[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Day broke on the second round of the tournament, and to go with it, another murder. This time, after watching Shiho be successful in spite of nearly killing her opponent with an arrow in the eye, the group rushed out to find Daphne, who had not reported for her fight and had been disqualified. Unlike Daphne, Daphne had a valid excuse for missing her fight, seeing as how she'd been stapled to the wall with arrows.] [We rejoin Our Heroes just as a pack of referees and fighters have arrived on the scene, summoned by Cara's scream of horror.] [Session Start!] Oh sweet goddess. * Ryo stops dead in his tracks, staring at the body stapled to the wall. * Daphne continues shaking, and is starting to look a bit pale in the cheeks. * Shiho jst stares open mouthed and looks pale. Flaming spawn of hell... * Cara stays in her hunched over position, shaking and sobbing. * Tulpa steps out of the shadows between Cara and the body. "..." * Daphne doesn't really notice Tylpa's appearance, as her attention is focused elsewhere. * Cara doesn't notice, either, since he's not actually saying anything and her eyes are shut. ...Most Disturbing. * Tulpa turns around and looks down at Cara. "You Should Not Be Here. Go." * Cara looks up in shock and fear, then gets to her feet and flees to her room. * Tulpa looks at Shiho. "I Will Look After Her. You Have Some Explaining To Do, I Think." He steps to the side and vanishes into the shadows. No kidding. Damn right! * The head referee arrives on the scene. "Everybody stay still and back out of the area!" * The head ref pales as he pushes through the crowd and spots the body. * Daphne stays right where she is, thank you. She's too busy staring at her mangled corpse. * Shiho is still too much in shock to speak. * The head referee stumbles forward. To one side, Ichi disappears, and nobody seems to notice. What... arrows? Again? * Cara comes to a halt at the refs words. * The head referee turns to stare coldly at Shiho. "I suggest you surrender now, young lady." Sh-sh-shiho didn't do it! I was with her! * Shiho snaps out of it. "I'm being set up!" Then I suggest you surrender for your own protection. Yes, if you're under constant observation, you can't kill or BE killed. * Mui steps foward towards the corpse and sniffs, then grins. "Flammable." Get away from there! That's not true! All it means is you'll see the person who tries to kill her, and if it IS a doppleganger, that won't do any good! * Mui steps back and leans against the wall. What the hell do you mean, "Flammable"? I think that everybody should return to their rooms as soon as possible. * Rocky sniffs at the corpse. * Cara speaks softly. "...I think he means the alcohol." I mean the bitch is flammable. Or was, anyway. She was totaled. Smashed. Blitzed. Not enough blood in her alcohol stream. Dancing with the pink elephants. * Daphne turns slowly to the nearest ref and asks in a quiet, raspy voice; "Nearest restroom?" * Referee points. "Down this hall, about twenty meters." * Daphne takes off at a run. * Cara runs after Daphne. * Daphne charges into the restroom and prays before the porcelain shrine. Smells like... alcohol and animals. * Cara stays outside the stall to make sure Daphne's okay. * Daphne walks shakily out of the stall when she's done and starts washing her mouth out at one of the sinks. * The head refereee looks around. "Well? Back to your rooms, people! I'll ring the bell when we've got some details! GO!" * The crowd slowly begins to disperse. * Cara places a hand on Daphne's shoulder. "Daphne..." * Daphne takes a deep breath. "No, 's okay. I'm ...I'm okay. Really." There's a pause, and then "...but ...thanks." Let's go back to the room, okay? * Daphne nods, finishes washing and heads back into the hallway, trying to not look at the corpse too directly. * Cara follows close to Daphne. * The head ref gives Shiho a hard look. "Don't go anywhere other than your room. Not even the restroom." * Shiho heads back to her room. * Daphne and Cara also manage to make it back to the room without too much sight of the corpse. * Daphne walks over to her bed and collapses onto it. * Shiho punches the wall. * Cara walks into the room and sits down heavily on her bed, watching Daphne. ... Where's Ichi? Dunno. * Cara looks over at Shiho, eyes widening and face paling. "Shiho? Do you know?" Hopefully he's avoiding the walls. * Shiho pulls Ichi out from under her pillow. ".. Could say that." * Cara relaxes, sighing in relief. That's something, at least... Yippie. * Shiho cups her chin in thought. * Cara studies the floor. "There has to be something we can do." * Shiho flops down on her bed and stares at the ceiling. * Shiho muses out loud. "The most obvious suspect is Tulpa..." But then where do the animals fit in...? Serveants, mebbe... Rocky. Any idea what kind of animal I smelled like? Couldn't get it through the alcohol smell. ...okay. Hopefully the killer doesn't have any raccoon friends. Doubtful. A bear, a tiger, and an eagle. And maybe a goat now. * Shiho chuckles dryly. "All we need to do is see one of those animals with only one eye now." If Amy weren't dead it'd make sense. ...eh? * Cara looks up. "Huh?" * Shiho rolls over a bit to look at Daphne. "Amy had four animals. Tulpa has four henchmen." * Cara blinks in surprise. We know he's interested in Cara for some reason. We know he's been following us around. He probably was with us when we went to that bar. Hell, he's probably here right now. I...heard him in the bathroom, too. But...I don't feel like I'm being watched right now. And he was watching our room that night, too. And he's taken every opportunity he could to try to prove it was me. Well, so it's obvious it's him. How do we prove it? * Shiho sighs. "We can't." Sure we can. We just gotta figure out how. I mean we can't right now. So...what do we do? Just wait? No. If we just hole up here the killer will stop, and everyone will think that it really is us. * An hour passes. * Shiho goes back to staring at the ceiling. * Cara starts some breathing exercises to calm her jangled nerves. ...shit. We can't just sit here. What else are we going to do? I can't even set foot outside the room. I have to wonder why Tulpa is so afraid of Shiho. I bet he doesn't want her to get to the finals. Well, she's our 'fearless leader', remember? ...wait, you weren't there. * Shiho chuckles humorlessly. "'Fearless'? Huh." * Daphne shrugs. "That's the way he said it, yeh." * Shiho looks over at Daphne. "Who said it?" He seems to think we're nothin' without you, too. Which sort of explains it. Eh? Oh, Tulpa. Well, that just furthers this theory. ...he's watching again. He's a wuss. It's such a devious masterwork of evil, really. I don't understand why he goes to so much trouble with me, though. Is he really just some bully who enjoys the reaction? So he's watching, huh. Good. * Rocky makes a face at Cara. "Ha ha! Shiho beat one of your crummy goons!" * Daphne grins crookedly. "Maybe he's got a crush on you." Probably does. o/~ Tulpa an' Cara, sittin' in a tree! o/` Ew. As if Brian wasn't bad enough. ...okay, that's creepy. It's like he's watching more closely now. He jealous. That, or he can't stand that we know his secret. I think we should go spread the word around. * Cara giggles, despite her unease. o/` first comes luv, then comes marriage o/` * Rocky makes faces at Cara. I wonder if he stalks all the girls he likes. Probably. He's an evil wana, I mean, overlord, remember? Aw, Brian was more evil than this guy. He's just a two-bit hack. Well, yeah. But Brian had real power, remember? Not to mention copetent goons. Hey, Tulpa's goons are competent. Like that guy Shiho beat? Bet he winds up surpassing Tulpa. Did you see how disturbed Tulpa was when he quit fighting? Sparks of rebellion, lemme tell ya. ...ooh, he says it's not so easy to piss him off. And he called me his pet. Isn't that wonderful. At least he's not paying so much attention, now. Aw. And I was having such fun trying, too. Awww. Spoilsport. ...this is a weird feeling. ...say. Don't suppose you can keep tabs on him, now? Bet he'll be pissed off when Shiho beats him in the final round, though. If he makes it that far. It's been feeling like he's been watching me like this for so long now, but now it doesn't feel quite the same. Can you watch him back? Maybe with some help from your magic? * Cara ponders aloud. "Maybe he's having one of his minions watch me now." Um. I dunno if I could do that. With the way I do my magic, I'm really not sure how I could scry. True. * Daphne smirks. "It's not like you can have the picture just draw itself, right?" * Cara shakes her head. Hm. I feel like paying Tulpa a cordial visit, m'self. How is he watching without magic? I dunno. Maybe he really does have magic. Or maybe it's a ninja thing. Or something. Maybe he jus' uses the shadows. They seem to work for 'im as transit, anyway. Or he could just have the room bugged. * Cara shakes her head. "If he had the room bugged, I wouldn't feel anything. And he wouldn't be able to talk to me." * Shiho nods. "I doubt the room is bugged." * Shiho sits up. Got somethin'? Not really. Tired of lying down. * An hour passes. ...oh. * Cara gets her sketchpad and, and doodles idly. * A third hour passes, and Our Heroes are startled out of their reverie by the general assembly bell. * Shiho stands up. "Come on." * Cara nods and gets slowly to her feet, taking her pencil and pad with her in case of an emergency. * Shiho heads out the door with Rocky. * Cara follows Shiho. * Daphne grumbles and suffles off to the place of assembly. * Outside, people are shuffling eagerly towards the main lounge. You arrive to the familiar sight of a packed room, though there are a few less fighters than the last time. * Once again, the head referee is standing at the front of the room, looking grim. There are also two policemen flanking him. ...swell. * Cara 's eyes widen at the sight of the police, and she trembles a bit. * Daphne makes a 'come here' motion at Rocky. * Rocky hops over to Daphne. * The head referee speaks as Shiho enters. "Thank you for not coming out of your rooms until called. The initial analysis of the crime scene, body, and... murder weapons has been finished." * Daphne whispers something to Rocky. * Rocky whispers back. The murder happened at approximately one o'clock this morning. The arrows match the type of arrows used by Shiho Yamaguchi, but there are no fingerprints that can be matched. However, in the absence of any convincing alibi for miss Yamaguchi, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the police to take the young lady into custody. And where was she killed? * All the eyes in the room focus on Shiho. There is no evidence to indicate that she was killed anywhere but where she was found. * Daphne mutters something back to Rocky. ...but... How 'bout all the alcohol? Or was she not actually at a certain bar that conveniently closed down overnight? The bartender and several fighters have testified to seeing her leave under her own power, though barely. They doubted that even a drunken master could fight while that inebriated. * Daphne mutters. "Eh. She wosn't any drunker than I was." That doesn't say much, considering the testimony that you were carried out by your friends. True. But if she passed out, too, she'd ahve sobered by the time she woke up and made 'er way out. You're not presenting a particular convincing argument. Especially not for someone who was seen several times arguing with the victim. * The head ref motions the police forward, and they begin to move towards Shiho. How about this? She was murdered in the hall at one in the morning and nobody noticed on the way to the fight? An interesting puzzle, but not particularly relevant. How is it not?! The body must've been placed there during the fights. Otherwise it would have been seen. Yeah. Hard to miss a corpse pinned to a wall. She was still bleeding when we'd gotten there, too. If she had been killed at one in the morning, she should've bled out by then. Yeah! * Daphne nods. * The head referee looks uncertain. This Is A Moot Point, Since I Know Where She Was When The Murder Supposedly Happened, And She Was Present For All The Fights. * Suddenly all eyes are on Tulpa. * Cara stares at Tulpa. * Ryo voices the thought that most of the crowd is probably having right now. "Shiho and... and TULPA!?" He looks fairly disgusted at the prospect. * Cara blinks, and suddenly looks nauseated. "That's disgusting." Gimme a break. Do Not Be Vulgar, Fool. I Am Saying No Such Thing. * Ryo stands up and is barely stopped from going for Tulpa's throat. * Daphne facepalms. I Merely Happened To Be Watching One Of Her Friends, And She Was Present In Her Room Until At Least Three O'Clock This Morning. * Cara twitches. Saved by the voyeur. Hurrah. I... see. Very well. Officers, I'm afraid your services won't be necessary just yet. * The head referee sighs. "Very well... you are all... dismissed." He slumps a little and leaves the room slowly. * Cara turns to Daphne, anger flashing in her eyes. "It helps us this time, but why do they take everything he says at face value?" Y'know, if I didn't know better... and maybe I don't... I'd say the ref looks rather disappointed that Shiho wasn't arrested. ...hm. Naw, he's just tired, and afraid, I think. Heh. Y'sure? And eager to get the whole thing wrapped up, so the tournament's reputation isn't damaged. Selfish, a little, but everybody is, really. Could be. * Shiho turns to regard Mather. "What made you say what you did last time?" * Mather gives Shiho a LOOK. "I couldn't just let you be framed, not even to keep my broken vows a secret." * Daphne nods. Well, it's good to know someone believes me. * Tulpa walks over and comes to a halt near Cara, but says nothing. * Cara ignores Tulpa. * Daphne rubs the back of her head. "Yeh. It's funny, they'll all believe..." She stops when Tulpa walks up, glaring baleful death at him. * Tulpa's eyes flare red for a moment. "Problem?" * Shiho turns to regard Tulpa expressionlessly. * Cara continues to studiously pretend that Tulpa does not exist. It's not that I'm ungrateful for what you said, but that doesn't mean I trust you yet. * Daphne doesn't say anything. Why bother? * Tulpa reaches out one hand and runs a finger lightly across one pocket of Cara's coat, then turns and walks away, chuckling evilly. * Cara twitches. Check your pocket, Cara. Carefully, in case he dropped something sharp. * Cara blinks, and does so. * Shiho rubs her forehead. * Daphne sighs. "Beautiful day in the neighborhood." * Cara shakes her head. "I think he was just letting me know he knew where I had the rose." I'll be glad when we're done with this place. I miss the desert. Didn't get framed for murder in the desert. I miss the desert. I wasn't pinned to a wall in the desert. I miss Colorford. Didn't have any crazy stalkers there. * Shiho shakes her head. "But where not there. We're here. All we can do is deal with it." Uhuh. Yup. [Session... End]