Second Reality: Surge of Power

Chapter XX. Show of a lifetime

"Are we there yet?" Marco impatiently groaned as the team made their way deeper into the woods.

"You ask that one more time and I will find something and feed you to it!" Watch shouted back at him irritated.

"It's a valid question though!" Vhiz sided with his classmate.

Watch sighed. "We are getting to the limit of what I could figure out from the pictures posted online. This is where my ability comes into play." Watch's eyes turned to a bright yellow as he activated his power. "Analeyes." Watch's eyes darted around as he looked for anything suspicious.

"Haha! You just said anal!" Marco chuckled.

"Grow up!"

They traveled another five hundred meters into the forest before Watch raised his arm making everyone stop immediately.

"The pattern of the bark on that tree, that bush over there and the roots jutting out of the ground... We are here." He showed the picture to the others. Luna squinted at something in the background of the photo but Watch quickly put the phone away. "Everyone stay where you are! I'll survey the area before with my eyes first."

Watch walked around carefully observing the soil. A piece of yellow tape poked out of the ground confirming that this was indeed the scene of the crime. Washed out pits in the ground indicated where once footsteps were taken. But after surveying the area multiple times he found nothing. "This might have been pointless after all." He sighed. Faul walked past him stomping through the scene. "HEY! Watch where you are going!" Watch shouted at him, but Faul ignored him.

"What for? You found nothing." Faul said as he walked past a tree and squatted down. "Come, see this."

The others followed Faul who was looking at the carcass of a rotting fish.

"How did this fish get here?" Sun asked, rattled by the carcass, and disgusted by the smell.

"It's not just any fish. It's a paperfish. They live in forests. This one is too decayed to see it, but they have a large membrane that helps them glide on wind currents. It's covered in a layer of resin that catches bugs while flying, that's how they hunt." Hook explained as he covered his nose.

"What killed this one?" Sun looked for any sign of a bite or a bullet, but the carcass was seemingly unharmed.

"I don't know. Nothing eats it because of its bitter meat." Hook continued his explanation.

"Watch! Could you show me the picture of the crime scene?" Luna requested.

"Sure." Watch pulled his phone out. Luna pointed at the picture. Something white was lying on the ground where the carcass was now.

"That is the paperfish. And it looks like it died around the time when this photo was taken." Luna concluded from the picture.

Watch had a sudden realization as they looked at the phone. "Not just around that time... I think it happened when Turtle was killed."

"How do you know?"

"Turtles cause of death was listed as broken neck. But he did not fall, and broke it, he would have had other injuries. He also did not choke because he had no discoloration on his neck. Watch's mind raced as he put some of the puzzle together.

"What do you think then?" Sun raised his eyebrows confused.

"Paperfish seldom die. The biggest danger to their life is rain, because it can wash off the resin on their skin. Because of that, they evolved a sixth sense that tells them when a storm is coming. But if an overhuman were to make it rain on them the paperfish would have no way of avoiding that."