Inverse

Lincero, 3:15 P.M, between 37 and 39 Philmore road.

Daniel and Damien arrived at the location they wanted to explore, the area was still cordoned off, and an officer was still looking over the scene.

"So what did Matt say?" Daniel asked Damien.

"She's waiting at her new boyfriends house, apparently his name is Robert Rickchet."

"Probably best to leave her be, we'll go see her tomorrow, did you also ask about the rope."

"Yes, after swiftly concluding it was a suicide he got the rope examined by System to confirm it. He got the results fifteen minutes before my call, no power signature was found on the rope."

"I see. Then suicide is out of the question, the victim was slightly taller then I, but when I saw his physic it seemed he wouldn't have been strong enough to get that rope where it was. The killer must have used a method to get the rope up there that made it easy for him or her to do so. This means that the killer knew the victim."

"Wow, that's brilliant thinking Dan."

Daniel and Damien left the vehicle, Daniel walked over to the female police officer.

"Hello there, I'm detective Daniel Smith with the Everleason Police Department, were currently investigating a crime, and there might be some clues here."

"Oh yes," the female officer replied. "Your the guys investigating that suicide. Honestly I don't see why your wasting your time on something so clear cut." She stated in a uncouth manner.

"Watch your tongue, you might bite it." Damien stated with a slight anger to the tone of voice he used.

The female officer just made a sound signifying her annoyance to Damien's speech. Daniel made a sigh of slight anguish.

"Look, I personally looked at the crime scene and found two oddities suggesting that perhaps it was actually murder. Just now while I was conversing with my partner I learnt of a third oddity. I'm completely certain that Kevin Heartly was murdered, and it is my job as a detective to find connections and find the person who commit this heinous crime."

"Wow." She stated sarcastically. "Good for you."

"Will you please help us?" Damien asked.

"Sure." She stated, her tone had shifted to being one of a spritely young lass. "My name is June by the way."

"So officer June." Dan said, June gigged after he made this small statement. "Can you tell me what happened here."

"Sure, after a carefully executed examination, I've come to the conclusion that Kevin Heartly was driving down the road when a man named Nathaniel Manic suddenly broke in front of him, leaving Kevin little time to respond and causing the accident."

"How do you know Kevin wasn't the one who initiated the accident?"

"First of all, Kevin doesn't have a single demerit. Second of all, Nathaniel is a Linthero, he used his ability on his car to give it extra protection against accidents, if Kevin broke too late instead of being surprised that would have changed the movement energy both vehicles had as both would have been decelerating at different rates, which would have resulted in different damage."

"Wait a second, the second victim had an ability?" David stated, he was both shocked and confused, he now begun having a small headache. He now realised that if he wanted to be a proper detective, he had to get used to the powers that people on this planet have.

"Yes, his ability is called inverse, his rank is A+, he only used a minimum shield around his vehicle, which is why it got a few scratches instead of no damage, if he used a maximum shield, a whole planet could have crashed into that car and recieve no damage."

"Damien, what is this inverse ability?"

"It's an ability which constantly generates a shield around its owner, all physical, and power attacks that hit this shield will be reflected back at a more powerful rate then when they were approaching the shield, for an A+ the reflection is 10x what the owner used. The owner of the ability can also share his ability to something or someone else for a maximum of 20 minutes. The weakness of such a person are mental attacks as they use a brain link which needs no physical interactions, magic can also break through the inverse shield due to the fact Magic can interfere with powers and vice versa."

"Wow, I wouldn't want to be pissed of against that guy. We'll need to find him and talk to him."

"If you want to know where he is, he would be at home. He usually works at Everleason Bell Tower High, but he had his substitute take over for some reason today."

"Where does he live?"

"He has an apartment, 22 Alcony Drive, apartment number 12."

"That far away? What was he even doing in Lincero?" Damien asked.

"What do you mean Damien?" Daniel inquired

"Alcony drive is a connection road between the city of Central Raintown and Alcony."

"That's two countries away isn't it, generally something traveled overnight."

"He was probably granted access to a teleporter working with System, he or she teleported him and his vehicle back to Alcony."

"So Damien, do we talk to a teleporter?"

"Nope, we go back to the station!"

"What why?"

"You'll see."

"Oh my gosh Daniel!" June interjected. "Your about to travel the Hyswin!"

"What!" Daniel exclaimed, he then heard the horn of his car honk, he pivoted around to see Damien in the driver's seat of his car.

Daniel reluctantly entered the passanger side of his own vehicle. "I hope you know what your doing."

"I was born and raised in Tryismo, we all learn how to drive by the age of twelve." Damien replied.

Daniel was looking quite shocked, his face screamed help me, of course June saw this and ignored Daniel's obviously telegraphed pleas. Soon enough the car was shooting off like a bullet from a gun.

#

Everleason, 3:22 P.M, Everleason Police Office.

Damien had driven quite efficiently and arrived here in quite good time, Daniel was still a bit shaken up, this was yet another thing he had to get used to, as he might be involved in a high speed chase one day.

Damien had taken a route that led to a brick wall at the back of the station, there was barely anything around this area, except escape routes in case of fire and a solitary hose hanging out by itself. A vehicle was parked somewhere near the hose and the officer that drove it was behind Daniel's vehicle getting the bucket which usually accompanied the hose fixed at the place across the road.

Damien then took out his mobile and dialed in the number for the station and began a call. When his call was connected he then dialed 497946. Suddenly upon the press of that 6 the wall began to rise to reveal a tunnel leading downwards.

"I didn't know that the Ascossian underground labyrinth went underneath our station."

"Oh there's many secrets that are hidden on this planet, but we're not going into the labyrinth, were going to the fastest transport available only to those who protect and serve, the Hyswin."

"That sounds increadible."

"Oh just you wait, you won't even know how fast it goes, its just so smooth, also you haven't seen nothing yet." Damien then drove the car into the hidden tunnel. Upon entry Daniel could feel the building descending to hide the tunnel once more. It got darker and darker as the light of day was consumed by the closing gap behind them. soon lights turned on and more lights appeared below. Eventually the tunnel stopped descending and Damien could proceed driving deeper underground.

"I have one question, how is it no pedestrians know about this, surely somebody normal might have discovered this by accident."

"One of the 26 wizards put an enchantment on the Hyswin entries, only those with a badge can see the rise and fall of the entries, this only works with official badges, a child with a fake badge coming along at the right time would see us drinking coffee during the activation. There's many more steps to the illusion to prevent civilians from knowing about the Hyswin, but I'll have to write it all down for you, because that list is pretty long."

"Let me guess, the illusion makes it look like we're doing everyday things to the civilian is watching and cancels the illusion as soon as anybody who noticed us at the station loses interest."

"Damn, you better at guessing then I initially thought. You're right on the money."

A minute of silence passed, after which the reached the neon glow of a system of plastic tubes reminiscent of the ones in Futurama, but big enough to carry even the car Damien was currently driving.

Daniel looked in awe at the massive network. "So this is the Hyswin. It's beautiful."

"I told you that you have seen nothing yet."

"Never tell me to disbelieve your words, never."

Damien blushed slightly. "Thanks man, its good to know how much you trust me despite only meeting me today."

Damien then led the car on a route that led to a green neon pipe.

"You've been here before!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Commissioner Rodgers wasn't lying when he said your good at being a detective."

Soon enough they arrived at the entrance to the pipe. Damien drove the vehicle close to the hole in the side of the pipe and stopped the car when they arrived right next to a digital interactive map.

Damien tapped the light that corresponded with the city of Minertopia, Alcony.

"We'll head to Minertopia Police Department, once there we can drive to Alcony drive, which should take us 20 minutes top."

"If I haven't said it yet, I'll say it now. You're a very amazing guy."

Damien drove the vehicle into the pipe, the track within rotated thier car in the right direction and shot them off at 300 Km/h.

#

Mineralim, Alcony, 3:50 P.M, 22 Alcony drive.

Daniel was in a daze while Damien was still quite full of energy. Finally they arrived at the apartment block which contained Nathan Manic. The man who could tell Daniel all about the car accident Kevin and him were involved in. It was time to get answers.

Daniel and Damien exited the car and went into the elevator, after all that face paced action Daniel partook in earlier he was glad to finally be back in a slow paced situation, but of course he couldn't relax for long as they soon enough arrived at the fifth floor, which was the floor that apartment no. 22 was on.

They proceeded to knock on the door which had the number twenty two affixed to it, the numbers themselves were metal in structure and screws were used to make sure that they stayed in place, the numbers have been there long enough for the screws to show signs of corrosion.

A man opened the door, he was a blonde tall Caucasian guy, tall, slender and handsome, he looked as elegant as you would expect a teacher would look. He almost looked as if he was too over-qualified for the position he was in.

"Oh, good day officers of the fine Everleason Police Department, what brings you all the way to Mineralim?" Asked the man.

"Are you Nathanial Manic by any chance?" Daniel asked in a polite manner like usual.

"Is Nathan in trouble?" The man asked.

"He used his ability to protect his vehicle from a crash, we believe he may have been the main cause of an accident which happened earlier today in Everleason."

"That's just your belief. You Don't have proof!"

"We just want to ask him some questions, we're not here to arrest him."

"Well in that case, I am Nathan Manic."

"You lied to us?" Damien exclaimed.

"Technically he didn't lie," Stated Daniel, "he wanted to see if we were a threat to him, so he made it seem like he wasn't the man we were looking for, and only once we revealed our true intentions did he drop the act."

"I see, but still." Damien replied.

"Don't mind him. He's younger then I am."

"Oh, I'm not bothered by him, why don't you come in and sit down." Nathan stated. "By the way, most people call me Nathan, not Nathanial." He then turned around and walked to his couch.

Daniel and Damien followed behind him into the apartments lounge room. The interior of the apartment was almost unbelievable, Daniel hadn't seen anything like it, it made the hotel he visited in Los Angeles look like a middle-class house.

"This place is amazing, how do you afford this?" Stated Daniel.

"The planet of Regions is kilometers ahead when it comes to technology compared to Earth, believe it or not this is a middle-class apartment, it's 200 Ascossian dollars per month." Nathan replied.

Daniel and Damien then went to sit down on the seats opposite Nathan.

"So, would you like any refreshments?" Nathan asked.

"Just a glass of water for me." Daniel replied.

"Ditto." Damien stated.

Nathan got up from his chair and walked to the fridge and opened it, he withdrew a bottle of water from the fridge and placed it atop the kitchen counter on the sink side, he opened the cupboard below where he placed the water and took out three glasses, he then placed all these items on a tray for easier transport and took the tray to the table which separated the couches. Upon arrival he placed the tray down.

All three of them took turns pouring the water into the glasses. After they were all filled they all took a sip simultaneously.

"So what did you gentlemen want to ask me?" Nathan inquired.

"We just want to know about the accident that occurred in Lincero." Daniel stated.

"Yeah, what were you even doing there?" Damien interjected.

"Well I was in Lincero at the request of a friend, apparently she was really ill and the only person she wanted to see. As I was on my way there I saw something crossing the road and I slammed on my brakes before I ran it over. It turned out it was a magpie."

"It just so happened that somebody was behind you, and you activated your ability on the car to prevent the damage from the incoming collision." Daniel stated.

"Yeah that's right." Nathan admitted.

"So who's this friend?" Damien inquired.

"Her name is Linda Morris."

"Her!" Daniel and Damien stated simultaneously in similarly surprised tones.

"Why are you two surprised?"

"How long have you known her?" Daniel asked.

"Since my school days in bell-tower high."

Daniel and Damien looked at each other, they were both quite confused. They didn't know if this was a true statement, or if Linda used her ability on him as well.

"Was there any unusual requests that Linda made?" Daniel asked.

"No, but she did say it might be bright so she used a teleportation ability crystal to send me some sun glasses. I was wearing those when the accident happened, but they soon disappeared after the accident. I only took them off and put them on my seat, so I bet somebody stole them while I was talking to the person who crashed into me."

"Thank you for your time. We'll be taking our leave now." Daniel stated, then both him and Damien finished off the water remaining in thier glasses and simultaneously got up and left the apartment.

As soon as they were outside the apartment Daniel stated the following: "There's something odd about this Linda Morris character, she's already infiltrated the police and possibly has altered this mans mind."

"Not only that, she is also an official firefighter with the Everleason Fire Station, she has access to the Hyswin and all libraries on the planet contain lists of people with abilities. Giving her easy access to all kinds of people." Damien stated. At the end of this part of thier conversation they had arrived at the elevator, they entered it. Daniel pressed the down button.

"We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Daniel stated once the door to the elevator slid close.

"Hopefully by then we'll have the results from the skin and blood that you saw under Kevin's nails."

They soon reached the bottom and at long last went back into Daniel's vehicle, Damien drove the car back to the nearest Police station, used the Hyswin to get back to Everleason and drove the car until they were parked in the spot that was specificaly reserved for Daniel. Damien patted Dan on the back, and shook his hand then he left the car. This was where Daniel and Damien part ways, Damien went to his vehicle and drove back to the Hyswin. Daniel thought that he did so because his home was in Tryismo not in Everleason.

Daniel drove his car to Everston mansion, its adress was 12 Stalk road, a road that connected Everleason to Burdural.

Upon arrival the residence and thier staff welcomed him. He was married to one of thier family and they led him to his wife's room. Daniel was still saddened when he met the empty bed. But he knew deep down in his heart that he and Elizabeth will see each other again. For now he had to wait for her to awaken from her coma.