Maf-Terra

[Azula]

Azula had been silent as the townspeople enjoyed some of Ohm Zui’s breakfast muffins. For her part, she didn’t trust the zoombini or his baked goods, not one single solitary bit. Not because she thought he was the mafia, though, no — just because he talked too damn much.

The main reason for her silence, though, was Starscream’s admittedly quite predictable betrayal. Why did her trusty servants always let her down? First, Mai and Ty Lee, women she’d grown to trust with her life, women she’d committed countless war crimes with, had a little change of heart and suddenly got off scot free in the Avatar’s new world. And now, Starscream had lied about his medical credentials. It brought back pained memories of her mother, constantly refusing to play dolly with the mangled, charred animal corpses Azula had brought home and instead choosing to teach Zuko how to do a perfect ponytail.

She balled up her fists, and her whole body shook as they were wreathed in blue flames. “Starscream,” she yelled over Suwako’s dribble, “surely there’s an explanation as to why you’d hurt me so deeply? I... it’s been a long time since I trusted anyone, but I trusted you...”

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

The seeker’s wings drooped at Azula’s obvious hurt. Slag, she was just about the only human he’d been able to tolerate in this wretched little town, not least because of her impeccable fashion sense.

“A bad decision, really,” admitted Starscream. “And, alright, I’m not a doctor. I extracted that license from Google last night in anticipation of today going sour. I’m a professional schemer, it’s what I do!”

To his credit, Starscream put at least some effort into looking apologetic, though the effect might’ve been lost on someone with little knowledge of Cybertronian body language— to such persons, Starscream would only appear somewhat less murderous than usual, yet still exceptionally duplicitous. Which wasn’t too far off from the mark.

“But, for the record, I only did it because I was... embarrassed,” the giant murder robot continued, hunching in on himself. “Everyone else seemed to have something useful to contribute in the fight against the mafia. Yet what did I have? Not much. I don’t really dabble in the human criminal element, it’s all lost on me. This was why I lied, to appear more useful to you, my liege. Truly, I have seen the error of my ways...”

 

[Azula]

Azula's eyes averted from Starscream's gaze. She'd never been one for raw emotion, and this was all growing far too maudlin. So, she did what she'd always done when her efforts went unappreciated. When she'd allowed Zuko the credit for killing the Avatar, and he'd still disrespected her. When she'd offered herself romantically to the beach boys, and they'd balked despite the obvious social advantages to having a princess as a girlfriend. When she'd been gracious enough to include Mai and Ty Lee in her glory, and they'd taken her for granted.

She pushed it down.

"Then I have one last command for you, my faithful servant," the fire princess scowled. "...go to the guillotine in peace, Starscream."

 

[Omelette Robotnik]

Starscream 4 (Okuyasu, Frieza, Suwako, Azula)

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

“Ohhh no,” Starscream wrung his giant robot claws together nervously, glancing between the four who had accused him thus far. “This is very much not unexpected, but most unfortunate. I’ll go quietly, but... I suppose it would be too late to ask some of you to... reconsider?”

 

[Yu Kanda]

Peter came from around the corner, holding a half eaten sandwich. With food still being mulled within his mouth Peter decided it was a good time to get involved again, "You guys still on this?" Bits of food flew out of his mouth. Possibly towards some of the bystanders. "OH, sorry about that". Before continueing he swallowed what was left of his bite.

"Aaaah that was good. Well then, back to you guys. Why are you ganging up to on one tiny little robot? Suuuure he lied about being a doctor, but that doesn't mean hes a murderer. Becides, no one died las night. For all we know the Mafia got scared and ran."

"But if we are going to throw wild accusstions i could say matchstick lady and golden boy over there are killers too...without evidence we know jack shit.. Do you guys really want to kill a possiblt innocent killer robot?"

 

[Frieza]

Frieza sighed. "This is no time for worthless sentimentality," he said. "If we want to survive, we need to execute the mafia amongst us as soon as possible, and unless Starscream can come up with a very good reason for lying, then we can only assume it was because he has something to hide. And who amongst us but the mafia has any reason to lie?

"By the way," he continued, "I believe we have a good idea about what our detective uncovered in regards to Starscream's mafia allegiance, but we have also confirmed that Okuyasu is innocent. Perhaps the detective should take this opportunity to coordinate with him, in order to safely share their findings with the rest of us through a proxy."

He gave a satisfied flick of his tail, and smiled. At this rate, it wouldn't be long until the mafia was defeated. Maybe he could actually get out of this alive!

"Well then, shall we decide on our next investigation target? I, personally, vote for Azula." He turned to her. "Your performance this morning was truly laudable, but the fact remains that Starscream's reverence of you seems... most suspicious, under these circumstances. Moreover, should you be found innocent, we will have our Mayor as a confirmed ally."

NOTE: I'm actually voting for Azula as the next investigation target because Jacob said something in the discord implying he knew the # of mafia members, to which I was like *SQUINTS*
but I couldn't exactly bring that up IC, lol

 

[Omelette Robotnik]

As an aside, if you wish to "recall" your vote without voting for anyone else, just bold something in your post which makes this apparent. Ex: "I've decided to rescind my vote for Starscream".

 

[Ohm Zui]

Ohm Zui shakes their head.

"While I can understand Starscream looks bad for publically faking their credentials, I can think of a reason for them to do it if they were criminal or well meaning innocent. I'd like to request someone who is making the accusation to make the case for the robot's death."

The zoombini reaches into one of their cake boxes and pulls out the only pastry there that isn't a bland muffin. This well decorated cake has a picture of a happy cartoon sheep with horns wielding a large sword.

"Take Katana Karl here as an example. If I wanted to accuse Katana Karl of being out to kill us all, I'd need to make a case that holds three things: motive, character and opportunity."
"Now Katana Karl might want to stab a lot of things, but the motive I'd want to bring up would be why they had killed the people they had killed, accused the people they had accused and so on."
"Secondly, regardless of the facade Katana Karl has put on, have they performed any suspicious actions, like pretending to be a role they are not?"
"Finally, though this isn't specifically relevant today, what happened that gave them the opportunity to perform their motive? Who would need to have been working with them, who made innocent mistakes and so on."

The amoeboid looked up from their cake and gestured to Azula, Okayasu, Frieza and Suwako.

"Make your case well: at the moment, I can see arguments for Starscream's character, but not why or how they decided to go after Gilgamesh."

They then gestured to Starlord.

"And similarly, if you have your own candidate to accuse, do the same. Why do you think Gilgamesh would have organised their own death, or Azula?"

 

[Frieza]

Frieza shrugged. "Who knows what the mafia is thinking? They want all of us dead. Gilgamesh seems to be one of the most powerful among us, as well as a strong leader, and his death would sow chaos amongst us. Not to mention, it's already caused us to waste time speculating why they may have gone for a less obvious target. Perhaps he was even targeted by a rogue villager who speculated Gilgamesh himself was mafia.

"As for Starscream, I can wager two guesses. Either he's a member of the mafia who tried to lure the real doctor into giving himself up... or he's a villager who tried to attract the attention of the mafia by claiming a role they would want to kill in order to defect to their side. In other words, a traitor. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing whether or not he successfully rendezvoused with the mafia, or if he will in the future. And I'd rather not take chances by keeping him around.

"Whatever the reasons, one fact remains. There is no reason for the innocent to lie about what they are."

additional note: gilgamesh claimed a role OOC but didn't say what it was. that's probably why he was targeted.

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

“Hold that thought,” Starscream told Frieza, one servo raised. “Just— one moment, before all of you start falling all over each other to tear my altruistic, community-minded self down.”

The seeker steepled his long digits together under his chin, clearly lost in thought. His processor whirred, vents fanning quietly as he stewed on the precarious situation his hubris had dragged him into.

Finally, the robot spoke. “Now, I can assure you that I am not a member of this mafia, but I understand that my word does not count for much with the overwhelming amount of transgressions I have made against our community. Yet, to entertain the possibility of my involvement with our town’s criminal underbelly... I do have something to offer in defense of my life, to bargain with, if you would be amenable to hearing it.”

 

[Azula]

Azula scowled, but within her heart, something smiled.

"Very well," she decreed. "Your trial begins now, Starscream."

 

[Frieza]

Frieza turned to Starscream, and tilted his head. "Let's hear it, then."

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

Starscream grinned internally. Yes, yessss, it was working.

The seeker glanced down, feigning disinterest as he flicked a nonexistent piece of debris from his flawless silver finish.

“As you all know, I am a tad fickle,” he began, moving on to scrutinizing the dirt caught in one of his joints. “However, I assure you that I am... most definitely allied with this township. It is true that I played at being a doctor, and indeed, I had hoped to carry on with my little ruse today. Yet, last night’s terrible events and the subsequent cruel accusations leveled against me have forced me into a rather delicate position. Should I reveal my role in all this, or should I remain silent, risking certain execution?”

At last, he turned his optics up, burning red searing into each and every one of them. The seeker’s dental plates twitched upward— an approximation of a smirk.

“Well. I’d say the decision is quite simple. Yes, I pretended to be the doctor, and pacified all of you for a brief time with that ridiculous claim. Yet, my intent was not to fool all of you. Rather, it was to fool those among us who would seek to do harm to our happy community, and lure them to my home...”

Starscream paused for effect, basking in how everyone’s attention (mostly consisting of blank stares and outright distrust) was focused on him. Oh, yes. His grand reveal would be all too sweet, if only to see the looks on the faces of all his doubters.

“Yes, I wanted the mafia to visit. For unlike most of you organic creatures, I happen to be comprised of... highly explosive materials, especially when injured. You can do the math on that one, if it isn’t too challenging.”

 

[Frieza]

"Is that so?" Though Frieza was clearly unconvinced, he grinned, a sinister gleam in his eye. "Well then, why don't we take you apart ourselves to determine whether you're telling the truth this time?"

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

“Oh, of course, of course,” returned Starscream, meeting the purplish alien’s leer head-on. “Though I must mention that, due to my unconventional biology, it would be very dangerous to do so.”

 

[Gilgamesh]

Gilgamesh scoffed, "It is of no use." He shook his head. "This machine is clearly toying with us all. We will get nowhere interrogating it. We should either kill it or move on to someone else," he commanded. "This machine looks like to be one who primarily uses deception."
"Why don't we confront one of those who has yet to narrow down their capabilities?" he thought aloud.

 

[Remilia Scarlet]

Remilia arrived with a skip in her steps, the night had been a refreshing one knowing that she had awoken alive than dead. Undead, rather than dead. That's beside the point. She had been unsure what the outcome of the previous night was, and this murder mystery had gotten her in a fit of anticipation. She could tell that something had gone airy when she found no corpse to be found, an unhappy Yuuka, and the rest of the town forming a circle around the giant mechanical man. Her own conclusions drew to her, and she looked to starscream with a frown bisecting her face.

"I skipped breakfast for this. Sakuya is always unhappy when I skip breakfast, because she always makes it with the most important ingredient: love. Do you understand that, tin can? I turned down love for this. And since you continue to be a bother, I can only hope they find something of use of you after you've been dealt with Starscream."

 

[Omelette Robotnik]

Starscream 5 (Okuyasu, Frieza, Suwako, Azula, Remilia)

 

[Rebecca Chambers]

Starscream glared fiercely at the little bloodsucker. “Alright, yes, I get it. In that case, with the amount of voices I have speaking against me, I’ll level my own accusation...”

He paused, considering. His gaze landed on a little frog hat.

“You,” the seeker hissed. “Suwako. I’m starting to believe that your uncharacteristic silence is an indication of something more... sinister.”