User blog:TKandMit/"Supernova" - Danganwiki: Convention Carnage

''If I live through this my boyfriend’s going to kill me. I can just hear him now. “So you’re locked in a hotel and you’re forced to kill or be killed, and you got drunk with a librarian, a wrestler, an author, and a surgeon?”''

“Well, I don’t think the author and the surgeon had anything to drink.”

“Shut the fuck up, Matt.”

Haha.

''God, I miss him. What the fuck was I thinking last night? That was incredibly dangerous to let my guard down like that.''

I stretched my arms. I put a hand to my head, pounding from the hangover. I scanned the room to find Cynthia scrunched up in a ball on the floor. Her knees were pointed straight up, wedged into a sitting position against the wall beside my bed. She was snoring softly, the only noise in the room. Where are the rest of them? I glanced at the clock; 8:05 a.m.. If I had to guess, we had gone to sleep close to 1 in the morning. Not exactly a full night of sleep, but I suppose they could’ve woken up. The issue though is where did they go, and without telling us? Were they sticking together? I decided that it’s better I find them then risk anything. I’m not about to allow them to get hurt, especially Flatts. We've gotten close in our time here and I certainly wanted to make sure they were safe.

I forced myself out of bed, ignoring my pounding head and groggy state, and I kneeled down to Cynthia, gently shaking her. “Cynthia, Cynthia, I need you to wake up,” I urged, hearing the older woman groan softly under her breath.

“It’s too bloody early for me to be awake…” she whined, slowly stirring, before clutching at her skull. “Agh, I should’ve restrained myself more last night.”

“Cynthia, do you know if anyone left while you were still up last night?” I questioned her, and she paused to think.

“Nngh, if I remember right, Doc left a bit before we all turned in. Something about not being comfortable around alcohol, according to Flatts.”

''Shit. I should’ve considered that, we must’ve scared him off with all of our drinking. I didn’t know he was in recovery until after we started. I hope he found another group to be with in time.'' “What about Flatts and Axel? Do you know where they went?”

“Can’t say I do,” Cynthia rubbed her eyes. “But if they left around the same time they should be fine, right?”

“I just need to make sure. Let’s go look for them, just in case.”

“It’s too early for this hide n’ go seek rubbish…” she muttered before standing up with me as we headed out the door. Fortunately, I happened to share a floor with Jason. After making our way over to his door, I lightly tapped on it.

“Jason? Are you in there?” I called out, waiting for a response. From the other side, I could vaguely hear the sounds of a bed shifting and steps on the floor growing closer until the door opened and the doctor stood groggy.

“What is it, Matthew? If this is in regards to getting medication for your hangover, I have none.” He stated, seemingly in something of a better mood than I last recalled him, albeit only slightly.

“That isn’t it, I wanted to check up on you and make sure you weren’t har-” my train of thought derailed when I caught a glimpse of a burn on his forearm, further inspecting to see that he had several burns along his body, no doubt from several shocks. “You were alone? Are you okay?”

“It wasn’t very long, not even four hours. I stayed with Ximena for some time, so it was not nearly as long as it could’ve been. I’ve been through worse.” He assured, before stepping out of his room. ''With Ximena, huh? I guess that the circumstances of what happened to Avery and the Stars only made them closer.''

“You stayed with Avery? I thought they were with Amy and Vi,” Cynthia mentioned.

Jason nodded. “The Stars weren’t feeling well, I presume something may have happened. Ximena and I met up shortly after I left, and we spent the night together for sometime. That said, I woke up at one point and they were gone. They left me a message apologizing for leaving me alone, though.”

“I suppose that’s one more person we need to be on the lookout for,” I said to Cynthia before turning to Jason. “That said, where are Axel and Flatts?”

“That’s what we’re wondering,” she piped up. “I don’t suppose you happened to see them?”

Jason shook his head, “Given what time it is, it’s highly possible they just stepped out for some breakfast. Though I can’t imagine Axel is the type to rise early, especially given how much he indulged himself last night.”

“Right… I’m very sorry about that, I should’ve considered your feelings too,” I admitted, to which Jason allowed himself to smile at.

Jason closed the door behind him. “It’s true that I wasn’t very comfortable last night, but I am not the type to hold a grudge,” he replied and joined us walking down the hall. “Come, let’s go get something to eat.”

“Hopefully we’ll spot those two on the way over,” Cynthia told me and I nodded. I’m sure Axel could handle himself, but the thought of Flatts being harmed really worried me. They had been such a good ally and friend so far that it was concerning me that they could be in trouble. And as I was having that thought…

Ding Dong Dong Ding

Immediately we all froze. I knew full well what that sound meant. Instantly, memories of stumbling upon the corpse of Jeffrey flooded back into my mind. His blue face in agony, the stab wounds that dripped with blood. A shiver ran down my spine as I overheard the intercoms tick on, followed by that damn voice. “A body has been discovered,” HAL 9000’s voice sparked to life, haunting my very core. “Our next victim can be found within the locker rooms near the workout room and gym. I recommend all contestants make their way and begin the investigation, as a killer is now on the loose… hiding amongst you all.”

That was the most I felt awake this entire morning as I broke out into a sprint towards the workout room, Jason and Cynthia on my heels. ''Who could it be? Who would’ve been killed last night? It was all so quick, when was it, how did it happen, who? It couldn’t be…''

Flatts…?

An immense feeling of dread overtook me as I sped up even more. I charged through the doors of the men’s locker room and brisked past the showers and towards the doors to the gym. When I finally made it there, I immediately noticed Asier slammed into a locker and unconscious, but heard him breathing and felt it safe to assume I need not worry about him. Ahead, I could see Axel facing away from me, and then I saw them.

Flatts was standing there in the corner of the room, paler than normal, but otherwise perfectly fine. They pulled their t-shirt down over their torso, but as far as I saw, they didn’t have a single shock wound. The tension faded and I exhaled with relief. “Oh, Flatts, I’m so relieved to see the announcement wasn’t about you.”

“Oh hey, Matt... thanks, I guess,” they muttered, looking to the floor. “I wouldn’t be so relieved though, we still have a body on our hands.” They took a hand from their pockets and pointed near the wall Axel was facing. I crept over and was met with a most gruesome sight.

Avery was in a pool of their own blood, slashes and lacerations littered their body. On top of that, the body had numerous shocks and burns along it, even worse than when Avery was initially shocked. It managed to somehow be even more horrific than stumbling upon Jeffrey’s body. Their face may have been the worst thing; it was contorted into a look of fear and anguish that I had never seen in my entire life. Was this really happening again?

From behind me I heard Cynthia and Jason run in, before screeching to a halt. Cynthia was quick to react to the body, quicker than I was anyhow. “Oh, heavens!” she exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth to prevent herself from potentially getting sick at the sight of the body, not that I could blame her.

Jason’s reaction was much different, brushing past me and immediately rushing over to the body. “Xim? X-Ximena… you have to be okay. Speak to me, Xim!” He stammered out, kneeling down at the body, easily having the most terrified look of us all as he desperately tried to shake the body awake. “You can’t leave me Ximena… I need you to stay with me… I can’t lose you! XIMENA!” He cried out, but it was all for naught. The rest of us stayed silent, unsure how to approach him.

Eventually more people started filling in from behind. I heard a loud gasp, which I turned to and found Mindy, who clutched onto Neo horrified at the sight in front of her. Neo put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he himself having a very disgusted look on his face. “Ugh, can’t believe this,” he groaned and diverted his gaze to study the room instead. “So… do we start looking for answers now, or…”

“We should wait for everyone,” Flatts directed. “I’d like to get alibis in place first and foremost, lest we have a situation like last time.”

“Ayuh,” Neo nodded. With more people entering the gym, he took Mindy to the side as Erik and Jake walked through the doors.

“Ah, shit,” Jake grimaced, taken aback from the scene before him. “Didn’t think it’d be him.”

“That I can agree on,” Erik replied, scratching his head as he approached the body. “Knowing as much as I do, I wouldn’t expect somebody like him to go down so easy.” It sounded like Jason snarled in response, raising his shoulders as he held Avery. Is he protecting Avery from Erik? Erik seemed to have gotten the message, switching targets as he walked over to the lockers to check up on Asier. “And what happened here?”

“I’ll tell ya what happened!” Axel jumped in, backing away from the corpse of Avery as well. “This little shit right here is the culprit! I caught him pinkhanded at the scene, literally!” For effect, he gripped on the right wrist of Asier to present it to us, undoubtedly soaked in Avery’s blood.

“Hm... I have to doubt you there,” Erik responded. “He and I got to know each other quite well throughout the night. For all of his faults, I can’t imagine him being a killer, let alone one for Avery.”

“Well you got any better ideas, Pops?” Axel challenged. Oh no, are they gonna get into it again?

Erik shrugged. “Not at the moment. I will formulate my own beliefs and come back to you once the trial begins.” And with that he kept to Asier’s side, seemingly waiting for the white nationalist to wake up.

“Oh my god…” In walked Vi with Amy on her heels; both quick to approach the victim. “Avery, I’m so sorry…” Vi muttered again, looking completely distraught. Amy, for her part, seemed to be in a state of completely shocked silence. I couldn’t quite get a read on what she was thinking.

“So, where do we start with this mess?” Jake asked, looking around to everyone. “We should all be here by now, so I don’t see a problem with starting things now.”

“No, no, Jake, my friend,” a familiar robotic voice spoke up, as a monitor in the corner of the room turned on and its evil red eye shined. “You all are still without Rae. You wouldn’t want them to miss out on this, would you?”

“Doesn’t really sound that bad to me,” Neo admitted. “If they don’t wanna work with us, why should we care whether or not they have time to investigate or see the body?”

“You never know, there might be some vital clues that could be given by Rae being here,” Flatts pointed out. “I’m not inclined to trust them either, but there can be knowledge to be gained if they are here.”

“I see our favorite author is thinking straight. Splendid,” HAL’s cold voice responded. “Do not fret searching for Rae, they are well on their way.” As he said this, the familiar steps of their shoes rung throughout the halls and in walked the Ultimate Stage Actor, capturing our attention.

Since I had last seen them, they had undergone quite the appearance change. If Jason had been noticeably shocked from the isolation then Rae was a whole different story. Their entire body was covered in burn wounds, their hair frizzled and unkempt, makeup smeared on their face; some in an attempt to cover existing burns, mascara running down their dark, bagged eyes. It would seem that true to their word, they stayed alone the entire time.

“I have no clue why I need to be bothered to come,” they complained, leaning on the door frame. “I couldn’t care less if one of them dies. It’s not my problem.”

“You wish to live, don’t you?” HAL queried, to which there was no reply. “Participation is paramount here, if you don’t have the proper answer once voting commences, all of you but one could perish.”

“Well going off last trial, I don’t think Rae really minds that,” Vi pointed out, which caused an eye roll from the actor.

“I misinterpreted info. Bite me.” They snipped, slowly walking over to the pool of blood the cult leader rested in. “So the DID dude is the one who kicked it. Shame, they were some of the more entertaining ones to have around.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Mindy spat, giving them a look of contempt and disgust. “A person you know ends up like this and all you can say is that?”

“Again, it’s not my problem,” Rae insisted, shrugging their shoulders. “I’m not going to start crying over somebody I’ve barely talked to, let alone when they started acting like a bunch of dead people. Though if that whole spiel about different personalities wasn’t just an act, weird to think they died twice, huh?”

“How can you be so carefree about all this?” I asked. I truly couldn’t understand their point of view.

“You did well playing detective last time, figure it out yourself,” they smirked at me. “On that note, now that I’m here, I guess you all can get started.”

“Indeed, which means I have to pass out my handy little reward,” HAL spoke up. “You mind opening that vent at your feet, Mindy?” Mindy turned to the wall behind her, finding a vent grate at ankle height. She bent down and opened the grate, pulling out notebook after notebook. “The 9000 Files for this case. Do use them well, because they may be the key to tonight. I will see you all in a little bit.” And with that, they vanished from our sight. Grabbing them from off the floor, Neo and Mindy took the liberty of picking them up and passing them out to all of us.

“The victim for this case is Avery Maven the Thirteenth, age 28, as well as the members of the Stars; Ximena, Negative, Lucidus, and Evol. The cause of death is blood loss due to multiple cut wounds. Additional injuries come from several electrical shocks." I scanned the information thoroughly, realizing some crucial information was missing. "Wait, there’s no time of death listed?”

“That’s a weird thing to leave out,” Neo noted. “Couldn’t that be like, a vital clue or something?”

“That’s probably why it was omitted,” Erik pointed out. “If we were to have that information, the trial would not be nearly as complicated as HAL wishes it to be.”

“There’s nothing complicated about this!” Axel exclaimed, gesturing to Asier. “We found Asier right next to the body, blood on his hands, washing off the weapon!”

“Again, I highly doubt somebody like Avery would be targeted by Asier,” Erik repeated.

“There’s a lot pointing to him,” Vi mentioned, looking at the man wedged in the locker, “but just to be on the safe side I think we should still investigate. The last thing we want is to pick the wrong guy.”

It seemed like everyone but Axel agreed with Vi as far as I could tell. Axel simply grumbled under his breath. ''Could it be Asier? Would it really be that simple? I have to consider a lot right now and think of what could’ve happened. For now, I’ll make a mental note of what Axel told us, it could be important.''

The 9000 File has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Axel’s Account has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Jason… he was clearly taking this harder than most of us. I definitely didn’t want to think he was the culprit right now, but the possibility is certainly there. They were together for quite some time last night. I decided to approach him, and see where he was at right now. “Jason? Is everything okay?” I could see that his face was filled with tears, and he had been quiet since discovering the body.

“I… failed…” his voice shook. “I failed a patient. I failed to take care of someone that needed me. I failed Ximena. I failed myself.” That seemed to answer my question with a big fat no. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. I’m not sure of the extent to his connection with Ximena, but it’s clear they were definitely close. “I need to find out who did this to you,” he spoke to the body as he brushed Avery’s hair out of his face, smearing a pink stain of blood on his cheek. “I will find out what happened.” Slowly getting to his feet, he turned back to me and took my hand. “Here’s my room key, Matt. They left my room at some point during the night; one of them may have left something behind that I didn’t see, something that might help explain what happened.” He took his hands away and looked back down at the body and called out, “Axel! I need you to help me carry the body to my office. I need to work on the autopsy.”

Cynthia hurried over to calm the doctor down. “Jason, darling, are you sure you’re feeling alright enough to-”

“I SAID I NEED TO WORK, DAMN IT!” He roared as he turned to her, which startled everyone in the room. Axel, not wanting to upset Jason anymore than he already was, wordlessly rushed over to the corpse and picked up Avery’s lifeless body by the shoulders, Jason taking the legs. “I’ll be in my office. I don’t want any of you coming by. I will see you all at the trial, where I will find out which one of you was behind this.” His voice was enriched with rage, his eyes piercing us. We didn’t say anything else as he and Axel left the gym with Avery in their arms. My eyes darted around to study the others as I fumbled with the plastic key card and tucked it away in my pocket.

“He’s taking this pretty hard, huh,” I could hear Vi remark as she watched them leave. “I had no idea they were that close.”

“Were they really, though?” Erik questioned with an eyebrow cocked. “Jason may have just fallen under Avery’s spell and is paying the price.”

“God’s sake, just shut up,” Mindy groaned and glared at him. “We get it. You’re convinced Avery was this evil freak and you’re above us all. Now shut the hell up and get to work.”

Erik was shocked at the girl’s attitude, but seemed to comply as he ceased speaking.

“Well this is a new side to you Mindy,” Rae smirked a bit. “Something’s definitely awoken in you since last time.” Mindy’s only response was a haunting glare.

Distancing myself from the rest and venturing back into the locker rooms, I found a somewhat bloody scalpel next to a drain on the floor, close to where Asier sat unconscious. From what I could see, there were many cuts on the body but each laceration was small. I wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable about cuts and wounds, but the scalpel seemed like the clear match. ''But where did the scalpel come from? The infirmary?''

Bloody Scalpel has been added to your Truth Bullets.

I decided to take another look at Asier’s body. The white nationalist still hadn’t come to, and true to what Axel said, his bloody hands were damning evidence. ''I’m still not convinced it was him. It would be so much easier if we had the time of death.'' But then, looking over his body, I noticed something. Not a single shock wound on his body. If he had been out on his own to kill, I would have assumed he had at least one. “Erik, you stayed with Asier, right? Did you notice him ever go off on his own?”

Erik turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “Yes. He, Jake and I all stayed within the cafeteria throughout the day, and the only times any of us left were brief bathroom breaks, which we returned from promptly,” he explained. “Both he and I went to bed around approximately two in the morning. Though when HAL’s announcement woke me up he was nowhere to be found. Though it’s quite obvious where he was now.”

That seemed to give some clarity to the case right there. And judging by the fact that both he and Erik had no shocks, I was inclined to believe him. This gym was quite a distance from the diner, on opposite ends of two different hallways. To pull this crime off, I can’t imagine you could get here unscathed.

Erik’s Account has been added to your Truth Bullets.

State of Asier’s Body has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Thinking I had everything I needed from Erik, I started to overhear whispering. Looking back to the gym, I noticed it was coming from Amy, who had been quiet ever since we assembled here. She was talking to Vi, muffling the noise with her hand so others couldn’t make out what she was saying. A few seconds later and they hurried out of the gym back to the rooms. Are they following a lead or something? Thinking it may have to do with the case, I began to follow them before I was interrupted by a hand on my shoulder. “You thinking of stalking ‘em, eh?” Jake’s scratchy voice spoke behind me. “Then let me tag along. I still need Amy if I’m gonna be exposing all of this. Besides, with how wasted you got last night, how much of a help are you gonna be on your own?”

“I… don’t see how that’s relevant right now, but alright I guess,” I strolled out into the halls alongside Jake, going the direction I saw the two girls take off in. While we walked, I grew curious if he could cement some other alibis for me. “So, you were with Erik and Asier all night?”

The Ultimate Television Host chuckled. “Not the best people to be with, but yeah, that’s right. The two spent all night being buddy-buddy after finding out they like the same conspiracies and ideas. Not that a lightweight like you would know, but not even some of the hardest whiskey this place has can drown out those two when they get going.”

I brushed off his remark at me. “Did you happen to go to bed around 2 a.m. like them?”

“Nah, I was out a little earlier. Kinda. Hard to sleep with those two there.” Jake’s testimony didn’t seem to add much, but I figured it was useful to know all the same. Though what stuck out to me was him implying that Asier and Erik became good friends. What an odd pair.

Eventually, we were at the corridor of hotel rooms. Coming across Jason’s first, I gripped the keycard in my hand, drifting towards the door. “What are you doing? I don’t think we’re gonna find those two here,” Jake questioned me as he stood in front of Amy’s door. I explained what happened with Jason and Avery last night and it was worth investigating. “Ah, so you think we might find out more about what happened if we look in here. Pretty clever for somebody who can’t even handle a drink.” I ignored him again and swiped the card, letting myself into the room with Jake.

To my surprise, Jason’s room was a mess. Bed sheets and blankets were in disarray, halfway off the bed. I suppose he didn’t have time to clean up when we got him earlier, but for someone like him to be so disorganized was bewildering. Looking around his room, one of the first things to catch my attention was a shirt lying on the floor. An old, thick, brown collar shirt embroidered with patterns of black stars. While studying it, I gagged and realized that it stunk of alcohol. Jason didn’t have anything to drink last night, though. It didn’t seem to fit his style either, and I know I haven’t seen him wear it already. ''Did it belong to Avery then? What happened here?''

Discarded Shirt has been added to your Truth Bullets.

“Hey Matt, look here!” Jake called for me from the bathroom. Carefully stepping around the shirt, I found him there as he studied the mirror. On the glass was a message written in red ink.

''Jason, I went back to Amy’s room. Sorry.''

''So one of the Stars wrote this? Ximena, I'm guessing. But based on what I could recall, Negative Four left with Amy and Vi when I last saw them. So who was in control when they left?''

“Hey, wait a minute…” Jake spoke as he picked up a tube of lipstick, surely what was used to write the message. “I recognize this. This is one of Amy’s!”

“Amy’s? Are you sure?”

“Who else do you see doing their makeup all the time? Rae hasn’t worn anything like this, and if it’s Vi’s she’d be with Amy anyway. They and Avery were hanging out last night, man. This is a lead!”

Lipstick Message has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Amy’s Lipstick has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Jake brought up a good point; neither Avery or the Stars had any makeup to my knowledge, and they were with the girls last night. Seeing nothing else of note in Jason’s room, we carefully stepped around the clutter and left. Right across the hall from us was Amy’s room, her door facing Jason’s. I inhaled and knocked on it twice, followed by the sound of soft footsteps approaching the opposite side. The door opened, Amy answering as Vi stood behind her. “Matty?” the Ultimate Vlogger asked, somewhat surprised. “What’s up?”

“Hey Amy,” I responded. “I had a few questions about everything if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, and I wanna get my footage!” Jake demanded.

Amy’s face contorted as she shot him a glare. “I told you, I don’t want you having anything to do with my project!”

“Project?” I asked.

Amy sighed, waving us inside the room. “It’s a long story, but to put it bluntly I’ve been filming everything. I was hoping that I could catch some footage of what happened last night when Avery left,” Amy said as she picked up a tablet from off her bed.

“Anything juicy in there?” Jake inquired, rubbing his hands together.

She shook her head. “I haven’t looked yet. Besides, why would I tell you?” she asked with venom in her voice, Jake glaring back at her. I wasn’t entirely sure what happened between them, but they certainly had some issues.

“I don’t know what your problem is,” Jake scoffed. “If you wanna get everything out there it makes more sense if I’m in charge since my audience is way larger than yours.”

“You’re just in it for the money! I don’t care about how large the audience is, I just need to make sure the full story gets out there and everything’s revealed, not just what you want to be revealed!”

Jake stepped forward before Vi got in his way. “Let’s simmer down here,” she said as she put a hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “This isn’t the time to be fighting; we have work to do.”

Jake scoffed again, pointing at Vi as he sneered at Amy. “So this is my replacement, huh? Fine, like I give a damn. Hope the three people who even watch what you do don’t even care. We’ll see who gets the message out there once this is all over,” Jake spat as he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Amy rolled her eyes at his reaction, muttering how much of a drama queen he was.

“Well, him aside, could I know what happened between you guys and Avery last night?” I asked.

Amy sighed again, apparently still shaken from losing someone she was with just the night before. “Well, we were just spending some time together with Negative Four before one of the others, I wanna say Evol, ended up wanting to leave and find Jason, and then we didn’t see them for the rest of the night. If you’re gonna ask, I think this would’ve happened around… twelve thirty?” She looked to Vi for confirmation, nodding in agreement.

“You didn’t see them for the rest of the night?” I repeated Amy’s testimony back to her.

Both of them shook their heads as Vi responded this time. “They never came back after that, so I’m not sure what happened.”

“Huh… that doesn’t line up with the message, then.”

“Message?” They asked in harmony, looking at each other.

“In Jason’s bathroom, there’s a message on his mirror that I can only assume was from one of the alters. It said that they went back to see you.” I explained, which only seemed to confuse both of them. “By the way, the message was written in lipstick. Jake says it belongs to you,” I mentioned, which seemed to shock Amy.

“Wait what!? When did they take my lipstick?” At that, she rushed past me and through the door and across the hall to Jason’s room, I suppose to confirm what I had said.

“So,” I turned to Vi. “What would you happen to know about Amy’s project?”

“I’m helping, so quite a bit,” she answered right away, seemingly excited about it. “Right now we were going to check one of her cameras in the halls to see if it picked up anything.” I nodded. For now I decided to see for myself if anything would show up, as well as process the new information at hand. I had already learned a lot about the case, but there was much more to be told. The victim’s actions with both Jason and Amy still mystified me, and I’d have to think a lot about them and find out what really happened.

Lipstick Message has been updated in your Truth Bullets.

Amy’s Lipstick has been updated in your Truth Bullets.

Hallway Camera has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Vi’s Account has been added to your Truth Bullets.

I grit my teeth and clenched my fist. Get ahold of yourself.

Eyeing the rest of us in the gym, I made a note of whose alibis and testimonies were still in the air. Matt came here with Jason and Cynthia and left with Jake to follow Amy and Vi. While here, he talked with Erik. I came here with Axel. All of them and myself are accounted for at this point, which only leaves me with four people.

''Neo, Mindy, Rae, and Asier. Those last three were a bit of a concern to me. Neo probably won’t be giving me too hard of a time, though Mindy’s attitude as of late could be trouble. If they stuck together like we assume they had then that was that. Unless it was possible for there to be two culprits...''

''Rae apparently spent the whole time alone, but could I really believe that? I’m certain that’s what they intended to do, but could they really handle all that time alone? I can’t even be sure how long it was considering we have no time of death. On top of that, they seem to be in a much worse mood right now, no doubt from the shocks themselves. It was already hard enough talking with them, but this certainly wasn’t going to make things easier.''

''As for Asier, there was undeniable proof he was at the scene of the crime. Handling a bloody weapon on account of two eyewitnesses: myself and Axel. The odds were definitely stacked against him. I’m not quite sure just yet if he was the culprit; I would want to get his side and account first before anything. The first issue with that was the fact that Axel had knocked him out. Being a “shoot first, ask questions later” kind of person was the last thing we needed. That said, even if he wasn’t unconscious, there’s the fact that Asier is… well… Asier. All in all, Matthew certainly left me with some pretty hard work.''

Neo and Mindy were together, so that would kill two birds with one stone. And out of my options, this was probably the easiest one. With a quick look at their bodies, I couldn’t really see any shocks on them, so the chances of them actually staying together was likely. “Hey Neo, hey Mindy. Mind if I ask you two some questions?”

“What do you want?” Mindy asked, her voice sharp. It almost unnerved me how different she was compared to when we first met. Just a couple days ago she was a nervous wreck, now she’s completely aggressive. ''Why did it have to be Jamahl that died? She’d be fine if he was still around.''

“I just wanted to make sure that the two of you really were together last night,” I explained. “Not that I think either of you did anything, but it’s good to have an idea of where everyone was so we don’t end up picking the wrong person.”

“We stayed in her room ever since we left the diner yesterday,” Neo answered. “Nobody ever came by either. Just her and I.”

“Uh huh,” I responded, nodding my head as he spoke. “I assume you two were just speaking and whatnot?”

“More or less, we-”

“He spent most of the night trying to get with me,” Mindy cut Neo off mid sentence, unfazed by embarrassing him. “He doesn’t understand what "waiting until marriage" means.”

“D-don’t say that out loud!” Neo’s face lit up from anger and shame alike. “I never… you got it all wrong!” He sputtered out, which I really couldn’t bring myself to react to.

“I see... thanks for your time,” I responded and promptly walked away. What they did really didn’t bother me, but it was good to know for a fact if they were involved or not. I couldn’t overlook the idea of an accomplice being involved in the case, after all. Neo’s genuine surprise cemented their alibi in my eyes.

Neo’s Account has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Satisfied with what I got from them, I turned my attention to Rae, who was leaning against the wall, nearly dozing off. I would have to guess they hardly got any sleep from all the shocks. I was a bit hesitant to approach them, but I had to for the sake of the case.

“Rae,” I spoke once I was near them, to which their eyes opened and focused on me like a hawk detecting its prey.

“Ah, Flatts. Here to try and convict me again, I see,” they remarked, giving me a deviant look. “Nice binder, by the way. Did your mom buy it for you?”

I shifted my shirt to cover it, groaning. “Ugh. I’m not trying to convict you, Rae, I just want an alibi.” ''That’s all you need. Don’t give them what they want.'' “You have shocks all over your body, so I don’t doubt you stuck to your word about staying alone all of yesterday. ...That said though, I also can’t overlook the possibility of you having the most shocks being able to cover up the potential that you did it because you were alone so long.”

“There it is,” Rae commented, fixing their hair as they talked. “You say you aren’t trying to, but bring up the possibility of it being me anyway.”

“Listen, I really am not trying to pin it on you, I just need to look at all possibilities. And with your actions last trial, I certainly can’t overlook you.”

“Why would I bother attempting to kill any of you if I made it clear I don’t want to be around any of you? I’m content living out my time here alone while you all decide that friendship will somehow save the day only for it to come back to haunt you.” They chided, rolling their eyes at me.

“I just don’t understand you. In this situation, we need to trust each other as much as possible. We need to work together.” I tried to explain, genuinely wanting them to understand. “I don’t mind if you don’t like any of us, but you need to understand that we have to rely on each other and stick together if we are going to survive.”

“You really don’t know anything, do you, Flatts?” They commented, their tone changing as they shifted and crossed their arms. They exhaled sharply. “I should expect nothing less from one who gets to work alone all their life and find their success. That’s not the life I’ve led. In my world, I can’t put my trust in anyone, I can’t rely on anyone. The instant I try and work with someone it will end with one of us betraying the other. I have worked with so many actors, so many producers, and all of them are out for their own gains. They want success for themselves, not for everyone. They aren’t going to help you if you need it. They aren’t going to care about you once everything is said and done. Once an actor is done with their work they simply move on to the next show. We don’t befriend each other. We work for ourselves and acknowledge that's how things work in our world. And that's how things always are. People aren’t working for others, they work for themselves. And I am no different. If that makes you think I’m a terrible person or the murderer, that’s on you. I’ve had to work by myself all my life, I’ve had to crawl my way to where I am with no help. That is how I live. I’m not attaching myself to people just to be betrayed down the line and end up falling from where I once stood. You people can do that on your own,” Rae turned on their heel and began leaving the crime scene. “I’ll see you at the class trial. Until then, I will be resting.” After that, I stood in silence and watched them walk out of the gym.

Rae… I understand where you’re coming from, but I need you to understand that won’t work in this game. It’s no use now though. It's best to just let them have their way for the time being.

I heard a groan coming from the men’s locker room, following the sound and finding Asier clawing his way out of the locker. Erik offered his hand and was able to help the nationalist to his feet. “Ugh, that roid raging fucker can pack a punch…” he groaned, spitting out a tooth. I decided to approach them, hopeful that I can get a proper alibi from the number one suspect.

“Asier, I know you just woke up, but I want to speak with you about the murder,” I started and he gave me a somewhat delirious glare through several blinks before groaning.

“Gah. Fuck off, cunt. I didn’t kill Sybil if that’s what you’re asking.” He grunted as he felt his face, a purple welt forming over his left eye.

“I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you understand the position you’re in right now, right?” I reminded him. “Axel and I caught you with blood on your hands and holding a bloody scalpel, both near the corpse. You understand how that looks?”

“Doesn’t mean I did shit,” he responded. “That cultist cuck was dead way before I got here. C’mon, check the blood for proof,” he said, limping past me and leading me to where Avery’s body was. Sure enough, it certainly wasn’t fresh as it would’ve been had the crime been done just before Axel and I got here. It was fairly dry. Based on my own understandings, and remembering Jeffrey’s case, I would assume Avery was there for at least a few hours.

“I see what you mean,” I conceded. “While I wouldn’t say this clears you yet, it does make your case slightly more favorable. I can’t rule out the idea that you did this hours ago though and only decided to cover up now.”

“Why the hell would I do that?” he asked. “Why would I kill that fucker hours ago and then suddenly decide I should get rid of evidence? Do you know how fucking stupid that sounds?”

“I’m just considering all possibilities,” I raised my hands in defense. It wasn’t the smartest option, but I really needed to make sure I covered all the bases. “So how and when did you find the body?”

“It was a bit before you two showed up. I was heading here to train and found him here.”

“You just found them? And you were alone? Weren’t you worried about the shocks?”

“That’s just it. I figured those shocks would piss me off enough to improve my training, get my blood pumping more.” Asier showed a rare smile, clearly excited at the idea of working out. I can’t really say I followed his logic, but I wasn’t one for exercising anyway, so perhaps it wasn’t my place to question it. “Anyway, when I was heading down, I noticed the shocks weren’t happening. I just found him here and I guess I was the first to see him. You, that’s two. Axel’s three, and boom. Body discovery announcement.”

“But then what about you holding the scalpel, and why did you have blood on your hands?”

“That’s none of your fucking business,” he retorted. “I’m not forcing you to believe me, but you’re fucking stupid if you think I did this.” Ignoring how hypocritical that all sounded, I saw him turn to Erik. “Come on man, I’m done listening to this shit head. I wanna see if I can find some ice in the diner or something.”

Erik nodded and the two took off. I really wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him. There were so many unanswered questions about all of this. I thought I could gain a lot from him, but I feel like I understand even less now.

Asier’s Account has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Avery’s Blood has been added to your Truth Bullets.

I decided I would leave now and touch base with Matthew, combine some of what we figured out together. There was still a lot to be answered at the trial, especially with us waiting on Jason’s autopsy. I really did worry about him.

All I could do for now is hope for the best, this wasn’t going to be easy, that was certain.

I let out a long sigh after I locked my door, closing my eyes and hoping to obtain my precious and much desired rest. Of course, I still needed to deal with the trial. But that could wait.

I’m certain that I would once again be suspected once the trial happens, which is their own faults. If they’re stupid enough to believe that I did this, that’s their own demise.

I saw the clock when I walked in my room. 9:05 a.m.. It had been four hours now. I never told them, but I knew quite a bit about the case. But that’s my information. I’m only going to utilize it if the rest of them somehow end up getting themselves to the wrong conclusions. Though based off what I had seen and heard, they already are doing that. I felt the memories flooding back to me of what happened.

''I had been lying in my bed, attempting to endure the shocks. I’d long since given up trying to distract myself from them. Utilizing my time trying to recite or do my make up proved fruitless when I was so often interrupted. It was hell, though I would never come to admit that to the rest of them. I don’t need them. They don’t need me. I’m going to survive this on my own just as I always have. ''

''It was around five in the morning when I had noticed something. The shocks… had ceased. I hadn’t felt one in quite some time. I thought, maybe, I had gotten used to it. But after waiting, I knew they were not happening anymore. I open my door for no one, so clearly it could not be that somebody was here with me. That could only mean one thing. Somebody had died. Whoever the killer was, they broke this quickly. It goes to show you just how their plans fall apart. That said, my curiosity got the better of me. Who was it that fell? Could it be somebody inconsequential, such as Jake or Neo, or somebody on a much grander scale to this whole game, like Jason or Flatts?''

''...Yes, Flatts. Ever since we met they have vexed me. The others couldn’t possibly know this, but I was quite familiar with them outside of this game. We had met once discussions surfaced of a Broadway production of their popular novel Cessation of Ceremony had arisen. I was to play the lead role, one Victoria Syph.''

''They despised my interpretation, they despised how I was off stage. They felt that I did not capture the character of Victoria. And they couldn’t fathom how I interpreted her desire to be alone as a hatred for others, and not as a feeling of not wanting others to be hurt by her.''

''I would go on to play the role anyway, despite their criticisms. And it was beloved by audiences. By all audiences, except them. It was clear from that meeting that we very much viewed everything different, and that would come to be the case both then and now.''

''I stepped out of my room. The entire area was pitch black, save for a light down the hall, near the door of… Amy, I believe it was. I dared not approach it, taking the opposite way, to avoid any chance of a trap or being spotted.''

''If somebody had died, my directive was to find who and where without being spotted, especially if I didn’t want suspicions to fall upon me. For now I would leave people’s rooms alone, as that was the riskiest place to check. I wandered through the halls aimlessly. My first guess was to check the cafeteria, in which I was only met with the sleeping figures of Asier, Jake, and Erik.''

''I checked several more landmarks; the conference hall, the main lobby, the vendors aisle. I even went and checked the halls of each individual floor, as well as the closet in which Jeffrey was last seen, just in case.''

''It was then that I opted to check the newly accessible workout hall, and the locker rooms. Seeing as nobody seemed to be walking around, I had no issue checking both the male and female locker rooms. There was nothing there, so I pressed on.''

''At last, I headed into the main exercise room, and that was where I found the body. Avery Maven, lying in a pool of blood, a death of a thousand cuts. A scalpel lay in the room, more pink than silver with all it had been through.''

''I looked back at the clock. 5:15 a.m.. I noticed nobody in my entire exploration. If they were, they were hiding out in one of the rooms. I didn’t care to check. I was satisfied with the information I had. This ridiculous motive was done with, and the others shouldn’t be stupid enough to fail this trial, I would think. I already had several answers in my mind as I returned to my room.''

''I still encountered nobody on the way back. And for now I could rest easy, knowing that one more was gone, I had nothing to worry about, and that I needn’t worry about being shocked anymore.''

And here we are again. Back in my bed for now. Will the others come to the conclusions I have? I would hope so, it’s really quite easy to figure out. But if not, I suppose I will be able to take the stage and finish this act.

''Don’t screw up, everyone. I don’t feel like dying.''

Rae’s Discovery has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Time of No More Shocks has been added to your Truth Bullets.

Light Near Amy’s Room has been added to your Truth Bullets.

After a while, I learned all I needed to from Vi and Amy. As I left them, I considered heading down to the infirmary to touch base with Jason on the results of the autopsy, when I was stopped by Flatts.

“Hey Matt, did you find out everything you needed to?” they greeted me with a somber voice.

“I hope so. I learned a lot today, though I’m still unsure about this trial. How about you?”

“Not as much as I would’ve liked,” they admitted through gritted teeth as they scratched their head. “I was left with some of the more difficult to talk to people here, so my amount of evidence is probably less than yours.”

“All evidence is good here,” I responded, beginning to walk down the halls again. “I was going to check on Jason, if you’d like to come.” Just then, a loud ding echoed throughout the halls and that voice I hated so much began to speak.

“Attention, my VIPs,” HAL began. Every time, his voice sent a chill down my spine. “It is time for the trial.”

“Huh, guess we’ll need to speak with him before things get started,” Flatts noted as we walked to the conference hall together. “For now, let’s exchange notes. Maybe if we combine what we have, everything will start to make sense.”

“Right.”

Written by Rae, edited by Amy.

Who do you believe killed the Ultimate Cult Leader, Avery Maven the Thirteenth?