[Last Time, On El WHAT?!: Our heroes awoke to some VERY startling news. Amy, the person Shiho and Daphne had accused of murdering Taro, was dead, murdered in the night by an arrow stabbed through the throat. This, of course, led to the accusation of Shiho, an accusation backed up by the fact that Shiho was witnessed leaving her room late in the night, alone. Now, on the verge of making a deal for Shiho to be kept in confinement with Tulpa... ...a self professed Evil Overlord, she begins to flash in that manner than indicates she's about to plushify.] [The Editor would like to mention that Shiho was also apparently revealed to have been visiting her lover on that lonely midnight stroll, which would have cleared her of the murder accusation. [Session... START!] ..bloody 'ell. * The assembled fighters and referees gasp and howl as Shiho flashes with light and disappears. When the light clears, Ichi is standing in her place. * Ichi blinks confusedly. * Daphne sighs and rubs her face. "H'lo, Itchy." She mumbles under her breath. "This I *don't* need." She turned into a MAN! But...I was in the backpack...I saw Daphne put me in the backpack.... Why am I not in the backpack? * Cara stares at Ichi, looking very very lost. Shiho went plush, Itchy. You Saw Her Change Shape! She Must Be The Killer! ...So she's in the backpack? Presumably. Oh. * Daphne turns to Tulpa. "No, no, no. She didn't change shape. Not exactly, anyway." You Ask Us To Question What We Have Seen With Our Own Eyes? Everybody calm down! CALM DOWN! * Cara wobbles a bit again. But I'm not Shiho. ::continues to look very confused:: Can you _prove_ that you're not Shiho? Prolly. It doesn't matter! She was with me all night, she couldn't have done it! Wern't we both just here a few seconds ago? Say something intelligent, Itchy. Uhm...Uh...Er... * Daphne shrugs. "Good enough. And there's your proof; Itchy here couldn't possibly be Shiho, because Shiho is clever, whereas Itchy is an idiot." Hmmm... you've got a point. And she DID have a pretty good alibi. Right! ..No! I mean... I uh. * Cara starts to laugh, though the sound is somewhat tinged with hysteria. * Daphne nods. "There's that, too. She couldn't've killed anyone while she was busy being cozy with Mather over there." Hey, there's no need to be rude about it! Hah! A Raging Dragon giving in to pleasures of the flesh! I never thought I'd see the day! * Daphne chuckles. "I'm not." Me either! Anyway. * Daphne reaches into the backpack and pulls out Shiho. * The room dissolves into general poking and prodding and fun-making of Mather. So she was in the backpack. Well, she is now. What's a toy got to do with anything? * Daphne takes the plush as she walks over to Tulpa. "You still wanna do the lockup thing?" Uhm...We're under a curse that turns us into thoes little toys...Didn't you see me change? What I _saw_ was a girl glow with blinding light and turn into a man. No no, before that. No, that's just what it looked like. If you don't believe me, you can sit around and watch this plush for a while. It was Shiho, and will be again, eventually. Uh... sure. * Daphne smirks knowingly. 'Cause she can. ^_^ Okay, I'll buy that. Okay... so we no longer have a suspect, then. *raises voice* Everybody should go about their business. PLEASE remember to stay in groups, we really don't want any more deaths! Large groups, preferably. If there's only two people in a group, one could become another victim, and nobody wants that. The next round of fights is tomorrow! Dismissed! Wait I...Oh well. * Referee points a finger at Daphne. "You keep out of trouble, miss. You and that... er... boy, too." * Cara has fallen silent, and remains on her knees, looking very unsteady. * Daphne shrugs. "Shucks, I'll try." Yessir. * Daphne walks over to Cara and pulls her to her feet. * The referee walks slowly over to the exit and leaves. * Mather makes his way through the crowd, followed by catcalls and laughs and stares. * Cara is pulled to her feet, and leans on Daphne to remain standing. Er... hi. ^_^; Hiya, Mather. Sorry 'bout singling you out like that. * Ichi nods. Er... I did it to myself, really. *blush* You uhm...helped Shiho though, thank you. * Cara looks at Mather, appearing to be a bit spaced out. "Did you and Shiho really..." * Daphne grins. "Hey, nothin' wrong with gettin' some every now and then." She looks thoughtful. "Gotta wonder why Shiho, tho." * Mather turns more red as someone from the crowd calls out, "Yeah, he sure helped her!" * Daphne calls back to the guy "'Ey, naff off!" * Ichi turns a bit pink, "Uhm...maybe we should talk someplace else?" * Daphne shrugs. "Sure. Our room?" Uh... sure? * Daphne nods and heads that way. "Right, follow me." * Mather follows behind Daphne, still in a bit of a haze. * Ichi follows Daphne to the room. * Cara walks along with Daphne, continuing to lean on her for support. * Daphne makes sure Cara doesn't fall over or anything. * Doesn't take long to get to the room... (RDM is surprised that nobody made comments about Mather going up to a room with three women this time) * Daphne opens the door and motions everyone in. * Mather enters the room hesitantly. Don' worry, Mather. Room's not gonna swallow you up. I'm not afraid! Wow. When A Raging Dragon Breaks His Vows, He Really Breaks His Vows. * Ichi is about to sit down when Tulpa speaks and misses the edge of the bed, falling to the floor. * Daphne grins. "I know. I'm just joshin' ya." She glares at Tulpa. "Whad'you want, Lord Vader?" Ow! Nothing In Particular. Perhaps To Share Information? * Cara manages to walk over to her bed without falling over and flops down on it, turning to stare at Tulpa. * Daphne shrugs. "Sure, why not? Come on in." Have You A Problem, Small And Unthreatening Artist? * Tulpa Steps Inside The Doorway. Uhm...are the Tulpa who was in here last night and hadn't spoken to Mui...or the one who did? Yes. Huh? Go easy on 'er, Tulpa. She might draw your picture if she gets angry. ...and, I beg your pardon? * Cara mumbles something unintelligible, and continues to stare wide-eyed at Tulpa. * Daphne sighs. * Daphne closes the door, once everyone's inside the room, and has a seat on her bed. * Tulpa eyes Ichi. "He Really Is That Oblivious, Isn't He." * Ichi stays on the floor untill this starts to make sense...he may be there a while. ...can't believe she's dead. Yes, I'm afraid he is. * Daphne bits her lip at Cara's comment. First Taro, then... * Cara lapses into silence, and looks at the floor. So... Tulpa. What's new? And To Think You Believed Her To Be The Murderer. I didn't think that. Nothing In Particular. I Was Wondering What You Were Going To Do About This New Development. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she didn't do it. She could be a 'disposable assassin', or somethin'. Disposable Assassins Are So... Expensive. And They Rarely Get The Job Done Properly. * Daphne shrugs. "True. But you know what I mean, right?" Perhaps. Fine. As to what we're going to do? I haven't the foggiest. Not yet. You don't? But... why not? Uhm...Because Shiho is the one who usualy has the best ideas? Ah, So You Are Nothing Without Your Fearless Leader. * Daphne shrugs. "Just haven't come up with anything, yet. Shiho's off the hook, it seems, but we still have precious few leads." * Daphne chuckles. "Itchy can say what he likes. I'm not givin up just 'cause Little Miss Icegirl turned into a doll again." A Drunkard, A Moron, A Foggy-Brained Artist, And A Monk Who Has Broken His Vows. Such An Interesting Collection. * Ichi shrugs. * Mather jumps up from his seat. "I'll kill you!" * Daphne sighs. "No, y'wont, Mather. 'S not worth it." * Mather rips his great scimitar from nowhere, blade sheathed in flame. NO! * Ichi jumps to his feet. * Daphne sighs, and fishes around in her backpack for her whiskey. * Mather levels a mighty overhead swing at the unmoving Tulpa. * Daphne eyes the move. * Ichi runs at Mather and treies to stop him * Mather is tackled mid-swing by Ichi and slams against the wall. His great scimitar falls to the floor with a loud clank. Hm. You must think you're pretty good, ey Tulpa? * Daphne comes up with a flash, unscrews the top, and has a swig. * Tulpa Shrugs. * Ichi puts all of his weight against Mather in an attemt to keep him against said wall. * Ichi has no trouble at all keeping Mather down. * Daphne sighs. "Ichi, geddoff 'im. Mather's not gonna try to make trouble. Are you, Mather?" no ma'am. eep. * Ichi lets go, and walks back to his bed. So. As long as you're all going to behave, we might as well swap info and ideas a bit. Tulpa, care to start? I Have Nothing To Share At This Time. Y'sure? What about the bit about being both the one who did and didn't talk to Mui? Or were you just fibbing? Did I Say that? You sure did. I Do Not Recall Saying That I Was Both. * Ichi shakes his head, "I asked which one you were and you said Yes." * Daphne shrugs. "You answered 'yes' to a question with two choices, those choices being either the Tulpa who claimed he talked to Mui, or the Tulpa who claimed he didn't. That's nearly the same thing." Indeed, I Did. However, It Would Appear That You Need To Take An Elementary Logic Class. (Unfortunatly the entire cast are highschool dropouts) * Daphne rolls her eyes. "Lemme guess. 'I can't be two people at once'?" We Shall See. * Daphne raises an eyebrow. "We shall? Dinner an' a movie, then? What time's good for you?" I Am Not Interested In You Sexually. Your Proposition Is Declined. * Ichi looks confused again. * Cara finally looks up, and gives Daphne a plaintive look. "Daphne, what do we do?" * Daphne chuckles at Tulpa. "I'm sure you're not, and the proposition was not a sincere one anyway." * Daphne turns to Cara. "Hm? Oh, that's simple. We go out and look for the killer. Someone who's unscrupulous and out to make trouble, and who's really goot at having other people take blame for things they do." Piece a' cake. Couldn't be simpler. Oh..Okay then... * Cara looks down. "I wish I hadn't cast that spell. Then, maybe, Amy wouldn't have left, and..." * Daphne shakes her head. "It's not your fault, Cara." Everybody was upset and wasn't making any sense. * Tulpa Snorts Loudly, opesn the door, and leaves. * Cara looks up as Tulpa leaves. "Do you think...it could be him?" Uhm...maybe? * Daphne shrugs. "It's a possiblity I'd considered. If he were the murderer, he could still afford to be locked up with Shiho. When the murders stopped, he coudl point at Shiho and say 'See? While she was locked up the murders stopped', and everyone would've thought it was her again." No... he doesn't operate that way. He didn't lie. Evil overlords don't do their own killing. What's more, he could be having these delightful talks with us just to throw us off. But frankly, I think it's a bit too obvi... oh? * Daphne shrugs. "One of his 'minions', then. They were to be locked up too, remember." Maybe... I wish there was a way to tell who could have summoned up all that fire. But like I said, that's too obvious for my liking. I don't even think he's much of an 'evil overlord', really. He's like a walking parody of every badguy ever. * Cara nods in agreement. I do, too. There's bound to be techniques that could do it, and some of them may even come from non-fire-dominated schools. Hell, my school has some fire techniques. Or it could be magic. Or that, too. That's what I was origionally thinking, see; our Amy knew magic, but I forgot that that didn't mean that this one did, too. I kept confusing her for our Amy. This Amy...she was incredibly strong. * Ichi nods. But I never saw her do any of the druid things that our Amy could. Other than talking to the animals, at least. * Daphne nods. "Aye, she was. She pulled me along like I was a kid or somethin'. Y'gotta wonder who could just up and kill her so easy." * Cara 's eyes suddenly widen. "Her animals!" They should have been with her right? We can have Ro...no wait we can't... * Daphne blinks. "Eh... oh! Her animals!" We could when Shiho deplushifies. Rocky can maybe talk to 'em. ...I think. I might be able to cast a spell... An anyway, it'd be worth seeing if the killer got them, too. Let's go find her room. * Cara nods. * Daphne hops off and heads for the door. "C'mon, Mather." Er... okay. * Mather follows Daphne dutifully. * Cara gets to her feet, seeming to have recovered some of her energy. She puts her hat on, and follows Daphne. * Itchy stands up and goes wherever they're going. * Daphne heads for Amy's room! Hopefully. * Fortunately for you guys, it doesn't take much to find Amy's room. It's just a matter of following the trail of people coming from it and going to it. There's a small crowd around the door looking inside. * A junior referee is keeping people outside. * Daphne tries to look over or through the crowd. * Inside the room is a slightly bloody bed, and that's all that can be seen through the crowd and the ref. * Daphne tries to get through the crowd, then. "'Scuze me, comin' through." * Daphne makes it through the crowd but is stopped by the junior referee, who has to be at least a foot shorter than her. Er, sorry, but you can't go in, miss. * Ichi stays near the back of the crowd with Cara. * Daphne frowns. "What, I can't go in and look for clues to bring the murderer of my friends to justice?" I'm sorry, but you'll have to go talk to the head referee. * Daphne frowns, then shrugs. "Fine, I'll go do that. Back in a bit." Er... where would I find the head referee? Down that hall *points* take the second left intersection, the third right from there, and then the first left from there. You can't miss it. * Daphne nods, and goes that way, hopefully not missing it. * Cara follows Daphne when she gets out of the crowd of people. * Daphne gets totally, utterly lost after the second intersection. * Ichi sticks with Cara and Daph. * After the fifth intersection, it's fairly apparently that Daphne really is lost. ...I appear to be lost. 'Can't miss it', my ass. * Daphne looks around. Did Mather stick with us? * Mather has apparently disappeared. * Ichi looks around for somebody to ask for directions from. * Daphne frowns. ...darn. * This area appears to be pretty devoid of people. This is a BAD THING. * Daphne looks for someone to ask directions from, too. Uhm...What do we do now? * Cara chews on her lip nervously, looking all around. This would be a good place for... An Ambush? * Tulpa steps out of the shadows, accompanied by three other men, all in armor styled after his own. * Cara screams in surprise and fear. Yeah, one of those. 'Lo, Tulpa. Hello. * Ichi looks around at the deserted hall. "Looks that way." What Brings You To The Back Halls Of This Arena? I was lookin' for the head ref's office an' got m'self good an' lost. How 'bout you? This where the coziest shadows are? I Am Investigating The Nether Regions Of The Stadium. With My Loyal Minions, Of Course. Oh course. You Should Go Down This Hallway. *straight* Go Five Intersections, Then Turn Left And You Will Come To The Head Referee's Office. * Daphne waves to the Loyal Minions. "Hi, Loyal Minions. Nice ta' meetcha." * One of the Loyal Minions, the one with pale white skin and red hair, waves back. * Cara eyes Tulpa and the Minons fearfully. We Go. Thankyou for the directions. * Tulpa steps back into the shadows and disappears, his minions following after. Shucks, thanks. * Cara sighs in relief. * Daphne follows Tulpa's directions, hopefully not walking into a pitfall or something. * Ichi walks after Daphne. * Strangely enough, Daphne and company come to... the head ref's office! * Cara follows Daphne, though she keeps looking over her shoulder. * Daphne knocks on the door of the office, if there is one. * The office door is unlocked and ready for people to walk in. * Daphne peeks in. * There is a single ref, who is recognizable as the Head Referee, inside. * HeadRef looks up. "Can I help you?" * Daphne steps in. "'Scuze me, sir." You want access to the room, don't you? Hopefully, yes. I'd like to inspect the latest murder scene. Or, if nothin' else, know what condition all of Amy's animals are in and where they are. * Daphne chuckles. "Hit it on the head, yes." * Ichi nods. I can't give you access, and I can't tell you anything about the animals. Mostly because there weren't any. * Daphne blinks. "What do you mean, there weren't any?" * Cara blinks in surprise. "No animals?" They're missing? There were no animals in the room. There were signs that some had been there, but no animals. The corpse wasn't eaten, either, unlike the first one. Of course, she wasn't known to keep a goat, either. I'd suggest that anybody with an animal be very careful. * Daphne blinks. "So... the goat, the bear, the eagle... none of 'em were there?" I thought she had a wolf. No animals. I think she did, too. But I *know* she had a bear. 'S what carried her to us yesterday. An eagle, a wolf, and a bear. *** Brett is on IRC And a goat. She was looking after Grandfather, remember. * Daphne frowns thoughtfully. Uhuh. Yes, well... I'm afraid there weren't any there, as I've already said. I wonder where they all are then. Are you *sure* you can't let us look at the murder scene? I'm sure you want to solve this as badly as we do. * There's a flash of bright, strobing light and Shiho and Rocky deplushify. Shiho! Holy sweet mother! Oh, there ye' are. See! She's not me. Rocky! You're back! * Shiho blinks and looks around. * Cara sighs in relief. Uhm, yeah. So, on the side, this is proof about what I was saying earlier, but nevermind. Mmm, most interesting. But I still can't allow you access to the room. What's happened? * Daphne turns to Shiho. "Good news; you're off the hook. Bad news; so is everyone else, until we find evidence. And this kind gentleman won't let us into the murder scene, which I find baffling, frankly." * Shiho folds her arms. "Hmm..." Oh, and they can't find any of her animals. * Rocky clears his throat. Oh, right. No sign of bear, wolf, goat, any of 'em. Yeah, Rocky? * Daphne pats her shoulder by way of invitation to the racoon. * Rocky hops onto Daphne's shoulder. "I think Shiho's wants to say something. Don't you?" He eyes her. Can't tell. Anything she has to say, tho, is welcome to me. * Shiho nods. "Um... Thanks for proving it wasn't me." * Daphne smirks. "No prob. And thank Mather. ...but, er, do it in private." She frowns. "Speaking of 'im, we've kind of lost track of him. I was hoping that wouldn't happen." * Cara smiles at Shiho. We didn't do much at all. * Daphne chuckles. "All I had to prove was that you an' Itchy here weren't the same person. An' that was easy." * Shiho changes the subject! "You couldn't find her animals? I've never seen her without them." * Daphne shrugs. "We haven't had a chance, yet. Ref here said they weren't there, tho." * Daphne blinks as she realises something. Sir, I don't suppose you could tell us who else was occupying that room? Er... nobody. Why? * Daphne blinks as she realises something else. "Nevermind." * Ichi tries to remember something that seemed important once. Daphne, was the other you there, in the lobby? Yep. Why? You think she might have somethin' to do with this? * Shiho nods. "Could be. Would anyone know where she was during the other murders?" * Daphne frowns. "...is there a bar or something around here?" 'Cause if there is, the bartender's prolly gotten to know her real well by now. We have three well stocked bars in the arena itself, spaced evenly around the circumference. * Daphne looks thoughtful, the nods to herself. "Yes, there is. Three, in fact." Not necessarily. Just because she looks like you doesn't mean she acts like you. She's a Drunken Master. Please. She's drunker than I am. An that's really sayin' somethin'. Uhm...so, which one is closest? That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Well, she has to get booze from somewhere, and I'm betting she has to have booze to live. I imagine it can't be that hard to get alcohol. But a bar would be the easiest place to get it around here, wouldn't it? * Daphne shrugs. "The most obvious place would be a bar." And the bartenders might not know her at all if she visits them as different people. Least walking distance. Not even out of the arena. Three bars. Different face each bar. * Cara frowns. "That'd be a problem." * Daphne shrugs. "We know her room is fairly close to ours. We just pick the bar nearest our room." She frowns. "And if any of the bartenders call me by name, that's a giveaway, too." * Ichi nods. Unless she visited one as Amy, one as Tulpa, and one as me. Just to name a few. What About Me? GAH! * Cara leaps several feet off the ground in surprise. * Daphne sighs. "H'lo, Tulpa. Care to go grab a drink with us?" * Ichi blinks, "How do you keep showing up behind us?" Perhaps. * Tulpa looks over at Ichi. "Evil Overlord Technique." * Cara turns around and looks suspiciously at Tulpa. Ahh. * Daphne shrugs. "Alright, ladies and gents. Let's go bar-hopping." * Shiho rubs her forehead. "That doesn't serve any purpose." Then what do you think we should do? Is There A Problem, O Tortured Artist? I don't know yet. * Daphne shrugs. "Well, we've got time. Shall we sit around and think up plans?" Plans. Plans Are So Evil. Perhaps There Is Room For You, In Spite Of Your Drunkenness. * Daphne rolls her eyes. "I'm honored. No, really." * Cara exchanges her suspicious expression for a glare. * Shiho cups her chin in thought. * Tulpa turns and exits the office, fading once more into the shadows. * Cara relaxes once she can't see Tulpa anymore. * Daphne mutters something to Rocky. * Rocky nods. I swear he's following us. Maybe you're right, Daphne. Of course he is. Why not? He did tell us how to get here. * Daphne nods to Shiho. "We'll see." I have a theory on that too, Itchy. Maybe we should go barhopping. Or somewhere away from here, at least. * Daphne smirks. "Sure. Drinks on me." * Ichi suddenly remembers what it was he was going to ask. * Shiho rolls her eyes. "That's not exactly what I meant." * Ichi turns to the head Reff, "Uhm, since I was a plushie and couldn't fight for the first round...I'm not in the second one right?" If you missed your first fight, you were disqualified. You're... Ichi, then? * Ichi nods. "That's what I thought." * Daphne chuckles. "I know it isn't, Shiho." Bah. That means I'm out, too. What about Shiho? Does she get to fight? * Daphne blinks. "She was in her first fight, wasn't she?" * Tulpa runs a finger down Cara's neck. "Why Would I Be Following You, O Tortured Artist?" * Cara screams and whirls around, swiping a suddenly clawed hand at Tulpa. Look, y'wanna cut that out, y'stupid git? * Tulpa catches Cara's wrist in his hand just before it hits his face. * Ichi spins away from the reff to see what's going on. * Tulpa tilts his head and looks down at Cara. * Cara scowls angrily up at Tulpa. Don't touch me. * Tulpa releases Cara's hand and steps back into a shadow, quickly disappearing into it. Left behind is only his echoing laughter. * Cara stands there, looking like she's not sure if she should seethe or cower in fear. ...He needs help.... ...when this is all over, Cara, I'd love for you to draw him as a small, but plump, legless insect. Then if he isn't eaten by a bird or something, we can pick on him and see how he likes it. ::smirk:: ...Uhm...right...what were we doing again? I...really hate that guy. I'm betting he's more talk than show. Bar. C'mon. Oh, he is. But the talk is what's annoying. * Daphne heads out to the bar. * Shiho turns to the Ref. "Who was Daphne's first opponents? Both of them." * Daphne stops as Shiho asks questions, and waits by the door. * HeadRef checks the brackets. "Ah... Sage Halo and... Demeter Spyros. Demeter recieved a win by default, and Sage was defeated." And for this upcoming round, who were they to fight? Assuming Daphne had participated and defeated Demeter. * HeadRef looks again. "Well... Demeter was to have faced Mather Froelich, and Daphne was to have faced... Ryo Wildfire." One more. Who was Amy going to fight? 'Wildfire'? I don't suppose he comes from a fire-based school? Sounds like one. Er yes, yes he does. The Wildfire school is fairly well known. Amy would have fought... Tanisha Hovland. Wait, didn't I beat her in the first round? No, I'm afraid not. You beat Tanisha Connaughton. Such an unusual personal name. * Shiho nods. She looks thoughtful for a sec. "Am I going to be allowed to fight in the second round?" Well, you had a valid alibi, I can't stop you. A _very_ valid alibi. * Shiho nods. "Alright." * Cara gives Shiho a funny look. * Shiho completely misses it. "Let's go." * Daphne shrugs and heads out. To the bar!@ Uhuh. * Cara follows Shiho. Goodbye. Goodbye. Good luck! [Session... End!]