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Post by Diana on Apr 4, 2014 13:45:24 GMT -5
Aifam Cove, Winston knew, was descending into a terrible crisis. All of the shopkeepers kept getting killed off! Where was he supposed to get his breakfast now? NPC chatter was usually useless – just the same lines spouted off over and over again – but in trawling for sidequests, he’d learned that apparently Everington Cakes Unlimited had lost another staff member. Everington Cakes Unlimited, of all places! And apparently she’d been baking when she got offed. There’d been loads of cakes that suddenly lost their ownership tags, and he hadn’t been there to eat any of them! Even worse, the NPCs of this town apparently had loot behavior packages, because there weren’t even any left! What a nightmare. Winston had finally gotten around to taking the requested photos of himself. His Link outfit was a tinge too small – must have gotten magical shrinking dust on it or something – but it had worked, even if he probably hadn’t gotten a perfect score, and now he had the proper items to complete the quest. He tried to remember where the stylomancer’s lair was – he hadn’t exactly been in the most attentive of states when he’d first arrived there, and Aifam Cove’s area map was yet another one of those universal things the programmers completely failed to put in. Eventually he managed to piece together the location by trawling NPC chatter and made his way down Main Street. The building’s door was ajar when he reached it. Strange – usually shops were separate cells. He peered around, then pushed it open. “Hey, mysterious benefactor! I got the items you wanted. Do you have any more que-“ The door bumped against something. He looked down. Somebody had left another dead body in the way. What, did Aifam forget to delete NPCs after they died? He knelt down to see if there was any loot worth pocketing. Wait. That cloak. That style. That incredibly high Charisma stat… “No!” Winston wailed. “You can’t be dead! You were supposed to teach me how to channel the power of fabulousness!” He paused, racking his brain. “Uh, whoever you were.” Man, mousing over the corpse didn’t even reveal the name. Maybe the character was too mysterious to have one, but then it should have said something like ‘Mysterious Fashion Man’ or suchlike. Aifam was so broken. Unless this was a cutscene? It certainly didn't feel like one. But… how else could this have happened? He was supposed to be Winston’s mentor! Saving his hair from the clutches of evil modders, giving him free stat boosts and quests that were about him, for once! No longer. The secrets of the magic interface, the power of the Charisma stat… all lost to him now. This had been a strike against justice – a strike against him! He understood what needed to be done. This… this was a revenge arc. He slowly rose to his feet, kitty ear headband quivering. “You’ll pay for this, evil boss!” he yelled. Winston goes to complete the quest, only to find out that Leo has been tragically murdered. Clearly, this is the start of a story arc.
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Post by Layla "Nimbus" Karimi on Apr 4, 2014 13:45:39 GMT -5
"I-- I... you won't believe it, Miss Devon! There's been another murder!" Melanie looked up at the sound of Marco's voice. Beatrice and Hermia were out with Merry, and her assistant seemed to be winded as he and Lacey ran up to them. "Another one, already?" she cried in disbelief. Rushing to catch up with the group, she added, "Who? Do you know what happened?" Marco stopped to catch his breath. "Piper the... photographer. She was on the beach and... shot! She had paper snowflakes on her and a gun by her side but... I don't know how it all happened." Melanie swallowed. She didn't know Piper as well as she would have liked -- the nature photographer had always seemed interesting and friendly enough, and her shop was right next to the Menagerie, but she was always so busy with Webster. Melanie couldn't imagine why she would have had a gun, though. Unless... "I... Someone should go check it out," she said. "If the attack was recent, we might still find traces of the Chill of the Night out there." With that, she started heading for the beach. It was a bit foolhardy, she knew -- if Chill's attack had really just happened, they could very well be nearby and ready to kill again. But Melanie smiled, just a tiny bit to herself, allowing her canines to sharpen ever-so-slightly as she did. If Chill did decide to go after her... Well, she'd have something to say about that. Melanie hears Marco announce the murder, and decides to head down to the beach and check on Piper's body.
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Post by Kristykimmy on Apr 4, 2014 16:24:10 GMT -5
Anna had found to her delight she could handle inanimate objects. She hadn't worked up the courage to try touching a person yet, but then again, she didn't have a reason for touching people, so it didn't really matter. She was sitting on her surfboard in the water when she noticed the crowd gathering on the beach where Piper often seemed to be hunting that crab. Anna had always been of the opinion that her crab obsession would be the death of her. After all, it did seem rather dangerous to be out after dark on the rocks and in all kind of weather hunting a crab of all things. She laid on her stomach and paddled to shore, sticking the board in the sand before walking over to where everyone was gathered. There, with a chain on snowflakes on her chest was Piper, dead. “Guess I was wrong,” she said before noticing the trap. “Or not. Either way, this is getting out of hand.” Anna collected her board and headed home. She was no longer in the mood to surf. She was still rather bitter about her own death, however it was an anger that was changing. She wanted everything to stop. All the death to be over. They had lynched the town velociraptor the day before, and now the mafia had killed again. If the way things had been going was any indication, the townspeople would be riled by the newest death and go into a blood frenzy again. Considering that they were three to one now, their odds of killing yet another innocent person was high, and Anna really disapproved of just outright murdering anyone, regardless of whether they were Mafia or not. She passed Stop. Glamour Time! on her way back from dropping her surfboard at her apartment. She was glad to see people were leaving her shop alone. Anna was pondering what a ghost could do when her attention was grabbed by someone screaming. “You’ll pay for this, evil boss!”It was Winston Teakes, the resident gamer who didn't know the difference between video games and reality. She walked up and looked down at the body lying there, Mr. Endicott the hair stylist. Anna really ignored her hair usually. It got washed, brushed, and she pulled it out of her way when she needed it out of her face. Every now and then she styled it using the same three styles if she had some social event she needed to look nice for. She had gone to Stop. Glamour Time! once, Leopold was too overbearing for her tastes. All she had wanted was a trim, and he had pestered a little too much for her tastes when she refused to let him style it to bring out her true fabulousness or some nonsense. She looked up at Winston. Well, he wasn't completely in touch with life, but if we was now determined to find out who was behind the murders, maybe she could work with that, provided Winston could see her. It was worth a shot. “Well, it seems there has been another death. So, hero, want a party member? I suppose it's unusual to have a ghost on your party, but I suppose I'm invincible. Cons are I'm also dead and people might freak out that I'm around, if they can see me. What do you say?” Anna has been surfing. She notices the commotion surrounding Piper's death. Now, tired of all the killing, she decides to turn her anger to more productive outlets like trying to stop the killings. She decides trying to team up with Winston Teakes is worth a try. Liou, sorry.
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Post by Gelquie on Apr 4, 2014 20:26:36 GMT -5
By the time Kylie had returned from her ride, she found that most people had returned to the streets and were milling about. Kylie usually spent longer on her trail rides, but today she couldn't swallow the fear that something may happen to her. So she ended up taking a shortcut and returning to town prematurely. Kylie made a mental note to make it up to Salieri later. Kylie sighed and trotted through the town. She hoped that her mother was awake by now; she still wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to her, but given what the power outage did to their food, she figured that a store trip was probably in order, and it would be better to bring it up to her mother first before they both did the shopping at the same time. It had happened before; usually, at least something was thrown out as a result. She made her way down the street in the direction of the inn, and was halfway there when she was stopped at the sight of Dessa Taylor, running towards her. "Help, please help!" Dessa cried. Kylie suddenly had a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Dessa? What is it?" "Leopold, he... I found him in the alley behind his store. He's... he's dead! The Mafia... They left one of the cards in his jacket. That abominable mafia found him!" Kylie's eyes went wide. "What?! Not him too..." "We have to do something about the body," Dessa said. "Inform people, carry the body..." Kylie frowned. Knowing of Leopold's death was bad enough. But with all that she had seen in the last few days, the last thing she wanted to see was another body. Enna was shocking enough, and that had been before the murders had become serial. But at the same time, Kylie didn't want to refuse her entirely. "I... I'll ride over to the morgue," Kylie said finally. "And I'll let them know where he is." Dessa nodded. "Okay... I'll go inform the rest of the town." Kylie turned her horse around and made her way towards the morgue. As much as she wanted to go faster, she knew she couldn't risk having Salieri running into anyone and causing even more pain. The town was already suffering, after all... And now it had lost another. However, Kylie still kept an eye out for the sign of any morgue workers, out of hope that she wouldn't actually have to step into the morgue again... The scene with Anna's corpse still burned into her mind, and... Well, Kylie hoped that she wouldn't have to risk seeing the morgue workers in the middle of their work again. Kylie returns to town, cutting her trip short due to worries about the Mafia. She heads towards the inn, hoping to find her mom so that she can go shopping without any miscommunication, but is interrupted by Dessa, who informs Kylie that Leo is dead, and pleads for help. Kylie doesn't want to see another corpse, so she agrees to ride to the morgue to let them know. She begins riding towards the morgue, but keeps an eye out for morgue workers along the way, since she doesn't REALLY want to actually enter the morgue.
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Post by Tiger on Apr 4, 2014 21:41:14 GMT -5
“Another report of mafia attacks. Leopold Endicott, owner of Stop. Glamour Time! and famed hairstylist was found murdered outside of his shop with an Abominable Aifam Ace. Despite differences we may have had in opinion, concerning a certain person recently deceased, he was a valued member of our community who made people feel good about themselves, and he will be missed. “Ordinarily, it seems Chill of the Night attacks on the same nights as Abominable Aifam – however, there seems to have been a fight between the two mafias. Piper Boudreaux, nature photographer, was found dead on the beach. Chill of the Night had left their chain of snowflakes alongside her, but Boudreaux herself was carrying ace cards prepared for use by the Abominable Aifam mafia. There’s yet to be any word on whether any Chill of the Night mafiosos suffered injury or loss of their own. Citizens should be alert for anyone with sudden, inexplicable injuries, but do not take it as an immediate sign of guilt. I repeat – do not take matters into your own hands, Aifam Cove.” It was an astonishingly brief report. Who would have believed Cheryl Roxanne Lewis could fall so short when there was, objectively, such stimulating news to report on? But Cheryl had other things on her mind. She left Albert to pack up the camera and sat heavily in the news van, already thumbing through the contacts list of her phone. “Broadcast’s done, Pratchett.” “Cheryl – I had no idea she was mafia. I should’ve seen…or…I should’ve figured it out somehow. I can’t believe this!” “It’s not your fault – but you understand what this means, right?” “That we confided in a mafioso, yes,” Pratchett said bitterly. “And that I promised to fix her stupid picture.” “Pratchett, what if she told the rest of Abominable Aifam about the ghosts on camera? She would have had no idea what those blurs were, and I’ll bet she couldn’t see the ghost without the camera! Now if Abominable didn’t know about the ghosts, they do, and they know how to try and find them! And I might’ve mentioned Christopher, Pratchett – the Abominables are the ones who killed him!” “Cheryl, even if they do know about the ghosts, what can they do? Chris’s already dead.” “Well, so’s Khiran, and I haven’t seen them since the night Mr. Stal died! And Siddhi…Siddhi’s dead, too.” “It was Chill of the Night that killed Siddhi, Cheryl.” “But Chill might have attacked her because they already knew about ghosts and wanted to eliminate the strongest link to Khiran’s. Why wouldn’t Abominable want to do the same thing? They don’t know that Christopher doesn’t know who they are! “And as for the ghosts…I’m not so sure they can’t be hurt, Pratchett. Or destroyed. I’ve kept looking into what happened in the other towns – Wafflenet in particular. Details are different between accounts and I can’t find perfectly clear answers, but ghosts were hurt there.” Cheryl clenched her fist so hard her nails starting digging into her palm. “What I definitely know is that ghosts of the mafia came back just like ghosts of the innocent. And it seems like a lot of the damage came from them. Two Abominable Aifam are dead – if they come back as ghosts, they could hurt Christopher. And the two who are alive might want to hurt me. “Pratchett…for all we know, the living and the dead mafiosos might still be working together. And now they have supernatural abilities on their side.” There was a very long silence between the two. Cheryl’s eyes drifted toward the window, outside of which lay the cold sands of the cold beach and the choppy waves of the icy sea. “Well…you don’t make it sound like a picnic,” Pratchett said. “But don’t forget – we’ve got a bit of supernatural, too.” Cheryl nodded, though of course Pratchett couldn’t see it. “I’m going to try and find the kids, and Khiran. We have a lot of investigation to do.” Cheryl gives a brief report on Leo and Piper’s death. She calls Pratchett and freaks out a little about putting Christopher and herself in danger by talking about the ghosts with Piper, before deciding to pick up the kids, trying to find Khiran, and getting down to business to defeat the huns
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Post by Avery on Apr 4, 2014 23:03:15 GMT -5
Marco kept on spluttering about the body as Bea stood there, shocked-- and then Melanie Porter, owner of the pet store, strode over and started talking about finding traces of Chill of the Night. This... was not something Bea wanted to do. At all. Maybe she was a coward, but it seemed like it would just be putting herself in harm's way. Drawing attention to herself. So as Marco and Melanie chatted, Bea muttered something about needing to get some food into her belly, then started away-- much to Merry's chagrin. The dog whined as it was separated from the shop dog, Lacey, and the pet store workers who had presumably fed her many delicious treats in times past. Despite her excuse, Bea was not really that hungry. In fact, the thought of food made her nauseous. As she walked away from Marco and Melanie, she remembered the reason she'd gone out at all: to get Merry a new toy. Funny how quickly that plan had fallen apart... and since Melanie and Marco were out of the shop, she supposed it was probably closed at the moment. As she ambled down Main Street headed nowhere in particular, her heart swelled with relief when she saw a familiar person up ahead: Kylie, sitting atop one of her horses. Bea's first instinct was to call out to her daughter... but she refrained, yesterday's scathing conversation playing over in her head. Though she'd showered the smell of booze off her, Kylie knew her hangover signs well enough that she'd pick them up in an instant. And if she then proceeded to tear her mother a new one, again... Bea couldn't deal with that right now. Instead, she ducked her head and hurried by her daughter. Bea leaves Marco and Melanie and starts down Main Street... she spies Kylie but avoids her daughter, not wanting a confrontation.
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Post by Draco on Apr 4, 2014 23:15:41 GMT -5
Jack floated down Main Street. He's ignoring most of the commotion in town for the time being, just taking notes on other parts of the town. That is when he spots someone he meant to speak to days ago. "Ahem." He stands floats behind Bea. "Inn Master. I wish to speak to you about a number of things. I'm trying to update my notes and..." Jack trails off asking one question after another, stating random town facts and procedures, comments once or twice about horses and other livestock, and so on. Either way he is quite loud, standing in the open, behind Bea. --- Afe on the other hand was enjoying himself. He was on the beach. Or more importantly in the beach. In a tiny little cave he normally would never fit in. He was staring at crabs. For no real reason, just staring at crabs. He floats out of the ground satisfied with his staring. He floats on past the most recent killing on the beach and starts to travel into town. Jack decides to speak with Bea, and is like the thing that wouldn't shut up...
Afe was enjoying himself staring at crabs. Now he's entering town.
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Post by Rosalie Dylas (Maddy) on Apr 4, 2014 23:26:58 GMT -5
The day before Christopher, Ris, and Coena parted ways. Before that though Christopher tried to make Ris pinkie swear again that she would not go on that website again. She held her pinkie out when he realized she had already broken a pinkie promise, it meant nothing to her. She had gone rouge. He was pretty sure that was what you called it when a detective started breaking the rules, he listened to a lot of radio shows and the shows with detectives always had really nice voices, but he wasn’t an expert like Ris. Ris had gone rouge and a simple pinkie promise wouldn’t stop her. He told her to make a detective promise and Ris got angry saying there was no such thing. Christopher suggested a detective oath and Ris got even angrier before Coena suggested Ris just saying she wouldn’t do it. If it wasn’t for Coena, Ris and Christopher probably would have been out there all night. Ris said she wouldn’t do it again but Christopher was pretty sure she would do it again. She was Ris after all. He couldn’t stop her; he just really hoped she realized how bad news that site was. They all promised to meet up tomorrow and then Coena and Ris went home. Christopher wanted to go home, which now wasn’t his bed in that apartment far away, but Dakota’s house. But he couldn’t. Dakota was better off without him. In the end, everyone was. Miss Lewis had invited him to stay at her house overnight which he readily accepted. Better than staying in the TV studio or the morgue. Christopher hadn’t known ghosts could sleep. He hadn’t meant to sleep. He had suddenly felt very tired and it was a weird feeling and then he was asleep. He woke up grasping at his neck. Miss Lewis was already gone and he decided he should probably go too. The mafia was still out there. And Morty Gunderson who was apparently the ringleader of the town lynchings. They wouldn’t stop. The killing on both sides would just keep going until there wasn’t anyone left to kill. Or he was left alone on an island. Everyone dead. Everyone gone. No voices. No- He took a deep breathe. Not now. He needed to get up. He had fallen asleep on Miss Lewis’s living room floor. If he could still fully feel he was sure it would feel very rough and comfy. He had never expected carpet to look like that thought. Like little spirals of something sprouting out of the ground, like someone had planted them in the ground but the ground was just a weird feeling things beneath the little sprouts (he has felt many carpets and ran his hands through them). And the color! It was purple like much of the rest of Cheryl’s house. He’d never thought that was what color a carpet would be. It looked odd, a heavily colored floor. The world really did look different that it felt but at least most people looked how they sounded. He left and wasn’t really sure where he was going. Ris hadn’t set a meeting place so he was just wandering aimlessly. Then he saw Miss Lewis’s news van. Near the beach? Near… Oh. He got closer then stopped. A dead body looked completely different from an alive body. It was like they weren’t even the same thing. This person didn’t even look like a person anymore. He couldn’t imagine them ever looking like a person. They just looked like a shape of a person. He knew what a body felt like (carrying a body through the sand, wherever she told him to take it, he trusted her), cold. A body felt cold and a person felt warm. It wasn’t simply that but it was the only way he could put it into words. A body was cold a person was warm. This was a body not a person. He couldn’t describe how this body compared to a person. This body was like… an eraser mark where there used to be something written but now there isn’t. He was shaking and he didn’t know why. He had also fallen down again, but yet again he was floating in midair. He couldn’t take his eyes away from the body. This was what was left when someone died? Something warm was now something cold. He was cold now. He wondered if he had ever been warm to start with. Maybe since he was supposed to be cold from the beginning he was never warm. But this person was warm and someone killed them now they were cold. And he couldn’t stop shaking. And the blood. The blood was red but he couldn’t call it red because it belonged in a category by itself. It was too red to be red. It was blood and it was all over this person’s corpse. Everywhere. Blood felt sticky and smelled awful and it looked even worse. He hated blood. He hated blood so much. He didn’t want to cry but he was pretty sure he was. He wasn’t even sure if they were sad tears or just tears. He wanted everything to stop. Just stop. Ris, Coena, and Christopher part ways. Christopher spends the night at Cheryl's house then heads out and sees Piper's body. He reacts very strongly.
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Post by Lizzie on Apr 4, 2014 23:38:56 GMT -5
Dakota pushed the small, metallic door to the body fridge closed with a sigh. Their cousin's body and the bodies of several other townspeople were safely behind the chilled walls at last. Even Fella the velociraptor was crammed into one of the single cells. Leaning up against a couple of the steel doors, Dakota let out another long, dramatic sigh as they gazed out at the autopsy room, going over a mental checklist. All the bodies prepared for autopsy? Check! All bodies that could be found are accounted for? Check! Put up an if-you-see-this-body-please-call sign for Siddhi? Check! Send dna to the forensic lab to ensure that it's whe correct people? Check, check, and double check. I'm finally done, Dakota thought, I hope there's no more bodies for a long, long time.Relaxed, they took a trip to the foresnic lab to check on the dna. Which, of course, was not done, obviously. "We REALLY need more people," Dakota complained to the forensic technologist, "I wonder when the Boss will be back?" The forensic tech, Hayden, just shook her head, with a reply of, "He heard of the murders just last night. I believe he's sending his wife and kid--" Dakota made a disgusted face"-- to her mother's, and coming back within the next day. He was on vacation, you know. The Bahamas." Dakota sighed in return, resting their head against the wall of the lab. "I'm gonna just go home for a little while. I'm exhausted, it's technically my day off." Naturally, it was at that moment that they got a text. Apparently, there was, in fact, another body, in the form of Leopold Endicott the sassy hairdresser. Upset and terrified, they began to moan about their loss of a day off yet again. "Now I really gotta go!" Dakota groaned, and said their goodbyes to Hayden. Walking down the hallway to get their coat, they looked around at the dull gray and stark white of the morgue. No color. No happiness. Just like Aifam? With a heavy heart, they grabbed their coat and walked as fast as they could out of the morgue. Looking out onto the bleak winter streets of the cove, they gazed down the road both ways before spotting a patch of color. A redhead, riding a horse. They recognized her, and walked slightly faster to greet her and the majestic beast she was riding on. "Hey!" Dakota said, a smile gracing their lips for the first time since the murders had started. Not even pausing for a reply, they continued, "Kylie, right? That's a cute horse. Mind if I pet him?" Dakota complains, as always. Their job is getting horribly depressing, and the boss is still on vacation. However, things seem to be a little more cheerful when they see Kylie and her horse in the street.
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Post by Diana on Apr 5, 2014 0:05:34 GMT -5
A rather distant-sounding voice echoed to Winston’s right. “Well, it seems there has been another death. So, hero, want a party member?”Ooh! A new party member! That’d be an excellent way to start this new storyline, although it was probably an early-game companion and thus pretty underpowered. Probably wouldn’t keep them to the end of the plot, but for now, allies would be great. Especially if they had companion quests! Eagerly, he turned to face the new NPC- Hovering next to him was a ghost. Winston yelped and fumbled for his silver controller, only to grasp the hilt of his lightsaber instead. Blast, he’d left the controller at home! This game’s inventory was terrible. And now he was stuck without a proper weapon. But the ghost-woman was talking, not fighting, and… she wanted to be a party member? Winston frowned. That was very unusual. Ghosts were enemy-types, although sometimes the hero would be aided by the spirits of his fallen allies or ancestors. But that was usually a cutscene thing. He had no idea who this person was – he couldn’t remember her from any previous plotline – and he’d never heard of a game where a ghost actually appeared in the party. They were undead, and almost always evil-aligned! ”I suppose it's unusual to have a ghost on your party,” she continued, “but I suppose I'm invincible.”Winston gasped. “You’re invincible? God mode is for losers! I could never work alongside somebody with such a blatant disregard for completionism and honest gameplay.” He dramatically turned away. Ghosts were bad enough, but ghosts who shamelessly bragged about abusing console commands were beyond saving. Winston is offered a new party member, but holds true to his convictions. God mode is for losers!
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Post by Lizica on Apr 5, 2014 0:58:08 GMT -5
((Textwall of Death alert, class Monstrous. My feelings will not be hurt if you just read the summary. xD Otherwise, prepare for weirdness.)) Piper awoke in her house. Which surprised her, for a second. She didn't remember walking back to her house or having the idle time necessary to sleep in her bed at home. She yawned blearily and shuffled out of bed--past her ungainly stack of unread mail, past Snipe Hunt on the living room floor, and past the kitchen table, which was littered with cut-up magazines and card decks that numbered only 48. She stationed herself next to the coffee maker as she waited for it to filter. She vaguely wondered what the weather was like outside. It'd be nice if it was warmer. Made for an easier Webster stakeout. Coffee now in hand, Piper trudged back through the kitchen and out to the living room-- She choked on her coffee, and the mug slipped from her hands. On her living room wall, there was a photograph, blown up so it filled the entire wall: A photo of Webster. Somehow, even more magnificent than the corrupted image. It was golden. It was beautiful. Webster at the water's edge, the sea foam detail crisp and clear, Webster's carapace color highlighted by the bright yellow sun, greenery perfectly melded with the sand and blue sky in the background. It was beautiful.It was breathtaking....When had Piper taken this photo? The sound of a ringing phone interrupted her thoughts. Wait...the phone was ringing? The landline? No one ever called her by the landline. Ever. As she continued to stare dumbfounded at this enormous, gorgeous Webster photo mounted on her wall, Piper shuffled her way backwards, back into the kitchen, and picked the receiver off the hook. "...Hello?" she said uncertainly, still in a daze. "Piper!" came the voice. "It's Sandra, from back home? Listen, I know we haven't talked in a while, but I just had to call you and congratulate you again on that fantastic photo you took of the giant ghost crab! You really are the best nature photographer in the world!" Piper's brain was not absorbing this news. She should pick up her coffee mug from the floor. "Um. Right...thanks?" she murmured to the phone. "You take care!" the voice on the line said, and hung up. Piper continued to stare at the massive, majestic Webster photograph on her wall. ...When had Piper taken this photo?But she could not remember. She should have remembered. She had hunted down Webster for over six years. She should remember. Why couldn't she remember her crowning moment of triumph? Had she really taken this photo? Was it really hers? But it must be. There was her signature. The voice on the phone had told her so. Why couldn't Piper remember? A shuffling noise at the door alerted her that someone was outside. Piper tore her eyes away from the magnificent photograph and turned to the door--where her daily mail was slipped through the mail slot and fell to the carpet beside the heap of the rest of the unread mail. "Melissa Morgan!" Piper cried, hurrying to the door and throwing it open. "Melissa Morgan!" she called again, as the mail carrier walked away, back turned, down Piper's front walkway on towards the next house. Piper stuffed on her boots and ran outside to catch her. "Ms. Morgan, I need to ask you--Did I capture Webster? Did I really get a photograph of him?" "Why, Miss Boudreaux," said Melissa. The mail carrier stopped as she stuffed the neighbor's mailbox. And then she slowly turned around to face Piper. Piper screamed. Her face was a ghost crab's. She was a giant ghost crab. A ghost crab. A giant ghost crab."Miss Boudreaux!" the creature cried. The eyestalks looked her over, alarmed. "Please calm down! Of course you captured Webster on film. You bested him and got a spectacular nature photograph! It was the toast of the town! Why do you look so troubled?" With far too many crab appendages, Melissa tried to reach out a consoling shell-covered arm. Piper gave a choked shriek and tore off down the street at a mad gallop. She found a house she recognized and hammered on the door. "TRAVIS!" she cried. "TRAVIS! I need your delusions! Your crazy, happy delusions! You've got to nullify this, Melissa Morgan turned into a giant ghost crab!" "Hey, babe! Couldn't wait until our previously scheduled romantic rendezvous with the career pack?" Travis Richem's voice sounded behind the door, but it was opened instead by an enormous ghost crab, his shell glistening in the sunlight, his eight legs arcing like lightning as he leaned against the doorframe. Again, Piper screamed; again, Piper ran. She cut through the trees, she cut through the back lot of Town Hall, she stopped on Main Street, where a small number of shop owners were taking down the holiday decorations. "Webster--giant crabs--" Piper sputtered to them. And then they, too, turned--all of them, all of them turned around and revealed their own terrifying crab visages. "Yeah--Webster!" cheered one of the shop owners, excitedly clicking his claws. "Good job on that photo, Piper! And the complimentary crab cakes afterwards were amazing!" The creature raised a gigantic claw to pat Piper on the back; she backed away. "I--I don't want your praise! I don't want crab cakes! I--I didn't get to beat Webster! I didn't get to shoot his photo! I didn't win! I--WEBSTER!" Piper spun away and took off at a breathless, ragged pace towards the beach. "WEBSTER!" she yelled. "WEBSTERRRR!" she yelled as she passed crowds and bystanders, all crabs, all giant ghost crabs. "WEBST-HER-HER-HEEEEERRR!" she yelled chokingly up and down the beach, up and down the high tide mark, up and down, in the caves, by the shoals, everywhere, all over the beach. But there were no giant burrows, faux or otherwise. There were no crab tracks. Sirensong Beach was empty. And Webster was nowhere to be found.Gasping and trembling, Piper staggered up the beach. This was a dream. Some horrible, twisted dream. "I've got to get back!" she rasped. "I've got to get back! I've got to get out of here, and I've got to beat Webster fair and square!" She blundered to Prints in the Sand and yanked open the door. She practically flung herself inside, and then sank to the floor, her head in her knees, breathing raggedly and holding back tears. Then something strange happened. The shop gave a lurching shudder. Piper looked up from her knees and glanced around. Everything looked the same. The merchandise was on the same shelves as in the summer; the recently memorialized Snapping Turtle was perched in a glass case alongside its fallen brethren on the wall. She heard footsteps outside her shop, and immediately looked out the window--a townsperson! Human! With no crab appendages or eyestalks in sight! Piper reached for the door handle--and found that her translucent hand went straight through it. Wait, she was a ghost now? Oh, right. She remembered now. She'd had a run-in with Chill of the Night. They'd shot her. Webster had mocked her, ruined her trap, and then Chill had shot her. What a night. She remembered that. She was (sort of) relieved to remember that. But Chill and ghostliness weren't important right now.Piper phased through the door of Prints in the Sand and seized (tried to seize) the shoulders of a distinctly alive, human person who had walked nearby. " Am I awake? What world is this? Is Webster still alive? Have I gotten a photo of him? Is he still the only giant ghost crab here?" Piper awakes in a heaven-swiftly-turned-hell, where she has captured a photo of Webster, but doesn't remember her moment of triumph, and all the townspeople are ghost crabs.
Desperate to return to Aifam Cove and defeat Webster for real, Piper goes to her shop and manages to make it back. She (tries to) seize a random townsperson and demands to know if the real town is still as she left it.
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Post by Coaster on Apr 5, 2014 2:03:54 GMT -5
After retrieving the appropriate forms (and thankfully being apparently composed of solid enough ectoplasm to interact with solid objects when necessary in order to fulfill his purpose in undeath), a velociraptor exited the town hall and sought out his secretary. The latter appeared to still be standing at the cliff handing out flyers. ...No, wait a second. That couldn't possibly be his secretary--that was a lawn gnome. Fella became acutely aware of a frantic shuffling inside his ethereal cranium, like a grinding of the figuratively rusty mental cogs, like an overused mouse that had long worn out its clicker and yet someone was trying to browse TV Tropes with it. Trying very hard, moving and pointing right at all the right places, just... not clicking. And apparently not able to find out what that trope he wanted to look up referred to. Puzzled by this immediately foreign, yet somehow familiar experience, Fella decided to save the news for a while, at least until he could find where his secretary had gone off to. He could definitely scratch the beach off the list, as it seemed there was nothing but another meatsack lying there. Perhaps there used to be another snowman there and someone had finally opened it. There was obviously a correlation, anyways. Maybe piñatas. Winter piñatas, with meat instead of candy. Over the past couple days, Fella (who never had abandoned that camera he started lugging around after the car crash) had taken to making video logs of his investigations, very much enjoying his new incorporeal capacity for eloquence despite the lack of functional vocal cords (even in life, now punctuated further in death). Something to do with spectral theory... except that's math, so probably something else. "Day four in the ghost world. More have joined the ghosts. My scales are so shiny. ...Shiny ghost scales."* *this is a re-worded reference to something you really probably shouldn't want to find Doubling back to Main Street, he glimpsed Stop. Glamor Time!, and he managed to recall (from some plane of consciousness afar off in the netherworld) that the person there was supposed to be a genius at hair styling. Fella hadn't much been one for fashion during his life (other than his leather jacket in the winter, and occasional sunglasses in the summer), but perhaps this fellow worked with feathers as well. Or maybe even a lack of feathers. Or curing feather baldness. But that can wait! Fella quickly checked the dumpster--wait, no! the refrigerator--between the salon and its neighbour, but finding no eggs (which still proved tempting to him despite his newfound form being void of digestive faculties)--or any other sustenance, for that matter--quickly lost interest. And then he noticed the body lying in the alley. Those nuns really should learn to clean up after themselves. Except... hm. Unlike the other ones he had seen before he died himself, this one looked like it could have been sentient. Accordingly, Fella put his eldritch-esque carnivorous ghost dinosaur head right next to the body's, inspecting its face for signs of damage. Hm. Its face was fine, and so was the torso, which according to the logic Hollywood taught Fella meant that this hairdresser was still alive, despite a nick on his neck and some blood in his hair. Fella waits patiently for something interesting to happen. Fella's mental faculties start to make certain connections (such as the gnome he left on the cliff being a statue) yet still miss others (such as his secretary being that lawn gnome) and only starts to consider others (such as what he thought were refrigerators actually being dumpsters, and that it might not have been socially acceptable to treat dead people as food, despite eating humans being completely legal, even for humans). As a ghost, he also finds that he can talk somewhat properly and starts making some video logs with the camera he had before his death.
He then considers doing something with his (lack of) feathers and finds Leo's body in an alley and gets all up in his grill to see if he's still alive, so theoretically Stop. Glamor Time!'s proprietor will initially wake up to the sight of a bald ghost velociraptor in his face.
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Post by Gelquie on Apr 5, 2014 3:14:34 GMT -5
Thankfully, it didn't take Kylie too long to get to the morgue. Kylie was inwardly thankful for this; the sooner she could report the death, the sooner she could... Well, she didn't know. But the last thing she wanted to do was think about it more. Even though it seemed that nowadays, death was all around them. Kylie was about to dismount near the lake when she saw the doors to the morgue open, and she saw Dakota rush out. Kylie resisted a sigh of relief. Good, she thought. Now she wouldn't have to actually enter the morgue. Right now, it was the last place she wanted to be. Dakota rushed over to her excitedly, and Kylie became concerned why until Dakota spoke up. "Hey!" They shouted. Kylie waved, but before she could speak, Dakota continued. "Kylie, right? That's a cute horse. Mind if I pet him?""Yeah, that's me," Kylie replied, trying to smile in spite of the circumstances. "And sure! Just don't be too rough with her." Kylie patted Salieri's mane before leaning in closer to whisper to the horse. "Now be nice, Salieri." After letting Dakota pet Salieri for some time, Kylie spoke up again. "You work for the morgue, right? I was actually just coming here to tell you all... Dessa apparently found Leopold dead in an alleyway, behind his salon. Killed by the mafia..." Kylie gripped the reins tighter as she spoke. She inwardly wished that the conversation didn't have to go the way it did. Then again, she wished that a lot of things that happened in this town didn't go the way it did. Kylie finds Dakota emerging from the morgue, and the former expresses relief that she doesn't actually have to go inside the morgue. She lets Dakota pet Salieri, then she breaks the news about Leopold.
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Post by Pixie on Apr 5, 2014 13:06:28 GMT -5
((Bardsley used with permission)) Lili sighed softly as Alma went off. It had been a lovely trip to Leopold’s salon, but it was over now. Pleasant things always had to have an end. Everything always had to have an end. Leopold had done a fantastic job on her and her friend’s hair, and the conversation was pleasant. Even if he was eccentric, he was very friendly and only meant the best for everyone. Lili had respect for that. She was nearly to her house when she absentmindedly went to test the fluffiness of her hair, and the moment her hand made contact she realised something. She had been caught up making conversation in the salon, that she neglected to retrieve her ear muffs before she left! They were still sitting on an out-of-the way side table in Stop! Glamour Time. She would have to go back and get them. They were her best, cutest pair and she had grown attached to them over the years. She also wanted to thank Leopold for preventing Alma from having all of her hair cut off. She was always worried about her friend making rash decisions she would regret later. Only a minute or two after she turned around, she caught sight of Bardsley by his house. She remembered that she needed to catch up with him, which was of more urgency than her lost earmuffs. She knew she had to trust him. He was rational, intelligent, and friendly. It was unlikely he would go mad and kill for no reason. He also was charismatic and handsome, but these traits weren’t anything to judge trustworthiness by. “Hello. I haven’t been able to to talk to you for awhile, but I am glad to see you now. I was just heading over to Leopold’s salon. Do you want to come with me? I know he had been interested in the investigation?” She inquired, blushing slightly underneath her painted blush. “I was just there with Alma, but I left something there. Have you been faring well with the investigation? Do you have any leads on who has been taking away poor lives, other than Lindsay and Travis? Any clue for a motive?” The two of them spoke together as they walked filling each other in on what they knew. Soon, they were right before his salon. Lili stopped in her tracks when she heard an unusual sound. It was soft, scattered noises of an animal. She hasn’t seen Leopold with any pets, so she was confused.Unaware of the innocent raptor’s death and the fact that the murmured roars were coming from a ghost, she turned to Bardsley and asked. “I hear Fella. Why would he want to come to a salon?” When Lili and Alma split up, Lili makes past Boulder Point and to her house before she realizes she left her earmuffs at Leopold’s salon. She turns to head back to retrieve them, and sees Bardsley. She reflects on why she should trust him, fangirling slightly, and then calls to him. She invites him to walk with her and she asks questions about his investigation. She hears Fella’s ghost and tells Bardsley.
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Post by PFA on Apr 5, 2014 15:01:57 GMT -5
After his classes had finished for the day (he only taught morning classes), Professor Bardsley returned home, finding himself again considering the current state of affairs in their humble town. Over the course of just a few days, at least ten people had been brutally killed, and the number was sure to rise if nothing was done about it. And even if they could stop it, this terrible incident already assured that things would never be the same in Aifam Cove. Though the future looked grim, he had to try and stay optimistic. As long as he kept a cool head and tried to look at things rationally, hopefully he could help determine who was really behind all of this violence. ...Of course, that was assuming that the enraged townspeople would bother doing a proper investigation, which so far they had not. This was very troubling to him. How did that Burger Hut employee expect to stop bloodshed by blindly shedding more blood? Didn't he realize how dangerous mistakes could be? Just as he was arriving at his house, he was approached by a familiar face: Liliana Parker, the blue-haired woman from before. He smiled at her in greeting. "Oh, hello, Ms. Parker." "Hello. I haven’t been able to to talk to you for awhile, but I am glad to see you now," she said to him. "I was just heading over to Leopold’s salon. Do you want to come with me? I know he had been interested in the investigation?"As she continued, explaining that she had accidentally left something at his salon, Professor Bardsley's thoughts drifted back to yesterday. Mr. Endicott was so distraught over the death of Travis Richem, seeking comfort from the professor. Was he holding up alright, he wondered? He assumed the stylist had calmed down since then, if Ms. Parker didn't even mention his emotional state. Either way, Ms. Parker was right in that he he had expressed interest in the investigation. Professor Bardsley did also tell Mr. Endicott that he might stop by the salon later... "Alright," he eventually decided. "I'll come with you." As they walked, they discussed the investigation, telling each other what they had deduced of the situation. While Professor Bardsley had to regretfully admit that he had little luck in determining who was mafia and who wasn't—Travis Richem was still a surprise to him—he could make a decent guess at the motives of those already discovered. Maybe analyzing the motives of those who were already determined to be mafia would help them determine who else might resort to such deeds. "Ms. Lukas... she clearly had unfortunate luck, the poor woman," he said. "I heard that her employer, Mr. Everington, met his demise on an ill-fated cruise ship a few years ago. And then with Ms. Tweff's death, well... sometimes such tragedies can cause a person to lash out." He shook his head sadly. "As for Mr. Richem... I'm not certain, but I suspect he didn't realize the full implications of what he was doing. The man was delusional, after all..." His voice trailed off in thought. He had to wonder: had the other mafiosos witnessed terrible tragedies as Lindsey Lukas had? Or perhaps they were like Mr. Richem... completely delusional, giving no proper regard to the people around them? It was worth considering... but was anyone else in town even like that? This train of thought was interrupted when they arrived at the salon, where some rather... unusual sounds echoed through the air. He wasn't certain what it was at first, but when Ms. Parker mentioned Fella C. Rapture, he instantly recognized it. The sounds of the velociraptor, presumably looking for food. But why would he do that here? "I... don't know," Professor Bardsley replied to her question, deciding to investigate further. He sought out the source of the sound, where he was greeted with the sight of... oh no. A small crowd had gathered around a body. A very... stylish body. Mr. Endicott was dead. Professor Bardsley accompanies Liliana to Stop. Glamour Time!, while discussing the motives of Lindsey and Travis. When they arrive at the salon, he hears Fella, and goes to investigate... and finds Leo's body.
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