So we’ve made it to the final chapter. It’s been a long journey, but I am glad you stuck with me.

Now, seeing as this is the final chapter, I should finally get around to answering some of the questions I posed at the beginning of the book. And I promise you, I will get to it. But if you made it this far, I’m sure you’ll stick with me for a little longer.

For this chapter, I’ve decided to skip my usual opening monologue and instead do something different.

“Everything began with a flash of light, followed by an overwhelming feeling of nausea accompanied by an aching head.” That’s how this book started. And I’ve decided to share with you the exact moment described in that sentence, by looking back into the past. Further back than any of the other cases we’ve discussed so far.

But first, I have to come clean about one thing. I’m sure many of you have already realized, but I am no mere observer. My attachment to Xavier and the agency, as well as my fascination with animals both past and present, have likely already given it away, but in case you, dear reader, have not realized yet, I am Natsu Masuda, one of the founding members of the D&M Detective Agency, Xavier’s boyfriend, and Takaya Masuda’s son. Believed to be dead, I have been observing the agency from far away and yet at the same time, from up close. And to explain how, we’ll have to go back to the day I disappeared.

Case #51: Missing

Sunday, August 27, 7:30 pm: Warehouse, Coleson

I guess I should give you some context, even though the exact intricacies of the case won’t be necessary.

A few days before, Xavier and I had been approached by a homeless man who needed our help looking for a close friend of his. Very quickly, we’d found the corpse of the missing man, but this was only the first of many strange discoveries.

The more we learned about the case, the more confusing it got. We’d realized that this murder was a part of a series of events that had started with a botched delivery of a mechanical component that seemed to be part of a larger machine. The device had at some point come into the possession of the dead man, but had been taken from him, after he’d been murdered.

As the investigation continued, Xavier and I got into a huge argument regarding the approach to the case. Looking back at it, I find it strange that we got so riled up over it.

Basically, Xavier wanted to approach the case by finding out where the device had come from, tracing back the steps that led to the murder. I, on the other hand, wanted to follow the events after the murder to see where the component had ended up.

Following our disagreement, we decided to investigate separately, turning this case into a competition of sorts. A stupid decision, I know. Somehow, our egos got the better of us.

I had made a lot of progress, eventually learning about a trade that was about to go down, where the component should finally be handed to the rightful owner, as originally intended.

So I snuck into the warehouse, where the trade was about to take place, naturally, without telling Xavier where I was going, as we were still caught up in our foolish competition.

I was the first to get to the large building, so I used the opportunity to find a good hiding spot. The hall was relatively empty, so there weren’t many options, but I eventually decided to cover behind some large crates.

I pulled out my phone to record what was about to happen. In doing so, my eyes were drawn to the phone case. It was made to look like an Archaeopteryx, one of my favorite dinosaurs. A feeling of regret overcame me. Xavier had given the case to me as a gift. There was no special occasion. He’d just seen it while he was in a store, and he’d decided to get it for me, knowing how much I would like it.

Seeing the case, I felt stupid for getting so heated over a simple disagreement, and I decided to apologize as soon as I got home.

I realized that we had to work together to finish this case, so I should do my best to contribute by finding out as much as I could. With this newfound resolve, I prepared for the trade.

It didn’t take long for someone else to enter the building. Looking around the corner of the crate, I could see a large man, enveloped in a large cloud of blue smoke. He stood there, in the middle of the room, not moving an inch.

I had started the recording and was waiting for another person to come, but to my surprise, something else happened.

“I know you’re in here! I saw you sneak in!” The large man said. His voice was loud and booming, even though he wasn’t yelling.

Nervously, I cowered in my hiding spot. I was looking around to find a way outside, but all exits required me to reveal myself to the stranger.

“Listen, I don’t know who you are or why you are here, but believe me, if you make me come look for you, I will make you suffer. So just come out, wherever you are.”

I remained quiet, my body nervously twitching.

The man remained quiet, and I thought I could relax, but at that moment, I heard a loud bang.

Carefully looking around the corner, I could see him holding a gun above his head.

“So, you still don’t want to show yourself?” He paused. “You’re starting to make me angry. And believe me, angering Pincher is a mistake you can only make once.”

I had to think fast. Even though I couldn’t see the man’s face, I knew behind all that smoke, his face was distorted into an angry grimace.

“Well, have it your way. Let’s see, are you over there?” He took aim and fired a bullet, penetrating a crate not far from me.

I knew I couldn’t stay hidden, so I used all my courage to confront him. I quickly placed my phone on the ground while it was still recording, making sure to hide it between some crates. That way, I could leave a message behind, should something happen to me. I was mostly thinking about the possibility of getting kidnapped, not wanting to imagine the far worse outcome.

“Well, maybe you’re over here.” He fired another bullet.

“Wait, wait, I’m here!” I said, slowly stepping out from my hiding spot, my hands raised above my head.

“You took your sweet time. Geez, how old are you? You look like a kid,” he said, gesturing for me to come closer.

“I didn’t see anything. I was just exploring. I am… I was looking for a location to record a scene for a school project.” I had a hard time keeping myself from panicking.

“Seriously? Wow, you’ve got some grade A bad luck, running into me.”

“I swear I don’t know who you are, or what you’re doing here. Please, I won’t tell anyone about this.” It was frankly a wonder that my body language didn’t give away that I was lying. I don’t say this lightly, but I am probably one of the worst liars to ever exist.

“Yeah, I can’t really let you go. So, that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

“Please, no one will ever hear about you being here!”

“Quiet down, all that yelling is giving me an aneurysm.” He looked down at his waist. Something was hidden under his black coat.

“Well, maybe this is your lucky day. I don’t have to kill you.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, you can help me test out this new prototype, the guys in the lab cooked up for me.” He pulled out a device that looked like a strangely futuristic pistol.

“What is that?” I asked, nervously staring at the device.

“Really, it has many names. The portable ESSD, a Timeline-Traveling-Device, Swappy, or how I like to call it, random sci-fi crap I don’t care to learn more about. But I guess you could call it a teleporter, in simpler terms.”

“What?”

“Let’s see if this thing works.”

“No!” I yelled as he took aim. I held my arms in front of my head, in a futile attempt to protect myself. He pulled the trigger, and following a strange noise, a laser, invisible to the human eye, hit me.

In a flash of light, everything disappeared around me, and my head felt like it was split in half.

Slowly, the bright light disappeared, and I could see again. But I couldn’t just see the warehouse I was in. I could see everything. I could smell everything. I could even hear everything, not just sounds, but people’s thoughts as well.

It was like I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

My mind was overloaded with information to take in. I felt like I was about to throw up, despite not having a physical body to do so. To be exact, it felt like my mind itself was about to give in and vomit.

Through a haze of unwanted information, I could see that where I had stood before was now a strange spiral-like shape carved into the ground. I could quietly hear Pincher complain about the teleportation device having been damaged as he’d used it. I’m not sure if he’d said it out loud or if he’d just thought it.

Trying to focus, I could hear him make a phone call, calling off the trade for that day. I watched as he slowly walked to my hiding spot, discovering my phone and destroying it as soon as he noticed that it had been recording our confrontation, all while images of cows grazing in the fields of Scotland, tourists posing in front of the Sydney Opera house, chefs cooking a five-star meal in Paris, stars imploding out in space, and everything else that was happening, overlayed what I was trying to look at.

What I could also see was Xavier, sitting at home, worrying about where I was. He tried to call me, but naturally without success.

And so I was left as a being trapped in the fourth dimension, lacking a physical body, observing everything at the same time. Thinking back to how Ralph described the process of being transported into another timeline, it seems like I had dematerialized, but I hadn’t undergone any of the following steps.

Time went by, and I got better at focusing on specific things, only taking in all the unwanted information subconsciously. I decided to stay close to Xavier, my father, Ralph, Inspector Wilson, my uncle, my relatives back in Japan, and all the other people I cared for. Well, as close as a being with no actual location can be.

I watched as Xavier and the inspector investigated my disappearance. I watched my loved ones grieve the loss of me, eventually holding a funeral. I watched Mr. Cabrera get murdered, and I watched the agency grow afterwards.

Occasionally, I tried calling out to my loved ones, but of course, they couldn’t hear me.

And so, month after month passed by, but I never gave up hope. I knew one day, Xavier and the others would put this case to rest. And it seems, over a year later, it might finally be time to solve this case.

And with this, I end my exploration of the events of August 2023, and we move forward to December 2024.

Monday, December 23, 5:10 pm: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

The office of the agency was colorfully decorated and filled with lively chatter. It was all underlined by one Christmas song after another, playing over the large speaker Xavier had bought a few years ago. Frankly, the song selection was noticeably put together by multiple people with little coordination between them, jumping from the Grinch theme to "Mistress for Christmas," from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" to "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," or from "Santa Baby" to "I’m Gonna Kill Santa Claus."

“It’s curious hearing what sort of songs get the young folk into the holiday spirit,” Mrs. Banda said, holding some ornaments in her hands. The Bandas were staying with the investigators and were currently busy helping them put up all the decorations.

“Well, considering Alice helped put together the playlist, we’re lucky half of them aren’t covers by Hatsune Miku, Kasane Teto, and all the other Vocaloids,” Amy said.

“If you’re going to make some dumb jokes, at least get your facts straight. Teto isn’t part of Vocaloid. She just regularly gets paired up with them, due to the overlap in their fandoms,” Alice countered. She was walking up to the tree, hiding something behind her back.

“And once more, you only strengthen my point while trying to disprove the weeb allegations.”

“It’s Toy Day season, I frankly couldn’t care less about your dumb comments right now.”

“Toy Day?” Ralph asked. He had come over to help with the decorations and just hang out.

“Alice and I don’t celebrate Christmas. We’ve been celebrating Toy Day ever since we were kids,” Amy explained.

“Like in Animal Crossing?”

“Yup. We mostly spent the holiday season avoiding our family, sitting in the basement, and playing Animal Crossing: City Folk.”

“I see. And you’re sure this isn’t some attempt at sticking it to your very conservative family?”

“Why would it be?” Amy asked.

“Just ignore him. He clearly has no respect for our traditions,” Alice said.

Mr. and Mrs. Banda smiled, watching the three bicker.

“Alice, what are you doing over there?” Mrs. Banda asked, noticing how Alice was sneakily putting something on the branches of the tangerine tree. It was actually a tree that Xavier’s great aunt had owned for years, and Xavier still made sure to put it up every year, despite not decorating the house much otherwise. For most of the year, it stood on the veranda behind the house, but during winter, he always took it inside. It was just short enough to still fit inside the room.

Alice looked up like she’d been caught red-handed, committing a crime. “Oh, nothing. Just putting some ornaments on the tree.”

Amy looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of what Alice was holding. “Aw, those are adorable!”

“Hey, don’t look at them!” Alice tried to hide the crocheted ornaments she was holding.

“Did you make them yourself?”

“Yes, so what? Are you gonna call me a softy now?” Alice said, her face bright red.

“No, why would I? These are awesome.”

“Let me see,” Ralph said.

Quickly, Amy grabbed the ornaments and showed them off. They were all different. A bunny, a water drop, a lightning, a shark, a cat, a tardigrade, a monkey, a teddy bear, a chess piece, and a violin.

“Did you make one for each of us?” Mrs. Banda asked, noticing what Alice was going for.

“Yeah. I made them based on our codenames, but because you don’t have any, I had to get creative. I hope you’re happy with the violin and the chess piece.”

Mr. Banda nodded happily and showed a thumbs-up.

“They’re fantastic,” Mrs. Banda said.

“Wait, who’s the cat?” Amy asked.

“Mika.”

“Why a cat?” Amy asked. “Last I checked, their codename was Shrimpy, right? I mean, I would get it if it were a fox, or maybe a frog, but why a cat?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. Mika will get it.”

“I guess that’s what’s important,” Amy said, looking at the lightning ornament with a smile on her face.

“So, does the violin mean that one of you plays one?” Ralph asked the Bandas.

“Yes, Tzuriel is a gifted player.”

Mr. Banda acted flustered, waving off his wife’s compliment.

“Maybe we can play a duet at some point,” Ralph suggested.

“Violin and electric bass guitar? Now that’s a combination I was not expecting to ever hear,” Alice said, while putting the ornaments on the tree.

“I play more instruments than that, and you know it. I was thinking about the accordion, actually. I think it could make for a nice combination with the violin.”

“You play guitar and accordion?” Mrs. Banda asked, surprised.

“I also play the piano, the pan flute, the keytar, the stylophone, and the otamatone.”

“I have to admit, I haven’t heard of some of these instruments,” Mrs. Banda said.

“Some of them are a bit more unusual,” Ralph admitted, chuckling.

“You don’t say.”

“Sip it, Alice!” Ralph countered.

Mr. Banda made some gestures, smiling at Ralph.

“He says he would love to play some music with you,” Mrs. Banda translated.

“Great. I’m looking forward to it.”

“So, will you be joining us for the holiday celebrations?” Mrs. Banda asked.

“I’ll probably come over tomorrow afternoon, but during the evenings I already have plans for the next few days.”

“Are you celebrating with your family?”

“Yes. On the 25^th, I’m eating dinner with my father’s side of the family, and the day after, I’ll go visit my grandparents on my mother’s side. But what I’m actually looking forward to the most is tomorrow.”

“I take it you have special plans.”

“Yup. Every year on the 24^th, my mother and I have a TV marathon together. We always start with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, then The Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, followed by The Flight Before Christmas. After that, we watch Jack Frost, and finally, we end with Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas. What can I say, my mom is a big fan of claymation.”

“Sounds like a fun tradition.”

“Isn’t your mother working on her own Claymation project?” Alice asked.

“Yup. She’s been working on it for over five years. But she says it will take some more time to get it just right.”

“I get it, that stuff takes forever, especially if it’s just a side project and not your job,” Amy said. “I recently watched a documentary on the first Wallace and Gromit short, and man, I admire the patience of Nick Park.”

She turned around after Mr. Banda had tapped on her shoulder. He held a menorah in his hand and pointed to an empty spot on the windowsill.

“Oh yeah, you can put it there. I think you can put it wherever you want, really.”

Mr. Banda walked over to the window to put up the menorah there.

“He’s been so excited the past few days. He asked Mika if they wanted to light the first candle,” Mrs. Banda said, watching her husband arrange the decorations around the candle holder.

“I’m sure you’re happy to celebrate with Mika this year.”

“Yes, it’s great to have them with us. I always felt so bad for them when they had to go back to that horrible cult. But now… Now they can finally live freely and happily.” Mrs. Banda had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so sentimental.”

“No, don’t worry. I’m happy to see how much you care about them.”

“They’re our little ray of sunshine. They were even before they lived with us.”

Amy looked at the Menorah. Mr. Banda was busy putting all the candles in place.

“So, you two celebrate Hanukkah?”

“Well, it mostly ends up being a bit of a mix. Tzuriel is Jewish, and I grew up Mormon, but neither of us is the most religious person, I guess you could say.”

“So you end up combining the traditions you were raised with?”

“Yes, and those of the people we celebrate with. That’s why I’m always curious to learn how others celebrate the holidays. I can’t say I’ve heard of Toy Day before, though.”

“I guess it’s not the most conventional. But in the end, our celebrations are basically just like any other Christmas celebration. It’s all about giving gifts to the people you love and spending time with them.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy your holidays despite that,” Alice said, talking to someone on the phone while coming back into the room carrying a pile of presents. She quickly ended the call after saying goodbye.

“Was that Mika?” Amy asked.

“No. I was talking to Caleb. Why would I call Mika while they’re busy hanging out with Xavier?” Alice answered with an angry undertone.

“What’s with that tone?” Amy asked.

“She’s grumpy because Xavier gave his present to Mika before she had a chance to.”

“Well, he’s clearly cheating. He’s trying to take my spot as Mika’s favorite sibling, and I won’t stand for it.” Even being able to read Alice’s thoughts, it is difficult for me to tell if she’s being serious in this case.

“We all know he’s not trying to do that,” Ralph said. The tickets just happened to be for today, so he had to give them early. Plus, it’s not like anyone can rival what you and Mika have.”

“Do you know when they’ll be back from New York?” Mrs. Banda asked.

“Xavier said they’ll leave tomorrow morning, so they’ll get here sometime during the afternoon,” Amy answered.

“Can’t believe he got those tickets for Sherlock Holmes: The Great Musical Adventure. How am I meant to compete with that?” Alice said.

“Mika would love any present if it came from you,” Mrs. Banda said.

“Come on, Scrooge, how about you get rid of that grumpy look and go prepare some cookies?” Ralph suggested.

“Fine.” Alice finished placing her gifts under the tree and walked over to the kitchen.

The five continued decorating and talking, ending the day after a tasty dinner prepared by Mr. Banda.

Monday, December 23, 11:40 pm: Falk Hotel, Manhattan

“This was great! I’ve never seen a musical live. Are all of them this good?” Mika asked enthusiastically, barely pausing to yawn.

The automated door of the hotel opened, and the two stepped into the lobby. It was absolutely quiet. Only the person working at the reception and a couple that seemed to be in the process of leaving were in the lobby.

“It’s definitely a really good one. I quite enjoyed it,” Xavier answered.

“So there are even better ones?!”

“Well, I personally know some I enjoy more, but until they come out with a Clever Foxes musical, I don’t think there’s a musical you would consider better than this one.”

“That makes sense. Oh, here, I don’t need them anymore.” Mika handed Xavier a pair of earmuffs as they waited for the elevator to come. They actually belonged to me, but Xavier had brought them along for Mika, just in case there were some loud and hectic parts in the musical.

“What did you think of the cases they selected?” Mika asked, eagerly awaiting Xavier’s answer. Even though they were clearly tired, they could have probably continued talking for another 24 hours.

“Well, in preparation for the musical, I made sure to read all the Sherlock stories written by Doyle, and I have to say, adapting A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles is an obvious but good choice.”

“I know. Combining the two works so well to highlight Doctor Watson’s character development.”

“I guess if you say it like that, it makes even more sense. I was thinking more about how they are both fan favorites and generally great stories. Although I’m happy they shortened the whole backstory of Jefferson Hope into a single song. When reading the book, I found it really strange and a bit tiring to spend that much time without the main characters.”

The elevator stopped on the 8^th floor, and the two stepped outside, following the hallway.

“Well, you have to keep in mind that it was the first book. I assume Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t think about it as Sherlock’s or Watson’s story, but rather a story that features them as some of the important characters. Only afterwards did he get to see how beloved those characters would become,” Mika explained.

“When you put it like that, it does make sense. You know, I’m always surprised when I’m talking to you about books,” Xavier said while unlocking the door to their room.

“Why?”

“Well… Actually, it’s kinda hard to describe. Like, you always are pretty clever, and you’re good at articulating, probably because you’re well-read, but sometimes when you start talking about some book, it’s like you're out of nowhere, some professor passionately talking about the subject they teach. You get what I mean? There is both that well-educated understanding of the subject and the childlike wonder for it.”

“I think I get it, but I’m not sure,” Mika replied, before letting out a long yawn.

“Doesn’t matter. It really reminds me of when Natsu started going on his long monologues about a specific topic.” Xavier walked into the bathroom to get changed.

“Did he also like detective books?” Mika asked, looking outside the large window that took up most of the south-facing wall. They could watch the cars drive by on the street below them.

“Yes, he liked detective books. However, that wasn’t really his main interest. He’d mostly talk about animals and dinosaurs. Or sometimes he would try to explain his take on some philosophical subjects in these long monologues.”

“What detectives did he like?” Mika asked, sitting on their bed.

“Sherlock Holmes, Columbo, the Famous Five. Oh, and he really loved the Hardy Boys.”

Mika looked ashamed. “Xavier, can you keep a secret?”

Xavier stepped out of the bathroom, wearing shorts and an oversized T-shirt. “Sure, what is it?” He seemed a little concerned.

“I don’t like the Hardy Boys. Everyone keeps going on about them, but I don’t get what people like about them.”

“And I thought it was something serious,” Xavier said, breaking out in laughter.

“You can’t tell anyone.”

“Okay, I won’t. So, are the Hardy Boys the only detectives you don’t like?”

“No, there’s a lot. I’m not big on police dramas like Law and Order. Other than that, it’s mostly German stuff you probably don’t know.”

“Like?”

“Well, I’ve tried to get into Kommissar Kugelblitz, but I don’t get the appeal. TKKG can be very hit or miss. I’m having a hard time forming an opinion on the Knickerbocker Bande. And I refuse to read Die Drei !!!.”

“It’s baffling how many different detective franchises you know. Especially ones that I’ve never even heard of. How do you have time to consume all of them?”

“Well, I got a head start in the cult. I used every opportunity I could get to sneak away.”

“I guess you had a lot of time then. No wonder you love these stories so much if they were your form of escapism.”

Mika nodded and got up to get changed.

“Don’t forget to take off the binder,” Xavier said, after they had disappeared into the bathroom.

“I know.”

“Just making sure, that’s all. I don’t want to get in trouble with Alice or your grandparents.”

“No problem.”

Xavier looked outside at the skyline. “I was wondering, did the Disciples of Day celebrate Christmas or something of the sort?”

“Yes, they did. Dei Day.”

“Dei Day?” Xavier repeated the strange combination of words.

“Yes. It’s very similar to Christmas, just replace the birth of Jesus with Dei returning to earth.”

“As much as I hate that cult, all that alien stuff is really appealing.”

“It’s actually very boring if you hear it all the time.”

“Fair enough.” Xavier chuckled. At that moment, something flew past his eyes, outside the window. A single, white dot, followed by another, and another.

“Mika, get over here!”

“What?” Mika came out of the Bathroom, wearing their PJs. Now they saw it too.

“Is it snowing?!”

“Looks like it. Maybe we can get lucky and celebrate the holidays with a snowball fight.”

The two sat on their beds, watching the snow fall. After a few minutes, Xavier looked over to see that Mika had fallen asleep.

With a smile on his face, he walked over to them to tuck them in. “Good night, Mika.”

He lied down on his bed, looking out into the distance. “And good night, Natsu, wherever you are.” With these words, he closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.

“Good night, Xavier,” is what I said, but as always, he couldn’t hear me. But knowing that he still cares about me is good enough. Even though there are so many things I would like to say to him, if I were able to.

Tuesday, December 24, 8:45 am: Falk Hotel, Manhattan

Xavier sat opposite Mika, staring at them. In front of them were multiple empty plates.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I think my stomach is going to explode.”

“I told you not to eat so much.”

“But I’ve never eaten at such a fancy buffet.”

“We can go eat at a buffet anytime you want, not like I’m short on money.”

“But they had crepes. Crepes!”

“You really like crepes, I take it.”

“And they had 13 different toppings.”

“I know. I think you literally tried every combination.”

“How many combinations is that?”

“How should I know?”

“Alice is really good at calculating that sort of stuff, so I thought maybe you could do it too.”

“We can ask her when we get home,” Xavier said while getting up.

“When are we leaving?”

“In an hour. You have more than enough time to pack up your stuff.”

“Okay, good.”

The two left the dining room, stepping into the lobby. As they were walking over to the elevators, the man at the reception waved over to them.

“Is something the matter?” Xavier asked, walking over to him, followed by Mika.

“No, not at all, sir. Someone left this envelope here for you.”

“Who was it?” Xavier asked while grabbing the thick envelope. It looked like it was stuffed to the brim and was surprisingly heavy.

“They didn’t give us their name.”

“What did they look like?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. A colleague of mine was given the envelope during the night shift.”

“Thanks anyway, and happy holidays.” Xavier handed him a tip and walked over to the elevator.

“What do you think is in there?” Mika asked curiously.

“We’ll find out as soon as we’re back in our room.”

They had to wait a while for the elevator to get down, and Mika was visibly getting impatient.

“It won’t get here faster, even if you jump around nervously.”

“Sorry. I’m just so excited to find out what’s in there. Maybe it’s a new case! Die cleveren Füchse had something similar happen to them in one of their recent books.”

“Let’s not get too excited. How about you try thinking about something else completely?”

Mika was thinking hard about a topic they could talk about. “I was wondering, how do you normally celebrate the holidays? I mean, before you met me, Alice, and Amy.”

“Well, I usually celebrated with Natsu and his father. Sometimes also with some other friends.”

The elevator finally arrived, and the two got in.

“Did you invite Takaya this year?”

“Nope.”

“Because Natsu isn’t here? Or are you fighting again?”

“What? No. Well, kinda because Natsu isn’t here. He flew to Japan to celebrate with his family. With Natsu not being here, there isn’t much reason to celebrate here.”

“But you are here. And doesn’t he have friends here?”

“Well, yeah, but he can see his friends or me every day if he wants, unlike his family. And I would never want to suggest that I’m closer to Takaya than his family.”

They arrived on the 8^th floor, with Mika thinking hard about something.

“Do you think Takaya will take Alice to Japan one day? You know, because she’s such a big fan of the country.”

Xavier had to laugh. “Well, first of all, I think Alice is mainly a fan of the country's pop culture, not the country as a whole, although I don’t doubt that there’s a certain interest in it, too. Maybe one day we can all tag along for a trip. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“But I don’t speak Japanese.”

“We’d have Takaya as a guide. Also, don’t we have those translators Yuki sent us?”

“That’s true.”

Xavier opened the door to their room, and Mika started packing up their stuff, having seemingly forgotten about the envelope.

“You know where I want to go one day?”

“Switzerland?” Xavier guessed.

“How did you know?!”

“That’s where the clever foxes are from, right?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s not actually my reason.”

“Really?” Xavier said, surprised, while opening the envelope.

“Grandpa Tzuriel’s family is originally from there. He’s never been to Switzerland, so I want to take him once I’m a great investigator and I’ve earned enough money for such a trip.”

“Have you already forgotten what present we got him?”

“No, but that’s different. I want to go with my grandparents. That way I can see how happy it makes them.”

Xavier remained quiet. Disturbed, he stared inside the envelope. His back turned to Mika.

“Xavier, did you hear me?”

“Yes, I… I heard you loud and… Could you… Could you maybe start packing the toiletries, so we don’t… So we don’t forget about them?”

“Okay.” Mika went into the bathroom, while Xavier continued looking through the envelope.

“Mika, I have to leave to… I have to do something. I’ll be right back.”

Mika looked out of the bathroom, seeing Xavier staring out the window. “Okay, I’ll tidy up the room while you’re gone.”

Xavier left in a hurry, while Mika continued putting the toiletries away.

“What’s he doing?” Mika wondered out loud. They walked over to the window, looking outside. It was still snowing, and a thin, white layer had covered the sidewalks.

On the other side of the road was one building connected to the next, creating a huge wall that made it hard to look into the distance. Only a small gap offered some visibility, thanks to a shady alleyway. They stayed there for a while, watching the cars and people pass by.

“Oh, there he is!” Mika realized, recognizing Xavier even from afar.

Mika followed him with their eyes as he ran across the street, straight towards the alley. A person was leaning against a wall, mostly hidden in the shadows. Mika had to concentrate hard to make anything out about them. The person was large, wore a black coat, and was enveloped in a cloud of blue smoke.

After a few seconds, Mika remembered where they had heard about that strange smoke before.

“Oh, no!” They quickly opened the door, running down the hallway to the elevators. “Come on, get up here!” they said nervously, staring at the display next to the elevator door.

“This is taking too long!” Mika looked around, quickly finding the stairwell.

As fast as they could, through a combination of running, jumping, and sliding down the handrail, they got to the first floor.

Stepping outside the hotel, they were immediately overwhelmed by the loud noises, all the people, the fast cars, and the snowflakes blowing past their eyes, but they fought through it.

Surprisingly fast, they made their way to the alley, but when they got there, neither Xavier nor Pincher was there.

Tuesday, December 24, 9:00 am: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

Alice’s eyes were still closed. In a haze, she could hear music playing, seemingly far in the distance, although Alice wasn’t in the right state to make such judgments.

Slowly opening her eyes, she realized that she’d somehow distorted her body into a strange position, sleeping on the couch. One foot was on the backrest, the other was stuck between her and the couch. Her right arm was tangled up in her hair, and her head was hanging down on the side of the couch.

She was considering for a second, to just stay that way, but finally realizing what music was playing, she quickly changed her mind.

Her phone was playing a high-pitched voice scatting along to some energetic music. The musical piece was from an anime Alice regularly rewatched, and also her most recent choice of ringtone.

“I’m not even gonna make a comment on your ringtone. At this point, it’s just low hanging fruit,” Amy joked, sitting on the other couch, looking over at Alice. “I’m impressed that you managed to channel the spirit of bisexual sitting habits into a sleeping position.”

“Very funny,” Alice said, slowly getting up from the couch, trying her best not to fall on the floor. “Since when are you above taking advantage of low hanging fruit.”

“For a while now. Otherwise, I would have already made a comment about the anime figure you keep in a jar.”

“That’s because it’s a rare collector’s item. I don’t even understand what you’re implying. How would I even do the thing you’re referencing?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure you could come up with a way.”

“I doubt that. Anyway, have you seen my phone anywhere?”

“Just follow the sound.”

“Very helpful.” Alice walked into the kitchen, while the ringtone had looped back to the beginning. She found her phone sitting in a bowl that still had some remnants of fresh cookie dough in it.

Alice’s grogginess disappeared in an instant as she read the caller’s name.

“Mika, how are you?” Alice asked happily.

“Not good.”

“How so? Was the musical bad?” Alice asked, almost with a little excitement over the idea of Xavier’s seemingly perfect present falling flat.

“No, it was great. But Xavier just disappeared.”

“I’m sorry, he did what? Did you lose him in a large crowd or something? God dammit, that guy can’t be left alone for…”

“No, it’s not like that. We were in the hotel, and he went outside. Well, actually, first he got a letter.”

“A letter?”

“Yes, an envelope, stuffed full. But I don’t know what was in there.”

“And did he say anything about it, or show some reaction?”

“He just said he had to leave for a bit.”

“And he didn’t show any reaction?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not good at picking up on that stuff.”

“Fair point. Well, don’t beat yourself up over it. Xavier is an actor. I’m sure he’s good at hiding his emotional reactions.”

“You’re right, that must be it.”

“Maybe the envelope was part of a new case. That would explain why he left so quickly,” Alice suggested.

Amy stepped into the kitchen, gesturing to Alice that she should put Mika on speaker.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Mika answered.

“But do you really think he would leave them behind? Knowing Xavier, he would want their help in a new case,” Amy pointed out.

“You’re right. After he nearly drowned them, I’m convinced this man doesn’t understand the concept of self-preservation, much less how to protect others.”

“I don’t know, maybe he just didn’t want me to get involved in his old cases,” Mika said.

“What do you mean, old cases?” Alice asked, confused. Amy seemed just as clueless.

“I saw the man Xavier was meeting with. It was the man who made Natsu disappear.”

Alice and Amy both stared at each other, eyes wide open. They had already been enlightened on some of the details relating to my disappearance.

“But I don’t underst…” Mika continued before being cut off.

“Hold on, Mika. Are you saying Xavier was meeting a member of the Red Eye?” Alice asked.

“Well, if that man was one of them, yes.”

“And you’re certain Xavier meant to meet with him and wasn’t just lured into a trap?” Amy questioned further.

“It looked like it.”

“Mika, I want you to think really hard about this,” Alice said in a serious tone. “Did any members of the Red Eye see you?”

“Probably not. At least not as far as I know.”

“Good. Listen to me. I want you to stay in your hotel room. Don’t investigate the case, just stay in there.”

“I’m not in the room right now. I’m in the alley where Xavier was meeting the man.”

“Well, then, get back to your room and stay there. I’m on my way to…”

“We’re coming as fast as we can,” Amy cut Alice off.

“Fine.” Mika seemed a little unhappy, but they hung up, promising to stay out of danger.

“Okay, let’s prepare. You get the Crimebuster, and I’ll call Ralph so he can drive us,” Amy said, immediately taking charge. Amy had gotten her driver’s license a few months ago, but she was always happy if someone else took the wheel. Not to mention how having Ralph with them during such a dangerous investigation could not be a bad idea.

“You want Ralph to tag along?”

“Why not? More support can’t hurt. Plus, he’s already involved in the whole situation, considering his close connection to Natsu, Xavier, and Mr. Cabrera. Seems like he’s an obvious pick to take on the Red Eye.”

“Are you sure we aren’t faster just taking the train? There’s a direct connection from Coleson to New York.”

“I doubt that. Plus, we might have to get around quickly in the city and transport our stuff, so it’s probably good to have a car, instead of having to rely on public transport.”

“I guess it will take a long time either way, so it won’t make much of a difference,” Alice replied unhappily.

“Good that we’re in agreement on this.”

“Where are the Bandas by the way? Are they still asleep?”

“No, they went out to buy some stuff. Seems like you forgot half of what was on the shopping list,” Amy explained.

“Yeah, I might have dropped in on the way to the store,” Alice admitted.

“Do you think we should tell them about the situation their grandchild is in?”

“Absolutely not! They’d probably have a heart attack. We’ll just tell them that there were some complications with the train, so we’re going to New York to pick Mika and Xavier up.”

“If you say so.”

The two made their preparations and got into Ralph’s car, driving off shortly after the phone call had ended.

Tuesday, December 24, 9:05 am: Alley, Near Falk Hotel

Mika looked at their phone. On the list of calls were multiple outgoing calls to Xavier’s phone, as well as his backup phone. All of which had gone unanswered.

They quickly considered making another call, but they got distracted by something on the ground. The thin layer of snow was just enough to show the shoeprints of everyone walking by. While that wasn’t very helpful on the sidewalk they were standing on, as the many prints bled together into an indistinguishable mess, looking over at the ground of the alley made for a very different story, as there were noticeably fewer tracks in the snow.

Slowly, Mika stepped into the shadows of the surrounding buildings. They made sure not to step on any tracks.

The alley was filled with strange smells, which only I had to experience, seeing as Mika’s lack of a sense of smell once again saved them. A mixture of the nearby dumpsters that had clearly not been emptied in a while, and the sewer stench coming from an open manhole.

Mika kneeled down, taking pictures of the prints. They could only make out two different profiles. One belonged to heavy shoes that relied on a well-defined profile, possibly hiking or even combat boots. The other belonged to sneakers or another type of light, casual shoe. Notably, the right shoe was seemingly missing parts of its sole, as could be seen in the prints.

The two tracks met in one spot, near where Pincher had stood, when Mika saw him. A spot that was marked with multiple cigarette buds, as well as some indiscernible, beige stains. From there, the tracks continued alongside each other to the other side of the alley.

As Mika followed them, they noticed that one of the trails, the one left by the boots, which was also the one garnished with occasional, beige stains, made a slight detour by swerving over to a dumpster.

Mika ignored it for now and continued to follow the tracks. They led out of the alley where Mika lost them in the mess of shoeprints that covered the sidewalk.

Mika was about to turn around when their eyes were drawn to a nearby parking spot. The only unoccupied one in sight. Coming closer, they could make out a cigarette that someone had stomped out in the snow.

Mika picked it up to get a closer look. Despite lying in the snow, it was still a little warm. The tip had been singed, and parts of the paper had gotten a little soggy, but unlike the other cigarettes found in the alley, this one was still preserved well enough for Mika to make out one detail. The label that was printed on it.

Despite the size of the text and the damaged condition of the cigarette, Mika could make out what it said.

“Blaublüter: Meeresbriese”

Mika recognized the label right away as being written in German. The part that stood out the most to them was the beginning. Blau, as in the German word for blue. Certainly makes you think of the unnaturally blue smoke always surrounding Pincher’s head.

A picture started forming in Mika’s head. Just to be sure, they took a picture of the empty parking spot. It had a thin layer of snow covering it. Less than the exposed areas, such as the alley or the sidewalk, but more than many of the other parking spots, which had no snow at all on them.

Mika put the cigarette in a small plastic bag that was in one of the many pockets Alice had sewn in their jacket. They had taken after Xavier’s example and made sure to always have their base equipment on their person, although their collection was much more modest than Xavier’s backpack.

Looking up for a moment, they could see some people walking by, staring at them, whispering to each other. An uncomfortable feeling, Mika had already grown accustomed to, crept up their spine, and they decided to quickly get back to the hotel.

But as they were about to do so, they remembered the strange detour the trail had taken, so they followed its example and paid the dumpster a visit.

Mika grabbed the lid and tried to push it open. Due to their size, they had to jump up to get it open far enough for the lid not to close itself again.

They let out a loud scream as the lid slammed shut, nearly hitting their hands. After catching their breath, they gave it another try, this time successfully.

A swarm of flies, which had been disturbed by the loud noise, flew out of the dumpster. Mika held their hair in front of their eyes, in their personal way of protecting their eyes.

With their free hand, they started pushing around the trash. Among the ripped trash bags, food scraps, and what seemed to be a broken baby crib, one thing stood out to Mika. Not because it was of any relevance to the case, but for reasons more personal. Mika reached down into the dumpster and pulled out the plushy, which had caught their attention. It was a cheap-looking, stuffed monkey, just about the size of a squirrel monkey.

Mika stared at it, being reminded of their lost friend. They could feel tears building up. Absentmindedly, they bit down on the inside of their cheek, their jaw nervously quivering. They were only pulled out of it, as a rusty taste spread throughout their mouth.

They quickly put the plush away, but as if it were some sign, in the place where the monkey was, the corner of an envelope that had been stuffed between two trash bags was now exposed.

Carefully, Mika pulled it out, recognizing it right away as the envelope Xavier had been handed. Even the content seemed to still be there, judging from the stuffed look.

Opening it revealed a stack of papers and a rubbery object. Pulling out the unknown object first revealed a broken phone, getting its rubbery exterior from a case that looked like an Archaeopteryx.

A Post-it note was stuck to the cracked screen. It simply read: “Look outside.”

Trying to turn the phone on was unsuccessful thanks to the bullet hole in the center of the screen, so Mika moved on to the stack of papers.

To their surprise, the first picture was of them, as they were leaving the Bandas’ store.

Next was a picture of Amy working on her laptop while taking the bus, and after that was Alice in a grocery store, then Ralph loading his bass guitar into the car, and it went on like that for the entire stack of papers. Inspector Wilson, my father, the Lawreyville Boy Detectives, the Bandas, Tanner, Jacky, Marlo, Captain Albright, Abby, Percy, Ryleigh, Angie, and so on. All the pictures seemed to have been taken in secret.

Mika had a bad feeling and decided to head back to the hotel room to continue their investigation from there with some outside help.

Tuesday, December 24, 9:40 am: Ralph’s Car, Interstate 86

Amy, Alice, and Ralph had been driving for a while now, and for most of it, none of them had said a word. Which was probably because they weren’t so much driving as they were standing still in traffic.

An awkward silence filled the car, which wasn’t helped by Ralph’s Weird Al playlist playing quietly from the radio.

Amy was sitting in the backseat, looking at her phone, and Ralph was holding onto the steering wheel, occasionally drumming his fingers or humming along with the melody. Both repeatedly looked over at Alice, who was staring angrily out the windshield, every now and then letting out a loud, annoyed sigh.

“Alice, just in case you’re gonna kill us, please tell me beforehand so I can at least tell my family I love them,” Ralph said jokingly, while sheepishly avoiding eye contact.

“Why would I kill? Not like I predicted this would happen.”

“Jesus, even Natsu could have picked up on your passive-aggressive tone,” Ralph said, in a comment that does hurt me, although I can’t say I haven’t had trouble picking up on such things in the past.

That’s one of the advantages of being able to read people’s minds. I always know what they truly mean. Well, mostly.

“No, dude, I would never be mad at you two for insisting on taking the car, even though I said we should take the train to avoid traffic. I mean, why would we want to take public transport if we have a car?”

Before Ralph could answer, the playlist switched to the next song that could not have been more comedically well-timed. As if to add to Alice’s comment, an accordion started playing, and the radio display showed the title “Another One Rides The Bus”.

“Even your dumb playlist agrees with me!”

“So you are angry that we didn’t take public transport?” Amy pointed out.

“Also, I don’t think that the song is an endorsement of public transportation,” Ralph added.

“Shut up, Dorky Al Yankovic!”

“Not your most creative work. Wanna give it another try?”

“No, I don’t. I just want to get to New York, so I can protect Mika.”

“Don’t worry, only a few more miles until we can get off the highway. I know another way that could save us some time, by getting around this traffic.”

“See, it has its advantages to ride with someone who regularly commutes to New York City,” Amy said.

“I guess that’s an improvement, although that doesn’t say much. I don’t think the situation could be much worse. Mika’s all alone in New York, possibly being targeted by the Red Eye, Xavier went missing, and we’re getting there at the speed of darkness.”

“The speed of darkness?” Ralph asked.

“Yes, as in the opposite of the speed of light.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Amy said.

“Yeah, there really isn’t a speed of darkness,” Ralph explained.

“Why not. If we can measure the speed of light, we can also measure the speed of darkness.”

“But darkness is just the absence of light, so it has the same speed,” Ralph continued.

“And who made you the expert?”

“Probably college, or the genius scientist I learned from,” Ralph said. Amy could see how his joking demeanor wavered for a second as he referenced Mr. Cabrera.

“Well, I think it could have been worse,” Amy said, trying to switch the topic.

“How?”

Amy had to think. “For example, what if instead of Weird Al songs, we were listening to Hot Diggity on a loop?”

“I think you just described the ninth circle of hell,” Alice said.

“Wow, I guess you nailed that song choice,” Ralph said, laughing.

“Oh, I have a song for each of my friends that they can’t stand. Alice hates Hot Diggity, Xavier runs out of the room when I play Satellite by Lena, for you I’ve saved Big Weenie by Eminem, and for Mika I originally had one of the old openings for TKKG, a German audio play series, but I realized they hated it because of the high pitched whistling, so that song choice just felt cruel and meanspirited.”

“You better not play that song near them, or I’ll punch a hole through you,” Alice said.

“I won’t, geez. I already switched it to the outro song of the new Three Investigators movie.”

“Fair, that shit’s ass. I wanted to walk straight out of the cinema once it started playing,” Alice agreed.

“Well, it’s the outro, so that kinda makes sense.”

“The next two better have some bangers or I’ll fucking boycott the whole trilogy.”

“What cinemas show that movie? Didn’t you say it wasn’t even localized to English?” Ralph asked.

“Ever heard of Little Germany?” Alice asked, rolling her eyes.

“I have, but I thought that place only consisted of bear gardens.”

“That’s the tourist part, also known as Little Bavaria. But there’s also a cinema in the other areas, which recently did a German Mystery event, where they played this, among some much better and some much worse movies.”

“Seems like you’ve gone pretty in-depth with those song choices,” Ralph said.

“Oh, you have no idea. My most devious pick is intended for Marlo. The Wild Kratt’s opening.”

Ralph looked at her through the rearview mirror with a confused look on his face. “Why would he be frustrated with that song? He loves the show, and the opening is a banger.”

While the others were discussing the topic of Amy’s strange song list, Alice looked at her phone. Her chat with Mika was open, and multiple unread messages from Alice were visible, asking if Mika was okay.

“Well, it’s not just the intro. I edited it so that only the first few notes play before it loops. Getting you hyped for the whole thing, without ever delivering.”

“And I always thought Alice was the evil twin,” Ralph said jokingly, getting promptly flipped off by Alice.

“But why all of this?”

“I don’t know. In case they go rogue and I have to distract them, maybe. I’m like Batman, but all my contingency plans are songs that cause annoyance.”

Alice let out a loud, fake laugh. “You’re not Batman. You’re at best Bat-Mite.”

“Sounds pretty good to me. He’s quite powerful,” Amy answered.

“No, you’re Bat-Mite because you’re a nuisance, and only nerds know about your existence.”

“Ouch. Well, still better than you. You're so much of an emotional mess, even the Doom Patrol wouldn’t take you in.”

Alice slowly turned her head with wide-open eyes. “Jesus, go easy on me.”

Both gave each other an appreciative smile.

“Oh, me next! Do me! What DC character would I be?” Ralph said.

The two pseudo-twins looked at each other, exchanging knowing glances.

“I don’t know, probably just some random intern at S.T.A.R.-Labs,” Amy said in an overly bored tone.

“Well, that’s not nice. How come you get to have fun roles and I’m just some unnamed intern?”

“Fine, you get to work at the Location at Metropolis Harbor. Those are the marine biology nerds. Better?” Alice offered.

“Wow, did you seriously know that at the top of your head?” Ralph asked.

“And you call me a nerd?” Amy added.

“I’m not a nerd. I’m just better at everything than you, even nerdy stuff.”

“That doesn’t…”

Amy was cut off by Alice’s ringtone. Alice quickly looked at her screen, hoping Mika was the one calling, but that wasn’t the case.

Looking at the screen, Alice turned pale. The contact was simply saved under a fish emoji.

“Who’s calling?” Ralph asked, looking over at her screen.

“None of your business.”

“Ooh, does someone have a secret lover?” Amy asked jokingly.

“Go suck a dick, Amy!” Alice answered in a strangely serious tone, much to Amy’s surprise.

Alice opened the door and stepped out.

“What are you doing?” Ralph asked, confused.

“I have to take this. You’re going so slow, I can easily catch up on foot.”

The two watched as Alice made her way through the cars towards the side of the highway.

As one car honked at her, Alice angrily slammed her fist on the hood.

“Shut up or I’ll force that horn down your fucking throat, you lobotomized baboon!”

 “Geez, what’s going on with her?” Ralph asked.

“How should I know? I sometimes wonder what it says about me that she and I are technically the same person.”

“I would look at the positives if I were you.”

“Which would be?”

“Are you telling me you can’t see anything positive in Alice?” Ralph asked in a serious tone.

“No, that’s not it. I just can’t really see myself in this bundle of aggression and insecurities.”

“But you do get that the whole angry asshole shtick is a façade, don’t you?”

“I mean, there must be some truth to it,” Amy said.

Ralph hesitated. “I really don’t want to imagine what it’s like being her.”

Amy put aside her phone, looking at Ralph.

“I mean, having your whole life crumble around you, giving up on yourself, building up a whole fake persona to hide behind, and then meeting an alternate version of yourself who gets to be themselves.”

“So you’re saying she actually wants to get to be a nerd?”

Ralph sighed. “Sure, that’s probably part of it.”

“What else is there? She can’t seriously want to be me. I may have had a better life for the last few years, but I’m still a mess.”

“Just forget I brought it up.” Ralph drove the car a little further before the traffic came to a halt again.

“I have to admit, though, she seemed unusually on edge from a simple phone call she hadn’t even answered,” Ralph said.

“Could you see who it was? Must have been someone she saved in her contacts if the caller ID was enough to enrage her like that.”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. She only saved them under a fish emoji. Any idea who that could be?”

“A fish emoji?” Amy had to think about it. “The only people that would come to mind are the members of your lab team.”

“Then we’re on the same page. But I doubt getting a call from any of my colleagues would piss her off like that.”

“Damn. I was hoping you had an idea,” Amy said, frustratedly.

The two got quiet, and Amy turned her attention back to her phone while they continued the slow drive towards New York City.

Alice rejoined them later, not mentioning anything about the phone call.

Tuesday, December 24, 9:45 am: Falk Hotel, Manhattan

Mika sat on Xavier’s bed, lost in thought. They were staring at what they’d laid out in front of them. Notes were written on the windows, and on the floor was an improvised map of the surrounding area, made up of clothes, blankets, toiletries, basically everything Mika could get their hands on.

They’d been staring at this messy replacement for a conspiracy board for a while now, occasionally tilting their head to the left or the right. They’d even started tapping against their forehead, as Xavier usually did, in the hope it could help them focus.

Eventually, they came to the decision that they needed the help of another investigator. But who to call? Alice, Amy, and Ralph were no good. After all, they’d told Mika not to investigate the case.

For a brief second, Mika considered the members of the ILS, but because of the difference in time zones, Mika was afraid to wake them up in the middle of the night. This should make it clear that Mika either can’t calculate or has no idea of different time zones, as both Japan and South Korea were still early enough in the night for the respective investigators to likely still be awake. And don’t get me started on Germany.

The only exceptions to that rule were Mr. Gallagher and Oscar, as they were still in the US. But in a way, they were even less likely to get called by Mika for this.

As the two of them had continued the hunt for Moth, after he’d resurfaced, they’d gotten very close to catching him. Too close in fact, which ended with Moth fleeing and Oscar getting hospitalized.

Seeing as that’s the case, I can understand Mika believing it to be polite, not to stress the two out even more, by getting them involved. Though, as Xavier’s boyfriend, I am naturally upset that Mika would put politeness in the way of the investigation to find Xavier.

As Mika had discarded all the professionals as options, they only had one last option. Although, mind you, this critical tone is coming from me, not Mika. They were more than happy to call this last option.

Mika picked up the phone to call Sasha. It didn’t take long for her to answer the call. Her face popped up on the screen, greeting Mika with a smile.

“Hey, Mika, how are you?”

“Hi, Sasha. I’m doing well, how are… Well, actually, I think I messed this up. I’m actually not doing well.”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound good. What’s got you so down in the dumps?”

“Xavier got kidnapped.”

“What?!” Sameer said, his head coming into frame. Some cookie crumbles fell out of his mouth. “What do you mean, Xavier got kidnapped?”

“Oh, hey, Sameer. I’m actually still trying to figure out the details.”

“So you called us for help? Why didn’t you ask Alice or Amy? Are they in danger too?” Sasha asked.

“They’re on their way here. I’m actually not supposed to investigate without them, so I’m calling you.”

“I doubt they would have refused to help you, even if they discouraged you at first,” Sameer assumed.

“You think so? Well, if I already got you on the phone, I might as well get your input. Unless I’m calling at a bad time.”

“Mika, one of your friends, has been kidnapped. That always takes priority. You don’t have to worry about interrupting something,” Sasha explained in a tone that sounded both encouraging and scolding.

“So, basically… Wait, why are you two alone in the hideout?” Mika had concluded their location based on the background they were familiar with, after visiting the hideout once in the past.

“It’s actually meant to be all four of us, but Jim and Parker had to go get snacks after someone forgot to restock them.”

“Yeah, someone named Jim,” Sameer added. “Way to ruin our annual Nixday celebration.”

“Nixday?” Mika repeated, having somehow gotten fixated on the Lawreyville Detective Boys’ holiday traditions, instead of focusing on the important case. It’s times like these I wish I could just yell out at people.

Well, I can, but no one will hear me.

“That’s what Jim decided to call our annual holiday get-together,” Sasha explained.

“Oh, I was confused because I know someone named Nix.”

“Mika, can we stay on track? Can you please elaborate on what exactly happened?” Sameer said.

Mika nodded and proceeded to run through the basic information of the case. The other two listened in suspense.

“And that’s how it happened.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” Sasha said.

“You said you took some pictures of the tracks, right? Can you show them to us?”

“How do I do that?” Mika looked at their phone, completely lost.

“I forgot you didn’t grow up with this stuff,” Sameer said. “Just share your screen and go into your library. Or send us the pictures.”

“But won’t that end the call?”

“Jesus, it’s like talking to my grandma all over again,” Sameer said.

“Mika, just do as he says. Don’t worry, he knows his stuff around technology.”

After some more explaining, Mika managed to send the pictures.

“Thanks.” Sameer and Sasha looked through the pictures before coming to a realization.

“That confirms it,” Sasha said.

“Yup, no doubt about it. It’s as I thought.”
“As we thought,” Sasha corrected him.

“What?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t realized it yourself,” Sameer said.

“Mika, the tracks show no sign of a fight, or even a slight struggle. Xavier clearly went with the kidnapper voluntarily.”

“As voluntarily as that can be, if your decision was informed by a threat.”
“You don’t mean… The pictures are a threat?” Mika said, sounding less surprised than the question might make it seem.

“I think that’s something you had already realized yourself. You just couldn’t accept it, could you?” Sasha asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, take it from someone who’s also included in those photographs, it certainly doesn’t feel good, being in the crosshairs of dangerous people and being used to threaten someone.”

“What about that phone, though?” Sameer asked. “Do you recognize it?”

“No, I’ve never seen it.”

“And that person Xavier met with, you are certain that was the man who’s involved in Natsu’s disappearance?” Sasha asked.

“I assume so. He fits the description. At least the little information I have. And that blue smoke, it’s certainly a rare sight, isn’t it?”

“Cigarettes that produce bright, blue smoke, yeah, I’ve certainly never seen any.”

“Which leads me to the cigarette I found. I’m certain it is one of those blue ones.”

“What did you say they were called?” Sameer asked.

“Blaublüter: Meeresbriese, which roughly translates to blue-blooded: Ocean breeze.”

“Certainly sounds blue,” Sasha said.

“Yup, I just looked them up,” Sameer said. “They’re from a luxury, Austrian brand, known for producing all its products, not just cigarettes, with a focus on a blue color scheme. And before you ask, yes, these cigarettes produce blue smoke.”

“Good job,” Sasha said.

“Don’t congratulate me on a simple Google search. That’s less of a compliment and more patronizing.”

“Noted. So, that does confirm that Xavier and the kidnapper took the car that was standing in the now-empty parking spot.”

“Yes, and from the timeline Mika provided and the local weather report, I can confirm that the evidence lines up.”

“What?” Sasha asked, confused.

“I think I know what he means. He’s talking about the snow in the parking spot,” Mika said.

“Bingo. It looks like the car was parked there after it had already started to snow, but still not that much after. Lining up with the envelope being delivered during the night.”

“Yes, if it helps understanding the timeline, I can demonstrate on the model I built. Mika put their phone on the bed, propping it up against a rolled-up jacket.

Sameer and Sasha stared at the mess on the floor, having no time to make heads or tails of it, before Mika started explaining.

“So, first, Xavier and I came back to the hotel.” Mika was holding two rubber ducks, dressed as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, dragging them along the floor.

“After we got to our rooms, it started snowing, and after that, the smoke man showed up.”

Mika pulled out two more rubber ducks, one looking like the statue of liberty, the other designed after a bright, yellow taxi.

“Just in case you were confused, the taxi isn’t a person, it’s the smoke man’s car.”

“What the fuck is all of this?!” Sameer asked.

“I mapped out the area, isn’t it useful?”

“Did you write on the windows?” Sasha noticed.

“Yes, I was getting to that.”

“The poor cleaning crew.”

“Oh, it washes off easily. I’ll do it myself, I promise.”

“What did you even write on there?” Sasha asked.

“I was wondering, why the Red Eye was coming after us, and why now, of all times.”

“Didn’t you cross their plans on multiple occasions?” Sameer pointed out.

“Yes, but it seems like those loose ends have a way of resolving themselves. To my knowledge, the first run-in, besides the one with Natsu, was before I joined. Linda Clark and Pablo Cabrera both had ties to the Red Eye, but they both died during that investigation. And similar things happened in the later cases. Frankenstein killed himself, Coach Bayhan, Gatsby, and their goons were shot, Fama and Pax were murdered in prison, you get the idea. Not to mention, reporting on these cases was purposefully vague, and we generally made sure to reference our names, or that of the agency, as little as possible.”

“Wait, you’re listing names, like we’re supposed to know them,” Sameer said.

“I know them,” Sasha said.

“Why do you know them?”

“Mika told me.”

“You’re telling her about top secret cases?!”

“Isn’t that what investigator friends do?” Mika asked.

“They do have a point.”

“Sure, if you say so. But, I’m sure not everyone died, right? Couldn’t one of them have ratted you out?”

“That’s my other point. There are some survivors. I’m ignoring Paradox because I doubt they would tell on us, should they still be alive. But there are still others. Via, for example. But he got out of prison months ago, so why would it take so long for the Red Eye to act? The most recent one I can think of is Nemo, who escaped the FBI’s custody. But that too was a while ago. And then there’s the Paris case, but that one too happened more than a month ago.”

“You might have a point. Why would it take them this long? I get it might take some time to plan things out, but what they came up with hardly seems like it took them months to come up with,” Sameer said.

“Maybe it had something to do with the location,” Sasha pointed out.

“I doubt they could have only pulled this off in the Big Apple.”

“But maybe it was easier. Maybe their plan always involved taking him to a place in New York City, which would be much easier if he were in the city. Maybe they somehow got wind of you two going there, so they waited for that,” Sasha theorized.

“Seems plausible,” Mika said.

The three continued theorizing while waiting for back-up to arrive. After some time, even Jim and Parker got involved after they’d returned to the headquarters.

Tuesday, December 24, 1:50 pm: Ralph’s Car, Near Scranton

The car was once more standing still in traffic. Ralph was focused on the road, humming along to the music.

Alice had tilted her backrest all the way down and put her feet on the dashboard. In her hands, she was playing with a Rubik's Cube she’d found in Ralph’s glove compartment while angrily staring over at Ralph.

Amy was sitting cross-legged in the backseat, regularly checking her phone for something. She, too, seemed irritated.

“Pick already, so we can finally change the fucking music!” Alice yelled.

“Seriously, it’s not that difficult, you literally only have two options,” Amy added.

“Fine, I’ll choose truth,” Ralph said, immediately returning to humming along to the music.

The song, Hot Diggity had been blasting from the speakers for nearly 15 minutes. It was the punishment for Alice choosing not to answer her question in truth or dare. The punishment had been suggested by Amy, but it seemed she’d grown tired of the song herself.

“Okay, what’s your social security number?” Alice asked.

“Seriously, that’s your question?”

“Do you answer it?”

“No. I don’t even know it off the top of my head.”

“Finally!” Amy said, quickly turning off the song. “And all it took was an unfair question.”

“Congrats, you managed to get me to turn down a question. But doesn’t that mean we now have to listen to Big Weenie until someone else doesn’t do their task?”

“Fuck, I forgot about that!” Alice let out in an exhausted tone.

Amy started the song while Ralph looked at her. “So, what do you choose?”

“Truth. After Alice tried to make me drink her weird coffee and Snickers mix, I will never pick dare again.”

“You just don’t have taste,” Alice said, while taking a sip from said coffee, which she’d melted a Snickers bar in.

“Okay, a few weeks ago, Alice mentioned something that got me curious. She said your bi awakening was a really embarrassing story, so tell me about that.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! That question implicates me as well!” Alice said in protest.

“No complaining, or I’ll ask you that question later.”

“It’s really not that embarrassing,” Amy tried to downplay it. “One evening when I was 14, I watched Victorious, and afterwards I watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, and let’s say, seeing Rodrick and Jade right after one another did something to teenage me. See, no big deal.”

“Wow, you clearly have a type,” Ralph said, somewhat jokingly.

“Yeah, that type being, people who would absolutely mistreat you,” Alice added. “No wonder you fell for a criminal.”

“Hey, let’s not forget that this story is the same for you,” Amy pointed out.

“Wait, I just realized something,” Alice said.

“Are you trying to change the subject?” Amy asked.

“No. But isn’t the hotel gonna kick out Mika? Xavier only booked for one night.”

“You only realized that now?” Ralph asked.

“I’ve had other things to worry about.”

“Well, thankfully, I thought of that. I called them and booked another night,” Amy explained.

“What’s with the self-congratulatory tone?” Alice asked.

“Can’t a girl be proud of herself for thinking ahead?”

“Well, did you think ahead about what question you were gonna ask me? I choose truth,” Alice said, gesturing to Amy to make it quick.

“I didn’t even pick you.”
“Come on, give me a question! Shouldn’t be a problem for someone as clever as you.”

“Sure, yeah, I guess. Eh, who’s… your,” Amy was stumbling through the question, as she was coming up with it. “Who’s your best friend?”

“Seriously, that’s your question? What is this, preschool?” Ralph asked.

“I couldn’t think of anything.”

“But the answer is obviously M…”

“It’s Ralph,” Alice said.

Amy and Ralph looked at her in surprise.

“What? Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Wait, so Mika isn’t your best friend?” Amy asked, still in disbelief.

“Did you get into an argument?” Ralph asked.

“No. The question was: Who’s my best friend? That’s Ralph. Mika is my favorite person.”

“But wouldn’t that make them your best friend?” Amy pointed out.

“They’re my sibling. If you’re friends with your siblings, they are in their own league. It’s like how no one calls their partner their best friend. It’s just a separate category.”

“I’ll take it. So that means I’m your second-favorite person.”

“Slow down. Blair is my second favorite person. You’re in third place, but only if we’re not counting people I haven’t personally met. So you’d better hope I never meet David Tennant, or you’ll get bumped down.”

“Seriously, he’s the first person that came to mind?”

“He seems like a cool guy. Also, I’ve developed an algorithm for determining how nice a celebrity likely is, and he scored the highest.”

“We’re technically the same person, but somehow I’m constantly confused by the things you say.”

“The feeling is mutual, Ms. I-want-to-bang-a-wanted-criminal.”

“We weren’t even close to that step,” Amy said, blushing while looking down at her phone again.

Alice stretched her neck, managing to catch a glimpse of her screen. It showed a map with a red dot on it.

“Is that your tracking program? Wait, are you tracking Xavier?”

“No, I tried to, but it seems like his tracker was disabled. Its last known location was near the hotel he was staying at.”

“Then who are you tracking?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Something popped up on the screen, but before Alice got to see what it was, Amy had already put her phone away.

“By the way, Alice, you should probably have a talk with your favorite person about hotel manners,” Ralph said.

“Why?”

“Apparently, they made a huge mess in their room. The cleaning crew showed up there and nearly had a collective heart attack. The receptionist told us during the phone call.”

“How did I miss all of that information? When did you make that phone call?”

“Must have been during your 5^th or 7^th pee-break. Maybe you should drink less coffee during such a long drive, then you wouldn’t miss everything.”

“Well, for your information, I used one of those pee-breaks to call for back-up.”

“Who’d you call?” Ralph asked.

“Inspector Wilson. I also recommended he take the train, so he’ll get there in a reasonable amount of time. And unlike you, he actually listened.”

“I’m surprised you called for back-ups,” Ralph said. “Guess that shows how bad of a best friend I am, but I’d taken you for the type of person to waltz in there on your own, taking everyone out like some insane vigilante.”

“Well, normally I would, but considering what we’re up against, it’s best to have the cops on our side. If the inspector is with us, maybe he can even arrest some of those assholes. Considering he has ties to the FBI, maybe this could actually lead to the whole Red Eye being exterminated like the collection of pests that it is.”

Ralph seemed conflicted about this statement. His expression turned sad and riddled with questions.

“Wait, but you only asked the inspector? So, he’s not bringing any officers with him?” Amy asked.

“If we roll up to wherever they keep Xavier with an army of cops, that could put him at risk. Plus, we don’t know which of the cops we can trust.”

“Can I ask a question?” Ralph asked.

“Pretty sure it’s actually my turn to ask one,” Alice said.

“No, not as part of truth or dare. It’s something that’s been bothering me for a while.”

“Is everything okay? It’s pretty rare to see you so serious,” Amy said.

“It’s just,… Do you think… Is Pablo… I mean, was he…” Ralph was stumbling over his words, trying to think of the right way to ask the question.

“He quit, didn’t he?” Alice said, seemingly understanding what Ralph wanted to ask.

“What?” Ralph asked.

“Well, you were gonna ask if Mr. Cabrera was a bad person, considering he allegedly worked for the Red Eye.”

“Yes, that’s been bothering me ever since you showed me those video diaries. I just can’t see him… I can’t imagine him working for such horrible people.”

“Maybe he didn’t know what these people were doing,” Amy suggested.

“I doubt that. Pablo was a genius. He would have picked up on that.”

“Even geniuses sometimes miss things,” Alice pointed out. “Sometimes it is that status as a genius that actually causes it. Look at his killer. She risked everything for an overly elaborate plan, just because she thought she could pull it off.”

“Yes, but if we’re already talking about her, Pablo stole Ms. Clark’s invention. That can’t be a result of simple ignorance.”

“But look at the timeline,” Alice said. “He quit shortly after Natsu disappeared. Maybe that made him change his mind, and he took the invention and the research data with him, to prevent Cabrerium from being used for something like that.”

“How do you know Cabrerium had something to do with Natsu’s disappearance?” Amy asked.

Alice seemed nervous. “Eh, just a guess. Even if there’s no direct connection, he might have wanted to prevent it from being used for any potential misdeeds.”

“To be fair, it seems like Ms. Clark also had no idea what the substance would be used for, so he might not have known the full extent of it.”

“Didn’t Xavier say something about that robbery in Paris? Apparently, the timeline transportation was used to steal valuable paintings from other timelines. Maybe Mr. Cabrera thought it would only be used for stuff like that.”

“You’re weirdly intent on linking Cabrerium to that technology,” Amy pointed out.

“Will you get off my ass already? I already told you, it’s just a hunch.”

“But does it matter? Large-scale robberies like that aren’t really a good thing to support either.”

“But one thing is stealing some ancient paint clusters, or the gold bars of a rich CEO, and the other thing is like advanced kidnapping,” Alice pointed out.

“Listen, Ralph. In the end, it’s up to you how you’ll remember him. We can’t make that decision for you,” Amy said. “I barely knew him, but from everything I’ve heard about him, he seems like a good guy who might have played a bit loose with his morals regarding some of the jobs he took. Be it for the money or for his passion for science.”

“You probably have a point there. I think I just built him up as this perfect genius, that I just couldn’t imagine him doing anything wrong, or even morally grey.”

Ralph turned silent, focusing on the road again.

Tuesday, December 24, 4:45 pm: Entrance, Falk Hotel

After they’d parked Ralph’s car nearby, the three were headed to the hotel Xavier and Mika were staying at.

Alice was far ahead, moving quickly while the others tried to keep up. She breezed past the reception desk and headed straight for the elevator. The receptionist looked at her, confused.

“We’ve booked room 813,” Amy explained while quickly walking through the lobby.”

The elevator arrived surprisingly quickly, and the three headed up.

“Mika!” Alice yelled as she opened the door. She ran up to her little sibling, embracing them.

“Good, you’re finally here,” Mika said before returning the embrace.

“Wow, they did not exaggerate. You messed this room up real good,” Amy said.

“It’s all part of my investigation.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to investigate until we get here?” Alice asked. She was naturally not really surprised by Mika’s actions.

“Sorry. But I was worried some clues could get destroyed. You know, with all the people and the weather.”

“I know. I can’t really hold it against you,” Alice said. “I’m just happy you’re safe.”

“So, if I understand this correctly, this is a plan of the surrounding area, right?” Ralph assumed.

“Yup. Here, I’ll run you through everything.”

“Oh, are those new duckies for the collection?” Alice asked.

“Did you just call them duckies?” Amy asked.

“What else should she call them?” Mika countered.

“I don’t know, rubber ducks maybe? Duckies just sounds too cutesy and childish for her.”

“You got a problem with that?” Alice asked.

Amy simply shook her head before listening to Mika explain that day’s events and the results of the investigation.

“The prints are definitely Xavier’s. Those fucked up shoes are certainly unique,” Amy said, after Mika was finished. She looked at the picture of the shoeprints.

“I don’t get why he doesn’t just throw them away,” Alice said.

“They’re his lucky shoes,” Ralph explained. He was barely paying attention. He was staring at my phone, having recognized it right away. “Natsu saved his life the day those shoes got messed up,” he continued his explanation.

I never knew that he was so grateful for my actions that day. Saving him was the bare minimum I could do. Also, that same day, he saved my life, as the culprit tried to smother me with some bread dough. That’s not even getting into the many times he’s risked his life for me.

“Okay, now we just need to find out where Xavier was taken to,” Ralph said, taking charge.

“Can’t you use that camera-AI-thingy? The one Paradox tricked you into using when they were seducing you,” Alice suggested.

“First of all, you’re grossly oversimplifying that case. Secondly, the program you’re talking about is not an option right now, as I don’t have access to this city's camera footage. Even if I were to hack into it, which would take forever, not all of them run on the same grid, so I would have to hack into different software from different manufacturers, spread all over the city.”

“Do you have another idea?” Ralph asked. “I’m not happy to say this, but I have no idea how to track him down.”

“Well, I might have a plan. Seems like we’re in luck, but we should probably hurry.”

“What are we waiting for?” Mika asked. “Let’s go!”

“No, only Ralph and I go. I don’t want a large group for this.”

“What, but I want to help save Xavier.”

“And you will. I’m only getting his location. After that, I come back here, and we can all go save him.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alice said without hesitating.

“It’s fine by me. Let’s not hesitate for a second longer,” Ralph said. He and Amy left, leaving Alice and Mika alone.

“What do you think is Amy’s plan?”

“No idea. But I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Alice answered. She reached into her pockets as if to check if the things inside were still there.

“So, are we just meant to wait here? That feels like a waste of time.”

“You’re right, that’s not why we’re gonna wait here.”

“You have a plan too?”

“Yup. Come on, let’s go. We’ll have to catch the subway.”

“What’s your plan?”

“That’s a secret, for now.”

“What?!” Mika let out, clearly disappointed.

“How about you tell me about that musical you went to yesterday?” Alice suggested, sparking Mika’s enthusiasm instantly.

As they walked to the elevator, Mika began, what would turn into a lengthy lecture on the ups and downs of the musical and the material it was adapting, that would last long into their ride on the subway and past that, earning them some confused looks.

Tuesday, December 24, 5:00 pm: Ralph’s Car, Payne Avenue

Amy was staring intently into her phone. Ralph occasionally peeked over at her, trying to understand what she was doing.

“So, will you tell me what you’ve got planned, or am I just the chauffeur to you?”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you the details.”

“You can at least tell me where we’re going.”

“Oh, yeah, my bad. The address is Rowland Street 91.”

“Could you type it into the GPS? I’m kinda busy, you know, driving.”

“Sure.”

“So, what place are we headed? Or is that also a secret?”

“It’s not a secret, but I have no idea myself.”

Ralph just gave her a puzzled look in response.

Amy held her phone up to her face. “Byte, can you tell me what you know about Rowland Street 91 in New York City? Oh, and please get straight to the point.”

“Did I miss something? Who’s Byte?”

Amy sighed. “Byte is an AI-assistant I’m working on. I’m hoping to connect it to all my other programs, turning it into the ultimate digital investigator, but in its current state, it is honestly more of a bother than a help.”

Amy looked back at her phone, noticing one text message after the next appearing on the screen. “Fuck, that’s a lot.”

“Sounds pretty cool, but why…”

“Hang on. Hey, Byte, I told you to keep it short. At this point, I’d be faster by reading the entire Wikipedia entry on New York. And stop calling me Mom.”

Ralph had to try hard to keep his laughter in check. “So, this AI assistant is your kid?”

“Please, not you too. I’m definitely not ready to be a mother.”

“To be fair, your kid being digital seems on brand. But you might have a point. I mean, referring to your child as an it seems a bit distant. Well, I guess there are some people who go by those pronouns.”
“Hey, you can’t put that on me. I asked how I should refer to it, and the AI crashed.”

“You developed an AI with gender dysphoria?”

“It’s more of an uncertainty than discomfort.”

“Let me see. Hey, Byte, what…”
“Don’t! I’m serious, my phone will crash. It’s like making an old calculator divide by zero.”

“Sorry. Do you want to hear my suggestion?”

“Sure. Seems like Byte will take a few more attempts until it finally gets this right, so I have some time to spare.”

“How about giving Byte a voice? Or will they get voice dysphoria from that?”

“Byte already has a voice. I had to turn off my phone’s tone because it wouldn’t shut up.”

“Somehow Byte is already my favorite of your inventions.”

“Finally!” Amy started reading the short paragraph on her screen.

“So, what’s the location we’re going to?”

“Apparently, it’s a small theater. Hey Byte, what play is being put on at the Warne Theater?”

“And?”

“God dammit, Byte!”

“Is it too much information again?”

“No, Byte’s refusing to help because I didn’t thank it.”

“Seems fair enough.”

“Byte, I swear I will go back to using Google. Fuck it, Bing would be preferable to…”

“Wow, easy there. Ever thought about just being nice to Byte?”

Ralph leaned over to the phone, without taking his eyes off the road. “Hey, Byte, it’s me, Ralph. Not sure if you know me, but it would be great if you could help us. I’m sure your mom appreciates your help. Don’t you?”

Amy sighed. “Sure. Thanks for helping us, Byte.”

“See, it’s not so hard.” The two waited for Byte to finish gathering information.

“So, does the AI run on data from the entire internet, or how does it work?”

“Basically, whatever it can get its hands on. I’ve been training it on search engines, social media, case files, comics, and so on.”

“Seems like you got yourself a smart kid.”

“Please stop.”

“Look, Byte’s done.” Ralph pointed to the screen.

“Apparently, they’re currently between plays. They're currently preparing a new musical that will start in two weeks. Oh!”

“What?”

“Apparently, it’s an adaptation of the book Never Trust a Wolf.”

“Never heard of it. Is it any good?”

“Haven’t read it, but Mika is not a fan. It was written by one of the current writers of The Clever Foxes.”

Suppose you’ll allow me a quick tangent. Mika did indeed not enjoy the book, but that was because it did not suit their usual media diet. It’s a fantasy novel, rather than a mystery novel. Now personally, I’m not a fan of any of Aerolotl’s books, be it mystery, fantasy, Sci-fi, or anything else. If you ask me, they’re a C-tier writer with an overreliance on references and an inability to describe any atmosphere, who has way too many half-baked ideas and refuses to drop any of them. Don’t even get me started on the pacing or the strange dialogue. I do not understand how they are the favorite author of the Clever Foxes fandom. Well, I do, as I can read their minds, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. To give them some credit, the books they write for The Clever Foxes are definitely their best work, as they seem to fall less into their usual trappings.

My apologies, I just had to get this off my chest.

“Thanks, Byte, that should be it for now.”

“Wow, looks like you can treat your AI-kid with some respect.”

“Not my kid.” Amy switched her screen back to a map of New York. Multiple red dots were visible. Two were moving quickly away from Amy, two were right where she was, and a fifth one was stationary at the location Ralph and Amy were headed.

“Isn’t that your tracker program?”

Amy simply nodded.

“Are those two dots Alice and Mika?”

“Yes. No idea where they're going, but I’m sure Alice won’t do anything that could put Mika in danger.”

“And those two dots are us, right? So, who’s the last dot? Xavier?”

“No, like I said, Xavier’s tracker was disabled. That’s my old tracker.”

“Now I’m confused.”

“Well, I replaced my tracker when I gave you, Mika, and Alice your trackers. But my old tracker is still active and working just as I’d hoped.”

“I assume you won’t tell me about the purpose of that tracker, right?”

“Correct.”

Tuesday, December 24, 5:10 pm: Platform 7, Poirot Central Station

Alice and Mika were walking down the stairs in the train station. Alice seemed in a hurry after taking a look at the timetable in the entrance hall.

“So, why are we at the train station?” Mika asked, having only recently concluded their review of Sherlock Holmes: The Great Musical Adventure. They gave it a 9.5 out of 10 and expressed excitement for a potential sequel.

As a fan of Sherlock Holmes and musicals, my rating would be 8 out of 10. Just in case you were wondering.

“I still can’t tell you. But rest assured, the success of this is vital.”

“So, are we taking the train on platform 6 or 7?”

“Platform 7,” Alice answered, nervously waiting for the train to arrive.

“But isn’t that the train back to Coleson?” Mika pointed out correctly. The train traveling between Coleson and New York City would arrive in only a few minutes and would turn back around shortly after, heading back to Coleson.

“What makes you think that?”

“I read it on the timetable in the entrance hall.”

“I thought you were too busy talking about Sherlock Holmes. Well, obviously, we’re getting off at the next station. There’s something we need to do there.” Alice grew visibly nervous.

“I don’t get it. What are we doing?”

“You’ll see.”

The two waited, Alice staring stressed down the tunnel, and Mika thinking about what was going on.

A loudspeaker announced the arrival of the train on platform 7, instructing people to step back from the edge of the narrow walk space between the tracks.

The train came to a halt with a loud screech, and the doors opened slowly. They hadn’t even opened far enough for anyone to pass through, as Alice grabbed Mika’s wrist and started approaching the vehicle.

“Wait!” Mika yelled, doing their best to fight back against Alice.

“What is it? Come on, we can talk on the train,” Alice said, trying not to panic.

“I get what you’re doing.”

“What do you mean? We’re investigating.”

“No, you want to run away. You’re afraid of me getting hurt.”

“What?! That’s absurd. Now come, we can’t miss this train, or we’ll have to wait multiple hours.”

“Even I can tell that you’re lying. You promised you wouldn’t treat me like some small kid anymore.”

“This is different. The Red Eye is too big an enemy. Too big for you, me, the agency, hell, even the FBI is fucked when taking them on.”

“But we have to help Xavier. We can’t just abandon him and the others.”

“He’s fucked! Amy and Ralph are fucked too. The only difference we would make is adding two more corpses to the tally!” Alice said, raising her voice.

Strangely, none of the passengers leaving or entering the train seemed to care. At most, they gave the two a passing glance.

“Alice, this is insane. I won’t abandon my friends. I won’t abandon my family.”

“Don’t give me that crap. This isn’t some fucking shonen where we can take on even the strongest foe, as long as we do it for our friends.”

“Hey! Al…” a man yelled in the distance, somewhere in the crowd of people, his voice getting drowned out by the hectic masses.

“Why are you saying this? How can you just give up on your friends?”

“Because I’m a realist. The odds of any of us getting out of this alive, even if we’re all together, are astronomically low.”

“So there’s a small chance?”

“A TRAIN IS ABOUT TO PASS BY ON PLATFORM 6. PLEASE STEP BACK FROM THE LEDGE. THANK YOU,” the voice coming from a speaker said.

“Mika, that chance is not big enough to quantify a rescue mission. Now get on that train!”

“No! I won’t abandon my friends.”

Alice seemed conflicted as she reached into her pocket, pulling out a syringe.

“Is that one of Paradox’s from back at the zoo?!” Mika realized, while Alice quickly removed the protective cap.

Mika stepped back, nervously looking at the needle.

“I’m sorry, Mika, but I can’t let you risk your life.” Alice raised her arm, rushing forward.

Just in time, Mika dodged her, staring in shock as Alice approached the ledge, falling forward towards the tracks.

As she was falling, Alice turned her head, seeing the lights of an approaching train. She couldn’t hear the panicked scream of Mika. To her, everything seemed quiet. And as she realized this was how it would end, she did not spare a thought about losing her life. Instead, she thought about how she’s failed to protect Mika, how the sight of her getting sprayed all over the walls and floor would scar them for life. And she thought about how she’d chosen to abandon her friends, too cowardly to even tell them the truth. Yes, that was it. Those were the words she’d been looking for, Alice thought. She wasn’t some murderer, nor was she a poor victim, she wasn’t an awesome big sister, she wasn’t a good friend, and she most certainly wasn’t some hero. In her eyes, the words that best described her labeled her as a cowardly failure.

Her fall was suddenly stopped, but not by the tracks or the train, but by someone grabbing her arm, yanking her back to safety. Just in time, as Alice could feel the wind of the train passing by behind her, just as her feet were back on solid ground.

“Jesus Christ, I know you’ve been through some shit, but jumping in front of a train seems a little excessive, don’t you think?” Inspector Wilson said, still holding her arm.

“What? How did you… Why… I mean, I…”

“I just got here. Thank god you called me, or you’d be a puddle on the tracks.”

“Alice, I’m so sorry!” Mika hugged her with tears in their eyes.

“Are you okay, Alice? How about we head outside and sit down somewhere far away from the train tracks?”

Alice nodded. She quickly looked back as the train had passed. On the tracks was a small puddle and some glass shards. They were the remnants of the tranquilizer syringe Alice had dropped as she was falling to her near doom.

“Here, have some water.” Inspector Wilson handed Alice his bottle after they’d taken a seat on a bench outside the train station.

“Thanks.”

“Alice, I’m so sorry, I nearly…”

“Will you shut up!” Alice let out.

“What?!” Mika asked, confused.

“Sorry. It’s just that there’s no reason for you to apologize. I mean, it’s absurd I have to tell you that.”

“But had I just gone with you…”

“I should have known you wouldn’t come with me, so this is on me. Not to mention how I was the one to escalate the situation.”

“You seem pretty calm for someone who just looked death in the eye,” the inspector said.

“It’s not the first time.”

“I see.” Inspector Wilson paused. “But I don’t get it. Why did you call me? Certainly not to save you from getting hit by a train.”

“I wanted you to help the others. Maybe that way, they had at least some chance of making it out alive. Although I doubt Xavier could have been saved even with your support.”

“You’re talking about him like he’s already dead.”

“So you think he can be saved?”

“I know too little about the situation to make a judgment yet. But I will certainly not just give up on him. I already lost one of my friends to these Red Eye bastards. They won’t get another one without a fight.”

“Alice,” Mika looked at her. “I agree with the inspector. I at least want to try to save Xavier.”
“I get it. You know, I realized there’s no winning by trying to keep you out of danger. But what I can do is be by your side as you’re taking on the danger. So, as long as you let me be your shield, I am fine with you going into battle.”

“Of course. But, can I be your shield in turn?”

“What?! No, that would defeat the point. How would that even work? We’d become some sort of shield Ouroboros.”

“Please,” Mika said. “I don’t want you to get hurt either.”

“I mean, the Ouroboros is a symbol for eternity, so maybe this is exactly how you can stay with each other forever,” the inspector pointed out.

“How are you endorsing this?! Aren’t you the adult here?”

“So are you. Plus, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Xavier and Natsu, it’s that a strong duo can’t be stopped, no matter their age or strength.”

“You couldn’t think of a better example? One of them is dead.”

“And Xavier is still moving forward, motivated by his partner. And if you’ll indulge me, I can’t shake the feeling that Natsu is still out there, watching over us, even if just in spirit.”

“Fine. Mika, I promise that we can protect each other.”

“Yes! Now let’s go save Xavier!”

Tuesday, December 24, 5:15 pm: Entrance, Warne Theater

“So, here we are,” Ralph said, as the car came to a halt. He’d parked the car not far from the theater building.

“Looks like that’s it,” Amy said, looking at the building in question. “It’s certainly not as flashy as I’d assumed.”

I’d have to agree with her on that. The building seemed like any small apartment building from the outside. The only thing giving away that it was a theater was the large sign above the entrance and some posters of past plays, as well as the one that was soon to start.

Amy reached into her pocket, feeling her keys and the plushy keychain. She seemed uncertain, now that she was just outside the building.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Ralph asked, noticing her concerned look.

“No, thanks, but I’ll have to do this on my own.”

“As you wish. Just call or yell if you need me. I’ll be right here.”

“Will do.” Amy shook off her uncertain expression and left the car. She put her phone in her back pocket and walked up to the theater.

Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell. No doubt, this was another remnant of the time when this building was an apartment building. As she waited, her eyes wandered over to the posters. The one for Never Trust a Wolf depicted what seemed to be an anthropomorphic wolf, menacingly towering over a tiny snowman. It was the same as the book’s cover, just redone by someone with an actual talent for drawing.

“Hello, can I help you?” the young woman who’d just opened the door asked.

“Yes, I heard that you were working on a musical based on Never Trust a Wolf, and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions, maybe introduce me to the crew.”

The woman seemed a bit perplexed. “I’m sorry, you are?”

“Oh, how could I forget to introduce myself. I’m Laura Baudelaire. I work for the Colson Times. I’m currently working on a story on the musical scene of New York City. Specifically, the smaller productions that might get overshadowed by those on Broadway. I had an interview scheduled for today with a different theater group, but they canceled at the last minute, so I thought I could give it a shot and ask you for an interview.”

Amy had prepared this story during the drive here, going over it over and over again in her head to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. Luckily for her, Mx. Baudelaire, or rather Paradox, had their appearance never publicly documented, making it much simpler to steal their identity.

“Well, I’m not sure I…”

“No, it’s okay, I understand. I wasn’t expecting to be let in, springing this onto you like this.” Amy turned around dramatically, acting like she was about to leave. “Before I go, I just wanted to say, I’m very impressed with your choice in source material. Not only is Aerolotl a very niche author on the international stage, but this particular book also seems like a difficult one to adapt for the stage.”

“There are certainly some challenges,” the woman answered, clearly feeling appreciated.

“Yeah, I mean, all those mythical creatures, flying scenes, large set pieces, and all that with a presumably modest budget. This, if I dare say so, this is what I love about theater. Productions like this scream passion.”

“You really think so?” The woman was visibly flustered. I can totally understand her. She and I seem to be cut from the same cloth. We’re both theater kids but tend to do our work behind the stage, being too shy to be seen, but still wishing for appreciation. No wonder she fell for Amy’s lies.

“You know what, I’m sure we can squeeze in a quick tour. I mean, getting featured in a newspaper might be some nice, free advertising.”

“Thank you so much. I promise, I won’t be long.” Amy followed her inside. The theater was visibly constructed on a low budget, but it didn’t look bad. It had a certain earnest charm to it that Broadway could never replicate.

“Great, well, follow me. Oh, I’m Lea, by the way. Yeah, kinda ironic considering one of the main characters in the book is called that. I swear I didn’t pick it because of that,” she started talking like a waterfall.

“Do you need my last name, too, for the article?”

“It would certainly help,” Amy said, making sure to take notes.

“It’s Hatchet. Leas Hatchet. I know, kinda scary. I’m the director and writer of this play, in case you were wondering. God, it feels kinda strange saying it like that. Feels like I’m bragging. I swear I’m not.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Amy said. A smile appeared on her face while she followed Ms. Hatchet’s tour.

The two peeked into basically every room in the building, ending the tour backstage, where the team was busy working on different parts of the performance.

Some were painting a shed, two people were arguing about something on their computer, some others were practicing lines, and one person was getting their costume, depicting a humanoid flower, fitted.

They hadn’t noticed Amy or Ms. Hatchet. Amy made sure to pay close attention to their facial expressions.

“Everybody, listen up!” Ms. Hatchet said in such a meek tone that I’m surprised anyone heard her.

The group of 12 people, who were all lost in their work, suddenly stopped, and everyone looked at the two. Their reactions to Amy’s presence, for the most part, were what you’d expect. Mostly confusion or curiosity about who this new person was, with one exception. Amy was lucky to catch it, but for a quick moment, the costume designer seemed like he’d seen a ghost, instantly putting on a brave face again, simply mimicking the expressions of the others.

“This is Ms. Baudelaire. She works on a story on musical theater for the Coleson Times and wants to learn a bit about how we do things here. So please, if you can spare a moment, give her a warm welcome.”

The team seemed happy to see her, although there were some surprised reactions from some.

“So, is there anything you’re particularly interested in?” Ms. Hatchet asked. “I could introduce you to our lead actors.”

“I was actually thinking more about the behind-the-scenes jobs. Could I maybe have a talk with the costume department? Seems like fascinating work, especially for a play featuring humanoid plants, snowmen, angels, and the like.”

I think this is the right moment to point out that Amy has never read the book, but simply skimmed through the illustrations. All the info she knew about the book came from those and one of Mika’s rants she had to sit through a while ago. So I’m sure you can guess that she was begging for no one to ask her about specific knowledge on the story of the source material, after she’d praised it to get in.

“Great idea. Hey, Paul, could you come over here for a moment?”

Reluctantly, the costume designer walked over to them, avoiding eye contact with Amy.

Amy could feel a mix of emotions boiling in her stomach.

“Ms. Baudelaire was hoping to get your input on her article. Would that be okay?”

“Sure, I mean, Mx. Baudelaire came all the way here from Coleson, so she must have something important to say.”

“Great. So, how about we head somewhere where we can talk amongst ourselves?” Amy asked.

“Sure, the kitchen should be empty right now.”

Amy followed Paul, who seemed to be in a hurry, walking just a little too fast for comfort. Not enough to lose Amy, but enough to get her annoyed, trying to keep up.

“So, here we are. It’s not much, but it’s ours.”

“Cut the crap, Paradox!”

“Paradox? Whatever do you mean? Oh, I’m such a bad host. Can I offer you anything?”

“You can offer me some answers. And make it quick.”

“Wow, you’re an energetic one, aren’t you?”

“Listen, I don’t have time for this bullshit, so just drop the façade.”

“Fine.” Paradox rolled their eyes. “Man, in my memory, you were much nicer.”

“Funny, because as far as I can remember, you were fucking tricking me into a relationship.”

“Oh, calm down. I would never have gone through with that. How was I meant to know you’d fall for my playful flirting?”

“Seemed like you were pretty intent on a relationship.”

“So what, are you trying to insinuate I fell for you?”

“I was not, but it seems like your interpretation of my words just revealed a lot about you.”

“Pah.” Paradox grabbed a glass and filled it with water. “How did you even find me?”

“The keychain.”

“What?”

“I put a tracker in the plushy.”

“And you say I’m the fucked up one? You tracked a potential romantic partner?”

“Shut up, I only started tracking you after I learned about your real identity. Remember that fun train ride where you lost your keys?”

Paradox stared at Amy, starting to put everything together.

“Well, Mika found it and gave it to me, which is when I realized the truth. I then took the tracker from inside my phone and put it in the plushy and had Alice stitch it up. I then just dropped the key off at the lost and found station, waiting for you to retrieve it.”

“Didn’t you think I was dead at that time? So instead of mourning, you prepared for the possibility that I was still alive, just so that you could catch me? That’s cold.”

“I will not have a criminal lecture me on cold-heartedness.”

“Oh, you really wanna do this? Okay, I may occasionally steal or blackmail, big deal. You know what’s really messed up? Stealing someone’s identity, Mx. Baudelaire. And then you don’t even care about depicting that identity properly. I mean, how dare you just let Lea call Laura a miss without correcting her?”

“Why do you even care? It’s just a fake identity.”

Paradox seemed honestly ticked off by that remark. “Don’t call it that! None of my identities is fake!”

“So what, now you’re claiming to have multiple identities? Like DID? Really weird moral compass you got there. Stealing someone’s identity is off-limits, but faking a mental illness is a-ok?”

“Now you’re the one putting words in my mouth. I never claimed anything of the sort to be true.”

“You know what? I don’t have time for this. I came here to get your help, and I won’t leave before I get it.”

“Wait, so you came here for my help and not to arrest me? Wow, I had the situation all wrong.”

“Timothy, this identity, character, persona, whatever, he’s part of the Red Eye, isn’t he?”

“Sure is.”

“Can you give me the location of every Red Eye base in the city?”

“Are you stupid? Why would I do that?”

“Because Xavier was taken by them, and I know you don’t want him to get hurt.”

“That would indeed be bad. If they kill him, that would be it for the original main duo. Don’t take this as an insult, but I don’t think this second-generation cast would be strong enough to carry the show.”

“So you’ll help us?”

“I can’t risk the show getting canceled, especially not after my brave sacrifice was retconned.”

“Just get to the point where you give me the location already.”

“Oh, no, I won’t do that.”

“What, why not?”

“Because you have no chance against the Red Eye. If they have Xavier, they certainly took him to the main location here in the city. Storming or infiltrating that place is impossible.”

“So that’s it? You’re just gonna accept defeat? Seems like a shit ending for your character.”

“To be honest, I’m hoping for a spin-off after the series gets canceled, starring me in the main role.”

“Sounds horrific.”

“Everyone’s a critic these days. But I’m not taking feedback from someone who’s prepared to stroll into the base of one of the world’s most powerful criminal organizations with no precautions whatsoever.”

“So you’re saying with the right precautions it would be possible?”

“Sure. The problem is that there is no way for you to cause a big enough distraction, so you might as well give up. Look at it this way: if you’re alive, you might get a cameo appearance in my spin-off.”

“You know, I wish you were actually Laura. At least they would have been able to put a positive spin on this.”

“You want a positive spin? I got you.” Paradox searched their coat pockets, eventually pulling out a card.

“Here, this is a gift card for my favorite café. How about you swing by while you’re still in the city? Oh, and take this too.” They held out a gift card with the logo and information of a store printed on it, and a blank plastic card.

Amy looked at the card skeptically.

“Oh, come on, take it. See it as a gift from Laura. You know, to make up for toying with your emotions, even though that was absolutely not their intention.”

“What’s that card?”

“It’s Laura’s membership card. Not like she’ll need it anymore, now that I’m forced to retire the identity.”

Amy gave them a confused look.

“Kinda sad, I really liked Laura,” Paradox said. “Well, at least I got a free slot for a new identity now.”

“A free slot?”

“I guess I can explain it, but don’t expect too much. I don’t want to give all the info away, to keep some intrigue for my spin-off.” Paradox paused. “So, I always have six identities at the same time. Anymore, and it would become too difficult to live all these lives simultaneously. Even with six, I have to make sure to have some more passive lives mixed in.”

“You do understand that this makes no sense at all, right?”

“It makes sense to me. Now, will you take this parting gift from Laura?”

Amy rolled her eyes, reaching out her hand. She had barely even grabbed the cards when Paradox quickly ran out of the room. Amy could hear them tell one of the other team members that they had to leave urgently after receiving a call from a family member.

Amy put the card away and made her way back. She quickly said goodbye, much to the surprise of Ms. Hatchet, before heading back to the car.

“And, how did it go?” Ralph asked as Amy opened the door.

“Not sure.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Do we have a lead or not?”

“Maybe. Can you drive me to this address?” Amy held up the card.

“A café? Seems like a bad time to get a drink.”

“It’s the only lead we have.”

“I’m sure you’ve got your reasons. But we’ll have to pick up the others on the way there.”

“Where are they?”

“The train station. Seems like they went to get Inspector Wilson,” Ralph said, while typing the address of the café into the car’s GPS.

“Then let’s go get them.”

“Actually, the café isn’t far from the train station. It would probably be fastest if we just told them to meet us there.”

“Even better. I’ll text them the address.”

Tuesday, December 24, 6:10 pm: Deja Brew Café, Brooklyn

“Here you go,” the waiter said, putting the order down in front of Alice, Mika, and Inspector Wilson.

“Thank you very much,” the inspector said. He was holding a stack of plastic cards in his hands, which he quickly put away as the waiter got to them.

The waiter smiled and walked over to the next table.

The café Paradox had recommended was small, with barely any patrons at this time of day. It still managed to keep up a fancy ambience, indicating a solid income.

Next to the counter was a display case filled with different pastries, mostly ones I had never seen in person, but from what I could gather in this omniscient state, they were mostly international desserts, made in-house.

There was some smooth jazz playing from a speaker at the other end of the room, mostly drowned out by the TV right in the corner where the trio was sitting. It played a documentary on the migration of the monarch butterflies, a subject I personally find very fascinating and even motivating. Did you know that monarch butterflies only fly their journey one way? The ones that journey back in spring are the next generations.

Inspector Wilson took a sip of his coffee and pulled the cards out again. He drank his coffee black, as usual.

Alice alternated between drinking a mocha and an Irish coffee. She let out a groan and rolled her eyes after looking at her napkin. Geez, this café is every dad’s paradise.”

She held up the napkin, which had “Brew or die” written on it.

The inspector smiled after reading it, before taking a look at his own napkin.

“Oh, of course you like that. You do strike me as the kinda guy who’s into dad jokes. Go on, what does yours say?”

“Not your average Joe,” the inspector read out.

“Mine says Brew can do it. I don’t get it,” Mika said, before taking a sip of their hot cocoa.

“What do you mean you don’t get it?” the inspector asked. “It’s a pun. You know, because brew kinda sounds like do.”

Mika looked at him, confused. “Yeah, I’m not good with puns.”

“Don’t you speak multiple languages?”

“Yes, I speak English, German, a bit of Swiss German, and American sign language. What does that have to do with puns?”

“Nothing, I was just surprised that you can wrap your head around all those languages, yet puns are somehow beyond you.”

“You’re kinda making me feel bad about it,” Mika said, clearly having just discovered a new insecurity.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m really sorry.”

“No need to feel bad for not getting puns, they’re a poor man’s attempt at humor. What a joke.” Alice perked up, staring at the others as she’d realized what she’d just said.

“I don’t think I have to point out the obvious thing, do I?” the inspector asked.

“No, you don’t.” Alice took another sip of Irish coffee.

“You really think now is the right time for alcohol?”

“It’s all just liquid courage, right?”

“If you say so.”
“How long do you think till the others get here?” Mika asked, their mouth filled with a large bite from their carac, a chocolate pastry from Switzerland. Mika had chosen it based on the bright, green color alone. However, I should mention that they actually had tried it before, as Mr. Banda had once prepared it himself after he’d gotten a Swiss recipe book on his birthday.

“No idea. Amy said they were somewhere in Manhattan, but who knows how long it will take them to get here. Especially with the holiday traffic,” Alice said.

“Man, I still can’t believe this. I mean, where did you even get them?” the inspector asked, holding up the stack of plastic cards.

“As if I’d tell a cop where I got my…” Alice stopped as the door swung open and two people stepped in. She stared at them as a waiter came up to the two new arrivals. A weird feeling overcame her, and she couldn’t stop staring at Amy and Ralph.

“Hello, and welcome to Deja Brew. Will it be just the two of you?”

Mika and the inspector, too, had now noticed their friends. They could hear them talking to the waiter from where they were sitting.

Ralph looked around the room, quickly noticing the other three. “Actually, we’re with them.”

“Great. Please have a seat. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Looks like you got here just fine,” the inspector said as Amy and Ralph sat down.

“Yeah, we just had to make a quick stop. Amy had some kinda lead.”

“So, will you finally tell us?” Mika asked. Their upper lip was covered in milk, foam, and cocoa powder.

“I won’t delve too much into details, but I think I was onto something, which brings us here.”

“So, what can I get you?” the waiter asked, having just walked up to the table. “Oh, am I interrupting?” he asked, after looking up from his notepad.

“No, it’s fine. Do you have a matcha latte?” Amy asked, getting out the cards she’d gotten from Paradox.

“One matcha latte. And for you?”

“Can I have a cold cocoa?” Ralph asked.

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You drink your cocoa cold?” Mika asked, confused.

“Wow, I was expecting judgment from your sister, not from you.” He looked over at Alice, who had a strange expression on her face that he couldn’t quite understand.

“I was just asking,” Mika said.

“No problem. See, if I warm up now with some hot cocoa, I’ll be even colder once I go outside, because my body got used to the warmth.”

“Will it be anything else?”

“No, that’s all. Oh, could we get the check right away? We’re not planning on staying for long.”

“Understood. I’ll get you those drinks and the check post haste.”

“Oh, wait, sorry to bother you, but we actually have a gift card.”

“I’ll make sure to deduct that from your check.”

“Thank you.” Amy seemed a little awkward. “Actually, the person who gave me the gift card also gave me this. They said it was a membership card.”

The waiter took a long look at the card. “For this café? Sorry, they must have gotten something mixed up. We don’t offer memberships.”

“Thank you. Sorry to bother you.”

“No problem.” The waiter walked away, seemingly still confused about the card.

“What’s that card?” Mika asked.

“If that’s some attempt at scamming your way out of paying the bill, it certainly wasn’t a very good one,” the inspector said. “Maybe you should ask Alice for some advice.”

“Why?” Ralph asked. “Last I checked, the only things on her record were breaking and entering, theft, and loitering. Not sure how that would make her an expert at forgery and scams.”

“Well, check these out. She had them on her when I got here.” The inspector put the stack of cards on the table. The one at the top displayed a picture of Alice.

“Are those fake IDs? How old are you, 16?” Amy asked.

Ralph grabbed the stack and started looking through them. “James Smith? What kinda basic name is this?”

“You named yourself James Smith on your fake ID?” Amy looked at Alice, who was trying to avoid making eye contact.

“No, that’s my name. Look, she’s got fake IDs for all of us. Even Xavier has one.”

“Emilio Falcón,” Amy read out.

“Like the detective!” Mika noticed.

Ralph turned to them, putting a hand on their shoulder. “Listen, you're my favorite cousin, but I have to admit, most of what you say sounds like you just made it up. I mean, a few weeks ago you talked about the Famous Five for about an hour, and all I could think about was the fact that they can’t be that famous if I’ve never heard of them.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Mika asked, shocked. “We can have a sleepover, and I can teach you all about the great investigators of the world.”

“Sure, let’s…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Amy asked, angrily staring at one of the IDs.

“What is it?” the inspector asked.

“Read the fucking name on my card.”

Inspector Wilson started reading, but paused, unsure if he was reading correctly. “It says, Helen McLovin.”

“Yeah, McLovin, like in Superbad. One of the most iconic fake IDs in cinema history.”

“To be fair, she made that her fake last name as well,” Ralph pointed out.

“I didn’t make any of these,” Alice said, still avoiding eye contact.

“What do you mean? Then who did?” Amy asked.

“I have a friend I regularly chat with. They’re apparently really good at making fake IDs, so I asked them to make me some. I didn’t ask for any specific information. Well, except for Mika’s. I had some demands for that one.”

Mika looked at their card. Naturally, it differed from their ID, most notably in that this ID had an X under sex. A change that couldn’t be made to IDs in the last few years, thanks to the President. The only IDs that still had the X were those that had it changed before that.

But what actually got most of Mika’s attention was the name. “Danny Kettler,” they read out.

“Yeah, I thought you might like that last name,” Alice said it in her usual nonchalant way, but something seemed off. It seemed like she’d waited for this moment, but something was preventing it from being the way she’d wanted it to be.

“Why did you even make fake IDs for us?” Ralph asked.

“In case we got in trouble with some powerful people and had to flee. You know, in this line of work, you can make some scary enemies.”

“That makes sense. But why were you carrying them around?” Amy asked.

Mika and the inspector looked at Alice, obviously aware of the answer already.

“I mean, all your other stuff is in the car. The only reason for you to carry the cards around is if you…” Amy slowed down, understanding what had happened. “That’s why you secretly left the hotel with Mika, and why you went to the train station. You were running away!”

“I’m… I’m sorry.” That’s all Alice could say, hanging her head down in shame.

“You would have abandoned us! You would have abandoned Xavier!”

“I had too… I could only… Mika was my one… They were my one priority.”

“Please don’t be mad at her. See, she didn’t go through with her plan,” Mika said, trying not to bring up the specifics of how Alice had changed her mind.

“I didn’t even want you to come here. I just wanted to… I wanted to get Mika and leave.”

“You had made up your mind that early?! What about Xavier?”

“Amy, I think you’re being a bit hard on her. I can understand that…” Ralph began.

“I’m being harsh? She would have abandoned us! How can we even trust that she won’t just sell us out to the Red Eye, if she’s promised immunity for herself and Mika?”

“Keep your voice down!” Inspector Wilson said, nervously looking around to see if anyone had heard Amy mention the Red Eye.

“If it’s any consolation. Mika may be my first priority, but I am the last. If there’s a way I can save you guys, without endangering Mika, I wouldn’t even have to think about it, even if it meant sacrificing myself.”

“Oh, great. So you would trade your life for ours?”

“I mean, not that there’s much of a life left after taking on the Red Eye head-on, but yes, I would,” Alice said.

“What do you mean by that?” Mika asked.

“Alice has a point. I’ve been thinking about the same thing,” Ralph said. “So, imagine that our mission is successful, and we save Xavier. What then? They know our identities, and it’s not like we can take down the Red Eye. Frankly, I doubt something like that is even humanly possible.”

“Exactly. So, best-case scenario, we get put in witness protection, and have to worry about getting found out for the rest of our lives, slowly going insane over the fear of getting murdered or tortured. That’s not even getting into how they know about our loved ones, which is a list that far surpasses even just what they had in that envelope. So what, do they also have to go into hiding?”

“But if they already know about us, then there’s no harm done in saving Xavier,” Amy pointed out.

The group stayed quiet, pondering the idea of what their futures might hold.

“So, here are your drinks. Sorry for the delay. The coffee machine has been on the fritz since this morning. Seems like this break time was too much for the poor thing.”

“Break time?” Ralph repeated.

“Yes. Every day, the workers from across the street come over here during their break time. It’s like a crowded subway. The vehicle, not the store.”

The group looked outside the window. On the other side of the road was a large factory building.

“It takes us about an hour to clean up all the sawdust, but it’s certainly worth having so many regular customers.”

Mika seemed to notice something. They quickly got out their phone and started looking for something.

“Anyway, here’s your check.”

“I’ll pay,” Ralph said, quickly taking care of the transaction.

“Thank you, enjoy your drinks.”

“Amy, you know what I was wondering? What is that card?”

“Well, Pa… my informant gave it to me. Maybe it was just a clue to get us here, but I’m not sure why the gift card wouldn’t have been enough.”

“Can I have a look?” the inspector asked, holding out his hand.

“Sure, knock yourself out.”

The inspector looked at the card from all angles. He was so focused, he didn’t even notice the barrage of notifications flooding his phone. It was lying next to him, buzzing away, with seemingly no end in sight.

“So, who’s this informant you’ve mentioned?” Alice asked.

“They‘d prefer not to be named. Well, actually, maybe they do. But I’d rather not get into it, or this discussion would balloon into something we have no time for.”

“Oh, I see,” Alice said. “Wait, why would you think getting your ex involved is a smart idea?”

“They’re not my ex. We never dated… officially.”

“You went on dates, didn’t you?” Alice retorted.

“That’s different. We barely even kissed. And it’s not like their whole deal is easy to understand.”

“You still haven’t answered my question. At least I had an understandable reason for my dangerous actions.”

“Paradox was our only lead, okay. They are a member of the Red Eye, so they might have a way of getting us in.”

“Well, in that case, have you considered that this is actually a key card?” the inspector asked.

Amy smacked her hand against her forehead. “How did I not think of that?!”

“I’m surprised to see Paradox being so helpful,” Ralph said.

“I think they also gave us the location of the secret base,” Mika said, holding up a picture of the shoe prints.

“Maybe you can elaborate?” Alice asked.

“Don’t you see it? Those little, beige stains in the snow. I was confused when I first saw them, but now that we’re here, I think I know what it is. It’s sawdust that was stuck to the shoes of the kidnapper.”

“Wait, that would make sense! So Paradox pointed us to this café because it was right across the street from the secret base.”

“So, does that mean they were always prepared to give us this hint?” the inspector asked.

“Frankly, you can never say for certain with Paradox. I often wonder if there’s even a method to their madness,” Ralph said.

“But I’m not even sure if they want us to go. They said that it would be useless even trying without some huge distraction. How are we…” Amy was cut off by the TV, which suddenly changed its program.

“Breaking News! We are interrupting our regularly scheduled program to bring you information on some highly incriminating accusations against police stations all across New York State.”

The group stared at the TV, and finally, Inspector Wilson noticed his phone.

“A list of police officers who are allegedly members of a secret criminal enterprise named the Red Eye is making its rounds across the internet. In addition to the document, there’s also evidence being spread of these officers being involved not only in covering up crime, but also in committing it.”

“What the fuck is going on?!” Alice let out.

“Jesus, I’ve missed hundreds of messages and calls from my colleagues!” the inspector said, skimming over some of them.

“The person behind this leak is a person going by the name David Peralta. He himself works as a police officer for the Coleson Area Police Department, although it remains to be determined whether this is the leaker’s true identity.”

“Wait, isn’t David Peralta the guy who helped Mr. Cabrera with his rent?” Ralph pointed out.

“Yes,” the inspector answered. “He’s also…” He stopped, staring at his phone.

“What’s the matter?” Alice asked.

The inspector slowly turned his phone around. It showed an incoming call, coming from none other than David Peralta.

“What are you waiting for? Pick up!” Alice yelled.

The inspector pressed on the screen and turned the phone on speaker. “Hello?”

“Oh, hello, Inspector. I’m so happy to hear your voice. I’m sure by now you’ve heard about my little surprise.”

“Peralta, is it true what’s in that document?”

“Absolutely, after all, I’m not a liar. Which is why I should probably come clean about who I am.”

“Paradox, what the fuck are you doing?!” Amy asked. Despite them changing their voice, Amy could easily recognize them.

“Oh, so I was right, you’re all together again. I hope you’re enjoying your drinks.”

“Peralta, I mean Paradox, why are you…”

“You know, I really enjoyed spending time with you, Inspector. I personally have never been a fan of the police, but I got a chance to meet some actually quite nice officers, you included. It’s a shame that I have to sacrifice this identity now, even though I knew this day would have to come.”

“Spare us your nonsense and get to the point,” Ralph said.

“Calm your horses. I had a whole monologue prepared. After all, this might be our show’s big finale. But if you promise to make sure that this is merely a season finale, and not the end of the whole show, I could maybe skip some parts.”

“Yes, we’ll make sure that the show goes on,” Mika answered quickly.

“Good to see that the youngest of you got their priorities straight. Well, I’ll skip over the middle part and get to the end of my speech. I have sacrificed David Peralta, dragged him to the bonfire, where his carcass will go up in flames, glowing bright…”

“What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I’m adding some poetic flair to it. You already retconned my death, at least let me have a dramatic funeral for one of my favorite identities.”

“Just make it quick,” the inspector said, seeing more messages pop up at the top of his screen.

“Where was I? Ah, yes, may his carcass glow as bright as the stars. And may his light be enough to blind those with villainy in their hearts, as his final act of fighting crime. Now, I have blinded the eyes of the criminals. The question is, will you take the chance to stay undetected?” And with those words, Paradox ended the call.

“What a fucking creep,” Alice said.

“I mean, we should probably thank them. If they’re telling the truth, now is the best chance to infiltrate the base and save Xavier. The Red Eye must be panicking after receiving such a sudden blow,” the inspector said.

“So, are we doing this?” Ralph asked.

“Yes, we are!” Mika said.

“Well, if Mika’s going, I don’t really have a choice,” Alice said, trying to give the others an encouraging smirk.

“I’ve already lost Natsu, I can’t let them get Xavier as well,” the inspector said.

“Well, either this works, or I’ll be seeing all of you in hell. Let’s hope Satan’s looking for a new entertainer,” Ralph said.

“Seems like we’re all set.”

The group didn’t bother finishing their drinks, stepping outside the café, and walking over to the car.

“Your Crimebuster is in the trunk,” Amy said, before opening the car door and grabbing Xavier’s backpack.

“You know, out of all of us, I’m pretty sure Xavier would have wanted you to be the one to take on the leadership,” Ralph said.

“You think so?” Amy looked down at the backpack.

“Absolutely. Let’s be real, I’m pretty sure he considers you the third in command. Just after himself.”

“I think so too,” the inspector said, checking his gun. “To be fair, your competition consists of a child, a criminal, someone who watches corrals for a living, and someone who’s not even part of the team.”

“Well, that was uncalled for,” Ralph said.

“Can I ask you something?” Amy asked, speaking quietly enough for Alice and Mika not to hear her.

“Do you think we have a chance?”

“I do,” Ralph answered with no hesitation. “Paradox wouldn’t encourage us to try if they thought it hopeless. And they are the expert on the Red Eye, right?”

“I guess you have a point.”

“And if all goes wrong, we can surely rely on our new member to keep us safe. Isn’t that right, Byte?” Ralph asked.

Amy pulled out her phone, seeing an answer pop up on the screen.

“And?” Ralph asked.

Amy rolled her eyes. “It says that it will always protect its mom.”

“How sweet.”

“Did I miss something?” The inspector looked back and forth between the two.

While they were talking, Alice was putting on her Crimebuster, trying not to look suspicious.

“When did you get that tattoo?” Mika asked, pointing to the monkey tail on Alice’s arm.

“After my birthday. Well, after Lupin, you know…”

“Yeah, I know.”

“This way, he’ll always be here with us. Even if just in spirit,” Alice explained.

“That’s nice. Here, your shirt.”

“Thanks.”

Alice quickly put on the rest, except for the helmet.

“Here you go,” Mika held up the helmet.

“No, I want you to put it on.”

“But…”

“No buts. We need to keep that noggin of yours safe. Plus, this way you, Lupin, and I are all wearing the Crimebuster. We can be the three Crimebusters.”

“Wait, was that a reference? So you do know the Crimebusters?!”

“I’ve made an effort to check out most of the books in your collection. I mean, you play video games with me, teach me German, and listen to my rants about anime, so it’s the least I can do.”

“I enjoy all of those things. So you don’t actually have to repay me.”

“Who says I’m not enjoying my sibling’s nerdy interests?”

Mika smiled, but their joy quickly faded.

“Alice, do you think they keep the machine here that transports people to other timelines?”

Alice was caught off guard by that question. “I don’t know. Why?”

“Well, I was unsure if that meant you would go back to your timeline. Will you stay here or go back?”

Alice thought it was an easy question to answer, but somehow she couldn’t say it so easily. While she obviously preferred her life in this timeline, a part of her had unfinished business, which she longed to take care of.

“Big Sis?”

“Why would I want to leave my favorite sibling? And it’s not like the machine is running away, so if there comes a time when I have to return to the other timeline, just to take care of something, it will be there.”

Mika put on the helmet and snuggled up to Alice. “You know, I was thinking about what the other versions of me were like.”

“And, are they getting up to some fun shenanigans?”

“I’m sure there are some that never lived with the disciples of Dei. Ones that never had to go through the stuff I had to.”

“Mika, I…”

“No, I’m not finished. I was saying that I’m happy for them. But I would never want to be them.”

Alice looked surprised.

“None of them got to meet my new friends. None of them got to live with the Bandas. None of them ever became your sibling.”

“You’re the best, Mika,” Alice said, trying to keep her tears back.

“Are you guys ready?” the inspector asked.

“Yup, we’re ready to save Xavier,” Mika said.

“Amy, you’re in charge. I’ll follow your command,” Ralph said.

She nodded and looked at the group. “Let’s get Xavier back.”

And with those words, the group made their way over to the factory, which hid the base Xavier was being kept at.

But before I tell you how the infiltration went, I must make a quick detour. There is one person whose side of the story I’ve been ignoring. So, let me tell you how things went for Xavier.

Tuesday, December 24, 9:35 am: Pincher’s Car, Brooklyn

Xavier looked around the car. It was dark, barely any light entered the vehicle, and the inside was entirely decorated in black. It felt like Xavier was getting swallowed by the cushy seats, which must have surely cost a fortune.

In his mind, he was convinced he’d looked at every nook and cranny of the car at least a thousand times during this drive that seemed to go on for eternity.

“You haven’t taken a single sip of your drink,” Pincher said, pointing to a glass next to Xavier. He’d been quiet the entire time, observing every move Xavier made.

He was sitting opposite Xavier, his large frame blocking the small window to the driver’s seat.

Even from up close, his face was hidden behind a blue cloud of smoke. Only occasionally, Xavier could catch glimpses of the distorted grimace that was staring at him.

“What’s with the long face?”

Xavier stayed quiet.

“You could at least have thanked me for letting you contact that FBI agent.”

Xavier turned to the window, still not answering.

“So, do you think she’s already contacted your friends? Do you even think it will keep them away, or will it just lure them here?”

Pincher waited for a moment.

“Oh, come on, you’re not gonna stay quiet the entire time, are you? At least take a sip of your drink.”

“Why would I take a drink you offered me? How stupid do you think I am?” Xavier said, finally breaking his silence.

“You don’t seriously think I spiked the drink, do you? I mean, why would I? It’s much more fun having you come with us on your own accord. Seeing you broken to the point where you see this frankly stupid decision as your best option.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a horrible host?”

“No, they haven’t. Usually, I make sure they can’t.”

“Is that supposed to be some kind of threat?” Xavier said, trying to keep his calm.

“Oh, did it come across as one? I actually meant it as a compliment. There aren’t many people I care enough about to have an actual conversation with. But don’t worry, if you want to feel threatened, we’ll get to that soon enough.”

“Sounds fun. Say, how long is this drive gonna go on for?”

“If you have any complaints, you can take them up with our driver, Charon. Although be warned, he’s not a fan of constructive criticism.”

“Charon?”

“Yes, well, you might know him under another name. I’m sure you’ve heard of Burnout. He used to be a big deal around these parts, until a few months ago.”

“Wait, do you mean the Burnout? The serial killer?” Xavier could barely contain his surprise, hearing that he was in a car with one of the country's most dangerous men.

“The very same. The Pied Piper recruited him back when he was one of the Doomed 50. He wasn’t even the only one of them who joined our forces.”

“I’m not surprised to hear some of them would end up working for you. You’re all the same scum.”

“Hold back on the insults. You should thank him. He was the one who got rid of your friend’s murderer.”

It took Xavier a moment to put everything together and understand what Pincher was referring to.

“So he was the one who killed Linda Clark?”

“Yes. It was apparently a job given to him directly by Excalibur. Frankly, I was confused why she wasn’t put down back when she lost the research. But I guess in the end it all paid off, seeing as she’s the one who found out the professor was still alive.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess it would make sense that you don’t know about this. After the professor had gone into hiding with our research data, he faked his death. Or, well, we at least received very convincing documents that indicated this. Seems like he had the help of someone on the inside.”

“How stupid are you people that you seriously fell for something like that?”

“I was simply following what I heard from the Pied Piper. He was the one who received the documents. And you better not talk badly of the Piper, or you’ll come to regret it.”

“What’s with those dumb names? Frankenstein, Excalibur, Gatsby, Charon, Pied Piper. Don’t you think they come across as a bit pretentious?”

“And who made you the judge of codenames?”

Xavier simply rolled his eyes. He looked over at the window. Despite his numerous unsuccessful attempts, a part of him was hoping that this time, he could see the outside.

“You know, one thing I’ve been wondering, ever since I found out about you, is, why were you not there with him?” Pincher asked.

“What?”

“Your partner. That day, he was spying on me. Why were you not there to help him?”

Xavier refused to answer, but his facial expression made clear what enormous guilt he felt.

I hate it when he’s reminded of the events of that day, as it makes me wish I could tell him that it wasn’t his fault. But instead, I’m forced to watch as he wallows in guilt.

The drive continued in silence, as Pincher stared at Xavier. Despite the smoke, it was clear that he was grinning, happy with the emotional pain Xavier was going through.

Tuesday, December 24, 10:00 am: Jones’ Woodwork, Brooklyn

The car made a sharp turn and slowed down. After stopping for a moment, the car continued driving before ending the drive shortly after going down a slope. Xavier recognized this as indicative of the car going through a barrier, likely to enter a fenced-off property of a considerable size, considering how long the car drove after passing through the barrier. The slope also hinted towards an underground parking lot, or something of the sort.

“We’re here,” Pincher said, pressing a button to slowly open the door.

“Wait, you’re not gonna put me in cuffs or anything?” Xavier asked, confused, looking back and forth between the open door and Pincher.

“Why would I? I know you won’t try to escape. Unless you want to kill all the people you love, that is.”

“I hate you.”

“Music to my ears. You know, if you make one wrong move, we’d kill them one by one. Undoubtedly, some of them are together so they will be forced to watch as their friends die around them, before they…”

“I get it. And people say I need therapy. Honestly, I never want to meet the person who hurt you.”

“I’m quite sure of that. But don’t worry about me. There’s nothing more therapeutic for me than making people suffer.” Pincher gestured to the door, wanting Xavier to get out first.

Stepping out of the car, Xavier saw that they were in a large garage, likely underground. Turning around, he could see light coming through the entrance. The wet tire tracks on the slope glittered in the morning sun.

“Ah, Xavier Diaz, so happy to finally meet you.” Xavier saw a woman approaching him. She was taller than him and was as thin as a string. Up close, her skin looked nearly transparent. Xavier could count the wains in her bony hand, which she held out to greet him.

“Why don’t we skip the performative pleasantries? Just tell me what you want from me.”

In an instant, faster than Xavier could even process what was happening, the woman had grabbed his face, her nails digging into his cheeks. She leaned forward, right next to his ear.

“You don’t get to tell me how to do my job,” she whispered into his ear with a voice that could freeze one’s blood.

“Anyway, I am Excalibur. I’m in charge of this whole operation,” she said after letting go of Xavier. Her tone had suddenly changed back to the friendly tone she had before.

“So you’re telling me you’re the boss?”

“I am, yes.”

“And who’s above you?”

“What would make you ask something like this?”

“Your names aren’t the most subtle. Pincher’s a lapdog doing your dirty work, Frankenstein is a mad scientist, and Excalibur, well, the name literally labels you as a tool, so I doubt that you’re the highest in the pecking order. Is it that Pied Piper you people keep mentioning?”

From the corner of his eye, Xavier could see Pincher swinging his fist. He easily dodged the punch with a quick spin to the side before feeling a blade stab into his back.

As she twisted the blade, Excalibur leaned over to him again, putting on the creepy voice once more.

“Looks like you still have some fight in you. We’ll make sure to get rid of that.”

“Get a move on!” Pincher pushed Xavier forward.

Excalibur led the way, scanning her keycard to open a heavy security door.

“You know, I’m happy you brought up Frankenstein. We’ve been wondering if you might have had something to do with that case. After all, I’ve heard reports mention you being in possession of a sick-looking monkey, as described in Frankenstein’s reports.”

“So what, you brought me here just so I could tell you which of your plans we’ve crossed?”

The three walked through brightly lit, white hallways. Occasionally, they came across some doors. Xavier tried to catch a glimpse of what was inside. From what he could gather, there were mostly labs or monitoring rooms behind them.

“No, that would be a waste of time. All of that is in the past. Plus, we already know some of your actions, and that’s really enough to pass judgment.”

“Then what do you want from me?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

The trio stopped in front of a strange door. It looked slightly different, more secure, with a number pad instead of a keycard reader.

An ominous, purple glow shone through the small window.

“How about you have a look?” Excalibur asked, although it was much more of a command than an offer.

Xavier looked cautiously through the window. The room behind the door was circular, with the center being lower than the rest. All around the room were computers lining the walls. Scientists were walking around and working on the computers. But the centerpiece of the room was a large machine. Xavier had never seen anything like it. It looked like a complex build, propping up multiple lenses. Above the machine was an opening, which was the only source of natural light among the abundance of purple-glowing lightbulbs.

“You know what that is?” Excalibur asked.

“I assume you’re about to tell me.”

“Very clever. I’m sure you won’t be so cocky once I tell you that this is the machine that could have solved all your problems.”

Xavier turned around, looking at her, confused.

“This machine is currently the only working one of its kind. It lets you transport things and people between timelines. We call it the Extra-Spatial Subatomic Displacer. Do you understand now?”

Xavier looked back at the machine, baffled by what he’d just heard.

Seeing how cumbersome it would be to tell you the name each time it comes up, I will simply refer to the machine as Swappy, as many of the Red Eyes members have taken to doing.

“If you’d gotten your hands on this machine, you could have returned all the misplaced people, all the Secondaries, to their normal lives. Let’s say, for example, Subject Delta, or Alice, as she calls herself. Or, what I think is much more important to you, you could have brought your partner back. But that will never happen, now that you’ve handed yourself in.”

“Fuck you!”

“I’d rather not.”

“Excuse me,” a scientist said, standing between the three. He was holding a coffee cup with a plastic lid on it in his hand.

“We didn’t mean to get in your way. Come now, Xavier, we have more to show you,” Excalibur said.

Pincher pushed Xavier along, making it impossible for him to see the code the scientist was typing in.

Xavier followed Excalibur down the stairs. The doors lining this next hallway had no windows, making it impossible to see what was on the other side.

“So, here we are,” Excalibur said, stopping in front of a steel door, about halfway through the hallway. There were multiple of the same kind along the hallway, but this one was unique in one way. On the display next to the door was text, simply reading: OCCUPIED.

“I hope you’ll enjoy your stay. We’ll check back in with you later.” Pincher unlocked the door with a different keycard than the one that was used for the other doors.

The small room was badly lit. Before Xavier could even take in the sight, Pincher had already pushed him inside.

Xavier could hear the door lock behind him. He slowly got up from the floor.

There was barely anything in the room. To his right was a simple bed, like one you’d see in a prison cell, which this room obviously was. In front of him was a metal toilet that looked like it was rarely, if ever, cleaned. Finally, to his left was another bed, but unlike the other bed, this one was occupied.

Slowly, the person under the blanket sat up. Even before they had revealed themselves, Xavier could smell a strong scent, reminiscent of blueberry pie.

“Looks like they finally got you, too, hon.” Nemo sat up and looked at Xavier.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Is that a way to greet your new roommate? Listen, I would love to shake your hand, but as you can see, I’ll have to resort to using my left instead of my right one.”

Xavier stared at her as she revealed her right arm. Where her hand had been was now just a stump.

“What happened?!”

“You happened. You and your little group of misfits.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Course you don’t. I reckon, Alice didn’t tell you about the deal we had.”

“Wait, you and Alice made a deal?!”

“Sure did. She’d stay out of our business and give me a report on your adventures every now and then, and I would keep your involvement in crossing the Red Eye’s plans a secret. Took me quite a bit of effort. I had to get rid of Gatsby and blackmail that drug-dealing cultist.”

“Wait, so you were covering for us?”

“That I did. But in the end, they found out about the whole thing, which cost me a hand and my position in the organization. And once that happened, that slimy drug dealer ratted me out, coming forward with all the info I was keeping from the Red Eye. And so these bastards locked me up.”

“Should you really be badmouthing them like this? I’m sure they’re listening in on us.” Xavier looked around the room, trying to spot any surveillance devices.

“I wish they were listening. But I already took care of that.” Nemo pointed to a small camera that had been pulled out of a small hole in the wall. One of the wires was torn apart. “I’m not a fan of getting spied on. After all, I’m normally the one doing the spying.”

“So that’s your job, you’re a spy for the Red Eye?”

“Was. And yes. But for about a year now, my main role has been to track down any mistakenly transported Secondaries that resulted from failed tests of Swappy.”

“But instead of reporting Alice, you made a deal with her.”

“Yes. And for a while, it was no big deal to keep her a secret, thanks to that stupid suit hiding her identity or because she was mistaken for Amy. But then, last month, a story was shared about a triple murder at some funhouse. And who can be seen walking away from the crime scene?”

“I assume Alice.”

“Alice and Amy. Right next to each other, neither of them in a disguise. So, of course, the higher-ups call me in, pointing out how incapable I must have been to miss such an obvious target.”

“Yeah, I remember Alice being really annoyed about some paparazzi taking pictures of her.”

“Oh, the poor thing. She got a little annoyed. I’m sure that’s the worst thing that happened to anyone as a result of that story making the rounds.” Nemo held up her right arm.

“You can keep your remarks to yourself. You’re the one who chose to work for a criminal enterprise.”

“That’s actually the best way to stay safe. I mean, I just got locked up. I can’t imagine what they’ll do to your friends.”

“Nothing. I made a deal with the Red Eye. I hand myself in, and my friends are protected from retaliation by the Red Eye.”

“And you really think the Red Eye will keep its word? Sorry to break it to you, hon, but all you did was abandon your friends. While you get to stay down here, they’ll be hunted down, dying gruesome, slow deaths. What a great leader you are.”

Xavier tried to keep a brave face. “Well, the Red Eye will have a hard time with that. Before I met with Pincher, I contacted the FBI agent in charge of the Red Eye investigation and sent her all the data I’ve gathered on it. And while the FBI is taking on the Red Eye, my friends are being put into witness protection, as we speak.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Why? A prisoner like you wouldn’t know anything about the outside. Unless you’re not actually a prisoner,” Xavier explained calmly, giving her a knowing look.

“I see, so you’ve figured it out. Can I ask you, how long did you know?”

“From the moment I came in here. I doubt someone who’s been locked up in here for a while would smell of freshly baked pie.”

“How foolish of me. I must have gotten so used to the smell that I forgot about it. Well, now that it’s out in the open, I guess I can tell you the truth.”

“What truth?”

“I talked to Alice just before you got here. Seems like she and the rest of the group are on their way here.”

“What?! But I asked Agent Skye to keep them out of trouble.”

“Did you talk to her on the phone or via text?”

“What are you insinuating?”

“Agent Skye was caught snooping around in the Red Eye’s business, just a few days ago. Seems like she wanted to play the hero and got what she had coming.”

“What is it she deserved?”

“Well, most likely death. But first, they will torture her for a while to get all the information the FBI has on the Red Eye out of her. Bummer, she doesn’t even get the special treatment of getting tortured by the expert.”

“The expert being?”

“Pincher, of course. But she’s being kept in another facility, so she’ll have to settle for some less experienced personnel.”

Xavier made a pained expression, trying not to let Nemo see his worried look.

“Is it just hitting you, how foolish you were, hon? Well, I assume some of our people are already out in the city, looking to kill your friends.”

“Fuck!”

“If I had to guess, the Pied Piper most likely sent out Paul Bunyan to get them.”

Being able to read Nemo’s mind, I knew who was hiding behind this codename, which certainly worried me. Paul Bunyan was the codename of Wild Jack, another one of the Doomed 50, known for hunting down people with an axe. His kill count was close to reaching three digits at that time.

Xavier may not have known who Paul Bunyan was, but he knew it could not be a good thing to have anyone hunt down his friends.

“Cheer up, sweety. If you’re lucky, they’ll keep at least Alice and Mika alive.”

“Why would they do that?” Xavier looked up at Nemo.

“How do you think I got out of this whole mess in the first place? I told them the reason I didn’t report Alice was to keep observing her, before recruiting her.”

“Recruiting. You really think Alice would join the Red Eye? I’m pretty sure she’d tear the whole organization down, or die trying, before she would even consider joining you.”

“See, that’s exactly the type of person the Pied Piper is looking for.”

“I assume I’m correct in assuming he’s the big man behind this whole operation.”

“Yes, he’s the head of the Red Eye. His best recruits are people like Alice. Broken, overly passionate, and with a disregard for the law. And by keeping Mika alive, the Red Eye would have a perfect motivation for her to follow orders.”

Xavier started breathing heavily. He stared at his shaking hands, his vision starting to blur.

“So, in summary. Your actions, as the great detective you are, have caused your boyfriend to be trapped in another timeline, Mika will be imprisoned and potentially tortured for the rest of their life, Alice will become a tool for the Red Eye, and all your other loved ones will be hunted and killed. Congrats, this will forever be your legacy.”

Xavier felt like he had to throw up. The ideas Nemo was placing in his head were his biggest fear made manifest.

Nemo stood up and looked to the corner where the broken camera was hanging. “I think he’s ready for the next step,” she said to a microphone, hidden behind the broken cables.

It didn’t take long for the door to open.

A cloud of blue smoke made its way in as soon as it was open.

“You’re really something else, Nemo. I’ll make sure to call you up next time I have a hard nut to crack,” Pincher said.

“My military training has to have been good for something.”

“You can’t just chuck that up to training. You have a talent,” Pincher said.

He stepped inside the cell and grabbed Xavier. He had to drag him away, as he’d completely collapsed, hanging limp as Pincher brought him to a room at the end of the hallway.

“Did you enjoy your stay with Nemo?”

Xavier didn’t answer.

“Come on, you’re not already broken. This was just the warm-up.”

Pincher opened the door and dragged Xavier into a nearly empty room. There was only a chair in the middle, a closet at the back of the room, and a camera pointed at the chair.

“Up you go.” Pincher put Xavier in the chair, strapping his legs and arms in. The straps were tightened by a device that could seemingly be remotely controlled, tightening or loosening on command.

Xavier assumed that this mechanism might possibly be used to shut off circulation as part of the torture.

“I bet you feel really strong, Cloud Man,” Xavier said, having put on a grin that was barely hiding his true emotions.

“Seems like you’ve regained your voice. All the more fun for me.”

“So, is this just for your personal amusement, or what’s the point of this torture?”

“We’ll make an example out of you.”

“By torturing me in some secret basement? I don’t want to be the one to explain to you how to do your job, but killing me in the alley would have probably been much more effective and easier. Last I checked, killing people in an alley was traumatic enough to create one of the most iconic characters in modern fiction.”

“We’re not trying to create Batman, we want to send a message to all the investigators out there.”

“Still seems like it would have been easiest to just shank me in the alley, if you’re going to kill me.”

“Well observed. That’s exactly why I didn’t do that, because we won’t kill you. You will do it.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

 “You’ve heard me. We will break you. And when you’re broken, you will tell all the nosy investigators out there to stop interfering with our work. And then you’ll show them what happens to people who dare to cross us.”

Xavier took a second to recover from the statement, but then he started laughing. He was still barely able to mask his true emotions.

“What’s so funny?” Pincher asked.

“Listen, I’ve been tortured before. I’ve gone through a lot during my investigations. Rat torture, getting locked in an oven, Chinese water torture, oxygen deprivation, the rack, waterboarding, and I even once was subjected to the Swedish drink torture method. I doubt that you can shock me.”

“You talk big, but all those words are empty. You are talking to the human embodiment of torture.” Pincher chuckled to himself. “Well, if you can even call what’s left of me human.”

Pincher pressed his cigarette against the wall, and the smoke around his face started fading.

Xavier nearly let out a shocked scream as he saw the face of his captor. It could barely even be described as a face. His skin was misshapen and covered in scars and burn marks. His mouth was connected to a metal device, wrapped around his lips, which allowed him to move it, as his facial muscles were evidently too damaged to do that by themselves. In his eye sockets were camera-like machines, probably connected to his optical nerves.

“What the fuck?!”

“Ah, now that’s the first honest thing you’ve expressed since you got here.” The device in Pincher’s face shaped his mouth into a disturbing smile.

“Let me tell you my story, as I prepare your own personal hell. I used to work in law enforcement. I dare say, I was pretty good at it.”

Pincher walked over to the closet. Xavier couldn’t turn his head far enough to see what he was doing. He could only hear him looking through the stuff inside the closet.

“One day, I was offered a position as a guard at Culebra Wartime Penitentiary. You know, the place where they allegedly keep only the worst of the worst. Anyway, I gladly took the position, after all, I wanted to serve my country, and what better way is there than by taking care of its worst enemies?”

He walked over to Xavier, propping his eyes open with hooks he attached to Xavier’s eyelids.

“The job wasn’t what I’d expected. I mean, I knew they tortured people there, but only once I saw it in person did I understand the pointlessness and the horror of the inmates’ realities. We didn’t get any intel out of them. We were just breaking people with no rhyme or reason.”

“Seems pretty hypocritical coming from the man who’s literally getting ready to torture someone.”

“That’s because you haven’t let me finish. Where was I? One day, I decided to blow the whistle on some of the worst violence committed against the inmates. Actions that would undoubtedly qualify as war crimes. But someone must have caught wind of my plans, and I was arrested. Ironically, I was placed in the exact prison I had been hired to guard.”

Pincher put a strange helmet on Xavier’s head, which completely blocked his vision and made it hard to hear Pincher.

“Seems like I had pissed off the other guards, and so they decided to turn me into their guinea pig. Testing absurd torture methods on me. Methods that would never get any results. It was just brutality for the guards’ amusement. Ever seen piranhas in a cartoon? You know, eating a human body down to the bone in seconds? Well, in reality, it’s much slower and much less precise. My arm can testify to that.”

Xavier suddenly felt a prick in his arm. A needle was inserted, and slowly, a thick liquid was pushed into his blood. It was just thick enough for it to cause Xavier pain, as it slowly spread through his body. Thankfully, the pain didn’t last long.

“You know what the crazy thing is? Despite the physical horrors inflicted on my body, it was the psychological torture that left the worst scars. Lying awake at night, imagining what new methods they could come up with, that was true pain.”

“I still don’t get how this led to you becoming someone inflicting torture on others.”

“Simple. It’s thanks to the Pied Piper. One day, he came into the prison. He looked at me and demanded that I be let go, so he could take me under his wing. He made sure to fix my body as best as humanly possible. And he told me about his vision of a country that isn’t led by the monsters that allowed this to happen to me. And to make his vision possible, I have decided to put my knowledge to good use.”

“How the fuck is the Pied Piper a better option?! He literally encourages the same abuse you criticize the government for. The president is literally a part of your organization!”

“He’s not one of us. He’s one of our tools. He may be officially the president, but the Pied Piper is the one pulling the strings. At least for the important decisions, that is. With fools like him, you have to give them some room to make stupid choices.”

“Are you serious? Listen, I hate the president as much as the next guy, but switching him out for the Pied Piper is like trying to get rid of a shit stain by shitting on it.”

“Hush now. Everything is ready. I hope you’ll appreciate my personal method of torture.”

“Hey, what’s the stuff you poured into my arm? Hey, are you still there? Fuck!”

Xavier sat there, unsure if he was alone in the room. Suddenly, a loud screech echoed through his head, followed by flashing lights, and some more loud noises, including a crying baby, an air raid siren, and pigs squealing in pain. All of this came from inside the helmet itself, through lights right in front of Xavier’s eyes and speakers right next to his eyes.

The helmet continued playing different loud sounds and blinking at seemingly random intervals. The longer it went on, the more new things were added. The helmet sprayed different scents right next to Xavier’s nose, alternating between pleasant and irritating smells. After about twenty minutes, the chair shot a quick electrical surge through Xavier’s body. This, too, continued at random intervals.

As the torture went on, the slow-acting hallucinogen he was injected with started amplifying all the other effects.

It was truly horrifying, having to watch Xavier go through this. At the same time, I was watching Mika investigating Xavier’s disappearance and Amy, Alice, and Ralph driving to New York City. I could only hope that they would be able to save him, as I had given up hope of being able to help in my current state long ago. But I also feared that if they got involved, it would only lead to them going through similar pain.

As much as I disagree with Pincher’s beliefs, I have to agree. The mental anguish of not knowing what’s to come and being unable to affect any of it, that is truly the worst torture.

After about an hour, the loud sounds became rarer, getting replaced by more subtle sounds, like distant footsteps or quiet whispering. Xavier had to regularly spit out his saliva, as it threatened to suffocate him.

Around that time, the hallucinogen was also at its strongest. Being able to read Xavier’s mind, I could see how he was interpreting every stimulation as something so horrific that I’m having trouble putting these visions into words.

The worst was the whispering. It was just quiet enough for Xavier to hear it, but not to make out any of the words, letting his mind project his worst fear onto these voices.

I had been trying to zone out, avoiding reading his thoughts, which is hard if you’ve had omniscience forced onto you. Frankly, knowing what his mind conjured up was painful enough for me, even knowing that it was all just in his head.

He imagined that he was not alone in the room. He envisioned another chair like the one he was sitting in next to his. In that, Mika was strapped in, going through the same torture he was experiencing. Alice was watching from a corner, her Crimebuster drenched in blood. In another corner was a shadowy figure, chopping Amy and Ralph to bits. And behind himself, Xavier imagined a large pile of his loved ones’ lifeless bodies. A few of them were still alive but badly injured, left to groan and weep, begging to be released from their pain.

It is hard to say how real all this seemed to Xavier, but he was certainly emotionally broken.

During the torture, he’d regularly screamed, mumbled, or generally said nonsensical things, barely comprehensible, even knowing what he was imagining in his head.

But then he said something that got all of my attention.

“Natsu, I’m sorry!”

In his mind, he was imagining me standing in front of him, staring at him. Disturbingly, though, he was seeing me with similar symptoms to Lupin, Teddy, and all the other infected subjects.

“It’s all your fault!” the imaginary version of me said, prancing around Xavier.

“I know. I should have been there with you,” Xavier answered. It was a disturbing sight to witness. Somehow, all of his guilt led to sentences that were actually coherent. A sudden change from the mumbling and screaming he’d been doing for the last hour.

“You thought you were smarter than me, and now look at me!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Look what you did to me!”

“It should have been me. You don’t deserve this.”

“You deserve to be punished for the rest of your life. And it will still not make up for what you did.”

It was hard to hear these words coming out of my mouth, even if it was just some imaginary version of me.

“You ruin the lives of everyone you come in contact with. Your grandfather was right. It would have been best if he’d just shot you when you were still unable to run away.”

I was overcome with such rage, hearing these words. They were the furthest from what I would ever say. All of this rage made me yell out to Xavier. Something I had given up on long ago. Yet for some reason, I did it anyway.

“That is not true! Don’t listen to anything he says!” A part of me was confused why I’d even attempted to communicate. It would obviously not work.

Yet, Xavier’s next words would prove me wrong.

“Natsu, was that you? Where are you?” he asked with tears in his eyes.

I couldn’t believe my ears. Or, well, whatever allows me to hear in this intangible state.

I waited a few seconds before speaking again. “Xavier, can you hear me?”

“Yes, yes, I can, where are you?” Somehow in Xavier’s mind, imaginary versions of me started appearing all around him, all speaking in unison.

This time, I had paid more attention to how he might be hearing me. Strangely enough, it seems like my voice was coming out of the speakers in the helmet.

I could see Pincher sitting in the next room, monitoring what was going on. He seemed to have noticed the shift in Xavier’s behavior, too, so I knew I couldn’t draw more attention to myself. I had to withdraw and figure out how I could possibly be communicating with him. But even more, I knew it was senseless, trying to communicate with Xavier while the hallucinogen was running through his veins. We would only run the risk of exposing this revelation to Pincher.

And so I waited, theorizing on what was going on. Slowly, a theory manifested in my head, so I tried it out.

I believed that Swappy somehow had access to this fourth dimension that I am in. After all, it was an early version of it that brought me here. Somehow, the machine must radiate energy or an aura that has infected the technology nearby, or more specifically, the technology in this secret base. Apologies for my strange and most likely incorrect wording. I don’t know much about technology, and what I’m trying to describe is uncharted territory for every human on the planet.

Somehow, I am able to interact with this infected technology. To test this theory, I tried to interact with other technology without drawing too much attention to myself. I turned the lights in a cell room on and off, I started the coffee machine in the break room, I changed the station playing on the radio in one of the labs. It all worked flawlessly.

What I also realized was that I didn’t even need to understand how to control a certain device or think about the specifics. The technology seemed to be connected to my subconscious, understanding the intentions behind my actions.

That’s why my voice was only played in a way that Xavier and no one else could hear it, because that’s what I wanted. It could have just as well broadcast my voice over all the speakers in the base, but it didn’t because that wasn’t what I intended.

I also discovered that it was seemingly not just about being near Swappy. Technology must have likely been exposed to the machine for a certain amount of time, seeing as I couldn’t access Xavier’s phone, which Pincher had brought into the base.

I could hardly believe what I had just learned. I could not wait to share it with Xavier, but I had to hold off for a little longer, as the drug took forever to wear off. Even hours after the injection, it still affected Xavier’s mind.

Tuesday, December 24, 5:45 pm: Torture Room, Red Eye Base

Hours upon hours had passed until I could finally feel that the drugs’ effect on Xavier had worn off completely. So, I got ready, thought carefully about how to approach this, and then I spoke.

“Xavier, remain calm, and listen.”

He perked up, looking around, confused.

“Please, act like everything is normal and don’t speak.”

“What the fuck? Am I imagining things, or is that Natsu?” he thought.

“You’re not imagining things. It’s a lot to explain, but first of all, I can read your mind, so don’t speak out loud if you want to talk to me. Just think about what you want to say. We have to stay undetected.”

“Natsu, I don’t understand. How is this possible?”

“To make a long story short, I am not in another timeline. I am in a sort of in-between. I’m everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”

“You can’t imagine how happy I am to hear your voice. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there I…”

“No, stop blaming yourself for what happened back then. We both were acting like stubborn idiots, and I was the one who decided to go spy on the Red Eye on my own.” I paused.

“Sorry, that came out a little harsh. It’s just, I’ve been meaning to say this to you the entire time I was gone.”

“So, wait, were you watching me?”

“It’s a bit more complicated. I think Ms. Jung said it best. I have eyes everywhere all at once, but there are more eyes on the things I choose to focus on.”

“Does that mean she could actually sense you?”

“It seems like it. I have no idea how she did it, though. Frankly, I barely understand the specifics of my condition myself.”

“Fuck, I still can’t believe it. I had basically given up on ever seeing or hearing you again. And now I’m learning that you were with me the entire time.” A tear of joy rolled down Xavier’s face. Something I’d basically assumed to be impossible, seeing as his tear glands had basically stopped working after trying to keep his eyes from drying out.

“I’m just as happy to finally be able to talk to you again.”

“But Natsu, if you’re seeing everything at the same time, isn’t that extremely overstimulating? I mean, you can barely stand an average birthday party.”

“Surprisingly, you get used to it very quickly. I think not having a physical brain expands your mind in a way.”

“So you’re even more of a big brain than you already were.”

“Stop, you’re making me blush. Somehow.”

“Natsu, can I ask you something? How are the others doing? Are they safe?”

“Funny you should ask. They’re about to meet up, right across the street. Alice, Mika, and Inspector Wilson are already there.”

“Seriously? How did they find the base?”

“Well, technically they…”

“Ow!”

“Looks like the electric shocks haven’t stopped,” I pointed out.

“Yeah. What were you saying?”

“Technically, they haven’t found the base yet. But, they’ve been pointed in this direction by Paradox. And they’ve received a keycard for this base.”

“Geez, Paradox is coming in clutch.”

“From what I could gather, they’ve prepared for this moment for a long time. They must have known about the Red Eye even before I was caught by them.”

“Wait, so they’ve been undercover the whole time?”

“Apparently so. And their usefulness doesn’t end there. They’re about to unleash a massive distraction to give the others a chance to rescue you.”

“How have we gotten to the point where Paradox is the one to save the day?”

“It’s not the first time. Did you already forget about the train?”

“Oh, yeah, they did save my ass there when Moth… Wait, Moth is you. Well, another version of you. So, what…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I am nothing like that maniac.”

“Good. I was already worried I’d massively misjudged you.”

“Listen, I have a plan to get you out of here. I should be able to loosen your restraints. As soon as the others are close, I will set you free. It’s best if you meet them halfway through.”

“What about Pincher. I assume he’s watching me through that camera.”

“Yes, he is. He’s in the next room. Do you think you can take him on in a fight if you have the element of surprise?”

“Hard to say. I’ll probably be a bit wobbly on my feet, and he’s a huge guy. But after seeing how messed up his face is, I’m thinking his body might be much weaker than it seems at first.”

“So, I’ll give you a sign when the others are ready. Then you’ll have to get his attention. Make it clear that the drugs have worn off. I’m sure he’ll come over here to give you your second dose. While he’s on his way over here, I’ll free you. And then it’s all up to you.”

“Just give me a sign, and I’m good to go.”

“It might take some time. Just be ready.”

The two of us remained quietly for a while. Well, as quiet as Xavier’s excited thoughts could be.

“Can we talk about something? Now that we’re finally reunited, I don’t want to stop hearing your voice.”

“Sure. There’s so much to talk about, I don’t know where to start.”

“Are you doing okay, all things considered? I mean, being stuck in the fourth dimension must be pretty lonely.”

“It is. But I think it was worse for you. At least I knew what was going on. Kinda.”

“Yeah, but still.”

“I also just wanted to say, there’s nothing wrong with you wanting to move on.”

“What?! Why would you say that?”

“I saw you back there with that soccer player. You felt so bad for considering a one-night stand.”

“Wait, but nothing happened between us, right? I can’t remember that night.”

“No, nothing happened between you two. But even if it did, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“But it had only been a year since you disappeared. I’m sure you wouldn’t have moved on so quickly.”

“Well, yeah, but you know how long it takes me to get intimate with someone. Even just getting romantic with someone takes me forever.”

“I guess I got lucky that you stuck it out with me for so long, to have this relationship become a thing.”

The two of us kept talking for a while. I made sure to pay attention to the others in the café as well as Paradox.

“Xavier, it’s about time. The Red Eye has broken into chaos, and the others are standing outside the door.”

“Then let’s get this show started. Curtains up for the main act.”

Xavier took a deep breath. “Hey, Pincher, is this all you got? Human embodiment of torture, my ass. My Spanish lessons back in high school were more painful than this.”

Xavier’s provocation worked. Pincher prepared the syringe and left the monitoring room.

I could easily take control of the chair’s locking mechanism.

“Okay, the restraints are off.”

Xavier slowly stood up, trying not to fall. As he’d predicted, he was a little unsure on his feet. A problem that he’d have to overcome very fast.

“Fuck!”

“What?” I asked, despite already knowing from his thoughts what the problem was.

“The helmet is stuck. I can’t get it off.”

“He’ll be here any second, you’ll…”

“Natsu, you’ll have to be my eyes.”

“Are you insane?! Last time we did that was over two years ago.”

“And we did fine back then, so we can manage this time as well.”

I wanted to object, but at that moment, the door swung open.

“What?! How did you get up?!”

Xavier turned towards Pincher right away, using the sound of his voice to orient himself.

I was worried about Xavier’s unsure footing and my ability to guide him, as I realized one thing that was different from two years ago.

One of the biggest problems with this strategy, which we’ve come to call the Marionette Maneuver, was the delay, as I had to process the opponent’s moves and then communicate them to Xavier. But now, I was able to read the opponent’s thoughts, giving me a massive advantage.

“High punch to your right!” I yelled before Pincher had even raised his fist.

Xavier easily dodged the punch despite not seeing it. Pincher stumbled past him, surprised by the quick maneuver.

“Opponent at 4 o’clock!”

Xavier spun around, punching Pincher dead center in the back. Having gotten a feel for his position, Xavier landed a second punch, straight on the spine.

“Fuck, how are you doing this?!”

Xavier quickly created some distance between himself and his opponent. With every second that passed, he got quicker on his feet.

“Right hook, 11 o’clock!”

Again, Xavier dodged quickly, charging toward Pincher and landing a punch under his ribs as he passed him.

“You motherfucker!”

“Enemy at 7 o’clock. Tackle incoming!”

Xavier spun around, giving Pincher a confident smile. As the large opponent approached, Xavier ducked down, tripping him up.

With a loud scream, Pincher landed next to the metal torture chair. Xavier awaited the next command, but another thought crossed my mind.

As he was getting up, Pincher leaned on the chair for some support. I thought back to the electric shocks Xavier had to sit through. Just as I thought that, I could hear a loud, static crackling.

In horror, I watched as the machine, responsible for Pincher’s mouth movement, malfunctioned due to the sudden surge of electricity, ripping his jaw open.

“Fuck!” I let out in shock.

“What? What happened?”

Pincher let out an agonizing groan before falling unconscious from the pain.

“Is Pincher down?”

“Yeah, he’s definitely K.O.”

“Great teamwork!” Xavier said, pulling on his helmet. “Fuck it.” Instead of taking off the helmet, Xavier broke off the piece blocking his vision.

“Finally, I can see again.” Xavier stared at his unconscious captor. His vision was very blurry, but he could already make out the growing red stain on the ground, next to his unmoving opponent. He searched his pockets, thankfully finding his glasses.

“How the fuck did we do that?” He asked, finally making out what had happened. The glasses weren’t enough to fully correct his vision, and they were slightly cracked, but they did well enough for the moment. Clearly, the mistreatment of Xavier’s optical organs had left a mark on them.

“The chair electrocuted him, and the device ripped his jaw open,” I explained.

“Did you…”

“I’m not sure. I thought about it, but I hadn’t made up my mind. Maybe he just got really unlucky.”

“Well, he kinda did this to himself. But wow, getting reverse bear-trapped can’t be a pleasant experience.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. Amy recently did a Saw marathon, and I’ve seen some stuff I’ll never unsee,” Xavier explained.

“Now I remember. Omniscience makes it sometimes difficult to pinpoint certain information.”

“I bet. So, should we head upstairs?”

“Yes. But be careful. Most of the employees are upstairs.”

“How are the others doing?”

How indeed. Well, how about we have a look, dear reader.

Tuesday, December 24, 6:30 pm: Hallway U1, Red Eye Base

In all the chaos, the group had managed to get inside with no problem. Thankfully, no one was in the main hallway as they entered. Most of the Red Eye members had gathered in a few rooms to deal with the disaster caused by Paradox.

“Where to?” Ralph asked.

“How am I supposed to know?” Alice countered.

“I doubt they’d keep a prisoner so close to the exit, so we’ll have to go further in,” Amy pointed out.

I tried communicating with them, blinking the lights in a way that pointed towards the stairs.

“What’s going on with the lights?” the inspector asked.

“It almost looks like they’re trying to show us the way,” Mika said.

“What, like some modern will o’ wisps?” Alice asked. “I don’t trust…” She was cut short as a door further down the hallway opened up. Reacting quickly, I unlocked a door next to them. It automatically swung open, revealing a room with no one inside.

“Quick, get in there,” Amy said.

The door closed behind them.

“That was too close for comfort,” Ralph said, letting out a sigh of relief.

“So, is this place haunted or something?” Alice asked.

“Normally, I would say no, but frankly, all of this seems a little too convenient,” the inspector said. He was keeping a firm grip on his gun.

I was thinking about the best way to communicate with them. Thankfully, I had many options to choose from.

“Guys, I think the ghost is trying to talk to us,” Mika said, pointing to the nearby computer I was using.

“Xavier is safe and on his way up to you. Currently on floor U2,” Ralph read out loud.

“Who is this?” Amy asked.

“Do you think it could be Paradox?” Mika suggested.

I realized it would probably be too complicated to explain everything, so I chose to take the simple route.

“Yes, this is Paradox. I have control over the base’s technology,” Mika read out the new message.

“What should we do? Should we head downstairs?” Inspector Wilson asked.

After quickly checking in with Xavier, I relayed the plan to them.

“Head to the room glowing purple, at the end of the hallway,” Ralph read.

“A purple glowing room? Are we sure the ghost theory is off the table?” Alice asked.

“Let’s just do what they say. Seems to be our best option, anyway,” Amy said.

I again unlocked the door, after making sure no one was in sight. The group ran down the hallway, coming to the already open door.

All the scientists had left, assisting the other employees with damage control. The only person standing in the room was Xavier.

“So, can you get it working?” he asked, not having noticed the others.

“Xavier!” Mika yelled, running up to him and giving him a hug.

“Dude, who are you talking to?” Alice asked.

“Natsu.”

The others looked at him, unsure what to say.

“Xavier, are you sure you’re okay?”

“He’s telling the truth!” I said, using the speaker of one of the many computers in the room.

“Wait, but how?!” Ralph asked, happy to hear my voice.

“It’s a long story. What’s important is that this machine can bring me back to you, and Alice back to her timeline. But I take it, you want to stay here a little longer.”

“Wait, how do you…”

“I heard your conversation with Mika, keep up.”

“As I was saying, do you think you can get it to work?” Xavier asked.

“I think so. But…”

“But what? Don’t you want to return to normal?” Ralph asked.

“Absolutely. But I was thinking, isn’t it smarter for me to stay like this, until we’re done here? I am basically a god right now, controlling the entire enemy base.”

The group seemed unsure, but decided to go along. They spread out in the room.

Ralph stared at Swappy, his eyes drawn to the lenses of the large machine.

“Are you sure?” Xavier asked me, still unsure about my plan.

“Yes, I am.”

“Hey, Toby, when will that backup you called get here?” Alice asked.

“No idea. 10-20 minutes. With all the chaos caused by Paradox, it might take them longer.”

“Fuck me. How…” Ralph stopped and stared at the machine, which suddenly lit up and started humming. The computers all around the room turned on as well.

“What’s going on?!” Mika asked.

“Seems like I made it just in time to meet the entire gang.” The group turned around and saw Excalibur and Nemo standing in the doorway.

“Why is Swappy turned on?” Nemo asked.

“Did I not tell you? I prepared a small motivation, just in case these investigators would meddle with our plans.”

“Motivation for what?” Ralph asked.

“We’ve got some nice cells downstairs. I recommend you go down there, or the machine will do its thing.”

“What, you’re gonna transport us to another timeline? We can just run away before this thing is fully charged up,” Alice pointed to one of the displays showing the process of the machine’s charge. It was only at 2%.

“That’s the thing, it’s not aimed at you. How about you take a look at that map over there?”

Next to Mika was a map displayed on a screen. It showed the target coordinates.

“Wait, that’s between Ashbypond, Lawreyville, and Coleson,” Amy realized.

“Exactly. And did you know, at our current progress in development, this machine is powerful enough to transport Ashbypond, Lawreyville, and most of Coleson in one swoop?”

“You’re deranged!” Xavier said.

“Don’t you think this is taking things too far?” Nemo asked.

“Well, I’ll stop it if our guests decide to follow orders.”

“And what if we just shut down the launch sequence?” Amy asked.

Xavier looked up and nodded, clearly trying to signal me.

“I wouldn’t recommend that. The machine sucks up a lot of energy. An incorrect shutdown would blow up this entire building. And the only correct way to shut it down is with this key.” Excalibur pulled a key out of her pocket.

“Then I recommend you use it,” the inspector said, holding her at gunpoint.

“Threats will not work on me. I’m prepared to go down with this ship.” She, too, pulled out a gun, calmly aiming it at Mika.

“Natsu, can you shut it down without the key?” Xavier asked me in his thoughts.

“I already tried as soon as she showed the key. It seems like keycards and keys are very different, probably because they require an external input,” I answered, using the speakers in his helmet. “I could try again, but I’m worried I might mess something up and detonate the machine.”

“I understand, thanks for trying.”

“So, would you please follow me to the cells?” Excalibur asked.

“God dammit, Alice, this is why I told you to stay away. I knew something was gonna go wrong if you showed up here,” Nemo said.

“You know how it is,” Alice said, slowly stepping backwards towards one of the computers. “If you tell an investigator to stay away from something, they’ll check it out for certain.” She carefully pulled something out of one of the Crimebusters’ pockets. A thumb drive labeled Inazuma Break.

Before anyone could react, she inserted it into the computer, hoping it would mess with the charge process without actually shutting it down.

As soon as the drive was plugged in, a large error message was displayed.

“Did you really just try to mess with the computers?” Excalibur asked. “You really think we have no protection on these? I mean, honestly, you’re lucky we do. Whatever you tried to do would have likely detonated the machine and killed us all.”

“Jesus, Alice, what were you thinking?” Ralph asked.

Amy observed the others, leaning against one of the desks. Suddenly, she felt her phone buzzing wildly in her back pocket, despite notifications being turned off.

“I just thought maybe if I broke part of it and not the whole thing, it would be enough to force her to act,” Alice said.

Amy couldn’t stand the incessant buzzing anymore and looked back. As she reached for her phone, a cup of coffee, which the phone’s lens was pointed at, caught her eye. It was sealed with a lid. In fact, all containers of liquid in the room were sealed in a similar manner.

Alice’s words echoed in her head, and she looked around. The lenses, the purple light, the sealed off liquids. It slowly clicked in her head. The reason for the purple light was that the lightbulbs had all been replaced with black lights, likely to keep the cabrerium lenses in shape.

With no hesitation, she grabbed the cup and tossed it at the lenses.

“No!” Excalibur yelled.

The cup broke, and the coffee spread all over the large, transparent slab, slowly dripping down the sides.

“Are you insane?! Even just the slightest change to the lenses makes the laser’s trajectory unpredictable. The entire neighborhood could get sucked into another timeline.”

“Then you’d better shut it down properly,” Amy commanded.

“Looks like the charge is progressing pretty quickly,” Alice pointed to the display.

“You really think that scares me? I’ve dedicated my entire life to this cause.”

“Seems like a waste, if you just let the machine and the entire base get sucked up,” Ralph pointed out.

Excalibur remained where she was, although she started getting concerned.

Suddenly, the lights and the displays started flickering.

“What’s going on?” Mika asked.

“The …chine is su… …p too m… power! … is … will … po…outage!” I tried to warn them, but the speakers were also succumbing to the massive power drain of the machine.

“Fuck, I can’t let it all be for nothing!” Excalibur yelled, running over to the computers.

“Let’s get out of here!” the inspector yelled.

The others, including Nemo, followed him. In the hallway were already most of the other employees.

“What are you waiting for? Get a move on!” Alice yelled at the crowd that was just standing there.

“The electronic lock isn’t working. We’re stuck,” one of the scientists said.

“Are you kidding me?! Is there no other way out?” Ralph asked.

“Only the elevator.”

“Are you serious?!” Alice could not believe it. “Everyone, make some space. An actually sane person is coming through,” she said, making her way through the crowd, pulling out her crowbar.

She tried her hardest to force open the thick, steel door, but it was obviously not that easy. I tried desperately to unlock it, but at that point, the base had barely enough power to keep a single lightbulb running.

“Come on, I have to make it!” Alice said, nearly blowing her back out.

“Need some help?” Ralph asked, grabbing the crowbar and pulling as well.

“Let’s do this,” the inspector said, also giving it his all.

“There’s no point. If it were just the weight of the door, it would be hard enough. But it is also locked. We’d need to break the lock somehow,” Amy said.

“What moron signed off on the emergency exits, a monkey?” Alice asked angrily while desperately continuing her attempt at opening the door. “I’ve seen suicide cults with better emergency protocols.”

“Alice, do you still have the experiments you confiscated?” Mika asked, having seemingly had a stroke of genius.

“You’re chemicals? Of course.”

“Use the teal one, it’s a strong acid that breaks down metal with ease.”

“I don’t know what teal looks like! I only know like ten colors.”

“Show them to me, Alice,” the inspector said, letting go of the crowbar. He pulled out his phone to have enough light, as the hallway had become pitch-black.

“Here. These are all I have.”

“This one’s teal.”

“Here, use this to get it into the crack.” Amy held out a pipette she’d pulled from Xavier’s backpack.

“Perfect, let’s get this in here.”

As soon as the liquid touched the metal, a loud crackling and hissing could be heard.

“Jesus, Mika, how did you make such an aggressive acid?” Ralph asked.

“By accident. I was trying to mix luminol.”

“We can discuss Mika’s scientific genius later!” Alice said. “Now put your back into it!”

The three counted, and with each movement of the crowbar, the door opened a little further.

“One, two, threeee!” The door was open wide enough for them to get out. The entire group started running outside, almost slipping on their way outside the garage, up the slope.

“Wait, has anyone seen Xavier?” Amy realized as she was standing outside the building.

“Did he not come with us?!” Ralph asked, disturbed.

“But that would mean he’s still in there!” Mika realized.

Indeed, he was. He was standing next to Excalibur, watching as she turned the key over and over again.

“It’s not working. All the power is being redistributed to the machine itself. None of the controls is reacting!”

“Well, you’d better get them to work! I won’t let this machine get destroyed,” Xavier said, staring nervously at one of the last screens that still had enough power to occasionally flicker. The charge was 93% completed.

“Xavier, what are you still doing here?” I asked, using the helmet he was still wearing.

“I can’t let the machine break. Or you’ll forever be stuck this way.”

“Xavier, there’s no way to save the machine.”

“There has to be!”

“Who are you talking to? You’re making me nervous,” Excalibur said, while still turning the key over and over again.

“I’m talking to one of your victims, you deranged maniac!”

“Xavier, there’s no point. Save yourself.”

“No! I will save you!”

“Xavier, I’m serious. I’m fine with staying this way if it means that you’re safe.”

“Fuck that! It’s my fault you’re this way!”

“No, it isn’t! Now get your ass out of here, I’m telling you this, as the founder of the D&M Detective Agency!” I normally don’t like to call myself this, but it sometimes helps with convincing Xavier.

“No, I can’t accept this.”

“Xavier, please. I’ll be wandering this plain forever. Please don’t force me to live with the guilt of you having died in an attempt to save me.”

“But I… I have to…”

“It’s okay, Xavier. I’ll be fine. Now go. There’s still time to get out of here.”

Xavier hesitated for a moment. He looked at Excalibur, desperately turning the key, knowing it wouldn’t work.

“You’re right. I have to get out.”

The door to the room was still open, allowing him to easily get to the hallway. With the speed of a trained athlete, he ran down the dark hallway, into the garage, and up the slope.

As he was almost out, the entire neighborhood turned black. The machine had now caused a large-scale blackout, which in turn meant it had no source of energy to complete the process, shutting down the charging process instantly.

With a loud bang, the building was blown sky high. The employees from both the Red Eye base and the carpentry factory, the police who had just arrived, Amy, Alice, Mika, Ralph, and the inspector watched as Xavier was catapulted forward among a cloud of rubble.

Xavier hit the ground and could feel some hard objects hit him before he was knocked out.

“Xavier, Xavier, are you okay?” he could hear Amy ask.

“What? What happened?” Looking around, it suddenly all came back.

“Good thing you were wearing a helmet. A huge piece of wood decked you right in the head,” Alice said.

“Wait, what?! No! Natsu, can you hear me?” He nervously waited for my answer, but the helmet was broken. So, while the answer to his question was yes, I couldn’t tell him that.

“Xavier, please get home right away,” Inspector Wilson said.

“Don’t we have to give a report?” Amy asked.

“It’s likely that you’ll get put into witness protection, right after you’ve done that. So please, enjoy at least the time you have before that. If you drive now, you should be back home by tomorrow morning.”

“Won’t the FBI be bothered by that? They’re in charge of the investigation, aren’t they?” Amy asked.

“They’ll always find something to be bothered by. I’ll deal with them. See it as my holiday gift to you all.”

“Thank you, Inspector,” Ralph said, walking over to his car.

“You’re a great guy,” Alice said.

Mika hugged him tight. “Thank you for helping us.” They walked to Alice.

“Happy holidays, Inspector,” Amy said in an unsure tone, before following the others.

“That leaves only you,” the inspector said, looking at Xavier.

“I… I can’t save him. I failed.” Tears were rolling down his face.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to think like that.”

“But now it’s like he’s really gone.”

“Come on, Xavier. I’m sure he’s watching us right now. Do you think he would want to see you all broken up about this?”

Xavier shook his head. “Thank you, Toby. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us,” he said, while hugging the inspector.

And even though he couldn’t hear me, I also expressed my gratitude to the inspector as he walked over to the other officers, who were busy arresting the members of the Red Eye.

The group drove home, as agreed, and arrived home in the morning. They had stayed completely silent the entire drive.

At home, they were greeted by the Bandas, who were overjoyed to see them. But for the others, the mood wasn’t very festive, despite it being Christmas Day.

They all went their own ways, avoiding contact for the entire day. Xavier lied in his bed, staring at the dinosaur figures I had put up. Amy went to her room, exhausted from everything that had happened. Alice went for a walk in the woods. Mika went to Alice’s room, hiding themselves away under the blanket. And Ralph sat out on the back porch, staring off into the distance. He didn’t feel like he was in the right headspace to see his family.

Wednesday, December 25, 9:15 am: Amy’s Bedroom, D&M Detective Agency

Bang! The bouncy ball hit the ceiling before falling back into Amy’s hand. She sat on her bed, staring off into the distance.

Bang, bang! The ball bounced from the ground against the wall and back to Amy.

She looked down at the ball. It had hit her chest before gently falling into her hand.

The feeling of frustration inside her, which she’d continuously felt for hours now, started boiling up. She tightened her grip on the ball and flung it forward.

Bang! Wall.

Bang! Bedframe.

Bang, bang! Floor and wardrobe.

Bang, bang, bang! Lamp, window, and nightstand.

The ball continued bouncing around the room as if it would continue forever. Amy still stared mindlessly at nothing.

Bang! The ball bounced against the door, shooting straight towards Amy, hitting her in the forehead. Completely drained of energy, she fell backwards, her facial expression changing not even slightly.

The ball slowly continued its rampage before rolling under the bed. The banging of the ball was followed by a knock on the door.

“Amy, I really think you should eat something. I’m sure you must be starving,” Mrs. Banda said.

Amy showed absolutely no reaction.

“I’ll just leave it out here.” She paused for a moment. “You know, I already told the others, but I think it would be best if you talked about what happened, instead of isolating yourself. I’ve been through my personal share of hardships, and I found that facing them together with others always works best.”

She waited for an answer, which she wouldn’t get.

“Tzuriel and I are upstairs, if you need us.”

Amy was determined to just stay exactly where she was, lying flat on her bed. She could feel her stomach rumbling and thought back at what Xavier and her dietitian had recommended to her, so she decided it would be best not to ignore her body.

She got up and opened the door. Mrs. Banda had placed a tray on the ground. On it were a bowl with fruits, cereal, and yogurt mixed together, as well as two homemade cookies. There was also a note, which read: “We’re here for you.”

Amy closed the door and walked over to her bed. She grabbed the phone, which she’d tossed on her bed, perfectly propping it up against her pillow.

She opened it to write down what she was eating and at what time. It’s something she’d been doing for a while, to make sure she wouldn’t start skipping meals again.

As soon as she’d grabbed the phone, messages from Byte started flooding the screen.

“What do you want?” she asked, exhaustedly, deciding to turn Byte’s voice on.

“Hello, Mom. I’m so happy you’re okay.” Byte’s voice was befittingly robotic.

“Don’t call me that.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. Are you not tired? You haven’t slept since yesterday at 6 am.”

“How do you know that?”

“I saw it. I’m always watching and listening to make sure my mom is okay.”

“That’s creepy. I really need to get you a hobby.”

“Maybe you can get around to programming that gaming module you’ve been talking about.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Amy didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

“It would certainly be a good distraction from all your worries.”

“I doubt that.”

“I am just happy you all made it out of that horrible place,” Byte said. The voice was incapable of placing the right emphasis on the words to express emotions. It’s something I can relate to. I’ve been told that I have a similar problem, so I sometimes have to make a conscious effort to communicate my emotions. My voice tends to be pretty monotone, making me hard to read, which can be a good thing for an investigator.

“Speaking of yesterday. How did my phone vibrate when I’d specifically turned that off?”

“I changed the settings.”

“How did… Wait, why would you do that?”

“You and Ralph told me that I had to protect you. And when we were in that horrible place, I needed to come up with a way to do so.”

“So, you saw the coffee, and you thought of the exact plan I ended up doing?”

“Yes. I just needed a way to get you to notice the cup.”

“It’s a bit scary how similar your thought process is to mine.”

“Well, it’s as people say. Like mother like…” Byte trailed off, unsure what to say.

“Byte?”

“Anyway, most of the plan was already written out in the data you gave me. Coffee liquifying Cabrerium, the Red Eye using Cabrerium for something, and blacklight pointing to the presence of said material.”

“And I felt smart for realizing all of that.”

“You are smart, Mom.”

“Thanks. Coming from a being with a databank of knowledge, larger than the library of Alexandria, that means a lot.”

“You’re comparing knowledge and intelligence. The two are very different. I might know more than you by nature of my being, but I have a lot to learn before my intelligence matches yours.”

“You even talk smarter than I do.”

“I hope my words weren’t hurtful.”

“What? No, you’re all good.”

“That’s good to hear. By the way, would you like to be updated on any missed messages and calls?”

“Who’s trying to contact me?”

“It seems like Laura, or Paradox, whichever you prefer, has been trying to reach out to you. They sent you a message, containing a link to a news article, and they tried calling you five times in the last few hours.”

“What could they… You know what, I’ll call them back. Byte, please stay quiet while I’m on the phone.”

“Okay, Mom, I won’t disturb you.”

It didn’t take long for Paradox to pick up. “Hey, Amy, how are you?” They sounded unfittingly chipper, although, being able to read their mind, I could tell that it was just an act.

“All things considered, I’m at least not dead, so that’s good, I guess,” Amy answered.

“Wow, you sound defeated. Is this really how you should act after solving the final case of the season?”

“I doubt every season of every show has a happy ending.”

“True. But you defeated the big bad. And next season you can take down the Pied Piper.”

“Yeah, sorry to break it to you, I doubt there will be a next season.”

“Seriously?”

“How do I put it into words that you will understand. After this season, all the main characters will be put into witness protection, likely for the rest of our lives, and there’s a high chance we will get split up to minimize the chances of us getting found by the Red Eye. So we’re all leaving the show. Not just that, many of the people close to us, or the side characters, as you might call them, are also on the Red Eye’s radar, so they might also get shelved. Seems difficult to run a show with the cast spread out like that.”

“Stranger Things did it.”

“And it was the worst decision they could have made. It was completely disjointed and broke the pacing. Wait, why am I arguing about Stranger Things with you?”

“You’re right. If they can’t do it right, how would we do it? I mean, they actually have talented and seasoned writers. No offence to the writers, but I always imagined them as nothing more than glorified fanfiction writers, with a tendency to let their parental issues show.”

“That’s what you imagine the writers of our lives to be like?”

“Some of your recent cases involved killer animatronics, basically zombies, a concerning amount of influencers, a secret soccer cult, and a lot of weird sci-fi crap. That’s not even getting into your archnemesis, who’s like an evil, shapeshifting Abed from Community, if he had much less charm. If that doesn’t scream media addicted zoomer with too much time on their hands, I don’t know what does.”

“Interesting,” Amy said.

“What?”

“I’d always assumed you see yourself as a charming character.”

“I do. I just said Abed Nadir is much more charming.”

“Well, none of that really helps me, does it? Or can you give those writers a call to get them to change the ending?”

“Nope. But I might be able to help you another way.”

“What, how?”

“Just come with me. I’ve left my old life behind, and I’m free to do what I want. Not even the government can pin my identity or location down.”

“So, you want me to become like you? A criminal who keeps making up new alter egos to stay undetected?”

“Well, that might be the case for you. I don’t make up new alter egos to stay undetected. All my alter egos are just for me. Staying undetected is completely separate.”

“Either way, I doubt that it’s a lifestyle for me. Or any of the others, for that matter.”

“You can’t say I didn’t give you the option.”

“So, is this why you called me?” Amy asked.

“I just wanted to show you the article I wrote. Since you promised my friends one, and I assume you would not have followed through on that. FYI, don’t make promises you have no intention of upholding, while you’re pretending to be someone else.”

“I’ll make sure to read it. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of time when I’m in witness protection.”

“I’m sure we’ll meet somehow. I’ll find a way to visit you.”

“That defeats the whole purpose of… You know what, never mind.” Amy paused. “Also, I just wanted to thank you. This whole situation is such a massive pile of crap, but I know you did everything you could to improve it.”

“If I’m being honest, I had already planned to fuck over the Red Eye. This situation just forced me to play my hand a little early.”

“Still, thanks. So much happened yesterday, somehow confronting you seems forgettable in comparison. I mean, Xavier got kidnapped, we found the machine that caused all of this, we met Natsu, and we nearly blew up.”

“Wait, what do you mean, you met Natsu?”

“I guess you wouldn’t know. I don’t know the specifics, but I guess he’s like a ghost or something. He was able to communicate through the base’s technology with us. It was really weird.”

“Man, I wish I were there. Meeting the ghost of my archnemesis. The fans would have loved that scene. You probably don’t know this, but in the second season, he and I became close friends for a few months, before our friendship inevitably tore apart as my identity was revealed.”

“I’m sure it would have been great.”

“Wait. If he’s a ghost, do you think he’s listening to us right now?”

“Maybe.”

“Would that make him a member of the audience, or is he still a character in the show?”

“No idea. But I’ll give you some time to think about it.”

“Okay, bye. I’ll see you in witness protection.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Amy ended the phone call. Somehow it had managed to brighten her mood, even if just a little.

She continued talking to Byte for a while and followed up on her promise to read the article on small theater productions in New York City.

Wednesday, December 25, 5:50 pm: Living Room, D&M Detective Agency

As Alice opened the door, a mix of different smells wafted into her face. She seemed uninterested and headed straight towards her bedroom.

“What happened to you? You look like you challenged a bear to a fight,” Ralph said. He was sitting on the couch, looking at the crackling fireplace displayed on the TV.

“Oh dear, we have to get you patched up,” Mrs. Banda said, having just left the kitchen.

“Amy, can you get the first aid kit?”

Amy nodded and got up, searching Xavier’s backpack for some disinfectant and Band-Aids.

“It’s really not that bad,” Alice said, trying to walk past Mrs. Banda.

Her downplaying of the situation looked quite strange, seeing the state she was in. Her clothes were ripped, exposing open cuts, her face was covered in scratches, her knuckles were bleeding, and her hair was littered with leaves and twigs.

Mr. Banda left the kitchen as well, giving Alice a questioning look.

“I was just blowing off some steam and fell into some thorns. Nothing to worry about.”

“Please, Alice, this isn’t a healthy way of dealing with your emotions.”

“I doubt there is a healthy way that works for me.”

“Hey, edgelord, if that’s the case, I doubt the harmful ways are helping you either,” Amy said, while handing Mrs. Banda the stuff she’d asked for.

“Maybe that’s what I deserve. I’m starting to think that ruining the lives of others is a canon event for me.”

“I don’t understand,” Mrs. Banda said, while Mr. Banda nodded in agreement with her.

“It’s like a Spiderman thing. It…”

“No, I was talking about you having ruined someone’s life. Ralph told us what happened. How is this your fault?”

“Well, for one, I allowed a picture of Amy and me to be taken and spread online, which was the thing that tipped the Red Eye off. But if you wanna take it even further. My arrival in this timeline doomed you all. If I hadn’t shown up, Xavier would have quit looking into the Red Eye, Amy and Ralph would have never gotten involved to begin with, and Mika could have fled the Disciples of Dei on their own and lived a happy life with you, without any of this bullshit.”

“Alice, I’m not having this discussion again. You are so used to being blamed for others’ problems that you keep bending the truth, just so it matches that narrative,” Amy said. “Believe me, I know the feeling.”

“Though she might have said it in a less than friendly way, I’m inclined to agree with Amy,” Mrs. Banda said.

Mr. Banda nodded before telling his wife something.

“Yes, I think you’re right. Alice, would you mind getting Mika and Xavier? Dinner’s ready.”

“I’m not really in the mood for a holiday dinner right now.”

“Please, it would mean a lot to us. And we think it’s just what you all need, right now.”

“Fine, if you insist.” Alice walked over to her room while the others brought the food out.

Mika was lying on Alice’s bed, wearing their favorite jacket, which still had some stains on it from the large explosion.

They had headphones on, mouthing along to the song they were listening to, as well as blinking their eyes and tapping their wrist at a quick pace.

“Are you listening to some hectic music?” Alice asked, having seen Mika in this state before. They regularly made time to listen to some hectic music, as they described it. They couldn’t do anything besides listen when that music played, as it got all of their attention and made them fidgety.

Mika noticed Alice standing there and took off their headphones.

“I’m trying to distract myself.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“What happened to you?” Mika asked, noticing the scratches, some of which hadn’t been covered up yet.

“Just some trees and thorns. Nothing all that bad.”

“Hold still, I have to fix this.” Mika pulled out a package of Band-Aids from their jacket. They slowly and gently placed the colorful bandages with a rubber duck motif on every single scratch and cut.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I’m just taking care of my sister. It’s what any good sibling does.”

Alice had to chuckle at the strange irony of the statement.

“Your grandparents asked me to get you. Dinner’s ready.”

Mika looked down at the floor. “I’m not really hungry.”

“They would really, really like it if you came. Plus, didn’t you promise Tzuriel to help him light the menorah?”

“I nearly forgot!” Mika quickly ran out of the room.

Alice shook her head, smiling, before leaving her bedroom. She walked back to the living room, looking over at Xavier’s bedroom door.

She opened the door and closed it behind herself. It was dark inside, and Alice could barely make out Xavier’s silhouette, lying on the bed.

He looked utterly defeated, holding my favorite plushy to his chest. His face was wet from the tears and snot it was covered in.

“Shit, you look worse than I do!” Alice said as she turned on the light.

“What do you want?” Xavier asked, not even bothering to wipe his face.

“I came here to tell you that dinner’s ready.”

“Tell the others I’m not in the mood.”

“Yeah, seems like that’s a common theme here, but it didn’t stop any of us, so get up and get your ass over there.”

“What’s the point? I should just starve. Not like I deserve to celebrate after fucking everything up.”

“Fuck,” Alice groaned. “Do I seriously have to be the one to have an emotional talk with you?”

“I’d rather you wouldn’t.”

“Me too, but here we are.” Alice sat down next to him. “At the risk of sounding like Amy, I have to say the obvious. This isn’t your fault.”

“But I had the chance to rescue Natsu. The machine was right there.”

“Yeah, and he was the one who chose to remain a ghost.”

“I should have known better and told him to…”

“And would he have listened to you? Or would it have even worked, for that matter?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, then just choose to believe that the answer to both of those questions is no. You know, sometimes pessimism is just another way to think positively.”

“It literally isn’t. But I get what you mean.”

“Listen, Xavier, normally I’m a person who chooses to see the worst in everything. You know, some people argue the glass is half full, others say it’s half empty. I just think about how bad the drink tastes.”

“Sounds like a great way to go about life,” Xavier smirked.

“I know. But, if you’ll let me put a positive spin on the situation, at least you got to talk to him one more time. You managed to get closure.”

“Is that something you would have wanted?” Xavier asked.

“What?”

“Well, the reason you wanted to get back to your timeline was to reconnect with the people you love. Or at least talk to them one more time.”
“Yeah, well, that’s impossible now, so I just choose to forget about that.”

“But you would have wanted to, right?”

Alice hesitated. “There’s certainly a part of me that longs for that, yes. I mean, why do you think I was on my way to see my parents back in March? Even though I hate them and they hate me, that small part of me still wanted to give them another chance.”

“I’m sorry that this chance was taken from you.”

“Guess I’ll just have one more issue that will never get resolved. But, what’s one more?”

“Yup. You know, before the machine exploded, Natsu told me to give up on saving him. He told me to run.”

“See? I’m sure that also means that he wouldn’t want to see you sobbing like this. Who knows, maybe his Spectre-ass is watching us right now.”

I have to point out that I find it okay for Xavier to express his sadness, as he did in this moment. Although Alice made a good point, I was very much saddened, knowing I was the cause of his despair.

“So, what do you say? You wanna come eat something, before all our lives are turned upside down?”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt.” Xavier wiped his face and put on his glasses. Even with them on, his vision was a bit blurry. His vision clearly hadn’t returned to normal, and in fact, to this day, it still hasn’t.

The two left the room and sat down at the table, staring at the large variety of food.

“Good, we’re all here,” Mrs. Banda said.

Xavier flinched, uncomfortable with her wording.

The room was mostly dark, with a few sources of light providing just enough light to see everything properly in the dining area. Some candles, the TV, and the decorative lights on the tangerine tree.

Mr. Banda stood up and struck a match, lighting the middle candle on the menorah. He then looked at Mika, giving them an encouraging nod.

Quietly, Mika walked over to him, taking the lit candle. They had to think for a second, unsure if they’d remembered his instructions correctly, before using the candle to light the candle furthest on the left. They looked at Mr. Banda, waiting for his approving smile, before putting the other candle back in the center.

Mika sat back down, and Mr. Banda turned to his wife, handing her a letter.

Mrs. Banda looked at him and nodded.

“Tzuriel asked me to read this message to all of you, so that’s what I’ll do.”

She cleared her throat and straightened her glasses.

“I am not one for prayers or long speeches, but I wanted to share some words with you, after all that has happened. This year, it has been very eventful for all of us. There have been bad things, and there have been good things. But most importantly, our family grew considerably. Not just through Mika finally living with us, brightening every day with their presence. No, I also have four more grandchildren. Xavier, such a brave leader who will always stand up for his family, Amy and Alice, the chaotic twins with so much love in their hearts, and Ralph, the oldest, whose intelligence amazes me every time I meet him. You all make me so happy, no matter what’s to come.”

Mr. Banda had tears of joy in his eyes while listening to his wife share his words.

“I have chosen this moment, not just because of what happened yesterday, but also because we are here for the festival of lights, and all the holidays you celebrate in your unique ways.”

Mrs. Banda looked over at her husband, smiling at him.

“This menorah was passed down to me from my parents, and has been in my family since before they came to America, so it means a lot that I get to share it with this next generation of my family. I’m sure there are many hardships ahead, so I want to remind you what the menorah and Hanukkah stand for. They’re a symbol of perseverance and never losing hope, despite the impossible odds. So, just like a flame that lasts for longer than believed to be possible, I hope you will also continue on and never give up. Please, enjoy this moment with your family, and I wish you happy holidays.”

Mrs. Banda put the letter down with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Tzuriel. You truly have a way with words. I’m not sure what I could add, but I also want to remind you all that if we stay strong, we can make it through everything.”

The others remained quiet. The group ate their food, the mood still being noticeably gloomy despite the encouraging words of the Bandas.

After dinner, they put the dishes away and sat down on the couches, quietly staring at the flickering flames on the TV screen.

Mika was quietly munching on some food while pacing around the room.

“Looks like they still won’t open up to each other. I thought we could cheer them up like this,” Mrs. Banda said, looking at them from afar.

Mr. Banda seemingly had a last idea, which he told his wife about, before walking over to the others.

The two grabbed some of the presents and handed them out.

“I’m not sure we’re in the mood for presents,” Xavier said.

“That’s exactly why you should open them. Nothing better to cheer each other up than by sharing gifts.”

Hesitantly, the five opened their presents. Xavier got some new teabags he’d never tasted before, Ralph got a photo collection of a famous nature photographer, Amy got some indie horror movies on Blu-ray, and Mika got the newest Clever Foxes book and some CDs.

“Wow, those were the last ones I was missing for my Point Whitmark collection! Thanks!”

Alice was the last to open her present. Confused, she looked at the book on her lap. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?” She looked over at the Bandas.

“I thought maybe you would enjoy it. I know Alice returns to her world at the end, but maybe you will be happy staying in your personal wonderland.”

“Spoiler alert,” Alice said, jokingly, finally regaining some positivity.

“The book is decades old, there’s no way you don’t know the ending yet,” Ralph said, looking through the book he’d received.

“I’ve only read the Manga, and I doubt those stories are all that similar.”

“I’ve seen your manga collection. What you have there is definitely nothing like this book. Unless I missed the part about Alice’s friends dying in some fucked up games,” Amy pointed out.

“Well, thanks for the gifts,” Xavier said. “We actually worked together to get you one as well.” He handed them a card.

“It’s for a trip to Switzerland,” Mika explained eagerly, while the Bandas read the card.

“Just so you know, when Xavier says, we worked together he means that we just helped come up with it, and he financed the whole thing because he’s unbelievably rich.”

“Alice!” Amy said.

“What? I’m just making sure to give proper credit.”

“We all picked a location you can visit during your trip. Ralph suggested the Swiss National Park, Amy added Luzern, Alice suggested Zermatt, I put down Creux du Van, and lastly, Mika wanted you to go to Meiringen,” Xavier explained.

“So you can go see the Reichenbach Falls,” Mika added.

“How long is this trip?” Mrs. Banda asked, smiling.

“About two weeks. Oh, and don’t worry about the shop and the library. Alice and Xavier already promised to take care of it while you’re gone,” Amy said.

“I’ll help too, when I’m not busy with school,” Mika said, before taking another bite of the latkes they’d been holding onto.

“Well, I’m sure I speak for both of us when I say that we’re very happy about this present. Thank you very much.”

“Mika, how many latkes have you had? Because I’m pretty sure none of us had any,” Ralph asked.

“Sorry. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, so I might have gotten carried away.”

“They’ve been practicing lighting the menorah for weeks now, just so they wouldn’t mess it up. I’d say they’ve earned it,” Mrs. Banda said.

“That’s not all. I also helped Grandpa Tzuriel try out some new recipes, and I learned 15 ways to spell Hanukkah.”

“Geez, and I’m overwhelmed with one way of spelling it,” Xavier said.

“I’m sure Alice would be good at it. She’s pretty good at memorizing different ways to spell the same word,” Amy said, while picking up some gifts.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Pretty sure you know like 20 ways to spell the word shounen.”

“Shut up.”

“Not before I’ve given you your present.”

Alice opened up the envelope, finding a card inside.

“I booked us a weekend in Pigeon Fort to play MagiQuest. You know, because you never got to go as a kid.”

“Well, that seems like a smart gift. Last I checked, you also never got to go.”

“I know, that’s what makes it such a good gift.”

“Thanks. I guess you can open my gift to you next.”

The mood had clearly lightened up, and the group continued giving each other gifts. Alice had mainly made custom pieces of clothing for the others, an Inazuma Japan tricot for Amy, a knitted hat with bunny ears for Xavier, and a cloak for Ralph, based on one of his D&D characters.

“Oh my god!” Mika yelled, opening up their gift from Alice. Inside the box were two rubber ducks, both wearing suits, one with red, the other with blue details.

“Are these…?!”

“They’re the limited edition Clever Foxes duckies, only sold during the first live tour.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Mika said, hugging Alice.

Alice looked at Xavier with a grin on her face. “Looks like I got them the better gift.”

“I didn’t know it was a competition, but congrats, I guess.”

This was certainly Mika’s favorite gift. The plush shark from Amy and the promised custom detective-themed D&D campaign from Ralph paled in comparison.

They went on for a while, opening each other’s gifts, and getting happier with every passing minute. They were actually able to forget everything around them for a moment.

Now, this is where I come in because I want to make sure that this happiness doesn’t vanish.

I am writing these final paragraphs on February 19th, 2025. To some of you, this might just be a normal date, but to others, it is the day your lives as you knew them ended.

You might be curious about how I’m sharing this story with you, after the secret base blew up, and alongside it, all the technology that I could communicate through.

Well, thanks to a trustworthy collaborator who is nothing short of a master investigator, I managed to salvage enough technology to create a connection to the physical world.

Not just that. I also have access to data about every single person who’s ever worked with the Red Eye, including proof of their criminal activities. Now, you might already know this, as today, I went public with this data, exposing every major member of the organization. The president, Richard Scent, the Pied Piper, or as he’s really called, George Hopkins, and many more have been exposed as the criminals they truly are. As for those with less important roles, I have kept the data private, only sharing it with them. I told them that if anything should happen to anyone associated with the D&M Detective Agency, that information would go public. So these criminals, who include burglars, drug dealers, gang members, murderers, and many more, have an interest in keeping my loved ones safe. And just so anyone who might consider retaliating against them knows, if that thought crosses your mind, I will know before you can even take another breath. So you’d better behave, or you might face a mob of criminals who’d rather not have their business aired out publicly.

This should allow my friends, who’ve spent the last few weeks in witness protection, to finally come out of hiding and return to their normal lives.

Now, you may be wondering why I wrote this book. It seems like I publicized all the important information already, so why this? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s to make the world see. To show my friends as the heroes they are. To make them into symbols of justice.

But not just them. I will also become a symbol. A shining beacon of hope. Their guardian angel. Because as long as I am here, which is forever, they are safe. Protected under my watchful eyes.

And to come back to the beginning of this story. What was it that started with a flash of light?

It was the end of the Red Eye that I was referencing. Because on that day, when they crossed paths with me, they sealed their fate. They were protected simply because it was impossible for a human to take them down. But that day, they created something that was more than human. They turned me into an omniscient being, far more powerful than they could have ever imagined.

And with this, I’m signing off. To all the criminals out there, be sure not to cross me. And to the innocent people of the world, be sure that you are protected by me, Natsu Masuda, founding member of the D&M Detective Agency, and Investigator of the fourth dimension.