Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Forever is a highly esteemed individual if he would say so himself. He is one of the youngest of his task force and has made a name for himself in the police department. Presently, his life is on an upward trajectory and he’s even earning the title of chief in a few weeks!

Forever works closely with one of the most renowned detectives of this era, a brilliant mind named Cellbit. They had formed an unlikely bond and, together, their duo has solved cases and cracked down on criminals more efficiently than anyone had seen before.

Forever is outgoing… handsome… intelligent… successful…

Forever is ten seconds away from bashing his head onto the nearest walll

Its the fifth coffee run of the afternoon. Fifth. Two large cups of black coffee, please. Dark roast. For Cellbit (Only Cellbit , he would’ve liked to scoff).

Yes, I’ll donate the extra change. No, I don’t need a receipt. Yes, this is to-go. $5.43 with tax. 8 minutes later. The door rings and Forever is back on the familiar trek.

He looks with disdain at the concocted black puddle, Forever was always more of a latte person. He found Cellbit’s taste resembling of, well, if a dumpster had to tell the difference between burnt tires and a five-course meal. 

As he opened the door to the 2nd story apartment, a quick prayer was sent hoping that Cellbit would die off with a caffeine overdose. Wistful thinking, considering he would probably scoff off one and request the sixth coffee run, but still an attempt nonetheless.

The mess was abundant at first glance. A sad excuse of a living room is littered with different documents detailing various cases. Some new and untouched, deemed too uninteresting at first glance. Others had scribbled on notes and annotations that reflected the mental state of the madman who was jotting them down.

“Okay, you’re doing the next run by yourself! I can't be your errand boy anymore, asshole!” Forever moved past the entrance to find the office desk centered in the middle of the house.

There, sat Cell-fucking-bit in all of his crouched-up glory. Mr. Sherlock-wannabe himself. Most of the time the mastermind at work, often times a pain in Forever’s ass.

“Yeah yeah, I get it. I’ll pay next time, stop whining. Now look over this case,” Cellbit gestured him forward, snatching the caffeine from Forever as soon as he could.

“See, you said last time, now this time, and sooner or later the next run!” Forever turned to focus on the cobweb of papers chaotically organized across Cellbit’s desk. “About time you showed me what you’ve been draining my wallet for the past three days.”

“Shut up, man,” Cellbit then slipped into his investigative voice like a flipped switch, quickly listing off the relevant facts to the case. “Ahem. A new thief has been growing in size for a while. His first appearance was at a small setting in August. The bigshot has moved on to bigger targets of late. Rich houses, famous buildings, anything that would cause a media scene.

The unusual part is that what exactly he’s been stealing… it isn’t quite the usual plunders that the people from his crowd aim for,” Cellbit handed Forever a file with several newspaper clippings.

Forever scanned the headlines. A lot of different cities, travels a lot, big shot places like Cellbit mentioned. Closer inspection shows… Wait… What? The cabinets inside a bank vault stolen, but the money was thrown on the floor. The stairs of Birmingham palace all gone, floorboards stolen from the White House. What the fuck does he get from this..?

All the furniture stolen from the Louvre, but the artwork left alone ?? A glass piano was stolen off of a skyscraper with no notice and reports estimated it happening in high noon ???

“Why the hell..”

“Why the hell indeed! Nobody has figured out how he does it or why such specific targets. Plenty of theories and conspiracies has popped up, all stemming from some witness reports of a black and red figure that is fully cloaked. Almost nobody has gotten a glimpse of this guy, one hell of a cryptic.” A sip of coffee is taken.

“..The Soul Thief,” Forever read off of the online forum Cellbit was browsing. It was definitely community picked, needed some work, but it got the job done. Barely.

“Are there any leads? This guy looks like a headache to figure out.” Plus, his crimes didn’t really add up to much value . Forgive Forever for not wanting to pursue this fruitless chase.

Of course, Cellbit reads him easily. “Yeah, they seem more like a joke jab than anything close to serious but the stunts he’s pulling still require an insane amount of skill to pull off and cover up. The government’s pride is hurt and paying for the repairs and replacements is just salt to the wound.” He let out an amused huff and turned his attention back to the screen, “I need to at least get a try at figuring this guy out, and that starts..”

Ding!

“..Now.” The last sip of the first cup was downed. Cellbit started packing up the main documents and donned his green coat and iconic goggles. Five minutes later and with the second cup in hand, Cellbit was ready to investigate.

Forever was a little slower in his thoughts, “What was that? Where are we going?”

“That,” Cellbit handed Forever his coat, “Is our first lead. A recent victim of The Soul Thief had seen him in the act and the two even conversed during it, how exciting. Now, guess who just snatched the first interrogation with him…”

The car stopped with a low humming screech

Cellbit and Forever arrived outside of an intimidating house. Not intimidating in the sense of danger, it was just something widely outside of their price range. A quaint two-story house with a nice front yard littered with carefully nurtured roses and camellias. It was situated in a cozy neighborhood off the outskirts of the city and blended into it well, earning its spot in a background of equally impressive buildings.

Or, well, it probably did once. In the house’s current state, anyone who paid an extra mind would notice the lack of windows in the house. All the window frames missing the reflectiveness that the clear glass would’ve brought and Forever could notice an intricate framework on top of the front door that indicated what used to be a mosaic. The most prominent windows were covered with an assortment of blankets and towels.

“Experienced in handiwork, knowledge on how to remove window panes without breaking it, aware of the owner’s schedule and, to some degree, discreet enough to not alarm the neighbors,” Cellbit muttered out observations, but to either to Forever or himself is left in the air.

Forever moved to ring the doorbell, a pleasant chime rolled out and, in a few seconds, they began hearing commotion from inside the house as they seemed to have caught the owner in the middle of something.

“ ¡Ya, me voy!” A male voice called out to them, “¡Me voy!”

From the door’s top window where a piece of tinted glass used to call home, Forever saw a head of brown hair stumble towards the entrance. The door opened, revealing a young-looking man, Hispanic if the previous statements were anything to go off of. He was casually dressed, a white tank top and red cargo shorts which were dirtied with some sort of grime. A blue bandana was tied across his forehead to keep back stray hair.

His gaze traveled up and down the two detectives, face looking confused before- snap! He snapped his fingers with realization. “¡Ah, el detective!”

The witness collected himself and dusted off a dark stain on his shirt. “Hello! What's up? My name’s Roier,” Roier introduced himself with an accented voice, “and you must be Detective Cellbit!”

Roier took a glanced at his hands before holding up the relatively less dirty one. His floating hand lay there, offering a handshake. Pointed, towards Forever.

Forever grinned and wasted no time to shake it.

“A pleasure!” He let out a little more energetically than he should be, confusing Roier.

Cellbit snapped out of his trance and immediately hurried to preserve his pride and lessen the teasing that would ensue later. “Hey, cut it out, dude!” He hissed in a hushed tone and, switching to English, said, “I’m sorry for that, my partner is an idiot. I’m the detective here.”

“Huh, Really? Oh shit my bad, man. Pleasure meeting you Detective Cellbi-“

“Just Cellbit is fine”

“-Just Cellbit. Thank you for helping me Just Cellbit,” he let out a grin and headed inside the house, “Now figure out what the fuck just happened to me.”

Cellbit and Forever took in the house. It was decently decorated, not anything too out of the ordinary. What really caught their attention was the clear displacement of some items. Flowers lay on the floor in puddles of water, an assortment of objects and beads were dumped on the ground, storage cabinets in the kitchen were thrown open, and empty space prominent next to the plastic tupperware.

“All of it! The bastard took all of it! and for what ?” Roier threw his hands into the air out of exasperation. “I came home last night after finishing off a session with one of my clients and I found all of… of… this!”

He gestured towards the living room table which was promptly missing the glass top. It was clear there was once a pile of organized papers lying on top of it from the scattered documents that littered the floor. Forever shuddered as a breeze escaped through the poorly cloth-covered window openings.

Cellbit nodded along, perfectly following along Roier’s rapid-fire complaints in a mix of Spanglish while analyzing the scene for any clues the thief left behind. “You mentioned you were able to talk with him?”

Roier led them deeper into the house. Forever got glimpses of other rooms, all of them without a sight of glass. He stared incredulously at a lightbulb fixture that was stripped, only its metal filaments remaining. They stopped in front of a secluded storage area, out of sight for a reason.

“Nah, we really didn’t talk that much. I just pulled up to my house near the night and saw most of the windows gone. Freaky shit really, my roommate’s car wasn’t pulled up so she couldn’t have been home.” Roier closed his eyes and held out his arms palms out, as if imagining the scene.

“I cautiously moved towards the door and opened it, seeing the mess that you two saw out there,” he looped back into the hallway, reenacting his movements, “He probably didn’t hear me because he was way back in the storage room but I for sure knew he was there, so with my incredibly quick thinking, I slowly snuck up to catch his ass!”

Cellbit lets out a chuckle at Roier’s absurdity, “One hell of a spy you’re making, it’s a wonder how you even got caught.”

“Haha! Right?” Roier had a pointed laugh before snapping back into character, “There, the bastard was shuffling through my storage area mumbling shit to himself” Now that caught their attention.

“Do you remember what he said?” Forever pressed on the topic.

“Ahh, something about quality and easy? I'm not sure it was muffled too. I was able to get a little closer and got something about if it was the right amount? I think the words were ‘all of this should weigh in close enough..’” The last part was said in a gravelly warped voice, clearly not an accurate representation of what Roier heard that day.

“D’y’know what's the most fucked up shit?” He pulls out a tiny, glass, marble out of a toy flashlight. The flashlight itself being dusty and broken from, presumably, Roier’s wrath.

“This is probably what the motherfucker was trying to find in there! A marble! How stingy can this bastard be, what is his issue? Pinche pendejo hijo de puta ..” He threw his arms up into the air, letting the marble fly towards a forgotten corner of Roier’s house, the only one spared of The Soul Thief’s onslaught.

They’ve arrived at the back living room and, unfortunately, those areas were not as lucky. A large glass sliding door was missing from its place and chains hung down a high ceiling, a perfect place for a pretty glass chandelier. Roier collapsed on the couch as Forever and Cellbit took the chairs opposite of him.

“So,” Cellbit reeled back the investigation, “what happened after that? Were you able to see him?

“Eehhh, barely. It was dark and he blended in. Dashed out as soon as he noticed me.” He inflated himself to grab a cold cup of tea in a red plastic cup on a, thankfully, wooden table before sinking back into his seat. “He’s not all black though, there were some white blurs near his face, strange as hell.”

“Is that all you noticed?” Cellbit pressed.

“Hey man it was late, okay! I wanted to sleep, not to deal with this shit”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Cellbit frowned, glancing towards Forever before addressing Roier again, “more along the lines of did you see anything strange or usual in your house? Where did he escape from? He stole the entire glass supply from your house surely there had to be a mode of transportation for him.”

Roier paused, sat up and, finally, focused his full attention on Cellbit.

“No, I checked the house twice after he left, nothing unusual. He quite literally ran through the back door, what I would pay to see the door magically reappear in front of his path. I didn’t see any weird cars or machines or anything around my house afterward. Your guess is as good as mine.”

A silence ensued over them. Cellbit was in a thinking trance, likely storing all of this new information. Forever was too used to his partner to bother calling him out. Roier, however, was not.

“Hey, dude do those googles actually do anything or is it like, a cosplay thing?”

“Huh- What?” Cellbit took a moment to snap out of it.

“I read some articles about your past cases on the toilet this morning and like, you never seem to use ‘em so what gives?” Roier bends down, hand massaging his chin before jolting up and lightly hitting his fist on an open palm in an animated motion.

“I got it! You have bald spots there don’tcha?”

Cellbit sputtered and Forever heaved in laughter.

“No, no, really! Im not shitting you, there gotta be a reason why-“

“ I’m not bald? What the fuck dude-“

“No man I totally get it! I have a friend, a cool guy, but he never takes off his beanie and I’m half convinced it’s for the same reasons as you. C’mon, dude, it’s okay you don’t need to be embarrassed.”

Oh, this is gold. This guy is a national treasure.

Cellbit was gaping, “I’m not embarrassed and I’m not balding like your friend! It’s just fucking goggles! where are you getting this from!?”

“A poco sí, Sherlock? Look, I’ll believe you if you take them off!” Roier was giggling with Forever maniacal laughter in the background.

“What the hell? I’m not taking them off-“

“That’s convenient, isn’t it? It’s just a little bit of space, what, are you scared?”

“No! I’m not hiding anything and I do not need to prove anything to you-“

“Dawwwh, it’s ok Celbo-“ Cellbit’s neck snapped towards Forever’s voice, his eyes held the collective world knowledge of historical human torture techniques. Ah, well. The show goes on, “-I know being dropped on your head as a child actually impacted your hairline instead of your ego, but it’s okay! Your secret is safe with me and- Whoops!- I guess Roier now!”

“Stop spouting bullshit you dick-“ Cellbit faltered as Roier’s smile significantly brightened.

“Yeah, it’s okay Cel-bo~,” Roier childishly enunciated each vowel, “Your secret is safe with me.”

Cellbit looked stuck out of water, gaped out one or two sounds, and then promptly let out a disgruntled sigh as he walked out of the room.

Forever’s thoughts paused at the sight of Cellbit, one of the best minds of this generation, storming out of the room out of, what’s that? Frustration? He looked more-so flustered than any other time something like this occurred. Intriguing...

Forever brushed the thought aside in favor of chatting with his newfound friend, bonded through the trials and tribulations of getting Cellbit off of his high horse.

“That Roier guy was funny,” Forever said during the drive home, cutting into the silent air.

A small nod and low hum was the only indication that Cellbit heard him.

“..I gave him your number by the way.”

“You what?”

Through their 8 years of partnership, Forever has learned to stop questioning it whenever Cellbit takes him to a random location out of nowhere.

There are times in the past when he would argue up and down, only to get vague answers. But even at that point Forever would rather crawl into a ravine than let Cellbit investigate a new lead alone. This trust and care that came from dozens of bad situations turned miracles that were only possible due to Cellbit’s directions.

So when Cellbit told Forever of their next expedition, he almost laughed at the simplicity of going to a museum to scout out a thief.

“Dude, can you please explain to me why you need a trap set here? Isn’t it protected enough?” Right here, Forever prepares an invisible line trap in front of the museum’s most precious artifact, a brilliant light blue diamond. It sat glowing in a dark display room, the only sight source being the large circular window that frames the diamond. Getting the authorization to do this on such short notice had Forever pulling on so many strings.

“And, not to say I’m doubting your judgment, but isn’t this a little too obvious for such an esoteric guy?” He finishes setting up the trap, and it looks as good as nothing.

“It took a bit of thinking, but now I’m a little bit more certain.” Cellbit begins walking out of the room and Forever follows him through the exhibit. “He is the type to keep his cards close to his chest, sure, but there will always be a pattern to how someone plays.”

They pass the historical remnants of artifacts that have outlived them ten times over. “Although the type of heists he does is seemingly almost random. They always occur in the most busiest parts of the day. Always between workdays on the later part of the evening.” A tourist group passes through, stopping them.

“His heists major heists had always involved some sort of distraction. A party in one place, a commotion in another. Those timeframes give him the leeway to perform the trickiest ones.” A room filled with preserved scriptures and timeless art is displayed in galleries.

“And, as always, there is always that one item that can catch the eye of a thief, no matter what.” A room is showered in colored lights as chromatic hues dance across the crystal sculptures.

Forever blinked, “Yeah, you lost me there. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“God- dude come on,” Cellbit pouted, saddened at the thought of doing his most dreaded chore; Elaborating.

“Although minor and probably not even noticed by most people, there has been a rise in theft of diamonds and, particularly, blue jewelry. They usually happen around the timeframe of the thief being present in whatever city and area overwritten as being done by smaller thieves. But such a pattern cannot be a coincidence, right?”

“So,” Forever dead-panned him. “Your educated guess on what his next target would be. Is a blue diamond.”

Cellbit grinned and patted Forever on the shoulder, “Well, the guy’s in town, better make use of it.”

He traced back his last few steps, “Keep a watch out there, I’ll go check on the target.” A buzz out of Forever’s walkie-talkie signals how the two will keep in touch.

Right. Keep watch.

Forever wandered through the museum, a tiny bit more cautious based on what Cellbit had told him. He made his way back towards the chromatic room, staring at the multicolored lights shining from all directions. The tourist group has moved on from here, leaving him alone in the exhibit. It is easy to imagine that the world is gone and all is left silent in his forgotten corner.

Forever felt a dull pull that snaked around his soul. A longing that has been pushed aside for decades, resurfacing for the first time in what felt like years.

Forever felt it push, and then everything fell.

craCK-!

The first shattered noise rang in his ear, looking back, he spotted the sight of hundreds of pieces of glass heading towards the floor in the hallway behind him. He ducked, just fast enough for a piece of glass to graze his face instead of puncturing it.

The sound rang like a thousand wind chimes banging against one another until they could not take it anymore and gave under the pressure. When the barrage ended and Forever could finally raise himself from the floor, only one tone rung constantly in his head.

Distraction. Distraction. Distraction.

Distraction.

He dashed across the halls, the glass unpleasantly screeching with his every step. The crowd had begun to build as he shoved past them. His face stung and he felt a warm trickle mark its path. The activation of his radio confirmed his suspicions from the start.

“Forever, COME BACK, the thief is here.” Cellbit's voice came muffled through the radio and into Forever's ringing head.

Sliding into the door knocked out any remaining frequencies that still bounced around his eardrums. Forever scrambled to open the door and faced an alarming sight.

Cellbit was slumped on the floor, clutching onto the walkie-talkie while his gun was scattered out of arms reach. The wide circular window framing the diamond was busted wide open, letting the wind flow into the room. The diamond itself was not in its display box, but instead in the grasp of dark hands.

The Soul Thief is elegant. That was Forever's first thought. his clothes were well fit and accessorized, layered with detailed cloaks pulling into a ribboned bow, and outfit adorned with dark red accents. It would be impossible to tell apart the outfit in any other circumstance, but the partial eclipse left Forever a perfect view of this man.

The most prominent part of the thief was his face or lack thereof. He had a hood pulled over, which perfectly cast a shadow across his entire face, hiding every feature, except his glowing white eyes. A small top hat completed the outfit, tying everything together.

He is striking. he is mysterious. Oh shit- he is monologuing.

“-gured me out! I really can’t believe it! What was your name again? Detective Cellbit? I could’ve sworn I’ve heard that name once before but you know how it is, can never keep them all straight.” His voice was saccharine, gliding across the room with a slight distortion. Something in Forever clung to the spoken words.

“Now then, onto-“ The Soul Thief’s eye caught onto Forever’s for the first time, “ you-?”

His demeanor changed, relaxed confidence turned flighty as he braced to jump to his escape. Forever moved as the Thief did, aware he wouldn’t be fast enough.

Then, suddenly. A miscalculated jump from The Soul Thief, one a little fast, a little too far, sent him tumbling down the floor. Forever’s invisible line trap.

SLAM!

Forever was zeroing in on the thief, acting on instinct to apprehend the criminal. An unprecedented force tugged Forever towards him. His ears catch a few thrown curses to the wind, an act that he immediately knew would haunt his thoughts for the rest of the night. His eyes widened as he processed the words. 

This is because Forever, and his cursed ears, heard The Soul Thief hiss out:

“Oh, fudge. ”

And suddenly everything stopped.

Forever’s mind froze, a thousand buried memories burned through his mind.

Muffled giggles, sweet words, shared touches, bittersweet tears. Him.

No, no, please no. Please say he did not recognize that voice, and tone, and mannerism, and that forsaken smirk. Why, on god’s green earth did The Soul Thief have to be him?

Forever saw Bad’s smile slightly faltered under that ridiculous hood during this ridiculous situation.

The Soul Thie- Bad. Bad worked quickly to remove the line desperately. Forever moved without thinking and grasped Bad’s wrist, stopping him from fleeing. They looked each other in the eyes, recognition ringing true. A piece of the past snapped back in place.

One. Two seconds passed.

Suddenly, a hand covered the lower half of Forever’s face and pushed. Knocking him back onto the floor.

And, just like that. He was gone.

The Soul Thief was out of the broken window and out into the chill moonlit night and out of Forever’s life.

Just like before.

Chapter Text

Forever felt his eyes drooped as he reread the last line of the paragraph for the nth time.

It was nearing the semester final and exam season was beating his ass. Horribly.

Forever brushed loose strands of hair out of his face, only for them to bounce right back in place, tauntingly. Something in Forever snapped, leaving him on the fence between throwing all of his papers into a puddle of kerosine and lighting himself with a match, or crawling into a corner to cry a bucket of tears.

Forever’s frustrations came out in a pathetic whine, and his body failed to do anything but flop down on his back. Forever had a splitting headache and Political Science served the main purpose of making it worse. He let out another groan and dug the heel of his palm into his eyes, desperate to claw away the exhaustion.

A gentle touch on his forearm dragged him back to reality. Bad.

Right. Bad was there. In the midst of one of the most stressful weeks of any student’s life, he decided to spend it here in Forever’s crammed and overheated dorm. He sat parallel to Forever, his legs intertwined and practically sitting on Forever’s lap. Bad was reading his own book, which has now been forgotten in favor of facilitating Forever’s meltdown.

Gentle hands intertwined with his. They trailed up and down his arms, then back, then chest, in a way that made Forever shiver in this summer heat.

Forever lowered his hand in defeat, opening his eyes slightly, only to see an amused smile adorn Bad’s face. He felt his heart tug.

Muffled dialogue transpired between the two, blurred by the passage of time. Bad eased Forever up and carefully undid his hair bun. Forever closed his eyes, melting to the touch of hands carding through his hair.  Bad expertly worked through the knots, careful as not to tug at Forever’s scalp.

After every tangle was accounted for, the warm hands traveled back up to rest on Forever’s cheeks, tucking those pesky stray hairs behind his ear. Bad nodded towards the window as his mouth moved, lips pursing as if it would convince Forever. It usually does.

He followed Bad’s gaze. Oh, it is getting dark, He suddenly thought.

Giving into the urgings of Bad, Forever resigned himself from the day. He let Bad guide him down to bed, feeling the world shift around as Bad made him settle in. The bed was calling to Forever and the lights were dim. His consciousness starts to slip.

Forever lets out a silent plea. Desperate.

Bad smiled. It almost reached his eyes. He answered with sweet nothings.

Forever’s eyelids began to fall and as the memory cleared for the first time, a hushed whisper was picked up by his ears.

“…Sleep well, Forever, I’ll be here for you. Always.”

…

Off to the side of this bittersweet scene, an older Forever stood. Everything was paused, unmoving. The moment has reached its end. Only preserved in his memories. He walked up to the motionless mannequins, gazed upon their now blurry features.

A strained, manic, chuckle bubbled out of Forever.

Even back then you were always such a liar, Bad.

He stepped out of the police station feeling like hell.

Forever has just finished detailing his account of the encounter. From the previous investigations he had once done with Cellbit, to the sudden night visit to the museum, up until the glass decoy and the escape of The Soul Thief.

Whenever Forever has a case with Cellbit, the task force allows him to adventure off on his own. Cellbit never wanted to closely tie himself to the police force, and was more content to pursue his own personal investigation. He keeps Forever around as his one contact to the government, due to a mixture of shared history and, in his own words, I get to milk the fed’s resources for all they’re worth.

Forever would like to add the fact that Cellbit just enjoys his company and finds Forever to be a delight around (true), but this part can only be coaxed out of Cellbit with a bottle of alcohol.

Although the task force isn’t thrilled to send one of their officers to fuck off and play sheriff, Cellbit’s cases bring results, and these results proves him to be an invaluable asset. So they can suck it up and count their losses.

Forever spotted Cellbit off to a secluded bench near the front of the station, and wordlessly made his way over to sit down. Cellbit has looked in better shape, his arm and head was bandaged, presumably from the encounter at the museum. His goggles lie securely on top of the wraps.

“God you really don’t go without them, maybe Roier had a point.”

“Shut up, even you know that's not true.” Came the huffed reply.

Cellbit dug out a box of cigarettes, slightly crushed, and picked one out. He lit a lighter, cupping the flame and then catching it on the end of the white stick. The tip burned, turning amber and black as he inhaled.

“So,” Cellbit started after letting out a drawl of smoked air, “How did it go?”

Forever let out a tired sigh, “As well as it always goes when I have to report two accounts. You know how much that grinds on my gears, dude. Especially when I have to piece together your mess of an investigation.” The last part was harsh, the day was getting to him.

Cellbit sent Forever a look before taking the lit cigarette out of his mouth, offering it. “Hey. You already know why I don’t.”

“Yeah yeah, you don’t want to work closely with the police, yadda-yadda tough shit.” Forever accepted the peace offering, bringing it up to take a breath of nicotine. An edge was shaved off his mind and he relaxed slightly.

“Sure, but that wasn’t what I was talking about anyways. Did you notice anything from The Soul Thief? I was pretty much knocked out from the explosion that broke the glass but I know you got a better look on him.”

Forever grimaced at the thought of the encounter. What he noticed about The Soul Thief, indeed. Only the fact that he turned out to be the ghost from a very complicated period of his past. Forever’s tongue dried up at the thought of the revelations made that night.

“Well, you were right about him. He does make a distraction or decoy to catch the big prize. Shit ton of glass fell down near the crystal exhibit, probably the ones snatched from Roier’s, it was supposed to mimic the actual sculptures being destroyed, I’m guessing” He knows he’s avoiding Cellbit’s questions, Cellbit probably noticed too.

“Ah, well. The sculptures turned out fine and, once again, not a single sign of him. The police searched everything in a significant radius. Not a trace, not a clue. Nothing at all except from your one encounter.” Cellbit sent him a pointed look, anticipating.

Forever thought about it. He has already omitted the fact of The Soul Thief’s identity once before to the police, but that was only because he believed he needed more time to investigate the case. This though? This was Cellbit. He is Forever’s best friend and they were the ones who understood each other the most, intertwined through hardships and hard won respect.

To dream of a world where the two were not fighting on the same side was unfathomable, Forever and Cellbit were two kindred souls who were blessed enough to stumble across each other.

But Forever knew. He has all of these experiences gained from working so closely with this cunning detective, after all. He understood more than anyone the fever Cellbit would go through to bust any criminals, to serve justice on a platter. And what justice followed after that was often a cruel sentence that none can come out mentally unscathed. Forever took that imagery and his mind ran.

Forever thought about it. His rationale was screaming at him to Tell Cellbit . Tell Cellbit or you will regret this for the rest of your life. That there is no justifiable reason why you shouldn’t, but-

A pair of gentle hands gliding like gold through his hair, flashes of a soft and amused smile solely directed at him.

Forever fought the urge to touch his lips where that scathing hand left its invisible mark just hours prior.

“Nah, bastard was too nimble for me to catch anything noticeable about him.”

Cellbit slightly narrowed his eyes, internally noting down Forever’s millisecond of hesitance.

No, not yet, It is too soon. Forever knows too little about what’s going on. He can’t mess this up, too much is on the line. He just can’t fuck it up again, not from being too hasty. He needs to think this through, and make a sound judgment before telling Cellbit.

Forever felt something shift in him with this finalized decision. It felt almost wrong, like a betrayal waiting to happen. It isn’t, he swears. It couldn’t be, but he still wondered if it was too late, if everything was already ruined and if it was truly worth it before-

His thoughts cut out as Cellbit relaxed to lie his head on Forever’s shoulder. Forever tensed before letting his muscles loosen, leaning his head on the other man’s too. Cellbit lightly nudged his elbow into his side. Forever obliged and removed the cigarette from his mouth, holding it up for Cellbit.

Inhale. Exhale.

The two stayed like that, quietly exchanging it back and forth, sharing their breaths and their warmth in between these passing moments. It is hard to find comfort in such a vast and directionless world, but they were fortunate enough to find it in each other. And Forever is willing to grasp onto that comfort for as long as he’s allowed.

It has been five days since the investigation and five days since Forever last set foot in Cellbit’s office.

There had been some paperwork and meetings that held him up at the task force, granting him little to no time to visit. After a painfully torturous period, he was finally graced with some light work for the day, almost making Forever shed tears at the sight of freedom. He feels honored, truly, working with such a talented and dedicated group, but it still doesn’t diminish his unbridled hatred for reading documents.

Forever knocked on the familiar brown-varnished door. In his hands was an order of two Dark Roast black coffees, a peace offering for his absence. A moment or two passed. Nothing.

Forever furrowed his eyebrows, it’s common for Cellbit to impulsively go off on some investigation mission, but less so when he does it without informing Forever. He knocks again, hearing a slight sound behind the thin wooden layers.

“OI! Cellbit it's just me! Open up, dammit, don't leave me out here." Forever felt his patience slipping with every second that dragged on. It was just five days, what was his deal?

“I know you’re there bastard, I literally bought you coffee. Get your ungrateful ass-“ The door swung open.

A disgruntled figure reached out and swiped the cups of coffee out of Forever’s hands, and disappearing back into the apartment with the door left open. Apology accepted it seems. Forever followed him inside and took in the disordered state of the room, in its full familiarly messy glory.

Its owner wasn’t in a better state. Cellbit looked like shit, with messy hair and dirty clothing. It looked like he just spent the last week trying to solve one of those impossible online hunts. A- what was it? An ARC.. if Forever recalled? It was always hard to make out Cellbit’s crazed mumblings during those periods. He didn’t see the appeal in whatever a curved structure would offer Cellbit, but to each their own.

Cellbit took a big gulp of coffee, nearly downing the whole cup. He slammed the remaining on the nearest clear table space. It looked like the sight of a man finding water after wandering the desert, but a lot more depressing and unhealthy.

“Where have you been.” He accused. Ah, so Cellbit did need Forever for something.

“The task force held me captive, believe me, I wanted to leave.” Forever looked over the scattered files and paper across the furniture. He picked up a few in an attempt to organize the mess, scanning the few recent cases.

Cellbit tsked and grumbled under his breath, “Damn, I could’ve used you for more coffee.” Forever heard it. Cellbit spoke again in a louder voice, “Well then, that's really a fucking shame for you because, guess what? I found some leads on the case with The Soul Thief!”

Now that caught Forever’s attention, “Really? What have you figured out?”

He saw Cellbit acquire a wave of energy as the caffeine worked throughout his system. “Well, we should begin with what I had to start with. Which is nothing. Literally nothing. This guy is so fucking cautious and he hides disgustingly well.” Cellbit took his hands and pinched at his nose bridge in frustration, dislodging his reading glasses.

“I looked through all of the people present at that museum night, all the faces, names, anything that could be it. And you know what? I narrowed it down to 3 guys! That is until I interrogated them all and it came to nothing.” He gesticulated while talking, rapidly bringing his hands down in a pointed gesture to emphasize the last point.

“They either had dead giveaways that it wasn’t them or an alibi, one was literally there for the bathroom only. Who does that? Unless-“ Cellbit’s eyes widened, “He could’ve been lying to me! Oh the nerve of that guy, I swore I could’ve seen it in his face-“ he jotted this down to an already crowded sticky note.

“I need to check that later, would breaking into his back porch work again-“ Cellbit shook his head, and Forever raised his eyebrows. “That's beside the point, anyways. After that path came to a dead end I started looking at his confirmed cases again. I connected something last time so surely something else would show up?”

Cellbit broke out into a painful laughter, dear lord.

“I looked through all of it Forever. Fucking all of it!” He slammed his hands down on the desk, almost knocking over both of the coffee cups, “Why does he have to be so infuriatingly discreet all of the time? Just one straight clue would suffice!” Second to that, brother.

“-But no, there was not one trace or clue or anything in every scene he left behind! Some cases were literally impossible, Forever! Impossible! How did this bastard manage to steal the glass panes protecting the Declaration of Independence? Not the document itself, just the panes. Without setting off the security measures! It’s revolting!” Cellbit said this with a manic smile on his face, enamored by this tricky case.

“I started to look at other crimes happening in the areas around the same time. I thought they would match up and sure enough, some did.” His voice started to get strained, whether from the excitement or exhaustion, Forever did not know.

“I found two crimes near the New York case can almost line up! It was with a pizza shop in a hole in the wall and another museum. Sure there are some time inconsistencies, but we never know with this guy!” Cellbit started comparing point to point, signaling at a new corner of the bulletin board dedicated to this case. The strings connecting the pictures are worn out from too much adjusting and many of the notes had rows and rows of scribbles that were crossed out over and over again.

“Another one happened in Florida around the same week as the Birmingham case, something in a fitness gym. Oh! And there was one that happened in London after the Thief struck again in Venice. Some of these connections are strained but I could definitely confirm them with more information, probably leads I have to pull out of my ass-“ A mockery. This is a mockery played on the man that Cellbit used to be. 

He continued, driving himself down deeper and deeper in the spiral. “Oh fuck, now here’s a fun one. Do you know how he managed to rob a jewelry shop in Spain and then end up in Colombia in two days? Because I sure fucking don’t!”

Forever shouldn’t have left him alone for this long, he sees the faults in his actions now. Screw the task force, this was self-torture, he’s sure of it. Cellbit had practically subjected himself to marking the differences between two white walls.

“Wow, this is a lot. You sure- uh- thought a lot about it.” Forever had to stop Cellbit before he starts connecting this shit to ghosts and horror monsters. “But look at you! Leaving nothing to me you greedy man! Maybe we should do a simple case, you know? To get me back in the game. Something like uh-“ Fuck, he needed an excuse.

Forever grabbed the nearest file off the Maybe-Chair, where the Maybe-interesting cases lie to be Maybe-investigated. “-An animal kidnapper!”

Forever started reading the contents of the file, “Someone has been targeting the local zoo, zookeepers heard some commotion from the animals in the middle of the night and saw that they had disappeared! Look, gone without a trace, this could be cool!.”

“Ah, that one? It’s nothing special, there were tracks but the crook got lucky because it rained. What? Do you really think this is worth our time?” Cellbit looked unimpressed, “It just sounds like you just want to bail and mess around at a zoo.”

Forever looked at Cellbit. Cellbit, who was blinking his eyes at separate intervals. “Maybe I’m not the one who needs it more. Come on, we haven’t hung in a while it could just be some casual trip we write off as a business expense.”

“But my case-“

“Do you even know what the hell you’re doing next?”

“I…” Cellbit sighed. “Hand over the case.”

“Gladly.”

He grabbed the files and scanned through the documents. “Oh, this is an easy bust. The criminal clearly doesn’t have enough experience with animals, most of the staff could hear their displeasure from a mile away. A miracle he hasn’t been caught yet.”

An amused scoff, “Plus, this person only aims for the same type of zoo! Some big corporations have multiple parks open. They’ve been following a line of those parks, it is so simple to track this idiot down.”

This case paled in comparison to the puzzle of shredded paper that Cellbit was trying to piece together, “What a joke, the next target should be one near here too.”

Forever grinned, “Sounds like a plan, book the tickets.”

“And what if the guy doesn’t even show up?” Cellbit mockingly raised his eyebrows.

“Well then, I guess we tried our best,” Forever packed up some stuff and opened the door, cringing at the way Cellbit was cartoonishly blinded by the light outside. “God, what do I do with you? Just- okay, get ready, and meet me downstairs.”

Cellbit let out a soft whine in protest, Forever promptly walked out of the door, “And you better be done in 10 minutes, or else I'm dragging you out by the neck!”

Forever stared as Cellbit gazed longingly at the sight of a deer eating grass.

This has been the trip for the past hour, Forever trying to point out the different enclosures while Cellbit sulks. On the investigation side of things, there hasn’t been any major breakthrough. They’ve kept an eye out, of course, but with nothing happening the two had no choice but to wait till nighttime to see if the criminal even decides to turn up.

This gave ample time for Cellbit to revert back to his ego-bruised state, husk of his normal self.

“Hey.. buddy,” Forever said to Cellbit’s crouching figure, who was content to watch a trail of ants rather than the coyote exhibit in front of him, “so what animal do you think they’re going to snatch up this time?”

Cellbit gave him a deadpan stare at the sad attempt at small talk. “Forever, we’re not catching the guy today.”

“What? Did you give up that easily? What happened to your confidence from earlier?”

“You left the room and I dropped the act”

“You- Well, okay, but you’re here now aren’t you?”

“Forever I am in an old t-shirt and cargo pants.”

Damn. He’s right, and Forever was trying to ignore it.

It’s uncommon for Cellbit to fall into these sorts of slumps, which stems from him being stumped on a case. They don’t happen frequently enough for Forever to know what actions he should take. So now he’s stuck here with a moping Cellbit looking like he’s two seconds from passing out from the floor. Great. 

Well, getting Cellbit a new clue would usually snap him out of it. But in this situation? Oooh, that's not going to work out.

Forever was leading Cellbit around the Zoo by the wrist, the sullen man looking around with disinterest. The zoo itself was a well-budgeted one, a nice collection, and kid-centered. They passed by one of the mascots, a white polar bear who kept telling kids “I hope you relish the Isle!” They found it endearing, Forever found it concerning and creepy.

“Can you at least try to enjoy the animals? Focus on nature for once you workaholic?”

“What is there to enjoy? Those animals aren’t having fun either. Look at those enclosures, it’s one death shy of becoming a lawsuit.”

Forever looked closer at the animal’s cages, a giraffe’s. The overall space was minimal and the decoration was exaggerated. Huh, so maybe they are. Maybe that kidnapping guy had more sense than they gave him credit for.

Forever ignored this fact though in sake of spiting Cellbit, he was getting tired of this charade. “Yeah, they probably feel sad because your sad face is here. A real downer on everyone’s day.”

Cellbit took his hand back, aghast at Forever’s absurdity. “I am not that sad! If anything it’s you making them sad with how much bullshit you’re spitting.”

“Boo-hoo Celbo, cry harder. It’s okay I’ll play along if you want me to”

“Fuck off man,” Cellbit’s lip twitched up. “Be careful, speak any louder and you’ll scare them all off.”

“They’ve already fled man, they ran as soon as they saw you.”

Cellbit ran up to punch Forever in the shoulder. He then looked, noticing that they’ve arrived at an open tank. Inside the waters, lied a variety of crabs, seashells, and anemones.

The two of them looked at each other, agreeing on a silent competition. Two hands dipped into the cool water of the touch tank.

Cellbit caught sight of a horseshoe crab, moving his hand in the water in its direction. When he saw that the creature got startled, he slowed his pace. Slowly moving towards the crab, like taming a wild animal.

Easy does it, Cellbit was hovering over the side of the animal. He got in position, lowered it with patience, then-

The moment the two made contact the crab started scrambling away as fast as it slowly could.

Cellbit groaned and removed his hand from the water. He looked over and was greeted with the sight of Forever playing around with a baby stingray.

“Oh come on!” Cellbit exclaimed and sent a splash of water over in the direction of the smug winner.

This only served to make both of them laugh when that action only made the stingray huddle behind Forever’s hand for protection.

“Cellbo! What a petty detective! Be careful Federico, there are dangerous, dangerous thugs out there who’s only jealous of you.”

“Yeah Federico, watch your back. You’ll never know when your best friend will turn around and reveal all the nasty things they truly think about you.”

Both of them laughed, Forever thought that maybe this trip isn’t going to be such a waste after all.

As Forever was trying to help Cellbit not scare animals shitless, they heard a familiar voice shouting from behind.

“Hey! Cellbit is that you?” Forever turned around to see Roier jogging up to them. He waved over to the man, inviting him over. “Oh! And Forever too, how’s it going man?”

“Roier, good to see you! What a coincidence,” Forever let out a friendly grin and turned to Cellbit, only to see that he had now turned white from mortification.

“Yeah yeah, I actually came here with my roommate but she wandered off somewhere in the bird cage section. She’s really cool though, you guys would love her!” Roier turned his attention over to the Cellbit, “How are you doing, Mr. detective? Figured out anything since the last time I visited you?”

Roier visited? This was news to Forever. He turned over to shoot Cellbit a questioning glance, but Cellbit looked like he was busy considering the effectiveness of drowning himself in the touch pool.

Cellbit pulled himself together and cleared his throat “Ah, well I’ve even working on it. You know how it goes, following breadcrumbs, examining them with a magnifying glass.”

“You’ve never picked up a magnifying glass before,” Forever commented in Portuguese.

“Cala a boca, porra,” came Cellbit’s response.

Roier looked fascinated, “Does that mean you’re on a case right now? I almost didn’t recognize you without your trench coat but you’re still wearing the goggles. Is it like, an undercover mission?”

Cellbit self-consciously wiped at a food stain that hadn't completely faded from his shirt, which made him panic more at the water stains that now soaked his shirt. “Y-yeah! Exactly that, but uhm, stay quiet! they might notice us if you spoke too loud. You know how spies have to be inconspicuous”

Roier jerkily nodded and placed his pointer finger over his smiling mouth, playing his part as an accomplice.

Forever stood to the side, feeling out of place in his fully clothed out uniform and coat.

Roier got closer to Cellbit, almost scaring the man out of his skin. Roier spoke again, lowering his voice to an intimidating whisper, “So where are we catching this fucker.”

Forever wanted to burst a lung laughing at the way Cellbit burned red. Cellbit raked his graze across the surroundings before settling on the farthest exhibit he could spot, “Uh, the clues show that the thief is most likely to show up at uhm, t-the Penguin Exhibit!”

Roier was satisfied at that answer, grabbing Cellbit’s arm to drag him to their next adventure.

Cellbit looked back and shot Forever an apologetic look. Forever wiggled his eyebrows. The look contorted into an anger that did not work with Cellbit’s violently blushing face.

So that’s why he was so bummed out on not finding anything. 

Forever was left alone, taking a moment to watch the two walk away before wandering off on his own. He took a turn to the nearest enclosure, which was the aquarium portion of the zoo. This place really has everything, what the hell?

As Forever walked through the dark water-lit hallways, staring at the sight of fish swimming around him, he felt a pang of sympathy for them. Just from the one or two animal conversations he’d heard between Pac and Felps, the small tank was nowhere close to the appropriate size to house this many fish.

The main room was a tall aquarium on one side of the wall that spanned from the ceiling to the floor. The rest of the place was in dark shadows, the only light source was the weak glow of the surface light hitting the water.

Forever stood in the back of the showroom, taking in the sight. It was breathtaking, calm and peaceful. Standing there, he felt something bubble up inside of him. The same pained ache waiting to be relieved. 

But there was nothing to be done. The room was silent, aside from the ambiance of the tank systems and distant chatters of the rest of the guests-

chirp chirp

Forever’s ears picked up on a low, foreign, sound emitting from behind him. He looked back in confusion and began feeling around the dark walls to find anything unusual. Sure enough, he felt a slight crevice in the wall that indicated a door. He followed the line until his hands reached a flat and discreet doorknob.

Forever cautiously opened the door, and winced at the light source that lit up the maintenance room. With the layer of wall missing, Forever could clearly hear the scene that was happening inside.

“Shoot, shoot shoot! Get back here you-!” A panicked voice called out, chirps could be heard scrambling around while a loud quack encouraged them, “Stop doing that! Stop doing that right now, I’m trying to save you guys-“

No way. No fucking way. This is a cosmic joke, it has to be. How the fuck was it him of all people, it was supposed to be a throwaway case to cheer up Cellbit! Forever cried inside and hoped the gods could at the very least listen to his request and end his misery.

Speaking of Cellbit, he’s going to be pissed.

Forever went on full alert, sending Cellbit a message before quietly opening the door wide enough to slip in. He took out a pair of handcuffs and hid it in his sleeve, preparing for a confrontation.

“I’ve had it with you muffin heads! You better show me some gratitude after this is over, you know. Nothing. Nothing I tell you-“ The Soul Thief abruptly paused, listening in on the quiet room.

He walked towards Forever’s direction. Forever held his breath. One second, Two. The steps moved closer-

Now.

In a flash, Forever moved to tackle. He missed his mark by a portion and drove the two of them into a wall.

“Gah-! What the fudg- You?” The Soul Thief yelped in shock, Forever moved quickly to apprehend. He pinned him on the wall.

Slam!

“Yeah. It’s me, recognize anyone?” Forever spat at The Thief’s panicked face. Forever reached around to handcuff him to the pope on the wall before realizing- Fuck! He dropped the handcuffs on the ground.

The Soul Thief regained his focus during this split realization, he moved to kick Forever in the stomach, freeing himself from his grasp. Forever stumbled back, eyes watering at the sharp pain. He didn't waste a second to move in, gracefully using his leg to drop Forever to the fucking ground.

CRASH!

Forever felt the air leave his lungs, white spots filling his vision. He focused on reaching for the pair of handcuffs that lay on the floor, fingertips grazing the edge of the metal before getting a grip. Forever quickly slid them over, but was too late as Bad loomed over him.

Forever struggled to stand up, grazing The Thief twice on the face before two pairs of hands forced his above him.

“Why are you here.” The Soul Thief gritted out as Forever struggled in his captivity, “How did you find out, theres no reason why you would know to come here.”

“What?” Forever spat out, exhausted from the scuffle, “Are you not excited to see me, Bad?”

Forever abrubtly felt his world lift up before he was slammed back down.

SLAM!

Forever’s mind screamed, vision blurring. A hand roughly grabbed his cheeks, Bad shifted his grip to pin Forever’s arms down with one hand. Forever groaned and unwillingly relented, too dazed to gather enough strength and knock him off.

Forever looked up to see a shadowed face, the white of Bad’s eyes spinning and doubling around with Forever’s vision. The two of them stared at each other, and while Bad’s facial features were mostly obscured in this murky setting, Forever could tell he was irritated.

How familiar...

Forever was glad that his mind was pumped with adrenaline, otherwise, he would’ve had to think about whatever the fuck that implied.

The grip on Forever’s face tightened, and Bad roughly yanked his face to the side. A pop! came out of Forever’s neck as he yelped.

Forever felt Bad lower his body down, felt the hot breath near his ear, felt himself shake to the core as Bad lowered his voice to a dangerous level.

“I don’t know what you are doing here, but scram. You don’t know what is happening here, nor why I’m doing this,” harsh, condescending words slapped Forever in the face.

“Stop trying to stop me, this is something you’re not involved in. Leave me alone.”

Forever grit his teeth, feeling anger and frustration pooling in his soul. Audacity was the only thing filtering through his mind.

“How about you come and make me.” Forever sneered back.

CRASH!

The door behind them opened, Cellbit burst into the hallway with heavy breaths from the long. Forever heard the confused yells of Roier following behind.

Bad snapped his head back, and in a second, was already up and searching for a means of escape.

“Oh no, don’t you DARE,” Cellbit yelled out, on his way to chase the Thief.

Roier came up on Forever’s side, hovering his hands above Forever unsure how to help “Oh shit, man! Are you alright? Cellbit just kinda dashed off when he checked his phone and- No fucking way, it that the Soul fucker guy?”

Forever’s head ached as Roier kept rambling on, he held up his hand to gain support and Roier hurried to help. He slowly stood up before feeling a force abruptly chain him down.

Forever gazed landed on his left hand. Handcuffed a nearby pipe.

Oh, he is going to bring hell to that man.

A loud commotion lay ahead, Forever heard Cellbit relent his weeklong frustrations on the culprit who caused it.

“You cannot be serious. After all of those convoluted cases and all of those impossible escapes, THIS has been what you’ve been doing the entire time?” The Soul Thief was climbing his way up the rows of equipment, graceful and undeterred in every calculated step.

Cellbit continued “Nem fudendo! I can’t believe this! The bastard who managed to send the CIA into crisis is here, doing what?” He scanned his surroundings incredulously, “Stealing a couple of ducks? Are we all a couple of dumbasses to you? Are you fucking kidding me?”

At this, The Soul Thief stopped. Forever could tell that he was holding something back.

He was at the top section of the building, in the position to look down on his audience. He was stood in a hallway, a few steps away from the open window and, with that, easy escape. The Soul Thief’s figure proceeded to change, the way he held himself shifted as he turned back and spreaded his arms in a wide embrace. 

A performance, Forever realized.

“How hurtful!” The Soul Thief said in a warped voice, something felt off to Forever. It was wrong, disguised. “I am a Thief, after all! Can’t I steal what I want to? Free of judgment?”

He moved his hand to his chest, feigning mock hurt, “And I don’t get why you’re so mad, Detective. Your little partner seemed to have caught me in the act after all!” His gaze landed on the far-off Forever, the corner of his white eyes crinkled up, indicating a venomous smile.

The Soul Thief shifted his face back to Cellbit, but Forever still felt the familiar attention focused on him. “I suppose that means I need to up my game.” A playful tone laced his voice.

“I would be careful if I were you, Detective. One wrong move and you’ll face pain from forces worse than me.”

“Oi? What the fuck is that supposed to mean you cryptic bastard? Get your monologuing ass down here and have an actual conversation you actual manchild-“

And with that The Soul Thief was off, gone from sight, exiting the stage, the curtains drawn and closed.

Forever finally felt his lungs clear, taking a breath for the first time in what felt like hours. Roier yelped as Forever relaxed and leaned his full weight on the man. He slumped back down to the cold floor.

He distantly heard footsteps make their way towards him, a voice called out in disbelief. “Forever, what the fuck was that?”

Cellbit’s confusion was the last thing on Forever’s mind, however. He felt a dormant spark inside of him being fanned. Determination and spite filled Forever.

Bad, I am going to catch and imprison you if it is the last thing I fucking do.

Forever started to smile.

Chapter Text

GLOBAL NEWS

ENJOY THE WORLD

WORLD GLOBAL | GLOBAL ISLAND | GLOBAL NEWS  | 85TH EDITION

A New Threat Emerges From the Shadows

The world is on alert as a new international threat is intimidating our national security. Worldwide, protection protocols are being revised as, against this new force, many perceived them to be practically worthless. Our government is already on the case, with officials planning the next best move against this phenomenon. Now, with all of this commotion happening, you must be wondering what is the cause of this. Is it a nuclear weapon? Is it otherworldly powers? Did the Devil rise to earth himself?

Well, no. In reality, the answer is quite simple: It was a thief and his luck with getting away with it

One person, one singular person was able to send the world into a loop. But, how? How does this one thief with no seemingly outside support even begin to have such an impact? Well, the simple answer lies in the steals themselves. This thief, commonly deemed “The Soul Thief” by communities keeping track of his activity, is becoming notorious through targeting high-value places, but not quite stealing the usual valuables.

This Soul Thief has made a reputation with this bizarre behavior, something unlike anything we’ve seen before. Some of his plunders include the floorboards in the Oval Office, the stairs in Birmingham Palace, and the seats of the Colosseum. These patterns have caused many investigators to scratch their heads, all at the simple question of what he truly gains from this. Why would he decide to steal the glass enclosing the Declaration of Independence, and only the glass? Many of these cases have been broadcast across the national news, letting many hear of this upcoming.

The most intriguing part of these cases is how the Thief proceeds to come and go, almost without a trace. That’s right, on every crime scene the clues and leads that could’ve indicated any form of evidence seem to vanish, as if they were nonexistent. Nothing traceable, practically nothing left behind that could hint at how this man operates. These traits have led many great detectives to dead ends, condemned to pulling at their heads.

Due to the downright comical nature of these crimes, most have turned a blind eye to them, often only regarding them as comedic news of the day. It really is easy to, who wouldn’t chuckle at the ironic sight of a vault door being stolen with the money left untouched? But looking past these aspects, many have come into their own interpretations of what messages these robberies send.

Some are concerned over the implications of what the Thief is capable of, crying out hearsay about how all of this is only a small extent of his power. Others perceived this as staged news, a hoax to garner sympathy points. Plenty finds themselves aligning with The Soul Thief, finding his actions amusing at the stake of our governments. Some of our sources detail the mindsets of this supportive crowd, a defensive force whose main claim is that Thief’s action was simply one of a “just a little guy.”

No matter what you feel about The Soul Thief, it might all change in light of the fact that the public has become, and perhaps already is, a target in his eye. Smaller, local, cases have been reported all around. Although there are little things to link them to The Thief, many of the same eccentric features of The Soul Thief are displayed in these acts. It is almost certain to say that anyone’s house is fair game. 

In light of this, we advise everyone to be careful and be on the lookout for any signs of this Thief. Although little is confirmed, we have collected a list of characteristics that have been analyzed to be the The Soul Thief’s:  

1. The Soul Thief’s main target is furniture! He appears to target any and all sort of furniture in your house, holding a sort of affinity to them. Keep track of your furniture and even bolt them down if you are truly attached to that one rocking chair  
   
   
2. The Thief strikes at night! There are cases of a victim coming home to a completely empty house, a telltale sign of his work. The night helps disguise The Soul Thief in the shadows, giving him cover in the darkness.
   
   
3. He leaves as fast as he comes! Close to no actual photos, much less footage, have been taken of the Thief. He comes and goes as he pleases, and is often long gone by the time you become aware. This has speculations that The Soul Thief has an image ability to sense other’s presence, so if you even want a chance at catching him you would need to install cameras and security sensors.
   
   
4. He takes what he wants, even if it seems like an unlikely pick, so keep an eye out on your belongings. You would never know if a single missing item leads to a longer series of losses. Be cautious and keep a detailed list of everything, make note of any items that seemingly vanished. 

These are all the top major signs and precautions that one can take to protect your house and belongings, but unfortunately, whether or not you get targeted all comes down to luck and the whims of The Soul Thief.

If you do find yourself a victim of this Thief, however, please report it to the nearest civil authorities in your area. The chase for this criminal is still underway, and any new information just might be the step needed to make a breakthrough. Your cooperation is crucial in the investigations and officials will do anything in their power to support victims. 

Stay safe, keep your eyes open and, as always, Enjoy the World! 

Forever would burn down the media industry at the first chance he gets.

Yes, they shape the base of our society, and yes, they are the fastest way to spread information. But God fucking dammit, what use is that if the information on there is utter horseshit? 

Forever and Cellbit let out a collective groan after the eighteenth call of the day. Cellbit’s hand hovered over the receiver for a moment, taking a collecting breath to brace himself, before answering the call. 

As the client rambled on the same story retold over seventeen times, any semblance of hope Forever and Cellbit held beforehand dissolved into exasperated disappointment. They can practically make a game out of this, take a shot every time someone tips the practically identical information. It would be a great excuse to get pissfaced-drunk. 

“… but after I peaked around the corner in the seemingly dark and empty room-” It’s so interesting how they always do that, “-I manage to catch a glimpse of the man’s face, Detective Cellbit!” Oh? Now that's new. 

Cellbit perked up at the first sight of variety, “Can you describe it?”

The client seemed happy to elaborate, “Well I didn’t see all of his face, it was covered by a mask! One similar to those burglar masks, but it only covered the bottom half. The top half was shown and his eyes wer—“ Forever reached to press on the switch hook, hanging up the call. 

Cellbit took a moment to process the flat tone that played instead of their client’s voice, he frowned, “Hey, what gives? It was finally an interesting one.”

“Yeah, well, it isn’t the right guy. Didn’t you hear what she said? A mask-“ Forever scoffed, “-what use would he have for a mask?”

Cellbit hummed thoughtfully, “Well, what if he did? I never got a good look on his face, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say he was wearing some sort of facial covering.”

“He isn’t. The entire thing is covered in shadows from his hood or something. He isn’t wearing a mask”

“And how would you know? Oh, never mind, that's right. The two of you probably got all close and personal during that scuffle.” 

Forever stared at Cellbit, Cellbit stared back, raising an eyebrow. They dueled there, unmoving until the other party explained themselves.

RING RIING

The silence was broken by the nineteenth ring of the phone. 

The cycle repeated once more. Open, introductions, senseless nonsense sprouted out of fear, closed. The call worked to bring the two back to their previous moods.

“Celbo, look at what I just found in today’s news.” Forever set the article on Cellbit’s desk. Cellbit picked up the paper and his eyes scanned over the information.

“It’s unbelievable what they’re saying out there to get some flimsy engagement!” Forever said, “Seriously, where did they even get the idea that ‘he only strikes as night’? He stole a piano in bright daylight and the zoo shit was literally happening during noon!” 

“Hah! They’re kissing up the government’s ass so hard,” Cellbit, once again, finding amusement at the sake of Forever’s profession. “I bet you all of those agents are panicking as much as a couple of mice, they have no idea what the hell they’re doing.” 

Forever has come to accept Cellbit’s no-so passive aggression towards the government, and has long lost the energy and conviction to get offended by those comments. “It’s a mystery as to where these outlets even get their sources from, for such a popular one you’d think they’d take even one second to double-check”

“If they double-checked there’d be no sources to report from.” 

Forever snorted, “Exactly. And now half of the public is infected with that shit, and we are left to suffer from it- Oh, Cellbit, you need to see what they fucking pulled at the end.” 

Cellbit narrowed his eyes as he started reaching the end, and then an appalled look painted his face before he groaned and slammed his head on the desk.

RING RIING

His voice came muffled from being smushed on the wood, “So this entire thing-“

“Yes.”

RING RIING

“It was all because they just decided to-“

“Yeah, exactly”

RING RIING

“So they just decided to throw us in the headlights…”

“Right? It’s bullshit!”

RING RIING RING RIING 

“Fucking hell- I never should’ve asked the police station to forward all the cases about The Soul Thief to my office.” Cellbit let out a groan at the piercing noise.

RING RIING RING RII- “Hello, this is Detective Cellbit. State your name and case.”

“Ah! Took you a while to pick up, thought this number was a scam,” a young masculine voice came through the receiver, and a slight echo followed its path. 

“Cellbit, was it? Google said you were the best detective near here so I thought just why not, the police were a fucking sham at helping out so to hell with it. Really ridiculous if you think about it, to come all this way and then just turn a blind eye to my concerns, what gives man? At least-“

“-Ahem. Your name, sir?”

“Oh, right.” The client forgot the entire point of the call, seemingly caught up in his ranting, “Charlie Slimecicle, but my friends usually just call me Slime.” Forever can’t pinpoint the thought process behind that. 

“Anyways I just had the most cynical morning ever, woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Which, well, is easy to do considering there was no fucking bed. Literally. I was thrown on the fucking floor with a towel as a blanket, how thoughtful. 

The Soul Thief struck my place overnight, and the entirety of my house’s furniture was stolen. There was absolutely no mercy in the heart of that man, I was completely massacred, dude.”

Cellbit’s eyebrow raised in interest. Before, every other call just reported one or two items missing. It was all surface-level disruptions that grew with paranoia and a general laziness to actually search for them. This though? Slime’s case was a little more extreme, a little more thought out. 

“Did the entire act happen during your sleep?”

“Psh, yeah, probably slept through that shit like a truck. Don’t even begin to ask me how he managed to steal my bed without waking me up, the gentlest coddle he must’ve had. I cannot believe that is the nicest touch I’ve had in weeks”

“Mr. Slimecicle, I’m sure there's really no point in asking due to the nature of The Soul Thief, but did you notice any evidence or anything out of the ordinary?”

“No point in asking? What are you saying of course there was,” the voice on the phone scoffed, “the whole reason why the cops up and left too, the moment I showed them some actual evidence the bastards just left it at that! It’s like they didn’t even think it was The Soul Thief anymore, like hello? Are you idiots? I’m handing you prime evidence and now you don’t care?” 

Cellbit and Forever grimaced as Slime talked. Any sense of credibility he had beforehand went down by a landslide. At the very least, all official documentation on The Soul Thief called out his elusiveness. He was content to play in the shadows and leave no identification behind. That was the first turn-off that the on-scene officers picked up on. 

Nonetheless, Cellbit still proceeded to follow along with Slime, just to see where this would go. “What clue did you find exactly, Mr. Slimecicle?” 

“Oh, yeah right. In the middle of my kitchen— which was missing the even counters by the way! On the floor, there was a plate with a single chocolate chip muffin on it.”

Forever processed the words, and forced himself not to react.

Slime paused for a second, but deemed that was too long for him to go without speaking. “Now I really don’t get it, does this guy think he’s some sort of fucked up reversed Santa or some shit? Like, a slightly better version of the Grinch? The fucking gall to come into my house, steal all of my shit, and then leave a little treat like a greeting card? Gee, thanks, can you give me back my fucking bed?”

During this, Cellbit fought for his life to bring Slime back on topic, “Mr. Slimecicle? Mr. Sli- Slime. Slime, please. Can you tell me if there was something else to the muffin? Like a note or anything unusual shape imprinted in?”

“Ohhh, uhm, shit that would’ve been smart to check out. Damn” 

“Mr. Slime? Slime, what does that mean?”

“I kind of, maybe-maybe not, just a little possible chance I Might’veAteIt, does that interfere with the investigation?”

“…” Cellbit's eyes looked tired, he was ready to chuck the phone against the window and be done with today. 

Slime sensed the weight that came with Cellbit’s silence, “Woah- Hey, hey! C’mon man, you can’t blame me! It was the morning and my fucking fridge was gone and my brain was all spazzed up and the thing tasted so fucking good okay? Have a little sympathy, my god, can’t do shit in this house anymore.”

“Well- uhm, right. I’ll start by asking you to get a meal first, Slime, it seems like you need it. And, I guess we’ll be in contact with you in uhm-“ Cellbit was ready to cut off the call when stopped at the sight of Forever. 

A fire simmered in Forever’s eyes, and he made a simple nod towards Cellbit. 

Cellbit got the signal. He was puzzled at this new resolve in his partner, but didn’t move to question it. “-Actually. It- uh- it turns out we have some gaps in our schedule. So we can actually head out and get the investigation going immediately.”

Slime didn’t disguise the surprise in his voice, “What? Oh shit- really? Thanks, man! I suppose you do have some credit to your name.” 

The two went on for a while to exchange meeting times and locations, with much of it being dragged on by Slime’s commentary. By the end of the call, the room fell into silence for the first time in hours. The only sound came from Cellbit yanking the plug out of the telephone. 

Cellbit paused for a moment, looking at Forever with a calculated look, “Are you sure about this?” 

Forever didn’t phase under the scrutiny of the detective. “This has to lead to him, I’m sure of it.”

Cellbit has to be aware by now, Forever would be astonished if he didn’t. But, despite this, he still broke into a relaxed and playful smile. “Yeah, I’m sure you know the best.” 

And that was that. 

There was so much Forever couldn’t say, so much he didn’t know, but he would do anything in his power to get to the bottom of this. He made a silent promise to the person behind all of this, and if it makes him trace a damn trail of muffin crumbs that leads him to the edge of the world, then so fucking be it. 

When Forever arrived at the front of Slime’s house, all points of sympathy seemingly vanished before him. 

It was a rich house, to a disgustingly amount. A field of perfectly cut lawn sprawled across Slime’s front yard with stone paths symmetrically carved into the ground, leading up to the grand water fountain in the center. The house behind these decorations looked modern and new, the architecture was thought out and sleek in design. It was large and expansive, even from a faraway distance, with windows from various rooms lining up in perfect composition. Impressive, in a beat you up and kick your stomach while you’re down way.

“I understand why The Soul Thief would steal from here,” Forever commented while taking the first steps onto the marble stairs that blended from stone to fountain.

“Damn right, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Cellbit said, “But do you really think it’s The Soul Thief? Some things don’t add up.” They moved up to the grand archway that framed the custom-carved mahogany doors, “He isn’t the type to leave items behind and risk being traced.”

Forever knocked on the door, “Maybe, or this might be another one of his games.”

The door opened and revealed an American man with short hair and square glasses. Even though he was wearing a robe, which was blindingly expensive just from the look, Forever could tell he was well-built. 

“Hello, this is Detective Cellbit and the man next to me is Officer Forever, my partner,” Cellbit introduced them, “And you must be Mr. Slime?”

“Oh, finally.” Slime opened the door and welcomed the two in. The entrance was sleek and modern in design, a simplistic adaptation of the classic imperial staircase layout. “It’s been getting lonely in here and my bitch wife is still busy somewhere else.”

Slime soured, “The nerve of that man! Twelve phone calls until he answers, and even then he didn’t even let me explain before hanging up! Gah!” Slime shifted his voice to become more grave, “‘Oh, Slime, it’s a bad time right now’ ‘Ah, I’ll get back, as soon as possible Charlie, mi armor’. What a load of shit that man is.”

Slime blinked and realized he got ahead of himself, “Ah, right. So- uh- welcome to my house!” Slime spread out his arms in a grand reveal of a largely empty room. Piles of items were tossed halfheartedly onto the ground, all missing their place of storage. There were pieces of decoration that were a part of the foundation itself, but other than that the room was barren and echoey. 

“We decided to do some home renovations, believe it or not! Feel free to put your stuff on the…” Slime gestured at a corner of the wall. “Make yourself at home! Sit on the…” he walked around a patch of dust shaped like an L, “If you just take the remote here, there's this great show airing on the…”

Forever coughed into his hand. Cellbit decided to speak up, “Ah, it’s great what you’ve done to the place, feels a lot more… open, no?” Cellbit scribbled on his notepad, “So. Was every piece of furniture stolen here, nothing left behind?”

“Yup,” Slime said, popping the p, “Even the shit that I bolted down, it’s bullshit.”

“You… bolted down your furniture? For what?” Forever felt like he’d heard that idea from somewhere before.

“Yeah? Isn't that what I’m supposed to do?” Slime looked at a particularly nasty hole in the flooring, a victim of a poorly held handrill, “That’s what this week’s edition was saying if I bolted some pieces the Thief had no shot at stealing it? Load of help that was.”

Forever and Cellbit shared a look, people would believe anything nowadays. 

They were led into the kitchen area, and sure enough most of the appliances were gone. What was left was only the kitchen island some assortment of kitchen tools and scattered groceries. There was an attempt at organization, three bowls and some items were placed on the counter before Slime decided to give up. Slime went over to the island and slumped down, looking only slightly uncomfortable due to his height. 

“So what? Do you have anything that would help me catch the bastard?”

“Unfortunately we can't make a solid conclusion on where he is now, but with your help and information our investigations will slowly get closer and closer,” Forever replied with a common voice that he takes when reassuring victims, “Everyone is working as hard as they can to get to the bottom of this.”

Cellbit waved his hand in the air nonchalantly, “Honestly, your entire case is throwing a wrench in my whole theory so far. It’s the first time the Thief has left behind some sort of clue or calling sign, what game is he playing at?”

He snapped his gaze at Slime, “Would’ve helped if I got to take a look at that supposed clue.”

Slime looked taken aback and sheepish, “hah- who could’ve done that?”

He awkwardly fidgeted in place and then straightened up in realization. Slime went to reach into one of the bowls and pulled out a small, white egg. There was a crude outline of a glass lens that was drawn in with crayon. 

Slime held it close to his chest and whispered to the egg, “Sorry Flipo, almost forgot you there, had to talk to some guests. You wouldn’t be the type to be passive-aggressive in someone else’s house right?” The subject was mental. Forever decides to exclude this in the investigation report.

Slime placed his ear near the egg before making small nods, “Attaboy, at least someone here appreciates me.”

Forever pulled out the courage to speak out of morbid curiosity. He cleared his throat, “So- uh- Slime. What do you have there?” 

“Ah- this?” Slime looked up and down and realized how absurd this would look to observers, “Oh this is Flipo!”

The silence indicated that nothing was understood. Slime continued, “I found him this morning in an egg carton. He was the only one who didn't crack so, hey! That must mean something!” 

He gazed emotionally at the smudged egg, “his full name is actually JuanFlipo.” That certainly is a name choice.

“It’s actually after my daughter, Juanaflippa. He reminds me of her so much.” Oh. 

JuanFlipo is an egg. Forever can only imagine how Slime made the connection, “Ah, your daughter?”

“Yes!” Slime looked up with a watery gaze, “I haven't seen her in months! She’s been at a boarding school after Mariana, my wife, thought Flippa should be in a more stable environment. I argued up and down but in the end, it came to Flippa’s choice… I hope she’s doing well, I miss you Flippa.” 

Oh, that got more heavy than Forever intended. He felt guilty and went to comfort the longing father, who was now patting JuanFlipo gently, whispering broken words and, “God, I need wine.” 

“Ah, don’t be sad, man. If you want we can investigate another thing, if there is anything else.” 

Forever ignored Cellbit’s judgmental gaze. Have a little humanity, Celbo. 

“Really? Well-,” Slime blinked his eyes and composed himself, “If you insist, there is someone I would like you to have a look at. It’s actually someone who might be connected to the case.” 

“What? Is it a potential suspect?”

“It’s actually my bitch wife, Mariana,” Slime’s eye lit with passion, “That fucker is behind it, I bet. Some sort of revenge on me.”

Cellbit looked at Forever with amusement, already expecting that type of answer. “What makes you think so?” He asked with a drawl.

“I’m glad you asked! That man never comes home on time and is sometimes off for multiple days at a time. When he answers my calls I swear to you he sounds like he’s hiding something.” Slime was sent in a paranoid rant, “I can’t think of anything that it could be! I bet he fucked off somewhere to plot against me, or be with other men, or-“ Slime let out an offended gasp, “Plot against me with other men!”

He turned to Cellbit and Forever, “Detective, you have to track him down! I swear he’s doing some shit out there! You need to make sure to keep track of everywhere he goes and who he talks to.” Slime’s voice lowered to a threat that was not directed at them, “If you catch him staying the night at any other home again, ohh, hell is going to rain on that man.”

Cellbit raises a hand to his shoulder, fingers straight and palms out, as if swearing to something. “Nope!”

Slime started whining, “C’mon, please? You never know what my bitch wife is doing out there, it could be terrible things.” He put his hands together in a small pleading gesture, “Please, Detective? I would pay you handsomely.”

“Tough luck, Slime, but I would rather drown than throw away my dignity and accept another Cheating Spouse case for the money” Cellbit shivered, “My days as a P.I. Agent will never be relived, no matter what. That shit stays with you as good as the literal murder scenes.” 

“God, you’re no fun,” Slime deflated and sulked, “I had such a good theory running too, maybe one of Mariana’s mistresses had it out for me or something. Find the bitch and he would easily spill, right?”

Forever chuckled and patted Slime’s head, who was slowly clinging on to him, searching for any form of comfort. Cellbit pinched his nose bridge and turned around to the largely empty house, taking in the sight once again. 

“Even if he was the one who did this, what for? All the other cases were done with a certain purpose, no matter how convoluted. He’s definitely aimed for richer areas before but what was the reason for this one? What could this lead to?” 

Cellbit started rambling once again in rapid Portuguese, the words echoing off the walls and confusing Slime.

Cellbit turned back and began to speak towards Slime in English, “Hey, did-“  

WEEEOOO WEEEEEOOOOO WEEEEOOOOO

A loud, piercing, alarm emitted from the insides of Slime’s robes. Slime winced and fumbled to grab the phone from his inside pockets, reading the notification before widening his eyes.

“Oh- Oh SHIT! Fuck, we have to go.”

“What? What is it?”

“The home alarm system. It triggered. It’s the one- the one in the other house. The fucking security camera could-“ Slime growled and gesticulated his arms wildly, “I’m being fucking robbed again!” 

With this, Cellbit and Forever jumped into action. The three of them started rushing out of the empty room into the empty hallway. 

“I’ll start the car, Slime tell us whe-“

“Don’t bother it’s just across the street”

Cellbit gaped, “Why do you have another house across the street?”

They opened the front door and, sure enough, Slime started booking it for the house directly in front of them, “It’s for Mariana! Whenever we get pissed at each other he crashes there! Can’t really go too far through because-“ Slime catches himself, “Not the point, man! You want your evidence? You better fucking hope that camera is intact.”

They crossed the streets in a hurry, the house in front of them was as equally grand as the last one, a disgusting display of wealth. The three nearly crashed against the marbled front door as Slime punched down the password. The door opened and darkness greeted them. 

“Ah, wait give me a second,” Slime moved in and walked off to the side. Feeling around for something. He let out an annoyed gasp and his figure moved to bend down. 

A flash of light pointed directly at Cellbit and Forever’s faces, making the two flinch back and grimace. Slime let out a laugh as he got up from the pile of items that littered the floor. Two tosses in the dark were made towards Cellbit and Forever, the two barely being able to catch it. It was a flashlight. Cellbit caught on quickly, turning on the light and moving into the house. 

Forever pocketed his flashlight and followed behind Cellbit, the two moving through a dark room with light obscured by curtains. The seemingly empty corridors were not optimistic signs. Forever moved ahead, peaking around the corner into the main room. His eyes zoomed into the darkness as-

A flash of darkness moved in the camouflage. 

“Guys! He’s still here!” 

Forever moved in the direction of the figure, but it has already moved on to another, out of reach, corner of the room. 

“No! Shit- fuck, stop that!” Slime rushed into the room at the sight of the shadow. In his urgency, he began throwing any item that was within his reach, desperation seeping through his mind. 

The shadows shifted and moved with the objects, dodging them before sinking off. 

At once, the room filled with blinding light, hurting Forever’s eyes for the third time this hour. Cellbit had found the light switch. 

Everyone stood there, dazed, as their visions finally settled. With it, the full extent of the steal was shown. The house mirrored Slime’s other one, an empty room with items scattered everywhere on the floor. They had just barely missed him.

Forever was brought back at the sounds of Slime shouting out in anger, “God! So close! We almost got him!”

Forever moved closer, finding out what Slime was so adamant in protecting. In an inconspicuous corner, wires poked out the wall, there were holes lying where the screws were forcibly ripped out. The security camera used to lie there. 

“How did he notice it here? God, the things I am going to do to that-“ Slime let out a devastated scream. 

Cellbit and Forever snapped their attention to him, “Slime? What’s wrong, what happened?”

Slime started blubbering and couldn't move his gaze from one spot on the floor. Forever followed his gaze and saw a single, cracked, egg lying on the floor. It was dirty and the shell was a mix of black and white, the yolk slowly pooled out as the membrane broke.

“F-Flipo?” Slime brokenly cried out, 

“I- I. I truly didn't mean to!” He stumbled on his work as Slime scrambled towards the yolky mess, hovering his hands above it and unsure out to help. Slime grabbed the wrist of one hand with the other, pulling it back. He stared at the palm of his hands as if it was covered with blood, “I must’ve accidentally thrown you.”

Slime grabbed the hem of his robe and entered a sitting fetal position, horrified with himself and whispering rushed apologies. Apologies to the broken egg.

As Forever stood beside Slime, watching over him, he thought that nothing could top this. This, right here, is a sight of pure human despair. 

He looked back and saw that Cellbit had already moved on from this scene. He was searching around the vicinity, which was light work due to the complete emptiness of the whole room. Cellbit finally had his hands on a fresh crime scene, untampered and untouched. Despite this, he once again comes to no conclusion in the sight of it. 

Disgruntled at this discovery, Cellbit moved over to the sliding barn doors, nearly shoving them aside. Light trickled into the dimly lit room. Cellbit froze when he noticed something, his body obscuring Forever’s line of sight. Cellbit went to pick up the object of interest, Forever saw his head lean down to take a better look at it. 

Then, he swiveled around. The object in the kitchen was revealed to be a small muffin with chocolate spots dotting it, situated in the middle of a blue plate that was held by Cellbit. 

“It’s another one,” Forever said, Cellbit nodded. 

“Hey! It’s the same type!” Slime seemed a bit better off from his stupor, wiping away a few tears, “It’s the same one from this morning!” 

Cellbit moved towards the two of them, stopping in front of Forever. He shifted his grip to hold the plate in one hand while he carefully picked up the muffin with minimal contact. 

“It feels and seems like a normal muffin, nothing unusual-“ Cellbit noticed something at the bottom of the muffin.

He looked at the letterings engraved on it. Scanned it over once again, then twice, then three times. Cellbit’s eyes clearly did not compute its meaning.

He read over the letters for the ditch time. Took a moment to think, then collected his words, “Guys. What the fuck is an ‘oh-woah’”

Forever mirrored Cellbit’s confusion, puzzling together what the words could’ve said. An idea popped into his head that made his soul grimace and Forever moved over to Cellbit’s side to take a look at the muffin. 

On the bottom, engraved and marred onto the skin of the muffin, there were indeed the three characters that confirmed Forever’s lying suspicions. 

On the bottom of the mysterious muffin, the only clue they had to lead with to figure out this convoluted case, there was a simple text that read; “OwO.”

They were both exhausted by the time Forever and Cellbit returned to the office. 

It took a bit of time to finish up the investigation of Charlie Slimecicle. His wife did come by in the end, a tall and sturdy man with a thick Mexican accent. He made quick work of comforting the blubbering Slime and awkwardly helped Cellbit and Forever through the remaining details of the investigation. For all Slime complained about his wife, his walls crumbled in the proximity of the man.

The doors opened to the messy space once again. Cellbit removed his coat and goggles, tossing them in some direction, before collapsing on the one couch he religiously kept clean. It was really the only open spot in the room, preserved for the rare moments of cooldown.

Forever rubbed his eyes and stretched in place, sore from the day. He scanned the room and his eyes landed on the still unplugged telephone. Not one to miss work Forever moved to repair the phone. He was halfway through plugging in the outlet when a tired groan stopped him.

“God, no. If I have to deal with more Slimes I am going to drop dead for the next month,” Cellbit was uncharacteristically lazy today.

“What?” Forever poked fun at him, “What happened to the Cellbit I knew? You’ve dragged me out for way longer for way less.”

“Give me a break, man, this has been close to two weeks of pure investigation of this bastard. Everything’s been all muddled up recently, there’s no end.” Cellbit began kicking at the floor, the indicator that he was running low on caffeine, “And if you didn’t notice, Slime was sending glances toward me. Christ, there was no shame.”

Forever winced, “Yikes. How lonely was that guy?” 

“However it started I am tired as fuck and I’m not going to spend the next 3 hours going through phone calls again-“

Rat-tat-tat

A knock came from the door. 

Cellbit and Forever froze, they zeroed in on the sound, listening for any indication of who stood outside. 

A second passed, two. Then a muffed voice, “Ah, mierda. ¿Recordé lo incorrecto?”

It was Roier. Cellbit jumped to his feet the moment he processed this.

“No, es número 03, estoy seguro.” Roier raised his voice, “Hey! Cellbit it's me Roier-“

The door opened to Roier with his fist raised, ready to knock on the door.

“Ah! Mr. Detective, I was hoping you were here!”

Cellbit greeted him with a tired smile, “Hello Roier, I- we. We just came back from an investigation. Come in come in, please ignore the mess.”

Roier strolled into the office like he owned the place, unphased by the mess, “Forever! How are you, dude!”

“It's nice to see you Roier, I’ve been doing fine. I hope you’ve been doing well since the glass steal.” 

“Almost all of the windows are replaced! Anyways, it’s so strange seeing you two so… relaxed!” Roier focused his attention back on Cellbit, “And look at you! No goggles and no bald spots.”

“You’re still such a dick for suggesting that.”

Roier giggled and looked down at the countless files spreading across the living room. He picked one up and began flipping through the cases. 

Forever widened his eyes and discreetly pulled Cellbit to the side, “Dude, what the fuck? I didn’t know you let Roier touch your files.”

Cellbit shushed him with harsh whispers, “There is nothing weird, I let you look through my files all the time.” 

“Yeah, after months and a whole crash course on your nonsensical sorting system!” Forever’s observations were left ignored. 

“Oh! Were you working on The Soul Thief case?” Roier held up a recent case file, some more details about potential crimes. 

“Yeah, yeah. The investigation earlier was actually related to him too. We didn't get much out of it though, it was just a sad guy who was paranoid about his wife cheating.”

“Huh, that’s interesting, the two should talk it out.” Roier continued,” I was talking to one of my friends, been avoiding his spouse because he’s been planning a trip to see their daughter. Really convoluted shit all around, miscommunication is a bitch.” 

“Huh.” 

“Huh,” Roier realized he was oversharing what was essentially not his business, “-Anyways! I was wondering if you were free right now?” Roier faced Cellbit with a hopeful grin.

Cellbit choked on air, completely taken by surprise, “Huh? I mean, I might be- probably am but- uhm. What- what for?”

Forever grinned and raised his hand to hide the excitement, it is what he thinks it is? After all of these years? 

“Ah, well. One of my friends got robbed recently, and a lot of stuff was taken. He’s too stubborn to report it so I thought you were the next best option.”

So close! Unfortunately, today would not break the streak.

“O-oh. Is that so?” Cellbit moved past the implications quickly, but he was still reeling from the shock, “Well I’m not sure if I’ll be more help than the police-”

“It’s totally fine if you don’t want to go, but hey! I feel like this time it's connected to The Soul Thief, one way or another.” Roier looked sheepish at the end, guilty of springing this onto Cellbit. “I’ll be there to help you guys investigate or look out or anything. If that makes it better.”

“Well, if that is the case, maybe-“

Forever was tired of looking at this painfully slow scene, and decided to move it along, “OK! We accept!”

Cellbit squawked at the interruption, “Hey- wait.”

“We’ll help your friend out Roier, just let him know about the fees.” He switched to Portuguese, “You, on the other hand, need to get your shit together because I am not sitting down to hold candles for you two.”

Cellbit opened his mouth to shoot a retort, but Forever was already halfway out the door, leaving the two oblivious men to themselves. 

The car ride there was comfortable. 

Roier made pleasant conversation, and the three spent the whole ride discussing the various random topics that came to his head. The city lights flashed by as the three of them discussed the speed of snails, or an imaginary life as a pirate, or at what point of starvation would someone consider cannibalism (Thank you, Cellbit, for the suggestion, and even bigger thanks to Roier for doubling down on it. Forever will not sleep tonight).

They arrived in a more run-down part of town, one of the overlooked sections of the city masked in shadow. Roier had them stop at an inconspicuous three-story building, the front of which featured an empty taco shop. The store itself was without tables or chairs, but the signs and lights were still on.

Forever and Cellbit followed as Roier led them inside the store, a ringing sound chimed out as the front door opened. 

“¡Ey!” Roier called out to the back,“¡Estoy aqui!” 

Silence replied back. Roier paused before heading over to the front door and began to repeatedly push it open and closed. The sound of the bell rang around chaotically.

Rin-RINg-rING-RIn-nG- Rin-ng-N-rIn-G

“¡Ok, ok! ¡Cálmate, carajo!” 

A short man in casual clothes covered by an apron came out. He had black, shoulder-length hair that was donned with a beanie. Roier’s friend was also wearing sunglasses, inside sunglasses. It covered his eyes and probably did wonders to his vision. 

The two greeted each other and started speaking in rapid Spanish, at a point in which Forever could barely pick up. Their attention moved back and forth between each other and Cellbit and Forever, who was awkwardly standing in the middle of the restaurant. 

The two reached a conclusion when Roier turned to Cellbit and Forever, “Alright guys, this is my friend Quackity! He was robbed!”

“Gods, please shut the fuck up,” Quackity said, “Hello gentlemen, it’s a pleasure.” He held out his hand.

Cellbit shook it, “The pleasure is all mine. I’m under the assumption that your restaurant isn’t always this empty?”

Quackity smirked, “You guessed right. And I assume that you are the people that can do something about that?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Well then, let's get started,” Quackity signaled for them to follow him backstage. He held a presence of high authority, possessing a commanding and sly tone that slid like silver. It was a mystery how a man like him ended up running a low-profile taco shop, there was something more to him. 

“I opened up my shop this morning and found that everything was ransacked, pretty much all the furniture, tables— hell, even menus.” They entered the commercial kitchen, where little was left behind. Appliances lay to the wayside alongside a couple of fresh ingredients in storage. 

“Basically nothing was left behind, which, I'm sure you can imagine how much of a pain in the ass it has been,” Quackity’s hand rubbed his face in annoyance. He began leading them deeper into the building, passing similar empty rooms, one of such was the manager’s office that was devoid of any office supplies. “All of it, gone without a trace.”

“Of course, I could’ve adapted in one way or another, but the bastard dedicated to touch more sensitive things,” Quackity stopped at the end of the hallway, right before a closed door. He leaned his weight on it and fixed his eyes on Cellbit. 

“Now, I’m sure you have an idea of who’s behind it.”

“You suspect it’s The Soul Thief.”

“Isn’t that the whole reason why you’re here?” Quackity tilted down his sunglasses, a piercing dark stare scrutinized Cellbit, “See, I wasn’t too keen on bringing any authorities here who wouldn’t know jackshit about that guy. But then Roier came, talking about a miraculous face-to-face encounter with this secretive guy.

 At first, I didn’t believe Roier, and really, who would? But then he started talking about a charming detective who tracked The Soul Thief down through a thin thread of animal kidnappings.”

Roier let out a sound of protest but Quackity continued, “You know this guy, or at least have a damn good grasp on him.”

“Really? Well, I suppose so with how low the bar is.”

“It’s the best I could get, there really isn’t much else to go off on,” Quackity began to drawl on, “You know, after that news article started circling around, this guy is becoming more and more of a big deal. It’s been treated like a shit show out there, but in the inner circles, he spells trouble.”

He lifted his pointer finger and started spinning it around in circles, “An unnoticeable thief who, by defying all laws of physics, is able to surpass practically anything. So far his steals have been relatively harmless, what is he truly playing at? The stunts he pulls off are actual jokes, unbelievable and absurd stories, all of it to hint at his true potential,” round and round, “A showcase, a message, a warning, all the same. Whatever it is, it all goes to show how much power he holds over our government. Over all of us.”

“Those who don’t truly understand are afraid of him,” the finger stopped, pointing straight ahead, straight at Cellbit, “Those who do are in favor of him.” 

Cellbit stared back, not smiling, not frowning, but his eyes held the knowledge of a thousand unsaid words, “I’m not sure if I follow, what was it about your stolen furniture?”

Quackity let out a huff of amusement and opened the door.

Inside was a larger facility that was in a similar state of missing items, but less so due to some improvised chairs and tables pulled up temporarily. The room itself was grand, or looked to hold something grand. The walls were painted in red with black and gold accents, and long pillars with flashing lights ran alongside them. There were a handful of people present, all huddled around one table. All except one who stood around the table with a deck of cards. 

So there was more to him than meets the eye.

Quackity shouted out a few words of greeting in Spanish, then continued to his original goal. He walked up to a nearby foldable table and grabbed an object. A quick throw toward Cellbit had him reaching out to catch it. It was a muffin, chocolate chip. 

Forever moved up to take a closer look at what was said at the bottom. It was similar to the previous one, with a different text engraved; “o_O”

“It was the only thing that was left behind,” Quackity gauged their reactions, “It seems like you two are familiar.” 

“Ah, a case similar to yours happened around last night. Same type, same sign,” Cellbit inspected the muffin more closely, “I never expected him to leave behind calling signs, though.” 

“Hah!” Quackity let out a surprised chuckle, “You really are on top of your game!”

Cellbit handed the muffin to Forever, who was prepared with an evidence bag. He turned back to Quackity with a look that indicated there was something on his mind. “If you want to point at someone with the most hands-on experience with The Soul Thief, it really should be Forever.” 

Forever was surprised by this sudden attention, “Honestly, he’s seen the Thief way more often than I could ever hope to. Most of the time I’m at the tail end of the scene or unconscious.”

“Haha. Forever, huh-“ Quackity abruptly paused as he processed the information. He looked at Forever, up and down. Arched his eyes over to Cellbit and repeated the action. “Forever. As in Officer Forever. As in next in line for Chief, Forever.” 

“Ah yes, sorry. We completely skipped introductions, didn't we? I am Detective Cellbit and this is my partner, Officer Forever.”

Quackity’s calm demeanor was disrupted, he was suddenly on guard. “A-ah, of course. I’m, uh, a major fan! That’s it. Just a great honor meeting you— Officer. And uhm, you. Detective.” Quackity snapped his gaze over to a Roier, who has been content with blending in the background, “Now, if you would excuse me. Ahem, Roier. A word.”

Roier jumped out of his trance and noticed the Quackity’s dagger stare. He straightened up and raised his hand, making a saluting gesture, “¡Sí, señor!” 

Quackity then ushered the two of them back into the hallway. Forever began to hear small segments of whisper shouting on the other side of the door. He caught Cellbit’s gaze and they both shrugged. 

Roier and Quackity were not so quietly fighting in a bout of Spanish. Forever couldn’t make out most of the words, nor understand them, but a few phrases still got through.

“Roier, how the fuck… a detective and COP… front door?”

“…you needed a… I didn’t think-“

“You didn't THINK that… right into the middle of all of THIS… Wrong with you?”

“You asked me… Supposed to do?.. Well, I’m fucking sorry…”

“… Fucked… I’m so fucked…”

This exchange went back and forth for a while before silence fell. Then, the door opened to a cautious Quackity. 

“Well, uhm. I don't suppose you’ve figured anything out with the stuff I shown you?”

Cellbit looked at Quackity, then looked behind him to the rich and colorful room, “Looks like you haven’t shown me everything, so I suppose not, no.”

Quackity turned his head behind him, then back to Cellbit and Forever, considering his options. The line of his mouth tensed as he slowly pulled the door fully open. They entered and saw Roier sat off to the side, fidgeting around with a pair of dice and coins.

Cellbit casually walked around the room, finally able to analyze the entire area, “Say, what’s up with this being here? Doesn’t seem like something you would find at the back of a taco shop.”

“A-ah. That’s because it… isn’t… a part of the taco shop out there.” Quackity paused often to scramble words together, “It’s actually- uh- my… Preschool..?”

It sounded like Quackity was questioning Cellbit instead of answering. Cellbit gave him a blank stare, then glanced over to the table of adults still playing a game of cards, “Preschool? For who? The adults?”

“Yes! Exactly! So many adults around here never got the proper education and shit, you know?” Quackity explained in a frenzy, “There has to be someone to teach them one in their life, better late than never… or something.”

“You’re a kindergarten teacher for adults?”

“Yeah, you got a problem with it? What's so wrong with that, huh?”

Cellbit retracted his statement and backed off on the questioning. At a closer look at the room, it was shown to be quite grand. Detailing ran across the pillars and wall moldings, the color scheme perfectly blended and accented each other. It was a room for entertainment, conversations, business. The lack of furnishing did not take away the atmosphere that the room naturally gave. 

“So, do you have a decent time of when the crime could’ve taken place?”

“None, nada. Not a clue. It at least happened two days ago, at night. I leave here at 1:00 AM and come during 7:00,” Quackity thought for a moment, “But now that you mention it, there must be someone who stayed here the whole night.”

“Your school lasts past 1:00?” Forever commented. 

“I have a big staff,” Quackity hastily added, “I’m not really sure who was there for that night, I don’t really keep a record…”

“…Them?” Cellbit pointed to the table of men, “They’re here even after what happened, maybe someone could’ve been there at the time.” 

“Oh them? Oh, no no, no. No need,” He tried diverting their attention, waving his hands around, “They’re just, uhm- some students falling behind. Missed schoolwork, bottom of the class. You know how it goes, they’re the least likely to have been there!” 

“Maybe, but they’re our best bet right now before you can start contacting your other students or coworkers,” Cellbit started making his way over to the table, “We need to cover all of our grounds.” 

“Hey, you-“ Quackity groaned and let out some words under his breath, either curses, prayers, or some mixed combination of the two. He ran ahead of Cellbit and started signaling to the table. The card dealer manning the table stopped and the attention of the entire table turned over to Quackity. 

“Hello! Class.” Quackity announces to the table, “It's so nice to see all of you, despite these times. I hope the lesson is going well.” His smile was too tense to be natural

Whispers and murmurs broke out on the table. One man, wide and well-built, spoke out, “Uh, what the fuck are you-“

“Cierra la puta boca y escucha. Siganme la corriente con eso, y les duplicare lo que sea que hayan ganado hasta ahora" 

"...podemos acordar eso en unas cuantas rondas?"

“-Anyways! What was I saying? Right. As you all have noticed, there was a bit of renovation happening-“

“You mean you got robbed blind!” Said a tall and lanky fellow wearing a suit. Brief laughter washed over the group.

Quackity let out a few sounds of forced chuckles, “Ha, yes. It's funny, really Juan. You’re so quick to talk but really can’t keep anything for yourself out there in the playgrounds,” 

Quackity’s smile was toxic, “Do hold your tongue until you learn how to count the differences between my earnings and yours.” Silence resounded in the room.

He sent one last glare towards the group, a sign to behave, before introducing Cellbit, “It seems like we have a guest speaker for today! Please, listen to him and answer any questions he has to the best of your ability.” 

Cellbit was off put by Quackity’s introduction, “Oh- uhm. Ahem. Your… teacher here has told me that two days ago, on Thursday night- or actually early Friday morning, there was a break-in into this establishment resulting in the loss of all furniture items. The only sign left behind is a muffin, branded with a symbol that details some sort of face.” 

He transitioned to a questioning tone, “The time frame of this window is between 1:00 AM to 7:00 AM. Do you all know anything or anyone that would narrow this down?”

The group exchanged glances with each other. A young man in a hoodie spoke up, “Uh, we were all there past one that day. Probably would’ve stayed the whole night but Sam decided to kick everyone out at, what was it?”

“3:00,” the man beside him chimed out helpfully.

“Ah, yes. So everyone left at around 3:00”

“Wait, wait. What do you mean Sam kicked you out?” Quackity spoke up, surprised himself. 

“Oh shit- we weren’t supposed to say that.”

“Really? But you just did, so explain.”

The table exchanged glances all around before the tall and lanky one from earlier, Juan, spoke up, “Yeah, whatever. Surprise boss, Sam kicks everyone out at a certain time when it gets too rowdy and late. Weren’t supposed to let you know, but, well.”

Quackity jerked his head around between the tables, as if questioning the validity of it. No one spoke up. His face contorted and looked like he was going to blow a fuse. He flipped the group off and stormed off to a closed-off side of the room. 

Forever reeled back from that display and said, “Yeesh, does he actually run a preschool for adults here?”

Everyone at the table looked confused, but all agreed, “Yes- Yup, uhhuh- Sure- Best one around!”

“Right. Well then, you guys don't have any more information related to the crime?”

“Nope, None- Nobody knows anything, Nothing.”

“…Does anyone have anything related to The Soul Thief?” 

“Him?” Juan spoke out again, and scoffed, “Yeah the streets won’t shut up about him. Scary what he can do, I just find it bullshit that he keeps taking and taking. Greedy fiend.”

“…Is that so, I see.” The group didn’t have any more leads, and even if they did, they weren't willing to disclose it.

Cellbit looked in the direction that Quackity ran off to, “We should go check up on him.” 

“Ah, you go ahead. I want to look around a bit more.” Forever brushed it off. 

As Roier and Cellbit set off to find Quackity, Forever wandered around the vicinity. His thoughts were muddled and he couldn’t piece them together. 

He had been confused before, but the more time he spent looking over this case the more questions piled on. Before the actions of The Soul Thief looked, at the very least, consistent no matter how scarce they were.

A stolen object, a big hit at some large building, all to send some sort of undecipherable message, but this? It didn’t line up. Slime’s furniture and Quackity’s school seemed like insignificant targets in his eyes. At least in the case of Roier, there was some line of reasoning. 

Was this The Soul Thief? From an outside perspective, Forever would be quick to call it a copycat cat but…

The muffin. 

The dessert brought back a past longing from Forever. Messy tins and tiring efforts for such a small but fulfilling treat, a word thrown around as a passing mention, a dish left on his table by an anonymous caretaker. It had to have been him. 

What game are you playing Bad?

Forever is brought out of his thoughts when he passes by a shout. It was an out-of-sight corner of the room, where Quackity, Roier, and Cellbit currently stayed.

“No! You don’t understand Detective. This has to be some sort of play. A trick on me.”

“Quackity I advise you to calm down and listen-“

“What is there to listen to? What is there to understand? There must be a reason why he kept this behind my back. Sam probably planned all of this.” Quackity was standing in the corner his hand on a doorknob, keeping it shut. His sunglasses were discarded and his eyes indicated panic. “Sam kicked all of those customers out because he knew what was going to happen. That fucker betrayed me!”

“Man, you’re jumping to conclusions! Sit down, no one here is against you.” 

“And you! Roier! I trusted you to bring someone who could figure out all of this shit. And you brought the best fucking cops in the damn department!”

Quackity flinched at the sight of Forever, he sent his harshest glare to Cellbit, “I don’t know what you guys are doing, saying that this guy works alone. That asshole has more accomplices than you dumbasses would like to admit,” Quackity scoffed, “What a bunch of media scares.” 

He moved to open the door and shut it behind him. From the brief glance that Forever got at the room, it was chock-filled with messy and loose money. 

Forever moved to catch the door, but it shut closed in front of him with a cracking SLAM. Muffled sounds of Quackity scrambling around the room, cursing, came out from inside. 

“Ah, it's alright. Give it up. We’ll take our leave,” Cellbit called out, “Thank you for your time, Mr. Quackity, and farewell.”

Cellbit headed towards the exit, Forever followed, and eventually, Roier reluctantly did as well.

The table immediately had their eyes on the three as soon as they were in sight, curious due to the loud noise. Forever waved goodbye to them, “Good luck with your studies boys! Your boss is stuck in a closet full of money right now.” At the mention of that, they zeroed in on the direction of the sound. 

Cellbit, Forever, and Roier silently made their way out of the facility, through the hallways, out of the empty kitchen, and leaving the deserted taco shop behind. 

Everyone settled in the car and took in the quiet atmosphere. “That,” Forever finally spoke up, “Was an illegal casino, right?”

“Mhm,” Cellbit hummed, “laundering scheme and everything. Are you going to report that?”

“Already on it. Some troops were just sent out to investigate.”

“Uhm,” Roier suddenly interrupted, “Is he going to be fine? Quackity is an asshole through and through, but he’s a good guy somewhere in there.”

Cellbit stared at the fading shop as they began driving away, “Ah, I wouldn’t worry about it. I have a feeling he’ll find his way out of it somehow.”

“But on the topic, Roier how did you get to know him?”

“Oh shit, it’s actually a really funny story…”

After saying their goodbyes to Roier, Forever looked at the setting sun before climbing his way back to the office.

Cellbit looked tired as hell from the day, and Forever’s sure he didn't look any better. The constant day of investigation is not a foreign concept to them, but that still doesn’t take away how fucking exhausting it always is.

They finally made their way to the front door, Forever unlocking it as Cellbit waited impatiently. The moment the door was open and Cellbit took the first step inside, a phone ring came from Cellbit’s pockets. 

He groaned at the sound of it and contemplated answering it. By the time the 2nd ring came, Forever commented, “You sure about that? It's your personal phone ring.”

Cellbit gave into the logic and began digging into his coat pockets. He took out his burner phone, a work phone, and another burner phone before finally finding a small flip phone. It was his personal phone that only had the numbers of Cellbit’s small handful of inner inner circle, it was a rare occasion to see it being used.

He flipped it open to answer the call and Forever went to the kitchen to give Cellbit some semblance of privacy. He could still hear some minor bits of the conversation as he raided the unstocked fridge. 

“Why are you calling at this hour?”

“…I mean, yeah but I just finished up-“

“-What? Yeah I remember her, that one girl you were infatuated with- ok, sorry- but what does that have to do with this-“

“…Huh? Really? But wait, why me? Can’t you do it yourself?”

“..But, hey!- Wait, that's just… are you sure?”

“…Oh my god, fine. At least let me get a cup of coffee first… whatever, okay, fuck off… te amo, tchau.” 

The call ended. Forever came out with a cup of yogurt to find Cellbit collapsed on the cooldown couch, head in's hands. 

“Was that-“

“Yep.”

“Damn. What we do for sisters.”

He groaned again, “Don’t get comfortable, we have another case to investigate.”

“Jesus, really? This guy just doesn’t know how to take a break.”

“Whatever, his ass can wait. I need a cup of caffeine…”

Chapter Text

“Who the hell are you?”

Cellbit raised his eyebrow at an unfamiliar man, taller than them by a large margin, who stood outside the house of their witness. He has grown, messy, brown hair, piercings, and overall carried himself like a… a giraffe. He was in a lanky uniform, one similar to the outfits Forever once wore during his starting years at the police department. 

He turned to Cellbit and Forever, and jolted ramrod straight. He placed his fist on his chest and did a jerky bow, which only looked comedic due to his height. Cellbit slightly grimaced and took a sip of coffee to politely take his eyes off the sight. 

“Officer Elliot, Sir!” Elliot rose from his bow and awkwardly got into a military rest position, as if awaiting for orders, “I was sent here at the request of the Detective to-“

“What are you talking about? I didn’t ask for anyone.” 

Elliot winced, and with a sheepish tone, he said, “Ah. I meant, uh, the.. other Detective. She sent me here to supervise.”

Cellbit’s eye visibly twitched and he gripped tighter on his coffee cup, “ She. She had you come here to, what, look over me?” Cellbit stared at the floor and let out a light groan, “ God , what did I do to deserve this treatment?”

Forever butted in in lieu of Cellbit and held out his hand to Elliot, “Ah, don’t mind him. Tough day, he always gets like this.” They shook hands, “I’m Officer Forever, it’s a pleasure to be working with you.”

“Oh, you don't have to!” Elliot gave a small smile, “I’ll just be here to look over the case and send a report back to the Miss. I won't be that helpful with any of the investigative work, you are free to disregard my presence.”

“Nonsense, in any case, I’ll be glad to talk to anyone rather than that bummer over there.” Cellbit coughed into his hand, an indication that he was listening. 

“-If anything, we should apologize for you having to go all the way out here. It would be so much easier if Cellbit actually communicated any information with his sister, but he’s too lazy to write actual reports.” Cellbit coughed louder this time, trying to dissuade Forever. 

Elliot’s eyes widened, “You two are siblings?” 

Cellbit held a closed-off expression, a simple nod, and moved on to the apartment complex. It’s not like Cellbit dislikes his twin or is ashamed of her, Forever knows that for sure, but the two had a complicated relationship and history. They kept their works separated, despite being in the same profession, and held a … competitive sibling rivalry between each other, whether the two acknowledges this or not. 

“Ah, sorry about that. It just surprised me,” Elliot recognized his breach of privacy and backed off, slipping behind Forever and Cellbit as they walked up to their destination. 

It was, per Forever’s first thoughts and impressions, normal. incredulously normal. A giant contrast from the expansive mansions and sketchy undercities they’d visited just before. A plain, completely average, perfectly mundane apartment building in the middle of a common city street. A small, narrow, red-bricked building squeezed between two other structures one or two floors taller than it. It looked, felt, and seemed normal.  And that was the first abnormal thing about it. 

They climbed up to the second floor, stopping in front of the small plywood door of apartment 014. It was a little dusty, but signs of care were placed into the small planted ornaments and welcome signs that littered the little space. Cellbit knocked on the door and within a few minutes, it opened.

The owner of the apartment was a small woman with an Asian complexion. Her dark hair was let down and she donned a plain nightgown paired with white slippers, a large blue hoodie hung over her shoulder. She looked confused at their presence, staring at them with a puzzling expression. 

“Good evening, Ms. Tina, sorry for the intrusion but-“

“ Ah! Cellbit, I’m surprised to see you here!” She let out a friendly smile, at the realization, “Wait, why are you here all of a sudden? If I knew I would’ve prepared for guests…”

“Oh, no, no need to. I got called here last minute, I should’ve checked up with you, really.” 

“You were? What for?” Tina looked up to the ceiling as if filtering through all the possible reasons

“Did you have any cases of missing furniture, items, whatnot? Anything that can be related back to a thief?”

“You know about that? How-“A light of realization dawned on Tina, “Oh my god! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know my little rambles would reach you!”

She cupped her face in her hands in embarrassment, “Oh, now you’ve done it. Cellbit, I am so sorry it really isn’t a big deal, I never thought to bother you guys-“ 

“Tina! It’s fine really, it’s my job-“

“ No! It’s not! I know you’re really busy and probably tired and— oh gosh you probably haven’t eaten anything yet too!— Ahh, it’s so late and you’re probably starving and exhausted.” She looked at them all with worried eyes, “Please, I’m making some stew right now. It’s not much, but at least have something!”

Cellbit looked stunned, “No, really, we’re fine-“

Tina was already halfway into her apartment, she looked back at Cellbit with a burning glare, “If you don’t accept I will suffocate myself in my pillow tonight.”

And then they were left in the outside hallway. Cellbit had his finger hanging in the air, mouth gaping open as if in the middle of a sentence. With that note of finality, they moved inside. 

Tina’s house was humble and cozy, bathed in warm light to give a comfortable ambiance. Her home was small, nostalgic, and more alarmingly, still furnished . 

“Uh, Tina, I’m wondering. What exactly did you lose?”

They heard rustling in the kitchen as Tina prepared four bowls of savory soup. “Oh, I’ve been losing track of one or two little things… Bows, utensils, my keys.”

Both Cellbit and Forever narrowed their eyes. 

Tina prepped the square dining room table, four bowls, four cups of water in varying mugs, and three medium spoons along with one of a different set that was slightly larger than the others. 

As Forever and Elliot stood by the living area, engaged in their own conversations, Tina glanced over at Cellbit. He took notice and they both maintained eye contact. He took it as a sign to come close.

Tina opened her mouth, and hesitated, before pushing through it. “…So. How is she doing?”

Cellbit let out a long breath, contemplating his answer, “She’s out there, as always, wrapped up in everything,” He shot a knowing look at Tina, “If anything, I should be asking you. Clearly, you two have talking more than I have with her.”

A light pink dusted Tina, she tsked her tongue, “Not in that way! Besides, you would know how she’s doing or feeling better, with your- uh. Twin senses! Or something…”

Cellbit let out a lighthearted laugh. “She’d do a lot better with you around. Keep calling, she enjoys your company.”

Tina’s face deepened, gazing off in a trance. She snapped out of it after glancing down and realizing dinner was set. “Oh. E-Everyone, sit around. Food is ready.” 

Everyone was welcomed to eat, the clattering of chairs and utensils was carried out. Cellbit took a tiny sip of the soup before speaking up again, “Well then, Tina. Was that all you’ve lost so far? Nothing major is out of place to you? Nothing comes to mind?”

Tina took a long sip before humming to herself and looking at the ceiling in thought, “Well, there was that one potted plant I was taking care of, I can’t find it anywhere. Just, poof , gone!” 

“… Was there anything else?”

“No, nothing I can recall, “ she looked at Cellbit with a concerned look, “Is that an issue, Cellbit?”

“Ah… no, It’s fine..” Cellbit started poking his food around. “If thats the case, would you have any idea who did it?”

“Who did it? Uhm, If I thought about it,” Tina started trailing off in thoughts, “I haven’t had that many friends over, I just talk with others online— Which is completely fine, ok!— But other than that, my neighbor has been busy the past couple of days and the newspaper boy is only there during the mornings.”

Her attention pulled back to Cellbit, “But... isn’t there already a suspect?”

Cellbit let out a sigh, “Ah, right. Him , The Soul Thief.” He scooped up portions of the soup and tilted it, letting the liquid cascade back down, “I would usually consider him, but your case doesn’t quite fit his usual signs. That Thief usually goes for more… well-off houses. Ones that would stand out in some way, no offense Tina.”

Cellbit made a meager gesture around the lived-in apartment, “And usually he would go for something more prominent, something you would notice at first glance. You’ve been lucky in comparison to some we’ve seen, Tina.”

Tina looked down at the bottom of her finished bowl, lips slightly downturned, “ Oh , well I suppose thats fortunate to hear.”

Forever noticed her disappointment, quickly swallowing his current bite before speaking up, “Ah, don’t worry! You’re not the first one to get confused, Tina. We got a bunch of calls this morning with people way more panicked than you.”

“Awh, you’re so nice,” Tina gave a small smile in gratitude, “It’s just a little, well, embarrassing seeing I got you all to come here. I tried so hard to keep track of everything in my house too…”

She let out a small sigh in response and started cleaning up her portion of the table, ‘Well if we’re planning to catch my original thief, I guess we can start with whoever left the muffins on my table.” 

Cellbit’s eyes widened at this, “Huh? You got one of the muffins? Why didn’t you say that sooner?”

Tina was surprised at the sudden outburst, “What? Oh, I- uhm…” It’s like the thought didn’t even come to her, “You never really asked about anything that was left behind…”

Cellbit wasn’t phased by Tina’s oversight, “If you got one, what could that mean? Tina, where is it?” He began to sit up before- 

“Nope! Stop that!” Tina tsked at him and commanded Cellbit to sit down, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve barely eaten anything!”

Cellbit sat down and looked at his lukewarm bowl which, practically, has gone untouched. He blushed out of embarrassment of being caught, “I’m sorry- It’s not bad! But-“

“Oh- thank god, I was hoping it didn't taste like shit. But since you agreed! what’s stopping you from finishing the meal before we continue with the investigations, hm? I’ll get the muffin in the meantime”

Cellbit blinked a few times, looking into Tina’s small but determined gaze. He fidgeted around and thrummed his fingers in impatience. Forever and Elliott caught eye others’ eyes during the conflict, both feeling out of place in it, like watching a parent scold their child. 

“I- But-“ Cellbit looked down on the offending soup, frowning. He is itching to get his hands on the clue— but would hate the thought of disrespecting Tina any further. Cellbit shot a look at Forever, calling for his help. Forever shrugged in his face. 

Finally, Cellbit relented and picked up his spoon, eating the soup at a fevered pace. 

Tina let out a smug and content smile. Forever stared at her with awe. Whenever he tried to suggest eating something Cellbit just tells him to piss off. 

In the midst of Cellbit rushing a serving of soup, Tina took out the suspicious muffin from the fridge, handing it to Forever. He took a look at the same generic chocolate chip muffin that they saw throughout the day. It was decently preserved, chill to the touch.

He flipped the muffin over. The bottom was inscribed in a more complex symbol; “ಠ_ಠ”

He stared at it, puzzled. Unsure of how to even begin deciphering the text. Forever rotate the muffin, tilted it to get a new angle, touched it to maybe understand something. Nothing. The symbol stayed there, indecipherable. He felt judged in its presence. 

A clatter on the table made Forever look up. Cellbit had finished his bowl at a record pace, threw it aside, and was not-so-discreetly demanding the muffin. Forever obliged and passed the dessert over. 

Cellbit took one look at it and furrowed his eyebrows, perplexed by it too. “Where does he keep getting these?” 

“Do you think it’s some sort of cipher? The other ones were characters of the alphabet, but this one seems custom.”

“Hmm, that might be possible. We could try combining the other messages together to see if it writing out something encrypted.” Cellbit placed the muffin on the table, in view of everyone, “There would be some issues with the order, and if we’re missing any but-“

“Is that the disappointed face?” Elliot interrupted. 

“The what?” 

Elliot looked shy at the attention, but spoke after Cellbit and Forever’s curious faces encouraged him to keep going, “You know… the disappointed face? When texting?”

He pointed at the circle with dots, “Eyes.” Then to the lines above them that were slightly curled up, “Eyebrows.” Finally, to the middle bottom line “Mouth.”

Forever and Cellbit leaned over the table to reevaluate the supposed face. They pieced together Elliot’s description. “Huh. I can kinda see it, no?” Forever said.

“Yeah when he puts it that way-“

“Little hard to make out— What's with the new letter?”

“And he said this was a texting thing? When did people even come up with-“

“Gah, the youth and their new symbols. So convoluted…”

Elliot watched as the two nodded between each other, passing small observations back and forth. He shot an astonished glance at Tina, who looked back at him with a sheepish smile, as if she was used to this sight.

“I’ve read reports of you solving decades-old enigmas and cases,” Elliot said, mostly to himself, “and here you are, confused by modern text emoticons.”

Cellbit heard him, coughed to clear his throat, and decided to veer back the topic. “This muffin has been some of the sole evidence left behind for a string of extreme robberies. The main assumption so far was that they are in some way connected to The Soul Thief. We were skeptical at first, but as more stuff piles on, it seems like the most logical conclusion.”

“However, all of these signs are left after the crime and I’m unsure what they're even supposed to imply,” Cellbit furrowed his eyebrows, “A disappointed face, is that supposed to mean something? Were the others significant? Are they all a red herring?”

He brought his gaze up to Tina, “Tina, whatever the true meaning is, it’s safe to say that you’ve been visited by the Thief or at least landed on his radar.”

Tina brought up her hand to cup her face, worry in her eyes, “I… I don’t know what to do about that. What can I do about that? What have I done for this, why pick me?”

Forever looked at her with sympathy, “We’re not sure why you’d be a target either. Most other victims either had money, status, or both. He's diverted from that, so we’re currently in the dark right now.” 

“Unless,” Cellbit said in a nonchalant tone, “You have something you’re hiding.”

Elliot’s face turned into a look of shock. Tina blinked, took a moment to process, and then got offended at the prospect. “What are you saying, Cellbit? I thought this was to investigate The Thief?”

“Yeah, exactly, and The Thief found you a worthy target. I’m just here to ask why.”

“Why?” He said, “Would he choose such an unsuspecting place?  Why, for the first time ever, would he leave behind a warning?  Why, coincidentally, would it also line up with your acquaintances with us?”

Tina sputtered, nervous. Either from the pressure of confrontation or the guilt of hiding something, that was undetermined. “I don’t know either, asshole! It beats me what he even thinks I have to hide! I don’t go around flaunting that I'm doing anything, or know anything.” 

Cellbit took her words into consideration, and shrugged. “The best secrets usually aren't the ones who stick out.” 

Elliot switched to Forever with an appalled gaze, as if doubtful of Cellbit’s conclusions. Forever spared him a glance, but nothing else. He had little to offer explanation to Elliot. Cellbit was not one to overlook any potential holes or loose strings, no matter how seemingly improbable it was. If he wanted to get to the bottom of any case, crime, or investigation; sugarcoating wouldn’t do him any good. 

Tina looks at Cellbit with an incredulous look, “I have a one-bedroom apartment and the hot water runs out by 9:00 pm. If I was hiding something— which I’m not! I’m not even aware if there even is any sketchy stuff out there that I would be good at!— if there was something, it would not be here.”

“I mean really,” Tina gestured around the apartment, and then to herself in all her pajama-wearing glory, “Take a look at me!”

Cellbit skimmed gazed up and down, and not one second later backed off. He raised his hand up as a gesture of surrender, “Makes sense. You get it, I had to cover all my grounds.”

Tina scoffed and lightly punched him in the shoulder, “You’re such a scumbag.” 

Elliot coughed to draw attention to himself, “So. If that's resolved, what would the warning mean then? Is Ms. Tina in danger?”

“A number of things, can practically mean anything you want it to be,” Cellbit explained, “The message being vague in nature doesn’t help with specificity, We’re better off guessing the general scope.”

“The most likely choice is that Tina might be the next in line to get targeted, right?” Forever assumed, “But when this will be, though, isn’t clear. Maybe minutes, days, weeks from now. We need to start preparing in some way.” 

Cellbit nodded. He turned to Elliot, “Whether or not Tina would be in actual danger depends, but I don’t think we need to worry about her safety.”

“Huh? Why not?”

Cellbit tilted his head, as if juggling around his thoughts, “In some twisted and skewed way, he strikes me as a pacifist.”

Forever internally wheezed at the thought, I still get headaches from that scuffle in the zoo, peaceful my ass. But he held his concerns to himself. 

Cellbit switched his attention over to Tina, “If anything, I’d advise you to pack up your valuables and stay at some other friend’s house in the meantime.”

Tina looked like she wanted to protest, but couldn’t think of any other options. She sighed, “Gods, what can we even begin to do? I feel hopeless in this.”

Elliot, quick to sympathy, began offering any semblance of comfort, “Don’t worry Ms. Tina. I’m sure we’ll figure it out for you. I’ll send a troop over to guard this area, if The Thief does decide to break into here, he’s not going to do so without a fight!” 

She looked up at him with a hopeful gaze, “Do you really think so?” She cupped her cheek with one hand and continued, “Isn’t he able to get away with anything? And what if he strikes before you guys prepare anything, in the dark, without anyone noticing?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that Tina. We’re here, and it’s a small space. He wouldn’t be able to strike anytime soon. Not until we’ve bugged it first” Forever joined to raise morale. 

He looked at Cellbit, “C’mon, even you know. I bet you’re losing your shit at the chance of setting up another trap for him.”

Cellbit grinned. “Yeah, he won’t know what hit him,” he said.

… Or would’ve said. 

But Cellbit didn’t. He could only finish the sentence partway, his words dying at his throat. 

Cellbit couldn’t finish his thoughts because, halfway through, he was interrupted by the world engulfed in darkness.

The room paused for a moment, barely a second, a period of realization that felt like it lasted minutes. But then that second ended, and with it, everything delved into chaos.

Forever couldn’t make out anything, but he could certainly hear it. 

He heard the confused screams and terrified yells that came from around him. Beyond that, objects were being thrown and shoved around, and the banging and screeching and ruckus of furniture was encompassing. The dim moonlight from outside only lit up the windows, highlighting faint outlines that sporadically moved around. Footsteps stomped the floor, a piece of glass broke, and words from his companions were shouted out. 

“What the fuc-“

“What is happenin-“

CRASH

“Where are you guys!”

“Who the hell is there?”

All of this occurred in the span of seconds, their words mixed together. 

“The Thief! The Thief is here!”

CLANG

“Fuck- Someone catch him!”

“Light, lights- someone get-“

“The windows!”

BANG

“Get a FUCKING light!”

Forever couldn’t think in his head, his senses were on fire. 

He tuned out everything as best he could, head throbbing as he began to feel for anything, anything he could. His hands traveled from the chair, to the table, to reaching into his pockets. 

If he gets his phone, his the phone’s light-

Forever felt his fingers touch a metallic surface, something at the top of his items, squid recently. His eyes widened in the darkness, lighting with realization. 

Slime’s stupid fucking flashlight.

SLAM

It was ripped out of his coat pocket in a moment, shaking fingers fumbling to hold it steady. He pointed it directly in front of him. The time it took for him to get a grip and press the button must’ve taken him less than a millisecond, but to him, it felt like an eternity. 

When it finally clicked, a small, gracing, beam of light shot through the room. The dark chamber seemed to pause, standing still, as if it was adapting to the presence of such a disruptive light. 

Everyone’s attention was caught, garnered by the luminescence like a flock of moths. All eyes zero in on the sight before them, the scene spotlighted for all to see.

They saw The Soul Thief, back facing them, a ways away from the windows which looked out to the moonlit darkness of the night.  And then they saw Elliot fall out the window. 

Shit.

Forever wasn’t deaf yet, the piercing scream made that abundantly clear. 

The Soul Thief’s arm was outstretched, placed exactly where Elliot stood just moments ago. Tina’s high-pitched screams of terror and Cellbit’s alarmed yell filled the room. Forever probably screamed too. He hoped he did. If he didn’t, it was because he was too entranced by the presence of The Soul Thief. 

A distant, sickening, CRUNCH came from outside. It snapped Forever back into action, his instincts taking over. 

He hopped over the couch between him and The Soul Thief. Forever was two steps away from him when The Thief gracefully jumped and started scaling the apartment ladders. 

Shit.

Forever almost crashed onto the metal railings that perimetered the small balcony space. He spared a look straight down, and saw Elliot’s form, crumbled on the blacktop of the street. 

Shit.

There was blood, maybe? Or not, it’s only the second floor. Forever couldn’t get a clear view of his condition. He looked up again and saw The Soul Thief swiftly ascending. 

Oh, fuck this!

He looked at Cellbit, desperate. “Check up on him. Now . I’ll go.”

He was off before Cellbit even got a chance to respond. 

The metal ladder shuddered and creaked with Forever’s rushed climb, adrenaline powered him through every misstep and every close trip. He arrived at the rooftop and didn’t spare any time to begin scanning  around. His eyes flitted across the nighttime scene before landing on a moving blur. The red was almost invisible in the moonlight, almost . 

The Soul Thief was climbing up to another nearby building’s roof. Forever chased him, determined to not let him out of his sight. He stumbled over multiple air conditioning units and grabbed onto another ladder, lifting himself up to another rooftop. 

The Soul Thief was halfway across the building, when he perked up and looked behind him. Forever’s noise must’ve given him away, as those white eyes landed straight on him.

He grunted as he lugged himself onto the edge. Ah, well, he’s been caught anyway. “In the name of the law, get back here you bastard!” He yelled out into the air. 

The Soul Thief hesitated, looking back and forth between Forever and the direction in front of him. He made his decision, and continued forward. Gracefully weaving through the various machinery that covered the floor. 

Forever forced himself to pick up his pace, and he ran. He only held back a bit, just to watch his footing. 

The Soul Thief was moving from building to building, from rooftop to rooftop. Following a pathway resembling some shitty uneven staircase. Forever followed his trail, just barely, but with every climb, he just managed to get an extra glimpse of where the Thief was chasing. 

The wind was whizzing by, the cold air slapping Forever’s skin. He feels like his lungs burn and his legs tire, but The Thief has not slowed down, so he will not either. Forever’s eyes trailed him with vigor. The exhaustion was seeping into other parts of his body, affecting his vision, the silhouette of The Soul Thief sometimes doubling into a more vicious shadow. 

Forever saw The Soul Thief run up to the edge of the nth roof, and then seemingly jumped off. He automatically followed suit, and was on the ledge preparing to jump until Forever looked down and saw nothing. 

His head spun as he looked down and saw a straight fall down to a small street. Forever’s hand became clammy and his breath seemingly sped up. He raised his gaze and saw The Soul Thief across the gap, having landed on a smaller building. A white glance was thrown in Forever’s direction before he back to running. The Thief was already getting away. 

Forever stood there for just a second, lost in a trance, before he snapped back and forced himself to take a few steps back before his rational can kick in. 

Fuck. What the hell. What the fuck-

He took off in a sprint, the open air coming closer and closer. 

Oh shit. No fucking way, no fucking way-

Forever’s legs folded and pushed . In one second, he couldn’t feel stable ground, his heart rate raced as Forever accelerated across the gap. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can feel the moonlight outline him. 

Holy shit!

In the next second, gravity returned to Forever. His body slammed onto the ledge of the next building, his middle getting a punch of concrete. Forever coughed as the air was knocked out of his lungs. He felt his limbs freeze up, but the adrenaline and panic urged him to reach safety.

Forever bowed his weight forward, doing a lousy front flip. He groaned as the world turned and, finally , settled on solid ground. Forever’s arms wrapped around his stomach, cradling the pain. 

“God, you absolute asshole!” 

Forever involuntarily let out a spiteful insult as he stumbled onto his feet. He once again broke out into a sprint, heading in the general direction of where The Soul Thief took off. His heart rate rose again, this time, from the panic of possibly losing sight of The Thief. But he saw a flash from below that caught his attention. 

Forever carefully climbed down a rooftop ladder, and made his way back to ground level. A quick dash toward the direction of the blur led Forever to a dead end. 

He panicked, looking around before spotting a plain blue door. There was only a sign on it, printed with “Authorized Personals Only”. Ah, well. Maybe the law can sit out on this one. 

Forever brushed through the door and was immediately greeted with ceramic flooring. He took a look back before making proceeding through the tiled hallway. Forever strained his ears, perking up when he heard the distant rhythmic patters of footsteps. He reached the end of the area, turning the corner, before freezing in recognition.

Oh. how nostalgic . It was the museum where they first reunited.  

The building was practically empty, closed off perhaps, it might be too late for this place to be open. It was eerily, seeing the exhibit rooms barren of visitors. Forever passed by a fenced-off area, “Closed until further notice! The exhibit is being cleaned!”. In a smaller sign, "Caution: broken glass." He scoffed in amusement. 

It does raise the question of why The Soul Thief had returned to this place. Was it another prize to be sought, or did he have other connections to this museum? 

Forever surveyed the area quickly, but was careful to not alert The Thief of his presence. He grabbed a nearby metal fence, deconstructing it until he was left with a pole in case their confrontation got physical. 

During this Forever heard a slight crash in the distance that alerted him, and he took off in the direction of it. His ears started picking up a voice, echoing off the museum chambers.

“You back here you.. You ragamuffin! I chased you all the way over here, you’re not getting rid of me that easily!”

Forever softened his footsteps, slowly inching towards a doorway that led to a bigger room, the room where The Soul Thief currently resided. He hasn’t noticed Forever yet, too caught up in this one-person conversation. Forever kept his presence hidden, and listened to the curious dialogue. 

“It’s just you and me here, there's no point in hiding.” The Soul Thief called out, seemingly into the open air, “You’re bold. That stunt you pulled there was bold. You invaded my territory and look how that turned out.”

Forever built up the courage to peek out the corner, relief filling his system when he saw that The Soul Thief was facing the other way. He had his arms outstretched, in a brazen and welcoming way. 

“Spare yourself the effort, I’m willing to hunt you all down, one by one. You can’t run forever.” 

Forever’s spine shivered with The Thief’s intonation. His thoughts streamed past, trying to connect sense and logic to what The Soul Thief was saying. It was fruitless, the apparent gaps in knowledge prevented him from reaching a conclusion.  

Suddenly, Forever saw a flash of darkness speed by. It would’ve been unnoticeable in any other environment, but the light colors of the museum made the black blur prominent. It was heading towards him.

Oh shit! It was heading towards him . 

Forever retracted his head and flattened himself against the wall as much as he could, holding his breath. He could see the shadow run across the hallway, into another adjacent room. The Soul Thief followed suit shortly, missing a just-out-of-sight Forever. 

The blur ran to a small room holding a large glass block that held historical artifacts. The doors of the case seemingly opened with a whirlwind which followed the movements of the shadow. The Thief didn't waste a second to enter the box, planning to cut off all forms of escape for the blur. 

He moved in a manic manner, ignoring all of the priceless relics inside the box. His head jerked around, searching for something to pin down. There was nothing. It wasn’t there.  

Forever didn’t wait this time, acting immediately to close the display stand. The Thief jolted back in surprise to see the glass doors shutting his exit, the force reverberating the entire box. 

“What- Why are you here?”

The Soul Thief got past his initial shock, switching to a more precarious attitude. He ran against the door, attempting to slam it open. The doors shuttered back and forth with each shove, bouncing between Forever and The Thief’s weight. He then moved targets to the walls, banging on them with anything he could, each one getting more and more desperate. In a last-ditch attempt, The Soul Thief threw the artifacts at the ceiling. Nothing. The reinforced glass remained virtually unscratched. 

Forever acted quickly, sliding the metal bar into the handles of the doors. As a final precaution, he pulled it back and forth to check the security, and it didn't relent. 

Forever took a deep breath for what felt like a lifetime, and stood back to marvel at his accomplishments. In front of him, lies The Soul Thief, encaged in a pretty display. 

He could almost cheer out in glee.

What stopped him, however, was the strange actions of the Soul Thief. He was back on his knees, hands searching through the trashed flooring of the small space. Pieces of pottery, bones, or paper were shoved around in a frenzy, which only served to agitate The Thief further. 

“Stop..” he froze for a second, still crouching over the ground, “Stop laughing at me.”

Forever looked around, confused. “Uh… Did I laugh? I don’t think I did.”

“Stop laughing at me!” The Thief yelled out in a louder tone. The noise echoed throughout the box. 

“Hey, hey! Calm down man, are you hearing things?”

The Thief straightened up. He took one big breath, two. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand and then proceeded to roll over into a more relaxed sitting position. His eyes landed straight on Forever, immediately scrutinizing him. 

“Well.” He looked around once more at his enclosure. “I don’t suppose you can let me out?” his hand pointed at the metal bar. 

“Well.” Forever deadpanned at the lock, then at The Soul Thief, “I suppose it depends on if you explain what the fuck happened earlier.”

The Thief’s eyes pinched together, as if his expression soured. “You not actually going to let me out just for that, won’t you?”

“Eh, I’m feeling 50/50 today. Maybe 40/60 after that workout.” 

“Is that so…” 

The Thief clearly wanted to end the conversation then, but Forever had other intentions. “What were you chasing?”

“Ah, what? Oh, that was just something meant to annoy me.”

“Really? Who wanted to annoy you? And why were you so desperate to chase it?”

The Soul Thief looked at him, tilting his head. “Trying to chase what?”

"Uh? the thing we were just talking about? the blur?" The Thief looked at Forever with a clueless expression “What do you mean? The weird black thingy! The blurry thing that got you trapped here in the first place?”

“Black blur? Are you sure you didn’t mistake it with me?” The Thief’s tone was filled with mirth. “Hey, Mister Sidekick. You sure you don’t need to get your eyes checked? It’s just you and me here.”

Forever felt his chest grate, incredulous at the obvious lies. He moved closer to the cage, waving his hands around “What shit are you spouting? We both saw it, you were speaking to it! Did you just wander into this cage then?”

The Thief stood up inside the display, his stance straightening up in an attempt to reach Forever’s eye level, despite being a head shorter. He took a step forward, right against the display, and crossed his arms. “Funny, I can’t recall that. Did you hit your head on the jump down? Last thing I remember, you rudely shoved me into this box when I was just admiring the ancient history!” 

“You! You’re standing on them right now, what are you say-” Forever’s words cut midway. The silence prominent in their absence.

The Soul Thief fidgeted with his sleeves, unused to the silence. “I said what? What do you think I said-”

Out of nowhere, Forever took a step forward. He stood right in front of the glass walls that separated him and The Thief. The sudden change of distance caused The Thief to unconsciously tilt his head up to maintain eye contact. 

“This,”  the glass was thick, but Forever’s piercing words couldn’t have made them feel thinner. “This. Is what you do every single goddamned time.” 

“Every single word you say just serves to contradict the other. What is this all for? Are you trying to drive me mad?” The Thief opened his mouth to retort, but Forever didn’t allow him to. “Everything is always a double meaning with you. How do you even begin to differentiate the truth from the lies– Do you even keep track?”  

The Soul Thief glared back, “That’s so rude! You’re welcome to ignore them, by the way! I didn’t know just my speaking invited so many unwanted opinions. They might as well hold no meaning over you.”

“Unwanted?”  Forever burned with spite, feeling a decades-old pain resurface. He barked out a humorless laugh. “ Haha! Everything is the same! There's no way! Gods, you really haven’t changed at all? Haven’t you, B-”

Ring-ring! 

A phone ring made them both jump, dissipating the dense tension in a second. It came from Forever, and he awkwardly coughed into his hands as he assessed the situation, wondering how he ended up so close to the glass, centimeters from being pressed up against it. Forever finished out his phone and glanced over the contact. Cellbit . 

He sent a wary glance back to The Soul Thief, who shot back a raised eyebrow (Eye? Eyelid?). Forever accepted the call and switched over to Portuguese. 

“Hey-”

“Dude! Forever where are you? You just ran off out of nowhere!”

Forever winced at the loud voice that Cellbit started with. His muddled mind started to clear from the tenseness that plagued the room a few seconds ago, and he collected his thoughts. “I… uh. Chased the thief. How… how is Elliot?”

“It’s hard to say, he landed somewhere near his head so the situation is grim. We won’t know until the medical reports come out but,” Cellbit let out a drawn sigh. “He’s alive at least.”

“Ah. that’s good. I'm glad.” Forever breathed out in relief. He hasn’t truly processed what happened to Elliot, the rush of the chase distracting him up until now. He’s truly glad that the young officer is fine. 

“Anyways, where the hell are you now?” Cellbit’s tone narrowed, “Come back here, I’ve called the authorities already but Tina has been freaking out and I have no idea how to comfort her… I kinda need your help here man.” 

Forever looked behind him, “Uh, I don’t think I should leave this place unsupervised.”

“What? What happened? Where are you?” 

“Well,” Forever thought for a second, thinking it over. Then, he broke into a smile. He turned to The Soul Thief and spoke to him in English. “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

The Thief was cautious, eying the phone in Forever’s hands. “Whose that?”

Forever sat down on the steps before the box, crossing his legs and leaning his back on the glass. He placed the phone on speaker and set it down on the floor, next to the tiny opening at the bottom of a door. 

He finally clicked a button on the screen, switching the phone to speaker mode. 

“Hello? Forever? What was that?” Cellbit’s digitized voice made a small echo across the room. 

The Soul Thief peaked up, “Is… Is that the detective?”

“What? Forever who's there? I thought you were chasing the…”

It must’ve clicked for Cellbit. “Yeah, I trapped him.” Forever confirmed his suspicions

“What?” Cellbit’s microphone crunched with his volume. “Actually? How did you- Where are you?”

“Did you remember that museum you dragged me into a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, there.”

“Why are you- Oh, whatever. I’m on my way.”

Forever looked back to The Thief, who was uncomfortably looking around in this enclosure. Claustrophobia maybe? Or maybe he disliked the feeling of being trapped. Forever hummed, “You should talk to him over the phone, I’m not sure how long I can hold him.”

Forever caught the Soul Thief shooting him a confused look before he turned away. “Oh, shit really? Oh, okay uhm…” Cellbit fell into silence as he thought over the questions. 

After a while, he came up with one “What’s your name?”

There was a long pause after that, The Soul Thief held back his words, not wanting to continue the conversation. But in the end, his curiosity and confusion won out, “What? Is this an interrogation or something? Wait. What have you been calling me this entire time?”

“Hey man, you never really bothered to communicate with us for us to get an actual name! Do you actually like the title of ‘The Soul Thief’ or what?”

“Huh, I guess that is what they’ve been calling me. But it sounds so-” The Soul Thief cringed, “- morbid and unrealistic. Who thinks of this stuff? Like, how would I even steal souls?”

“Well, it’s a little too late if you’re looking for a name change.” The microphone picked up some background noise, it seemed like Cellbit was moving around. “Practically everyone calls you that after that World article was released.” 

“Oh, don’t get me started on that one!” He took an offended tone, “They have no sense of character analysis! Caused me a real headache.”

“Really? It really struck you hard then, considering how many more crimes you’ve been doing.”

“Huh? If you put it that way, maybe, but it's hard to say-”

“It is strange how you’re going about it though, what use did you get from all of that expensive furniture?”

“Which one- Oh, are you referring to that time?” The Soul Thief hummed, “Yeah, the interior design was quite a marvel, I couldn’t help but copy.” 

“Did the design of that taco shop catch your eye too? Or did you see it for what it truly was.”

“...Taco shop? What are you saying?”

“A taco shop? A casino? The laundering scheme? Rings a bell?”

“Uhh,” He seemed to struggle to recall the details, “Oh, right! That casino? They’re pretty looking and all but a little too much effort for my taste. It's been a while since I’ve visited one thought…”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure it's hard to remember something so far back,” A click of a car door sounded out, and all the previous background noise was muffled. “So let's go back to a few minutes ago…”

“What were you doing at Tina’s house.”

The Soul Thief’s mood turned sour, displease. “I… I was in a tight spot. I can’t say I enjoyed my stay there too much.”

“Oh, really?” Cellbit tone turned sharp, a car engine started. “Which was it? Was it a little bit too drab for your taste? Or was it too dark– oh, who am I kidding? You probably thrived in that.”

“No, If I had to guess. I suppose it was our company, wasn’t it? Did you get shy? So much so you had to push a man out of the window?”

The Thief’s defensive guard was back up, “...What are you playing at here, Detective?” 

“I’m just following what you’re putting down,” Cellbit said, “And to my knowledge, it seemed you planned this entire goose chase from the start.”

“I don't know what you’re talking about.”

“Hah, of course you do! Who else would it be but you? What, was this all an intricate plot to get us running around investigating crumbs? Just so you can dangle your escape in front of us,” Cellbit was getting really worked up, “Well, look how that turned out, you Thief.”

“Detective… I’m really not sure if I follow.” 

“What? You of all people should know? Do I have to recount everything? Slime’s house? Quackity’s casino? Tina’s warning?”

The Soul Thief was more and more lost, “What are you saying- A warning? Slime? I haven’t set foot in a casino in months!”

You can hear a pin drop. 

“You…” Cellbit started, “You have to be lying.”

“What? Why would I? Like you said, I’m trapped here.”

“But... But who else would steal so much furniture? All unnoticed?” Cellbit accused, “And… What the hell was up with those muffins?” 

“Muffi– Huh?” 

“The chocolate ones! With a face on them! You left them behind every scene!”

“Oh, that sounds so cool…” The Soul Thief slipped back into his relaxed demeanor, “But, sadly, not me. I’m sorry Detective, it seems you got the wrong guy.”

“No, stop fucking with me,” Cellbit cursed out some Portuguese under his breath, “It can’t be a coincidence, it has to be you. What are you hidin-”

Cellbit’s voice cut off suddenly, the lack of his harsh tone left a sudden contrast in the room. Forever’s hand hovered over the phone. 

Immediately, it started ringing again. Forever picked up the phone and turned it off without looking. He swiveled in his spot, facing the Thief once again. 

The Soul Thief looked at him curiously, “Oh? What's this? Did you want some one-on-one time with me?”

Forever didn't partake in his charades. “Why?"

“Why what-”

“Why are you doing this? What do you get from this?”

The Thief shifted uncomfortably at how direct Forever was being, “Oh, you know how it is. This economy is in shambles, I need the money. Uhm, survival of the fittest… or something?”

“No, well. I guessed the better way to say it is why are you doing this?” Forever repeated himself. 

“Hm, I don’t see why my personal involvement makes anything different.” 

“See, you say that, but we both know that makes all the difference.” Forever narrowed his eyes, “What is making you do this, Bad?” 

Bad flinched. He then steeled his expression, and said with an unphased tone, “...Why do you think I’m being made to do this, Forever?” 

Forever clenched his teeth, “Oh, I don’t know. I just find it hard to believe you’d be willing to turn to such petty crimes.”

“That would imply you know me at all,” Bad’s posture was closed off, guarded.

“Ah, I’m not sure. I think I have a pretty decent grasp on you.”

“That proves it all the more. You act so all-knowing yet all your efforts haven’t even begun to graze the surface.” he scoffed, “You even got caught up in a fraud’s biddings, so easily, at that. You probably still think it's me, don’t you, Forever?”

“I don’t know, Bad, you could be lying for all we know.  I guess the muffins are throwing me off.” 

“Is that all it takes? Is that all of the convincing you need?” Bad’s voice rose, “How low do you think I am?”

“Well, apparently I don’t know you at all! So where does that lead me?” 

“You..” Bad broke out into laughter, clutching his sides. It was a harsh one. “You spend all of this effort investigating, researching, chasing me.” 

He looked back up, catching eye contact with Forever, “But this entire time, this entire time-” the laughter ended, “You were just looking for a Thief to catch.”

“That was it, wasn’t it?” Bad’s voice became hollow, accusatory, “Tell me, Forever. Were you ever looking for me ? Or just another selfish thief to add to your record.” 

Forever felt his breath seized up. He… he never truly made the connection, did he?

It was too bizarre to him, a twist that seemed like a cruel joke on reality. The Thief… he was sly, cunning, and selfish. A little bit aloof, but also dangerous . 

And Bad? Well… Bad was all of those things. 

…But he could also be kind, hardworking, and loyal. He had compassion for all and was, most indistinguishably, human. He held a gentle care that would touch the souls of any who were lucky enough to experience it. And he was dangerous as well. Much more dangerous. 

They were similar, yet so different. Worlds and times apart, but one and the same. Forever wouldn’t see the connection between the two, couldn’t dare to. As if not to shatter some faintly painted illusion of a moment long passed

But it is the reality now, staring at him straight in the face. Forever looked at Bad and a haze cleared out. The man in a glass box was on display for Forever and Forever only. He had a lean frame and wore intricate outfits that blended into the shadow. His appearance was one of a great thief, but his tone, words, and mannerisms were all, irrevocably, Bad’s. 

Bad stood in the glass box. He was trapped in there, vulnerable and open, But at the same time, Bad was as guarded off and distant from Forever as he could get. 

Forever distantly thinks that he would like to start closing that distance.

“Oh, great, now you’re not even responding to me.” Bad grumbled and turned his back to Forever, “I doubt anything I can say would convince you now. Congrats, idiot, you missed your chance to talk to me. I won’t let out a single thing, at even your best interrogators! Or actually, the best interrogation methods probably imply torture– can you tone that down if that’s the case? I just don't think it’s worth the hassl-”

His words were cut off by a loud, resonating, sound of metal. Bad jerked his head over, his eyes widening at the sight of Forever walking away with a metal bar swung over his shoulder. The metal bar that was used to lock the doors. 

“Why?” he let out a whisper involuntarily. 

Forever couldn’t really pinpoint one singular reason why. He supposed Bad could still be reasonably behind the furniture cases. It didn’t seem too far-fetched to assume that he was just lying again because, after all, who else would use a muffin as a calling sign? 

And even if all of those cases were of a fraud, Bad would still get a hefty trial for shoving Elliot out a window. He was clearly there, the arms were outstretched, and there were three confirmed witnesses. One wouldn’t bat an eye at declaring him as guilty. 

But, in actuality, that singular point where the entire case fell apart. In all of Forever’s moments of knowing Bad, which came with high highs and catastrophically low lows, there was only a few things that truly stayed constant with Bad. 

One of them, is that he would never, ever, dare to hurt someone who was weaker than him. 

Forever has known Bad was innocent for a while now, but if he had to pinpoint when, he would’ve guessed around the time that flashlight turned on. 

Ah, right, what was it? Why does Forever think Bad is innocent? Well, when it comes down to it. 

“I’m just hoping you haven't changed that much.” Forever said. 

These words were greeted with silence. Forever turned around and found an open glass box, long deserted of any captives. He paused, then continued humming as he strolled out of the room with a metal bar over his shoulder. 

The wind was gentle outside the museum, and as he heard a violent screech of rubber burning against asphalt,  Forever believed that, somehow, his words were still heard and received. 

Chapter Text

The buzzing of the fan hummed across the room

Forever’s skin was thrumming with energy, making him grimace under the temperature. It was in the middle of summer, and he was sitting in a shut-off room lit with only a small lamp as lighting. The temperature felt like it fluctuated, one second uncomfortably hot, and the next, unbearably cold and cold and empty. So much more unreasonably frigid than it should be. 

Summer break has finally come, and all of Forever’s grandiose plans have been absolutely wrecked . All of the international trips, the sunny days at the beach, and the lively nights at festivals were ruined. Instead, he’s locked in his room, looking for any trace of a ghost. 

His eyes scanned the pages of the school records, matching any information he could conjure from his memories. It felt useless, nothing truly matched up. Always just slightly wrong and slightly off. Forever felt like something wasn't right. He had to be here, there was no way he wasn’t. 

His bleary eyes blinked away exhaustion. He released his gaze on the page, to rest for just a moment. Forever’s attention landed on a pile of objects carefully arraigned on the floor. A dull ache settled in him

It was every possible item that Bad had left behind.

Every clothing item forgotten, every pencil borrowed, every scribbled note that contained a silly message, every book with its designated bookmarks still there. Forever scoured his dorm, searching for every last sign. Looking for any piece of information that could aid him. 

Well, It started off as that, but when more and more leads dried up, more and more people kept telling him to move on. They tell him that he has left, that he disappeared without rhyme or reason, and that he should settle with the thought of being abandoned . 

As time passed, these few items felt like a lifeline for Forever to cling to. To prove that there was proof more tangible than his memories. To prove that Bad was there with Forever once upon a time, to make up for the fact that he is not here now. 

Forever’s mind filled with static, a dull throbbing sting signaled the headache that Forever had gained. He groaned, feeling his throat come out dry, and rubbed his hand against his head. 

The soothing massage was abruptly interrupted as Forever’s fingers started running through his hair, his scalp suffering a tug of pain. Forever winced at it, and attempted to comb through the mess just a little bit. His fingers got caught up in a landmine of knots, pain flaring up as he forced his hands through the tangles. 

A minute or two of this was tried before Forever gave up on the effort and leaned back on his chair. It’s fine, His mind supplied. Your hair is just messy

The thought settled, and Forever’s breath hitched up in still realization. 

Oh . My hair is messy . 

This shouldn’t be such a revelation. He’s gone for days without caring for appearance. Forever isn’t even opposed to the action of brushing his hair, such a thing was common with his length of hair. But he guessed that it had just been a while since he’d done it for himself. 

Forever was tired, sleep-deprived, frustrated, and donned a head of messy hair. He felt like shit and there was no one here to wish him better and comb through his locks with a pair of gentle hands. There was no one here to laugh at his jokes and argue with him about senseless things with even more senseless reasonings.

Forever is here but he isn’t. 

The pit of loss grew a little bit wider, a little bit more noticeable. Forever forced himself to take a breath and let go of the built-up tensions within his mind. His eyes flitted across the room, looking for any form of distractions. 

Oh, right , the student records. Forever picked up on where he left off, scanning through the rows and rows of faceless names. 

Zacarious, Lindsey. Female- No…

Ziegler, Alexander. Male. 1st year- Nope…

Zimmerman, Tracey. Male. 3rd year. Zoology- Not that one either…

The end of the page was reached, and Forever flipped the page again, only to be greeted with a differently formatted page. A quick skim revealed it to be some sort of credits page. No , this couldn’t be right. 

Forever frantically flipped the page again. This time, it showed blank. 

He turned the back cover of the book back and forth, the headache piling up along with another emotion. This had to be it, there was nothing else to check. There might be one or two students missing, sure, but this was the latest report the facility had available. And Bad had been here for way longer than that, even longer than Forever. 

Forever sat there, ramrod straight as he stared upon the last page of a three hundred paged book. There was nothing else.

A stray strand of hair fell into his vision, and with it, a frustrated tear slipped from Forever's cheek. It stained the otherwise pristine page. 

In the end, it all came down to an internet search.

That was it. That was all Forever needed to track down Bad. 

( Tell me, Forever. Were you ever looking for me?)

Forever blinked as he stared at Bad’s public records. He opened and closed them again, half expecting the page to disappear in a puff of smoke if he took his eyes off of it. Just like all evidence of The Soul Thief has done before. 

The computer screen stubbornly stayed the same, the page didn't shift one bit. An older version of Bad stares at him with uncertainly, holding a nervous smile as he poses for the camera. 

Forever started to laugh at the absurdity of his efforts, so much struggle spent towards something that was right in front of him. It didn’t even take very long, he simply had to log into his government account and search for a vague description of Bad. And with a little bit of searching, lo and behold, there lies he. Perfectly noted and documented and oh-so reachable.

The quiet office ambiance was broken as Forever’s laughter became louder, and a pained cackle tore out of him. That’s all it took! That was all it took. It wasn’t because Bad had a different name, or that he was hiding his tracks, or anything. Forever just didn’t know where to look, once again. It felt like he never did. 

Maybe he was just too scared to look. 

Forever’s laughter abruptly ended, leaving the air dead silent apart from the computer’s hum. Like this revelation didn’t happen, like it didn’t hold the weight of the world. 

Cellbit’s office was unusually empty today, apart from Forever. He had arrived around twenty minutes ago and encountered a hurried Cellbit in surprisingly nice clothing. He had given Forever some feeble greetings, said the crummy explanation of a “case” with Roier, and was off in the next second. Forever hope Cellbit at least fills him in on the gossip later. 

Forever brought his gaze back at the documents, everything organized in an orderly and indiscriminate manner. Bad has supposedly been living here for the past 2 months, a new resident of some address that Forever found familiar.

 He has been employed at a pizza shop and has been, frankly, a very boring civilian. Forever couldn't find a single flaw or trace of suspicion in those files. Clearly, Bad has at least been careful about concealing his night job.

His sights eventually landed on the small picture of Bad. He looked different, but not too much diverged from Forever’s preserved memories. His face was older, obviously, but in the way that how his previously soft jawline just became the slightest bit more defined. Bad hair had been cut shorter, the longest bits just slightly grazing his shoulders. 

His eyes were sharper, the change abundant even though they were scrunched up in the photo. He now wore a thin wired pair of glasses, the lens complimenting his frame. The forced smile made the wrinkles in his eyes pop out the smallest bit. It looked nice. Forever began to wonder what they would look like with a genuine smile- 

Forever snapped his eyes off the screen, accidentally closing the page in his haste. He stared at the floor, burning holes into it with his mind. 

Forever lifted up his head, once again making the observation that he was alone in this room. He was grateful there were no witnesses to this flustered state of his. 

Painstakingly, Forever pulled up the file again and made it a point to ignore the image that lay on the left of the screen. He double-checked the info again, semi-committing them to memory. He let out a sigh and leaned back on his chair, deep in thought. 

Forever knew Bad’s information, had his address for Christ's sake, but now what? What would be his next play? He finally had an advantage over Bad, and is at a loss on how to use it.

 A voice similar to Cellbit encouraged him to plan it out, observe Bad in secret, plan a trap to capture him, and force any and all information out of- Forever waved this thought away in favor of not being a stalker.

That left him in sole charge of the decision-making, and he reflected on his options. 

On a technical level, he should be turning this into the station. His job was, after all, to carry out investigations and direct the lower branches. Although Forever would usually end up at the forefront of an arrest through his own methods alone, he didn't really need to be there. He can just turn in this information to law enforcement, and wait until they bring Bad to him on a silver platter. 

… But that wouldn’t give Forever anything in the end.

Against all of the lessons drilled into Forever at the academy, he couldn’t help but sour at the thought of catching Bad that way. It felt incorrect , in a sense. Intuition told Forever he wouldn’t get the answers he sought through that method. This chase between Bad and Forever has lasted weeks, months, years even. Such a straightforward solution wouldn’t even come close to baiting the true prize of this pursuit 

The chase wasn’t done, even with this crucial information. There was still so much more for Forever to uncover, details that wouldn’t be uncovered through the normal methods. 

So what would Forever do instead? He doubted that capturing Bad himself would lead anywhere, Forever wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for long, and, more than likely, Bad would break out or not even get himself trapped in the first place. 

Forever was stumped, he slid down his chair and pondered his options. A moment passed, and then he let out a long sigh after coming to a conclusion that had haunted him for a while 

Ah well , if you can't beat them . Forever thought about an alliance between him and Bad.

Although he did not have much to offer Bad, he could guarantee some sort of protection from law enforcement, even if it was something as simple as misleading the direction of a case. Maybe he would try to influence the investigation in some way, just enough that Bad can work under their radar

The thought of doing this made Forever frown in displeasure. He didn’t like the idea of lying to his coworkers intentionally, especially in such an important case. This led him to evaluate the implications such an alliance would bring. He would be indirectly compliant, if not assisting, a crime. 

In some way, Forever supposes he’s been compliant with Bad’s felonies since the very beginning, ever since he omitted Bad from his police report. Still, the prospect of being in more direct contact while this happens makes Forever hesitate. He brushes it off, for now, Forever needs to prioritize his goals rather than worry about the details. 

Right now, all that matters is getting a confession from Bad. Understand why Bad has turned this new leaf and decide how he is going to handle the issue. That’s the entire detail that this situation is hooked on, isn’t it? Bad has made it clear time and time again that there is a crucial detail in this debacle that Forever is missing. 

There is so much more to this than Forever could ever imagine, and he is determined to figure it all out, first and foremost. 

Forever lets out a long sigh, feeling hints of a headache. He looked at the time, it was still plenty early in the morning, but he did not want to burn any more daylight. Forever has waited for years for this opportunity, he is not wasting one more second.

Forever sat up from his chair, snatched his coat from the hanger, turned off the lights to the apartment, and made his way to the car. 

A visit to his old friend was long overdue. 

Forever stared at the building housing the most wanted criminal in the nation, and he felt a part of his soul wilt. 

A small, narrow red-bricked building squeezed to death between two other ones of bigger size. In any other area, Forever would mark it off as common and unremarkable, but this particular scene stood out to him for the fact that he’s been here before. Very recently, at that. 

It was the building that Tina lived in. 

A sense of deja vu washed over Forever as he walked up the front steps, this time in bright daylight. He made his way to apartment 013, where Bad supposedly lived, and paused. He turned his head around and saw the small and decorated front area of Tina’s apartment. 

Neighbors, huh? They were so close and didn’t even know it. 

Forever knocked on the door. A simple three rap of his knuckles. A moment was passed in silence. He was dumbfounded, the thought of Bad just not being home never crossed his mind. 

He raised his hand again, ready to try another time, when he heard a sound behind the door. Slow footsteps walked up to the door and the lock clicked. Forever froze, his eyes fixed on the doorknob.

It turned, and the door slowly opened. “ Gah , Baghera. I already told you-”

Bad’s mouth snapped shut with a click the moment he landed eyes on Forever. His eyes snapped back and forth between Forever and the doorknob before rushing to slam the door in. The door was stopped violently, jammed on Forever’s shoe. 

“Bad-” Forever went to move the door open, but a heavy weight was pushed against the door, “I- I’m just here to talk.”

Silence followed, “Please. Listen to me for once. I don’t have any backup– didn’t even bring my phone– no one knows I’m here. I just want to talk, dammit.” 

“... There is nothing here for you.” Bad said behind the door, “The owner of this place isn’t here, come back again later. Or never; preferably never.” 

Forever placed his forehead on the door, his ears picked up the slightest bit of panicked breathing that escaped Bad. “Look . I know I’m the last person you want to see and I know I’m way over my head with whatever the hell you’ve caught yourself in but-”

 Forever felt his head running. He had so much to say but couldn’t filter them into words fast enough. He internally groaned at all of this convoluted thinking and impulsively decided to throw everything to the wind. Acting cautions and introspective has gotten him far enough, he just wants to be honest , dammit!

“ Bad , I’m here . I’m here now and I'm not going until you explain what you’ve caught yourself up in– whether you want me here or not, I’m not leaving.” 

Forever clenched his teeth, anxious in the silence that followed his declaration.

“I- uhm .” Finally, Bad spoke up. “I’m sorry sir, you have the wrong address. If you keep on banging on my door I’ll have to contact authori-”

“Cut the bullshit Bad, that won’t work on me. We know that better than anyone.” 

“ Gods .” A small sigh came out of Bad, “You’re really annoying, you know that Forever?”

“Are you ready to listen now?” Forever’s mouth curved into a small smile, “How about we make a deal, Bad? You tell me whatever it is you’re doing all of this for, and I’ll cover you with any law enforcement.”

Bad hummed, “Law enforcement? What would they be after me for? I’m just a simple citizen, where did you get all of this from?” 

He rolled his eyes, “I have my sources and suspicions”

“Is that so?” Bad questioned, “And how am I so sure that you’re not lying? That you wouldn’t, hypothetically , just immediately hand me over?”

Forever held in a scoff of annoyance, “Bad, I knew you were The Thief since the moment I saw you. It's been a month by now, wouldn’t I have done it by now?”

Bad began to speak up, but Forever beat him to it, “I could’ve easily told my team, or the station, or– hell – even Cellbit. But I kept quiet, even through all of those useless investigations for you.” He said, “Even when you were under lock and trapped, I let you go scot-free. I just want to know why you’re doing all of this.”

The words hung in the air. Bad was hesitating. Forever panicked, that couldn’t be a good sign.

His mind sped up, is there anything that could convince Bad? Anything to make him trust Forever? If Bad is such a doubtful person, whose to say Forever could ever gain his trust? This train of thought caught on, and eventually, an idea popped up. He took a nervous breath. 

Now, if gaining his trust is a dead end…

“… Well if you’re not willing to cooperate, I guess I need to find out another way.”

“Huh?” Bad was taken out of his trance, “Pardon?”

“Bad, I really do believe in you, that’s why I haven't told anyone,” Forever omitted it, but the  unspoken ‘yet’ was felt anyway, “Despite everything, I somehow trust that you’re doing this for a sensible reason.” He mustered every ounce of sincerity he could to sound genuine.

“But,” here it is, “If you’re unable to give me an explanation, I’ll be forced to act accordingly.”

“ Act accordingly?” Bad was confused by the change in tone, “Forever, what are you saying?”

“Bad, I am a high-ranking officer with sensitive information on the current most sought out for criminal,” Forever laid the scene, “If my attempts of negotiation were unsuccessful, what do you think I should do next?”

A pause. “Forever,” Bad did a sharp intake, “Are you threatening me?”

“I don’t know Bad,” Forever said nonchalantly, “What do you think I should do?” He repeats himself.

“You’re threatening me.” Bad says pointedly, “I can’t believe you’re threatening me, in my own home!”

“Uh, yeah. Where else should I do it?”

“The audacity!” Bad said, “And why should I listen to you? I could leave out the back door and you’ll never see me again!”

They’re on the second floor, but Forever didn’t mention that. He really didn’t want Bad to run off, but he didn't mention that too. 

“Then I would tell the higher-ups everything I know about you. You might never see me again, but there’s no way to avoid every governmental body chasing your tail.” Forever was bluffing, he didn't have a single intention of telling his boss.

Bad scoffed, displeased. He was unsatisfied at how much the scales tipped against him. He carefully thought over his actions, weighing the full situation at hand. 

Forever, conversely, was riding out a high of adrenaline and relief. The situation held a higher stake to him than Bad could ever know, yet somehow he managed to come out on top through half-baked threats and partial truths. And, most miraculously, Bad bought into it.

“… I can deal with that,” Finally, Bad mumbled out, “It’ll be annoying, but if I prepared everything and watched my step, it could be done.” He raised his voice to speak again, “Your threats mean nothing, I’ll find a way to deal with it somehow.”

Forever could’ve sworn he heard a hint of nervousness, but the new confidence scared him. Time to dial it down. “I’m not telling you to deal with it. I’m giving you an option here, Bad, you can let me in on your operations and I won’t tell another soul.”

“An option? Are you insane?” Bad sputtered, “That’s as good as choosing nothing! What if I come up to you and ask you to choose between pledging eternal servitude to me or dying? What decision is that?”

“Well, you shouldn’t even be getting a decision in the first place!” Forever exclaimed, “You robbed people, Bad! I’m not going to keep covering for you for nothing .”

Forever’s frustrations grew as he looked upon the blank door that separated him and Bad, feeling the weight of it put pressure on his shoe. “C’mon, my foot is getting tired. Open up and have an actual proper conversation.” 

“Hey, hey! Slow down- ack!” Bad yelped as Forever began pushing against the door. 

The door was abruptly forced open, making Bad stumble a few steps into his apartment. Forever stared, wide-eyed, at his action. He hadn’t really paid attention to how much strength he was using, fully convinced that whatever force he used would’ve been easily countered by Bad. 

Bad himself had sharply turned back to Forever, face painted with undisguised offense, “Hey ! What the fudge was that? Have some manners, I didn’t know it was acceptable to just s hove someone’s door open!”

Forever was sheepish, a bit guilty at this overreaction “ Ah . It’s nice seeing you again Bad.”

“Well, I wish I could say the same, Forever! But someone here has made it less than pleasant, how ludicrous.”

Forever chuckled at Bad’s misfortuned, watching as Bad collected himself to face Forever. He nonchalantly made eye contact, and Forever’s breath caught at the sight. 

He’d seen the photo of Bad before, so most of the shock had worn off, but there was a major difference between the pixels on the screen and the actual tangible thing. It was so much more definite without the stupid shadow that stubbornly hid his features. 

Bad’s hair was pulled into a short, low, ponytail. Bits of hair were left behind and hung around his face. His nose had a pointed shape to it and small dark circles ran under his eyes. Bad’s eye was dark but at further inspection Forever could see some color variation. Some black, bits brown, and is that red? He wanted to inspect them closer. Forever wondered if he could match each feature to his memories. 

Bad was here , indefinitely different, but still, he stood in front of Forever. He felt his skin thrum in this new realization. 

“... Out of there myself, don’t think It was just your help that did it!” His ears tuned back to the tail-end of the conversation. 

“Huh?” Forever said dumbly, too caught up in staring to have picked up anything. 

 “I- Really? What do you want me to say? ‘Thank you. Forever? ’ is that is?” Bad tried to keep up a sly tone to his voice but it still waivered with anxiety. “I would’ve been fine on my own, really,  but since you’re so insistent about how much I owe you then fine, have my gratitude.”

Forever looked at Bad with anticipation, “Is that a deal then?” 

“I- Uh . If you think blackmailing me is some sort of deal, then sure.” He zeroed in on Forever and snuck out a hand to point at him. “But this means I get help from you too! Don't get any funny business! The way I see it, this is a completely beneficial exchange for me only. You’re here to serve as a tactical advantage for me!”

Forever grinned and clutched Bad’s outstretched and taunting arm, surprising him with the force. Forever then shook their hands together with one, two pumps. “It's a deal!” 

Bad squeezed his hand once and then awkwardly retreated it back to his own space. He looked at Forever with a curious face. “So, what did you want from me? Information?”

“Yes, that. But also involve me in whatever you’re doing,” Forever said, “I don’t want to be on the forefront of whatever crime you’re planning to commit, but let me in on the operation.”

Bad’s looked displeased with that, “How about we stick with information and you cover for me whenever I do a crime? Maybe I’ll tell you about where and when it’ll take place, but it’s tough to let anything else slip past.”

“What? No way, Bad. What if you just tell me the bare minimum and hide everything else? How can I be sure? You need to tell me anything up to the current event! Thats the entire reason why I’m doing this!”

“Ugh,” Bad wasn’t pleased with the offer, “I can’t give you every secret and detail of this entire thing, Forever. That’s literally impossible. Maybe I’ll throw in some of the reasons behind the next ones, but no more than that.”

“Are you serious? That’s basically admitting that you will always be hiding something from me! Much more is on the line for me than you if we agree, man, there must be more than that.”

“...” Bad frowned slightly and broke eye contact with Forever to look at the side. He wasn’t going to offer any more compromises.

Forever’s eye twitched. “Shit, really?” Unfortunately, his desperation forced him to salvage this somehow. “ Fine . You know what? We don’t need to start off with my offer if you don't trust me yet. How about I take your conditions for now and we work it out down the road.”

Bad narrowed his eyes in contemplation, thinking over his options. He then let out a sigh. “Ok, sure.”

He turned to Forever with a sharp tone, “I accept your deal. As a start, you close off whatever method you used to find me here.”

“Got it.” Forever swelled in joy, “And then you have to tell me why you’ve been doing this.”

“What? This soon, really? Ugh.” Bad didn’t bother to disguise the small amount of regret he felt, “Would it hurt to wait a bit? Let the deal marinat-”

“The nearest police station is ten minutes away.”

“You- ” Bad’s eye widened, not expecting Forever to stoop that low, “ Goodness . If you’re that insistent, then wait here.”

Bad began to close the door, and Forever shot out his hand to stop it. “Wait! What are you doing?”

Bad raised an eyebrow, “I’m getting ready? We’re heading out, you know. I’m not going to tell you my entire life story in this apartment.”

“... Life story?” Forever mumbled out. He got a glimpse into the apartment and caught a glance into a messy and disorganized space with unpacked boxes. He reluctantly let Bad close the door, and the two caught sight of each other one more time before the hinges clicked into place. 

Forever closed his eyes, and let out a long-awaited sigh. Then, his body relaxing, leaned on the door of Bad’s apartment.

Forever finally did it. He finally got him back. 

It felt like something slid back into place. 

Bad had led Forever into a small communal area. 

It was a short walk away from Bad’s apartment and was quite endearing. Small shops lined up next to one another, displaying a variety of local products and food. There were few people around, as it was still the morning. The only pedestrians were those commuting to work, creating a quiet, almost deserted, atmosphere. 

Bad brought Forever to a small coffee shop with outdoor seating. A palette of dark blue and pastel yellow blended together. He made his way to the lone cashier and gave his order. 

“One medium latte, please. Extra milk.” He turned back to Forever, “And you?”

“The same he’s having,” Forever told the cashier. He could feel Bad’s devious eyes on him as the two paid for their drinks. 

As they picked a spot outside, Bad spoke up. “ Sooooo ,” he started, dragging out the last vowel, “Do you come here often?”

Forever sputtered out of surprise and used that as an excuse to cover up his face with his hands. “ What?”

“What?” Bad raised an eyebrow, “That was a completely valid question. So, do you?”

“I- Uhm .” He said eloquently. Distantly, Forever wondered if Bad was even aware of what he implied. “It’s a little far away from my office, so uh– No, not really.”

“Awh, what a shame.” Bad deflated on the table, “That’s why I never see you around here.” 

Forever decides that Bad is at least slightly aware of what he’s implying. “Hey, I didn’t even know you were here until last month– scratch that, today. What about you?” He accused, “Ever planned on visiting?”

Bad frowned, it looked like a pout. “I also found out the same time as you! Besides, I didn’t even know if you’d want me to visit or not.”

“How come?” Forever raised his eyebrow, “Because of your criminal records or because you didn’t get an actual invite.”

“The invite of course! Don’t you know how rude it’d be if I just barged in unannounced? How awkward!”

“You didn’t share the same sentiment with all the other places you robbed from” Forever sniped. 

“What the fudge! Robbing is such a negative word, stop using it all the time. Think of it like…” Bad motioned his hands around, “I’m liberating furniture that was kept captive.” 

“What are you saying?” Something lit up inside of Forever, a playful and competitive spirit that had long laid dormant, “Liberating them from what? Their homes?”

“Exactly! Those owners have absolutely no taste and class! These pieces deserve to be valued more.” 

“Right, ” Forever said incredulously, “And where exactly are you taking them? From one tasteless house to another?”

Bad scoffed, “Excuse you! I am a Furniture Connosuire , thank you very much. I am much more qualified for this than you would understand.” 

“Furniture Conno- What? ” Is this some form of twisted justification Bad has made up? He looked at Bad with a mystified expression, and held it, before breaking out into mirthful laughter. 

“Huh?” Bad was taken aback by this reaction, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “ Hey , what’s so funny! Why are you laughing , I'm being serious!”

That only served to make Forever chuckle more, and Bad became even more lost.

“Hah! Oh- dude . I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Forever recovered from his fit and tried to wipe his smile away. “It’s not you- or well it is, but not in a bad way!”

Bad was still confused, but a corner of his mouth quirked up in an unconscious response to Forever’s mood. “It’s just,” Forever continued, “Nobody ever says that stuff, man! It’s always been you who comes to those conclusions. It's only been you.” 

Bad’s face heated up in embarrassment, and opened his mouth to shoot a retort before being interrupted by the cafe worker. 

“Uh, two milk lattes?” the tired waitress looked between the two and placed down their drinks, “Enjoy.”

Forever reached for his drink and took a sip. He could feel Bad’s eyes trained on him. 

“Milk latte huh? When did that come up?” Bad inquired, “Or did you just not know what to order.” He took a sip of his own identical cup of coffee. 

“Please,” Forever scoffed, “You know I got my coffee taste from you. I didn’t even touch that stuff until you came along.” 

“...” Bad was quiet, deep in thought. “ Ah , did you?.” He didn’t continue the topic

Hm, touchy subject? Forever thought. He filed that detail for later. 

The two sat in silence as they both drank their lattes. After Forever finished one of his sips, he spoke up. “So what made you start all of this?”

“All of what? This morning or the entire month? You need to be more specific Forever.” Bad looked up, then shrunk at the scrutinizing look Forever was giving him, “Alright fine , I get it. If you really want to know what started it off, it was because I was selfish,” 

Bad took a sip of his cup, “Someone wronged me and I found it in my best interest to get some, how would you say it? Revenge?”

“Someone? Someone who?” Forever asked. 

“How to put it?” Bad pursed his lips in thought before speaking. 

“Imagine that you knew someone really well, and believed they valued you and cared for you, just for them to toss you aside.” Bad said, “And now that you’re all alone, you view every action they’ve done in a different light. With no rose tint, you start to realize that it was all some trick, some ruse, that was riddled with double meanings and insincerity. Everything you knew beforehand was some elaborate lie. How would you feel, Forever?” 

Forever’s eyes widened, shock catching his breath. With the tone Bad used, he could’ve been speaking about the weather, but when Forever looked at Bad he could see the grip on his coffee cup just slightly tightened. 

Bad looked at Forever promptingly, awaiting an answer. “I- uh . I guess there is someone that comes to mind,” But even then, it was not to that extent. “Bad?” Forever surprised himself with the worry laced in his tone, “ What was that? What happe-”

“Ah…It’s just a hypothetical,” Bad reassured with an unnatural smile, “But imagine that happened, grab onto that emotion. Now that’s more or less how I feel.” 

“So,” Forever processed Bad’s words, “You got.. Abandoned?”

“There’s more to that! It felt a little more… Personal? You think you’d know a guy…”

Forever was even more confused, “Did you go through a breakup , Bad?”

“What! ” Bad yelped, “No! Nothing like tha-”

“It’s okay if you feel embarrassed man, I get how it feels like the world is caving in but you’ll make it out there,” Forever continued, “Although turning to crime is a little extrem-”

“No, no no no , Forever! I didn’t break up with anyone!” Bad was red in the cheeks, “Who thinks that?”

“Then what did happen, Bad?” Forever threw his hands up in exasperation, annoyed “You can’t throw out these weird hypotheticals and leave me guessing in the dark.” Forever rubbed his temples to help relieve the stress, “If you weren’t abandoned, or dumped, what was it?”

“It’s not weird! You get it, right?” Bad exclaimed, “It’s just like…” his voice trailed off. 

Forever resisted the urge to bury his face in his palms, “Did you feel… Manipulated then? Betrayed?” He threw out suggestions to help pin down something .

Bad thought over the words, and answered with a simple nod. 

“ Great , wonderful,” Forever said, “Now how did that lead to you becoming a world-renowned thief?” 

“That’s a bit direct,” Bad frowned a bit, “It’s just, if someone keeps taking from me; I should try to stop them, right?” 

Forever did not know if that was right. “‘Keeps taking’? Are they still hurting you Bad?”

“I guess. Yeah. They can. They could’ve– should’ve by now,” Bad looked down towards his empty cup, “Why haven’t they done anything…”

“Well, maybe it be better if you stopped robbing innocent civilians and national monuments,” Forever brisked, “I don’t know your thought process, but from an outsider’s perspective, maybe you should switch targets.”

“And what other way do I have?” Bad snapped, staring at him with an affronted look, as if he couldn’t believe Forever had said that.

“I don’t know. A restraining order?” 

“Is that a joke?” Bad let out a humorless laugh, “It’s not that simple. This is the closest I can get, the most I can affect them.” His voice raised and words tumbled out, “They cover up their tracks too well, every facility I take down is replaced by dozens more, they have things planted everywhere, ears in every corner. Every single step I take, they bring me back three steps in return.” 

“This is the most process I’ve done in years , If I get more direct all of that will be ruined,” Bad gritted his teeth, “This is how things work, you of all people should know that.”

“Know what?” Forever felt frustration bubble up, “For fuck’s sake, Bad, who are these people?” 

“People way worse than me.” Bad abruptly stopped and blinked, “Oh, look at that. I finished my drink. Let's head out.”

“What- You! ,” Forever was about to protest, but Bad had already made his way off the cafe patio. He chugged the last portions of his latte and rushed after Bad’s retreating figure. 

“Bad! Hey, Bad! Wait up!” Forever called out and groaned when Bad did indeed not wait up. He chased after Bad, almost bumping into a group of people as he left the patio of the coffee shop. Anytime Forever tried to catch up to Bad, he changed his walking pace to be just a tad bit faster than Forever’s. 

He was beginning to get tired of this charade, and every time Bad clearly evaded Forever’s questioning it made him more agitated. They had an agreement, dammit , and Bad keeps on acting like Forever knew more than he did to avoid being specific. The building headaches make Forever realize the true extent of negotiating with someone such as Bad. 

Bad was keeping up a rapid pace, not enough to be running away but at a speed just out of Forever’s reach. It got harder to keep track of him when they started moving throughout the small town and more and more people became obstacles. It must be the start of morning rush hours, as the empty streets have now turned into a crowd of rush civilians. 

The third time a pedestrian almost made Forever lose sight of Bad, he snapped and lunged out in front of him. Forever reached out to a surprised Bad and grabbed his wrist, placing it in a firm grip. This action made Bad practically stop in his tracks.

“Huh? Hey- what gives-”

“You-,” Forever tightened his grip on Bad’s hand just slightly, “ Need to stop running away.”

“What? That wasn’t running away! You just had to catch up,” Bad tried to pull away from Forever’s grasp but there was no give. He let out a defeated sigh “Alright, alright, I’ll wait up. You can let go of my hand now.” 

“Nope,” Forever said, gaining an incredulous look from Bad, “I need a way to keep track of you in this crowd.”

Bad didn’t look happy with this arraignment, but looking between Forever and their linked hands, he let out a tired groan, “Ok, fine , be like that. But just so you know I’m leading the way!”

And so the two made their way around the small marketplace. Forever could see a variety of shops just opening up, trying to pay closer attention to each curious place before Bad could pinpoint another direction to walk to and drag him away. 

After a few more repeats of this annoying cycle, Forever quietly moved closer to Bad and whispered close to his ear, “So, where are you leading me?”

This action caused Bad to flinch in surprise, almost jumping out of Forever’s proximity if it wasn’t for his incessant hand. Bad’s eyes were wide in disbelief, as if not expecting Forever to do that, “W-What was that for?”

“Huh?” Forever said innocently, “I just wanted to know where you were going, unless we’re just going to wander around without looking at any place.”

“Oh, uhm, right ,” Bad collected himself and coughed into his fist, “I’m just- Looking for something before we can settle down.”

Forever raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it. Distantly, he had the thought of Bad trying to kidnap him but decided that Bad wouldn’t have done enough preparation to pull that off yet. Hopefully . 

The two walked around the town in silent company, hand in hand. Forever sometimes lagged behind when Bad periodically headed in a new direction, but he noticed how Bad had begun to adjust to a slower pace, just so that Forever could catch up to his side. 

A happy hum from Bad brought Forever out of his trance. He looked ahead and saw a decently fancy boutique in front of them. As they entered the store, Forever could see that it was a shop catered towards casual wear, but still possessed a higher quality that screamed brand names. 

“Bad?” Forever said with amusement, “Are you bringing me clothing shopping?”

“Shopping?” Bad said with innocence, “What that?” He began looking around the catalog of clothes before flippantly picking up one or two items. Setting the items down, Bad brought his free hand up to Forever’s other arm, turning his body to do so. 

They were now facing each other in close proximity. Forever could see Bad’s face morphing into a small smile as if sending a small apology. Forever’s breath hitched and he felt his hand slightly loosen as he was caught off guard. 

Suddenly, this surprise was turned into a shocked embarrassment as he felt both of Bad’s hands latch onto Forever’s coat lapels. He protested as nimble fingers pulled the coat off of Forever, sliding clean off with the motion. 

As quickly as it was off, Bad didn’t wait and slid on the clothing item picked from earlier. Forever couldn’t focus as he felt Bad’s hands dart around to adjust the wool cardigan to properly fit him. A few objects clacking together made Forever look down to see that yes, Bad had proceeded to button up the sweater, and also yes, Bad had somehow removed the clothing’s security tag and held it in his hands.  

One last tug on the edges of the coat was done before Bad took a step back and checked out his work. He looked up and down, before making eye contact with Forever and breaking out into a smirk.

“What- Bad, what was that!” Forever still felt a dust of pink linger on his face, and he hoped it wasn’t still visible, “Why did you change my-” Forever’s yell was cut off as Bad roughly placed a hat onto Forever’s head, reaching just a bit to make up for the height. 

Before Forever could reorient himself, Bad had already dragged him out of the store before the employees could notice what took place. 

Forever hung back in protest, and readjusted his hat to get his vision back. Bad looked at him curiously, “Do you not like it?”

Forever looked down at himself and was disturbed. The cardigan was soft, but was haphazardly picked and clashed slightly with his hat and original pants. Even worse, all of this stuff was stolen! Forever had just witnessed Bad robbing from a shop! For him! 

He looked back up to Bad, “I- What? What are you saying, Bad you just stole this stuff! Why?” 

“Jeez, no need to get so worked up,” Bad said with a disinterested expression, “I was just getting bored of your normal outfit. Do you ever change into anything else?”

Forever opened his mouth for another retort, likely another scold, but Bad had already made his way out of the area. Forever switched between Bad and the boutique, before groaning and following Bad. He made a mental note to return the items to the shop later on. 

Easily, Forever caught up with Bad and struck up another question, “So you shoplifted a sweater just because you thought I looked plain?”

Bad nodded, “Yup! Pretty much.”

“No, I don’t think thats all,” Forever thought about it, taking a look around the area “Huh, wait, there's a lot more people here than I thought. Was.. Was it because I stood out?”

Bad didn’t answer.

“Were you worried about being noticed, or something? I don’t think my appearance was that jarring, but who would be watching?”

Once again, nothing changed in Bad. 

Forever took that as a hint and fell into silence to process the information. Then, an occurrence popped into his mind. “Wait, what did you do with my coat?”

This got Bad to speak up, “Oh, I left it back there on a hanger.”

“ What?”

“Yeah, security button and everything,” Bad shrugged, “We didn’t pay, so I left them something as the next best thing.”

“You-” Forever groaned again, and felt even worse when the sleeve that brushed his face was the one of the cardigan. He felt something pop inside of him. “How am I surprised, of course you’d do that.”

“Do what?” The Thief questioned, there was an edge to it. “What is that supposed to mean.”

“Steal, duh.” Forever answered frankly, “With the skills of a thief, no doubts.” He had always known that Bad was a thief, but there was always some twisted form of justification that Forever could ease his thoughts with. That time was just unnecessary! 

“Wait, are you-” Bad looked at him dumbly, then his expression turned cold, “Yeah, Forever. I flipping ‘steal’. Is there an issue with that?” The Soul Thief snapped.

“Of course! That shit isn’t yours!” Forever rolled his eyes, “I know that’s your entire deal, but at least have some self-control.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t notice all of that stuff wasn’t mine,” his voice dripped with sarcasm, “Sorry, it must’ve slipped.” The Soul Thief glared at Forever, “Might I just add that it wasn’t even for me! You’re the one wearing the darn thing!”

“That doesn’t make it better-,” Forever pinched his nosebridge, “You do know this isn’t right, right? Or is The Soul Thief just above that?”

“Oh yes, I’m not above that but you’re just oh so higher than it, aren’t you?” The Thief turned towards Forever with daggers in his eyes, “Newsflash, Forever! I know it isn't ‘right’, I know it well! But guess what? I do it anyway, with or without any ‘justified reason’,” There was a change in Bad, his presence felt more hostile, and his eyes seemingly glowed .

Forever couldn’t do anything but stand his ground.

“Do you know why I’ll keep doing it, Forever?” He waved his hands out to emphasize a point, “That’s because all of that is what a thief does, and I am one too. Get that through your head . We got into this deal completely aware of that fact so don’t complain now when I do what I’ve always done.” 

“Officer, just because we’ve come to an alliance doesn’t mean I’m going to magically conform to your virtuous standards“ Bad’s tone was harsh, “If you can’t deal with it, even at such a small thing, then all of this is off.” 

The two held their gaze, seeing who would back down first. Forever considered Bad’s words, a feeling of discontent puddled inside him. Eventually, a stroke of rationality warned Forever that this was his one chance of making progress. Conceding, Forever looked away, tsked, and said, “Fine. I understand.”

“Good.”

The two turned away from each other for just a second, realizing the small scene they were causing. It didn’t really matter because, while caught up in their argument, the two had arrived at a park. There were fewer people around this area, and the two were left by themselves in uncomfortable silence.

Forever spotted a  nearby bench in which they sat down, as if to catch a break. The scenery was tranquil, if not a little lonely. Forever and Bad sat side by side, just far enough from each other to be inconvenient to talk to, both stubborn to interaction but still staying around due to a sense of unsolved business. 

Forever didn’t ever want this to be a situation of him turning away from justice. Even if he had his fair share of issues with the system, it wasn’t enough to warrant this . Staying compliant with Bad is dangerous. It wasn’t about the sweater, or the hat, it was about how far Bad was going to push him. How far would he have to go with Bad at his side?

He trusted Bad, respected his judgment to an irrational amount, even. But Forever is anxious about how far that trust will have to extend.

He tunes back to the bench. The previous malicious tension was replaced by a more tense atmosphere. Anticipation, waiting to see who would make the next move

The person who finally spoke was, surprisingly, Bad. 

“The Soul Thief, huh?” Bad scoffed at the sound of the title, “It’s such a melodramatic name.”

Forever, paused, thought through it, and took a moment to respond, “Do you not like it?”

“Eh, I don’t hate it, per se. It’s just not my taste.” Bad brisked, scanning the horizon that was populated with city skylines, contrasting the surrounding nature setting in a borderline dystopic manner. “I didn’t choose it for one, people just latched onto the first cool thing they could think of.”

“Huh,” Forever said, “What would you have named yourself, then?”

Bad hummed, thinking through his answer. After a minute or two of silence, Forever was ready to forget it when Bad responded, “ BadBoyHalo .”

“What?”

“BadBoyHalo. Thats what I would name myself.”

“You, what?” When the name’s meaning hit Forever, he busted out in giggles. 

This alarmed Bad, “What? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Forever said through his laughter, “It’s just- BadBoyHalo? What name is that?”

“Hey! I think it sounds cool.” Bad crossed his arms and looked away from Forever. 

“So,” Forever started, “First, you took your name and added ‘boy’ in it. To get what? Bad boy?”

“It’s a good start!” Bad whined.

“Yeah yeah, it’s just-” Forever gently placed his hand on Bad’s shoulders, and turned Bad towards him, “-Are you really a bad boy, Bad?”

“I have the capacity to.” Bad pouted, “I’ve done plenty of bad things in my life!” 

“Yeah, said the guy who says ‘fudge’ instead of fuck.” 

Bad’s eyes widened, “You just- Language!”

Forever groaned, “Oh my god , no way you still do that! Give it a break. Bad!”

“I would, if you didn’t do that intentionally!”

“There, that proves my point,” Forever said smugly, “You have no capacity to be a real ‘bad boy’”

“And what next?” Forever quickly continued before Bad could argue further, “ Halo? ” a smirk ran up Forever’s face.

Bad looked away and huffed, “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Forever said playfully, “I’m just flattered, Bad! I wasn’t sure you’d remember.”

“Yeah, I would forget if you stopped calling me that stupid nickname.” Bad mumbled, unwilling to give more credit to Forever.

 It had been a small detail in the grand scheme of things, an accidental slip from someone else that latched on. Forever used to feel light calling Bad this inside joke. It was silly, it was personal, it was real. 

“I’m just curious to see why you added it to your perfect villain name, Halo .” 

“Don’t start that again,” Bad let out a groan, but Forever could see hints of a smile forming, “It’s just, something cool you know? Like, an oxymoron sorta. A… Bad boy with a halo.” Bad explained his thought process but seemed to have lost it near the end. “Are you picking up what I’m putting down?”

“‘Course I am, I’m more concerned with the fact that you’d incorporate your real name into it.”

“Ah, that. ” It sounded like the thought didn’t even cross Bad’s head, “Yeah… yeah, that’d be an issue.”

Forever snickered at Bad’s oversight, “Don’t sweat it, I like the name. It would make the media flip its shit with how lame it is.”

Bad quirked an eyebrow “Is that an insult?” 

“ Far from it!” Forever was sincere. “I’m liking your vision here, Badboy.” 

Bad’s eyebrows raised at the new name, but did not question it, quirking up a small smile in response. Forever felt warm inside, eyes tracing the small wrinkles that curved around the pretty thing. 

The change in atmosphere felt pleasant, like a new start ahead of all of the rubble that lay around them. There were issues to be addressed, secrets to be told, and conflicts left unsolved, but that was not then or now. Now? They can just enjoy the bench 

The two looked ahead again, catching sight of the busy scenery in front of them, but still far enough to reside in their own worlds. Forever felt warm inside. There were a few hitches throughout the day, but his mind swelled at the progress made. It felt like he’s finally gotten past the first stage. 

In the midst of the silence, Bad spoke up suddenly, “Oh yeah. About your question from earlier?” He took a breath in, preparing himself, “They’re called The Federation.”

Forever was taken aback, but he didn’t dare move his head. “My question?”

“They’re the ones who hurt me.” Bad’s tone was calm, but there was a tone of quiet violence laced underneath it. 

“Huh… you said The Federation?” 

“Eh, they go by plenty of other titles, but thats the general name, term, whatever.” Bad acted nonchalant about the whole ordeal, despite the weight his words brought. 

“Are they an organization or something?” 

“They’re… well, they’re everything .” Bad sighed, “They have roots everywhere. They either run or own most of the top companies globally and have a hand in any other outliers that are not. Their influence is widespread, you can find a Federation employee in any imaginable industry. Pretty much a ghost government that runs our society without us even knowing.” 

Bad trailed on, “It’s why my targets are so widespread. Most shops and places I target have deep roots in this whole Federation, practically an endless colony of connections.” 

“It’s a little alarming at first, sure, but nothing truly dangerous,” Bad paused, “Not until you start uncovering their inner operations and motives. Thats the real nasty stuff that they want to hide.”

“But,” Bad waved it off, “You’re probably even more informed in that than I am, aren’t you? Honestly, it’s a little demeaning making me explain all of this.”

“Bad,” Forever blinked, “What are you talking about.”

Bad tilts his head, “What? Are you surprised?”

“Yes?” Forever exclaimed, “Is all of that true? Has nobody really discovered them yet?”

“Hah- That’s cute-” Bad dropped into a deadpan expression, “-But you can drop the act now.”

“Huh? What act?” Forever creased his eyebrows, “Bad, I have no idea what you’re saying.”

“Hey- What! Don't look at me like I'm the insane one here,” Bad huffed, “You know, the spy act?” 

Forever did not have a single clue what Bad was implying. 

“Uh- that thing you’ve been doing the entire time,” Bad said, “The-the flipping infiltration thing! You were hiding among their official ranks to get information? The entire reason why you strived to get a quick promotion?”

Forever’s expression did not change.

“That… that was not an act?”

He slowly shook his head.

“You…” disbelief shrouded Bad’s face, “You’re not actually a mole?!”

Forever shook his head again. 

“What the fudge,” he whispers, “What the actual fudge , Forever!” That part was not whispered. 

“What do you mean! You thought I was faking my job this entire time?” Forever couldn’t believe it. 

“No– well, maybe- Yeah?” Bad couldn’t believe it either, “What else was I supposed to think? Who in their right mind would be a cop and not turn me in?”

“Oh, I don’t know, me?” Forever snarked, “Did you really think I wouldn’t believe in you?”

“Yes!” Bad exclaimed, “Why else would you be so high-ranked yet still make a deal with me?” He rubbed his face with his hands, “Oh no. Oh my god, please tell me you were at least somewhat aware.”

Forever was drawing a blank, “I’d think I’d know if I was working for some huge evil organization.”

“Oh my gosh, I trusted an actual officer . He wasn’t a spy, what the fudge he wasn’t a spy, ” Bad placed his hand on his forehead, doubled over, and let out a pained whine. It looked like his world was caving in, “How the fudge is he getting promoted to chief , what the flip? How does that make sense.”

“Um,” Forever didn’t know if he should feel offended or not, “...Thank you?”

Bad jolted his head towards Forever, “I,” he started, “Have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Really? What else?”

“No, not to you . Nothing you need to worry about,” Bad sighed, and straightened up. “What you do need to consider, however, is if you’re free tomorrow.” 

“Huh?” Forever said dumbly. 

“Tomorrow,” Bad stood up from the bench, “We meet up again.” He skipped a few steps and then spun around to face Forever, hands locked behind his back, “And you help me on a little trip.” 

Forever’s eyesight trailed Bad’s movement, “Are you asking me to help you steal?”

“Perhaps,” Bad smiled, “Depends on how you look at it. If it makes you more inclined, I’ll take you to our base of operations.” 

“ Our base of operations?” Forever questioned, raising his eyebrows in surprise. 

“What? Of course there are more people,” Bad scoffed, “Did you think I do all of my heists alone?”

“There’s more people?” Forever exclaimed, “Wait, so how do you pull off all of those-”

Fovere is cut off by a gust of wind blowing from behind him, knocking his hat forward. Forever startled, and moved to readjust it. As he lifted his sights back up, Bad had already disappeared.

Forever sat on the bench, alone, and processed the information gained today. A feeling of dread surfaced with the newfound information that threw Forever’s understanding of the world off tilt. Even though Forever’s head spins with this reveal, he knows that he has only scratched the surface. 

Forever thinks of Bad. The new Bad, that one that was changed from the rocky remains of his past and different from the cunning façade of The Soul Thief, yet all of them all inexplicably the same. Forever felt the deep-rooted nostalgia from the small taste of their bickerings combined with the spark of rivalry that was shared between criminal and cop. 

Among all of that, Forever saw a small, vulnerable side of Bad. The one that was hurt and is now willing to hurt back. He wonders if Bad would ever give him the honor of seeing those hues again. 

Forever’s attention is caught. He is curious, he is mystified, and he can’t help but long for more. Long for another dose of this adrenaline-filled rollercoaster. 

He never told me how he pulled off those heists, Forever’s mind wandered back. It is fine, he said to himself, he can ask again. Tomorrow . 

The prospect of that certainty made Forever dizzy with giddiness. 

Chapter Text

“Where are you going?”

Forever froze, at the doorway, halfway shuffled into his recently retrieved coat. He looked back and saw Cellbit focused on him, a questioning eyebrow raised. 

“Uh.. didn’t I already tell you?” Forever said lamely. 

“Uh… No?  Unless ‘out’ counts as a location.” Cellbit deadpanned. 

“Oh.” Forever looked at the floor and fidgeted, fingers crumbling pieces of papers hastily shoved into his coat, “I’m… Clearing up a case. Someone you don’t know asked for help with something. I’ll be– ahem – out today.” 

“.. Right ,” Cellbit was lenient and backed off, but questions still lingered in his mind. “Hey, before you go,” Forever tensed up, “Did something happen yesterday?”

Forever’s blood raced. Did Cellbit find out somehow? No. It seems unlikely. He was out on a date, it was most likely Forever’s behavior that set him off, “I… I was uh,” Gods, get it together. “I was doing research. Just- y’know- tired .”

“You were?” Cellbit blinked, “I thought you were happy or some shit yesterday. You looked content, almost, when we saw each other. Even earlier, you gave off the same feeling.” 

“It’s because I found something yesterday! Something I was stumped on, that’s all!” Forever hastily informed. He needed to turn the topic back on Cellbit, “Also, speak for yourself! I’m sure you were ecstatic yesterday.”

“I- What does that mea- Don’t just say that!” Cellbit sputtered, a flush crawling up his neck. “I don’t see how that matters-”

“No no, you’re not free from this. You owe me a detailed account of everything ,” Forever smirked, “I just hope Roier hasn’t run away, scared shitless, yet.” 

Cellbit scoffed, “You’re underestimating him. And me! Just so you know, I won’t be here in the office next Thursday!”

Forever whooped, an exaggerated cheering that made Cellbit roll his eyes and hide a small smile. He opened the door and was on his way out before Cellbit called out. 

“Forever.”

“Yeah, what else?”

“Be careful out there, I hope I can trust you enough to do that.” 

“...”

Forever clenched his fist, “Of course.” 

He closed the door and made his way downstairs, out of the building with Cellbit’s apartment. Only then, did Forever go into his pockets to fish out two pieces of paper. 

It was a message from Bad, presumably. Forever had found it on his work desk this morning, delivered by his secretary. Further questioning told Forever it was an anonymous package, likely a gift from some admirer of Forever’s work, but ultimately nothing to raise suspicion.

The first piece of paper was a complex kirigami of a black rose, slightly crushed, but still pristine in its detailed folds and intricate craftsmanship. The only crude part of the design was the material, which was made out of looseleaf paper that was haphazardly scribbled on with black crayon, but this only emphasized the skill that was needed to craft it with such crummy material. 

The second piece of paper was a simple white letter. It was attached to the letter and when opened, a plain card was stored with a fine, handwritten message printed in ink.

“4pm, the last place you saw me :v” 

Forever checked the time. 3:40 PM. 

-

Forever sat on the bench impatiently, counting down the minutes. 

He shook his leg up and down, tapping the ground in a rapid rhythm. The park hadn’t changed much from yesterday, the trees still stood, swaying in the slight draft. Small critters scuttered around in noise that blended into the ambiance. The few people that were present at the park paid Forever no mind, overlooking his out-of-place self. 

Forever checked the time again, his phone still blinking at the same 4:10 PM that it did twenty seconds ago. He let out a quiet groan. 

Forever regret trying to be on time now. And to think he started to worry when it pushed four and he was still in the car, so much for that! He assumed Bad would have grown the decency to at least attempt to stay true to his own appointments, but seems like he still ran on his own time frame. 

Impatience was getting to Forever, amplified by a hint of disappointment from how much he had, admittedly, anticipated the meeting. The clock blinked over to 4:11 PM. 

Finally resolving himself to the wait, Forever relaxed his posture and slumped on the chair. An attentive eye scanned the scene in front of him, catching on to any minor movement in the sight. He must’ve stayed like that for a only few minutes, maybe more. It all felt like an eternity.

The light shifted. 

“Oh wow,” A voice came behind Forever, making him jump, “You got your coat back!” 

“Shit!” Forever violently jerked around, head craning to see Bad smile and wave. He placed a hand on his racing heart, “Don’t do that! You scared the hell out of me.” 

“Language,” Bad said cheekily. He placed a hand on the backrest of the bench and smoothly jumped over it, landing in a sitting position. The bench forcefully shifted with Bad’s sudden weight before settling down. 

Forever glared at Bad’s blatant lack of remorse, crossing his arms to appear more unfazed. He opened his mouth, feeling an old and rusty chide come to mind. “Took you long-”

“Ah, right. Sorry again,” Bad said, shooting a helpless look that surged a portion of Forever’s buried memories. He felt his previous annoyance easily dissipate, similar to the numerous times Forever had done so before. 

“It’s- uhm, thank you,” Forever coughed, he retraced the conversation “And, of course I have my coat. I had to return the items.” 

“What? Really?” Bad pouted, disappointment apparent, “You’re no fun, and after all the effort I used up?”

“Bad, don’t test it,” Forever narrowed his eyes. 

“Fine, fine, throw away my gracious gift,” Bad said, “Hope you had fun returning the items.”

“Right! you just reminded me!” Forever pointed at Bad, “I had to pay for that coat! Meaning you now owe me eighty bucks.” 

“Oh- actually, you know what? It slipped my mind, we’re on a really tight schedule!” Bad got up from the chair and dusted his lap, “Let’s get going, yeah?”

“You’re not escaping this, Bad,” Forever assured as he followed him, “You can’t avoid the topic forever.”

Bad hummed, “Don’t be so sure about that. You’d be surprised” He led Forever in another direction than yesterday, heading into a denser part of the city. 

Forever kept up with Bad, excitement bubbling at the prospect of finally seeing where Bad kept his base of operations. Maybe he could even meet one of his allies? He’d been wallowing in the dark for so long, that being given answers made his heart jump with relief. 

Their surroundings sharply changed as they entered a run-down portion of the city, similar to the area where Quackity’s taco shop had resided. Forever stuck close to Bad, cautious of their environment. Bad noticed his actions and scoffed. 

More twisting turns brought the two to another section of this downtown area, alike but still differing in major ways. Contrasting the almost deserted streets from before, this area had a handful of pedestrians walking around. They carried a boisterous attitude and wore borderline obscene clothing.

Forever became confused, inspecting where they actually were. Upon reading the signs of the closest stores, Forever blinked at their suggestive titles. He turned to Bad, coughed in embarrassment, and whispered, “Uhm. Are we going in the right direction?”

“Yeah, it’s right around here,” 

Forever blinked. Paused, sitting with that information. He blinked again. 

He didn’t know that the thought of Bad being in a red-light district would flip his world on its axis, but it did. Bad was aware of adultery, Forever was certain with how much he condemned it, but to see the two coexist in such a way felt like entering an alternate universe. 

Forever would like everything to make sense again. 

“Oh! It’s right over uhm-,” Bad coughed, the situation catching up to him too, “-There.” 

Forever looked at where Bad vaguely gestured to, and saw a small black building. On it, there was a flashing neon light that read “Las Casualonas” next to an outlined graphic of a dancer on a pole. Forever didn’t dare make eye contact with Bad. 

The two walked up to the building, which had a large entrance to stairs that led downstairs. As they descended, Forever saw various posters plastered on the walls, old and new. All of them showcased the club’s different strippers. All in compromising poses. All were men.

I need a drink for this . Forever’s throat dried up, he began to wonder if it was too late to turn back. 

Forever looked over at Bad to see him laser-focus on the entrance of the club, ignoring all of the posters decorating the walls. He grabbed the handle of the black doors and opened them, holding the doors open for Forever while stubbornly refusing to look back. 

He entered, Bad closed the door, and darkness washed over the room. The only source of light came from the color-changing LED that formed a path further into the facility, dim stars and streaks of light flowed across the walls and ceiling of the hallway. 

Forever looked over at Bad, but it was too dark to see any features. Forever’s own face was probably obscured too, giving much grace to the flush that painted the tips of his ears. “You guys choose to locate uhm-” He spared a glance behind him, “Here?”

“Shush you,” Bad started walking down the hall, Forever noticed a slight urgency in his step, “I, for one, argued against it.” 

Loud music played in the distance, increasing in volume as they made their way closer. The end of the hallway was a sleek curtain that, when pushed aside, revealed a mesmerizing room of flashing lights traveling across a dark backdrop. Hues of blue and purple lit up the backdrop and emphasized a performance stage, which had a singular pole at the middle.

Dance music blasted across the speaker, the electronic bass resonating in Forever’s core. The room was a quarter-filled, sparkly clubbers scattered around in small groups. Even with this much stimuli, Forever knows that this room was far from full capacity. He hopes that they won’t have to come back later in the night. 

Instinct made Forever pick at his ear, adjusting to the loud music before eventually getting used to it. He looked back at Bad and felt a pang of pity. He was struggling to get accustomed to the noise.

Bad wandered around the club, looking around, but not heading in any specific direction. A few more seconds of this made Forever suspicious of his concentration. 

“Where are we going?”

Bad’s face scrunched up, focusing “What?”

“Where are we going?” 

“Huh?” Bad looked even more confused. 

“Where are we- Oh fuck it,” Forever slowly took his hands up to cover Bad’s ears, tilting his head to look directly at him. Bad’s eyes widened in surprise, but the relief of the noise made him calmer. 

Where are we going. Forever mouthed slowly, watching Bad read his lips. 

Bad blinked, opened his mouth again, but left it hanging open. He moved his eyes to the side and pointed in a direction perpendicular to them. 

Forever’s head turned to see that Bad was pointing at one of the inhabitants of the club, who was staring at them with a drink in hand. This man, however, stood out from the average appearance of the club. He was in full black, blending into the backdrop without any flashy colors or glitters. The man was middle-aged with dark hair tied up in a man bun, the lingering stray hairs held up by a headband. A pair of sunglasses completed the look. 

This combination of clothing would be intimidating in any other context, if not for the shit-eating grin that stretched across his face. 

“Hey!” a loud voice yelled above the music, “No way, Bad!” 

Bad made his way across the room to this man, making Forever retract his hands. They reached a sidebar of the club, which was slightly separated from the main party and noise, as if to allow more private, intimate, discussions. Bad’s friend was standing behind the counters, posture relaxed as he eyed Forever up and down. 

“Damn,” he whistled, “Looks even more impressive in person.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Bad waved his hand around, “Forever, Maxo. Maxo, Forever. Are we up to speed?” 

“You know, I never thought Bad had it in him,” Max turned to Forever with a quirked smile, propping his chin on his hands, “Lucky bastard.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean?” Bad protested.

Forever glanced at the drink Max had in his hands, raising his eyebrow at the sight of an expensive wine glass filled with, what appeared to be, beer. “Are you sure you should be drinking while on the job?”

“And you’re saying I would survive this job without drinking?” Max playfully shot back, cradling his concoction with a protective cover…

(Didn’t end up finishing this part but it was supposed to be some fun banter between Maxo and Forever lol, similar to how they acted back in the day. Alas, I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d have Maxo act cause of how inactive he’s been in the lore so I just left it for later. But I was planning to have the two bond over their issues w/ bbh and basically tag team bully Bad back.)

“So-” Max tilted his head to Bad, and said in a secretive tone, “-How much does he know?”

“Well, about that.” Bad grimaced, “I’m working on it.”

“Well, you better get it done fast.” Max was unimpressed, “Have you at least filled him in on the plan?”

“Uh, what plans?” Forever was wholly out of the loop.

“You-” Max facepalmed, but wasn't surprised by the results, “¡Venga ya, hombre!” He quietly cursed. 

Max raised his head to meet Forever, “Alright, since he didn’t fill you in,” He shot a glare to Bad, who reciprocated with a face of fake innocence, “Here’s the deal.”

“We need you to sneak Bad into a Federation building.” Max laid out the points, “You would need to cover him past security, and make sure he’s not found.”

“What?” Forever and Bad yelled simultaneously. 

Bad snapped his head to Max with a look of betrayal, only to meet up with two faces staring at him. Max had expected Forever to be surprised, but not the same sentiment from Bad.

 “Bad, what the hell? We talked about this!” he whisper-shouted in Bad’s direction.

“No we didn’t! I didn’t know he’d go with me!” Bad exclaimed, hands on his chest.

“And you thought you can just go into the building, alone? With no guidance? We have no idea what the facility looks like on the inside, Bad!” Maxo groaned, “Get over it, for the love of god.” 

“And that’s why we brought him here! For information !” Bad pointed his finger on the table, “In-for-ma-tion!” He stressed each syllable, jamming his finger up and down with each enunciation.

Max winced, “Hey, don’t be rud-”

“Yeah!” Forever spoke up, processing the conversation, “I thought I was here to tell you shit! Not whatever this is!”

“What he said!” Bad jerkily nodded. 

“Silence, silence!” Max held his hands up to calm the two down. He glared at Bad first, “You’ve known since the start that this is the only way to guarantee your safety, don’t act oblivious about it now.” Maxo turned towards Forever, “I know this isn’t what you agreed to, but we need your involvement if this is going to be successful.” 

“Can you do this, Forever?”

Forever blinked, not expecting to be directly involved. On second thought, wasn’t that one of his conditions, dammit? Forever’s eye twitched as he looked over to Bad, who was conveniently watching the plant in the corner. Forever internally groaned. He was ready to give up information or provide some sort of inside help, but this was way too risky. 

Would they let him decline? Forever lamented the thought but went against it. Maybe this is some form of a test. A test proving Forever’s trust or loyalty. They’re seeing how far he would go before telling him more. This could be the deciding factor, and Forever wasn’t looking to screw up the agreement that fast. 

“How would I even do it?” He cautiously questioned.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. We have a plan,” Max was flippant, “You’re basically serving as a front for Bad. Some verification, if you will.”

Verification? Forever wondered, what assurance could he really give? “Can’t Bad just break in by himself? With his… law-defying powers or something? Why would I need to be there?”

“Law-defying?” Bad snorted “You think too much of me.” 

Max ignored him and answered “I do have faith in Bad’s skill, but getting caught or compromised in this mission would risk too much for us,” He shrugged, “This is the safest option so far.” 

Forever was stumped. He didn’t even know what “The Federation” was until recently. Even if he was within their high ranks, Forever couldn’t lead Bad into some top-secret building with no knowledge of it, much less protect or cover him from security. 

That is… unless-

“...Where exactly is this Federation building?” 

“Ah. It’s the city’s main law enforcement agency. You know, same one your office is in I believe?” 

“What?” 

“You… don’t know?” Max’s eyebrows slightly raised in surprise. 

“I already told you, I’m not a spy!” Forever exclaimed, “Was anybody planning to tell me this?” 

Max and Bad shared a look that could’ve been either confusion or pity. “Forever,” Max spoke up, “That place is basically their main base in this city.”

No, that can’t be it. How did something like that escape Forever’s notice for so long? “You’re telling me I’ve been working in the main headquarters of some fucking evil underground mafia this whole time?’

“Not underground,” Bad shrugged, “They cover their true intentions, sure, but most of their operations are public under various of names. Of course, those are just the faces they put up to hide the nasty stuff.” 

Max nodded, “We have an idea of what the Federation is doing, but the finer details and data is what we need help with. That’s where you come in, future-chief.” 

Forever was at a loss. “If you guys know so much more about this situation than me, why even look for my help,” He asked disconcertedly, “I think- Hell, I know- that you can get in there easily. If you can send me that mail, you can bypass security.” 

“That was a test!” Bad had answered this time, “To see what we can send in there. Inconspiciously, at least. Learned a lot, that’s for sure. But- ” He waved his hand dismissively, “That’s not what we’re worried about though, Forever.” 

“One thing about The Federation is they never stop you immediately.” Bad’s voice switched into a stern, serious tone, “They make you feel like you can get away with it, rarely even resorting to physical violence. This is because The Federation focuses on knowledge, they observe and collect information.” 

“Do you think The Federation bothers about justice, Forever?” Bad scoffed, “Their only motive is to seek knowledge, discover all there is to know about anything . The Federation strips apart every piece of strengths, weaknesses, and information you have to offer, then strike you and anybody unlucky enough to be associated when they deem that you’ve lost your value.” 

“You are there to make sure I won’t get detected or noticed, much less end up on their radar or list of suspicions. If that ever happens, it’s only a matter of time for me.” Bad stressed his voice, “Can you do that, Forever?”

“I…” Forever’s throat was dry, he bit on his words. 

If that was how The Federation operated, what would that mean for Forever? Was he a pawn this whole time, collecting information for a more sinister cause? He thought back to past cases, past work, past reports. Was that a part of it? How much- How much did they use him? Used him for work that he wasn’t even aware of?

How much did Forever not know about the fucking cases he took? 

Forever gripped his glass. He thought it was just luck that they allowed him to take so many freelanced cases, agreed that it was fair when his superiors asked for a case report of each one. He held the belief that the information he gathered was for the archives or to be used in court cases, not whatever the hell this was. Who did The Federation attack because of Forever? 

Every cold case, every physical investigation, every criminal imprisoned he never heard of again. Who else-? 

Forever’s breath caught in his throat. Cellbit- 

“Hey, hey! Don’t start spacing out on me here.” A cold touch from Bad shook Forever out of his trance. His eyebrows knitted up in a manner that could pass off as concern.

Bad paused, a thought passing his head, before continuing “If you start doing that during the mission then I’m probably toast no matter what!” Bad scratched his head and looked over to Max, “Jeez, Maxo. I’m not sure if having him on the team is the best idea, maybe I can-”

“No, I’ll do it.” Forever spoke up. He looked at his shoulder, at the spot where Bad had just placed his hand. It was through two layers of clothing, not even direct, but Forever still felt a warm tingle from the contact. 

“Thank you, Forever!” Max was thrilled at his compliance, “This guy is always looking for a way to take all the work for himself, I’m glad someone else doesn’t let BadBoy do what he wants all the time!” 

“I don’t hog work, what the fudge! You’re being overdramatic-” 

“That’s crazy, coming from you-” 

Forever slightly tuned out the bickering between Bad and Max. He has made his decision, but all it did was leave Forever conflicted. They could be lying, they could be tricking Forever for all he’s worth. But what if they’re not? There was too much at play here, distrust sewing through his perception of the past and present. 

However, the confusion has been fed to another feeling of inclining anger, demanding for answers to make up for his hurt. If this is the only way Forever could come up with answers, then so be it. 

Even if it requires doing work for Max and Bad. Two people who, rationally, Forever shouldn’t even be associated with, and yet they’re the only ones who Forever could progress with. That’s all there is to it, Forever reasons, a promising lead from Forever’s intuition that turned out to be so, so much more. 

He’ll accept the mission. Play along with it until it give him more answers. But one more thing nagged at Forever’s mind. A question before he is certain. 

 “What are you doing this for?”

“Hm? In general or in the mission?”

“... Both?”

“Eh,” Max thought about it, “We’re looking to retrieve an item for this mission. Overall, though? It’s the only thing we can do to protect the things precious to us.” 

-

“You know, I’ve been wondering,” Forever said while kicking at a pebble, “How do you actually steal all of that shit?”

Bad was crouched at the corner of an alleyway, his head peaking out to get a discreet view of Forever’s workplace. Forever stood boldly next to him, immediately shattering the illusion of a low profile. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Officer.” Bad mumbled out from below, “Have you ever heard of a magician’s secret?”

Forever let out a sigh, worth the attempt, “If you want this to work, you’re going to have to tell me something . Unless you haven’t thought of anything- ack!” 

Forever felt a sharp tug on his throat, dragging him to his knees. Bad let go of Forever’s tie with an annoyed look before turning back to the station. Forever let out a dry cough and rubbed his neck, sending a glare at Bad’s back. 

“Shush, stay out of sight,” Bad lightly scolded, “You wouldn’t want to ruin my master plan now, would you?”

Forever rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that great plan you always have handy.”

“I’m glad we agree,” Bad retorted, “c’mere, since you’re so curious, I’ll indulge you.”

Bad scooted further into the alleyway, picking up a handful of small pebbles on the way. He placed them on the ground in a scattered pattern, grabbing a stick to nudge them into position before finally being satisfied.

“This,” Bad pointed at a distinctively lumpy pebble that was father apart from the rest, “Is you.” He drew a long line with the stick to divide Forever and the others, “And this is the station.”

“… Right,” Forever drew out his words, staring at the messy field of rocks and dirt.

“Your job,” Bad paused for dramatic effect, “Is to wreak havoc!”

“Huh?”

“Yep!” Bad slapped the stick to his palm, “Yell around, start a fire, report an emergency, the choice is all yours! Isn't that fun?”

“I’m acting as… a distraction?” Forever said incredulously.

“All in how you frame it,” Bad pointed at longer rounded pebble, “In the meantime, I’ll be infiltrating their security while you’re playing decoy.”

“Quick question,” Forever said, “How would that be discreet in any way? I thought I was supposed to be sneaking you in!” Forever had a reputation to keep, a pride still intact in his current-morally-conflicting job! Bad was setting him up! 

“Yes, and you would be giving me the opportunity to sneak in. Once we’re past the front gate security I’ll have more free reigns.”

“Yeah, alright, and how are you going to continue after that? Do you even know where to go?”

“Ah, uhm. I have an idea of where to go, it’ll be easier once I’m inside. And besides, aren’t you there too?”

“Of course, obviously,” Forever said sarcastically, “Bad, I can’t just make a detour to give you directions while acting as a decoy!”

“I never said you needed to!” Bad defended himself, “It’s just a… back up precaution!”

Forever crossed his arms, “Then what is the actual plan? You never said how you’re going to actually infiltrate the building,” He grabbed another stick and pointed accusingly at Pebble-Bad. “How are you doing it?” Forever half-questioned half-demanded. 

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” Bad sniped, “What you do need to know is how to distract each attendee there…” Bad continued on with his strategies, occasionally pointing at something with the stick for emphasis. 

Forever frowned and leaned back, half listening while his attention wandered off elsewhere. The Soul Thief is horrible with teamwork, Forever notices. All of his schemes balanced on his actions, all the cards are left in his hands. Forever has had fair share of experiences with stubborn individuals, but even early-Cellbit didn’t feel like pulling out teeth. 

But, something nagged at Forever’s mind. Did you think I do all of my heists alone?

The Thief wasn’t against help, or teamwork. Max and his alliance with Forever proved so. He just doesn’t know how to work with someone at his physical side. 

…Maybe that’s a personal issue to be solved later, but right now? Forever is well over his shit.

“Hey BadBoy, what do you think of this idea?”

Bad was slightly surprised, mouth open after being cut off by Forever. He took a second respond after being derailed from a detailed explanation on how to distract the third desk clerk. 

“What are you sayi-” were the only words Bad was able to get out before Forever moved again. 

Forever reached across Bad’s messy diagram to grab the only untouched rock, Pebble-Bad, and carelessly discarded it next to Pebble-Forever. “What if I escort you to the station itself?” He then brashly pushed the two pebbles over the straight line, wiping the entire board.  

“What- Forever! What the fudge was that for?” Bad looked stricken at the sight of his ruined plan, “And are you crazy? They’ll arrest me immediately! What part of that is sneaking in?” 

“They won’t do that. Not if you’re with me, anyways,” Forever stood up again, and looked down at Bad.

“Loving the confidence, but I’m sure they’ll notice if The Soul Thief just come waltzing in the front door,” Bad rolled his eyes. 

“But what if it’s not The Soul Thief? What if it was you, Bad, in civilian form?” 

“I don’t follow,” Bad raised his eyebrow in suspicion. 

“The Federation already has information about you, information I was able to easily access. But what they don’t have is a connection between you and The Soul Thief,” Forever explained, “Think about it! It wouldn’t change anything and you’d go under the radar.”

“Counterpoint,” Bad raised a hand, pouting “It’s risky and I’d still be supervised by them and I don’t like it.” 

Forever groaned, “Look, Bad. Am I right though? About the lack of connection between you and The Soul Thief?”

Bad contemplated it, “I don’t see how that matter, but. I guess, yeah-”

That’s all the confirmation Forever needed. 

“If that’s the case…” Forever slipped into his official, commanding, voice. “Bad, I now declare you under arrest!” 

“What?” Bad screeched. 

Forever moved faster, sliding his handcuffs onto Bad’s wrist and swiftly sliding the other hand into hold. He instinctively jerked away from Forever, but the chains prevented him from going far. 

“Forever- You.” Bad snarled, “I should’ve known-!”

“Stop, stop. Calm down,” Forever said, causing Bad to become even more agitated, “This is the only way I could’ve gotten you to agree to this! Work with me here!” 

“That’s slick coming from you!” Bad retorted, “Get these off of me, or you won’t know what-” 

Forever started tugging Bad out of the alleyway, struggling with Bad’s noncompliance. “C’mon,” He grunted out, “We need to get out of here before more people think we’re homeless drunks.” 

Bad dug his heels into the ground, not willing to give up, “I didn’t agree to this! This is false imprisonment! Forever!” 

“Look, your other plan wouldn’t have worked anyway!” Forever argued, shoving Bad to the front door of the station, “I know this place! Fucking hell, I work here! I go here every day! That might not mean much, but at the very least I know how reception operates more than you.” 

“That’s not- You’re being-!” Bad struggled once more as the final push got him through the doors of the station. He immediately straightened up and ceased struggling as to not cause a scene. 

One of the attendees looked up, “Oh, Officer Forever! A little late, isn’t it?” 

“Good afternoon, Elane,” Forever responded in a friendly tone, “I hope you don’t mind me coming in so late again.” He shot a friendly smile, hoping his drumming anxiety did not reflect on his face, “Found this guy at near a crime scene, hope I can bring him in for personal questioning.” 

Bad kicked at Forever’s leg. He didn’t hesitate to kick back. 

“Nonsense, Officer, it’s what we do. We’re used to it at this point,” she let out a brief laugh, “As always, staff would be going home for the day so remember to do your own registration and proceeds,” She pressed a switch behind the desk and the door leading into the facility opened, “Good work out there, Officer!”

“Thank you, Elane, take care for the rest of the night,” Forever flashed one last grateful smile then ushered Bad through the open doors.

And thats all I wrote!

The rest of the chapter would basically include a spy movie-esque break in with 4ever and bbh. It would’ve been a silly lil mission with a bunch of romantic cliches for the worst pair ever lol. In the worst setting too bc it would’ve been held in the creepy hospital steril hallways of the fed area. 

• Bad would be super cautious and suspicious of everything and Forever would basically be the tired guide who knows the ins and outs of the area and just be walking around casually while Bad is slinking around the walls lol
• They would meet tubbo who is someone working under forever (cameo purposes but he would be a worker thats in on the fed stuff)
• Bad would get a package from mail section of the facility
• Joke scene where the direction of the evil section of the station would be opposite of where Forever’s office would be. And he would have access to all of that section, its just bc he never went to the area lol. They would be arguing on how to open the door to it but then Forever just scanned his card and it just goes “Authorized! Welcome, Officer Forever.” 
• There would be this moment where they’re arguing on where to go and kinda just fall into a storage area and they both cover each other’s mouth to make the other shut up while fed employees are outside
• More arguing on how to disguise themselves until two fed outfits fall on them with comedic timing 
• Forever the brains in the operation and Bad the brawns. Forever would guide bad around while bbh would be graceful and shit and would bypass all the difficult portions at the directions of forever.
• Excerpt from my notes: Forever and bad could be figuring eachother out. Like bumping into each other and bickering but its the most guided bad has felt in decades and forever feels hints of an extinguished flame light up again (hah, codependency. Fuck you guys and your individuality)
• They would be undercover in feds costume (white uniform with blank masks, masks distort their voices and make it robotic.)
• Other moments would be bad mistaking some random fed worker as Forever and basically ranting to this random ass guy and is just o_o when he finds out its not forever
• Speaking of which this chapter is kinda like. Revealing the surface shit about the federation and making Forever doubt his morals
• Cause he would be listening to these Fed workers just chatting normally about their friends and family and it would make him be sympathetic of these workers cause its clear they don’t know the full extent of the feds are are literally “simple” workers doing the same 9 to 5 as everyone else
• Another moment would be in a high tense situation where Cellbit calls forever and he would explain to bad that “oh, it was just my partner.” (miscommunication where Bad thinks cell and forever are dating.) 
• The end of the operation was basically to retrieve this crystal rock think in some science testing facility. 
• They would get in a tough situation after stealing it where Bad (who have been in civilian form for most of the mission) semi transformed into the form he takes when he’s in soul thief costume (demon transformation YEAHHHH) 
• He would get hurt while trying to protect forever and they would get a super cliche getaway
• The end of the chapter would be a gag where Bad pulls out the package from the beginning and it would be a simple jar and a grater type thing. He would pull out the crystal and grind it on the grater, put the particles into a jar, turn to Forever, and say “rock salt, anyone?”

The point of the chapter is to show how like. Bad and Forever works well as a duo despite how much they argue. Normal bonding activities for frenemies. It took so long bc I planned like absolutely none of the main portion of the mission and it was a lot of stalling as I think of ideas. 

Chapter 7

Main focus of the chapter would be around Bad visiting Cellbit’s office. Bad would make a deal with forever that if he lets him investigate Cellbit’s office he would introduce forever to his biggest secret or smth like that. Anyways Forever choose to do it on the day that Cellbit had a date with Roier. 

Bad would arrive at the office and start looking through the cases. Awkward moment when he see the murder red string board that Cellbit made while investigating the soul thief. The point of the trip for him is to see how much info the feds have on the Soul Thief through Cellbit’s investigation

Midway cellbit returns from his date early. Said roier cancelled bc an issue came up with him taking care of bobby. 

• Bad (looking back and forth between 4ever and Cell, eyes widened) “wait… Oh. Ohhh”
• “What?”
• “I didnt know u guys had an open relationship?”
• “Come again???”
• “Nono, its ok I get it. I understand making the most of two hands”
• “Bad what the fuck are you on about”
• “? Are you two not dating?”
• “Wh- NO!!” “Are you insa-“ “Me and him??-“ “What the hell are you even saying!”

Cellbit and Bad clash and its like. Tense show off between two intellectuals. 

Forever would awkwardly introduce bad as a “”””friend”””” from college. The two stumbling on their words as they semi acknowledge their pasts to another person lmao. Cellbit would be highly suspicious but still let it go

Bad would play as someone who was a walk in client who is also a big fan of Cellbit’s work and was invested in some of his cases. Tried to edge him into telling Bad info about the soul thief and a random assortment of cases that had a suspicious air to it. Funny scene where Cellbit spirals about his investigations w/ the soul thief and bad is just like “oh wow you sure found a lot. How curious I wonder what the thief meant by that case. Truly some great leads you’ve uncovered detective I’ll be waiting to see those play out.” 

Cellbit and Bad would get along really well though. Like scarily well forever kinda regretted letting them meet cause they are exactly the same type of people but in different fonts 

Some confirmations and awkward moments between Cellbit and Forever as Forever is conflicted in telling cellbit and holding a secret from him. Cellbit almost definitely knows but he’s not one to pry into others businesses when it doesn’t call for it. He’s aware Forever is keeping something from him but doesn’t know the extent of it, so hes going to play along with it even tho it hurts that his partner is keeping secrets from him.

Forever is just super conflicted knowing now that he’s been basically acting as some sort of link between feds and cellbit, and serves as the leash on cellbit so the federation has control over him discreetly.

Some lore clarifications that I would’ve revealed throughout the story

Bad is apart of this anti fed group whose fighting to take them down. Includes maxo, bbh, foolish (who is acting as an actual mole in the feds), philza, fit, baghera, and etoiles. 

It would be revealed that every place that he stole from had one or two connections to the federation. I would focus on the example of roier’s house being robbed on chp1 bc he rooms with jaiden whose a head federation employee. 

Remember that entire muffin chase in chp 3-4? Well it was orchestrated by the federation, not sure about the reason (either to lure out bad, to better control the public, or something related to Cellbit). The blur Bad was chasing is one of the Fed’s agents (Kameto maybe?) and he disappeared through a federation secret entrance on the exhibit floor.

Other tidbits would be that Bad was tina’s neighbor that she kinda hinted at in chapter 4. He bullies her in good humor often, similar to their canon dynamic. At first he didnt care about the impersonations but it got personal when tina was involved. 

Theres a wholeass list that I made which detailed which character was aligned with/knew who. https://pastebin.com/JbaYYAXA  

Chapter 8

So, surprise. The entire secret that Bad was hiding was the eggs. Chp 8 would be Forever meeting the eggs and bbh being vulnerable. The general gist I had with the eggs is that they were like. Raised by the feds to be some experimental superhumans (kinda like in stranger things) and Bad’s entire motive is to rescue these children and take down the feds for these unethical experiments.

There are a few eggs that bbh and co has recused a while ago and they are being taken care of in secret bc the feds are still looking for them for their dragon magic lol. The rock salt from chapter 6 was medication ingredients for some symptom of the feds’ experiementation. 

Some of the eggs volunteered to help Bad with this work and remotely use their powers to help Bad with his crimes. Basically the reason behind bbh’s thief magic getaways and how he’s able to be so successful. Below is excerpt from my notes where I planned their powers. 

• - dapper (shadow stuff? Or some type of hammerspace or evidence destroyer. w/ bbh and helps him)
• - Richas (powerful, Anything he can think of, he can make with surrounding materiasl. w/ bbh)
• - Chayanne (wind powers, bonds with philza. Can fly. w/ bbh and helps him)
• - Tallulah (not there, motive for Chayanne. Neutralizing ability maybe)
• - Leo (not there, visited by foolish (mole))
• - Pomme (maybe some communications or strength boosting power. w/ bad and helps him)
• - Ramon (not there, dapper motive. Schematics guy)
• - Flippa: sent to a boarding school, is now dead (failed experimentation) 
• - Trump: maxo’s kid, abducted and motive for maxo
• - Bobby: fostered by jaiden and roier
• The eggs would communicate using a modified stenograph keyboard and screen thing (a machine used in courtrooms that would let them type as fast as speech)
• Bad’s steal is half revenge against feds half indulgence for the kids (the zoo steal was a req from dapper.)

Anyways the gist is that Forever would talk and bond with the kids. Richas specifically whose from a facility in brazil and was excited to finally have someone who could speak portuguese. Forever would question why he doesnt help Bad because his ability is hella op and bad just says easily, “He didn’t want to help, so I didnt force him to. He enjoys making paintings out of objects tho.” (oh yeah, richas would be the one who made the paper rose thing that came w/ forever’s message earlier) 

Its just. Major found family vibes and Bad respecting the boundaries of the kids. I want them to be healed. The kids would joke about Bad’s obsession with skeppy who is this mascot for a brand. Like he’s obsessed obsessed its bad. His room which is usually messy and blank would only have skeppy merch as any actual decor. 

This would also add onto Forever’s entire issue with the Feds and his morals because yikes. He’s finally gotten a reason why the feds are evil. But also his entire worldview is crumbling at the moment. 

Forever would ask why the feds havent suspected Bad in recusing the kids and how he’s kept it a secret for so long. Bad says that “it helps that they think I’m dead” 

Other than that he would meet foolish and be super surprised cause thats his coworker. Foolish is his coworker what the hell. There would be Foolish and Bad shenanigans as well, I love myself some absurd landduo content. But Forever and Foolish bonded even more now and it completes the cycle of 4halo stealing eachother’s best friends. 

Chapter 9

The chapter would start with another flashback. This time it would be right before Bad left Forever. It would involve some sweet saccharine scene of Forever, filled with emotions, confessing to Bad and asking him on an actual date. 

Bad would freeze, reject in the most convoluted confusing way, and leave forever behind. Then the memory cuts out abruptly.

Main focus of the chapter is Forever and his promotion ceremony to chief. This would lead to the feds revealing to forever their true nature officially and tour him around the facility that he had already snuck into before with our favorite tour guide, woo, cucurucho

Cucurucho would tell forever stuff about how they didnt tell him before as a test to his loyalty and he passed with flying colors (lol). Anyways it would be revealing a bunch of the feds and have some sort of horror feeling to it. 

Then cucurucho would reveal to forever that his first mission is to capture The Soul Thief. He would further elaborate how the feds had found out that the soul thief was bbh from their mission (bbh turning into a demon) and it makes sense to assign forever does it not? Cellbit had been on the thief’s trail for weeks and Forever even had history with Bad!

(for clarification: the feds knows that past bad, the college one, was the soul thief. They dont know about the civillian identify of bad and only recently found out that college bad had actually lived) 

Cucurucho would play tapes that shows bad as a child in the fed facilities. He was a test tube baby guy who had only known the federation his whole life. Experimented on his whole life with a twisted view on the world due to the fed’s influence and sheltering him. Whenever the experiments got too much the feds would lock Bad in his room and only left him with one item of comfort. A skeppy plush. 

Its twisted and its despicable and it made forever want to throw up while the footage skipped by. Then the environment changed to the first documentation of Bad in the outside world. Showed Bad as he interacted with Forever. 

The basic gist of their background is that Forever met Bad in college during a campus held social experimentation thing. The feds owned the college of course and orchestrated the entire experiment in something that relates to testing the gifted children. Bad coincidentally met forever in it and the two hit it off. Feds let him have a decent amount of freedom by then bc they trusted that he was completely loyal to them

They found comfort in each other and hung around a lot. But both had commitment issues (Bad especially, knowing the nature of his presence there), so they fell into a situationship. It would work in the way of Bad just constantly finds his way to Forever and the two hang out. It is never initiated by Forever and Bad never gives info about his past background or anything.

It was just a slow breaking down of Bad’s mental state as stuff that he was fed by the feds are getting broken down and contradicted with the presence of Forever. He didn’t know where he lied anymore. After forever confessed it was too much and he decided to run away from everything and like. Kinda accidentally faked his death?? Not sure

(At this point I have barely any detailed planning for these sections so theres not a lot of poetic words and metaphors I can add in here, its just the major plot points without extra fluff that fleshes out the story.) 

Anyways when they broke off there was no contact at all bc forever kinda knew nothing personal about Bad, leads up to what we saw in chp5. Forever moved on but never forgot how Bad made him feel. (forever is the type of person to be open but blunt to love. But when he knows he loves someone its cranked to the max, as it was with bbh. He never forgot, his memories are a testament to that.) 

Oh boy I kinda went off track there. That entire section with the past is supposed to be sprinkled throughout the story, not all crammed into one chapter,  but it would be around this area of the timeline I would start revealing stuff so I just placed it all here. 

Chapter 10

Forever would be so confused and distraught and betrayed knowing the full context of everything. He would immediately storm to Bad’s house in a fit and require some sort of explanation. 

This would be a sort of climax to their relationship and would address a bunch of issues between them. Forever would be sympathetic of Bad’s situation of course but he would be pissed at being lied to for so long. 

Bad is trying to lie but for the first time he kinda gives up the act and opens up to forever bc forever found out anyways. Just overwhelmed by the whole thing of Forever finding out and actually being accepting. 

Its hard its rough its messy but it kinda heals something between the two. They understand each other for the first time and are both determined to heal and navigate this shit together.

Some of the convo topics would involve their messy “break up” and it would be like. 

• U were probably mad at me for rejecting you right?
• What do u mean
• Huh? Like… crying.. Tears?
• Uh, yeah maybe for the first day or two? Why?
• … you got over me that quickly?
• Bad you fucking disappeared 
• ….
• Dude I couldn’t be sad I was trying to find where your ass was. Did you think I resented you for “breaking up” with me? No! Fuck you for leaving me behind! I lost my friend dude

And that makes something break in Bad. he blames a bunch of stuff on himself and its tough and rough but forever brings him comfort and is he that much of a villain for accepting it? Is he able to love forever without guilt? That type of tough pill to swallow down feelings. 

Throughout this fic I haven’t planned basically any like. Physically romantic stuff. This would be the moment if I had to choose one. But no idea how I would incorporate it so maybe they kissed, maybe they didnt. Its your choice.

Anyways thats exactly where the fluff ended LMAO. You thought I was done with the angst??? WELL

Chapter 11

The feds found Bad. they found him. Forever wasn’t careful enough. The federation trailed Forever and was able to discover Bad’s hideout and identify and the entire anti-fed group and what they were hiding. 

Forever walked into work that day and found cucurucho at his desk before him, congratulating him for finding out Bad and his secrets that fas and how he’s an efficient chief. Forever did not take the news well and immediate ran from his office and didnt even look back at cucurucho. 

Tried to contact bbh but couldnt. Tried every location but they were all deserted. Bad had already moved and is on the run from the feds. 

A few days later he gets info about some low class federation workers “dissappearing”. Little was needed for forever to connect the dots and find out that it was Bad doing it. 

He was super conflicted because like. This breaks Bad’s entire morals of not hurting those weaker than him. Forever had always had some sort of empathy with the federation worker and found them not involved in the crimes the feds have done. (reflects their canon conflict with forever trying to find out if Bad kidnapped the federation worker or not, YEAHHHH!!!! BACK TO ENEMIES!!!)

This point I don’t have a lot more planned for the fic, since it was so so so far down the timeline that planning for it was pointless. The rest of the stuff I would include would be some confrontation with cellbit where Forever comes clean about everything and like. Just Forever being overall pissed at Bad’s behavior and the return of the criminal and cop chase and working more closely with the federation, gaining more perspective and sympathy over their end. 

And yeah! Thats basically what I had planned so far for this fic. Of course theres some nuances with a shit ton more cameos from other charactes, thoughts I had that I never wrote down, the plot changing as I write with more filler and jokey bits, and A SHIT TON of more emotional character beats but thats practically the main plot points. 

If I had any thoughts about an ending it would be Forever making some large moral decision and picking bad over the federation. 

Extra

I was thinking of doing this one-shot spin off that was set between the time of Forever being introduced to the eggs and the promotion to chief. It would basically be another mission with bad and forever that takes place in a masquerade ballroom setting. 

It would be in bbh pov where we get a lookthrough of how he works with the eggs during the missions and some of his thought process and opinions on forever. The entire thing is self indulgence for me where I incorporate the blond hair and careless whisper jokes. Just pure cliche dancing in the ballroom while trying to disguise their nefarious actions.

And thats all I think? What a wild story I’ve thought up. I didn’t think that some random idea I had while drawing would be expanded into this monstrosity of a first fic lol. I hope those who were invested in the story gets some sort of assurance from my summary. Or not who knows, I ended on a loose end. 

Genuinely, thank you everyone who have made it here. Everything after this is just closing thoughts author being mushy lmfao, but I’m glad my little self indulgent detective comedy story was able to capture your attention, and I hope my explanation of the plot was somewhat satisfactory to you all and tied up some loose ends. 

My deepest gratitudes for those who comment on every chapter and left kind words on the story. It was the highlight of my day to see you guys pop into my inbox and I treasured each word. It was insane to see the support from you all for the first time (you are all so nice and respectful) and it really is a special experience. 

You’re the best! Take care everyone!