"Someone's dream on the street corner.. An unrealized ideal shattered... Like tears glutting the city.. 'No one can be saved this way', someone whispers... As they drown in a melted dream."
A little after the Torpedo attack that sank the NDA…
A Small group consisting of Mermista, Yuuto, Rantaro, and Charmy were nearby the river bank.
"Phew… glad that's done with." Mermista said, frowning as she shook what little dirty water she could off of her. "Ugh…that river is like murder on me."
"It's a miracle we're even still alive… I think we all got separated. Did you only manage to get the three of us, Mermista?" Yuuto said.
"Yeah, couldn't see anyone else, so I just snagged who I could. I did grab a Master Detective. Thought we could use at least one of them." Mermista said.
"Well, Halara's the most capable one, even if they may charge extra for the rescue, so did you get them?" Yuuto asked.
"No, I think Vector shouted that he got them." Mermista said.
"Wh… then who did you grab?!" Yuuto asked.
The group was then directed to some joyful laughter as they all saw the Master Detective Mermista grabbed…. Was none other than Fubuki Clockford, as she was smiling happily. "That was so fun!"
"Yay! We got the useless girl! Yippee!" Charmy said happily.
"...I fear for the future of Kanai Ward." Yuuto stated.
"I had to grab one of them, c'mon!" Mermista said.
"That I get, but why did it have to be her?" Yuuto asked.
"...Would you rather I grabbed the pervert?" Mermista challenged.
"...Point taken." Rantaro acquiesced.
"Besides, we may have gotten lucky. I think Yakou said once that Fubuki might have one of the best fortes in the whole group besides Halara." Mermista mentioned.
"I see. In that case, I apologize for my previous pessimism." Yuuto said. "For now, we should try and find a way to meet up with the others."
"Right…after breakfast." Charmy said.
"It's 4 in the afternoon." Mermista said.
"...After early supper!" Charmy said.
In another part of the city, a certain crocodile was surfacing.
"Ah! Hahaha! Sometimes it pays to be a croc!" Vector said as he dragged out Steven, Connie, Kaito, Petra, A2, and Kirumi. "Okay, our lineup. Hippie kid, nerd girl, hot jock, bird, girl with attitude, maid who could serve as a damsel in distress. Now just need to pull out Chopper and we got funny animal sidekick!" he said, reaching into the water, grabbing someone only to pull out Eddy. "Cho….Oh…nope. Not you." he said, trying to put him back before Eddy grabbed on.
"Don't even think about it, leather head!" Eddy said. "Were you about to throw me back in like a mackerel?!"
"What? No!" Vector said quickly.
"Uh huh…" Eddy said as the others regained consciousness.
"Seems we got lucky." Kirumi said. "But it looks like we all got separated by the explosion."
"Alright, we better go find 'em." Eddy said, freeing himself from Vector's grasp. "Couldn't have gotten too far…"
"That was a pretty big explosion…what if one of us didn't…?" Steven asked in concern.
"Ah, don't worry about it! The only one I could see getting killed is Yakou, and I threw myself on top of him right before the sub blew up! I'm sure he's fine." Eddy assured, wringing out his clothes until he felt a foreign object in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that it was a photo of both Yakou and an unfamiliar woman. "Huh? The heck's this thing?"
"That must belong to Yakou." Connie observed. "It probably got away from Yakou and onto you while we were all in the river."
"Hm. Guess I'll have to give it back to the guy." the boy shrugged, pocketing the picture. "So, Master Detective Vector, what's the plan?"
"Right. No problem. I always thought we would have this problem so…ahead of time…I put tracking devices on Charmy, Marcy, and David, our most problematic ones." Vector said. "Er, in the good 'keep the ball rolling' kind of way, that it."
"What? When did you do that?" Steven asked.
"I may have hidden them in everyone's food." Vector said.
"...Not digging further on that, can you still pick them up?" Petra asked.
"Sure…I got the receiver right…uh…weird, I could have sworn I asked Yaoyorozu to make a receiver and I…" Vector said. "Damn it, she's still got the receiver!"
"Okay, so that plan's a bust for now." Connie stated. "There has to be something else we can use."
"Knowing Yakou, he's probably got some meet-up place in mind for if this sort of thing happened. For now, we should search the city carefully and try to find either Halara, Desuhiko or Vivia." Vector said.
"What about the others? Yuma & Fubuki?" Kaito pointed out.
"Yuma's still a junior so he likely wasn't told. And Fubuki, that girl's got the brains of a pigeon. She's probably already forgotten the meeting place." Vector said.
"Yeah, good point." Eddy nodded. "Alrighty, let's go a-hunting!" he said, marching ahead.
"Yeah, nothing can stop us now!" Vector said before a white van pulled up and nabbed the group. "Oh, seriously, Kanai Ward?!" he said as they were dragged inside as it drove off.
"What the?!" Eddy yelled as he chased after the van. "Hey! Get back here! Oh, where's Lumpy and Sockhead when you need 'em?!"
"Ha…seems we made it." Silver said as he was on the ground with Double D, Ed, Himiko, Rachel, Jin, Peacock, and Leonora by his side. "If I hadn't used my psychokinesis to pull us out…we would have drowned."
"Silver?" Jin asked.
"I'll be fine. I just need to rest a little." Silver said.
"Oh dear…where have we ended up?" Double D asked, checking his surroundings, looking at the riverbank to see the remains of the sub floating in the river. "Oh lord…what if the NDA members didn't…sur…sur…?" he started to shake.
"Calm yourself!" Jin said.
"I…I.." Double D took a few deep breaths, regaining his composure. "I…I'm okay. M-My apologies." he said. "Okay…there must be a second hideout. Another place to hide…we'll find it. Then we can meet up with the others and plan our next move."
"Yaoyorozu…has a receiver for tracking devices Vector put on a number of members. If we find her, we can find everyone." Silver said.
"Oh…that's most helpful." Double D said, regaining some confidence. "Then we should get moving and go find her. We'll start our search in the Dohya District."
"Why there, Double D?" Ed asked.
"I'm sure you all have noticed by now. There have been posters around the more secluded parts of the city, talking of a sort of resistance." Double D said. "Perhaps they could be of some help in our search."
"Dohya…you mean the Kanai Ward slums?" Silver said.
"Not the cleanest place to start, I am aware, but you know what they say: any port in a storm." Double D replied.
"Well, how are we supposed to get there?" Peacock asked.
"We'll have to go on foot, obviously." Double D said. "I'll lead the way, as I've made a mental map of the city. Keep an eye out for Peacekeepers."
"Very well." Jin said.
"Ugh… My head…" David groaned as he held his head, getting up. He soon spotted Yuma. "Yuma!" he shouted as he ran over to Yuma. "Yuma! Yuma, are you okay?" he asked, trying to shake Yuma awake.
"H-Huh?!" Yuma was shocked awake, sitting up. "David…? W-Wait, where are we?!"
"Don't know. It looks like we're in some sort of penthouse suite." David said, taking in how luxurious the room looked.
"Would you really know what a penthouse suite looked like?" Shinigami asked.
"Not really. My jobs never really gave me enough money to stay in one for myself." David said.
"Wait, couldn't you see what happened to us, Shinigami?" Yuma asked. "Like on the Amaterasu Express!"
"I'm afraid not, Master. We weren't completely synchronized back then, but now that we are…when you're unconscious, my vision goes completely dark." Shinigami explained.
"I'm sure the others are okay, though. They handled far worse than a torpedo blast." David said. "Speaking of which… Who rescued us? And why us specifically?"
"What do you mean us specifically?" Yuma asked.
"I was originally gonna send out Kyogre to store some of the others in his mouth until we got to land. But before I could… I felt someone or something grab me and try to pull me out." David said.
"You didn't see who grabbed you?" Shinigami asked.
"Ah…so you two are awake." a voice said as the two of them looked to a small figure in a bath and wearing a creepy white mask. "You all are welcome to join if you wish."
"Who…are you?" David asked.
"Oh? If you want to know who I am, does that mean you want to be friends with me?" the masked man asked. "Ah, right! Sorry, forgive me. I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? It's been so long since I've built personal relationships that I don't remember the procedure. My name is Makoto Kagutsuchi. Nice to meet you."
"Uh…nice to meet you. So…where are we?" Yuma asked.
"You're in Kanai Tower, the highest point in Kanai Ward." Makoto said.
"What?" David said as he looked out the window. "He's right. Meaning our new friend here is very rich."
"I suppose you could say that." Makoto said.
"Um, why did you bring us here?" Yuma asked.
"Oh, I assumed you two were playing in the river. It's not good to get carried away." Makoto said. "One of my men happened to see you two. So I had you brought here. Good thing too. I saw some scary croc swimming around in the river earlier."
"That…must have been Vector scooping up some of the others. I'm sure they're okay." David said. "Anyway… Speaking of which, did you see anyone else scrambling for land?"
"There was no one else. Maybe they're safe, maybe they're not. Who knows?" Makoto asked.
"I see. Some assurance is better than none, I guess." David said as he heard a doorbell ring.
"Oh, looks like we have a lot of visitors today. You two might want to hide." Makoto said.
"Oh…uh…sure." Yuma said as he and David ran into the other room. The two of them silently peeked out and looked in surprise to see Makoto speaking with Yomi.
"That's… Yomi Hellsmile, Director of the Peacekeepers? What's he doing here?" David asked.
"You think he might be looking for us?" Yuma asked.
"Maybe. If he is, he might be hoping to finish the job himself." David said as Yomi soon leaves after speaking with Makoto.
"Alright, you two can come out now." Makoto said.
"Okay, what was that about?" Yuma asked.
"He was wondering if any detectives were here. I lied and told them you weren't here. But, I recommend you take your leave as soon as you can. They will return." Makoto said.
"R-Right. Thank you." Yuma said.
"Wait, how are you and Yomi…acquainted?" David asked.
"Oh…you could say we're…rivals, in a sort." Makoto said. "See, I truly love Kanai Ward. But tragedies continue to happen, ones that allowed the Peacekeepers to rise in power. But they continue to bring this city closer to death by constantly changing laws. They have grown far too ruthless, taking everything in their path."
"What you just described…it sounds more like an army than a police force." David said.
"I will stop them as a citizen, but outsider detectives like you are vital. So…we will be talking again." Makoto said.
"...Y-Yeah, okay." Yuma said.
"Boys, we should get going. This guy is uber suspicious." Shinigami said, as the three began to leave.
"Excuse me, David." Makoto called out, the Master Detective turning back. "Before you go…I've heard that you want to create a city of your own someday. Is that true?"
"Well, I'm not sure about it being a city per say, but…I do want to make a place where everyone, regardless of any differences, can exist together. It's been a dream of mine for a long time." David said.
Makoto was silent for a moment, turning to look out the window, his body unreadable. "...That sounds like a pleasant dream," he spoke. "Alas, I've settled for lesser aspirations… Good luck out there. I'll be rooting for your success."
David replied with a nod before heading out to follow Yuma. "(Just who are you, Makoto…?)"
In another location…
"Ugh…what happened?" Vector said as he and his group awoke in some strange hideout.
"Well well…you guys are finally awake." a voice said as they saw Marcy sitting in an office chair and dressed like a post-apocalyptic warrior. "You all have been unconscious…for 10 years."
"What?!" they all said.
"Hahahaha! Nah. I'm just messing with ya. You were only out for 2 hours." Marcy said.
"What's with the outfit then?" Eddy asked.
"Thought it would sell the bit." Marcy said. "I mean, we are in a rebel base."
"Oh…wait, we're in a what?" Eddy asked.
"Yeah. These nice rebels found me and some of the others on the riverbank and brought us back here." Marcy said. "They're helping find everyone else right about now."
"Oh…that's great." Vector said.
"Oh…looks like they're bringing in some new recruits now." Marcy said as they saw the doors opened as they saw Yuma and David being brought in.
"What the? You two!?" Vector said.
"Vector? Guys? What is this?" David said.
"How should we know?! We were brought here without anyone telling us anything." Vector said.
"Technically, you were brought here. I chased the van all the way here…then somebody knocked me out from behind." Eddy said, rubbing the back of his head. "Yow, it still stings! It better not be bruised…"
"Is that really your major concern right now…?" Yuma sighed.
They soon heard a rumbling as a scary-looking man entered the room.
"Ah!" Yuma said.
"Guys, relax. This is Shachi, he's the leader of the Revolution." Marcy said.
"Revolution?" Petra asked.
"Yeah! There was actually a resistance movement fighting back against Yomi and the Peacekeepers this whole time, crazy right?" Marcy asked.
"And his name is Japanese for Killer Whale." 9S said.
"She's the reason we brought you here, you know." Shachi mentioned. "Not long after we fished her and the others she was with outta the river, she started talking her ass off about you guys. She tells us you've all seen a fair share of a fight or two. That's the kinda manpower we need. I'll keep it simple: we want you for the Revolution."
"So you want detectives to help in the fight." Vector said. "Guess our exploits have been going around Kanai Ward."
"I mean, I'm always up for punching jerks in the face…" Eddy mused.
"Eddy, no. We have to find our friends." Connie pointed out.
"My men are working to find your allies as we speak." Shachi said.
"In fact, some of your pals happen to be wandering around Dohya District as we speak." one guy said.
"See? We gotta help out these guys!" Marcy said.
"What? Why would…" Vector said as Marcy huddled them together.
"Shachi used to work for Amaterasu. He might know something about what they were up to with the Homunculi." Marcy whispered.
"Ah, I get it." Eddy realized. "We work for this guy, get on his good side… and then he gives us the dirt on Amaterasu! Couldn'ta thought of it better myself, Mar-Mar!" the boy grinned.
Marcy gasped in joy. "You'd give me the same nickname as The Hero-King?" she asked.
"You earned it, kid!" Eddy gave her a thumbs up.
"Yes! My social status in the Hero Alliance is rising!" Marcy cheered.
"(Yakou was right, she is a smart cookie!)" Vector thought. "(She's been been a big help in Solving two Mystery Labyrinths in a row, and she gels with the gang...Maybe…Yeah…I'll have to see how he goes for it, but it could work.)"
"I actually agree. This could work in our favor." Yuma said.
"Hm…well, your offer is worth considering…but if it's not too much trouble, could you tell us more about your Resistance?" Double D asked.
"Sure! Follow me, I'll show you our hideout." Shachi said. "We can even pick up your friends along the way."
Shachi would lead David's group to an intimidating-looking building, past a maze of walkways and building roofs over flooded streets.
"Is this your first time in Dohya District?" Shachi asked the group.
"Uh… Yeah. Yeah, I think it is." David said.
"I've heard about it. This is pretty much Kanai Ward's slums." Marcy said.
"Slums? You mean those parts of big cities where poor people make their own communities?" Eddy asked.
"Dark, but yes. The very same." David said. "Not much of a surprise Kanai Ward has one too."
"What's with all this water?" Kirumi asked.
"It must be from the drainage system. All the rain that falls into the sewers must get drained out here." Marcy said.
"Now that just ain't right." Vector said.
"You can thank Amaterasu Corporation for that." Shachi scowled as the company building in the distance. "People up there don't care about the unending rain…or the people living in the backwaters. Why would they? They're all living high up, looking down on us."
"Which is probably why you quit working for them." Vector said. "The way you have it set, you're planning to fight them without going against them directly. It's noble, but…will it really work out well in the end?"
"Of course it will. From working with them, I know it's a bad idea to directly attack them." Shachi said. "But I can tell you're all different from the rest. If you had free reign to take down Amaterasu, how would you go about it?"
"A direct assault probably wouldn't work, considering Amaterasu has control over the entire city, and the Peacekeepers can put us away no matter what." Kirumi said.
"Keeping us away would be a different story, but yeah, I see your point." Eddy admitted. "Better to wait 'til we're good and ready. Course, seems like some people aren't ever gonna be ready…" he mumbled the last part to himself.
"Since you asked that about us Shachi, do you have some sort of plan to take them down?" Marcy asked.
"No. Not yet anyway. But maybe with all of you here, we can put one together." Shachi said. "Anyway, we're here."
Leading them inside a building, Shachi then presented them four people inside a room that were playing cards. Also inside the building was everyone else in the Hero Alliance Detective team, sans Mermista's group.
"All right! Its time for a revolution!" a short man with a blue afro declared.
"Hey! Don't start a revolution here!" an elf eared man in some sort of aquatic gear said.
"Oh no…" An elderly man sighed.
"I lost again…" the only woman in the quartet lamented.
"No wonder. You're playing all your best cards right when you get them." Penny pointed out.
"Ah, you're all here. Perfect timing since the game's over." Shachi said, getting everyone's attention. "Behold! With Marcy's help, I've located more of her allies, and the remaining Master Detectives who lead them!"
"Wow…you have been busy. Nice work, intern." Vector said.
"Aw, it was nothing really." Marcy said.
"Looks like they're still missing a few people." Himiko said.
"Yeah…they looked everywhere for Mermista, Kiba, Charmy, and Rantaro, but they're still missing." Marcy said.
"The receiver has them wandering around somewhere in Kanai Ward but its hard to get a real bead on their actual location." Yaoyorozu said.
"We'll find them, don't worry. In the meantime, let me introduce you to my fellow resistance members." Shachi said. "While they may not be Master Detectives, each one has their own unique capabilities. The short one is Servan. He's an expert when it comes to machines. Icardi is a very good swimmer and deliveryman. Iruka is our expert markswoman, she was a candidate for Olympic Shooting."
"...just between all of us? She's the crazy one." Penny said.
"And finally, we have Margulaw. Like me, he also used to work for Amaterasu, but circumstances led him to owning a small art shop, but secretly he manages funds for the resistance."
"I see. Sounds neat." Mayumi said.
"Now that we have you all here, allow me to formally ask." Shachi said. "Will all of you please join our cause to fight back against Amaterasu?"
"Before we answer that, what led you to oppress them?" Leonora asked. "Could you tell us more about yourself?"
"I was born around these parts. It wasn't submerged like this at the time. It really was just another regular city. But my family, as you might expect, lived in poverty. That's why, when I was hired by that company, my whole family was thrilled." Shachi said.
"Amaterasu, right?" Ross asked.
"Yeah." Shachi confirmed. "Back then, they weren't dangerous or shady. They were a legitimate business focused on contributing to society. I don't know when it started to go astray. We kept receiving more requests from the Unified Government with an increasing number of top-secret projects. As the secrets kept piling on, the company continued to grow. It sure was a strange sight. Even when I was an employee, I didn't know what was going on. It was like looking at some strange and unknown beast. Before I knew it, everyone was subservient to Amaterasu. The gap between rich and poor was irreversible."
"(This probably happened because Yomi took over the Peacekeepers…)" David thought.
"Shachi, what kind of work did you do for them?" Yuma asked,
"I worked in land development. They'd but up promising land and use it for the company. And here…Dohya District was also a part of that. After I purchased this land, Amaterasu filled it with rows and rows of research facilities. The city was poor, but there were these shiny research labs here. Back then, it made us so proud. We thought it'd bring prosperity here… Or so we hoped… But three years ago, the unending rain began. The area was flooded. Amaterasu abandoned this place without a second thought. The former residents had nowhere to go, so they were forced to live on top of the flooded research labs. And that's what became of Dohya District." Shachi continued.
"That's terrible…" Perfuma said.
"That is why we need you people on our side!" Shachi said. "You've faced Amaterasu not once but twice! You can help bring this to an end!"
"Of course, we'd love to help! But…" Perfuma said.
"I know. You're cautious about what you might get yourselves into if you forego your duties as detectives. Making this choice would switch your roles back to the people you were before you took up these mantles." Shachi said. "Which is more important for you to seek? Justice, or the Truth?"
"Personally, I prefer both in equal measure." David said. "But… That has always been a dilemma for detectives. Is the truth more important than upholding your beliefs? We know some people that might disagree with that. I would know. I am one of those people. But at the same time. We're still down a few people. I want to make sure everyone is together before we make such a bold move."
"David's right." Vector said. "We gotta find Charmy, Kiba, and Rantaro before we decide anything."
"You left Mermista out on purpose, didn't you?" Tenko asked.
"She wasn't even supposed to be here!" Vector said.
"And yet, she's pulled her weight. And I think we've vastly underestimated her skills." 9S said.
"9S is right. I mean, she was part of the reason why we were able to solve Aiko's case."
Maki said.
Vector sighed. "...Yeah, I gotta admit it. When she's totally focused and has all the facts, she's a solid detective."
"We'll find all four of them. Where does the receiver place their general location?" Shuichi asked.
"The Ginnma District." Yaoyorozu said.
"You'll be able to go straight there through Dohya. If you go through the district, you'll head right back to where we found most of you." Shachi said.
"Thank you, Shachi." Shuichi said.
"Hey, are we sure once they leave, they won't report us to Amaterasu?" Icardi asked.
"Good point…maybe we should take care of them right now." Iruka said, reaching for a revolver.
"No." Shachi said. "I trust them. It was Marcy who told us of their heroic deeds outside their detective work, and I believe in her stories. They would never expose us."
"Well, if you're vouching for them, I think we can accept that." Servan said.
"We'll formulate a strategy for dealing with Amaterasu and attempt to execute it while you're gone." Shachi said.
"Okay, Shachi. We'll be back before you know it." David said.
Later in the Kamasaki district…
Taking the shortcut through the Dohya District and arriving back in Kamasaki near the ruins of the NDA, the group headed into the district to look for Mermista's group.
"...Should we really take Shachi's offer?" Perfuma said. "Our mission is to expose Kanai Ward's secrets, not start an all-out war."
"I'd rather choose the truth and Justice as David said. And we can't destroy Amaterasu without revealing their secret first." 9S said.
"But this is a chance for us to get info on the Homunculi, the key part of Kanai's secrets." Marcy said.
"We know that much, Marcy. We just need to gather up everyone else before we decide on anything." Blake said.
"Hopefully we can find them fast so we can come up with a game plan." Kaito said.
Going through the Kamsaki District into Ginma, the group walked by the Golden Path Cafe to see more customers in there than last time.
"Hey, was Golden Path always this packed before we met Halara here?" Connie asked.
"No, I'm not sure it was… what could be the reason for it?" Chrysalis asked.
"Either the food and drink here is really good…" Eddy said. "Or, they hired somebody that's drawing a lot of attention, if ya catch my drift."
"I wish I didn't, but I do." Tenko said.
"Let's see what's going on." 9S said as they entered the cafe.
"Can I get a refill for my coffee?!" one male customer asked.
"Coffee over here too!" another requested.
"Sure! Coming right up!" a familiar voice said as running into the area was Fubuki, dressed in a waitress outfit.
"Fubuki?!" Yuma gawked in shock, the others having similar expressions.
"Oh! Yuma, and the foreign detective teams?" Fubuki asked. "You all must be here to try some of my coffee!"
"The last thing we need's a cup of joe!" Vector said. "You're alive!"
"How dare you all be alive too." Fubuki said.
"What? A-Anyway, it's great to know you made it out alive." Connie said.
"I am grateful you all were born as well. I ought to thank your parents." Fubuki smiled.
"Excuse me, where's my coffee?" a customer asked.
"Right! Coming right up!" Fubuki said as she headed to serve some customers.
"I…don't know where to begin with her." Kaede said.
"Seems that sheltered skank is tough to kill. I wouldn't mind if she died." Shinigami said.
"Why do you keep saying stuff like that?" Yuma asked.
"Death God, remember? More souls, more power. At least, that's what I'm hearing." David said.
"More than that, I just can't stand airheads. Only losers find girls like her attractive." Shinigami said.
"I can hear Odd catching a nasty cold right now." Kaede said, with a sweatdrop.
"I don't know if Fubuki and Sonata are alike in any way though." Chrysalis said.
"Sonata's not that bad. Fubuki is just…WAY too much." P-Twilight said.
"What about me?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"You're the fun kind of airhead." Penny answered. "She's the infuriating kind."
"Aw, thanks for agreeing with me, Four-eyes!" Shinigami cooed.
"On her being infuriating, not on killing her!" the trainer clarified.
Once Fubuki got a bit of a break, the group continued talking with her.
"What are you even doing here, Fubuki?" Yang asked.
"I am fencing coffee. Everyone says it is delicious." Fubuki smiled.
"Fencing…?" Yuma asked.
"I have never worked in a place like this before. It is rather exciting! I have always had an interested in waiting tables. I feel as though I am blossoming with a talent I never knew I had." Fubuki said.
"Wait, so you're actually working here?" Marcy asked.
"Yes! I am an adventurer-detective-coffee-fencer!" Fubuki said.
"That's a thing?" Mayumi said.
"In her mind, I guess it is." Jesse said.
"So you were able to survive the submarine wreck. How exactly did you…?" Leonora asked.
"Oh! I was fortunate enough to be rescued by the mermaid who risked her own well-being to join us." Fubuki said. "She and her companions delivered me to safety."
"Mermista saved you? Do you know where she is? We're looking for her, as well as Kiba, Charmy, and Rantaro."
"Oh, of course! They have never left my side since they saved me. They decided to keep a close watch over me for some reason." Fubuki said. "Here she is." she said holding a flounder.
"Uh…that's a flounder." Vector said.
"Oh, so it is…" Fubuki said. "Did I misplace her?"
"She's a living human being, not some fish you can buy in a pet store!" Jiro said.
"Ugh…she wouldn't leave Fubuki alone, so she and the others must be around here somewhere…" Penny sighed in aggravation.
"Maybe they're back in the kitchen?" Charmy suddenly asked.
"No way, Mermista would never-" Vector retorted before seeing Charmy. "Charmy?! What're you doing here?!"
"I dunno. What are you doing here?" Charmy asked.
"Looking for you. Did you decide to work here with Fubuki too?" 9S said.
"Oh yeah! I'm supposed to be holding this sign on the corner!" he said, holding a sign in the shape of an arrow with the words "Golden Path Cafe" plastered on it. "See?"
"That would be attention-grabbing." Chrysalis nodded. "Anyway, do you know where the others are?"
"Wait, he suggested they were in the kitchen, so maybe…" Penny said, as the group saw Yuuto behind the front counter, working with the coffee machine. "Kiba!"
"Hm? Oh, hello everyone! Fancy meeting you here." Kiba smiled. "Fubuki figured working at Golden Path would be the best way for us to run into you."
"And they just…let you all work here?" Eddy asked.
"Normally they wouldn't, but alas, there's been a nasty case of the flu running through the employees, and they needed stand-ins on short notice."
"Oh, that explains it." Double D said in understanding.
"Can't believe how well Fubuki is doing with making coffee." Vector said.
"Yeah. Her way is awesome. She just goes to the hotel, buys it and brings it back here." Charmy said.
"Doesn't that make the whole cafe process irrelevant?" 2B pointed out.
"I don't think they even care as long as Fubuki brings the customers in." Eddy said.
"So where are Rantaro and Mermista?" Perfuma asked.
"Mermista had to be tied up because of her attitude. Rantaro is off doing his own recon." Kiba said.
"Huh…" Perfuma trailed off. "Well, we managed to meet up with a resistance against Amaterasu Corporation, and we were deciding if we should help them or not."
"Me and Marcy voting yes, Perfuma, David, and 9S are voting no, and everyone else is undetermined. Can ya tell us where you stuffed our stowaway so we can get her vote?" Eddy asked.
"Storage closet in the back." Kiba pointed to his left, allowing everyone to head over and find the closet, finding Mermista bound and gagged, struggling against her ropes.
"Huh, there's a lot of kidnapping going around today…" Steven said as he took the gag off of Mermista.
"Ugh, when are people going to stop tying me up?!" Mermista complained.
"Maybe when you learn how to deal with failure like a mature adult?" Penny pointed out.
"I am so a mature adult!" Mermista cried out in anger.
"Yeah, maybe try to…" David said as he saw Marcy set something up. "Uh…what are you doing?"
"Oh, something Servan asked me to do. He wanted me to set up a few of these cameras around Kanai Ward." Marcy said.
"I thought we agreed not to do anything until we all took a vote." P-Twilight said. "How many of those have you set up so far?"
"Two so far. One's in Marunomon District, the other is at the cafe's bus stop, so I have two left to place." Marcy said.
"What?" 9S asked with a concerned expression. "Marcy, you need to get rid of those last two cameras."
"Why? They're just surveillance cameras." Marcy said.
"Okay, I need you to stay calm and not raise any panic but there are bombs planted in the surveillance cameras." 9S said.
"Oh, that doesn't sound so…WHAT?!" Marcy said. "I've been carrying these around the whole way here! Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"Because you didn't mention anything about them until just now." 9S said.
"Oh yeah. That makes sense." Marcy said. "Wait….then we need to get back the cameras I already planted."
"Good thinking, let's retrace your steps. We'll start with the bomb you planted at the cafe's bus stop." 9S said.
"I'm sorry, did someone just say bombs?!" Charmy asked.
"Yeah, Marcy had unknowingly planted two of them. We're headed to defuse them."
"Well, it looks like we're clocking out early." Kiba said.
"I"m not quite sure what is going on, but it seems as though you're all in a predicament." Fubuki said. "Might I be able to lend any assistance?"
"Sure, Fubuki. We could use the extra help." Kiba said.
"Wait, are we really taking Ms. Airhead?" Shinigami asked in disappointment.
"She's a lot more capable than she looks. She knew about where all those Peacekeepers were before we did." Kiba said.
"Then I see no reason for us to deny her." Double D said. "Welcome aboard, Ms. Clockford."
"I look forward to our partnership!" Fubuki smiled.
"Alright, we need to hurry before those bombs go off." Penny said.
"Let's go!" Marcy said as they prepared to exit the cafe.
"Uh, hello? Still tied up here!" Mermista reminded.
"Oh, right! Sorry!" Perfuma said, quickly untying her.
Fubuki quickly changed back into her normal clothes as the group exited Golden Path. They then headed to the bus stop where Marcy planted her most recent bomb.
"Whaddya think 9S, can you shut it off before whatever can arm it?" Marcy asked.
"Yeah, it's nothing complex so it should only take a minute." 9S said.
"Uh…can we tell how long it will be before it goes off?" Connie asked.
"We're only asking cause we wanna be at a good distance from the blast radius." Tenko said.
"The bombs are set to explode within an hour, but luckily they haven't been armed yet. Looks like an activation system is needed to detonate them." 9S said. "I've traced the signal to a transceiver. Huh…that's weird, it's actually in very close range."
"Hey, Marcy? Was that thing on your arm always there?" Eddy asked
"Huh? Oh this?" Marcy said as she held up her right arm to show a rectangular wrist comm. "Servan gave it to me to go with my new threads. We use it to communicate with each other and - it's the transceiver for the bombs, isn't it?"
"Don't worry, Mar-Mar, I'll get it off ya!" Eddy said as he grabbed onto the transceiver and yanked on it, but the device refused to budge. "Huh…uh, quick question: would you miss this arm if, say…it was yanked off?"
"Eddy!" Tsubaki yelled in outrage.
"Get off my back, my friend's got a detonation device strapped to her arm, I'm panicking!" Eddy yelled.
"Wait, wait, everyone, let's calm down!" Double D said. "Let's not forget, as long as Marcy doesn't activate the transceiver, then the bombs won't go off. Meaning we have all the time we need to deactivate them!"
"He's right. Let me work on this one, then we can deactivate the other two Marcy has." 9S said.
"Wait, what about the other one I planted earli-?" Marcy started.
Her words were cut off by the sound of something that caused the group's hearts to drop: an explosion.
"...Uh oh." Ed summarized the group's reactions.
"No…." Marcy said as she ran ahead to the district she planted the first bomb and saw it completely flooding. "No…" she said, falling to her knees. "This…this wasn't supposed to happen."
Suddenly, the transceiver on Marcy's arm activated.
"Was that a vindictive wake up call to the real world, Marcy Wu?" an automated voice said. "What you heard wasn't just some mere explosion. It is the call to rebellion. The smoke is no mere ashes. It is the signal to revolution."
"H-Hey! What's going on here?! I didn't sign up for this!" Marcy said. "Servan, Shachi! Can you read me? Anyone?! Dang it! No one's responding!"
"What you're about to hear echo across Kanai Ward is the song of revolution. Revolution requires sacrifice, of course, but death comes to us all equally. Equality is revolution. That being said, it must also be fair. Thus, since it was you who planted the bombs, I will also give you the chance to disarm them."
"I'm the one who has the bombs…. I planted two of them, one detonated, and the rest are… on me!" Marcy shouted.
"G-Guah! 9S, hurry up man!" Eddy yelled at the android.
"As you have correctly deduced, four bombs are present in Kanai Ward. The first detonated, and the second was recently placed. The other two are still attached to your person. You have one hour to disarm them. If the bombs go off, the transceiver will as well. You cannot escape the revolution, even if you try to flee. You now hold the future of Kanai Ward in your hands." the voice said as the transceiver showed a sixty minute timer as it started counting down.
Marcy started to hyperventilate as she watched the timer counting down, her ears ringing as Eddy tried to talk to her. "Marcy? Marcy, it's gonna be okay! 9S, if you don't hurry up, I'm gonna-!"
"Got it! Now to focus on the others!" 9S said.
"Marcy! The second bomb is disarmed, calm yourself!" Double D pleaded. "Carefully remove the other bombs from your person and hand them to 9S."
"O-Okay! Here!" Marcy shook herself out of her fear and slowly brought another bomb out, handing it to 9S.
"We have to act fast…. That first explosion no doubt caught the attention of the Peacekeepers. If they catch us with these bombs, they'll arrest us for suspected terrorism!" Double D said. "At the very least, I'm not sure they can link us to this…"
"Uh…guys?" Yuma pointed upwards to a screen, where the group saw two Peacekeepers addressing a camera.
"Breaking news from the Amaterasu Peacekeepers." A PR man said as the two were seen.
One was a taller-than-average young girl with fair a crazy look. She had eyes that are a deep indigo color, with her lashes highlighted in a neon purple hue. Underneath her right eye is a light yellow barcode marking. Her hair is choppily cut and is a bright mix between magenta and pink with sky blue streaks present. Her bangs are long, with a section being swept to the left side of her face, covering up her left eye. Her hair is kept up into pigtails, held up by white ribbons. She is mostly seen with a grin on her face, revealing her sharp teeth. She wore a sleeveless tunic variation of the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeeper uniform, paired with muted violet-colored leggings and sleeves and a pair of white gloves. She sports a pair of white boots with grey lining at the top and black markings on the side. Over her innerwear is a bright blue-colored zip-up jacket that reaches just above her knees.
Behind her was a hulking man with dark skin wearing a white suit, standing over 2 meters tall. He appeared to be implanted with multiple cybernetic parts and a gas mask over his mouth.
"Hello-cha, my slaves of Kanai Ward~!" the girl said with a vertical peace sign. "Are you lovin' yer happy, subservient life~?! It's your Peacekeeper Counterterrorism Squad Leader, Guillaume Hall~! My special party trick is fortune telling! Here it goes~! Ahem, bad luck today for anyone with a 'Berenice's Hair Constellation' sign. Some jealous baldy is gonna kill you. By the way, the guy behind me is Dominic! As you can see, he's an absolute intellectual! Come on and say hi, slowpoke!"
"Ah…." Dominic groaned.
"Those two?! This is bad…" Penny said.
"What're y'talking about? Who's the bratty kid with the crazy hair?" Peacock asked.
"Peacock, that's Guillaume Hall! She's the leader of the Peacekeepers Counterterrorism Division." Penny said. "Next to Yomi, she's the most unstable member of the organization!"
"And they put her in charge of Counterterrorism? Yomi really doesn't know the meaning of restraint." David said.
"Who's the guy behind her?" Himiko asked.
"That's Dominic Fulltank, Guillaume's personal bodyguard/muscle." Penny said. "Sure, he's as slow and dumb as a Slowpoke, but he's as strong as a Machamp. And you can tell he's not exactly a normal human."
"He's a Cyborg…" 2B said.
"Yeah. Together they're the most feared pair in Kanai Ward. Guillaume's a psychotic rat who's relentless in catching any threat to Kanai Ward, and Dominic's a big brute who does anything she orders him to."
"So those two…are gonna…." Marcy said. "Oh…oh man. Shachi…there's no way he'd do this. He can clear all this up."
"I don't think Guillaume is gonna give you a chance to get back to him, listen." Jiro said as Guillaume continued her announcement.
"Anyway, did you know there was an explosion in Marunomon District? How many died? None? Well, not like I care…the Resistance caused the explosion in Dohya district! The peacekeepers received their proclamation loud and clear! Look here, read it, Maggot." Guillaume said, giving something to dominic.
"Ah…." Dominic groaned again as he mumbled whatever was on the proclamation.
"In summary, that's all there is! They set off a bomb as an act of terror! But thanks to some leaks, we've already identified the perpetrator~! Tada! Here she is!" Guillaume said, as the news bulletins revealed Marcy on screen. "Her name is Marcy Wu! Wow! She sure looks like a terrorist all right!"
"Oh come on! I'm only 13! And a student who aces all her classes, except gym but only cause I was reading during class!" Marcy said.
"As you know, Kanai Ward is a town of justice. Terrorists have no human rights here! Everyone, kill her on sight! The Peacekeepers say it's a-okay!" Guillaume announced. "Hey, you underhanded, rotten, bottom feeding terrorist bomber trash! You listening?! You've got nowhere to run! Okay? Okay~!" she said cheerfully before turning to dominic. "Hey, do something ya nitwit."
"Ah…" Dominic obliged by punching his fist close to the screen.
"We have to get back to Dohya District. Now." Shuichi said.
"But what about the bombs, we have less than an hour!" Tenko said.
"Guillaume just executed a citywide manhunt, and she won't rest until she's caught the unlucky individual whose name hit her desk."
"I think you mean killed! That crazy psycho just told the whole city to kill Mar-Mar!" Eddy yelled, grabbing the girl and running. "We gotta go!"
They quickly took off running back to Dohya district as they ran to the rebel base.
"Shachi! We need to talk! This is not…what….I…" she said before the group soon heard a gunshot from the roof as they ran up it to find Shachi lying dead with a hole in his head. "No…."
"Damn it, on top of everything else?!" Eddy groaned. "What does today have against Marcy?! She didn't do nothing to deserve this!"
"It's all my fault…I thought if I got close to the Resistance, I could learn something about the case. But…I ended up being used by them instead." she said.
"That ain't your fault, though!" Eddy argued. "You didn't know any better!"
"But I should know better! It's happened before and it happened again." Marcy said.
"Before?" David said.
"Uh…what I mean was…" Marcy started.
"It's fine, kid. They were gonna learn the truth about you sooner or later. This group does tend to get nosy." Vector said. "Its about time you all knew…why I decided to take this girl on."
Flashback…
"Okay…I've got a pretty good line up of detectives but we're still missing some…" Vector said as a knock was heard on his room door.
"Uh, Vector, know you're busy but someone is here to see you." Lucy said.
"See me? Ah! They found me! Quick, you gotta help me hide the cash and the bootlegs!" Vector said.
"From a 13 year old girl?" Lucy asked.
"Yes from…wait, what?" Vector said before walking in was Marcy.
"Hey…you….you remember me?" Marcy asked.
"Remember…yeah…you were one of the people that Theodore creep kidnapped. Why are you here?" Vector said.
"Truth is…I wanna intern for you!" Marcy said.
"...Okay, what? Why? You don't seem like the…." Vector said as she showed him a white mark that seemed to be reminiscent of a scar in her chest and went to her back. "What the…"
She told me her story. How she was forced to leave her friends cause of her family's new situation. An adventure in another world like we do. And how she was used to further someone else's agenda.
"I know I can never make it right. I…I wanna be like you guys. I wanna be strong. I don't wanna end up being like that ever again. Please…." Marcy said.
Course, what else could I say? She needed help and I wasn't about to turn away a kid who mustered the courage to come asking me for help. So…I agreed to use her as an intern, on the condition she didn't tell this to anyone of you guys.
End Flashback…
"Since then, she's been working for me under the pretense of being an intern with no one being the wiser." Vector said.
"Vector… you and Marcy should've just told us about all this from the start!" Eddy said.
"Yeah, we would have understood her better if we had known." Perfuma said.
"I didn't tell any of you mugs cause you all get way too into other people's business." Vector said.
"Uh…newsflash?" Mermista reminded. "That's kinda our everyday…"
"Don't you start! You weren't even supposed to be here!" Vector said. "This girl had been through enough. I didn't wanna put her through anymore turmoil already."
"Then what can we do to stop it?" Kaito asked.
"That's easy…find Shachi's killer and clear this poor girl's name." Vector said.
"You guys know I wouldn't be able to do all this. I didn't know about the bombs, and I definitely didn't kill Shachi!" Marcy said. "You guys have to help me find whoever killed him so I can clear my name and get Little Ms. Nutjob and her lumbering ox off my back!"
"Don't you doubt for a second that we will!" Eddy promised. "Let's kick the mystery-solving into high gear, gang!"
"You heard him. We're on the clock, so let's investigate this mystery while disarming the bombs." Kaito said.
"Right. Multitask. I'll handle the bombs while we look for clues." 9S said.
"This'll be a dangerous case. But we'll pull it off! Which begs only one question!" Charmy said before zipping to Eddy and Marcy. "Are you two guys like a thing, or…?"
"Wha-no! What makes you think me and Eddy were having a romance route?!" Marcy said.
"We're curious!" Charmy replied.
"Mystery! Solve it! NOW!" Eddy shouted.
"Alright, geez, you ask a question…" Charmy grumbled.
Hermit took a closer look at Shachi's body and noticed the gun in his right hand before picking it up.
"From looking at the body, it's safe to assume the cause of death was a shot to the head." Shuichi said.
"But there's something odd about this gun." Hermit said, popping the cylinder out as it popped to the right.
"Yeah, wasn't Shachi left-handed? Why would the gun be on his right hand?" Tenko asked.
"Hmm…seems the killer was trying to make it look like Shachi committed suicide, but they didn't know which hand he actually used." Shuichi said.
"Question is how the killer escaped without us noticing." Hermit said. "They couldn't have used a rope to escape. It would take too long to remove after descending down." she said as she walked over to the edge of the building.
"Hmm? Has that opening always been there?" David asked.
The group noticed a hole in the building as there was debris in the parking lot.
"Seriously, you'd have to be an Olympic diver to make that kind of jump from here." Kaito said.
"A diver…" Hermit mused. "Do you guys think it was him?"
"Yeah… Most likely." David said.
"Geez, and we haven't even hit the labyrinth yet." Marcy said. "We are thinking about Icardi, right?"
"Yes." they all said.
"But what was the purpose of this?" Kaede asked.
"I'm beginning to wonder that too." Shuichi said. "I mean, he…is supposed to be in the Resistance, isn't he?"
"Yeah…I mean, what sort of motive would he have for flooding…the….Ah! I know what he's after." Marcy said as they hurried off.
"What's going on?" Vector said.
"It's the safes in the district. He's after a few specific kinds of safes." Marcy said.
"He did all of this…just to rob some safes?" David asked.
"Not just any safes. They're super secure and the material they're made of makes them float above water. He's planning to scoop them up and rob the district blind." Marcy said. "Pinning me as a terrorist was a distraction so he could commit the crime uninterrupted."
"Not to mention, while we were with the whole group, Icardi seemed the least dedicated to the cause." David said.
"So no labyrinth? We all know the culprit? Aw….we better do it for the next one!" Shinigami said.
"Now we just need to…." Eddy said as the group suddenly turned right where an ambush of Peacekeepers were. As they opened fire, the air became wavy as they returned a few seconds back.
"No rights!" Fubuki said as they turned left instead.
"What are…" Vector said as they looked back and heard the gunfire. "How did you know that ambush was coming?"
"It's fine. I was able to rewind time before we got hit." Fubuki said.
"Your forte is time reversal? Man that is so overpowered!" Marcy said. "Yet cool at the same time."
"It has a limit, though." Fubuki said.
"Wow that is…." Vector said as they heard sirens before looking back to see Guillaume leading the charge.
"I see her! There's the terrorist mastermind and her loser flunkies!" she called out.
"Oh come on!" Marcy said.
"Uh, Shinigami? Looks like we're gonna need that Mystery Labyrinth after all." David said.
"Wait, if we kill him, how will we…" Eddy began.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But if we don't, these guys are gonna murder us." Jiro said.
"And Icardi is gonna skip town with all the loot. Do you want that?" David asked.
"...No, no I don't. Alright, let's do it!" Eddy said.
"Finally, I get to kill someone!" Shinigami said.
"You should be happy about helping us!" Vector said as time froze to a standstill.
"Arise! Mystery Labyrinth!" Shinigami said as she soon transformed and opened a portal. "And in you all go!" she said, kicking them all into the portal.