Mafia The Third: The Seaside Town of Aifam Cove

[Lizzie]

Dakota groaned as the people crowded around Enna's body. Crowds were very hard to deal with when you had to pick a body up and take it away.

"You there. Morgue person. Cover the body and prepare to take her away for safe keeping. The snow can only do so much. If you can do it, take a quick note on cause of death as well. It's the best we can do for now."

"You know," Dakota crossed their arms with a sigh, "I don't appreciate behind told how to do my job."

They grabbed the ends of their pink hair, staring down at Enna's body and bending down to pick her up. Blowing strands out of their face, they shifted slightly and gazed at everyone who was crowded around the spectacle.

"TOPHER?" Dakota yelled, shivering slightly. Their oversized sweater, now rubbing against the bloody corpse of Enna Tweff, was doing little to protect them from the January cold. They wanted to get a move on.

They turned and looked at the quickly departing crowds and bossily said, "Please, someone find my cousin and, the rest of you, move out of the way so I can get this body out of here!"

[Pixie]

As Lili was preparing to suggest to go inside with Professor Bardsley to recruit people to the investigation team, she was approached by two people.The first was one of the people whom she had fled from to avoid loosing her temper. The boy, Winston Teakes, approached the two of them, talking in a jargon that was unfamiliar to Lili. He had gotten on her nerves earlier with his rude talk, but she thought he might act more polite if she made an example for him. It wouldn't be very kind to chase him away, even though his methods would likely have negative influence on the results of the investigation.

"Piquéing?" Lili remarked, puzzled "We aren't talking about ballet. We are talking about murder. The carebears are not relevant to this, either, unless you assume that they actually exist, and that such adorable teddies would do such a mean thing if they did. I won't require anyone to help if they don't want to."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend Alma enter the teahouse, looking upset. Lili wanted to reach out for her, but she would have to wait a moment. She continued on with her speaking with her mind slipping elsewhere, to Alma.

"Your primary reward will be security, of your own and this little town. Everyone's lives are at stake here, even yours. However, if the murderer can be discovered and stopped, then I will be able to host a tea party. There will be tea, tiny pastries, and sweets. Including little cakes."

Right after she finished her response, the eccentric hairdresser, Leopold Endicott, appeared. He began to fanboy her and Bardsley, who must have attracted Leopold's attention with his admittedly luscious hair. Leopold's hair was done up in a wild style, as was the norm, and she wondered exactly where he had came from. He had done an excellent job of transforming her naturally reddish hair into its current blue, but he had a personality that was hard to reign in. Even though his styles were over-the-top even for her, Lili had to admire his sheer enthusiasm for hair.

"Do you wish to join the investigation?" Lili inquired "As lovely as styling would be right now, we have to solve this mystery!" Lastly, with Alma's look of distress bringing in urgency to her wishes, she added to everyone. "People seem to be going into Starlight. Let's bring the party in there and talk our plans out over tea."

[Diana]

“Ballet? What? This isn’t Dance Dance Revolution. Get your facts straight. I said pking. Player killing. Which is, like, most definitely a thing that is going on right now, dude. Dudette.”

And what was she going on about now? Did she not speak Basic? “Oh my god, woman, you are making me facepalm.” Winston did not actually facepalm. “I’m talking about carebears. Wusses. People who are all like ‘waaah, you killed me, aaaah’, and you’re like ‘well, moron, you’re playing Halo, these aren’t water guns’, but they’re just complaining and crying because you hurt their feelings, and because girls totally aren't up to this kind of thing.” He grumbled a bit to himself, lost in memories of a particularly exasperating match. “Should go play Super Mario Party if they can’t handle real games.”

Pff. Typical panicked townsperson. What a boring archetype. “Nobody’s life is at stake. I mean, yeah, you get killed, but it’s not like…” Winston paused as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. “Oh, you mean this is a Roguelike*? Well, blast. That’s not any fun. Not that I’m not up to the challenge,” he added hastily. “It’s just, that’s kind of depressing. That went out of style ages ago, and it’s just not fun to go back to level one. Open-ended RPGs are totally where it’s at nowadays.”

“I don’t need security.” He blinked, genuinely surprised. Okay, so maybe they were trying to avoid being meta, but really, would it kill them to give him some recognition every once in a while? It was like Pokemon all over again. “I’m the hero. You guys need my security. That’s, like, why you gave me the quest. So I could find the bad guy for you.”

Insulted as he was, and in spite of the lack of a monetary reward, it was still a decent enough offer. Cake sounded good, although tea was totally a wussy beverage, and there was probably some XP involved that had just been too meta to mention. But he had to prepare for this one if saving was no longer an option. “Can I take this quest tomorrow or something? I want to be a bit overlevelled before I start this one. I’m not afraid or anything, I just -” he glanced down to his 3DS, on which he had encountered yet another non-shiny Yveltal, and cursed under his breath. “Look, just, like, nothing’s gonna happen until I start the quest, so you guys can just stay here or whatever NPCs do and I’ll go get my cake and maybe level up a few times. And take down that M4sT3rCH13F noob.”

With that, he exited the dialogue.

He mulled over his options, brusquely soft resetting past yet another Yveltal. Since the cake woman was dead, he probably wasn’t going to be able to enter the cake shop until the map updated next. And the tea shop was right there… Winston was not a fan of girly drinks, but they did sell pastries, and needs must as needs must. It was a grim resolution, but he would muscle through these injustices in the name of protecting the world.

He stepped in, bracing himself against the smell of wussy beverages, and threw some coins on the counter. “Ten Rupees. Get me a black coffee with one sugar and a box of doughnuts. Heavy on the Boston Cremes.”


*For those unfamiliar with the term, a roguelike is a genre of game characterized by permanent death (you start over), among other, less relevant things. I don’t expect your characters to know what the heck Winston is talking about, but if you’re curious, well. x3

[icon]

Coena was worried about Ris.

It wasn't that they weren't glad the girl wanted to help the town figure out who had killed Enna Twaff; her heart was certainly in the right place. That said, she had the tendency to get... carried away about these sorts of things. Like the incident with the town square a few years back. Her exuberance often put them both in more trouble than it was worth, and Coena turned over the facts in their mind; this mafia business could actually be really dangerous if Ris jumped into things headfirst like she always did...

Plus, she'd been mumbling something about eggs under her breath for the past ten minutes. That was worrying too.

Something made them stop. "Hey, Ris, check this out."

It was an overturned crate in the snow. The box was surprisingly large; both of them could probably have fit into it with a little bit of room to spare. The lid of the crate lay in the snow; traveling away from the box, a set of large tracks. Three-toed tracks.

"But when it comes to egg-based monologues, you can't just make an omelette-- oh woah, what's this?" Ris cut her scrambled narration short as the two of them approached the crate. She looked at the side of the box, trying to read the label.

Coena skittered about in place. "You think this is related to Enna's death?"

"Tracks going out... -pfhhhh-ptak!- nothing going in. Coena, whether this is related to the murder or not, it's something big." She fiddled in her pockets for a few seconds, pulling out several packets of gum before she grabbed her phone and began taking pictures.

Judging by the tracks, it's definitely big, Coena thought, but another bell was ringing in their mind. The shape of those footprints looked familiar, and Ris's previous ramblings caused a spark in their brain. Eggs...

"I think," Coena said carefully, "that we ought to see what Mr. Rapture might make of these tracks."

"Fella C. Rapture," Ris spoke around her gum. "A big name in town for an even bigger lizard. That man has bad news written on him like 65 million BCE..." Coena shivered for a moment while Ris chewed thoughtfully, "...and there was a chance that he was be the missing link between Enna's death and the crate's contents..."

"Ris, we don't even know if this has anything to do with the murder."

"But it's not impossible," Ris said cheerfully, starting to follow the tracks back into town. "Don't forget, once you've figured out something that's not impossible, what must be the truth seems a lot less improbable!"

I'm not quite sure that's how the saying goes, Coena thought, but they followed Ris nevertheless.

[PFA]

While they were discussing the topic of investigation, two individuals approached them on the matter. One was an unfortunate young man who seemed convinced that his entire life was a video game, and believed that the investigation could be postponed until tomorrow. This, however, was certainly not the case... especially with the killers still on the loose, there was no telling how long the trail would last, or when they would strike again. Neither Professor Bardsley nor the young blue-haired woman had the chance to explain this to the poor man before he walked away, though. Professor Bardsley just shook his head, seeming almost amused at the ordeal.

At around the same time, the eccentric and very colorful hairdresser, Leopold Endicott, arrived on the scene, cheerfully remarking that the two of them made an excellent team, and offering to style them for the occasion. Professor Bardsley gave a lighthearted chuckle at the suggestion. He was fine with his current appearance, though he couldn't deny the stylist's taste for the unique.

"No, that's quite alright," he said, brushing some of his luscious locks of brown hair behind his ear, and adjusting his glasses. In response to Liliana's suggestion to stop by the teahouse, he gave a serene smile. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. A nice cup of tea sounds delightful right about now."

[Avery]

The moment Bea stepped into the inn-- still dizzy and now nearly out of breath-- she heard the distinctive chink-crash sound of glass hitting tile. It sounded like it was coming from the dining room. Bea flinched and whipped off her coat, draping it haphazardly over the coat rack near the door. She wanted more than anything to sit down and calm herself, but she knew she had to go investigate the sound. And once she did... she'd get the last good bottle of tequila out from her special cabinet and retreat to her bedroom and suck down a palmful of aspirin and... then things would be okay, yes.

But for now, the dining room.

"Is everything okay?" she called out as she strode towards it. No reply. Bea frowned, suddenly fearing the worse. The mafia. What if, not sated by Enna's death, they'd come to the inn, and done something terrible to one of her guests and--

She forced away the thought, refusing to let herself jump to the worst case scenario so swiftly. She almost cried with relief, though, when she finally reached the dining room and discovered that the crashing sound hadn't been the byproduct of some terrible attack. Instead, Bea found Hermia Smith-- who'd been staying at the inn for months now-- standing with a bagel stuffed in her mouth and a shattered cup of orange juice at her feet. Her eyes were trained on the small television Bea had set up in the dining room a few years ago to keep the guests entertained while they gnawed on their meals. Cheryl Roxanne Lewis danced about the screen, attempting to find somebody to interview. That scumbag. Bea also forced this thought away. Now was not the time to focus her energy on the insufferable Cheryl.

"Miss Smith!" Bea exclaimed. "Are you alright?" As Hermia collected herself, Bea rushed over to the utility closet off the dining room and pulled out from it a broom and pan, then began sweeping up the shattered remains of the glass. After it was collected, she dumped the shards into the trashcan and placed a wad of paper towels over the juice to soak it up.

"Terrible thing that's happened, isn't it?" Bea asked as the paper towels turned orange, feasting on the liquid. Noticing the way Hermia's eyes were still locked on the TV, Bea-- afraid that her guest was going to pass out-- hurriedly picked up the remote control and flipped from channel 24 to a network that was playing kids' cartoons. An animated dog appeared on the screen, barking at an animated cat.

That was better.

"Here," Bea said to Hermia. "Let me get you another cup of orange juice, Miss Smith. Why don't you sit down? You're looking awfully... pale."

[Birdy]

"Miss Smith!" Bea exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

Hermia, eyes still fixed on the television, mutely nodded. (It was rather hard to talk after such breaking news, after all. And also with a bagel still stuffed in one's mouth.)

As she continued to stare at the TV, she was vaguely aware of the glass being cleaned up around her. Something in her mind said she should be helping, but she still remained rooted to the spot.

"Terrible thing that's happened, isn't it?" Bea was saying.

Hermia only nodded mutely - almost mechanically - again. (Was it her imagination, or was the room starting to sort of... spin?)

She blinked a few times to clear her vision, and when she did, the image on the screen had turned to a cartoon - one of those new shows that was the latest craze among the kids.

"Here," Bea said... "Let me get you another cup of orange juice, Miss Smith. Why don't you sit down? You're looking awfully... pale."

Finally snapping out of her stupor, Hermia groped for one of the chairs and stumbled forward, pulling it from the table and sinking down into it.

"Thank you..." she managed, when Bea handed her the glass of orange juice, having now removed the bagel from her mouth. "And yes... yes, it- it is terrible. For something like this to happen here, it's just--"

She cut herself off, and took a sip from the glass, only to quickly sit it on the table after noticing her hands trembling. It wouldn't do to have a repeat of glass-breaking.

She clasped her hands together and took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. She had no desire to pass out. Once she trusted her hands to actually hold something again, she picked the glass of juice back up and took another sip.

"I... are you alright?" Hermia asked Bea hesitantly, placing the glass back on the table. "I mean... you were out there, weren't you? You saw the-" - she stopped and swallowed - "you saw the body?"

Hermia shuddered and rubbed her arms, suddenly feeling cold. There was an old tradition that said if you shivered without reason, it meant someone had just walked over the ground where you would be buried. She hoped this was not the case.

[♥ Azzie]

Everything was a bit of a blur for Calla. The child near her seemed stunned- she didn't blame him- and people around her were walking away in groups. She wasn't sure where to go, or if she oughtn't to run home, but she was worried for Christopher.

"It- it will be okay." She didn't know why she said it, she had never felt less okay, but it seemed to her the right thing to say.

[Rosalie Dylas (Maddy)]

"It- it will be okay."

He didn't know who they were, but it was comforting. Maybe it would be ok.

"I hope." he mumbled. Right now he felt weak. He wanted to bury his head in this stranger and cry, but he couldn't. He had to be strong. He wasn't some little kid anymore. He felt like a little kid though. Maybe it was something he'd never grow out of.

Kota's voice. They didn't sound happy. The body. The body had to get to the morgue. He was used to carrying bodies by now... and this time they'd be safe. This time nothing bad would happen to them. He wouldn't be so naive like he was before. But Kato would take care of the bodies, he had faith in them.

He shakily got up.
"Thank you..." he said to the person who had talked to him, "My name's Christopher." he added. It was polite to introduce yourself. He couldn't stay. He wanted to say he caught his breathe but he was still shaking. Kota needed his help though.
"It was nice to meet you." Christopher smiled, even though he didn't feel like smiling. He wanted to pretend it was all a nightmare or something. It wasn't, he wouldn't wake up, it was happening again, and this time he might not be so lucky, and he couldn't decide whether that bothered him or not. Did he want to...?
No. He didn't.

Christopher took a deep breathe. He knew he'd have to plow through the crowd. Running into people was something he'd grown accustom to. Once he ran into a hippie (who was also a murderer) and the heir to the Everington cake franchise and... her. (YOU DON'T MISS HER CHRISTOPHER YOU DON'T MISS HER).

He plunged into the crowd, bumping and pushing.

"Kota, I'm here- excuse me, I'm really sorry- Kota I'm right here." he said rather loudly, hoping Dakota would help him and lead him to the body.

[Jayeee]

“Oh, yes, what a shame. I’m trying to film here, Mister Richem, so if you’ll please move along.”

Travis paused. This wasn't in the script he'd formed in his head. He wondered if Tiffany had her own plans. Plans that obviously didn't matter in the slightest because she was simply an extra. Perhaps she was trying to land the role of recurring actor.

He once again turned to the side. “I was like: seriously? Does she not realise what a catch I am? But then I realised – is she just playing hard to get? The girls love that, so maybe she's trying this out on me. I'm not one to resist a challenge, and she's clearly not going to say no to a face like this for long. She looked desperate.”

“As you can see, loyal viewers, this incident has caused some of our townsfolk great distress. Consider this a reminder to please be cautious when dealing with people today, as their emotions may be unstabilized by this tragedy. Remember, when someone you know has been affected by a crisis…”

“I've been affected by a crisis. A crisis... of Love!” His audience adored heartfelt proclamations. They were absolutely rooting for him to find happiness and while he was certain it wouldn't be with Tiffany, that wasn't going to stop him from putting on one heck of a performance.

Travis grabbed Tiffany's hand, holding it tightly in his before looking over at her cameraman. It seemed that they'd stopped filming. With his free hand he clicked his fingers. “Camera up, Carl, we need to make a public announcement about love at first sight!”

He looked into Tiffany's eyes. “How about we both move along – to your house. I could use a break from all of this... this... madness.” Tears filled his eyes. “Just thinking about Amy makes me weak at the thighs.” He trembled slightly. “Speaking of thighs, mine are rock solid. Like thunder. Why don't you just think about that for a minute?”

He looked over his shoulder once more. “Women like her, they can't help themselves. Tiffany is a classic example of somebody who thinks she's so much better than everybody else. We'll see if she tells a different story after we've spent a night of passion in each other's arms.”

Travis leaned over and rested his head against Tiffany. “Maybe you should declare your love on air right now. I'd hate for people to think you hated me, girlfriend. Especially when we both know that isn't true!”

[Ian Wolf-Park]

((I think I'll follow Stal and type up the post independently of the current action))

While the townspeople of Aifam Cove were dealing with the fallout from Enna's murder, Doctor Evan Parker was unaware of what had just happened in the town that he called home as he was currently in Weewoo City attending a mandatory medical conference. If it hadn't been mandatory, he would not have attended as one of the speakers (and the organizer, by coincidence) was a person he hated- a certain C. Flash, who had the tendency to bore everyone in the room to death.

As Flash droned on and on, Evan's mind began to wander around, thinking about what he could be doing right now at his workplace, Healing Hearts Vet Clinic. Typically, it would be quiet, since it was winter, allowing him to catch up on various puzzles, although there were rare times where he would go out for a house call, mainly from the menagerie next door or the Stallion Inn. Before he knew it, Evan, like the rest of the people in the room, silently fell asleep.

[Lizica]

Piper was mumbling about Webster and how awful it was to have to set up a new camera. She was so focused on fiddling with the date settings on this replacement camera that she accidentally bumped into someone moving towards the teahouse.

"Oh. 'Morning, Marie," Piper said distractedly, glancing up from her camera only after she had finished inputting the current time. Dr. Marie Robinson was covered in purple dust in a similar way to how Piper was covered in beach sand. Some of the sand and some of the dust had rubbed off on each person respectively in the collision--but neither seemed very concerned.

"I only came to see what the crowd thing was," Piper murmured. She glanced past Marie and at the diminishing cake shop crowd. Many were headed into the teahouse, but the Channel 24 News was trying to cover some kind of...love story.

Generally, what Piper usually got out of watching the news was the weather--which heavily impacted her crab burrow stakeout schedule. But sometimes, if an unusually large news event happened--say, a festival or fireworks or a surfing competition--crowds would storm Sirensong Beach--which also heavily impacted Piper's crab burrow stakeout schedule. Either way. Often good to know the general goings-on of Aifam.

"Please, someone find my cousin and, the rest of you, move out of the way so I can get this body out of here!"

"Kota, I'm here- excuse me, I'm really sorry- Kota I'm right here."

Glancing over in Dakota Allen's direction, Piper had to do a double-take. A wave of nausea swept over her. They were dragging a body. A bloody body. The bloody body of Enna Tweff.

"Excuse me." Piper darted away, clutching her camera close to her chest.

Oh, this was a bad news event. Oh, was this bad.

First the mafias were killing people. Then the town would panic. Then the authorities would try to quell the panic. Then they'd set up a curfew. Then no one would be allowed outside after dark. Then Piper would never be able to stakeout Webster's burrow again. Then she would never get a photo of the ghost crab. And then Webster would have won.

Piper threw open the door of And To Think I Saw It and left a wide, haphazard trail of sand behind her on its perfect floor as she hurried to the counter. She knew exactly what to order to calm her down.

"Mr. Stal!" Piper cried. "Snapping Turtle! Webster! Enna! The mafia! I need to order your Crab Cake Supreme, pronto, please!"

[Nova]

If there was one thing Nathan enjoyed about the murder, it was the driving profit sales. Oh it was glorious! As people started ordering their teas and forking over their cash for some soothing chamomile to settle their upset stomachs, there may as well have been dollar signs in his eyes. He almost forgot his dear Enna died in the hustle and bustle. After all, being the sole worker at the Starlight Teahouse meant that he had to handle the register, make the teas, clean up after his customers, wash the dishes and more all on his own. He loved it, though. He wouldn't have changed it for the world.

He hated to have a glum look on his face though. Enna was dead, yes, but it was time to move on. He wanted to smile and greet his customers with a glee, but opted to go for a remorseful "Good afternoon" with a nod of his head instead. He wasn't heartless and certainly didn't want to be seen as heartless, his personality just clashed with being anything but joyful.

The uh, interesting Alma Fitzsimmons came up next in line. Can I have a tea that will temporarily stop dreaming...? she had asked. Nathan looked perplexed for a moment, thinking of the array of teas and their effects on people. He wasn't entirely sure, but he came up with a solution.

"I do have a tasty Lemon and Ginger tea that I think will help. Will that interest you?"

The gorgeous Liliana Parker was coming into the teahouse, inviting the investigating party inside. Perfect, thought the optimistic Nathan. "What can I get for you lot? I cannot express my gratitude
to you for trying to find Enna's killer... but I can provide some tea!"

Next came the, what Nathan thought, rude Winston. He never came in often, as it was not terribly difficult to deduce that he did not respect tea or their excellent health benefits: rich in antioxidants and their ability to simply melt stress away, in addition to brilliantly hydrating the body and restoring bone mineral density and strength. No, no respect. In fact, he ordered coffee. An acidic laxative that absorbs your body's minerals and releases stress hormones.

Of course, due to demand he did keep coffee grounds on hand just in case. But he was never happy about it, and of course, it wasn't good quality coffee. And doughnuts? Why would he carry such a fattening product.

“Ten Rupees. Get me a black coffee with one sugar and a box of doughnuts. Heavy on the Boston Cremes.”

"Your coffee will be right away, however," he coughed, "sadly we do not carry baked goods. Perhaps you can try the Aifam Grocers? I believe they have a small bakery section." He made his black coffee to perfection and handed it to Winston, dropping his change into his hands.

"Be safe out there," he said with a caring smile.

[Draco]

Jack took his time back to Main Street deep in thought. The thoughts however weren't really coherent...

"THE VOICES SAID 'EMPTY, HOLLOW AND THUD'!!"

So instead he just looked over his notes. here was a murder outside the cake shop. The cake shop paid it's bills at a decent rate, and seemed profitable at times, at least from what the notes said. He could be wrong, it's been a while since he updated his notes on a few of the better shops in town. Anyways, back to the current events. Dead body, murdered, laying in the snow, hopefully picked up.

Turning his head he looked at the kids building snowmen.

"I LOOKED INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS, AND I ATE IT ALL!!! Now, GO TO SLEEP!"

He walked over to one, and like before lifted the child up by the collar. This time it was Lil' Gavin's friend, Lil' Micoo. What kind of name was Micoo? He was sure it was a nickname.

"Child. I have some questions for you."

Lil' Micoo wiggles around to get out of Jack's grasp and soon just gives up and hangs there with his arms crossed, "And what would that be Snape?"

Jack growls lightly, curling his lip, "Smith. The first question is simple. A woman is asking about her daughter. Have you seen the daughter?"

"I would need a name?"

It dawned on Jack... He didn't write down the name.

"NAME NAME GO AWAY COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY!"

"...Question two. Do you know anything about the murder?"

"Only what we saw this morning. Since then we've just been buildin' snowmen. Mindin our own business."

Jack lets go of Lil' Micoo.

"Carry on."

He continues his walk over to the tea shop and sits down.

Lil' Micoo meanwhile runs over to the other kids and whispers to them.

[Killix]

Click Here for Comic