Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20161216022828/@comment-25389303-20161225000026

Diaboli only had to think for a moment before nodding in agreement to Zanipher's plan. While he knew it was entirely possible that this was a complete lie just to make him leave, the situation meant that he had little choice but to trust her - loathe as he was to admit it. Pressing the issue for details would probably just annoy her anyway.

Turning, he quickly hurried away without saying another word, following street signs in the direction of the gym Zan had suggested. Why she considered a gym to be their location, he had no idea. But that wasn't important right now. What was important was trying to figure out what he was going to do when - or more likely if - he found who he was looking for.

''One thing at a time, Decade. One thing at a time, ''he thought to himself as he walked, kicking his brain into detective mode. In the early days of the Patched, he remembered that he had made the mistake of trying to do everything, which he soon discovered to be disasterous, as it meant he ended up doing nothing instead. He'd since learned that it was better to ignore the specifics and focus on the main problem. His current problem was how he intended to confront multiple, potentially hostile people in public, without causing a scene, and with them almost certainly recognising him immediately.

First things first. He needed more information. He knew they were students as well as their first names, and he potentially knew their location. That narrowed the suspect pool down significantly, but not quite enough. Ideally he needed to be able to recognise who he was looking for before they recognised him, otherwise they would most likely take the opportunity to run away. It only took him a few seconds of thought to understand what he had to do.

Retrieving his Scroll, he sighed in relief when he saw that he still had a faint signal and began scrolling through his contact list until he found who he was looking for. After several rings, the receiver eventually picked up.

"Hey Blanc? Hey, it's me. My signal's a little weak, so I don't have time to talk. I need you to see if you can find me the student profiles of those who were learning at Beacon Academy before it closed. I'm pretty sure it's on the system...yeah...I need their photo ideally...yeah, their names are..."

He listed off the names quickly before giving a hurried farewell and ending the call. If Blanc found what he was hoping for, he'd at least know the possible culprits. Now all he needed was a disguise...

He took a short detour to a clothing store he knew on the way, and after ten minutes of rushed shopping he stepped out onto the street dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, smart black trousers and shoes with a similarly coloured tie. Several months ago he'd seen a pair of detectives from the Vale Police Department dressed in a similar fashion, and decided to imitate the look. Slicking back his hair as best he could, he completed the look with a pair of dark aviators, smiling to himself at the surprising success of his transformation.

Hiding his old clothes in a side alley, he made sure to retrieve the old officer's badge and identification from the last time he had pretended to be a police officer - thankful that he'd decided to keep it in his scarf for situations like this. He just hoped nobody looked too closely and realised that it said 'officer' and not 'detective'.

Another five minutes passed and he finally arrived at his destination. The gym Zan had directed him to didn't seem particularly out of the ordinary - not that he had expected it to be. Inside, he could see it was fairly busy, but not exactly crowded either. As if on que, his Scroll dinged, to which he discovered that Blanc had successfully found the profiles of the people he was looking for.

"Platinum...Automne...Respersio...Bernhardt...Saria...Well, at least their names are memorable..." he muttered under his breath. He made a deliberate effort to straighten his tie, straighten his back and slick back his hair again before pushing open the gym doors and stepping inside. If he was going to pull this off, he would have to use everything he'd learned after the last decade to make this a success.

"Good afternood ma'am," he greeted the lady at the reception desk with a smile. "Sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to request your assistance on an important matter..."

He flashed his ID briefly as he spoke in a calm, authoritative voice. "...My name is Donovan Galloway. I'm a Detective of the Vale Police Department. We recieved a call from one of your customers that several suspects of a serious hit-and-run incident may be present at this location, and I was wondering whether or not you had seen any of the following individuals enter this building at any point earlier today:"

He showed her the list of students he was searching for on his Scroll, as he quickly scanned the room for any of the suspects. With any luck, they wouldn't recognise him after such a dramatic makeover.

(Sorry if it seems a little overly convenient - I'd rather Diaboli not get shot on sight or something. Also, Merry Christmas!)