Kinger's eyes slightly widened. Though he wasn't completely aware, he still felt the severity of the situation.
"Someone got Twinkle huh? How awful"
Kinger hung his head.
"And the only one here who'd be cruel enough to stab her repeatedly is Jax." Zooble pointed out.
"Look, I'm all for violence but I'm no monster Zooby" Jax glared back, his teasing nickname sounding more forced than his usual banter.
"Look, maybe it's still an NPC guys. Caine could've just given us these weapons to make us turn against each other. Ya know, for drama." Pomni pointed out. In the middle of the table were six weapons. Jax's police revolver, a rope from Zooble, Pomni had a mini bat, Gangle had a lead pipe, Kinger also had a gun, and Ragatha had a wrench.
"Nothing here has blood on it, and Kinger's gun as all his bullets. So maybe it was an NPC?" Ragatha looked up, her stomach still turning from throwing up.
"That does make sense, I dont see any pokies" Kinger looked over the items.
"I think he means knives" Gangle pointed out.
"Look, I found this note in her room." Jax opened the folded paper, reading allowed the following words:
'In a realm where flavors dance and blend, A maestro stands, with knife in hand,I wear a grin that never fades.
A crafted laugh in silent shades.
My twin sheds tears in somber grace,
While I command the central place.
No voice I own, yet crowds I seize,
I come unglued without a seam, A puzzle born of bolt and beam. No glue secures my soul within, Yet every piece must always win'
"The f(beep) was all that?" Zooble spoke up.
"Well, clearly a riddle." Ragatha pointed out, taking the note from Jax to reread it. Everyone thought on the riddle, it made no sense to anyone.
"Well, maybe it's the chef?" Pomni suggested.
"That could work, it's the only NPC with an actual modle." Zooble nodded.
"Not true, there are the two maids." Gangle reminded.
"Oh yea, forgot." Zooble shrugged.
"So, will the adventure end if we capture the right killer?" Pomni asked.
"Yo Caine! Come out we got a question!" Zooble shouted. On que, Caine popped up. He was sitting in a folding chair with popcorn.
"Well hello my little merry murder investigators! Whatcha need?"
"How do we end the adventure?" Pomni asked.
"Ah! The adventure will end when you call the police on who you think the killer is! From there I'll let you know who won!"
Everyone nodded, and Caine disappeared.
"I think before we call, we should investigate one more time." Pomni suggested.
"Why?" Zooble asked.
"Just in case. I don't wanna mess this up. The riddle has to mean something" Pomni stood.
"I'll come with" Jax stood, not asking but stating.
"Well, if Pomni dies we know it's Jax." Zooble mumbled with a glare, but Jax didnt look back.
The duo went to the main hall, where all suitcases were left open. The two didn't really know what to look for, but that didn't stop them from looking. Jax held onto the pearls in his pocket as he looked around. After awhile, the two had a mini pile of random items.
Kinger had a sash from his supposed military days, and Gangle had two mini trophies that had no detail to them. Zooble had one of those weird gloved hand pointer sticks that seemed to be old from use; though it was a guess since the rounded tip seemed a lighter pink than the rest of its glove. Ragatha had just a bunch of fake dollars with Caine's face on them, Pomni had nailpolish, and Jax had a police officers uniform coat.
"Ugh! These are not helping" Jax kicked his coat, sending it over the pile.
"Ok, ok we need to calm down. Clearly the part about the spices and knives are about the chef like we all expected. But the rest of the poem doesn't make sense..." Pomni read over the poem again.
"What if it isn't a poem, but a riddle?" Jax asked, leaning down over Pomni's shoulder.
"Ragatha already said that dummy." Pomni glared back at him before rereading the riddle.
----------------------------------------------------
In a dark, void like room; Caine watched the cast from a box TV. On a long couch where he sat, Bubble and Twinkle both sat with him. All three were eating popcorn with classic soda cups.
"The riddle was genius my dear. Though why not just tell them who did it?" Caine looked at Twinkle who smirked as she tossed a popcorn into the air, and caught it in her mouth.
"For drama. I figured this would be more fun to watch."
"How mischievous~" Bubble giggled, pushing his tongue into his popcorn bucket.
Twinkle's tail gently thumped against the chair, a small feeling of joy fell over her as she watched Jax play with her necklace. It was cute.
----------------------------------------------------
Jax followed Pomni back up to the library. Looking around in end tables, she found a flashlight. Shinning the light around the room didn't do anything, at least right as she was turning she caught a glimpse of a reflection. Near the doors was a small gun case. Two old looking revolvers under a shotgun were displayed.
"Hey Jax! Over here." Jax's ears turned towards the jester before he walked over. Nodding in understanding, he undid the frame case. Both the shotgun and left revolver had all their bullets. Though, the revolver on the right had one single bullet missing.
"Holy sh(beep), the murder weapon for AM!" Pomni stared in awe, a bit surprised the duo actually found something.
"Ok, this explaines AM. But not Twinkle." Jax snapped the revolver shut, sliding it into his holster.
"That's true, we didn't hear any gunshots..." Pomni trailed off in thought, her eyes going back to the secret staircase entrance. Without a word, she made her way over. Jax followed behind. Using the flashlight, Pomni swept the light over the entire staircase down; as well as the tunnel where everyone met up.
"I knew it!" Pomni walked faster.
"Huh?" Jax looked around.
Originally with Twinkle's light, it wasn't bright enough to see more around then. This large flashlight though, it made the entire hall light up. There wasn't just two extra entrances, but there were three. One hidden from the group when they first met up.
Following the more narrow hall, led to a door. A small, dumb waiter door with a button.
"This looks like the same dumb waiter from Caine's hell adventure...ugh.." The jester shivered at the memory as she hit the button. A few moments and some rattling later, and the door opened.
"Well, lets get going." Jax was the first to climb in. His cartoon body folded easily, allowing Pomni to squish herself inside. Hitting the button, the waiter made it's way up. Slower this time due to the weight, but it opend up to steam and the smell of spices. The kitchen was its destination, hidden ever so slightly near the second fridge.
"This just confirms our suspicion about the chef." Jax shrugged.
Pomni wasn't satisfied. Turning around, she smiled.
"Look. This button panel has two buttons instead of one. If one is for the tunnels, whats the second?" Jax followed Pomni back into the waiter, matching smirks as he hit the button.
Some rattling later, the doors opened into a dark room. It was a closet. Practically falling out of the dumb waiter, the two opened the closet into one of the bedrooms.
"So it WAS one of us!" Pomni looked around, but there was no indication of whos room it was.
After finding no more clues, the two walked back to Twinkle's room. Jax clutched the pearls as they walked in, the blood stains still in the carpet. Pomni looked around as he stood there, his eyes eventually falling to the floor. The color red got his attention. He had stepped on a piece of fabric, red fabric. It was glossy and smooth.
"You Pomni." Jax called, his eyes trailed back. In the wall was a dagger, and some more red material stuck to the blade.
"Of course! Twinkle must have tried to defend herself. I was wondering where the dagger was, since it's in the original game..."
Pomni took the material and dagger, her eyes widened. Turning to Jax, her expression surprised and almost scared. It took only a few moments for both players to have the same idea. Immediately, they took off running, flying down the stairs they almost fell trying to turn into the dinning room.
"EVERYONE WAIT!" Pomni called out. Ragatha had an old turn phone on the table, her hands already dialing.
"Sorry Pomni, but we're calling for the chef as the killer." Ragatha looked troubled but her mind was set.
"L-look! We found new evidence!" Pomni slide the pieces of red fabric and the dagger on the table.
"Twinkle tried to defend herself but missed the shot." Jax defended.
"Ok? This just proves it was the chef. She had a red ascot" Zooble took the material as Gangle nodded, her ribbon hands folding behind her back.
"Wait wait wait you gotta listen!" Pomni tried to stop them, but it was to late. Ragatha had dialed the phone and Caine appeared in a police uniform.
"So, who did it?" Caine smiled, happier than he'd been in awhile.
"I vote for the chef." Ragatha said.
"Huh? Oh, me too." Kinger smiled.
"Me and Gangle do too." Zooble looked up at Caine.
"Oh yea? Well I think Gangle, Zooble AND the chef did it!" Pomni pointed a shaking finger at the pair.
"Yea! All three of em!" Jax glared at the two. Gangle leaned back as Zooble leaned forward.
"Wait, what? Why them?" Ragatha was confused, but the votes were locked in.
"Ah, well not everyone can be a detective!" Cain laughed. Snapping his fingers, Twinkle appeared next to him. Her wounds had healed though her dress stayed stained.
"Damn, if only ya heard them out Ragatha." Twinkle giggle, her tail wagging.
"Wait wait- Huh?!" Ragatha looked mortified.
"Oh thank goodness!" Gangle let her mask fall to the table, as if she had been holding her breath the whole night. Lifting up her ribbon arm, revealed it was barely hanging onto her shoulder.
"Waahh!! Im so sorry Twinkle!" Gangle sniffled as she ran to the fox, hugging her.
"So it was you." Jax glared at the sniffling cry baby.
"But how?!" Ragatha was still spinning with thoughts to the point she had to sit.
"Well it kinda followed the movie really." Twinkle shrugged, patting Gangle's back in comfort.
"Jax and I found a dumb waiter in the kitchen. It connected to both the secret tunnels, and one of our rooms." Pomni looked at Zooble for an explanation.
"Yea it was us." The toy chuckles a bit as they sat down. "Gangle and I talked to the chef when we first arrived. The plot was that the chef used to work for me and was loyal. From there she got us the gun from upstairs and turned off the light. When the lights were down? I popped off my arm and was able to shot AM in the back. From there I threw the gun as I brought my arm back to me, and the chef caught it right before the lights came on."
"Th-then I had to take out Twinkle before sh-she exposed us. Since we are a couple i-in this, we'd both loose. So I took Zooble teacher pointer a-and used a knife the chef gave me to make a point. Since the dumb waiter was in my room" Gangle sniffled as she explained. "I-I got so scared when I took the shot that i-i didnt hit the right mark. I-i panicked and St-abbed Twinkle so much. It was terrible. B-but the chef helped me dull the point again a-and clean it while I played dumb. Thats why it was pink."
Gangle moved back to Zooble's side as Caine laughed.
"That was such an adventure~! Congratulations to Gangle and Zooble for getting away with it~! Your reward? Enjoying a cabin get away during the next adventure! Haha!" Caine snapped his fingers and a portal back to the circus popped up.
Happily, Zooble and Gangle were the first to enter. Then Kinger behind them.
"I-I'm so sorry Pomni I- they were so convincing. I really thought it was Jax." Ragatha looked at the jester, almost crying.
"Hey, it's ok. Just an adventure." She shrugged with a smile, and Ragatha followed her into the portal.
"Hey." Jax walked up to Twinkle, the last two in the dining room.
"Oh, hey. Thanks for trying to find my killer" Twinkle chuckled, playfully punching his arm. He chuckled.
"Whatever. That dumb riddle didn't help." He smirked down at the giggling fox.
"I live for the drama~" Jax shook his head. Leaning down, he clipped the peal necklace back around her neck.
"Yea yea, whatever drama queen." He waved her off as he walked through the portal.
"Heh." Twinkle's tail thumped against the ground before jumping back into the circus.