Kingdom Fallen

Evening Two: Nosy Teddy

To say Monokuma was furious by the bonding that occurred between the four was an understatement. Steam was quite literally pouring out of the teddy bear's ears as it pestered them about the meeting they held within the storage closet. Destroyer at this point had tuned the ranting bear out and was watching as Cotiere and Mully only fed the flames of the bear's pathetic temper tantrum.

Eventually, Cotiere got bored of the ordeal and threw a can of Febreze at the bear's head, causing it to flush red with anger. At this point, Destroyer was genuinely impressed with whoever constructed the robot— its ability to express emotions was phenomenal. So was its ability to feel bloodlust, but that current bloodthirsty state was more of a hindrance than an impressive feat.

Correction, it was utterly disturbing.

"I swear to all things holy, you four," Monokuma was growling, only to pause as a bird-like chirp echoed down the hall. There was a second, loud chirp, and the robot waited a bit if there would be another. There was not, so Monokuma continued, "I don't know what you troublemakers discussed but I assure you; there will not be a single area where you will be able to comune to plot behind my back in my castle! I will see to it!"

"Whatever you say," Arrator huffs with an eye roll.

With a final, displeased growl, the bear grabbed the rope it had slid down from and it retracted back into the roof, taking Monokuma with it.

"That was expected yet unpleasant," Mully remarks and the group resumes their way to the kitchen.

"Agreed," Arrator says with a sigh.

"I so wish I could just yeet that pompous animatronic into the stratosphere and never see it again, but something tells me it would simply just... Reappear," Cotiere muttered, his lips pressing into a thin line as he picked up the can of Febreze he had thrown at the toy.

"Same," Destroyer agrees. "I mean, let's be honest—"

"AND STARTING WITH A BANG WE SHALL!" Destroyer jumped hearing the bear's voice echo throughout the castle from some unseen speaker. "A body has been discovered! You have fifteen minutes to investigate~"

"Hepbhgabrp— Hell! Already?!" Coterie sputters before making a cohesive sentence as the announcement ends.

"Apparently. Best find it and figure out what's happening," Mully bluntly answers.

Without another word, the four continued forward, eventually Blank found them in the hall and led them to the location of the body, which happened to be in the lounge-like area.

Chaotic's corpse lay on the ground, head smashed in. It was not at all a pretty sight, seeing how the werewolf's snout caved inward and an eyeball was out of the socket as the bone and muscle holding it in place had been shattered and torn asunder. Mully promptly covered Destroyer's eyes, resulting in Destroyer grabbing the older man's hand and removing the blindfold.

"Kid, you shouldn't be looking—"

"It's a death game, Dad," Destroyer huffed his response, approaching the corpse. "I'll be seeing more."

He heard Mully's defeated sigh as the older man followed him.

"The weapon was the candelabra stand," Scorpio informs the approaching duo, motioning to the bloodied, steel-grey stand.

"Silver," Mully hummed, his robotic eye scanning the weapon. "Poisonous to a werewolf."

"Couldn't have been planned, though," Scorpio adds. "I mean look at this. It's overkill. Chaotic was for certain dead before his face was this severely caved in."

"Maybe. The bludgeoning was definitely the cause of death," Blank adds. "We have a victim, a corpse, and a weapon, yet no motive."

"I say the motive is the least of our concerns," Destroyer mutters, getting the trio's attention as he kneels beside the corpse.

His insides churned at the savage sight and rancid smell, but he swallowed the bile back down before he continued. "Mully, Cotiere, Arrator, and I were together the whole time. Four people with the exact same alibi plus we were nowhere near this room when this occurred. We're cleared. We just need their alibis, and we've got our culprit."

"Kid's right, we need alibis," Mully hums in agreement. "We need them from everyone, alongside ways to cross-reference alibis for truth and lies. We need to know where everyone was."

"Blank and I were together," Blank, who was standing beside Scorpio nodded in confirmation, "We remained in the dining hall until we heard Macaw trill in panic," Scorpio says. "We came in here and found Macaw staring at the corpse. When we saw it the announcement went off."

"The three are clear then," Arrator joins the conversation, kneeling beside Destroyer. "Only three innocents finding a body can trigger a body found announcement."

"Figure out who Macaw was with or passed recently, we have our culprit," Coterie concludes.

"That brings the question where's—" Mully begins only to be swiftly cut off.

"Attention everyone! The investigation period is over!!! Please make your way to the grand hall, and I'll open the gate to Court!!" Monokuma's voice echoes throughout the room.

"I'll follow your lead," Scorpio mutters to Mully, taking Blank's hand who pulls him up.

"Well, you'll have to start, you were one of the three to find this mess," Mully points out and Scorpio nods.

"After that, all you. You managed to pick up on the silver, so I trust you to recount the story more so than I trust myself," Scorpio elaborated with a nod. "Plus, it's easier to confirm the innocence of a group of four than a group of two. Alongside that, it appears you and Destroyer already formed a game plan. Also," Scorpio hands Mully the vanilla folder in his hands. "The murder file. It has the time of death, cause of death, and more info on Chaotic."

"Thank you," Mully says as the group arrives at the Grand Hall.

"May you lead us to the culprit," Blank quietly hums as the bars separating the group from the supposed court rise.

"May the others listen," Arrator solemnly responds, patting Destroyer on the back.

"May we be correct with our accusation," Destroyer grimly adds, before following the crowd into Court.