"Alright, Blurr, who do we question first?" Nightbeat asked him. Bludgeon and Drift had went off to the first building to see if they could find a way into the Counterpunch's room for evidence, leaving Nightbeat and Blurr to question any witnesses.
"Dead End and Wildrider would be the best place to start. They were both up and hanging around the mall when I found the body.
"Very well," Nightbeat said, scanning the crowd and finding Dead End and Wildrider loitering around at a table, the former reading a datapad and the latter siting down on the table, kicking his feet and fidgeting. "Let's go see what he know," he told him, heading for the fatalist. The two made their way over to the duo, who quickly took noticed of them.
"Let me guest, you want our testimonies," Dead End asked, putting up his datapad.
"Well, you two were both up at the same time as when I found the body," Blurr pointed out.
"That's fair, but I'm afraid I don't have much to tell t least," Dead End told them.
"Really? Why's that?" Nightbeat asked.
"Because, Wildrider and I were both hanging around at the bookstore up on the fifth floor starting at 9:00," he told them.
"Really?" he asked them.
"Barring a brief period between around 11:45 to 12:15, we have stayed in this room together. At the previous time frame, Wildrider went to do… something while I stayed here. Don't know what, don't care," he told them.
"Yeah, he's about right. No way either of us could've committed this murder," Wildrider told him, humming along to himself.
Ammo Gained: Wildrider and Dead End's Alibi.
Both testify to be with each other all night at the bookstore, barring a brief interval between 11:45 and 12:15.
"Well, did you see anybody else hanging around?" Blurr asked them.
"Well, let's see," Dead End thought to himself. "I think I saw Beachcomber at around 11:15, although what he was doing, I have no idea."
"Beachcomber?" Blurr asked.
"11:15? That's very close to the murder," Nightbeat murmured.
"Well, from what I could see, he was quite… weirded out by something and was holding something, although what, I don't quite know," Dead End told him.
Ammo Gained: Dead End's Testimony.
Saw Beachcomber loitering about the mall at about 11:15.
"Anything else you want to tell us?" Nightbeat asked him.
"Not that I know of," Dead End told them.
"Nope," Wildrider agreed, barely paying attention to him.
"Alright, then let's go find Beachcomber real quick," Nightbeat said, looking to find him sitting on the steps to the spiral staircase. The two detectives went over to the geologist, who looked like he was on the verge of nodding off.
"Beachcomber?" Nightbeat asked roughly, causing Beachcomber to snap his head up suddenly.
"Wh- what?" he asked them.
"Dead End testifies to having seen you around the mall at around 11:15, very close to the murder. What do you say about that?" he asked him.
"Uh, that's impossible. I was busy trying to sleep at that time, man," Beachcomber told him.
"Are you sure?" he asked him.
"Definitely," Beachcomber said. I've been in their since 10:00.
Ammo Gained: Beachcomber's Testimony.
Claims to have been asleep in his room since 10:00
"Anything else," Nightbeat asked him.
"Not that I can think of," Beachcomber told him, getting ready to try to sleep again.
"Alright," Blurr said, the two of them leaving him alone. "Alright, which of them is lying?" Blurr asked Nightbeat.
"At this point, we have no definitive proof, but we'll have to keep our optics open," he told him.
"Hey, you two!" a voiced called out and they turned to see Onslaught and Skywarp together, looking up to the ceiling. The two detectives quickly their way there.
"What?" he asked.
"Look at the roof," Onslaught told him. "Notice how there's small ledges up there?"
"I do," Nightbeat noticed, looking closely at it. "Very strange design."
"Well, I thought I saw something up there and asked Skywarp to send Laserbeak up there to retrieve it," he told him.
"And he should be coming back now," Skywarp told them, and indeed, Laserbeak was descending towards them at that very moment. He came down and dropped something in Skywarp's outstretched hand. "What the, it's a knife," Skywarp noticed. Indeed, it was a professional-looking knife with some energon stained all-around the blade and grip.
"That's a combat knife," Onslaught immediately noticed. "I remember these being used in the battlefield," he told them.
"And judging by the looks of it, I think we have out murder weapon," he told them.
"But wait, we already found a knife in the victim's body," Blurr told them. "Why the heck are we finding another knife?"
"Wait, what? Could there have been two knives used to murder him," Skywarp asked them.
"He was undoubtedly killed by a single knife wound, so I doubt it," Nightbeat told them.
"Oh, well, here," he said, handing the knife off to them. "See if you can figured out what it's for."
Ammo Gained: Combat Knife
Found hidden on a ledge. Covered in energon.
"Hmm," Onslaught said to himself.
"What?" Nightbeat asked him.
"I couldn't help but overhear you asking Beachcomber's some question and if you're looking for a place Beachcomber would've been, I suggest the medicine store," Onslaught told them.
"Why?" he asked him.
"On the first day at the mall, I met Beachcomber there buying anti-depressants. A bunch of them. He might've went there again."
Ammo Gained: Onslaught's Testimony
Saw Beachcomber on the first day at the mall buying a bunch of anti-depressants.
"I'll keep that in mind," Nightbeat told him.
"Alright, I'll let you go," Onslaught said with a nod, turning away to talk to Skywarp.
"Come on. Let's head to the medicinal store," Nightbeat told Blurr and the two of them head of the steps. They arrived at the third floor and entered the store to look at the shelves.
"Ah, hello," the VI cashier cheerily greeted them as they entered. "Investigating which one of you killed again. Oh, that is so exciting!"
"Where's the anti-depressants?" Blurr asked him, getting straight to the point.
"Not much for talk, are you? Makes since, considering the time limit my boss has put on you," the VI said, thinking it over. "Anyway, they are on the shelves in the center," he pointed out.
"Alright," Blurr muttered, heading over there to see a small space where anti-depressants should've been.
""How often do you restock?" Nightbeat asked the cashier.
"We restock every night at around 2:00," he answered.
"There are a lot of anti-depressants missing," Blurr told him, coming back from the shelves.
"Yeah, someone bought those not too long ago," he informed him.
Ammo Gained: Missing Anti-depressants
Anti-depressants were missing from the pharmacy.
"Was this person Beachcomber," Nightbeat asked him.
"I'm sorry, I can't confirm that just like I can't confirmed who bought a syringe after him," the cashier told him.
"Huh?" Nightbeat asked him.
"Oh… you haven't discover that," the cashier muttered nervously.
"No, I haven't. Care to tell us more," Blurr asked with a crack of his hands.
"Uh, sorry, no-can-do. It's against my rules," it told him, glaring at him.
Ammo Gained: Pharmacy Cashier's Testimony
Someone came to buy a syringe after whoever bought the anti-depressants.
"I don't think we're capable of pressing him for any more information," Nightbeat told Blurr.
"Huh, fine," Blurr muttered.
"I'll go check the bar with Swindle and Blast Off. You figure out where that syringe is," he told him.
"Alright, you got it," Blurr agreed, heading out. "I'll see if I can get a couple of trustworthy people to help out." Nightbeat nodded and headed up to the fourth floor and to the bar. Inside, e could see the familiar VI as a bartender muttering to himself.
"What are you complaining about?" Nightbeat asked him.
"Those two are messing up the kitchen, going through my supplies! My entire stock of energon might be contaminated. It… it… feels so good," he whispered sensually, causing Nightbeat to really want to get out of there.
"Uh, right, I'll go check that area out," Nightbeat said, quickly walking into the backroom where Blast Off and Swindle were. "Exactly what are you doing?" he asked them.
"Look," Blast Off told him, showing off a kitchen knife that looked exactly like the one in Counterpunch's back.
"Wait, that knife. That means…."
"Yep, the knife from the body came from the bar up here," Swindle finished for him.
"Huh," Nightbeat muttered.
Ammo Gained: Kitchen Knife
Knife found embedded in the body. Does not come from the dorm rooms and lacks the amount of energon on it associated with a stabbing.
Confirmed to come from the bar's kitchen.
"Well, looked like a good hunch," Swindle said.
"What about Counterpunch being here?" Nightbeat asked.
"He hasn't been very forthcoming with information," Blast Off told him, "but he did tell us that he did came by at roughly 11:00 in rough shape."
"Wait, you mean-"
"He had already been in a fight earlier before he died," Swindle said. "To go along with that, he mentioned that Wildrider came by later, although he didn't specify when."
"Just Wildrider?"
"Yep, just him."
Ammo Gained: Bartender's Testimony
Attest to seeing Counterpunch at around 11:00 in rough shape.
Saw Wildrider come by after him at an unspecified time.
"The mystery keeps piling up," Nightbeat muttered.
"Well, since we're done with this area, we should head out," Swindle told them.
"Very well," Blast Off agreed, heading out with the other two following him. The two exit the bar and looked around again.
"So, what do we check out now?" Swindle asked them.
"Is that gold dust," Nightbeat asked, looking at the railing.
"Of course, give you five seconds and you'll find something to investigate," Swindle murmured.
"It is," Nightbeat murmured, rubbing it and getting stuck on his finger. "Now why is it here?" he murmured as he looked down right across from it to the storage area on the ground floor. "Ah, that explains things."
Ammo Gained: Gold Dust
Gold dust was found on the railing in front of the bar.
"Nightbeat!" Blurr yelled at him from below.
"Yes?" Nightbeat asked.
"I found it and more," he told him.
"Coming down now," Nightbeat confirmed, him and the two Combaticons follow down to the third floor where Blurr and Hound was waiting for them at the entrance to the maintenance hall. "In here?" he asked him.
"Yeah, and let me tell you, someone didn't want me to enter this area," he told them.
"Huh? How can you guessed?"
"They barred it using adhesive on the insides. I had to ask Hound to help me break it open," Blurr told them.
"It held pretty well. Almost thought I couldn't bust it open," he told them.
Ammo Gained: Maintenance Hall Door
Held shut by adhesive to prevent entrance.
"I can see why too. Come looked inside for with me," Blurr told them and they followed him into the hall and walked through the dark, cold halls until they reached the spot that he wanted to show them.
"Oh, scrap, what happen here?" Hound asked as they stared at the wrecked hall. There was scuff marks all around and some small traces around the area along with a shattered syringe in the floor.
"Obviously, some serious fighting went on here," Swindle murmured, looking at the scene.
Ammo Gained: Maintenance Hall
There were signs of a fight in a part of the hall.
"And that would be the syringe we were looking for," Nightbeat murmured, looking at it, "but it's shattered and missing the needle."
Ammo Gained: Syringe
Found broken in the maintenance hall and missing its needle.
"Want me to collect the pieces and bring them to Hoist?" Blurr asked him.
"Yes, do it immediately. We're on the clock." Blurr gave a shake of his head and quickly collected the pieces in his hand and left the place with Hound in hand. "Hmm," he muttered, looking around the hall some more.
"Oh, boy. You've noticed something else," Swindle signed. "Well, go ahead and pill it out."
"This part of the hall," he said, indicating a place away from where the fighting had took place, "has been clean recently."
"Huh?" Swindle murmured, before looking at the area closely. "Wait, you're right. It is. Someone clearly wiped the area down."
"Now why is one part clean and the other isn't?" Blast Off wondered to himself.
Ammo Gained: Clean Section of Maintenance Hall
A part of the maintenance hall was recently cleaned.
"Well, I don't think anything else is still here, so we might as well leave," Nightbeat told them. "We should probably go check out the medics again and see if they found anything."
"That would be my recommended plan of action as well," Blast Off agreed, and the trio headed out. The went down to the bottom floor to see Jazz by the entrance.
"Oh, hey, you guys doing good?" Jazz asked, slightly rubbing the dent in his head.
"What happened to you?" Swindle asked.
"I tripped in the library today and banged my head on a table," Jazz told them.
"Ah, good," Nightbeat, walking past him and into the storage area. "You best check with the others to see how they're doing."
"Alright, sure," Jazz agreed, heading off out of listening distance.
"Fell on a table? What a bunch of BS," Swindle grumbled.
"I know. Doesn't matter, all the lies he tells don't explain the scratch marks on his knuckles," Nightbeat told them.
"Wait, scratch marks. Than that means…," Blast Off murmured.
"Correct, Jazz has got in a fight today," he told them.
Ammo Gained: Jazz's wounds.
Jazz has wounds that come from a fight.
The three entered the Autobots' storage area to see Ratchet extracting something from the corpse's fatal wound. "What's that?" Blast Off immediately asked.
"It looks like a needle," he answered.
"A needle?" Nightbeat asked.
"Yes. Now how is it important to you?" Ratchet asked them.
"We found a syringe without the needle. That's probably the missing needle," Nightbeat informed.
"Ah, well you can have it to put the syringe back together. Just be sure to wipe off the energon from it," he told them, handing it off.
Ammo Gained: Needle
Found inside the fatal wound in the chest.
"Anything else?" he asked them.
"Honestly," Knock Out began, "not really. This isn't quite a fantastic kill as it was with Shockwave and Vortex. If it wasn't for the multiple stab wounds postmortem that spelled out 'PUNCH,' I would be content to label this as any other murder that could've happen in pre-war Cybertron. It is a distressingly normal and simple kill."
"I'm afraid I'm in agreement with him. There really isn't much we can do with the body," Ratchet told them.
"Well, can you check out this knife," he said, handing him the combat knife. Ratchet immediately went and compared it to the fatal wound.
"It's a match. That, I believe, makes this the murder weapon, unless something else to contradicts it," Ratchet told them, handing the knife back.
Ammo Updated: Combat Knife
Found hidden on a ledge covered in energon.
Confirm to match the fatal wound in the back.
"Yes, I agree, and what happened after he was killed is certainly proofing to be really interesting," Nightbeat murmured.
"I can't wait to hear about it in the trial," Ratchet said, standing up. "Well, I guess I'll make my leave," he told them, heading out of the room.
"Right, well, Nightbeat, let me tell you one more thing to add to your evidence," he told him.
"What's that," Nightbeat asked him.
"Remember the motive. Everyone had a reason to kill, even him." Knock Out nudged his head in the direction of the corpse. "Do take care to remember that," he finished, heading out of the room.
Ammo Gained: Motive
After a certain amount of time had passed, everyone's secret would've been revealed.
"Well then, let's go find Hoist," Blast Off told the group and the trio headed out of the room. They immediately searched the surrounding area, but couldn't find him.
"Now where is he?" Swindle murmured.
"Where's who?" a voice asked and they turned to see Chromedome and Rewind sitting together at a table.
"Hoist," Swindle answered.
"Ah, he went to the science lab in the first building," Rewind answered for him.
"Hah, thanks for that," Nightbeat thanked.
"You're welcome. I do hope you find the 'Bot's murderer," Chromedome told them before discussing something with Rewind again in hushed tones. The trio agreed and headed to the 1st building and head to the science labs. Inside one, they found Blurr, Hound, Mirage, Perceptor, and Hoist admiring a finished syringe.
"Not bad, Mirage," Hoist complimented. "You really mended it well."
"No problem," he said, acting slightly humble. "You did help me with it."
"Hey, we got your needle," Swindle blurted out to them.
"Ah, you do? Give it here," he beckoned, having his hand outstretch. Nightbeat immediately went and place it in his hand. "Uh, there's energon on it," Hoist awkwardly mentioned.
"Oh, yeah, uh, it was found in the victim's body," Nightbeat informed him.
"Ha, how wonderful to see my questions are getting too much information," Hoist groaned as he began fidgeting with the needle and syringe, trying to make them connect. Within less than a minute, he put the things back down, glaring at Nightbeat.
"You do realize I can only mend things together if the match," Hoist chided them.
"Come again?" Nightbeat asked.
"The needle. It doesn't match the syringe," he told them.
"What, but how's that possible?" Blast Off questioned.
"Well, each syringe is capable of modifying itself to fit a certain needle. I used the last needle last used by the device and it didn't," Hoist informed them.
"Are you kidding?" Blurr asked in disbelief.
"No, I don't kid about things like this," Hoist told him.
Ammo Gained: Syringe and Needle Unmatched.
The two don't fit each other.
"Well, that adds another complication," Nightbeat murmured.
"Yes and to go along with that, I don't think this syringe ever had anything in it," Perceptor told them. "It's complete empty of any fluids. Not even any trace amounts of it."
Ammo Updated: Syringe
Found broken in the maintenance hall and missing its needle.
Didn't have any substance in it when it was broken.
"What do we do now?" Blurr asked them.
"Well, I think I know what we can do," Swindle told them.
"What's that?" Nightbeat asked.
"I figured me and Blast Off can try to figure out where the knife come from while you go check out Bludgeon and Drift to see if they have uncovered any new information in Counterpunch's room," Swindle recommended.
"Hmm, that's reasonable," he said, handing the knife to him. "Report back to me your findings," he told them."
"Yeah, yeah, we've been through this before," Swindle blew him off, him and Blast walking out of the room. Nightbeat followed and headed for the staircase nearby to descend to the second floor and towards Counterpunch's open door. Inside, he found Bludgeon and Drift reading some files intently, along with Bumblebee.
"What have you found?" he asked them.
"Well, Counterpunch has been stealing a lot of files from the archive," Drift told him, "but somehow, most of them have been corrupted, like someone has been tampering with them."
"Sabotage?" he asked them.
"Unfortunately," Bludgeon agreed. "However, we were able to get some snippets from it, something involving a special medical operation and a mission for someone."
"Who?" Nightbeat asked.
"According for to files, it's for someone named Punch," he informed him.
"Come again?" Nightbeat asked.
"That isn't the weirdest part. The beginning of the uncorrupted part lists him as Punch and the parts after the operation lists him as Counterpunch," Bumblebee explained.
"So, a strange Decepticon operation involving Counterpunch," Nightbeat said out loud to himself.
"I don't think so," Drift said, nervously.
"And why is that?" he asked him.
"The leading person heading up the operation? Jazz," he told him.
"Jazz?" Nightbeat asked him in shock.
"Yeah, it said it was his idea and he headed up the operation. I check the source of these files and they come straight from the Autobot database," he told him.
"Hmm," Nightbeat hummed to himself, "This is some very strange information."
Ammo Gained: Counterpunch's Files
List an operation that Counterpunch was in that was headed by Jazz.
"Is everything alright?" a voice asked from the doorway and they turned to see Mixmaster over there.
"Ah, you haven't been anywhere near the crime scene, have you?" Nightbeat asked.
"No, I've been caring over Scavenger. He woke up just a little bit before the body was discover," Mixmaster told him.
"Is there anything you can tell us?" Nightbeat asked him.
"Well, Blurr got hammered at around four and I woke him up when Scavenger woke up," he told him. "And, let's see, oh, Jazz came by as well," he told him.
"When?"
"Oh, around 11:00. He didn't look pretty good. Looked like he had his face bashed in. He came over to check up on Scavenger," he told him.
"He was injured, like he was in a fight?" he asked him.
"Correct. He stuck around until 11:20 and then he went to his room. At the same time, Beachcomber came from the stairs next to his room and entered his room. I didn't see anything, but it looked like he was carrying quite a few things," he told him.
Ammo Gained: Mixmaster's Testimony
Talked to a roughed up Jazz from 11:00 to 11:20.
Saw Beachcomber entered his room at a little after 11:20.
"Hmm, thanks," Nightbeat said. "How's he?"
"He's fine, but a little dizzy. We're thinking of giving him a wheelchair or something to help him stand in the trial," he told him.
"Can't he just sit this one out?" he asked him.
"Nah, Monobear came over after opening Counterpunch's door to inform us that Scavenger had to go to the trial unless he was in dire medical help. As you can tell, he's just fine," he told him.
"Alright, well, I guess I'll check back up at the crime scene," he told him.
"You know, if I were you, I would go check out the groundbridge we got downstairs. Not many people have been using it and if a murderer wanted to, they could use it without being spotted to the groundbridge in the mall," he told him.
"Hmm, good idea," he agreed. "Thanks and hope Scavenger is welled enough to walk to the trial."
"Thanks," he said, leaving back for his room.
"Alright, well," he said, turning back to the occupants in the room, "if you find anything else, do keep me informed." He took his leave and headed down the steps to the first floor and into the groundbridge where he found Nautilator messing around with the controls for it.
"Ah, hey," he said with that deep, booming Megatron voiced that didn't with him at all. "I was, well, looking for some information on who used the groundbridge," he told him.
"Well, it's been used a few times today, but there were a couple of uses from it at 11:20 and at 11:47," he told him.
"Ah, good. That saves me some time from having to look into it," Nightbeat thanked him.
"No problem. Anyway, let me get a groundbridge for the mall for you, since I 'm assuming you're not done with it yet," he told him, clicking a few buttons.
Ammo Added: Groundbridge usage
Used at 11:20 and 11:47.
The groundbridge opened and Nightbeat went through it and backed to the mall. He quickly made his way to the weapons store and saw Swindle and Blast Off finishing their conversation with him, walking away from him and towards him. "Alright, good news and bad news. The good news is that we figured out who the knife belonged too," Swindle started out.
"And the bad?" he asked.
"It belonged to Counterpunch," Blast Off finished.
"So, Counterpunch was backstabbed with his own knife," Nightbeat asked them.
"Exactly," Swindle told him.
Ammo Updated: Combat Knife
Found hidden on a ledge. Covered in energon.
Confirm to match the fatal wound in the back.
Belonged to Counterpunch
DING! DONG!
"The investigation is over! Everyone head over to the cargo elevator on the first floor for the long-awaited trial!"
"Dammit, do you think we've gathered enough evidence to figured out who did this?" Swindle asked him.
"I guess we'll find out," Blast Off said, walking off. Swindle gave a shake of his head in annoyance.
"Oh, Blast Off. Never change," murmured before glaring at Nightbeat. "Come on, we need to execute a murderer," he told him, walking off. Nightbeat glared at the merchant before following along back to the first floor elevator. When they arrived, they found that everyone had arrived except for a few people.
"Where's Mixmaster and Scavenger?" Bumblebee asked.
"Coming down now!" Mixmaster yelled at him, coming down the steps, leading Scavenger down with interlocking shoulders. Scavenger was also making use of a crutch.
"Oh, come on. You were bashed in the head, not caught in an explosion," Smokescreen chided them.
"He just woke up from a long resting period. He needs to go at it slowly and a crutch is exactly what he needs," Ratchet told him, offering his professional medical opinion.
"Ok, yeah, good point," Smokescreen muttered, looking around. "That everyone?" he asked.
"It is," Onslaught told him.
"Well then, shall we get going?" he asked them.
"Yeah, yeah," Blurr draw out, hitting the button. The cargo elevator doors opened up and the twenty-five of them slowly entered the elevator and Blurr hit the button inside, closing the elevator and sending them deep into the depths of the school. The elevator went down at its unbearably slow speed with its loud clanking sound before reaching the trial room. Inside, both Brawl and Counterpunch's usual place was covered with a portrait of the two of them. Counterpunch had the usually blue, bloody X while Brawl's was in the shape of two fists making an X. Everyone took their place at the at the stands, getting ready to do battle with each other to find the truth.
"Well, looks like you're all here," Monobear cheered. "You all know the rules, so let's get the third trial to figure out who killed Counterpunch under way! Begin!"