Case 34

Unexpected

Blades of grass stretched along the area and the moon lit up the sky in a bright blue-ish glow as trees were swaying with the wind. Yet even on a night such as this one, it seemed the rain would be pouring as fate intended.

The first few droplets of water fell into Trophy's cup and onto his face. He looked up into the sky with squinted eyes, seeing the water droplets fall. It was a gentle drizzle at first, his body not minding the soft pitter-patter of water trickling down his gold; but as the minutes passed, the rain started pouring from the clouds above him. He blinked as he stared up to the sky, before he began walking through the rain and trees, unbothered by the sudden downpour.

The storm helped, in a way, as more thoughts had clouded his mind, filling it with questions he couldn't even begin to find an answer to. Why was Test Tube accused of all people? It would have been obvious from then on if it was her, right? Why had people still defended her if that was the case? Were they a part of it too? And if everything Balloon said was true earlier, then would that mean all the other contestants were in her lab right now?!

He didn't expect himself to get there, but there he was.

Holding a camera in his right hand, he stood in front of the vending machine on the contestant grounds. The thunder and lightning struck in the distance, and he got a good view of where the buttons were. He continued to stare at it, noticing in the back of his mind that his breathing was starting to become ragged.

There was this uncertainty, a part of him wondered what would happen if he did find them here. Would he help them? Did he care enough to do so?

He didn't know anymore, he just wanted answers.

Trophy glanced at the keypad and clicked his tongue in annoyance, wracking his brain to figure out what the code could possibly be. As he reached his hand up to touch the pad, he heard a noise behind him. A shuffle. He froze on instinct and slowly turned his head to where he heard the sound. There was nothing of note in his general vicinity, but he could still sense something was there and curiosity got the better of him.

It was a split second, but it was enough to convince him of what he saw out of the corner of his eye. A slight movement of a bush. The ongoing rain made it harder to navigate his sight, and the only source of respite from the dark he had were the short strikes of lightning during the harsh winds. Nonetheless, he slowly stepped towards the bush-like silhouette and touched its damp leaves. He let his hand linger for a moment before he quickly ripped it from the ground, lifting it over his head.

The person– no, people– The people he found hiding behind the bramble weren't the ones he expected to see.

There was Soap, who Trophy watched as her mouth slowly turned agape, staring at the bush that was still steady in his hands. Cheesy was there too, whose lips curled into a bright smile as he gave Trophy a wave, which he returned with a deadpan. MePad was a shock, his body wrapped in a cloth blanket with only a small gap in the middle to show his eyes. Being an electronic device, it made sense as to why he needed to stay dry. If that wasn't jarring enough, Suitcase had sat right beside the rest, who glared at the ground with a small frown.

Trophy gritted his teeth, huffing out a breath in exasperation. He let go of the bush and tossed it behind him, a surge of irritation passing through his body as he did so. He whipped his head back towards the group, a scowl plastered on his face. "Why the hell did you guys follow me!? I thought it was obvious I didn't want to be followed!" He gave a pointed look towards Suitcase. "Also, you. Why the fuck are you here?"