Ask to Join Bone'd (Mystery RP - 15+)

[FrouFrou]

Tyler blinked. "Oh, sure. The suit's just for the bone thing - I'm actually regular ol' museum staff. Y'know, telling people about the exhibits, takin' people's money, things like that." He scratched his head. "Pretty sure because I have to do the suiting, nobody's getting told about anything..."

He leaned back in his chair a bit. Tyler wasn't drunk, but the alcohol had definitely loosened his tongue a little. "Still, it's better than doing the night stuff. When I first got here - I was doing circus shows and shit during the day, see, so I figured I'd better take that. And it wasn't fun... It's kinda lucky I went and lost my eye, 'cos it meant I had to start doing day work. Y'can't do any night stuff if you're impaired, Tessa's rule."

 

[Test Candidate]

"You need to go through your filing." He handed the file back to the Curator, although in the back of his mind, he was curious what was in the Charizard file. "But uh... I'm Candi, the P.I." He tried to sound as official as he could, addressing Tessa. He crossed his arms. "I just wanted to know something. I... know today must be a very rough day for you."

His eyebrow shot up at the tag. "How long have you headed this place?" If she was in charge of hiring, he had a lot of questions. There wasn't a person here who didn't seem shifty.

...Not that he was any better.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tessa tilted her chin up a little. She wasn't the sort of person to show weakness. Or much emotion at all, putting it bluntly. "You could say that. The replica stones are one thing... but that bone was highly valuable. The only one of its kind discovered. Sue thought it was an evolutionary link that might just tie Dragonite's ancient ancestor to mammals - and by extension, humans. To lose that... Well, it is a shame. I hope it will be recovered."

Putting the folder under one arm, Tessa shifted her footing a little, letting him know that she was a rather busy person, with again little time to spare for him. She hoped he wasn't going to try anything underhanded; P.Is didn't exactly have the nicest of reputations. "What did you want to know?"

 

[vaultie]

Atty relaxed, shifting her weight onto one foot. It might have been the alcohol settling in, but she was right about finding him easy to talk to. "What's wrong with the night shift? Don't tell me this place is haunted or something." She joked, turning her words to sound more like a casual conversation than an outright interrogation session. She could talk to people regularly just fine, figuring that the more hardcore questioning would be saved for the other guys... For now, her cute, bubbly, optimistic attitude would have to do.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tyler shuddered. "Well, the work itself's dead quiet. Steve reckons it's more boring than day work, and nothing's supposed to be more boring than day work. But Tessa has this... friend? I think it's Tessa's friend, or maybe Sue's - look, there's this guy who comes to take the nightshifts. And he's not fun. Being around him at night's sorta like being in one of those slasher movies, only the bad guy's right behind you the whole time and he never does anythin' but breathe down your neck. Unless..."

He shook his head again, trailing off, then pulled a white eyepatch from his pocket and put it on. "I don't wanna scare ya, so I won't go into it. But yeah, he's a nasty piece of work. I don't even wanna know how the new security guard's been doing. She's... she didn't look like she was very tough, let's just put it that way."

 

[vaultie]

"What, do I really look that soft?" Atty gave a playful pout. "I don't scare that easily. I mean, c'mon, I raise bug Pokemon for a living. I love creepy crawly stuff" She decided to stick around for a little bit longer, sitting down in the empty chair that was previously occupied by the tophat guy. "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't wanna. I was also gonna ask who that other guy in here was. And... where he got all this alcohol from." She nodded towards the table at that last part, covered in beer cans. While it would've been nice to get a reccomendation for a nearby liquoir store, Atty was still a hair too young. She was more curious as to how he was managing to day drink in the museum without someone on his ass for it.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tyler winced. No, no, this girl looked much too... cute to be hearing the sort of shit he'd nearly blabbed about. And besides, he had more than just that as a reason not to speak on the matter. "Tch... I'm not legally allowed to say anythin' about that, sorry."

He smiled at the mention of his friend, happy to change the topic. Tyler wasn't very good at keeping his mouth shut, and knew he kept on getting prodded he might well find himself in quite the situation. "Oh, Ben-? He got a cleaning job here. Tessa pays him in beer. I guess he must have done a pretty good job last night, since he's still drinking and it's what... noon? Past noon? Well, it's a lot of beer."

 

[Test Candidate]

Candi could see the woman had little patience for the likes of him. "Can you tell me anything about the rest of the staff here?" He fumbled with his coat pockets a bit, pulling out a notebook and flipping it open. "Like what does Sue do? Something about her feels a bit... off."

Columbo walked up behind him, and tugged on the leg of his jeans, Candi looking down at him, making him pause for thought real quick. Sue seemed... less concerned about the Bone than anyone else. In fact, Tessa was the only one who seemed concerned at all. He looked to her. "Do you know of anything besides the bone getting stolen? The staff seems... distracted."

 

[vaultie]

Atty couldn't help but giggle. "Wait, really? That's a pretty interesting way to pay someone." Truthfully, she wasn't sure if that was even legal. Then again, there was a lot of questionable stuff happening around here as of late. "Sorry for asking so many things, but I kinda overheard you and him talking just a couple minutes ago. I was wondering what's got you two so worked up." She leaned her elbow onto the table, the side of her face resting against her palm. "If it's something I can help with, I'd be happy to."

((HYUUU ignore that other last part i edited it bc im reading and remembering things wrong and its 1am sorry))

 

[robinspea]

Jean squinted at the building in front of him as he hurriedly twisted open his over-priced water bottle. Back bending in a tired stretch, he lifted the bottle to his lips, and let the refreshingly cool liquid rush down his throat. The sunlight was harsh here, and after walking all the way across town and back in it, the Kalosian was coated in sweat, causing his shirt to cling to him tighter than normal. Jean hated the sun. He hated sweat. More importantly though, he was starting to hate this city, and that girl. It was tough enough being stood up on dates, but being stood up for a friendly chat over coffee? What the hell was that about?

Was he being too persistent? Maybe. Was he acting like a creep? Maybe to an outsider- actually, make that a definite yes. First hitting up the cafe and waiting their for hours to no avail, emailing her repeatedly, and now going to her place of work to find her? Hell, he'd be freaked too if he were anyone else. But the way she sounded over their emails for the last nights, not to mention the way she sounded during the television interviews... she wanted help to crack this conspiracy as soon as possible. And now that he was here in Nacrene, ready to listen to her and exchange theories over that video, she was gone with the wind? If Jean hadn't spent his precious time analyzing every freaking frame of this thing, he'd be off touring Nimbasa and Undella in a heartbeat. This was his vacation time. He was just supposed to talk with her, and be done with all his work until he was back in his Lumiose City studio. But no. Apparently, and unbeknownst to him, a boiling month's workout on his end was part of their deal too.

Gulping down half the bottle before calling it quits, he put it back in the leather satchel hanging from his side, before gazing at the bag's straps in a small fit of envy. The six balls adorned there, five luxury balls and one love one, all seemed to glint at him in a mocking manner. While Jean loved his pokemon dearly, probably more than anything else in the world, their aversion to physical workouts irked him at times. That quirky Spritz loved being out of her Pokeball whenever she could, but tell her to actually walk a longer distance than a block? She suddenly loved tiny metal confinement, and Jean had to exert himself all alone. Panting slowing down, but still a frustrated at his day so far, Jean grabbed his love ball of the strap, and tossed it into the air, calling out a fluffy bundle of pink and purple feathers adorned with two horns, a mask-like beak, and a black little bow-shaped tail. Once the Aromatisse was at his side, not a single feather sticky or out of place, Jean spoke. "Enjoy the ride?" He asked, only to receive a chirp in reply. Too tired to sigh, he eyed the building in front of them: The Nacrene Museum.

There were no guards in the front. A quick scan of the lawn told him that much. He wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or a good thing. It was bad because that meant he'd actually have to go inside to find Clara (didn't she say she worked during the night shift?), but at the same time, being indoors meant air conditioning. Just one step through the door, and Jean felt purified. Taking his sweet time absorbing the cool air as he walked towards the front desk, Jean stopped in front of Steve, ignoring the other's dead-inside gaze to peek through at the museum. "Hi, yes," Jean started off, fairly distracted as he tried to squint past a few displays. Why did the entrance have to be so narrow? "My name is Jean Février, and I'm not really here for the museum, per say," his head bobbed back and forth as he searched through the trainers trying to find a girl with a badge. "You see, I was wondering whether or not- uh..." As Jean turned back around to face the front desk guy, he suddenly noticed the large feature of him missing. His eyes widened in surprise at the dangling sleeve, before quickly averting the sight. He didn't handle disfigurement well, and now, the Meowth got his tongue. "I am, uh, well- I was just- shit. I'll just go and search for her inside." He stared at the wall behind the man, unable to look him in the eye.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tessa considered Candi, her stare going very cold indeed. Were all P.Is this... disparaging?

"Sue is our resident scientist. She has been working at this museum ever since its inception, forty years ago. Perhaps you may not find her the most social, but she does not need to be to function as one of our most valuable staff members."

She put her hands on her hips. "Define anything. It is a... broad term."
-----
"Uh..." Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was just hormones, but Tyler could feel his face getting hot. He needed her gone, before he went and really said something stupid. And besides that, it'd be nice to get some help. "Ben found a note. It says, uh, the robber's taken a hostage. And they want that killer guy with the dumb name put back in jail, or the hostage gets it." He frowned, then slumped forwards to rest his head in his hands.

"The thing is... I didn't hear about any breakouts. I guess if there's really police everywhere, it's a possibility, but..." He raised his head, staring past her. "...You oughta keep a lookout for Ben, too. Nothing big, I don't think he did it or anything, it's just- just keep an eye out. Gut feeling, I guess."
-----
Steve let out one of the longest, most suffering sighs ever uttered in human history. People like Jean irritated him. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed he was missing an arm or something, so why did idiots like him try to keep it a secret? "Ten bucks to get in. No, I don't care why you're here. But hey, at least I'm 'armless."

Yes, it was a very bad dad joke. And yes, Steve had used it before.

 

[Merciless Medic]

As Boto looked down from the second floor's railing, he could see the Curator was still busy. He waddled over to her door and tried to open it. He couldn't reach it with his flippers. He tried jumping and using his weight to turn it, but the doorknob jingled in its place, hardly moving an inch. It was locked. Boto fell from his struggle and gave a low groan. He was getting tired of locked doors. He looked around for anything, something that could be used to get inside. He checked the clip on his monocle, but it wasn't a bobby pin or anything, so it would be very difficult for the clip to even get inserted, if it could fit. he checked his tail-sac to find nothing that could help him. He needed a bobby pin. Maybe that girl downstairs had something. He looked down the railing to find a brunette man walking inside. By the looks of it, he was probably boiling and sweating as much as a Palpitoad on a hot summer day. Poor guy. He flew about the second floor near the office, furiously flapping his flipper-like wings and trying to find anything small and thin to put into the door before he had to go back downstairs to procure a bobby pin of some sort.

Meanwhile, Miel was about to say something when a brunette man walked in. He had to keep himself from staring at him for too long because by Miel's standards, he was quite gorgeous. The fact that Miel was bi didn't help, either. He just shifted a little uncomfortably, trying to dodge the eye contact, but still look professional and not look like some 13-year-old swoon over their first crush. He just shook that image out of his head. There was a job he needed to do, he might as well marry into his commitment to the job now and forget about it until later. Besides, he already had someone else who he was looking forwards. He waited until Steve got done talking with the man, while he held his wrist behind his back. He had to hold in a smirk after he heard that god-awful dad joke. It was so dry, it almost made him laugh. Yes, his humor is as dry as the summer heat Unova is experiencing right now.

(This will be the last reference I make of this XD No more Miel swooning, I promise)

 

[robinspea]

Jean winced at the joke. It was terrible even by his low standards of humor. Not to mention it reminded him of how much of an ass he was being. While he knew his aversion was wrong, he didn't know what else to do. Should he look? Should he not look? What was the least rude thing to do? These type of situations were always confusing. And so, Jean just reached into his bag, pulling out ten pokedollars before finally turning around to walk inside, past the living rain drop next that stood next to him. His stopped and scanned that giant raindrop over for a moment, eyebrow lifting at his choice in style. His clothes were alright, but that color scheme was too extreme. Well, at least it wasn't hard to discern what his favorite color was. His brain must have saw the guy in his peripheral vision and subconsciously decided that he had to be part of the display, as why he didn't notice him earlier (he was pretty hard to miss). Noticing how the other avoided his eyes - was that supposed to be some kind of weird karma? - Jean 'tut'ed with his tongue in annoyance before heading inside. Hopefully he could find Clara quickly and get this whole thing over with. It was all Ferris wheels and beach time from here.

As soon as he was inside, blue eyes darted from one exhibit to the other, trying to find anyone either in uniform or with a hairstyle reminiscent of the Kalosian gym leader, Korrina. It didn't take much scanning of the first floor to notice something particularly off though. There was a lack of overall security to this place, despite the supposed thievery that just happened. Jean chewed the inside of his lip. Well, at least that explained that theory. A stolen bone, but rather than closing the museum, they start charging entry? That, and the relaxed security could only mean one thing: this was definitely a PR stunt, and a rather tasteless one at that. Well, at least there weren't actual police officers or detectives wasting their time on this charade, right? His steps slowed once he reached a scattered pile of bones, taped off from the public. Weird, and kind of hazardous to the exhibit, but that was still some really good faking. The skull was missing, though. That must have the bone they were all worked up about. Jean looked back towards the rest of the room again. He had to focus. He had to look for someone official, someone with a badge. Sure, he had to look upstairs too, but after walking so much before, the idea of stairs didn't exactly thrill him. Not to mention, it was still very possible that Clara could have been in a break room or something inaccessible to the public. He didn't know about or notice the old gym entrance during his short hunt.

It didn't take but a second to figure out who the commanding authority in the room was. Across from where he was, an official looking woman stood with a man that looked... less official. With a 5'oclock shadow and- was that supposed to be a quiff?- the tall man beside her looked obviously unkept. Probably just another customer wasting his time on this farce. The woman though... her golden badge glinted in the heavy museum lights, causing Jean to straighten up and put on his best smile as he walked up to them. He would rather make himself appear as if he didn't just walk out of sauna, thank you. If only he had some cologne. As he reached them, Jean slowed down and crossed his arms, weight shifted on to the nearby wall. This time, he was going to wait politely this time for the woman to help the other customer before she helped him. The Aromatisse at this side, Spritz, who had been more invested in seeing the exhibits for herself rather than helping him find Clara, pulled on Jean's designer pants leg to try and drag him to a nearby display case. "Not now," he sighed, before coming up with a loose promise. "After we find her." That phrase came out a little louder than it maybe should.

 

[vaultie]

Oh. This was getting a bit serious. On top of a hostage situation, there was also the possibility of a killer out and about. And if said killer wasn't put back, that could mean another potential kill, the hostage getting the short end of the stick.

The news Tyler gave made her feel a tightening knot in her stomach, but she had to keep face as if nothing was wrong. She bit her bottom lip, turning over a glossy, pink smile. "Don't worry, I'll keep myself safe. You'll tell me if you see anything super weird, right...?" She paused, realizing she didn't even know his name. "Oh, wow, whoops! I didn't even get what your name was." She leaned in, voice dropping to a sweeter, quieter tone. "My name's Atlas. But you can call me Atty."

 

[Test Candidate]

Ah. Fair enough. To be honest, he knew a few people like that in Hoenn... actually, come to think of it, he knew a lot of people like that in Hoenn. There were so many new people in Unova. He brought a hand up, scratching at the side of his head. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Didn't mean to offend." Unless she was protecting Sue- No, no, shut up, Candi, and stop considering every train of thought before you punched unconscious by a woman. Again.

"Well, um... I'm trying to figure out what's drawing the police attention away from here that's so important." He glanced at the cops, the regular uniformed officer and the Icepop. He played with his notebook, flipping it in his hand. "Is there a security room or something here? I would think an exhibit like that crashing down would have woken a neighbor or two up..."

 

[FrouFrou]

"Yeah, sure-! Uh, and I-if there's anything you wanna ask about the bone stuff too, let me know." Tyler had to stop and just breathe for a moment; he was getting breathless, especially now she'd leaned in. Dude was almost as disastrous with girls as he was with Pokemon, though in a different sense. "Also, it's Tyler. But you can call me Ty."

Ty?!?

Nobody had ever called him that, not even his mum. But... maybe this was a fresh start... or something? Probably for the best he didn't try to correct himself, anyway.
----
Tessa frowned. "Well, there is little need for a security room... We have one floor to monitor, and no cameras. Two night guards - Clara and B - patrol the floor. As for whatever has the police distracted from the crime, I'm afraid I do not know... I can hazard a guess, but it would hardly be objective fact, Detective."

Meanwhile, Sue emerged from the lab room, carrying a sandwich in one hand and an arm in the other. Six little Pokemon followed her like ducklings; two Marowak, two Cubone, one Alolan Cubone and one Alolan Marowak. Of the Marowak and Cubone pairs, one was Shiny and one was not. All of the Pokemon wore little white scientist outfits, and all of them seemed almost robotic in how they worked; they paid no attention at all to anything happening besides the movements of the Pokemon in front of them.

Sue waved the arm at Steve, who just sighed. "Give me strength", he muttered under his breath, before looking towards Miel. "Well? You had something to say?"

 

[robinspea]

Jean's eyebrows rose at that name. Good- he was right. This lady must have been her boss. "Excuse me miss," he said, body lifting off the wall he had been leaning patiently on to strut into the conversation. "But I'm a friend of Clara's, or maybe just an acquaintance- I, never mind. The point is that I'm looking for her. You see, I was supposed to meet with her this morning over coffee to look over some-" Jean caught himself, realizing that Clara probably didn't want him to talk about his video evidence like that. Thankfully, a trail of Cubone and Marowak began parading in the background, something Jean stared at for a second himself. Were they supposed to be the lab assistants? Whatever. Perhaps no one would realize his slip up. "

Anyways, I've been trying to contact her all day, but it seems like, between last night and this morning, she walked off he face of the Earth." His eyes shifted over to Candi for a moment, remembering Tessa's use of the word last word of 'detective'. He quickly looked away though. If that guy really was a real detective, he wouldn't look so rushed in putting himself together. "I don't suppose she's here by any chance, or if you've seen her around. I mean, I thought she was a night guard... er, never mind. Just- do you know where she is? It's important."

 

[Merciless Medic]

After being shaken from his reverie, he nodded and replied. "Ah, yes. I am only here to help with the case because I saw that the police force isn't here. I'm only here for security reasons, since I once heard that the person who stole the bone may be dangerous. Well, everyone is if they have a Pokemon on them, but that's besides the point. I was wondering who works here, besides you, the curator, the fursuit... Kid, and your scientist. I also wanted to make sure I heard this correctly... Dick bone, sir? Pokemon, nor humans, have bones in their genitalia. It's all muscle. What do you mean when you said that?"

Miel wasn't trying to be rude, but he was honestly confused. His brow had furrowed considerably when he was talking about it and he was trying very hard not to smirk or look chuckle. Meanwhile, Boto was rummaging through the trash cans at this point to find something! He couldn't find anything! He sighed with some frustration and thought about the abilities of the rest of Miel's Pokemon. There was Glaceon, then Vaporeon, then Milotic, then Lapras, and then Alolan Ninetales... And then himself. Maybe he could get Laplace to create a little ice crystal or maybe even Glazi. Glazi sounded like a better option. He flew off of the balcony and glided over to his trainer. He rummaged in Miel's satchel, with Miel giving him a confused eyebrow raise. Boto then finally found Glazi's very distinctly marked Poke Ball, stuffed it into his tail sac, and then flew off to the balcony again. He needed Glazi.

After about a minute or two of frantic flapping, he finally reached it. He took out the Poke Ball and released Glazi, and then set the Poke Ball back in his tail. Glazi looked around, a bit dazed, but finally gathered his bearings of where he was. Boto and Glazi began to communicate in their own Poke-tongue.

"Hey, Glazi. Can I have a tiny ice crystal from your fur? Or can you make a large, thin one? I need to get into the door, but it's locked."

"Boto, you do realize that ice crystals aren't that durable, and I can't consciously make one that has the shape of a key, you know."

"I know, but we can at least try, yes?"

Glazi sighed, and created a flat ice crystal on his back. Boto plucked it, earning a slight growl from Glazi. Boto apologized and went over to the lock. Damn, he needed a seat. He had Glazi's help in pulling a chair to the door, and then he inserted the ice pick. It seemed to have some trouble getting into the lock, but he managed to shove it in there. Of course, the "key" wasn't long enough, so it broke while inside, and it was impossible to get out now. Glazi just sighed and hopped on the chair, using his Ice Fang and freezing the key to his fang. He then turned his head to try and unlock it. He thought he heard a click, but the ice broke again and they were back on square one. Well, now the lock will be very moist now. Then Glazi had an idea. Maybe if they had Shama or Milo use their Water-Type attacks to create a key. But they'll need either a master key, or the same key, and there was no way for anyone to get in. Maybe they should just leave Miel to this instead and he could request entrance or something.

They moved the chair back, Boto returned Glazi to his Poke Ball, and he flew back to Miel, putting Glazi's Poke Ball back in Miel's satchel. That's when he noticed a long line of the Cubone evolutionary family, with several of them being shinies. He waddled over to them and asked them. "Hey, may I ask what you Pokemon are doing?"

 

[FrouFrou]

Tessa glared over at the newcomer, her frown deepening as she sighted Ben wobbling her way, his progress slow and unsteady. A friend? Of Clara's? Oh, was she not in the mood for this. That godawful girl had caused Tessa no small amount of headaches, and now here was some friend, looking-!

She had half a mind to send Jean packing, but the presence of the P.I made her think again. Flashing that cold receptionist smile of hers, Tessa kept her voice undoubtedly polite.

"Night guard does mean she was rostered during the night hours... Well, I would assume she's nowhere here, or I would have sent her home. A fatigued employee would be breaching policy. I can assure you she came to work last night, and therefore would not be here now."
----
Steve grinned. Ohhhh, this was gonna be good. He'd been itching to give this speech. "Actually, some do. The scientific word's baculum. Humans don't have 'em - they evolved out of them - but they used to, and there's a lot of mammals that still have dick bones. Walrein, for instance, have huge ones."

He snickered to himself, before continuing. "Basically, the fact that this really old Dragonite ancestor had one means it's at least a distant relation to us, and might even mean we've got a close common ancestor - I'm pretty sure Dragonite don't have them nowdays, so that means they must've evolved out of 'em as well. Them being related to humans was gonna be a really special discovery or whatever, if we'd kept on analyzing the skeleton and confirmed it. But then... well yeah, we lost a dick bone. The dick bone."

He had to take a moment to control his own laughter before going on. "As for who works here... Everyone you said, then there's two night guards. Or... one. Depends on how you count night guards."

The lock appeared to have frozen solid thanks to that effort. Getting the door open at all - with permission or not - was probably going to be rather difficult, at least until the ice melted. Hopefully Tessa wasn't going to need her office for a while.

The Cubone and Marowak just stared straight ahead, like little Pokemon robots or something. No talking on the job, mate.

 

[vaultie]

"Cute name." Atty kept her smile, staying close for a moment before leaning back. "Yeah, I'd bet you love to talk about bones with me, huh?" She gave a snide grin, joking around now that she had a good grasp on his trust. A giggle spilled out as she tridd to contain herself, the young lady standing up and pushing the chair in. "I should probably see how my buddies are doing, though. Maybe they've got a better idea of whats going on here." She adjusted her top, pulling the bottom hem back down to her hips, walking back to the exit of the old gym. "See you later, Ty."

As she stepped out, Atty needed a moment to herself to breathe. Not because she was awkward with boys or anything, but the fact that she was trying to wrap her head around everything she had been told thus far. She gave a deep sigh and a pout when she looked up to see her new "friends" already busy talking with people, and one guy she hadn't seen up until now. She figured he couldn't be another staff member, he looked too normal. Deciding it would be best to wait until one of them was done, she sat herself down on a nearby bench. As she did so, one of her Pokemon decided to clamor their way out of their ball for some attention.

"Hey girl," Atty softly spoke as her Salazzle, Bayonetta, decided to join her on the bench. "You worried about me?" The trainer cooed, the lizard giving a couple clicking noises in response. She raised a hand, stroking the smooth head of her Pokemon, watching the two detectives carefully, back to back. Engrossed in thinking about what they could all be discussing, it wasn't until she was interrupted by a familiar... Smell. Head whipping around, Bayonetta was now snaking around Atty and rubbing up against her like a cat. Atty let out a choked noise of offense, staring at her Pokemon. "-Really?! Bayo, c'mon, not nooowww!" She whined, huffing and picking up the slim lizard in her arms. Making a beeline for the nearest woman's restroom, Salazzle in hand, Atty and her mischevious little companion had left a sweet-smelling trail behind them.

 

[robinspea]

Jean's frown deepened as she spoke, trying his best to explore her... less than pleasant tone. Really, he had paid ten poke dollars just to come in and ask one question. And the answer she gave left him at the same place as before: with nothing. He supposed that the woman in front of him - Tessa, if the name tag was correct - couldn't help it if she didn't know anything, but she didn't have to sound so dismissive either! The Aromatisse, Spritz began to increase the strength of her flowery scent, though whether it was out of awareness for her trainer's frustration, or the new, seemingly sweet scent that was emitted by a strange something not too long ago, Jean wasn't exactly sure. He had gone nose-blind to his partner a long time ago, and her powerful perfume almost causing him to loose all sense of smell at all up till now. If it wasn't for the puffing of her feathers, Jean wouldn't have noticed the increase at all.

"Hey, it's fine. Calm down." He told her partner. She did just that, but the previous strong flowery scent still lingered in the air some, canceling out some of the other one. Jean looked back up to regard the manager in front of him. "Tessa, is it? I haven't heard from Clara in a while now... if you can't tell me where she went, could you at least tell me when she checked out of work? I assume you have some type of file, right? Someone had to take over for her..." He looked at the lazing guard over on the other side of the room. They were in the same field- maybe he knows more about where he could find Clara. "Anyways," he said, eyes turning back to face Tessa once more, when they scanned over the broken pile of bones once more. One thought suddenly jumped in front of all others. "Clara- she was on guard duty last night, right? When that bone was, uh, 'stolen'?" His voice clearly indicated that he didn't think that was the case, but that wasn't the important thing right now. "If I did have my own company instead of working as a freelancer, I would at least make sure that all my employees were safe and accounted for after something like that." Another layer of truth into all this being a PR stunt to draw business. He didn't pay any attention to the obviously drunk guy wobbling his way across the first floor. Though, if he was an employee here, then that said a lot about this museum. They'd probably get a lot more publicity if they just showcased the poor management here instead.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tessa blinked at that one, stepping back from all the perfume. And that... sweeter scent? The museum definitely smelled a bit odd today. "Yes, of course. Our night guards check in and out each shift. Clara would have been working until her shift ended at midnight, then B would have taken over for her. Sue should have the sign-in, sign-out shee-"

It was at this point that Ben came barging into the discussion, with even Tessa's very best scowls having little effect on the drunkard. Before she could pull him away or shush him, he'd blurted out the very worst of it, and quite loudly too: "Clara's been taken hostage!"

The only ones who didn't react to that at all were Sue's Pokemon, who kept marching along (the first one bumping into Sue when she stopped, followed by the rest of the line), and "Ty", who barely heard the unauthorized announcement, and already had his face buried so hard in the library table that had he tried any harder, he might have gone through it. (Bones??? B-BONES?!?) Most of the staff either froze, stared, or did both. (Or in Steve's case, he just sort of rolled his eyes and shrugged at Miel. Wasn't his fault drunk guys tended to be overly dramatic.)

Tessa had by far the most dynamic of reactions; she just about dislocated Ben's arm as she ripped him backwards and towed him to a bench. "What are you talking about?" she hissed. "Another of your theories?" She hesitated - sniffed the air - then lifted her chin and gave him the full benefit of her death stare. "You had better not be drunk."

Ben shook his head, slowly, not daring to speak for fear that might give him away - and handed over the little slip of paper. Or at least, went to hold it out and found she'd snatched it the instant his hand had left his side. Tessa's expression darkened as she read the thing; though what she was thinking was wholly unclear.

"This will not do." She stood quite straight, pocketing it, and spoke loud enough for most to hear. "I want flyers made about this, the police contacted, and a press release organised. This burglar will be caught. Or this... Poke-man? He will be caught. Preferably both - I don't care, as long as my bone is returned and Clara is safe. If she was taken while serving here, that makes it our problem." Despite her earlier questioning, she seemed to have taken the threat quite seriously.

Even the bit about having to rescue someone she didn't like much from a supposedly fictitious character. Tessa had to hold back on a rather strong urge to start pulling her hair out, honestly. Arghhh, everything about this situation was so frustrating.

 

[Test Candidate]

Candi's mouth pursed as Tessa stared him down, tossing his notepad to himself as he did, looking thoughtful. What would be so intense as to draw everyone's attention away from the theft of the skull? His nose twitched. His face scrunched up as he felt his heart rate increase, and he turned to look at Atty, with a Salazzle currently coiling itself around her. He recognized that scent from his time back on the islands. Why would a sweet person like Atty associate herself with a Pokémon like that?

Or maybe she wasn't as innocent as she seemed.

Candi felt his stomach tighten once Ben rather abruptly drew the attention of the Curator from him to the bumbling man, his eyes shooting open and arm dropping once he heard the announcement. Kidnapping? Someone was kidnapped? This just got... worse. His arms dropped down, staring at Tessa as she roughly handled her employee, the man sailing backwards towards a bench as she ripped what appeared to be a note from him.

A sudden determination overcame him, his modest, sort of bumbling demeanor quickly giving way to a hurried one, walking up behind Tessa and looking over her shoulder at the ransom note, a sudden concern filling him as he took the page, reading it quickly.

 

[FrouFrou]

The note wasn't particularly wordy; though Tessa soon recovered from her shock, and snatched it back with all the speed of a particularly enraged Seviper, Candi was able to read it. It had been typed in... well, hopefully that wasn't Comic Sans, but it did look suspiciously similar. Whoever this kidnapper was, they had little in the way of taste.

I have your night guard.
You have three options: Let her die. Pay me 500,000 Pokédollars. Return Poké-man to prison.
Your choice.

-Terrorcat​

Quite startled by the sudden loss of her note, and therefore rather defensive, Tessa whirled to face the private detective. "Well-!" She bit her lip, wanting to say any number of things that would have been highly inappropriate given her position. "I suppose you will be leading the press release, Mr... what was it, again?"

 

[vaultie]

Knowing that there was the possibility of eyes on her as she darted to the restroom only fueled Atty's need to get their quicker. She had barely heard the announcement while she was down the hall, luckily already knowing about the case thanks to Ty. However, she now had a name to go off of. Clara, was it? She'd have to come back in a bit just to make sure she heard right.

For now, though, she was stuck in the bathroom, Salazzle still clung to her. Bayonetta looked pleased with herself, taking in the glare Atty was giving her with ease. "You pick the worst times to do that sort of thing, you know that?" She pouted, met with soft clicking in response from the lizard. She managed to stuff Bayo back into her Ultra Ball, but the smell still lingered on her and it now filled the bathroom. Huffing, she made her way over to one of the sinks, hoping to at least wash the residue off her hands and arms, especially after carrying around Bayo.

Maybe she'd stay in here a little while, just in case there were any clues... That, and the fact she wanted the pheromones to wear off before stepping out again. Telling the others about Sue's research would have to wait for now. On the bright side, Atty knew of only two other females in the entire place at the moment, both who were pretty busy. Drying her hands off, she poked around in the bathrooms for a bit, just to see if there was anything worthwhile.

 

[FrouFrou]

There wasn't much relevant to be found in the bathroom, given the missing bone wasn't exactly kept there, but Atty did come across a Pokeball, which had rolled under one of the sinks. She'd likely want to be careful handling it, though; there was blood spatter on one side of the thing. Ew.

Following the spatter, there was a quite impressive blood spray up the wall. Going off the plaster, someone had been shoved _hard_ into the wall, perhaps cracking their head open or just stunning them enough for their attacker to really hurt them. But whatever had done that would have needed a lot of strength, and it didn't seem like anyone at the museum boasted that.

---

Out in the main area, Sue sighed and resumed her approach of the front desk. There wasn't a whole lot she could do about this hostage situation, after all. "Ah... Here you go, Steve!" She tried to smile as though nothing had happened, but it definitely faltered. Steve rolled his eyes, taking the arm she held and plugging it back into his stump. It was a plain affair, in a shade that matched his skin and some attempt made at nails; no bright led highlights or machine-y glossiness. From a distance, it looked pretty normal, and its movements seemed quite graceful. Sue watched in some approval while the guy stretched out his fingers, then curled them into a fist.

"All good, hun?"

"Yeah, yeah." Steve opened his hand again, then flipped it palm-side down on the table and drummed his fingers, apparently entranced. Sue's smile turned genuine.

"Right! Well hun, I do have something to check, so if you'll excuse me..."

And the sixty-something now hobbled for the library, unwrapping her sandwich as she went and taking a few bites. As ever, her little guard of assorted Cubone and Marowak followed.

 

[vaultie]

Oh.

Atty visibly cringed when the blood came into her vision. She had seen blood plenty of times in women's restrooms before, for obvious reasons, but this was an entirely different situation. Her first instinct was to take her phone out, focusing carefully and getting a picture of the splattered stain for reference. There were already situations bubbling in her mind of what could've happened, with Clara being the focal point of all of them. The most likely, she assumed, was that if Clara had really been kidnapped, it's likely that the blood belonged to her. It would be easy for someone to come in here and catch her off guard for an attack.

She crouched, slowly reaching out to grab the abandoned Pokeball, careful to grip the clean side. She spoke, voice low. "Don't worry, I got you..." It was a bit silly to try and talk to it, considering the Pokemon was still presumably inside it's ball, but Atty at least hoped whatever it was could tell it was in safe hands. She gently rolled it into her reach, backing up and standing once it was secured. As much as she wanted to release whatever was inside right then and there, her best option was to tell the others first.

She wasted no time walking back to the main lobby, finding everyone still busy and up in arms about the kidnapping. She gently tapped the shoulder of the closest detective, which happened to be the more unkempt, scruffier one. "Uh, hey, sorry to interrupt but this is really important. I was just in the bathroom, and I found this-" She held up the Pokeball, the blood still visible. "I'm not sure who's it is, but there's a pretty big blood splatter on the wall, and I really think someone was attacked in there recently!"

 

[Test Candidate]

Candi was prepared to whistle to the room for attention and announce the rather... alarming news to the room about the letter and the ransom. Honestly, he felt a bit guilty. He was not making a lot of good first impressions today. He should probably work on his social skills. "McCoy." He spoke under his breath, and turned to the room, the bustle of the staff and visitors filling what used to be stagnant, silent halls.

He spun around to the person touching him, looking down at Atty. The smell of Salazzle pheromones hit him like a freight train, and he instinctively pulled his arm up to his face, trying to block his nose so he didn't end up like he'd just downed Love Potion No. 9. His awkward action was halted once he saw the blood-spattered Pokéball, and the girl's worried description of the bathroom, lowering his arm, looking up, then looking back down and nodding at Atty. "Can you show me?"

 

[vaultie]

Atty pouted as she watched Candi give a bit of an overreaction as she approached. She didnt smell THAT much, and plus she washed most of it off... I think.

Either way, now was not the time for jokes. He seemed to realize this when she made an urgent mention of the incident, Atty relieved that someone was listening to her. She was about to open her mouth to say something, thinking it over. Could she actually trust him? If she were to lead him back to the scene and it was just the two of them, would she be okay? She swallowed, finding her words again after making her decision. "Yeah, follow me."

She led him back the way she came, the hall still lingering with Salazzle pheromones, and the bathroom even worse as they entered. It wasn't a bad smell, just... Disgustingly sweet. Either way, the stain was still there, Atty keeping a close eye on Candi as she continued to clutch the Pokeball she found.

 

[Test Candidate]

His sneakers squeaked against the floor as he crept behind her, walking past her to approach the splattered blood. His face scrunched up at the strong stink of Salazzle. He waved his hand in front of his face, trying to brush it away, both arms going down as he crept up to the scene, moving slowly and kneeling a bit to look at the impact. "Yikes."

He knelt down, looking down at the splatter as it lead all the way up to the ceiling, his head craning back to look at it, pushing on his knees to get back up to a standing position. "You find anything that would have caused this?" A weapon probably would have not made a straight shot up the wall like this. This was brute force, plain and simple.

 

[vaultie]

"No, not really..." Atty mused, thinking the options over. "Who was it that's being held hostage? Clara-something? Not to be blunt, but... I think that might be her blood. I can imagine how simple it must've been to catch her off guard in here and attack her, you know?"

She looked down to the Pokeball still in her hand, pursing her lips for a moment. "There's still this Pokeball, too... There's a better chance of it belonging to the attack-ee than the attacker. I've been wondering whats inside, but I was kind of waiting until someone else was here to see..." She took a deep breath, ready to bring out her own Pokemon if whatever it was ended up being hostile. "Just be ready incase something happens, okay?" Atty nodded, looking over to Candi, then back to the ball as she clicked it open, releasing light and waiting for the big reveal.

 

[FrouFrou]

Out came a Cranidos, all dressed up with a brown suit and reddish bowtie. It even had a little suitcase of somethings, perhaps because it was supposed to help with selling things or maybe just because that looked adorable.

Strutting forwards, it checked left and right for its favourite Trainer's shoes, and obviously couldn't find them. Nor could it find its favourite Trainer's face, staring up at the duo in some confusion. Who were these people? It had never seen them before, nor this place.

...It was probably for the best that it couldn't see the blood spatter due to that being directly being it, honestly. The Pokemon wasn't panicking, for now; it just seemed really confused. Butting its head gently against Atty's leg, the Pokemon made a soft 'Raaa' noise, maybe a thanks or follow me, and started to wander out of the bathroom in search of its Trainer. Maybe its Pokeball had been dropped? It hoped it wasn't a million miles from home or anything.

 

[vaultie]

Atty gave a sigh of relief, instantly noticing the Pokemon wasn't panicking or bursting into tears like she expected it to be.

She instantly recognized it as a Cranidos, the enlarged skull being a dead giveaway. They were particularly popular in Sinnoh, she remembered. Part in due to the fact there were an abundance of fossils to be found of them in the Underground, along with the more defensive counterpart, Shieldon. Now who was it that she fought that had one... Bryon? No, no. He specialized in Steel types. He had a Bastiodon, it was his son Roark that had a Cranidos!

Figuring enough time was wasted, Atty took that little nudge as a sign to get moving. For being such a small little rock Pokemon, it acted fairly mature. She glanced up to Candi, nodding at the Pokemon. "Uh... You can stay here and look around if you want, I'm gonna follow this little guy." She stepped out and followed the suited Cranidos, keeping close behind. Seeing this as an open window, she reached into her bag, pulling out a makeup-remover wipe in her best effort to rid the blood from the Pokeball. Did this count as destroying evidence? Whoops. She just figured no Pokemon deserved to have such a dirtied up ball.

 

[FrouFrou]

Okay, and now the Cranidos knew exactly where it was headed! Or, well... not really, but it knew where it was. The Pokemon broke into a run, loping between people and around exhibits with a very strange-looking gait. Its head stick straight out in front on its little neck, snaking from side to side with every turn, and it clutched its suitcase close.

Charging around the circumference of the building's insides, the prehistoric Pokemon eventually came to a halt not far from where it had started, sniffing at one of the windows, which bore a rather round hole in it. It tried to stick its snout through the hole, but was put off by a shout of horror from... somewhere presumably on the other side of the window. (Perhaps someone up that tree - in which case, they had every right to be terrified of a Pokemon notorious for downing trees.)

That, and it couldn't get very far through the hole - it was too small, even for a Cranidos that was small by Cranidos standards. Taking a few steps back from the offending window, the Pokemon looked over at Atty, and offered her the suitcase; it really wanted to get through that window, but wasn't so sure on how to get there. Maybe she'd have some idea.

 

[vaultie]

Atty resorted to jogging after the Cranidos once the Pokemon picked up the pace, it's little legs carrying it at a higher speed than she would've expected from a Rock-type. "Ah, wait for me!" This would be so much easier if she could just talk with Pokemon and understand them...

The pair came to a window, Atty noticing right away the rounded hole in the glass. It was a bit cute trying to watch the little Cranidos trying to fit in it's large head through the hole, but she was snapped out of her quick entertainment hearing a scream coming from the other side. If someone out there was really in danger, she needed to act fast. She took the Pokemon's little suitcase, saving the "aww"'s for another time. Her first and most obvious choice of action was to actually try opening the window. She brought herself up in front of the glass pane, looking for some sort of way to push it from the bottom up, or to the side, or something of that nature. And if it didn't have a way of opening, or was locked from the other side somehow, well... She had a backup plan, but didn't exactly want to resort to it.

 

[Test Candidate]

Candi took a few tentative steps from the blood splatter, his eyes scanning up and down, before digging out his phone and taking a few pictures of his own of it for reference. He stuck his hands back in his pockets, and turned, leaving the women's bathroom as quickly as he could manage.

Columbo and Carolina were outside, waiting for him, heads turned in curiosity. He stared at them for a second, before stepping forward, reaching out to rub both their heads. "C'mon, guys. We need to go look around. Something's going on here." The Gumshoos looked intrigued as to what he meant. The Swampert happily smiled, looking giddy as anything to be able to do some actual investigating. She didn't know about the blood or that anyone was in trouble until she read her owner's expression, lowering back down and getting a more serious frown.

Candi rubbed his chin, and looked up to Tessa, about to walk over and tell her about the blood splatter. He looked around for Officer Icepop, figuring he should alert someone with actual law enforcement credentials, but he stopped himself, turning around and deciding to give the men's room a quick look. He wasn't expecting to find anything- but then again, neither was Atty when she went into the bathroom.

 

[FrouFrou]

There didn't seem to be anything of interest in the men's room. Which in a way added credence to the idea that Clara had been attacked, given her gender.

The Cranidos tapped its foot in a very obvious 'come on' gesture, its tail flicking left and right. It looked quite excited, even putting a claw through the hole and trying to reach up at something - perhaps something it could see due to its height. It didn't have much luck given its tiny arms, but it sure as hell resulted in more upset yelling.

"No! D-down! Stop that!"

The window was intended to slide upwards, for those particularly hot summer days where air-conditioning was either broken or deemed too expensive. How far Atty was going to be able to get it open was unknown, given the hole; it might not slide up past that, since it was kind of a jagged mess.

 

[Merciless Medic]

(Everything happened so fast ^^''')

Miel had to keep himself from revealing the amused thoughts from spilling out all over his face. He remembered his sister wouldn't stop talking about baculum.... And how it was significant to tying Pokemon and humans together, since she had found some very recent folk stories in Alola or Kalos when she was there exploring the region with her twin sister. Anyway, he thanked him for giving him the information. He jotted down everyone who had worked here, and was thinking about getting everyone's names by asking for them. There was Steve, then there was the scientist, the Curator, the fursuiter, and two night guards. He also noticed a drunken man loping out and saying something about a kidnapping and that Clara was taken. She could possibly work here, and since he saw all of them here, it was safe to assume that she was a night guard. He needed to talk with the drunkard, no matter how drunk he may be. So, his suspicions were confirmed. There was a kidnapping, and that the person who did it was dangerous. He thanked Steve again for cooperating and then left. That's when he noticed the very strong smell, likely from a Salazzle.

Sadly, he isn't around Salazzles enough since he keeps away from them. He's especially sensitive to their pheromones they let out and had to take a moment to compose himself before he uh.... "Attacked" anyone in weird ways... Once the Salazzle left, he shook his head and carried on with a more determined and stoic face. He whistled for Boto to follow him, and he made his way to the curator, but she left. He must've spent a little too long with Steve. Although, he did read her nameplate. He jotted down her name next to her title: Tessa. Interesting.

He also noticed the scientist giving Steve his prosthetic, but was more interesting was that Mr. Fake-PI and Atty had gone to the lady's bathroom. Why? Did she had something to show? He decided to follow them both, and only managed to get there when the other detective had gone into the men's, with Atty following a very sharp Cranidos. It couldn't have been her Pokemon, right? He didn't seem to act like he was her's.

He walked into the bathroom and saw the blood scene, the shock of seeing such a scene numbed his nose enough to ignore the strong Salazzle scent. He raised an eyebrow and looked about. He looked at the blood spatter closely, having Boto take pictures of it at all angles. He tried to discern the shape of the blood. Knowing the shape of the blood will help determine the trajectory and velocity of the blood when it lands on a surface. This Clara must've been in here and was caught off guard, so maybe that Cranidos was hers. He looked in the bathroom stalls for anything suspicious.

After he was done looking though, his vision became blurry and his brain started to react to the Salazzle scent. Oh Arceus, no.... Glazi, sensing this, erupted from his Poke Ball and hopped on Miel's back and standing on his shoulder. He then coated his fangs in ice and bit his ear. Miel, startled by the pain, reached up to hold his now numbed ear as Glazi landed back down. He seemed unfazed by the scent, or maybe the scent was too high up for him to smell. Regardless, he retreated into his Poke Ball. Boto didn't smell it, either, or maybe he was just used to it from being around several Salazzles that Miel's two brothers had owned. Although, it seemed to be bothering Boto after a bit, so he retreated into this Poke Ball. If only Miel were a Pokemon too, or at least could go into a Poke Ball to avoid the scent like his Pokemon can. At least the Ice Fang helped to take him away from being too gone into the scent.

 

[vaultie]

Atty set down the Cranidos' little suitcase, gripping the bottom of the window with both hands. She gave a determined grunt, using all her strength in an attempt to push the window up a reasonable amount. Which, given her stature, wasn't exactly a lot of strength. She got the window open about a third of the way before it got stuck, jagged pieces of glass getting in the way. It still wasn't enough room for her or the Pokemon, so she figured it would be time for plan B.

She held a Net Ball in her hand, clicking the device open and releasing her Pokemon for assistance. The large form of light faded to reveal Flower, her golisopod, massive and hulking at what had to be 7ft from just the top of her head, not even counting the way her back hunched and how her shell armor rose.

She looked absolutely delighted to see her trainer, flashing a quick smile of tiny, needle-teeth. She noticed the Cranidos, tilting her head in a curious fashion and giving a small chitter. "No time to explain," Atty moved close to her, giving her shell a pat. "I'm gonna need you to help open this window a little bit more, okay Flower?" She cooed, the isopod nodding in response and shifting over to the window, not exactly light on her feet. She reached a large, gauntlet covered mitt under the space Atty had managed to provide, hooking her double-claws under the frame and pulling upwards.

It worked. A little bit too well, actually. While the Golisopod's strength proved useful in getting the window open to its full capacity, the end result was an even bigger mess. What was left of the glass ended up shattering, most falling onto the floor infront, some shards falling the other way outside, and some still stuck in the window. Flower backed from the window, shards crunching under her boot-shaped feet. Her antenne twitched as she looked over to Atty, her smaller arms sheepishly rubbing together to match her embarrassed look.

"...It's fine." Atty let out a deep breath. She couldn't be mad at her own Pokemon. She did what she was told, after all. With Flower now out of the way and the window wide open, she gave a quick glance down at the Cranidos to make sure it was okay, walking up and feeling the warm breeze of the outdoor air. Careful not to injure herself on stray glass, she poked her head outside, shouting back a response and hoping to see where the yelling was coming from. "Hey, do you need any help?!"

 

[FrouFrou]

There was, up a tree, a certain lanky young man, square rimmed glasses and a badly fitting hoodie (yes, in this heat!). He seemed... familiar, if she recalled the little disturbance over paying the fees, and just out of arm's reach of another Pokeball, stuck in the foilage. He peered down at her, shuddering at the sight of her gigantic Pokemon. "Uh- no! Nope, I'm good." He waved sheepishly at the Pokeball. "This... this is mine! And I'm trying to get it back, see."

Atty might want to be quick about her response. Tessa had definitely noticed the window getting shattered, and while she wasn't shrieking at Atty - yet - the click, click, click of her heels was... an intimidating sound, to say the least. Maybe the curator didn't know who had taken her night guard, but she definitely knew who had just vandalised her building.
-----
The blood spray was... well, bloodspray. From some sort of cut, like if someone's jugular had been sliced open. Though hopefully, nobody's had. Besides that and the cloying scent of the Salazzle, there wasn't much to be found in the bathroom. Or... well, there was, because the place was pretty filthy - but nothing relevant to the case.