While Davis and Caora where furiously debating, Max chose to pay more attention to Shaun and Alice, "I don't think a wedge was pulled out of the Stalagmite at all. It makes more sense to just file into the Rock to make it tumble, crushing anyone under it."
"But the stalagmite is still standing."
"Which means that the killer never got to finish the job, probably because Krista noticed him or her." said max with his hand under his chin.
“Oh shut your mouth. you daft femboy cockroach. You’re as wrong as your parents were when they made your sorry ass.”
Cyrus’s glasses were now a miserable broken pile on the floor. His hair had arced upward as if struck by lightning. The angry man had returned. ”We have gone over this time and TIME again. None of that proves her innocence. The possibility she knocked herself out still exists, which she could have easily done after wiping away the footprints. The unknown footprints might as well be mine, which is why she could've picked that spot. We went over ALL of this. What is so hard to understand about it? You’re making us talk in circles and waste our time.”
”What we must do is simple, figure out how the fucking monk met his end. Maybe then we can establish a REASONABLE order of events and possibilities WITH ACTUAL FUCKING LOGIC THAT ISN'T JUST COMING FROM YOUR ASS. If you can’t do that just shut your trap. I’m not going to let a useless runt like you ruin the rest of us that’s actually trying. We’re trying to catch a murderer here instead of chasing pathetically petty arguments.” Cyrus was absolutely fuming. But these words also implied that he thought the rest of the group was on the right track right now. He just needed to eliminate whatever was trying to derail the argument away from the murder method. Why was Caora so insistent on chasing down these footprints anyway?
Noel scratched her head. Cyrus’s argument was hopefully the last time someone needed to get angry. She did agree that following one line of logic was better than chasing three at once. The footprints would definitely find their place if they established what they could establish before that. ”I’m not sure if you’re right Max, but it’s definitely possible.”
She added to the statement. ”It’s possible, but why didn’t they need to? Because they knocked out Krista? Also, they were apparently filing when Krista found them, so was there someone under the rock at that time?” She questioned.
She suddenly had an idea. ”Could it be possible the killer was preparing a trap of sorts? To wait for someone to come by and then drop the pillar on them?”
Davis blinked a few times. Even he seemed a little surprised with Cyrus's outburst. Or was it from Caora's reveal. No one but he knew. “Anyway....” He looked at Max. “Let's award another point to the police officer! You'll make detective in no time!”
“I knew it!” Aleecia snapped her fingers. “It looked like a lumberjack cut because they were trying to drop the stalagmite!”
Bliss raised an eyebrow. “And you didn't say anything?”
“I-I didn't want to get yelled at!” Aleecia covered her eyes with her hands.
Davis spread his arms and shrugged his shoulders. All while wearing a face that said “What? You think I'd yell at that?”
“It's not a very effective weapon though.” Bliss looked at a picture of the stalagmite in her E-handbook. “It's not that much taller than a person. You'd have to be pretty close to get hurt by it when it fell. I mean, you might not see it coming with it being so dark.”
“True, it's kind of risky to use it on someone who can react.” Davis was smiling. “You'd have to be right next to it for it to kill you. Even then, it's probably narrow enough to step out of the way of. However, if you're lying on the ground after someone gave you the old cold-cock...”
Bliss's eyes shot wide open. “Krista was the intended victim?” She placed her hands together. "Our killer was sitting there filing away, all while Krista is there, motionless. With her little sleepy face." Bliss's eyes half closed. "Just laying there defenseless, her arms raised above her head. One leg over the other, her skin-tight pantyhose hugging her cream white thighs..."
Davis laughed nervously and slapped his podium. “yeaaaaaaaa... Hold that thought, I want to hear more later. But onto the case." Davis looked away from the nanny. "While the killer's first plan failed, they probably always planned on knocking out someone. It's the only way to reliably hit someone with something like that. This would have been a lot harder to solve if their plan worked."
"IS YOUR BRAIN AN ANVIL!?"
Davis sighed. "I suppose you have a problem with something that's been said, Calvin?"
"Damn right I do!" He pointed. "It makes no damn sense to kill someone like that!"
"Now Calvin." Davis bore a toothy grin. "You're going to have to be just a little more descriptive than that. Maybe tell us what you don't understand so that we may properly educate you. Assuming you aren't a lost cause."
"I mean why bother knocking someone out and then killing them with the stalagmite? Let's forget how over the top that is. Someone could just as easily kill her with a rock or something, then crush her with the stalagmite."
Davis sighed. "Oh Calvin. I was hoping I was all through dealing with idiots tonight. You're so logic depraved, it's no wonder you got Shona killed."
Calvin took a step back. "You son of a bitch!"
Davis shook his head and turned to the politician. "Cyrus, how about you tell him why that wouldn't work."
"Why don't you tell me, ass hole!"
Davis's smile widened as Calvin's rage grew. "Oh, well I figured Cyrus was the most appropriate person to explain. But really, anyone is free to point out why such a thing would be impossible. I just need a break from talking with idiots."
Calvin growled louder. "Davis!"
Bliss cleared her throat. "Um." She turned to face Krista. "So you said that you saw a man filing the stalagmite. Was Mondatta with you at this time?"
Caora tittered as Cyrus tried to drill into him. "Yah, yah, yah, you're a big scary dude with nothin important to say. Quiet time now, the grown ups are talking!"
He lazily leaned on his podium, hands together like an annoyed professor. Fang sat under the pyramid like a watchful guardian, glassy eyes watching the whole court. "Mr Perfection, you have some SUPER big holes in your theory! First, how did Krissie knock out Mr Monk? He's SUPER tall and made of metal and she's, like..." he lifted his hands to about Krista's height. "Yay tall. So, like, how? Two, what's with the handle thingy and the big rock spike? Why's there a hole in the rock and where's the rest of the thingymabobber that the handle was a part of? And three, Mr Monk and Krista was SUPPOSED to be together all the time. Mr Monk and Krista, then, should have totes been in the cave together! You don't like the footprints, maybe, but Krista was, like, in the cave, then he was supposed to be in with her? So, like, why were they separated?"
Caora turned to look at Bliss. He didnt want to chew her out. Out of all the people here, he desperately didn't want it to be her. But he needed to know. "Nanna, we need to know. Where was Krissie and Mr Monk when you left them?"
Nothing. Nothing seemed to help her in the evidence files. Alice was starting to get frustrated as she kept looking through her handbook while the others were still debating. She listened to Max and Felix share their thoughts on the stalagmite, before Cyrus started to yell back at Caora. After saying that everyone should calm down, she started to amend that statement as she grew more pissed off than normal. She put her E-handbook away before flinching at Calvin yelling at Davis.
And that was enough to get her tired of everyone elses bullshit.
Alice slamed her hands on her podium as she yelled at the politician and metalworker. "Well why dont you shut the HELL UP BEFORE I FUCKING KICK YOUR ARSE THROUGH THIS COURT MYSELF?!" she said, her accent wavering. "YOU TOO CALVIN!" Alice snaped a glare at Calvin before taking some deep breaths and going back to her normal state of neutrality.
"Sorry about that. I tend to go mad when I'm under presure, haha. she lighty chuckled as she adjusted her bowtie. She glanced back at the trap, supprised that they were unaffected from Cyrus yelling at him. 'What a trooper.' she thought.
What was keeping Mondatta's suit from crushing him? Alice blurted out. Maybe whatever it was got tampered with and made the suit crush him.
Cyrus grinned at Davis. ”Why, how courteous of you. What’s next? Are you going to compliment me and flirt me up like the rest? I’ll tell you in advance you won’t be any more succesfull.” He cackled. ”But thanks for sharing the spotlight. Must be difficult for someone with your ego.” He grinned, then turned to face Calvin.
His grin widened as he talked to Calvin. ”Really, I’d rather not tell you guys this…” Cyrus started. ”After all, it would be amazingly HILARIOUS if it happened to any of you. You’d deserve it as well.” He gave everyone a cursory glance filled with fury. ”I’ll explain this simply enough for every numbskull here to understand. What do we call someone that has been killed? YES INDEED, A VICTIM, YOU GUYS ARE SO SMART. Now tell me, is there anything different between a patient and a victim besides being dead? No? WRONG. Rule 18 of your e-handbook. Defacing a victim will be SEVERELY PUNISHED.” He put up a smug grin. If our killer had killed Krista first, then crushed her with that stalagmite… we wouldn’t be having this trial.”
Noel nodded, but was clearly still in thought. ”Well, that makes sense… but why was the killer set on using the stalagmite. Why not just kill with a rock, for argument’s sake? Krista caught the killer filing, so they were obviously planning it... But why?”
She continued to mutter ”If the killer was planning this, then they knew Krista was coming to the caves as well… So why was she there in the first place?” She didn’t argue with the scenario being possible. It was just that this brought up many more questions. She was interested in how Krista would answer Bliss’s question.
At least Davis appreciated her trying to get to the bottom of this, unlike everyone else, Mary thought as she constantly went through the found clues while listening to the arguments. She was bummed out due to everyone ignoring her, and sighed, finding it frustrating when the Inifnite Conquest started shouting. "Shut it, Davis! Just because I'm not accusing you doesn't mean you can be as loud as you want!" She rubbed her forehead, trying to think. They were going around in circles, with no way to proceed. There had to be some way to break through this Endless Debate.
And then she saw it; Noel's words caused her to remember something from the crime scene, a miniscule detail that she almost didn't give a thought to a the time. "Hold the Skype!" She suddenly shouted. "It was dark, but I noticed something on the stalagmite Mondatta was leaning against!" Now that she had everyone's attention, she felt like she was back in the big game. She pointed up with her other hand on her hip in a dramatic fashion. "There was a hair line crack on the stalagmite!"
Davis blowing up on Caora was not a surprise to Lucas, given the utterly ridiculous spiel the girl-boy was spewing about how Davis was wrong and he was right. What did it matter in the grand scheme of things? They didn't know what killed Mondatta, and there was still no definite timeline of events. Lucas rubbed his forehead, feeling a migraine build between his eyebrows. He expected Cyrus, of all the people, to be the level-headed one, but nope, even the Infinite Politician wasn't below reacting to the suggestions with rage and not with the patience Lucas expected from a politician. So much for listening to the people...
"Was Mondatta with me...?" Lucas looked up to Krista, who was standing almost opposite to him as she rubbed her chin and squeezed her eyes closed in a hilarious attempt to shut everyone out to think. "Wait- No! Mondatta wasn't with me." She shook her head, answering Bliss. Krista continued, this time intending to answer one of Noel's questions. "I... uh... I was supposed to meet up with Lucas at the caves so we could investigate it together. He said he wanted some company and knew I had checked it out with Cyrus before—" She winced at the mention of Cyrus's name, afraid he was going to yell at her as well. "—And told me he would meet up with me in the caves and Mondatta would join us as my guard." Krista's face scrunched up again, this time out of discomfort as she gave her feet one more look whilst leaning her body against the podium for support.
"However, I was running late. I wanted time to check through my equipment and I got distracted. As an investigator, I never leave anywhere without my EMF meter and EVP recorder." At Krista's blank look, Lucas sighed. "Ghost stuff."
"Oh..."
"I proposed the idea to Miss Müller and Mondatta during breakfast." He continued, his arms crossed. "I'm sure you could confirm that statement, Mr Ibbott?" Lucas looked to his side, making eye contact with the metalsmith. Krista frowned, not liking the way he said Calvin's name.
"What? What are you implying?"
"Nothing. I'm just saying Calvin was present during breakfast. He knew when and where we intended to meet."
Daimyon was sad. Not because of the obstacles the group ran into in this trial, but rather how they tackled them. All sense of respect and formality went out the window, landed on a road and was run over by a ten-ton truck. At least that was how the poet felt when he heard his fellow Infinites shouting, cursing and cussing each other out. He felt the tension hanging in the air above them from the first moment, but only recently did it start feeling like a guillotine that could drop down on them in any moment. Daimyon certainly did not like the lingering dread, but he liked seeing his friends turn on one another chasing a killer who may not even be from amongst them even less.
He stayed silent over most of the discourse and tried to focus on note-taking, but even his keen ears had trouble separating the wheat from the chaff—the rational thoughts from the mudslinging. The only exceptions he found were Noel and Max, bless their hearts, who had not raised their voice so far and had not deviated their focus from the case. The poet did jot down their very much sensible thoughts, mainly about the usage of a certain iron file and the cut in the stalagmite being evidence of a trap. Caora's performance also made him crack a small smile a few times—the little boy was electrified and threw out points left and right, unyielding no matter how many times he had been shot down.
He was not out of hope just yet...!
“Fellow Infinites, my friends! Please, I plead to thee, cease this!” Gathering up his determination, he spoke up again, raising a finger in the air. “This is no way to salvation, these sinister sayings! Seeking solutions should be our scheme, shouts and screeches only shatter and split our consensus!” After this impassioned plea, he lowered both his hand and his voice. “The way forward is on a paved path and we must traverse it, facing each obstacle as they appear before us. We are stumbling in the fog right now, but we have a lantern!” What exactly that saving lantern was, however, he did not know right away and so he looked back down into his notebook—the writing on the almost-full page was messier than he would have liked, although he did have a nifty diagram of a timeline in the middle with the events written into ovals. Some of these ovals were still empty, but after hearing Lucas' account, he thought of a crucial detail that could fill many of these blanks. “Who reached the cave first?”
Of course the very next person to talk after Calvin would be that inbred trap. Davis volted over his podium and landed in the circle, sorrounded by the other infinites.
“Hey!” Monokuma fret his brow. “You can't do that!”
“It's not in the rules.”
Monokuma barfed up his E-handbook and started to scroll. “Honeysuckles... I'm going to fix that. Just you watch!”
Perfection walked towards the other end of the circle. He appeared to be moving towards Caora. The spartan still had his sword with him, resting inside his scabbard. One of his hands were resting on the hilt, much like a wandering ronin might. His discheveled facial hair completed the look. But davis was not headed towards Caora. As soon as he approached his Podium, he walked clockwise over to Bliss.
“Caora wants to talk to an adult. Let us kids solve the case.” Bliss only nodded in response before turning to face Caora. While the infinite nanny wasn't the most useful person in the court, it felt like a waste of resources to task her with entertaining the trap. But maybe he wouldn't distract the others so much now.
Bliss started to speak in a higher pitched tone. One that a mother might use when playing with a young child. “The case is a little hard to keep up with, isn't it?” She giggled. “I actually think he believe Krista is innocent. I noticed Davis likes most of the girls.” She nodded. “That's why he said that he never thought it was Krista, but that most of the evidence pointed to her. I think he actually believes someone was trying to set her up.” The nanny folded her arms, but kept her smile up. “I also think they were going to topple over the rock thing with the hole in it. It was to make it week so that it could fall over. Maybe the wedge was simply filed into dust?” Bliss shrugged her shoulders. “The thingamerbob? I think they hid it from us Caora. They probably hid it somewhere they knew we wouldn't look.” Bliss placed her hands on her hips. “And I'm also curious as to why Mondatta and Krista weren't together. That's why I asked them.” Bliss nodded again. “Oh, and I'm afraid the last time I saw Krista or Mondatta was when I went to bed. Even when I got back up to get something to eat, I didn't encounter them.”
Davis walked into the center of the courtroom. He turned to Alice, who was demanding silence from everyone, apologizing, and then started talking about the possibility of Mondatta's suit crushing him. Cute. “We won't get very far addressing things that we don't understand. We don't know how the suit works, nor were we able to find any evidence it was tampered with. Best to stick with what we can see and understand.” Then Cyrus started being, well, whatever sort of demon Cyrus had become. At the mention of the word “defacing,” Davis's head twitched and his teeth graded. The Spartan turned to look at the unholy politician. “Haha, yea! Well it's a shame flirting you up won't work, because I feel like kissing you right now.” Davis grinned.
“Wait, really?” Aleecia “looked” at Dr. Killgood. “Is that true?”
“Yup!” Monokuma nodded. “To deface something is to mar or ruin the surface of something. Junko would have been totally screwed in this killing game!”
“So...” Calvin folded his arms. “I guess the killer did need to keep Krista alive if he planned on dropping the stalagmite on her.”
“Ding ding ding!” Davis threw out his arms in mock surprise. “So Krista's testimony seems to make perfect sense so far. She walked in on the killer, the killer knocked her out. Presumably tackled into the wall that has blood on it. She could have been knocked out with a tool of some kind, but we didn't find one.” Davis pointed at the ground. “And then the killer laid her out here to drop the stalagmite on her. He must have put her up against the wall later to make the thought of her knocking herself out more plausible.” Davis lifted up the tool handle. “And let's not forget the file. Krista may not have used it, but it was used on Mondatta's armor, albeit a bit ineffectively.”
But Calvin wasn't listening to Davis. He was instead more interested in what Lucas was saying. “Hey ass hole! Are you trying to say I did it?”
Davis groaned. “Relax, we're not quite ready to start pointing the finger at anyone yet... but we're close.”
Calvin sighed. “Yea.”
At this point, Davis heard Damiyon ask who reached the cave first. “I'm not something as sophisticated as a poet I realize, but I doubt the killer would have been filing the stalagmite if he had already killed Mondatta.” Davis folded his arms. “Mondatta must have arrived while Krista was knocked out, and intervened. There was a struggle, as evident by the marks on his armor.” He scoffed before continuing. “I do not accept the possibility that Mondatta was going to kill Krista, by the way. Not only do I think Krista would have been able to spot his silhouette rather easily, but he was tasked with protecting her. He would be the number one suspect if something happened. This is also the monk that did so much for our group, and was even willing to sacrifice himself during the first night of carnage.” Davis sighed. “So now we just have to figure out how he actually died.”
“About time!” Ice yelled. He was ignored.
“And what's this?” Davis slid across the floor over to Mary's position. “A hairline crack? Well I do think we have all the pieces we need now!” Davis leaned on Mary's podium. “And if you ever want to shut me up, putting one's lips over mine has proven to be quite effective.” Davis was smart enough to get out of smacking distance before going on more. “But since we're solving this murderer, I don't recommend doing it until we're in the clear.” After giving the streamer a wink Davis looked back at his fellow infinites. “So, how did Mondatta die?”
Shaun listened on to everyone's arguments and colourful insults, intent on staying quiet until he had some sort of idea. Everyone shouting at Caora had him on edge, he had to admit, but he mostly ignored it, ruling it down simply to high tensions.
The hairline fracture clue piqued his interest. There was a stress fracture on the stalagmite, even considering how brittle it was? How, exactly, would that have occurred..?
He pondered for a minute, running ideas through his head. The shock of seeing Mondatta's shell still hadn't left him, despite all the time he'd had to process it. That was probably why he was feeling so... so nervous, right? Or was it the looming, impending doom that hung above to group; the omnipresent threat of death that covered and choked the court room like a dense canopy.
"D-Davis, could M-Mondatta have been caused to f-fall into the st-stalagmite..? We don't kn-know much about the suit, b-but... c-could his own w-weight have, say... br-broken his neck..?" he queried, racking his brain for ideas, "A-and, i-if he entered through the o-other entrance... N-Noel, did you ph-photograph every part of the sc-scene to check for f-footprints? it was clear he was really struggling for ideas; he was much better used to identify bugs in code, not methods of murder.
Oh, boy, the politician was mouthing off again. What a blabber. Someone really needed to shut him up. "Hey, CHUCKLEHEAD!" cried Caora carelessly. "Krissie was K.OED, not deaded! Someone could totes squish her if she was just knockeded out!"
Oh, bully, a challenge! Davis seemed like he was gonna fight him! He even lept his podium and everything! And of course Caora would accept - he stood up and cried out "Gu bàs, a nàmhaid!" But... sigh, he didnt want to talk to him. He wanted to talk to Bliss. Aww. No fighting today, it seemed. Maybe next time?
Nanna went on to explain that Dvais probably didnt think Krissie did it, just that evidence pointed to her. Well, duh! Course she couldnt do it! She was totes out cold! Davis just liked the girls, she says. But why? Some of the girls were big dumb meanies! Like the booby monster, Mary, who kept trying to suffocate him! Why would he like her? And... the wedge? What wedge? Like a cheese wedge? Ugh, cheese. Caora HATED cheese, it was all yucky and... cheesy. He can see why someone would want to turn that to dust. If Nanna was right, then... darn, this totes wasn't going anywhere.
He stopped listening to Davis, preferring instead to speak with Fang. Èist a-nis, Fang. Fhuair sinn tòrr obair a dhèanamh ... agus chan eil, chan eil sin na tha mi ag iarraidh. Tha, tha e 'bodach. Agus le droch fhàileadh. Nit glè bhòidheach. Ach chan eil sin cudromach anns a 'bhad. Ma tha Mgr manach a chaidh a stopadh a-steach a 'chreig ... AH! Tha e coltach gu bheil neach-lagha a 'gheama? Faigh an fhianais agus a 'chrois sgrùdadh a dhèanamh air na fianaisean! Faodaidh sinn sin a dhèanamh gu tur!
The boy and his sheep conversed. They needed a theory, a real, proper theory, like the Big Banger or Revolution. Now think... if I were a killer, what would I do? So, like, who would be there first? If it was Mr Monk, then why would he be chopping the rock? Chop chop chop, fall fall fall, squish squish squish. Makes sense. But who would have kilt him? That would mean the killer would have to have seen Krissie, then kilt Mr Monk... nah, that didn't seem right. Then they would have needed the file thingy or the knife. Krissie? Then how would the rock be filed? Would she be filing it? She tries to push the rock over, gets caught and beaten up, maybe hurts Mr Monk in the meantime, then Mr Monk gets killed? That would work. Or the murderer could have the file, beat up Krissie and then try and push the rock on her. Mr Monk comes in, gets attacked and gets killed? That would also totes make sense. But wait! If there was an attack, surely there would be hurting? Bruises or something?
Hands slammed on the table. Nothing could be left to chance. If someone was bruised, that meant they might have did it! No one got out a fight without bruises and bumps! That's what Mama always said! Feverishly, the boy started taking his clothes off. He dropped his skirt and started throwing off his shirt - revealing a pink vest top and some rather tight matching panties. "Everyone! Clothes off! Me and Fang just thought of something!" He yelled as he undressed.
Davis shot Shaun a piercing gaze. “Shaun.” He began with a low growl. “I... would say that's a pretty agreeable analysis. I would go for head trauma myself. But yes,The stalagmite is cracked, so Mondatta must have cracked somewhere too. Without peaking inside his armor, we'll never know for sure. But I suspect if we were to follow that crack, we'd see a chunk of it was missing. Namely where the monk's head came into contact with it.” Davis nodded to himself. “And with that I do believe all the pieces are in place.” Davis shoved his hand inside his vest. “We can now reveal the killer!” With a swift motion, Davis drove the edge of his hand along his shirt seam, blowing all the buttons off of his vest and dress shirt as it went down. A draft suddenly picked up in the court room. It made the curtains flutter, and Davis's opened shirt/vest fluttered in the wind like a cape. His tie remained around his neck, but it still danced in the wind. Even with all that movement, no one could avert their eyes from his fully exposed chest. There was a large diamond shaped tuft of hair on it that tapered off around the rest of his torso. He was no body builder, but he did keep himself in decent shape. “Behold my innocence!” he bellowed.
“AHHHHHH!” Bliss turned away from Davis, only to see Caora. “AHHHHHHH, you too!?” Bliss looked around sheepishly. “Why are you guys undressing!”
“For conquest!” Davis drew his sword once more and turned to face Caora. “Ah, the girly boy has finally realized it! For as small as he is, he's letting his desperation and ambition fuel his conquest!” Davis waved his sword at everyone. “You should all follow suit!”
“NO!” Bliss hugged herself. “It's indecent even to ask that! What does that even achieve?”
“Well.” Davis looked at his sword. “You see there was a fight so-”
“No there wasn't!” Calvin interrupted. “I don't care how Mondatta entered the scene. Look at the pictures. If there was a struggle, he would leave footprints in that area around the stalagmite that was filed. But there's nothing there! You don't spot someone filing a stalagmite near an unconscious woman and ask them to stop. Or do you think Mondatta politely called them over?”
Davis grinned. “Heh, I guess I was getting ahead of myself.” Perfection rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I believe these footprints are a red haring though.”
Calvin tightened his grip on the podium “I thought the knife was a red haring?”
“I guess our killer didn't want to be caught.” Davis shrugged. “So we have two sets of footprints. One of which belongs to Krista, the other of which belongs to an unknown individual.”
Calvin folded his arms. “And you think they are fake?”
“They could be it's a possibility. But I know you won't listen to me.” Davis extended his hand towards Alice. “Why don't we let the infinite recon explain? Surely you'll all value the opinion of someone who's talent is literally scouting?”
To think that the madness would be over for now, nope, not yet no how. Alice was relieved to know that the court session was almost over, taking a sigh and resting her head in her arms. Then she heard Bliss yelp, twice really . She looked over to where the nanny was as to find the infinite trap and conquest undressing. Resulting in one of the best disapproval faces that the recon could have made.
Alice proceded to slam her face onto the surface of the podium till Davis turned the attention to her. Only one thing was in her thoughts as her pokerface was closest to the familiar emoticon,
"yOU GREEDY DIRTBAG-"
She quickly repositioned herself as she started to state her thoughts.
"First off, get your clothes back on lads. Your scaring people here, so have atleast some shame, will ya?" Alice said at Davis and Caora as she once more took her E-handbook out and scrolled to the mentioned evidence.
"And if there were to have been a tussle, the killer would have had to sweep the monk's footprints away. But the tracks seem normal. So, meh." she shruged.
Noel nodded in response to the infinite recon. ”I am inclined to agree. We didn’t even notice those prints ourselves before I found them on these pictures.” She then added ”The cave was far too dark to easily notice those footprints. My camera has a pretty good flash as well… you see? That's why they were visible. She grinned as she quickly snapped pictures of whoever decided to undress themselves. There were hardly any pictures better than the embarrassing ones.
Cyrus, who had apparently returned to his normal self, peered at Davis through his glasses. A broken pair was still present at the front of the podium. ”Furthermore, given Krista was indeed knocked out before Mondatta was killed. That means the killer must’ve fought Mondatta, erased the footprints, planted the knife and wrapper and returned the E-handbook to Krista before the body was found… which is a period anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour. Cyrus shook his head in disapproval. ”I do not think that is a very realistic option.”
Krista squealed, hiding her face as Caora and Davis began to strip. That was NOT expected, and she felt a little faint from the blood suddenly rushing to her cheeks. "W-wait! Please! Don't!" Her voice sounded muffled from behind her hands, and you could clearly hear the embarrassment.
Lucas just ignored the two, looking directly at Calvin. "There was no fight. Let's look at it this way: if Mondatta and the killer were at a stand off, wouldn't you expect there to be more... damage? It's possible to believe the killer was interrupted by Miss Müller, only to change his plan and wait for Mondatta, thus leaving Miss Müller as a scapegoat. How else would you explain the knife and lack of footprints?"
Krista perked up, just barely peeking her enflamed face through her hands to speak a little clearer. "Wait... why did you say his? Are you still pointing this all on Calvin?"
The investigator shrugged. "When I first checked the cave before asking Miss Müller and Mondatta to join me, I never saw anything indicating that somebody was planning on murdering anybody. Whatever it was, the killer began preparing only after the three of us were planning to go."
Caora showed no sign of getting redressed. In fact, he actually went and removed his vest, showing off a lissom but waifish musculature. The only thing between the boy and nudity was some pretty pink panties that... Didn't exactly hide anything.
"But if there was no fight, why is Mr Monk all scratched up?" he pondered aloud. Darn, this killer was good. Not good good, but bad good. Good at being bad, which isn't good, but they were good at how not good they were. They were bad at being good, so bad they were bad, and good at being bad. "You'd have to be totes daft to just stand there and let someone scratch you..."
He stopped briefly to pose for Noel's camera, before continuing: "Unless... He scratched him after he was deaded? And why would he do that?" Maybe the killer was a squirrel? Like, they thought Mr Monk was a nut and they wanted to get in? Nah, a squirrel wouldn't hurt a person like that. Squirrels were nice. The thingymabobber was gone... And everyone Was saying Krissie beat herself up. Hmm... And the chopper paper was in Krissie's room... Meaning that this totally evil murderer person must have wanted everyone to think Krissie beat herself up! Which meant...
"The knife! The person who did it scratched Mr Monk after he kilt him so we would think it was the knife what scratched him! That would totally make it look like Krissie! Well played, Mr Evil Murderer... "
But none of this helped. They had an idea of what happened - but who and why?
Mary was happy that she contributed to the case in a meaningful manner, but not that Davis suddenly came over to flirt with him. Monokuma seemed to be angry at him. "Hey! No walking around during the trial Stay before the podium assigned to you!" The alleged doctor shouted, but Davis ignored him. Mary pouted in response to his flirty words. "Hmph! Don't push your luck!" She attemptede to slap him, but he already retreated with that infuriating smugness of his.
"I'm sure that was it!" Mary responded to Shaun's suggestion, but before she could continue she was met with a most embarrassing sight; Caora was actually taking his adorable little clothes off! Mary blushed intensely, her mouth having turned wavy from the sheer second-hand shame. "EEEEHH!? Cookie, everyone can see your p-p-" Smoke seemed to be coming out of her ears as her eyes spun. Then, she suddenly dropped the jacket draped on her arms to the floor. "Ahh, it must be so painfully embarrassing for you, Cookie! But don't worry, for I shall share in your burden! Let us bask in our naturality!" Mary grabbed her top, and pulled it do-"Oh no you don't!" Monokuma suddenly shrieked, and jumped off of his seat, placing a black screen over the Infinite Streamer's torso, censoring it. "You can go R-rated all you want in your camshows or in your rooms, but I won't allow this raunchy behavior in a trial! Think of the poor New Zealanders!"
Davis's eyebrows raised in shock. “Alice? You can't be serious! Surely you can think of something?” Davis turned around again, this time it was Noel and Cyrus who refuted his idea. “No, not you too!” Davis spun around again to look at Caora. “No, not little conquest! This was our idea! How can you lose faith so easily?” Davis wandered around the “arena” like a depressed drunk, dragging his sword behind himself.
Calvin pointed at Lucas. “You look just as innocent as me right now. So I'd stop spouting crap if I were you.” Calvin turned to look at Davis. “Anyway, I'd hate to be the one to rain down on your little ego trip, but we all in agreement that there's no way the footprints were faked. Even your highly recommended 'expert' said they looked normal. Like Caora said, the scratches were probably made postmortem with the file. There's no reason to further embarrass ourselves with this stripping nonsense.” Calvin sighed. “It makes me angry to say this but... The killer set up a perfect crime. He got us, We lost.”
Davis fell onto his hands and knees. The wind that blew around the courtroom had subsided. “We lost?” He was speaking into the ground. “Did my conquest actually fail a second time?” His fingers curled into talons, but were unable to dig into the court's metal floor. “Alice, you didn't die just so that we could fail here, did you?” He closed his eyes and a single tear fell to the floor. “Is this as far as I can carry your memory?” But then he heard Bliss say something.
“AHHHHHH! Mary to!?”
Davis looked up at Mary. He could see her, well, the parts of her that weren't covered by Monokuma's censorship screen. “Mary?” Davis used one of his arms to dry his eyes. “Mary... you did it? You're... Embracing conquest?” Davis's smile broadened. “Seems our group isn't out of determination yet!” Davis used his sword to support himself as she stood back up. “I'm not out of the fight!”
“The hell are you talking about?” Calvin placed both of his hands on his podium. “Nobody wants to hear any more of your crack pot theories!”
“Least of all the killer!” Davis looked around himself. He hadn't been this energetic since he first drew that stupid sword of his. “I'm not going to let this one go, especially after the killer revealed himself in this court room!”
“What are you going on about?”
Davis ignored Calvin and instead turned to face Noel. “You are being foolish. A moment doesn't go by where you aren't flashing that camera in someone's face. It would not be difficult to assume you would take pictures of a murder scene. I know you want to think your pictures are going to be the next big scoop. But it's not ice cream this time sweet heart, it's shit!” When Davis turned to face Cyrus, he dragged his swords around himself. this sent golden spark across the floor before he pointed it at Cyrus. “Thirty minutes to an hour you say? To do what exactly? The mono shoppe is right on the way to krista's room. If the killer wanted to pick up a knife and plant it in her room, it wouldn't take him five minutes. I'm even accounting for the round trip back to her body to return the handbook.” Davis sheathed the sword. “As a bartender who's seen bouncers deal with rowdy folk, I can tell you that fights don't last nearly as long as the ones in those action flicks you watch. They are usually over with in just a few punches. I'm going to say the fight took even less time than planting the evidence did.”
Calvin growled. “Mondatta was a monk, a skilled fighter. He wouldn't go down easy.”
“What, you think it was a fight to the death? I actually think Mondatta won the fight!” Davis was starting to speak a bit louder. “I think he downed the killer in one punch, and snapped the file in half. Then just like with me, he offered to keep the entire thing a secret and insisted he confess what he did. And then when Mondatta was walking away, the little shit charged him and ran his head into the stalagmite!”
Calvin rolled his eyes. “His back was leaning up against the stalagmite. So he would have had enough time to turn and face the killer. You think Mondatta wouldn't have stopped him?”
“Maybe he was too slow. He was a fifty year old man with severe health conditions.” Davis growled. “Or maybe the infinite monk knew it was the only way he didn't have to take the killer's life. Mondatta knew Krista would be safe as long as he was dead. Mondatta sacrificed himself for Krista. As an agent of hope, he's now put his faith in us.” Davis threw out his arms. “That also could have happened in under five minutes, which give the killer plenty of time to make up fake footprints!”
“But how!” Calvin threw his hands up in the air. “Say he swept them away, then what?”
“That's something the rest of you have to figure out.”
“Why can't YOU just tell us? you act like you know how they did it!”
“Because that would defeat the point!” Davis swung his sword in the air. He was practically heaving when he looked between Caora and Alice. “I'm not saying that it happened that way. I'm not even saying it's the most likely scenario. But can any of you tell me with a hundred percent certainty that it didn't happen? Because if there's even a small chance, it would be really easy to find irrefutable proof to who the real killer is. But apparently you need some motivation.” Davis grabbed his belt. “If nobody can figure something out, the last thing everyone's going to see is what a REAL sword looks like!”
Monokuma pulled a radio phone out of his fur and held it against his head. “Girls, I'm going to need back up. Bring censorship screens.”
Bliss started to wonder out loud. “Well, if we entertain the possibility, there were two sets of footprints. If the killer wiped away everything, then the mystery pair couldn't have been Cyrus's.” Bliss was using her free hand to shield her eyes from the strippers. “Those must have been the killer's shoe prints then, but how did they get Krista's shoe prints everywhere? No girl keeps a matching pair of shoes, so they didn't get them from her room. And with such a small time frame, I doubt they could really make anything. They must have used something in the cave.” Bliss placed a finger on her chin and looked well above everyone's naughty bits. “And what did Davis mean when he said the killer revealed themselves? Did Calvin or Lucas speak a contradiction? They were the only people other than Krista and Mondatta that knew about the meeting.”
Little Conquest? Caora's heart swelled with pride. They were so close to solving this case! He could almost taste it!
He spared only a glance at the Booby Monster Mary, but it was enough. He could feel energy rushing through his tiny body like thunderbolts, energising him. She gave him hope (amongst other things)! They could do this if they just cooperated!
"Like HECK we lost! he slammed his palms on the table. "There's only two people it could be! And I think that the person who did it... Is you, Lucas!"
Little Conquest pointed an accusatory finger. His eyes were ablaze with fury. For the first time, Caora didn't look like a mewling little girl... He looked almost boyish.
"You said you were gonna meet them. All you needed was your tools. So where were you? You missed the whole thing. Super lucky, as far as your concerned! You knew where they would meet and they totally wouldn't suspect you."
"Lucas, your the one who killed Mr Monk!" Caora accused. "If you didn't, please remove your clothes and prove it! I wanna see the equipment and make sure you don't have any bruises!"
