trans_9 | Purifying a Miasma... Maybe.

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Purifying a Miasma... Maybe.

It was a long, thoughtful walk to the Shrine. The odd, high-pitched whine of something Wrong had faded just as soon as she'd entered Religion Row, and Miku spent the rest of her time rubbing her ears to remove the tickle. It was hard to explain to other people the exact feelings that came with her ability.

But Cargn... understood. To a point, she supposed (considering, of course, that he didn't have eyes and hers were still very much attached). But even that point was much more than someone who had never experienced that plummet of heart and stomach, the loss of color from the world, or the shrill, lingering whine of getting closer and closer to something that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Miku sighed as she entered the Shrine of the Aquila and started looking for her sensei, and his little, strange helper.

"Viginti-san? Cargn-sensei? I'm here," Miku called, and her voice echoed oddly in the Shrine. No, she was never going to get used to how creepy that was.

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Steve was watching breathlessly as Miku stared down the empty hallway-- even if he could slightly feel the presence of something off. Was it because he had once been a ghost himself, so to speak, or was he just lucky that way too?

It wasn't until the silhouette of a woman appeared in the flash of Miku's camera that he really panicked.

"Oh holy shit!" he yelled, taking a huge step back and out of the way. How could Miku just stand there so calmly?

Kon's reaction was slightly more restrained, but then he was slightly more used to supernatural weirdness, just like he was slightly more used to talking gorillas and jet-pack Nazis.

Still, his eyebrows were raised until they nearly met his hairline, and he took to the air again, hovering over the ground, ready to grab them both and book it at a moment's notice if he needed to.

"Yeah, that's a ghost."

Thank you for your input, Obviousman. By the way, what are you doing out here without your trusty sidekick, Understatement Lad?

That little-

"BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU LIKE HE KILLED ME!" She may have reeled back momentarily but Big Zero lunged forward again. Her anger fueled her and she'd all ready had a taste of Miku's soul. She would not be denied the rest.

"I told you!" she said. Empowered by the drain of spirit from BZ, Miku's Camera Obscura ate it up readily and again the charge ring lit up on the camera.

Stupid ghosts, always moved so fast... Miku switched a lens into place and she fired again. It wouldn't stop BZ, of course, but it would slow her down as the next shots came one after the other. Her camera made a high pitched noise as the flash went off.

"Just stay out of her way!" Wow, was that Steve, repeating reasonable advice that he intended to follow himself? Well, as tempted as he was to fire bullets into the blank space in front of Miku, even he recognized it would probably be stupidly dangerous, and he managed to resist.

She'd been awful close that last shot. Damn close.

"You might wanna move baaaack," Kon said, voice hitching in alarm, fists clenched, ready to grab both her and Steve if need be, to put distance between them and the ghost again.

A good thing too, because the silhouette of Big Zero was coming closer, despite the flashes. At least she wasn't rushing at them the way she was before.

"Enough with the fucking camera. I'M STILL GONNA KILL YOU!"

"You're so lucky you can't hear her!" Miku yelled as she lowered her camera and ran past BZ putting more distance between herself, Steve and Kon. They had to be preserved, didn't they? This was her fault.

She wasn't feeling as calm as she sounded, not with the way her heart kept drumming against her ribcage. But, oh, thank heaven, there was enough space between them this time for a fully charged shot. And if the little indicator on her camera was anything to put a hope in, then maybe, just maybe, the next shot would be the last one.

"Over here!" she called to BZ's spirit. "Over here!"

Steve again resisted the urge to play hero, obediently staying near Kon and away from where the ghost... apparently was standing. Or rushing towards Miku. Or... or something he couldn't see.

"Be careful..." Steve murmured, though he wasn't sure if he was talking to Miku or himself-- if that ghost was heading in their direction, he wondered what it would feel like if she touched them.

Not that he was real enthusiastic to find out, or anything.

Oh please, did you really think Big Zero was dumb enough to fall for the oldest trick in the book? Really? Really?

Well good, because she did.

"I hope the rest of your soul tastes as good as the first bite did!" She said, turning for Miku. "And I'm going to eat it nice and slow!"

The Camera always, always worked best the closer the ghosts were. It gave it more time to charge, steadied her aim, and put her in a state of absurd calm. Terrifed, of course, but calm.

The characters on the lens of her camera were fully lit by the time BZ could reach out and touch Miku. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Live a better life the next time." Again, the camera made that high-pitched noise and with it, came a powerful shot, the flash illuminating just how close Miku had allowed BZ to get to her.

Have a nice afterlife, BZ.

No. NO!

This wasn't supposed to happen! She wasn't supposed to die! She didn't want to...

Amity's face took on a serious look as her body changed, consumed in blue flame. "It was Iron Lad." She said. "Nathaniel Richards tortured me to death." And then her voice softened, containing a calm never felt when the woman was alive. "Tell everyone I'm... sorry."

And then she was gone.

Miku felt like whatever was holding her up had cut her strings, and slumped to her knees with the Camera in her lap.

The person who'd actually gone out of their way to torture and kill someone else was on the ship. On their ship. "She... she's gone on." Miku put the camera to the side and pushed it away from her, suddenly wanting to be very far from it.

Okay, problem solved, ghost...thoroughly flashed to death with a camera. That was new.

"She was dead."

Those glimpses...

"That was the chick that got Punishment, right? Looked like her, at any rate. If that was her ghost, that means she's dead. It means something on the ship killed her, that we probably have a murder on our hands."

Edited 2010-12-07 09:03 (UTC)

Steve immediately rushed to Miku's side, dropping to his knees beside her and putting his arm around her. "Are you okay? That was..."

He wasn't quite sure how to describe it just yet. "A-are you okay?"

Though Steve often teased her for being chilly, Miku's skin felt like someone had just dipped her in a frozen lake. "I'm tired," she complained quietly before looking up at Kon...

...and averting her eyes to her lap. Half-naked rescuer was half-naked, after all. "It's not as big a mystery as you might think. I wish you could've heard her. She said it was someone named Iron Lad? Na... Nathaniel Richards? That he beat and tortured her to death." She shuddered and felt her stomach twist itself into knots. How could she sound so ridiculous calm. Maybe she was in shock. Miku could accept that.

After getting Superboy's comm ring message, Kazami hurries down to the crowd after asking Stacy for directions to their location. He's dressed, he hadn't planned on doing much that night.

Lucky him.

"Kazami Shiro." He introduces himself shortly as he examines the trio. Superboy and Steve, he'd heard mention about a few times. Maybe brushed by them in the halls, he didn't really remember. "Hinasaki-san. I'm glad to see you're alright." Superboy gets a lingering, bemused look. I'd put a shirt on if I were him. Nothing to really be done for it now, though. "I'm with Security now. I'll take your statements, and then report in to figure out how to go about investigating on the next steps." It was, after all, his first investigation where he wasn't out to kill the killer himself.

He glances over to Superboy. "Please don't mention the suspect's name on the comms, if you know it. I'm not sure how secure they are. Now... Hinasaki-san, do you feel up to telling me what happened?"

Wanda wasn't far behind. She wasn't just on security, she was on the council. This was something she needed to be there for. "Sorry. I came as soon as I was able." She took several steps over toward Miku. She unfastened her cape and held it out for her. "Here. If this ghost was anything like the ones in my world, I think you may want this."

Miku looked between the two and shook her head a little, "She's gone now - for good. I'll be okay after I rest." Well, probably, she looked a little unsure about that. This would probably be a bad time to go looking for hundred year old water, after all.

"I... heard someone screaming. It woke me up, and I followed it, for some reason." It was hard to explain the pull of a spirit. "It led me down to a place in the city... and... I... I think I could get back there again. It smelled like old blood. But she was there."

She smiled, weakly, "I screamed when she touched me. I forgot how much it hurt, and then after... I ran. After that, he," she nodded at Superboy, "picked me up and Steve brought me my Camera." Miku looked at the innocuous item. "Her pictures will be on it, so you'll be able to see them... she looked horrible, though. So horrible. I can give you the film, but not the Camera."

He knew almost nothing about ghosts or the people involved with the so-called murder, but Miku felt ice-cold and Steve was determined to make sure she didn't faint or slump over to sleep. He slipped his shoulder under her arm to keep her supported.

"I just came when I heard her screaming," he said. "She fought off the thing with her camera, just like she said."

"Same story here."

Kon tapped his ear. "Super-hearing. After hearing Miku scream on my ring, I tracked her down. She was running from something I couldn't see, and I got some distance between her and it, and got her to the hub where Steve showed up with the camera. When he got her the camera, we saw the ghost in the flashes. Dead ringer for the girl who got Punishment, least as far as I could tell. Didn't hear what Miku heard, though, just saw flashes of her."

Edited 2010-12-09 06:33 (UTC)

He nods, taking mental notes of everything they said. Most of what Kon and Steve had to add weren't good for much, but Kon's story kept backing things up. "Burnside, correct? Did you see the... ghost in the flashes as well?"

Kazami takes a moment to look around and listen. He may not be able to match Kon in the sense department, but he's still a remodeled human. No one else was around that he could spot. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to take me back there, Hinasaki-san. I need to see the area as quickly as possible. But first, just in case, could you please tell me what exactly she said?"

He peers over at Wanda, as if trying to judge whether or not she should come. Yes, Miku might need a woman to support her after this.

Miku frowned slightly at Kazami before closing her eyes to think of everything she'd said. "From the beginning? Ah... 'No, no please. Someone, help me! I don't want to die...' It went on like that until I found her. Then it was, 'He fucking killed me.'" She looked up at them through her bangs, clearly finding the word "fucking" distasteful.

"Then she just screamed and cursed at me. By the time I was able to get a charged shot on her, and she was exorcised, she apologized and told me it was someone named Iron Lad? Nathaniel Richards. That he tortured her to death. They always apologize at the end..." Boy, Miku felt worn out. And cold. At least Steve was warm, and as soon as he got back to sleep, the better, wouldn't it? Then she could sleep soon.

Wanda handed her cape to Steve and gave him a look. Hopefully he would understand that it meant "you put this around her, I don't want to upset her."

And then she heard the name "Iron Lad" and "Nathaniel Richards" and she swore she could feel her heart fall into her stomach.

"Nathaniel Richards? Are you sure?" She asked gently but insistently.

"I'm sure. It's a weird name, isn't it?" Well, American. That was weird enough for Miku.

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