Sunny's Poptropica Ramblings

Black Roses (au oneshot)

A one-shot about an AU of mine, this would have been the first chapter of a fic, if it was one. I hope you enjoy it, it's kinda just a ramble.
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It was a cool but sunny autumn day on a smaller island known as Mystery Noir. An island that was known for its detectives and its many mysteries. As well as everything is in black and white, it looked straight out of an old film. It was quite fitting for the island's overall theme.

There was a knock on the door of her office. Breaking her focus away from her most likely now cold coffee and messy desk covered in papers and folders. The door creeked open as some peeked their head into the office.

"Ms. Thorn, I have a new case that was assigned to you, can I come in?"

Ethan Winder, an assistant she had grown quite fond of during the short time he had started working at her agency. He mainly kept things organized in the office but had grown to be her sidekick as time went on. He felt like the little sibling she never had.

"You may, but remember you can just refer to me as Eleanor. But a another case? The boss has me assigned to one already."

"I know, but she said to put this one on high priority! The case you're currently working on is being transferred to someone else, you need to work on this one! You're the best detective we have that will solve it quickly. We need it solved as soon as possible! Well, that's basically what she said, I don't know why it's that important."

That was certainly odd, this is something that had never happened before. While she understood that she was working on what was essentially just a theft, what could be that important to switch cases so soon? She took the envelope from Ethan and opened it, scanning it's contents.
There was a moment of silence before Ethan asked "what is it?"

"It's a missing person case, it's a older kiddo with them being 15. Though I do believe that the name they're using is not their real name, so that already makes things harder for me."

"What makes you think that?"

"Ethan, if you had a child, would you name them Bashful Spider?"

"Ah, I certainly wouldn't detective. But isn't that the name of the young hero in those newspapers and tv broadcasts? I swore I heard that name on the radio on my way here just a last week!"

It was indeed the name of the young hero that had made quite a name for themselves in the recent years. They have been defeating villains and fixing things for the past decade. But it was only a matter of time before they went missing with how many enemies they've made in that time. They already had gone missing for almost a week only to be found in the middle of the wilderness with a different missing person who had been missing for months.

"It is indeed them, I understand why the boss would want this case to be high priority with how important they are. There's just a huge problem that appears when trying to find them."

"It's because basically nothing known about them and without a real name you can't find a lot of basic information about them?"

He looked so proud of himself when he said that, she couldn't help but smile as she nodded. He had learned a lot in such a short amount of time. It's what made him a great sidekick, he's a fast learner and has a good eye for details.

"So, what are you going to do?"

She looked at the files again, there was a bunch of scattered photos from newspapers, videos, tv broadcasts out there, so many people knew their face, yet almost nothing was about them.

"Well, I will talk with the owner of the island they live at. She was the one who reported them missing. I will see if I can find anyone else they could have been close too."

She thought about it for a bit before saying "and possibly their enemies"

"Enemies? Are, you sure that's a good idea? Most of them are in Erewhon, that place is meant for the worse villains out there!"

"I am well aware of that, but if I can't find anything I need from the people they were close to, I will have to turn the people they defeated. Certainly, they would know something about the hero that defeated them, if not then I hope I can find out if any of them are involved."

So, that was the plan, she would interview the people she could find the hero was close to and get any information that could help her. If not, then she would turn to their enemies.

That was unfortunately what happened, she soon had to find a way to be taken to Erewhon.
As she stepped off the helicopter was greeted by cold winds and stormy weather on top of a tall building in the middle of the sea. She could hear the waves crashing far below her over the wind. She had to hold her hat tightly on her head, she felt like she would be blown away.

She was already regretting coming here. She watched as Ethan exited the helicopter clutching a suitcase with the things they needed. The wind nearly knocked him over.

As they stepped inside the building, she felt like she was making a horrible mistake. But she knew this could be the last chance at getting anything useful. She took a deep breath, put on a smile, and greeted the man she would soon know as Dr. Jupiter.