Raiden and Scooby now stood outside a church in their own city.
It was the same church Raiden had visited a few weeks ago, the one where the girl he had saved worked as a volunteer. Because of that incident, he had become somewhat familiar with the place, though he had never expected to return under these circumstances.
Now, they were here looking for information about the religious maniac they had been hunting.
And to do that...
They were about to have a rather uncomfortable conversation with the priest.
"You said you knew this man, didn't you?" asked Detective Scooby as they climbed the stone steps leading to the entrance.
"Yeah. I met him around two... maybe three weeks ago. I don't remember exactly," replied Raiden thoughtfully. "He works with the girl I saved back then, and he spends most of his time helping the children around here. We talked for a while that day. From what I saw, he seemed pretty approachable."
Scooby nodded.
"I understand. Well... let's see what kind of man he really is."
With that, the detective pushed the heavy wooden door open.
The two of them entered.
The church was almost completely empty.
The colorful stained-glass windows painted the stone floor with soft shades of red, blue, and gold as the evening sunlight filtered through them.
It was peaceful.
Quiet.
The only sounds were the faint creaking of old wood and the distant ticking of a clock somewhere deeper inside the building.
It was already around six in the evening.
Late enough that there were no children running through the halls anymore, nor volunteers organizing donations or helping the community.
Both Raiden and Scooby had intentionally chosen this hour.
The fewer people around, the better.
There was no reason for the public—or the church volunteers—to know that detectives and heroes had come to question one of the priests.
Keeping the investigation discreet was preferable.
The two quietly walked through the church until they reached the hallway leading to the offices.
Raiden remembered the way surprisingly well.
When they arrived in front of the office door, Scooby knocked three times.
A calm, composed voice came from inside.
"Come in."
The moment they stepped inside, the priest looked up from the documents spread across his desk.
His face immediately brightened.
"Raiden-kun. I wasn't expecting you to come back... and I see you brought a guest."
The priest stood up immediately, wearing the same gentle smile Raiden remembered from their first meeting.
He walked around the desk and extended his hand toward both visitors.
"I'm Priest Diora Brandhew. A pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Detective Scooby. Pleasure to meet you as well," Scooby replied while shaking his hand.
The priest smiled politely before looking from one to the other.
"Oh? A detective."
He chuckled softly.
"So, considering that both a hero and a detective are visiting me together... I assume this isn't exactly a social visit, is it?"
"I'm afraid not," Scooby answered honestly. "We're investigating someone, and we're still in the early stages of the case. We wanted to ask whether, during your journey across the country last time, you noticed anything different... or out of place."
It was a deliberately broad question.
They wanted to give the priest room to think before narrowing the conversation.
"Journey..." the priest repeated thoughtfully.
"You mean the procession?"
"Yes," Raiden answered.
"Precisely."
"Hmmm..."
The priest crossed his arms and looked toward the ceiling, clearly searching through his memories.
"Anything out of place... You mean someone suspicious? Or perhaps an unusual event?"
"Anything could be useful," Scooby explained. "People, objects, conversations... anything that stood out."
The priest remained silent for several seconds.
Then his expression shifted slightly.
"Hmmm... I don't know about suspicious people..."
He paused again.
"The only strange thing I can think of... would be the driver."
"The driver?"
Raiden raised an eyebrow.
That answer immediately caught both investigators' attention.
It didn't fit the records they had gathered.
According to the official documents, the procession had used several different buses throughout the trip, each with a different registered driver.
"Could you tell us which one?" Scooby asked.
As he spoke, he pulled out a tablet and opened the transportation records.
One by one, he showed the photographs of every registered driver assigned to the procession during its journey across the country.
However...
The priest's reaction was nothing either of them expected.
He looked at every photograph.
Then he slowly shook his head.
"Oh... none of them."
Silence filled the office.
Scooby frowned.
"...None?"
"No," Priest Diora replied with complete certainty.
"It was only one driver during the entire trip."
Both Raiden and Scooby immediately exchanged glances.
The detective's expression became noticeably more serious.
"That's actually what struck me as strange," the priest continued.
"We usually travel using different buses depending on the city we're visiting."
He smiled faintly, remembering.
"But this time, a very kind man offered to drive us himself throughout the entire journey across the country."
The room suddenly felt much quieter.
For the first time.
Raiden felt they had found their first real lead.
After all, that wasn't what the official records said.
According to the archives, the procession had done what it always did: hire different buses and different drivers as it traveled across the country.
If, in reality, only one person had driven them the entire journey...
Then that discrepancy was something they absolutely had to investigate.
"So... could you describe this person?" Raiden asked.
The priest blinked.
"Oh... is he in some kind of trouble?"
The concern in his voice was genuine, and before Raiden could answer, Detective Scooby calmly intervened.
"Not really. We're simply trying to fill a few gaps in our records. According to our files, there were several different registered drivers during the procession. If, as you say, there was actually only one person driving all the way through, then that information could help us understand what we're looking for."
The priest visibly relaxed.
"Oh... I see."
He leaned back slightly in his chair, searching through his memories.
"In that case, he's easy to describe."
"He was a rather thin man. Slim. His skin was very pale, almost sickly, though not in an unhealthy way. His eyes were a deep brown..."
He paused for a moment, trying to remember the most distinctive detail.
"Ah... yes."
"There was something unusual about his eyes. I don't know the proper name for it, but the part that's normally white..." He pointed toward his own eye. "...his wasn't white. It was golden."
Raiden and Scooby remained silent, letting him continue.
"It gave him quite a striking appearance."
The priest smiled faintly.
"He was also a very kind man. Very respectful."
"He once mentioned that everyone should become part of the Lord in flesh."
The priest nodded with complete sincerity.
"A truly admirable belief."
"I think the same."
"If that were possible... perhaps people would no longer have any reason to fight each other."
The moment those words left his mouth...
Raiden and Detective Scooby inevitably exchanged a glance.
Neither of them needed to speak.
That sentence alone immediately raised several alarms.
"Do you happen to know where we could find him now?" Scooby asked, keeping his tone neutral.
"This city was one of the last destinations of the procession. Do you know where they were supposed to travel afterward?"
It was something they could verify through official channels later.
Still...
Asking now was much faster.
Someone from the bureau could always confirm the information while they were already moving.
"Oh, yes."
The priest nodded confidently.
"They should be on their way north by now."
"If I remember correctly, they ought to be arriving at the next city in... about two hours, I believe."
"I see," Raiden replied.
He thought for a moment before asking one final question.
"Was there anything else that caught your attention during the journey? Anything unusual from the very beginning of the procession until you arrived here?"
The priest remained silent for several seconds.
He genuinely searched his memory.
Eventually...
He slowly shook his head.
"No."
"There really wasn't anything else."
"Everything proceeded as usual."
"Other than what I already mentioned... nothing stood out."
The interview had reached its natural conclusion.
Raiden and Scooby stood from their chairs.
They thanked Priest Diora for his time, shook his hand once more, and politely said their goodbyes before leaving the church.
The moment they stepped outside...
Their expressions changed.
There was no need to waste another second.
"It looks like our next stop is clear," Scooby muttered.
Raiden simply nodded.
Without another word, psychic energy surrounded both of them.
In a flash, Raiden transformed into Mewtwo.
The familiar violet aura enveloped the detective as well, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.
A second later...
They shot into the sky.
Flying straight across the country toward the next city.
Their objective had changed.
Now, they weren't looking for another priest.
They were looking for the mysterious driver.
At Mewtwo's flying speed, covering the distance wasn't difficult.
What would normally take several hours by road...
Would barely take them two.
The moment they arrived in the city, both of them began their investigation immediately.
There was no reason to waste time.
Following the priest's information, they headed straight toward the area where the procession was expected to arrive, asking a few discreet questions along the way. It didn't take long before they found the bus the priests had been traveling in.
The entire procession had finally reached the city.
At that moment, however, the priests had already dispersed to begin their usual activities, leaving the bus parked by itself.
Only the driver remained.
The instant Raiden saw him, he immediately recognized the description Priest Diora had given them.
The man was thin, almost frail in appearance. His skin was unusually pale, and his eyes were a deep brown, while the sclera—the part that should have been white—had an unmistakable golden hue.
It was undoubtedly the same person.
Raiden and Scooby exchanged a brief nod before walking toward him.
As soon as they approached, Scooby presented his detective credentials.
"Mr. Rize," he began politely, "I'm Detective Scooby, and this is Hero-in-Training Mewtwo. We'd like to ask you a few questions."
Mr. Rize—or, more accurately, Tamako Rize—froze.
His eyes widened noticeably.
Almost immediately, sweat began to form across his forehead.
He looked... nervous.
Very nervous.
Raiden noticed it instantly.
Something was definitely off.
At the same time, though...
It felt almost too obvious.
This wasn't the composed demeanor one would expect from a calculating serial killer.
On the contrary.
It resembled someone hiding something much smaller—a petty criminal, perhaps, or someone with something to lose if the authorities started asking questions.
"Y-Yeah..." the man stammered.
"Tell me, officers... did something happen?"
That reaction alone confirmed he was hiding something.
The question was simply what.
"We're here to ask you a few questions regarding your travels with the priests," Scooby explained calmly.
As he spoke, he subtly activated his Quirk.
His enhanced sense of smell immediately began analyzing the man's hormonal changes and pheromones, searching for signs of deception, panic, or aggression.
At the very same time, Mewtwo quietly used his psychic abilities.
His eyes glowed for only an instant as he skimmed across the man's surface thoughts.
And almost immediately...
The answer appeared.
Please don't let them find out...
If they discover I don't have an official contract...
Or that I'm not registered...
Damn it...
I don't want to pay all those taxes...
Or end up in jail because of it...
Raiden almost sighed.
From Scooby's perspective, the situation was simple.
The man was hiding something.
From Mewtwo's perspective...
He wasn't the person they were looking for.
It was obvious.
If it had been this easy, the investigation would have ended days ago.
"Sure... sure," the driver forced himself to say.
"Did... did something happen with the priests?"
"No," Scooby replied. "Nothing like that."
"It's simply that, according to our investigation, you appear to have been the only person transporting the procession during this entire journey."
"In previous years, several different drivers handled the route."
"So naturally, we became curious."
He paused for a second before continuing.
"You see, we're following the trail of an individual."
"And your name doesn't match any of the transportation records."
"In fact..."
He looked directly at the man.
"Your name doesn't appear in the records at all."
"To us..."
"You're practically a ghost."
"I-I..."
The driver swallowed hard.
His hands trembled slightly.
Raiden didn't even need to keep reading his thoughts anymore.
Everything was crystal clear.
The man had simply changed his identity.
Judging from what Mewtwo had already seen, he had previous convictions for theft and was now trying to rebuild his life under a different name.
Unfortunately...
He had also chosen to work without registering his employment, avoiding taxes and official paperwork in the process.
Illegal?
Certainly.
Connected to their serial killer?
Not even remotely.
Every thought running through the man's mind revolved around exactly those fears.
Nothing else.
At that point, Mewtwo already knew this wasn't their culprit.
He was merely another loose thread.
Still...
One question remained.
"Who hired you to drive the bus?" Mewtwo asked calmly.
It was a simple question.
One that immediately made the driver answer without much thought.
"Oh..."
"Uhm..."
"Priest Diora, of course," the driver replied.
"fuck," it was mewtwo only tought.