Sooo, this is back on the grid. Ta-da.

Please send in some writing prompts for new work that you want, because I'm DYING to write up some new stuff. Also, it's nice to see what everyone likes, and who's in which fandom.

~Violentkitsune

Chapter 5: Who did it?

Death toll so far: Due to unfortunate events, the leading detective High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane, was framed and executed on deathrow. Glamour City is in turmoil, and the civilians are no closer to discovering who is ally and who is the enemy. Will the mafia get away with a murder tonight, or will the hand of god save them and reveal just who's spreading fear throughout the streets.

...

Even after the many weeks playing this, it stunned Alec just how a mere mundane game could stress all of them so much. They'd battled demons, dealt with stubborn vampires, suffered under suspicion by the entire Clave. Hell, Alec himself had nearly died in battle.

And yet none of that compared to the amount of stress this game put on them all.

Magnus nuzzled the back of his neck, raising goose-bumps where his lips grazed across his skin. Alec managed to reign in any noises that could embarrass him as he looked up at his baby sister, prancing in one of Simon's dorky shirts and some boxer shorts. She twirled the red fedora on her fingers.

"So, valued citizens, we have a dilemma on our hands." She sat up straight in her chair with the air of an aristocrat and stared everyone down. "The mafia were being straight up douchebag's tonight. They were portalling throughout the city, snatching a few wallets and spreading faerie drugs here and there. The mafia rocked up to a house party and spiked the punch bowl with several bags of faerie drugs."

Magnus leaned in close to Alec's ear. "I bet it was that Herondale boy."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Alec mumbled lowly, barely moving his lips. His warlock boyfriend was doing at great job at distracting him, drawing patterns over the sleeves of his shirt along the forearms.

"The recipient of this spiked punch faced drastic consequences. When the mafia left the club, the victim suffered a few side effects from the liquid silver. First, they got high and started going a little too hardcore on the dance floor, stealing the hearts of many. Then they experienced vivid hallucinations and began stripping nude outside the club and rolled around in the bushes outside a mansion, claiming to be 'one with nature.' The final act was when they saw diamond wings springing out of their spines. They ran all the way down to the Brooklyn bridge to prove to their friends they could fly. As a result the morning headlines read 'Party-goer sleeps with the Fishes.'"

Isabelle turned mournfully towards Jordan. She stared long and hard at Jordan, who finally came to the conclusion of who the victim was. He threw his hands up and huffed while Maia shot him sympathetic glances. "But I wasn't doing anything to anyone!"

Isabelle held her hands up. "I'm not the one who kicked you out of the game, Jordan."

He flopped further into his chair and groaned dramatically, earning laughter from everyone in the room. He flipped his hand up and shot the reverse peace sign at everyone. "Be grateful that I have a heart of gold and I'm letting you lot stay here."

Maia rubbed her chest and smirked. "You gonna drag real life problems in this game, wolfboy?"

He rolled his eyes. Magnus chuckled behind Alec. The werewolf stood up resignedly and showed everyone his card. "Whoever shot me off in this round, I'm letting you know that you did absolutely no good shooting off a civilian. Have fun you lot picking the next culprit in this game." Jordan shuffled off into the kitchen, mumbling away as he ransacked the liquor in the fridge.

"Anyone hungry?" Simon piqued. He made a move to get up and shuffle into the kitchen. "There's chips and dip in the back there."

"Sit down, Lewis," Jace drawled, waving him down. "You don't go anywhere until you die." Alec rolled his eyes as his parabatai smiled at the irony in that conditional command. Everyone caught onto the pun and rolled their eyes at how awful it was.

Clary gripped his shoulders and shook him with annoyance. "Sometimes I wonder why I fell for you, angel boy."

"It's because I'm the best-looking in leather out of the whole lot."

"That's debatable," Magnus, Simon and Helen chorused. Magnus and Helen smirked at one another and stared at their respective love interest, while the other tenant of the apartment looked nervously up at Izzy and ducked behind his floppy brown fringe for cover.

Isabelle was a little stunned by Simon's opinion and shook her self while returning to her role-play. "Go ahead. Fight amongst ye, children."

.

From Jordan's view in the kitchen, he was having one hell of a show go down. Contestants were bickering back and forth as they tried to put the blame on others, avoiding the spotlight in any means possible. Jace and Simon were convinced that someone had been moving somewhere around where Helen and Aline were sitting, while the girls fought back and argued that Alec was the suspect, going into full detail about their suspicions.

Magnus had left Alec on the beanbag and joined the Praetor for a drink, lacing his poison with a hint of something magical, turning the liquid into a living galaxy.

"How are things going on your end?" Magnus asked, standing next to the brown-skinned boy while they watched the fight unravel.

"What do you mean?"

"The whole Downworlder thing." Magnus nudged him and pointed at Simon. "How's the babysitting job going? Taken on any newly converted Downworlders recently?"

Jordan scratched the back of his head. "Nothing so far. Everything's quieted down here for now; no ones been doing anything stupid after this last war of ours."

"Let's try and keep it that way," the warlock wished. He clinked his glass of vodka with Jordan's own drink. "Kanpai."

"A tu salud." The pair shot down their drinks. The full taste of sharp alcohol took over their taste buds as it ran down the back of their throats. While Magnus himself seemed unaffected, Jordan was still getting used to the bitter taste.

The older warlock smiled and clapped the boy on his back. "So… just between us guys—" he pointed over at Maia and smirked. "When are you going to make your move?"

Jordan fumbled with his glass. "W-what?"

Magnus rolled yellow eyes. "I know about the circumstances that lead to you both being bitten, and I heard about her hostile attitude when she saw you guys at Simons' mundie band performance. She's been rather docile lately, and if I'm not mistaken – which I almost never am, she's been looking at you quite a lot lately."

Jordan blushed at Magnus's words. He stared at Maia as she started up a heated argument for the sake of defending one of the accused, waving her hand frantically. It was true that she'd been a lot kinder to him than he predicted. There was no awkwardness between them now, and she'd started smiling and talking more to him. He'd screwed up her dreams of getting away out of that neighborhood they came from, and he knew that there were things she'd never forgive him for. The least he could do was mend things and try and give her the best chance at going for the dream. After all, he'd never stopped loving her. Not really.

"My advice, pup – get things out in the open soon." Magnus swiped the bottle off the bench and poured himself another shot of vodka. "She's pretty, she's fierce, she's part of the troupe of hero's that saved Downworld, so she's got a reputation. I've seen plenty of young strapping lads looking at her, kid, and if you don't get in there soon, well…" He watched Jordan shiver and growl at the thoughts of someone else taking Maia away before he could do something about it. "Nothing left for me to elaborate on, is there?"

.

"Okay guys, so while everything was going on, I heard noises coming from these two and those two over there."

Helen pointed over at Clary and Jace, while her other hand aimed for Simon and Maia. Jace was on edge and had already begun spitting out his defense, trying to turn the attention off him and onto someone else. Meanwhile Simon began pointing fingers at Maia as he began proclaiming his innocence.

"I didn't do nothing," the doe-eyed boy yelped. "You guys are always trying to kill me off in the game."

"No we don't."

"Yes you do," Simon retaliated. "You guys have a personal agenda against me because I fluff up."

"We do not," Alec drawled.

Simon shook his head and wiggled his finger at Alec. "Nah, nah, that tone? It's half the reason why I don't trust you guys one hundred percent sometimes."

"Look, mundie—"

"I'm not a mundie anymore."

"Gesundheit. Whatever. Point being, you are a paranoid bat, and frankly it's beginning to wear out whatever gratitude I had left for you during the war. You should have learned to trust us by now."

Simon made a face and rubbed his hair out of nervous habit. Isabelle rolled her eyes and crept behind the brunette in the midst of the heated conversation. She placed both hands comfortingly on his shoulders and knelt down to whisper to him. "You take this game way too seriously," she critiqued. "Simon, everyone here would sacrifice themselves' ten times over for you. You've proven your worth, and by the angel you even saved Alec for crying out loud. So stop getting your back up, or else you find someone else to take you to Taki's after your gigs.'

Both the werewolf and half-fae smirked at the subtlety of the threat beneath the iron-willed shadowhunter's words. If he were human, Simon's ears would've been red with shame and embarrassment.

"What lies are you spinning about me now?" Jace demanded, craning his neck to look at his sister and the vampire in the midst.

"Just how not too long ago you were drowning in your sorrows after Simon wiped the floor with your ass during a demon chase."

"Puh-lease, I'm not that childish."

"Oh really?" Alec interjected. "This coming from the guy who tried to pull three all-nighters just to prove that he could outlast all of us in an invasion?"

"Endurance is the key to survival, brother," Jace said spiritually. "If you can outlast your opponent, you're good to go. And stop stirring the pot, Izzy. You're not part of the game."

"I'm the narrator."

"And I'm the greatest shadowhunter of this generation, but does anybody care? No." The blonde waved his hand spastically. "Move along, Izzy."

The dark-haired shadowhunter rolled her eyes and paced her way around the circle while everyone returned to pointing out the accused.

"Why do you think it's someone over here?" Clary questioned.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I just have this hunch that the mafia's somewhere between you two," Helen reiterated. "I just keep hearing a lot of heavy breathing every time the mafia chooses someone in you general direction. And shifting around too."

"Y'know, it's not exactly comfortable sitting on the floor with your girlfriend's bones knocking into the back of your skull every ten seconds."

"Neither is the floor in the training room and yet you seemed all too happy to have a catnap when we were supposed to train."

"Alec – not helping."

"Is no one going to question Aline?" Maia pointed out. "She's been pretty quiet this whole time and she keeps smiling away to herself like a psychopath."

"Well, I can't help it," she burst out. "This game's got me weak at the knees and I'm trying all I can to stop laughing at all of you guys."

Alec clapped his hands and pointed at her. "She's the mafia. I can feel it in my guts."

Jace stared in horror at the girl. "How do you even survive in your own house? Your mother could pass for a living statue with the amount of emotions she shows on her face, and yet here you are giggling away like a possessed toddler."

"Watch it, blondie," Aline tutted. "Only Helen and I can badmouth my mother. And for the record, she does have more than one facial expression, boy."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Either way, just because noises are heard doesn't necessarily mean that it's coming from the mafia. Otherwise we'd be killing people faster than I can throw a knife."

"Why do you think Aline's mafia?" Simon investigated.

"Let's put this in logical terms; the victims were all in this area—" he gestured, creating an arc that ranged from the girls to where Jordan last sat, "—closest to these two. Now, coming from critical point of view, if I were the mafia, those closest to me would be the first to die, because they're the ones closest to the source." A few groans were heard and Alec rolled his eyes. "Get off your high horses, you all know it's a possibility."

"So you want to knock off Aline, on the grounds that she's been killing off those closest to her?"

"I'm not the mafia, I swear by the Angel," Aline promised drastically, her fit of giggles slowly wearing off.

"You say that now, but can you prove it?" Jace demanded airily.

"What, you want me to throw my card out in the open like Magnus did?"

"That was one time, Penhallow!" The warlock huffed, pointing one finger up in the air. "One. Time."

"I still don't believe your words."

"Well, how about you come over here and check my pulse to see if I'm lying."

"Gladly," Jace conceded daringly, making moves to stand up.

"You can't do that!" Simon crowed while Maia shouted, "That's cheating!" Clary rolled her eyes and pushed her boyfriend back down onto the ground. "Sit down, Angel-boy," she huffed, putting pressure on his shoulders.

"Someone seems a little too eager to try and prove she's the mafia," Maia scrutinized with narrow eyes.

"Hey, she put the offer on the table; I'm checking for all our sakes."

"Look, you can't do that, Jace," Clary explained tiredly, as if she'd gone through the harrowing process a thousand times. "For all we know, you could lie about the results, and besides, it puts pressure on the other players."

"Also, it's cheating," the brunette added.

"Where in the rulebook does it say 'no touching'?"

"It's implied," Alec retorted dryly. He slouched further into his beanbag and huffed at the thick-headed stubbornness his parabatai had wired in his personality. "Common sense, Jace."

Clary smiled cheekily at the banter between parabatai. If things had been different, maybe she and Simon might've had that opportunity.

"Are you guys going to pick someone to throw on deathrow yet?" Isabelle interrupted in the kitchen, looking down at the phone in her hands. "Or are we gonna call this round a dud and move on?"

"Okay, everyone shut up," Clary called out, taking charge of the conversation in the air. "On the count of three, we each point our fingers at who we think is the mafia, and then we let it play out, 'kay?" She held up one hand and began counting down. "One…two…three."

Fingers flew everywhere, and fiery gazes were pitted against one another. Alec, Jace and a hesitant Clary pointed their hands firmly at Aline, while Helen and Maia switched directions and glared at the blonde shadowhunter. Meanwhile, Simon – too confused to know whom to target, held both hands up in the universal peace sign, while Aline's eyes bugged out and her hands were held in surrendur.

Jace fidgeted about on his seat and turned his gaze over to the werewolf, while keeping his hand up. "Weren't you the one who pinned that girl—" he stabbed his finger repeatedly at Aline, "—over there as the mafia?"

"Well, someone's being a little too persistent about her being the culprit for all these murders," Maia answered curtly. She tilted her head and her curls spilt against her cheeks. "I'm starting to second-guess your opinions."

"This is starting to get a little too intense for my liking," Simon said shakily, slumping down so that he was out of the fierce battle going on between the two.

Aline looked over confusedly at Simon. "You're not voting because…"

"I'm neutral," Simon finished, waving his peace signs frantically for all to see. "And frankly, this round is a little too confusing. There's not enough evidence for me to firmly point the blame on someone, and you guys were getting way too carried away to make a solid argument. The only one who made the most sense this round was Alec."

"Good answer," the older Lightwood child commended brightly.

"Simon? Brown-nosers don't get very far in life," Jordan called out from the kitchen flatly.

"Don't listen to him, he's dead," Alec reminded.

"Three to two, everyone," Isabelle tallied. She stood behind Alec and pointed her arm at the shadowhunter. "Final defense for Aline Penhallow before she get's knocked out of the game."

Helen looked beseechingly at everyone in the room. "Guys, trust me on this – she is definitely not the mafia, I promise. Trust me on this, okay?"

Clary narrowed her eyes cautiously and her hand wavered in the air. "Are you sure, Helen?"

"I swear by the angel, don't kill her, she's one-hundred percent civilian material," the half-fae promised solemnly. She focused all her attention on the wavering redhead, since none of the boys would budge on their decisions. "I mean, look at her. She hasn't even bothered to defend herself. Seriously, would I lie to you?"

Confusion fell on Clary's face and she bit her lip tentatively while everyone else hushed one another for the final verdict. "I'm sorry," she exhaled, "but if you're right this round, then I'll do what you say after. I'm sticking with Aline."

All of a sudden, Aline began to laugh. She fell into a fit of giggles as Isabelle pronounced her dead to the world, and slumped over the arm of her chair. "You guys are all dead," she crowed, wiping away the tears from her eyes. She fished out her card, licked the back of it and stuck it face-forward on her forehead for all to see.

"Civilian for life, butt-heads," she crowed, holding her arms out.

Magnus and Jordan cackled loudly in the kitchen while Maia dramatically shook her fist in the air at both Jace and Alec. Helen's face loudly read, 'I told you so', while Clary clapped her hands together and bowed towards Helen, crying 'I believe you now.' Aline was too busy laughing at the wasted opportunity and swung Helen's legs off so she could join the deceased for drinks and snacks.

"I told you so," Helen cried over the din. "I warned you not to do it, and you all flipping wasted a whole round."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Clary repeated earnestly with an apologetic smile on her face. "I swear, whatever goes I will listen to anything you have to say, Helen."

Maia's face grew devious and she tapped her lower lip as a smile began to plant itself on her face. A light bulb had gone off in her head, and she knew who the next person would be to die in the next round.

"You guys best start praying," Jordan called out for the kitchen. "Next game could be your last."

Tell me your thoughts, boys and girls. Which one is the killer in this world? Comment in the review and it might just change the outcome of the city.

Then again, I could be lying.

Do you dare to tempt fate?