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Prologue ~ The Beginning of the Night (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Must’ve been unconscious for a bit…
Suffocating, surrounding black that would shroud anyone’s vision.
My head feels “fuzzy”, kind of like I’m fighting through darkness…
At least, before a spotlight finally illuminates the night.
When I opened my eyes, there was a woman standing there.
Three strokes of red hair defying the very laws of gravity, a long yellow coat hiding a blue shirt, tall red boots… and a bronze badge attached at her chest.
Of course, I knew her. She’s kind of hard to forget.
A second spot lights up, properly setting the current stage.
And then, there was a man with a gun.
Dark suit and red tie, with a trusty gold colored shotgun set on his shoulder. His black fedora hat he sports hides the rest of his blue-skinned face.
Surprisingly, I knew him as well. Well, not that I expected to see him ever again.
The two were standing less than five meters apart when the man points his shotgun to her. The woman, instead of running away like anyone in her situation should have, chose to put her hands in the air, as though the action would prevent the man from shooting.
Now, I’m not the kind of person who can just stand back and watch someone get shot, no matter how idiotic or nostalgic her actions might be. But I have just one little problem…
The two spotlight decide they had enough being apart, and make their way to one another, revealing the third participant of this scene.
No music
I’m a cat. Or to be precise, a kitten.
A small black feline with thick short fur slowly rises from its laid down position, its aching body resisting the action. Its movements were too small and its actions not successful enough for either humans to notice it.
But, I’m not just ANY cat.
GHOST TRICK (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The surroundings blur and sharpen.
All motion slows down to a stop.
The darkness dissipates, letting the park recover its light.
Greens and blues desaturate for everything to take the shade of blood.
Forms fade away to make way for familiar radiating blue orbs.
I’m already dead.
One could say I traded my eight other lives…
A flame lights up in the center. Under any other circumstance, it would burn the small animal alive. But this flame is special… it’s the source of the feline’s power, and the key to save this woman’s life.
… For this.
Begin Trick Time!
The park at the crack of dawn shows little activity. The two humans being the only ones at the scene makes it nigh impossible to get outside help. The only way to save this woman would be through the few objects and elements scattered throughout this section of the park.
Falling Leaf
Kitten Body👻 TRICKExamine
👻 Kitten Body > Examine
I guess this is it for my little body…
The poor feline’s body had been pierced four times, yet no blood seemed to leak out of those wounds. Manipulating it now won’t accomplish much. There will be time to fix it later.
Time to get to work.
Continue
A link bursts from the flame, and extends to a nearby leaf previously falling down from the above tree, which now stands frozen midair. The flame fly crosses that space in an instant, invisible to either actors up on this stage.
Kitten Body👻 Examine
Rake👻 Rock
Falling Leaf
But of course, it was only the first part of the ploy, as the flame continues its path to its next target: a rake resting only a meter away from the man in black against the tree’s trunk, undoubtedly forgotten by the park’s gardener.
Falling Leaf
Trunk
Rake👻 TRICKRock
👻 Rake > Rock
The rake is heavy. Considering most of its weight is concentrated at the bottom, even with the unevenness of the humus, it’s hard to move it, if at all. With all of his strength, Sissel barely manages to set the rake straight, not really accomplishing anything. Deciding that time is definitely more precious than trying to tip the uncooperative gardening tool, the feline ghost lets it fall back to the tree—
“Did you hear something?” The blue skinned killer turns his gaze left and right, searching for the source of the noise which just startled him.
“…” Obviously, the woman doesn’t answer him.
I guess this was a bust.
Sissel takes a step back -well, as much of a step back as a ghost can take-, and looks to the rake.
But I wonder… Is there another way to use it to my advantage?
Continue
The next step in the flame’s journey took it up the trunk of the apple tree the stage is set under. In all its century old history, this tree has seen wilder stories unfold than many people can even imagine.
Able to see all, but unable to act. Definitely an outcome Sissel wants to avoid, so he inspects his surrounding for anything of use, and before long, notices something very interesting: a few meters above the core which Sissel is attached to as well as the man’s head…
… is a large active beehive. Dropping that on him will probably provide a good enough distraction for the woman to run away.
Alright.
Sissel smirks.
The same as before then.
Or at least he did, before realizing there is no direct path from where he’s standing to the branch on which the hive is attached. The trunk’s core is located near its bottom, and the few cores above that could lead him there are all out of reach.
At this precise moment, he couldn’t help but wish that Yomel was with him right now. Being able to possess one of those bees would make it very simple to get there, unlike sticking to exclusively use object cores.
For now, all I can do is go one step at the time.
Rake👻 Rock
Lower Branch👻 Shake
Trunk
Following the trunk, the flame arrives at the last point it could access on this line of cores. If it wanted to go any further, it would have to create its own path.
Last chance, eh?
Regrettably, that beehive is still too far away, completely out of reach.
There must be something I can do!
Trunk
Lower Branch👻 TRICKShake
👻 Lower Branch > Shake
Unsurprisingly, the branch is even heavier than the rake was. However, being a cat, Sissel is well acquainted with the inner workings of tree gravity, and uses his (admittedly limited, but still useful!) knowledge to shake the tree as strongly as possible.
DEADLINE (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“So long, sister.”
For as much as he wishes so, he doesn’t have quite the luxury of time on his side.
The gun is aimed at the woman, and the man’s finger is already in position on the trigger. Sissel shakes the branch as hard as he can in hopes that something, ANYTHING would happen—!
An apple falls from the branch. Then another. Then many others.
“Huh?”
The shooter is momentarily distracted from his target, but the woman couldn’t take a single step before the man trains his gun back on her.
“Don’t move.”
He zeros out on the redhead. A near-sighted killer needs to ensure the highest level of precision, even at point-blank range.
No music
A batch of five apples fell together from the tree, together proving the laws of physics, just like their ancestors did in the past. What they proved in this case? Rebound strength. The apples collide with the rake’s head, tipping its axis with far more strength than anything Sissel’s tricks could ever do. The rake bends over ninety degrees, slamming the shotgun out of the man’s hands.
“Oof!”
The woman instantly takes this opportunity, and rams against the killer, temporarily knocking him down. After a single look behind her, she takes off running toward the entrance of the park and—!
“Hold it!”
The woman didn’t even get to the fountain that the killer had already recovered from the shattering of his guard, and is quickly standing back up in the same position as before.
Ah, I can’t believe I almost missed this snail-slow running away… but at least, I gained a little bit of time.
Fate Changed (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Sissel takes some of that time to analyze his surroundings. The path to the beehive above in the apple tree could be reached from another tree just next to the fountain. Unfortunately, said tree isn’t exactly accessible from his position. The only way he would be able to reach it would be to hitch a ride on one of the leaves, and hope the wind carries him in the right direction.
… Uh… I should probably look for other another way in.
However, the lack of sweet potato in the area makes it impossible for him to access the fountain’s network from another angle, meaning that the worst way is, as he feared, the only way.
Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!Begin Trick Time!
With all of its apples dropped, little remains to make this branch look anything other than barren.
Sissel gulps, knowing the only way further is down.
Trunk
Lower Branch👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Lower Branch > Shake
In spite of the branch’s state, Sissel decides to give it one last shake. A few too dead leaves decide to leave the ship, all flying toward the great cliff overlooking the city. As the feline watches them fade into the horizon line melancholically, he cannot help but ponder:
… I don’t really know what I expected.
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
The trunk is hardly moved by the scene in front of him, and refuses to even lift a fiber to help.
The least it could do is leading me up instead of letting me down…
Rake👻 Rock
Lower Branch👻 Shake
Trunk
After tricking the assassin’s shotgun out of his hands, the rake had fallen down to the ground. Even if he’d used it a few seconds prior and would use it for his future ones, Sissel wishes gravity could work the other way around for once.
Apple👻 Shake
Trunk
Rake👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock👻 TRICKRock
👻 Rake > Rock
If moving the rake when it was set against the tree was difficult, lifting it now is a Herculean task. With all of his strength, Sissel can barely make its handle hover a centimeter above ground while the head remains firmly encroached in the ground.
Hey! Don’t give me that look! These tools are meant for humans to use.
Sissel blinks, realizing he has no one to justify himself to considering he is the only one who can hear his thoughts.
Guess it was too much to hope that I could open a new path with it.
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
This apple had fallen on the ground next to many others. However, what makes it unique is the fact that a leaf’s petiole has gotten stuck on the apple’s pedicel. A single gust of wind would be nearly enough to blow it away, but it’s still holding on for now.The leaf was just dislodged and is only moments away from flying off to its destination! If one wants to grab on, they should do it NOW!
Leaf
Rake👻 Rock
Apple👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Apple > Shake
Sissel waits for a small gust of wind to pass. It takes a few precious seconds, but said breeze finally arrives. Using a measured amount of strength, Sissel rocks the apple back and forth, hoping for the leaf to finally unst—
The leaf detaches itself and departs for the sky with great speeds! It’s only a few milliseconds after this event that Sissel re-enters the ghost world, ready for his final leap.
ContinueContinueContinueContinue
The leaf is firmly stuck to the apple. A gust of wind could probably blow it away, but it would require a bit of luck.
And do I really have the luxury of luck right now?The leaf is frozen midair, but the moment time resumes, it will depart for its destination. What destination? Hopefully one that isn’t down the cliff.
Apple👻 Shake
Leaf👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait
👻 Leaf > Wait
“Well, sister. This is it.” The man cocks his gun.“Two things are looking pretty dim right now…”“My eyesight… and your future!”
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
COUNT DOWN (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Come on… Come on! Fly!
Sissel tries to blow on the leaf, but after a few unsuccessful tries remembers that ghosts don’t have mouths.Sissel starts to panic as the fated time approaches, but with no real solution in mind, the result is all but inevitable. A gust of wind blows the leaf, but it remains firmly stuck.
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's BeginningA shot resounds in the park, ending the woman’s life forever.
…
And of course, it’s at precisely that moment that the leaf decides to take off thanks a stronger gust.
As if the universe didn’t give me enough headaches—
The leaf slams down on the woman’s head with thunderously inexistent grace.The leaf sets off for the sky immediately, but the wind decides to be whimsical. It makes the leaf whirl around the apple tree, as though strolling through the sights, uncaring for the tragedy in the making.
“Two things are looking pretty dim right now…”
It’s only sheer luck that after it decided to end its tour early, as the wind takes a step in the right direction, and blows Sissel closer to the crime scene.
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 2
The leaf closes in toward the fountain. Only a few centimeters remain between Sissel’s ride and the target post lantern standing on a pillar he wants to leap to.
Just a little closer…!
“My eyesight… and your future!”
The shout must have startled the wind, because at the last moment, it whirls around and makes the leaf head toward the scene rather than the top of the fountain. Sissel begins to panic as the fated time approaches, but with no control over the leaf’s direction, the only thing he can do is wish for a miracle.
COME ON! PLEASE!
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 1
The leaf slams down…
…
…
… on the woman’s head.
Dammit!
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 0
A shot resounds in the park, ending the woman’s life.
No music
She sinks to her knees, as life rapidly leaves her eyes. After a few seconds, her body slumps on the ground. The man checks on her pulse, before nodding to himself. Putting his gun on his shoulder and leaving his victim behind, he heads for the phone at the entrance of the park. He slowly rotates the number’s wheel, and before long, presses the dial button before putting the handset to his head.
“It’s done. I’ll be on my way.”
He puts the phone away, and opens the park’s door, uncaring of the fact his shotgun is still very much visible on his shoulder.
…
Well… I guess this was to be expected.
AWAKENING (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The cat-ghost would have been massaging his temple if he still had a human body. Every time he tries to prevent a death in real time, there is always one thing or another getting in the way: time being the greatest barrier of them all.
Though, it’s not anything I can’t overcome.
He smirks to himself, diving back into something he didn’t think he’d ever have to do again. But today is certainly the day for unexpected do-overs, isn’t it?
Begin Trick Time!
The wind had died down, but even if it didn’t, it wouldn’t change a thing. After all, with its crash landing on the woman’s head, the leaf is firmly stuck within one of the three big strands of red hair which previously stood proudly at the top of her head.
Here we go again…
Lynne🗣 Talk
Leaf
🗣 Talk > Lynne
The World of the Dead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Space swivels, as all remaining colors and forms collapse in a spiral of carmine red and garnet browns.
“…”
A static blue flame stands before the dark-furred feline. No eyes, no face, no expression… and no thought.
Unconscious again, eh? I guess that’s pretty normal since this is the first time she—
A small movement catches the edge of his sight. Something akin to a small buzz, now all too familiar to him.
“… Where… am I?”
Sissel blinks at the unexpected sound. Well, not really “sound” because the dead don’t exactly have voices, but you get the point.
She’s already coming to? That’s certainly faster than last time.
“… What happened to me?”
Though the flame doesn’t have a body, it’s not hard to imagine it wobbling, as though waking up from a bad hangover.
If we’re taking the fast track, might as well give her a crash introduction.
“… And who are you? Do you know what happened to me?”
Sissel prepares himself to answer, but before he could even begin to think of the words to say…
“Wait. Who is ‘me’? I-I can’t remember! WHO AM I—?!”
“Woah, woah. Slow down.” Sissel tempers, waving a ghost paw to catch her attention.
It takes a few seconds (ghost seconds? Time is stopped, so it’s hard to put a metric on it) for her to calm down, and reconcentrate on him.
“Your name is Lynne. You work as a detective, and you died just a minute ago. Right now, we’re in the ghost world, so uh, welcome I guess?”
“…”
Smooth, Sissel. Real smooth.
Had he actual paws right now, he would have facepalmed. His crash course might have overwhelmed her, so it will take some time for her to even process what he—
“You’re a talking cat?”
Of all questions she could have asked, somehow, Sissel hadn’t anticipated the most obvious one. Fortunately, even if his adventures made him believe to be human, he spent enough time as a cat to acquire the classical feline deflect.
“Yes, well, actually no, I don’t really speak, but I project— You know what? It doesn’t matter. Don’t you think you have a slightly more important issue at this moment, Lynne?”
The blue flame pauses her thought to reflect on his words, before nearly shouting—
No music
“Hey! You’re right! There IS something very wrong right now!”
The world fades to white as the blue flame finally regains its true form.
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“There is no time to waste!”
The blue haired assassin tips his fedora forward with an air of joyful haste. The expression is so absurd it nearly distracts Sissel from the fact that theses repeated jokes are getting old really fast—
“Ugh… My head…”
No music
Huh? Sissel’s eyes widen when the blue-skinned man suddenly clutches his head with his hands. “Lynne?”
“… aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAH!”
Even though the dead don’t have voices, he could practically hear the pain in hers. “L-Lynne?!”
The world fades to white a second time, and with it…
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Ahh… ahh…” The newly appeared redhead breathes in and out, even though there is neither air nor a need to breathe here. “Pheeeewwww… oww. That really hurt.”
“A-Are you okay?” Sissel looks to her with concern. This is new…
At least, she managed to recover her real form without input from him this time. It’s certainly nice to avoid such an awkward conversation—
“Wait… that voice. Sissel?! Is that you?!” She puts both her hands before her mouth in disbelieving shock.
“Yes, that’s me.” He had expected her to figure it out once she regained her memories. Being a frequent guest at Jowd’s house meant they spent more than enough time together for her to recognize him on sight.
Wait. Did she just say she recognized me with my voice—?
“Y-You’re a cat?!”
We already went over this but… Taking his greatest deadpan thought-voice, he answers her. “Yes, obviously. And I don’t talk, I project my thoughts to your—”
“N-No! I mean, you always were a cat?!” Her shocked expression turns thoughtful. “I mean, I guess it kinda explains a few things, but a cat? I never would have guessed.”
Huh? “Wait…”
No music
Sissel’s brow furrow. If this happened during the time when he believed himself to be Yomel, his glasses would have furrowed with them. He had assumed that she got her memories from the world of the living back, but…
“Lynne… Do you, uh, remember? About… before?”
Her face instantly brightens, as a big smile replaces her thoughtful frown. She puts her hands on each side, before declaring:
REINCARNATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Of course I do! It would be kinda hard to forget something like that.”
Sissel’s expression morphs through several stages: shock, surprise, happiness, questioning, before his cat-like deadpan face returned. I’m pretty sure you DID forget for a while—
“I died a bunch of times back then.” She puts a finger to her jaw, pondering on her not-suicidal tendency to have death find its way to her far too easily. “Hey! Maybe I really SHOULD file a record for highest number of deaths in a single night!”
I still have no idea how she can be so chipper about her own death… deaths… Sissel shakes his head helplessly. But I guess I really did miss that. “Speaking of which, I think it’s about time we got on with it.”
“Right!” She puts her hands on her hips, all too happy to watch back the last moments of her life where she got gunned down. “To four minutes before my death!”
Rewind Time
FOUR MINUTES BEFORE DEATH
4 Minutes Before Death (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The sun slowly rises over Temsik Part. Despite the gigantic cliff at its far end being extra dangerous with the low visibility brought by the lack of light, it’s far from inhabited.
A small black feline wanders over from the park’s entrance by the cover of the night. While generally, cats’ cautious nature tends to make them favor the shadows, this one walks on the path humans would have taken by day, its gaze wandering all over the entrance section of the park.
Suddenly, just a few meters away after the fountain, the cat stops mid-step and its left ear pivots to toward the bushes. With an unexpected bout of bravery, it slowly approaches the offending bush, no doubt curious about which creature made this unexpected noise.
A squirrel? Another cat, maybe? Or was it just a branch dropping on another?
But, as the feline was about to make its last step, it slowly sniffs the plant to identify what—
“ACHOO!”
A man with a fedora hat jumps from the foliage, trusty shotgun at the ready. Clearly disoriented, he looks blindly around him in an attempt to find the source which triggered his coughing fit.
“Oh. A cat.”
The tension in his posture all but evaporates. He lowers himself toward the bush, almost getting entirely covered yet again—
“This one’s personal. For all the fellows of your kin who ever blew my cover.”
—until he points his golden shotgun toward the cat’s face.
4 Minutes Before Death ~ VARIATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The cat, as though understanding the sheer threat represented by the golden mechanism, hisses toward its holder. But as it tries to flee the scene with all the speed its small legs could muster and hopefully avoid the bullets coming—
“Nearsighted Jeego never misses his target at point-blank range.”
The trigger is pulled and a slew of bullets reaches straight for its destination, blowing the feline a few meters away on the other side of the fountain. Unsurprisingly, its body slumps to the ground, inert. Grinding his teeth, the blue-skinned assassin returns to his prior hideout as fast as he can.
“Freeze!”
Lynne runs through the park’s entrance, pistol at the ready. She quickly looks around, but between the poor lighting and the fact that she just came in a little too late to witness the killer’s runaway, she doesn’t notice anything amiss yet. So, step by step, she gets deeper into the park. The moment she crosses the fountain…
“Sissel!”
In a panicked rush, she runs to the feline’s fallen body. She attempts to wake it up, but sensing no warmth from it…
“Oh no… he’s… dead…”
The sound of a gun being cocked wakes her up from her shock-induced stupor. In a split second, she drops the kitten’s body and turns on her assailant who now stood between her and the park’s exit, gun still in hand.
“Who are—?!”
Said assassin himself panics at the sight of a second firearm between him and his target. A second shot is fired, knocking Lynne’s gun away into the bushes. Suffice to say, looking for it now would take far too much time for the killer not to notice. If the forest hadn’t woken up til now, terrified sounds emerge all around them.
“Do you need my business card, or will my little golden friend suffice?”
Now disarmed, Lynne takes a step back, fright written all over her face. She puts her hands in the air, so that if she gets shot, at least the assassin would get a sentence for killing an unarmed person who had surrendered without litigation on self-defense. Well, at least he would if a witness were to conveniently show up at this second.
“You… You did this, didn’t you?”
Noticing her gaze on the small feline, the man puts his shotgun on his shoulder, a small professional smirk on his face.
“And look at what the cat reeled in.” His smirk goes broader as he tips his fedora with his other hand. “Didn’t think finding secondary targets would be so easy.”
“You used Sissel to bring me here?”
The hitman sighs, grin fading from his face. “Instead of worrying about things that don’t matter, you oughta be more concerned about your own fate.”
Without warning, the man points his weapon toward his target, arming it at the same time.
“W-What do you want with me?!” Sweat pours down Lynne’s face. “I don’t even know you!”
Feeling generous about his mark’s last request, he decides to humor her. “They said we had to make every last participant of ‘Temsik’ pay.”
“ ‘Temisk’…?” Momentary forgetting she is being held at gun point, Lynne racks her brain for everything that word could mean for her before spluttering. “B-B-But that’s the name of this park! A-Are you telling me you plan to kill EVERYONE that has ever come here?!”
“Beats me. I just do what I’m paid for.” The assassin shrugs, repositioning his shotgun to make sure he hits his target, even if she’s at point-blank range. “All I know is that you have nowhere else to run to. Time to die sister.”
Having noticed that speaking to him delays the inevitable, Lynne begins to question him again. “Look, all I want to know is, who are you, and who are you working for.”
“You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. This is just business.”
Alas, said hitman had also begun taking notice of the clock ticking, and repositions his gun for one last time.
“So long, sister.”
But as the fated second approaches… an apple falls from a nearby tree. Then another. Then many others.
“Huh?”
The shooter is momentarily distracted from his target, but Lynne couldn’t take a single step before the hitman trains his gun back on her.
“Don’t move.”
He zeros out on the redhead. A near-sighted killer needs to ensure the highest level of precision, even at point-blank range. Then, out of nowhere, a batch of five apples falls down together from the tree, colliding with a nearby rake’s head, tipping its axis with great force. The rake bends over ninety degrees, slamming the shotgun out of the man’s hands.
“Oof!”
Lynne immediately takes this opportunity, and rams against the killer, temporarily knocking him down. After a single look behind her, she runs back toward the entrance of the park and—!
“Hold it!”
The redhead stops only a meter away from the fountain, and puts her hands back in the air. Unlike herself, the killer had been trained for those situations. He’d already recovered from the shattering of his guard, and is quickly standing back up in the same position as before.
“Hmph. Did you really think you could get away that easily from the best nearsighted killer in existence?”
Instead of asking him why he isn’t wearing glasses…
“Aren’t you also the only one though?”
“Well, sister. This is it.” The man ignores her and cocks his gun, AGAIN. “Two things are looking pretty dim right now…”
Lynne looks frantically around, and raises her hands even higher in the air, hoping for a miracle.
“My eyesight… and your future!”
A leaf falls down on Lynne’s hair, as the assassin’s bullet ends her life.
…
…
The world freezes, and fades to gray.
The World of the Dead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
… I don’t know whether I should be surprised or—
“THAT BASTARD!”
Sissel nearly jumps at the sheer power behind the thought (shout-thought?). “Woah, calm down. I know he—”
“He shot you, a criminally innocent cat, for no reason!” Lynne looks utterly revolted, a raw fury he’d never seen before present in her eyes. “That’s a clear case of animal abuse! Oh, the moment I get my hands on him…”
“…” It’s not the first time. It certainly isn’t gonna be the last. In his human form, his glasses would have dilated, and his jaw would have been hanging open. Despite being a detective, Lynne certainly had a way to focus on all the wrong things. “You DO know he’s also a serial murderer for hire that killed you just a few minutes ago, right?”
“Oh, yeah that too.” The police detective shrugs. “But by now, I’ve accepted that every hitman I ever come across will try to kill me, and succeed at least once. The world isn’t going to stop for little old me every time that happens, so if I tried to pursue each and every single one of them, I’d drop dead of old age or exhaustion before I knew it. I figured I might as well let it go and concentrate on what’s important.”
…
While he had been shocked to silence just a few moments earlier -a common occurrence when being confronted with her logic-, this is only the second time in his life that Sissel stares at her incomprehensively. Her logic IS technically sound if you consider the number of assassins she encounters on a daily basis and disregard literally everything else.
“Speaking of which,” Lynne continues, interpreting Sissel’s silence as understanding.
AWAKENING (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Why is this one targeting me again? Last time, I thought that he wanted me dead because the country Siss— er, Yomel was working with wanted to ‘erase’
everyone who could ever come close to the truth about the meteorite.” Her nose wrinkles, a horrid memory crossing her mind. “But in this timeline, he went to prison voluntarily. I don’t think he’d ever contacted them.”
Hm… Sissel puts a paw to his chin. “Jeego said his employer wants to ‘make every last participant of Temsik pay’… That’s different from what he said last time, about ‘rubbing out all the last traces of Temsik’ I think it was?”
Lynne joins him, putting a hand to her chin again. “You’re right! Now that you mention it, this one definitely sounds different. Like it’s some form of revenge ploy. Do you think it has to do with what happened ten years ago as well?”
“No clue. You’re the detective, not me.” Sissel shrugs. “But, out of all the people present in the incident from ten years ago, I can’t think of a single one who’d want you dead right now.”
“Argh!” Lynne groans in frustration. “This makes no sense at all! To make things worst, I can’t even grill him for information since he doesn’t know a thing! If we at least had a lead on his employer, we’d know where to start looking…”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is one thing we CAN and SHOULD be doing right now.” Sissel smirks. “Saving your life. After that, you’ll be free to investigate this case as much as you want.”
Begin Trick Time!
4 Minutes Before Death (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The sun slowly rises over Temsik Park. The cat just passed the entrance, slowly contemplating on its features.
“Alright. Let’s do this!” Ghost Lynne looks to their surroundings. “Where should we start?”
Sissel points to the apple tree he had already made ample use of before.
“See that beehive over there? Making it drop on him would be the fastest way for us to either get rid of him, or at least buy you enough time to call for backup.”
Lynne looks thoughtful, checking the plan for any flaw—
“Wait a minute.” She stops the cat before he could move on with his plan. For the first time since their afterlife reunion, she looks completely and utterly serious. “He only gets under that beehive AFTER I arrive in the park. By this point, he’ll already have shot you.”
“Yeah, so?” Sissel answers nonchalantly. “It’s just a bullet wound. Give it a day or two, and I’ll be fine as new.”
“W-What?” In a strange reversal of roles, Lynne stares incomprehensively to Sissel. “People don’t just… heal from a bullet wound! Especially from a shotgun, and for a kitten!”
“Well, I do.” Sissel answer her just as seriously, wordlessly pointing to his cat form over on the other side of the park.
“W-What the…? That radiation…” A look of horror dawns on her face, as she finally understands the truth. “Y-You have a fragment of meteorite w-within you?!”
“It’s been there for over ten years, so it doesn’t exactly hurt anymore.” Sissel shrugs. “Anyway, what that means is that there is only one life to save here: yours.”
Mascot👻 Move
Soul
The mascot no longer stands proudly at the top of the fountain, its corpse remaining titled on the ground, its colors faded with the trickling of time.
Hm… I wonder if I could still use it.
It HAD been one of the key elements last time, so perhaps it will be this time to? Although, it’s a bit hard to imagine what use he could make of it right now…
Nozzle (right)👻 Spray
Bullet
Mascot👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove
👻 Mascot > Move
The mascot had been in this position ever since the incident from last decade. No one ever moved it away, so here it stands. The only problem is…
That thing’s heavy!
Missile certainly hadn’t made moving it seem anywhere near as difficult as Sissel feels now.
“What were you trying to do by moving it anyway?”
Lynne’s question catches him off guard, and as he ponders on the question…
“Well, I can trick this object, so it must serve SOME sort of purpose.”
This technique had worked well for him in the past. Really, it did! At least when it didn’t completely block him from saving his target’s life.
“Really? To me, it looks more like the object is tricking you.”
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
The bullet is still there on the ground, forgotten by all those who knew about it, and unseen by all those who ever came by.
“Wait, what’s a bullet doing here?!”
Expectedly, Lynne picks up on the discrepancy, and looks to Sissel for an answer. Said cat only shrugs, considering that this bullet won’t really be of any use now.
Nozzle (right)👻 Spray
Mascot👻 Move
Bullet
The fountain's right nozzle is right as Sissel left it a decade ago, notwithstanding the lack of sweat potato, replaced by an apple that came down the tree above it.
Heh. These might as well be my lucky fruit for the day.
“… I still prefer potatoes.” Lynne pouts, crossing her ghost -and thus, nonexistent- arms together.
Mascot👻 Move
Bullet
Apple👻 Wait
Nozzle (right)👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray
👻 Nozzle (right) > Spray
The nozzle starts projecting water with far greater strength than necessary to fulfill its original purpose of refilling the fountain’s water, just like it did ten years prior. In the evanescent moonlight and hidden in the bushes, the only human present doesn't even notice anything being wrong. The feline however, seems momentarily distracted by the sound, before reluctantly reaching back for the bushes, albeit way more cautiously.
Alright. Now that’s the first step done, all I need to do is get my timing right.
The apple, which was situated within the fountain’s water, right next to its border, slowly floats over toward the center with the newly generated slow water current.
Just a little more…
The apple comes dangerously close to the spray of water, about to be propelled leftward with great speeds. Sissel awaits the moment with bated breath, ready to jump straight into the—
There!
Sissel returns instantly to the ghost world. The apple just got off the ground and had he waited one more millisecond, it would be out of reach. He heaves a sigh, relieved to know he still got his timing right.
“If the apple was about the float in the spray anyway, couldn’t you have jumped at any point instead of waiting the last moment?”
Sissel was about to open his mouth to answer her question, before realizing that she is -surprisingly- quite right.
Since when did she act so… logical?
“Hey! I always act logically!”
ContinueContinueContinueContinue”Hey, Sissel! What are you doing?! The apple will depart without you if you stay there!”
“Ah, uh… yes. You’re right.” What WAS I doing?
⌛ Time is passing…
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
The apple will, once again be cornerstone to solving this case. But, as it is now, the only thing it does is floating from the border of the pool toward the center.Case in point: it’s about to be ejected from the waters! The moment Sissel exits the ghost world, there is no doubt the apple will make its leap.Right now, it’s floating on the middle nozzle’s spraying water, but with the current as it is, it’s only a matter of time before it falls back to the right side of the fountain!With the angle rightly set, the apple is about to take flight the moment time resumes!The apple stands frozen in the air, defying the gravity it helped to demonstrate oh so many times.
Nozzle (right)👻 Spray
Nozzle (middle)👻 Spray Higher
Nozzle (left)👻 Spray
Nozzle (middle)👻 Spray Higher
Nozzle (middle)👻 Spray Higher
Post Lantern👻 Shake
Apple👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait
👻 Apple > Wait
Possessing the apple, Sissel decides the best course of action for now is to wait. Taking this opportunity to relax, the apple just floats away happily in the water, undoubtedly thoroughly enjoying its time. For a moment, the feline ponders:
Aren’t trees alive?
If that’s the case, that means they have a moment where they die. And if they have a moment of death…
Doesn’t that mean they could become ghosts if they die exposed to the meteorite?
Sissel shudders. The thought shakes him to the core. It’s one thing being a cat anthropomorphized as a human, but a plant? That’s just nuts.
Wait the trees in this place WERE exposed to the meteorite. Is that how haunted forests are born—?
“Sissel, we don’t have time for your internal philosophical debates right now!”
Ghost Lynne shouts over his thinking, nervously looking to the ticking time.
Wait. What was I doing again?
⌛ Time is passing…
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueImmediately, the apple is launched into the air, with Sissel and Lynne along for the ride. It reaches the level of the middle nozzle, lands in its water and… bounces?
It bounces straight for the other side, on the fountain’s left, closer to the entrance.
Oops. Guess I overshoot a little.
Sissel frowns. If he doesn’t want to go around again and again, he’ll need to adjust the strength with which—
“Oh! I just had an idea!” Lynne excitedly interrupts his train of thought. “If you went to an attraction park, and took possession of a carousel's engine, you’d make the first actually haunted attraction!”
“Lynne…” Sissel sighs. “I don’t particularly want to keep my existence for the sole purpose of working to entertain children. Besides, how would they even know it’s haunted in the first place? For all they’d know the attraction would simply be working normally.”
“Spoilsport.” She pouts, unhappy about her idea being shut down. “Don’t kill the idea before you try it!”
ContinueContinueThis time, with the calibration Sissel performed, the apple flies much lower, reaching the middle nozzle’s water in a single smooth jump.
“Freeze!”
In the time the fellow deads (undeads? Ghosts are dead people who are still alive right?) wait for the apple to stabilize itself atop the middle nozzle, while the footsteps they just heard had finally reached the park’s entrance: The redhead’s still alive form scans the perimeter for the source of the gunshot.
We don’t have much time left.
Continue
The apple flies through the air with a curvature that would make both mathematicians and designers proud. It only takes a single second for it to reach its apex, standing just a meter away from the right side post lantern.
Now!
Sissel stops time by entering the ghost world, wiping off a ghost sweat of his translucid head.
I— I did it! All I need to do now is get to that beehive.
ContinueContinue“Sissel?! If you do that, the apple will fall down, and we’ll be stuck!”
Sissel was about to open his mouth to reply, but soon realizes the wisdom of her words and turns back to the new path opened to him.
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
The fountain's left nozzle leaves Sissel with an almost nostalgic memory. It was the first time he got to control the strength with which he could manipulate objects, even if the end result… well, it left a sourer taste in his mouth than he’d have hoped.
“… By the way, could you fill me in on the details of what went down here ten years ago?” Lynne asks with a smile. “Even with the time change, my memory’s a little foggy on that part.”
Apple👻 Wait
Nozzle (left)👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray
👻 Nozzle (left) > Spray
Just like before, the nozzle’s water stream grows much stronger. But this time, Sissel keeps a finger (claw?) on the power output this contraption is generating. Unlike ten years prior where he increased it enough to propel one of the lanterns toward the other side of the fountain, this time, he makes sure that the apple will land at its proper destination: the middle nozzle.
“Hey! Are you ignoring me?”
Ah, damn. Sissel had hoped that she’d drop the subject considering his lack of answer. After all, it’s not exactly something he wants to talk about. Then again, I suppose she deserves to know. More than half of what went down WAS about her.
“Well, you nearly died a few times, and it—”
“Only nearly?” She looks surprised, her mouth forming a small ‘o’. “You mean I didn’t die? Not even once?”
“No, you didn’t.” Sissel answers flatly. He didn’t quite know what annoys him most: the fact that she asked this question, or that he would have asked the same if the roles were reversed. “You didn’t make it simple for us, though. It took the collective efforts of me, Missile, and Yomel to prevent reality from raining down its scorn upon you.”
“Pheeew! All that just for me?” Lynne whistles with a grin, as though their discussion isn’t her past and imminent deaths. And if the grinning wasn’t bad enough, she starts chuckling. “I guess I don’t NOT die easy, eh?”
The answer of deadpan Sissel was about to respond to her absurd reaction dies on his lips.
“MROEW?!”
Literally.
4 Minutes Before Death ~ VARIATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
A loud bang resound in the park as echoes of rapidly approaching footsteps flitter through their ghost ears.
“Uh, I think we should continue this conversation another time.”
ContinueContinueContinueContinue
”Hey, Sissel! What are you doing?! The apple will depart without you if you stay there!”
“Ah, uh… yes. You’re right.” What WAS I doing?
⌛ Time is passing…
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
The middle nozzle sprays some water upward, which then flows down the artificial slope in an endless cycle.
What even is the point of this thing? Do humans really enjoy the risk of getting splashed on a daily basis?With a sense of urgency, Sissel looks for the trajectory the apple should take next. In order to reach the upper branch of the nearby tree, propelling the apple upward would not be enough to reach it.
Because said tree is on the right side of the fountain, the apple needs to be pushed with an angle to even hope that he could reach the right lantern from it.The nozzle is spraying with all its might, and the apple is about to be launched in the air!
…
...
What are you still doing here?! There are people dying out there you need to save!
…
Really, there are! Now get a move on!
Apple👻 Wait
Apple👻 Wait
Apple👻 Wait
Nozzle (middle)👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher👻 TRICKSpray Higher
👻 Nozzle (middle) > Spray Higher
Waiting for the right angle, Sissel narrows his military-grade feline eyes. It takes nearly ten seconds before the apple reaches the precise spot in which sending it in the—
“Who are—?!”
Another bang makes Sissel jump, activating the nozzle on reflex. Instantly switching to the ghost world, he exhales a sigh of relief upon realizing his angle is luckily perfect, and that the apple is still within reach.
“Woah.” Ghost Lynne takes a step back. “I don’t remember you having to use such precise timing in the past!”
Trust me, you just weren’t there for it. Sissel shudders, knowing the memories of chandeliers and medicine would haunt him forever. “I’ll take precise timing over luck any day.”
ContinueContinueContinueContinue”Hey, Sissel! What are you doing?! The apple will depart without you if you stay there!”
“Ah, uh… yes. You’re right.” What WAS I doing?
⌛ Time is passing…
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
No music
In an attempt to resolve this impossible conundrum, Sissel pushes the middle nozzle to its limit purposelessly.
The Guitar’s Serenade (Ace Attorney ~ Special Courtroom 2008 Orchestra Concert) ▶ ▶
The water raises higher and higher, to the point where it nearly reaches the same height as the lanterns. The torrents of water slowly widen and thin out, as Sissel could gradually observe each and every droplet of water fall back down to the fountain’s pool.
In spite of the tense situation, an air of tranquility blooms within the feline’s body. For every drop flowing down through the air, whispers of a note makes its way to his ears. Together they form a hypnotizing tale of joy, despair, ever cycling, always similar, yet every time you think you’ve seen it all, a fluctuation comes to transcend it into a unique and unforgettable continuous melody—
“Sissel!”
4 Minutes Before Death ~ VARIATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Ghost Lynne looks down on him with a mix of anger and urgency. “Get a grip and stop doing useless stuff!”
Ah! I knew it! It IS useless!
⌛ Time is passing…
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
Unlike the mascot, this post lantern had been replaced to provide some light during the night. It isn’t exactly obvious to Sissel how this system works, but he figures that since Missile could swap it without issue, there’s nothing to stop him from using it any way he wants.
I wonder… Could I use it for something?
Apple👻 Wait
Attached Leaf👻 Wait
Post Lantern👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Post Lantern > Shake
Athena Cykes ~ Courtroom Revolutionaire 2016 (Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice) ▶ ▶
A brilliant idea surges in Sissel’s mind.
“If I set the forest on fire, the killer won’t be able to kill you AND escape!”
He ignores Ghost Lynne’s jaw drop, knowing it to be awe in front of the magnificence of his plan. So, he starts shaking the lantern, and the tilt it provides is certainly promising.
He ignores the passing of time, not noticing the fact that the gun was just knocked out of the hitman’s hand, to tilt the rugby ball-shaped object again, this time with a greater amount of momentum. The lantern is dangerously unbalanced at the top of the fountain’s pillar, but it still refuses to fall.
Come on… I just need to put a liiiitle more power into it…
“Wait, Sissel! Don’t—!”
With all of his strength, the feline pushes the lamp off its pedestal, snapping a few cables at the same time. A manic grin appears on his face at his stellar achievement of killing two birds with one stones, something which would grant him respect within all cat circles around the world.
“Eek!”
Lynne narrowly dodges the incoming missile, having plenty of experience on the mater.
“Are you alright?” The hitman who still had his gun trained on her asks with concern.
“I-I’m okay.” Lynne takes a shuddering breath, before looking back to her wannabe murderer with a smile. “Thanks for asking.”
“Hmph. Good.” He nods to himself, tipping off his fedora. “I won’t get the bounty on your head if you die because of natural causes.”
“Still, what WAS that?” Lynne ignores his last statement. “Do you think this fountain is… no longer well maintained?”
The bounty hunter looks to the top of the fountain with an unreadable (or, to be precise, unseeable) expression. “When our government announced budget cuts for parks, I didn’t think it would mean the furniture would fall down at the first gust of wind.”
No music
…
…
“Wait, why isn’t it setting stuff on fire?” Sissel frowns, disappointed.
“It’s an electrical lamp.” Ghost Lynne explains. “When you snapped its cables, it simply stopped receiving power.”
The fooled cat’s face varies through various states: surprise, enlightenment, devastation, disillusion, before finally reaching resignation. He goes to brood on one side of the core, when Ghost Lynne comes to pet him.
“Come on, Sissel. You’ll have plenty of other opportunities to set stuff up on fire eventually! As long as you make sure to reset time afterward, I’m sure it’ll be fine…” She scratches her jaw nervously. “… probably.”
“Really?” The poor little wannabe pyromanic kitten looks up to the ghost with hope filling his eyes.
“Really! I swear.” Lynne smiles, before a poorly hidden grin appears on her face while she looks at her now dead body. “Though for now, I guess you’ve burned our shot at saving my life.”
4 Minutes Before Death ~ VARIATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Sissel suddenly remembers he’s supposed to be the reasonable one, and give her deadpan stare for her terrible pun, no matter how right it was.
Rewind to Trick Time's Beginning
On one of the tree’s large branches, a single leaf stands within reach. Unlike its prior companions, it’s firmly attached to the branch itself.
Post Lantern👻 Shake
Upper Trunk
Attached Leaf👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait
👻 Attached Leaf > Wait
Perhaps in an act of vengeance for the treacherous leaf of the other tree which tormented him, Sissel decides that this lone leaf’s place does not lie on this tree. Fortunately, he knew exactly how to punish this innocent green attachment for the crimes of the fellow of his kin: waiting.
So he waits. It starts of with seconds. Then almost a minute—
A branch from the next tree shakes with reckless abandon, as dozens of apples fall down from it. The resulting wave ruffles the branch this leaf stands on, almost making the leaf depart for new horizons. Unfortunately the bond between the plant and its attachment stands too strong for Sissel to break it.
Reluctantly, Sissel decides to move on to actually do his mission.
This isn’t over! I WILL be coming back for you!
ContinueContinue
He could almost see the leaf smirking at his empty threat.Regrettably, Sissel had already lost too much time to try to shake this stupid leaf off some more. Sometimes, tactical retreat is just the better part of valor.
And I don’t want to waste my time redoing everything over again.
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue
The upper section of this trunk holds little of interest. Doubly so considering the beehive itself lies on another tree. At least, it serves its purpose to connect him to his goal pretty well.
Attached Leaf👻 Wait
Stuck Umbrella👻 Unstuck
Upper Trunk
Near the end of the right-side branch of the first tree, an open umbrella lies stuck.
Hm… Maybe I should find a way to give it back to its original owners?
Upper Trunk
Stuck Letter👻 Unstuck
Stuck Letter👻 Unstuck
Stuck Umbrella👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck
👻 Stuck Umbrella > Unstuck
Sissel starts to untangle the umbrella’s handle out of the branches holding it back. It’s grunting, painstaking work, but after a nearly a minute, Sissel finally manages to free the tool from its unwilling captor.
“Um… Sissel?”
Now, of course there is just one little thing. Just like every object in this world, umbrella follow the rules of gravity, EXCEPT in one situation: when strong winds are blowing.
Uh oh…
No music
In which case, they follow the direction in which said winds blow. So, happy to fulfill its function, the umbrella yeets itself over the cliff at the far end of the park.
…
“Should’ve expected this…” Surprisingly, Lynne is the first one to react at the fact the two protagonist now find themselves placated to the Chicken Diner’s window, as Sissel simply stopped talking.
Or moving.
Or breathing.
Err, not that ghosts need to breathe, but you get the pict—
“Those umbrellas…” Sissel simmers in rage, before exploding. “EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! I SWEAR!”
“Yeah, Detective Cabanela loves to leave these around to trap people.” The redhead detective explains. “Apparently, that’s all he does with his free time.”
“Why the… WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?!” Sissel babbles in completely incomprehension. “Who does he even think he’s tricking?!”
4 Minutes Before Death ~ VARIATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Unfortunately for him, the only answer Lynne could provide is a sympathetic shrug.
Rewind to Trick Time's Beginning
For some reason, near the trunk of the second tree -the one with the beehive- a letter with a heart seal is attached to a balloon floating in the air. Since it's not the first time he sees such a contraption, Sissel dismisses its use as yet another strange ritual humans perform for whatever strange reason they could come up with.
Isn’t it supposed to be the human way of expressing their love?
Sissel shakes his head. Truly, humans are beyond his comprehension.
More worryingly though, the beehive is just out of reach from that letter, meaning that, one way or another, he’ll need to unstuck it in order to access his destination.
Stuck Umbrella👻 Unstuck
Stuck Umbrella👻 Unstuck
Beehive👻 Shake
Stuck Letter👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck
👻 Stuck Letter > Unstuck
The letter itself is only holding its position by a thread. Untangling it from the branch proved very simple for a master of making objects fall down -well, this time it’s up- such as Sissel. It flies up for a few seconds before the balloon the letter is attached to stops due to being stuck on a higher branch. For once, luck smiles to the two ghosts as the beehive is now within—
”W-What do you want with me?! I don’t even know you!””Hold it!”
Down below, time is slowly trickling away, the sand from the hourglass nearly filling up the lower section.
“Looks like we don’t much time left. Let’s hurry.”
ContinueContinueContinueContinue
The final destination of this small journey. The large beehive stands gloriously up above the man’s head, only held by a small thread barely able to support its weight anymore.
Bees could be seen coming in and out of the hive, filling and emptying their load almost frenetically, as though they could sense the impending disaster.
Time to end this.
Stuck Letter
Beehive👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Beehive > Shake
Methodically, Sissel concentrates on the small handle linking the beehive in the tree. Immediately, dozens of bees panic as the hive begins to swing dangerously.
“I kinda feel bad for them…”
Ghost Lynne looks away from the scene at which Sissel commits what would be many years later considered a crime. Several threads of the rope begin to snap, as the handle slowly thins out.
Meanwhile, the assassin and his future victim finally concluded his discussion about his motive for killing her, and the former points his shotgun back to her.
“So long, sist—”Meanwhile, the assassin visibly had enough waiting, his shotgun raised to his future victim.
“Two things are looking pretty dim right now… My eyesight, and your—!”
No music
The rope snaps.
The beehive falls down.
Its shell remains on the upper branch, but all of its content escape it, to fall down right below…
“Whaaa—?!”
…right on top of the hitman’s head, spreading all over his hat, and face.
“… What… is this?” He takes a sip out of the sticky liquid. “It’s… sweet?”
…
The alive Lynne’s mouth stands agape at the sight. Doubly so, when the not so sweet backlash in the form of more than twenty bees staring down angrily at him eating the honey they worked their butts off to create. And suddenly…
“AAAAAAH!”
The attack began. An army of revengeful bees dive upon their prey, ready to make him pay for all the damage he’d done.
“Yes!” Sissel high-fives his ghost partner at the success of his plan.
FATE CHANGED!
The still alive Lynne takes this opportunity to circle around the blue man and reach the entrance to call for backup in order to—The alive Lynne -hands still in the air- stays rooted at her spot, hypnotized by the spectacle in front of her. And who could blame her? Sure, now would be the best time to get away and call for backup, but after what she just went through, she deserves a bit of—
A shot snaps everyone back to reality.
DEADLINE (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“STUPID… INSECTS!”
Fortunately, it was way too off mark for Lynne to be hurt, but considering how wild his movements are and Lynne’s luck it’s only a mater of time before that happens.
“Lynne! Now’s your time! You should—”
“Going in for the arrest!” Ghost Lynne rolls up her sleeves, ready to throw—
“What the?! No!” Sissel shuts her down immediately. “You should leave while you can and call for backup!”
“If I do that, he might be getting away!” Lynne argues back.
“Didn’t you say you don’t pursue those who try to murder you because it takes too much—?”
“And since he knows you’re connected to me, he’ll kidnap you!”
“I’m supposed to be dead, you know.” The ghost cat counters. “I doubt he’s gonna care about my corpse.”
It takes a few second in the ghost world for Lynne’s internal discussion about whether or not to dive for the still armed killer in front of her to conclude.
“Fiiiiine.” She relents. “I guess I should go for the entrance.”
Good to know she came aroun—
“So, how do I do it?” Lynne smiles at him. “It’s not like I can just tell my alive self to go there.”
Sissel opens his mouth to answer her.
…
…
“Well?” Lynne gives the cat a quizzical tap on the shoulder.
“I… didn’t think that far ahead.” Unfortunately for the feline’s pride, he no longer had sunglasses to hide the embarrassment that came when he averts his eyes.
Sigh. I guess we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.
“Wait, did you just say ‘sigh’ out—”
Begin Trick Time!
While the beehive’s content had fallen down on the hitman, its shell remained in one of the higher branches of the tree, meaning that the two ghost are now stuck pretty far away from the unfolding scene.
Looks like I’ll have to find a way to get down.
Stuck Umbrella👻 Unstuck
Beehive👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Beehive > Shake
Sissel tries to shake the remains of the beehive in hopes for it fall down. With just a bit of luck, it might knock the man’s gun down again, thus eliminating all danger from the scene.
So, he starts shaking the shell as hard he can, hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately, with its prior fall, the hive had managed to stick itself with a few branches.
Looks like I’ll have to find another way down…
To make matters worse, Sissel’s futile attempts at getting it down only made them lose time.
COUNT DOWN (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
As expected, the worst case scenario happened. A stray bullet hits the unmoving Lynne straight in the heart. She sinks to her knees before falling down on the ground.
The World of the Dead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The world fades to gray yet again.
“… Oh well.” Lynne shrugs. “I guess it happened again.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be, you know…” Sissel doesn’t know why he asks again, but does so anyway. “… a little more disturbed by seeing your own death?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a good point.” Lynne puts a hand to her own chin, before shrugging happily. “I don’t know. I guess I saw myself dying so many times by now I just got used to it.”
That’s not something you’re supposed to get used to…
She pouts, crossing her arms. “Aren’t you the one who’s been a ghost for who knows how long? If anything YOU’RE the one who’s too disturbed by others’ deaths.”
“… Fair enough.” The feline shakes his head. “Either way, there MUST be a way to get down. It can’t be that hard to find!”
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's Beginning
Near the end of the right-side branch of the first tree, an open umbrella lies stuck.
Hm… Maybe I should find a way to give it back to its original owners?
Upper Trunk
Beehive👻 Shake
Stuck Umbrella👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck👻 TRICKUnstuck
👻 Stuck Umbrella > Unstuck
Sissel starts to untangle move the umbrella’s handle out of the branches holding it back. It’s grunting, painstaking work, but after a nearly a minute, Sissel finally manages to free the tool from its unwilling captor.
“Um… Sissel?”
Now, of course there is just one little thing. Just like every object in this world, umbrella follow the rules of gravity, EXCEPT in one situation: when strong winds are blowing.
Uh oh…
No music
In which case, they follow the direction in which said winds blow. So, happy to fulfill its function, the umbrella yeets itself over the cliff at the far end of the park.
…
“Should’ve expected this…” Surprisingly, Lynne is the first one to react at the fact the two protagonist now found themselves placated to the Chicken Diner’s window, as Sissel simply stopped talking.
Or moving.
Or breathing.
Err, not that ghosts need to breathe, but you get the pict—
“Those umbrellas…” Sissel simmers in rage, before exploding. “EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! I SWEAR!”
“Yeah, Detective Cabanela loves to leave these around to trap people.” The redhead detective explains. “Apparently, that’s all he does with his free time.”
“Why the… WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?!” Sissel babbles in completely incomprehension. “Who does he even think he’s tricking?!”
DEADLINE (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
COUNT DOWN (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Unfortunately for him, the only answer Lynne could provide is a sympathetic shrug.
Rewind to Trick Time's Beginning
The upper section of this trunk holds little of interest. It’s just as boring as humans in most sci-fi scenarios.
Attached Leaf👻 Wait
Stuck Umbrella👻 Unstuck
Upper Trunk
On one of the tree’s large branches, a single leaf stood within reach. Unlike its prior companions, it’s firmly attached to the branch itself.
Post Lantern👻 Shake
Upper Trunk
Attached Leaf👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait
👻 Attached Leaf > Wait
Sissel looks nervously to this green leaf. Thoughts of vengeance about the ancestral enmity he holds against this foul kin have all but left his mind, as he decides to trust them another time to bring him to his destination.
So he waits. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
COUNT DOWN (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
Maybe I just need to wait more?
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's Beginning
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
As expected, the worst case scenario happened. A stray bullet hits the unmoving Lynne straight in the heart. She sinks to her knees before falling down on the ground.
The World of the Dead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
The world fades to gray yet again.
“… Oh well.” Lynne shrugs. “I guess it happen—”
I KNEW IT! I should never have trusted you. Better sleep with one eye open, because I WILL be coming back for you!
Yet, even in the ghost world, he could almost see the leaf smirking at his empty threat.
“Uh, Sissel?” Lynne questions him. “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the vet?”
“I’m preparing my revenge plan.” He answers while sharpening his claws.
“Yelling at leaves, really?” She sighs teasingly. “I guess you’re older than ten now! Cat senility is only a mile away.”
He gives her his greatest ‘I-am-dissatisfied-at-your-actions-yet-if-I-pointed-it-out-I-know-you’d-find-a-way-to-prove-your-point-so-I’m-just-going-to-ignore-what-you-said-while-looking-down-on-you-haughtily’ look. Yes, it’s a very specific look that you’ve probably already seen on your own cat.
Rewind to Trick Time's Beginning
Unlike the mascot, this post lantern had been replaced to provide some light during the night. It isn’t exactly obvious to Sissel how this system works, but he figures that since Missile could swap it without issue, there’s nothing to stop him from using it any way he wants.
I wonder…
Attached Leaf👻 Wait
Post Lantern👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Post Lantern > Shake
A brilliant idea surges in Sissel’s mind. Of course, he refrains from talking about it to his teammate, because considering the two potential outcomes of his plan, there is one she likely isn’t going to like.
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3
He starts shaking the lantern, and the tilt it provides is certainly promising.
He ignores the bullet that almost grazed Lynne in order to focus. He would make this lantern fall!
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 2
Come on… I just need to put a liiiitle more power into it…
“Wait, Sissel! What are you—?”
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 1
With all of his strength, the feline pushes the lamp off its pedestal, snapping a few cables at the same time. A manic grin appears on his face at his stellar achievement of killing two birds with one stones, something which would grant him respect within all cat circles around the world.
“Eek!”
Lynne narrowly dodges the incoming missile, having plenty of experience on the mater.
“W-What just happened?!”
While the Lynne in the park is just confused due to the mild heart attack she suffered through, Ghost Lynne isn’t quite happy with the events which just occurred.
“Why did you cheap shot me from behind like that?! I could have had a nasty concussion!”
“For somebody who just narrowly avoided a bullet to the heart, I’d say you got off the hook easy.” Sissel smirks at her, ignore her wide-eyed stare.
FATE CHANGED!
Not to mention, since the lantern had hit the mascot, the latter managed to be unearthed, just a little.
Begin Trick Time!
The recently broken lantern had fallen down from the fountain, and now stands at the unearthed mascot’s feet. Fortunately, it seems to have worked thanks to electricity, meaning the park didn’t get set on fire upon the lantern’s landing.
That’s just too bad.
Mascot👻 Move
Bullet
Post Lantern👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake👻 TRICKShake
👻 Post Lantern > Shake
For some reason, Sissel feels the inexplicable need to shake this lantern yet again. Like a cat against a dead mouse, he gives it a few taps on both sides with his paws.
Come on… do something…
After a second or two, seeing the overwhelmingly inexistent effects his actions produced, Sissel reluctantly abandoned his task, gazing sadly upon it like a kid whose toy just stopped working.
He ignores Lynne’s judgmental laughter.
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
No music
Unfortunately for him, the shame would end up being etched into the pages of history as the last action he did before the hitman’s seemingly infinite ammo-filled shotgun sent yet another bullet to Lynne’s heart. She sinks to her knees before falling down on the ground.
At this point, Sissel’s lost count of how many times it happened already, but the world fades to gray in response to Lynne’s death.
“Ha! I died again!”
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Lynne cheerfully notes with a beaming smile on her face that spelt nothing but trouble for the ones around her. “I can’t believe you managed to top the chicken diner crush in terms of absurdity! Ohh… Maybe you need a place in the Guinness Word Records too!”
With no small amount of embarrassment, Sissel refuses to even acknowledge what she said. However, his pride as a cat makes it impossible for him to hold back a snide comment.
“Yeah, sure whatever.” He grumbles.
“Ohh… I know that tone! Someone’s jealous~” Lynne’s teasing voice is in full swing and the smirking on her face shows not sign of shrinking down. “Was your death not as cool as mine?”
I wasn’t even aware it was a competition.
“Oh yeah! Speaking of,” Suddenly, Lynne’s face turns questioning, as she puts a finger to her chin and gives the cat a sidelong glance. “With us now knowing that the footage at the junkyard was just a setup and that you’re not Yomel, I’m fully cleared of your murder, right?”
Uh oh…
“But if that’s the case, HOW did you end up dying?”
“W-Well, err…” Sissel gulps. I can’t tell her she’s still the one who ended up killing me…
Chained Past (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“I’M THE ONE WHO KILLED YOU?!” In an instant, Lynne’s face changes to horror.
… Oops. Forgot about the no private thought thing.
“Well it technically wasn’t your fau—”
“Wait. I’d remember killing a cute cat like you. I can’t be the one who murdered you… right?” Horror changed to confusion, before suspicion came in front. “… Unless. You’re not actually a cat, are you?”
The redhead’s eyes narrows, as she takes large steps toward the imposter.
“L-Lynne? What are you—?”
“Let’s see who’s hiding behind that mask.”
She springs up to Sissel, and grabs his face by the fur.
“W-W-Wait, Lynne we can talk about—!”
It comes off like a glove from the ghost’s body: it wasn’t just a mask, but an entire costume set! And after a single look, she finds all of her breath sucked away from her lungs as her eyes widen in complete shock and horror at the sight. Because under the cat disguise is…
…
(drumrolls please)
…
… the exact same cat!
COUNT DOWN (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Well, what did you expect? Can we get back on track now?”
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's Beginning
The mascot no longer stands proudly at the top of the fountain, its corpse remaining on titled the ground, colors having faded with the trickling of time. Thanks to the lantern’s precise crash on it, it’s no longer stuck in the same position. With a bit of strength, it could be rolled to lean on the mascot’s head instead of its feet.
Hm… I wonder if I could use it to my advantage.
The alive Lynne still hadn’t moved from her position. Maybe it could be used as a shield?
Nozzle (right)👻 Spray
Bullet
Post Lantern
Mascot👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove👻 TRICKMove
👻 Mascot > Move
The mascot had been in this position ever since the incident from ten years ago. No one ever moved it away, so here it stands.
“See? I told you that it would have a purpose!” Sissel smugly notes, to Lynne’s doubtful (but still visible) pout.
Except… there is still one problem. Just like before…
That thing’s still heavy!
Even with it dislodged from the ground, shifting its weight to the other side proves to be impossible with his ghost trick strength.
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
“Looks to me like the object tricked you. Again.” Lynne’s barely concealed giggles makes Sissel look away in an attempt to mitigate the damage to his ego.
(It was unsuccessful, because now Lynne no longer tries to hide her laughter.)
Guess I spoke too soon. Looks like I’ll have to find another way to move it.
Unfortunately for him, it would seem that time isn’t quite on his side. The hitman’s seemingly infinite ammo-filled shotgun sent yet another bullet to her heart. She sinks to her knees before falling down on the ground.
The World of the Dead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
For the umpteenth time in the past few minutes, the world fades to gray.
“Welp.” Lynne shrugs helplessly. “Here we are again. We should—”
“Lynne.” Sissel interrupts her, an inscrutable look behind his eyes. “I just have one question.”
No music
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the redhead’s smile drop, as she stands earnestly, stance guarded. “… What is it?”
“Why.”
…
“Why…? Why what?”
“WHY AREN’T YOU TAKING COVER BEHIND THE MASCOT?!” Sissel think-shouts, asking the question we were all wondering about with all the delicacy, politeness, and calm of cutlery screeching on plates.
“Ah.” Lynne’s mouth takes an ‘o’ shape.
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Well, that’s a big ‘no can do’. Sorry about that. ‘Cause if hid now, I’ll be missing out on all the action!”
…
Sissel facepalms.
Near the end of his prior journey, he’d thought he’d finally understood how this human works, yet it’s hard to deny he drew this conclusion too early as well.
“What ‘action’? Your own death?”
It’s not exactly something most people look forward to.
“Look at us now!” She smiles as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world to do in this situation. “If I didn’t die, I would be missing on all the action we’re doing as ghosts!”
…
Sometimes, Sissel wonders.
Am I a masochist?
He’d only been able to talk to her for a few minutes, yet he’d already questioned her worldview several times, despite perfectly knowing how it would end.
Why is it the humans I tend to travel with are all completely mad?
“Ear— err, Ghost World to Sissel? I’d still like my life back— if possible of course.”
What would you even DO if it wasn’t possib— NO! BAD SISSEL! Stop questioning her thoughts!
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's Beginning
The bullet is still there on the ground, forgotten by all those who knew about it, unseen by all those who came by.
“Hey! You still haven’t answered me! What’s a bullet doing here?!”
Sensing she isn’t about to let it go, Sissel decides to answer. “It was about to kill Yomel before Missile impaled him with your backed potato.”
He takes advantage of her momentary brain malfunction to switch to another, more interesting core.
Nozzle (right)👻 Spray
Mascot👻 Move
Post Lantern👻 Shake
Bullet
The few seconds (was it only just a few seconds ago?) that passed in between the moment Sissel first left this nozzle and came back were enough for the nozzle’s water stream to come back to normal. The beehive’s fall had a strange repercussion in making yet another apple fall down from the tree into the water.
How convenient!
Truly the power of scenarium ghosts is a sight to behold.
Mascot👻 Move
Bullet
Apple👻 Wait
Nozzle (right)👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray
👻 Nozzle (right) > Spray
“Okay. Now what?”
COMPLICATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
If the goal was to prevent Lynne from being shot again, they would need to ensure she takes at least some sort of cover. But, her stubbornness and tendency to find herself in mildly lethal situations certainly doesn’t make the task easy.
A beginning of a solution was found within the mascot. If they could use it as a shield for Lynne, surely no bullet would be able to hit her.
Right?
Considering her luck, the probability that a bullet might pierce through the rock is non-zero. Yet, Sissel figures that with all the bad luck he had today, he must have accumulated some good karma.
Pretty please?
But before he gets ahead of himself, there is still the mater of moving the literal rock in front of the young lady. With the configuration as it is, Sissel could use the fountain as an apple canon. All he needs is a target that could POTENTIALLY get this ball moving.
Now let’s see. What do we know that is able to move this massive rock somewhat?
His sight wanders to the other post lantern he hadn’t trashed yet, on the left side of the fountain. Even with its lack of core…
It might just do the trick.
DEADLINE (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Using the same technique he’d used ten years prior, Sissel launches the apple with as much strength as he could. He quickly switches to the ghost world to hitch a ride before it heads for its final destination.
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinue”Hey, Sissel! What are you doing?! The apple will crash without you if you stay there!”
“Ah, uh… yes. You’re right.” What WAS I doing?
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's Beginning
The entire rescue is, once again, relies on an innocent apple’s fate. But, as it is now, the only thing it does is floating from the border of the pool toward the center.Case in point: it’s about to be ejected from the waters! The moment Sissel exits the ghost world, there is no doubt the apple will make its leap.The remains of the exploded apple float within the left side of the pond. It’s sacrifice for a greater cause shall never be forgotten.
Nozzle (right)👻 Spray
Nozzle (middle)
Nozzle (left)👻 Spray
Nozzle (middle)
Apple👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait👻 TRICKWait
👻 Apple > Wait
Possessing the apple, Sissel decides the best course of action for now is to wait. Taking this opportunity to relax, the apple just floats away happily in the water, undoubtedly thoroughly enjoying its time. For a moment, the feline ponders:
Aren’t trees alive?
If that’s the case, that means they have a moment where they die. And if they have a moment of death…
Doesn’t that mean they could become ghosts if they die exposed to the meteorite?
Sissel shudders. The thought shakes him to the core. It was one thing being a cat anthropomorphized as a human, but a plant? That’s just nuts.
Wait the trees in this place WERE exposed to the meteorite. Is that how haunted forests are born—?
“Sissel, we don’t have time for your internal philosophical debates right now!”
Ghost Lynne shouts over his thinking, nervously looking to the ticking time.
Wait. What was I doing again?
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
No music
Unfortunately for him, the shame of his wandering mind would end up being etched into the pages of history as the last action he did before the hitman’s seemingly infinite ammo-filled shotgun sent yet another bullet to Lynne’s heart. She sinks to her knees before falling down on the ground.
At this point, Sissel’s lost count of how many times it happened already, but the world fades to gray in response to Lynne’s death.
“Ha! I died again!”
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
Lynne cheerfully notes with a beaming smile on her face that spelt nothing but trouble for the ones around her. “I can’t believe you managed to top the chicken diner crush in terms of absurdity! Ohh… Maybe you need a place in the Guinness Word Records too!”
With no small amount of embarrassment, Sissel refuses to even acknowledge what she said. However, his pride as a cat makes it impossible for him to hold back a snide comment.
“Yeah, sure whatever.” He grumbles.
“Ohh… I know that tone! Someone’s jealous~” Lynne’s teasing voice is in full swing and the smirking on her face shows not sign of shrinking down. “Was your death not as cool as mine?”
I wasn’t even aware it was a competition.
“Oh yeah! Speaking of,” Suddenly, Lynne’s face turns questioning, as she puts a finger to her chin and gives the cat a sidelong glance. “With us now knowing that the footage at the junkyard was just a setup and that you’re not Yomel, I’m fully cleared of your murder, right?”
Uh oh…
“But if that’s the case, HOW did you end up dying?”
“W-Well, err…” Sissel gulps. I can’t tell her she’s still the one who ended up killing me…
Chained Past (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“I’M THE ONE WHO KILLED YOU?!” In an instant, Lynne’s face morphs to horror.
… Oops. Forgot about the no private thought thing.
“Well it technically wasn’t truly your—”
“Wait. I’d remember killing a cute cat like you. I can’t be the one who murdered you… right?” Horror changed to confusion, before suspicion came about. “… Unless. You’re not actually a cat, are you?”
Lynne’s eyes narrows, as she takes large steps toward the imposter.
“L-Lynne? What are you—?”
“Let’s see who’s hiding behind that mask.”
She springs up to Sissel, and grabs his face by the fur.
“W-W-Wait, Lynne we can talk about—!”
It comes off like a glove from the ghost’s body: it wasn’t just a mask, but an entire costume set! And after a single look, she finds all of her breath sucked away from her lungs as her eyes widen in complete shock and horror at the sight. Because under the cat disguise is…
…
(drumrolls please)
…
… the exact same cat!
COUNT DOWN (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Well, what did you expect? Can we get back on track now?”
ContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueContinueRewind to Trick Time's BeginningUnder the effect of the nozzle’s water pressure, the fruit soars through the air, with Sissel and Lynne along for the ride. Unlike last time when the apple bounced on the middle nozzle’s water stream, it reaches with deadly precision for the target the feline wanted to push off its pedestal. And when it hits—
Bullseye!
The apple smashes the post lantern, heavily destabilizing it. Several cables snap under the force, but the main one remains, keeping the lantern attached to its base. At the same time, due to being smashed against a solid surface, the fruit explodes in a thousand pieces.
Fortunately, once more, gravity proves to be his greatest ally for the day. Its continued attachment makes the post lantern swing back toward the fountain as its last connected cable snaps under the effect of rebound strength. As such, it falls down to the fountain’s pool alongside the remains of the blown apple.
The sound momentarily distracts the alive Lynne, tearing her gaze away from the absurd spectacle in front of her for just a moment. Meanwhile, Lynne -the ghost one- whistles at the demonstration of skill.
“I kinda wish the shooting exercises at the station were as fun as this…”
Sissel, now having learned the lesson, decides not to question why she associates ‘shooting’ with fun when she had been gunned down enough times that even a B-ranked movie script could not revive her without breaking fundamental laws of reality.
⌛ TIME UNTIL DEATH: 3210
ContinueContinueContinueContinueUnfortunately, in spite of how cool Sissel’s trick shot looked, it was already too late. The hitman’s seemingly infinite ammo-filled shotgun sent yet another bullet to her heart. She sinks to her knees before falling down on the ground.
The World of the Dead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
For the umpteenth time in the past few minutes, the world fades to gray.
“Welp.” Lynne shrugs helplessly. “Here we are again. We should—”
“Lynne.” Sissel interrupts her, an inscrutable look behind his eyes. “I just have one question.”
No music
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the redhead’s smile drop, as she stands earnestly, stance guarded. “… What is it?”
“Why.”
…
“Why…? Why what?”
“WHY AREN’T YOU TAKING COVER BEHIND THE MASCOT?!” Sissel think-shouts, asking the question we were all wondering about with all the delicacy, politeness, and calm of cutlery screeching on plates.
“Ah.” Lynne’s mouth takes an ‘o’ shape.
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Well, that’s a big ‘no can do’. Sorry about that. ‘Cause if hid now, I’ll be missing out on all the action!”
…
Sissel facepalms.
Near the end of his prior journey, he’d thought he’d finally understood how this human works, yet it’s hard to deny he drew this conclusion too early as well.
“What ‘action’? Your own death?”
It’s not exactly something most people look forward to.
“Look at us now!” She smiles as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world to do in this situation. “If I didn’t die, I would be missing on all the action we’re doing as ghosts!”
…
Sometimes, Sissel wonders.
Am I a masochist?
Turns out, he hadn’t learned his lesson quite as much as he thought he did. He’d only been able to talk to her for a few minutes, yet he’d already questioned her worldview several times, despite perfectly knowing how it would end.
Why is it the humans I tend to travel with are all completely mad?
“Ear— err, Ghost World to Sissel? I’d still like my life back— if possible of course.”
What would you even DO if it wasn’t possib— NO! BAD SISSEL! Stop questioning her thoughts!
Rewind to Trick Time's Beginning
The middle nozzle wasn’t quite as lucky as both its siblings on either sides. Its spray varies between being completely out of whack toward nothingness.
Well… it’s not like I’ll need it again, right?
Apple👻 Wait
Apple👻 Wait
Nozzle (middle)
The last part of his plan is within reach. So far, everything had gone well, so he can only hope this trend will continue.
“No.” Ghost Lynne warns, finally having figured his plan. “Bad Sissel. Don’t throw electric stuff at me from behind!”
Unfortunately for her, cats don’t listen to unsolicited advice from humans.
Apple👻 Wait
Nozzle (left)👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray👻 TRICKSpray
👻 Nozzle (left) > Spray
Pouring as much power as he could into his trick once more, Sissel sprays the nozzle to the extant where an outsider would think someone switched it with the middle one for fun. This action hurls the lantern (as well as a few apple bits) toward the other side of the fountain.
“EEEEK!”
The oversized bullet grazes, Lynne’s left arm, and for the first time in her long list of encounters with the deadly missiles, does not attain her heart. The shock and momentum built by the lantern makes Lynne reflexively reach for the ground, something which allows her to narrowly dodge a random bullet which would have become embedded in her heart otherwise. Instead, the bullet hits the lantern’s right side, deviating it from its original direction…
No music
...straight into the mascot. The collision of the two makes the rock roll in front of the still crouched target, but also unknowingly—
“OOWWW!”
—Crushing the hitman’s feet. Sensing an opening, one of the bees dives straight for the man’s bottom, ready to commit the ultimate sacrifice for her lost brothers.
“OW! OW! OWOWOWOWOWOW—”
This time, the hitman could not stay in place. Panic directing his movements and that of the accompanying bees, his feet move at great speed… toward the cliff at the end of the park.
It takes a second for him to notice where he’s standing, or rather, where he’s standingn’t, before gravity finally claims him, just like it did so many animated objects before him.
…
GHOST TRICK (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“There.” Sissel smirks. “I hope the lesson will stick this time.”
FATE AVERTED!
“Yeah!” Lynne nods joyfully while the two returned to the ghost world. “Next time he wants to assassinate someone, he should at least buy a pair of glasses lest he steps off a cliff by accident.”
Sissel wisely chose to ignore her interjection, lest HE gets drawn into a deadly illogical conversation. “Anyway, I think you won’t have to worry about him coming after you again.”
“True enough.” She shrugs. “Still, I wonder what they’ll find at the autopsy. ‘Bee stung to death’ probably?” Lynne shakes her head. “Man, I know it’s hell getting powers like yours, but you gotta admit, it’s the best prank and det—”
She stops halfway through her monologue, a thoughtful look appearing on her face. Sissel hadn’t got the chance to talk to her much outside of life-threatening situations (when else would you talk to a ghost with life-saving powers?), but he just knew that this AND the new glint that just entered her eyes spelt nothing but trouble for him.
“Hey, Sissel… I just got an idea—”
“L-Lets go back to the present, okay?” Pure selflessness and no terror whatsoever push Sissel for a hasty retreat.
Return to the Present
CHASE (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
With all imminent dangers of death out of the way, Sissel finds himself back possessing the same nozzle he was just a few seconds prior. Unfortunately, that meant…
“Hey, Sissel! I know you’re there, so come on! We’ve got a few things to talk about.”
To anyone else -if there was anyone, considering the still not completely risen sun-, it would look like the young lady is grieving over the loss of her pet. However, Sissel knows better. Right now, his body is being held hostage, leaving him with no choice but having to listen to what she has to propose.
Here we go again…
The last time he’d made a deal with Lynne, he had to go through more toilet waters than any sewer rat ever will in its entire life. With the knowledge he’s a cat now…
Begin Trick Time!
No more juice left in the nozzle, meaning his last shot had definitely broken it. And to make matters worse, that also means there is nothing but water left on this side of the pond.
I can never escape her, can I?
Kitten Body
Nozzle (left)👻 TRICKSpray
👻 Nozzle (left) > Spray
In a desperate attempt to avoid his fate, Sissel tries to spray the broken nozzle yet again. Unlike his prior attempts, the feline could not see any visible change in the water level through his action. Worst yet, a dangerous spark is being emitted underwater.
If I burn down the park, will I be able to escape this madness?
“Come on, Sissel. Stop trying to gain time.”
Continue
His little body he’d abandoned a few minutes ago in favor of saving the devil of a human being Lynne is, stands inert in her hands. Despite what he said about the miraculous healing properties the meteorite fragment had, it takes much longer for a cat body to recover from shotgun bullets than it would for a human to recover for a pistol.
Sure, it would recover, but that would at least take an entire DAY! Meaning that if he tried to trick his body right now, he wouldn’t get much farther than raising his little head.
Sissel sighs in resignation.
Nozzle (left)👻 Spray
Lynne🗣 Talk
Kitten Body
🗣 Talk > Lynne
Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Finally!” Lynne’s angered face is the first thing that greets him upon entering the ghost world. “What took you so long?!”
Urgh… Sissel grumbles, swallowing whatever pride and self-preservation instincts he has left. “You said you wanted to tell me something?”
The effect is instantaneous, as her angered pout turns a wide beaming and ABOVE ALL dangerous smile. No, not the kind of ‘I’m-gonna-snap-if-you-breathe-wrong’ kinda smile, but rather the kind of smile the devil would make upon trapping the soul of the damned for an unrefusable deal.
“So, Sissel…” Her smile grows more dangerous as the many beads of sweat that should be invisible to her roll down his fur. “I think we make a pretty good team, right?”
I feel like I’m the one doing all the work here…
“And you’re pretty good at making analytical reasoning. Not as good as myself, of course, I’m a detective,”
Sissel would like object to that last statement with literally every single discussion they had in this timeline so far as proof.
“But still more than good enough to be my little assistant. If you were to help me during my investigations, I’d bet we’d be able to go much faster and save many lives along the way. So, what do you say? Are you excited?”
…
Sissel had a decade of experience as a cat, and a full night in talking with her. So, he takes a deep breath, takes his most deadpan look, and…
“N—!”
“Oh, and since you’ll become an official member of the police force, nobody will bat an eye if you knock everything off the shelves.”
“Urk!” A deal with the devil alright. That answer almost makes his cat instincts cave in, but Sissel’s time as a human allows him to find the willpower to resist.
“Hold it.” He puts a stop to her train of thought. Oh, how he misses his sunglasses that could give a mysterious air of authority. With his new appearance, apparently, every human he came across found this face ‘cute’. “How do you even plan on justifying my entrance as a ‘Police Cat’ to them -if that’s even a thing-? Last I checked, ‘he’s a talking undead cat ghost who helps me revive people thanks to time travel’ isn’t gonna cut it.”
His admission of being a cat drastically improved his aim, if that bullseye right at the main flaw in her core argument is anything to talk about. Lynne seems to realize so as well, when her thoughtful expression turns back to a pout.
“If anything, you’re the one who’s rolling with everything a little too easily.” Sissel pursues. “You don’t even look the slightest bit frazzled at cross-timeline memories and proof of the existence of the multiverse.”
Lynne seems to think about it for moment before shrugging again. “I guess not? You had already proven the existence of an afterlife, the possibility of revival and time travel before. Really, the multiverse existing and it being able to inject memories into people randomly isn’t that big of a surprise. I mean, it’s the power of the dead. Should we really try to make sense of it?”
Sissel’s jaw drops. It looks even more comical on a cat, but that was to be expected. After all… he’d forgotten rule number one:
NEVER argue in logic with Lynne. She’ll always win, even if you’re right.
Then again, he should have seen that one coming.
Like mistress, like dog…
“Oh speaking of dogs, we should get Missile on board!” Lynne exclaims happily, before sobering up and putting a finger to her chin. “But wait. He didn’t die in this timeline, did he? So he doesn’t have ghost tricks yet… Hm…”
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Sissel is startled to awareness. “Y-You’re not thinking of murdering your dog so that his ghost could assist you in YOUR investigations, right?”
“Hmm…” To his stupor and fear, it takes a few seconds for Lynne to weigh in her options. “I guess I’ll just shelve the idea for now…”
F-For now?!
Sissel isn’t particularly fond of dogs, but he owes this one such a big dept that stopping his crazy mistress from murdering him for her own benefit is the least he could do to start repaying it. And considering the non-zero chance that she might go through this plan if he isn’t there to stop her…
REINCARNATION (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023) ▶ ▶
“Fiiiine. I’ll do it.”
His one reason for continuing to exist in this world is to observe and study humans. Perhaps this would be his opportunity to see for himself many more ways their lives interconnect and unfold. They are most certainly a fascinating bunch to watch over.
Maybe it won’t be that bad after all—
“OH MY GAWD! HE’S SO CUTE! CAN I NAME HIM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE—?!”
Goddammit.