//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Remove The Falsehoods (Class Trial 1) // Story: What's Black And White And Red In One Eye? // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// Moondancer galloped toward the gymnasium. Luckily, everyone else was gathering there too. Expressions ranged from annoyance to reluctance. As soon as everyone was inside the gym, a new noise broke the silence. Part of the basketball court separated and slid away. In the empty space, a new square of floor rose up. It had a chess board pattern of dark and light squares. The four sides of the platform were surrounded by metal fencing. The side closest to the gym's entrance bent open. "Okay, students. Please step onto the lift. It will take you directly to the location of our first class trial. This one will meet you there." "Looks kind of like something in one of those prison movie settings." Danny pinched his arm. "Pfft. Looks pretty luxurious compared to the prison elevators I've ever seen." Kevin smirked. "You have seen more than one?" Min Min looked at him in disbelief. Moondancer took a breath and trotted over. One by one, the other students followed suit. The gate swung shut. Puss-In-Boots turned his tail between his paws at the sudden crash. The lift slowly descended. Fluorescent lights marked the walls on either side of the shaft every ten feet or so. After what felt like a long ride, the lift came to a stop and its gate opened up. Upon exiting, the group found themselves at a circle of brown, wooden desks. Each of them was marked with a name for the respective student to stand behind. "This one shall give a brief explanation for how the class trial works. Your goal is to argue until you are either blue in the face or have a theory that guides you to your suspect. Once the allotted time has elapsed, you will cast your vote for who you think committed the kill. If the majority is correct, the culprit shall be punished and the rest shall be spared. If the majority fails, then the culprit shall graduate and leave while the rest get punished in his/her/its place. Are there any questions?" Dr. Coyle glanced over at one particular desk. "What is the meaning behind that ghastly image?" The image in question was a sepia-toned picture of Screw Loose's face. A magenta pair of bones was drawn in an "X" over the picture. "Departure from this life does not excuse students from participating in class trials. They are not, however, required to speak. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But they also say words are meaningless. Changing context is fun." "Alright, we should probably get started then." Shobu crossed his arms. "How do we find the killer?" "Hold on a moment." Silver lifted a finger. "We should probably get everyone up to speed on what happened." "So... how did this murder take place?" Nilin looked around. --- Start Debate! "The place Screw Loose was killed was in the public restroom," said Moxxie. "It hardly takes a genius to know that." Dr. Coyle rolled her eyes. "What we're looking for is a cause of death." Chrono Shindou held a hand under his chin. "They'd have to get creative if they were going to try and kill any of us." Jake Long waved his hand around. "Have you seen how tough most of us can be?" "Brute force wouldn't have been enough." Connor stared straight ahead of himself. Min Min hummed to herself. "Could they have laced something she ate with poison?" Counter Wait a second! --- Moondancer levitated out the tablet. "Screw Loose couldn't have died from a poison. The Headmaster's Referral specifically outlined that no poisons or other chemicals were in Screw Loose's system when she died. She died because something pierced her head." "Oh, I am sorry." Min Min bowed her head. "I merely skimmed that referral before the trial started." "Shortcuts like that make me wonder if you should be running your restaurant." Dr. Coyle smirked. "Much less entering ARMS tournaments." Min Min looked indignant. "That is neither here nor there!" "So, the cause of death was something piercing her head?" Puss-In-Boots folded his paws in front of his mouth. "I would much rather pierce the mare's heart metaphorically than whatever this killer was thinking." 'Ew...' Moondancer deadpanned. Button whined. "Would whoever killed her just admit it already? This isn't funny!" Moondancer blinked twice. "Um... no one here thinks it's funny, Button Mash." Argue "This is my justice!" "Keh heh heh..." Despite his chortle, Akechi's eyes were fierce. "Can you really speak for everybody so confidently?" "Huh?" Moondancer tilted her head. "What are you talking about?" "I've said it before and I'll say it again." Akechi brushed a gloved hand through his hair. "You can't assume anything to be true before first taking apart the lies." --- Rebuttal Showdown "You're all stuck on the simplest of the stages!" *Shing* *Shing* *Shing* "You think no one finds this funny?" *Clang* *Clang* *Whoosh* "Well, that means you have no understanding on the differences between you and I!" /Stalemate Detected\ *Ting-ting-ting-ting-ting-ting-ting* Success! Advance! "You're amused by something regarding this case? There's nothing funny about a life that has been lost!" "Oh, I'm most confident that I can laugh without fear." *Clang* *Clang* *Shing* "Because unlike the killer..." *Shing* *Clang* *Shing* "... I don't have anything personally that connects me to the crime scene." Cut! "I'll bookmark your words!" --- Moondancer glared. "Actually, Goro, there was something at the crime scene that connects to you." "Oh?" Akechi scoffed. "And what might that be?" She tapped her desk twice. "There was a small handgun equipped with a silencer, lying there in the stall." "That's the connection?" Akechi shook his head. "At least two other students here carry guns with them at all times. Why not suspect one of them?" Connor pulled out his pistol and rested it sideways on his desk. "Our police department doesn't use silencers. We are to use our weapons primarily as warnings, firing lethally only as a last resort." Moxxie shrugged and shuffled through his pockets. In a matter of seconds, his desk was covered in a sniper rifle, a serrated dagger, a belt of grenades, and a crossbow. "The Immediate Murder Professionals make a statement with loud weapons. Revenge against the living is not to be served quietly in the night. Get that weak silencer stuff out of here." Jake leaned away. "Uh... isn't that a bit overkill?" Danny scratched the back of his head. "I mean... it isn't quite as excessive as Skulker's arsenal, but that's still kind of unnerving to look at." Shobu and Chrono stared at the assortment of weapons with wide eyes and trembling mouths. Nilin crossed her arms. "Well, Detective? Care to show us that you still have your weapon? Or did you lose it when you went to the bathroom?" Akechi went silent. "Dude, what's the matter?" Kevin looked over. "Fencing cat got your tongue?" "Feh! Leave me out of your metaphors!" Puss-In-Boots remarked. "Goro, you've been acting dodgy since the investigation started." Moondancer leaned forward. "If you don't refute suspicion that falls on you, we might draw conclusions that you won't like." "Tch." Akechi looked away. "Seems like I was careless. Sometime between the mandatory computer lab and the time of the murder, someone swiped my silenced pistol." "Wait, you were robbed?" asked Silver. "Why wait until now to report that?" Dr. Coyle motioned with her wrist. "You could've deflected a little suspicion if the others knew that piece of information." "I haven't known any of you long enough to trust you." Akechi adjusted his gloves. "For all I knew, the first person I asked could simply lie to me, while hiding my weapon somewhere else." Chrono put his hands in his pockets. "I guess since he doesn't have anything else to defend himself with, it'd make sense to be afraid. The thief could turn the pistol against him." "But is he even being honest with us now?" Puss-In-Boots tapped the brim of his hat. "Huh?" Shobu looked over. "What do you mean?" "He just admitted to not trusting the rest of us." Puss-In-Boots pointed with his tail. "How can we know for sure that someone really did steal the pistol from inside his coat pocket?" 'Hmm?' Moondancer did a double-take. 'Hang on. What did he say?' Button rubbed his head with both of his front hooves. "But if he was always lying, that would mean he actually does trust us. If he trusts us, he'd tell us the truth, and... ugh... My brain hurts." "Perhaps the path to take is simpler than we think." Silver gestured with his hand. "Let's take the premise of his pistol being missing and discuss from there. If something comes up that contradicts that line of thinking, we'll know we need to backtrack." Min Min nodded. "Sometimes a little trial and error helps to find the best flavors, both in ramen and in ARMS." Nilin shrugged. "Fine, so we say that somebody else took Akechi's pistol. Then what happened?" --- Nonstop Debate Connor looked out. "There is a chance that whoever robbed Akechi... also killed Screw Loose." "But why wouldn't the killer trust their own abilities to do the job?" asked Shobu. "Rather than lacking trust," said Moxxie, "maybe they wanted to divert attention onto the human owner." Akechi closed his eyes. "It would be a rather swift and boring killing game if the culprit got away with it right now." "Speaking from experience, are you?" asked Puss-In-Boots. "That gun has to belong to the killer." "Either way, it must have been scary final moments," said Danny, "getting killed without putting up a fight." Counter "Wait a second!" --- "I don't think Screw Loose went down without a fight." Moondancer adjusted her glasses. "There's a clear sign of a struggle, right inside her mouth." "Like... dental plaque?" Danny grimaced. "See those clumps of hair caught in her teeth?" Moondancer magically lifted the picture. "They didn't match her mane or hide color. Her killer must have gotten close enough for her to grab onto them at least once." "Oh, wow. Good eye, unicorn!" Kevin chuckled. "I didn't even see that hair the first time." Puss-In-Boots stuttered. "B-But you can't seriously decide there was a struggle based on a little hair, can you?" "Well, Moondancer?" Akechi rolled his wrist. "Do you have something else that can support your thoughts?" 'As a matter of fact, I do have something.' Got it! "How about this?" "Normally, I'd dismiss toilet paper being out of place in a restroom." Moondancer pulled up the picture of the toilet paper at the scene. "But scattered over the stall like that and with irregular scuff marks?" Connor nodded. "Multiple coincidences overlapping does reduce the probability of the events merely being happenstance." Puss-In-Boots lowered his hat over his eyes and quietly growled. "Your Honor, I wish to retract my previous question." "This one is afraid that is not possible. This class trial shall be recorded for future study in its entirety. No retractions shall be made, no edits will be cut, and no meme-generator quotes will be added to images of it." "Oh, we'll see about that last one," muttered Nilin. "So the killer and Screw Loose got into a struggle in the restroom stall." Jake crossed his arms. "She managed to bite them in desperation, before they managed to deliver the finishing strike." "May I get something clarified, Headmaster?" Akechi turned to the robot wolf, sitting atop a chair built above their heads. "That body discovery announcement you do... it goes off when three people other than the killer find the corpse, correct?" "Affirmative." Moondancer looked up. "Danny, when did you hear that announcement?" "It blared over the school's broadcast as soon as Kevin and I entered the bathroom," said Danny. "Yeah, I can vouch for that too." Kevin nodded. "And aside from Button and Screw Loose, was anybody else in the bathroom?" Button shook his head. "Uh-uh." "So, that knocks our suspect list down from fifteen to twelve?" Moxxie held out his claws before he realized he didn't have enough to count everything. "I think we can do better than that." Moondancer levitated the tablet and scrolled through some things. "Based on the accounts given by Kevin and Jake, we can get an idea of who wasn't at the restroom when the crime took place. "Connor, Danny, Kevin, Silver, Moxxie, Chrono, and Shobu were at the gated stairway. Min Min and Dr. Coyle were at the gymnasium. Jake and I were at the food court. Nilin and Button were in their respective dorm rooms. Nilin, when did Puss-In-Boots start... spying... on you from the vent?" Nilin groaned. "Maybe like ten minutes before the discovery announcement?" Puss-In-Boots chuckled. "She gave me quite the verbal lashing before prying open the vent to let me out." "All that leaves is Goro's whereabouts." Moondancer looked at him. "If you want to clear yourself, now would be the time." Silver held out a hand. "Just where were you at 10:30?" Akechi shrugged. "I suppose it's time to settle the matter anyway. This class trial has gotten rather droll." He cleared his throat. "I was checking lockers before that time. I thought perhaps some clue might be hidden, either to escape this school or to find out what was going on outside. But before half an hour passed 10AM... something brushed by my chest. I would've thought it was a trick of the air conditioning, had I not felt that my silenced pistol was missing. "Then, I saw something most peculiar. A certain pony ran by, not a gallop, but a feral run. Her teeth were bared in full. At the time, I didn't know enough about her to bother giving pursuit. So, I continued my locker search. I found nothing, but at least I was right. For a time, my weapon made this game a bit more interesting." "Say what?" asked Shobu. "What kind of sentient pony runs and bares its jaw like a wild animal?" Chrono tilted his head. "Come now. Elimination is a simple process." Akechi smiled coldly. Select One "The index points to you!" Moondancer slowly looked at the crossed out picture. "It was Screw Loose that ran past you." "Hmph, you're right." Akechi tapped his head. "You're still a novice, but you are at least competent." Argue "You're full of craft!" "Button? What's wrong?" Moondancer blinked twice. "What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Button slammed on his desk. "You have the nerve to ask that now? You should both apologize to Screw Loose for talking about her when she's not even here to defend herself!" 'I don't enjoy calling her in bad light.' Moondancer lowered her head. 'But if I'm right, ignoring a part of her will only make what we have to do worse.' --- Rebuttal Showdown "Ms. Screw Loose isn't some dumb animal!" *Clang* *Shing* *Clang* "Shame on you and that meanie detective!" *Shing* *Shing* *Clang* "How would you like it if somebody threw insults and names after you lost everything?" *Clang* *Clang* *Whoosh* *Clang* Advance! "I'm not trying to insult Screw Loose. Knowing where she was is crucial to finding out who killed her." "Shut up! If you're really taking Pancake-Face's side..." *Shing* *Clang* *Shing* "Then you're just as awful as he is!" *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* "For Luna's sake, Moondancer! His weapon is what killed her!" Cut! "I'll bookmark your words!" --- Moondancer slowly shook her head. "The wounds that Screw Loose suffered aren't possible with the silenced pistol." "Then you're not looking hard enough!" yelled Button. "No, see this part of the Headmaster's Referral?" Moondancer held up the tablet. "She was killed by something that was less than seven millimeters wide stabbing multiple times. Goro's weapon uses ammunition that's nine millimeters. And it's only missing one bullet. It doesn't match up." Button broke down in tears. He ended up crying face-first into his desk. "Uh, 'scuse me? Head-wolf-honcho?" Danny looked over. "Can you let the kid go find some tissues? This is way too overwhelming for somebody so young." "Negative. The longer you postpone your vote, the longer you will have to stand in the trial chamber. No exceptions for any student, regardless of the reason." "Oh, come on!" Moxxie threw his hands up in exasperation. "At least pretend to have a heart. Drowning in his own tears and mucous is no way to go." "This one shall consider your request. Please pretend to take a number and pretend to wait for a pretend assistant to pretend to help you." "Okay, that is it!" Jake burst into flames and turned into his dragon form. "Let the kid have a break right now or I'll start breaking your wolf toys again!" "I second his motion!" Silver's hands glowed teal. A net flew out of nowhere and entangled the dragon. He was dragged down to his desk and changed back to human. At the same time, a pair of chains and cuffs latched onto the hedgehog's arms. They pulled him down, leaving him unable to psychically push anything except his own feet. The resulting force flipped him over and hit his head against the floor. "This class trial will be concluded or none of you will be allowed to leave. That is final." Jake grunted in pain. "Guh! This net is sphinx hair... aw, man..." "Ow..." Silver groaned. Danny clenched his fist. "We need to wrap this up, right now!" "Well, if you insist." Akechi brushed some dust off his desk. "Moondancer, why don't you tell everyone why Screw Loose acted the way she did?" "How about this?" "Goro and I both watched Screw Loose's motive video." Moondancer sighed. "She was previously diagnosed with insanity. Her strain made her act like a dog. There were some trigger words that had a delayed reactivation of her insane, mental state." --- "Bu... Bu... Bu... Wha..." --- "Hmph." Akechi nodded. "Over the stress in the computer lab, we thought we just heard her acting hysterical like the rest of us. But in actuality..." "She was muttering the words that triggered her in the video: Three "Barks" and one "Woof"." Moondancer grimaced. "So, she likely chased the killer into the restroom, trapped them, and that's where they dropped the pistol. Then, they used their own weapon to stab her. In their rush, they messed up the toilet paper." Min Min shook her head. "But where would the killer have gone?" "Here!" Moondancer pointed to a small vent opened in the restroom. "And based on his whereabouts, there's only one student here that could have used this escape route." "You're in the binder of guilt!" "Puss-In-Boots." Moondancer's tail curled up. "You killed Screw Loose, didn't you?" The upright cat stared, transfixed at the unicorn accusing him. --- Panic Fever! "En garde!" *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* "Allez!" *Tempo up* *Clap, clap, clap* "Mademoiselle...?" *Negative* "Parry!" *Clap* *Clap* *Shatter* *Ba-thump* *Ba-thump* "How can you say that I am the killer? I had no motive!" CatVSDog "Your book is overdue!" --- Moondancer briefly moved her glasses to rub her eyes. "You couldn't completely stop your cat instincts. As soon as someone who sounded and acted like a dog gave chase to you, you went into survival mode. Desperation drove you to act. Your fencing talent did the rest." Puss-In-Boots took off his hat and set it on the desk in front of him. "If you need to put me in a coffin, at least have the courtesy to put the nails in tightly." --- "From cover to cover, here's how it all unfolded!" "During the Headmaster's mandatory computer lab, Screw Loose watched and heard key words that triggered her past condition as an insane asylum patient. Specifically, she thought herself to be a dog. "While the rest of us were either finding ways to unwind or open the stairway, Screw Loose was giving chase to the killer. The killer was able to run faster, but he knew he couldn't run forever. So, he fought to make a plan in tandem with his instincts. "First, the killer swiped Goro's silenced pistol. Next, the killer ran to the bathroom to isolate what he perceived to be a mad dog. Screw Loose closed in on the killer and they got into a struggle. In the chaos, the killer dropped the pistol and slid his feet against the toilet paper. In a last ditch effort, the killer pulled out their own weapon: a fencing sabre. The stab wounds proved to be enough, relaxing Screw Loose's jaw and freeing the killer. "To form an alibi that would give more attention to something else about him rather than his recent act of murder, the killer used the restroom's air vent to escape. None of the other students could fit in there. But the killer had flexibility of his own body that no one else here had. After crawling through the vent, the killer found himself in Nilin's bedroom. She was so convinced that he was a pervert that the rest of us would ignore where else he might have been." The creepy and gray silhouette gave way to a cat fencer, looking upward with adorable eyes. "The one who ended Screw Loose's life was you: Puss-In-Boots the Ultimate Fencer!" Complete! --- Button Mash managed to wipe off some of the saline mess from his face. "Y...You? But why? You were like that one guy, Fire-Zen Da Existe from that Hidden Brother-Bond game." He slowly shook his head. "Why did it have to be you?" Puss-In-Boots smiled sadly. "I'm sorry I could not live up to the dream, young man. I still had a kitten within my soul after all this time." Akechi folded his hands. "All is well that ends well. I managed to take the first win against a threat to the group." "You didn't do jack-squat!" Kevin called over. He was using a pair of wire-cutters to pry through the sphinx hair net covering Jake. It was slow-going, but it was working. Moxxie picked up his crossbow and shot cleanly through Silver's bindings. "You sat back and let the unicorn do all the work." Dr. Coyle glared at Akechi. "And you call yourself the Detective Prince?" Shobu shook his head. Chrono sighed. "Guys, I think that's enough. We don't have much time before we have to vote, right?" "Mr. Shindou is correct. The time has arrived where every student must cast their votes for who they think the culprit is. Pull the lever under your desk to make your selection. Will you make the right choice or the wrong choice?" --- *Drumroll* Majority Vote: Puss-In-Boots Guilty! --- Headmaster snapped its jaw three times. "Congratulations. You voted correctly. Puss-In-Boots is the culprit of this case. As promised, he alone will face execution at this time." Puss-In-Boots has been found guilty. It is time for him to face his punishment. A box with a red button rose from the floor to match the height of the judge's seat. Headmaster pressed the weight of a front paw against the button. In a rush, a chain and clamp snagged Puss-In-Boots by the tail and dragged him through a long hallway. For a while, darkness surrounded the cat. Any onlookers wouldn't be able to see. However, his green eyes pierced the darkness. They widened at what they beheld before several spotlights turned on. He was in the middle of a makeshift arena. Lining the walls of the large pit was a collection of dogs foaming at the mouth. In the stands above, several copies of Headmaster's wolf robots waved and cheered. One of them pressed a button, letting loose the hounds and an inappropriately timed song. Puss-In-Boots hopped over one rabid dog's head, only for two others to bite down on his feet. He tried slashing at either of them with his claws. But that revealed what was underneath the dog's fur. They were more robot wolves. His claws couldn't pierce the metal. More robot wolves leapt onto the pile, biting and crushing the cat underneath. Magenta fluid spilled from all of his paws, his ears, and his back. His tail was ripped off and thrown to one of the robot wolf fans. Immediately after that, his fencing sabre was javelin tossed. The blade pinned the tail into the seat. --- Back in the trial room, there was stunned silence. ... "What...What the hay was that?!" Moondancer's tail went rigid. "That was not standard protocol for a death row inmate's execution," said Connor. "Oh, gosh..." Shobu held a hand up to his mouth. "I think I'm going to puke." Button's eyes were practically pinpricks. "I don't need the bathroom anymore." Min Min was barely holding herself up with the desk. Whatever breath Jake had recovered after leaving the sphinx hair net, it had left him and he was back to gasping. "Why like that?" Chrono's skin crawled. Kevin closed his eyes and looked away. Silver held a clenched fist down to either side. Nilin looked down at the floor. "Disgusting..." Akechi muttered. "Seriously, what the heck was that?" Danny shook his head and rubbed his temples. "Well, that was anticlimactic." Moxxie stashed his weapons back under his clothes. "All of those robots could have been used for guerilla warfare." Dr. Coyle sighed. "Instead, they are being used for something as trivial as an execution." Headmaster hopped off its chair. "The lift will return you to the first floor when all of you are ready. This one looks forward to seeing you all again." With that, the robot wolf vanished. --- 14 students remaining...