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[INNOCENTS WIN] Grand Opening Fanfic Mafia - Game Thread

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
Loki, in 50% form, lounged idly in wherever this place was. They hadn't passed judgement yesterday. They were quiet, distracted, trying to solve the overarching puzzle of this world. The concerns of the mortals were only... secondary.

That said they did have a plan there. Monitoring the balance of it all was what they did best.
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
Dave stood there over where the ground swallowed Mia (not Mia), taking deep, trembling breaths.

"...Wasn't her." He clenched his fists. "Good fucking riddance."

((Well... it's a bit more complicated than that.))

"You shut the fuck up!" Dave snarled, jerking his head upwards.

((Strictly speaking, it was--))

"Which one are you? The fucking god of party games? Fuck you and this entire universe."

((Nah, nothing like that. I sent you a fruit basket once.))

Dave blinked hard at the empty air. "...What?"

((Never mind. Go to sleep! You can try to figure all this out in the morning.))

"No! Fuck you!"

((I don't think you have a choice.))

He stood there for a minute, glaring at nothing, breathing hard, but the voice didn't speak again. Finally, he turned and walked back to their quarters.
 

Negrek

Play the Rain
Staff
It seems quieter than usual when everyone gathers together the next morning. At first most assume this is simply a grim reminder of their waning numbers, but it isn't long before the group realizes that they're missing their usual rapping serenade.

A search party is dispatched, but without much hope. By this point everyone knows what to expect. And, yes, it seems the Mafia have struck once again--there's no sign of Ess to be found anywhere.

Ess (NebulaDreams) has been eliminated. He was Innocent.

Seventy-two hours for discussion.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hecto scanned the area, focused on the most vocal and successful mafia-killer. “I’m... not sure what I was expecting out of that,” he said. “Even without your power, Starr, you were a serious threat to the assailants. How in the word are you...?” His eyes flashed. “I recommend all those with disclosed powers speak for what they did last night. Was Ess affected in any way by a swap or redirect...?”
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
Starr stumbles into the room looking half-dead from anxiety, or exhaustion, or perhaps both. In her hand is a coffee cup, most likely procured from the same interdimensional coffee machine where Dave had gotten his coffee yesterday.

She glances at the others one after the other before letting out a deadpan, "How the fuck am I still alive?"

She stumbles over to a chair and sinks into it, massaging her temple with one hand. "That was rhetorical. I know I've got them to thank." She gestures to Mel and Repeat, then takes a long gulp of her coffee. "Guess I gotta help out for another day, huh?"

And with that, she passes out onto the floor, fast asleep.

((That's my way of saying I'll be sitting out for a bit! I went into this game waaaay too hard last week; it affected my health outside the game, and I also fear that I kind of stifled the RP as a result. I'll be back before the end of the round. Just wanted to establish that yes, I still have watcher powers, and yes, Mel still has swap powers.))
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hecto’s ears perked up with alarm. “S-Starr?” He said, the words somehow making his heart accelerate even faster. No, wrong “Star,” this was someone completely unrelated. “H-have your life functions ceased?”

((She’s fine. Her guardian spirit said they both need a break. Probably from all the sleep deprivation. Give her space.))

Hecto let out a quiet grunt at this, but then gently brought a paw to the top of his head, grabbing Fish. “Keep her company,” he said softly, placing the Sobble next to the sleeping human.

“Mel. Care to explain?” Hecto asked.
 

NonAnalogue

Losing her head
Location
Yes
Pronouns
she/her
Mel kicked her feet up on a table that seemed to be there for just that purpose. The night had been restless - all of the nights had been, especially considering Repeat was putting himself in danger every time - and she really didn't want to contemplate any further disappearances. "I dunno, Starr," she said. "Repeat went out to try and switch anything that went on around you and Dave, not Ess. So unless that ended up being part of a larger chain, I don't think we had anything to do with this one." She inclined her head at Dave. "So, Dave? What'd you get up to last night? Redirect anything interesting?"

"That said, Boss," Repeat said from his perch on her head, "it might be worth noting that, unless there was trickery afoot, the mafia went for someone quiet again. Might be that they're trying to pick off the easy targets."

Mel shrugged. "I dunno. I'm ready for all'a this to be over. Don't wanna lose anyone else. And..." Something seemed to occur to her. "I wanted to ask. All'a you who keep talking to... the sky or whatever. What all is going on there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'd think nobody ever heard voices before. C'mon. People are getting into this like they're being 'written' or there's an 'author' or something." Mel waggled her hands sarcastically. "This is textbook 'first day with psychic powers'. We all ended up with weird abilities once we got here, right? i think whoever brought us here gave us all psychic powers too. I mean, except me, since I already had them, not that they're doing me much good right now."
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
Dave didn't look like he'd slept a wink, his hair in disarray, eyes bloodshot. He was silent for a while as the others spoke.

"What I figured," he finally said, "was Mel'd swap Starr with somebody, and the mafia'd know Starr was safe as long as Mel was there. So they'd probably go for Mel first, and I deflected from her onto Ess. Went with him because he didn't vote for Mia, and got real quiet yesterday, after the... recruitment thing."

He took a deep breath. "So maybe this was me, or maybe they're picking targets who aren't likely to be protected. I don't know."
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
Loki slithers over. "Them targeting less protected individuals makes sense, really. The group has been steadily trying to weed them out from within, it's only natural they'd try to do the same with us. That's the whole point of this scenario, I believe... Whatever entity put us here. That I'm trying to figure out as well."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hecto looked between them all, but then sighed. "...I... suppose it's about time that I step forward," he said.

((Wait--hang on--I'm not done with my musubi--))

"Everyone. Because of Starr's current absence, I suppose I can assist in trying to piece together this great puzzle that we have... even if I may not be as useful as I would like to be."

((Wait, but Hecto, quick thing, uh, we might not actually know for sure--))

"Our numbers are dwindling, and between Starr, Mel, and Dave, the assailants have a lot on their plates. There should be, at most, two remaining, perhaps only one. And it's for that reason I must speak now before I am silenced. If those redirections could happen, it very well could go to me next. A redirect could go to me, thinking I'm a useless target."

((To be fair, you might be.))

Hecto grunted. "...Every night, I have been inspecting one person to verify whether they are innocent or whether they are an assailant. On the first night, before we truly met or knew one another, I inspected Ess. It was essentially at random, but he turned up innocent, despite his silence. On the next night, when we were lamenting the fact that we did not know who to vote for, and therefore didn't vote for anybody, I inspected Karo for his silence. As we can see... he was innocent."

((Starting to see a trend here.))

"On the next night," Hecto growled, "After Psyduck was eliminated, I was suspicious of Mia's actions, if only slightly. I decided that she would have been the next person to check. However, as you recall... I was very reluctant to vote for her." Hecto's eyes dimmed slightly. "That is because she turned up innocent to my inspection."

((Which means...))

"Either my power is... faulty... and I only see an innocent reading, no matter who I am reading or checking..." He looked at the others. "Or Mia was the convert."

((Right. According to the manual I was given, the conversion happens after Hecto does his inspection. In other words, if Mia was innocent before, but wasn't by the time yesterday rolled around... Hecto would've seen Innocent. But at the same time... the manual I looked up also said it was possible to be a naive cop -- someone who only saw innocents. So basically, Hecto and I aren't really sure what our power is. We haven't had a positive reading once on who a mafia could be, so, uh... take this with a tiny grain of salt, but now that we're entering the second half of this thing, I think we should step forward with what we know, just in case.))

Hecto nodded. "I have faith in my powers, but... faith can only take you so far in a situation like this. However... if my powers are accurate... I must apologize to Loki." Hecto nodded to the fellow Zygarde. "I inspected you last night, and you were innocent. If my powers are accurate... then I suspected you for one reason: Dave's attempt at redirecting a strike to you, since it very well may have worked tonight to redirect all the way to Ess, failed... Yet the one to protect Karo failed. Perhaps because a mafia individual cannot strike themselves? I do not know. Perhaps it truly does have a 50% chance of working. Additionally, you are fairly uninvolved. You were truly a wildcard, Loki."

((Which would be a really dumb mechanic, by the way. Not fond of luck-chance baked into the abilities' powers themselves, if you want my opinion... I don't know if that's true or not. I read up on the manual for these powers, and I didn't read anything about a 50% unless I missed a page. I did read about being a "naive cop," though, which is why we're kinda being careful.))

Hecto nodded. "I do not know if Karo is actually a cop as Starr had implied, or perhaps, if he was, then he, too, could have been a faulty one, and I the real one who just happened to inspect innocents up to this point. Alternatively, Karo could have been a bodyguard, or a doctor, or someone else who would claim, in his words, to be hard to get rid of. I do not know what that means, but it does not necessarily sound like the role I possess."

((If only Karo didn't speak so cryptically... but... what can we do? But that's what I'm going by. Check back on the logs to see his messages yourself.))

Hecto nodded. "In any case," he said, my findings, and the evidence we have available, have narrowed things down as such. Author, if you may."

((Right.

So, here's what's going on. I'm working with the assumption that Karo was not a cop, since implying that he's 'difficult to get rid of' doesn't really speak to being one. That means I probably am an actual cop, and we've been poking innocents all this time. Assuming our readings are accurate, we already got our convert yesterday. I don't really follow the reasoning for Starr thinking Mia was mafia the whole time, and Hecto and I are genuinely unsure about it even now, but perhaps by sheer luck, Mia's weird behavior yesterday just gave confirmation bias to everything else -- and she's the convert.

That also means Loki is innocent. Unfortunately, the mafia killed off our two other innocent reads, Ess and Karo.

Starr is... probably innocent, unless she literally just sacrificed two members just to stay afloat under that cover. But since Starr has been making very accurate reads as an inspector, I don't think she's also mafia. But... mafia can also be inspectors, according to the manual. Keep that in mind: some roles and powers can be done by mafia, too. For obvious reasons, being a cop like Hecto and I cannot--because mafia, by default, already know who is innocent or not.

Mel... is probably also innocent, if only because the swap role was corroborated by Starr. Twice.

Then there's Dave. See, I wasn't sure about Dave, because there wasn't really any evidence aside from his own word that it was safe. But here's the thing: I really, really, really don't know if the mafia would want to keep Starr around after the two-kill streak. The redirects happened too perfectly. It led them right to Ess, who did pretty much nothing but rap and scare Hecto.

So I want to say, at least in terms of our best odds, that Starr, Dave, and Mel are telling the truth. It's not 100%, but I feel like at this point, their stories are tied together, and I really, really doubt that all three of them are mafia. Maybe Mel could've been fooled or something, or maybe Dave did this redirect specifically to throw us off and make it seem like he messed with the mafia? Again, this is a stretch, and I want to go for the path of least resistance, and this isn't it. But I want that option to be known.

Anyway, assuming Loki is innocent, Dave, Starr, and Mel aren't lying, and Mia was the convert... That only leaves two people behind that are big unknowns.))

Hecto gulped, facing the two in question. "The one who had been accused of past play of being quiet indicative of mafia... before immediately becoming talkative. Understandable, yes. But the past play, before it was pointed out, feels relevant. Lachlan, you are still not completely in the clear."

((Buuut, Lachlan and his guardian were crazy butting heads against Mia early on. With them already down a mafia member, I dunno if they wanted to lose another like that.))

"True. Which means..."

(It's... I mean...))

After an uneasy silence, Hecto finished their long explanation.

"For two days, he was adamant on voting for nobody out, essentially giving free turns to the mafia, when things went south. He did not even vote to get rid of Psyduck. And he only went for Mia when the tides turned in a trend toward Mia, perhaps in an effort to cover up. His spirit claims to be providing no guidance toward him at all; in other words, perhaps he is not even aware of his own role. The perfect cover to play innocent... Low impact... quiet." Hecto didn't like the idea, but it was all he had. "Cabot, I'm afraid you will need to provide a strong counterpoint for me to choose a different person to vote for."
 

Virgil134

PMD Writer
Partners
  1. sylveon
  2. weavile
  3. kommo-o
  4. noivern
  5. mothim
“W-Wha-?! M-Me?!” Cabot spluttered. “But I’m not part of the Mafia!”

The Cranidos nervously looked around the room and noticed to much of his horror that instead of the skeptical faces he had expected, most seemed intrigued by Hecto’s arguments while some even nodded along in agreement. How could they think he had been part of the Mafia all along?! He’d never made anyone disappear! Thoughts of the group ganging up on him and being swallowed up by the floor of this strange dimension began to plague his mind, prompting Cabot to hastily stammer out a response.

“W-Why would you think I made my own friends disappear?! I’d never join a crazy group like that, and-”

((Cabot, it’s alright. You’re not alone))

“H-Huh?!”

((I know that you’re innocent and would never make anyone disappear. That’s why I’m here to help you and get you of this.))

Cabot looked around for the source of the strange voice, the lack of anyone speaking up in the room seemingly proving he was talking to a disembodied voice.

“W-Who are you…?”

((Well, I’m your creator, though right now I’m also your attorney. Normally I wouldn’t step in like this, but it seems like Noah has left me no choice.))

“… Are you Arceus?”

((Er… not exactly. Just trust me for now?))

“O… kay.”

((Alright then. Anyway, I know all of you can hear me. While Hecto and Noah delivered quite the speech, I’m afraid I must raise an objection here. Cabot is not part of the Mafia. Not only that, but the two slipped up in their statements and have exposed none other than Hecto himself as the true culprit!))

“Wait, Hecto is part of the Mafia?!” Cabot cried.

((That’s right. Not only can I prove that you’re innocent and being set up, but also that Hecto is the third and final Mafia member. In order to do so, I’d like to cross-examine Hecto and question him about different parts of his statement. If Cabot is truly guilty, surely Hecto’s claims will hold up. The rest of you can serve as the judge and hopefully stay neutral until you cast your votes near the end of the day. Are you alright with that? How about you, Hecto? Noah?))
 

Dragonfree

Moderator
Staff
Location
Iceland
Pronouns
she/her/hers
Partners
  1. butterfree
  2. mightyena
  3. charizard
  4. scyther-mia
  5. vulpix
  6. slugma
((For the record, like I already said, the 50% thing is literally stated in my role PM; I’m not guessing as to why it doesn’t always work.))

Dave stared between Hecto and Cabot as they made their cases. He glared at the air above them as their voices ‘guardian deities’, spoke, then sharply up when his own butted in. Nonetheless, he took a deep breath, massaging his temples. “...All right, let’s hear this.”
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Hecto’s ears suddenly went back. “I was worried this was going to happen.”

((I told you, we only have innocent calls. If we actually had someone to point a mafia finger at with certainty, this would be a whole lot easier. But now we have a ‘no u’ situation going on...))

“Thisbwould have happened regardless,” Hecto grumbled, rubbing his foreleg. “I suppose it’s only fair that I answer your questions, but I’d like to point out that even Starr had doubts that I was of the mafia. I apologize for not speaking out sooner... but as you know, my role is very delicate. If I revealed myself even slightly, I would be gone.”

((Also, quick thing. Were we ever prompted on how many mafia there were? Cabot’s spirit said ‘Third and final’... Because I definitely don’t recall being given a solid number.))
 

Virgil134

PMD Writer
Partners
  1. sylveon
  2. weavile
  3. kommo-o
  4. noivern
  5. mothim
((We never were given a solid number, however I theorized a while back that there were only two Mafia members plus one that would get recruited, which I still stand by. That said, I’m glad you accept my terms Hecto, and I think we’re ready to begin in that case.))

Cabot looked down and let out a deep sigh as he nervously fidgeted with his claws. Whatever plan this disembodied voice had to clear his name, he sure hoped that it would work. Since if it didn’t…

((Hecto, you’ve said a lot in your statement, but given that you’re accusing Cabot, I think it would be fitting for me to start by questioning you about the reasons why you’re suspecting him in particular. You said that for the first two days he was adamant not to jail anyone, he did not “even” vote for Psyduck, and only voted for Mia when “the tides turned in a trend” towards her. However, these facts seem to be twisted at best and false at worst.

First off, your claim that Cabot was adamant not to jail anyone for the first two days is wrong. On the second day, he did vote for someone, namely Loki. While Cabot said he was hesitant who to vote for at first, this was solely because of lack of clear evidence and not because he was considering not jailing anyone on that day. In fact, Cabot never even said he considered that on the second day! This was only the case on the first day, which he did because there was no evidence that anyone was guilty. Any vote would have been random and likely would have led to someone innocent getting jailed, something that almost did happen given how many votes Dave got on that day.

Now, to get to the second thing you said, it’s true that he didn’t vote for Psyduck, but there was a good reason for that. Namely, he already suspected someone else: Loki. While these suspicions turned out to not be true in the end, at the time there were reasons to suspect him because of how quiet he was, the fact he avoided Cabot’s question, and randomly changed his vote to Dave the prior day when it momentarily seemed the majority might vote to jail him. While those reasons may seem like a stretch to jail Loki, the same could be said about the reasons Psyduck was initially suspected. They may have turned out to be true in the end, but not voting for Psyduck and staying true to your feelings wouldn’t instantly make one suspicious, no? If anything it would have been suspicious if Cabot had hopped on a bandwagon and changed his vote simply because it seemed the majority might vote for Psydyck at the time.

Speaking of bandwagons, that brings me to the third thing you said regarding Mia. You claim Cabot only voted for Mia when “the tides turned in a trend”, but this can hardly be said when only two out of nine votes had been cast for her. If Cabot was part of the Mafia, he would have had all the room to accuse someone else, wait for others to cast their votes and hope they’d pick someone other than Mia, or even step in to defend her. Voting for her that early on as a Mafia member would be incredibly risky and would not make a lot of sense. Besides, how can you claim Cabot’s suspicious for voting for Mia, but at the same time claim he’s suspicious for not voting for Psyduck? With logic like that, you can twist the knife to condemn someone’s actions suspicious regardless of what he or she does.

So here’s my question to you Hecto: Why have you presented a false narrative based on wrong and twisted facts to make your accusations towards Cabot look more incriminating if you’re innocent? Especially since it’s the same method Walrein tried to use when he claimed me, Karo’s, and Ess’ authors were suspicious for supposedly “not contributing to any actual analysis”.))
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
((As false as the narrative may seem to you, it is undoubtedly how it seemed to us along the way. If you recall from the day before, Hecto and I were a bit surprised at your change of heart in terms of voting regarding Mia, Cabot. We asked you about it specifically, since you were once among the most reluctant to cast a vote, in our eyes—aside from ourselves, since we didn’t want to draw much attention to ourselves or our role. I felt that I would be letting on too much if I became adamant about Mia being innocent, as my reading suggested... So I fell back, knowing we would have to take an innocent kill to preserve my role’s anonymity. We needed something more solid. Imagine our surprise when she turned out to be mafia. But on this day, we simply couldn’t wait any longer. We had to present what we knew.

From my perspective, and the timing of it all, yes, there were only two votes prior to Cabot chiming in... but they were also the only two votes cast. It was a sudden and strong trend. From what we’ve seen, that can lead to significant momentum. And it did. That is what gave your decision to vote for Mia have less weight. We saw the trend start, and perhaps you did, too. Wanting to avoid being called unwilling again so deep into this puzzle, you jumped at the opportunity.

According to the manual, it’s known as ‘bussing’—throwing a fellow mafia member under the bus in order to falsely solidify your innocence to the town. But the reason I was unsure of this approach was simply because they already lost one so early. Could they afford to bus another? I’m not so sure. So perhaps you had to wait until the trend seemed to start, and keep a vote flip in your mind in case Mia successfully defended herself.))

“I would also like to add that suspicion for not contributing to actual analysis is something that we have been trying to weed out. That is why we checked Karo second, specifically due to his silence. Part of the reason I analyzed Loki next was for similar reasons, in addition to the Dave redirect failing. It could have been by luck... or perhaps by something else. But if my readings are accurate, then it indeed was luck.” Hecto pawed at the ground thoughtfully. “Cabot, I didn’t analyze you because you did not seem as suspicious as Loki. Yet you are all that is left that I can reasonably suspect before we delve into conspiratory territory. Lachlan was also uncertain... but his adamance against Mia convinced me otherwise.”

((To be fair, that could be bussing, too. Let me reiterate that the only one still present that we’ve analyzed is Loki. Starr, Mel, and Dave have powers that seemed to disrupt the mafia. I doubt they’re ALL mafia, and while one of them could be lying... I’m not sure that’s as likely.

Speaking of Loki, I acknowledge that Cabot voted for Loki on the day Psyduck was jailed... but only after some hemming and hawing, at least from my perception—hence, again, our surprise at your reaction to Mia yesterday. It felt... uncharacteristic.))

Hecto lowered his head. “Making accusations like this without solid evidence is not characteristic of me, either. But the circumstances all point to you, Cabot, unless there is bussing involved, as my guardian says.”

((So, that’s where we are. A line of circumstances that, while not perfect, is the best we have based on our information. Assuming I’m not a ‘naive cop,’ at least—but since Karo likely wasn’t a cop, that only leads me to assume that either I’m the real one, or there is another that is still with us, or was lost early on.))

“...Hrm...” Hecto paused. “I must also add something. Cabot’s guardian... I recall the voice being particularly concerned with the term ‘scum’ being used to refer to the assailants. Wouldn’t that—“

((That’s a big maybe. Sure, maybe it’s because Cabot’s spirit felt attacked. But knowing him, it’s also possible he felt attacked on behalf of others. But... it is something on my mind, yes.))
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
((Addendum: another thought just occurred to me, since Cabot’s guardian is leaning on it. It’s being implied that I am mafia for making this accusation. That by accusing a potentially powerless, low-impact player, I’m mafia.))

Hecto spoke up, eyes brightening slightly. “In all honesty, I was hoping to not reveal any of this until later, and see what Starr and the others had to say and what their reasoning may have been. However...” Hecto glanced at the fallen human and Fish next to her. “Circumstances changed.”

((Right. But to go on with my point: if I was mafia, possibly the only mafia left according to Cabot’s guardian, why would I suddenly draw all the attention to myself when there were so many other unknowns? Obviously, coming out with this accusation would run the risk of being jailed. Hecto and I knew that when we decided to speak up. But that’s because we had little to lose. As the cop, time was running out. It was already a huge risk to stay quiet for THIS long if random innocents like Ess are disappearing every night. But I wouldn’t have to worry about that if I was mafia.

Simply put... If I was mafia right now, I’d be trying to blend in as much as possible after two of them, perhaps even the convert, were taken out back to back. I’d never try a bold play like this and break my own trend of wait-and-see if I had everything to lose. Right now? I don’t have a lot to lose. My goal was to give you all the information I had. And I did that.))
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
Starr’s impromptu floor nap is not a restful one. She keeps rolling over in her sleep, occasionally muttering, “It doesn’t make sense…”

The swaps, the redirects, they didn’t line up the way she was expecting. Something doesn’t fit. Whether Dave is lying or not, the kill shouldn’t have landed on Ess. It doesn’t make sense. Not unless something else happened. Something they haven’t accounted for yet…

At once, her eyes snap open. Starr pulls herself to her feet, still a bit groggy. She notices something going on with Hecto and Cabot but decides not to interfere. Instead, she zeroes in on the… snake thing, the one with the same black and green hex motif as Hecto.

“You,” she says, pointing to Loki. “I dunno what your deal is. Some kinda Legendary that can turn into a human? Whatever, point is, you look like someone who’d pull shit in the middle of the night just to mess with the rest of us so you could laugh about it behind our backs. I didn’t wanna have to deal with that when we’ve got all this other shit going on. But… much as I hate to admit it”—the words look physically painful—“I need your help. So tell me the fucking truth, got it? Did you do anything weird around Dave or Mel last night?”

((I know this seems random. And I kept this short to avoid derailing the Hecto/Cabot discussion, which I’m really interested to see continue, and mostly want to stay out of for now. But trust me, we need to hear from Loki. It’s important.))
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
Loki laughed at the debate between Cabot and Hecto. "Now this will be entertaining."

He turned to Starr. "For that matter, I was watching for whatever caused this whole mess. As well as protecting Dave. From them."
 

Chibi Pika

Stay positive
Staff
Location
somewhere in spacetime
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. pikachu-chibi
  2. lugia
  3. palkia
  4. lucario-shiny
  5. incineroar-starr
Starr sighs deeply to herself. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that. This complicates things."

"That was a trap. When I walked in here this morning, I thought you were guilty. But your answer checks out. You see, I saw you snooping around my area last night, and figured you must have been targeting me for something shady. But Repeat swapped Dave and me, and I'd been suspecting that I see everything that happens after that swap, not before."

"If you were mafia, and your action got swapped onto me, I'd be in bad shape. So the good news is, I'm not writing your name down tonight. Bad news, I know who I am writing down, and I don't like it..."
 

kyeugh

you gotta feel your lines
Staff
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. farfetchd-galar
  2. gfetchd-kyeugh
  3. onion-san
  4. farfetchd
"Protecting, you say?" Lachlan repeats, now sporting a pair of thick glasses and a full, glorious mustache. "Protecting in what manner, Loki? Are you a bodyguard of some kind? A healer? I don't ask you this to paint a target on your back— saying you were protecting Dave did that on its own, I daresay. Ohoho!" He blows pensively into his bubble pipe. "But I am curious what you claim to have been doing, exactly, and what your motivation in selecting Dave of all people was, if you are willing to explain yourself."
 
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