Chapter Text
Sidefall stared hard at his computer screen, narrowing his eyes as though sheer willpower could force a notification to materialize in the empty inbox. He had been repeating this daily ritual for the past two months, ever since they had launched their official Facebook Page.
Beside him, Lomedy leaned in, blowing gently on his hot tea before taking a slow sip. They were huddled close together at the smooth wooden table where the monitor sat, both tracking the static screen with a mix of desperation and boredom.
"I have a feeling today is gonna be different," Sidefall said enthusiastically, his eyes glued to the glass.
"You said that yesterday," Lomedy chuckled, setting his mug down with a soft thud. "And the day before that."
"But today is different! I can just feel it in my bones, man."
"Sure, bro," Lomedy smiled, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check his notifications.
They were currently sitting in their workshop—though "workshop" was a pretty generous term for it. In reality, it was an old, abandoned house they had stumbled upon in the dense woods just outside their small town. Lomedy and their friend Parrot had originally discovered the place while exploring the overgrown trails one weekend, and Sidefall had instantly claimed it as their own the moment he saw it. Even though they all knew it technically belonged to someone else, the property had been completely neglected for years, hidden away from the rest of the world. After a lot of intense debate about the legal risks and whether it was worth the trouble, the group eventually agreed to make it their official headquarters.
Since then, they had poured a massive amount of physical effort—and basically half of everyone's life savings—into fixing the place up. They spent months sweeping out years of accumulated cobwebs, patching up the leaky roof, replacing broken window panes, and dragging in whatever old furniture they could scavenge or buy secondhand. It was exhausting work, but seeing the space slowly transform kept them going. By the time they dragged in the final wooden table and hooked up their computer setup, the hideout finally felt brand new, completely unrecognizable from the rotting structure they had first found.
That massive undertaking was all a year ago.
Lomedy’s phone buzzed, cutting through the quiet hum of the computer. He opened Discord and saw a message flashing on his screen.
"Hey Sidefall, Planetlord is asking for you. He says he's still over at his place," Lomedy said, looking up from his phone.
Sidefall finally ripped his gaze away from the monitor, pulling a face. "Aww man, right now? Seriously?" He cast a longing look back at the inbox.
Lomedy laughed at his friend's reluctance. "Yes, right now. Don't worry, I'll keep watch. If the screen blinks, I'll see it."
That was enough to cheer Sidefall up. He stood up from the wooden table, pushing his chair back into place, and gave Lomedy a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Text me the exact second something pops up, okay? I'll be back as fast as I can!"
"Got it, bro. Stay safe out there."
Lomedy waved as Sidefall practically sprinted out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. A second later, the heavy thud of the front door vibrating through the old house confirmed he was officially gone.
Left behind in the sudden quiet of the workshop, Lomedy sighed and turned his attention back to the computer. For a few minutes, he tried to channel his friend’s undying optimism, staring at the blank Facebook inbox with the exact same intense determination Sidefall had been practicing all morning. He even leaned in closer, half-expecting a red notification badge to magically pop up just to reward his effort.
But the screen remained stubbornly still. The only sound in the room was the low, steady hum of the computer tower and the wind rustling the tree branches outside their window.
Realizing that staring at a static webpage wasn't going to make a message appear any faster, Lomedy finally gave up. He slumped back into his chair, stretching his legs out under the wooden table. He picked up his mug, taking a sip of his now-lukewarm tea, and fished his phone out of his pocket. Unlocking the screen, he bypassed his notifications and just started aimlessly scrolling through his social media feed, settling in for what was bound to be a pretty long, quiet wait.
It had been two long months since Sidefall launched their official Facebook page under the name "Mystery Busters." The premise of the page was simple: they were a specialized group dedicated to solving local mysteries and entirely debunking ghost-related theories, determined to prove that the supernatural was nothing more than a myth. Admittedly, they were complete amateurs. Up until now, their track record consisted of solving their small town's minor dramas—mostly runaway pet cases, neighborhood pranks, and petty relationship issues that clients dramatically claimed were instances of "stalking and obsession."
They used the page to document their past chronicles, hoping it would serve as a beacon to attract more serious cases from outside areas, especially since their own town had completely run out of mysteries to solve. Unfortunately, as Sidefall's daily screen-staring ritual proved, they hadn't had any luck yet.
How exactly did a mismatched group of nine guys end up running a bootleg mystery-solving agency in an abandoned house in the woods?
It all started because one of them was incredibly bored and wanted to debunk a myth.
Yep, you read that right, it was sheer boredom.
Apparently, Saparata was bored out of his mind after graduating college and moving back into town. After a year of doing absolutely nothing but streaming video games, he got a sudden spark of inspiration. He saw a post online with a heated discussion about whether ghosts were real or not. Saparata immediately sided with the idea that ghosts were just urban legends or products of people's paranoia, and he decided to form a group of young adults just like himself to prove it. Saparata was the one who built their little group from the ground up.
When the group was newly formed, Saparata simply called them the Debunkers. He was the founding member, while Fluixon was the co-founder and his right-hand man. Saparata and Fluixon had been best friends ever since they were kids, and they kept close contact even when they went to different colleges. Their bond was still incredibly strong after all those years, so when the idea of solving mysteries came to Saparata's mind, Fluixon was the very first person he recruited, despite Fluixon’s continuous rejections. Honestly, Fluixon was starting to question his childhood choices for befriending the man in the first place.
The next member to join was, surprisingly, Lomedy. Among the rest of them, Lomedy was easily scared, preferred to stay out of trouble, and just wanted to keep his life peaceful. He spent his days casually doing farm work on the little plot of land his parents had left behind when they passed away. But despite being an orphan who would jump at a simple jumpscare, Lomedy had a ridiculous obsession with horror movies and ARGs.
Apparently, the saying that you should never judge a book by its cover was entirely true. He actually loved watching dark documentaries and deep-dive mysteries. Since he was also close with Saparata, he agreed to join when asked. This absolutely baffled Fluixon, because Lomedy was the last person he ever expected to join a ridiculous club.
Through Lomedy, they managed to recruit three more people, much to Fluixon's frustration as the circle continued to grow.
Flamefrags was the next person to join, and his only real reason for tagging along was because Lomedy was doing it. Saparata didn't argue and welcomed him on board immediately, knowing that Flame was highly skilled in combat and could easily put up a fight if things got dangerous. Saparata liked to call Flame one of their main pillars and shields.
The next to join was Wifies, whom Lomedy had personally invited. Wifies was undoubtedly the smartest person in the entire town, so imagine the shocked faces on both Saparata and Fluixon when he actually agreed to join. Apparently, Wifies shared Lomedy's love for solving puzzles, and he really liked Lomedy, so he signed up without hesitation. He was also apparently bored out of his mind just like Saparata, a fact that made Fluixon want to stitch their heads together. Wifies had an incredible amount of knowledge and skill when it came to tracking down information, as he used to solve random mysteries for students at his university for a small fee, of course.
Along with Wifies came Planetlord, his twin brother who took a liking to the group and decided to just ride along with the chaos. Through Planetlord, they met Sidefall, who basically invited himself into the circle and immediately became close with Saparata and the rest of the gang. Sidefall quickly naturally took on the role of their propagandist and journalist, asking around town if anyone had problems they wanted solved, and eventually creating their official Facebook page.
Through Wifies, another intelligent guy was brought into the mix. The next to join after Sidefall was Parrot, who was Wifies' best friend. He and Wifies went to the same school together, and Parrot had recently decided to live with Wifies for a while. Nobody really knew the story behind that because neither of them ever mentioned it, but everyone had a feeling that Sidefall knew the truth, considering how incredibly nosy he was when it came to local gossip.
Finally, completing their group of nine, was Theo. He joined through Flamefrags, though "joined" might be a nice way to put it. Flame actually just threatened him into joining so that Flame wouldn't be the only sane person dealing with a collective headache, and Theo had no choice but to agree. Luckily, he immediately hit it off with Parrot and Wifies upon joining the group.
Then came the issue of their club name.
They were first called the Debunkers when they started, but a petition was soon made to choose an official group name. Unfortunately, among all the suggestions that were presented, Sidefall won through a very reluctant voting process, much to the dismay of half the members.
Sidefall's suggestion was Mystery Busters, which he proudly derived from Mystery Incorporated from Scooby-Doo and the Ghostbusters franchise.
Almost everyone disagreed with the name instantly. They argued that it screamed cheap quality and sounded like it came from a low-budget TV show. While Scooby-Doo was far from cheap, they felt their new name definitely sounded like it. Sidefall thought it was a wonderful name, and while everyone else declined it, Saparata voted in its favor simply because he thought it was hilarious.
The only other person who didn't outright reject the idea was Lomedy. He found it a little uncanny for their actual line of work, but he still thought it sounded kind of cool. In the end, everyone else just had to accept it, mostly because Flame automatically sided with whatever Lomedy liked, and no one wanted to argue with their human shield.
Back in the present, the heavy quietness of the workshop was suddenly broken by the sound of rhythmic footsteps. Parrot slowly descended the stairs that led straight into the open kitchen area, looking around the spacious room before his eyes finally landed on the only person left inside.
"Hey, Lomedy. Where did Sidefall go?" Parrot asked the moment he stepped off the bottom stair, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes as he walked deeper into the room.
"Uh, Planet called him over," Lomedy said, lifting his gaze from his phone to look up at Parrot, who was casually strolling over to the large wooden table. "He didn't really specify what it was for, though. Just said he needed him."
Parrot stopped beside the table, crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced down at the elaborate setup. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"On guard duty," Lomedy said simply, offering a lazy shrug and gesturing toward the glowing monitor with his chin. "I'm officially in charge of staring at the screen until Sidefall returns."
"Let me guess. No updates yet?"
"Yeah," Lomedy said, his shoulders slumping a little as the harsh reality set in. "There's still absolutely nothing. It's just the exact same empty inbox like always."
Parrot stood next to Lomedy for a moment, his gaze shifting from his friend’s face down to the phone still clutched tightly in his hand. A small, amused smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he caught him red-handed. "I think we should really reconsider the advertising part of this whole operation. But more importantly, are you actually sure you're watching the screen?"
"I am!" Lomedy defended himself quickly, snapping his head back toward the monitor to prove his point. "See? There's absolutely nothing—"
Lomedy paused.
The words died instantly in his throat.
His eyes locked onto the monitor, freezing completely. The white and blue layout of the Facebook page was exactly the same as it had been for the last two months, except for one tiny, glaring difference.
Down in the bottom corner of the browser tab, a small, bright red circle had suddenly materialized. Inside the circle was the number one.
Lomedy blinked once. Then he blinked twice, wondering if the lack of sleep and the lukewarm tea were finally causing him to hallucinate. But the red bubble didn't disappear. Instead, a small chat box automatically popped up at the bottom of the screen, revealing a fresh, unread line of text from a completely unknown account.
The silence in the room stretched, thick and suffocating, as Lomedy processed what he was looking at.
"No way!" Lomedy suddenly shrieked, the sheer volume of his voice echoing off the walls and practically rattling the windowpanes of the entire house as he stood up from his chair.
"What? What happened?" Parrot asked, startled by the sudden outburst as he instinctively leaned forward, trying to get a clearer look at the computer screen over Lomedy's shoulder.
"There's—" Lomedy started, but he couldn't even finish the sentence.
Without tearing his gaze away from the glass, Lomedy reached out blindly, his hands locking with a death grip onto both sides of Parrot's shoulders. The absolute shock radiating from his fingers was palpable. Then, with agonizing slowness, Lomedy turned his head around to look Parrot dead in the eye, his face completely pale.
"A message!" Lomedy choked out.
Lomedy watched as Parrot's eyes widened to the size of saucers, mirroring his own expression perfectly. His crossed arms dropped loosely to his sides, and his mouth fell slightly gaping open in sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
"Wait, seriously?" Parrot said, his voice dropping into a stunned whisper.
Both of them leaned forward simultaneously, nearly bumping heads as they crowded around the computer. Sure enough, right there in the lower corner of the screen, was a single unread message. The notification icon glowed brightly against the dim background of the workshop, sent from an unknown account under the name Vixturement.
"Holy shit, Parrot," Lomedy mumbled, his eyes scanning the name over and over again as if to make sure it wouldn't just vanish into thin air.
"Looks like we need to call a group meeting," Parrot said, his hand already pulling out his phone as his fingers quickly tapped open their group chat on discord.