"Huuu…" Vere blew out a held-in breath as he stretched, the crackle of the fires beating against his ears. Apparently, he had exhausted most of the things to investigate on this floor.
Since, you know. The whole place was up in flames.
Since he was barred from the elevator, he only had the stairs left to work with. If there were any.
Dodging the leaping tongues of flame that debilitated the building even further, he walked amidst the reddish-orange glow. Tendrils of black still cloaked him as they floated upwards and dissipated, the man not so sure that he wouldn't be attacked.
Signs that hung from the ceiling directed him where to go—though most were charred black by the surging flames. It took him some time, but he found a sign that read "Stairs ->," indicating that he would find them further down the hall.
Fire crawled along the interior of the thin hallway, causing Vere to sidestep and avoid flames that seemed to target him. It was as if someone launched a homing missile, the flames their vessel to track his movements and attack him.
Piecing some information together, he figured that the so-called Incited Suspects were created via the influence of another. If that same Suspect could theoretically control the Inciteds, it stood to reason that they had some grasp over the fires.
As if it was their territory.
Tip. Tap.
His footsteps were muffled under the uproar of blazing infernos. Then, descending down the long staircase while disregarding the handrails, he stopped at the second floor.
Investigating again, he found more Suspects. Without much fanfare, as there were only two, he dispatched them stealthily and tried his best to sleuth for any more details. Unfortunately, the floor seemed to be a carbon copy of the upper one, and no new things were yielded.
Only more flames.
He returned to the staircase by tracing the vestiges of his steps, the soot trail footprints leading him where he wanted to go. Then, deliberating for a moment on whether to go up or down, he chose up.
Fourth floor.
The cubicles were more spacious—fancier, more comprehensive, and made of more expensive-looking materials. Various accoutrements burned along the walls, and pins with ornate, unique-looking designs lined the floor.
There was something that piqued Vere's interest, though. A discarded handle and round case stood amongst the collapsing rubble, nestled just around a square glassy set of walls.
Pearlescent light gleamed across his fingers as he grasped for it, and thoughts rushed in his head as he rotated it.
The Magpie and the Mamba looked up from their positions in the thought nexus, their eyes replaced with a series of images that vertically slid upwards.
The static tv trembled, the screen expelling static before reverting to a clear screen. Faint music played, the jazzy tune accompanied by two silhouettes opening a veil.
"It's a Pearly Show!" Were the cursive words materializing on the screen? One silhouette sprouted a smile, the other a frown. The image of Vere looking down at the scraps filled the screen while a question mark obscured it.
One silhouette grabbed a stick, pointing at what seemed to be a schematic. The other rubbed its chin, gesturing as if suggesting a couple of changes.
The static seemed to swell on the screen once again, drawing in two of the Useless Badges into the screen as they appeared on the television screen. The objects stretched and contorted on screen, encasing the scraps in Vere's hands as music played while the thing was forming.
A tommy gun with a black silhouette of a woman with piercing eyes that emit a soft, cyan color. A bull's skeletal head is atop her own, the body of the bull stretching across the exterior of the gun along with deep red corners and subtle, dark purple cars. Drawn, created tulips make insignia patterns, and the vines are most notable on the barrel clip.
Which was fully loaded. Nice.
Vere hefted the gun with a whistle as he wrapped his fingers around the front and rear grips. The weight of Harvey felt nice and comfortable, nestled within his grasp as the heaviness pulled his shoulders slightly downwards, allowing him to relax.
Pearlescent feathers fell around him in a halo as [Magpie] retrieved The Brick, allowing him to freely hold Harvey without worrying about losing it. Now free to investigate the fourth floor with extra insurance, he moved about the square.
His movements were illuminated by the yellow-red moonlight that traversed the window panes, along with uninvited guests.
2 Flarechestras and 5 Burnt Trumpeters.
Vere turned around with a bright smile, his eyelashes nestled together as his eyes curved into crescents.
"Thanks for showing up! I desperately needed a couple of dummies for target practice and all. I'm sure you won't mind?" Before the Suspects could even entertain the possibility of answering, bullets streamed out of the muzzle in quick succession!
Shells fell to the ground as the man took steady steps, advancing slowly yet surely as he pelted them with ferocity. Each bullet struck a target, and not one was missed!
As the Flarechestras regained their bearings, they were full of holes that streamed blood. As a last resort, they screamed, waves of flame approaching Vere as they began to dissipate.
His eyes stayed the same, not even opening as he walked through the fire. Then, finally, the flames parted, rushing either side of him as they collided and rolled against the thought power membrane.
Tatatatata!
The bursts of light encasing the muzzle of the tommy gun accompanied a bright burst of flame. The attacking Suspect swiftly dodged, causing fragments of glass to fall from the higher floor as the bullets shot past the foundations of it.
Vere smoothly turned around on his heels, advancing through the falling glass shards as pearlescent feathers fell around him once again. Harvey took its place in his thought nexus, the detective letting it go right hand first as he brought it up to his shoulders.
He stood before a fashionable-looking young woman. Her skin was reddish, her eyes were black, and dark patches of charred skin appeared seemingly at random on her frame. A beanie sat atop a ginger pixie cut, the hat adorned with several pins.
A pink shirt with trendy trim and a handbag slung over her shoulders, badges dotting the straps. Beneath that were plaid shorts with a ritzy crisscross pattern and white sneakers that pushed out wisps of charcoal-colored light that curled like flowing clouds.
>Main Suspect identified: ??? has been temporarily nicknamed Trendy Girl.
As he strode forward, a conspiracy board materialized behind his head, the sticky note Details pinned upon it and steadily linking with a red thread.
>(Incited Suspects)——(Association with JJ&R)——(Obsession with fashion). This is proposed as the motive…and becomes the Detail (Fashion fanatic). Case Understanding Lv 1 -> Lv 2
>(Fashion fanatic)——(Fire)——(Burn wounds (state of the Suspect))…a hunchback tolls the bell! The resulting Detail is (Victim of Incident and regret of fashion). This Detail isn't confirmed.
Yellow-red strands of thought power and particles surrounded Vere's face as he began to [Bluff], hoping to strike gold by [Implanting] this Detail onto the Trendy Girl.