Ackley and Red crept along the dark hallways of the Ailbhe residence, searching for a clue that may help the gang. It was difficult due to the low light. Red wondered how anyone was able to see in this place.
"There's not even a hint of life around here..." Ackley said as he looked around, "... I don't even see any plants!"
"You can complain about the lack of plant life later, Ackley." Red sighed, "We need to focus on more important things... ooh, like that cute painting!"
Red rushed towards a painting at the end of the hallway. Ackley certainly wouldn't describe it as 'cute' more... creepy.
It was of the Ailbhe family. Seth and Hekate were smiling (just a bit) and looking directly at them. Morana, however, was looking slightly depressed. She was looking off to the side of the painting, yet Red seemed as engrossed as ever.
"She's so cute..." She giggled, "... Ackley, you agree, right? Not that you'll be going after her, of course."
Ackley gasped as Red's odd question. He didn't know how to react. "U-Um, I don't... I don't know...!"
"Good. Because I won't let you get anywhere near her!" Red grinned wildly at the panting. Ackley grew even more concerned.
"She looks kinda upset, though. If the Professor saw this, he'd be begging her to come to the academy with us." Ackley chuckled to himself.
"Yes! She could live with me in my room!" Red was practically overcome with giddiness. "We have to get him to make her an offer... he keeps inviting new people in all of the time, so-!"
"Shhh-! We can't be making too much noise!" Ackley grabbed Red and (painfully) pulled her away from the painting. He darted into a nearby room at the end of the hallway.
The two of them landed in a sparsely lit room, covered in various pictures and newspaper reports. They all covered the exact same newstory: one about Mindlapse, Diamond Gravity and their 'band of Superhumans'.
Red had heard of this before, but the Professor always tried to hide the information on it. According to Ms. Yvette, he always made sure to turn off the TV's if any information about Mindlapse was being covered.
"Someone... was killed...?" Ackley seemed confused. He pointed towards one newspaper article near his head.
The article screamed 'WINGED SUPERHUMAN FOUND DEAD!' Whilst another nearby yelled 'CIVILIANS KILLED IN MYSTERIOUS ATTACK'. Only the first one showed a picture - a young man that was indeed 'winged' like a bird.
"Why on earth would they collect articles on an old incident like this?" Red rolled her eyes, "You can barely read the articles anyway because of the low light..."
"There's a lot about this... Mindlapse character, too." Ackley said, "They're all very different, though. Some paint him as a terrorist, whilst others paint him as a saviour..."
"What, you think they look up to the guy or something?" Red smirked in amusement. "Why would they do that?"
"If what these reports say are true... people still fear him today..." Ackley trembled as he spoke, "... Oh, gosh, what if they want people to fear them? You know what happens when people do-! They'll rule the world and-"
"Calm down, Ackley. I... doubt they'll do any of that." Red tried to reassure him, "They probably just want to find... him..."
"Well, if they just wanted to find him, they could start by getting pictures that aren't in black-and-white." Ackley giggled, "I can't even tell what colour hair this... Mindlapse has."
"Ah-! I... I just realised, Ackley-!" Red ran towards a bunch of files sitting at a nearby desk. "Look... I saw one of them - the woman - in that government place. So, that got me thinking..."
Red smirked as she showed Ackley the files on the desk. Ackley gasped - all of them had variations of 'CLASSIFIED' 'CONFIDENTIAL' on them. And all of them had information about Mindlapse and his group.
"She was after these... they really are trying to find this guy." Red sighed as she looked at the files. "Geez... look at all of this..."
"W-We should take these with us." Ackley suggested, "We can read them later, instead of spending hours reading them."
"But then they'd know that they were missing." Red rolled her eyes at him, "Maybe... maybe we could take pictures! Simple!"
Ackley nodded and handed Red his phone. Some of the students begged for Clarence to give them phones for Christmas, and Ackley was one of them. Apparently he wanted to 'take pictures' of his plants for safe keeping.
Red took the pictures and handed the phone back to Ackley. "We should get out of here, before they come back." She said as she grabbed Ackley and snuck out of the room.
————
When they returned to the academy, Ackley showed everyone the pictures of what he and Red found. In between Clarence trying to get his makeup off.
"Um... there's one file about Mindlapse..." Ackley told the group, "... I tried to summarise the main points here, since it's a bit of a read."
Ackley presented a notepad with his notes on. His notes on Mindlapse read as follows:
SUPERHUMAN PROFILE: MINDLAPSE.
A.K.A: Unknown
Age: Late teens
Gender: Male
Status: Unknown
Abilities: Psychic-based, massive range. Up to three miles
Appearance: Mostly unknown, due to his tendency to use his psychic abilities to disguise himself. However, it is possible that his hair and eyes are of an abnormal colour, hence his concern about changing his appearance
Allies: Diamond Gravity, Icarus Onyx, Idolomantis, Symphonique Gala, etc
Threat level: Severe
Encounters: During a festival, Mindlapse caused a damaging event to the civilians. This was due to the death of his ally, Icarus Onyx. Various witnesses record a banging pain in their heads, many of which fainted upon feeling it. Mindlapse fled the scene and is currently wanted by the SCU.
Currently whereabouts: Unknown. Has gone into hiding, possibly with Diamond Gravity and Idolomantis
"And... the Ailbhe's are searching for this... Mindlapse?" Clarence asked Ackley, his face wrecked with concern. "He could be anywhere, for all we know..."
"Yeah, but we don't even know what the guy looks like." Felice noted, "Maybe... Maybe we'll have luck with the others. What about this other person he's meant to have fled with?"
"Ooh, I bet they're totally dating!" Carlen called out from the back. Dai hissed his name immediately.
Ackley showed the profile of Diamond Gravity next:
SUPERHUMAN PROFILE: DIAMOND GRAVITY
A.K.A: Unknown
Age: Late teens
Gender: Female
Status: Unknown
Abilities: Can manipulate gravity, but for some reason it physically hurts her. Has slightly stronger strength than an average Superhuman
Appearance: Mindlapse has masked her appearance well, but records show that she has some sort of abnormal skin issue. French accent
Allies: Mindlapse, Icarus Onyx, Idolomantis, Symphonique Gala, etc
Threat Level: Moderate
Encounters: Accompanied Mindlapse throughout his crimes. Appears to have a special connection with him
Current whereabouts: Fled with Mindlapse and Idolomantis
"Why does everyone have some sort of abnormal... thing?" Dai said, looking confused. "Is this where that whole stereotype came from?"
"That's a good point, Dai." Luella patted him on the head. She was still wearing her doll makeup.
"The other profiles are boooooring... but there's one more I'd like to bring to everyone's attention." Red took Ackley's phone and showed everyone the final profile for now. "This one is... a little different from the others..."
SUPERHUMAN PROFILE: FALLEN ANGEL
A.K.A: Icarus Onyx
Age: Late teens
Gender: Male
Status: Deceased
Cause of Death: Blood loss
Abilities: Wings allow him to fly and use the air for his use (within reason)
Appearance: Long blond hair and blue eyes, black biker jacket and jeans. White angel-like wings sprout from his back. Carried a small bag which had various health items inside
Allies: Mindlapse, Diamond Gravity, Idolomantis, Symphonique Gala, etc
Threat level: None
Encounters: Caught in a fight between someone or something. Ended up with a wound inflicted by an unknown object and bled out. Soon after, Mindlapse launched his attack
"W-We should stop looking at them now." Luella quickly grabbed Ackley's phone. "We shouldn't be looking up about how someone died-! It's bad!"
"Y-Yes, Luella is..." Clarence hesitated. He looked at Luella, then at the door. "... I-I need to find Luna. And get this makeup off. E-Excuse me-"
"C-Clarence?! Where are you going...?!" Luella soon ran off after him, calling his name.
"If anything, Ms. Yvette needs to take her makeup off. Not the Professor." Dai said, not reading the room at all.
"No, Dai..." Felice sighed, "... Hey, did Ms. Yvette just take your phone, Ackley? And not give it back to you?"
"Oh... oh! You're right!" Ackley gasped and looked to where she ran off to. "I'm gonna need that back-!"
"I'm sure she'll give it back to you... unless you have something you don't want her to see~" Carlen winked towards Ackley. Dai hissed his name again soon after.
"C-Carlen, that's gross!!" Red yelled at him and shot a glare. "You know Ackley only uses it to take pictures of plants!"
"Y-Yeah! I have all of my favourite plants..." Ackley looked down towards the ground. "... Even the ones that aren't here anymore..."
"Don't get sad now, Ackley." Felice patted Ackley's shoulder. "She will give it back to you..."
Ackley smiled at everyone, but shot a worried glance towards the door.
———-
"Clarence... Clarence, please-!" Luella grabbed Clarence's arm and stopped his fleeing. "I know what's wrong. Remember, we have each other..."
"Sorry... I'm sorry, Luella..." Clarence turned to face her. "... It's my fault for getting so worked up. You know how I... felt about him."
"O-Oh, Yes-!" Luella flushed a light crimson. "But I thought you, uh... got over that a bit...?"
"I suppose I did, but the pain is still there." Clarence shuffled awkwardly. "Don't worry, I told you that I wasn't going to be hung over him forever."
"Yes, but you still... you know what your parents would say!" Luella giggled to lighten the mood. "You haven't dated in years... it's time we got you someone!"
"Y-You're just as bad as Schnee-!" Clarence blushed, "He said the same thing! I really don't know what's up with everyone..."
Schnee, who was just passing by, turned as he heard his name. "Professor? Is... something wrong?" He asked him.
"N-Nothing... nothing is wrong, Schnee." Clarence tried to persuade him. "Luella was just lecturing me about finding a date-"
Schnee's face lit up with glee. "Oh, have you thought about my offer? I do have the perfect woman in mind-"
"Yes, but you won't tell us - Clarence, rather - who it is! It's not fair!" Luella huffed, "You could be setting him up with some crazy lady for all we know!"
"I would never set the Professor up with such a bad match." Schnee smirked, "In fact, this woman is much, much closer than you two think..."
"I'm not going on a dating website, if that's your plan." Clarence rubbed his hair nervously. "I'm not that sort of person... I prefer to meet the one in person instead of online."
"He's old fashioned!" Luella shot Schnee a wink. "But I suppose I'll have to allow it..."
"Oh, good. So you'll let me introduce you?" Schnee asked Clarence. "You can meet her today. She's here right now."
"Y-You invited her here ahead of time-?!" Clarence panicked, "I-I'll have to accept now...!"
"Yes, that... was the plan..." Schnee chuckled to himself. "... Follow this. Luella can help you."
Clarence looked down at a map that Schnee had handed him. It had various riddles on it, each pointed to a new location.
"Oh, so it's like... a treasure hunt!" Luella giggled at the clues. "This is so cute, Schnee... you really did spend time planning this."
"I just care about the Professor." Schnee smiked at the two. "I want to see him happy... and this is one way of making him happy. I-I wanted to act quick, you see-"
"You don't have to do that for me, Schnee, but... thank you." Clarence awkwardly patted him on the head. "I'll tell you when we finish it."
"I'll look forward to it!" Schnee winked and walked off to find one of the children he made the map with. She'd be overjoyed that the Professor had accepted it... and who the woman was.
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hehe.....
- hatty