//------------------------------// // Case 2: Finding An F/Don't Let The City Cry // Story: In Search of F // by Godzillawolf //------------------------------// Case 2 Finding An F/Don’t Let The City Cry Double was batted aside by the massive Dopant’s wing. The creature was a gigantic gray and silver reptilian monster with leathery wings, a long crest on its head and a long beak extending from the head. It gave a piercing screech and dove at Double, forcing him to dodge a stab from it’s beak. Frost screamed, struggling in the beast's clutches. “Another Dopant?!” asked Shou’s voice, the armored warrior spreading his wings and flying up into the air to just barely avoid a gust of wind from it’s wings. “The Memory appears to be Pteranodon,” Philip’s voice stated as Double landed to avoid tiring out his wings. “We need RevolGarry, Shou!” “Good idea!” Double quickly took out the odd device Shou and Philip had been using to speak to each other and typed in a code. “Come on, Philip, wake up!” pleaded Akiko, shaking the unicorn…then the platforms in the room began to swing upwards. “What is this?!” The floor split open and machinery began to move around, forming what appeared to be a wheeled vehicle around her and the unconscious Philip. “Ahh! Wake up! Wake up!” she yelled, shaking the unicorn. The machine finally closed up, enclosing the mare and revealing itself to be a gigantic eight-wheeled vehicle with a large circular chamber mounted on the back. It was primarily black with two large, red eye-like markings and orange markings on the sides and the chamber. The same silver v-shaped crest on Hardboilder and Double himself stood out on it‘s top of the front end. Headlights blazed as the wall in front of it opened, revealing a tunnel built beneath the streets of the floating city. It sped out of the new door, showing no change in speed once its tires hit clouds. “Ahhh! What’s happening?!” Double let out a cry of pain as the massive Pteranodon Dopant slashed at him with it’s free claw, knocking him into the air with a cascade of sparks. It grabbed the masked stallion in it’s beak and swung him around…Until the nearby clouds opened up and the RevolGarry erupted out and slammed hard into the massive Dopant, knocking it into the clouds hard. “That was close…” muttered Shou’s voice as RevolGarry swung around and smashed it’s cylinder into Pteranodon, sending the massive Dopant flying into the side of “Shou, we should hurry and get HardTurbuler!” “Yeah!” However, Pteranodon spread it’s wings and blew RevolGarry back before diving through the clouds, taking the screaming Frost with it. Double reached out and prepared to give chase, but realized it was useless. “Dang it! It got away!” “You might have caught him if you were a stronger flier, Shou,” said an annoyed voice. Double turned to see Rainbowshine fly down and land next to him. “Well…I don’t see you flying after him!” Rainbowshine simply pointed at the belt. “I’m not the superhero.” “Hehe, she’s got you there, Shou.” Double's left side looked confused while the right seemed amused. “...Well...we thought Avalanche was the only Dopant involved!” “And in the time we’ve been arguing, you could’ve gotten to HardTurbuler and took off after him,” the wisteria pegasus pointed out. “Well…I…” “I believe this is the proper reaction for this situation,” said Philip’s voice, before Double’s right hoof slammed into his face. “Ow! Warn me before you do that, Philip!” Rainbowshine sighed as Double argued with his own right half, the pegasus mare looking around the damage. “I hate the ones that grow into giant monsters, they always mean a mess of paper work for me.” Double closed the Double Driver and pulled out the memories, causing the armor to turn gray and vanish in a flurry of wind, reverting to Shou. “Yeah, Big Dopants always make a giant mess of things…We’d best start investigat-” The detective was interrupted by the sound of pounding on metal coming from RevolGarry. “Huh?” Pressing a button on the phone, the machine’s top opened up…and a green slipper to smack him in the head. “Ow!” Akiko glared a hole through him. “What is going on?! Why did I get trapped in a crazy machine?! And why did you turn into some crazy half and half monster?!” Shou staggered backwards and fell on his flanks in surprise. “Ah! Who the Tartarus are you?!” Rainbowshine rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Shou, I may have some explaining to do…” “Some?!” “Okay, a lot.” “Avalanche and Pteranodon?” asked a gray coated, black maned stallion wearing a sharp black suit with a red tie. His Cutie Mark was that of a chain. “Good sales, Kirihiko. Then again, why expect anything less from our top dealer?” The handsome blue furred pegasus stallion stood in front of him, wearing a suit the same as all dealers seemed to wear, only he wore a white hankerchief around his neck with a single red spot, resembling a spot of blood. His black mane seemed somewhat messy and hung over one eye, but in a way that still carried an air of refinement in it. The dealer bowed. “Thank you very much, Chain Link.” He trotted over to a window and looked out. “However, I am afraid I will no longer be under your employ much longer.” Chain Link blinked, the gray Pegasus flying over. “Now, come on, you aren’t thinking about quitting. You signed a contract. And breaking a contract with the boss isn’t gonna do you any favors,” he said, giving an almost instinctive shudder when he mentioned the boss. Kirihiko chuckled. “No, I’m not quitting…but soon, you’ll be under my employ.” Chain Link blinked. “What?” Kirihiko pulled an envelope out of his suit and handed it to him. Chain Link took the letter, looking closely. It was imprinted with a globe within a circle inscribed with the alphabet, a pair of wings extending out from it. The street boss opened it. “‘Caporegime Chain Links; as a loyal ally of our family, you are hereby invited to the wedding of my eldest daughter Saeko and…” the Pegasus gave out a startled gasp. “Kirihiko Sudo?!” Kirihiko put a hoof on the startled pegasus’ shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ve always been a good boss to me, Chain Link, I have no intention of not returning that kindness. In fact, I happen to have a gift for you from my new father-in-law.” “Gift?” “Wait…what?!” asked Shou, almost falling out of his chair looking at the document in front of his muzzle. “I’m the owner of this place,” Akiko replied, pointing to the deed held in her mouth. The stallion snarled. “Now I don’t know how you got that, but-” “Shou,” said Rainbowshine. “She’s Sokichi’s daughter.” Shou froze mid-sentence. “Boss’ d-daughter?” he asked in disbelief. Akiko nodded. “That is right. So I own this place.” Shou didn’t seem to hear. He simply got up and slowly trotted over to the hat rack, staring at the white fedora. Three gunshots. A stallion bleeding. Putting that hat on his head as his mentor breathed his last. Akiko blinked, noticing Shou seemed to be trembling a bit and his breathing became ragged. “What’s wrong with him? He looks like he’s seen a ghost.” Rainbowshine rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Well, you see there was-” “Shou!” The group spun to see the door open and Firebrand fly in. “Shou, you found Frost?!” Shou snapped out of his stupor. “Oh, Firebrand…Yeah…” he replied, then rubbed his head, trying to think of how to put it. “But…” As the black pegasus struggled to get his words together, Rainbowshine gave a sigh. “Look, Firebrand…Your brother was a Dopant, he was trying to get payback on Gilded Cage for booting him out of his apartment.” Shou rushed over to the other pegasus. “Hey, don’t be so blunt!” he whispered. “Somepony has to be, you’re too half-boiled to do it,” the mare snapped back. “I'm not half-boiled!” “Shou…is that true?” Firebrand asked, her ears pinning back. Shou sighed, rubbing his head. “…Yeah…But we destroyed the Gaia Memory…” The fiery colored pegasus gave sad sigh. “Well…at least there’s that…” “But then another Dopant grabbed him.” Shou groaned at Rainbowshine‘s bluntness. “…That’s also true…” “W-what?” Firebrand sunk down to her flanks, looking on the verge of tears. Shou quickly trotted over and put a hoof on her shoulder, giving a comforting smile. “Don’t worry, Firebrand. I’ll find him. No pony is going to cry in Cloudsdale if I can help it.” “…Shou…” “You’d better find him,” said another voice, this one male and coming from the door nearby. A golden furred Griffin in a stuffy business suit, a gold chain around his neck, stalked into the room. “Gilded Cage,” muttered Firebrand, glaring daggers at the new arrival. “Ah, so you’re the owner of those hotels that were attacked,” Rainbowshine replied, turning to look at the Griffin. “Yes, that would be me,” Gilded Cage replied, giving a snarl looking at Firebrand. A refined smile then appeared on his beak and he turned to Akiko and Shou. “And you’re the detectives who took down that monster that’s been causing me trouble, correct?” Shou nodded. “His Gaia Memory was destroyed, he can’t transform anymore…” “Good, shame he got away though,” the Griffin replied, taking out a gold chain and looping his talon through the links and fiddling with it as he looked around. “But I suppose I should be grateful…” He rummaged through his pocket and produced a gold coin, handing it to Shou. “Not yet,” Shou stated, becoming more serious. “The Pteranodon Dopant’s still loose, and I was hired to find Frost, that’s still my job.” Akiko took the bit. “But we could take a down-payment.” Gilded Cage looked a tad annoyed. “Well, I suppose the colt does need to stand trial for his crimes.” “And you shouldn’t stand for yours?!” Firebrand suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs, snorting hot air out of her nose. “You charged him three times as much as that rotten room of his was worth! It's your bucking fault he did this!” Gilded Cage snarled, baring his teeth. “Hey, watch your muzzle, do you have any idea who you’re talking to?!” “Yeah, a slumlord!” “Why you little!” Gilded grabbed her by the flight jacket and pulled her muzzle to beak with him, talons poking into the garment. “Hey! Break it up!” yelled Shou, trying to part the two as his old friend began to wrestle back. Akiko promptly produced her green sandal and smacked both over the head with it, finally forcing them to settle. Shou blinked, then gave a slight nod. “Good job, schoolfilly-ow!” “I’m not a schoolfilly!” The half-boiled detective grumbled, rubbing his head before looking to the two, suddenly becoming a picture of focus and intensity. “Now look, I’m gonna find Frost, there’s no doubt about that, but you need to settle down!” Gilded gave a huff, slipping a claw into his pocket and producing a gold watch and checking it. “Well, so long as I don’t lose anymore money,” he said, closing his watch and stomping out. Firebrand took a deep breath. “Sorry, my name isn’t Firebrand just for my color scheme…It’s just…that slumlord has been overcharging Frost for all this time…it clops me off.” Shou shook his head. “I understand, I’d not take anyone bad talking my family either…Don‘t worry, I‘ll find Frost. And then maybe I‘ll make sure the Guard gets that scumbag behind bars too, free of charge.” “And I’ll help him,” Rainbowshine added. Akiko just stared at the stallion’s serious expression and tone. It was like a switch had been flipped from what he’d been before. ‘So serious now…What is it with this guy?’ Firebrand gave a small nod. “Thank you, Shou…I know I can count on you.” As soon as Firebrand headed out of the room, Philip emerged from the back. “…Shou, you know it’s quite likely she’s Pteranodon. She has the motivation.” Rainbowshine gave a sigh as she thought about Philip's words. “I hate to say it, but he’s right, you know. She’s got motivation, opportunity to work with her little brother, and she could've been bailing him out. And...if she’s been consumed by Pteranodon, she might even have turned on Frost.” Akiko blinked. “She'd betray her own brother?” “Yeah, that's how Gaia Memories work if they're unrefined. It slowly drives the user insane... A beast runs on self preservation, even if it's got to throw its own brother under the carriage.” Shou’s face was more or less unreadable. “Yeah…but you never know until the case is closed, and everypony and griff's innocent until proven guilty…” the stallion replied, slowly grabbing a fedora in his mouth and tossing it onto his head before adjusting it with his hooves and heading out the door. “Hey! Wait for me!” yelled Akiko, going after the detective…only for Rainbowshine to grab her tail in her mouth to stop her. “Now wait up, rookie,” said Rainbowshine, spitting out Akiko‘s tail with a gag. “Blech! You use some nasty tasting shampoo…Anyway, since you own the place, I can’t exactly tell you to leave, but if you’re staying here, I’m gonna need to catch you up on things.” “It seemed like a typical missing person case. My old friend Firebrand’s brother had disappeared. Little did we know, he had become the Avalanche Dopant. But the case took a strange turn when a second Dopant reared its ugly head. Now I need new leads to find new leads to uncover this new criminal…” “So, Watcherstallion, got any tips for me here?” asked Shou, keeping his fedora low so the brim partly covered his eyes and keeping a cool tone of voice as he spoke. He put some bits on the table between him and a blue pegasus stallion. The stallion had a black unkept mane. His Cutie Mark was a pair of binoculars. “You know Shou, you could just hand me the money, you don’t have to make a show of it,” the informant replied, taking the bits. Shou gave an annoyed growl. “Can’t anypony just let me be hardboiled?” he muttered. “Do you have anything?” Watcherstallion gave a nod, getting a bit closer. “Frost was seen talking with a suspicious stallion in a black suit, a few ponies said he was buying a Gaia Memory. The dealer was said to have a white handkerchief around his neck with a spot of red, like a spot of blood.” Shou nodded slowly. “I see…Was there another pony with him?” Watcherstallion shook his head. “Not from what my sources say.” Shou gave a sigh of annoyance. “So that means the other Dopant must have bought its Memory separately…” he admitted. ‘Could Firebrand have bought a Memory to help her brother get his revenge after finding out what he‘d done?’ “Yeah, Gilded Cage's reputation isn’t good, has a lot of enemies that might want payback. But he’s got a monopoly in Cloudsdale, so ponies and Griffins don’t have much choice in the matter. Almost makes me wish the Griff didn’t have an insurance policy out on his buildings.” Shou gave a sigh. “Yeah, that‘s a shame I suppose.” Rainbowshine had made some more tea and was sitting in the RevolGarry hanger with Akiko, Philip sitting nearby, writing on the boards. “Pteranodon is a prehistoric flying reptile. While commonly called dinosaurs, this is in fact a misconception. Pteranodons and other Pterosaurs belong to the order Pterosauria, not Dinosauria…” Akiko watched this with a bit of awe. “How does he get all that information out of a blank book?!” Rainbowshine gave a chuckle. “The book's just kinda a channel,” she explained, watching the green unicorn at work. “Philip's connected to what’s called the Gaia Memory.” “Those things they and the Dopants use to transform?” “No, those are just fragments of the planet’s memory condensed into data,” Rainbowshine explained, looking over at the unicorn. Akiko cocked her head. “The planet's memory?” The wisteria mare nodded. “I’m not sure how it works, but the Gaia Memory contains knowledge on everything that has ever existed on the planet. The individual Gaia Memories each contain copies of specific parts of it, but Philip can directly access the whole thing. Imagine having access to a library containing a detailed book on everything that has ever existed, that’s what Philip says the Gaia Memory is like.” “Amazing…so Philip knows everything?!” the rookie exclaimed, looking to the unicorn, who just continued writing as if she'd never spoken. “Access to it, but he hasn’t read a quarter of everything in there,” the pegasus agent explained. ‘I shudder to think how the Princess’ personal student would react if she knew about it…’ she thought, remembering a certain purple unicorn who was well-known around Canterlot. Akiko held her head. “Ah…this is giving me a headache! Do you have any gingerroot?” Philip blinked, lifting his head. “Gingerroot? You can use that for headaches?” Rainbowshine’s eyes went wide. “Uh oh…” “What?” “Fascinating,” the green unicorn said, an inquisitive look forming on his face. Shou trotted up to Snowdrop Apartments once more, HardBoilder sitting nearby. The surrounding area was presently being reconstructed from Pteranodon’s previous attack, but the actual apartment building was untouched. “The last attack failed…” the black Pegasus stated, looking around slowly. He trotted slowly into the building, looking it over. While up to code, the building was noticeably plain and dull. “Ugh…” he groaned, putting his hoof over his sensitive pony nose at the slight musty smell in the air. Some bacteria lived in solider clouds like the ones used to construct cloud buildings, which could cause mold if not properly taken care of. “Well, the place isn’t dangerous, but I see what Firebrand was saying…This place isn’t worth a third of what Gilded Cage rents it for…” Shou muttered, then his ears pricked. He did a jump just in time to dodge as something charged right at him. Landing, he saw a bipedal creature standing in front of him. It’s scaly skin was gray and silver with leathery wings extending under its arms. Each arm had a claw at the at the last joint to form a hand. A crest extended off it’s head and it had a beak-like faceplate. It gave a feral screech, glaring at him. “There you are, ugly,” he said, watching it’s movements. He reached for the Double Driver out, but had to dodge another pass by the creature. “Dang it, no room to get some distance in here…” he muttered, then looked out a window next to him and gave a smirk. “BAT…STAG…” announced two cruder looking Gaia Memories as he inserted them into his camera and phone, causing them to transform into a robotic bat and stag beetle respectfully. The two machines emitted mechanical screeches as they charged Pteranodon and buffeted him repeatedly, the bat emitting a barrage of camera flashes to blind it. The Dopant roared out in furry, lashing out with its claws, barely missing the tiny machines as they circled. Annoyed, it flapped it’s wings, producing a powerful gust of wind that finally blew them back. “Hey! Ugly!” The Dopant growled, turning just in time to be struck in the chest by a powerful lightning bolt, sending off an explosion of sparks and blowing it backwards. Shou cracked a grin, his hind legs bucking a thundercloud that was being used in the construction. “I might be a weak flyer, but I always did well in weather control classes,” he quipped, adjusting his fedora…then noticed Pteranodon had vanished. “Darn it!” Flying down with noticeable slowness, he checked the hallway out carefully before descending to where the Dopant had been standing. He examined the clouds closely and discovered a piece of light brown artificial fur... Shou swung the door to the RevolGarry hanger. “Philip, I need a look u-” he stopped, seeing Philip scribbling away on the boards. “…Gingerroot contains a number of anti-inflammatory agents that block the migraine causing prostaglandins. Other oils contained in gingerroot also act as natural pain relievers…” “Ugh, Rainbowshine, what do you do?!” Rainbowshine sighed. “I didn’t do anything, we just mentioned gingerroot tea for Akiko’s headache, he heard it, and went on one of his research binges,” she explained. ‘If there wasn’t an evil organization after the guy, I’d introduce him to a certain purple unicorn. Only problem is there‘s probably not enough books in the entire kingdom for them both.’ Shou sighed. “Great, you got him worked up!” he yelled at Akiko, earning himself a slipper to the head. “How was I supposed to know?! I just got here!” The black pegasus raised a hoof to say something...then gave an annoyed sigh. “Yeah…problem is now he’s not going to be able to focus at all until he finishes!” “…I could hit him with a slipper…” Akiko asked, producing the slipper in her mouth. “Won’t do any good,” Rainbowshine replied, the pink-maned pegasus simply sitting down in a chair. “The Mare in the Moon could show up at our door and it wouldn't stop him. Only thing we can do is wait him out and maybe discuss the case a little bit.” “So, how’d the initiation go?” asked Chain Links, standing before a large mansion situated in a lavish estate. While it’s owners were primarily Pegasi, the estate was on the ground near Cloudsdale rather than in the city proper. Kirihiko brushed himself off and dusted off his suit with his hoof. “They tried to kill me,” he said, with a surprisingly calm smile. “Yeah, boss believes in survival of the fittest. You must be doing something right, Saeko’s boyfriends normally don’t last long. You must be a tough guy to survive long enough to marry her.” “Agreed. I also got this.” Chain Links looked as the pegasus produced a golden Dopant-style Gaia Memory with an N designed almost like a pair of stylized wings. The stallion gasped. “A Golden Memory?” “Of course, I am a Sonozaki now.” “NAZCA!” “So…you found fur from her coat at the scene of the crime,” said Rainbowshine. “Sorry, Shou, but it sounds like Firebrand’s the Dopant.” Shou didn’t look so sure. “Yeah…but you never just go with the obvious solution…” Akiko tapped her chin. “…Hey, didn’t you say three buildings had been attacked?” Rainbowshine nodded slowly. “Yeah, why?” “I thought Philip said only two apartment buildings had been attacked...That is strange…” “That’s right, the third one was a hotel…” Shou gave a gasp. “Wait a second...” he then rummaged in his vest and produced his camera, turning on the view screen on the back to look at the pictures. “That's it! Akiko! You’re a genius!” “Thank you!…Why?” Philip finally put down his chalk. “I have finished researching Gingerroot and it’s ability to help with headaches. Quite interesting…” “Good timing! I've got a few more keywords I need you to look up!” “What does Shou need,... Akiko, is it?” asked Firebrand, being lead into the office by the younger mare. “I don’t know, I’m just doing what he told me to.” Firebrand sighed and headed in…then snarled as she saw who else was in the room. “And what’s HE doing here?!” Gilded Cage gave a lion-like growl, glaring at her. “Hey, I don’t like being here any more than you. I’d rather be out flying,” he said, giving an annoyed glance out the window and shifted almost claustrophobically. “I can answer the mare's question,” said Shou’s voice as he spun around the his chair at his desk in a dramatic fashion. “…Have you been sitting there the entire time.” “…That’s not the point,” the stallion replied, flapping his wings and flying over the desk, landing on the cloudy floor, approaching the two. “The point is this: I found out who the Pteranodon Dopant is.” “…Good, hopefully I’ll finally stop losing money,” Gilded Cage, giving a smirk and looking to Firebrand. “Though I think I already know who it is.” The hot tempered Pegasus growled. “Hey, I might think you’re a big jerk, but I’m no Dopant!” Akiko held up a slipper, shutting the two up. Shou trotted up, looking between the two with a dead serious expression. “The identity of the Pteranodon Dopant, the one who kidnapped Frost, and has made the city cry…is…” Firebrand and Gilded Cage both looked at him in anticipation as he looked from one to the other. “You…” “What?!” Gilded Cage looked at the hoof pointed inches from his beak. “Me?!” “The third building destroyed wasn’t an apartment building like the other two targets,” the black pegasus explained, trotting over to them. “It was a hotel. If Firebrand had been the Dopant, she’d have destroyed Snowdrop Apartments first.” “I see, but tell me, why in Celestia’s name would I destroy my own building?” the Griffin replied, still seeming smug, despite his wings twitching nervously and his eyes repeatedly darting to the window. “Simple, all your buildings have a very comprehensive insurance policy. A Dopant is already attacking your buildings, buy the Gaia Memory and decide to cash in a little bit, probably thought you could just stop after causing a little damage. When Frost was defeated, you panicked and kidnapped him so he couldn't reveal which buildings he destroyed and which he didn't. I imagine in part because of Pteranodon's instincts beginning to poison your mind.” “All conjecture, you have no proof.” “Ah, but…” the black stallion said, pulling out the tuff of fake fur from the hotel. “I found this when Pteranodon attacked me at Snowdrop…” Gilded smirked. “That’s fake fur, not Griffin fur. And my, look who has fake fur on right now.” Firebrand looked down at her jacket. “Ah, but the Dopant couldn’t be a Pegasus,” Shou explained, giving a smirk of his own and producing pictures printed out from his camera it had taken while attacking, showing the Pteranodon Dopant clearly standing on two legs now that the image was brightened.. “Because Pteranodon is bipedal. Dopants created from a pony are always quadrupedal. That means Pteranodon is either a pony Dopant pretending to be a bipedal one, or most likely a Griffin, Minotaur, or Dragon. I didn't have any other suspects so it hadn't crossed my mind, until I realized you had a motivation, then it all clicked: earlier when you were fighting with Firebrand, you grabbed her jacket. It would‘ve been easy for you to have pocketed the fur and you‘re the only Griffin with the means to have gotten it. Then all you needed to do was plant it somewhere you were seen as Pteranodon, and let her motivation do the rest. ” Akiko stared at Shou in shock. ‘Since when did he get so smart?!’ Gilded Cage backed up, sweating. He was starting to look like a caged bird instead of a Griffin. Rainbowshine stepped into the room and produced a badge and pair of cuffs with her wings. “Gilded Cage, I need you to come down to the station with me.” “No! I’m not going to be caged up! You’re not putting me away!” yelled the Griffin, eyes batting everywhere for a way out, composure falling to pieces. Shou kept his cool. “That Gaia Memory is starting to affect your head, Gilded. You don’t like the idea of being cooped up, do you? You feel like a wild beast who hates being caged? Just give up and we’ll get you help.” “No! I’m not going to be locked up! No way!” he screamed like a cornered animal producing a gray colored Dopant Gaia Memory marked with a P stylized to look like a Pteranodon forming the loop with it’s beak and wings. “PTERANODON!” Gilded Cage pulled down his collar to reveal a familiar tattoo and inserted the Gaia Memory. His eyes lit up silver as he mutated into the Pteranodon Dopant in a surge of silver energy. Rainbowshine grabbed Firebrand and Akiko and rushed them into the hanger as Philip exited it and trotted up next to Shou. “A Dopant in our office? Quite unusual. I must say.” “Why is it always the hard way?” Shou questioned, taking out the Double Driver and putting it around his waist as both produced their Gaia Memories. “CYCLONE!” “JOKER!” The two posed side by side, holding their Memories up in opposite directions. “Henshin!” Philip inserted the Cyclone Memory into his Driver, causing it to teleport to Shou’s version. Shou pushed it in and inserted the Joker Memory, swinging the Driver open. “CYCLONEJOKER!” Philip’s body fell limply to the ground as Shou was transformed into the form of Double. “Now…let’s count up your sins!” he announced, pointing a hoof at the monster. He then spun around, sending Pteranodon flying out the door with a wind powered buck to the chest. Akiko peaked out the door as Double followed after the Pteranodon Dopant…and found the room predictably looking like a tornado had ripped through it. “…He couldn’t have done this outside?!” “…Do I want to know what’s going on?” asked Firebrand, looking over the room. “Believe me, it’s a long story…” Rainbowshine replied. Pteranodon snarled as he was knocked to the clouds hard. “Darn you!” the monster roared, getting back to his feet and slashing at Double with his claws. The warrior effortlessly dodged the blows and retaliated by spinning around and kicking the Dopant in the face, knocking him backwards. Before the monster could retaliate, Double spun around and delivered a buck to his jaw, knocking him into the air. Pteranodon snarled. “I am not getting locked up!” he yelled, spreading his wings and hovering in the air. The Dopant gave a powerful screech, exploding in a massive aura of silver energy. Double shielded his eyes with his forelegs. “What was-” Before he could react, the two-in-one detective was grabbed in the beak of Pteranodon’s giant form and swung around like a rag doll. Double gave a yell as he was sent flying into a wall by the creature, distorting the industrial clouds. “We can’t fight with just our hooves, Shou,” Philip’s voice grunted. “I know, let’s try this,” Shou’s voice replied as he produced a silver Gaia Memory with a metallic M with bolts in it as its symbol. “METAL!” Double replaced the Joker Memory with this new memory and reopened the driver. “CYCLONEMETAL!” The left side of Double transformed, becoming primarily metallic gray with metallic silver accents. A silver cylinder with a red W emblazoned on it formed on his back. He grabbed it with his hoof, causing it to extend into a full sized staff. Pteranodon flew down at the two-in-one detective, but this time the beast received a spinning, wind powered smash of the staff to the side of his head, forcing him back. Double spun around repeatedly, each spin driving the shaft (with dexterity most ponies were incapable of having with their hooves) into the Dopant’s skull and stunning it. Grasping the staff in both front hooves and flying up, Double brought the staff down on the monster’s skull with enough force to drive it to the clouds. Pteranodon forced itself to his feet, screeching in pain. “Get away! Must get away!” Now panicked, it spread it’s wings and took off. “Ah ah, not this time.” RevolGarry quickly swung out of a tunnel, coming to a stop and opening up to reveal HardBoilder. Double quickly leapt on the motorcycle, the machinery pulling it back into the rotating cylinder behind it. The green half of the machine was separated, allowing the cylinder to rotate and another device to attach. A metallic red and silver half with an engine on the back and wings extending from the sides hooked up and stirred to life. “Let’s see how it does against HardTurbuler!” Shou’s voice shouted as the bike took off, the front wheel rotating to it’s side and providing more lift. Double raced after Pteranodon, quickly catching up. HardTurbuler began firing bullets from it’s front, causing Pteranodon to scream out in pain and turn around, pecking at the hero. Double evaded the attack and continued firing, forcing the monster backwards. Flying past, the warrior smashed the side of the Big Dopant’s head with his staff, dazing it and sending it falling towards Cloudsdale. He managed to spread his wings and catch itself. Nowhere to run, the massive monster flew back up at him. Double replaced the Cyclone Memory with the Heat Memory and reopened the Double Driver. “HEATMETAL!” As the red Heat half replaced the green Cyclone half, Double swung his staff into the oncoming Pteranodon’s skull, inciting a blast of flame, throwing his charge off course. “Let’s finish him off, Shou,” Philip’s voice said. “Yeah.” Double took the Metal Memory out of the Double Driver and inserted it into his staff. “METAL!MAXIMUMDRIVE!” Double put the staff to his mouth plate, causing it to stick as if he was biting it. He held it out in front of him, the ends of the staff erupting into powerful flames. Pteranodon regained his wits and charged furiously at Double, who met it’s charge with HardTurbuler. “METAL BRANDING!” yelled Shou and Philip as they swung Double's head around to swing the weapon across a longer area, smashing the tip full speed into the head of the Dopant and causing a gigantic explosion of flames. Pteranodon burst into flames and plummeted to the clouds below, exploding in a massive fireball on impact. Double landed HardTurbuler next to the impact site, finding the stunned Gilded Cage laying next to the shattered Pteranodon Memory. Gilded shakily reached a claw at his broken Gaia Memory...and got a pair of cuffs around his wrist. Rainbowshine looked down at him. “Got you.” Shou used his wings to click away at the typewriter back at his office. ‘After his defeat, Gilded Cage was persuaded to reveal the location of Frost…' Firebrand hugged her brother as he was let out of a locked room in one of Gilded’s hotels by the Guard. ‘Gilded Cage hadn’t been able to bring himself to kill an innocent pony. It was lucky he was apprehended before his Gaia Memory consumed him completely, or things may have ended tragically.’ Firebrand came up to a glass window at the local prison, Frost smiling back from the other side. ‘Frost was taken into Guard custody, but is recovering from his Gaia Memory use with help of his sister and professionals. A few doors down, Shou came up to a window with a surprised Gilded Cage on the other side. And Gilded will hopefully become a better griff in the end as well. Another case closed. And hopefully another life saved. Just another day in the life of a hardboiled detective. “You really think that slumlord is going to come around?” asked Rainbowshine, looking at the report. “Don’t know,” the black pegasus replied. “But I like to think there aren’t bad ponies, griffins, or anything else, just ones who did bad things.” Rainbowshine gave a grin. “You’re so halfboiled Shou…” “Hey! I’m not halfboiled!” Akiko chuckled, listening in. She looked at her deed…then to a picture of her father on a wall nearby. She folded the deed up and take a closer look at the picture. “You trusted him, dad?” the mare asked, giving a smile. “I guess I can at least give him a chance…” She then noticed Shou and Rainbowshine arguing before giving a sigh, pulling out her slipper. “But it won’t be easy…”