[COMPLETE] THE MADEMOISELLE'S BANQUET (December Mafia)—GAME THREAD

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Mademoiselle lowered her gaze to met Steven's, eye to eye, a coy smile spread across her features. "Well, best get started on your search then."

Steven glared back at their host, still disgusted with the whole situation. Find the killer, or killers, and walk out with your life. Otherwise, share the same fate as the Bisharp. Nothing in between.

"Fine then," Steven spat, swinging his fin back to his side and turning his back on the Mademoiselle. If he had to play this game, then play he would. And he didn't play games to lose them.

He was still stewing over what transpired when a new voice spoke up. A voice belonging to someone he hadn't seen the previous night. A slender Gardevoir with a pair of spectacles and a penchant for sounding a little too much like the stuffy Bisharp. Great... As if the mansion weren't already full of ghosts and killers, there were more insufferable people.

"Let us discuss what went on last night to ascertain any suspicious actions. You there, Empoleon," he pointed at Steven, "Would you mind recounting what you had been up to? Disgusting as it may be, it seems we are short on time. Let's ensure the noose around both of our necks doesn't tighten prematurely."

Steven tipped his head to the side in annoyance. "Actually I would mind, since there's not much to recount. Zen and I exchanged some words last night, seeing as we were the only two people in the mansion for a while. Then our host sprung this game on us, and in the morning I found out along with the rest of you that Zen was killed."

Steven crossed his arms and fixed the Professor with an earnest stare. "There's not much more for me to say at this point. Noose or not, I have nothing helpful to offer yet, though I can assure you, my business does not involve killing."

"Maybe, instead of questioning the one person who would have to be the absolute dumbest murderer to go after the most obvious target on the first night, try questioning one of the several ghosts we have in this mansion. From the amount of lurking around they've done during the day, it doesn't seem a far cry to suspect they would do the same at night."

 

[MintyMimix]

"How rude..." the Professor muttered himself, "...Though I suppose being questioned is grounds enough for such a reaction."

He cleared his throat and replied louder, "I apologize for the miscommunication; I am merely attempting to obtain testimony from all attendees here. You simply seemed to be the one with the most articulation..." His eyes darted away at the mention of ghosts. They were by far the most difficult to read, especially as a psychic. "...as I doubt those you alluded to would be much for conversation. Still, I shall take your words into consideration accordingly. Good day to you, sir, and rest assured, I too wish for there to be no bloodshed on this or any evening."

WIth a purr, he introduced himself with a warm psychic pulse, inserting his name into the Pokemon's head.

He smiled at the use of a psychic ping. Finally, something familiar in this treacherous place. Deciding to respond in tow, he provided a psychic ping of greeting back to Neo, and communicated telepathically the question. 'It is nice to meet you as well, Neo. It is good to see at least one of us here has a bit more politeness. If you do not mind, would you be able to recount your actions of the evening prior? Perhaps we could work together to determine which one of the... unsavory individuals needs to be held responsible.' He made a mental note to relay this information to the others at a later time once he got everyone's stories.

 

[windskull]

So, it was going to be like this again, was it? Anti let out a long sigh and shook his head. He hated this. He hated this stupid game that turned people on each other - it went against all of his heroic principals!

He turned to face Steven, his voice shrill and indignant. "Hey! Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I'm evil. Dark things don't necessarily have to be the bad guys, and it's kind of mean to assume that!" He crossed his stubby little arms, pouting, and muttered, "Besides, it's not like I chose to be a ghost."

Turning his attention away from the empoleon, he addressed the rest of the crowd. His voice dropped an octave as he tried to give off a confident and serious aura. "Look... I've been in a situation like this before. We're going to see the true darkness of humanity. We'll be at each other's throats before all is said and done. But I would caution against sharing information about whatever you did in the night, unless you feel it would be important in the moment. For now. For now, there are too many unknowns.

He shook his head. "Right now, we need to start putting pressure on on people, especially the quieter ones. Try and make the badguys squeal."

((As an aside, I will be relatively inactive this day due to unfortunate timing for my friday/saturday work hours. However, I'll keep up with the thread and try to chime in when possible. I'm going to bed soon so I'm gonna sleep on things for the night and see about putting some pressure on people in the morning))

 

[Seren]

Nothing.

The yveltal didn't even react nor respond to Diamond's humble offer of service, save perhaps a curious glance at him when the empoleon's attention briefly shifted.

But why? Why would Yveltal not-

Unless, unless. This was not the Yveltal he'd been expecting.

But then, who were they? And why were the rest of them here?

That answer came quickly enough, as the Yveltal(?) explained their game. Some sort of murder mystery. Well, that was fine. Diamond had done his fair share of tormenting trainers with his gang of ghosts. He'd survived to become their leader, and he would survive this, too. Even so, for that night, there was nothing left for Diamond to do except retire to whatever corner he could find for the night and contemplate their host.

Then morning came, and with it Diamond found something even more interesting than the false Yveltal.

Between that and the ribbon Mademoiselle held in her talons, it was easy to put two and two together from there. Something had happened to the bisharp overnight, and whatever it was, ensured that Zen would no longer be with them.

Diamond slunk into a shadow as the collection of the gathered assorted pokemon returned to the room from wherever they'd camped overnight. So, the bisharp had apparently been murdered during the night. Yes, Diamond did seem to recall their host mention something about killers on the previous night, didn't it? And the yveltal seemed to imply that they were not the one responsible. Strange, Diamond had immediately suspected the false god as the primary suspect - this was their party, after all. At least, until one of the other ghosts in the room - the phantump -mentioned being in a similar situation. Was there something else going on here? A few of the other gathered pokemon had already started questioning each other about what they spent the night doing. Bah, as if it weren't obvious; he'd been contemplating the false god that dared to bring him here and use him like a pawn.

Diamond eyed the shattered pieces of the bisharp's figurine, wondering vaguely how it tasted. Maybe he'd just overslept, and the crazy mimikyu had shattered it. The fairy-type had already shown an interest in throwing glass. But then he spotted the bisharp's bell ribbon in the yveltal's talons, the other, more tangible evidence, and he couldn't help but wonder... They didn't mean it literally, did they? Didn't they call this a game? Surely the stupid bisharp was simply allowed to go back wherever he came from. Right?

Diamond had never given any serious thought to his own mortality before now. As ringleader, he and his ghost gang were always the ones doing the tormenting. But here... well, who knew where here even was? Everything now was an unknown, and Diamond knew better than to take his chances on a bet he wasn't guaranteed to win. Here, he was alone. Maybe he would be better off looking for allies, but... who here to trust?

Bah, that human trainer was rubbing off on him.

Whatever. He'd be fine. He knew how to survive when things got tough. And from the sounds of it, that little phantump had managed to survive a similar encounter. If he could do it, surely this wasn't going to be much of a challenge.

---

[[ Two notes: First, the top half of this post is just me finishing off the RP part of N0 since I didn't get to post before the thread closed. Second, at least as far as I know, Inke can not be the one responsible as host, so no need to point that out to me. ]]

 

[ShiniGojira]

Someone was killed?

Litno's heart dropped.

That scary-looking Bisharp died?

He gulped, suddenly feeling anxious about the idea of someone strong enough to kill a Bisharp of all things.

He trotted to the entrance of the grand hall, taking care to calm himself so not to ooze slime all over the place.

(He starts oozing when he's nervous.)

The light of the morning sun greeted him from a nearby window.

He noted the newcomer, a Gardevoir that stood next to the fierce-looking Empoleon, and being jeered at by said Pokémon.

And... and...

What was that delicious smell?

He sniffed the air, and sensed the surroundings with his horns.

There was food nearby.

He perked up, noticing the large table in the middle of the room.

He moved towards the table with a speed not normally expected from a living ball of slime.

There was only one thing on his mind right now.

And that was getting some food in him.

The others could wait.

He needed to eat now.

The small Dragon-type jumped onto the table, his eyes shimmering from the wide variety of food available.

He ignored the Empoleon next to him and started gobbling everything around him.

 

[Flyg0n]

Someone was dead. Hana almost wanted to be surprised, except this was familiar, vaguely. She'd played a game like this once before, hadn't she? And she was still live, she thought. Which meant they needed to find the culprits quickly, before they were all dead.

Still keeping some distance, she kept an eye on the assembled Pokemon. No one really stood out as suspicious. Except... she didn't remember seeing the Gardevoir around. But perhaps they were just hiding?

[[Quick question. Did Fuse die because they were modkilled/subbed?]]

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

[[Quick question. Did Fuse die because they were modkilled/subbed?]]

[[No, the sub was for a different player, per this post in the sign up thread.]]

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

[[heck, link didn't work bc of mobile formatting... Head over to the sign up thread and check out the latest post, it explains who was swapped. It wasn't fuse.]]

 

[Sinderella]

Loïc tiptoed out into the foyer, his ears perked at the sound of the other Pokemon...talking about who died? Somebody died?

Weird. Spooky.

He didn't remember who he saw yesterday so...he guessed he was kind of sorry that somebody got killed. Or, maybe they weren't killed and just, taken out of the game?

He jostled himself, before scurrying back over to the table and jumping onto it. One of his shadowy hands poked out from under his cloak, and in it was one large, juicy pecha berry.

Snack, snack, snack time!

He began to gnaw on it, as his real eyes darted around the room. He wondered if anybody would start fessing up to who killed who. That's how this worked right? Hopefully that happened before somebody came for him.

 

[Dragonfree]

May watched Yvetal's casual explanation, leaning against a wall with her arms folded. There was a cold tightness in her chest. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Discuss what happened!? What happened seems pretty clear to me." He jabbed one razor-edged fin at their host. "One of your guests gets their kicks from killing, and they need to go."

Her lungs flashed hot and then cold. "Don't be an idiot," she snapped. "She explained to us yesterday that it's a game. She talked about killers before anything even happened. It's not like there just happens to be some crazed murderer on the loose."

She took a sharp breath, glaring at Yveltal. "She organized all this. If anyone's actually dying here and it's not just one big game of pretend, it's on her."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Her lungs flashed hot and then cold. "Don't be an idiot," she snapped. "She explained to us yesterday that it's a game. She talked about killers before anything even happened. It's not like there just happens to be some crazed murderer on the loose."

She took a sharp breath, glaring at Yveltal. "She organized all this. If anyone's actually dying here and it's not just one big game of pretend, it's on her."

"Call me an idiot and then agree with me? That's a new one." Steven turned to the Meowstic and gave a dry laugh. "This whole situation rests squarely on the Yveltal's shoulders, but I doubt there's much any of us can do except abide by her rules. Though," he pondered at the Meowstic with narrowed eyes. "I'm not sure why it'd be so shocking to have a killing game run by a god of death, especially since your species hails from the region it presides over."

"Regardless, there's still an awful lot of silence in this group considering what we've all just witnessed."

Steven marched forward toward the banquet table and slammed a fin into the surface, cleaving a croissant in half directly in front of the Goomy's nose.

"When breakfast is far more interesting than finding a killer who at any point could snuff out your existence, there is something fundamentally wrong with this crowd. At least the Gardevoir had enough insight to begin asking questions, even if their tone could use some work."

"So," he leaned down, still leaving his fin buried in the table, and addressed the Goomy caught mid-chew, "you were in the room last night with Zen and myself. Any ideas why someone here would want to kill that Bisharp first?"

He straightened back upright and addressed the room as a whole. "Or any of you, really? I have my own theory but I'd be more than happy to hear from the rest of you. Or would you rather have tea and scones and wait to die quietly in your sleep?"

 

[Dragonfree]

"Call me an idiot and then agree with me? That's a new one." Steven turned to the Meowstic and gave a dry laugh. "This whole situation rests squarely on the Yveltal's shoulders, but I doubt there's much any of us can do except abide by her rules. Though," he pondered at the Meowstic with narrowed eyes. "I'm not sure why it'd be so shocking to have a killing game run by a god of death, especially since your species hails from the region it presides over."

May felt herself flush and hated it, though it was probably hard to tell under the fur. "I'm from Johto. And I'm a human. I don't know why I've been turned into a bloody Pokémon, but I've never even been to Kalos. And excuse me if I think actually killing people for a game would be pretty sick no matter who you are. Frankly it's more shocking if you'd just shrug that off as 'Oh, she's a god of death, whatever.'"

At least the Empoleon seemed interested in trying to figure out what was going on, win the game, for whatever that was worth. Same with the Gardevoir in the glasses. There wasn't exactly a lot of information to work with, though. Just a bunch of Pokémon, mostly just fooling around or slinking around quietly. If it was a game, it wouldn't be set up to just have the ghosts be evil, or some crap like that. Not if it was a decent game, anyway.

"I don't know anything about what happened last night," she said. "But does there even have to be a reason they picked him? It's a game. If the rules are somebody has to die in the night, they might as well just have picked someone at random. It's not like anyone here knows each other, right?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

May felt herself flush and hated it, though it was probably hard to tell under the fur. "I'm from Johto. And I'm a human. I don't know why I've been turned into a bloody Pokémon, but I've never even been to Kalos. And excuse me if I think actually killing people for a game would be pretty sick no matter who you are. Frankly it's more shocking if you'd just shrug that off as 'Oh, she's a god of death, whatever.'"

"I don't know anything about what happened last night," she said. "But does there even have to be a reason they picked him? It's a game. If the rules are somebody has to die in the night, they might as well just have picked someone at random. It's not like anyone here knows each other, right?"

"Interesting," muttered Steven. He'd wanted to wait for the Goomy's response, but what the Meowstic had said was too intriguing to wait. He wrenched his fin free of the table with a light splintering sound, and moved back toward where the Mewostic was. "And here I thought all the guests were fine with their current forms except myself. At least it's refreshing to hear someone else is just as baffled by all this. I'm guessing it's all part of this game. Win the game, win back our bodies, no?"

He looked down at the Meowstic, not in disdain, but favorably. He rather liked their attitude. Much better to have a spine than be all manners and no sense.

"A shame there's nothing you can share about last night, though. I was hoping someone might be able to offer something without painting a target on their back. It's safe to assume everyone in this game got an... interesting message last night from our dear host. We all have powers, to aid us in this game? Otherwise it'd be completely unfair. And if all the Madam was interested in was unfair death, she could have just ended it all right away."

"The real question is, how do we communicate with each other without letting the scum know what we know and what we are capable of? The scum surely knows the pool for their potential targets. It's simply down to prioritizing. If there was no better reason to target Zen, was it a random coin flip? Or was it a set up? Were the scum hoping to cast suspicion in another direction for their first kill?"

At this Steven moved over to the game board. Leaning down, he picked up one of the broken pieces of Zen's statuette. Slowly, he turned the crystal over in his hand, staring hard at what was left before squeezing it in his grasp. Turning, Steven eyed several of the silent contingent in the room. "At this point, if the scum can use a coin flip for their decisions, then so can I. And I believe I have the prerequisites for my pool of votes as well... Unless of course, someone wants to speak up and change my mind."

With an air of finality, Steven turned away from the group and walked toward the glass doors that lead outside. He paused, his hand resting on the knob. He kept his back to the group as he spoke.

"And for the record, I am not dismissive of the absurdity of this game. Logically, a god who takes life would think up a pastime involving their expertise. There's no surprise there. Do not mistake my bluntness for lack of caring."

And with that, he opened the doors and stepped outside.

 

[windskull]

With a sigh, Anti lowered slightly. The loss of the bisharp was starting to weigh on him. What sort of hero lets people get hurt?

"I... hope his soul is still in the bell, like the Yveltal said before." He gestured to the ribbon. "Or else, somewhere safe. But there's not much we can do about that right now, is there?

"As for the motive... well, I can think of a couple of scenarios, but some of them would require further knowledge of the powers at play. And while that's information we need, I'm hesitant for people to reveal their hands too soon and paint a target on their backs. Especially if I'm unable to protect them."

Lifting his head, he looked around the room, picking out a couple people who hadn't spoke at all yet, even to give some sort of shocked response. Why were they so quiet. Were they in shock? Uncertain what to say, preoccupied? He didn't know.

"I don't like the idea of eliminating people, don't get me wrong." Hated it even. It wasn't heroic. It made him feel like a bad guy. "But that's the only way to win. To stand a chance, we need information. Need to observe how people act. And we can't do that if people don't speak up. So for now, my vote lands on you." He pointed to the flygon.

((Voting early both to try and nudge Tetra into posting and because I'll be at work up until just before End of Day. If I have time to hop in and see what's up tomorrow, and new information has been brought to light, I'm willing to nudge my vote elsewhere.))

Vote: Hana (Flyg0n)
@Inkedust

 

[HelloYellow17]

. 'It is nice to meet you as well, Neo. It is good to see at least one of us here has a bit more politeness. If you do not mind, would you be able to recount your actions of the evening prior? Perhaps we could work together to determine which one of the... unsavory individuals needs to be held responsible.'

Neo purred in response. He quite liked this mild-mannered fellow. He was quite different from most of the humans he'd met in Orre.

He kneaded the carpet with his forepaws and replied with another psychic ping. He didn't have much to say about the night before; he'd been sleeping, after all! But he would do his best to pay closer attention from now on. He, Neo, was the best at games--he wasn't about to let any details slip past him!

Someone was killed?

Litno's heart dropped.

That scary-looking Bisharp died?

He gulped, suddenly feeling anxious about the idea of someone strong enough to kill a Bisharp of all things.

He trotted to the entrance of the grand hall, taking care to calm himself so not to ooze slime all over the place.

(He starts oozing when he's nervous.)

The light of the morning sun greeted him from a nearby window.

He noted the newcomer, a Gardevoir that stood next to the fierce-looking Empoleon, and being jeered at by said Pokémon.

And... and...

What was that delicious smell?

He sniffed the air, and sensed the surroundings with his horns.

There was food nearby.

He perked up, noticing the large table in the middle of the room.

He moved towards the table with a speed not normally expected from a living ball of slime.

There was only one thing on his mind right now.

And that was getting some food in him.

The others could wait.

He needed to eat now.

The small Dragon-type jumped onto the table, his eyes shimmering from the wide variety of food available.

He ignored the Empoleon next to him and started gobbling everything around him.

He jostled himself, before scurrying back over to the table and jumping onto it. One of his shadowy hands poked out from under his cloak, and in it was one large, juicy pecha berry.

Snack, snack, snack time!

A little flurry of movement caught Neo's eye, and he turned in time to see a...goopy...slug....Pokemon thing hop onto a table and begin to gorge himself. A ragged doll Pokemon joined soon after.

Well. He couldn't solve this game on an empty stomach, right? Of course not! Food was important. And if there was anything Wes had taught him, it was that you never passed up a meal.

He eagerly trotted over and hopped up onto the table, then began snarfing down everything in sight. He chirped and swished his tail in delight. This place was the best--

BAM.

Steven marched forward toward the banquet table and slammed a fin into the surface, cleaving a croissant in half directly in front of the Goomy's nose.

Neo yowled and scrambled backwards, knocking plates of food to the floor. On instinct, a silvery Protect flared around him and he arched his back, braced for a fight…only for the Spike Bird to jeer at the slug.

A growl rose in his throat. He did not like this bird, who reminded him of some of the humans in Phenac…what was it Wes called them, again? Snot…snorty…? Oh!

Snooty assholes.

Neo had no idea what it meant, but from the way Wes used it, it seemed fitting for this angry Sword Bird. He certainly had a lot of nerve to pick fights…and even more nerve to interrupt Neo’s meal…

And I believe I have the prerequisites for my pool of votes as well... Unless of course, someone wants to speak up and change my mind."

By the time Neo had composed himself once more, Snot Bird had already turned away and was talking with someone else. What was all that for, then??

Snatching one more bite of the nearest plate of sausage, he leapt from the table and padded up to Snot Bird and a catlike mon. Neo sniffed briefly at her; another psychic! She seemed nice, too.

He turned back to Snot Bird and pinged him. If he was so sure about who was guilty, then he should share what he knew. Neo puffed out his chest. That was just common sense in a game like this, wasn’t it? Heh. He supposed not everyone was as good at this as he was, though. It couldn’t be helped if they couldn’t all be as awesome as he was.

 

[Flyg0n]

With a sigh, Anti lowered slightly. The loss of the bisharp was starting to weigh on him. What sort of hero lets people get hurt?

"I... hope his soul is still in the bell, like the Yveltal said before." He gestured to the ribbon. "Or else, somewhere safe. But there's not much we can do about that right now, is there?

"As for the motive... well, I can think of a couple of scenarios, but some of them would require further knowledge of the powers at play. And while that's information we need, I'm hesitant for people to reveal their hands too soon and paint a target on their backs. Especially if I'm unable to protect them."

Lifting his head, he looked around the room, picking out a couple people who hadn't spoke at all yet, even to give some sort of shocked response. Why were they so quiet. Were they in shock? Uncertain what to say, preoccupied? He didn't know.

"I don't like the idea of eliminating people, don't get me wrong." Hated it even. It wasn't heroic. It made him feel like a bad guy. "But that's the only way to win. To stand a chance, we need information. Need to observe how people act. And we can't do that if people don't speak up. So for now, my vote lands on you." He pointed to the flygon.

((Voting early both to try and nudge Tetra into posting and because I'll be at work up until just before End of Day. If I have time to hop in and see what's up tomorrow, and new information has been brought to light, I'm willing to nudge my vote elsewhere.))

Vote: Hana (Flyg0n)
@Inkedust

Hana groaned. Here we go again.

She'd been innocent last game, and so had Steven. But people loved throwing around flase accusations. She rolled her eyes. Not guilty. Obviously.

But really, what defense could she give without everyone flying into a tizzy thinking she was just one of the killers?

((husbands birthday was tooday so yeah, haha
town, but I've just been too busy to post on opening day))

 

[Flyg0n]

((Welp, I forgot frak quotation marks lol))

"Look," she said, sighing. "It's not me. And you don't want me dead either, because that's bad for us good guys. I think we need to look elsewhere. Maybe someone else hiding. Maybe that Sableye or..." Everyone seemed to nice, it was hard to tell.

They always seemed nice.

"We need to be careful. Cautious. Maybe we can hear from some of the other guests."

 

[HelloYellow17]

Neo perked up at the voice of a…wow. A Flygon? They were huge, bigger than he would have expected. He took a moment to admire her dazzling scales and mighty wings. Impressive! Not as impressive as him, of course—but that was an impossible standard for anyone to meet, especially if they had the misfortune to be born as anything that wasn’t an Espeon.

He barked and shifted his weight from paw to paw, tail waving high in the air. He wasn’t sure who was a bad guy yet, but he knew he wasn’t a bad guy! He was with the good guys, of course, and he was going to help them win, because Neo never lost! They had no idea just how lucky they were to have him on their team.

 

[Seren]

"Look," she said, sighing. "It's not me. And you don't want me dead either, because that's bad for us good guys. I think we need to look elsewhere. Maybe someone else hiding. Maybe that Sableye or..." Everyone seemed to nice, it was hard to tell.

Diamond crept out of the shadow he'd hidden with a smirk on his face and malice in his shiny eyes. This creature dared to single him out, with such a lack of conviction, no less? After she herself had just been called out? After the empoleon just stormed off to arceus knows where, rather than sit and be questioned himself? How... unimpressive.

Oh, what he wouldn't give to be able to battle her, right here, right now! But that wasn't how this game was played, was it?

"Really now? 'It wasn't me?' That's your fool-proof defense?" Diamond snapped. "Yes, very convincing, very convincing indeed!" He bit back his sarcastic tone as he continued; "I trust not all of you are as stupid as you look. You know I am here. I am 'hiding' because I dislike the light. I remain quiet because nothing has been said that merits my attention. Nor that of anyone else, in fact."

And so far, that was true; while there had been a few mildly interesting tidbits, such as the empoleon apparently alluding to the fact that he wasn't actually an empoleon and that he may not, in fact, be the only one present in a different body than normal. But interesting though that was, it felt, at present, completely irrelevant to the situation at hand. So far, no one had any useful, relevant information. At least none that they were willing to share, as no one had yet stepped forward. Lots of random accusations and aggression, though, that was for sure. Nasty empoleon, the rather dry meowstic, and even from himself - although, really, what had the flygon expected? She instigated it, and he sure as hell wasn't about to just let that go. Nobody was going to throw baseless shade at him. (Could flygon actually learn shadow ball? He wasn't sure.)

He cast a quick glance around the room at the other pokemon. "If any of you has even a clue as to why the bisharp was targeted, by all means, enlighten us. I knew nothing about him. As the small one says," - he indicated the meowstic - "I know nothing about anyone here." He turned his attention back to the flygon, smirking again. "If and when I have something to contribute, I will do so when I feel it is appropriate and worth the risk of potentially painting a target on my gems. I trust you might feel the same, do you not?" He cocked his head slightly to the right.

Then, with a thoughtful claw to his chin, he added, "Although, although... it seems it may already be too late for you, with the only vote for your head. Perhaps you should try antagonizing someone actually suspicious, or I may start finding that 'someone suspicious' to be you." Diamond casually reached for another shattered piece of the bisharp's figurine and chewed on it - not great, but he'd eaten worse. "I find it curious that, when you come under scrutiny, your first reaction is to try to deflect that attention elsewhere, rather than defend yourself. Hmmmm?"

Diamond slunk back down into his shadow, his final words echoing slightly as they distorted. "Just something to consider..."

 

[ShiniGojira]

The Goomy shrunk back from the near assault.

The reality of Steven's words crushed him and he suddenly remembered where exactly he was.

He was in a mansion, full of strangers with some of them being potential killers.

Litno took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself from the thought of someone, anyone squishing his small frail body and snuffing his life out.

He looked around, taking note of the crowd in the room.

The most common typings among them seem to be ghost and psychic, with a Flygon being dragon like him. There was also the pompous Steel-type and Purrloin.

One of them had to be the killer but who?

The rude Empoleon had said something about powers. What exactly did that entail?

His dad had said Psychic-types were usually the one to have the ability to read minds. Maybe one of them could read one's intention?

There were three Psychic-types available so that was a possibility.

Then again, that Espeon acted a lot like the ferals back in his own world so it wasn't like it was a guaranteed.

Maybe someone else could gain the ability to do so with their 'power'?

He shook his head and turned around, recoiling back at the sight of the costume's strewn smile.

It was the Pokémon that was smashing things last night, he didn't enjoy the fright it had given him.

He scooched away from the Fairy-type and down the table where he saw a Sableye snarking back at the Flygon.

Already he could feel the tension hanging in the air.

It made him wanted to run.

But he steeled himself and waited, and if there was one thing he was good at, it'd be solving puzzles.

He just needed time and knowledge.