#electrobeats

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Arthur zapped another cultist with his right hand, using his left to get LewVi's attention. "How many more of these wackjobs are there?"

"Just this one!" LewVi called back, swinging their bat around and knocking their opponent out cold. "Mystery, are all the hostages out?"

Mystery bounded back into view. "There were some who didn't make it, but I made sure to get their bodies out of here, at least. I can only hope they all passed on."

Arthur shuddered, picking up the rope Vivi'd been tied up in and restraining one of the cultists with it instead. "Should one of us go double-check? Maybe if some of the ones who didn't make it show up, we can try and help them?"

Lewis backed out of Vivi, helping her regain her balance for a moment before glancing at him. "Are you up for taking it this time around? I think we might've gone a bit overboard again…"

"BULL!" Vivi crowed, lurching forward with an exhausted grin. "I'M PERFECTLY FINE!"

"Vivi, your ice is slip-n-sliding all over your arms again." Lewis groaned, picking her up bridal-style. "You need to learn when your body can't keep up with ghostly influence."

Vivi barked out a laugh. "I'LL MAKE IT KEEP UP!"

Arthur snorted. "Yeah, alright. If you two wanna head over to the van, I'll be behind you in just a few."

"Art-ieee, I'm not tired!" Vivi protested, flopping back in Lewis's hold to give him the stink-eye. "Tell Lew-Lew I'm not tired!"

"Consider this payback for bugging me about my insomnia." Arthur retorted, lifting a single bony eyebrow. He'd call up his human face to give her a cheeky grin, but he wasn't feeling too energetic at the moment, either.

Vivi groaned, but she let Lewis take her to the truck without (many) further theatrics.

Mystery chuffed, slowly shrinking back down into the tiny mutt they all knew and loved. "Come along, then, let's go see about any wayward spirits there may yet be."

Arthur floated along behind Mystery, sticking his hands into his pockets. The cultists were all taken care of, and the unharmed hostages had been gotten to safety, but the injured ones were always his least favorite part of the job.

Especially when some of them didn't survive.

He stopped when Mystery did, glancing at what had once probably been a doorway. "So…sacrifices, huh?"

"Yes." Mystery sighed, stepping into the room. "Thankfully, most of them had been used for lesser spells."

"But not all of them." It wasn't a question.

"…no."

Arthur gave his hands a little shake, still clinging to that little bit of normalcy (he always tried to dry the sweat on his palms! That was just how things worked!) for a moment longer before calling out, "Hello? Is anybody still here?"

He tried to keep the ghostly reverb out of his voice, softening its edges and blunting its corners, but the truth was that he was a ghost created with thoughts of protection and a wish to right wrongs.

Calling to see if someone might need help, especially after being used by horrible people for horrible things, was bound to bolster his ghostliness.

Even so, it didn't take long for a quiet voice to answer. "Who's…who's there?"

Arthur felt his anchor crack slightly. The voice was just a kid. A kid he couldn't save. "My name's Arthur, and my friend here is Mystery."

"Hello there." Mystery piped up.

A small head of hair peeked over the edge of…Arthur wasn't sure, but it may or may not have been a cot. Or maybe just a wooden board on sticks. Whichever it was, the child spirit hid behind it, wide eyes locked onto Arthur and Mystery. "Your dog can talk?"

"Long story short? Yeah." Arthur shrugged, lighting down on the floor. He took a careful step closer. "If you want to, you can leave now. The people who put you here can't hurt you anymore."

"I…" The spirit looked away for a moment. "…I don't know where I'd go."

Arthur found himself close to the not-a-cot, but instead of facing the child directly, he sat down and crossed his legs. "What do you mean?"

"I, I just," The child sniffled, rubbing their eyes with their right hand, "I know I can't go back! Not just because of what those baddies did, but I don't, I can't, I, I-I-!"

"Hey, hey. It's alright if you can't." Arthur cut them off. He held his hands up, trying to stave off the child's fears. "I was just curious whether you remembered what your life was like before all this, or if you didn't remember a thing. You don't have to tell me or anybody else about it if you don't want to."

"I d-don't?" The sheer novelty of the idea made the hairline crack in Arthur's anchor spread a little further.

"I promise, you don't." Arthur tried for a reassuring smile, skull for a face or not. "And if anybody tries to make you, tell 'em the Mystery Skulls said to back off!"

The child's eyes widened in awe. "The Mystery Skulls? You're one of the Mystery Skulls?"

The growing crack in Arthur's anchor froze. "You've heard of us?"

The child nodded excitedly, showing a bit more of their face. "Yeah! Everybody in the barracks knows about you guys! You took down a bodysnatcher and a jubokko in the same day! You had the first successful three-way possession! You don't go exorcising every creature you meet! You try to help people!"

Arthur glanced back at Mystery, eyesockets wide. "I…didn't realize we were that famous."

"Even if the human denizens of Tempo swore themselves to secrecy, there's no accounting for the supernatural grapevine." Mystery shrugged with a little smile.

"The baddies got really freaked out when they found out you were coming." The child explained. "I didn't really get to hear much more about it, though."

The child floated into full view, and Arthur could've sworn he heard his heart crack at the sight.

She couldn't have been older than 8 or 9. When she'd wiped her eyes one-handed, it was because that hand was on the only limb she had left. The anchor floating in front of her chest was becoming a sunshine-y yellow, but it was completely transparent, a heart-shaped lens bending Arthur's view of the stained fabric behind it.

"When I woke up again, everyone was gone." She continued, clutching her torn 'shirt' nervously. "But…then you two showed up."

Arthur was now extremely glad he couldn't pull on his human face. If this kid was anything like Belle or Paprika, then the moment he looked like he was about to cry, she'd start bawling, too. At least his skull didn't have lips to tremble.

"What do you think you wanna do now?" He managed, forcing his voice not to crack.

The girl thought for a moment.

Then she smiled. "Can I stay with you?"

"Come again?" Arthur couldn't have heard her right.

"Can I stay with you?" The girl repeated. "I know I probably could move on, but…these weren't the only baddies, were they?"

Arthur had a suspicion he knew where she was going with this. "No, they weren't."

"I can't go back, but I don't wanna move on until I've helped somebody." The girl rolled her shoulders back. Had her ghostly form been intact, she likely would've taken a determined stance. "And the Mystery Skulls help people!"

"It's not all fun and games…" Arthur warned.

"Neither was this." The girl countered, gesturing to herself.

"…buuut, if you're set on it, I think you can come along." Arthur relented.

The girl's eyes lit up. "Thank you!" She rushed forward and gave Arthur a one-armed hug around the middle, giggling for a moment before her form began to glow.

Arthur shot Mystery a wide-eyed look, but Mystery only gave him a warm smile and nodded to the ghost in front of him.

Arthur looked down and watched as the girl's ghostly body shifted. The last echoes of her life faded, leaving behind a simpler form glowing the same golden yellow as Arthur himself. When she looked back up at him, her eyes were swirling the same red-blue-pinks as his anchor, and two little antennae (not unlike his own unruly hair) flopped slightly to the side.

"Are…are you still okay with this?" Arthur managed, gesturing to the now-Deadbeat-like spirit's form.

She glanced down, inspecting her new shape for a second before nodding.

"This is the way of spirits, Arthur." Mystery explained. "Ghosts strong enough to manifest a physical anchor tend to draw in weaker beings as a sort of symbiotic relationship. The spirits help the stronger ghost, and in return the ghost gives the spirits protection."

"Okay…" Arthur trailed off, then cracked a grin and wagged his finger at the yellow spirit. "But if something happens and you're uncomfortable, make sure one of the Mystery Skulls knows so we don't push you into doing something you don't wanna, alright?"

The sunshine spirit giggled and saluted with her only arm.

Arthur chuckled and let his left arm dissipate. "Hey, look, we match!"

Lewis's voice brought their little moment to an end. "Hey, Artie, everything alright back here?"

"Yeah, we're good!" Arthur called back. "In fact, we're doing super good!"

The spirit hid behind Arthur's hair, but still watched as Lewis floated into view, not even shying away when he approached.

Lewis gasped and clasped his hands together in front of his face. "Oh, but aren't you just adorable?"

The child's spirit pulled back at that, but through whatever bond had just been forged, Arthur grinned knowingly. "Careful, Lew, I think she's just as bad about compliments as I am!"

"Did she give you a name yet?" Lewis asked, turning to Arthur.

He blinked. "Y'know, I don't think she did." Arthur turned to look at her. "Do you remember your old name?"

She tapped her head and shrugged.

"No dice, huh…" Arthur felt his mind kick into gear, running through name after name until one felt right. "Is it alright if we call you…Nimue?"

The newly-named Nimue nodded and hugged him again, but Lewis just snorted. "You, sir, are a nerd."

"Says the one who named his Deadbeats after the solfege once he ran out of vocal ranges." Arthur floated to his feet, still holding the little spirit close. "For all that you groan at Vivi's puns, you still had to name your little ghost friends after the…"

A cheeky grin worked its way across his skull as he finished.

"Soul-fege?"

"Arthur."

He beamed. "Yes, Lewis?"

"If I beat you to the van, I'm only making spicy food tomorrow."

"Ah, but that's only if you can beat me!" Arthur laughed, recreating his left arm so he could gesture without letting go of Nimue. "Catch me if you can!"