An Averyverse Mystery
Although night had fallen, the city of Monstropolis shined, bright as day. Its citizens knew that on the edge of the city, you would find the Felonious Forest, surrounding the base of Malevolent Mountain. What they didn’t know was that there was an underground facility built into the mountain.
Inside the facility, near the vat of liquid hot magma, there was a long table. At the head of the table, Laura sat and looked around, feeling accomplished with what they’d built here. “Let’s begin the meeting”, Laura said, while shuffling some papers, looking through them.
“First, new business”, Laura started, “I’ve sent my two trained sharks, Flotsam and Jetsam, to watch Stillwater Bay and alert us if Avery and those canuckin’ snow sleuths are up to anything. Next, new members”, Laura continued. The group all turned to look at the new person at the table.
“This is Konstantine, otherwise known as The Snitch. He went into Stillwater Bay a couple days ago, disguised as a tourist, and then came back to tell us all sorts of useful information”, Laura said as the group all nodded in approval. “Ok, now some updates…Salty, go”, Laura urged.
With a sly smirk on his face, Salty Pete said “Dr. Lawrie and myself have been working on some neat tricks, so next time, the town won’t be so lucky”.
“Next time, all of Stillwater Bay will be left in a pile of ashes”. Dr. Lawrie added, as she and Salty high-fived across the table.
“Ok, ok, good”, Laura mumbled while making a note on one of her papers. “This brings me to Ed, and the other new member that he recruited”, she continued, looking up at everyone. “That new member is not here tonight because they’re already in Stillwater Bay, hiding in plain sight”.
Ed nodded and said “We’ve been working hard, and they’re ready to strike when the time is right”. Ed looked around the table, “It’s such a prominent member of the community, no one will ever see it coming”. He sat back in his chair and let a sinister smile spread across his face.
“Excellent!” Laura exclaimed. “That concludes this meeting of what I’m calling the…
Cunning and Treacherous Six
…or CaTS for short”. At that, everyone at the table began a low grumble of evil laughter, which swelled until maniacal laughter could be heard floating through the air all over Monstropolis.
The following day, in Stillwater Bay, everyone was working together to clean up the town after a two day K-pop festival they had over the weekend. After a few months of construction, fixing the buildings that burned, the town finally looked like it used to, with just a couple small changes.
First, for obvious reasons, Dr. Lawrie’s Lutes and Lyres, the music store, wasn’t there anymore. It had been replaced by a very talented chef, Rob Smith, who used the space to open a pastry shop for dogs, calling it Harriet’s Le Pooch Patisserie.
Another change, the CCC replaced the Mesmerizing Mods sign on their storefront with one of their own, making Stillwater Bay their official headquarters outside of Canada. And the final change was to Scribe Noir, which sadly, would be called Scribe Noir…no more.
Avery decided to give up on the shop and find something new. She didn’t know what it was going to be yet, but that store had just been at the heart of too much pain and suffering to go back. For the moment, she was focused on finding Laura and trying to keep Stillwater Bay safe.
Since Scribe Noir was such a large store, there was enough room to build two storefronts in its place. The first was a banned book bookstore, Restricted Reads, owned by a Retired Librarian. The second was an art supply store, Pond’s Paints & Paper, owned by a new resident, Melody.
When the town was done cleaning, Avery headed back to her apartment to change. The town was having a party that night to celebrate the grand opening of the dog pastry shop, and everyone was going to be there. Avery knew she, and the CCC, needed to be on the lookout for any trouble.
Once she was ready, Avery met the members of the CCC outside her building. Together, they started towards the party in the center of town. As they approached, they could see the whole town was there. There were a lot of people. They decided they’d have to split up.
“Keep your eyes peeled, and watch your back”, Myles said seriously.
They spread out and started making their way through the crowd, keeping an eye out for any sign of Laura, Ed, Pete, or Dr. Lawrie. As Avery moved through the crowd, she waved at the mayor and took note of various townspeople.
Reaching the edge of the crowd near Brackish Bar, Avery ran into Ramsey D!
“Good evening Ramsey”, Avery said. “Have you seen anything suspicious tonight? We’re worried Laura might try something while the town is gathered together”.
“Hi Avery!” Ramsey responded. “No, I haven’t seen anything. I hope nothing happens tonight. It would be a shame if the party was ruined before my show”.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were singing tonight”, Avery said. “That’s a treat, and so far it seems like everything will be fine. Break a leg!”
Avery moved back through the crowd until she found the CCC again.
“We didn’t see anything”, Aaron said. “Did you?”
“No, nothing”, Avery replied. “It looks like we’re safe for tonight”.
“Let’s enjoy the party then!” Dani exclaimed.
“We can try”, April pouted. “None of the hors d’oeuvres are made with raisins”.
“Roh, rey reem ro-kay to re” Kubey-Doo said while shoveling tiny pineapple coconut buns in his mouth.
“Ohhh Kubey…” the group said in unison with a smile, and then laughed heartily.
A moment later, the sound of 3 taps on a microphone blasted from the speakers before being adjusted to a reasonable volume. Everyone looked towards the stage that had been set up near Harriet’s, where Mayor Sottish was standing with the microphone. With him on stage were Chef Rob and Ramsey D!.
“Good evening Stillwater Bay!” Mayor Sottish exclaimed. “Before I hand the mic to Chef Rob, I just wanted to give you all a bit of news. Borg Sheriff has been updated to version 2.0”. The sheriff stepped onto the stage at that moment and waved robotically to the crowd.
Mayor Sottish continued “Now it provides the same level of security, but the safety assessments are easier to read. You’re all ‘A’s in my town! Thank you! Now here’s Chef Rob”. The mayor handed Rob the microphone and stepped off to the side of the stage.
“Thank you everyone for attending this party for the grand opening of my pastry shop for the pups of Stillwater Bay!” Rob said, with a giant smile on his face. “This is a dream come true, and why I became a chef! Thanks to the mayor for this opportunity”, Rob went on.
“Now to really get this party started, let’s bring out our entertainer for the evening, Ramsey D!” Rob said enthusiastically, gesturing to Ramsey, as she moved towards the front of the stage.
“Hello Stillwater Bay!” Ramsey started, excited. “Before we get into all the songs of mine you already know, I want to start with something new I’ve been working on. It’s slow and smooth, so everyone just relax, and let the music wash over you”. Music started to play from the speakers.
As the slow music played, Ramsey began to sway back and forth, and the crowd followed in unison. Suddenly stage lights began to blink in pattern, and Ramsey lifted the microphone to sing, “Aaaaahhhh oooooooooh aaaaaaahhhh”. Various notes sung without words. It was beautiful, and calming.
The crowd listened and swayed. Ramsey sang the same notes over again. Avery realized she didn’t feel right. She felt sleepy.
“Oh no”, Avery murmured calmly. She slowly turned to look at the CCC members, but they were slumped together on the ground, asleep. She could feel herself going down.
Trying desperately to fight sleep off, now kneeling on the ground, Avery looks back toward the stage, over the crowd of the party, also asleep. Now laying all the way down, struggling to hold her eyelids open, Avery is doing her best to watch the scene unfolding on the stage.
Laura, Ed, Pete, Dr. Lawrie, and someone Avery didn’t recognize had walked onto the stage to greet Ramsey D!. The last thing Avery saw before completely succumbing to sleep…the group of six picked up Chef Rob, asleep, and carried him away.
And darkness…
Avery woke up to April’s gentle nudging.
“Do you need a raisin?” April asked, offering a small bag of raisins, but Avery shook her head. They both stood up.
“Did anyone see anything? It must have been Ed”, Aaron said, still groggy.
“It was Ramsey D! She hypnotized us with her singing somehow”, Avery replied. “She’s working with them. They were all here, and they’ve taken Chef Rob”.
“Why would they want Chef Rob?” Myles wondered.
“We should find out”, Dani urged, pointing to the stage.
The group started toward the stage, passing the sheriff and the mayor who were helping other townspeople wake up. As they got closer, they could see an envelope sitting on the edge of the stage. Aaron picked up the envelope and turned to face the rest of the group, while still reading what it said.
“It’s addressed to…” Aaron started, but trailed off and looked up before continuing, “the Crummy Classless Canucks and their second-rate wannabe goose, Avery”.
“Classless?!” April gasped, rolling her eyes. “I guess they would know. What’s in the envelope?”
Aaron opened the envelope and handed the note inside to Avery.
“It says they’ve taken Rob, and we’ll need to solve Salty’s Scavenger Hunt if we want to get him back”, Avery explained. “It looks like there’s 5 locations to cover”.
“We should split up”, Dani said.
Avery and the CCC urged the town, now fully awake again, to head home and stay safe. Aaron and Dani headed towards the first location, the fountain in the center of town. Kooby-Doo took off across town to the second location, the docks. Avery started walking towards the third location, the park.
April took the fourth location, heading to The Coral Cafe. Across the street from the cafe was the fifth location, Town Hall, where Myles was making his way up to the clock tower. Inside the building, Myles found the stairs, and started climbing to the top.
When he reached the crow’s nest above the clock, he was surprised to find Ed looming at the top. At this height, the wind blowing in from the bay was so strong, both men struggled just to stand still. Myles could see that Ed was saying something, but it was drowned out by the wind.
Ed reached into his pocket. He pulled the chain out, until the watch got caught on a loose thread. Tugging the chain quickly, he accidentally flung the watch into the air. Myles quickly reached out and swatted it out of reach, sending it flying towards the edge.
Ed quickly lurched forward, reaching for the watch, but the wind threw him off balance. He stumbled over his own feet, causing him, along with his pocket watch, to tumble out of the tower. It happened so fast, there was nothing Myles could have done. When Ed met the pavement, he also met his demise.
Across the street, April was cautiously moving through the cafe. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly Ramsey D! leapt out from behind the counter, startling April. With a small shriek, April instinctively tossed raisins at Ramsey, hitting her in the eye and temporarily blinding her.
April ran for the door, but she didn’t stop Ramsey for long, so she was moving again. April ran into the street, but stopped suddenly. Ramsey followed her out of the cafe, but also stopped suddenly. They both stared across the street at Ed’s lifeless body, then briefly at each other.
Ramsey D! suddenly just runs off, leaving April confused. Myles appears from Town Hall and walks over to April.
“What happened?” April asked.
Myles explained how Ed fell, and called the sheriff. They both sat on a bench to wait.
“I hope everyone else is safe”, Myles sighed.
Avery had reached the park and was standing next to a tree indicated in the note. She was only there for a few minutes before a man emerged from the trees, and she realized right away he was the unidentified man with Laura’s group.
“I’m The Snitch”, he said. “Konstantine”.
“Where’s Chef Rob?” Avery asked angrily.
“You’re in the wrong location”, The Snitch responded.
“Why should I believe you?” Avery asked dubiously.
“Because I’m playing both sides, so I’m always on the winning side”, The Snitch replied, looking proud of himself.
Avery looked annoyed and confused. “You can’t tell me that you’re playing both…never mind!” She shouted. “Where is Chef Rob?!”
“He’s being held at the docks. Whoever went there is in big trouble”, Konstantine said with some hesitation, but not much.
“Ruh-roh”, Avery said before running off.
Meanwhile, in the center of town, Aaron and Dani approached the fountain. They both looked up and down the streets for anything suspicious. Suddenly, from behind the fountain, Salty Pete and Dr. Lawrie emerged, both carrying flamethrowers. They each approached from either side of the fountain.
After circling the fountain, the two pairs were standing just a few feet from each other, face to face. Aaron and Dani glanced at each other, knowing they had nothing to match against their flamethrowers. Salty Pete and Dr. Lawrie also glanced at each other, but with evil smirks.
In the blink of an eye, the pair of pyromaniacs put their weapons together and blasted a wall of fire that shot up in between the detective duo. Aaron and Dani could see each other through the fire, but there was no way through. They looked back at Pete and Dr. Lawrie with fear in their eyes.
On opposite sides of the fire wall, Pete was now moving closer to Aaron while Dr. Lawrie was moving closer to Dani. They knew there was nothing left to do.
“RUN!” Aaron screamed, and the two detectives both bolted away from the fire.
Dani ran in the direction of the CCC headquarters, and knew Dr. Lawrie would be on her tail. She ran inside to hide. Seeing that Dani had gotten away, Aaron turned into an alley that runs behind Brackish. He jumped into a dumpster and listened as Pete ran by.
Aaron could hear Salty Pete searching back and forth down the alley, but then he didn’t hear anything for a few minutes. He peeked his head out to see if it was safe, and then climbed out. In the distance he could hear laughter, cruel laughter. Aaron stepped out of the alleyway.
Aaron stood unable to move. In the distance, he could see Salty and Dr. Lawrie skipping away, laughing loudly. But in front of him, all he could see were flames. The CCC headquarters was engulfed in fire, right before his eyes.
“DANI!!!” Aaron screamed.
Approaching the docks, Avery had run all the way across town. She felt a stab of panic when she heard what sounded like Aaron screaming. Just ahead, Avery could see the kiosk for Mistina’s Bay Boat Rentals, and decided to pause there to catch her breath, and check out the area.
Avery looked around, but didn’t see anybody. She started to walk past the boat rental kiosk when a foot jutted out and tripped her.
“Ow”, Avery said, on the ground. She looked up to see who tripped her, and it was Jeff, the owner of the boat rentals. “What are you doing?”
Jeff had a friendly smile on his face as he helped Avery stand back up.
“Well, Laura had stopped by my kiosk earlier today, saying that she wanted to recruit me for her team”, Jeff said, still smiling, but also gripping Avery firmly so she couldn’t move, despite her struggling.
“I wasn’t really interested”, Jeff continued, “until she explained the vision coverage that’s included in her villain’s group health insurance plan, and then I couldn’t turn it down”.
He turned them both onto a dock. Laura was standing at the end.
Next to Laura, at the end of the dock, was a giant fishing pole perched over the water. Hanging from the fishing hook are two chairs back to back holding Chef Rob and Kooby-Doo, all tied up. Below them, Laura’s sharks were circling and looking hungry.
Jeff was steadily pushing Avery closer to Laura.
“Why are you doing this?” Avery asked. “Why kidnap the chef?”
“I wanted money”, Laura said plainly. “Building an evil lair is expensive, and the chef’s parents were rich. I took their money and fed my sharks”.
“I figured I could kill a couple birds with one stone. I wonder how many birds are already dead”, Laura continued snidely, while shrugging one shoulder. “Let’s kill a couple more”. Laura reached for the fishing pole, about to push the button that would drop Mark and Rob to the sharks.
“NO!” Avery yelled, struggling to get free.
Out of nowhere, Konstantine comes running onto the dock, and knocks down Jeff, freeing Avery.
“What are you doing?” Laura yelled at The Snitch.
“I’m playing both sides”, he replied confidently, as if it was a reasonable explanation.
“Ugh, you fool!” Laura yelled before turning back towards the giant fishing pole.
Before she could reach the button, Konstantine shouted “STOP” and lunged towards her. Laura turned back just in time to see him coming and stepped out of the way.
The Snitch’s momentum hurled him off the end of the dock and into the water where Laura’s sharks, Flotsam and Jetsam, were hungrily waiting. At that moment, sirens could be heard in the distance. Avery turned around to see if help was coming, and when she turned back, Laura and Jeff had vanished.
Avery walked to the end of the dock, and saw that the sharks had also vanished, leaving blood-stained ocean water behind and not much else. She figured out how to free Mark and Rob, thankful they both stayed safe. They all headed back into town.
Coming up the hill, Avery could see that the sirens she heard were fire trucks. It looked like Salty and Dr. Lawrie had been up to their usual tricks, but then she realized it was the CCC headquarters that had burned. Avery ran to meet up with the rest of the group.
“Laura got away, but Chef Rob is safe”, Avery reported.
Everyone stared blankly at the rubble of the CCC building while the fire department searched the scene.
“Where’s Dani?” Kooby-Doo asked after a minute.
Still no response. Avery realized what happened and fell silent.
After what seemed like hours, but was really just a few minutes, a firefighter walked up to the group.
“We’ve searched the whole site…we haven’t found any casualties”, the firefighter said sternly. “It looks like you can all relax. Your friend wasn’t in there”.
“I saw her go in there”, Aaron replied, confused.
Avery felt a pit in her stomach. She looked at the rest of the group, and asked “If she’s not in there…where is she?”
Averybody Writes 
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