Return of the Wicked Sickness

The Monster Closes In

    "Find anything?" Jayden asks his friends whilst the trio walk into the room.           
     Shadow Bird admits, "No. Nothing too crazy." Kaylee nods in agreement. Jayden and Dennis look to the other side whilst Nathan goes with his fellow men. Jerry and Asori are hard at work. For Jerry, he looks in a room, his mind writing down things like it's a pen and paper combo. Asori? She looks into a room, moves things around, and goes to another though not before doing a double-check on a figure or two. To note on that room's Fearmeister figure, it has sharper teeth than usual. What could this mean? She doesn't know. What matters now is the next room. Hopefully, more concrete clues will come up there. Jayden and Dennis go to the center of the room with the desk where the two observe the group they work with along with exchanging the notes they found upstairs.        
   "Hmm..." Shadow Bird notices yet another clue with him and Kaylee sticking close together. Kaylee looks back upon looking at the spot that has not a clue in sight to Shadow Bird observing trinkets and treasures from the Macari family legacy. Then, after nothing of significance shows up, he looks to at least two more Fearmeister statues. Shadow Bird stares them down. He then looks up and down.          
  "Cute," Kaylee mutters with a smile. It reminds her of Nevin's childhood years. All curious and full of fun. Kaylee then goes to another spot close to Shadow Bird. He, speaking of, takes a glance at the detective. Then, his eyes go to Fearmeister's sick hyde once again. Although deeply bored by this, sometimes, even the most unlikely sources have the most valuable information. Unbuttoning an inner coat pocket, he sees nothing. Damn.                     
    "How many?" Kaylee asks in a chipper manner.                  
    "What?" Shadow Bird asks after he looks at her.           
    "How many have you solved?"  Kaylee says shortly after walking up to him. Touched, Shadow Bird goes to talking about himself.           
     "Many," Shadow Bird says for starters as he takes his hands away from the manikin. The two then get to talking about the cases he's had in his currently short career as a vigilante. Meanwhile, the manikin's base probes around observing his prey. Yes. There the guy is. Acting all tough and brave. Fearmeister goes from one shadow to another as he's avoiding detection at every turn. Behind a certain gal who tried to find him earlier, Fearmeister looms over her. Aline feels a chill down her spine. If there's one thing she hates, it's these shadows. It's a good thing everyone has lights here. Aline looks to the left. Shadows. Then to the right. Shadows. Turning her light to the center, Aline's eyes widened.        
   "I mean, this one is my-" Shadow Bird gets cut off.           
   "Hey, guys! Think I found something!" Aline says with worry in her voice. Shadow Bird, instinctively, runs to the sight Aline just found.           
     "Woah, woah! Stay here!" Kaylee yells which Shadow Bird ignores.   
    "It's fading fast!" Aline calls out. Fearmeister's flicker-like presence fades afterward. 
  "Shadow Bird!" Kaylee shouts. Too late, according to her. Shadow Bird's hand slaps on the wall where the mark was made. He goes into vision mode. It was fresh. Newly-carved fresh. They're so... malicious. Tempting. Fearmeister giggles before he fades back into the shadows. The vision ends. Shadow Bird shakes his head before collecting himself. Then, he looks all around in the shadows, looking for Asori. Kaylee storms to him.   
    Shadow Bird says, "Fearmeister was definitely here."    
    "Shadow Bird, you should've waited until we got here. You-" Kaylee gets cut off. 
  "Kaylee-" Shadow Bird gets cut off.   
   "Ep!" Kaylee rebuffs.   
   "Detective..." Shadow Bird's attempt at respect gets cut off.    
    "Ep!" Kaylee rebuffs again.  
    "Again, you're working with us and you gotta do what we ask," Kaylee says in total momma-bear mode.    
    "I apologize," Shadow Bird says, after sighing.        
    "Come on," Kaylee sternly says. Shadow Bird walks with her. The two soon find themselves in front of his leader and her lieutenant with the two of them having stopped looking at info on Dennis' phone.      
    "What's the situation, you two?" Dennis asks. Shadow Bird, before Kaylee says or does anything, stretches his gloved hand. Dennis motions to Kaylee. Sighing, she pulls out her gun, it switching to what was used last in the Duke fight.    
     "Jerry," Dennis starts before Asori and Jerry are brought into focus. "How goes it in there?"       
     "We're doing good, Lieutenant," Jerry says over the radio. Asori looks around. Not saying nor touching anything. No aura is felt. No suspicious activity in the shadows. Going to a mask, even though the rest of the things in here are boring and gluttonous, Asori can't help but notice something about it. It looks... actually creepy. Saying... "Pretenders." "Tryhards." Obviously, Fearmeister wrote these words. She hasn't seen them before. They're so... Asori's hand goes to her chin like before, taking notes. Adorable. That's how Jerry sees it. What he also appreciates so far is how much respect she's given by staying close to him and such.            
    "Jerry?" Dennis repeats after the third time.       
    "Ahh, yeah?" Jerry questions.   
   "Asori and you are needed," Dennis says in response.    
    "Noted," Jerry says before cutting off with him.         
    "Time to go," Asori's partner calls to her.   
    "Coming," Asori says after having just finished her schtick. Minutes pass before the two arrive.      
     "Hey, guys," Jayden greets. The two give him a nod in return.  
     "Hold 'em out," Dennis says, verbally pointing to her aura. Asori blinks and is silent a bit before Dennis speaks.       
    "Your aura," Dennis remarks.   
    "Oh, ok," Asori says before getting herself ready. Channeling her excitement over this case and her fear of f'ing up, Asori, following directions, has her aura ball to the hole where it's supposed to go. Absorbing it, Kaylee closes the compartment. Mixing, it comes up blank.           
     "Damn," Dennis says in defeat. He thought it would work. Her aura and the obvious magic used here. Asori, knowing of what this was for after a realization look, shakes her head.               
     "Knew it," Asori mutters.         
     "I gotta ask, Dennis. Why did they hide these secrets from us?" Asori asks. A swipe of silence happens to an officer. Then another. But it's so silent that no one bothers to look the other way.              
     Dennis explains, "It's not too special, Kid." It's just a one-in-a-million chance for people like Franklin Macari to be a criminal 'cause there's only one Franklin.
    "I see," Jayden says, agreeing with Dennis on that one.       
   "Woah, woah," Dennis says, stopping SB from shaking off the evidence. If there's one thing he's learned from Batman, it's always to have a contingency plan, Dennis grabbing a special bottle of a previous case as proof of this.       
    "Sweet," Shadow Bird says as he and Dennis exchange a smile. Placing it in the newly opened container, it closes, mixes, and it comes out a match.    
    "Yes," Dennis says, knowing it'd work.       
    "Excellent," Asori says in excitement. The rest smile too. Except Kaylee. Nathan isn't smiling either. In the dark room he's in now, he's seeing nothing nor hearing nothing. Nathan goes to the door, wanting to get out of the place as soon as he can. The door is locked when he tries to open it. Nathan tries harder. No luck.  
  "Darn it," Nathan mutters under his breath.       
   "Hello!" Nathan yells. No response.  
  "Hello!" Nathan yells again, and again, no response. Probably soundproofed. Nathan tries to find the buttons to turn that off. He looks for plugs near the shelf here and under an office desk there, but there's no luck in either place. His light is staying on despite Nathan's stress increasing. He keeps looking and looking. Nothing is there.     
    "Guys!" Nathan says out of desperation. No response. Nathan smacks himself on his forehead. He keeps looking. Nathan finds nothing. No vent. No way of opening the windows. He looks in his toolset to reveal... There are no tools. Nathan's eyes widen in fear. He looks here and there while standing statue-still. His sweat drips from his face. His teeth are shown as well as his shaking body. Nathan feels something pull from him and all the hairs on his neck stand up straight. Licking his lips, Nathan again looks left and right. His body still feels like a statue, it refusing to move a muscle. Nathan's light is gone. He's now in total darkness. He's so afraid. So powerless. His strategies leave his mind just as his light left his hand. Yet again, he hears...  Sees... Nothing. Nothing. A hand covers his mouth and a familiar face stiffens his scream.     
    "Shh." Fearmeister is grinning when he envelopes himself with Nathan in further darkness.  
  "Look, I mean what I'm saying. You gotta be careful," Kaylee lectures as the group talks more about Shadow Bird's actions.    
    Shadow Bird defends himself with, "Oh, come on. I did what I had to do, Kaylee."  
   "Bull. You can't say that," Kaylee says with her arms on her hips.  
    "But we still got some ammo on how to deal with this guy. I mean, seriously. It would've been worth nothing had you stopped me," Shadow Bird says, standing his ground.   
   "Still-" 
    "Kaylee, let me say something," Kaylee's superior says sympathetically yet neutrally.    
     "SB, I get it. Under more intense circumstances, you did the right thing. You still did, don't get me wrong, but next time, try to wait for us when we're looking into these things. Ok?" Dennis says. Shadow Bird takes a moment to think of this. Then, Dennis turns to Kaylee.    
    "I understand your concern, Kaylee. I do. And Shadow Bird could have waited," Dennis bluntly says. Shadow Bird isn't hurt by that remark as it's making sense to him the more the talk goes on.           
     Dennis keeps talking with, "But Shadow Bird had the right idea. He's a capable kid and he hasn't harmed this operation in any way." That's not what Kaylee's worried about. Plus, he's a child. She's her child's age. He...       
    "Remember," Jayden suddenly starts, getting Shadow Bird and Kaylee's attention. "We're a team. If he divides us all, we'll all lose. We can't forget what we're fighting for right now. So, guys. Keep it together." Kaylee and Shadow Bird look at each other before going back to their respective leaders. Kaylee will bite the bullet... so long as she keeps keeping an eye on the kid. Shadow Bird will do the same, hoping that Kaylee won't get her undies all twisted up in a bunch when working with him.     
   "Ok, Jayden," Shadow Bird says after a sigh.      
    "Hey, guys," Dennis says, the two about to make their leave.    
    "Keep up the good work," Dennis says. Jayden nods in encouragement as well. The two take it with respect and leave to get back to work.          
    "So, magic?" Asori questions.    
  "Magic," Dennis says. Then, Dennis' phone rings. Dennis checks his phone in which he makes an announcement to the group.      
     Dennis declares, "The Combatants are coming up soon!" No response. Even Kaylee and Shadow Bird stop in their tracks.      
     "Marcy!" Dennis calls out.   
     "Aline!" Dennis calls out. For both, no response is given. Nothing but pitch darkness and scary monster props. Jayden, Asori, and Shadow Bird become worried as does Jerry and Dennis.        
      "Hey, guys!" Aubrey says, cheerfully. The rest are up and energetic.      
      "Anything to report, Peter?" Dennis professionally questions.     
      "None too frantic, Lieutenant. The room is clear of bogies and other hostiles," Peter says in monotone fashion.      
      "It's good none of us got hurt," Ashley says with a smile. Dennis feels dread as he tries to call out another name.       
     "Nathan!" Dennis shouts. He then tries to radio names.      
     "Blueheart, do you copy?" Dennis asks for his friend.     
     "Blueheart! Blueheart, are you there?" Dennis asks, panicking.      
      "Allen, what are you doing?" Asori asks.          
      "Got some stuff for you guys," Allen calls out after having trouble with a locked door.        
      "Oh, nice," Damian says, seeing it as an opportunity to show off.  And a silent count of three later, the men kick the door down. Two gasps later and the door slams shut. Gasps from more sensitive souls come out as Dennis immediately takes charge along with Jayden.       
      "Stay calm, everyone!" Dennis yells.       
      "Stick together!" Jayden says, more controlled than Dennis.    
      "Hello," Fearmeister breathes through the room. A door opens right in front of him.       
      Fearmeister says sadistically, "Just five little stars."    
        "Heh heh heh," Fearmeister lets out a menacing chuckle. Jayden, Aubrey, and the others, knowing no fear, step toward the door. No traps. No tricks. Nothing sensed on Asori's end.   
       "Guys!" Kaylee shouts before running to the group. But, as soon as the group enters the room, it's too late. More doors open on many sides.      
        "Step right up, coppers," Fearmeister mockingly calls out. Damian, taking a deep breath, turns to the group, serious.    
        Dennis says, "Come on, guys." Peter and the rest nod to him.    
        "Come with me, you two," Peter says, Kaylee and Jerry following suit. Dennis goes to the door on the left whilst the others go to the door on the right. In another room, Fearmeister looms over his prey. Yes, yes. It's all perfect. Nathan and others are trapped in his chambers. The cops are heading to their own dooms. And best of all... Fearmeister has a screen zoom over.   
       "Heh heh heh heh," Fearmeister chuckles demonically. The Alta Heroes. Oh, how cute they look. Walking down that hallway to confront him. Looking all stoic and vigorous. Oh, he's gonna have some fun with them. Fearmeister lets out a howl of heinous joy masked as mockery laughter. He laughs and howls with glee as thoughts of death and fear cloud his mind. In the best way possible. Get ready, Alta Heroes.