(1st Person PoV: Ranboo)

Tubbo looked at me with genuine surprise.

Does me saying that I'm a detective really shock people that much?

"Oh look at that! Your co-workers are here!" I pointed outside where the commotion was going on.

Tubbo turned to look and I slipped away.

If he is a police officer, I don't want to answer the question of licensing issues.

Being a lone detective is hard enough as it is.

I walked as far as I did before I had to stop and turn around quickly.

"Excuse me? Is this what police officers do? They stalk people?" I asked, frustrated.

Tubbo stopped immediately.

"Sorry! I was uhhh...caught off guard by what you said that you were a detective. I usually only see police detectives but they all got fired 13 years ago before I worked in the police force," he explained nervously.

Oh? Aren't detectives needed in a police force? Why were they fired? Wait...I can't ask him that upfront! I just said I'm a detective, he'll be suspicious of me and ask for my detective license, I thought.

"Ah ok. Well uhh...that sucks...," I muttered.

"It really does. Now it's just us with basic investigative skills," Tubbo nodded.

"You should probably go and report to your co-workers about the whole...b-bombing incident," I said.

"Yeah I probably should...uhh here I guess," Tubbo struggled to grab something out of his pocket.

It was a piece of paper and he grabbed a pen then scribbled something down before handing it to me.

"You seem like a chill person so here's my number so we can communicate or if you're in trouble and need some help," he said.

"Ah. Ok," I nodded and pocketed it.

We parted ways and I went to my apartment.

I put his number in one of my drawers before turning away to make dinner for myself.

I didn't even get my food, I thought sadly.

I settled on TV dinner. Not the best dinner in the world but hey I survived on that when I moved out and began to live on my own.

Of course I ate other things but making dinner is always a struggle.

As I was microwaving my TV dinner, I turned on the TV to the news.

It was an uproar about the almost bombing of ElfCod. Thank god the cop, Tubbo, and I managed to stop it.

"Curtesy of the mayor, we're placing our best cops on potential areas that these three men have visited or had planned to. Something tells me that this isn't the only place that would have been bombed," the police boss said.

I strained to see what his name was when the microwave started beeping. My dinner was done.

I took it out of the microwave, grabbed a fork and a spoon, grabbed a cup and filled it up with water.

I went back to the TV and sat down with my dinner on my lap.

The news went on as normal. Some depressing stuff and some good stuff.

Nothing new.

Until, my attention got grabbed by this one part of the news.

"We are sad to inform that three people went missing. Impulse SV, Ren Dog and Pix Riffs. If anyone has any information about their disappearance, call the number below. Their families are worried," the news reporter said.

A number flashed below the screen and I wrote it down.

I then stood up and went to my desk where a map of the town was. I pushed some things out of the way before grabbing my phone.

I needed a lead and I knew just who to call.

"Hello welcome to UnusAnus Antique Store, what can I do for?" A very familiar voice said.

"Hey Mark, it's Ranboo. Is Ethan there, I need to talk with him about something important," I asked.

"Oh ok. Just a minute. ETHAN YOUR REGULAR IS CALLING!" Silence...

"He says he'll be there in a minute," Mark assured me.

I muttered a thanks and waited.

"Hey Ranboo! How's my favorite totally legal detective doing?" Ethan said after a minute.

"I'm doing well. So I was looking at the news as usual and I saw this report of three missing people. Heard of that?" I asked.

"Yeah I do. A shame too. Pix was one of our regulars," I heard Ethan sigh behind the phone.

"He was one of your regulars? Go on," I said, intrigued.

"This information is not without a price. What do you got for me?" Ethan asked.

Typical of a broker like him. Thankfully, I'm always prepared for this.

"Remember how Mark keeps complaining that you two don't have any old cameras to sell at your antique store? Well, I just so happened to have this old Polaroid camera. If you give me the information, then I'll give it to you so you and Mark can sell it. And if that's not enough, I can even throw you some extra film to seal the deal," I explained.

Ethan went silent and I could even faintly hear some whispering between him and Mark.

...

"Alright. You got yourself a deal. One old Polaroid camera with extra film for this information that I'm about to give you," Ethan said.

"Awesome. I'll head over first thing in the morning to deliver the camera. Now about that information," I started.

"Pix is an archeologist. He likes to explore and find stuff in ruined places. He is very fond of our antique store and wonders where do we get our stuff. We never specifically told him. But there was one thing that always bothered me about him," Ethan began.

I was writing what he said down.

Ethan took a deep breath. "I asked where he worked and he said that he works at the archeology department of TakenCorp which I didn't even know existed. Mark checked and yeah, he works there and that department existed. In fact, if you look up the employees of TakenCorp on their website and go to these departments: Archeology, Construction and Interns, you can find the missing people there. Strange isn't it?"

"That is strange. Anything else?" I asked.

"Just one more thing. The last thing that he said to me before disappearing was a question about the copy of Lupin. You know, the last one in the series," Ethan replied.

"Yeah I know the one. What was the question?" I asked.

"Just your standard: what's that question. But the weird thing is that he claimed that he read that before when I'm pretty sure that's the only copy that can be shown in public legally," Ethan explained.

"Why would he have read it if it's so hard to find a copy, nonetheless actually read Lupin?" I asked.

"Even I don't have the answer to that. Is that a good enough lead for you?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah! As promised I'll give you the camera and film first thing in the morning! Well just call me early because you know I'm forgetful," I awkwardly laughed.

"Will do. Take care of yourself, kid," Ethan hung up.

I looked at what I wrote down before grabbing my laptop from its charging station.

I looked up TakenCorp's website and went to the department list where employees are listed.

So Pix worked in Archeology, Impulse worked in Construction and Ren was an intern. Huh! Ren was interning directly for XD. Guess I need to pay a trip to TakenCorp, I thought.

I wrote that down on my notebook. My eyes flickered up to see something else that I have written down previously.

Crap! I need to listen to what the police are saying on the radio, I thought and went to the bookshelf.

I carefully removed some real books so they wouldn't fall when I pushed the bookshelf away to reveal a weird contraption.

It might seem like something you would see out of an 80's sci-fi movie but hey it still works!

I tuned the air waves so I could listen clearly without any interferences.

It took a while but I finally got through.

They were talking about the bomb and who could have helped Tubbo?

"Who could have sent those three men? And why would ElfCod targeted?" I recognize Tubbo's voice.

"Well there was this embroidery on one of their trench coats. It was a square and it looked like a maze," someone said. I recognize his voice as Charlie Slimecicle.

He often speaks whenever I listen in on their conversations.

"Hmmm."

"Pearl, what's up?" Tubbo asked.

"I think the reason that they wanted to bomb ElfCod would be most likely because they wanted to scare people. And then they would move on to their actual targets. That's what I can guess," Pearl said.

"Not a bad guess, I'll be honest," an unfamiliar voice told her.

"Schlatt, any leads on the Phantom Thief?" someone else came in and asked rather rudely.

"F*ck off Jared. Can't you see that we're busy here?" Schlatt said and I could picture him rolling his eyes.

"Well excuse me! The boss wouldn't be happy if he hears that you're not doing your job!" Jared snapped.

"This is our job! We're trying to figure out who wanted to bomb ElfCod to preserve the peace," Tubbo urged.

"As if I care for that fast food ran by," Jared got cut off by a punch.

"Schlatt!"

"He was going to say that slur again! That's why I punched him," Schlatt yelled.

I winced. I did not like this Jared guy.

"Understandable have a nice day," Pearl said, sounding tired.

"Thank you, Pearl," Schlatt said.

I heard someone stomp away and everyone took a sigh of relief. I'll be honest, I think I did as well.

"Schlatt, Charlie, Tubbo, we need to discuss about that Phantom Thief," someone else came in.

I heard someone stand up.

"I'll be in the basement, organizing files if you need me," that was Pearl. She walked off.

"Ted, do we have any leads?" Charlie asked.

Ted sighed, "All I could gather are these important events that are happening this week. I'm not sure what event he'll target."

"Hey don't most Phantom Thieves have calling cards? Maybe that's what he'll do!" Charlie suggested.

"Maybe but the closest event is in two days. No way this thief would be able to make one in two days," Schlatt sighed.

"Well whatever the case is, we need to anticipate his next move. It can be anything so we need to be on our guard as well," Tubbo said.

"Yeah," I heard the three of them walk off and I turned off the radio.

It was already dark out. How long was that conversation?

I needed something to clear my head so I decided to take a long walk.

However it wasn't that long before I spotted a large crowd. They were surrounding a small board that held announcements or advertisements like I think the upcoming museum that the mayor will be attending.

I slightly pushed my way through and gasped.

There was a large card with four red diamonds on the corners and large cartoon raccoon's face, feet and tail were greeting us.

Next to it was a large piece of paper.

It read: Thinking about some thievery. Special event coming soon! I sure love history! -Kaitō Raccoon!

I grabbed my phone and took a picture.

I ran back to my apartment and went looking through my drawers. At last...

I typed in Tubbo's number and send him the picture. I made sure that he knew who was sending it to him.

I figured that I'd help since he is supposed to be on the case about the Phantom Thief. Not sure if I want to take on that case. I already have another case that I want to take, I thought as I glanced at my laptop.

Time to make a trip to TakenCorp and figure out what happened to the missing people.

A/N: about time that I updated this. Finally a Ranboo chapter!

I dropped in some lore and hints in this chapter. Can you figure out?

Cya in the next one -Flare

PS: I hate Jared