Fame is a drug no one can resist. No matter if you’re the most outgoing person or if you fear other people, we all want it in some way.

I myself am rather introverted, but I have to admit, even I want recognition. It feels dreadful thinking that our existence means nothing on the grand scale of humanity.

It’s a good feeling, being appreciated and complimented. In a way, this tells you that you matter.

But one day, we will all disappear, not just from the realm of the living, but we’ll also be forgotten one day. No wonder people wish to become famous. It is the wish to have a lasting impact.

That said, obviously, people also want to be known and appreciated in the present. While this is naturally a luxury that is reserved for only a small percentage of humans, there are many ways of getting there.

The people you will likely associate with fame are traditional celebrities. Be it an athlete, a musician, an actor, maybe even an author, or any other career that can bring glory, they’re all home to many famous celebrities.

The idea of a celebrity has changed many times, but it is especially noticeable how it has recently shifted. No more are these celebrities mysterious and untouchable, hiding behind their public image. Nowadays, celebrities want to foster a closeness to their fans. What was once considered a fascinating figure, hiding in Olympus, now shares every random thought they have on social media, no matter how frivolous it is.

This constant presence inevitably leads to clashes, not only between different celebrities but also between their fans and even between their public image and their true selves.

Such grand personalities are destined to get involved in scandals, which can range from outrageous comments to blatant crimes.

And I’m sure you can guess, dear reader, that in this chapter we’ll take a look at the latter.

Case #67: Fatal Conventions

Saturday, September 14, 10:05 am: Entrance, PolyCon

Xavier pulled off the fake nose he was wearing so he could scratch his nose. As he let go, the fake nose was pulled back by the rubber band and snapped back into place.

He was slowly pushed forward as the crowd moved.

Looking around the sea of people gathered outside the convention center, he could see tons of people who were dressed up as characters he didn’t recognize. He was never interested in video games or most shows, so that made sense.

Ironically, he was also dressed up as a video game character himself. He wore a purple top and cap, overalls, and a fake nose complete with an absurdly pointy mustache.

He had let himself be convinced by Alice and Mika to dress up as Waluigi for a group costume.

The same goes for Amy and Ralph, who were standing next to him. Amy wore a similar costume to Xavier’s, just in green to fit Luigi. Ralph, on the other hand, had gone with a more niche Mario character. He wore a long lab coat, comically large glasses, and a bald cap with a long tuft of white hair, standing upright. The bald cap was struggling to contain Ralph’s lush mane. To complete his Professor I. Gadd cosplay, he carried around a red vacuum cleaner like a backpack.

“Man, I’m sweating so hard under this thing,” Ralph said, pointing to his head.

“You’re the one who chose this cosplay. Alice said you could pick any Mario character. You could have selected Wario, then the quartet would have been complete.”

“If you're not cosplaying a niche character that only the real fans will recognize, you’re doing cosplaying wrong,” Ralph answered.

“I don’t think he’s that niche. The Luigi’s Mansion games are pretty popular, and he’s not even exclusive to those games.”

“He’s niche enough.” Ralph looked down at his coat. “I gotta give Alice props. She’s really good at sewing. She even used high-quality materials. I might use this as an actual lab coat at work.”

“She’d probably appreciate hearing you say that,” Xavier said. “I have to say, it’s pretty ironic how much effort she put into these costumes, just to end up getting sick.”

“I do feel bad for her. She was really looking forward to PolyCon,” Amy said.

“She was dumb enough to share a bottle with Mika during a chickenpox outbreak,” Xavier pointed out.

“Wait, she got chickenpox? Isn’t that quite rare in adults?” Ralph asked.

“My parents don’t think highly of vaccines. I assume the same goes for hers, so she was certainly at a higher risk than other adults.”

“You sound pretty unsure about your knowledge on the subject for a biologist,” Xavier noted teasingly.

“Last I checked, chickens weren’t marine animals,” Ralph answered jokingly.

The three had reached the front of the queue. They showed their tickets, and the security checked Xavier’s backpack, as well as Ralph’s vacuum cleaner.

It was a different backpack than the one he usually wore. The security would have never let him in with his basic equipment. I could come up with an entire list of things that would get him kicked out had he brought his investigation backpack along.

Xavier looked around the large hall as they entered the building. Crowds of people dressed in cosplays or merch of their favorite games, comics, shows, or movies gathered around stands dedicated to selling more merchandise. Large banners dangled from the ceiling, advertising upcoming games.

“By the way, I never asked why Alice and Mika wanted to dress up as Mario characters?” Ralph asked. “I thought the only media Mika consumes is mystery-related.”

“Alice got them to play Paper Mario 2 with her, because she said there is a mystery chapter.”

“Which one, the train or the shadow town?” Ralph asked, clearly familiar with the game.

“Pretty sure she meant the one with the train, but ironically, the other one seems to have caught Mika’s eye more. After all, they wanted to dress up as Vivian.”

“See, they get it. Picking a niche character for your cosplay is the way to go.”

“Alice probably wouldn’t agree with you. She chose Mario for her cosplay,” Xavier said.

“No, she picked Paper Mario. Those are separate characters,” Amy explained.

“I mean, she can’t make herself flat, so won’t it just look like Mario?” Ralph asked.

“Nope, they’re totally different. Besides Paper Mario having a more cartoony look, you can easily tell them apart by their hammers. Also, Alice made a 2D hammer out of cardboard, so that should make it pretty clear,” Amy explained.

“Fair enough. Too bad she didn’t get to show it off,” Ralph said.

Amy grabbed a flyer that showed the convention’s layout and a list of events, spread across the weekend.

Skimming over the list, she rolled her eyes. “The program is getting worse every year.”

“Why, what’s the problem?” Xavier asked. He looked at the list, but quickly realized that he didn’t understand any of it.

“The PolyCon was originally just for video games. It later became dedicated to nerdy stuff in general, but in recent years, it has become more and more about influencers. Half the stage program is filled up with them.”

“At least there’s still a lot of other stuff to see. Doesn’t Crazy Narwhal Games have a stand, too?” Ralph asked.

“Yeah, but Abby told me to enjoy the convention. She said her cousin offered to help her with the stand.”

“That’s nice of the two. Where do you want to go first?”

“Does the flyer say anything about the program Mika wanted to see?” Xavier asked.

“Yeah, it’s in the early afternoon on the mainstage. We can go get an autograph afterward.”

“Good. Pretty sure if I don’t get those autographs for Mika, Alice will kill me,” Ralph said, while scratching his head. His look seemed to darken, as if he’d said something wrong.

“I don’t get it, what…” Xavier was cut off by Amy’s phone ringing.

“Sorry, that’s my mother, I’ll have to get that.”

“No worries, we’ll wait here for you,” Xavier answered.

Amy walked off, looking for a quiet corner.

“You wanted to ask something?” Ralph asked.

“Yes. I don’t get it, what autograph does Mika want?”

“There’s a popular fan series based on The Clever Foxes. They have a panel followed by a live performance of the opening song here.”

“Is it any good?” Xavier asked.

“The show? I’d say so. I’m not very familiar with the source material, but I had fun watching it. Plus, it got approval from the most important people.”

“Who?”

“The current writers of the book series, for one, but more importantly, the biggest fan of the Clever Foxes enjoys it.”

“You’re right, if Mika enjoys it, they must be doing something right,” Xavier answered, smiling.

Saturday, September 14, 10:20 am: Hall 1A, PolyCon

Amy’s phone kept ringing until she finally found a spot near some dumpsters that wasn’t as loud.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Took you long enough. Where are you?” her mother asked angrily.

“I’m at PolyCon. I told you, didn’t I?”

“I asked you to come help me with my computer!”

“I did. It worked fine last I checked.”

“Well, it is broken again, so come over and fix it.”

“I can’t, I’m at a convention.”

“Should I remind you who paid for your college degree? The least you can do is put it to use for once.”

“It’s not like I don’t want to help you, but I can’t today. But I can come by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow won’t do, your father and I are meeting some friends. Come by on Monday.”

“Okay, I’ll come by after work.”

“Is that what you call it? Making some blinking lights to turn kids stupid, really impressive.”

Amy sighed, trying not to let her mother hear it. “Was that all?”

“No, where were you last Sunday?! Why did you not show up at your brother’s birthday party?”

“He didn’t invite me.”

“Yes, he did. Jenna sent you an invite.”

“She did that behind his back. Linus didn’t want me there.”

“How dare you accuse your brother of something like that. Unlike you, he cares about this family. I should…”

Without thinking, Amy ended the call. It took her a second to realize what she had done. “Did I just hang up on my mom?! Oh god, I have to apologize.”

While Amy was thinking of what to do, notifications started popping up on her phone. One message after the other came in.

“Why would I hang up on her?! I must have spent too much time with Alice. Only she would be this disrespectful.”

Amy started walking back to the others, staring at her phone and the endless barrage of messages.

She felt someone tap on her left shoulder. She looked over, but no one was there.

“Click!” someone said, standing to Amy’s right. She turned around and noticed a familiar face.

“Now that’s a great pic,” Laura said, looking at her phone. “I have to say, Luigi has never looked this hot, and regular Luigi is already quite the stud.”

Amy turned red, hearing that comment. “What are you doing here?” Amy could feel her heart racing.

“I can’t only report on crimes. Sometimes I have to write stories about other stuff, too. And I’m glad I was sent here.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re here too. Although I should have expected to see my favorite nerd here.”

“I-I’m not a nerd.”

“You sound like your sister.”

“You met Alice?”

“Not in person. Why? Would it make you jealous?” Laura asked with a smile on their face.

“No, I was just surprised.”

“I wouldn’t have expected that. After all, you’re the one who keeps talking about Alice.”

“I don’t talk about her that much.”

“On every phone call and every date we’ve had, you brought her up at least once.”

“Date?!” Amy repeated, flustered.

“I mean, yeah, that’s what you call a meeting, right? It’s cute, though, how flustered you get at the sheer mention of the word.

“What, no, I’m not flustered. Also, I only talk about Alice because you keep asking about her, Xavier, Mika, and Ralph when we’re hanging out.”

“I guess you might have a point. Attractive, nerdy, and attentive, you’re somehow ticking all my boxes.” Laura looked down at Amy’s phone, noticing the constant notifications.

“Who’s spamming you?” Before Amy could answer, they had already grabbed her phone.

“It’s my mother. She got angry at me, and I hung up on her.”

“Nice, you’re finally standing up for yourself.”

“No, not nice. I shouldn’t just hang up on her. I have to apologize, but I don’t know how.”

Laura put her arm around Amy. “Listen, this is your special nerd day. Enjoy it and don’t think about your mother.”

“But…”

Laura booped Amy’s nose and put her phone in their bag. “I’ll hold onto this. You can have it back after you’ve had a great day.”

“No, give it back, I have to…”

“You don’t have to do anything. But if you want, you can be my guide. I’m a bit of a novice with this kind of convention.”

“Really?”

“No, but I like to make potential partners think they’re in charge.”

Amy didn’t know how to react, so she just stared at Laura for a moment, eventually deciding to ignore their last comment.

“Fine, you can tag along,” Amy said. “If you want to,” she added quickly as if it had to be stated.

The two headed back to where Xavier and Ralph were waiting.

“Who’s that?” Ralph asked when he noticed them.

“Hi, I’m Laura Baudelaire, she/they. I’m a friend of Amy.”

“Oh! Now I remember, you’re the one Amy is…” He paused, looking at Amy, chuckling at her concerned look.

“Anyway, I’m…” Ralph continued while Laura was still shaking his hand.

“No, let me guess, you’re Ralph.”

“Right, I guess Amy must have mentioned me at some point.”

“Exactly. And of course, you’re Xavier Diaz, master detective.”

“That’s maybe overselling it a bit.” Xavier shook her hand. Looking into their eyes, for a second, he felt like they were seeing right through him. He shook off the feeling, not thinking much of it.

“So, you’re here to bask in your favorite franchises?” Ralph asked.

“I’m not against the idea, but I’m actually here for business. I have to write a report on the convention.”

“Wait, you said your name was L. Baudelaire?” Xavier noticed.

Laura nodded.

“I knew it. You’ve written some articles about me, right?”

“Guilty. Yes, I have a special weakness for your agency.”

“I have to say, I’m very thankful you’re coverage isn’t the usual sensationalized crap that gets most of the facts wrong. Most of the others don’t even acknowledge Natsu’s important role in the agency.”

“A grave oversight, for sure. He’s just as important as you are,” Laura said.

Xavier and Laura started talking about some old cases, including some of my personal favorites, such as Case #12: The Bottomless Top Hat and Case #44: The Witch’s Quarry.

“Amy, what do you want to check out first?” Ralph asked.

“I saw that they have hourly tournaments at the Kaiju Beats stand.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a big DDR fan. But I’m up for it.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean that I want to participate. But I thought Xavier would enjoy it.”

“Enjoy what?” Xavier asked, having overheard parts of their conversation.

“Amy had a great idea. Remember when we went to that arcade for Marlo’s last birthday?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“You were really good at the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Remember? That dancing game where you have to match the arrows with your feet.”

“Oh, do they have it here?”

“Better. There’s a similar arcade game where you play against each other by controlling Kaijus. The better you are, the more damage you deal to your enemy,” Amy explained excitedly.

“You’d rock that competition.”

“That’s probably thanks to his boxing skills. I mean, quick and secure footwork is vital, even if it’s often overlooked, due to the much more noticeable nature of the punches,” Laura pointed out.

“Spoken like a true boxer,” Xavier complimented them.

“Oh, I wrote an article on a boxer once and tried to soak up as much information as possible.”

“We should probably get going if we want a spot. Do you want to tag along?” Ralph asked Laura.

“Of course.” She wrapped her arm around Amy. “She’s my cute nerd guide, after all. Where she goes, I go.”

Ralph and Xavier could barely contain their laughter, seeing Amy slowly turn as red as a tomato.

Saturday, September 14, 11:00 am: Hall 2B, PolyCon

They had just made it in time to sign up. While waiting for the tournament to begin, they wandered around the stands stocked with merchandise, both official and fan-made.

Thankfully, they had to be back at 11:00 am or their spending spree would have taken overhand.

Ralph and Amy were looking at new dice sets and couldn’t decide, so they ended up buying three sets each. In addition to that, Amy bought a hoodie for Mika with Detective Conan printed on it, and Ralph bought a One Piece body pillow as a joke gift for Alice.

Xavier ended up making the worst mistake anyone can make at a convention, buying something large at the beginning. He realized very quickly that he was now stuck carrying around a 3-foot-tall dinosaur plush.

Laura was the most reasonable one, only buying a Kappa keychain as a gift for Amy to go with the turtle keychain she had given them back in July.

They got back in time for the tournament. Xavier and Ralph got ready for the competition, Laura readied her camera, and Amy held onto everyone’s stuff, having a hard time keeping her balance.

Xavier was up right away, getting through the first round with ease. He had picked the character named Lunar Bunny, a giant rabbit made of moonstone, which kicked the crap out of the opposing dragon.

Ralph had a harder time getting his giant tortoise named Pangea through, but he managed to take out his rival’s mecha.

They waited for the next round, watching the competition with Amy and Laura. The crowd was pretty neutral towards most competitors, only cheering once the battle had fully started. But not long after Ralph’s turn, a man stepped up and the crowd went wild.

“What’s going on? Is he someone famous?” Xavier asked.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know him. Look over to the tournament bracket,” Laura said.

“I still have no idea. Who’s FRZR4Y?”

“It’s pronounced Freeze Ray,” Ralph corrected him. “He’s a rapper who recently blew up online.”

“Never heard of him.” Xavier looked back at the rapper. He had his hair gelled back, his goatee was nicely trimmed, and the crowd was reflected in his large sunglasses. Xavier’s attention was drawn to his clothes. He wore a white blazer with the image of an arctic fox printed across the back. Under it, he wore a shirt that said: “CLEVER AS A FOX” in bold letters.

FRZR4Y picked a Yeti-like creature named Frostsicle. He easily moved on to the next round.

Xavier managed the next rounds easily, with the crowd cheering more every round.

Ralph only managed one more win before losing against a giant arachnid.

Xavier noticed that he would go up against FRZR4Y in the semi-finals. As the two stepped up to the arcade machines, Xavier was overshadowed by the cheers for FRZR4Y, even though Xavier had clearly amassed some fans of his own.

The round was by far the longest one so far, but no matter how hard Xavier tried, the rapper was slowly chipping away at his bunny's health.

After he’d lost, he walked back to the others.

“You put up a good fight,” Ralph said. He handed him the dinosaur plushy.

While they talked, FRZR4Y approached them. “Dude, that was a close one. You’re really good.”

“Thanks. I probably need some more training to beat you, though.”

The rapper wanted to answer, but he hesitated. “Wait, now that I see you up close and hear your voice…” He took off his sunglasses and stared at Xavier.

“Hold on, are you Snacktective?!”

“Wait, you know me?”

“Of course, I’m subscribed to your channel. Dude, your videos are the best. I watch them every time I get the munchies.”

“Is that a compliment?” Xavier asked.

“Munchie content is the best content out there,” FRZR4Y assured him.

“You have a YouTube channel?” Laura asked while looking it up.

“Yeah, Snacktective. I’ve gathered a sizable audience with my food reviews.”

“Sizeable might be a stretch, you have 39 subscribers,” Laura pointed out.

“I’m more than happy with it,” Xavier said proudly.

“How high are the odds that among those 39 would be a famous rapper?” Amy asked.

“Alice could probably calculate that,” Ralph pointed out, laughing.

FRZR4Y turned around. The other semi-final had just concluded.

“Was nice chatting with ya. I’ll come back after I’ve won this thing.”

The final was somehow more tense than Xavier’s last round. But after a long battle, FRZR4Y ended up losing.

“And here we have it, the first winner of today!” the announcer said, handing a prize basket with merchandise and coupons to FRZR4Y’s opponent.

After the winner had said a few words, the announcer turned to the rapper. “Do you have any words for our audience, after this fierce battle?”

FRZR4Y grabbed the mic and looked straight into the camera that was streaming the tournament live on YouTube and Twitch.

“This tournament is legit awesome. I had some great opponents, props to them. Check me out later on the mainstage, and everyone, go subscribe to Snacktective.”

He handed the mic back and hopped off the small platform on which the arcade machines were placed.

Xavier couldn’t keep his eyes off Laura’s phone screen, where almost immediately the subscriber count started going up rapidly.

In case you were wondering, it later slowed down at around 4’000 but would continue to grow over the next days, before eventually shrinking by about 20%.

“Hope you don’t have a problem with me giving you a shout out,” FRZR4Y said as he got back to them.

“No, that’s great.”

“Hey, you said you’ll perform on the main stage later, but I can’t find you on the list,” Ralph noticed.

“Oh, I’m part of a panel.” He pointed to his shirt.

Ralph smacked his hand against his forehead. “How could I forget. You made the opening for Clever as a Fox.”

“And I appear in an upcoming episode. But yeah, I’m part of the panel, and afterward I’ll perform the opening live.”

“Would you mind giving us an autograph?” Amy asked. “Our friend is the biggest fan of The Clever Foxes and your show. They couldn’t make it, so we promised to get them some autographs from the team.”

FRZR4Y seemed to ponder it for a minute. “You know what? I’ll do you one better. I’ll get you backstage, so you can meet the entire team. Or at least everyone who’s here today.”

“You’d do that?” Xavier said, surprised.

“Of course, anything for the Snacktective.”

The four accepted and followed him backstage.

Saturday, September 14, 11:50 am: Room 16B, Backstage

The group entered one of the green rooms backstage that had a sign stuck to the door that said Clever as a Fox on it.

About ten people were gathered inside, sitting on couches or chairs, spread across the room.

The atmosphere was surprisingly tense. No one was talking, and everyone looked down.

“What’s going on? Why are you all looking like someone died?” FRZR4Y asked.

“There were some last-minute changes to the schedule,” a young woman explained, sipping her coffee. She was one of the actors of the project, playing Katrina Kettler.

“What do you mean, changes?”

“The guy who’s up before us decided to add some more stuff to his performance, so we’ll have less time for our panel,” explained a man who Ralph recognized as the actor of Paul Kettler, one of the main characters of both The Clever Foxes and Clever as a Fox.

“So, what are we talking about, 5-10 minutes less?” FRZR4Y asked, confused.

“They cut us down to 20 minutes for the panel and your performance,” the young woman answered.

“What?! That’s bullshit. They can’t just do that,” Xavier said angrily. Only now did the people in the room notice the four who were standing behind FRZR4Y.

“Who’s that?” another woman asked. She looked like she was the youngest in the room. Ralph recognized her from the show as well. She played Gina Bianchi, an important character in the fan series and one of the main characters in the official spin-off, Young Kettlers.

It is now that I realize most of you will likely not be familiar with The Clever Foxes and the franchise that spawned around it. Besides the comments Mika makes on a regular basis. So let me get you up to speed for a second.

The Clever Foxes is a mystery and crime book series that started in the 60s and is aimed at teenagers. It was written in Switzerland but was published internationally up until the 80s. The series continued in German but wasn’t officially translated anymore.

It is still going strong to this day, going up against similar juggernauts like The Famous Five, TKKG, and The Three Investigators, which all occupy the same niche in the German zeitgeist.

The series underwent some changes since the 60s, most notably a change in authorship. The main characters, Paul and Enno, were also allowed to grow up over time, as the protagonists are currently written as young adults, and their adventures are now aimed at older teens and nostalgic adults.

With this change of target audience arose the need for a version, aimed at tweens and young teens. Thus, Young Kettlers was born. A series that follows Katrina Kettler, the adoptive daughter of Paul and Enno, as she opens up an amateur detective agency together with her best friends Gina Bianchi and Phillipe Monet.

The franchise also spawned a trilogy of movies, only one of which was ever released internationally, and a spin-off named Deadly May: Teenage Assassin. It was meant to be a non-canonical What-if scenario that aged up the characters from Young Kettlers by a few years and focused on a recurring side character, named Maike Henning, or May. However, it is generally hated by the fanbase for not fitting in with the series and being too experimental. A sentiment shared by Mika, as Alice had to learn through a three-hour-long monologue of theirs.

Lastly, there is Clever as a Fox, which you’ve just learned is a fan-made series that combines elements from all across the franchise to craft its own story.

I apologize for this detour. I at least hope it helped you understand Mika’s obsession and this fan project a bit better.

Where were we? Ah, yes. The team behind Clever as a Fox stared at the four unknowns FRZR4Y had brought in.

“This is Snacktective, and those are friends of his,” the rapper explained.

“Who?” the man who played Enno asked.

One of the people sitting on the couch started skimming through a notebook in his hands. “If my notes are correct, he’s a food reviewer who FRZR4Y enjoys watching when he’s high,” he said in a meek voice.

“Fritz coming in for the clutch!” FRZR4Y complimented him.

The man stood up and slowly walked over to the guests. “Hello, I’m Fritz Schmid. I’m the writer and director of Clever as a Fox,” he said in the same quiet tone as before. It was muffled by the mask he wore over his mouth and nose. He held out his hand, which was protected by a glove.

“Hi, I’m Xavier.” Mr. Schmid winced from Xavier’s firm handshake. “Nice to meet you. This is Amy, Ralph, and Laura.”

Ralph reached out and shook his hand, more carefully than Xavier. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m a big fan of your project. I hope Xavier didn’t hurt you. It looked like you were in pain.”

“Oh, thank you. No, he didn’t hurt me. I’m just a bit sensitive, that’s all,” he said nervously. Xavier noticed how his nose kept twitching under the mask, making his glasses repeatedly slip. Mr. Schmid’s glasses were slightly fogged from the breath escaping from under the mask. Xavier could relate to that struggle.

“It’s rare for this guy to leave his cocoon,” FRZR4Y noted.

“Please apologize for the mask. I hope you can understand me despite it. My immune system isn’t very strong, so I have to wear protection when I’m around other people.”

“No worries, we understand you fine. But that sounds rough,” Amy said.

“I’m used to it. I know what I have to keep an eye out for.”

“He had to bring his own soap from home,” FRZR4Y said.

“Yes, they use a cheap soap here that has some aggressive chemicals in it.”

Mr. Schmid noticed Amy’s concerned look. “Oh, don’t worry. An average immune system can handle them.”

“I don’t get it. The guy who’s up before you is some trashy YouTuber. What kind of program has he planned that will take up so much time?” Laura asked, looking at the program.

“I don’t know exactly. I think he brought on some of his collab partners. So they’ll probably perform something. Maybe some of their songs and other stuff.”

“That’s fucking bullshit! Who does that guy think he is?” FRZR4Y asked, upset.

“Not much we can do. The organizers are only interested in numbers. And those guys have much more of a media presence than our project,” Katrina’s actress explained, staring at her empty cup. “If anyone looks for me, I’ll be in the lounge,” she said while leaving the room.

The lounge was located backstage in Building A, while most of the green rooms, like this one, were in Building B. It offered snacks, drinks, and a small kitchen for all performers of the convention. It also had multiple screens to watch the broadcasted performances and competitions on.

“Are you just gonna let that guy take up your time?” FRZR4Y asked angrily.

The rest of the team stayed quiet.

“I’m gonna have a talk with him.”

“He won’t listen to you. That guy has an ego the size of Jupiter. And the rest of his group is the same,” Paul’s actor said.

“Doesn’t matter. I just want him to hear how little I think of him.” FRZR4Y walked off. Xavier, Amy, Ralph, and Laura decided to follow him.

Saturday, September 14, 12:10 pm: Room 11B, Backstage

While they walked over to the other room, an announcement was made, notifying the guests of the change in schedule. This made FRZR4Y visibly even more upset.

He banged his fist against the door of the greenroom, and without waiting for an answer, he stepped inside.

The room was about twice the size of the room reserved for the Clever as a Fox team. The five people inside it stared at the rapper who’d just burst in.

“Bro, who do you think you are?” said one of them. He was in the middle of flexing his muscles for a picture. That man was Nick Tanner, the YouTuber, who was originally scheduled on his own. He amassed a subscriber count of 21 million by jumping from one trend to another, originally blowing up during the vlogging craze. He’s since been involved in scandal after scandal, using the outrage to grow even more. He’s generally regarded as a perfect example of a bad influencer. Flexing with money, scamming his audience, spreading hate speech, producing terrible music, you name it, he’s done it.

“Wait, you’re FRZR4Y! Dude, can I take a pic with you for Insta?” said the guy who was taking pictures of Nick Tanner.

The man went by the username CinnamonFry online. He was part of the symbiotic system known as the Tanner Squad, which included all frequent collaborators of Nick Tanner. A gathering of failed social media personalities that only made it big by leeching off of each other, netting them all around 8 to 16 million subscribers on YouTube each.

Cinnamon Fry, in particular, could be considered the poster child of this phenomenon. He initially hit it big by posting pranks, but hit a low after every single one was revealed to be fake. But after joining the Tanner Squad, not only did his audience grow, but so did the scale of his pranks, as well as how distasteful they were.

CinnamonFry walked up to FRZR4Y.

“I’m not here for some dumb Insta post. What do you guys think you’re doing? You can’t just take over our panel!”

“I mean, you still have some time left, right? We didn’t take over all of your panel,” A woman in the back, holding a small, cardboard box, said. She went by the name Tikiki online.

“The organizers get to decide, and they liked us more than whatever you guys do,” said the man currently filming Tikiki. He was known by the name BoubaTube. He and Tikiki were also part of the Tanner Squad. They had been making couples content, publicly broadcasting every fight they got into. Besides that, they were mostly known for doing stupid challenges, which would be best described as a poor man’s Jackass.

Nick Tanner leaned over to the teenager sitting next to him. Another member of the Tanner Squad, known as Lil Nicky. He was Nick Tanner's cousin and has made regular appearances in his content since he was 6 years old. As he grew up, he adopted the worst characteristics of the influencers he hung out with. He constantly tried to one-up everyone and garnered attention with his foul language and distasteful sense of humor.

I would like to inform my readers that I don’t spend much time online and hadn’t heard of these people before this moment. This just shows you how much you can find about them through a simple Google search. In all honesty, I gave you a very surface-level description of the five. I found much more personal stuff without even looking for it.

“Hey Nicky, go get me a glass. I have to record an ad before I go on stage,” Nick Tanner said, seemingly unfazed by the angry rapper.

“Can’t you drink from the fucking bottle? Drinking from a glass is for pussies and fags,” the teenager answered in a desperate attempt at sounding ‘edgy’.

His cousin smacked him over the head. “Idiot, I have to show off the drink, not just the bottle. The kids love the bright colors. Why else would we put all that dye in it?”

“Fine, guess I’ll fucking walk all the way to the god damn lounge in the other shitty building.” Annoyed, the teenager pushed Amy aside and walked down the hallway.

Xavier looked around the room and noticed the product that Nick Tanner was likely advertising. Colorful bottles were arranged on a table behind the couch Nick Tanner was sitting on. They were all labeled “CRASH”, which was the title of his own drink brand. Xavier had once tried one on his channel. The taste could be described as battery acid meets diabetes.

Among the 35 bottles were seven different flavors arranged next to each other. The bottles looked almost identical except for the color and some small emblems depicting different mythical creatures, a different one for each color. Xavier took specific note of the way they were arranged, as something about it ticked him off.

They were arranged in the following way:

Green: Damno Dragon

Orange: Grapefruit Golem

Yellow: Lemon Leviathan

Red: Melon Mermaid

Blue: Pineapple Pegasus

Indigo: Strawberry Skeleton

Purple: Tangerine Troll

What annoyed both Xavier and me so much was the fact that they were so close to being in order of the rainbow. Only a madman would come that close to the logical order, just to mess it up.

“Hey, were you even listening?!” FRZR4Y asked angrily.

“Can you shut up for a moment? I have to edit these pics,” Nick Tanner answered, not even looking up from his phone.

“You know what, screw you!” FRZR4Y walked back to his green room.

Xavier decided to stay longer. He and the others had also grown annoyed at the influencer’s behavior.

While they waited for him to be done with his pictures, they noticed Tikiki and BoubaTube start a recording in the back.

The group mostly ignored them as they were recording their intro, but the influencers got their attention as they announced what was in the box Tikiki was holding.

“For the first challenge, I got my boyfriend a special pet.” She opened the carton and showed it to the camera. “BoubaTube has to lie down and stay still for 5 minutes, while I let this scorpion walk around on him.”

“What?! You’re crazy!”

“Do you accept?”

“Of course! Who do you think I am?”

The group watched as BoubaTube took off his shirt and lied down on the floor.

“Okay, I’m about to put our little friend on Bouba. Don’t forget to like and subscribe if you think this challenge is insane.” Tikiki slowly placed the scorpion on her boyfriend.

Nick Tanner was completely disinterested, still staring at his phone, while CinnamonFry and the others stared at BoubaTube in concern.

He breathed heavily as the first minute went by. After the second minute had passed, he started to sweat nervously. Around the three-minute mark, the scorpion started walking toward his crotch.

With a loud scream, he jumped up, catapulting the scorpion away. Tikiki continued filming gleefully as her boyfriend jumped around. He eventually hit the table with the Crash bottles and made it fall over.

“Dude, can’t you watch out?! I need that for the background of my video!” Nick Tanner said, while BoubaTube was climbing up on the couch and CinnamonFry was nervously searching for the scorpion.

“Put the fucking table back. And put the bottles in the right order, you idiot!”

Xavier picked up one of the bottles that had rolled over to him. He stared at the label. “Damno Dragon,” he read out loud. “Is there actually damno root in here?”

“Of course. It’s the first alcoholic drink in our lineup. Don’t you dare leak it. We haven’t officially announced it,” Nick Tanner said. He caught the bottle Xavier tossed over to him.

“I thought your fanbase was made up of mostly kids,” Laura pointed out.

“Don’t act like I’m some kids‘ channel. I have a successful podcast where we talk about politics and other mature stuff. Damno Dragon is for that fanbase.”

“I thought we were announcing Melon Mermaid today,” Tikiki said.

“We are. We have two new flavors. But the event organizers wouldn’t let us promote Damno Dragon at the convention because it has alcohol in it.”

“Oh, I forgot.”

The door opened up, and Lil Nicky walked in. “Here’s your stupid glass.”

Nick Tanner stared at it and looked up at his cousin. “Are you kidding me? This glass has a stain on it. Do you think I can advertise my drink in a dirty glass?”

“Just cover the fucking stain with your hand.”

“Go and get me a clean glass. And make it fast. I need to get on stage soon.”

“Fine. Guess I’ll walk the whole fucking way again!” Lil Nicky left again.

“What was that?” Amy asked.

“What?” Laura tried picking up what Amy had noticed.

“Nothing. Must have been in my imagination. I thought I heard something.”

“Hey Nick, is it safe to sell drinks with damno root in them?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? We have strict safety standards.” He looked at his watch, growing impatient.

Lil Nicky returned surprisingly fast. “Here, now you have a fucking clean glass.”

“Good. Fill it up with Pineapple Pegasus and give me the bottle.”

Lil Nicky handed him the filled glass and the bottle. He wiped his hands on his shirt, leaving some wet stains.

The drink was just as unnaturally blue as its packaging.

“And you, get the fuck out, or I’ll call security.”

Without much protest, the four left the room.

“What a bunch of idiots,” Laura said.

“Xavier, why did you ask about the damno root? What even is it?” Amy asked.

“You don’t know? Damno root is used in some brands of alcohol. It tastes really sweet and is very addictive,” Laura explained.

“But it is also extremely poisonous,” Xavier said.

“Actually, that isn’t entirely true,” Ralph said. “Damno root isn’t poisonous on its own. It rather reacts with all sorts of poisons and toxins and amplifies their effect. That’s why it can be sold for consumption, as long as extreme care is taken. It can’t be mixed with harmful chemicals or other dangerous ingredients, for example. The same care extends to the packaging, of course.”

“It’s considered a delicacy, despite the risk. Or maybe just because of that. In a way, it is similar to a dish like blowfish. Really dangerous, unless you prepare it expertly and with a lot of care,” Laura pointed out.

“Why would you go through all that trouble for some cheap drink?” Amy asked.

“Like Laura said, it’s very addictive. If sugar and alcohol aren’t enough to get someone hooked on your product, damno root is worth a try,” Xavier said.

Amy sighed. “I guess that makes sense.”

Behind them, they heard the sound of a door slamming shut. Shortly after, Nick Tanner ran past them, holding a bottle in his hand. Seconds later, Lil Nicky and CinnamonFry passed by them, also in a hurry.

Xavier looked down at his phone. It was already 12:30 pm, the time Nick Tanner was scheduled to appear on stage.

The group returned to the green room of the Clever as a Fox team, but just as they got there, Mr. Schmid and some others were heading to the lounge and invited them along.

Saturday, September 14, 12:40 pm: Lounge, Backstage

The group had gathered in the lounge. Some were drinking or eating snacks, others were watching the screens in the lounge. Mr. Schmid and Enno’s actor were going over some notes for their panel, having to adjust their plans to fit the shortened time.

“Jesus, can this guy get on with it?” FRZR4Y asked, upset. He was watching Nick Tanner’s performance.

The content creator had been going on, throwing out one empty phrase after the other about how important his community was to him.

After ten minutes of repeating the same meaningless things, he started talking about Crash and finally showed off the bottle to his audience.

“Today, I’m happy to announce the next evolution of Crash. No, the next evolution of drinks. The new flavor, Melon Mermaid, is one of two new flavors that you can purchase, starting next Monday, in all…” He kept talking about the drink for a while before finally taking a sip. He tossed the bottle aside, spilling neon green liquid on the stage.

The music started playing as Lil Nicky and CinnamonFry came on stage, and the three started rapping one of their grotesquely below-average songs.

“Wait, is he stupid?” Xavier asked.

“Of course he is,” Laura answered bluntly, making Amy chuckle. “Is there anything in particular that made you ask that?”

“Did you not see the bottle? It was green.”

“And?” Ralph asked.

“The green drink is Damno Dragon. Melon Mermaid is red.”

“Spoken like a real fan,” Laura said jokingly.

“I mean, I held one of the bottles in my hands. I know for sure that green is not the right one.”

The performance continued while they were talking. The moves were all very simple, but even so, it looked like all three had barely memorized them. Nick Tanner, in particular, seemed to get worse with every verse.

“He was in a hurry. Maybe he grabbed the wrong bottle,” Ralph pointed out, still hung up on the bottle.

“That seems unlikely. They’re differently colored and were ordered neatly,” Amy said.

“What’s up with him?” FRZR4Y asked. The four looked back at the screen. One of the camera operators had seemingly felt especially cruel that day and had zoomed in on Nick Tanner’s face, making it very obvious that his mouth movements were not lined up with the song. The close-up wasn’t very flattering, either. Nick Tanner was sweating profusely, and his face had started to turn a pale shade, making the blue of his veins pop out. He looked past his audience with an absent stare.

“Is he okay?” Amy wondered, concerned.

“You’re right, that doesn’t look healthy,” Xavier agreed.

At that moment, Nick Tanner started convulsing. He bent over and threw up on stage.

The crowd was silent, except for some confused gasps.

From one second to the next, his body went limp, and he toppled over, landing in a puddle of his own vomit.

The crowd remained silent for some time, expecting him to get up and announce that it was a prank or some weird part of the show, but Nick Tanner just remained motionless.

After a minute or so, the reality of the situation set in, and the first members of the audience started screaming. Quickly, the situation escalated, despite the security's attempts at keeping everybody calm.

Instead of stopping the broadcast, the stream cut to a wide shot of the entire stage. Lil Nicky was frozen in shock, staring at his idol’s motionless body.

CinnamonFry, on the other hand, stared at Nick Tanner in shock and took off, running backstage.

Before anyone had time to process the situation, Xavier jumped up and ran out of the room, followed by Amy, Ralph, and Laura.

Saturday, September 14, 12:50 pm: Room 11B, Backstage

The door to the Tanner Squad’s room was wide open. As they looked inside, a terrifying sight greeted them.

The table with the bottles had fallen over again, and all the bottles were scattered around the room. Some of the bottles were still closed, but many had been opened.

In a corner sat BoubaTube, bent over the trash can. Vomit was dribbling down his chin.

Near him was CinnamonFry, sitting next to Tikiki, who was lying on the floor, next to a puddle of vomit, holding her stomach in agony.

“What happened?” Ralph asked.

CinnamonFry looked up in shock. “What are you doing here? Get out!”

“Actually, we’re here to investigate what just happened,” Xavier said, showing his detective license.

Amy ran over to check on Tikiki and BoubaTube. Thankfully, the two were still alive. “Are you okay?”

The two could barely speak. They were both more concerned with holding back the vomit.

“What should we do?” Amy asked Xavier.

“I think it’s best if we split up. We should check both this room and the stage.”

“I could check out the stage, if I’m allowed to help,” Laura said.

“Thanks. Amy can go with you, and Ralph can stay here with me.”

“Great. Let’s go,” Laura said, pulling Amy out of the room.

Xavier looked around the room, noticing the empty bottles. “Who drank all of those?”

BoubaTube managed to force out an answer, without throwing up. “We recorded a challenge.”

“Seeing who could drink more Crash,” Tikiki finished his explanation.

“No wonder you threw up,” Ralph said, shaking his head.

“Ralph, help me gather all the bottles. I want to check something.”

The two spent the next few minutes lining up the bottles. Two were missing: Pineapple Pegasus and Damno Dragon. The two that Nick Tanner had drunk.

“Let’s see. The unopened ones are 4 Damno Dragons, 3 Grapefruit Golems, 2 Lemon Leviathans, 4 Pineapple Pegasi, 2 Strawberry Skeletons, and 3 Tangerine Trolls,” Xavier summarized.

“Looks like they had a special craving for Melon Mermaid,” Ralph pointed out. “Does this help us in any way?”

“Not sure. Knowing it can’t hurt.” Xavier tapped his forehead, trying to notice anything in the room that could help them. A backpack, lying across the room, caught his eye.

“Whose backpack is that?”

“Hey, stay away from that!” CinnamonFry quickly ran over to it and picked it up before Xavier could get to it.

“So it’s yours?” Xavier asked.

“None of your…” CinnamonFry screamed and dropped the backpack. Now the others saw it too. The escaped scorpion was clinging onto it.

Xavier used the opportunity and grabbed the backpack, carefully carrying it over to the cardboard box. He gently dropped the arachnid in the box and closed the lid.

“Let’s see what’s in here.” Xavier opened the backpack under CinnamonFry’s protest. There was seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. It was mostly filled with camera equipment, a bottle of water, and a stack of signed pictures.

But at the bottom, hidden under some cables, was something surprising.

“Is that a gun?!” Ralph asked, looking at it from across the room.

“Yes.” Xavier paused for dramatic effect. “A hot glue gun.”

“Just say that! I nearly panicked.”

“Why are you carrying a hot glue gun around?” Xavier asked the content creator.

“In case I need to fix something, obviously!” CinnamonFry answered, trying to hide how nervous he was.

“What things do you fix with this?” Ralph asked, suspicious of him.

“I don’t know. Whatever happens to break.”

Xavier gave Ralph a knowing look. “We’re going to ask you some questions. Please have a seat.”

Saturday, September 14, 1:15 pm: Hall 1A, PolyCon

Amy and Laura had to go through Building A, as the backstage entrance in Building B was blocked by all the chaos.

As they got to the stage, unsurprisingly, they were not let anywhere near the corpse. The security didn’t care whether or not they were investigators.

At least they could confirm that Nick Tanner was definitely dead, and not just unconscious.

They walked back to Building A, making their way through the upset crowd. As they walked past the witnesses, they could hear wild theories forming. Some still believed that this whole thing was just a prank, while others assumed he was murdered. According to the audience, possible suspects included jealous influencers, haters, angry critics, and even members of the Tanner Squad, who did it for attention or because of disagreements with Nick Tanner. Some people even suspected that the team behind Clever as a Fox could have done it out of revenge.

“Where to next?” Laura asked.

“Maybe we should go to the lounge. Lil Nicky is there, and he might have noticed something.”

“Good idea.”

At that moment, they noticed a crowd forming around the main entrance. As they got closer, they noticed a man getting escorted by security.

“What’s going on?” Laura asked.

“No idea. But I know someone who might know.”

Laura followed Amy to a nearby stand.

“Hey, Abby!” Amy said as she got closer.

“Amy, nice to see you,” Ms. Walker said.

Mr. Walker looked up, smiling at Amy. He was in the middle of painting a landscape from Hallowed Knights: Defenders of Nahvee.

“You’re Amy? Great to meet you. I’m Percy, Abby’s cousin.”

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Abby and Xavier.”

“Tell Xavier I said hi! Man, I still haven’t processed everything that happened on that trip. Oh, wait, I wasn’t supposed to talk about it.”

“Don’t worry, Xavier already told me. And Laura won’t tell anyone.”

Laura pumped up her chest and gestured a three-finger salute. “Scout’s honor,” they proclaimed, smiling.

Mr. Walker sighed in relief. “Good. It’s been so hard keeping that to myself. That trip was even more chaotic than today.”

“Speaking of, do you know why that man was escorted out of the building?”

“Didn’t you overhear something?” Mr. Walker asked his cousin.

“Yes. Apparently, he’s a reporter for some trashy magazine. He somehow managed to put a remote-controlled car with a camera on it in the vents. Looks like he’s been spying on some of the performers backstage.”

“Those damn paparazzi. They give us reporters a bad name,” Laura said angrily.

“One of the security guards got her hands on the car. She stomped it right away,” Mr. Walker explained. “Probably not very smart. They could have used the footage from the camera against him in court.”

“I’m sure the data is backed up on his phone,” Abby pointed out.

“Wait, where is the car now?” Amy asked enthusiastically.

“The guard tossed it into one of those dumpsters over there,” Mr. Walker answered.

“Perfect! Maybe the memory card isn’t broken.”

“Great idea!” Laura answered, running over to the dumpsters.

Amy was about to follow them, as Abby held her back. “Hey, is that the one you’ve been talking to during all your lunch breaks?”

Amy answered with a nervous yes.

“I see,” Abby smiled.

“No, it’s not like that!” Amy put on a grumpy face, which couldn’t hide how much she was blushing, and followed Laura.

“Here, I found it.” Laura showed Amy the broken toy car.

“Thanks. Let’s see.” Amy quickly found the opening for the memory card.

“Damn it, it’s broken!”

“Were you hoping there might be footage of Nick Tanner’s room?”

“Yes. Do you remember how I said that I thought I’d heard something?”

“Yes, when we were in that room for the first time.”

“Exactly. I realized what it reminded me of. It’s that high-pitched buzzing sound that remote-controlled cars make when they drive.”

“Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t hear any of that. But what do we do now that the memory card is broken?”

Amy looked closely at the camera. “I know this model. It saves every recording on an internal drive for 24 hours, as a back-up. The camera is broken, but maybe not the backup. I might be able to get access if I connect it to my phone.”

“Really?!”

“Don’t get too excited. I can’t guarantee it will work.”

“If anyone can do it, then it’s you,” Laura said, patting her on the back.

“Thank you, but it’s really not based on skill. Either the backup is destroyed or not,” Amy grabbed a USB cable from her bag and plugged it in. She had to go through all the data from the camera, but managed to pull up the most recent recording.

She skipped past footage of a performer getting dressed and two game developers practicing their speech.

“There, isn’t that CinnamonFry?” Laura pointed to the screen. The vent grid partially blocked the vision, but enough was visible.

CinnamonFry was alone in the room, standing in front of the table with the bottles. His back was turned toward the camera. He walked toward the trash can, then returned to the table and put the hot glue gun in his backpack. Shortly after, the other members of the Tanner Squad entered the room. The camera continued filming the room for a while, until after FRZR4Y had left.

“Could you make out what he was doing?” Laura asked.

“No, but I think he might have dropped something in the trash can. Let’s go check it out.”

The two headed back to Nick Tanner’s room.

Saturday, September 14, 1:40 pm: Room 11B, Backstage

As Amy and Laura entered the room, they saw CinnamonFry sitting on the couch. Xavier and Ralph were both staring at him. BoubaTube and Tikiki were both sitting in a corner. Their stomachs had calmed down, but they were still exhausted from the experience.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“We want to interrogate him, but he won’t answer us,” Xavier explained.

“Hey, I know my rights! You can’t force me to answer.”

“Just cooperate with us,” Ralph said, exhausted.

“Here, maybe this helps you.” Amy handed Xavier her phone with the recording on it. She and Laura walked over to the trash can.

“That’s disgusting,” Amy said, staring at the vomit-covered bin.

“Let me do it. I haven’t been much help so far,” Laura said.

“Wait, you don’t have to reach into vomit.”

“Don’t worry. A reporter is always prepared to get dirty,” Laura pulled out a pair of rubber gloves and showed them to Amy.

They started sifting through the contents of the trash can. Not much was in it, besides vomit. She quickly found what they were looking for.

“Here, that should be all.” Laura put two objects on the table. One was clearly a syringe, and the other was a small glass bottle. The bottle’s label was rendered illegible from the vomit.

“Do you want to talk now?” Xavier asked CinnamonFry.

He just shook his head, growing more nervous.

“What are you doing with these bottles?” Xavier showed him the video clip.

“I was arranging them. I always get to the venues first to get everything ready. Nick is very strict with the arrangement of his bottles.”

“What do you mean? Weren’t they in a random order?” Ralph asked.

“No, they’re always in alphabetical order. I make sure of that.”

“I guess that explains the weird order. But that doesn’t explain what you did with the glue gun, the syringe, and this bottle,” Xavier said.

“I did nothing!”

“Do you want to know what I think you did? I think you used the syringe to put poison in the bottles. You then used the hot glue gun to stick the label back over the tiny hole the syringe made. Should we check the bottles?” Xavier explained angrily.

“No, I…” CinnamonFry started breaking out in tears. “I didn’t know this would happen. It was just a prank!”

“What psychopath poisons someone for a prank?!” Laura asked.

“No, it wasn’t poison. It was Ipecac. You know, that stuff that makes you throw up. I saw the trick with the syringe and glue in a horror movie and had the idea to prank Nick. I put it in the bottles so when he would drink from them on stage, he would start throwing up. I didn’t think he would throw up so hard he would die.”

“I guess that explains why these idiots have been throwing up all over the place,” Ralph realized, pointing to BoubaTube and Tikiki.

“But if the substance is so strong it killed Nick, wouldn’t it have killed them too?” Amy asked.

“Maybe they have a stronger immune…” Laura began, before Xavier cut her off.

“Hold on! What bottles did you put it in?”

“All the Melon Mermaids, obviously. That’s the one he was going to show off.”

“But he didn’t!” Xavier said out loud. “He had taken the wrong bottle. On stage, he drank Damno Dragon.”

“What, why would he take the wrong one?” CinnamonFry asked.

“He was in a hurry,” Amy said.

“No, you don’t get it. I always make sure that they're in the right order, so he doesn’t grab the wrong one.”

“They’re color-coded. Why would you think he’d mess it up?” Laura asked.

“Because he’s colorblind.”

“Wait, what?!” the group said simultaneously.

“I see. The labels are all formatted the same. Besides the color, the only differences are a small emblem and part of the text. In a hurry, he would just rely on them being in the right order,” Xavier summarized.

“And if they were in the wrong order, he would grab the wrong one,” Ralph added.

“But they’re in the right order, take another look at the footage,” Amy said.

“Yes, they’re arranged in alphabetical order. Damno Dragon, Grapefruit Golem, Lemon Leviathan, Melon Mermaid, Pineapple Pegasus, Strawberry Skeleton, and Tangerine Troll,” Xavier confirmed.

“But they didn’t stay like that. Remember? BoubaTube toppled the table over,” Laura pointed out, while looking something up on their phone.

“You’re right. Does the footage show how he arranged them?” Ralph asked.

“No, the car drives away while he’s still gathering the bottles,” Amy answered disappointedly.

“That’s not necessary, thanks to Nick,” Laura announced. She showed the others a video on their phone.

“What’s this?” Ralph asked.

“It’s the ad Nick posted just before the show.” The video showed Nick Tanner drinking Pineapple Pegasus while advertising both his drink brand and the live show.

“That’s normal. He posts one of these every day,” CinnamonFry said. He stared at the video of his dead friend in tears.

“That’s not what I mean. Look at the background.”

The others looked closer and realized what Laura was talking about. All the bottles had been neatly arranged on the table behind Nick Tanner.

“All of them are the same except for red and green. They’ve switched places,” Amy said.

“Bouba, in what order did you put the bottles?” Xavier asked.

“What?” He had clearly not been paying attention. “Nick told me to put them in order, so I did.”

“What order?” Ralph repeated Xavier’s question.

“ROY-G-BIV, what else? Every kid knows that’s the order of the rainbow colors.”

“That checks out. The only difference between arranging the bottles alphabetically and in order of the rainbow is the position of green and red,” Xavier confirmed.

“But why would you put them in the wrong order, if your color-blind friend relies on the arrangement?” Laura asked.

“I didn’t know that!” BoubaTube replied defensively.

“I had no idea either,” Tikiki agreed.

“That’s true. Nick never told anyone, besides me, because he thought it made him seem weak,” CinnamonFry explained.

“So you’re saying that they were in the wrong order by accident?” Amy asked.

“If the suspects aren’t lying about their intentions and actions, then yes.

“Poor kid,” Laura thought out loud.

“What?” Amy asked, confused.

“Oh, sorry. I just saw that Lil Nicky is apparently live, for some reason. He’s basically just rambling and is close to a breakdown. The chat isn’t making it any better. He’s getting bombarded by weird conspiracy theorists who believe he killed Nick.”

“That’s horrible,” Ralph said.

“It’s not just him. People are accusing others left and right,” Amy said, thinking back to the stuff she heard from the convention attendees.

“The theories are spreading super fast online,” Laura said.

“I have to go check on Nicky,” CinnamonFry said. He ran over to the door, but as he opened it, two police officers stepped inside.

“Hello, we’d like to talk to Fred Smith, Kiki Jones, Willson Garcia, and Timothy Tanner.”

“I can’t, I have to go help my friend,” CinnamonFry, or rather Fred Smith, said.

“You’re not going anywhere,” one of the officers said.

“I don’t see Timothy Tanner anywhere. We’ll question him later. We’ll start with these three.”

“And who are you?” the first officer asked, looking at Xavier and the others.

“Here’s my card and my license. We’re investigating this case.”

“We don’t need some private investigators getting involved,” the second officer said, staring at the two cards.

“I’d recommend you keep us in the loop. My agency has a very impressive track record. Here’s the number of an inspector of the Coleson area who works with us on a regular basis, should you have any questions.”

Xavier handed the officers a note with Inspector Wilson’s number on it and left the room.

The others followed him.

Saturday, September 14, 1:40 pm: Lounge, Backstage

Barely anyone was in the lounge. A few members of Mr. Schmid’s team, FRZR4Y, and Lil Nicky, as well as three other panelists.

“Come on, just turn off the stream,” FRZR4Y said, sitting next to Lil Nicky.

“No, I can’t.”

“Why? The comments are just making the situation worse.”

“But I…”

FRZR4Y grabbed Lil Nicky’s phone and turned it off.

“Give it back, you fucking dickhead!” he yelled. The tears he’d been holding back started rushing down his face.

“Kid, the last thing you need right now is social media,” FRZR4Y said, while trying to keep the phone out of reach.

“No, I have to talk to my friends! I have to talk to my viewers!”

Lil Nicky watched in horror as the rapper smashed his phone on the ground.

Lil Nicky covered over the remains of his phone. “Why would you do that, f…”

“I’ll buy you like 20 new ones, just take a fucking breather.”

Angrily, Lil Nicky grabbed his broken phone and sat in a corner, turning his back to everyone.

The group sat down on the couch and started thinking over the case.

“So we’re back at the beginning,” Amy said.

“Considering how he died, it’s most likely that he was poisoned,” Ralph said.

“But we don’t know how. He didn’t even take the drink he was meant to,” Laura said.

“Wait!” Amy exclaimed, but her excited expression immediately disappeared again.

“What?” Xavier asked.

“Nothing, I thought I had something, but I realized it doesn’t make any sense.”

“What was your idea?” Laura asked.

“I thought that maybe all the drinks were poisoned, but that can’t be. BoubaTube and Tikiki drank the others and didn’t die.”

“They didn’t drink Damno Dragon,” Ralph realized. “Maybe they avoided them on purpose, knowing they were poisoned.”

“Which would point to them being the culprits. But that would mean that BoubaTube put them in the wrong order on purpose, after putting poison in those ones. Which would also mean he must have known about Nick’s color-blindness,” Laura said.

“It’s possible. Maybe we should go back and check the bottles,” Xavier said. While tapping his forehead.

“You don’t sound convinced,” Amy pointed out.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem right. You’re the people person. Does he seem like a calculated murderer to you?”

“No. Some of his personality might be an act, but I can’t imagine him being like that.”

“I can’t stop thinking about the damno root. It has to be involved.”

“I mean, the drink was approved, so it should be safe. Or do you think Nick would want to be the guinea pig for his own poisoned drink?” Laura pointed out.

“Damno root reacts with other toxins, right?”

Ralph replied with a quick nod to Xavier’s question.

“Does it have to be mixed together with the toxin before you drink it?”

“Oh, I see where you’re going with this. I’m not an expert, but I think it could still react if it comes in contact with a toxin in your stomach.”

“Does stomach acid count?” Laura asked.

“No, nothing produced by the human body reacts to damno root. We couldn’t consume it otherwise,” Ralph answered.

“You’re right, that was a stupid question,” Laura apologized.

“But I think Xavier was talking about Nick ingesting a weak poison beforehand and the damno root reacting with it.”

“What did he have before the show?” Amy asked.

“The paparazzo’s video doesn’t show anything. The only thing I can think of is the Pineapple Pegasus,” Laura said.

“Or he had something before coming into the room. Although at that point we’re running the risk of it already being broken down enough to be too weak to still react,” Ralph added.

Xavier started furiously tapping against his forehead.

“Could the Pineapple Pegasus have been...” Ralph began wondering as his phone rang. The display read Incoming call from Alice, followed by a shark emoji.

Ralph had adjusted the contacts on his phone as soon as he learned about the new codenames. He’d excitedly asked for a codename as well, which netted him the flattering codename of Water Bear. As you can probably guess, Alice was the one to pick it. Ralph was thankfully able to convince her to change it to the animal’s official name, Tardigrade. Not much better if you ask me, even though they’re fascinating animals.

I have to say, it’s interesting what a good option animal names are, if you’re looking for a codename. Looking at the D&M Detective Agency, we have Usagi, which means rabbit, shark and Tardigrade, those are self-explanatory, and Shrimpy, which is derived from both shrimps and a cat.

Only Flow and Inazuma don’t align with this pattern. Just something I noticed.

Ralph picked up the phone and was immediately greeted by Alice’s voice. “Dude, what’s going on at the convention?”

“Hello to you too.”

“I’ve been trying to reach Amy, but she just ignores me. I turn on one of the streams from the convention, and some guy just dies on camera.”

“Yes, we’re in the middle of investigating the case.”

“You’d better get it done quickly. These rumors and theories are spreading like wildfire. And you know how it goes. Once people have accepted one thing as the truth, it’s hard to change their minds. At that point, it doesn’t even matter if the court finds the accused officially not guilty. They’ll forever be seen as guilty by the public.”

“You sound weirdly invested,” Amy noticed.

Ralph looked at her with a confused expression.

“What do you mean? I told you what happened to me. I…” Alice stopped. She’d only now realized that the comment hadn’t come from Ralph.

“Am I on speaker?!”

“I didn’t know you would start talking about that. Also, I had assumed you’d told Amy as well.”

“No, I confided to you in confidence, shithead!”

“Sorry, I didn’t know,” Ralph said. He was clearly upset about accidentally letting this information slip, despite it being only a sliver of what Alice had told him.

“Just solve the case and make sure that no innocents get suspected.” Alice didn’t even say goodbye. She simply hung up.

“What was that about?” Amy asked.

“I can’t tell you. You have to ask Alice, but if she wanted to tell you, she’d probably just approach you.”

“I see. I won’t pry then.”

Xavier had seemingly not heard any of what had transpired. He was still tapping his forehead. In his head, he was going over every single detail from before Nick Tanner’s death. He repeated them over and over again until it hit him. He jumped up and walked over to Lil Nicky.

“Hey, I want to find out what happened to your cousin. Could you answer me a question?”

“What?” Lil Nicky asked angrily.

“Nick sent you to get a second glass because the first one was dirty. I noticed that you were back very quickly, and your hands were wet. Did you really get another glass, or did you just go to the bathroom and wash the stain off?”

Lil Nicky didn’t answer, but his face gave away that Xavier had hit a bullseye.

“Nicky, you did nothing wrong, just please answer. Is it possible that some of the soapy water was still in the glass when you poured in the Pineapple Pegasus?”

Nicky hesitated. “I’m… I don’t know. It’s possible. I was in a rush.”

“Thank you.” Xavier stood up and walked back to the others. They had overheard what he’d asked the teenager and had realized what Xavier was thinking.

“I think that solves the case,” Xavier said.

“But Alice is right. We have to make the solution very clear and broadcast it to as many people as possible,” Ralph said.

“How should we do that?” Amy asked.

“Simple. The same way this whole thing started. We give the people a show. Isn’t that your specialty, Xavier?” Laura said.

“You’re right. We have the best odds if we stream it. Especially if it’s on the same account as Nick's death.”

“So you want to go on stage and broadcast your monologue to the world? Not sure if they’ll take it seriously, if Waluigi explains the death of an internet celebrity to them.”

“I can help with that,” FRZR4Y said. “Sorry, I overheard parts of your conversation. You can have some of our costumes. Paul and Enno wear suits, so that should be perfect. They should fit well enough.”

“Great, then Amy and I will explain the case to the masses.”

“What, why me?!”

“Why not?”

“I’m not even an official member of the agency.”

“About that. I only asked this a while ago. Since then, we’ve been through a lot. Both good and bad. I can only say that I could always rely on you. So what do you say, do you want to be an official member?”

Amy was unsure what to answer.

“Frankly, I always kinda considered you an official member. So nothing would really change, but I would love to make it official. It feels like I’m not giving you enough credit by labeling you as not being an official member.”

“I…”

“Come on, Amy, don’t make the poor guy beg,” Ralph said jokingly.

“How often do I have to tell you, you’re a great investigator?” Laura asked.

“So, nothing would change, except I might spend some more time investigating with my best friend, my semi-twin sister, and my favorite cousin? Okay, I’m in.”

Xavier triumphantly hugged her. She hugged him back, with a wide smile on her face.”

“What do you say, should we get ready?” Xavier asked.

“Let’s blow this case wide open.” Amy returned his confident gaze.

Saturday, September 14, 2:00 pm: Room 16B, Backstage

It took Xavier a while to convince the police officers of his plan, but with some support from Inspector Wilson, he got them to accept the plan.

Ralph and Laura had offered to help with the technology, to provide all the necessary visuals.

Xavier had quickly put on the suit and was going over the plan one more time with Ralph.

Amy was left alone in the green room. She stared at herself in the mirror. The suit fit surprisingly well, for one that wasn’t made for her, although it was maybe a size too big for her. But as usual, Amy could not see it that way.

She was so focused on the perceived flaws of her reflection that she didn’t even hear the door opening.

She could feel someone put their arm around her shoulder. Laura’s face appeared in the reflection.

“You look really beautiful,” she said. Not in her typical jokey flirting voice. It felt much more genuine.

“The suit is too small. I…”

“Stop that. I know what you’re doing. You can never accept that you're great. You finally accept that you’re a good investigator, and you’re immediately back to putting yourself down in other ways.”

“I know you don’t want to admit my flaws. I get it, you want to be nice.”
“Bullshit. I truly think you’re beautiful, no matter if you’re wearing your own clothes, someone else’s suit, or a fucking Luigi costume. But that doesn’t matter. You’re the only one who gets to decide if you’re beautiful or not.”

Amy stared at Laura’s reflection in the mirror.

“I just wanted to wish you good luck for the performance.” Laura turned around and left.

Amy was alone again, staring at herself in the mirror. As Laura’s words echoed in her head, she did the thing she hadn’t done in years. She looked at her reflection and smiled.

Saturday, September 14, 2:15 pm: Hall 1B, PolyCon

Hall 1B was filled with people gathered around the main stage. The big screen above it displayed: “The truth behind Nick Tanner’s death.”

The stream with the same title had already started, and the active viewer count kept growing. Everyone was waiting for something to happen.

In the chat, people continued theorizing and pointing fingers.

Amy was standing behind the curtain and could hear the crowd murmuring.

“Do you really think we can do this?” She looked over to Xavier.

“We can never convince everyone of the truth. The goal is just to convince as many people as possible. And remember, we have to omit some details. All that led to Nick’s death was a series of accidents and coincidences. But that wouldn’t stop people from pointing fingers.”

“We can’t involve the others in any way, or they’ll get blamed, got it?”

“You ready?” Xavier asked.

Amy took a deep breath and nodded.

“Good. And remember, we’re together out there. Should you get too nervous, I can help you out.”

“Thanks. And I can help you, if you need it,” Amy answered.

“Exactly.”

They walked out on stage together. The crowd stared at them, waiting for their explanation.

“Hello, everyone!” Xavier began. “We are the D&M Detective Agency, and we’re here to explain the tragic events that transpired today.”

Amy held her microphone tightly. She looked over to Xavier and tried to imitate his confident demeanor. “I’m sure you all know about what happened on this stage, about two hours ago. Nick Tanner tragically passed away in the middle of his performance.”

“Since then, we’ve been trying to solve the case. As did many people who’d watched the tragedy from here or on stream. Many theories have formed in this short period of time, but we’re here to tell you what really happened.” Xavier paused. “This wasn’t some cold-blooded murder. It was simply a series of unfortunate events.”

“A string of accidents is what killed Nick Tanner,” Amy said.

The crowd visibly started to get impatient.

“But to understand this, we’ll first have to lay out the facts,” Amy said, waiting for the screen to change.

Laura switched the display to a screenshot from Nick Tanner’s ad that he’d recorded, just before he went on stage.

Xavier continued. “You’re certainly familiar with Nick Tanner’s drink brand Crash. He advertised a new flavor today on this stage. But Melon Mermaid wasn’t the only new flavor. As you can see in the background of this picture, he’d also created an alcoholic drink named Damno Dragon. As the name implies, it is made from damno root.”

“Damno root is famous for its great and addictive taste, but also for being difficult to handle. Taken alone, it is harmless, but when it comes in contact with toxins or aggressive chemicals, it will amplify their effect,” Amy explained. Behind her, a graphic appeared on screen, backing up her point.

“If I may draw your attention to this picture taken during today’s live performance, you can see that the drink he’s holding is in fact Damno Dragon, instead of Melon Mermaid.” Xavier pointed to the screen.

“The reason why he’s holding the wrong bottle is simple,” Amy said. “Before the show, he was rushing to the stage after recording his last ad. But being in a hurry, he quickly grabbed one of the bottles without checking the label.”

“And like about 8% of all men, Nick could not distinguish between the colors red and green. This is how he ended up with the wrong bottle. He had a 50% chance to pick up the right bottle, and got unlucky.”

Xavier purposefully left out the part about the order being mixed up, as it would have cast unnecessary suspicion on BoubaTube and CinnamonFry.

“But obviously, the drink itself was not what killed him. The bottles hadn’t been tampered with, so something else must have led to his demise,” Amy continued. “Could I direct your attention back to this ad, which he recorded just before going on stage? As you can see, he’s drinking from a glass. He had just washed this glass to remove a stain from it, so it would look nice for the ad.”

She had added a white lie to her recount of the statement to remove Lil Nicky from the situation.

“What he didn’t realize was the fact that there was still some of the soap residue in it. That residue got mixed in with the Pineapple Pegasus. He didn’t notice it because the strong taste of the drink was masking the soapy bitterness,” Xavier explained, thinking back at the taste test he did for one of his videos.

“The soap would normally not be dangerous, in such a small amount,” Amy continued. “But combined with the damno root, it became a deadly toxin inside his stomach.”

“That’s the whole truth,” Xavier proclaimed. “All of this was the result of multiple insignificant coincidences that added up to turn into something tragic.”

The crowd remained silent for a bit. Even the chat had slowed down. Xavier and Amy knew they couldn’t add any more and stepped back behind the curtains. Whether people would believe them or if they’d continue spreading their misconceptions was up to the internet.

It seemed like both people at the convention and in the live chat had started to come around on the idea of it being as described, but some still held onto their beliefs, which was to be expected.

Saturday, September 14, 2:40 pm: Lounge, Backstage

As Xavier and Amy returned, the atmosphere was tense. Multiple police officers stood off to the side. Ralph and Laura had already returned and approached the two.

The members of the Tanner Squad were all sitting next to each other on a couch. Lil Nicky was sobbing. “It’s my fault,” he said.

“No, that’s not true,” Tikiki said.

“But I left soap in the glass.”

“On accident,” BoubaTube said.

“It’s not your fault,” CinnamonFry said, patting him on the back.

“It was just an accident. Think about it, what was more likely to kill him, some soap residue, or a live scorpion crawling around the room?” Tikiki asked. “I got lucky that no one was stung.”

“And it’s not just the soap that killed him. I was the one who messed up the order,” BoubaTube said.

“And I should have paid more attention to the bottles, then Nick wouldn’t have taken the wrong one,” CinnamonFry said.

“If you’re to blame, then so are we. Is that what you’re saying? Did we kill Nick?” BoubaTube asked, trying to convince the teenager.

“No, you didn’t kill him.”

“See, and neither did you. Like the investigators said, it was just bad luck.”

The four content creators left the room together with the police to give their statements.

The last officer approached Xavier and Amy. “Thank you for your help. Mr. Scott and Mx. Baudelaire already handed in all the evidence and gave us their statements. You’re free to go. Just make sure you’re available should we have any further questions.” She said goodbye and left.

“Seems like the case is over,” Ralph said.

“Are you still in the mood for the convention?” Xavier asked, unsure.

“Not really,” Amy replied.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Ralph agreed as well.

“I’m sure I have enough for a story, so I’ll probably head home as well,” Laura said.

“I guess that’s it,” Xavier said.

Accompanied by Ralph and Laura, Amy and Xavier returned the costumes.

While Amy and Laura headed out already, Xavier and Ralph stuck around, getting autographs from FRZR4Y, Mr. Schmid, and the rest of the team for Mika. They even recorded a video message, in which Mr. Schmid offered Mika that they could play a small part in a future episode, if they wanted to.

Saturday, September 14, 3:00 pm: Parking Lot, PolyCon

Amy had walked Laura to their car. The two were awkwardly standing next to each other, unsure of what to say.

“Thank you for what you said back then,” Amy said.

“In the green room?”

“Not just then. Ever since we met, you’ve been nothing but helpful. Somehow, you know just how to cheer me up. It’s like you perfectly understand me.”

Laura chuckled. “That’s funny. I wanted to thank you for spending time with me.”

“Why that?”

“I don’t really know. I always just felt like it was me against the world. But somehow with you, I feel like I’m not alone. I haven’t felt like that in a long time.”

“What?! But you’re always so confident.”

“I’ve just found a way of being myself, despite all my problems. Even if it’s unconventional. At some point, I just realized, why should I try to conform to the norms of a society that hates me?”

“It’s horrible that you had to go through that. But, just so you know, I like you just the way you are.” Amy started blushing.

“Thank you. You’re perfect, too.”

The two looked at each other and leaned in for a kiss. For a second, everything seemed perfect, but suddenly Laura opened their eyes wide. Her heart was racing, and she stepped away from Amy.

“What? Is something not right?” Amy asked, confused and worried.

“I can’t. It’s not fair to you,” Laura said with terror in their eyes.

“What isn’t fair?”

“You don’t get it, I can’t tell you.”

“What can’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let it get this far.”

“But I thought…”
“I’m sorry, Amy. It’s not your fault, it’s all on me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I have to go. Thank you for spending time with me.”

Amy watched in confusion as Laura got in their car and drove off. Distraught, she walked back to Ralph’s car, where the two guys were already waiting for her.

“Did Laura leave already?” Ralph asked. He was in the middle of stuffing the large dinosaur and the body pillow in the trunk.

“Yes, they left.”

“Did something happen?” Xavier asked, noticing Amy’s sad expression.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Amy sat down in the back of the car.

The others looked at each other, confused. They got in the car and drove off.

And thus ends another case for the D&M Detective Agency. A new chapter opens up with Amy finally joining the agency officially. What new cases will this bring? We’ll see. In the next case I’ll tell you about, we’ll explore a classic setting in the mystery genre. Get ready for a fatal train ride.