Explain It Like I'm Tree

Determination

BAM BAM BAM.

Vivi jolted in her seat so hard the seatbelt choked her. There was a fist hammering at the driver's side window. Fumbling at her seatbelt, she unhooked herself and rolled down the window. "Dib?"

"Yeah, you're Vivi?" The short kid by her door looked terrible. His black hair was slick with sweat and frazzled out in all directions. There were dark patches under his wide eyes. His skin was pale and his fingers twitched as he gestured from her to the building. "It wasn't like that before—just an abandoned toy factory. Like I told you, the ghost barely got me out in time! I didn't see what happened once he chucked me through the door, but real soon after, all this started filling up the parking lot. It keeps growing out and up. Looks like you ran over some on your way in."

Vivi hopped out and crouched, inspecting the front driver's side. Sure enough, a bramble runner studded with hand-sized thorns lay under her shredded tire. "Fermented furmongers. Okay, thanks for the tip about the ghost, but you'd better clear out now."

"What? Are you kidding? I made this mess, I'll be here to help clean it up!"

"Yeah, that would be no. This is an in-group issue that we need to deal with and we really need you to not be underfoot while we do."

His jaw tightened, but she turned away before he could respond. "Sorry to be harsh, Dib, but I can't guarantee your safety."

"What, you think I'm some layman phoning in crackpot tips?" Dib spluttered. "This is my field! I mean, it's not exactly, I'm more into aliens and cryptids, but I'm practically you colleague! Ever heard of the Swollen Eyeball?"

Vivi paused. If you weren't an independent like the Mystery Skulls, the Swollen Eyeball was a solid organization for paranormal investigators to hook into. "Yeah. I know them. I also know they don't make children field agents."

Dib's expression went flinty. "Yeah, they don't, but I've got a mentor in it. Besides that, I've seen more action than half their field agents! I just have the worst luck bringing back proof."

Vivi considered it for a moment, then shook her head. "Maybe that's the case, but you said it yourself: this isn't even your specialty. If we were up against Bigfoot, maybe. Now, please get out of here so we can get started."

With a stubborn set to his jaw, Dib dug into his pocket and raised a fistful of pale, glowing sticks. "So, as the expert, you're telling me you have everything you need to get in there, including runechalk?"

She whipped around, gawping. "How does a kid like you afford runechalk?" She reached for it, but Dib yanked his hand back.

"I have connections. Same connections gave me a few patterns. I could draw them on your van, something that could make it ghost-proof. You could drive us all right into the building and nothing could even touch us."

Vivi's fingers itched to grab the chalk, but she bit her lip. "You don't know what you're asking. You don't even understand this situation. We..." she glanced helplessly at the van's sliding side door, as if she could see Mystery and Arthur through it.

"You're dealing with a real live ghost, here! What exactly do you think you can't tell me?" Dib demanded. "If you level with me, then I'll be able to help you cleanly and we don't have to dance around anything. That ghost was acting dodgy too, trying not to say some things. I know I'm twelve, but I'm not just some kid!"

Vivi's teeth dug into her lip. Telling him meant exposing Arthur's involvement with the mysterious disappearance of Lewis Pepper. This kid was clearly rich enough to buy runechalk and had ties to a respectable paranormal investigation group. He could spill information to important family members who might alert the authorities, or else the Mystery Skulls might get the Swollen Eyeball on their backs looking to cage a rogue Kitsune.

It wasn't worth the risk. But before she could tell him and his precious runechalk off, the side door slid open and Mystery spilled out of the car, stretching languidly and shaking all his tails out. Dib's jaw went slack and he gave an excited squeak. Vivi, on the other hand, snatched a handful of fur on Mystery's thick neck and gave a yank. "And who said you got to decide on outing us, furball? I'm the team lead!" she shouted in his ear.

Wincing, he growled. "Two members of the team are unable to speak for themselves at the moment, and it's worth pointing out that Runechalk protection on the van is a perfect solution. We want a chance of negotiating with Lewis, so we protect ourselves with a tank, yes? That will at least let us try to talk him down. If Arthur were awake, you know he would vote for negotiating with Lewis first and leaving drastic measures to be used only in the event that we cannot break through to him. That is my vote as well. You are outnumbered."

With that, he turned his head, baring a toothy grin at Dib, who alternated between flailing his arms and pointing fingers. "Yes. Hello, curious human child. My name is Mystery. I have your scent now, and you should know that if you bring any unwanted attention to my team, I will have no compunction about devouring you in your sleep."

Despite her irritation, Vivi had to choke back a laugh. Mystery would do no such thing, but Dib's expression was still comical. But to his credit he merely gulped and nodded. "Un-understood. D-does that mean...?"

Vivi sighed, gesturing at the van. "Welcome to the team. Temporarily. While you're drawing up our protection, I'll fill you in on what you've stumbled into. We're going to have to start with what happened between Arthur and Lewis. If I black out while trying to tell you, Mystery will keep the explanation going."

"Wait, what?!"

..............................................

Note: I credit the anime Natsume's Book of Friends for teaching me the word "yorishiro". It didn't explain much, but a quick google search turned up good info and I realized that's probably something that someone of Vivi's background and current profession would have on hand. In other news, I am up to 45k+ words into The Remara Phenomenon. The 40k word original fiction curse is broken!