Hydra's POV

     A loud yell erupted near the area, causing me to jolt awake from the bed.

     My head turned to gaze at my surroundings. I was in the same room as always, except Zantai was nowhere near me. I exhaled, leaping off the bed and stepping out of the room door.

     The mansion was suspiciously empty, which only cause me to hurry along faster.

     My sensors rose into the air, and with ease, I found the source of the sound. Zantai was...on the ground? I panicked, which leaping out the wide-open door and into the cold. A quick shift on the grass below me, and the sight ahead of me was shocking.

     "Zantai!" I called to him, quickly dashing forward and kneeling next to him. I wrapped an arm around his torso and pulled him up, sitting him against the wall. He had a pulse, which was relieving. "Zantai, wake up, man..."

     "Huh..." Zantai huffed lightly, his eyes still shut tight. "I can't do this anymore dude..."

     "Yes, you can...are you okay? What happened to you..?" I patted his back lightly.

     "Sammy's dead, dude. Fuck...she's f-fucking dead..!" Quickly, tears began to build upon the Blaziken's face.

     "What?" I felt my heart drop. Another death?

     I quietly left the Blaziken to rest against the wall, but because of what he said, I found myself peering into the room.

     A bloodied corpse was hanging on a rope, her shadowed eyes facing hopelessly up to the high ceiling. Her legs were dangling and swaying back and forth on the noose, and her arms were gently placed on her front side, her joints locked in a spastic motion. Occasionally, her body twitched, another breathless attempt from the Braixen. Poor Sammy...she was such a sweet Pokemon...

     "Hydra?" A voice called out to me. It was Luna. "I-I'm a bit hurt...can you help me?" The Umbreon called out to me. He seemed to be bleeding from the chest. "I was attacked in my sleep...I d-don't know how anyone could have gotten in..."

     "Wait. You're telling me the murderer is still out there?" I rose to my feet and glared at the Umbreon.

     "Murderer?" Luna inquired, peering into the dark room. He flinched away, breathing heavily. "I-Is that Sammy!?"

     "Luna, I can't heal your wounds right now, I have to find the murderer, right now." I clenched my fists. This anger...it's almost like I've never felt it before. Another person decided to murder...

     "D-Do you think...it could be a suicide?" Luna turned to me with a frown.

     "Maybe...but I'll keep that suggestion in mind..."

     "Yeah...I'll keep all of this in mind."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

     Nightshade's POV

     A new wave of emotion flushed around the house. With ease, I had already felt dread.

     "Inu, wake up." I extended my hand to gently shake the Infernape's shoulder.

     "Fuck off..." Inu groaned and slapped my hand away, planting her face in the pillow.

     "Alright, be that way." I groaned in annoyance. It wasn't easy switching rooms, but after a while, I'd get used to it. Footsteps lingered outside of the dorm, so I also figured people were awake after hearing that terrible scream. I rose to my feet, landing on all fours.

     A small pace was all it took to reach the door, and the second I unlocked the door and opened it...a pair of large red eyes met mine. I stumbled on my haunches, feeling the air leave my lungs with one final exhale.

     "Sorry to disturb you...but there's been a murder, and I need to test a theory..." Hydra was the one in front of the door, and his serious stare practically pierced through me.

     "W-What? No! If someone murdered it'll be dang—"

     "I'll protect you." The Lucario quickly objected, extending his paw out.

     "Fine..." I shook my head, clutching his paw tightly. With ease, he pulled me up, causing me to stand. I wobbled slightly, pacing forward.

     I made my way across the house and directly into the outdoors. "It's fucking freezing." I shuddered, gazing at the tall Lucario.

     "Do you want me to hug you or something?" Hydra mumbled. He seemed rather...serious. I mean, after all, a murder did happen. But he was usually really chill about everything. Now he seems...terrifying.

     "N-No, I'm fine." I shivered as I made my way through the grass. Inevitably, I would regret that decision.

     "Your loss," Hydra said flatly before stopping in front of a doorway. "Look inside. Now." He commanded.

     "What do you mean?" I paused next to him and gazed inside. My whole body froze in shock, and then...

     DING DONG, DONG DING!

     The bell rang.

     "As I thought..." Hydra sighed. "I understand now..."

     "A body has been discovered! Everyone meet in the abandoned garage!

     "Fuck! Fucking shit!" I dropped to my haunches and suppressed the urge to vomit. "What the fuck!? You knew about this?"

     "Calm down. I'll explain it later, but I think I understand how this system works." Hydra gazed at me with calm eyes.

     "No! You fucking knew about this!? You knew!" I hissed, backing away from the Lucario.

     "Arceus, is there an off button on her?" Prince groaned in annoyance as he paced by me. "Oh, another one. Funny."

     "Funny? This is funny to you?" I rose to my hind legs and crossed my arms. "Unbelievable."

     "It's...Sammy isn't it?" Loki paced closer to the garage and sighed. "Damnit...damnit..."

     "It's...who?" The most concerned voice called.

     Oh no...

     Xeonix, who was previously really good friends with Sammy, arrived to the scene.

     "Xeonix, dear...I'm really sorry..." Loki turned around to frown at him. Poor Zoroark looked like she needed a hug.

    "P-Please no..." Xeonix stammered and dashed over to the garage, freezing the second he gazed inside. He dropped to his knees, slamming his fist against the ground. "Fuck!"

     ...

     ...

     "There's a few missing."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

     Zantai's POV

     I chose not to gaze at the body. I had something in mind, something planned for this trial. I sat on the couch, carefully examining my surroundings until...

     I heard a door shuffle open, and I turned around to glare at the sound. Luna was pacing out of the closet door, his eyes looked at me with worry. His forearms were bleeding. "I-Is he gone?" The Umbreon stammered.

     "Who?" I rose to my feet and paced closer to the Umbreon. He seemed to back away from me in fear.

     "I-I don't know...I couldn't see them at all..." Luna huffed lightly, his eyes scrolling around the area. "It isn't safe here..."

     "It really isn't." I heaved a long sigh. "Alright, I'll patch you up..."

     "Don't." A stern voice called. It was Hydra, and he was walking across the living room. "I want to test a theory." Not once did the tall Lucario look at me. All he did was look inside the closet and walk away into the kitchen.

      "What?" Luna seemed to hiss. "You're going to let an open wound slide because you have a 'theory'?" Luna scoffed.

     "Fix it yourself. You're not hopeless, are you?" Hydra stepped out of the kitchen to pace across the living room. "How'd you even get hurt anyway?"

     "I was attacked." Luna frowned.

     "Why's there blood on your claws?" Hydra gazed at the Umbreon. Luna didn't seem to bother at all.

     "Because I fought back. Of course, I'm going to swipe at anyone who's trying to kill me!" The Umbreon groaned in annoyance. "Fine, I'll do it myself." Luna rolled his eyes and stomped away.

     "Do you think he's suspicious?" I tilted my head at the Lucario.

     "Yeah, but I think a lot more are suspicious too." Hydra returned to the closet. I angle my head up to gaze at his eyes.

     "What do you mean?"

     "You'll see." The Lucario kneeled to inch closer inside of the closet. Suddenly, he poked inside of the darkness and a clicking sound was heard. The inside shifted—almost like a secret passageway!

     "How the hell did you find this?" I peered inside, gasping loudly. It was Sammy. We were in the abandoned garage!

     "Figures..." Hydra ignored me and made his way inside, dropping down with the rest of the group.

     "Damn." Luster chuckled. "What do we have here?" He tilted his head in amusement. "Ya found something?"

     "There's a button that closes it too." The Lucario rose his paw and slammed the wall behind him, conveniently pressing the stone button—which instantly closed the secret passageway.

     "How did you find this?" Bigby scoffed lightly.

     "It's Hydra," Vince rolled his eyes. "He has the cure to cancer."

     "Really?" Nightshade gazed at the Greninja.

     "No!" Vince cackled loudly, causing the Salazzle to roll her eyes in annoyance.

     "There were a few things we noticed, come here you two." Loki motioned Hydra and me to come closer. "There's definitely a struggle down here." The Zoroark pointed to the small claw marks against the wooden flooring. "The blood is thicker on one side than it is on the other, which means Sammy was dragged up to the noose. This was definitely a murder, not a suicide."

     "Look." Bigby pointed behind the Zoroark. "There's a pool of blood under Sammy, but next to it is completely dry with no blood—it also separates the dragged blood."

     "Hm...I wonder how that could've happened..." Inu scratched her head. "They could have grabbed her and brought her to the noose."

      "I suppose so..." Loki sat on her haunches, frowning hopelessly.

     "You know..." Sherwood closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. "I saw Prince awake late a night...before this murder happened..."

     "You did?"