Investigation, Case One: Finale [Finished]

[Lucca]

Ah, a candle. Aberforth felt just the littlest bit more relaxed on seeing it. At least now, they somewhat knew what they were dealing with, assuming Penny's ability could be trusted and there wasn't anyone ELSE here. And this little thing...was just a child. Although paranoia flared up: what if the child was actually working for their captors or was set to alert some other criminal to their whereabouts. After all, they had planned well enough in advance to take a hostage so they must have known the officers were coming and...

Aberforth forced back the thoughts with a shake of his head. More likely, the child was just a victim. Or a good actor...no, no. "All right," he replied quietly to Fetu, and moved a bit closer to the lump that was the fire-staring creature. He was...mollified by the fact that being so near the Tove didn't make panic flare up. Perhaps he could handle this job after all. He'd been starting to have his doubts.

"I'll contact someone," he added a moment later. After all, as a Club with a communication ability, it only made sense. As a precaution, he had of course gifted a small ring made of iron to several of the Clubs on the force. Letting his eyes go a bit unfocused and concentrating, he first concentrated on the ring he'd given Eloise. She had, after all, been the one to brief them on this case, and would know what was to be done with the thieves now that they'd been successfully subdued. He kept the message short, and got an affirmative reply. "On their way," he assured the others.

Powerful Magical Ability: When activated, he can communicate with another Club he is acquainted with through any bit of iron that he has used his ability on. He has only to gift it to the person, and, so long as it is within ten feet of them, they will hear him and be able to respond telepathically for a full minute once a day.

[Kari Muffin]

"No need to be frightened, Shoshanna," She said as cheerfully. And she hoped she was saying the girl's name properly. She had a lisp, from the few words she spoke, and the Esterberry could only assume she meant to speak with an "S." The canine mix tried her best to keep the girl distracted while Fetu was untying her. "My friends are a little scary looking, but they're actually really nice. Though they are sticks in the mud. My name is Penny, the one with her ribs on the outside is Fetu, and the scariest one of all Aberforth." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "But you can call him Abby."

Hopefully they wouldn't mind that jab. She glanced to Fetu as she spoke. As much as she was keen on the idea of restraining the other criminal he was out like a light and she was more worried about the potential damage that could have happened to this poor innocent child. "Thanks for untying her. If you don't mind I'll stick with her?" She gave the little girl a reassuring smile. "Do you want to go on a little trip? Get you a bath and something to eat?"

No one would have guessed that Petunia was the type of person to like children, but she was rather fond of them. They were simple and normally adorable. And she was actually forgetting about the pain.


(( OOC: *rolls around* I hope this is semi decent. I can't seem to brain today. ))

[carcinoGeneticist]

The Skunk did her best to do as instructed by the Hisstor woman, but it was hard. She was scared, and she didn't want to be touched, and this was all just... so much to take. She trembled as her bindings were removed, eyes rolling back slightly before closing.

The Esterberry spoke, and Shoshanna looked up at her. Slowly, she started to smile, though it wavered with fear. "Really?" she asked, giving the Goat a sidelong glance. The Diamond's charm was working wonders for soothing the poor thing's terror, and she was glad that it sounded like she would be sticking with her rather than the others. The fear left her not feeling terribly hungry, but she was fairly certain that after some time, after she'd gotten a chance to calm down, she would be starving.

But a bath... sounded nice. How long had it been since she'd had one of those? A proper one, not just a scrub-down in a sink or in a cold creek... "That would be okay."

[The Jenn]

Something inside of Fetu relaxed with the knowledge that backup was on the way. They hadn't completely bungled the situation - they'd kept it confined to the one building, hadn't irreparably damaged either of the criminals, had mostly kept themselves intact, and had rescued what appeared to be a hostage. As well as a potentially valuable Slithey.

But she would need a new jacket. Sigh. At least the police force supplied them. She just wasn't looking forward to requisitioning a second uniform so soon.

"Please do," she replied to Penny, completely ignoring the stick-in-the-mud comment. Yes, her ribs were visible now through the tattered shreds of charred fabric. Doubtless intimidating to a frightened child, who she did not want to deal with. She left Penny to that task, left Aberforth in charge of the jacket lump, and went into the blissfully dark hallway to bind Pintel's hands and mouth. After a moment's consideration, she bound his feet as well. Couldn't hurt.

((So close to wrapping this up, I'd wager. Eloise arriving and... wheeee.))

[Lucca]

Aberforth's ears twitched at the comment about his 'nickname' (although he heard it just fine, whispering or not) but he gave no other visual reaction to any of this. As the child glanced at him, he would glance back, his eyes emotionless and flat. As a result of being forced to face his fears and relive the worst experience of his life, he had blocked out his emotions even more severely than usual. And now he knew that he'd always have to, when he went into a battle. He'd always need to completely distance himself or risk going into what had happened tonight.

And he NEVER wanted what happened tonight to happen again. He was just lucky the criminals hadn't actually come after him, as he would have been a sitting duck, lost and wandering in his memories while prone on the floor. This would require more training. Aberforth silently vowed to himself that he'd do whatever it took to overcome this horrible weakness. It had obviously been a stupid idea in the first place to join the police, but now that he had, he wasn't going to be content with failure. The Goat was possessed of an iron will, and though he didn't care what the other officers thought of him, he -did- care if they knew about his past, his weaknesses.

He'd have to somehow find out if he'd said anything in that other state.

[Kari Muffin]

Petunia was happy to handle the adorable child. She grinned, making sure not to show her teeth, all things considered, "All right. Once we get someone to cart away these criminals we'll get you a nice warm bath and a nice hot meal." Her tail flopped in a half wag, "So, Do you like banders?"

She would ask the girl plenty of questions to keep her distracted from what was going on. And when this was all over she would make sure to give the girl a proper fun time, and she'd investigate to see if the poor girl had any proper family that was looking for her. Even if she had to slip out of doing some paperwork she had no intention of letting the little girl out of her sight until she completed her promise.

It took a little while for Eloise to arrive with backup and actually enter the building. Apparently she wanted to be extra sure that nothing was going cause backlash and get her hurt. When she finally entered the building with people to scoop up the criminals she looked the officers over.

"You all look like shit," It was an unnecessary comment, but she said it anyway. "But good job."



(OOC: I didn't particularly know how you wanted me to sum things up beyond collecting the criminals and fading to black.))

[The Jenn]

((That seems perfect. <3 And we can send our completed report to Nat. WIN!))