Kaiju Paradise ~ Murder Mystery

Chapter 1 - Wary Fog

"H-huh?!"

I sat upwards suddenly, a horrible wailing, choking, sobbing sound coming from somewhere outside, in the cafeteria. I groaned and pulled myself out of the sink, jumping down off the marble counter and landing on the bathroom floor.

My neck and legs were sore and I yawned, holding a paw to my mouth and rubbing my eyes as I pressed the button to open the door. I walked out and kind of stumbled back, shock trembling through my body.

Ghost Fox was sobbing, their body quaking as they clung onto Nightshade's arm. Nightcrawler hurried over. "Woah, woah, woah! What's going on?!" They yelled.

"Can we get a table large enough for all the goos? And, drag it into the main area in the cafeteria and alert every Gootraxian at the facility to come here."

Sprinklekit nodded, "we have some in the freezer-" they bumped into Conecat as they headed towards the freezer, and they glared at each other before Mochi pushed them apart and got the table instead.

While they were setting it up my sibling Fashui walked up.

"What's happening? I just woke up." They said, glancing at Ghost Fox and shaking their orange-red tail. The bright yellow glow briefly warmed the cool-toned area, before stilling.

"Dunno. I woke up a few minutes ago myself..," I said, and leaned into them. Fashui hugged me and ruffled the fur on top of my head, "it'll be okay whatever it is, Feizao. Er- you're um, leaking-"

I glanced down. "Oh-" a few drops of mintish-blue liquid soap was on the ground. "Sorry, it happens when I'm nervous," I said, reaching down to the ground and pressing my paw pad to the soap. I absorbed it.

"ALL GOOTRAXIANS! GATHER AROUND THIS TABLE AND LISTEN TO GHOST FOX." Nightcrawler yelled.

Me and Fashui glanced at each other, then went over to the table. I sat to the left of my sibling, across from Nightshade, who was next to Ghost Fox. "Ghost Fox saw something today," Nightshade started.

"I-I- I just s-stepped outside, aa-and-" Ghost Fox gasped, and gulped for air. "I- u-uhm- I-I saw something, it wa..aas- blood, and- I- " Ghost Fox closed their eyes for a second as if in pain, swallowed, and continued. "I-I- looked up, a-and.. oh god.." Ghost Fox put their face on the table and put their arms on top of their head.

"It's okay," Nightshade murmured, rubbing circles on Ghost Fox's back. Nightshade looked up. "They saw Lemon Shork. They were.. they were dead."

Ghost Fox was wailing and clung onto Nightshade in a hug. All the shorks looked at each other, stunned. Anxiety rushed through their faces and grief glazed their eyes.

"No..," Watermelon Shork whispered, eyes wide with disbelief.

Nightcrawler stood up. "This is not good. There are murderers among us." They announced, pressing on their goggles. "..where was Lemon Shork last seen?"

"I saw them talking to Protogen and Figs last night," Carneline offered.

Lantern Shork stood up suddenly. Their head hung, they slowly lifted it, their eyes wacky. Lantern Shork growled lowly and bowled towards Protogen, but a few Gootraxians held them back.

Catte, Lang, Mochi, and Nuclear Rabbit all restrained Lantern Shork.

"Stop!" Mochi begged. Lantern Shork roared and twisted, sinking their fangs deep into Mochi's arm and running forward again. I jumped towards the commotion as Lantern Shork pinned Protogen, they were about to slash the Gootraxian's neck when I grabbed their arms, holding them back by their arm and shoulder, and Fashui dashed forward to restrain Lantern Shork by the other side.

Protogen panted and pulled themself out from under Lantern Shork as Nightcrawler stood in front of Lantern Shork. "ENOUGH," Nightcrawler snapped. They stared down at Lantern Shork. "You don't have NEARLY enough evidence to accuse them, much less KILL Protogen."

"Evidence enough for me," Lantern Shork muttered in a retort, rising up and dusting off their thighs. They walked over to their seat, shooting Protogen a death glare as they sat down. They glared at their table as Kawaii Shork murmured softly to them, and Watermelon Shork hugged their side, crying quietly. Shork laid on the floor and groaned.

Suddenly the vent above opened, and a note fluttered out, before closing again. Nightcrawler pick up the note, which landed on the middle of the table, and read it aloud.

"Welcome. I'm sure you've noticed something by now. One of you is missing, or dead, rather. You, or at least some of, you, have gained abilities. There are certain roles.

The witch can poison or save a Gootraxian. The murderers.. Well, they're obvious. They're us, and we're here to kill you all. We'll keep it fair, of course- no point in hunting you if you can't put up a fight. You can kill a Goo every night.

One of you can uncover somebody's true identity. Two of you are attached- one dies, so does the other. There is another role, but we choose to keep it secret for now. Careful what you say, that's all I'll let on. Vague, but that makes it fun, right?

Anyways, you may vote now. Have fun. It's signed 'sincerely, somebody obsessed with your demise. PS. Nightcrawler is safe. They can be your leader.'"

A goo snatched the note, reading it. "Yeah." They said, "it's true." I shuddered.

"Who should we vote?" I asked meekly. Everybody turned to look at me and I quivered slightly.

Nightcrawler sighed. "Let's keep votes anonymous," they said, instantly attracting everybody's admiring attention. "For now, we should make slips of paper, I will write down the votes. We will see the majority..,"

I nodded, a little dazed that NIGHTCRAWLER of all Gootraxians had looked at me, or rather payed attention, well really RESPONDED to me, that was crazy. I snapped back to reality after thinking of their power a bit, how long was I thinking? Daydreaming?

They had already set up a poll box, and passing around small pieces of paper to write down a vote, fold it up, and put it in the little slit at the top of the cardboard box, it said SHIPPING on it.

"Alright, I counted the votes," Nightcrawler said after a bit.

"One vote on Protogen," 

A few wary glances at Lantern Shork, but their scowl quickly led those few to look away while Nightcrawler continued.

"One vote on- me," They said, a hint of laughter.

"One vote on Nightshade, one vote on Sprinklekit, one vote on Conekat, and 32 on skipping."

I breathed a small sigh of relief, we didn't have enough evidence to vote ANY goos, though this was not a good situation.

We all uneasily went about talking to each other, I mainly stuck with Fashui as they were my sibling and I trusted them, I heard the word "murderer" drifting around a few times.

We uneasily took food from the cafeteria, however sitting at the tables we were much more spread out, I anxiously nibbled on a taco while Fashui dug into a hamburger. About halfway through our (indulgent) greasy meals I spoke up, "I'm nervous Fashui."

My usually bold sibling nudged me with their shoulder, wrapping their tail partially around my torso. "I am too," they murmured, shocking me that they weren't confident and boisterous.

Uneasily, we chatted into the early night and called it a day, throwing in the towel(literally for me, as there was a towel in my usual sink) and going to sleep.

It was then at around 2:53 am I heard a crashing and a shriek, and saw a shadow advancing as Panther protected Slime Pup, backing up and quivering, a normal paw cloaked in darkness grew long talons, and blood.

I screamed.