Mystery Trackers: Paxton Creek Avenger

**Mystery Trackers: The Paxton Creek Avenger** is the tenth installment in the *Mystery Trackers* series by Elephant Games.

## Plot

As the game begins, Amber watches a news report about the Paxton Creek Avenger, said to be an angry ghost bent on revenge. A masked man claiming to be the Avenger announces that he has returned and will begin taking his vengeance at the local theater, so the Commander of the Mystery Trackers charges Amber with attending the performance and putting an end to his schemes.

The theater is putting on a performance of the opera *Vendetta*. One hundred years earlier, the Paxton Creek Avenger first became known to the world at a performance of that same show. At the opera, a soloist is interrupted by the man calling himself the Avenger. He announces that the violence of the world is intolerable, and he considers the Mystery Trackers to be at fault for many of the wrongs, so he's going to start his campaign of revenge by targeting them. He then reveals that he's already begun - by kidnapping Ann Freeman, the daughter of the Commander himself. She's tied to a chair on the stage. The Avenger then sets fire to the theater, causing most of the audience to run screaming. Amber contacts the Commander via her communications device and he says that he's sending agents to assist her, but she's the only one close enough to the scene to really make a difference, and he begs her to save his daughter.

Amber immediately sets to work, scouring the theater for clues and useful items. She finds a message sent to Ann by someone claiming to be a secret admirer; the admirer, really the Avenger, invited her to the opera. The note is in the same purse where Amber finds a picture of Ann with her father. After putting out the Avenger's fire, she makes her way backstage, where the Avenger has the unconscious Ann over his shoulder. He warns Amber not to interfere, because the Mystery Trackers won't be able to escape his retribution, and then vanishes in a cloud of smoke. After locating a thermal reader, she's able to determine how the Avenger got away, and sets about following him. She finds evidence that he has an accomplice, and learns that his elaborate escapes are performed through the use of impressive pyrotechnic tricks.

After opening the Avenger's escape hatch behind a piano, Amber gives chase through a hallway only to fall right into a trap. Awakening in a rocky pit, she locates a tape recorder with a message from someone saying that he wants to help her defeat the Avenger, and giving instructions for how to get out of her current predicament. After escaping from the pit, she encounters the Avenger again, who performs a few more feats of illusion before disappearing - including dropping a bloodied mannequin of the Commander into the scene. A painting on the wall reveals that the soloist who was performing when the Avenger interrupted the opera is actually a Mystery Trackers veteran. The thermal reader shows that the Avenger escaped using a passage under the stairs, so Amber works to follow him. While she does, she keeps finding employees of the theater, who are terrified and trying to hide. In the theater's bar, she finds the unconscious bartender and brings him around; he explains that the Avenger attacked him, and tells her to look behind the nearby painting because he caught the Avenger hiding something there.

The hidden item turns out to be the button which opens the secret passage under the stairs, and Amber descends. It leads to an underground grotto which is apparently the Avenger's base of operations; unaware that she is following him, he rows across a small channel and carries Ann into a locked room. While conducting some back and forth to assemble clues and repair some equipment, Amber finds another note from the Avenger to his accomplice; she observes that the note was near where Ann was sitting at the dining table. With the equipment repaired, she is able to summon the boat for her own use, and works out the mechanics for opening the door. Once inside, she's confronted by the Avenger and his accomplice, who are dressed identically; while one distracts her, the other hits her in the head and throws her into an oubliette. Ann is bound and gagged at the bottom, and they throw a small bomb in after her before leaving to do "important work."

Amber rushes to untie Ann and try to defuse the bomb, but it doesn't explode when the timer runs out; instead, it pops open to reveal another note from her mysterious friend. Just as before, he advises her to find a way out by looking for the odd brick in the wall, and she's able to escape from the oubliette with the Commander's daughter in tow. They emerge into an underground garage just in time to see the other two escaping on a motorcycle. Ann thanks Amber for the rescue, then gives her a hairpin and tells her to do her best to "stop that madman"; Amber can't help noticing that Ann looks a lot like her father. After ransacking the nearby cabinetry and a car that was abandoned, Amber manages to turn off the signal blocker which had prevented her from contacting the Commander. He reveals that he and some other agents were lured into a trap, and that the Avenger's entire motive was merely to distract them all so he could get to the now-unguarded vault where the Mystery Trackers keep their most dangerous artifacts. He urges Amber to get to the Myschester Pub, where the secret entrance to the vault is located, and stop him.

Starting the abandoned car with a key that was hidden in the signal blocker, Amber races off to stop the Avengers. She reaches the pub, where her adversaries have knocked a man unconscious, and the thermal reader reveals that they escaped through a hidden passage behind the dartboard. Upon giving chase, she sees them escape in an elevator, but not before one of them drops a satchel. Inside this, Amber discovers a recording in which the Avenger confesses everything - he was once a member of the Mystery Trackers himself, until he was forced out due to his unethical scientific experiments, and now he wants to steal a specific artifact and use it to destroy the town of Paxton Creek. He kidnapped Ann because he knew the agents would pull out all the stops to rescue the Commander's daughter, and he could trap them in the theater so they wouldn't stop him from getting into the vault. He identifies his accomplice as someone named Andy.

Entering the vault, Amber finds that the Avengers have gotten what they wanted, and after a flash of blinding light, they escape. She finds a note from her mysterious friend, urging her to hurry, and continues seeking a means to follow her adversaries. She deactivates the vault security and takes the source of ultimate coldness from its holdings, then uses it to freeze and break the door through which the Avengers fled. She finds them on the other side, and one calls to the other to run while he covers the escape. He menaces Amber with a set of brass knuckles, but as soon as his partner is gone, he drops them and takes off his mask. This is Andy; his brother Edwin is the actual Avenger, and Andy couldn't refuse when Edwin requested his help. But he doesn't want to go on like this any longer, and he reveals that *he* is the mysterious ally who has been helping Amber the entire time. He gives Amber an item to help her finish the investigation and submits quietly as she handcuffs him.

The Avenger fled through a hatch in the ceiling, and a valve is needed to open it. Searching the area, Amber finds a note from fellow agent Dorian Brown, advising other agents that a spare valve can be found in the locked chest beneath the note. Emerging into the city street, Amber hears screams as the Avenger starts to unleash the stolen artifact on the town. Spotting her, he flees, and Amber has to lower a bridge in order to give chase. She gets a new transmission from the Commander, who explains that the artifact will cause people to go insane, and if the Avenger hooks it up to a communications device the town is doomed. He and the other agents have escaped the theater and are on their way to help, but she needs to do her best in the meantime; he advises her that they have a secret stash in a nearby flower bed which will help her.

After lowering the bridge, Amber chases the Avenger to a local television station, where he's tied up a woman who needs Amber's help to survive. This slows her down in her pursuit, but she's able to free the woman and continue working to stop the Avenger. She finally reaches the station roof, where he has nearly succeeded in connecting the artifact to the broadcasting equipment. He begins transmitting the artifact's mind-altering power to the community, but Amber is able to neutralize the Avenger and deactivate his work. They have a final confrontation, and the Avenger nearly escapes, but is halted by the arrival of the Commander and other agents. The case ends with the brothers being taken into custody and the Commander thanking Amber for a job well done.

### Bonus Chapter

Back in the Paxton Creek Theater, a film crew from the Paranormal Network is investigating the legacy of the Paxton Creek Avenger and recreating one of Edwin Driver's experiments from his scientist days. The Mystery Trackers learn that something has gone very wrong, and Amber is commissioned to find out what.

In the theater, a paranormal anomaly is situated next to the stage; Amber finds a device with which to neutralize it. Making her way backstage, she encounters a ghost - a real one this time - wearing a tattered longcoat. He floats through a locked door, while Amber has to find a more mundane way to get through. First, though, she has to sedate a theater worker who is having a panic attack in the audience. The worker, a man named Worthington, gives her a key to the locked door and begs her to save the others who are in danger.

Amber gets into the theater bar and neutralizes another anomaly to rescue the film crew's anchorwoman. She tells Amber that the spirit has taken Professor Fisher, a scientist who was leading the experiment, and the camera operator to the second floor. After getting past the gate, Amber finds the ghost informing Professor Fisher that because "you brought me back into this world, I'll save you for last." The ghost takes the camera operator away, and Amber has to rescue the Professor, who is chained by his throat to a column. She neutralizes the nearby anomaly, then looks for a way to break the chain. After he's released, Professor Fisher explains that they were looking to contact the real Paxton Creek Avenger, but accidentally brought him back into the world. He gives Amber a device that will help her find ectoplasm, which he says will enable her to defeat the spirit.

Amber collects six samples of ectoplasm and brings them back to the Professor. He uses them to charge the device she's been using to neutralize the anomalies. Amber follows the spirit and learns that it's planning to take possession of the cameraman's body in order to properly manifest in the world of the living. Amber defeats the spirit and sends it back where it belongs, and everyone is saved.

## Characters

* Amber and Elf: A field agent of the Mystery Trackers and her faithful canine companion.
* Paxton Creek Avenger (fake): A masked man, claiming to be a ghost, out for revenge against the Mystery Trackers. He's actually a former Mystery Tracker agent named Edwin Driver.
* Commander: The leader of the Mystery Trackers, who tasks Amber with stopping the Avenger.
* Ann Freeman: The daughter of the Commander, who is kidnapped by the Avenger as part of his revenge plot.
* Andy: Edwin's brother, who has been helping him take revenge against the Mystery Trackers, but has also secretly been assisting Amber throughout her investigation.
* Professor Fisher: In the bonus chapter, he's a scientist who is helping a paranormal film crew recreate an experiment when something goes wrong.
* Paxton Creek Avenger (real): An old ghost bent on vengeance, who is accidentally summoned during a paranormal experiment gone wrong.

## Connections

* While searching backstage, Amber finds a newspaper with an article about some world-saving detective work done by Agent Brown and another agent named Wolf. Agent Wolf was previously encountered in *Silent Hollow*.
* After she successfully opens the safe behind the soloist's portrait, Amber finds another newspaper with an article about the Mystery Trackers; this time it mentions Agent Shade and Agent Raven.
* Accompanying the Commander throughout the main game are Agent Stone and Agent Clyde, both of whom were first introduced in *Silent Hollow.*
* The ultimate cold source, which Amber uses to follow the Avengers, is related to the plot of *The Winterpoint Tragedy*.
* In the bonus chapter, Amber must reconfigure the computer belonging to the paranormal film crew. Posted around the computer's monitor are notes reminding the crew to "Visit the Black Isle," "Examine documents on Winterpoint," and "Explore Raincliff," as well as a drawing of an owl noted "Who is he?" and a small newspaper clipping about the "ghosts of Blackrow." These are references to the MT installments *Black Isle, The Winterpoint Tragedy, Raincliff/Raincliff's Phantoms, Nightsville Horror,* and *Blackrow's Secret,* respectively.
* Completing the bonus chapter grants the player access to a feature called the Archive, in which they can read about all of the *Mystery Trackers* installments available up to this point and solve a puzzle related to each one.

## Trivia

* The "X" in *Paxton Creek Avenger* is emphasized in the game's logo, because this is the tenth installment in the series.
* Since the Commander's daughter has the surname of Freeman, it's not unreasonable to assume that this is also the Commander's surname. However, this is never actually confirmed in the series; he is simply known in his every appearance as the Commander.
* Stopping the transmission near the end of the main game involves finding the letters A, J, and D, which are identified in the inventory as the "Avenger's emblems." However, it's unclear what any of the letters mean. The Avenger's last name is Driver, which could account for the D, and his brother's name is Andy, which would explain the A; but the J is unexplained.
* Gathering fragments of images scattered throughout the main game allows the player to assemble a picture of Agent Shade in a bathing suit, with the inscription "Greetings from Hawaii." Apparently she's on vacation during the events of the game. The second image in the collection depicts Elf, who has apparently won a prize of some kind, while the third shows Agent Clyde with an unidentified female companion. The fourth image, collected during the bonus chapter, is of the Commander.

## External Links

* *Paxton Creek Avenger* at the Elephant Games website
* *Mystery Trackers* at TV Tropes
* Elephant Games on Facebook