The Investigation (Unknown)

==The Rite - GEO-7 Aerodock, Camelot [07/08/2022]==
"So where do we start Abadi?" Archie asked, following behind Fate to the landed Nazareth.
"Well I'm glad you asked Director, the first divergence that hit our radar was the death of Maximus Avington. He was some big shot industrial CEO, shot dead in his villa in the Commonwealth. Normally this would be normal, some guy gets senselessly killed and all that, but he didn't end up dying in the first few beginning loops. That means our looper has to have been the murderer, or at least closely connected to it. And that means he may have... no, he's had to have left some clues."
Archangel stood silent in contemplation as he walked, just before Void interjected.
"So what are me and Arch supposed to do? We can't sense these loops."
"Me and Nature Lady can explain once we get to the villa, we at least want to make sure we're not chasing a ghost first," Abadi shot back, pointing towards the Nazareth. "This our ride?" Here Lies Fate corrects Abadi, "Mother Nature is the High One's daughter. She terraformed Vela. You can just call me Fate however. The Nazareth will get us there quickly. And with Nazareth, its pilot Yarad." The hatch of the space craft opens with a hiss, letting all the pressurized oxygen go loose. As it does this, the ship begins to hum, recycling the surrounding air into its oxygen tanks. At the incline is Hellscream, giving a playful salute to them all. "HAKIM! VOID! Good to see you two again! And hello new guy, nice to meet you. I'm Yarad ,I know I look young but I assure you I have never crashed this thing...Okay that was a lie. It was one time into this base, but for good reason. We paid for the damages...I think but anyways. Hop in, grab a seat and a snack." Here Lies Fate chuckles and says to herself out loud, "As lively as ever. Come on everyone." She walks up the incline past Hellscream while ruffling his hair. He gives a slight grunt and quickly swats her hand away. He then looks at Void and asks, "Okay first question, how was the Hebi meat? Second...you uh...you are able to wash your clothes just fine right? And your desk...?"
"Oh the meat was amazing, savory as all hell and it blended with my potatoes just nicely! And now that you mention it, most of my supplies just... vanished? I had to make do with some of the chemicals in Reptile's lab lockup, ended up adding another to the count cause of that," Void responded, embarrassed towards the latter statement.
"Count? What count?" Hellscream responded, with Archangel sighing. He explains, "One of our engineers took it upon herself to document Void's deaths while working with us."
"Oh that's kind of cool. Let me check here....hey Eden, can you bring up Void's file?"
Eden projects the file in front of Hellscream. He reads through it and his eyes widen as he keeps reading. "You uh...got accidentally shot 46 times?"
"Haha, yeah... heh..." Void responded with nervous laughter, trailing off as he buckled into a seat. Archangel and Abadi followed suit, with the sergeant's hardsuit clicking as always when he settled into his seat. "This doesn't look like any AV I've been in," Abadi said, curious. Hellscream explains, "Oh that's because it's a spaceship. A Class-6 Starship Fighter to be exact. Now, usually this thing can go from zero miles per hour to one Astronomical Unit in three seconds, but we'll take it nice and slow. Where are we going?" Archangel answers, "We're going to Straille. I put the coordinates on your dash."
"Yep I see it. So this will take nine seconds at the most."
Abadi looks a bit surprised and asks nervously, "You said...it'll take nine seconds?" Hellscream smiles back and responds, "Yeah! Don't worry, you won't get whiplash. The seats are made for this type of speed. Alright, everyone buckled in?" Everyone nods and Hellscream closes the hatch. The engine gives off a cosmic radiant noise, and the Nazareth begins to elevate into the air. Hellscream presses a few things into the dashboard and lightly pushes the steering wheel forward. This sends the Nazareth forward with blazing speed, taking the group to Straille in basically no time. Archangel chuckles and comments, "We didn't even get a chance to relax." Hellscream opens the hatch mid air and jokes, "Alright everyone. Be sure to give me a five star rating on Taksi, I usually take twenty percent tip but more would be great." Fate pinches his cheek and looks at the others. "Let's get started, shall we?" She suggests, jumping casually down from the hatch. She basically floats the rest of the way down, and lands with grace.
Void jumped out immediately after, followed by Archie and finally Abadi. "Been a while since we've been here, huh Void?" Archie says with a chuckle, as Abadi came up from behind them, pointing towards the gated village where the CEO's villa resided. "That's our target right there. While I'd love to save this whole speech until we get there and find some clues, it'd be just like a looper to attack us while you two are unaware."
Abadi tosses two small wristband-shaped devices towards Void and Archangel with Void fumbling his before it finally rested safe in his hands, and Archie effortlessly catching his in a show of superhuman reflexes. "It's one of our best pieces of kit in Timekeepers, the wrist-mounted temporal state monitor. The 'Wristwatch' for short." Abadi extended his arm outwards, showing his version of the device embellished with engravings and silver trimming. He pointed at the top right of the screen, where a simple window displaying "#000" resided. "Right here, it'll show how many loops have taken place. For simplicity's sake, we're starting at zero since not even the lab guys know what number we're on now." Archie looks at Fate and asks, "What about you Aaliyah? Do you need a Wristwatch as well?" Fate smiles and then presses a few buttons on her watch. A ringing is heard from the watch until a familiar voice picks up the call. "Hey Liyah. What's up?" Creed asks. 
"Hello High One. Forgive me if I'm interrupting anything. I would like to request your assistance."
"Of course, anything for you. What do you need?"
"Do you remember our plan to give me a Mark Weapon? I think I would like to do the ceremony now. The situation in 919 is quite dire."
"Oh. Alright sure. I'll be there in...3 seconds after I hang up."
"Thank you, Dear Seraph."
The call ends with a slight chuckle from Creed. 1st Kings looks at 2nd Kings and counts out loud, "One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Missi-." Before 1st Kings finished the third second, a lightning bolt hits the ground with massive force. It creates a shockwave that surprises Archie, Void, and Abadi. The Nazareth above adjusts itself to counteract the force it was receiving. The lightning bolt disappears, and in the small crater is Creed, leader of the Seraphim. His first words were, "Sym, give me the time?" 1st King gleefully answers, "Two point eighty seven seconds, High One!" Creed pumps his fist in the air and walks towards the group and greets, "Sup guys. Oh new dude. How's it going?" Creed nods towards Abadi, who is still stunned by the appearance of the Seraph. Archie giggles and pats Abadi on the back saying, "It's a thing he does. This is the leader of the Seraphim in the flesh. Father of the Mother Nature, and Father of the King of the Underworld." Creed shakes Abadi's hand, almost crushing it due to his overwhelming superhuman strength and says, "Okay, so since the fate of your universe is at stake I'll make this ceremony quick. I'll be in and out. Liyah, please stand over here with me." He points at an empty spot in the area. 
Fate promptly walks towards the designated spot and Creed stands in front of her. He smiles, and she smiles back. Creed begins, "I, Creed, bestow a new weapon to the Aspect of Fate, Aaliyah Paladinia. This weapon will be a part of her, and will be a remembrance of me." His necklace begins to glow, as well as Archie's. The two necklaces shine bright until you can no longer see them under the intense luminosity. Creed then tells Fate, "Reveal your intentions to the Mark, and reach inside." Fate opens up her eye, revealing her rose colored iris. She breathes in and slowly reaches towards the necklace. Her hand slips into the light, as if she had reached inside a deep pocket. After a few seconds, she pulls her hand out, and with it, an ornate spear. The bottom end has a large hourglass with metallic vines surrounding it. The sand inside falling down to the bottom of the hourglass. The rest of the body of the spear has the metallic vines wrapped around it. The tip of the spear has a sharp double-sided jagged blade. The middle of it hollow, allowing something to be filled inside it. She looks upon the weapon and then smiles at Creed and says, "I accept this remembrance of you, Dear Seraph. I will use it to its fullest." The necklaces wane in brightness until they are back to their normal states. Creed and Fate participate in a deep embrace and look down at the spear as they stay close to each other. Their mouths move, however the rest of the party cannot hear them. Archie and Void notice Fate holding Creed's shoulder, and him holding her cheek. "What an interesting rite huh, V," Archie says as he watches. Void could only utter a, "Yeah..." Three minutes pass, and they finally break away from each other. 
Creed walks away from Fate, with her still watching him with her rosy gaze. He looks at the rest of the party and waves saying, "Good luck guys! Don't die on me." He snaps his fingers and a lightning bolt strikes where he stands. Another shockwave hits the ground, staggering the three again. A split second later, Creed is gone. "What in Arthur's Ghost...?" Abadi says to himself. Fate walks towards the group again as she closes her eye. Her face is slightly reddened as she begins to talk, "This is the Chronographer. It will enhance my temporal abilities thirty fold. I will also be able to sense a time loop and be resistant to temporal abilities. Since you all have Wristwatches, I will not need to bestow loop awareness among you three. I will however, bestow it on 1st and 2nd Kings." She turns to the twins and taps the bottom of the spear on the ground. The spear gives off a humming noise, and the area around Fate the the twins become distorted. Archie notices a bird inside the sphere has completely stopped mid-air, and realizes the time around Fate and the Twins have stopped. "Outstanding..." Archie says as he begins to write down something on his phone. Within a mere moment, the distorted field around the three stops, and they are in completely different positions than they were when they began. 1st Kings starts, "Despite not having temporal abilities ourselves. We were already aware of the target's deeds." 2nd Kings adds, "We uphold and manage all laws of existence, from the laws of each settlement on a planet, to the Laws of Time and Space. The criminal has broken the Laws of Time repeatedly, and we are aware of this." 
Archie looks at the two in amazement and looks at Void, "I'm glad they came along with us. By the way Ms. Paladinia, what did Creed tell you?" Fate's face turns a redder shade of brown and faces away from Archie and tries to hide her smile. She clutches the spear tightly and shifts a little to the left. 1st Kings responds, "It is only between the High One and the one gifted that knows what was said. They are prohibited to talk about it." Archie nods in understanding and says, "Well, either way, congratulations on the Chronographer. It will help us greatly in our task."
== The Villa - McFay's Quarter, Straille [07/08/2022] ==
The odd group continued forward towards the village, stopping only once they came across a large gate in a perimeter of tall fences. "It's gotta be locked, right?" Void said, as Abadi simply moved forward and pushed the gate open. "I called ahead, the boys at SACA were more than happy to hand this off to us," he said with a chuckle walking in and continuing forward. Here Lies Fate asks, "I assume the Group is more capable than this SACA you mention?" 1st Kings comments, "They have tried to catch the criminals called the 'Jester's Joust'. A group of anomalous humans." 2nd Kings says in a disappointed tone, "It's a shame the officials have been taking the Joust's bribes. Which is why they have let them get away so many times. Truly a failure of leadership." Archangel and Void looked shocked for a second, before Archie simply responded with "We'll deal with that later." They eventually came upon the CEO's residence as it was shown on the dossier, a small manor crafted out of burgundy wood and trimmed by darker brown wooden pillars and bindings.
It was obviously empty, but it didn't keep Archangel from knocking to be certain. "Hello? Anyone there? We have a warrant for this house's investigation," he probed through the door. After a minute of no response Void nudges him aside and kicks the door down, prompting a glare from 2nd Kings. "Quiet as always V," Archie said as he and Abadi shared a chuckle. The group stepped inside the house, met with the cold draft of abandonment flowing through the house. The air was thick with the scent of copper, but not that of death. 
The crew nearly ventured deeper into the manor before realization washed over Archie's face. "We need someone to guard the entrance. We don't need intruders coming in, and we need a cleared exit point if the Looper attacks us in here." 1st Kings volunteers, "We will guard the entrance and pass judgement on those who want to enter." 2nd Kings adds, "It's a shame there is no second layer of protection due to someone breaking the door down." Void tried and failed to hide his embarrassment as the twins departed, and Abadi spoke up. "You two going to need to stay on your toes, Those Wristwatches can only tell you when we loop, you won't be able to sense it as if you had a TempDis procedure." 
"So you just gave us fancy smartwatches, huh? Guess that's more of my check saved Hess!" Void joked, with Archie giving him a playful punch to the arm. 
"Well, it was the best I could do on a tight schedule, maybe we can try a TempDis on you two if we have a timeline left after this. Welcome to the Timekeepers." 
== The CEO - McFay's Quarter, Straille [07/08/2022] ==
"V, the investigation kits," Archangel said to Void. He stared obliviously at Archie for a second before realizing he was supposed to be carrying them. He reached into his messenger bag and retrieved four black opaque bags with the CACG's Forensics Department seal of approval on them. He tossed them to Archie, watching as he gave them a quick integrity check before handing them out. "God this guy's taste is tacky, are we sure he didn't deserve it?" Void said, walking further into the manor. He was observing a few of the decorations in the lounge, among them an Elurian bear rug, as well as a few indigo hyperweave chairs with golden inlays. "By Arthur he did, man was connected to quite a string of gruesome murders... nearly all of them union leaders. But the justice system should've got to him first," Abadi responded, following up from behind him. Since the dwelling was relatively small - especially so by millionaire CEO standards - there wasn't much risk in them splitting up and getting the search done faster. 
Void and Abadi searched through the bottom floor while Fate and Archie ascended the stairs handled the top, searching for any possible evidence about who the killer was and why this was their first target in the Loop. Void searched through the kitchen, regretting not stopping for food prior to the investigation. While he was rummaging through the cabinets and drawers, Abadi searched through the lounge. Nothing escaped the Timekeeper's watch, not even the easy to miss glint of a small silver object by the light of the faux fireplace. 
Holding it up for better visibility, he saw that it was a well-made pin that seemed to depict three enameled stars as well a printed night sky. For its size, it felt heavier than it should be even with its silver body in mind. It was only after he held it for a few minutes that KaOS had stirred from within the Timekeeper's gauntlet. "Foreign radio identifier detected, caution advised," she said nonchalantly, not truly awake for the automated message and dimming back down into her digital home. "Interesting..." Abadi whispered. 
Above them, Archie and Fate diligently did their part in the investigation as well. Archangel went to open the door of the study, only to be stopped by Fate and redirected towards the CEO's open bedroom. "It would be best to investigate over there for now. I have a...hunch," she said as Archie nodded. They entered the room to be met with plush and lavish furnishings alongside offensively expensive decorative pieces. Archie's gaze fell upon the CEO's desk, with a computer and a few articles such as a framed check - presumably from one of his first business dealings - and an inconsequential e-cigar. But most importantly, he saw a photograph. 
There were a few men in the photo, including the CEO himself. He seemed to be surrounded by business associates, including a man in black clothing whose shadowy demeanor bled through even in the still-photograph. It gave him chills just looking at him, and he knew it would be a lead worth looking in to. And holding on to the businessman's hand, a small girl, his daughter. As reprehensible as his actions were, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken at the fact this man's daughter would have to grow up without a father due to his own criminal dealings no less. 
He carefully put on a pair of gloves and sealed the photograph in one of the evidence bags as Fate's glare pierced through one of the painting's on the wall. With a gentle nudge of Chronographer, it fell to ground revealing a combination safe. Hakim looked over his shoulder and his eyes went wide. "Jackpot! What about the lock though? Knowing Void he might have something to cut through it." 
"Good idea, but there's no need," Fate replied with a smile, holding the tip of Chronographer to the dial as it began to move on its own. Channeling her chronokinetic abilities into the spear's edge, the dial began to move faster than Hakim's eyes could process. And in a mere 15 seconds to them, the lock clicked and the safe swung open. "It's much easier to just go back in time to when the combination was inputted, hm?" she said with a giggle. 
"Amazing, it was an 11 digit lock too!" Archie said, impressed. Fate blushed from the praise, with her and Archie looking inside the safe to find what seemed to be a bug-out kit. It was filled with a pile of cash, two passports for the Farise Isles with a false identities, and a few papers with account info for offshore bank accounts. Among all of those possessions however, one thing stood out. 
A business card, with just an emblem displaying three stars in a constellation as well as a phone number under it. Off to the side, the name "Mr. B" was scribbled onto the card, presumably from the CEO himself. Archie read it intently, trying to memorize the number before placing and sealing the card in an evidence bag. Then, Fate's eyes went wide as they heard a voice from the next room over. 
"Guys check it out! I found a dead body!" Void shouted before getting smacked on the back by Abadi. They stood in the study alongside the CEO's corpse, with the pin the Timekeeper found bagged and tagged before they headed up. Fate entered the room with her weapon drawn followed by Archangel. She was still unsure of the fate within the room and concerned for Void and Abadi until she saw they were fine. Void was leaned over towards the body and squinting at the fatal wounds while Abadi gave a more professional observation. 
The CEO's face was frozen in fear, as if he had just been killed minutes before they entered the room. A gunshot wound to the head was the cause of death, definitely point-blank but nothing larger than a simple handgun. His body hadn't yet decomposed, and didn't even seem to have undergone the postmortem-triad as it should've. "He's been disassociated with the timeline," he said idly, as Fate smiled and pointed towards the CEO's left hand. He had a gun in his right, and a shred of cloth in the left. 
"And it's thanks to that," she said with a calm and professional tone matching Abadi's demeanor. He almost reached out for the scrap of fabric as Archie stopped him, "We need to photo the scene first so forensics can handle the rest." The Timekeeper chuckled at the slipup, backing away as Void laid out evidence cones and Archie started to photograph the scene. The extraction team could handle the rest of the murder's cleanup and investigation while they continued to hunt the Looper, they had no time to lose. 
== Red Cloak, Bout 1 - McFay's Quarter, Straille [07/08/2022] ==
As Archie finished taking the photographs of the scene before them, Void carelessly reached out at the shred of red fabric in the deceased CEO's hand. As his finger touched the scrap, he and Archangel were met with the jarring chime of their Stopwatches. In an instant, Abadi and Fate were too late to prevent two bullets from tearing through Void's forearm and side. As he was forced to the ground by his injuries, the rest readied themselves to fight. Archangel manifested A-006-1, Fate readied her Chronographer, and Abadi unholstered and unfolded his CACG-issued SMG. Each of them closely watched the doorway the bullets came from, obscured with a thick smokescreen deployed by the assailant. 
Then - without warning - Archangel dashed into the smoke, swinging his halberd on intuition and clashing with an unseen blade. Taking a guess at their position from the first bout, he shoved forward and tackled the assassin down the stairwell. As the two crashed down Fate followed them in the smoke, jumping to Archie's aid while Abadi vigilantly watched the doorway and saw to the injured councilmember. As the assailant and Archie tumbled down the stairway and out of the smoke, Archangel finally got a good look at them. He was on top of the stranger holding them down, a masked man wearing donning a blood red cloak. It was without a doubt the owner of the red cloth scrap, their target. 
Just a second before Archangel could react, the attacker pulled an impulse grenade. A brazen detonation was all they needed to knock Archie away and put space between the two of them. As Archangel created a vaguely human-sized crater in the lavish wooden walls, the cloaked assailant drew their blade, an elegant and ivory white humming dagger. Temporarily disoriented if not for his training, Archangel pried himself from his gilded prison and glared at the cloaked figure. With a familiar determination in his eyes, he picked up his halberd for a spinning slice towards the assassin, intending to utilize A-004 to disarm him by forcibly spinning their weapon out of their grip. The cloaked assassin prepared to block Archie's swing as expected, but once their blades connected Archie heard the same chime from before... the chime of their Stopwatches. 
The A-004 energy from Archie's swing got channeled into the assassin's dagger as planned, but instead of trying to fight the rotation the cloaked wielder did the opposite. He sidestepped with the dagger, keeping a single finger in the dagger's crossguard loop and preserving its rotation before closing his eyes and finally gripping the dagger again - moving in sync with it's rotational energy - and slicing at Archie's face. It took moment for the assassin to register the blade had stopped, disoriented from the consecutive loops. Given the solid surface his knife landed on, he expected it hit a reinforced bone at least, but as his hearing quickly caught up with the rest of his senses, he found he was wrong. 
The humming of the blade was noticeably absent, he wrenched his eyes open and saw Archangel staring at him unflinching. The blade was still pressed against his face, and the rotational force from A-004 trying and failing to desperately contort and cut his cheek. Without a chance to follow up, Archangel grabbed the assassin's wrist and threw them into the living room area. They landed on coffee table, breaking it, causing a clamor as Fate gracefully stepped down the stairs with the Chronographer in hand. Each step was oozing with confidence and certainty as she strode towards the fated room. She asks calmly and gently, "For what reason do you have to reverse time so often? What is your ulterior motive? Something that we would need to know?" She stands the Chronographer upright and gives a concerned tilt to her head. The Looper merely responded with silence, staring down Fate through their mask. "We just want to help you, if this timeline goes, so do you." 
He reached for his gun, and in a flash of temporal energy Fate had thrown Chronographer with deathly accurate precision. It cut through the air as if it was the unstoppable arrow of time itself, and merely cracked the assassin's mask... but he wasn't the target. Chronographer planted itself within the wooden wall behind Cloak, causing him to look at Fate in disbelief. He then drew his pistol with an assassin's confidence, just as a creak above him caught his ear a second too late. A chunk of wood, piping, tile, and a surprisingly intact toilet crashed onto the Looper, leaving him immobilized. In his shock, he noticed a trail of rot and decay leading from the point Chronographer impacted the wall all the way to his current trap. The stress was starting to get to him again, splitting his head with pain and the memories once again. He struggled as Archangel caught up with Fate, and Abadi peeked with his weapon drawn through the new hole in the top floor. 
The Looper weakly reached for his gun. Archie, Fate, and Abadi readied themselves in case it was to try to get one last shot in before capture, but in a burst of renewed vigor the Looper pointed the weapon to his head and pulled the trigger. His body disappeared in a blue flash of temporal energy, and all that was left was the investigators and the damage from the fight. Archie stared at the scorch mark from the Looper's demise before Fate placed a hand on his shoulder. Upstairs, Void gripped his bleeding side with one hand and groaning expletives as he forced himself upwards. 
"Fuck, you'd think the loop would at least unshoot me," he said through clenched teeth as Fate, Abadi, and Archie reentered the room. "The cloth? Is it damaged?" Abadi questioned, as Void held it out. "It's perfectly fine Hess, want to do the honors Arch?" He didn't think twice before holding out the evidence bag, letting Void simply drop it in before slumping up against the nearest bookshelf. Fate exhales and looks at the group and says, "Well, I'd say it was a successful mission. Let's head to the ship." . As they walked back out and where they dropped in, they noticed a peculiar AV next to the Nazareth, alongside suspicious men in black suits... 
 
Category:Red Cloak Arc Parables
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