly, but you may try to bypass the patch if you like."
"Alright. I can do that. Hold still, tell me if it hurts."
I went behind her and lifted her hair a bit to see a compartment on the back of her head. I opened it and it showed a screen of some kind.
When I checked in it by swiping it and tapping, I heard Makoto giggle a bit. Guess it tickles.
"What the-?" "What is it, Aaron?" Buddy asked before I closed the compartment on Makoto, "The data shows that Brandi and Esma told Makoto to connect the F.F.D. to Candy's towers." "Why'd they do that?" "Let's go find out. Bye, Makoto."
"Farewell." she said as we left.
Luck was on our side as Brandi and Esma were still planting trees and weren't looking our way. We were hiding by their van. I took out my techno-tool and picked the lock for the door. When it was open, I found a MorcuCorp memo that read:
We need you to secure a sonic resonance system. See if you can locate one in the industrial district.
"Looks like MorcuCorp's interested in Candy's towers." I said.
But why?
We decided to go back to Club Candy and see what's so special about them.
When we got on stage then I asked Candy, "Say Candy, if someone wanted your broadcast system, would you know the reason why?"
"It's major powerful!" she said, "You can transmit anything, anywhere!"
"How powerful are we talking?"
"Well, you could receive signals two thousand light years away, enrich dangerous materials-"
"Stop right there. Tell me more about that."
"Yeah, totally. You could use the frequencies from my sound system to charge something with powerful energy."
"Buddy, are thinking what I'm thinking?" "Almost...Is it that Brandi and Esma want to use the radio towers for something not relating to trees?" "Right on the dot, Buddy."
Time to confront those two.
We went back to Brandi and Esma and I said, "Okay, you two. We solved your 'case'."
"Really? Wonderful!" Brandi said.
They walked in front of us and Esma said as I put on my sunglasses, "So, who's killing all the plants, agent?"
"*sigh* Drop the act you two, we know you two are the culprits."
The fake gasped and Brandi said, "No way. Buzz off, man! It's D.J. Candy. You should have her shut down."
"That's what you guys wanted us to think." I said.
"You did know we'd track the plants' damage back to Candy's tower." Buddy said.
"But you didn't expect us to figure out that you conned the robot, Makoto, into stealing Dr. F.'s Foliage Fusion Drive, then had her use Candy's towers to supercharge its power to destroy plants!"
"What?! Makoto's a robot?! (to Esma) Did you know that?" "No clue, dude."
Alright, guess they didn't know that about Makoto. But answer me this: who on Earth asks a random schoolgirl to steal something that weighs over eighteen thousand kilograms, then tells her to connect it to someone's radio towers, no questions asked?
"Okay, maybe you didn't know that, but still! Why'd you try to frame Candy? Why do you want her out of town?"
"So we could claim her sonic amplification towers for Morcu-"
Esma then slapped Brandi when she blurted that out.
"Silence, subordinate! Do you wanna have to wear another eyepatch?" "I'm sorry, Miss Esma!"
"Buddy, I'd say our work here is done. Back to Club Candy?" "Sure."
As we left, I heard Brandi say, "Well, that failed."
"I blame you." Esma said.