Chapter Text
Snowbird intensely stared at the messy bulletin board in his room. Scattered strings of red and blue were plastered across the whole board that held various pieces of paper and portraits of people. Despite all the information he had, Snowbird was at a dead end. None of the evidence he had acquired added up to a cohesive story that showed him the culprit to this murder case.
Some might’ve said he should give up, hand the case to another avid detective who would be in a much better mental state than him.
But Snowbird was determined to avenge his brother.
It was the least he could do for him.
Throughout most of his long life, it had just been Snowbird and his younger brother Frost. Their parents died in a crash not too long after moving to Paradise City, when Snow had barely turned eighteen. This tragedy was terribly timed with Snowbird’s recent enlistment into the military. The combination of these unfortunate events made Snow feel incredibly guilty for his entire time in the military, since he took the selfish decision of carrying on his enlistment, leaving Frost in an orphanage until Snowbird came back from his service.
His brother had always told him it wasn’t a big deal since he ended up getting benefits after his enlistment that aided them in having a stable life, which was crucial with no living relatives able to take them in.
However, Snowbird knew that his time away had definitely changed his brother. Despite being put in an orphanage at the age of nine, he was never adopted by anyone during Snow’s six years in the military. For whatever reason, if anyone had attempted to adopt him, he had simply made himself seem like a troublesome child until they gave up. This was according to the orphanage workers, though. Anytime Snowbird asked him about how the orphanage was, he would simply brush it off and change the topic as if he was avoiding the topic. Because of this, he was told by the adults handling the orphanage that Frost was very distant from all the kids around him and even the adults themselves. Sure, Frost didn’t have the same distance with Snowbird himself, but that was expected with their close bond growing up and only having each other after seemingly losing everything else they had.
Snowbird had no idea why his brother had wanted to stick by him even when a new path had been given to him. He felt like he had simply limited his brother in what he could have become. He was glad his brother had been able to get an education and a job and all, but his brother had never really had much of a social life. Out of all the things he could’ve taken after his brother, the introvertedness was something Frost could’ve lived without.
Reminiscing aside, he continued to stare at the bulletin board, with his brother’s bloody and broken dead body plastered in the center. Snowbird was once again reminded that his brother was actually gone. He felt the least he could do was find who his killer was.
At first, Snowbird only became a detective so he could get a job to support him and his brother so they didn't end up homeless on the street. However, with no brother left to support, he might as well utilize his detective skills to uncover the reason behind his brother’s sudden death.
But it seemed like Snowbird couldn’t even do that. He had two suspects and ended up interrogating all of them, but alas, none of their accounts added up when put in context of the crime scene. He even got so desperate that he ended up suspecting that perhaps the person who reported the body did it, but that impulsive action only led to Snowbird creating a new enemy for himself. Things were not in his favor at all.
Tired of standing, Snowbird groaned to himself and fell onto his bed, staring at his blank ceiling. He analyzed his options on what his next course of action could be for the hundredth time in the past five months. He had looked at every single possibility he could, but there was nothing. Maybe he should just pass the case to someone else? Perhaps Snowbird had lost his touch and this was a sign from the universe that he should quit?
So that’s exactly what Snowbird headed off to do.
Was it another impulsive action, which had a history of leading to something bad? Yes. But what else did he have to lose? There was no one he had to look after besides himself and he could care less about what happened to him.
-
He soon pulled up his car in front of the seemingly normal water purification plant known as M.O.O.N. When Snowbird walked into the water plant, he found his boss Wifies directing orders to other workers. His boss was really odd, always wearing a hoodie with a moon to work every day, which made him seem unprofessional. However, Snowbird couldn’t deny Wifies got the job done, even if his methods could be a bit questionable at times. He had a stack of case files in his hands and was quickly sorting through them to see which one to give to his coworkers. When he heard Snowbird walk in, he looked up and seemed very relieved.
”Snowbird! Perfect timing, I was just about to contact you. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Snowbird found it worrying that Wifies out of all people was looking for him. If your boss was about to contact you and was excited to do it, as he heard in Wifies’s tone, it could mean two things Snowbird absolutely did not want. It either meant he was being offered a promotion, again. Or he could be offered to work on another case even if he was still working on one. Snowbird wasn’t unfamiliar with this happening, since, for some reason, he was one of the more reliable detectives, partly due to his many years of working for M.O.O.N.
“Wait boss, I have something I need to tell you first.”
Wifies’s eyebrows raised up in curiosity. “Oh? That’s so unlike you. You’re typically the type to always be keeping secrets.”
The comment was slightly offensive to Snowbird, but hopefully this sassy brunette would no longer be his boss.
“Okay… So I’m putting in my retirement notice. I just wanted to let you know before I start getting the paperwork ready.”
Wifies’s eyes widened. He had not expected this outcome when Snowbird came in today. He couldn’t possibly just let him off like that, especially with the new job he had just planned to give him. “Wait! Come back here Snow, I have one thing to ask of you,” Wifies shouted before Snowbird could reach the door. He desperately hoped Snowbird would at least listen to his proposal.
Snowbird turned around and gave Wifies a very disinterested look. “Hm? What do you need? This better not take long.” He then started to walk back towards the desk where Wifies was stationed.
“Just hear me out on this... Solve this one case-”
“No, do you not know what retirement means? I’m done working. Plus, I still have the case on my brother that I’m still working on. You really want to pile another case on me?” Snowbird saw no point in entertaining the idea. Solving another case wouldn’t benefit him and it seemed like there were other detectives Wifies could ask who had much fresher minds.
“But why? Could you at least give me a reason? Your retirement is so out of the blue,” Wifies argued back. His tone was starting to sound a little pissed off. It was clear he was disliking Snowbird’s stubbornness towards the situation.
“…A detective like you would see the clues and know exactly why.” Snowbird stared back at him. His face was stone cold with no emotion. He was about to walk away, but remembered he should clear up one more thing with Wifies.
“And also, I didn’t take this job from you guys out of my heart, I only ever did it for him.” A sad expression sat on Snowbird’s face at the thought of his brother. Wifies noticed this and saw it as the perfect argument to convince Snowbird.
“If you care so much about him, then take this case,” Wifies shot back. He slowly connected the dots behind Snowbird’s sudden retirement and realized something that would most likely convince Snowbird to solve the case.
“Why are you so insistent-”
“Uncovering this case would give you clues to his murder.”
Snowbird stared back at Wifies in disbelief. He had always assumed he got all he could about the case. What did Wifies know about his brother that he didn’t?
“How are you so sure about that? If you know what this case could hold, why not solve it yourself?”
“The investigation for this case has proven to be very dangerous. Someone with your military background might have an advantage with handling it.”
Wifies proceeded to pull out the case file. It was an investigation to confirm whether there was a nuclear bomb underneath Paradise City University. Roghost Enterprises is speculated to be behind its construction due to them becoming a sponsor for the university not too long before the investigation started. Snowbird analyzed the file and saw it had been brought up all the way back in September of 2012. Investigations lasted until January of 2013 until the case was ultimately shelved, left unsolved.
Snowbird proceeded to place the file back in Wifies’s stack of other files that he held. “Why has it taken thirteen years for M.O.O.N to come back to this case? You guys only decided to bring this case back up now right when I’m about to retire. Seems pretty suspicious to me.”
“Are you really blaming me for not knowing about your spontaneous retirement notice? If you just want me to admit that we specifically wanted you to take this case, then yes. But with the failure rate other detectives have had, your skills could be useful in this case. And like I said, this case could have clues to what happened to your brother.”
Snowbird was still unconvinced. The case itself was weird, because why would a multi-national business corporation build a nuclear bomb under a university? That accusation in itself was already bizarre, but what Snowbird found even weirder was how this case could have anything to do with this brother. Wifies was typically a smart guy, but his excuses just sounded desperate at this point.
”So what does this have to do with my brother? He never went to PCU and last I checked, my brother has never even associated himself with Roghost. You’re just spewing out lies to get me to do this case.”
He could see Wifies’s eye twitch at his continued stubbornness. It was clear that Wifies was hiding something from Snowbird and didn’t intend on revealing anything, since he had assumed Snowbird would be convinced by now. However, this guy had an iron will for convincing and would not back down until he got Snowbird to take the case. He sat down all of the other files he had in his hand down on his desk, only leaving the Roghost file in his grasp.
“How about this, I let you have the case for a day and you see if you’re able to get any new information regarding it or your brother’s case. If you don’t, then you can just retire freely and I won’t annoy you about it. I just ask you to investigate it for a day. Does that sound alright for you?”
Snowbird thought about it and weighed out his options. He could purposely make sure that he acquired no new information so he could easily retire… But he couldn’t deny he was definitely curious. It also didn't hurt to investigate something that had such insane implications. What were the chances he would actually get information about a nuclear bomb? Not unless he somehow infiltrated Roghost Enterprises itself.
If this did somehow get him killed like all the other detectives before, then he could actually say curiosity killed the cat. After all, there weren't many people that he knew that would actually care if he ended up dying.
”Fine. This seems like a fair deal.” Wifies’s smile immediately lit up as he handed him the Roghost file.
However, that smile immediately faded as Wifies started complaining, “Damn you Snowbird, now my client Avery is going to get pissed with how I haven’t gotten any new information on his friend Derek. Maybe I should’ve just let you retire.”
”You know you can still do that right now right..?” Snowbird suggested with hope in his heart that Wifies would actually listen to him.
”Nah, I really need that case solved. It would increase people’s trust in our abilities.” Wifies soon walked into his own office and slammed the door behind him. Snowbird clearly got on his nerves during that conversation.
Snowbird was then left in the lobby of headquarters. He quickly skimmed through the file and decided that since he had nothing better to do, he might as well start the investigation.
He soon left M.O.O.N and got into his old car from 1976. He’s surprised that it still worked in this day and age. Snowbird then started driving off to the only place he could think of to start off this investigation, Paradise City University.
How exactly was he supposed to start getting information for this? Snowbird honestly wasn’t sure, but he thought catching up with an old friend of his would be a good start.
That friend’s name was Saps Saparata, otherwise known as Professor Saparata.
-
When Snowbird finally found Saps’s lecture hall, he found him talking to a familiar girl with brown and blue hair.
That was very worrying for Snowbird.
This interaction will not end well at all.
But he really had no choice in this situation. He sighed to himself and walked over to the white-haired professor who was eagerly talking to the girl, probably about biology since that was what he taught.
“-like I said, when one prion exists in the body, that one misfolded protein ends up making all of the other synthesizing proteins misfolded just like itself. The creation of prions is typically random and uncontrolled, which is why prion diseases are very hard to cure.”
The girl was writing notes in a notebook as Saps spoke to her. It was clear she was very interested in the subject. Snowbird just awkwardly watched them talk until the girl finally turned around to get her stuff. He was desperately hoping she wouldn’t see him but alas, luck was never on his side.
”Wha-Why the hell are you here?” the girl shouted at Snowbird when she noticed him. She was at her desk at the front of the lecture hall next to a brunette boy who looked about her age.
”Just here to speak with a friend… It has nothing to do with you,” Snowbird replied as calmly as possible to avoid pissing her off.
”Wow, it better not. Did Professor Saparata also report in a murder case you think he’s the culprit behind?”
Before Snowbird could defend himself, the boy next to her thankfully mediated the situation.
”Uhm, come on, Magic. Agustus, Flux, and Stella are probably looking for us, we shouldn’t make them worry…”
Magic sighed but gave Snowbird one last glare before walking out of the lecture hall alongside the brunette. “You’re right, Thomas, I just.. hope this old man doesn’t cause anyone else any problems.” They finally left so Snowbird headed over to Saps’s desk at the front of the room.
As Saps sorted through some papers, he looked up and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
”Detective Snow? What are you doing here? I’m usually the one seeking your help.” Saps quickly put all the papers he had into one stack and looked up to listen to the detective.
“I was planning on retiring but my boss is stubborn and apparently I’m the only capable detective in all of M.O.O.N to investigate a nuclear bomb under this school,” Snowbird replied while giving Saps a deadpanned look.
Saps’s eyes widened at the mention of a nuclear bomb but immediately realizes that Snowbird was talking to him to get some leads for his investigation.
”So what information are you looking for? I don’t know how helpful I could be but I’ll try my best to assist.”
”Well, I personally wasn’t given much to go off of in order to get leads. All I know is that Roghost is suspected to have built a nuclear bomb under this school because of their out-of-the-blue sponsorship thirteen years ago. That’s all I’m able to disclose.”
When Saps heard the name “Roghost,” his eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. “Wait, did you just say Roghost? Very concerned about the fact they could be storing an atom bomb under this school, but I did have a student with that surname. I’m pretty sure his name is Michael Roghost Jr. and is the quarterback of the football team.”
”Quarterback of the football team? Well, that kid sounds like the son of the CEO of Roghost based on the name. Do you have any idea on where he could be?” Snowbird didn’t expect the son of a CEO to be a quarterback, but he could care less about that and hoped he didn’t have any helpful information so he could get early retirement.
“Hm, I think one of my students Grayleigh mentioned he’s a part of one of the fraternities on campus called Alpha Alpha Alpha… Or something like that. Maybe try asking people there if they know where he is.”
”Thanks for the help Saps, this might be very helpful.” Snowbird said a quick goodbye to Saps and left him with his papers he needed to grade.
Snowbird didn’t know the chances that the son of CEO had no idea about the secret projects his father worked on but is praying to whatever god listening that the odds are in his favor for once.
…
“What the hell man! I literally had the lead on you for most of the race. How did you get ahead of me?!” A blonde haired boy with tan skin shouted at the TV showing Mario Kart while a pale white man and dark-haired girl only laughed at him. Their laughter echoed across the living room as a phone on the couch started buzzing.
The white-haired guy with pale skin looked over to his side and was excited to see the name on the screen appeared to be “Grayleigh <3”. Her profile picture was of a girl with purple and black hair that was decorated with red ribbons on her buns.
The blonde noticed his loss of interest from the TV and also looked over to see what he was so interested in. He also noticed the name and a smirk painted his face. It was about time he made fun of him as well.
”Oh? Looks like your girlfriend is calling Mike~”
”Shut up, Rotation! I was just about to answer! Also she’s not my girlfriend!” Mike shouted at Rotation as his cheeks flushed red.
”Well she should be at this point. I’m honestly surprised you guys haven’t made any progress on your relationship in the past two years,” the girl added in a mocking tone.
”Venus, you shut up as well! I’m answering the call, I better hear no more mocking remarks from you guys.” Mike was getting very annoyed but he finally pressed the answer button on his phone.
”Hi Mike! I’m with Meagon, Yumi, and Sidefall right now. We’ll be over at your house in a bit. The line at the pizza place is kind of long right now though, so we wanted to check up on you guys!”
“More like Grayleigh wanted to check up on Mike, but whatever,” Meagon chimed in, not trying to be subtle at all.
Shushing noises could be heard from Grayleigh while Sidefall and Yumi were cackling in the background. But Mike could care less and wanted to hear what Grayleigh had to say. Rotation and Venus quietly gestured to each other as this happened because they were flabbergasted. Mike cannot take the obvious hints all of his friends have given to him.
”So like, is he actually stupid,” Rotation whispered to Venus.
”Yeah, probably. You know there’s a reason Thomas has to be his tutor for like half of his gen-ed classes.”
“I was talking in terms of emotional intelligence but sure…”
”You out of all people saying Mike has bad emotional intelligence? He’s practically your therapist, I don’t think that’s where his intelligence is lacking.”
Before Rotation could deflect Venus’s comment, a knock could be heard from the front door.
”Rotation, go answer the door, you’re younger than me after all,” Venus ordered while nudging Rotation, who groaned in response.
”Whatever, you still gotta help me with my pre-calc homework later though.” Rotation eventually got up and walked over to the door and turned the doorknob. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see the guy who was at the door. He honestly expected it to be one of Mike’s friends, but instead he saw an old man with dirty blonde hair and a big black hat. He wore a dark brown trench coat like he was some kind of spy and appeared to be just as shocked to see Rotation at the door.
The old man looked very familiar but Rotation could not remember where he had seen him. Luckily for him, the man answered the question for him.
The man shook his head to leave his surprised state and soon asked, “Rotation… Right? Weren’t you like thirteen when M.O.O.N put you in that orphanage four years ago? How are you in college already?”
”Uh no, I’m not in college. The people who adopted me have kids in college so… Yeah,” Rotation replied while lying straight through his teeth. He didn’t exactly want to explain the complicated way he and Mike met to a random stranger at the door.
“Okay, I’m getting side tracked here. I’m Detective Snow under the M.O.O.N Detective Agency of Paradise CIty. I’m here to see if someone named Michael Roghost Jr. is here. If not, are you able to tell me where he is?”
Rotation was visibly taken aback by the mention of Mike, by a detective of all people, which was definitely worrying. However, seeing that this guy was a legit detective and his face seemed to be physically scarred from some sort of combat experience, Rotation concluded it would be best to obey the old guy’s orders.
”Uh, he’s in the house right now, I’ll go get him real quick.” Rotation swiftly closed the door before Snowbird could speak and ran back to the couch where Mike and Venus were excitedly talking over the phone.
Mike heard Rotation came over and looked up with a concerned expression. ”Hey Rotation. What’s up? You look worried… you were at the door for an awful long time. Who was at the door?”
“So… Some very real detective is at the door looking for you, Mike. No idea why, but it's probably optimal if you go talk to him,” Rotation said while nervously rubbing his hand behind his head.
“What..?” everyone in the room who could hear Rotation said in unison. They stayed in shock for about a second until Mike realized he should actually talk to the elusive detective at his front door.
”Well guess I don’t have a choice. I’ll go talk to the guy. Don’t worry you guys, I’ll try my best to be careful.” Mike soon got up and walked toward the front door.
”Stay safe, Mike!” Grayleigh exclaimed with encouragement over the phone.
”So how much are we betting that the conversation has got to do with illegal activity Mike had no idea he did?” Sidefall suggested to the rest of the group surrounding the phone.
”That’s… oddly specific but I wouldn’t put it past him. That’s totally something that would happen to him,” Yumi added. She sounded quite entertained by the idea.
”Lets hope that isn’t the case. I don’t think any of us, except Mike, have the money to bail him out of jail...” Meagon replied with a lot of worry. She also would not want to imagine how Mike’s dad would treat him if he got himself arrested, so she didn’t want the group to dwell on the conversation topic for much longer.
…
When Magic and Thomas finally left Professor Saparata’s lecture hall, they headed on over to the dorm building to meet up with Stella, Flux and Agustus. They decided to go out and study at a cafe together, since they hadn’t hung out together in awhile with all the schoolwork holding them up. It was mainly Thomas’s idea, since he was starting to miss the days they were always together.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened as they walked. They were just making small talk until Magic noticed the old detective heading in the direction of one of the fraternity houses.
”Huh, that's weird, why is that old guy going to a frat house out of all places?” Magic questioned out loud.
Thomas sighed when he heard Magic mention the detective again. He was really getting tired of it. However, when he looked up and saw where exactly the detective was heading, he said, ”Hold on, he’s going to Mike’s frat house. That makes the situation even weirder…”
Magic went quiet for a bit and then started saying her intrusive thoughts out loud, “Damn, I wonder what Mike did to gain suspicion from a detective. Did he start selling drugs around campus using his reputation as quarterback? Wait, Thomas, aren’t you his tutor? You should be careful around him.”
”W-Wha- Well yes, I am his tutor, but he’s a pretty nice guy and doesn’t strike me as a drugdealer. I have no idea where you got that assumption from.”
"Hey Thomas, you know, if you think he’s such a nice guy, how about we get Stella and Flux and go spy on him?” Magic suggested while smugly smiling at Thomas. The smile made Thomas quite confused.
”Spy? Uh… What would we gain from that?” Thomas took a step back from Magic to see if it would make the sound of his fast heartbeat less obvious.
”Well, you know a little birdie told me, well more like a guy who acts like a black cat told me a certain someone has a crush on Mike. And it seems like I’m looking at him right now-“ Magic replied teasingly, still holding a smug grin.
”How? What? I don’t-“ Thomas was at a loss of words and looked like a tomato. He tried to cover his face with his hands but Magic could see right through him. She specifically made sure to leave out the part where she still thought Thomas had a thing for Agustus without realizing it. However, teasing Thomas would definitely persuade him and the rest of their friends into joining her on her sidequest with ulterior motives. Taking advantage of his supposed “crush” on Mike gives her the perfect opportunity to investigate Detective Snow without looking suspicious.
Even though it wasn’t her business to invade, she was skeptical about the fact that not too long after he accused her of murdering Frost Harbinger, he ended up investigating the college she goes to. She had no idea what Mike has to do with anything but she just wanted to make sure that detective is out of her and her friend’s hair.
Magic may not be close to Mike or any of his friends, and if anything, has some beef with Grayleigh, but she knows that some of them are good friends of Thomas, so by mutuality, she decided that detective isn’t causing them problems either.
In a few minutes, she and Thomas have picked up Stella and Flux from their dormitories. Apparently Agustus was running late handling errands for the local church owned by some loud guy so he wasn’t on campus at the moment but texted them he will catch up.
When Magic told Stella and Flux the reason behind the stalking of Mike Roghost they were shocked and confused to hear the news.
”Uh, Magic? I thought Thomas had a crush on Agustus?” Stella whispered to Magic as they walked over to Mike’s house.
”Agustus is the one with the crush, Thomas is just too emotionally oblivious to realize he likes Agustus as well. Since Thomas is spending a lot of time tutoring Mike, I think he’s mixing his feelings for Agustus as feelings for Mike. Well, that's my theory at least. You know Thomas, he’s hard to understand.” Magic replied in a hushed tone so no one but Stella could hear her.
”Ugh, you’re right. You know, at this rate, I feel Thomas and Agustus will still be ‘just friends' by the time we graduate. Their relationship is going nowhere,” Stella said while sighing exasperatedly. She was tired of watching this slow burn for the past year.
Magic nodded in agreement. Eventually, the house was in view and the four of them decided to take cover in a bush.
As they peeked their heads out the bush, they saw Snowbird standing in front of the door waiting for someone to come out. He was tapping his foot and fidgeting with the notepad and pencil he was holding.
”So who is this guy exactly? Doesn’t look like Mike to me,” Flux asked while whispering.
”He’s some kind of detective that Magic doesn’t like. We want to know what exactly he wants from Mike to make sure he isn’t some criminal,” Thomas replied while still observing the scene very intently.
”Oh…Okay, that is certainly a reason to be stalking someone. This better not take long. I do have quite a bit of work to do. I’m surprised workaholic Thomas even agreed to do this,” Flux said with a disappointed look and his voice matching his expression.
”Me too, Flux. This is odd behavior from Thomas. Maybe Mike is making him rebellious," Stella suggested while lightly nudging Thomas.
”Shhh, be quiet you guys. It looks like he's about to start interrogating Mike.”
Soon everyone shut up and focused on observing the interaction. After the formal greetings, the words that came out of Snowbird’s mouth shocked all of them.
”So you must be Michael Roghost Jr., if I’m correct. Yes?”
Mike nodded in response.
”As the son of the CEO of Roghost Enterprises, do you perhaps know anything about a nuclear bomb under the school?” Snowbird continued.
The four hidden in the bush all proceeded to look at each other in shock as they mouthed “What?” to whoever was next to them. That was not the information they were expecting at all.