A bit later, inside Club Candy...
"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!"
I watched while standing next to Candy and her D.J. system while Zack, Makoto, and Sapphire chanted for Buddy, who was on the dance floor break dancing like there was no tomorrow!
Buddy might be a little clumsy and a little airheaded at times, but I know my best friend like the back of my hand, and know that he can cut a rug.
"Whoa, Aaron, that friend of yours sure knows how to dance." "That's Buddy for ya." I replied to Candy while moving a little to the music.
After a bit Buddy came over to us to say, "This place is the best!"
"Glad you like it, Buddy." Candy thanked, "But hey, since I have you two here, do you think you can help me with something?"
"Eh, why not. We got time to kill. What's going on, Candy?" I said.
"We're busy trying to get ready for our concert tonight, but I keep hearing these strange beats..."
"Strange beats?" I asked.
"You see, I've got a lot of people relying on me to bring the party night after night. Usually I can deliver, but lately I've had some problems. Something funny is going on around here, and it's seriously throwing off my groove. It's starting to ruin my shows."
Sapphire managed to hear us over the loud music, maybe because she was the closest to us, and said, "Omigosh, Candy, no way because your shows are the absolute best that anyone has ever heard! Your music just moves something in people and omigosh, I love to dance!"
Candy gave off a little smile. "Thanks, Sapphire, but something is throwing me off. It's a subtle noise...It's like a...a vibration!"
"Vibrations? You can hear vibrations?" Buddy asked.
"All sounds are vibrations, Buddy, but I don't hear these; I kinda feel them."
"Yeah, Candy's got this really weird but super cool super hearing thing." I said to my best friend.
"She can hear all kinds of things that no one else can hear. It's totally a fact about her." Sapphire followed.
"I do have pretty good ears. For example, Zack just licked his lips back there."
Buddy looked at Zack, who confirmed, "It's true. I totally did." before going back to dancing.
"Aaron, you have to find the source of these strange beats before I lose my groove completely. If my shows aren't kicking at a hundred and fifty percent, I have to refund everyone's money!"
"Not gonna let that happen, Candy. I'll do what I can to find out what's going on."
"Thanks, Aaron." Candy said, smiling at me.
Buddy left to go dance some more, while I went to crack the new mystery: Where are those strange beats coming from?
I started my search by looking around from where I was standing, before looking up at the door to the roof.
"I'll start my search on the roof." I said, as I climbed up the ladder and carefully made my way to the door via the rafters.
When I went through, I listened carefully for anything that could've made any kind of subtle noise.
I then heard some kind of chewing sound coming from the roof section above me, so I went up there.
Strangely, I found Gabby's dog, Grit up here. When and how did he get up here?
"Grit, what're doing?" I got nothing but the sound of Grit gnawing away at the metal cables up here on the roof. Kinda loud.
This could be what was making the noise Candy heard. I can put a stop to it, but I'd need to distract Grit from his metal chewy toy.
I would check Gabby's junkyard, but he'd probably yell at me for touching his junk. Wait, that came out wrong.
A bit later, I entered Dr. F.'s lab.
I saw Alexa and the doc himself working away as I looked around for what I could use that they probably wouldn't miss so Grit could chew on that instead of the cables on Candy's roof.
My eyes landed on T.O.B.O.R. who was working at a computer.
...Well, maybe if I ask nicely he'll give me one of his parts?
I walked over saying, "T.O.B.O.R., my buddy ol' pal o' mine, do you think I could borrow one of your parts for something? It's ergant-"
"What?! No! Absolutely not! I need all my parts! Can you spare any of yours, Fleshie?"
"Okay, I see where you're coming from. Counterpoint: can't you just make a new one?"
"Oh sure, it won't take too long. It'll just take me fifty-seven YEARS." He then went back to work.
Defeated, I walked my way back to the front door...while sneakily pulling out my techno-tool and using it to take one of T.O.B.O.R.'s parts. See? It wasn't that big a deal. He's still standing and isn't saying 'ERROR!' or anything. Guess he didn't really need it.
I left the lab and made my way to the crate staircase that I made to get up on top of the club's roof and up to Grit, who was still eating at the cables.
"Hey, Grit, chew on this."
I showed Grit the part and he ate away at it.
That should be the end of that.
I made my way back to the ground, and while I was at it, I got Grit to the ground before going inside Club Candy and talking to Candy herself.
"Well, Candy there was a dog on your roof chewing loudly on your cables."
"A dog?"
"Yep, but that's all taken care of. So...?"
"I can still hear the beats though."
"Huh, so it wasn't Grit. You've got better hearing, so I'll trust you. I'll keep searching."
Now I almost feel bad for taking one of T.O.B.O.R.'s parts. Almost.
I need some outside the box thinking with this one. Some professional help...
"Alexa, I need a hand with something."
I had reentered the lab and saw that Dr. F. was gone along with T.O.B.O.R.. guess he went to go work on him or something.
Actually, it was a good thing Alexa was here. If I asked for the doc's help he'd probably make an invention that would damage my hearing or something.
When Alexa turned to face me, I continued, "I need a way to find out where a sound is coming from."
"Locating a sound source?" she said, "Call it a coincidence, but I have been doing research on that subject. You can put down these sensors I created to calculate the origin of the sound. They need to be on top of trashcans. My research has found out that trashcans amplify sonic waves."
"Nice! *receives sensors* Uh, question: Why do they look like little sandwiches?"
"So people won't mess with them. Would you touch a sandwich sitting on a trashcan?"
"Point taken. Thanks, Alexa."
Eight minutes later...
Y'know, as I reentered the lab after I placed the sensors on every trashcan I could find in the district, I noticed that Brandi and Esma weren't next to their van.
Regaurdless of the thought, I went over to Alexa and said, "I placed the sensors. What's next?"
"Now, we need a test subject to listen to these sonic beats."
"Can't I do it?"
"I appreciate your cooperation, but we need someone fluent in the language of music. Sensors are powerful, but we still need to tell complex sounds apart."
"Got it. I think I know someone who could do it. B.R.B.."
I left my lab and went to Candy who said when she saw me, "Hey, Aaron. Any luck?"
"Getting close. I need you to listen to something for me, though."
"Sorry, Aaron, I'm super busy. I gotta lay out my tracks for tonight, whether those sounds are still happening or not."
"That's the thing. I think I have a lead on the strange noises, but I need someone to listen to these sensors to find out where exactly the sound's coming from."
"Well, Zack is also talented at listening to music. You could ask him!"
"I'll do that. Thanks, Candy."
I walked down from the D.J. stand and over to Zack who was doing something to one of the speakers and said, "Hey, Zack, could you listen to something for me real quick?"
"Eh, I'm really busy..."
"But Alexa and I need someone to listen to the sensors we've placed."
"I can't do anything until this speaker's fixed. We have a show tonight, and the last concert blew it out. So unless you can help that to go along faster-"
"Say, no more." I walked past Zack and took a look at the speaker. Not an easy fix, but not a hard one either. I whipped out my techno-tool and went to work on the speaker.
After I was done, the music came through it as I said, "Boom! Fixed."
"Awesome! Thanks, Aaron!"
"No problemo. Now, let's head up to the lab so we you can listen to those beats."
"Yeah, man! Let's solve this mystery. Lead the way!"
A bit later, I lead Zack up to Dr. F.'s Lab. He looked around amazed when we first cam inside.
After I introduced him to Alexa, we got to work.
"okay, Zack. Are you ready?" Alexa asked.
Zack nodded in response.
Alexa handed him a pair of headphones and Zack listened to them. He started to bob his head while doing so.
"These are some nice beats!" he said.
"But can you tell where they're coming from?" Alexa asked.
After Zack took them off, he said, "Sounds like their coming from...underground."
That surprised me and Alexa. The beats were coming from underground this whole time.
"Zack, Alexa, thank you so much. Now that I know where the sounds are coming from, I just need to find out how to get underground."
"You're welcome, Aaron./Anytime, Aaron." they said at the same time.
Zack and I left the lab. Zack headed back towards Club Candy, and I looked around on the street to find a way underground.
My eyes then landed on a manhole cover beside some cones and a bulldozer. There's an idea.
I walked over to the manhole cover, put on my F-space manipulator, and used it to move the cover from the ground.
Now to find out what those strange sounds are.
I went down and was immediately hit in the face by the smells of a sewer.
Christ above, please let this be the only time I ever do this.
It took some time and a little bit of F-space manipulation, but I made it to the bottom.
I walked forward towards a rock wall with a very small opening- Wait, what's that?
I got closer, and put my ear against the small opening in the wall. Something's making a noise on the other side of the wall. I obviously can't get through like this, so I'll have to find another way to get in there to find out.
I made my journey back up to the surface and started looking around.
I ended up walking over to Club Candy. I looked around and- Wait a second.
It turned my head back a little, and noticed someone on the other side of the building.
"Esma?" I said.
She noticed me and said, "Ah, if it isn't the detective."
"Agent. What're you doing here?"
"Nothing that concerns you, minion."
I rolled my eyes, but after, my eyes landed on a manhole cover she was standing on.
"Hey, Esma, you mind moving over a bit. I'm on a case, and I need to go into that manhole.
"No, peasant!"
"What? Why not?"
"This is not up for discussion! BE GONE from my sight!"
Just great. Esma's block the only other manhole I could find in the area.
Suddenly, I heard the music from Candy's Club change. Sapphire once told me that everyone loves to move and dance. If I can find out Esma's favorite song, she might move over to hear it better.
Guess it's time for a little bit of mind manipulation.
"Okay, changing the subject; you into music?" "My tastes in music are superior to all!" "Well, you into rock n' roll?" "Rock n' roll is the music of the goddesses, including myself!" "How about The Scrapbooks?" "Ah! The Scrapbookks! That brings me back to my tyrannical youth!" "Really? What's your favorite song from them?"
"'Bunny Hill'! The greatest song EVER! ...Wait, why are we talking about this? Get out of my face, peasant!"
Well, that was easier than I thought.
I walked over to the entrance, went inside the club and over to Candy.
"Candy, pardon me, but would you be so kind to play the song 'Bunny Hill' for me?"
"Oh, man! That's an essential rock classic! I'll queue it up!"
As I made my way to the door, Candy put the music to the halt, and Buddy, Makoto, Zack, and Sapphire stopped dancing also.
"Omigosh, the music stopped and there is no music happening right now!" Sapphire said.
"Be patient, Saph." Candy said, before using her microphone as I opened the door. Her voice amplified throughout the building. "Next up we're gonna play a request that comes from Special Agent Aaron!
'Bunny Hill' by The Scrapbooks!"
"Sweet." Zack said, chill as ever.
I heard Esma from the other side of the building, who said, "O. M. G. Girl, that is my song!"
Candy played the music, and I went through the door and took the long way around towards Esma's spot.
At the same time, I saw her go inside. My curiosity told me to follow her, and somehow, it was surprising to see Esma dancing with everyone else.
But hey, my plan worked!
I went back to the manhole, moved the cover off like with the last one, and went down the manhole all the way to the bottom.
The sound I heard before was getting louder as I got closer.
After finally reaching the bottom, I was surprised to see a bunch of crystals down here that look like their made up of the chemical compound di-lythium.
Hard to find, but really precious, hecka valuable and useful.
And I was even more surprised to see Brandi down here mining the crystals!
"Yo! Brandi!"
She stopped what she was doing and turned to me with a surprised, "Huh?!"
"What's going on?! Why are you mining these crystals?!"
"We're mining destinite for official Morcu-" She put her hands over her mouth to stop herself before saying, "...None of your business!"
She then ran off, and I lost sight of her in the cave.
So that's what's going on here! Brandi and Esma were having a mining operation directly under Club Candy! The sound she heard was the sound of Brandi's pick against these destinite crystals!
Time to let Candy know...
As I reentered the club, I still saw Esma dancing with everyone.
I made my way up to Candy and said, "Candy, your case is cracked."
"Oh, really? Great! So where were those beats comin' from?"
I switch my glasses with my sunglasses and said, "Turns out they were coming from underground. Brandi and Esma from Morcucorp were running a mining operation beneath the floor."
"What?! Under my club?!"
She cut the music making everyone stop. Oh boy, you know she's mad when she stops the music.
Candy said into her microphone, "Hey! Esma! You can't mine here! I own this property!"
"What? Ha!" Esma moved a little closer to us. "I won't obey your property rights, peon! No rules apply to Esma, ruler of all existence!"
"Omigosh, guys, she callled us peons! That's so funny yet so not nice at the same time!" said Sapphire.
"Not cool." Zack followed.
I said, "What were you guys mining for? What the heck is that destinite stuff?"
Esma just cackled as Brandi came in saying, "Mining? Why, I don't know what you're talking about! We're just planting trees."
Esma said, "I have heard of no 'mining operation'! See ya, peasants!" The two of them left.
"What? Aaron, what do they mean?" Buddy asked me.
"It means they already found what they were looking for..." I said.
"Well, at least my concert can return to normal!"
"Anytime, Candy. Now, if you'll excuse Buddy and I, something tells us that we are not done with Morcucorp."
"Well, you saved Club Candy! Thanks, Aaron! Good luck with your agent stuff, though."
Buddy and I then left the club.
Later, at Dr. F.'s lab...
"Yo, doc! We're back!"
After we walked over to the mad scientist, he said, "Yes, yes. Just put the squirrels over there if you must."
"Still not delivering squirrels, doctor. We've got information on Morcucorp."
"What did you find?" Alexa asked. "We found some Morcucorp employees mining a mineral called destinite." "Odd. Destinite isn't common, but it doesn't have any real value. What else?" "Well, they did try to take D.J. Candy's amplifiers."
"ZOUNDS!" Dr. F. suddenly said, "Alexa, don't you see? If you stress destinite with ultra high-powered sonic frequencies, you can transmute it into fortunite!"
"What's fortunite?" Buddy asked.
"It's an incredibly rare and powerful substance. In fact, only one specimen was ever discovered!"
"The crystal from the Nightmare Crown!" I realized.
"Exactly. This Morcubus has a very clever science indeed..."
"Can he really make his own fortunite?" Alexa asked.
"Yes, but it would bu slightly imperfect. The only way you could possibly counter its power would be to find...
...THE ORIGINAL CRYSTAL!"
"How do we find the original fortunite, pal?" Buddy asked me.
"No idea, Buddy. Let's head back to H.Q. for now. We'll see if there's a clue in Evelyn's journal."
As we left for the door, I heard the doctor say, "Good luck, Aaron!"
"We'll bill you for the consultation later!" Alexa called out.
Y'know, those two aren't half bad.
Dr. F: "THE 'F' STANDS FOR ROBOTS!"
...
...
...
...Well, at least one of them isn't.