Mountain Lions

*Buzz* *Buzz* *Buzz* 

Ace and his parents' phones chimed simultaneously with a message alert,

[Warning: Mountain lions have been spotted in the neighborhood. Authorities urge all residents to remain indoors and stay vigilant until further notice. If you observe any suspicious activity, please contact the authorities immediately.] 

"Mountain lions, meaning there are more than one of them loose in our neighborhood," Mary said in panic. 

"Honey, first help me check if all the doors and windows are closed. If their latches are not working, then board them with something. Son, turn on the TV and put on the local news," Alwin swiftly entered crisis mode, assigning each family member their tasks.

"Al, I'll take the upstairs, and you take the downstairs," reminded by her husband's words, Mary swiftly switched into crisis mode too and divided the tasks to fortify their home.

While his parents rushed around the house to close all the doors and windows, Ace turned on the TV and switched to local news. They were airing various camera recordings of the mountain lions roaming the neighborhood streets and lingering around the houses. 

"That's Mrs.Thompson's house. It's two blocks from here," Alwin remarked, looking at one of the recordings, having finished checking all the doors and windows downstairs. 

Receiving no response from his son, Alwin turned to look at him and found him shell-shocked, as if he had seen a ghost. In concern, he shook his son and asked, "What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, I will be in my room," Ace replied, turning to leave, but his father wouldn't let go. Alwin reminded Ace, "First, finish your breakfast. We do not waste food in this house."

"Yes," Ace nodded, pulling himself together before heading to his plate. 

"Upstairs is secured," Mary announced, joining the father and son.

Suddenly, the family's smartphones buzzed in unison, signaling another incoming message. With a sense of apprehension, they glanced at the screens to find a notification from the school. The message flashed, informing that considering the ongoing mountain lion incident, the school would remain closed for the day. Relief washed over them, knowing they had one less thing to worry about. 

"This is new. The authorities never closed the school before," Mary muttered, reading the school's text message.

Every year, in the late spring and early summer, there were sightings of wild animals in the neighborhood. So the Lander family was not surprised by this incident. But multiple mountain lions being sighted at once was first.

"All done, now can I go upstairs?" Ace asked his father, placing the plate in the sink and cleaning his hands.

"Did you even chew your food?" Alwin questioned, having observed Ace swallow the pancake whole and chug the orange juice.

"Yes, I did," Ace replied, heading to his room.

"What's with him? Shouldn't he be happy, he gets a day off?" Mary wondered aloud.

"He has been acting weird ever since he saw the mountain lion footage aired on the local news channel," Alwin filled Mary in. 

…

Returning to his room, Ace paced around in a panic. Through the video of mountain lions roaming the neighborhood streets aired on the local news channel, he learned that the mountain lion incident was not a coincidence. But the work of a skilled curse master using a remote-type curse tool to control the mountain lions. When Ace saw an antenna probe sticking on each mountain lion's head, he knew they were curse tools, visible only to curse masters like himself.

'Is it the Steal Song Society? But I thought only Loki was coming. Did their plan change once they discovered Gloria's killer was lurking in their group chat? There was a lot of evidence of their crime in Gloria's phone. Did they all mobilize to catch her killer and protect their society's secrets?' Ace contemplated, based on the information he had with him. 

The reason Ace did not suspect Loki was behind the mountain lions incident was because, according to Gloria's records Loki was a shapeshifter and an assassin like her. So, it had to be some other curse master controlling the mountain lions.

Suddenly, Ace stopped pacing around his room, wondering, 'Am I being monitored right now?' 

The curse abilities were weird and beyond common sense. Take Ace's cursed toybox, for example; it could breathe life into inanimate toys. So Ace did not put anything past the Steal Song Society. Thankfully, he has been hiding his curse energy aptitude and reserves instinctively, like breathing. 

Swiftly grabbing his headphones, Ace connected them to his phone and settled on his bed. He listened to loud music while sharing senses with Dame Wasp in the cursed toy box. 'Rose, I need your help,' he thought urgently, seeking a sound second opinion.

Ace informed Dame Wasp of everything, bringing her up to speed. After a quick contemplation, Dame Wasp responded, 'I had had a feeling that something like this would happen. So, I left a back door into the Steal Song Society's chat group. Unless they created a new one overnight, we can still peek into their chat using the back door. To see what they have been up to recently.'

'What if we get caught, won't they be able to trace us?' Ace voiced his concern. 

'Master, as long as I am inside the toy space, they can never trace me,' Dame Wasp assured.

'But you will be using the home wifi, right? They can trace that,' Ace pointed out. 

'No, master. I will use your neighbor's satellite internet connection to access their chat group while hiding my identity with an advanced obfuscation method. Rest assured, they will never know we were there. Even if they did, they will never find us,' Dame Wasp assured Ace. 

Trusting Dame Wasp knew what she was doing, Ace gave her a green signal, 'Good, access their chat group.' 

Dame Wasp's visor acted as a screen for them, and she soon used his neighbor's satellite internet to access the web. Then, she pulled up the Steal Song Society's chat group and uttered, 'Master, they are still using the same chat group.' 

'Okay, scroll back to where we left off yesterday night,' Ace instructed. 

[Bane1: @Ria, The newbie killer went offline. This is bad guys.] 

[Loki: @Aztec, I will be needing that investigation team.] 

[Aztec: @MainGirl, Were you able to access Ria's phone's front camera and capture the image of whoever was using it?]

[MainGirl: @MadamThree, Thanks to your big mouth, the murderer destroyed the phone instantly. Don't you think the rest of us noticed that the newbie's username was online? You blew up the whole plan.]

[MadamThree: @MainGirl, Sorry.]

[MainGirl: @Aztec, Though I could not capture the newbie killer's image, I know the newbie's phone was destroyed by him.]

[Aztec: @MainGirl, That's not good enough. But before we begin, is it safe to continue using this group?]

[MainGirl: @Aztec, I have checked, everything is fine. It's safe to continue using this group. Besides, it would be a hassle to start a new group and add all the members, especially those geezers. Why can't they just learn to keep up with the new tech?]

[MountainOfSwords: @MainGirl, Little girl, you know we can read right?]

[MainGirl: @MountainOfSwords, Sorry, master. [img=cute emoji]]

[MountainOfSwords: @MainGirl, Apology accepted]

[Aztec: @MainGirl, @Bane1, @MadamThree, @EchoEcho, You all are part of the investigation team. Stop what you guys are doing and head to the crime scene by morning. I will meet you guys there, and Loki will join us later.] 

[MainGirl: @Aztec, Affirmative]

[Bane1: @Aztec, Okay]

[MadamThree: @Aztec, Okay]

[EchoEcho: @Loki, The universe wants us to be together.]

[Loki: @EchoEcho, I think the universe wants you dead ahead of your time.]