Aran pointed at Hideo. "Look! He gets so serious each time his name is even said! I know tells when I see em, how is no one else catching it?!'
"But wouldn't that be too convenient as well? Thinking of me as the culprit? It may seem obvious, but that isn't the only possibility out there... now is it?"
As Wiruko was occupied by adorable cat and dog videos, Hideo gave this one comment over to Aran, his serious stare and tone slowly showing up again.
"...I hope you're right," Mabel finally spoke again in response to RGB's estimate, her features still solemn and worried. She'd give anything to hug her brother right now... Even in her saddened state, though, she managed a very weak grin at the shrunken child's comment. "Haha, you're a horrible liar, bro-bro. I'm taller than you all the time," she stated, though the words lacked her typical enthusiasm. Normally, this would've been accentuated with a playful punch to the shoulder, butttt even she realized that that wasn't a good idea in his state.
@Lissamel @Atomyk
Oh, hey - it was the dream guy who she'd woken up in the arms of earlier. Granted, that didn't really make Mabel feel any better, in the moment.
"Just, y'know... Super weird shrinky crystal things," she answered through a sigh, her fleeting smile seeming to have mostly faded away. "We can fix it, though. We have before." Or, well - Dipper had. Mabel hadn't exactly been very useful for that. In any case, it was a darn good thing that Gideon was in jail and couldn't try to take advantage of it.
@Lissamel @Atomyk @Ringmaster
"I'd prefer an answer from your Master, lass. Hideo, every single time anyone makes any mention of you, you lose your cool. Why is that? I wouldn't think nothing of it unless you were hiding something.
"Guess Master is trying to step it up from loser status!"
Wiruko giggled at the thought of that, and couldn't help but say this. Hideo only groaned when Wiruko mentioned something about that "loser" stuff again.
Aran shrugged. "I'm guessing I won't be getting any more out of you, lad." He shook his head. "To think I lent you my banjo."
" ... This isn't the first time I've gotten myself into this situation, and to put it in shorter terms... I just have the terrible timing and luck to be even thought up to be involved in any crimes... To you, I probably look like the perfect murderer, but lots of people mistakened me for that. And if you think I'm hiding something, I'm not. I simply have nothing to share other than... being a loser with having the only worth of talking and intimidating people..."
Hideo sighed, and explained why he was so serious about this investigation other than the fact that he knew this was serious situation.
@Yun Lee
Aran rolled his eyes. "I only get angry because no one is listening to the points I'm making! Either that, or you're all just choosing to ignore them." He shrugged. "Whatever! I have nothing to hide! If you all want to throw away your votes and convict someone who didn't do it, then by all means, vote for me! The sooner this dream ends, the sooner I can get away from all of you morons!" He shook his head. "It's so obviously a set up, how do none of you see it?"
"That's because you're accusing him of murder, dumbbell. We're doing the same to you, and you're acting the exact same way," Mandy pointed out, striking with her cold logic once more, "People tend ta turn defensive when dey're bein' accused a murder, dontcha know." Grim added, "And don't try to pull the 'complete strangers' card, either. We're all strangers here. Motives to kill aren't always emotional." she continued; her words visibly worrying her undead partner, "Are you suggestin' dere's an outside force pullin' de strings here?"
"Oh, don't ask me..."
"Ask them."
Grim stood there in confusion for awhile, scratching his head while he watched Mandy stare past everyone gathered, and into the abyss,
"...Erm...who, exactly?"
"They know who they are."
"...Ohhhh...you're talkin' about...dem?" Grim inquired, pointing and squinting in the same direction Mandy was staring.
"Yes, Grim. Them."
"No, no, dey wouldn't be dat cruel, would dey? They've given us all our powers, all our artifacts, all our extra lives! They wouldn't take all dose away!"
"Oh, but haven't they already? Think about it. Your scythe, your magic...poof." Mandy made a magic gesture with her hands towards a now mortified Grim, "Gone. The hand that giveth, taketh away." Mandy finished poetically, gesturing towards Max's body, "By Nergal's nasty pits, we're all goin' ta die!" Grim screamed, unleashing a bloodcurdling wail of fear that was cut short by Mandy holding her hand over his mouth, "Not quite." She reeled her hand back after she was sure Grim wouldn't keep screaming, "How do you suppose we only found four clues concerning Max's murder, hm? And how a mysterious masked man appeared out of nowhere to tell us that just one of them was fake? On top of all that, we all believed him. Why do you think that is, Grim?"
Grim took a few long moments to ponder on the question, before snapping his fingers as he came to an epiphany, "This is...all just a game!" Mandy nodded, "Precisely. It's all one big murder mystery game. Our powers; and items of power; were taken away to ensure we didn't cheat and get too far ahead at the start." Grim lunged forward and wrap Mandy up in his arms, with Mandy looking very uncomfortable as a result, unsurprisingly, "Mandy my girl, you're a genius!" The blonde firmly removed herself from the Reaper's bony grasp and dusted herself off, "I know. But don't get ahead of yourself; we still need to win the game to ensure we make it back to Endsville in one piece."
"D'oh, right, heheh..." Grim admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a meek smile.
@Yun Lee @Gummi Bunnies @Investigation
Aran grinned as someone voted for Hideo besides himself. Smart lady, this green one was. "Ha! Glad to see someone here can look at the facts, rather than blindly vote like a sheep!"
Aran raised an eyebrow, on one hand happy to have someone reconsidering him as a killer, but on the other, something about this seemed...off. "Good points lads, but something seems off: did anyone in the forest run into a Manotaur? I don't think a cat thing can change into something it doesn't know exists-unless...maybe someone from the forest was working with someone from the caves!"
