(PLEASE NOTE: THIS SERIES WILL NOT BE ONE I WILL ACTIVELY WRITE EVERYDAY AS LIFE IS STARTING TO GET IN THE WAY, JUST SO YOU KNOW) 5 months after the second Murder Mystery... A desert lizard skittered across the dunes. It came to a halt near an old skull, of a creature now long extinct. The deserts of Animeville, once thriving with CatGirls, now a barren wasteland after the great Offtopic Crusade. The lizard came to a road, where 3 black SUV’s came roaring past. They drove for hours, armed men inside each one of them. Finally, though, they came to a few paces away from an old mansion, still thriving with life, but not the kind one would expect. Armed soldiers populated the area, desert bushes grew large and green near a stream that encircled the home. The cliffside was ripe with vegetation, and large rocks that cast a great deal of shade. The soldiers exited the car, dragging someone with a bag over their head, and hands tied, into the mansion. The bagged man kept resisting but did not yelp. They dragged him through a luxurious hall, the once-great treasures of the CatGirls hanging on the walls. The soldiers roughly threw the man onto a chair, his hands tied behind his back. A small little Owl and Eagle chant, in the shape of Yin and Yang, hung around his neck. A large muscular man, with several scars on his face, came to a few paces in front of his soldier. His tactical vest was lined with grenades, ammo pockets, and a large knife. Despite his size and shape, his booming voice held no real malice in it. “Did you get it?” The goon shook his head. “No. But the búho tonto was carrying this, Dango.” The goon held out a small circular device. An old clock, with the minute hand, missing. “Hmm.” Dango quietly hummed. He turned it over in his hand, nothing seemed to be off with it. Just an old watch. He looked up and approached the masked man. He reached out to grab the hood and pulled it off. The man underneath turned out not be a man, but a bird. His owlish face was lined with a bruise Nighthawk opened his eyes several times to acclimate himself to the light, and his surroundings. He quickly gazed around, then at Dango. “Fellas? How you livin?” “Nighthawk Chordeilinae, in the flesh!” Dango triumphantly stated. “Warrior, hero, explorer! And a murderer, and a thief.” He added with a hint of distaste. Nighthawk narrowed his eyes. “Whoa now. I’m pretty sure you’ve got me confused with someone else...Dango was it? ” “Oh -blam!- no, we got the right person in front of us.” Dango smiled. “The explorer of the Fariassan depths, member of the Society of Daggers, the raider of the Imperiums Flamer arsenal., and the first Offtopic Murder Mystery Killer, ” Nighthawk slouched in his chair. He gave a quick smile. “Ah, then yes that’s me! But I don’t use my last name that much any more for…personal reasons.” Dango smiles back. “Oh, I can understand.” He tossed the watch to one of his goons hanging out by the doorway. “Last night, an auction was held for a priceless Void Relic, something my employer righteously purchased. And then, all of the sudden...poof. It’s missing the next hour. So imagine my surprise when Nighthawk, the thief master himself, is nearby!” “Seems like an awful coincidence,” Nighthawk stated. Dango chuckled. “I’d say so...” “A coincidence I had nothing to do with.” Nighthawk continued. Dango narrowed his eyes, then smiled. “Hardball eh?” He whistled to a nearby room and turned back to Nighthawk. “Let’s see how cooperative you will be after El Oso is done with you.” Nighthawk narrowed his eyes and nervously asked. “El Who?” For a response, everyone in the room turned their backs on him, as Dango and another soldier exited the room. Nighthawk leaned to a side, and whispered, “You getting this?” *Oh yeah, Cous.* Outside, another bird laid in the dirt covered in camouflage, with the same necklace looked through a pair of binoculars. Next to him, sat a small laptop with plans of the mansion on the screen, and a small communication earbud on the desktop. His face was covered in camouflage paint, and a business suit covered in what appeared to be a guile suit. “Seems like these guys are really pissed about the relic we ‘borrowed’.” The bird moved toward a bag. “Just keep em busy while I look up the house plans.” Eagle remarked. “Easy for you to say when you’re not in danger of losing a finger,” Nighthawk responded through the comms. “I’m pretty sure they’re not thinking about taking a finger, Seagull -blam!-er, they might be looking to take several..” Eagle retorted. “Now, let me figure out what floor you need to go to.” Eagle dragged the laptop toward his face and began to look through the files. Back in the mansion, Dango came back. Someone behind him tagged along. Nighthawk shifted his seat to see who it was, only to find a small bear man behind Dango. “Ha! That’s Oso? What a small little shit!” Nighthawk laughed. A ringtone quickly put his laughter to an end. A solider pulled out a phone and handed it to Dango. He looked down at down and frowned. He turned back to Oso, “you good?” The midget smiled and cracked his knuckles. As Dango left the room, Nighthawk couldn’t help but insult the midget. “Hey, there little guy! You wanna buy some drugs?” In response, Oso pulled out a pair of brass knuckles for both hands, reinforced with steel hinges. The smile from Nighthawk’s face dropped. “Oh shit…” With a flash, the midgets fist connected with Nighthawks face, over several times. A soldier in the back laughed as he fiddled with the watch. Soon though, his laughter subsided, as he kept looking at it. Something about it felt wrong. Outside, Eagle tapped his laptop, trying to figure out why it was so slow. “Eh, must be the internet speed. Should’ve set up a hotspot instead of the wifi in the house. Hows it going Nighthawk?” His only response was Nighthawk grunting in pain. Oso backed up a pace, as Nighthawk started talking again, “Hold up, I think you’re doing the interrogation thing wrong. You’re supposed to make a connection, you know?” Oso proceeded to grab Nighthawk by the back of his head. “I consider this the connection, Hijo de -blam!-. There is a lot of people who would’ve paid good money to do this.” “…well that's awkward considering I know a few of em…” Nighthawk muttered. As Oso punched him again, the soldier investigated the watch. It seemed to be missing the minute hand. No, it was missing the minute hand! The hour hand slopped to the bottom part of the watch as he held it up. The soldier called out, “Oso, ¿Estás seguro de que está atado correctamente?” In response, Nighthawk leaped up from the chair, free of his bonds using the minute hand of the watch to untie the knot of his bonds. Almost immediately, he knocked out Oso, and with a flick of his talons, he flew toward the other soldiers, colliding their heads into the wall. In less than 10 seconds, everyone in the room was out cold. Nighthawk moved to grab a pistol from a soldier and moved to a nearby stairwell. Eagle called out from the earpiece. *Got it! Third floor, 3rd room from the left stairwell. How’s your head?* Eagle smugly asked. “I’d be less sore if I told them you have the relic, you still got it right?” Nighthawk asked. *Oh yeah. It’s not going anywhere.* Nighthawk ascended the stairwell, and moved into the room. A myriad of lights fluttered to life as he entered. Inside, it looked to be an old map room, layered with maps of Offtopic. A picture of the old off-topic Senate building and its presidents could be seen on the wall. The window shown with a brilliant orange light from the sandy desert sun outside. But on the desk, a document with a blade emblem could be seen. Nighthawk picked it up, flipping through the contents of the documents. Inside, photos of an old exploration team could be seen. “Here we go…I got it!” Nighthawk triumphantly murmured. *Uhh, yeah that’s great but looks like the gang is in a tizzy, and by tizzy, I mean murderous rage.* Eagle's voice crackled on the comns. *Get out of there now!* Nighthawk looked around the room, looking for an escape. The door would be an issue, as the hallway would be close quarters and these men were heavily armed. The roof was inaccessible due to no access point. But the window…it was a free fall to the ground. Without a second hesitation, he jumped from the window, and glided to the ground, landing on his knee and rolling as the glass rained down around him. He sprinted for the cliffside, hoping he would not be seen. This was of course, foolish as a few soldiers exited the house, and began to chase him. They yelled and shot their weapons, but could not slow Nighthawk. “Eagle that truck better be ready when I get there!” He yelled into his earpiece. A few seconds after, a small green pickup truck came racing down the cliffside and swerved to the side in front of Nighthawk. Eagle was at the wheel, fiddling with the controls. “Why are there 2 pedals for 6 directions?!” He yelled. “Oh just move over!” Nighthawk yelled back as he got in the truck. “Never trusting you with driving ever goddamn again!” Without any time to waste, Nighthawk floored the gas pedal, leaving the soldiers in the dust.