(AN: Hi everyone.
I first want to begin this chapter with a brief editorial.
I'm sorry.
I know it's been some time since I uploaded the last chapter, and honestly, I have no one to blame but myself. I've been working on this since the release of the Investigation part of Chapter 7. But at the same time, I was trying to balance doing school work AND internship work at the same time. And doing so much work at the same time with small windows to finish assignments for both really drained a lot of out me, and I found myself slacking more and more with writing.
Even when I finished school earlier this month, I still just didn't have all the motivation to do anything because of how much I felt drained. Even now I should have uploaded this yesterday and forgot to. So for that, I'm sorry. And I feel bad too, because I really want to get this done before mid-June, because I have a lot of new stories to post and to plan out, including one that will be revealed when the Epilogue finishes. All I'm going to hint at is that if you're a fan of my older stories, you might get a kick out of this one.
Regardless, I want to finish this story and present to you the rest of the story. And with only one more part before the Epilogue, I want to make sure I can do this. I wanna thank you all for waiting as I bring you the final Class Trial.
Once again, I do hope you enjoy)
At long last, the mastermind stands exposed and their crimes are set to be judged. But even the mastermind has many tricks up their sleeves… Can the remaining students of Green Hills expose the mastermind, uncover the truth about the death of Infinite the Jackal, and most importantly, the mystery of Green Hills?
CLASS TRIAL
ALL RISE!
Egg Robo stood on a stool to be tall enough to be the same height as us. He was standing at the remaining stand that was empty throughout all our trials, likely Infinite's had he not been hidden. I looked at Espio's portrait, hoping that he could give me strength from beyond the grave.
"Ahem, now, as you all know, this is the very last trial! So, I've decided to make a new rule!" Egg Robo began. "So, listen up! I said so earlier but… the purpose of this trial is to not just uncover Infinite's killer, but also the mystery of this zone! If you can do that, you win! But, if you CAN'T… then I win! And as we know, if this room is anything to go by… the losers shall receive the ULTIMATE final punishment that'll guarantee that despair will always win to the world!"
"Just so I got mahself clear… if we lose, then ya execute us. But if YEH lose, then ya execute yerself?" Vector asked.
"As much as I don't wanna… well, I have to! You all won so… why would I still be alive? I gotta fulfill my promise after all!"
"Ya aren't gonna come up with any kinda loophole, any way to get outta it, are ya?"
"Jeez, can you not trust me?! If I'm certain about executing you all, then I'm certain about executing myself if I lose! Keyword, IF I lose!"
"Stop… I don't care about that… I just need to ask you one thing, Egg Robo…" Silver said in the most serious tone I've heard from him.
"Woahhh! Silver's taking this seriously? No dumb questions?! I'm shocked!"
"…the mastermind… is… is it only one person?"
I was surprised. In all this time, Silver never really proved himself to be of much use throughout the trials. But this was… he was asking a serious question that had merit. Did it have something to do with how he'd been acting earlier?
"What do you mean?"
"No… no no no… don't bother… When I already know that everyone here has a connection to the mastermind!"
Now I facepalmed. Just when I thought he had something intelligent to say.
"I have a connection to the mastermind?!" Tikal angrily replied. "Easy for you to say when I can say the same for you!"
I darted my head in her direction. Tikal… never got this angry. And… and now she was accusing…
"Don't bother trying to lump me with your crowd," Wave said. "Deflecting the blame won't look good on you, pacifist girl."
Now Wave as well?
What… what was going on?
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT!
"You've all been against me! I just know it! I have the proof right here in my pocket!" Silver began.
"How... ironic... I believe you're all out to get me, AND I have proof too..." Tikal replied. Amy slammed her fists down.
"Shut UP! You… you're all lying because I have the proof too!" she screamed.
"Well, what a coincidence. You all say you have your own proof, and so do I," Wave added. "And all your proof is subpar compared to the one I own, the one that proves that you're all working against me!"
"Uh... wait, how do we all have proof?" Silver scratched his head. "How do we ALL have evidence?"
That photo that Egg Robo provided us… Egg Robo set up that photo as a trap as a way for us to suspect each other. That's why…
"…you all don't have evidence!" I yelled out. "Because it's not just you four. I do too!"
"You as well, Charmy?!" Silver exclaimed.
"You're all trying to use the group photos that Egg Robo provided us, right?"
"Um… yes, that's right!" Tikal said. "What else could it be?"
I digged into my pockets and pulled out the photo I was given, the one showing everyone together in a classroom as the faces of everyone but Vector and Egg Robo changed.
"What in the?... Hey, that's not right! Mine's different!"
I felt a jolt when I heard that. I thought they had gotten the same image as me but… what does she mean hers is different?
My answer soon came when Tikal brought out a photo from her dress, and my heart felt like it was going to collapse.
The photo that Tikal had showed us depicted all us playing flag football on a bright and sunny day. Had it not been for the fact that Tikal was gone, I thought it would have been another memory of a P.E. class. But this…
"Amy, Wave, Silver, show me your pictures NOW. We need to clear this up," I said. The others pulled out their photos and I got to see what each contained. Silver's photo depicted all us in a classroom, sans him. Once again, some of us were posing while others were doing mundane tasks like eating during class, sleeping, drawing, or in the case of Jet… trying to photobomb it seemed.
Wave's picture depicted our class in an indoor swimming pool, all of us except her. The photo depicted some of us swimming, Tails and Sonic freaking out as Vector, Shadow, Storm, and Knuckles all diving into the pool at the same time, Big dipping his feet into the pool, likely too afraid to get in, while some of the others stayed by the bleachers. I wanted to chortle a bit when I saw Jet splashing water in Rouge's face, back turned away from the camera.
And finally, Amy's picture showed off our class on a snow day, some of us making big snow men, some of us in snowball fights, while others just simply stood around cold. Like the other images, Amy was nowhere to be found in the image. This was especially odd because Tails was off making snow angels with Cream and Sonic seemed rather… alone.
"So… the secret of the pictures has been revealed," I said.
"It's not a secret!" Silver exclaimed. "I don't care what the truth is or not! You guys have something to do with the mastermind! That's explains why I'm not in ANY of those photos!"
"But you're in MY picture!" Amy said. "I think that proves that you're all against ME, thank you very much!"
"Stop! Stop stop STOP!" I yelled. "Don't you all see?! The purpose of these photos was to get us questioning and have us fight amongst each other! That was the mastermind's new trap! To make us all think we're working against each other!"
"Huh? A… new trap?" Egg Robo asked. "That's beyond RUDE, Charmy! Why, I guess I shouldn't be shocked anymore since we all know how much of a little shit you are, but still! What proof do you even have that shows that it's a trap?! Ah ah, don't even say it! I bet it's fake!"
The proof I need to reveal Egg Robo's trap…
I remember that each photo had something in common, a connection between what person isn't shown in the group photos. The connection was…
"I got it!" I said. "So, we know that the only one not in the photos were the ones who received it. In the picture I got, I'm missing, and the one Tikal got? Same deal with the others, you get the idea. In other words, Egg Robo gave us a group photo in which that certain individual wasn't included."
"And so, once we'd see that image, we'd assume that the others are working with the enemy?" Silver asked.
"You're catching on."
"Ho ho ho… guess you already figured that part out, huh?" Egg Robo said.
"How in the hell is that even a hint?" Vector asked. "It's nothing but falsified testimony."
That's when I realized something. The purposes of these images in junction with what I already know…
There might be more to this than just Egg Robo trying to confuse us. I looked back at my image and tried to find it. However, so much was on my mind that I couldn't think about it.
"Alright, lemme just write it down," I thought to myself, getting out my PAD. "My image: I was gone, Infinite was there, Sonic was blocking Rouge's face and everyone was happy. Wave's image: everyone was swimming or by the bleachers."
I stopped, groaning as I wasn't even sure as to what it was I was confused about.
"Look, let's just get off the topic of the photos!" Silver said. "Gah… I feel so foolish falling for such a fake photo!"
"And it really seems like we're all wearing something like a uniform!" Tikal added. "I can vouch that I've NEVER worn anything like this in my life!"
"So you're convinced they're fake, Ms. Echidna?" Egg Robo asked. "No… no no no! I can very MUCH assure you that they're all 100% real!"
"Impossible! How? How could it be REAL?!"
"I never took a picture like that!" Amy exclaimed. "I'd look better than that if those images were real!"
"But can we be sure?" I asked, everyone looking at me.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong. I don't recall taking these images either. And yet… just because we don't remember taking them doesn't mean they're completely fake."
"Then what's the reason?" Tikal asked.
The reason…
It isn't because the image was fake, another reason had to have been why.
A reason I had been thinking about ever since I saw the DVD back in the A/V room… An unbelievable and yet… realistic reason in our case.
"I… I really wish there was an easy way to say this. But… there isn't," I said. "Because I think I now understand so many things. Why we don't remember taking these pictures, the pictures we saw starting from unlocking the third floor… I believe it had to do with us losing our memories."
There was a collective shock between everyone except for Vector and Silver, the latter of which began to laugh.
"Ha ha, nice one!" he said. "Even in times like this, you still know how to make jokes, Charmy! Like, us losing our memory and forgetting the photo, ha ha, classic Charmy!"
But once he saw how serious I was, he soon grunted. "Tch, as if! What, you ACTUALLY expect me to believe we just lost our memory like we got abducted by aliens or something! Don't make me laugh! That's pathetic!"
"Besides, how could we all lose our memories! You can't force amnesia on someone! It's usually as a result of trauma or certain conditions!" Tikal added.
I sighed. I wasn't expecting them to believe it but… it was the truth, and no matter how much they wanted to close their eyes, they had no choice but to face the truth.
That's why I had to prove it besides using the pictures…
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT!
"Are you saying we all had amnesia? What are we in, sci-fi?!" Silver exclaimed.
"I haven't lost my memory; I swear on everything! Ever since I got to the zone, I remember everything that's happened since the day I arrived!" Tikal added.
"Yeah! So do I!" Amy nodded. "I even remember wearing my opal and jade bracelet I got from Tumble's Jewelers and getting a coffee on the way too! So, the idea that we lost our memories..."
"...is totally stupid!" Silver yelled at me. He was right, it WAS stupid but…
You remember EVERYTHING that's happened since the day you arrived? Not if the DVD is to disprove!
"No, that's wrong!" I pointed at Tikal. The echidna seemed shocked I was saying this to her. "The photos aren't the only thing that prove the memory loss. There's one piece of proof that seals the nail on the coffin! Let me show you-"
"It's not anything horrifying, is it?!" exclaimed Amy.
"Of course not! It's a DVD!" I held up the disc.
"AIE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S ON IT!"
"I thought Tikal was the prude, not you," Silver said.
"Anyway…" I continued. "I'm showing you this disc because on it, it contains interviews of all of us done by the headmaster of Green Hills."
"All of us… does that really mean…" Tikal said.
"Yes."
"I… I can't believe such a thing! I've never done an interview!"
I sighed. "Egg Robo, if you may?"
"Wanna show us the DVD? Sure, no problem! Just pray I didn't switch it out at the last second with something leeeeeeewd!" the robot replied, swiping the disc from me and putting it into his chair (which… somehow doubled as a DVD player?).
In a few seconds, the disc started like how I had first seen it, with Cream's interview, and then my own before Egg Robo cut it off.
"Okay, enough lookey!" he said. "You all get the idea, and you aren't gonna see the rest of it!"
"So ya see, Tikal?" Vector asked. "The headmaster did interview us, as yeh could tell from Cream and Charmy's interview. And both me and Charmy had seen more of the disc's content, and we can confirm that yes, ya WERE in it."
Tikal had grown quiet, her eyes wide as I knew the images and sounds from the video were racking her mind. Even Amy and Silver looked the same. Just a couple of seconds ago, Tikal was sure she knew everything about what she had done, and now we were essentially telling her that it's a lie and showing her proof that she did something she couldn't remember…
How could that make you feel?
"What… what are you saying?!" the echidna exclaimed.
"I doubt you'd remember. I didn't either," I replied.
"No! It's not whether I remember it's just… do you expect me to believe, well, THIS, Charmy?! That I just… lost my memories?! You don't know me! None of you do! I've lived my life to know that no such thing has happened to me!"
"But we have no way to refute it," Wave replied. "And you heard the bee: he didn't remember it either. That means we have no choice but to accept it as reality."
"How are you so accepting of this?!" Silver exclaimed. "You're the smart person here, and you mean to tell us that we just got amnesia without blunt force trauma or some kinda medical condition?!"
"It's not that I'm blindly accepting it, dorkfest. I have a few things on my mind as well. For example: Bee… you told us that the DVD contains recordings of all of us being interviewed by the headmaster, no? And in the two we saw, the bee and the rabbit were asked the same question, and they both said yes. That means we all replied-"
"No, right?! It was just you two who said yes!" Silver interrupted, but I shook my head.
"No, all of you said yes. Vector, Silver, Amy, Tikal, and Wave… all five of you said yes."
"W-Why would we say such a thing?! I'd never agree to anything like that!" Amy stomped her foot on the ground.
"I don't know, okay?! I couldn't remember a thing!"
"None of remembers a thing right? Nothin' 'bout livin' here forever, or even talkin' to the headmaster 'bout it?" Vector asked. There was pure silence in the room, no one daring to move or speak.
"Look, I don't care if I remember or not," Silver said. "Sure, I'll bite the whole amnesia theory, but I'm crossing the line at the whole 'I wanna stay here forever' thing! I'd never believe anything like that!"
"Ya can choose to hide from the truth, but we can't move forward unless ya accept that, got it?"
"I especially got it, cause it's all true!" Egg Robo replied.
"WHAAAT?!" Silver screamed.
"Think 'bout it, Silver. There have been many unusual circumstances that have occurred since we arrived at Green Hills. Is the idea of us gettin' amnesia really that hard to believe?" asked the crocodile.
"He's right. There's only one path in front of us," Wave added.
"We really… we really lost…" Amy hyperventilated, rubbing her arms.
"Yup! You all lost your memories at the same time!" Egg Robo continued.
"I… I don't even know where to go anymore. What do I believe? What do I say? I'm… I'm so lost!" Tikal cried.
"Silver was right when he said it was weird that our memory loss wasn't because of pain or some kind of condition. This isn't a normal case of memory loss… because YOU wanted to take specific memories from us, didn't you?!" I said, pointing at Egg Robo.
"Oops! Looks like case number #5 from the 'Sonic's Shitty Friends and more reasons why the Sonic series has gone downhill' study has figured it out!" the robot replied.
"Of course. It's like Charmy said: There's no way we'd all get amnesia at the same time, unless there was something planned that could do such a thing," Vector replied.
"My question is… how in the heck can someone steal memories?!" Amy exclaimed.
"How?" Egg Robo replied. "Oh girlie, don't you know that's not the right question you should be asking? What, would you believe any answer I give you? I could tell you it was hypnotism, or lobotomies, or writers having to look up your personalities online having no prior experience to your character! You all constantly go ON AND ON about how I MUST be lying, why bother to look at me? That doesn't matter right now!"
"I think what matters is figuring out what memories you took from us, no?" replied Wave.
"There goes smart alec Wave again!"
"The interview, the group photos… those must not be the only memories we lost. There's a specific reason you took those memories."
"Yeah, of course! It all has to do with the original motive!"
"Original… motive?" Amy asked.
"I think it's the first motive that we were given," I replied. "The videos, no?"
"Bingo bingo bingo!" Egg Robo added. "But, it's still a secret! So, no reveal this time! Regardless, we continue to go in circles, so I DO want to remind you all this IS a trial about the murder of Infinite the Jackal. There's plenty of time in the world to debate this, but how about maybe decide on who did it first before, eh?!"
Until we do that… Well, we had to explain everything by the end of this but explaining Infinite's death shouldn't be hard. The one who killed Infinite… the true mastermind… that's who we have to expose!
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT!
"So, who was it? Who killed Infinite?" Egg Robo began.
"Whoever did it, they're the true mastermind," Vector replied. "I'm certain of it."
"But... is the mastermind anywhere here in this zone?" said Silver, scratching his chin.
"Of course! They have to control Egg Robo somehow!" Tikal replied. Wave shot her a confused look.
"What makes you so sure?" she asked,
"Well, there's no way they're like a shadow, right?"
"I think that they have to be far away. I mean, wouldn't it make sense for them to be so far away from the zone so we couldn't find them?" Amy predicted.
As soon as she said that, I remembered what happened between Tikal and I during the investigation.
"No, that's wrong!"
"C-Certain about that?!" Amy squealed. "I-Is there evidence?"
I did. Rather, WE did. Right, Tikal?" I said. "During our investigation, Tikal and I were able to access the Egg Robo door in the Data Center, where we found a panel with a control board that's able to control Egg Robo from anywhere in the zone. I can only predict that the control panel is how Egg Robo is being controlled now just throughout our time here, but also right now! That means the mastermind has been here the whole time!"
"He's right," Wave said. "And that also means there's no doubt that the mastermind is one of us."
"A-Are you sure?" Tikal asked.
"Let's discuss what Egg Robo said to Charmy earlier. Something about how the killing game started with 18 people that entered Green Hills, and that no one else entered the zone besides us 18. If the mastermind is the zone, we can only assume it is the 18th student."
I began to think about the mastermind again. I was thinking about earlier the idea that the mastermind was someone we thought of as dead. Now that I think about, I never stopped to think about the original three people who died.
Cream, Rouge, and Tails…
It's been so long since I thought of one of them that perhaps their early death would mean they knew we'd forget about them while they just faked their death in front of us? The idea of imagining Cream being the mastermind made me even sicker than thinking about how she lay in my bathroom, throat slit.
"We're all that's left of everyone that survived the killing game…" Silver shuddered. "W-Well, I can tell you I'm not it! See! My hands are up! You can check my pockets too, no weird mastermind controly thingy!"
"I can confirm it's not me either!" Tikal added.
"And me!" Amy said. "But… what about someone like… like Charmy!"
"HUH?!" I responded with anger. "Why ME?!"
"Well… isn't it just a LITTLE weird how you were gonna be executed and yet you not only survived, but managed to crawl out of a dump?"
"Didn't you forget Ditz AND Vector saved me?!"
"Uh-oh, faster than you can say, 'Sonic Boom should have gotten a season 3', ya got me!" Egg Robo giggled.
"W-What are you pulling?!" I said. "I call slander!"
"Everyone, shuddup!" Vector yelled. "There's no reason to panic."
"You're doing that just now!" Silver replied.
"Shush. I think the mastermind's true identity will be clear eventually, but all this squabblin' and actin' like kids is exactly what they want, to get the spotlight off them and onto someone else. We'll talk 'bout that once we find out who killed Infinite."
"He's right," the swallow replied. "Let's focus our minds on solving this mystery."
"We've wasted enough time trying to solve this murder. What else is there?" Silver asked.
"If ya think we ran out of topics, let me throw one at yeh all," Vector replied. "Not ONCE have we talked about Infinite's fatal injury."
"The injury?" Tikal asked. "I mean, I thought it had something to do with the gunshot."
"How could someone actually obtain a weapon in a place like this? Especially after you attack someone, right Charmy?"
"That's right," I nodded. "As you all know, Infinite came to my room to kill me, and then, he wound up dead. While it is true we know that's how he died, this would mean that someone killed Infinite knowing that he failed to kill me, which means they had the weapon on them prior to the murder."
"But how can it?" Silver said. "All our stuff got taken away! You can't sneak a gun in that case!"
"Not unless you're someone who has a connection to the mastermind, you can."
"Huh?"
"I likely believe that the mastermind had come to this zone with the weapon in hand. Not to kill others, but to kill Infinite should he fail his task. Remember, he came to Green Hills fer one reason: to kill me," replied Vector.
"What do you mean the mastermind? What's to say that isn't Infinite's weapon?" Amy said.
"What do you mean?" Tikal asked.
"He's the Ultimate Mercenary! The fact he would have a gun on him doesn't seem out of the ordinary, right?"
"No, you're wrong," Vector said.
"Wow, harsh. Do you at least have a reason?"
"I do. Care to listen?"
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT!
"Wasn't Infinite the Ultimate Mercenary?" Amy asked. "The idea that he had a gun on him doesn't seem impossible! Besides, when you think about it, if he's a mercenary, he's probably been in so many different battles! Don't you remember that he was stabbed too? It isn't just the gunshot, you know!"
Vector sighed. "Are ya finished? Couldn't ya be anymore wrong?"
"You denied me... actually I guess I am wrong huh?"
"Yes. Yes you are…" Silver said, shaking his head.
It makes sense when you think about Infinite's past as a mercenary, but Infinite was a student like us too. With the documents from the headmaster's room, it shows…
"It has nothing to do with stab wounds!" I yelled. "Infinite never suffered stab wounds prior to his arrival to Green Hills! The documents I found in the Headmaster's office all contain detailed descriptions about each of us, including physicals as well. And Infinite has no such record of suffering a stab wound anywhere, even after his time as leader of the Jackal Squad!"
"Geez, I guess my argument has fallen apart completely…" Amy replied.
"That means we can infer that all the wounds Infinite suffered from came during his time at Green Hills. One of them is the very thing that killed him, although, I'm leaning towards the gun theory!"
"It's hard to imagine, but Charmy is right about his theory. During mah autopsy of the body, I noticed that the stab wounds seemed to be made after Infinite was shot, in that case, meaning that he was already dead when he was shot."
"Unless anyone has an objection, then I think we can say with certainty that it was his gunshot wound to the chest that killed Infinite the Jackal!"
"Okay so… if that's what killed him… How long has he even been dead? We said after his failed attack, but how long SPECIFICALLY from the time he failed from before we found the body?" Silver asked.
"Dorkfest? Where are you going with this?" Wave added.
"I can't help but wonder… Do you think that maybe Infinite has been dead for longer? Like, perhaps the mastermind tried to kill Charmy posing as Infinite, all while he's been dead for a long time?"
"That's… that's actually-"
I was a bit surprised by Silver's line of thinking, but my surprise was taken away once HE began to talk.
"HO HO HO!" Egg Robo laughed.
"What's so funny?" Tikal glared.
"Oh, don't mind me. It's getting real boring listening to you all talk, so I'm gonna butt in! Let me ask you a nice question: you're assuming that either A. I attacked Charmy, or B. I ordered Charmy to be attacked, correct? But, that's just an ASSUMPTION, right? Even if Infinite did try to kill you, what's the proof that I shot him? Any evidence at all?"
Well, one thing was for sure: Infinite had an obvious Jackal Squad tattoo atop his hand. All the proof lies within that tattoo!
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT!
"You have no proof I killed Infinite! After all, I abide by all my rules! And my rule is to let you kill one another unless you break a rule! I'm telling you; Infinite the Jackal is Charmy's attacker, AND I had nothing to do with his murder!"
"You're wrong. We do have something that proves you had some connection to his murder," Vector replied.
"Oh? And what's that?"
"A motive!" I said.
"Motive…?"
"As we mentioned earlier, you brought Infinite to Green Hills, his entire purpose to him being here was to play his role as Ultimate Despair: killing Vector once he saw he was getting to close to solving the truth! But of course, I soon became the target once you started fearing me."
"I mean, sure, but that still doesn't prove that was me! I might have a reason for doing so, but that doesn't still mean I did it! Weren't you just arguing that no one could have snuck in a firearm? How would I have done so? I've been here the whole time with you!"
"Silver, Amy, Tikal, and myself all have solid alibis for the entire night," Wave said. Silver pointed at him.
"Yeah, we were tearing you apart, so don't even try it!"
"O-Okay, so MAYBE you guys weren't it… b-but-but uh! Uh! What about Vector?! Yeah that's right, Vector! You all think he's weird and mysterious, right?"
Vector stood silent, glaring at the robot.
"No snappy comeback? Wow, that's a shock coming from you! That means we totally got you!"
"As we all know, Infinite has a tattoo of the Jackal Squad on his hand, and yet I have these gloves on. But, if you REALLY wanna say I'm his murderer…"
"Where are you going with this?"
"Showin' ya the one proof I have that shows it wasn't me-"
And then, right there, Vector had taken off his gloves. What I saw was ghastly. Vector's hands were… horrifically scarred, with cuts and burns everywhere, even skin was peeling off. I could hear Tikal dry heaving as Amy sticking her tongue out in disgust.
"Awful, ain't it?" the crocodile asked.
"I… I suppose so," Wave replied.
"Gosh… I can't look away…" Silver added.
"It happened when I was first startin' out mah detective career. I was a rookie, and well, mah scars now are the proof I have of my incompetence."
"You didn't want anyone to see those scars…" I said.
"I dun mind as long as we have one piece of evidence that proves I'm not the mastermind."
I noticed throughout the entire time; Vector had been very calm. Maybe now he finally accepted this part of him, the part that he tried burying with his more professional attitude. Through all the poker faces, moments of anger, and even times where he'd let himself be a little silly, there was one thing Vector didn't like to discuss, and that was his issues as an individual.
People weren't perfect, and for Vector, all of his deformities were a reminder that he couldn't really hide the wrong parts of him. But doing this…
Vector proceeded to put his gloves back on and sighed.
"Okay, time fer these to go back on. Gosh, they hurt when mah gloves aren't on… But regardless, that should be yer proof. Charmy; did yer attacker have scars like mine?"
"No. The only thing the body I found in the garden had was the Jackal Squad tattoo."
"Then there's no way doubt it anymore: the one who attacked Charmy is the true mastermind!"
Egg Robo stared at his feet, trying to not look up. Suddenly, he began to laugh.
"Ho ho ho… this is just awful!" he said. "My secret's been let out, and I have to stare at your ugly hands! I mean really, there's a reason these designers make you all wear gloves! Oops, did I say that out loud? Well, you know what they say: facts don't care about your feelings! Especially when facts are just your own personal opinions that you like to treat as a fact because some guy on the internet said it's true!"
"Go ahead, say whatever ya want. I dun care," Vector said.
"Giving me permission to say whatever I want? Well, I won't say anything bigoted out of fear for getting called out for a naughty word-"
"So you'll be called out for that and not the whole 'making us commit murder thing'?" Silver sighed. Egg Robo shut his mouth and stared at Silver.
"I'll just ignore your stupidity and continue. I might be far into the corner, but I'm not the corner itself, Vector! Maybe you haven't noticed, the circumstances behind Infinite's death are unknown!"
"He does have a point," Tikal said. "Our main basis for Infinite was that he was killed this morning."
"Do you know anything else besides that?" Silver added. Wave groaned.
"Let me guess: you're going to ask if he was already dead before he arrived here, right?"
"Ho ho ho!" the robot laughed. "In that case, you have nothing to worry about! I can, swear on my heart, promise you that he died after the killing game began here!"
"Then that means he was killed in secret…"
"Yeah, and after he died, who knows how long it'd been before we found him! I was saying that earlier too, what's the time frame from after Infinite's failed attack and before we found him? I don't think he was in the garden the whole time…"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you leave a body out for super long, it like… goes foul, right?" Amy asked. "Sorry, I never was good at like my science or health classes."
"Are you trying to say he was stored somewhere and then let out for us to conveniently find?"
"To hide a body… it's true we don't know where the dead go, but there's no way Infinite should still be that normal looking after his death,"
And that's when it hit me that the others didn't know about one crucial part, one crucial area that'll hopefully get us closer to solving the truth.
"Guys, I don't know if you were aware of this, but I think this entire time, Infinite's body was being kept in the bio lab," I said.
"The… bio lab? The fifth floor bio lab?" Amy asked.
"You were there too, Amy. What did you find there?"
"A-A… bo-body…"
"A body?!" Tikal gasped.
"That's right," I nodded. The bio lab is being used for a makeshift morgue. It's the perfect place to hide a body and keep it preserved to prevent decomposition."
"And what? The body was moved from the bio lab to the garden for Rosie to conveniently find?" Wave asked.
"I have no doubt that's what happened. In fact, here's my proof! Something was used to carry Infinite from the bio lab to the garden. The tarp we found in the shed! Checking it again, I noticed that the same tarp was in the bio lab, and I knew that because on the corner of each tarp, there's a stamp that reads, 'BIO LAB' on it."
"It's so small too… how did you notice it?" Silver asked.
"Because you know how the bee is: nitpicky in absolute nature…" Wave replied.
"The killer moved the body to the garden, using the tarp to wrap them up with it," Vector continued. "They left it as it was, preventing the sprinklers from getting' the body wet, and then put the coat on and stabbed the body afterwards."
"Maybe it's just me, but I remember that it's the same thing Storm did with my Darling Sonic!" Amy said. "He used the tarp to prevent blood from dripping onto the floor so we didn't know he moved Sonic's body!"
"That's actually correct!" Tikal gasped. Egg Robo bounced in place, sweating.
"B-But that's just a wild guess!" he said. "Your evidence, Vector? Where is your evidence?!"
"There's no evidence. I was simply explainin' what I think happened, although, yer reaction there says a lot more than my lack of proof…" the crocodile replied.
"What do you mean reaction?!"
"And now we're talkin' 'bout the bio lab. Guess yer getting' a lil' nervous, huh? I bet that's cause the key to uncoverin' yer secret identity is in that room, no?"
"Are we… whoa, we're ACTUALLY gonna uncover the mastermind?" Silver asked.
"Yeh see, the bio lab has one inconsistency – one so major ya can't ignore."
I immediately knew what he was talking about.
"BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Egg Robo sung in an annoying tone, covering the side of his shell. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"Ugh, what a baby. Movin' on…" Vector muttered.
He was right… the inconsistency in the-
"Hey, by the by, Charmy, what about that one thing?!" Egg Robo asked.
"What… one thing?"
"Ho ho ho… what do you think I'm talking about? I mean… your family."
That struck me like a hot knife as soon as he mentioned them. I remembered my video, and the faces of my family. Mom, Dad, and Saffron all happy in the living room…
"Don't tell me you forgot…" the robot said. "..your poor little family? Do you think they're still okay?"
"W-Why are you bringing that up now?!"
"Charmy, ignore him! He's just tryin' to trick ya!" Vector yelled.
"Shut up! Let me ask Charmy: What do you think happened to your family? Are they as safe as you think they are!"
"Stop talking about them like you knew them!" I yelled.
"Charmy, that's enough! Yer givin' him what he wants!"
I looked at the crocodile and sighed. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps I WAS giving Egg Robo what he wanted. I can't let him get to me. He's trying to use anything he can to get the attention off of him due to the bio lab's truth. If I want him to shut him up… I need to prove the inconsistency…
"Stop thinking, Charmy!" Egg Robo yelled. "I mean, are you SURE about the decision you're making so far? Are you REALLY REALLY sure? I don't think you know what you're even talking about it! And frankly, once I see for myself that you don't know what you're talking about, then punishment is waiting for you! Because all you need is PROO-"
"This should prove it! The lights!"
Egg Robo grasped his mustache, pulling it.
"What ABOUT the lights?!"
"I said before that the bio lab acts as a morgue, and as a result, there are multiple fridges in there, most definitely containing the bodies of everyone who's died here."
"And of course, it was set up so that once a body was placed in the morgue, a blue ticker would light up signifyin' that the fridge was in use," Vector added.
"But I counted the number of blue lights in the room and found something odd. At first, I thought that it was wrong because Infinite was still in the garden, but after finding out he wasn't, I was naturally a bit surprised when I saw that only eleven lights were on!"
Silver looked puzzled. "…why does that matter?"
Because…
"Eleven lights shouldn't have been on. The correct number should have been twelve!" I said.
"Wait a minute…" Amy said. "How many people have died here, exactly?"
"Cream, Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Sonic, Storm, Jet, Big, Blaze, Espio, and Infinite all make a perfect twelve," replied Vector.
"So you mean that… one person is still alive?" Tikal asked.
"I think it goes without saying that any other number should be suspicious," I continued.
"But… couldn't the mastermind take out a body? It's not like a body can wake up and walk away! Maybe they destroyed a body to get rid of evidence."
"If the mastermind wanted to do that, they'd destroy Infinite's body, since they killed him. And yet, his body was left alone."
"So… what do we do? Whose body isn't in there?"
"Well, how about we suspend this trial temporarily and let us go on down to the bio lab and see for ourselves? We wouldn't know either way until then," Wave asked.
"Denied! Uh uh! Not gonna happen!" Egg Robo yelled.
"I dun think it has anythin' to do with a body disappearin' or bein' destroyed," Vector replied.
"But if that's true, why doesn't the body count match?" asked the pink hedgehog.
"Well, let's recall everything again: includin' Egg Robo's executions, twelve deaths have occurred here. However, the bio lab only has eleven bodies. That's the point we're tryin' to make."
"Guys, you're losing me!" Tikal whined. "How can the number of bodies be less than the number of murders?!"
Less bodies than murders…
Why is that? What would it take for it to make sense?
I looked through my clues, trying to find an answer. Something about how this was all being framed wasn't giving me a good feeling, and I hoped that looking through something would give me at least SOME semblance of an answer.
Twelve deaths and yet only eleven bodies… Could one of them have been-
I stopped. I never really CONSIDERED the idea. I mean, how? You can't fake a death like what I saw.
…unless…
"I'm gonna go on a limb and say this," I said. "I think it's because someone we knew faked their death."
There was a visible reaction between everyone.
"Faked a death?!" Silver said.
"How? You can't fake deaths like these!" Amy said.
"I know it sounds strange," I continued. "But think of it like this: as we know, officially, twelve murders have occurred here. But what if one of those deaths were faked, done so in a way that we likely wouldn't expect."
"Likely we wouldn't expect?" Tikal asked.
"Wouldn't you say that in that case, twelve murders have happened, but only eleven are accounted for?"
"I think I get what you mean bee, but…" Wave said.
"It's somethin' that could happen. Nah, it IS what happened," the crocodile replied.
"You sound certain. What for? Can you tell us who that person was?"
"I can't say NOW, but what I think is what happened was… someone was killed posing as someone else."
Even I was shocked like the others. I thought someone was just faking their death, but now we're settling for 'faking one's identity'?!
"So, what you're saying is that whoever was killed that isn't in the bio lab...wasn't in there out of the mastermind's fear that we would notice that they're someone else?"
"W-Who? Who is it?!" Silver yelled.
"Shut up, all of you!" Egg Robo said. "What, you think you could just disguise yourself as someone and you'd easily pass? What kind of stupid idea is that? You'd NEVER get away with anything like that! Besides, do you even have an idea who it is? Huh? HUHHHHH?!"
"While I can't say fer certain, I think it has somethin' to do with what the zone has archived, versus what yeh archived, Egg Robo," Vector replied. I looked down at my PAD.
The profiles, of course…
But before I could even turn it on, I thought back to what I thinking about regarding Cream. Was she really the mastermind? What if her sudden heel turn wasn't because she had been wanting to get out, but because someone was able to disguise as her and fake her personality. But if that was the case, I could only imagine how Cream would be like as the mastermind. She still wouldn't be the sweet, innocent girl I knew her to be.
So, whose death didn't seem right? Everyone had such awful ways of dying, it'd be easy to tell who was or wasn't the real person with the autopsies we've done.
"Let me get this STRAIGHT to ya, croc: NOTHING is gonna become obvious! You think you solved this WHOLE thing, huh? That you found out the true answer and you're gonna save the day? Let me give it to you straight, buddy! You just came up with theories! Theories and nothing else! Sayimg 'oh I think' isn't gonna cut it, you wretch! I think you've gone delusional!"
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT!
"So, who is this person that came back to life even though they're supposed to be dead? Was it... Cream the Rabbit? Rouge the Bat? Miles 'Tails' Prower? Knuckles the Echidna? Shadow the Hedgehog? Sonic the Hedgehog? Storm the Albatross? Jet the Hawk? Big the Cat? Blaze or Tiki or whatever the Cat? Or maybe it was... Espio the Chameleon? No no! There's no way someone could have just come back to life! There's no way someone would fake their own death!" Egg Robo taunted. He was right, no one could really come back to life.
Unless…
I thought back to the hint Wave had given me back in the headmaster's office. And something… something else…
There was someone I noted who was a bit strange. Someone that Wave told me wasn't odd at all but now that I thought back to it…
I quickly pulled up the document and my PAD, pulling up the profile section in the latter and dug through both until I found who I was looking for.
"ROUGE THE BAT…" I read back to myself.
"…Sex: F
Weight: 98.1lbs
Height: 3'4"
It seemed right as is, until I noticed something about the picture.
The clear as day mole on her cheek.
"No…" I muttered to myself, flipping to Rouge's document in the headmaster's file. Pulling it up, I read the same header, and when it came to her vitals… two things struck out as… as…
"Weight: 97.5lbs
Height: 3'5"
My heart stopped. Could… could I prove this?
"I think… I think I know," I said.
"What?!" Egg Robo said.
"It sounds like a stretch, but I need you all to listen closely. In the headmaster's office, Wave gave me a profile containing the information for everyone at Green Hills. One set of information is the vitals and pictures for everyone here. As I'm sure you all know, our PAD's also contain information about us as well."
"Where are you going with this?" asked Amy.
"I want to show you a picture," I held up the photo of Rouge. "This here is Rouge's picture. Seems pretty normal, right?"
Everyone except Vector looked unconvinced.
"But now take a look at her in the PAD's profiles."
I held up my PAD, showing the picture of Rouge with a mole on her cheek. Amy was the first to notice it.
"Hey, her mole is there!" she said.
"That's right. Now, I'm not sure if you all met Rouge, but she mentioned something when I first met her. She mentioned that she had a mole on her cheek that she tries to cover up with makeup, and due to it, she often gets confused for her twin sister, Opal."
Slowly I could see the realization seep onto the faces of the others.
"But that's not all," I continued. "Next, let me read to you Rouge's vitals in both the PAD and the document. Rouge's weight and weight in the PAD is 98.1 pounds, 3'4. But her document stats something unusual: her weight is 97.5, and height is 3'5."
"But how can this be? We watched Rouge get stabbed with a bunch of spikes on the floor…" Tikal said. "Surely that can't be faked… can it?"
"Let's put this into perspective: Rouge, or someone going by that name, was killed by the spikes on the gym floor. However, we know that this person has conflicting information with what the headmaster wrote about Rouge, namely in that her height, weight, and picture are all incorrect. Not to mention, it's likely that Rouge's body was kept in the bio lab until it was open for all of us to explore, likely to avoid anyone noticing that the body doesn't match her description," Wave explained. "Remember; Charmy said that Infinite's body wasn't in the garden during this investigation, so it's likely that the mastermind took out Rouge's body and replaced it with Infinite's for the purpose of this investigation."
"Then it matches up, right?" I asked. "Someone was posing as Rouge, and the real Rouge is still alive!"
"My question is… who the heck is the other person then?" Silver asked. "How do we know that the body isn't the REAL Rouge, and that the mastermind was the person posing as Rouge? Hhh… what does this mean?"
"It means that while there were twelve victims, eleven are only counted towards this killing game, since the REAL Rouge the Bat isn't dead," Wave replied. "And besides, you said it yourself, right Bee?"
Of course, she had to mean…
"…her mole, right?"
"Who did she say she got confused with? You said so earlier."
"Her sister, Opa-"
And then it hit me WHO that Rouge was.
Who the true mastermind was…
Someone who made it seem like they died, but they were still alive. Someone who swapped places, faked their own death, and had been controlling everything from afar…
It was Rouge… using her sister as decoy.
"Yo-You're saying her sister Opal and Rouge are the same person?!" Amy exclaimed.
Egg Robo continued to stay silent.
"Am… am I right?"
"That's right," I said. "Rouge is still alive. It's the only possibility."
"No, what if this has something to do with Infinite?!" Silver asked. "Maybe… maybe Infinite swapped places?"
"How can a jackal pose as a bat?" questioned Wave.
"I don't think that's the question we should be asking. I think the question we should be asking is, which one of the documents is correct?" I said. "Either the file from the headmaster's room or the PAD is lying to us."
"Wait, how can we be sure that Opal isn't the mastermind? Maybe Rouge made it so that she looked like her and she was actually the one that died…" Silver asked.
"I took a look at the body and from what I remember, the mole didn't look fake, and since her vitals are different on both the PAD and the document… then I think it's safe to say that Opal's information was the one on the PAD and Rouge's…"
"So the idea that Rouge is still alive?..." asked the orange echidna.
"It's not impossible."
"Ho ho ho! You still sound so uncertain though! It sounds like you're grasping for straws,, bee! At this point, you might as well throw in the towel and call this case decided! Ho ho hooooo!" the robot said, mocking me. Was my argument really not that convincing enough?
That was until…
"This case ain't decided just yet," said Vector.
"Huh? You're trying to go against me?"
"Charmy, dun tell me yer gonna lose motivation now, are yeh? And yer even on the right track too…"
"I… am?" I asked. "Wait, no! Of course not! You even said it yourself, I'm on the right track! So why would I back down now?!"
"Well this is fine and cute, but tell us bee, how are you going to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the "Rouge" we saw was actually her twin sister. We still don't know which piece of information is telling the truth," Wave said.
"How 'bout we look at this from another angle…" Vector replied. Tikal turned her head.
"Another angle?"
"How could Rouge die if we assume that she was alive?"
Well, I did check her as I said… and the way the body matches up with Opal's… but how would I know each vital? They're near identical, almost scary for a pair of twins.
But if she was still alive…
There's two things I thought about in that moment. The first: how was it that Rouge was able to swap places with her sister? I assume that the Rouge that was supposed to be here with us was the real one, but after the mastermind knocked us all out, she used her sister as a decoy because we wouldn't remember what she looked like. And second… the thing Rouge said before she died.
It was almost like she wasn't expecting it.
"I think I got it," I said. "I know not only how Rouge is still alive, but also the method in how it was done!"
"You… do?" asked Amy.
"There was a key idea in my head about how this could have been achieved. Did you notice how Rouge seemed almost confused at her death, how she 'wasn't expecting this'? It's easy to write it off as she didn't want to die so early, or in our context, Rouge getting betrayed, but think about this: Our only source of information about Rouge, or should I say Opal, came from the PAD! We wouldn't know a thing about her, so why would we question it?"
"So then how did Opal die if we watched Rouge die?" Silver asked.
"Simple. Opal replaced Rouge and let her die in her place. This likely wasn't in their plans, which is why Opal was caught off guard by the attack! And this must explain the difference in PAD measurements!"
"But how could she swap places with Rouge as the spikes killed her?" asked the pink hedgehog. "You couldn't kill someone and swap on the spot."
"So I assume this is yet another dead lead…" Tikal said, upset.
"It's not," I replied. "Something I had thought about was maybe Opal and Rouge didn't swap places before her death, but instead, one was the other for our whole time at Green Hills."
"From the beginning?!"
"From the moment we first met in the gathering hall, that was never Rouge! Likely, they switched around the same time we all woke up! That explains how they didn't switch on the spot at the time of her murder!"
"You mean to say that "Rouge"… was really Opal all this time?!" Silver exclaimed.
"Well, if you've been following along, yes."
"We already met Opal?! Then… what's Rouge like?! I had like, one normal conversation with Rouge about her makeup! What do you mean she's another person all together?!" Amy exclaimed.
"Likely, Opal used this to her advantage and hid her identity so we wouldn't know the truth," Wave said. "It's as Charmy said: we wouldn't know because the PAD had all the false information about her and we don't remember a thing."
"There's one more thing I wan't to bring up…" I said. "There was something me and Rouge, or, Opal and I discussed when I first introduced myself to her. I recognized her from pictures that were everywhere online. She mentioned that she wasn't proud of her mole, and she hid it with makeup so she wouldn't get confused with her sister."
"Then what, Rouge and Opal both have a mole on their face? How rare is it even for a pair of twins to have a mole in the same area?" asked Silver.
"As our local makeup connoisseur, I can say that it is possible to hide moles using good color corrector and concealer…" Amy said. "But even if Rouge did have a mole just like Opal, this would mean EVERY photo of her had to be during a time where she had makeup covering her mole, and likely, considering her ultimate status, why would you need to cover it up with makeup?"
"Correct," Vector replied. "Even if the mole wasn't clear, I couldn't say fer certain it wasn't Opal. A deliberate way of hidin' ones identity… but it ain't good enough, Egg Robo! Yeh can no longer deny this anymore!"
The robot continued to stay silent.
"A deliberate set up from the very beginning…" Tikal mused. "But… why? Why would Rouge kill her own sister?! Murder in its own is already horrific enough as is but… but sororicide is-!"
"If it's all true, this is one elaborate plan. Making it look like Opal was Rouge…" Wave said.
"It's elaborate cause the two of them were workin' together. And… and I think it ain't just those two. There was someone else workin' with them, someone else who we didn't know about. Yeh know who I'm talkin' 'bout, right Charmy?" asked Vector, nodding towards my direction. There was only one person the mastermind worked with that we knew all along, the person sent to kill either myself or Vector…
"Infinite," I replied. "All three of them were working together behind everything in this zone. That means… it would be fair to say that all three of them are the Ultimate Despairs!"
Vector's message in his notebook made sense now. 'All three despairs shall rise'… he knew about Rouge, Opal, and Infinite's plan prior to the erasure of his memory!
Egg Robo looked incredibly guilty as he hung his head, likely realizing he was in a hole he couldn't get out of.
"What's wrong?" Vector taunted. "Lost the will to fight? Realized that its futile to try and resist us? Dun give us the silent treatment anymore, Rouge! We know yeh can hear us!"
"She's afraid," Tikal said, glaring at the robot next to her. "She knows she's going to falter for the horrific crimes she's committed."
"Afraid? Crimes I've committed? What do those mean?" the robot asked. "For me to be afraid, that would mean that hope exists in this room. And look around you: walls as white as snow, no noise except the sounds of our voices. Honestly, it's a miracle that you all haven't been driven crazy by the noise. But I don't, because I'm not afraid, or disturbed. My only emotion is despair, so that's why things like fear are foreign to me."
"Then why haven't you shot back at anything we've said?!" Wave questioned.
"Because it's stupid! I mean, ask yourself: ROUGE is my secret identity? Ms. Fanservice herself? That would mean she's some kinda evil sexy seductress mastermind, and that's not what a mastermind is! They're someone who's cunning, someone who has their ideals in one area, not caring about how or what to do to reach them! You all saw Rouge! She had humanity, something a mastermind lacks! Ho ho ho! Don't LAUGH!"
"Then why did you protect Rouge's real identity? Why did you try to hide that Infinite had a connection to Rouge and her sister?" I asked.
"…I tried to protect Rouge's identity and her connection to Infinite? Mind actually telling me instead of accusing me?"
His refusal to accept the truth spoke volumes to me. He can deceive us all he wants, I know how he did so…
"There were a few peak moments when such a thing occurred. The first time was back in the A/V room during the investigation. While watching the DVD Vector gave me, you shut off all the power in the room before I could finish watching the disc. Ironically, it was just before the parts where the headmaster interviewed Rouge and Infinite. The reason you did that… was so that I wouldn't see the REAL Rouge and Infinite, right?!"
"Right!" Silver exclaimed. "Charmy, who did you see in that video before it cut off?"
"Cream, Myself, Shadow, Tails, Amy, Tikal, Wave, Jet, and Vector. After his, it cut off."
"So you didn't see Storm, Knuckles, Sonic, Big, Blaze, Espio, Rouge, or Infinite's interviews. Interesting…" Wave mused.
"No doubt that if Charmy saw the real Rouge, he'd know the one he knew was an imposter!" Tikal added. "And plus there's Infinite too…"
"D-Don't you go blaming this on me!" Egg Robo exclaimed. "It was a fluke! It just conveniently went off in the entire building and you didn't know! I swear t-to you, I'm telling the truth!"
Now I could tell the robot was getting anxious. It wasn't a fluke, they DELIBERATELY caused a power outage so I wouldn't know the truth. And sure enough, this wasn't the only time the mastermind covered up Rouge's identity… I looked into my pieces of evidence, and I remembered the photo I was given. Looking at it again, as soon as I saw the comical section where Sonic's arm covered Rouge's face, I had my final argument.
With this last piece of evidence, I knew I had Egg Robo right where I wanted him!
Egg Robo continued to growl and pull his moustache. "Look at you! Getting me all riled up and enjoying this… I bet you like this don't you?! Well, better luck next time! You have no evidence, that I tried to hide her IDENTIT-"
"NO, you did! This should prove it!" I yelled, pointing at him as the robot smashed the top of his head, his shell slightly cracking. "The group photos you've been so intent on giving us!"
"O-Oh… uh… u-uhhh ooooooh!"
"Each photo has something interesting that I noticed in mine, and likely extends to the rest. Here-" I revealed the picture. "Notice something odd about Rouge here. Notice how Sonic is playfully covering Rouge's face. You never see what her face looks like. And guys? Are your photos like that?"
Wave, Amy, Tikal, and Silver got out their photos and one by one, they each had their own reaction.
"Hey, he's right!" Tikal said.
"Her back is turned from the camera!" Silver added.
"And she's getting splashed by Jet, ironically covering her face at the right moment," Wave said.
"What does this mean?" the pink hedgehog asked.
"That something is unusual for her face to be covered in EVERY photo," I said. "And yet, Infinite is in all of them and in plain view. So why would Rouge's face be covered? Because she hadn't swapped places with Opal, that's why! There's no doubt that the girl's face hidden in all photos is the real Rouge, with no mole or anything! Because we'd know the truth about her identity if we saw that the Rouge in the pictures didn't match with the Rouge we knew!"
"AAGH, FOR THE LOVE OF SUB SANDWICHES!" Egg Robo yelled, trying to pull his suit.
"Everything Charmy has said is true," Vector said. "These pictures were taken during a point where Rouge and Opal hasn't switched places."
"Which would mean therefore, Rouge killed Opal, who was impersonating her, making it seem like she died. And the real Rouge… is still alive. I'd even bet this real Rouge is the one responsible for getting Infinite involved, likely altering his memories so that he'd serve her and do her bidding when it was time for me or Charmy to die," Wave continued.
"And that's it. The mastermind, the one behind these awful events, this killing game, is no more than Rouge the Bat! Ultimate Despair!" I said, pointing at the robot.
"SUB SANDWICHES TIMES TEN!" he yelled.
"Well, this spells it out. The mastermind has been revealed, and I think it's time to expose someone fer their true crimes," Vector said.
"W-Wait! No! P-Please! I beg you, hold on!"
"Shut UP!" I yelled. "I've taken so much abuse from you since we've arrived here, I've had it up to here with you. Don't even try denying it anymore, Rouge. You lost. You tried everything in your power to hide the truth, and guess what? It FAILED! Just like your entire plan! There's no more debate, no more place to run! It's time for me to reveal everything!"
CLOSING ARGUMENT
"When we first arrived at Green Hills, we met Rouge the Bat, the Ultimate Jewel Thief. But, that wasn't the real Rouge. Instead, the girl we saw in front of us was the twin sister of Rouge, Opal the Bat, impersonating Rouge. As we all know, after Cream's death, 'Rouge', or in this case, Opal, refused to take any part in the investigation, leading to her early death at the hands of Egg Robo… or, Rouge! After her death, her body was put in the bio lab, which was used as a morgue until the time was right."
"As you know, it was after we unlocked the roof of the zone that Infinite's death occurred. Now, remember that Infinite was brought by the mastermind to first kill Vector, but then the target was changed to me after the mastermind realized just how dangerous I was becoming to them. After he failed Rouge's task, she likely shot him in the heart, killing him instantly. After that, she likely took Opal's body out of the bio lab in the time after Infinite's failed assassination and where everyone else was in the gym finding the damaged Egg Robo, knowing that was the best time that she knew no one would look on the fifth floor. This was likely done in an attempt to make sure that we didn't suspect anything weird if we wandered into the bio lab, since the murder took place on the fifth floor."
"And speaking of the murder, it was after she murdered Infinite in private that she set up the scene in the garden, where she used the trial to frame Vector for it. Because of these factors, we all assumed that Infinite was the true mastermind. Of course, after the trial, Infinite's body replaced Opal's in the bio lab, because by that point, we would know the truth if we opened up the fridges in the bio lab and saw that Opal wasn't Rouge. By blowing up Infinite's body and hiding Opal's existence, all of these were done to make it seem like one of us was the mastermind, and not her. That's right… this the proof behind Infinite and Opal's murder, the one who's controlling Egg Robo right now! The REAL Rouge the Bat!"
Everyone looked at me in awe and in silence.
"That's the real story behind this incident," I said. "Well, Egg Robo?! Any objections?!"
The robot stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Are you broken again? Goodness, your internal design must be terrible," Wave said.
"You can no longer hide, Rouge! Reveal yourself!" said Tikal.
"That's right! I'll.. I'll fight you!" added Silver.
"I bet you're probably so terrified to come out because a mastermind like you looks beyond tacky!" mocked Amy. "And trust me, I might be class shaming, but you're a mastermind, so time for me to do all the bullying I've wanted to do!"
"The game's over, Rouge. Ya lost. Now get out, NOW," the crocodile bellowed. He continued to stay silent until he looked up at us.
"…over? Ho ho… ho ho ho ho… You really think that just because you uncovered my identity, that means you won? That everything is over? Let me give you the shock of the century… this isn't over yet! We're just getting…"
Egg Robo held up some kind of device. I could hear Vector gasp.
"STARTED!"
"Everyone, down now!" Vector yelled as we all ducked under our stands. As soon as we heard Egg Robo press the button on the device, we heard smoke shooting out from somewhere in the room as the robot grew limp and crashed on the floor. Silver began to cough as more smoke continued to fall from the ceiling, I heard someone… or something fly into the room.
With the smoke clearing out, we all got up from the floor as I heard Tikal gasp.
"C-Charmy…" she whispered. I looked ahead and standing in front of me… dressed similar to how 'she' looked. She opened her eyes, and I saw… her… for the first time…
Ultimate Despair
ROUGE THE BAT
TO BE CONTINUED…