Multiple Settings Mystery City

[Squad141]

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In the beginning, there was darkness. Then, there came light, shining through the lies and hatred that created this darkness. This light was pure, and justified, and calm.
...and now, you guess this light is you.​

You step out from the shadows of the alleyway you had been traveling through, and into the glowing ambience of the Downtown lights, with very few street lamps yet very high light pollution peeking along the landscape and scenery. Brushing some dust off of yourself, you feel glad that you made it down here. You were planning on driving down after finally settling into your apartment in the dirtier part of uptown (which of course was due to your aesthetic and not because you have very little money after moving), but there was quite a bit of after-work traffic on all the major highways, and waiting would've just made you tired.

So, you took the hard way, walking all the way across abandoned tunnels and parking garages to find yourself in the bustling area of Downtown, though the streets don't look very busy at the moment.

You were recently hired a few months ago by the governor and city council of Mystery City to aid police investigations due to numerous accounts of strange mysteries popping up around town. Yesterday, you were given your first assignment: investigate strange cases with the citizens and businesses of the downtown area in the city.

Currently, you have your cellphone and your satchel. You are wearing a black suit jacket, black pants, an undershirt, a pair of gloves, and black felt pants. Of course, you don't want to seem too generic; Your gloves, undershirt, and suit jacket highlights are dyed your favorite color to distinguish yourself, this color being:

[1] Violet
[2] Blue
[3] Red
[4] Yellow
[5] Orange
[6] White​

On the small plastic label of your satchel is your identification, which allows for ease of access and less time fumbling to get out a card or wallet. The label reads: Detective...

[1] Nimrod
[2] Custom​

 

[teluhtubby]

Very interesting.

 

[Zer0]

[3] Red
[2] Custom: Piña Colada

 

[Squad141]

Ah, yes. You had forgotten for a bit about your origin story. How your mother had gotten the labels confused after a hard night of drinking, and suggested you be named after her favorite beverage. Ever since you were a child, and your mother was mad that her spouse had actually listened to her, you weren't exactly fond of the name, but as time passed, you learned to live with it. In fact, with your middle name being Inova, your initials being P.I.C. This was, in fact, the reason you started wanting to become a detective, nominating yourself Private Investigator Colada!

But of course, that wasn't important at your present moment. You adjust your scarlet-felt gloves, which match the highlights of your black suit jacket. You pull up the strap to your dark brown satchel, with the words Detective Piña Colada printed on the small white label.

You decide to finally get to your job.

You are currently standing outside of the alleyway you took to get yourself here. To your right is a small newspaper-dispensing box with the words EPITAPH PAPERS printed on the side. There seems to be a few issues left in the machine. The box sits in front of a quaint-looking Waffle House. To your immediate left is a taller building with the sign Quality Apartments above the double glass doors that seem to welcome you, each engraved with a fanciful letter Q. Straight ahead appears to be an outdoorsy area, as well as a large sign of some sort, though you can't make out what it says from your vantage point. There's a man wearing a red hoodie looking up at it, with his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

Past the Waffle House, to the right, seems to be a few glass-window dense business buildings. To the left, past the Quality Apartments, look to be a larger variety of buildings past a traffic intersection.

A buzz in your pocket catches your attention. Saving your phone from the depths of your pants pocket, you notice you've got a text.

​

Unknown #

them

This city is beyond your control.

them

Watch your back, newbie.

​

> What do you do now?

Zer0 ​

 

[Zer0]

> Reply: You are familiar. Does your name start with Prick?

 

[Squad141]

Unknown #

them

This city is beyond your control.

them

Watch your back, newbie.

me

You seem familiar.

me

Does your first name start with Prick?

them

SORRY! Looks like the number you are attempting to contact does not exist.

them

If this issue persists, please try contacting your service dealers!

Seems like whoever had contacted you used a burner phone, or maybe a phonebooth, or another form of conspicuous machinery that could communicate through airwaves (and text, apparently). Hopefully, it was some overzealous fool or overconfident mob boss, the thought of which makes your heart jump. That would certainly get your career off the ground! But a nagging feeling persists, telling you it might be a prank, or even worse, your arch-nemesis.

Zer0 Jodyguru ​

 

[Zer0]

> Wonder who the arch-nemesis is, feeling both dread and the thrill of a hunt. Then grab a copy of EPITAPH PAPERS and read it while walking towards the man in the red hoodie. Glance up at the sign.

 

[Squad141]

Ah, yes, your arch-nemesis. The only person worthy of going head-to-head in many cases that involved the both of you. You dislike them, yet enjoy having them around. It tests your investigation skills, as well as your stamina in your thighs during the faster chases or deadlines. It was that thrill, of solving a case, of being there, or beating someone else, that felt cool. And the fact remained that while you and them had a bitter disdain for the other, you were like Yin and Yang, and always had to be on two sides of the same coin. There name is...

[Name Colada's Arch-Nemesis!]
​

Scattering those thoughts to the wind, you decide to get caught up on any current news, and walk to your right, fishing a quarter from your satchel, and placing it in the machine. You lift the lid, and grab a paper, shaking it to un-crease the cover and read the front page.

Evangeline Sightings Update
March 10, 20XX - Sightings of Evangeline have doubled in the past month. "It was crazy, there all this stuff everywhere, bro," said George Julius, an awestruck witness of one supposed sighting. Skeptics still believe the re-incarnation of Downtown's beloved Evangeline to be an urban legend, but many residents report otherwise. Regardless of their claims, it's always nice to have some higher power to believe in, especially during these trying times. That's all for this issue I'm afraid, because I'm bored and my editor got the flu.

- Jenna Jennings, The Daily Downer

As you read the starkly short issue, wondering why the Paper would allow anyone to write something so odd, you glance up at the sign as you approach it.

Welcome to Beautiful and Historic
| MC Downtown! |
For more information, visit info.mc!

​

The man in the hoodie seems to be shaking his head at a small bit of vandalism on the side. Where the 'Beautiful' part had been was crossed out, with the letters L.O.L. written above in dripping spray paint, though you can't discern the acronyms meaning.

Zer0 ​

 

[Zer0]

[MAX 'COBRA' BANE]​

> Chuckles and says in an Antonio Banderas accent. " You think they sprayed that because of all the funny things going on?" Shakes open newspaper. "All these Evangeline sightings . . . either someone is having a laugh riling up the media, or something else is going on in the background."

 

[Squad141]

Unlike your suave counterpart (damn that Cobra!), you aren't well versed in the catalog of famous persons and celebrities. But c'mon, you're a detective! You can solve this puzzle! You enter your Mind Palace, and begin piecing this puzzle together...

Antonio is a name that could be from several European countries... though only a few. The ending of the name is definitely French. No, Venetian? And Banderas... Banda sounds like Panda, and where are Panda's known to lay? In zoos. The man must be wild animal at heart (if he was even a man, but that's neither here nor there)!

So, with your investigation completed, you turn to the man in the red hoodie as you open the paper further, speaking in a horrible foreign accent that sounds as if you were dipped into a fusion of Italy and Mexico.
"Think they sprayed it 'cause of all the funny things going on? All these Evangeline sightings... either someone is having a laugh riling up the media, or something big is going on behind the scenes."
You look down at your paper in a hard boiled manner, but the rest of the paper, like Jenna said, was completely blank. You focus your eyes in the middle of the paper as to not make a fool of yourself.

The man looks at you, dubiously.
"Uh... I guess? You must be new in town, buddy. Still, it's quite the shame. The Mayoral Council just put it up, too. It's not very big, like our billboards, but it's quaint, and putting it next to our small patch of wilderness was smart."

Zer0 ​

 

[Squad141]

bump

 

[Hexabrawl]

Very sorry to interrupt, but my roleplay is low on players and I need some action. Is it okay if you join it?

 

[Squad141]

Very sorry to interrupt, but my roleplay is low on players and I need some action. Is it okay if you join it?

No thanks