Operation IDB

Dove left the area as we landed on the wet, muddy ground.

"Oh great, there goes my boots." Naomi said as she looked at them covered in mud.

"Isabel, check the map. How close are we to the city?" I asked. She pulled up the map and quickly scanned it.

"We're currently on a mountain and the city is just below if we walk north." Isabel answered.

"Let's go." I said as we started running down the hill towards the mysterious town.

"I think we should all talk in the IDB channel from now on." Jenna said via X-foliate.

"It's gonna take a while for me to get used to talking with my mind." Naomi responded.

"We're closing in." Isabel noted.

We reached the bottom of the mountain towards the gate of the city and stopped running. A security check stood between us and the entrance and we knew we had to finesse.

"Follow my lead." I said via x-foliate.

I walked up to the tall guard with tons of muscles and tattoos across his body. His brown hair was messy due to the rain but he was not fazed by it.

"State your business in Shell City." He said with his deep voice.

"We are here trying to aid the town with any issues it has." I said.

"Are you the reinforcements from the capital?" The guard asked while his brown eyes widened. I turned around and nodded my head.

"Yes, we are." Naomi answered.

"Ah thank prince Ethan. He always stays true to his people. Jilav forever!" The guard said while motioning the others to open the gate.

"The Don is waiting for you in the hall. Thank you, travelers!" He said as we walked into the city.

The rain stopped for a moment and the blue moonlight shone over the cluttered townhouses. I noticed a few guards as we walked the empty streets. The streets made of rocks that would hurt your feet if you didn't wear shoes.

…

"What time is it?" I asked via xfoliate.

"4:15am. Why?" Isabel asked via x-foliate.

"The city feels restless. The guards look tired and pressed about something. We came at a perfect opportunity." I responded via x-foliate.

"I didn't expect Mordecai to notice these things so quickly. He's improving quickly!" Naomi thought as she stared at me from behind.

"Damn Hashimoto, good analysis!" Jenna replied via x-foliate.

The rain started to pour harder as we continued to navigate around.

"I'm just going to say it for all of us. This is not a city." Naomi said via X-foliate.

"Oh my goodness, I've been thinking the same thing. Cities are not this quiet." Isabel responded. "True, this is very different from what we're used to." Jenna added.

"You guys are already homesick? Focus up." I commented

I looked at the tallest building in the center of the town trying to figure out if it's the hall the guard mentioned. I stepped on a piece of paper and picked it up. I scanned it with my X-foliate.

"I'm uploading this paper to the channel, all of you check it out." I said as I began reading it.

"If you have any information about the serial killer, please contact the Don in the center of town. Otherwise, we are forcing all of you to stay home until he's captured. Thank you for your patience!" The paper read.

"Looks like we've found our way to the leader of the town." I said as we stopped in front of the tall building.

"Mordecai, what happens if he asks for some sort of I.D?" Isabel asked quietly.

"Well, we'll just have to find a way to avoid that situation. Otherwise, we'll be in some deep shit." I responded.

We walked into the building full of guards and a receptionist in the midst of them. The guards stopped talking and stared at the four of us as we awkwardly made our way towards the receptionist.

"Welcome to the don's headquarters. How may I help you?" The female receptionist asked.

"We are here to help with the serial killer case." I stated. Whispers entered the room as I finished the sentence.

"These people are afraid.. everyone is on edge.." Naomi said via X-foliate.

"I think our best play is sounding confident.. no one better than Mordecai." Isabel added.

"What the hell, am I not confident?" Jenna yelled via X-foliate.

"Are you guys reinforcements?" The receptionist asked with a smile. "Something like that.. where is your boss?" I answered.

"Oh thank prince Ethan. Let me page the Don real quick." She said, picking up the phone.

"Hello, Don? The reinforcements are here. Okay. Bye!" She put the phone down before getting up.

"Please enter the door to my right and he will see you." The receptionist said with a sigh of relief."Thank you!" I said as we made our way to his office.

"What the hell is a Don?" I asked via X-foliate.

"I'm assuming it's the same meaning as Thor in our nation." Jenna answered.

We entered the room to a man with gray hair looking out the window. His blue coat couldn't hide his muscles. The white gloves we wore on his hand fit tightly compared to his loose pants. He turned around with a serious expression on his face, but the fatigue was visible.

"So, the reinforcements have come." He said in a deep voice while his gray mustache twitched.

"Sorry, didn't mean to show up late to the party." I responded.

"Hm.. well welcome to our city. I apologize for the situation getting out of hand." The Don said while his dark blue eyes scanned us.

"It's okay Don.. what's your name?" I asked.

"Oh my fault, I didn't realize that we haven't introduced ourselves. I am Kraig Rin, the Don of this city." He said.

"Nice to meet you. I am Mordecai, and this is my crew: Jenna, Naomi, and Isabel." The three girls waved at the Don.

"My city is not in a great state now. As you can see, my soldiers are tense because a serial killer is on the loose." The Don stated.

"How many cases are there so far?" Naomi asked.

"Please, follow me into the meeting room. We can discuss more in private." He said as he opened a door to his right.

…

We followed him into a large room filled with some equipment: Tvs, Projectors, and a digital outline of the city.

"Please sit." Kraig said as we took our seats.

"I apologize for the change of scenery, I just wanted a safer place. I don't know if the enemy is one of my soldiers or someone with vengeance." He said.

I sat back in the chair and put my boots on the table.

"Tell me Kraig, when did this start happening?" I asked. He digged into his pockets and pulled out a cuban cigar along with a lighter.

"You guys don't mind if I smoke?" He asked. Jenna's face twitched at the sight of the cigarette but said nothing.

"It's your place, do as you please." Jenna snapped. He put the cigar away and cleared his throat after Jenna's reaction.

"The killings started last thursday at about 9am. Soldiers arrived at the scene and discovered faceless bodies drowned in their own blood. Each scene had a weird sort of religious scripture." He stated as he pulled up the pictures on the projector.

One of the faceless victims sat up against the wall with writing above its body.

"The past is not corrected. Moriya 1:1" It read.

Isabel covered her mouth in the picture trying to not throw up which the Don noticed.

"These gruesome pictures represent this serial killer's motive." Kraig said.

"How many casualties are there now?" Naomi asked as she took notes from the pictures. "15 people have lost their lives. The latest victim was pronounced dead two hours ago. The only thing I can close is that all the killings happen near the beach shore. It's an avenue called Conn, one of our most dangerous streets known for violence." He replied.

"If you know this information, how come you don't have soldiers guarding this 'dangerous' place?" Isabel asked.

"I did until prince Ethan summoned half of my soldiers to the frontlines. He fears the Uro Empire is secretly plotting on the capital." He responded.

...

"Well, I think we would like to take a look at these crime scenes." I said as I got up from my seat. "Sure, but first I want to test one of you to make sure you can handle yourself out there." Kraig stated.

"Sure, I don't—" I said before he interrupted. "Not you, her." He said as he pointed to Isabel.

"Me?" Isabel asked.

"Yes dear, to an arm wrestle. You reacted negatively to the photos I've shown you, and I worry that you are not suitable for the task." He stated.

"Are you calling my partner weak?!" Jenna said with a little aggression.

"Jenna, relax." Naomi said while tapping her shoulder.

"A bold statement. However, I'm confident she will prove you wrong." I said while crossing my arms.

"I will take back my statement if she wins. Otherwise, I will not take a fragile being to the crime scene." Don Kraig announced.

"Guys, I'll be fine." Isabel said as she went over to the table. The Don rolled up his sleeves revealing his massive muscles. Isabel's small hand grabbed his huge hand that could probably crush a child's head.

"On your go, we will begin." Kraig said.

"Go." Isabel said and the two of them began the arm wrestle. The Don instantly took the lead muscling Isabel and began to push her hand towards defeat.

Isabel freaked out in her thoughts at his strength.

"This is bad, bad, BAD!" She thought.

Her breathing became heavy as she struggled to stay in the battle.

"C'mon Isabel, you can do it!" Jenna said as she clapped her hands like a prayer.

"This dude is insane.. But!" Isabel thought as she started to pace her breathing and began to overcome him.

"Hm, is that all?" He said as he added more effort.

Naomi looked over to me with my hands behind my head.

"You're not worried about Isabel?" Naomi whispered.

"Absolutely not. She is special.. I can see it." I said.

"This is the end, Mr. Kraig." Isabel said as she heard what I said.

She took one breath and raised the Don into the air before slamming him into the table. Papers went into the air before she let go of his hand and walked away.

"Don't ever underestimate me, idiot." She said with a serious expression. The two girls stood shocked by what happened while I started to laugh.

"You got outplayed Don. Shall we get going?" I said as I opened the door. The Don got up embarrassed by what just happened and cleared his throat.

"Onward then." He said as walked out and took the lead.

"Isabel, good shit!" Jenna said while embracing her tightly.

"Can't breathe, Jenna!" Isabel said while being suffocated by Jenna's chest.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just so proud." Jenna said while holding out her fist.

Isabel smiled and pounded fists with Jenna.

"Thank you." Isabel said.

"Let's go, gals!" Naomi yelled and the two followed behind the rest of us.

…

The Don brought us to the most recent crime scenes near the violent beach. The waves crashed on the shore as the five of us began investigating.I noticed that the streets were empty with no sign of life.

"So, what are our clues again?" Naomi asked.

" The only thing we can put together is that the five crime scenes were relatively close to each other. Besides that we could not find any unique clues." The Don answered.

I looked closely to the floor and discovered the unusual amount of dust.

"Hey Don, how old are the houses in this city?" I asked as I scooped some up.

"Huh? They were only built three years ago so they're pretty new." He answered.

"Mordecai, what did you find?" Naomi asked as she walked up towards me.

"Some sort of dust. Do you see something?" I asked. Naomi found traces of aura left on the dust and took some out of my palm.

"This is someone's ability. They are able to manipulate dust." Naomi stated.

Isabel walked over and began to freeze the dust to isolate the aura.

"The person is still nearby." Isabel said as she examined the aura. Jenna walked behind and looked at the three of us.

"If the killer is close, then…" Jenna said in a serious tone.

"Alright team, I think we should split up. I have a strong feeling that we're going to find some clues faster." I said. The three girls nodded in agreement and started to walk out the door. "Wait! That's it?" The Don said as he finished listening to our conversation

"Well, I found information that we could lead off already. I want to confirm if it's at the other crime scenes."I said as I exited out the door behind the three girls.

"You can find the remaining houses by the broken doors at the entrance." The Don finished.

"Thank you! We'll look out for it." Naomi said before we all left. The four of us stood outside the first crime scene before splitting up.

"Listen guys, if anything goes haywire call for backup. We can't afford any of us getting injured this early in the operation. We already are gaining the trust of the Don so let's not mess that up. By the way, nice flex on the Don Isabel." I said. Isabel smiled and nodded in response.

"Everyone connected to the IDB channel?" Naomi asked. We all checked and nodded as the four of us were in the channel.

"Let's get to work!" Jenna said before we all scattered to look for the remaining crime scenes.