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*For low dings ring...*
"A body has been discovered. After a set amount have time has passed, a class trial will be held. Please utilize this time to investigate thoroughly, or you will receive a failing grade on your record... followed by death. Goodbye."
"What?!/What?!"
Moondancer and Jake Long ran into the hallway and around a corner. Some of the other students were gathered outside the bathroom door. The duo pushed their way inside to see Button Mash hyperventilating, Kevin stupefied, and Danny rubbing his head. Moondancer followed their gaze and her jaw dropped.
"No..."
It was inside the open stall. Amidst a tangle of toilet paper, a lone pistol, and a slowly growing puddle of viscous magenta... was the body of Screw Loose.
...
"Darn you, Wolf-Roboto!" Danny shook his fist. "You did this, didn't you?"
"While this one can take credit for many deaths, this is not one of them. The one who ended the life of the Ultimate Psychologist was one of the other Ultimates. As a prior announcement has established, you must figure out who did it, or the remainder of you will soon join her in that giant test chamber in the sky."
"What can you do to me?" Moxxie's voice could be heard in the hall. "None of your earthly methods can kill me!"
"Hmm... if a punishment is required for the imp, this one will subject him to an eternity of bullets to the mouth."
"Oh." His bravado left his tone. "Shack. That would be effective."
"That is all for now. Begin your investigation." The screen flicked off.
A space in the floor opened up. It spat out a rectangular object at Moondancer's face. She caught it just in time with her magic. The tablet had the phrase "Headmaster Referral".
The victim of this case is Screw Loose: The Ultimate Psychologist. Estimated time of death: 10:30AM. Estimated time of discovery: 11AM. Cause of death: lethal wounds through the skull, less than 7mm diameter entry points made by a weapon. No other injuries found. No traces of poison or other dangerous chemical intakes.
"Interesting that Headmaster gave all of that information freely, but not the name of the culprit."
Moondancer nearly jumped at the new voice. "Akechi? When did you get here?"
The child detective(?) shook his head. "Shortly after the announcement. It seems one of us has begun the game. Shall we start playing?"
"Kid, this isn't funny." Kevin pointed his open hand to the stall. "Somebody's really dead!"
"And wasting time stating the obvious isn't going to allow any of us to win, Mr. Levin." Akechi waggled his finger. "Let us draw our opening hands." He lowered his arm and gaze. "Actually, you should gather the evidence."
Moondancer did a double-take. "Me? Why? Isn't this more of a job for a detective like you?"
"Normally, I'd agree." Akechi closed his eyes and smiled. "But it wouldn't be much fun if I were the only one who had all of the details. Besides, you should draw your own conclusions. After all, can you say with one hundred percent confidence that you've eliminated me from your pool of suspects?"
Jake squinted at him. "Is that a confession?"
"Just sewing some healthy skepticism." Akechi met the kid-dragon's gaze. "Unless you remove all of the falsehoods, you can't assume anything to be true."
'What is wrong with this guy?' Moondancer shook her head to think. 'Never mind. I can't waste time trying to figure out his psyche.' She took a deep breath and exhaled. 'Screw Loose, I didn't know you that well, but you're from Equestria too. So, this still feels like a personal attack. We're going to find out who did this to you and make them answer for it.'
Investigation Time!
As she examined the victim's body, her attention was drawn to a few points. Magenta liquid was rolling down from three different holes. These tiny holes were pretty close on the top right side of the head. The injuries matched up with the Headmaster's Referral. But as she backed away, Moondancer noticed something else. Some clumps of weird fibers were stuck in between the victim's teeth.
'What is this? Hair? String? It's too dark to be dental floss. Minuette made sure to drill that information into me before I left home.'
When she was done looking at the body, she tried to find evidence in the rest of the stall.
'There's an awful lot of toilet paper pulled out. Did the killer try to clean up their mess before leaving? No, that can't be it. It's nowhere near the blood.' She blinked. 'Huh. That's a strange pattern of darker spots. If this is supposed to be aesthetic, then the rhythm of where they're positioned is completely off.'
The next thing she looked at was the pistol against the opposite side of the stall.
'This weapon... it kind of looks like the one Connor pulled out during his confrontation with Akechi yesterday.' She lifted her brow. 'And yet, there are a few differences. There's an attachment protruding from where a bullet would normally exit when fired. What did that book on human espionage call it? A... silencer?' After a bit of magical fiddling, she managed to take out something near the handle. 'And this is supposed to be a clip to fit into the magazine... or is it the other way around? Either way, the small barrel is only meant to release 9mm projectiles. Anything else, and it risks getting jammed.'
Something from the exposed clip glinted at her eye. 'Hang on... this isn't completely full. Did somebody use this recently?'
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*soft pew*
A gloved hand was shoved into the owner's jacket and back out again.
---
'Could it be...? Her gaze turned over the Ultimate Detective. He seemed to be having an argument with the other boys. 'But if he played any part in this, why wouldn't he jump at the chance to investigate? He could have gotten rid of this evidence. None of us would have been the wiser.'
Moondancer put the clip back in and set the silenced pistol back down where it was. She tried looking around the bathroom for anything else distinguishing. None of the other stalls were out of place. The sinks and mirrors were as clean as new installments. There was a vent for an airway that looked crooked.
'Crooked airway?' She trotted over. 'Two of the screws are completely out. Now, the vent opens and closes outward.' She frowned. 'But is this really significant? It's too small for anybody here to enter or exit. Not even Button Mash could fit in this thing.'
"It looks like that's all I'm going to find in here for now." Moondancer rubbed her head. "But is this really going to be enough evidence to find the killer?"
"Hold that thought." Akechi left his other peers. "Are you sure there isn't anything else you can do while you're here?"
"Well, there's not much else in this restroom that seems out of place," said Moondancer. "Unless, you mean-" She looked up. "Questioning the people that discovered the body?"
"It's a novice-level start, but I do hope you'll bring something interesting to the class trial." He turned and waved a hand behind himself. "I have my own leads I want to address."
'Helpful one second, dodgy the next. I can't understand him.' Moondancer shook her head. "May I ask you guys a few questions?"
"I guess so." Kevin looked down.
"You three found Screw Loose already like this, right?" Moondancer glanced toward the stall and back again. "What were you doing before that?"
Danny crossed his arms. "We asked Connor to show us the gate that was covered in all of that extra stuff and that was blocking the stairway."
"Aside from Connor, Danny and me, there were Silver, Moxxie, Chrono, and Shobu." Kevin counted people on his fingers. "I couldn't absorb the gate's material because it had an electric fence right in front of that. The rest of that group tried their powers but didn't get any further."
Danny nodded. "We heard Button scream from the restroom, so we ran ahead to check it out. By the time we got here, Screw Loose was already dead." He frowned. "Aside from the fact that somebody attacked her, I thought it was strange that my ghost sense didn't go off."
"Ghost sense?" Moondancer tilted her head.
"You know, ghosts are spirits departed after their living bodies perish." He shifted to his phantom form. "Well, one of my powers is being able to sense when another ghost is nearby. But if she's really dead, why didn't it go off?"
Kevin shrugged. "Maybe going to the afterlife works differently in this world?"
"So, now I can't even trust my own powers to work all the time?" Danny sighed and changed back to human. "This school sucks."
Moondancer looked around. "Button Mash, do you have anything to add?"
Button was still shaking. "Um... uh... I...I just came here because I really needed to use the bathroom. But now, I'm too scared to go."
"I see." Moondancer looked down before returning her attention to the colt. "Do you remember what you were doing before you came here?"
"I was just closed up in my room." He sniffed. "I was playing on my JoyBoy... to forget about that awful computer lab movie... but then I really felt the need to go." He held his hat. "I ran as fast as I could, but when I opened the first unlocked stall, I... oh, Celestia..."
"Wait..." Kevin raised his brow. "Why didn't you just use the bathroom that's inside your dorm room?"
"I...I can't think straight... when my...when my bladder's full." He cried some more. "I want my mom!"
Moondancer took a deep breath and exhaled. "I know we're all a bit stressed right now, but... can I ask you guys to look after Button? I have to keep investigating."
"I'm not the greatest with kids," admitted Danny. "But I think I'd feel more at ease if somebody other than that Goro guy was on this case. Something about him rubs me the wrong way."
"Yeah, no worries." Kevin nodded. "You go on, ma'am. We'll handle things here like only guys can."
"Thank you." Moondancer turned and left the bathroom.
---
"Yo, Moondancer!"
The unicorn turned toward the voice. "Jake?"
"I figured I'd ask some of the other peeps what they were up to before coming to see the body." Jake crossed his arms while making both of his hands into peace signs. "Check it: Min Min and Coyle were in the gym, trading punches with those funky-stretchy arms of theirs. Meanwhile, Nilin was in her room looking over her tech when that talking cat up and peeked in on her from her air vent!"
"What the...? If that's true, ew! He's a pervert!" Moondancer shook her whole body due to shivers.
"For real!" Jake shook his head. "Anyway, I saw that Akechi guy go back to the computer lab. I tried asking him what was up, but he wasn't spilling the deets."
"Yeah, he has been acting dodgy all day." Moondancer sighed. "Guess I'd better try talking to him again. Every so often, he has pointed me in the right direction."
"Tch. Broken clock twice a day, huh?"
"Maybe three's a charm." She adjusted her glasses. "Thanks, Jake. Knowing where everyone else was should help."
---
Moondancer cantered over to the computer lab. It was mostly in the same condition as when she had entered that morning. The only big difference was that one monitor had a hole it in from Moxxie's outburst. That, and Akechi was eyeing one of the DVDs.
"Akechi! What are you doing in here?" Moondancer stood just inside the room from the doorway.
"Oh? Isn't it obvious what I'm doing?" Akechi smiled. "I was going to look over the other students' motives, see if there was any connection to a desire to end a pony's life." He flipped over the DVD in his grasp. "Strangely, all of the video discs were removed from the computers... all except for the victim's."
"Well, did you see anything in her video that could help?" She trotted closer.
"Hmm, do you really want to know?"
Before Moondancer could reply, Akechi was tossing the disc like a boomerang. Without thinking, Moondancer ran forward and magically grabbed hold of the disc before it could hit a wall. The last she saw of Akechi was the heel of one of his shoes as he ran out the door. She tilted her head.
"What is his problem?" She sighed and floated the disc into the appropriate slot. "Maybe later, I can confront him. For now, I should find out what Screw Loose's motive was." The picture on the monitor was already counting down as she put in an ear piece.
---
Screw Loose wasn't a bad girl. She was merely a patient at the insane asylum for a few years. During those years, she was unable to identify herself as anything other than a barking dog. Sometimes, she would get loose and chase down other patients that the hospital's security guards were after.
The image showed Screw Loose with jaws open wide. Her teeth were crooked, her eyes looked off in either direction, and her mane was a complete mess. She was wearing the dangling remains of a strait jacket.
Eventually, Screw Loose's conscious mind surfaced and overrode the barker. Even when an actual dog barked, she reacted like any ordinary mare would. Though, her caretaker showed doubts.
The picture on screen changed to Screw Loose standing at a house's front door. A nurse pony was looking questionably at her. Further away, a collie dog was running wild with a leash attached to some other pets.
Soon after her bill of health was clean, Screw Loose took up a career in psychology, hoping to help others overcome their mental shortcomings. Just like she did, woof.
---
...
'Wait, is that it?' Moondancer wondered. 'Where's the part that vaguely hinted that some pony close to her was in danger or hurt? Going by the reactions of everybody, Nilin was the only one without a proper motive. Yet, Screw Loose was the one that brought up the similarity between the rest of us. Did I miss it somewhere?'
Something cracked to the unicorn's right. The monitor was completely dark. She turned to look... straight into the uncaring eyes of Headmaster.
"Oops, it seems this one missed a spot."
The robot wolf was holding Screw Loose's motive DVD. But unlike Akechi, who was tossing it around carelessly, this robot had cracked the disc into two halves. It then proceeded to chew up the halves and imitate a swallowing motion.
Moondancer's eye twitched. "What the-? Why did you do that?!"
"This one apologizes. This one should have eliminated all copies of the DVD motives before the investigation time began. How unprofessional of this one. Rest assured, this kind of oversight will not happen again."
"That's not the problem! Hey, come back!"
But the robot wolf had already disappeared. The unicorn groaned. Why did Headmaster destroy a piece of evidence like that? Now the only ones who knew what were on that disc were Moondancer and the victim. Well, there was also Akechi. But she still wasn't sure how far she could throw her trust in him.
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*Four low dings reversed...*
"The time allotted for investigation has expired. All students must report to the gymnasium. There, this one will lead you all to the place prepared for the class trial. If you do not show up, you will be promptly executed. So for your own safety, please do not keep this one waiting."
'Gah! I still can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something. But what is it?' She shook her head. 'Can't risk being late. Everybody is going to need the all of the information and evidence we found in order to find Screw Loose's killer. If we don't, none of us will be alive tomorrow.'
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