Blurr walked through the hallway to his room. The stress of the day and the high-grade was getting to him and he had to call it a night. He had left the others behind to journey to the second floor. Now he was at his door and waved his electroID over it to gain entrance. Ted or unlocked and he opened it, stumbling in. He flicked on the lights and closed the door, then he went to his bed and laid on top of it. He tried to get comfortable on it, readying himself for recharge.
THUD!
Blurr jumped straight up, staring at where the sound came from. It came from the bathroom, which was closed at the moment. Nervous, Blurr got up and slowly made his way over there, making sure to not make much noise while entering the room. When he reached the room, he slowly opened it and peeked inside.
There, he found Swindle sitting on the floor with his back up against the wall. In his hand, he held a energon-stained blade, fondling it with the other hand. "Swindle?" Blurr asked, confused.
"Wha…?" he asked, lifting his head up to stare blankly at him.
"Are you alright?" asked, stepping in the room.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, looking back to his knife, feeling the blade.
"Uh, why don't you come out?" Blurr asked. Swindle didn't listen to him, still staring at the knife.
DING! DONG!
"Hello. Would Blurr and Swindle come to the Auditorium room at this time? This is really special," Monobear announced to them.
Blurr stared at the announcement in bewilderment. Just him and Swindle? What did he want with them?
"We better go," Swindle told him as hot up and walked out of the bathroom without even so much as looking at Blurr. Blurr looked at Swindle when he left before following along, taking note that the time said 12:00 on it. It was strangely late for him to be calling them. Ignoring it, he went down to the auditorium where Swindle was waiting for him. "Come on," he ordered. "You're making him late." Blurr glared at the Combaticon, noting how strange he was acting, however he put that at the back of his mind and entered to find the place entirely dark except for the stage, which was entirely dark, except for the stage, which had three lights on it. One for Monobear and the other two for two empty podiums close to each other, face-to-face.
"Welcome you two to the academic coliseum!" Monobear greeted them as they entered the room. "Would you two take your places?" Blurr glared at the scene in confusion, but noticed that Swindle wasn't quickly heading over to the podium on the right and taking his place. Seeing nothing else to do but follow the demented bear's orders, Blurr took his place at the other podium, standing face-to-face with Swindle. "Are you two ready to start the trial?" he asked.
"Trial?" Blurr asked in confusion, looking at the bear with confusion.
"Oh, yeah. You haven't been informed," the bear said as the lights came on. "Look at the crowd." Blurr looked strangely at the bear before turning his head to the crowd and opened his mouth in silent horror.
Everyone was in the chairs, all dead. All of their bodies was cut opened, energon all around their bodies and their inner-machinery spilled out onto the floors, covering their feet. Their mouth was twisted in a mangled expression of pain and terror.
"That's what the trial is for. You two are only ones left alive and must decide between yourselves which of you is the killer," the bear told him. Blurr could barely listened hear him, looking at all the dead bodies.
"Uh, not to infringe on the rules, but can't we go ahead and vote? Two people arguing with each other isn't going to get much debate," Swindle requested.
"Sure thing, buddy! Get your electroID's out and vote." Blurr paid attention to what he said and quickly figured out that the only person left alive who could've done this. He reached for his electroID and pulled it out and headed for it.
THUNK!
"Gah," Blurr grunted said as Swindle brought the knife to his chest and stabbed him with it, right in the chest. Blurr stumbled back and felled to the floor, his electroID leaving his hand. Blurr grabbed at the knife where it was, feeling it. He barely noticed Swindle walking right by him and picking his electroID off the ground and pushing some buttons.
"And the votes have been tallied! Let's see if your right!" Monobear told them as the slot machine appeared once again out of nowhere and started spinning and spinning until it landed on three pictures of Blurr's face. However, unlike the previous times, no confetti spewed out of it and no coins either. "Looks like you two voted wrong! The killer is not Blurr, but Swindle. I thought you would at least get a tie," Monobear said with happiness. Swindle stood over Blurr, a smug smile on his face.
"You were so determined to mark me as the killer. Well, are you happy now? Everyone's dead," he asked as he brought his foot up and slammed it down on the knife, making it sink in deeper. Energon spewed out of his mouth, causing him even more pain.
"Well, congratulations Swindle, my star-studded student. You get to go free! Now, would you like to see Blurr's execution?" he asked him. Swindle's smile became even more smug as he glared down to his weaken form.
"Gladly," he said.
"Well then, let's give a cheer for his execution," he said, as the red button came out of the ground. Blurr kept looking at everything in confusion, wondering how the hell something like this could've happened. This shouldn't be possible.
"No, no, NO!" Blurr yelled out, looking at Monobear as he brought the gavel out and brought it down on the red button.
The chains came out and grabbed him.
"NO!" Blurr shouted as he woke up with a start and sit up, hyperventilating.
Day 9
Before he did anything else, he looked down at his chest and looked for any knife that was still stuck in him or anything. Having found nothing, Blurr took a deep, relaxing breath and looked at the time. It said 3:00 in the A.M., which was too early for him, but he didn't want to dream that nightmare again. "I need to drink less," he muttered as he stepped out of his bed and headed for the door. He walked over there before stopping mid-step at the closed bathroom door. Remembering what happened last time, he opened the door and glared inside.
No one was inside.
He stared at the empty room for a second before breathing a sigh of relieve and opened the room and exiting, leaving the bathroom door open. He closed his dorm room door and headed out for the library. He remembered that there probably was a new building that was opened from the trial and decided to investigate it. He entered the interconnecting hall with the library and the dorms and entered the library. The blue room did nothing to comfort him as he entered it and looked for the next door on the other side. He found it and quickly transverse the catwalks over to it, noticing on the walk there that all sixteen tables were on the first floor, looking as if they weren't broken. He ignored that and kept going, reaching the other side of the room and opening the door. The place was exactly like the previous inter-connecting hallway, he noticed, as he walked through the slightly curved hallway and reached the door. Blurr examined the door with trepidation, wondering what the next place was, before opening it and entering the new area.
The first thing he noticed was how bright the place was, which didn't make sense, considering that it was still nighttime and only the back-up lights were supposed on. From what he could tell, the new place was fashion like a shopping mall. Five stories of nothing but stores and other such stuff. Probably a place where students go to relax in the middle of classes and near the end of the day when they needed a place to hang out besides their dorm room. It was certainly better than the library to Blurr. Like the library, there was a catwalk with a spiral staircase that connected the upper floors together. The spiral staircase was surrounded by a well-kept cyber-garden that covered everything, making it much prettier than the other one. Around the first floor were tables for students and teachers to rest and talk to each other. The lights and holograms from the stores were a variety of colors, making for an eye-catching spectacle.
Blurr had to admit, the place looked pretty good.
"Not too bad, isn't it." Blurr flinched and looked to see a figure standing by the railing with his arms crossed on top of it, admiring the room.
"Uh, yeah," Blurr replied, focusing on the figure. He figured out by the height and blue paint-job that it was the mysterious Counterpunch. What was he doing up so late? "Why are you up?" he asked, getting closer to him.
"Couldn't sleep. Wanted to investigate the new building," he replied simply, looking out into the building. "The lights are quite inviting, aren't they? Warm and full of life. It betrays our current position," he waxed poetically.
"Huh, I didn't take you for someone who use fancy words," Blurr mentioned, walking up next to him to get a better view of the place.
"I read some stuff, including the things by our resident poet," he told him, admiring the place. "Good stuff."
"Hmm, yeah, I'm not much of a reader, although colorful tings are definitely things I can admire," he told him.
"The stores operate on a 24 hour basis," Counterpunch told him.
"Operate?" Blurr asked him.
"Each store has a fully functioning robot with a VI ready to help you," Counterpunch told him. "You need the resident currency to pay for them."
"Currency?"
"Have you noticed any coins around the place that you picked up?" Counterpunch asked, turning to look for the first time.
"Not that I can say," Blurr told him, a bit embarrassed.
"Hmph, that's a bit surprising. You can find them all over the place," he said, fishing for something out of subspace and bringing it out to show him in-between two fingers. Blurr stared at the object in his fingers. It was a bronze-color coin with the face of Monobear emblazon on it. Engraved right below his visage was the words 'Monobear medals.' "These are Monobear medals, although he recommended shortening them to monocoins for convenience sake."
"He recommended it to you?" Blurr asked.
"Oh, yes. He surprised me in my room when I found one in there. He told me all about them and their uses. Before, we could only use them in the gift store in the first building's first floor. Now, we have a whole section to use them in. Here," he said, suddenly flipping a coin towards him. Blurr quickly grabbed at and inspected it. "On the house," Counterpunch told him. "I got plenty."
"Uh, thanks," Blurr said, putting the coin in subspace.
"You're welcome. If you're looking for more, just search the area. You'll find plenty in odd places," Counterpunch told him.
"Ah, thanks," Blurr said, looking around the place. "What kind of stores they got here?"
"Just about every single one. Repair store, general store, food store, video store, music store. You name it, they got. Even got a weapon's store, but no guns in it, thankfully," Counterpunch told him.
"Wow, got every store imaginable," Blurr said.
"There are a couple of exceptions. On the first floor, there's a storage area. It's separated by faction and on you have to use a key-card to enter it. The third floor has a groundbridge in one of the rooms. On the fourth floor, you'll find an actual restaurant with a bar with waiters, bartenders, and the whole shebang. Could be fun," he told him.
"Hey, thanks for that information. Now I know where I'm going first," Blurr said with anticipation.
"Bring some friends," Counterpunch recommended. "Anyway, to go along with that, if you're tired, but don't want to walk all the way to the first building or use te groundbridge, there's a designated sleeping area on each floor for you to rest. Each one can be locked so you don't have to be wary of nighttime intruders."
"Now that's really handy," Blurr said happily. "This place isn't too bad."
"Yes, once you get past the fact that each day, someone could end your life I order to escape the place and leave everyone else to die," Counterpunch said, deflating Blurr's mood.
"Geez, thanks for that," Blurr grumbled, sulking. "So, how long until Monobitch gives us the next motive?"
"Monobitch?"
"Bitch is a term I learned on Earth. They have lovely ways of cursing someone out," Blurr educated him. "Lots of variations too, just in case they get old for you."
"Right, well, I'd say one, maybe two days, until Monobear drops his motive. I almost sure whne does, someone will be murdered within three days' time," Counterpunch told him.
"Like clockwork," Blurr said.
"Like clockwork," Counterpunch echoed.
"Said, with how long we've been here, I've never learned your talent. Care to tell me what it us?" Blurr asked him. Counterpunch glared at him, before looking away to the lights.
"No," he replied.
"No? Why?" Blurr asked.
"Because, I'm sure they picked the wrong person when deciding who the best of that talent was. I never done anything like it. Still, the letter also promised me some answers and I'm in desperate need to find some, so I decided to come here. Pretty foolish decision on my part," Counterpunch grumbled.
"So, you're saying you were brought here… by mistake?" Blurr asked.
"No, I wasn't. The letter they sent specifically requested me and was addressed with my needs in mind. They knew who they were sending that note too, even if the talent didn't match. No, they wanted me here for a reason," Counterpunch told him.
"They specifically wanted you?" Blurr asked.
"Yes, although for what reason, I don't know. Unlike most people here, my contribution to the Reconstruction project is nil, so it breaks the order of things."
"But then why are you here?" Blurr asked him.
"I don't know. Maybe I saw something I shouldn't have or something. It doesn't matter. All I know is that I'm marked for death along with you and the 24 others that are still alive," he answered gravely.
"I wonder why," Blurr wondered to himself. "Day 9 and Optimus still hasn't rescue us. I wonder what's keeping him so busy that he can't spare some time to save us from this wretched place."
"I believe we are the only ones who can save ourselves," Counterpunch told him. "We have to stay strong and work together to defeat the common enemy, or else all but one person will be killed," he encouraged him.
"I still can't believe Brawl was the murderer of the last trial," Blurr said, thinking to himself. "Him and Vortex were gestalt mates. The two of them killing each other should have been a non-existent problem, but it still happened," Blurr murmured, the bright lights doing nothing to offset his terrible mood.
"Just goes to show you, anyone could kill each other," Counterpunch told him.
"We haven't," Blurr reminded him.
"For now," Counterpunch said, getting himself off the railing, "and I imagine we won't be until the motive starts. Once it begins, well… you best stay away from me," Counterpunch warned him, heading off to one of the stores.
"Hey, you not planning a murder are you?" Blurr asked him, following him.
"Not at this moment," Counterpunch told him.
"Oh come on! Do you really think you would get away with it?" Blurr asked. "Especially with Nightbeat here?"
"That's why if I do plan a murder, it will be a knife through his spark," Counterpunch countered. "But, as of right now, I don't see any reason to kill anyone when questions still linger for me," Counterpunch explained.
"Questions?" Blurr asked.
"Yes, questions. There are some things about me that I don't fully know and the letter promised to explain it to me. That's why I won't have any intentions of murdering anybody until I find those answers," Counterpunch told him as he entered a medical store, Blurr following after him.
"Shouldn't you know everything about yourself?" Blurr asked
"Yes, you should, and I thought I did. But I keep having blackouts," Counterpunch told him.
"Blackouts?"
"Yes. In the middle of the day, my vision goes and I see again later, unknown of my actions," he told him as he grabbed a bottle and headed to the counter. "This is a neuro-booster. It increases brain functioning to keep me from losing focus and getting black-outs," he told him as he reached the countered and showed it off to the monobot waiting there. The VI robot took his item and scanned it quickly.
"That will be 10 monocoins," the VI said. Counterpunch withdrew ten monocoins from subspace and gave it to the robot. "Thanks and have a despairing day," the robot thank as the two of them headed out of the store and just started walking around.
"You know, we've been talking a lot about me, so how about you talk about yourself. A racer, correct?" Counterpunch asked him.
"Yep. Champion of the Ibex circuit for seventeen straight years when the war hit," Blurr told him.
"I'm guessing you have a competitive streak."
"Oh, you know I do," Blurr agreed with a chuckle. "I was prepping for my eighteen straight win when the war got into high-gear and the Decepticons really got their conquering mojo going. Ibex was bombed within a week that an official declaration of war was made, the races were cancel, and I was caught right in the middle of the two sides," Blurr told him.
"So you weren't originally an Autobot, but a neutral?" he asked him.
"Yeah. Had to decide which side I belonged too, but ultimately I joined the Autobots after some words from Optimus and the death of a coworker mine, Piston," Blurr told him.
"Ah, the death of a close friend can be enough of a motive to joined a side," Counterpunch murmured.
"Yeah, but the thing with Piston, I'd never really cared about him until after he was dead," Blurr told him.
"Really?"
"Yes, well, as the number-one racer, I was used to hanging out with the elite, you know. The rich, the famous, other high-profile racers, whatever. I didn't have the time, nor the need, to hang out with people like Piston. He was a member of the pit-crew and nothing more. It wasn't until I saw his corpse that I realized that I cared about him, but it was far too late to make up for it," Blurr told him. "Guy looked up to me like a hero and I ignored him."
"Hmm, sounds like many people I know. Looks up to someone and gets a job working for them only for them to not give a damn about them. Although, you actually seem genuinely remorseful about his death," Counterpunch said.
"Yeah, well, the guy was a member of my pit crew for years only to have me ignored him at every turned. I couldn't even remember his name half the time."
"How shallow of you," Counterpunch snarked.
"Yeah, I got no problem admitting that," Blurr chuckled. "Still, I'm here alive and well, even if I'm a bit of a jerk to some people here."
"I've seen that, particularly during the last trial," Counterpunch noticed.
"True, I was acting like one," he agreed nervously. Counterpunch did not let it slide.
"Am I sensing some regret from you?" Counterpunch asked.
"Huh? Oh, well, it's nothing. It's just that the nightmare I had that caused me to woke up," Blurr told him.
"Nightmare?" Counterpunch asked him.
"Uh," Blurr stammered, "it's nothing."
"Judging by the way you're acting, I don't think so," Counterpunch told him. "Best just to tell me."
"Uh… alright," Blurr agreed and told him about the nightmare he had of Swindle murdering everybody and leaving him to be executed.
"Huh, a bit of an odd one," Counterpunch said once he finished, "but that would never happened as it would go against the rules."
"The rules?"
"Rule 7.2. It said that a killer can murder no more than two people, so the scenario you were imagining in your head could never happen," Counterpunch reminded him.
"So, we can only find, at the most, two murder victims, correct?"
"I never said that. I just said that a murderer can murder no more than two. In the case there are multiple murderers, more than two murders can happened," Counterpunch told him.
"Please, don't jinx us like that," Blurr chuckled. "The last thing we need is that."
"Yes, well, just being prepare. I'm sure a couple of others are thinking that a double murderer may happen," Counterpunch told him.
"Hmph, if you say so, although I really doubt that will happen."
"We'll see," Counterpunch said as he looked around. "We should probably head back to our rooms. Just because we won't murder each other doesn't mean somebody else will come along and try to."
"Ah, that's a good point," Blurr agreed as the two of them head for the exit and out of the room. "I really hope a murder doesn't happen anytime soon."
"We'll see," Counterpunch murmured ominously. "And don't forget to search for some monocoins. They could buy some useful stuff here," he told him.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
Morning came with an announcement from Monobear and Blurr headed for the lunchroom. Predictably, Blurr was the first to reach it that day and took a seat with his cube of energon. Not long after, a few more early risers drifted in. Jazz, Ratchet, Bludgeon, Skywarp, and Drift all entered the lunchroom early that morning and converse with each other.
"So, what is on our agenda today?" Bludgeon asked the group.
"Well, the new area is open," Blurr told everybody.
"Ah, it is? What is our new area like?"
"A mall of some sort," Blurr told them as he began explaining the area's layout that he and Counterpunch discovered last night.
"Huh?" Jazz murmured as he finished. "I was wondering what those coins were for."
"Wait, I have to know. Is there a weapons store?" Drift asked with worry in his voice.
"Yes, but there is no guns in there," Blurr answered.
"That still makes it easier for people to kill each other," Drift told him. "Anybody could go in there and buy a sword or other stuff to help with a murder."
"What if it's like other stores and they track who buys what?" Skywarp asked the room.
"Nah, they wouldn't do that. Makes things too easy for us," Ratchet grumbled.
"Still, could be smart to check up on that," Drift said optimistically. "I wouldn't mind if we could go over there ourselves and check it ourselves, Ratchet."
"Get someone else. All those bright colors would overload my optics," Ratchet brushed him off.
"I can check with you if you like," Bludgeon offered. "We could find serviceable swords to replace our missing swords."
"Hey, didn't we say something about getting weapons being bad?" Skywarp asked.
"Yes, we did, but I think the worry is only there if you obtain it in secret. I'm getting a sword for self-defense, which I recommend everyone else does as well," he told the group. "If everyone carried weapons, who would disinterest people who want to commit a murder."
"Or it would just make them think out-of-the-box," Ratchet countered.
"Either way, I am not roaming the school without a weapon by my side," Bludgeon told them. "I trust no one."
"Whoa, hey, let's calm down," Skywarp told everyone. "That kind of thinking is going to cause another murder."
"Skywarp's right. Everyone, let's just chill and relax. We can't afford another murder to happen," Jazz told the group.
"Either way," Blurr said, "we got a new area with new possibilities. Heck, we may even find a way out that I didn't see on my first look through."
"A way out would be most fortunate," Bludgeon agreed. "To escape and come back with a colossal force to raze this place to the ground."
"I can get behind that," Skywarp agreed.
"As would I," Ratchet agreed.
"Same," Drift agreed.
"Fine with me," Jazz said.
"Alright," Blurr said. "Keep that attitude up and we might all make it out alive."
At 8, everyone had come in, including the remaining Combaticons. The 26 remianing teachers discussed with each other what to do today and the first to arrive told everyone else about the new building.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Bumblebee asked, standing up. "Let's search that place for a way out."
"Man, you are really daft," Monobear said as he entered the room, attracting irate looks from everyone there. "I mean, do you really think I left a means of escaping for you?"
"Hey, it couldn't hurt," Drift said. "I mean, you're not perfect. You had to leave a crack in your defense somewhere."
"AH! I'll believe that when you actually find one," Monobear mocked.
"I can't wait to get my hands on the entity controlling you, for I shall rip them limb from limb," Bludgeon threaten.
"To be honest, I'm surprise you haven't killed anyone yet. You really live for the thrill of the fight," Monobear said. "Are you afraid that doing anything too… rash will sent you on a one-way ticket to an execution?"
"Hey, quit egging him on?" Blurr told the bear.
"And you!" the bear turned on the speedster, glaring at him. "Monobitch?" he asked him.
"Oh, you heard that?" Blurr chuckled, looking away from him nervously.
"Yes, and I've got something special planned for you tomorrow," the bear told him.
"I'm assuming that's when you'll announce the motive," Mirage asked him.
"Correct, and it's a very special one. One of the fan favorites," Monobear told them.
"Fan... favorites?" Rewind asked, confused.
"Oh, I can't wait to see all of you mistrusting each other again. It shall be despairingly glorious!" Monobear yelled.
"What the frag is it?" Mixmaster yelled at him.
"Oh, you'll find out, but a little hint. Let's just say that the past loves to bite you back," Monobear told them before disappearing again.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Beachcomber asked everybody.
"I believe we're heading for trouble," Hoist said to everyone.
"Ugh, I hate that guy," Drift muttered.
"Well then, let's ignore what he's saying for now," Onslaught told the group, standing up. "We got an area to explore and I say we get started right now."