"So, finally got that out of your system?" Red asked as he and Blue walked through Thunderclap's empty streets. His wild grin cut through the darkness while shadows moved behind them—Cliffhangers trying to look inconspicuous.

Blue tilted his head, genuine confusion crossing his features. "What on earth could you be referencing?"

Red waved his hands in exaggerated circles. "All that brainy bullshit! The whole 'fascinating theoretical implications' routine you had going with glasses boy."

"Ah." Blue's eyebrows lifted with surprise. "As a matter of fact, I believe I did." He paused, considering. "It's been quite some time since I've engaged in proper academic discourse."

Through their shared mental connection, Red's tone shifted to business. "Perfect spot coming up. Time to ditch these idiots trailing us."

He yanked Blue into a sharp turn, cutting into a narrow alley between crumbling buildings. Blue followed without question, his perfect posture never wavering even as they disappeared into shadow.

The Cliffhangers rushed to the alley mouth, peering into the darkness like confused hunting dogs. "What the hell?" one muttered, squinting at the empty space. "Where'd they go?"

Red's maniacal laughter echoed through their shared consciousness as both duplicates dissolved into smoke, drifting invisibly against the night sky. "Mission accomplished, Angie! Consider those numbskulls officially bamboozled!"

"Yeah, I caught that," Angelo's mental voice responded as he, Sol, and Neiva picked their way down the forest path outside town. "Thanks for the play-by-play."

Blue's dignified mental huff carried a note of wounded pride. "Your attention appears remarkably selective, Angelo."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Angelo's confusion rippled through their connection.

"Simply observing patterns. You monitored our misdirection operation with perfect clarity, yet somehow failed to register my rescheduling with Brian yesterday." Blue's detached tone couldn't quite mask his irritation.

Red's cackle cut through the tension. "Oooh, someone's got their feelings hurt!"

"Angelo?"

"For the love of—" Angelo started internally.

"Hey! ANGELO!" Sol's voice broke through, accompanied by vigorous shaking of his shoulder.

"What? What's going on?" Angelo blinked, refocusing on the real world around him.

Sol studied his face with concern. "Dude, you completely spaced out there. Like, full zombie mode."

"Oh." Angelo rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I was just... talking to Red and Blue. They're on their way back."

Neiva giggled behind her hand, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Mental note: whenever he goes all glassy-eyed like that, violent shaking is the solution."

"Noted," Sol agreed with a grin. "Most efficient wake-up call."

"Ha. Ha." Angelo deadpanned, though his tone held no real irritation. "Are we there yet? This hike is taking forever. And remind me why we can't just fly?"

Sol gestured toward the distant town lights. "Because I'd rather not advertise our location with glowing auras shooting into the forest. Kind of defeats the whole 'secret meeting' concept."

Angelo sighed heavily. "What's the point of having powers if you never get to use them?"

"Exactly!" Neiva bounced on her toes. "It's like having a sports car and only keeping it in the garage!"

Twenty minutes of stumbling through underbrush later, they finally reached the waterfall. Sam shot to her feet at the sound of approaching voices, panic flashing across her face.

"Seriously? Do we have to go through that freezing water? I'll catch pneumonia!" Neiva's complaint was muffled by the rushing water.

"Think we can use aura now," Sol's voice followed. "The town's completely out of sight, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, a massive orange palm of energy rose beneath the waterfall, parting the cascade like curtains to create a dry passage.

Sol emerged first, water droplets sparkling around him. "Evening, Sam!" He waved cheerfully, allowing her to release a shaky breath of relief.

"I swear these midnight meetings are going to give me a heart attack," Sam muttered, pressing a hand to her chest. "I'm not built for espionage."

Neiva ducked through next, followed by Angelo. His orange aura faded as the waterfall resumed its natural flow with a thunderous crash.

Sol gestured between them with practiced ease. "Sam, meet Angelo and Neiva. Guys, this is Samantha—but she prefers Sam."

"Hi Sam! It's so great to finally meet you!" Neiva beamed, her enthusiasm lighting up the cave.

"Hey," Angelo said quietly, barely above a whisper.

Sam glanced at Sol with raised eyebrows. He shrugged. "He's... anti-social."

"More like social-PHOBIC!" Red's voice snickered through their mental link.

Angelo's eye twitched.

"Right then." Sam nodded, then looked around awkwardly. "Sorry, I only brought one extra chair..."

Angelo stepped forward without hesitation. "Not a problem." His aura ignited and evolved. Two chairs of solid orange energy materialized from nothing. He pulled one out for Neiva before settling into the other.

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Sol claimed the real chair with an appreciative whistle. "Well, well. Such a gentleman. Maybe I was onto something back then?"

Neiva's face turned as red as her hair as she suddenly found the cave entrance fascinating. Angelo's jaw tightened visibly. "Shut it," he muttered through clenched teeth.

"Ah, young love..." Sam's voice turned distant and wistful. "Takes me back to when Dave and I were dating. Though..." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she studied Angelo's face. "Aren't you a bit old for her?"

Sol chuckled, holding up his hands. "Actually, they're only a year apart. She's seventeen, he's eighteen. Hard to believe, I know."

"Hey!" Neiva protested, straightening in her chair. "I'll be eighteen in just a few months!"

Sam blinked in surprise. "Well, I'll be damned. You should really lose the beard, lad. Makes you look twice your age." Her tone softened with maternal concern, reminding Angelo uncomfortably of Miriam.

Angelo mumbled something under his breath that made everyone lean forward.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"The beard stays!" Angelo snapped, embarrassment clear in his voice. "And we're not together! She's my student!" The cave fell silent for a few moments.

"Right the, now that we've thoroughly embarrassed Angelo," Sol clapped with a grin, ignoring Angelo's death glare, "let's talk business."

Sam straightened in her chair, relieved to change topics. "Sol and I were discussing whether the Cliffhangers actually stole the Heart, or if someone else was behind it."

"Yeah, we know. He brought us up to speed," Angelo said, his composure returning as he settled back into detective mode.

Neiva tapped her lip thoughtfully. "What about that security footage? The one from when the gem disappeared? Maybe we could spot something the original investigators missed."

Sam's face fell. "I'm afraid that's impossible. All the recordings were destroyed years ago."

"Damn it," Sol muttered, running his hand through his hair. "Anyone still alive who actually saw what was on those tapes?"

"Me." Sam met his gaze steadily, then sighed. "Though there wasn't much to see. One second the gem was there, the next it wasn't. Like it just... vanished into thin air."

Angelo waved dismissively. "That's physically impossible. There has to be some explanation."

Sam clasped her hands in front of her. "Look, the police investigated the security team thoroughly. Once they were cleared, those companies started demanding immediate payment. No extensions, no payment plans—probably out of spite for being treated like suspects."

"That's so cruel," Neiva whispered, her heart aching for the townspeople.

"Welcome to the real world, sweetheart," Sam said gently but firmly.

Sol leaned forward, stroking his chin. "But if the equipment was legitimate and the gem just disappeared, then something supernatural was definitely involved—"

Without warning, azure smoke poured from Angelo's body, swirling into Blue's scholarly form. Sam jerked backward so hard she nearly toppled her chair. "It's you! The one from before!"

Crimson smoke followed, materializing into Red with a theatrical flourish. He made an obnoxious buzzer sound. "BZZT! Wrong answer! That's me, lady!"

Sam stared at Sol with her mouth hanging open. He shrugged casually. "Just roll with it. Trust me."

Blue adjusted his invisible glasses with precise movements. "Perhaps we're dealing with an evolved Auron possessing spatial manipulation capabilities. The theoretical implications are quite fascinating."

Sol blinked at him skeptically. "Space manipulation? What would the base aura type even be for something like that?"

Blue savored the question like fine wine. "Energy seems most probable. Though force or wind might also be good candidates, perhaps even darkness."

"Ooh! Maybe it's some ultra-rare aura type that naturally controls space!" Neiva jumped in, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Sam pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head slowly. "I'm trying to solve a decade-old mystery with a bunch of teenagers."

Red snorted with amusement. "Hey, don't lump me in with the detective work. I'm more of a 'bad cop' interrogator kind of guy."

Angelo perked up. "What? No way—I'm the intimidation specialist here. The Bad cop's written all over me."

"Bull! You can be the scary cop, I'll be the bad cop," Red shot back.

Angelo slapped his forehead in exasperation. "The scary cop IS the bad cop, you moron. You can be the unhinged cop."

Red paused, considering this. "Actually, yeah, that works better for me."

"Gentlemen," Blue sighed with scholarly patience, "your role-playing fantasies aren't advancing our investigation."

"Neither are your fancy theories," Red deadpanned.

"None of this is helping!" Sam snapped, frustration boiling over. "Unless someone has a brilliant idea for how they pulled off this illusion—"

Neiva suddenly went rigid, staring into empty space as the world seemed to muffle around her. Her breathing became shallow and rapid.

"It really was like a magic trick, huh?" Sol mused, oblivious to Neiva's distress. "Feels like some kind of elaborate illusion."

Angelo leaned forward with genuine interest. "You think they hired an actual magician for this? Does GHOST even use people like that?"

"Maybe?" Sol's uncertainty was clear. "I honestly don't know the limit of their tactics."

Neiva fumbled for her phone with trembling hands, frantically scrolling through her photo gallery. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she searched. Then she found it—her breath caught in her throat. "An illusion," she whispered, staring at a photo of herself laughing with her father at one of his light projections.

Everyone turned to look at her as she went pale. Sol leaned forward with concern. "What's wrong?"

She turned her phone screen toward them, voice rising with excitement despite her shaking hands. "Look at this! Light Aurons can create these projections—what if that's what the cameras recorded instead of reality?"

Sol and Blue's eyes lit up simultaneously. "Fascinating possibility," Blue murmured, leaning closer to examine the image.

Sam shook her head skeptically. "I don't see how that would work. Even if someone projected a fake gem, you'd still see hands stealing the real one underneath the illusion."

Sol's enthusiasm deflated. "Yeah, you're right. That doesn't solve the problem."

"No, wait," Neiva said quietly, her voice gaining strength. "There's another way. What if they didn't just project the gem—what if they fed the cameras an entire fake scene? They could do whatever they wanted while the cameras recorded something completely different!"

Sol and Sam exchanged doubtful glances. "I mean, theoretically," Sol said carefully, "but creating an illusion that sophisticated? I don't think it's possible."

Everyone nodded in agreement—except Neiva.

She stood up so quickly that dizziness made her sway. "You're wrong!" Color drained from her face as a terrible memory surfaced. "I know you're wrong because I saw exactly that kind of illusion myself."

Angelo's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Saw what, exactly?"

"Someone using that level of sophisticated illusion," she said, her discomfort obvious in every word. "When Dray attacked the town, I was suddenly standing on a ship surrounded by endless ocean."

Red snorted dismissively. "Sounds like you got clocked in the head during the fight."

"No!" Neiva's voice cracked with intensity. "I wasn't knocked out! From the outside, it looked like a black bubble moving across the battlefield. But from inside, it was like being transported to another world. Everything looked completely real."

Sol hesitated, dread creeping into his voice. "Who... Who created this illusion?"

Neiva's confidence faltered as the implications hit her. "They were fighting Nova at the time. It was... The Light Twins."

The name hit the cave like a physical weight, crushing down on everyone present. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

Blue's scholarly composure cracked as he recalled their own battle. "Their duplicate projections were extraordinarily convincing as well. This lends considerable credibility to your theory."

Sam collected herself, her voice hollow with realization. "So it was the Cliffhangers after all."

Angelo turned to Sol, his expression unreadable. "This means it probably wasn't GHOST. Still want to pursue this investigation?"

Sol's face hardened with determination, his eyes beginning to glow silver in the dim cave light. "We can't be completely certain yet, but this definitely calls for serious investigation on Cliffhanger territory. And yes—even if GHOST wasn't involved, solving this case is what my father would have wanted." His burning silver gaze locked with Angelo's orange eyes. "Unlike you, that's how real detectives handle criminals. We expose them, not execute them."

Angelo said nothing, simply meeting Sol's challenging stare with steady silence. The tension between them crackled like electricity in the damp cave air.

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