Chapter Text
Shoes clacked against tiled floors. The buzz of machinery--both mechanical and digital--hummed with the occasional stray chime. A tease to passers-by, a false-hope of winning it big.
Some darkeners clutched to that hope like a lifeline, unwavering even as the pixelated faux-sun rose further above the skyline of Cyber City. Yet, late morning was far from the busy hours of the casino. And so, customer attendance at this time was spotty. Not one soul would have issue finding an open seat.
However, these thoughts did not cross the minds of the three well-dressed individuals marching their way through the casino.
"Hey dumbass," Susie flicked the back of Kris's hat, tilting it forward awkwardly. "What are we doing here again?"
Kris halted, their vision blocked by the positioning of the accessory, ("You can see through your bangs and not THAT!?" Susie huffed) and re-adjusted their hat, unbothered.
"Don't you remember, Susie? We're doing some investigating for Mr. Tenna!"
"Wow! Never would've figured we're doing stuff for Tenna while we're at the Shooting Star Casino!" Susie saturated her lighthearted sarcasm by doing jazz hands at the mention of the casino.
Ralsei paused.
"O-okay! Well you did ask!" He cleared his throat. "I'm not certain what help he needs quite yet. Though, according to the call one of his assistants made, it's urgent!"
"Well 'urgent' explains why I was woken up so early."
"...Wait, investigating!?" She turned on her heel, lightly punching Ralsei in the shoulder. "Then why'd we wear these tacky ass outfits?!?!"
Clad with black and accented with purple, Susie tugged a bit at the tie sloping down her front. Luckily the suspenders and hat had yet to give her any trouble, though she doubted that would last.
"Hey! I thought it'd be fun! ...You know? Get us in the, um, detective mood!"
Like Susie, Ralsei decorated himself with a hat and suspenders, generally sticking to green and black with a hint of pink. Meanwhile, Kris's suit was entirely striped in black and white, the only hint of color being the saturated red ascot that rested between the lapels.
Susie elbowed Kris, pointing at Ralsei's shoes.
"Mhm. Because heels are famous for being detective shoes."
Kris paused, the edge of their mouth twitched into a barely noticeable grin. Then, almost inaudible, they snickered. Susie began to roar with laughter.
At this, a rosy hue spread across Ralsei's face.
"W-well you didn't ask earlier! An-and now it's too late to change! Besides... they might be useful later." Trying to brush off the laughter, he dipped the front of his hat and hunched his shoulders to hide the embarrassment burning in his face.
"HAHAHA! Useful for what? Reaching the top shelf? BAHAHAHA!"
Giving a punch with no actual substance to Kris, the laughter dragged out before dying with finality. A moment, Ralsei tilted his head back up and sighed.
"We should get to the third floor, after all it is urgent." He offered a meek smile, turning toward the casino's main staircase.
Before he could even take a step, the way was blocked with Kris's outstretched arm.
Giving a wide-eyed blink, Ralsei stopped and tilted his head. "H- what? Did-did I forget something, Kris?"
Kris pointed to Ralsei, then gave a quick 'ok' hand signal.
The prince puzzled for a moment, humming in a mix of confusion and thought.
"I don't.... Oh! S-so, you do like my outfit?"
Ralsei's face turned rosy again as Kris nodded a 'yes' before promptly turning back around and leading the group towards the casino's grandoise stairs.
"Psh- whatever you cornball!" Susie trailed behind Kris, pulling at one of her own suspenders before letting it snap back into place.
The bottom of the steps were blocked with swoops of smooth, velvety rope. A sign hung in the middle, the fancy, cursive text reading 'Closed For Maintenance! Apologies For Inconvenience.'
At either end, a zapper stood on guard. The two were likely posted there to prevent any 'curious' guests from exploring past the velvet rope.
Yet, as Kris approached, the Zappers gave a simple nod, one even clicking the rope out of place and motioning for the group to proceed.
Continuing up the carpeted steps, a voice guided their attention to the top of the stairs.
"Hey! Lightna's!" Another Zapper, although uniquely dressed in a suit, cowboy hat, and a bright bowtie, stood with a clipboard.
"Youse must be here for da boss!"
"Ah- yes! We received a call from someone that Mr. Tenna needed our investigative services. Of course, we're happy to help!"
Ralsei beamed as the trio finally reached the top, each shaking the Zapper's free hand before surveying the area.
"Yea! Dat was Battat who called youse, he's one of us Mi- er, uh. Well, one of Tenna's assistants, soes to say."
The Zapper didn't elaborate, nor did the trio push on the way they cut themself off. An awkward silence settled, and Susie glanced, expectantly, at the clipboard.
Without any sort of filler conversation left, a quiet unease sat heavy the air, something... different. The floor was closed off, they knew that upon arriving, and so it was expected there would be no customers. But, there were also no workers either, just the lone Zapper in front of them. The single comfort was the distant chimes of slots and machines on the floors below.
Something twisted in Susie's gut, something felt off... wrong.
Clearing her throat, she glanced around, then quirked an eyebrow.
"Heh, speaking of the big guy... uh, where is he?"
The Zapper stilled, conflicted.
"...Did, uh, Battat not tell youse?"
Susie mirrored the Zapper, tensing. She had half a mind to take out her axe with the way her stomach dropped.
"Tell us, what?"
Ralsei glanced, anxious, between Susie and the Zapper, hand fiddling with his scarf.
"Well, Mr.- uh Battat? He only told us that we needed to investigate something on behalf of Mr. Tenna. Unfortunately, he seemed in a rush."
The Zapper's gaze trailed down, lingering on the clipboard.
"Ah, dat must be why he gave dis to me. I gotta give youse the...details."
The Zapper gave a sigh.
Susie clenched her hands at her sides, baring her teeth a little.
Couldn't this guy just fucking spit it out? If something is wrong just say it!
"What. Details?"
"Well, da whole reason Tenna hadn't been the one to call youse directly was because the investigation... well it directly involves him. He was... attacked last night. Well, early dis mornin' I s'pose."
"WHAT!" Ralsei and Susie stood wide eyed, worry evident on their faces.
Kris took on a look of disbelief, even if it was hidden behind their bangs.
The Zapper quickly lifted their hands. "WELL- uh don't youse worry too much! He's breathin'! Just... banged up."
"How 'Banged up'?" Susie stepped, ready to snatch that damn clipboard at a moment's notice.
She would've moved closer had Ralsei not grabbed her shoulder. She shot him a glare, but quickly dropped it.
"What... Susie's asking is, what condition is he in? Is Mr. Tenna seriously hurt?"
The Zapper gave another look at the papers on the clipboard.
"I think, it might be better if youse read it." They began to offer the clipboard, it was swiftly wrenched out of the Zapper's hand by Susie.
The trio huddled around the clipboard, skimming over the words scrawled on each page. Listed was a brief summary of the time, place, and any further known or discovered details of the incident. The details that would've been given had that call lasted a minute longer.
Everything, everyone, was still, besides the occasional flip of a page.
Finally, Susie turned to it. Ralsei brought a hand up to his mouth in disbelief. The last page held a photo, and there was no doubt as to who it was.
Is! Is. Not was. He's gotta be alive. He has to be.
Right?
Susie gripped the clipboard, the wood creaked, nearly snapping in half under the harsh pressure.
They said they're taking care of him.
"'ATTACK'? YEAH 'ATTACK' MY ASS!" She hurled the clipboard at the Zapper, who fumbled with it after it bounced off their head.
"IF ANYTHING THAT WAS AN ATTEMPTED MURDER!" She pointed, almost accusing.
He's just 'banged up,' right?
"L-look! I'm sorry youse had to find out dis ways!" The Zapper hid behind the clipboard, not bothering to fix their off-balance hat.
"WELL HOW ELSE DID YOU WANT US TO FIND OUT TENNA HAD HIS DAMN ARMS SLICED OFF?" Susie yelled, intermittently flexing her hands.
Right.
The words hung in the air.
"No one else was gonna say it."
Again, everything felt frozen, not with awkwardness. But... caution. As if Susie was a ticking bomb, and the lightest breeze could set her off.
As if it would've stopped her.
Why were they so focused on her?
They should be checking on Tenna, hell FINDING the godamn culprit!
They could've started looking if the Zapper had just said it.
"Why can't anyone ever just lay it all out? DAMN IT!" Susie began to walk away, before stopping, not bothering to turn back around.
"Where the hell is the crime scene."
The Zapper practically jumped. "W- it's- just past that there corner."
Silence permeated until Susie disappeared around the corner.
Sighing, Ralsei adjusted his glasses and looked to the Zapper.
"Sorry about that, Mr. ...?"
"Oh! Youse can just call me Jongler! No needs for all that 'Mr.' business."
"Ah! Well, apologies, Jongler. Susie... she's- she means well. She just... can be a little hot-headed, especially when it comes to people she cares about."
"Ah. Notta problem, it's hard to comprehend... well, everythin' that's gone on in da past coupla' hours."
"Of course!" Ralsei paused. "Well, I suppose Kris and I should officially begin our investigation. Mr. Tenna deserves a swift and satisfying conclusion to this case!"
Ralsei tipped his hat, waiting until Kris gave a small wave.
"Thank you, Jongler!" The two then rounded the same corner Susie had.
《☆》
"Why can't people ever just tell you the whole deal?" She punctuated her question with the slam of a desk drawer, the rattle of its contents were muted behind the thick wood.
"I'm sure Jongler was just as shocked, Susie! It only happened a few hours ago, and Mr. Tenna is their boss, after all."
"Tch- Is that the dickwad's name?"
"S-Susie! ...But- uh, yes."
Susie glanced around the office, and bared her teeth slightly.
"There's nothing here."
Kris quirked a questioning eyebrow.
"OKAY YES DUMBASS I CAN OBVIOUSLY SEE THE OUT OF PLACE STUFF!"
Said 'stuff' included two abandoned drinks that sat on Tenna's office desk, a very large chalked outline of a body (nobody said it, but it was without a doubt where Tenna was found), and an open door that--upon a quick glance--lead into a second, slightly smaller office.
Susie bit the inside of her cheek.
"I was obviously talking about the not obvious stuff. You know like... secret clues or whatever."
"That's alright. If anything, we should still be able to use the 'obvious' stuff for leads!"
"Yeah what leads?"
"Well, for one, the two glasses tell us that someone else was here with Mr. Tenna!"
"Really? Would've never thought that." Susie rolled her eyes, and after a pause she rolled her hand to signal that Ralsei should continue whatever thought he had.
"And, if you look at the way Mr. Tenna..." Ralsei searched for a more... gentle word as he glanced at the chalked outline, which was left as a placeholder while the real Tenna healed. "...fell. Well he was facing away from the other office door, which is currently open. If I were to guess, whoever attacked him most likely snuck up on him!"
Susie lowered her gaze to the outline.
"And how does that help us find any leads?"
Glancing over their shoulder, Kris walked over to the secondary office.
"Well, Kris seems to have the right idea!"
Although slightly smaller, the room was just as lavish, practically everything (save the couches in Tenna's office) was copied over. However, one thing stood out.
Tenna's office didn't have a black rotary phone.
That much was noticeable as the two followed Kris into the room. The latter immediately finding the door that would lead back into the hallway. They opened it, and leaned their head out to the side slightly, before retreating back in and turning.
"...It's Spamton's office..."
Anyone else would've barely heard. Kris always spoke in a monotonous manner, always managing to mumble the few words that otherwise couldn't be understood by a simple nod or hand motion. It just so happened that Ralsei and Susie had grown used to the way they spoke.
"Oh... I do suppose that makes sense. He is the co-owner alongside Mr. Tenna." Ralsei puzzled a moment.
"Well if that little shit was the one who almost killed Tenna then he's gonna be lucky to be breathing after I'm through with him." Susie practically spat.
It wasn't surprising. If anything, Susie's frustrations were warranted. She'd known Tenna for a while now, the CRT entertaining her whenever the gang popped in for a visit. Hell, he almost acted like an overbearing parent to her (this, she would never admit aloud). She had even looked forward to it this morning, when Ralsei told them about the call.
She even wondered about it on the way to the familiar dark fountain, maybe he would finally teach her to play poker? Pool? She told him she didn't mind, whatever the game would be. Tenna did own a casino after all, why couldn't she learn a game or two? Yeah sure, they were 'adult' games when they involved actual money, but it wouldn't hurt to learn a game for fun. At least that's the assurance Susie gave Tenna when she last asked him.
Yet, the shards of her shattered expectations practically dug into her skin the moment she saw that picture of Tenna on that godamn clipboard. The way that he supposedly wasn't found until a couple of hours after it happened. The way his screen was dimmed so dull, that Susie could just barely make out the RGB bars that indicated something in his systems had gone wrong. Not that she needed those to see the real problem. His arms were completely disconnected from his shoulders. They were even in frame of the picture, mere inches away from his body.
She had to stop. She couldn't spiral right now!
And the darkeners who found him got Tenna help, didn't they? He was... stable. That's what that Zapper had said at least.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Susie walked over to the rotary phone that sat on a small side table.
"What about this thing?" She snagged the hanging receiver. "Damn thing is off the receiver."
A glimmer of hope, maybe this could help. Maybe someone is still on the other end.
Curious, the cord stretched as she cradled it to the side of her head.
...
*It's nothing but garbage noise.
"GAH-" Susie flinched back as the otherworldy sounds gurgled out of the receiver.
A cacophony of discordant tones and beeps continued to crawl out of the phone. The highs and lows clashed, disorientating.
Why was it getting louder?
Ralsei and Kris cringed, covering their ears.
"Susie! I don't know what you did b-but- ack! Can you please turn it off?" The prince's fluff did nothing to muffle the noise, and he could practically feel it rattling his brain.
Susie, angling the phone away, pressed the switch hook on the dial-up.
It didn't stop.
She pressed again. Harder this time.
"S-SUSIE!"
"I'M TRYING!"
Again.
It didn't stop.
She shoved the phone back onto its hooks.
Why was it still not working?
Panicked, she looked around wildly.
She spotted it. The plug-in cable.
She snatched it, uncaring of any potential damage, and tugged.
Instead of being met with resistance, and the grating noise halting, the cable simply flung back.
Shit.
It was already unplugged.
With no signs of the garbled audio faltering, she reeled her arms back and above her head.
With a crunch, Susie crushed the rotary phone under her fists.
As tough as she was, some of the splintered plastic managed to cut her, and there was no doubt there would be bruising.
It wasn't shattered--entirely, at least--but it definetly wouldn't be usable anymore. At least for whatever that thing on the other end of the line was.
She huffed, clenching some of the ache in her hands away.
"...Susie? Are you alright?"
Her eyes lingered on her handiwork before slowly turning. Exhaling a quiet, "Yeah."
"Did... you hear anything before that uh- noise? Happened?"
"Nah, just... a quieter version of whatever that was."
There was a pause.
"I'm assuming you two don't know what that was." Susie kept her eyes downcast as she asked.
Ralsei glanced at Kris, who gave a simple head shake, 'No.'
"Unfortunately I do not, no. And it doesnt seem that Kris does either. However, that was... something notable, for sure."
Another moment passed, quiet.
Ralsei adjusted his glasses. "Alright. Well, given that this is Spamton's office, we should keep him in our notes. Likely to question, but it doesn't rule him out as a suspect. Especially with... that."
Kris nodded, retrieving a small flip notebook and a pen out of their dress pants.
As they scribbled, Susie silently walked back into Tenna's office.
His gaze following Susie, Ralsei opened his mouth, only for any words to die in his throat.
He sighed, angling himself back towards Kris.
"Kris, I know you have a... relationship of sorts with Spamton. I'm not sure if it's as close as Tenna and Susie's, but still... familial?"
Kris moved a miniscule amount, yet that was all Ralsei needed to know he had their attention.
Sure, Spamton seemed to favor a (typically one-sided) conversation with Kris above the others, but their connection wasn't anything concrete, at least visibly. It was definitely alike to Susie and Tenna's in the sense that it was more familial, but it's not like Spamton ever went to the same lengths for Kris as Tenna did Susie.
"N-not that I would know! Haha, it's just from what I can tell and-" He cut himself off, pausing with a sigh.
"Sorry, what I'm trying to ask is..." Ralsei fiddled with his scarf. "...Do you really think that Spamton would try to kill Tenna? Much less be able to actually pull it off?"
Kris still knew Spamton, and--through the few interactions they'd seen between the CRT and email--knew he had something going on with the TV. The salesman, when Kris questioned, denied even entertaining the idea. Going so far as to voicing his grievances about his business partner, yet it was a list that was half-baked at best. Even then, Spamton gave the same blanket statement when Kris eventually got tired of his complaining.
"Look! He's the only other [BIG SHOT] around here that can keep up with how I [[Let's Run This Show!]]." It was always the same excuse, granted the ad interjections would occasionally change, but the message itself was unchanging.
Kris shook their head in response.
"No? Hm, that's what I thought. Unfortunately we do have still consider him a possible suspect. There's nothing fully ruling him out yet." Ralsei stopped fidgeting with his scarf, he tilted his head and offered a slight smile. "We should go question some of the workers and find out if they heard or saw anything."
Kris nodded. They turned, looking at the doorway that connected the two offices. Susie was somewhere out of sight, maybe on one of the couches.
"I'm... worried about her too. But we'll get through this, Kris. Don't worry!"
He brightened his smile.
"...I'll make sure she's okay before we go back downstairs and begin questioning."
Slightly to himself, Ralsei added, "Her hand looked in bad shape... maybe she needs some healing as well."
As Ralsei lightly stepped through the doorway, Kris glanced back down at their notepad.
A corner of their mouth twitched, a slight grimace for a moment.
As Susie might say, this investigation was going to suck ass.