THIRD PERSON

The room had now earned a long-awaited silence after Vince spoke up. Even after a painfully lengthy wait, the Greninja kept his glare confidently locked onto the Lycanroc.

"W-What?" Lancer muttered, clearly awestruck.

"That's right, there's something buggin' me about you...but I can't quite prove it yet." Vince's eyes narrowed with care as he leaned forward.

"The hell are you on about?" Sherwood scoffed as he shifted the plucked weed in his maw.

"I mean, someone reason with me here." The frog turned to the Sceptile and flashed a slight frown. "I understand he lost his brother, but the way he's reacting is off to me."

"The fuck?" Inu was the first to snap at the thought of the Greninja's words. "Are you saying he shouldn't be acting differently? After his own fucking brother died!?"

"See, no...that's not my point." Vince exhaled deeply as his expression shifted to show regret.

"Vince...you're trying to include Lancer in the pool of suspicion...are you?" Vanta—seemingly the only one willing to listen to him—offered the Greninja a focused gaze.

After a small nod from the blue frog, the Umbreon turned to the aforementioned Lycanroc.

Lancer's eyes widened at his powerful stare, yet he still felt like his words were unneeded.

"Okay...no one is safe then. Any one of us could be it, including you, Lancer." Vanta cleared his throat.

"I do not understand. Wouldn't he be the least likely?" Leon crossed his arms, seemingly disappointed at the choice.

"You can't be so sure." Rayne's monotone voice chimed in. "After all, one of us killed Talus."

Another wave of silence, this time seemingly needed to process the situation and gather ideas.

"Okay, let's think about this." Loki started. "If we all went to bed whenever...uh...whatever time it was, then it had to have happened between that time, right?"

"That would be right." Galant nodded in affirmation.

"Good! Then that means that everyone should have an alibi since they were with someone in their room!" The Zoroark spoke with newfound confidence apparent in her tone.

"Hm..." Zantai grumbled under his breath. "Isn't Aubra completely alone in her room?"

"O-Oh..." As if she was hoping for no one to notice her, the shy Absol finally spoke up. "Yeah...I a-am..."

"It's not only her." Grace muttered, her voice just barely high enough for everyone to hear. "Isn't Luster usually outside of his room?"

"Yeah, and he hangs out with Talus, too." Laker was quick to butt in.

"I can speak too, you know." Luster scoffed in amusement at the Weavile.

"Just throwing it out there." The weasel sneered.

"Right, so we know Luster hung out with Talus often..." Galant huffed and placed a thoughtful blade against his chin. "Wouldn't that leave Aubra, Laker, and Luster?"

"Why me!?" Laker hissed at the sound of his name.

"Because Inu kicked you out of the room, remember?" Loki chimed in.

"But I went back in?"

"Yeah, after the murder had already happened." Galant frowned at the Weavile and humored him no longer. "Either way, I can imagine everyone else has an alibi?"

"Yup...Zantai snores a ton." Sherwood started, earning an eye-roll from the Blaziken—an annoyed confirmation.

"Rayne gets at least four hours of sleep each night." Vanta stated flatly.

"You monitor that?" Rayne turned to the Umbreon, her voice filled with more curiosity than disgust.

"You never know..."

"Talus...was not in the room, obviously. He never is...I am quite the nuisance because of this aura inhibitor." Leon frowned, earning a unanimous, acknowledging nod from the trial room.

"I was in my room, and shit..." Inu huffed.

"Vince is a paranoid freak." Galant remarked as his own alibi.

"Oh, now you're acting the maggot, boy. You're the one meditatin' on the fockin' tables!" Vince spat back in return. For some odd reason, his accent was quite prominent there.

"Loki and I..." Grace had begun her sentence, but quickly trailed off in thought. "Wait! Loki and I heard something!"

Since this was the loudest the Eevee had ever spoken, the trial room was now all ears.

"Oh, right! We heard something that sounded like metal banging late at night!" Loki exclaimed.

"Metal banging, huh?" Luster muttered as his gaze locked onto the Zoroark. "If that's the case then we needed to tighten the time on the alibis..."

"That includes you." Rayne warned.

"I know." The Luxray huffed, earning a nod from the Manectric.

"Alright, then I'll start by picking you all apart." Vanta shifted confidently in his stool. "Inu, Luster, Lancer, Aubra, and Laker are our potential suspects."

This was immediately deemed controversial with the number of inquiries beginning to swarm the air.

"What!? Me!? How?" Inu gritted.

"Inu, because Laker left the room, there is no one to vouch for you." Vanta's voice had now lost its tone to provide the information he knew as efficiently as possible.

The Umbreon shifted his gaze to the Lycanroc across the room. "Same thing goes for you, Lancer. Sorry, it has to be this way..."

"But...I was in my room by then..." Lancer finally spoke up...his first mistake it seemed...

"There it is." Luster's voice reverberated around the high ceiling, leaving everyone waiting for his next words. "I was hoping you'd say something like that."

"W-Wha...huh?" The midnight Lycanroc stammered at the confrontation.

"You guys are right, I did hang out with Talus a good amount. But you know what I would do if he wasn't there?" The Luxray now had a small grin tainting his features.

"What?" Leon humored him as no one probably would have.

"I dunno, ask Sammy." Luster turned, his tail flicking in the direction of the familiar Braixen, who seemed invisible throughout the whole trial.

Sammy was taken aback by the spotlight now on her, so her first instinct was to lock eyes with her sibling. "Sam...am I allowed to say?"

"It's part of the game, go ahead!" Sam offered her a twisted grin.

Sammy took a deep breath before continuing. "Just like I talked to Talus and Luster the first night; yesterday I talked with Luster...who was alone."

"Alone?" She now had Vanta's attention. "The whole night?"

"Yes, Luster entered his room for the rest of the night..." The calmer Braixen muttered.

"Which is why I called him out." Luster continued. "I made it seem like I was out the whole night alone, when in reality I was in the room, with Lancer nowhere in sight."

Needless to say, the Luxray's argument shattered the foundations created for the case.

"Wait...then what about Aubra? Or Laker?" Zantai questioned, his voice still sealed with unsureness.

"That's irrelevant now, because why would Lancer lie about something like that? To push the blame on me about something?" Luster quickly overruled.

"Shit..." Vanta hissed under his breath as he tore his glare to focus on the Lycanroc. "Well, say something or you're fucked, man."

"W-What!?" Lancer croaked. "What am I supposed to say to that? He has no alibi for it!"

"I'm inclined to believe Sammy here, she's done nothing but help us..." Loki frowned and crossed her arms.

"You believe her?! She's working with Sam! You know that, right!?" Lancer's shy demeanor seemed to die off.

"Awe...look at the state o'you..." Vince grinned, waving his webbed hand at the midnight Lycanroc. "You're not heartbroken anymore?"

"Well, well, well!" Sam's dreaded voice eased in at the worst possible time. "It looks like this trial is coming to a nice and smooth close! Everyone, you are obligated to end your speaking in exactly one minute and begin deciding your culprit!"

"You can't be doing this to me, guys..." Lancer's voice shuddered.

"Look, discussing how the murder happened was the easiest part. All someone had to do was just bash in Talus' head." Vanta's glare never left the Lycanroc.

"Hey, Lancer. I'll make you a deal." Laker cleared his throat, now gaining his attention. "If you tell me what your motive card was, I won't vote for you."

"W-What? No..! Of course not."

"Do you want to die, Lancer?" Laker warned, his claws now hovering above his own neck. "Because today might be the day..."

"You're g-going to betray me. I know a snake like you would!" Lancer hissed.

"I don't think so...I've been useless all trial, don't you think? Maybe it's best for you to convince me..." The weasel's suspicious grin grew, leaving the group unaware of his plans.

LEON'S POV

Whatever Laker is planning, I want nothing to do with it. Nothing about his emotions I'm reading speaks the truth at all.

"Hey, Sam." The Weavile turned to wave at the Braixen.

"What's up?"

"Am I allowed to request Lancer to give me his motive letter?"

"You are...but I'll have to give it to you instead."

"Wonderful." Laker shifted to the Lycanroc, his eyes like daggers now. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen him do. "I suggest you hand it over...or you lose any chance of surviving. I don't care what's in it, I just want to know if you're honest."

Lancer stood there contemplating his decisions for a few seconds.

"Tick, tock..." The weasel whispered.

"Mm...urgh! Fuck, fuck! Okay, fine!" The Lycanroc cried out as he held his letter in the air. Right on queue, Sam made her way off the throne and slowly eased in front of the podiums. Almost as if she was trying to make this as slow as possible, she made a show of grabbing it and reaching out for Laker to grab it.

Everyone silently waited as the gentle sounds of shuffling papers teased our ears. Hoping for any answer, any guarantee that we'd get this right.

"Okay." The Weavile muttered as he finished reading, quickly slipping the note back into the letter. "It's not Lancer."

"Just like that?" Sherwood scoffed as a result of stifling a laugh. "Yer' somethin' alright..."

"Are you serious?" Loki groaned and tugged at her hair. "What the hell did you read?"

"I'm not saying." Laker shrugged, causing Lancer to heave a sigh of relief.

"Okay, well, is there any way to convince you? Because you're clearly wrong." Inu rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Mmm...maybe." The Weavile shrugged once again.

"Sam, this is the longest minute of my life." Vince turned to the Braixen. "Do we have time to explain things before voting?"

Sam didn't say a word as the podiums beneath us vibrated without warning. From both sides of the stand extended a lever and a small pad with each of our names—it was technology we couldn't have even dreamt of using.

"You have a limited amount of time to explain." The Braixen warned.

"Let me at 'em." Vanta cleared his throat as the rings on his body gleamed. "I'll give it to you step by fuckin' step."

...

...

...

THIRD PERSON

Case 1 - Talus

The night was lonely...the mansion living room empty—save for one curious soul wandering the dangerous hallways, waiting for a friendly one to arrive.

"Talus?" A voice called out to him, causing him to jerk his body in response.

"Oh...Lancer, it's you, brother..." He seemed relieved at first, the midday Lycanroc's gleaming eyes beginning to dim at the sight of his sibling pacing towards him.

"What are you doing here? Waiting for Luster?" Lancer asked, but seemed to already know the answer to his question.

"You got it...I'm a bit early tonight, I guess I should have waited, heh..." A surprisingly uncomfortable laugh from the cheery midday wolf.

Lancer didn't acknowledge him, the midnight Lycanroc's mindless gaze staring at the ground as his brother's words were no more than emptiness to his ears. A million scenarios crowded his train of thought before adrenaline struck.

"You know...I was going to wait to say it...but I found a way out..." Lancer muttered.

A slight pause, almost as if the other Lycanroc didn't believe it.

"What!?" Talus chirped in confusion.

"Shh! Shh..!" Lancer hushed and held the midday wolf's maw shut. "You're too loud..."

"B-But...we have to tell everyone right away..!" The other Lycanroc frowned the moment he let go.

"Yes...but I don't trust everyone. Let me show you first." He motioned his brother to follow, practically as a command.

After a few minutes of finding the right hallway, Lancer waited until they arrived at the garage connector to begin speaking.

"Talus...what is your...your motive letter?"

The question was upfront, and most certainly unwelcome. It left the midday Lycanroc uncomfortably shifting before he shook his head.

"I-I think those are meant to be secrets, brother."

"You have to tell me...we can't keep secrets if we want to survive here..." Lancer frowned as he stopped in the middle of the room and turned around to glare at the other Lycanroc.

"S-Survive? But you found the exit! We can leave..!" Talus looked around after his words. "Where i-is it?"

Silence...nothing but the dangerous glare of his older brother.

"Lancer...I-I can't tell you. Please don't ask me about this anymore...I want to leave." He seemed to back away closer to the garage connector.

The sight of him near leaving caused the midnight Lycanroc to flinch.

"I'll tell y-you mine...just...you have to tell me."

"Lancer." Talus frowned, his eyes now having analyzed the entire room. "Where is the exit?"

"If you tell me...I can show you."

"You're not well, brother...I-I have to tell everyone el—"

Before the younger Lycanroc could finish his sentence, he was dragged across the ground by the neck.

Talus let out a small yelp of surprise, his eyes wincing shut in fear as he roughly landed. Lancer had a stable grip on his throat, his expression distorted.

"L-Lancer..!" A strained cry from Talus. "You're...hurting me...please..."

Lancer pulled back for only a moment to realize what he was doing, leaving the younger Lycanroc to finally pull up and cough it off.

Talus tried not to say anything as his rocky coat now gleamed a brighter color. He wasn't the strongest, so a decently sized rock was all he could manage to create and launch at the other Lycanroc.

At the sight of the attack, Lancer simply leaped away and skimmed the rough ground to track and slam his own brother into the metal wall.

Another hopeless yelp from the younger Lycanroc as he dropped to the ground in pain. As if this wasn't enough, Lancer gripped the side of his head and reeled it back.

He hesitated, and it gave the midday wolf enough time to speak. "P-Please...I'll tell you my motive." His voice was a shy whisper, one hoping to survive this encounter.

However, it was too late to go back for the older brother. Swallowing his pain, he clenched the fur on the side of Talus' head and lunged his arm forward. A loud slam reverberated around the garage, following a hopeless whine.

"Lan..cer..." Talus' voice was nothing more than a croaking cry. "Pl-Please..."

Another swallow from the older Lycanroc, this time, his pride. He reeled his arm back once again and gripped it even tighter, slamming the other wolf's head against the metal as hard as he could.

With each repeating slam, the midday Lycanroc's cries for help grew higher and weaker.

For one final time, the older Lycnaroc swallowed—the last being his morals.

The wall had slightly caved in with the process, blood and tendons scattering the sharp edges of metal. Lancer looked down at his own brother.

Talus was foaming at the mouth, presumably seizing from experiencing all kinds of physical trauma. It took every fiber of his being to finish him off with one final blow against the sharp ends of the metal wall. This time, there was silence.

Lancer slugged the now lifeless body to the middle of the room, watching the blood pool on the ground. Only now had he realized he was a mess of tears. The wolf wiped them away and knelt next to his brother, gently feeling against his thick fur. He slipped through a gentle nook of rocky fur to pull out a letter.

Exactly what he looked for, yet he was afraid to open it. He had no more tears left to cry, no more things to swallow away from himself. The wolf finally slipped it open...

"Talus has an incredibly abusive relationship with his brother, Lancer. Not only does he get used for dangerous errands, but all frustrations are physically taken on him. Somehow, he is the cause of Galant's mother's death from Lancer's orders."

If he hadn't been standing in front of a fresh corpse, right now would have been the perfect time to cry his heart out.

With only a limited amount of time to fix things, the older wolf made his way through the hallways with his arm coated in blood.

"F-Fuck...fuck..." He hissed to himself as he slugged his way into the kitchen, desperately switching the water on. Whatever he could get his paws on, he used; dish soap, regular soap, anything to wipe the stains off his arm.

It took a deep cleansing for his fur to even look remotely normal, and it was in between that time that he spotted a kitchen knife in its place.

It took mere seconds to swipe it and run back over to the scene of the crime. Talus' body had already begun to lose its color—he had to be fast. He hastily dipped the blade across the pooling blood and dropped it with ease.

Lancer's eyes scrolled around the room for things to fix. The blood coating the walls was clearly too obvious, so he took the time to shove a heavy pile of plastic boxes in front of the stained metal.

He stepped back and nearly tumbled on something on the way out...a small rock sitting on the ground—Talus' hopeless attempt.

Treating it exactly like the knife, the wolf rubbed it against the blood and leaped out of the room. The moment he hid the pebble in a random pot, he felt a wave of confusion drain him.

"Why...did I..." He shuddered to himself.

It was too late to go back...

...

...

...

LEON'S POV

Everything Vanta stated seemed to be true. There's only so much we could tell from the evidence...only the murderer and Talus would know everything that happened that night. Hopefully, we landed on the correct one.

"Everyone, vote now!" Sam's voice called and we all seemed to slave toward our podiums in silent thought. A few frustrated groans broke the silence before a loud ding reverberated around the high ceiling.

Sam grinned widely and stood on her golden throne.

"Time is up! The majority vote seemed to be..." Sam gazed at a certain piece of technology she was holding. "Lancer..."

An audible noise chimed from the speakers.

"And...did you get it right..?" She muttered.

...

"Oh, Arceus! You all got it right! Every single one of you voted for Lancer!"

A breath of fresh air, a weight leaped off my shoulders. I couldn't help but offer Lancer a betrayed look, but he was too busy eyeing Laker.

That's right...Laker just lied to him...all for what? His motive card?

"Fuck..." Zantai shuddered—I could see his fur stand up from here.

"Awe...why so silent?" Sam grinned widely and clapped her paws together. "Aren't you satisfied you won?"

"This doesn't feel good at all..." Loki sniffled.

"...you did it because no one would suspect you, right?" Vince's voice was soft, yet still aimed toward Lancer.

"I don't want to hear it right now..." The midnight Lycanroc winced and turned away from the group.

"What the fuck do you mean!?" Inu scoffed.

"You killed your own brother..." Luster—now that he no longer had to keep his cool for the trial—hissed violently at the Lycanroc. "He was too weak to do anything against you! You kill a man like that!?"

"Shut up! I get it!" Lancer hissed in return and leaped off his podium. "I don't want to be here anymore. I don't care if I die, even if I deserve it. Fuck you and your killing game!" He turned to glare at the Braixen positioned on her throne.

"Oh, you poor thing." Sam giggled and clicked a button from under her throne arm. "It's punishment time!"

As if her words caused it, the tall lights above us flickered for a prolonged period before shutting off completely. The sounds of mechanical shifting roared above us as a spotlight gleamed over Lancer. The Lycanroc shielded his eyes from the light, his demeanor flashing different intensities of fear. Before he could even plead out for mercy, a large metal claw detached from the sky to scoop itself around the wolf's neck. It latched on tightly against his fur before our vision was cut once again.

The lights now focused on a large plexiglass container that was hidden by a curtain behind Sam's throne. Inside was an organized setting...as if Sam didn't already impress us, the entire inside of this container was decorated to make the area look like a desert.

"Hey!" Grace had already run over to the container and waved at someone inside...it was Lancer!

Soon enough, the entire group gathered around the plexiglass walls to gaze at the horrified Lycanroc.

"I don't think he can see us..." Vanta curiously muttered under his breath before waving at the wolf, who was completely unphased. "Yeah..."

"Lancer the midnight Lycanroc has been found guilty! Time for his punishment!" I could hear Sam's devilish grin through her voice on the intercom.

From now on, a disturbing piece of music repeated across the trial room's speakers.

The moment the message ended and clicked, a large stone was hauled at the Lycanroc from an unknown place.

"What the..." Sherwood grumbled as he visibly craned his head to look for the source. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"I-I don't know..." Loki whispered back, her eyes watching in horror as the midnight Lycanroc dropped to his haunches from the attack landing against his chest.

Another stone, yet this one was even larger than before. It was almost as if they were being formed from thin air. This one just barely skimmed his leg as the midnight wolf leaped forward to evade the attack. Lancer rose to his feet and yelled something to the sky, something we couldn't hear.

From behind him launched a chipped boulder, which slammed against his spine, quickly leaving the Lycanroc stunned against the ground.

"Fuck..." Zantai sucked sharp air through his fangs. I felt the same as everyone; this was hard to watch. I almost wanted to look away...but something stopped me, it felt horrible.

As if the rocks and boulders weren't enough, an overwhelming shadow loomed above the wolf. Not only had he not noticed yet, but this one was the biggest one yet. The next stone covered the entire container, and Lancer was too busy recovering from his injury to see it.

A row of desynchronized gasps from the group sounded as the giant rock crashed against the sand, tearing everything in its path...including Lancer.

The area around us vibrated in response to the boulder, some of us even being thrown off our balance with how large it was.

We were left with dust and pebbles scattering the glass, and with a closer look...blood. A crimson red coated the bottom of the boulder, leaving no doubt in mind that the exaggerated execution was complete.

Lancer was dead, and he took the life of Talus with him.