Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

The pair head through Abigail's house, taking out a recording device from under Abigail's sofa.

"Oi, Hound. Found something." The Shadow says, picking up Chroma's note.

The guardian takes Chroma's note and reads it over.

"Hm. Looks like he managed to survive it somehow." The guardian says.

"How? Not even I could survive one of those damned bombs. It'd turn me into a crystal instantly." The Shadow says, confused, taking another drag on his cigarette.

"The null field seems functional too." The guardian notes.

"Well, we're never going to get into the king of king's detective agency if we can't sleuth a classic houdini." The Shadow says, starting to look around.

"We'd hardly be detectives, Owl." The guardian says, waving the smell of smoke out of her face.

 

Chroma's rock remains... well, inanimate.

Before vanishing, at least.


There's a knock at Abigail's door.

 

The guardian heads over and answers the door, the Shadow keeping an eye on her.

 

All that's there is a note on the doorstep.

"Owl and Hound,

Sorry, ain't lookin' for you two. Let me know when you're done with your 'investigation,' okay? I only got two and a half hours until Overlord comes to wreck her house. I can't keep him waiting, so I suggest you don't keep me waiting either.

- Apparently Houdini"

 

"We've got a lead." Hound says, nodding to Owl and holding up the note.

Owl disappears, seeming to possess Hound before she runs out of Abigail's house.

 

Chroma loosely keeps track of them from his rock-pile-concealed rock.

 

The pair seems to head out away from the volcano, before disappearing entirely from Chroma's tracking.

 

Chroma reforms as they get too far.
"Okay, come on, stop acting confused you two." He calls.

 

The pair don't seem to hear, nor do they turn around and come back.

 

Chroma rolls his eyes, sitting down.
"Alright, fine. Where's the second bomb?" He mumbles, mostly to himself as he looks around.

 

There don't appear to be any bombs around, Abigail's house mostly empty; aside from the consuming void of magic present in it.

 

Chroma glances back at Abigail's house, uneasy.
"...No, I owe her at least that much." He sighs, getting up and starting back towards the volcano.

 

Nobody disturbs Chroma, either assuming he's dead or the area is still dangerous.

 

Chroma checks how strong the drain is inside before trying the door.

 

The void still seems to be going at full power, but likely won't last longer than a day at it's current rate.

 

Chroma shakes his head, summoning a bag of coin and heading inside.

Once inside, he leaves the bag there along with another note.
"Abigail,

I figure neither note will reach you, but this should cover the cost of the bomb. It was a solid attempt, really. Had me worried for a second.

In the off chance this one does, I need your help. Badly.
Atavul is working on something worse than usual. If I step even a tiny bit out of line, I'm going to be mind controlled. I'm not right now, but I don't know how long that will last.

Please, gather your friends and lay siege to his palace. He's running people through gauntlets until they're mentally broken, and he's recently ordered me to start mass producing something even I struggle to get through. I promise you, as dumb as it sounds, I'm stalling the best I can - but I can only stall so long as I keep hold of my free will.


My attack on your house was Atavul's deal to let me come to Earth unsupervised. He already knows something's amiss. I would apologize to you in person, but I'm going to run out of time if I don't report back soon.
My hope was to provoke you into striking back at me. Clearly, I overestimated myself.

He has guardians. He's trying to find your limits. Please, don't let him.
- Chroma"

He pins it to the bag with a piece of obsidian before heading back out the front door, closing it. Once he gets far enough away from the drain effect, he clenches his forehead and lets out a primal scream, seeming furious with himself.

 

"Quite twofaced, aren't you?" Owl says, appearing behind Chroma and blowing cigarette smoke around him.

 

Chroma turns, a crazed look in his eye.
"What's it to you? I'm just a paycheck in your eyes and a pawn in his." He snaps.

 

Crystal plays one last note before stopping.


"Alright."
I say simply.

 

Owl finishes his cigarette, flicking it at Chroma.

"I wouldn't be a detective if I couldn't see the bigger picture." Owl says with a sly grin.